Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Meng Fa kills two greedy intruders, then guides Li Zi and her companions safely through the Elder Formation. He warns them that the central sand vortex only appears dangerous and leads to what they seek.
• The group plunges through the vortex and arrives in a jungle surrounding a spiritually potent spring. Milky-white stalactites drip the valuable Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk into the pool.
• Ji Zheng begins collecting the substance. Li Zi offers to create a Heavenly Dipper Illusory Tome formation, which can accelerate their cultivation time; her improved skill lets her make time pass at more than twice the normal rate.
• After confirming the area is safe, the group prepares for two months of secluded cultivation, setting up traps and protective formations around the spring.
• Before meditating, Song Wanbai gives Li Zi her family’s inherited movement technique and promises to check her progress. The four companions settle into separate spaces and begin cultivating.

Character developments

• Li Zi continues to grow in strength and confidence. Her formation abilities have advanced significantly, and her connection to Immortal Ziyang helps explain her unusual knowledge. She is delighted to receive Song Wanbai’s technique, though privately tired of others monitoring her cultivation.
• Song Wanbai recognizes Li Zi’s value and deepens her trust in her. She offers both a rare family technique and a welcome for Li Zi and the Spirit Sword Sect at her own sect.
• Ji Zheng is grateful for Li Zi’s help but worries that Song Wanbai may be crossing a boundary by sharing a sect-inherited technique.
• Meng Fa displays calm, lethal decisiveness toward greedy outsiders, then uses his influence with the local spirit beasts to protect the group.

Significant themes

• Greed and its consequences: Meng Fa condemns greed and kills those who threaten the group for their own gain.
• Connections and mutual trust: Meng Fa’s standing with the spirit beasts and Li Zi’s relationships open doors that the group could not access alone.
• Cultivation through cooperation: The companions share resources, skills, and protection to make the most of a rare opportunity.
• Growth and expectation: Li Zi’s progress brings new opportunities, but also the pressure of being watched and assessed.

Character interactions

• Meng Fa protects the group and reassures them that the spirit beasts will leave them alone.
• Ji Zheng relies on Li Zi’s formation and celebrates what her abilities make possible.
• Song Wanbai gently teases Li Zi about her knowledge, then rewards her with a technique and welcomes her sect’s members.
• Ji Zheng voices concern about the propriety of sharing the technique; Song Wanbai insists that Li Zi has earned her trust.

Key plot points and events

• After consuming Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk, Li Zi’s cultivation surges effortlessly from the sixth to the eighth level of Foundation Establishment. The Huo Fei Essence Blood in her body also reacts to the Spiritual Power.
• She tries to study the incomplete Heaven Tier movement manual Song Wanbai gave her. Though she repeatedly exhausts herself and passes out, the Seven-Orifice Exquisite Heart keeps her cultivation running while she rests. After more than a hundred attempts, she can finally read the manual and begins practicing its footwork in her imagination.
• Meng Fa interrupts her when two unfamiliar household servants arrive. They accuse the Immortals’ Grotto of stealing Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk, claiming it belongs to their young master, and demand that Li Zi and the others return with them.
• Ji Zheng, Song Wanbai, Zhu Min, and Li Zi accept responsibility rather than let Meng Fa take the blame. Once the servants are out of earshot, Meng Fa reveals that the Immortals’ Grotto had subdued the local Spirit Beasts and regarded the treasure as unclaimed until the household appeared and asserted ownership.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi shows determination and gratitude toward Song Wanbai by persisting with the difficult manual despite repeated pain and exhaustion. Her rapid advancement highlights the unusual power of the Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk and her gifted heart.
• Song Wanbai, Ji Zheng, and Zhu Min approve of Li Zi’s diligence. When the servants arrive, they stand together and support taking responsibility.
• Meng Fa initially negotiates cautiously with the servants, trying to protect the group, but privately reveals his anger at what he considers the household’s unjust claim.
• The servants act with confidence and authority despite their modest cultivation, suggesting their household has influence. Their accusation puts the group in conflict with the supposed owners of the spring.

Significant themes

• Perseverance and discipline: Li Zi’s progress comes through repeated, painful effort.
• Responsibility and solidarity: The group refuses to leave Meng Fa alone to face the consequences.
• Power and contested ownership: The servants’ claim challenges the Immortals’ Grotto’s understanding of the treasure as unclaimed, raising questions about authority and justice.

Key plot points and events

• Meng Fa explains that the cultivators have been staying on the Pu family’s land, where Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk is plentiful. The Pu family has arrived earlier than expected to collect it, so he cannot protect the group without risking conflict.
• He warns that the Pu family vastly outmatches the Immortal Cavern: it has ten Mahayana experts and eighty Body Integration experts, compared with the Cavern’s four and thirty.
• The four travelers agree to go with the Pu family’s servants rather than endanger Meng Fa and the Immortal Cavern.
• As the servants lead them through the woods, Zhu Min condemns the Pu family’s accumulated power, arguing that it comes from staying out of the Immortal-Demon Wars while the Sects’ experts died defending both worlds.
• Li Zi’s system confirms this view, explaining that the reclusive clans have avoided the wars and that the Sects’ losses—not a lack of resources—account for their reduced strength.
• The system reveals why the Pu family really wants the travelers: their young master’s condition has worsened, he can no longer tolerate Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk, and he needs the blood of someone who has consumed it. All four travelers qualify.
• At a lake, the taller servant tells them to apologize to the young master and pay a “small price” to secure their release. He also threatens that contacting their Sect would endanger its members.

