Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Song Wanbai challenges Zhu Min to spar. Zhu Min accepts, and they face off in an open field while Li Zi watches.
• Zhu Min fights with her massive sword, while Song Wanbai uses a Summoning Art to call a white tiger. As the duel continues, she summons a cheetah and a falcon as well, demonstrating exceptional power.
• Li Zi reflects that Song Wanbai is a remarkable cultivator who should have a life and destiny of her own, rather than merely serving as a stepping-stone in the original story.
• Li Zi’s thought about Song Wanbai becoming the Demon Prince’s personal maid distracts Song Wanbai mid-summoning. Zhu Min pauses the fight and urges her not to waste her talent.
• The System explains the tragic history behind Song Wanbai’s fate: she and the Demon Prince were longtime correspondents who believed they were soulmates. When he later revealed his identity, he exploited her feelings, defeated and imprisoned her, tortured her, and used her blood to regain strength.
• The duel turns into a friendly display: both women deliberately avoid seriously harming each other.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Wanbai is shown as a gifted, serious cultivator whose Immortal Bloodline and ability to summon several Spirit Beasts make her formidable. Her distracted reaction hints at the painful future tied to the Demon Prince.
• Zhu Min proves her skill and discipline, matching Song Wanbai’s strength with swordsmanship. She shows concern for Song Wanbai’s potential and treats her as a worthy opponent.
• Li Zi watches with admiration and increasingly questions the story’s treatment of talented characters as disposable. Her thoughts inadvertently disrupt Song Wanbai’s concentration.
• Ji Zheng encourages Zhu Min to enjoy the match and later listens intently as the System reveals Song Wanbai’s backstory.
• The Spirit Beasts—tiger, cheetah, and falcon—serve as extensions of Song Wanbai’s combat ability, while Zhu Min’s sword strikes demonstrate precision as well as force.

Significant themes

• Agency and deserving one’s own story: Li Zi rejects the idea that talented characters exist only to advance the protagonist’s plot.
• Talent and perseverance: Song Wanbai’s innate gifts contrast with Zhu Min’s hard training, yet both earn their standing as powerful cultivators.
• Manipulation and betrayal: Song Wanbai’s future tragedy stems from emotional trust exploited by the Demon Prince.
• Respect between rivals: Though the match begins with tension, the two cultivators recognize each other’s strength and ultimately spar without intent to injure.

Key plot points and events

• Li Zi listens to the system reveal that the Demon Prince, Si Le, learned Song Wanbai’s private letter exchanges by devouring her real pen pal and absorbing his memories. He spared Song after their fight because she reminded him of someone from his past, but later humiliates her when he quarrels with Ran Zirou.
• The system identifies Song’s pen pal as her senior brother. He arrives carrying a specially dyed fabric he made for her, but Song—embarrassed by the unexpected audience—orders him to leave.
• Song agrees to accompany Li Zi and Zhu Min to the Wasteland. After hearing about Ran Zirou, she asks whether she is real, then declares her the source of the trouble and calls for her to be killed.
• Zhu Min explains Ran Zirou’s circumstances and tells Song about Li Zi’s ability to hear the system’s inner commentary. Ji Zheng meanwhile draws Li Zi aside to share Spirit Fruit.

Character developments

• Song Wanbai discovers that her mysterious, like-minded correspondent is her senior brother. She is flustered by the realization and begins to reconsider her feelings for him, while growing openly hostile toward Ran Zirou.
• Song’s senior brother is revealed as a gifted but eccentric artist and cultivator, already devoted to Song though unaware of his own feelings. The system says that, in the book’s original events, he dies protecting her before confessing.
• Li Zi becomes increasingly determined to prevent Si Le from harming Song or being released, and sympathizes strongly with Song.
• Zhu Min continues to support Song and helps her understand the larger situation.

Significant themes

• Fate versus intervention: Li Zi’s knowledge of the book’s future motivates her to try to prevent tragic outcomes.
• Love and hidden identity: Song’s anonymous correspondence becomes personal when its author is revealed as someone close to her.
• Exploitation and collateral damage: The system’s account of Si Le’s behavior highlights how Song is dragged into the central couple’s conflicts.
• Gossip and comedy: The system’s blunt, playful commentary contrasts with the danger and emotional stakes.

Character interactions

• Li Zi and the system discuss Si Le, Song’s pen pal, and the likely tragic future.
• Song’s senior brother presents her with his dye work; Song hastily sends him away, embarrassed before the visitors.
• Song asks Zhu Min about Ran Zirou, and Zhu Min explains both Ran’s identity and Li Zi’s unusual access to the system’s information.
• Li Zi and Ji Zheng share Spirit Fruit as the group prepares to leave for the Wasteland.

