Chapter Summaries

• Key events: Li Zi learns through her system that Ran Zirou stole Medicine Maniac’s Bone-Cleansing Pill formula and intended to make the pill herself, claim credit, and damage the Medicine King Sect’s reputation. The system explains that Ran cannot obtain the ingredients, and the Sect’s investigation has already disrupted her plan. The Alchemy Pavilion’s disciples overhear the exchange, stop their work, and alert the Sect Master. As Medicine Maniac summons Li Zi, the system reveals Ran has left Lan Peak Village and now plans to free the Demon Prince to address the dangerous effects of her cultivation method.
• Character developments: Li Zi’s fear of Ran Zirou fuels her urgent desire to grow stronger, though she is relieved to hear Ran’s first scheme has likely failed. Medicine Maniac shifts from concern over his stolen work to intense anger at the plan to free the Demon Prince. The disciples rally to defend their Sect and Medicine Maniac’s achievement.
• Interactions: Li Zi questions the system, whose delayed explanation first alarms and then reassures her. The disciples compare what they overheard and agree to act. Medicine Maniac calls Li Zi over, but the system’s latest revelation makes him stop in shock.
• Themes: The chapter explores plagiarism, recognition, and the consequences of undermining a respected institution; it also contrasts trained and self-taught Alchemists. The final revelation raises the stakes from reputational conflict to a potential threat to the wider world.

Key plot points and events

• Li Zi realizes Ran Zirou is heading toward the western side of the Needle Pine Spirit Beast Forest and believes she must be stopped, but she has no clear plan.
• The Medicine Maniac explains that Demonic Aura destroyed his cultivation and says he would gladly give his life to destroy any Demonic Cultivator he encounters.
• He locks Li Zi in a furnace room and tells her to retrieve a rare Soul-Fusing Pill. The extreme heat nearly overwhelms her, so she sits down and uses her Spiritual Power to endure it. The system explains that the pill can restore someone whose body has been destroyed, provided they retain a fragment of their Divine Soul.
• The Medicine Maniac rushes to the Main Hall, intending to kill the person Li Zi said was trying to resurrect the Demon Prince. There, he finds several Sect Masters gathered to discuss the Bone-Cleansing Pill, which he developed to cure Demonic Aura that has entered the body.
• The Sect Masters praise his discovery and agree to publicly recognize the Medicine King Sect’s achievement. They then debate how to handle Ran Zirou and the Demon Prince: some favor killing Ran, while others argue she should be monitored and used to help eliminate the Demon Prince for good.
• The Spirit Sword Sect Master admits his surveillance failed to detect Ran’s scheme to claim credit for the Bone-Cleansing Pill. He boasts, however, that his followers have kept her cultivation at the Qi Refining Stage by driving away the men she pursued.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi remains cautious around the Medicine Maniac, but endures the furnace’s heat rather than abandoning the pill. Her good fortune—and the system’s excitement about it—continues to be a running joke.
• The Medicine Maniac (Yu Shuilian) is revealed as both a brilliant healer and a deeply vengeful man whose own ruined cultivation fuels his hatred of Demonic Cultivators. His harsh treatment of Li Zi contrasts with his devotion to his work.
• The Sect Masters cooperate in recognizing Yu Shuilian’s achievement but clash over whether Ran Zirou is a danger to eliminate or a useful means of destroying the Demon Prince.
• The Spirit Sword Sect Master tries to defend his failed oversight, then presents his effort to limit Ran’s cultivation as a success.

Significant themes

• Recognition and credit: The Sect Masters’ gathering centers on ensuring Yu Shuilian receives credit for the cure rather than letting Ran Zirou claim it.
• Risk versus control: The leaders weigh the danger of leaving Ran alive against the potential benefit of using her to destroy the Demon Prince.
• Sacrifice and obsession: Yu Shuilian’s life’s work is shaped by the personal cost of Demonic Aura, while his extreme response shows how grief and hatred can drive him.
• Comic irony: Despite the grave political threat, the scene’s humor comes from Li Zi’s bewildered luck and the Spirit Sword Sect Master’s self-satisfied defense of a questionable surveillance strategy.