Character developments and interactions

• Meng Fa is anxious and apologetic about the situation, but relieved when the travelers accept the risk themselves. He warns them not to attempt escape.
• Ji Zheng responds pragmatically, urging respect and caution because the Pu family is currently stronger. He also tries to keep the group from provoking the servants.
• Zhu Min openly challenges the Pu family’s moral standing, contrasting its comfortable isolation with the Sects’ sacrifices in war. She later quietly restrains Li Zi when Li Zi’s anger becomes visible.
• Li Zi seeks reassurance and a way out from the system. Learning that the Pu family needs their blood restores her hope that they can negotiate.
• The Pu servants act arrogantly and threaten the travelers, treating their dependence on the young master’s needs as leverage.

Significant themes

• Power versus merit: The Pu family’s strength reflects generations of accumulation, while the Sects’ diminished ranks result from sacrifice in wartime.
• Isolation and collective responsibility: Zhu Min condemns clans that remained safe while others defended the world, raising the question of whether neutrality is defensible when everyone shares the consequences.
• Negotiation under coercion: The travelers are outmatched, but their value to the Pu family gives them a possible bargaining position.

Plot points and events

• After the group is awakened from their meditation, a boat rises from the lake and carries them toward the Pu Lineage’s manor. Ji Zheng, Zhu Min, and Song Wanbai meditate on the journey to stabilize the cultivation gains from the Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk; Li Zi guards them and practices Song Wanbai’s footwork technique.
• The system explains that the Pu Lineage treats its own servants far better than Sects can afford to treat their many disciples, and warns that Rogue Cultivators face far greater danger than Sect members.
• The three meditators emerge stronger: Ji Zheng’s Pure Yang Physique has evolved again, Zhu Min gains an insight she plans to pursue in seclusion, and Song Wanbai’s cultivation and Spirit Beast both improve. Song Wanbai also contacts her Sect in case help is needed.
• At the manor, a steward tries to lead the group onward without explaining why. Ji Zheng demands to know their destination and arranges for Zhu Min to contact her Sect; Song Wanbai reveals she has already sent word to hers.
• Learning they are Sect disciples, the steward abandons his original plan to take their blood for the young master without explanation. He admits they were brought in as a source of blood for a medicinal catalyst, then leaves to consult the manor’s master.
• The group waits in the Main Hall. Since the others are still recovering from being abruptly awakened, Song Wanbai and Zhu Min conclude that Li Zi is the only one whose blood is in suitable condition. Li Zi volunteers, joking that she has plenty.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi is comparatively unaffected by the interrupted meditation, takes responsibility for guarding the others, practices her new footwork, and volunteers to help despite the unsettling circumstances.
• Ji Zheng remains composed and protective, questioning the steward and ensuring the group has Sect support. He initially offers to give blood himself.
• Zhu Min is wary and perceptive, and plans to enter seclusion to develop her new insight.
• Song Wanbai takes practical precautions by contacting her Sect and assesses the group’s condition; her Spirit Beast has also grown stronger.
• The steward’s manner shifts from cold and commanding to forced politeness once he discovers the group’s affiliations. The others respond to the blood request with caution, but Li Zi’s bravado breaks the tension and makes them laugh.

Significant themes

• Protection and status: Sect membership offers leverage and safeguards, while Rogue Cultivators are vulnerable to unchecked violence.
• Exploitation and power: The manor intends to use visitors as medicinal resources, revealing the Pu Lineage’s disregard for people it believes it can control.
• Loyalty and solidarity: The group looks out for one another, calls on their Sects for backup, and weighs who can safely bear the cost.

Chapter 205 Summary

Key plot points and events

• Ji Zheng, Zhu Min, Song Wanbai, and Li Zi hope to resolve their business with the Pu family quickly and find a quiet place to cultivate.
• As the Pu Clan Leader arrives, the system reveals that his youngest son, Pu Tingyun, has been targeted by someone.
• The Clan Leader orders the four guests to provide blood for his gravely ill son, promising compensation. Ji Zheng agrees, joking that it can repay the Chaos-Heaven Origin Milk they took by accident.
• While a physician checks their pulses, Li Zi speculates that one of the Clan Leader’s brothers may have arranged the plot. Her thoughts are heard aloud by everyone, sparking immediate suspicion and tension.
• The system corrects her: the brothers are not responsible, and the Pu family is loyal to one another. It then reveals that the plot is connected to the Devil Race.

Character developments

• Li Zi remains curious and quick to invent dramatic explanations, unintentionally stirring up suspicion.
• Ji Zheng, Zhu Min, and Song Wanbai try to conceal their alarm as Li Zi’s private thoughts expose them to a dangerous situation.
• The Clan Leader and his brothers move from anger and mutual suspicion to relief when the system clears the family of betrayal.