• Departure and relationships: Song Wanbai leaves with the group and accepts a Heaven-Earth Ring from her attentive senior brother, blushing at his concern. She then turns her attention to Li Zi, teasingly criticizing her low Cultivation and promising to train her.
• Training during the journey: The group travels aboard Song Wanbai’s Flying Boat for more than half a month. Song Wanbai teaches Li Zi Hand Seals, Zhu Min teaches her defensive Swordsmanship, and Ji Zheng helps her practice Movement Techniques. Though Li Zi would rather read storybooks, she keeps at it; her Spiritual Power stabilizes, and her coordination with her Contract Beast, Lin Ning’er, improves. Lin Ning’er soon falls into a deep sleep. Song Wanbai explains that an injury before birth left her Divine Soul unsettled, but that she should recover with rest.
• Preparing for the Barren Lands: Song Wanbai warns the others about the region’s dangers, from powerful Spirit Beasts near its edges to intelligent territorial beasts farther in and dangerous wanderers at its center. She shares a rough map marked with perilous areas. Li Zi’s system reveals that her book is creating a much more detailed map, including beast territories and treasure locations. The group realizes Li Zi’s knowledge could draw unwanted attention, so they avoid the other travelers heading to the Barren Lands.
• Arrival and next objective: After another half month, they reach the Barren Lands and enter a scorching desert. The system directs Li Zi toward an oasis containing Sky-Sea Flowers, while warning that Desert Lizards have laid a trap there.
  Character developments and interactions: Li Zi grows stronger through sustained training, despite her reluctance. Song Wanbai is both teasing and demanding, while Zhu Min and Ji Zheng support her development. The group quietly protects Li Zi by steering clear of rival travelers, and Li Zi worries about Lin Ning’er’s health.
  Themes: Preparation and perseverance; loyalty and protective teamwork; the tension between treasure-seeking and danger; and the contrast between Li Zi’s hidden advantage and the group’s need to keep it secret.

Plot points and events

• Li Zi discovers that the group’s route is leading them to rare medicinal treasures, including Sky-Sea Flowers. The others expertly avoid the Desert Lizard’s traps and collect the flowers.
• Li Zi’s system reveals a hidden Floating Island and its valuable plants, abandoned buildings, and powerful Flying Crab Beasts. The group follows the directions to the island, pretending their choices come from a sheepskin scroll.
• On the island, the group is ambushed by a Flying Crab Beast. Ji Zheng attacks with his flame-wreathed sword, while Zhu Min crushes another with her massive sword.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi is impressed by her companions’ apparent skill at finding treasure, but grows suspicious when they repeatedly act on information she has just received from the system.
• Song Wanbai, Zhu Min, and Ji Zheng secretly use private transmissions to coordinate their responses. They can hear Li Zi’s thoughts, but try to conceal this and decide that distracting her with gossip might help.
• Zhu Min protects Li Zi during the sudden attack by pushing her to the ground. Ji Zheng and Zhu Min show their strength in battle; Song Wanbai remains composed but is amazed by the island’s spiritually enriched wildflowers.

Significant themes

• Hidden knowledge and secrecy: The system’s guidance gives Li Zi’s group an unusual advantage, while the companions conceal how they are following it.
• Trust and suspicion: Li Zi notices the group’s uncanny behavior but has not figured out why they know so much.
• Wonder and danger: The Floating Island is a beautiful, untouched paradise, yet it is home to formidable beasts.

Key plot points and events

• Li Zi tries to fight a Flying Crab Beast, but her sword cannot pierce its shell and she injures her hand. She flees, realizing how vulnerable she is compared with the Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators.
• While Zhu Min, Ji Zheng, and Song Wanbai fend off more than a hundred beasts, Li Zi follows her system’s directions to collect several treasures: a Buddha Immortal Flower, a Soul-Seizing Lotus, and a Heavenly King Demon Vine. She tames the vine by feeding it medicinal pills.
• After the fight, the group agrees to pool their discoveries and let Song Wanbai hold them. Li Zi and Zhu Min trust her because she is the strongest.
• The system warns them about Silver-Shadow Snakes and points them toward Heaven-Shaking Wood. Ji Zheng kills a nearly invisible snake before Li Zi can spot it, underscoring the gap in their abilities.
• Song Wanbai protects the group with summoned snakes. Li Zi directs them to the Heaven-Shaking Wood, then the system reveals a hidden underwater route to Dragon Bone Marrow. Song Wanbai sends a Dragon Serpent to retrieve it.

Character developments

• Li Zi learns firsthand that confidence cannot make up for her limited cultivation. Rather than trying to fight beyond her ability, she starts contributing by locating treasures and guiding the group.
• Song Wanbai gradually warms to the others’ trust, showing a hint of a smile as she accepts responsibility for their shared haul.
• Zhu Min and Ji Zheng continue to act as capable protectors, while Ji Zheng’s quick reflexes impress Li Zi.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and complementary strengths: the powerful cultivators handle combat while Li Zi’s system-guided knowledge helps the group find rare resources.
• Trust and shared rewards: the group agrees to pool their gains and place them with Song Wanbai.
• Humility and adaptation: Li Zi recognizes her limitations and finds a safer, useful role.