Plot points and events

• After the Sects agree to support research into the Bone-Cleansing Pill, the Medicine King Sect Master learns that the Medicine Maniac has made a Soul-Fusing Pill and given it to Li Zi.
• The Medicine King Sect Master urges his junior to take the pill himself, since it could save his life. The Medicine Maniac refuses: his priority has always been developing the Bone-Cleansing Pill, and he believes his work has made his remaining century of life worthwhile.
• The Spirit Sword Sect Master leaves Li Zi to cultivate at the Medicine King Sect.
• In the Alchemy Tower, Li Zi is trapped in extreme heat as part of the Medicine Maniac’s test. She struggles toward the pill furnace, using Spiritual Power to protect herself and asking the system for motivational stories.
• The system recounts how Ma Yan trained beneath a waterfall for two months and Ji Jie fought Fierce Wolves alone to force a breakthrough. Li Zi takes a pill to replenish herself and wonders why these Alchemists trained their bodies when spiritual flames are already effective for body tempering.

Character developments and interactions

• The Medicine Maniac reveals the conviction behind his lifelong research: having experienced Demonic Aura’s harm himself, he wants to help others through the Bone-Cleansing Pill. His refusal of the Soul-Fusing Pill shows he values his purpose over his own survival.
• The Medicine King Sect Master is deeply moved and distressed by his junior’s self-sacrifice, while the Spirit Sword Sect Master comes to respect the Medicine Maniac’s dedication.
• Li Zi is frightened and in pain, but keeps going with Spiritual Power, medicine, and the system’s encouragement. Her modern sensibilities make the harsh cultivation test especially shocking to her.
• The system tries to motivate Li Zi with examples of other disciples’ demanding training, prompting admiration from those listening and confusion from Li Zi.

Significant themes

• Purpose and sacrifice: The Medicine Maniac accepts a shorter life in service of a discovery he believes can help others.
• Perseverance through hardship: Li Zi’s ordeal and the stories of Ma Yan and Ji Jie present suffering as part of cultivation.
• Empathy through experience: The Medicine Maniac’s own pain from Demonic Aura shaped his understanding of its effects on others.

Key plot points

• The System tries to encourage Li Zi with stories of diligent cultivators, but she repeatedly points out that their supposedly admirable habits have less noble explanations.
• Li Zi exposes Hong Binyi’s winter stone-lifting as an attempt to show off for female disciples. A senior sister reveals she deliberately praised him until he strained a muscle, briefly putting an end to his antics.
• She suspects Du Jun’s days-long meditation and odd behavior are signs of exhaustion or indulgence, not exemplary discipline.
• Li Zi explains that Yuan Zhi purifies Spirit Stones not for cultivation or pill-making, but to create Recording Spirit Stones so he can watch performances from the Mortal World.
• Meanwhile, Li Zi struggles through intense furnace heat. She takes pills to protect herself and uses gossip to distract herself from the pain. It takes her five days to advance only a dozen or so steps.
• The chapter ends as the Inner Sect’s monthly assessment begins: disciples must submit their best pill of the month for evaluation.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi shows her sharp wit and skepticism, puncturing the System’s earnest but poorly researched examples. Despite her humor, she endures severe pain and persists toward the furnace.
• The System keeps searching for inspiring stories, but Li Zi’s interpretations repeatedly leave it confused.
• The nearby disciples share Li Zi’s amusement and recognize the truth behind the stories.
• The senior sister reveals her clever role in discouraging Hong Binyi’s flirtatious showboating.
• Hong Binyi, Du Jun, and Yuan Zhi are presented through comic misunderstandings that expose their actual motives and habits.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: What looks like discipline or dedication may have a self-serving or unconventional explanation.
• Hard work and talent: The opening questions whether effort alone is admirable when it distracts from one’s actual responsibilities.
• Endurance and distraction: Li Zi withstands the furnace’s extreme heat by relying on medicine, persistence, and humor.