Significant themes

• The danger of concealed thoughts: Li Zi’s inner commentary is audible, turning speculation into a public crisis.
• Family loyalty and trust: The Pu brothers are shown to stand together, despite the initial suspicion.
• Secrets and outside threats: The mystery shifts from possible family treachery to a wider danger involving the Devil Race.

Character interactions

• The Clan Leader speaks to the four guests with authority, while Ji Zheng responds cooperatively.
• Li Zi’s speculation alarms the Clan Leader and his brothers, and the others try to act as though nothing is happening.
• The system reassures everyone that the Pu family is not involved in the plot, then heightens their concern with the Devil Race revelation.

• The Pu Lineage’s curse: For generations, the Pu family has produced exceptionally talented cultivators with Supreme Heavenly Spiritual Roots, but many were frail from birth and died young. The family has never been able to explain why, despite trying every remedy.
• Li Zi’s revelation: Li Zi’s mysterious system claims that a hidden Fortune-Devouring Formation beneath the Pu Manor has been draining the lineage’s Fortune. The loss has left some descendants sickly and others less talented. It also explains why Pu Tingyun cannot recover through medicine alone.
• A long-laid demonic plan: The Formation was allegedly planted thousands of years ago by a Demoness who infiltrated the Manor as a maid. She later died in the last Immortal-Demon War, but the scheme was part of the Devil Race’s preparations for another invasion. Because the Formation feeds on Fortune rather than spiritual energy or Demonic Aura, even the Manor’s Mahayana experts could not detect it. It can be found and removed by digging it out.
• The likely beneficiary: The system cannot confirm who received the stolen Fortune, but Li Zi suspects it went to Demon Prince Si Le. Ji Zheng and Zhu Min independently reach the same conclusion. The Pu family is horrified and skeptical, since the Demon Prince is believed to have died long ago.
  Character developments and interactions: The Clan Leader’s grief over the family’s dead kin turns to shock when he hears the revelation; he crushes his cup, though his brother dismisses the breakage and orders Li Zi’s pulse-taking to continue. Li Zi shifts from casual curiosity to alarm as she realizes the Devil Race’s threat may be active far earlier than she believed. The Pu family members, unable to hear the system directly, watch Li Zi react to its claims and struggle to decide whether they can be trusted.
  Themes: The chapter explores inherited suffering, stolen fortune, and the hidden cost of exceptional talent. It also builds tension around secret infiltration and long-term plotting, suggesting that the coming conflict may be underway well before the events described in the original story.

Plot points and events

• Li Zi realizes that Si Le’s survival and rise in the Cultivation World may be tied to a Formation that drains the Pu Clan’s Fortune. She sees the clan’s past misfortunes as the source of his extraordinary luck and becomes desperate to destroy the Formation.
• Zhu Min helps Li Zi leave the gathering to change clothes, giving Ji Zheng a chance to explain the danger to the Pu Clan. He shares what he knows about the book Artifact Spirit’s ability to foresee events and the Sect’s plans to fight the Devil Race.
• The Pu Clan Leader remains cautious, but agrees to investigate. Ji Zheng asks the clan to join forces with his Sect if the Formation is found.
• After speaking privately with Li Zi, Zhu Min trusts her warning and reports it to the clan. Guided by the Artifact Spirit, Li Zi identifies the real place to search: a weed-covered corner along the Mansion’s southwest wall, not the Garden.
• The Clan Leader orders the excavation, alarmed by the possibility that the Formation is slowly destroying the clan’s bloodline.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi is increasingly anxious and feels the weight of persuading a powerful clan with little proof. Despite her fear, she relays the Artifact Spirit’s instructions.
• Zhu Min demonstrates firm faith in Li Zi, quickly acting on her warning and helping bring it before the clan.
• Ji Zheng tactfully earns the Pu Clan’s trust, revealing enough information to gain their cooperation while withholding what he cannot share.
• The Pu Clan Leader shifts from skepticism to urgent action as the threat becomes credible, though the clan’s willingness to investigate still reflects caution.
• The Pu Clan members listen as Li Zi and Ji Zheng explain the danger; the steward, previously arrogant, becomes markedly deferential.

Significant themes

• Luck and hidden costs: Si Le’s good fortune may have been siphoned from the Pu Clan, turning apparent coincidence into exploitation.
• Trust under uncertainty: The clan must decide whether to risk acting on Li Zi’s unusual, hard-to-verify knowledge.
• Cooperation against a greater threat: The Sect and a traditionally reclusive clan begin moving toward an alliance against the Devil Race.
• Inherited and collective consequences: The Formation threatens not only individuals but the Pu Clan’s descendants and long-term survival.