Character interactions

• The others advise Li Zi to stay safe and keep her protected within the group.
• Li Zi praises Ji Zheng for detecting and killing the tiny snake.
• Zhu Min and Li Zi explain why they trust Song Wanbai with the group’s treasures; Song accepts them without hesitation.
• Li Zi guides the group to hidden resources, and Song Wanbai uses her summoned creatures to protect them and retrieve the Dragon Bone Marrow.

Chapter 186 Summary

• Key events: Song Wanbai’s dragon serpent eats a dragon bone containing Dragon Bone Marrow, awakens its bloodline, and begins shedding its skin in seclusion. Guided by Li Zi’s system, the group then spends two days searching the Floating Island before leaving.
• A new offer: Six newcomers approach them. Their compass seems to be pointing toward something nearby, and they invite the group to help find Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand in the territory of the dangerous Scorpion Haunt Insects. The rare treasure could greatly strengthen Li Zi’s Heavenly Dipper Illusory Tome Formation.
• A hidden scheme: Li Zi’s system warns that the newcomers intend to use the group to draw out the insects. The system also says the treasure is abundant, making the risk potentially worthwhile. Ji Zheng independently suspects the newcomers’ motives and proposes cooperating, then turning the situation to their advantage. The group agrees to pursue the treasure, with Zhu Min and Song Wanbai even suggesting they leave the newcomers as insect bait.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Wanbai shares the Dragon Bone Marrow opportunity with the group rather than claiming it alone, and is pleased when her dragon serpent awakens its bloodline. She is also quick to shield Li Zi from the newcomers by giving her a phantom rabbit to hold and telling her not to engage.
• Li Zi remains the group’s self-conscious, easily tired tagalong, but her system’s intelligence continues to guide their decisions. She is startled to learn the newcomers are plotting against them, then impressed that Ji Zheng reached the same conclusion.
• Ji Zheng takes a protective, strategic role: he blocks one newcomer’s view of Song Wanbai, moves the group away to discuss the offer, and proposes exploiting the other group’s scheme.
• Zhu Min supports Li Zi and readily accepts the plan to turn the tables.
• The group’s concern that others might hear Li Zi’s thoughts complicates their planning, especially if a fight breaks out.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes cooperation and shared gains, caution beneath polite appearances, and turning an enemy’s trap against them. Li Zi’s unusual thoughts and system provide the group with an advantage, while her vulnerability makes protecting her—and keeping her thoughts secret—an ongoing concern.

Chapter summary

Plot and events

Ji Zheng’s group agrees to cooperate with Sha Ji’s six-person party to obtain Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand, dividing the reward between them. Ji disguises their private discussion as an effort to help his low-level junior sister, Li Zi, get exercise. The groups travel together, with Li Zi told to remain close to Song Wanbai and flee if danger arises.
During the journey, Li Zi’s system exposes the travelers’ private feelings. The group first learns that Mo Pei’er is engaged to Sha Ji while Dai Peiren secretly loves her. Their reactions and Mo Pei’er taking Sha Ji’s hand suggest a love triangle—until the system reveals a different truth: Sha Ji is engaged to Mo Pei’er unwillingly and actually loves Mo Yue’er, a frail, dark-skinned member of their group. He came to the Wasteland seeking a medicinal herb for her. Sha Ji’s immediate concern for Mo Yue’er confirms the revelation.

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Zheng carefully manages the alliance and keeps Li Zi’s low cultivation from drawing unwanted attention.
• Song Wanbai remains confident that her Nascent Soul strength can protect the group, while also reacting with distaste to the system’s criticism of Sha Ji.
• Li Zi is eager to hear the gossip, though her companions insist she meditate and stay safe.
• Mo Pei’er is startled to learn Dai Peiren may love her and realizes she cannot bear the thought of distancing herself from him.
• Dai Peiren is hurt when Mo Pei’er takes Sha Ji’s hand, then shocked to learn Sha Ji’s engagement is not romantic.
• Sha Ji is embarrassed when his feelings are exposed and instinctively protects Mo Yue’er; she responds with fear and pushes him away.

Themes

The chapter highlights the gap between appearances and reality: what looks like a love triangle turns out to involve hidden, unrequited, and misdirected feelings. It also shows how gossip can abruptly reshape relationships, while loyalty and care emerge through protective actions rather than declarations.

Plot points

• Sha Ji admits he loves Mo Yue’er and says his engagement to Mo Pei’er was only temporary. Dai Peiren also urges Sha Ji not to hurt Pei’er, though his concern appears to be part of his effort to push her toward Sha Ji.
• A narration exposes Yue’er’s secret obsession with Dai Peiren: she stole his underwear, watched him through a hole behind her courtyard, and once hid under his bed overnight.
• Pei’er confronts Yue’er, revealing that Yue’er also once killed a rabbit in a disturbing way. Yue’er drops her timid act and openly confesses her years-long love for Dai Peiren.
• Yue’er’s confession sparks a chain of slaps: Pei’er hits Yue’er, Sha Ji hits Pei’er, and Dai Peiren hits Sha Ji. Ji Zheng and his companions arrive in time to witness the commotion. Sha Ji insists the quarrel will not disrupt their mission.
• The group continues across the desert and enters a dense bamboo forest. Meanwhile, Li Zi is forced to keep running after the Flying Boat as training.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Yue’er is revealed as a deceptive, obsessive stalker rather than the fragile girl she pretends to be. She remains fixated on Dai Peiren even after being exposed and struck.
• Mo Pei’er shifts from stunned confusion to anger, calling out Yue’er’s true nature and slapping her.
• Dai Peiren recoils from Yue’er’s behavior and protests that she stole his underwear and hid under his bed. His earlier defense of Pei’er complicates her feelings, since she wonders why he is pushing her toward Sha Ji.
• Sha Ji openly chooses Yue’er, but his slap against Pei’er turns the romantic dispute into a physical brawl.
• Ji Zheng and his companions observe the fallout while Ji Zheng feigns ignorance about the mysterious voice that exposed Yue’er.

Themes and tone

• The chapter plays romantic jealousy as farce, escalating from concealed feelings to embarrassing revelations and slapstick violence.
• It contrasts public appearances with hidden behavior: Yue’er’s meek persona masks an extreme obsession.
• The gossip-like narration and bystanders’ reactions make the group’s private conflict a spectacle, while the onward journey and Li Zi’s harsh training keep the broader adventure moving.

Plot points and events

• After crossing a gorge and bamboo grove, the group reaches the Scorpion Haunt Insects’ desert lair to retrieve Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand. The party splits up to enter from opposite sides; Li Zi is meant to stay safely outside with White Tiger.
• Li Zi asks the system about the insects’ weaknesses. It reveals that each has a small red spot somewhere on its body; striking it leaves the insect helpless. Li Zi shares this information, making the fight much easier.
• Song Wanbai, Ji Zheng, and Zhu Min attack the swarm and draw most of it toward the other entrance. They discover Sha Ji’s team is distracted by a brawl among its own members, allowing them to slip into the lair.
• Song Wanbai sends Li Zi and Zhu Min inside to retrieve the sand while she draws the remaining insects away.
• The system warns that the Insect Emperor remains in the cave. Zhu Min and Li Zi encounter the enormous, dangerous creature—but the system reveals that it is constipated and in pain from overeating. The chapter ends with them staring at its swollen belly.

Character developments

• Li Zi contributes useful knowledge despite being assigned a safe, passive role. She also remains strikingly curious about gossip even when facing a deadly threat.
• Zhu Min proves decisive and protective: she takes Li Zi into the cave, reacts quickly to danger, and readies her greatsword when the Insect Emperor appears.
• Song Wanbai takes charge of the diversion, using her Spirit Beast to draw the swarm away.
• Sha Ji’s team is rendered ineffective by its internal conflicts, especially the physical fight between Mo Yue’er and Mo Pei’er and the grapple between Sha Ji and Dai Peiren.

Character interactions

• Li Zi’s warning about the red weak spot is accepted without questions, helping the group coordinate effectively.
• Ji Zheng and Zhu Min work together with Song Wanbai to redirect the insects.
• The rival team’s infighting creates an opening for Zhu Min and Li Zi to enter the lair unnoticed.
• Zhu Min’s alarm contrasts with Li Zi’s distraction by the system’s gossip, producing comic tension during their encounter with the Insect Emperor.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and teamwork: Learning the insects’ weakness transforms a dangerous battle into a manageable one.
• Disorder as opportunity: The opposing team’s squabbles help the protagonists avoid a direct confrontation.
• Comedy amid danger: The system’s ridiculous revelation about the Insect Emperor undercuts the apparent life-or-death stakes.
• Courage and vulnerability: Zhu Min confronts a formidable enemy while Li Zi’s curiosity persists even in peril.

Chapter 190 Summary

• Plot: Zhu Min and Li Zi encounter an enormous, intelligent Insect Emperor whose swollen belly is painfully blocked by a stone. Rather than attack them, it accepts Zhu Min’s offer to help in exchange for Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand. It leads them through its cave, keeping its smaller insects from attacking, and reveals a hidden stash of more than twenty pieces of the rarer Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand Essence. Zhu Min cautiously takes only four. She then uses her greatsword to break the stone lodged in the Insect Emperor’s rear, allowing it to hurry away and relieve itself. Meanwhile, Li Zi offers colorful Luminous Pearls and Spirit Stones in exchange for the glittering sand decorating the cave; young insects appear to negotiate on the Emperor’s behalf.
• Character development: Zhu Min shows caution and restraint, bargaining before helping and taking only a modest share of the treasure despite its value. Li Zi relies on the system’s guidance and is surprised by how effectively humans and the Insect Emperor can communicate. The Insect Emperor proves intelligent and capable of weighing a fair trade, though its desire to protect its offspring’s supply of essence also limits how much treasure it is willing to part with.
• Character interactions: Zhu Min speaks directly with the Insect Emperor, negotiating the exchange and later treating its blockage. Li Zi relays the system’s explanation to Zhu Min and tries to negotiate for the cave’s ordinary Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand. The Insect Emperor commands its swarm to stand down, while its young insects communicate with Li Zi through the system.
• Themes: The chapter emphasizes cooperation across species, practical negotiation, and mutual benefit. It also highlights restraint: Zhu Min avoids greed to reduce the risk of provoking a powerful creature, while the Insect Emperor trades valuable resources to save its life.