Plot and events

• The Pu Clan investigates the neglected Side Residence after Li Zi warns that a hidden Formation may be harming the clan. The clan leader insists on having guards dig with shovels, while the gathered cultivators watch anxiously.
• The guards uncover a large piece of Butterfly Flower Wood, a Formation anchor covered in runes. Its discovery confirms that a powerful Formation has been draining the clan’s fortune.
• The clan leader concludes that the Formation may explain why many Pu Clan prodigies died young. Furious, he asks Ji Zheng to deliver a letter to the Sect Master, declaring the Pu Clan’s willingness to work with the major Sects against the hidden Devil Race threat.
• Encouraged by the discovery, Li Zi offers to treat the clan leader’s gravely ill son, Pu Tingyun, hoping to receive the rare Datura Spirit Grass. The clan leader readily agrees to give it to her if she succeeds.
• The clan leader asks Li Zi what she knows about the devils and the Formation’s creator. The system explains that a devil woman set the Formation thousands of years ago but is now dead. Other devils may still be hiding in the Cultivation World, waiting for the Demon Prince to mature, though their identities remain unknown.

Character developments and interactions

• The Pu clan leader shifts from suspicion and fear to anger and resolve once the Formation is proven real. He commits his clan to cooperating with the Sects and entrusts his son’s care to Li Zi.
• Li Zi gains credibility with the Pu Clan. Though concerned about the clan’s fate, she is also tempted by the chance to obtain the Datura Spirit Grass, which could greatly strengthen her Divine Bone and cultivation.
• Ji Zheng supports the investigation and agrees to carry the clan leader’s letter. He and the others are embarrassed by Li Zi’s overly serious attempt to appear mysterious.
• The system provides context about the Formation, the Datura Spirit Grass, and the wider Devil Race plot, while admitting its information has limits.

Significant themes

• Truth and fear: The Pu Clan fears what the excavation may reveal, yet the truth proves impossible to ignore.
• Hidden threats and inherited consequences: A centuries-old Formation has quietly damaged the clan across generations.
• Self-interest alongside duty: Li Zi’s offer may help Pu Tingyun, but she also hopes to gain a powerful treasure.
• Uncertainty and looming danger: The Formation’s maker is dead, but the larger threat of concealed devils remains unresolved.

Chapter 209 Summary

• The Pu Clan discovers the Demons’ hidden presence. After Li Zi and her companions expose Formations beneath the Pu Clan’s ancestral house, the clan’s powerful cultivators inspect them and realize the Demons have infiltrated their territory. Li Zi casually suggests that whoever made the Formations may have died in the last great war; the clan leader agrees despite the lack of evidence. Li Zi also privately discusses pretending to cure Pu Tingyun in exchange for Datura Spirit Grass, unaware that the assembled experts can hear her.
• The reclusive Pu Clan decides to act. Enraged that the Demons have reached their home, the clan resolves to contact the Sects and seek help from the Li and Jin Clans. The Pu Clan and three other ancient clans have long lived in an isolated region, avoiding outside conflicts and refusing to aid the Cultivation World against the Devil Race. Their self-imposed neutrality came partly from fear and self-interest. Now that their own safety is threatened, the Pu Clan is ready to fight back.
• The Sects react with excitement. News of the Pu Clan’s letter reaches the Spirit Sword Sect. Its First Elder verifies that it is genuine and quickly summons the major Sect leaders. The Sect Masters welcome the possibility of the Pu Clan’s support in the coming war. They hope the clan may fight alongside them—or at least provide a refuge for civilians and weaker cultivators.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Li Zi remains innocent and apparently unaware of how odd her exchange with the clan leader sounds. Her whispered plan to bargain for the Datura Spirit Grass is overheard, but the powerful cultivators pretend not to notice.
• The Pu Clan leader and elders shift from cautious observers to determined opponents of the Demons. Their anger marks a break with the clan’s longstanding isolation.
• The younger Pu Clan members are excited at the prospect of meeting people from the Sects and seeing the wider Cultivation World.
• The Sect Masters, including the Thunder God Hall, Flame Hall, and Medicine King Sect leaders, respond with relief and enthusiasm, already considering how the Pu Clan might help in the next conflict.

Significant Themes

• Self-interest versus responsibility: The Pu Clan avoided past wars until the danger reached its own home.
• Isolation giving way to cooperation: The Demons’ infiltration pushes a secluded clan toward alliance with the wider world.
• Hope against a looming invasion: The Sects see the Pu Clan’s unexpected outreach as a potential turning point in the coming war.

Key events

• The cultivation sects learn that the Devil Race planted a Formation beneath the Pu Lineage’s ancestral home thousands of years ago to siphon away its Fortune, likely helping prepare for a future invasion.
• The Formation was discovered only after Li Zi went to the Wasteland. The Nine Nether Gate Master boasts that he gave her the Skyveil Seal and expects a share of her gains.
• The Second Elder explains that the stolen Fortune may account for why Ran Zirou could find the Hairpin containing a fragment of Demon Prince Si Le’s soul, despite the sects’ inability to detect it.
• A new letter confirms that Ran Zirou has found the Hairpin. The sect leaders debate whether to seize it immediately or keep watching her to draw out hidden members of the Devil Race. They decide to monitor Ran Zirou and the Demon Prince while relying on Li Zi as a safeguard.
• The chapter then flashes back two months: Ran Zirou searches for a cliff from her past life. She jumps, hoping to repeat an earlier event, and lands in a lake. A nearby voice wonders whether she survived.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi is recognized as pivotal: her Wasteland trip led to the Formation’s discovery and may have disrupted the Devil Race’s plans.
• The sect leaders move from shock and anger to cautious strategy. The Thunder God Hall Sect Master wants immediate action, while the Profound Heaven Sect Master and others argue that Ran Zirou can serve as bait.
• The Nine Nether Gate Master is gleeful about his possible share of Li Zi’s treasures, irritating the other leaders.
• Ran Zirou remains fixated on Si Le and her memories of a previous life. Though uneasy about her body’s rapid development from Dual Cultivation, she suppresses her doubts and uses her past-life confidence to make the dangerous leap.