Key plot points and events

• Zhu Min trades gold and other valuables to the Scorpion Haunt Insects for Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand, and she and Li Zi leave the nest safely.
• Outside, Song Wanbai has fought off many insects. The group escapes by Flying Boat while rival cultivators turn on one another over who should enter the nest and claim its treasure.
• Zhu Min reveals that she and Li Zi found an Insect Emperor and obtained four pieces of the far rarer Frostsnow Soul-Ice Sand Essence—one for each member of the group.
• The Essence’s concentrated spiritual power triggers Li Zi’s breakthrough. After resting, she advances from the Fourth to the Fifth Tier of Foundation Establishment.
• The group continues treasure hunting, avoiding other cultivators. They later shelter near a swamp where a criminal-led group is pursuing Blue Phoenix Wood, guarded by a fearsome Runic Demon Bull.

Character developments

• Li Zi gains a major cultivation boost and grows more adept at handling powerful spiritual energy.
• Zhu Min demonstrates resourcefulness by bargaining with the insects and securing the Sand Essence.
• Song Wanbai reveals the danger she faced outside the nest and later offers Li Zi candied fruit.
• Ji Zheng is delighted by the discovery and encourages the group to keep searching.

Significant themes

• Greed and conflict: Rival cultivators’ quarrel over the treasure erupts into violence, showing how ambition can undermine cooperation.
• Trust and caution: Zhu Min’s warning that people are more dangerous than beasts shapes the group’s decision to avoid other parties.
• Fortune and cultivation: Rare treasures bring both opportunity and risk, while Li Zi’s progress suggests she may attract further discoveries.

Character interactions

• Zhu Min and Li Zi negotiate peacefully with the insects rather than fighting them.
• Ji Zheng recounts the rival group’s infighting, while Song Wanbai explains the danger she faced and asks whether they secured the treasure.
• Zhu Min shares the Insect Emperor encounter privately with Song Wanbai; meanwhile, Li Zi is absorbed in cultivating with her Essence.
• At the swamp cave, Ji Zheng gives Li Zi a Spirit Fruit, and Song Wanbai responds by producing candied fruit.

Key plot points and events

• While the group eats Spirit Fruit candy, Li Zi asks her system for gossip about nearby Spirit Beasts.
• The system reveals that a Runic Demon Bull has been fighting a Star Leopard because it mistook the leopard’s rear for a bull it was attracted to. It also shares that a Black Cat Demon Rabbit is stealing a Two-Headed Snake’s eggs and that a male Spirit-Eyed Tiger is avoiding his mate by lounging near intoxicating Red Lotus Ants.
• The gossip triggers real events: the bull chases the leopard, and the tiger’s mate catches him at the ant nest, setting off a furious confrontation. With the beasts distracted, Song Wanbai and Zhu Min collect treasures.
• Li Zi tells Ji Zheng where the system says the treasures are. He relays the locations to the women, who return with nine valuable Spirit Medicines between them.
• The group escapes by flying boat. Song Wanbai, pleased by their haul, asks Li Zi where they should go next. The system points her south, toward several areas marked in red on Song Wanbai’s map.

Character developments

• Li Zi enjoys her role as a source of useful information, though she still feels like a tagalong beside the experienced cultivators. Her system-assisted “intuition” proves valuable.
• Song Wanbai shows warmth toward Li Zi, sharing treats and treating her affectionately, while also trusting her enough to ask for guidance.
• Ji Zheng helps the group act on Li Zi’s information by relaying treasure locations to Song Wanbai and Zhu Min.
• Song Wanbai and Zhu Min demonstrate their skill and efficiency by gathering the medicines while the beasts are distracted.

Significant themes

• Hidden knowledge and opportunity: The system’s gossip exposes secrets that create openings for the group.
• Humor amid danger: Ridiculous animal misunderstandings contrast with the threatening power of the Spirit Beasts.
• Trust and cooperation: Li Zi’s information becomes useful because her companions act on it together.

Character interactions

• Li Zi shares candied fruit and gossip with her companions, then passes the system’s treasure directions to Ji Zheng.
• Ji Zheng encourages Li Zi and relays her directions to the two women.
• Song Wanbai comforts and praises Li Zi through affectionate gestures, then invites her to help choose their next destination.
• The Spirit Beasts’ clashes—especially the tiger couple’s confrontation—provide the distraction that lets Song Wanbai and Zhu Min gather the treasures.