Significant themes

• Fortune and destiny: The stolen Fortune explains how the Demon Prince’s soul remained hidden and how events seemed to favor it.
• Strategy versus urgency: The sects must weigh stopping an immediate threat against using it to expose a larger conspiracy.
• Past-life identity and obsession: Ran Zirou’s choices are driven by memories and attachments from her former life, even when they put her in danger.

Plot points and events

• Ran Zirou’s memories of a past life return. She recalls living in a remote village with siblings Chang Wu and Chang Die, where Chang Wu developed feelings for her and once bought her a hairpin containing the soul of Si Le.
• Si Le later slaughtered the village, including Chang Wu. Ran remembers the village fondly as a peaceful refuge, despite the tragedy.
• After falling from a cliff, Ran awakens in a donkey cart with Chang Wu and Chang Die—apparently reliving the same events. She pretends to have amnesia, as she did before.
• The siblings take her to their home. Ran is badly injured, but expects to recover through cultivation and focuses on obtaining the hairpin.
• She persuades the lovestruck Chang Wu to go to town and buy jewelry, hoping he will bring back the hairpin. He is gone for five days, while Ran stays in bed and ignores most household routines.
• Chang Wu eventually returns bruised and disheveled. Though he greets Ran warmly, she immediately asks about the items he was meant to bring, and he looks dejected.

Character developments and interactions

• Ran Zirou is calculating and goal-focused: she deliberately repeats her past-life amnesia act and uses her beauty and gentle manner to persuade Chang Wu. She remembers the village with affection but does not appear to miss Chang Wu romantically.
• Chang Wu is shy and quickly infatuated with Ran. He agrees to help her, but returns battered and seems hurt by her impatient interest in the purchases.
• Chang Die shows concern for Ran but also bears the household chores. Her parents privately criticize Ran’s laziness and lack of bathing; Ran dismisses these concerns, relying on cultivation to keep herself clean.
• The family initially welcomes Ran warmly, despite the strain her extended rest places on the household.

Significant themes

• Repetition and fate: Ran recognizes that her present circumstances are echoing her past life.
• Memory and identity: She feigns amnesia while privately remembering the events and people around her.
• Manipulation and unequal affection: Ran uses Chang Wu’s feelings to pursue her own objective, while he seems emotionally invested in her.
• Tranquility shadowed by violence: The village represents a peaceful refuge in Ran’s memories, though its eventual destruction hangs over the events.

• The hairpin reaches Ran Zirou: Chang Wu returns from town bruised and empty-handed after repeated mishaps, but he has bought Ran Zirou a coral hairpin. Hidden cultivators recognize an unusual aura inside it, similar to Demonic Aura, and suspect it contains the sleeping Demon Prince’s Soul. The Sects tell them to keep watch without revealing themselves.
• Ran Zirou’s plan fails—for now: That night, Ran Zirou drips her blood onto the hairpin, expecting to awaken Si Le as she did in her previous life. Nothing happens, even after she tries several more times. She is left confused and questioning what she believed about her past.
• The Sects gain an ally: Four senior representatives travel to the Pu Lineage to discuss cooperation against the Devil Race. Their Tribulation Transcendence escort is impressed when he learns they have located the Demon Prince’s Soul and offers the Pu Clan’s help against powerful Devils.
• The stolen-fortune Formation is exposed: At the Pu Clan Mansion, Li Zi rests and advances to the peak of the Eighth Level of Foundation Establishment. Meanwhile, the Pu Clan excavates the hidden Formation beneath the mansion and confirms it was designed to steal fortune by manipulating Feng Shui. After uncovering it, the Clan contacts the Sects and agrees to join forces.
  Character developments and interactions: Chang Wu tries to please Ran Zirou with a gift, but her excitement quickly eclipses concern for his injuries. Ran Zirou’s confidence in her past-life memories falters when Si Le does not awaken. Li Zi is delighted by her unintended success in disrupting Ran Zirou’s expected fate. The Sects’ representatives earn the Pu cultivator’s respect by revealing their knowledge of the Demon Prince’s Soul, while the Pu Clan’s newfound cooperation marks a major alliance.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes how fate and fortune can overturn expectations: the hairpin reaches Ran Zirou despite interference, yet the destruction of the fortune-stealing Formation changes what it can do. It also explores the limits of foreknowledge, the consequences of manipulating fortune, and the strategic value of cooperation.

• Fortune and Si Le: Li Zi’s system explains that the Pu Clan’s inherited fortune helped Si Le remain hidden and regain his strength. The Sect’s repeated failures to find and kill him are also attributed to fortune. The experts accept that they have discovered the danger early enough, while Song Wanbai, Ji Zheng, and their companion leave for secluded cultivation.
• Li Zi visits Pu Tingyun: Li Zi goes to help Pu Tingyun “recover,” but finds a busy household, bloodied bandages, and a strong medicinal smell. Tingyun acts gravely ill and greets her with resentment, though the system reveals he is faking his condition.
• The family gathers: Pu Yunsi, Pu Yunsheng, and Pu Yunshi arrive to visit their cousin. Their teasing and Tingyun’s irritation expose the family’s strained, familiar dynamic. Li Zi, meanwhile, presses the system for the gossip about him.
• Tingyun’s past revealed: The system says Tingyun was once a gifted cultivator, but ten years earlier he fell for a woman who disliked men stronger than herself. He deliberately neglected cultivation to win her affection. His cousins realize this explains why he has fallen far behind them, and judge his choice harshly.
  Character developments and interactions: Li Zi remains outwardly patient despite Tingyun’s insults, motivated by the Datura Spirit Grass, but her curiosity about the system’s gossip quickly takes over. Tingyun’s feigned frailty and bitter remarks suggest a defensive, prickly temperament; his cousins respond with teasing and blunt physical restraint.
  Themes: The chapter highlights the elusive influence of inherited fortune, as well as the cost of sacrificing personal potential for romance. It also uses family banter and gossip to reveal character history and create humor.

Key events

• Pu Tingyun is exposed as having feigned poor health to avoid cultivation. He admits he was genuinely ill in the past, but has since used the excuse to neglect training.
• Tingyun has fallen in love with Jin Jianling, though the system reveals she does not return his feelings and may be leading him on without romantic interest.
• The system explains that Jin Jianling’s clan has forced her through yearly empowerment since birth, causing constant agony and leaving her foundations unstable. She fights Pu Yunsi to burn off the excess Spiritual Power and relieve the pain.
• The Jin Clan arrives, and the younger generation gathers in the Main Hall. Li Zi leaves to meet her sect’s elders, while Pu Yunsi sees Jianling again and reassesses her hostility.

Character developments and interactions

• Tingyun’s romantic devotion clashes with his family’s expectations and his own abandoned cultivation. Pu Yunsi, furious that he loves her sworn rival, punches him; the others rush to tend to him.
• Pu Yunsi’s anger toward Jianling softens into conflicted sympathy after learning about her suffering, though their rivalry remains.
• Jianling appears aloof and dismissive toward other young cultivators, but the chapter reframes her behavior through her pain and the burden imposed by her clan.
• Li Zi remains curious about the characters’ hidden motives, then reunites with her relieved sect elders.

Significant themes

• Love and self-sacrifice: Tingyun gives up cultivation for an unreturned affection.
• Misguided shortcuts and the cost of talent: The Jin Clan’s forced empowerment harms Jianling despite her exceptional potential.
• Rivalry and empathy: New information complicates Pu Yunsi’s view of her enemy.
• Appearance versus reality: Tingyun’s illness and Jianling’s arrogance both conceal more complicated truths.

Chapter 215 Summary

• Key events: The First Elder warns Li Zi to stay quiet while the Sect negotiates with the Four Great Clans about joining forces against the Devil Race. The Jin Clan Leader refuses, arguing that the Jin Clan is protected by its ties to the Immortal Realm. The system suddenly reveals that the Devil Race has already struck at the Jin Clan, shaking the negotiations.
• Revelation about Jin Jianling: Li Zi recognizes Jin Jianling’s Dragon Bone Whip from the original novel, where she became one of the Demon Prince’s powerful subordinates—and was turned into a Puppet. The system adds that the Four Great Clans all perished in the novel, and that Jin Jianling’s rare Five Yin King Bone makes her especially suited to being turned into a Puppet.
• Character developments and interactions: The Jin Clan Leader’s confidence gives way to anger and fear for his daughter, and he starts to leave with her. Jin Jianling, seemingly detached, chooses to stay and hear Li Zi out. She meets Li Zi’s smile with a faint, involuntary one of her own, hinting at curiosity or interest. Pu Clan Leader urges the Jin Clan Leader to calm down, while the other clan members anxiously seek answers.
• Themes: The chapter explores the danger of relying on assumed protection, the gap between an original story and events unfolding beyond its plot, and the looming threat of fate—especially the possibility that knowledge of the novel might help prevent the Four Great Clans’ destruction.

Key events

• The Jin Clan is revealed to be the strongest of the Four Great Clans, but it has been secretly weakened by the Devil Race.
• The Jin Clan’s cultivators have been poisoned for generations through spirit-beast meat they regularly eat. The poison is nearly undetectable, accumulates over time, and causes worsening pain as cultivation rises, preventing the clan’s elders from advancing to immortality.
• The Jin Clan Leader realizes this explains the suffering and decline he has concealed for years. Jin Jianling has received cultivation from the elders because her special constitution may let her carry their legacy.
• Li Zi and the system discuss killing Si Le, a weakened Devil Race member, but the poisoning and how to cure it remain unresolved.
• Urged by the Pu Clan Leader, the Jin Clan Leader agrees to consider setting aside old grudges and cooperating with the Sects against the Devil Race.