Key plot points and events

• Song Wanbai warns the group away from the Wasteland’s Central Region, where an infamous town of criminals and dangerous outsiders grew around the rumored abandoned treasures of an Immortal.
• Before they can choose another route, ragged cultivators arrive by sword and accuse them of involvement in the Spirit Beasts’ sudden rampage and the disappearance of the beasts’ treasures.
• The newcomers decide to take the group back for questioning. With little choice, Ji Zheng agrees to go and tries to reassure Li Zi that their Sect affiliation offers some protection.
• As the strangers discuss the beasts’ behavior, the reader learns the real reasons for their feuds: the Netherrock Spider is pursuing the Dark Night Tiger over the deaths of its grand-disciples; the musk eels are also chasing the tiger; and the Golden Toad is hunting the magnificent deer, which stole its Heaven-Reaching Fruit. These truths were revealed through the system’s gossip.
• The strangers suspect powerful cultivators took the missing treasures. One of them mocks Song Wanbai for bringing a Foundation Establishment junior into the Wasteland.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Wanbai reveals a painful, wary knowledge of the Central Region and senses the strangers’ approach before Li Zi does.
• Ji Zheng stays outwardly friendly and composed under pressure, deflecting suspicion with plausible answers and protecting Li Zi from alarm.
• Li Zi listens closely to Song Wanbai’s warning and remains outwardly innocent, while the system’s gossip provides the hidden explanation for the beasts’ chaos.
• Zhu Min shares the group’s caution and stays calm during the confrontation.
• The strangers treat the group with suspicion, especially questioning why they brought Li Zi, while their own frustration grows over the vanished treasures.

Significant themes

• Danger and mistrust: Even a seemingly ordinary encounter in the Wasteland can become an interrogation, and the Central Region is portrayed as especially perilous.
• Hidden truths and misunderstanding: The beasts’ apparent irrationality has specific causes, but outsiders are left guessing.
• Appearances and vulnerability: The strangers judge the group by cultivation level and Li Zi’s apparent age, while Ji Zheng uses his trustworthy manner to manage their suspicions.

Summary

Ji Zheng, Zhu Min, Song Wanbai, and Li Zi reach a hostile desert settlement known as Immortal’s Cave, where cultivators search for treasure supposedly left by two immortals. After evading a group of men who suspect them of theft, they stop at a tea stall, intending to leave as soon as it is safe.
The townspeople are openly hostile to outsiders, especially Sect cultivators. When the tea-stall owner provokes Ji Zheng, Song Wanbai intervenes and warns the group to avoid a confrontation. She reveals she once visited the settlement with a group whose member was killed by a powerful local cultivator; she escaped by summoning beasts, but the others did not. Her memory of the violence leaves her visibly shaken, and the group becomes eager to flee.
Their plans change when the system announces that the settlement contains many treasures and explains that two immortals once lived there in seclusion. Li Zi asks whether treasure truly exists, and the system confirms it. Because everyone nearby can hear Li Zi’s thoughts, the cultivators realize they may have received confirmation of the treasure’s existence. They gather to listen, while some consider abducting Li Zi to learn its location—though the crowd’s competing greed makes such a move dangerous.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Wanbai shows experience and caution, confronting the tea-stall owner without escalating matters. Her account of her previous visit reveals both the settlement’s brutality and her own traumatic past.
• Ji Zheng is protective of Li Zi and increasingly anxious as the danger grows, but he restrains himself to avoid drawing attention.
• Li Zi remains curious and focused on the system’s revelations, unaware—or less concerned—about how her audible thoughts are affecting the crowd.
• The cultivators shift from suspicion of the newcomers to intense interest in Li Zi after hearing that the treasure is real. Their shared excitement quickly turns into rivalry and potential violence.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts the allure of immortality and hidden treasure with the danger and hardship of pursuing them. It also highlights the risk of revealing valuable knowledge in a ruthless, competitive community, as well as the tension between Li Zi’s innocent curiosity and the lethal consequences her thoughts may trigger.

Chapter 195 Summary

• The Immortals’ history: As Li Zi tells the story, the system reveals that the town’s residents are blood descendants of a brother and sister who became the founders of the Cultivation World. A million years ago, they established the cultivation order and later spent eight thousand years training in the Wasteland, ultimately reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Stage and gaining insight into the Heavenly Dao.
• The town’s inheritance: The Immortals left four legacies in the area. The first three are revealed:
  1. The wind, which gathers vitality and gradually purifies meridians and spiritual roots, improving cultivation talent.
  2. The stars, whose unusual pattern lets dawn’s purple qi linger, making it easier to absorb.
  3. Ancient buildings, which contain the Immortals’ insights, though understanding them depends on individual comprehension.
• A dangerous audience: Nearly the whole town gathers to listen, drawn by the promise of the Immortals’ inheritance. Ji Zheng, Zhu Min, and Song Wanbai sense powerful, concealed cultivators surrounding them and realize they may be in danger. Li Zi, absorbed in the tale and unable to detect their auras, remains unaware.
• Cliffhanger: The system says the fourth legacy is the most important, but the chapter ends before revealing it.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Li Zi is curious and enthusiastic, asking questions that prompt the system to explain the Immortals’ history and treasures. Her low cultivation leaves her oblivious to the threatening crowd.
• Ji Zheng and Zhu Min grow increasingly anxious as they sense the powerful people closing in around them.
• Song Wanbai is especially affected by the pressure, feeling as though immense forces beneath the earth are awakening.
• The townspeople shift from curiosity to excitement and greed as they learn they may descend from the Immortals and benefit from their legacy.