Character developments and interactions

• Jin Clan Leader shifts from guarded distrust to reluctant openness, recognizing his clan may not survive without outside help.
• Jin Jianling quietly signals to Li Zi, seemingly hoping she will address the poison, while remaining composed as her clan’s crisis is exposed.
• Pu Clan Leader speaks frankly about both clans’ weakness and persuades his old friend that cooperation is necessary.
• Li Zi is angered by the Devil Race’s cruelty and intends to help eliminate Si Le, though she is briefly distracted from the Jin Clan’s immediate problem.

Significant themes

• Hidden, long-term harm: A simple, carefully concealed poison has weakened even the most powerful clan.
• Decline and legacy: The elders’ suffering and cultivation transfers to Jin Jianling show the cost of preserving the clan across generations.
• Unity against a greater threat: Past grudges may have to be set aside when the Devil Race endangers everyone.

Key events

• The Jin Clan Leader reveals his longstanding hostility toward the Sect stems from repeated betrayals: Sect disciples once tried to kill him and steal his treasures in a Secret Realm, and similar incidents happened four times.
• The revelation unsettles the younger members of both clans and changes how they view the Sect’s cultivators.
• Li Zi asks whether the Jin Clan’s illness can be cured. The system suggests the Medicine King Sect may know how to treat it.
• The Medicine King Sect Master examines the Jin Clan Leader with a magical staff. Its green light eases his pain and detects something living inside him.
• After checking the pulses of the Jin Clan Leader, Jin Jianling, and another clan member, the Medicine King Sect Master identifies the cause as the legendary Demon Flame Worm, a parasite usually found in Spirit Beasts.

Character developments and interactions

• The Jin Clan Leader’s old trauma resurfaces, leaving him visibly weakened; Jin Jianling comforts him and then eagerly accepts the Medicine King Sect Master’s help.
• Li Zi’s questions steer the conversation from the clan’s historical grievance back toward finding a cure. The system explains that the Jin Clan Leader’s trusting, boastful behavior when young may have repeatedly exposed him to danger.
• The Medicine King Sect Master shifts from seeming unimpressive to commanding respect through his medical skill. His excitement at the discovery makes him act abruptly, alarming the Jin Clan before his examination yields a breakthrough.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and prejudice: Repeated wrongdoing by Sect members has shaped the Jin Clan Leader’s distrust, while the younger generation questions whether that distrust is fair.
• Expertise beyond strength: The Medicine King Sect Master demonstrates that specialized knowledge can matter more than cultivation level.
• Hope through discovery: Identifying the parasite offers the first concrete lead toward understanding—and potentially curing—the Jin Clan’s illness.

Plot points and events

• The Medicine King Sect Master discovers that the Jin Clan members carry living Demon Flame Worms. He is delighted by the rare opportunity to study them and begins listing ingredients for a possible cure, though he becomes so absorbed that he barely answers the Jin Clan Leader.
• The Nine Nether Gate Master explains that the Medicine King Sect Master needs time to focus. The Jin Clan Leader agrees to seek treatment at the Medicine King Sect, and the clan members hurry home to warn their families not to eat the infected Spirit Beast’s meat.
• Li Zi hopes Jin Jianling can escape the fate of becoming a Puppet of the Demon Prince. She notices Pu Tingyun’s conflicted feelings toward Jin Jianling: he cares for her, but feels increasingly distant from her and regrets neglecting his cultivation. Pu Yunsi urges him to grow strong enough to protect her.
• Li Zi privately regrets failing to treat Pu Tingyun before the Datura Spirit Grass disappeared. The system reminds her that destroying the Formation has already delayed the Devil Race’s invasion by centuries. The Pu Clan Leader overhears her thoughts.
• After discussing cooperation with the Pu Clan, the sect leaders leave by Flying Boat. The system proposes going after the Demon Prince’s Soul, but Li Zi doubts she can fight him. The system claims her strength, combined with Ran Zirou’s Hairpin, would give her an advantage.
• Ran Zirou, meanwhile, has spent nearly ten days trying to activate the Hairpin with her blood, without success. She is increasingly distressed: her plans have unraveled, her allies are gone, and Si Le has stopped responding. She pleads with him to return.

Character developments and interactions

• The Medicine King Sect Master is portrayed as an enthusiastic, obsessive healer; his excitement over the worms clashes with the Jin Clan’s disgust and fear.
• Pu Tingyun recognizes how much Jin Jianling has suffered and resolves to cultivate rather than remain weak. His feelings mix affection, insecurity, and uncertainty about what is right.
• Pu Yunsi gives him practical encouragement, linking cultivation to his ability to protect Jin Jianling.
• Li Zi remains self-conscious about her limited fighting ability and disappointed in herself for neglecting Pu Tingyun, while still hoping to alter Jin Jianling’s fate.
• Ran Zirou shifts from confident schemer to increasingly desperate figure as the Hairpin fails and Si Le remains silent.
• The Pu Clan Leader silently takes note of Li Zi’s inner thoughts, while the gap between clan members and sect outsiders remains a concern.

Significant themes

• Healing and danger: The Demon Flame Worms may offer a path to treatment, but their presence is horrifying and potentially linked to the infected meat.
• Protection through strength: Pu Tingyun’s decision to cultivate reflects the idea that affection alone cannot protect someone from danger.
• Changing fate and loss of control: Li Zi hopes to redirect Jin Jianling’s future, while Ran Zirou struggles with a life that no longer follows her expectations.
• Trust and divided loyalties: The chapter highlights the fragile boundary between clans and sects, even when cooperation—and Li Zi’s thoughts—could benefit everyone.

Chapter 219 Summary

Key plot points and events

• Li Zi finds Ran Zirou in a shabby farmhouse, where Ran is crying and gripping a hairpin hard enough to mark her skin.
• Li Zi is startled by Ran’s poor living conditions and weak cultivation: Ran is still around the Eighth Level of Qi Refining, despite once having reached the Tribulation Transcendence Stage.
• Ran blames Li Zi for her misfortune, but Li Zi says she has been away cultivating in the Wasteland for months and knows nothing of what happened.
• Ran learns that Li Zi has visited the Wasteland and obtained a Skyveil Seal. When Li Zi says someone gave it to her, Ran becomes furious, since she had struggled to obtain such a seal in her previous life.
• Ran accuses Li Zi of stealing Sixth Senior Sister Fu Ruolan’s seal, claiming Fu needs a Wasteland herb to recover from a grave illness and that Li Zi may have doomed her.

Character developments

• Ran Zirou is revealed to be struggling badly after her rebirth: she has made little cultivation progress and lives in stark contrast to her former privileged life. Her bitterness and sense of unfairness intensify when she sees Li Zi thriving.
• Li Zi appears calm and capable. She does not understand Ran’s accusations, and her cultivation is now strong enough that Ran cannot gauge it. Her skillful movement also suggests how far she has advanced.

Significant themes

• Unequal fortunes and resentment: Ran sees Li Zi’s success and easy access to a Skyveil Seal as deeply unfair compared with her own past struggles.
• Rebirth versus reality: Ran’s memories and former peak cultivation have not translated into present success.
• Misunderstanding and blame: Ran assumes Li Zi caused her troubles and may have harmed Fu Ruolan, while Li Zi lacks the information behind Ran’s accusations.

Character interactions

• Li Zi approaches Ran with concern and confusion, asking why she is living in such hardship and has cultivated so little.
• Ran responds with anger, accusing Li Zi of ruining her life and questioning how she obtained her seal.
• Their conversation ends in a serious accusation: Ran suggests Li Zi’s actions may have endangered Fu Ruolan.

Chapter 220 Summary

• The Sect gains powerful allies: Li Zi recalls that her absent Sixth Senior Sister, Fu Ruolan, is said to be secluded in cultivation. The System points out that, with the Reclusive Clans now cooperating with the Sect, Fu Ruolan could obtain help if needed. Li Zi tells Ran Zirou that the Jin and Pu Clans have agreed to help fight the Devil Race and reinforce the Barrier.
• Ran Zirou is shaken: This alliance contradicts what she remembers from her previous life, when the clans stayed out of the Devil Race’s invasion. She wonders whether her rebirth has changed the course of events.
• Li Zi questions Ran Zirou’s loyalties: Li Zi asks whether Ran would side with the Cultivation World or the Devil Race, especially if the Demon Prince were handsome. Ran says she will side with whoever treats her well, insisting she cultivates to protect herself rather than the world.
• Li Zi confronts her about the Demon Prince: Li Zi demands the hairpin containing his Soul. Ran is alarmed that Li Zi knows its secret and tries to escape, but Li Zi easily restrains her. Ran’s rapid progress to the Eighth Level of Qi Refining has not closed the gap between them.
• The hairpin is seized: Li Zi accuses Ran of hiding the Demon Prince and trying to resurrect him despite the danger to the mortal world—and despite the suffering he caused Ran in her previous life. After subduing her, Li Zi finds the hairpin and senses the immense, despairing dark power within it. Ran screams for Li Zi to return it.

Character Developments and Interactions

Li Zi remains playful but shows growing seriousness about the threat posed by the Devil Race. She is baffled by Ran Zirou’s choice to pursue the Demon Prince rather than use her rebirth and powerful cultivation method to advance. Ran, meanwhile, reveals that her loyalty is self-serving and reacts with fear and fury when Li Zi takes the hairpin. Their exchange shifts from teasing to a direct struggle over the Demon Prince’s fate.

Significant Themes

• Changed fate: The clans’ unexpected involvement suggests that events may be diverging from Ran’s memories of her previous life.
• Self-interest versus collective responsibility: Ran prioritizes her own safety, while Li Zi argues for protecting the wider world.
• Choices after rebirth: Ran’s decisions appear to squander the opportunities her second life gave her.
• Power and temptation: The hairpin’s chilling, despair-filled energy hints at the danger bound to the Demon Prince’s Soul.