Significant Themes

The chapter explores inheritance and lineage, the long effort behind achievement, and the hidden ways environment and cosmic patterns can shape cultivation. It also creates tension between the Immortals’ potentially world-changing legacy and the danger posed by those who want to claim it.

Chapter 196 Summary

• The fourth Formation is revealed: Buried beneath the town, it makes the Immortals’ descendants increasingly reluctant to leave. The difficult living conditions are part of the test: those who stay can benefit from the other three treasures and the cultivation insights left behind.
• The Immortals’ descendants learn their Ancestors are waiting for them: The system explains that Immortals are eternal, and many hope their descendants will eventually overcome tribulations and join them. The revelation rekindles hope among the gathered cultivators.
• Several Mahayana cultivators regain their resolve: Though time and loss had dulled their ambitions, the elders are inspired by the possibility of reunion with their Ancestors. Some decide to try the Immortals’ ascetic cultivation, while others set off to explore the ancient buildings for clues.
• Song Wanbai learns her Ancestor’s fate: She asks about High Immortal Hàn Rì. The system reveals that Hàn Rì, scarred by life in the Immortal Realm, has withdrawn into an illusion where she repeatedly lives a happy life with Cang Qing, despite knowing it is unreal. Song Wanbai is shaken; Li Zi comforts her, and Song Wanbai manages a strained smile.
• The teahouse owner makes amends: Now treating the group with respect, he apologizes for his earlier behavior and serves them a rare, spiritually potent jade-green drink. Ji Zheng asks what it is, while the system urges everyone to drink it.

Character Developments and Interactions

The cultivators shift from curiosity and fatigue to renewed hope, seeing cultivation as a possible path to their Ancestors. Song Wanbai’s wistful interest turns to grief and concern when she hears Hàn Rì’s story; Li Zi responds with gentle reassurance. The teahouse owner’s sudden apology and generous hospitality show how dramatically the group’s standing has changed.

Significant Themes

The chapter explores hope and perseverance, as the promise of reunion revives aging cultivators’ ambitions; the hidden cost of immortality, through Hàn Rì’s retreat into a comforting illusion; and sacrifice and patience, embodied by the Immortals’ long-term plan to guide their descendants.

Key plot points and events

• Li Zi drinks a sip of the teahouse owner’s spiritually charged tea and makes a sudden leap to the peak of Foundation Establishment Fifth Stage. The tea also noticeably strengthens the spiritual power of Ji Zheng and Zhu Min, but the owner warns Li Zi not to drink more than one sip.
• Before the group can leave, a mysterious old woman insists they stay at her home because spirit beasts roam after dark. Though the group suspects she may have ulterior motives, they follow her to a run-down courtyard.
• The old woman offers them three rooms for the night without charge and claims nobody in the Immortal’s Cave will trouble them. She then disappears abruptly.
• Li Zi wants to explore the town, but Ji Zheng and Song Wanbai insist they remain indoors. They fear the locals have learned from Li Zi’s inner thoughts about insights left by ancient immortals and may try to keep her there.
• The group agrees to escape the next morning. Zhu Min suggests the town’s formation may not affect them because they lack the immortals’ bloodline. Ji Zheng and Zhu Min both say they would rather pursue their own paths than remain in the cave seeking immortality.
• The others make Li Zi cultivate through the night to stabilize her sudden breakthrough, leaving her no time to enjoy the gossip.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi remains cheerful and trusting, viewing the old woman as kind and the Immortal’s Cave as a place to explore. Her immense cultivation potential becomes more evident, though she complies once the others explain the danger.
• Ji Zheng takes charge of protecting the group and shows that he values freedom and his chosen path over the promise of immortality.
• Song Wanbai is highly suspicious and protective of Li Zi, fearing the locals may exploit her knowledge or imprison her.
• Zhu Min shares the others’ caution and supports leaving. Her reaction to Ji Zheng’s views suggests growing respect for him.
• The teahouse owner and old woman are powerful, enigmatic figures: one provides potent spiritual tea, while the other shelters the group but leaves them uncertain about her intentions.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Li Zi’s rapid advancement makes her valuable, but also increases the danger of others wanting to control her.
• Freedom versus immortality: Ji Zheng and Zhu Min reject remaining in the cave solely to pursue transcendence, preferring autonomy and their own cultivation paths.
• Trust and suspicion: Acts of apparent kindness—the tea and lodging—are shadowed by the group’s awareness that powerful locals may have hidden motives.

Plot points and events

• As Li Zi and her companions prepare to leave, the old woman stops them and invites them to meet the Town Chief. She offers Li Zi a gift because of her connection to the place’s Immortal’s Cave.
• The residents they pass appear poor and unassuming, but are exceptionally powerful. The System explains that two Immortals gathered people with great potential through harsh trials; what they share is resilience, not natural cultivation talent.
• The residents can hear Li Zi’s thoughts. The previous night, they considered killing her companions and detaining her, but chose to remain friendly and secretly keep listening. They believe outsiders pose no lasting threat because only people with the Immortals’ bloodline can stay: others eventually feel compelled to leave.
• The old woman brings the group to the Town Chief, who appears to be an ordinary old man. He tells someone to give the visitors a map.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi remains curious and good-natured. She initially declines the offer to stay, sensing she does not belong, but is surprised and slightly embarrassed when the old woman offers her a gift.
• Ji Zheng and his two companions are wary of the residents’ immense power, but relax somewhat when they realize the locals have little reason to fear outsiders.
• The old woman shifts from blocking the group’s departure to treating Li Zi warmly and welcoming the visitors.
• The residents soften toward the group after hearing the System’s recognition of their hardships and resilience. They conceal their ability to hear Li Zi’s thoughts.
• The Town Chief maintains an ordinary appearance but commands respect, and begins the audience by ordering that the group receive a map.

Significant themes

• Resilience over innate talent: The residents’ strength comes from enduring adversity and surviving trials, rather than exceptional natural aptitude.
• Belonging and bloodline: The Immortals’ bloodline determines who can remain in the hidden settlement, regardless of strength or desire.
• Trust and secrecy: The locals choose hospitality over violence, while secretly monitoring Li Zi’s thoughts and keeping their unusual ability from her.

Plot points and events

• The Town Chief gives Ji Zheng and his companions a map to a nearby Spirit Pool, where they may cultivate for two months.
• He explains that their words helped resolve a lifelong puzzle: the town is an Immortal’s Trial, and its residents possess an Immortal Bloodline. This revelation triggers his imminent breakthrough to Tribulation Transcendence to Immortality.
• Grateful, he directs the group to a dangerous area as thanks. After leaving, the companions discover the marked destination may be the legendary Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk in the town’s forbidden central region.
• The Heaven Tier Spirit Medicine can remove cultivation bottlenecks below Spirit Transformation, but the area is extremely perilous: most outsiders do not survive, and even a group of thirty once failed to get in.
• Song Wanbai recognizes the map’s significance, having previously abandoned her own attempt to reach the treasure. As the group discusses it, a refined middle-aged man approaches.

Character developments and interactions

• The Town Chief shifts from uncertainty about the town’s history to conviction that it is an Immortal’s Trial. The realization restores his confidence in the townspeople’s bloodline and helps him approach immortality.
• Li Zi is suspicious of the Town Chief’s generosity and later bewildered by the group’s extraordinary luck.
• Ji Zheng accepts the offer respectfully and urges the others to focus on the opportunity to cultivate.
• Song Wanbai identifies the likely treasure and grows visibly excited, while Zhu Min confirms its legendary value and danger.
• Li Zi and the system’s earlier explanation inadvertently provide the Town Chief with his breakthrough insight.

Significant themes

• Insight and unexpected consequences: Casual remarks can unlock profound understanding.
• Hidden worth and inherited identity: The townspeople’s supposedly inferior bloodline is revealed to be exceptionally powerful.
• Luck and risk: The group receives access to a potentially life-changing treasure, but reaching it may be deadly.

Chapter 200 Summary

• Plot and events: Meng Fa of Immortal’s Cave escorts Li Zi and the others to a powerful cultivation site, warning that they may stay for only two months. Along the way, they sense the Town Chief’s newly attained Tribulation Transcendence cultivation, though he is nowhere near ready to face the lightning tribulation. Meng Fa gives everyone Message-Passing Spirit Stones and promises to notify them when the tribulation happens—or help if they are in danger. At the Forbidden Zone, a buried ruin protected by an Elder Formation, they encounter a rival group seeking the Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk. When the group blocks their way and threatens them, Meng Fa abruptly kills its leader and begins attacking the others.
• Character developments: Li Zi remains cheerful and opportunistic, hoping to benefit from the seniors’ company, but quickly realizes Meng Fa’s courteous manner hides a lethal side. Song Wanbai is shaken by memories of the Forbidden Zone and stays close to protect Li Zi. Ji Zheng initially feels reassured by Meng Fa’s calm, elder-like presence, only to be stunned by his sudden violence. The system’s excited commentary reflects the group’s hope of witnessing a future tribulation.
• Interactions: Meng Fa treats the newcomers generously, sharing contact stones and offering support. Song Wanbai helps Li Zi keep up, then takes responsibility for her safety. A rival cultivator arrogantly offers to let them join his group, but Ji Zheng refuses; the rivals respond by blocking their path. Meng Fa steps in, transforming a tense confrontation into a sudden slaughter.
• Themes: The chapter contrasts polite appearances with hidden danger, showing how quickly courtesy can give way to violence. It also highlights the value of cultivation opportunities and alliances, while building suspense around the Forbidden Zone, its formation, and the treasure within.