Chapter 165 Summary

Key plot points and events

• Inner Sect mentors notice that nearly 80% of the disciples submitted alchemy work made about two weeks earlier, rather than showing their usual progress. They discover the disciples have been gathering at the Alchemy Pavilion to listen to Li Zi’s gossip.
• Li Zi’s story about Pei Yanghua—a hard-working alchemist whose mortal childhood sweetheart chose another man—moves the listeners, including the mentors.
• Alarmed that gossip is distracting the Sect’s disciples from cultivation, the mentors complain to the Sect Master. He agrees Li Zi should be sent away once she finishes absorbing her medicine.
• Li Zi takes the Soul-Fusing Pill. The Medicine King Sect Master and elders help her absorb it more quickly, impressed by her ability to retrieve the pill from the Medicine Maniac’s powerful Golden Lotus Flame.
• Li Zi misunderstands their help as a favor requested by Sect Master Jiang. After absorbing half the medicine’s effects, she receives Fu Chaoqing’s message and reluctantly leaves.
• The chapter ends with news spreading that the Medicine King Sect has created a Bone-Cleansing Pill for mortals suffering from a hereditary condition caused by Demonic Aura.

Character developments and interactions

• Pei Yanghua’s backstory reveals that heartbreak once drove his exceptional dedication to alchemy; his former sweetheart ultimately urged him to follow his own path.
• The mentors shift from puzzlement to concern, then blame Li Zi’s captivating stories for the disciples’ loss of focus.
• The Medicine King Sect’s leaders show unexpected care toward Li Zi by helping her absorb the pill. Li Zi responds with gratitude, though she mistakenly credits Sect Master Jiang.
• Fu Chaoqing’s message ends Li Zi’s stay at the Alchemy Pavilion, cutting short her enjoyment of the gossip.

Significant themes

• Distraction versus discipline: Even dedicated cultivators can lose focus, with gossip undermining the Sect’s collective progress.
• Love and mortality: Pei Yanghua’s story highlights the painful divide between an immortal cultivator’s long life and a mortal’s brief one.
• Compassion and misunderstanding: The elders’ assistance is generous, but Li Zi misreads its reason.
• Rumors and public benefit: While gossip disrupts training, the chapter closes with the spread of potentially valuable news about a pill that could help affected mortals.

• Key events: News of the Bone-Cleansing Pill spreads throughout the Mortal Realm, boosting the Medicine King Sect’s reputation. Mortals hear that the pill may be distributed for free through cooperation between the Medicine King Sect and the Spirit Sword Sect, with the major Sects publicly confirming its effects. Ran Zirou, who had hoped the pill’s value would remain doubted, is stunned: her plan to use it to become the Divine Maiden now seems ruined.
• Character developments: Ran Zirou’s confidence gives way to panic and despair as she realizes events have diverged sharply from her previous life. She seeks out Mo Feng and tries to assess his injuries, but her brief show of concern turns to disgust at his poor condition. Mo Feng is still weak, his cultivation unrecovered, and his injuries continue to trouble him.
• Character interactions: In a humble eatery, two couples discuss the pill’s promise and the Sect’s apparent generosity, revealing how strongly ordinary families hope it can heal the lingering effects of Demonic Aura. Ran Zirou questions them about the news and learns it has been officially announced by every major Sect. Later, she meets Mo Feng in a private room. He asks her to examine his injuries, and she asks what Xu Bai did to him; Mo Feng responds with bitter hatred.
• Significant themes: The chapter contrasts ordinary people’s hope with Ran Zirou’s self-interest, while emphasizing how public trust and cooperation can reshape the balance of power. It also highlights the widening gap between Ran Zirou’s expectations and reality, and Mo Feng’s continued physical and emotional decline.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Feng reveals that Xu Bai has unusually deep feelings for his Master, though he refuses to acknowledge them. Ran Zirou dismisses Mo Feng, believing he is no longer useful.
• Ran remembers Si Le, a powerful figure from her previous life whom she awakened through a hairpin after jumping off a cliff. Hoping to begin again, she decides to seek him out.
• Mo Feng offers Ran a bargain: if she cures his condition, he will help her capture Li Zi. Ran doubts his ability but admits his condition might still be treatable.
• Back at the Sect, Li Zi continues preparing for the Wasteland expedition with Ji Zheng and Zhu Min. After two months of training, her cultivation remains at the first tier of Foundation Establishment, but she has learned more techniques and made escape and footwork her specialty.
• The system tells Li Zi that Master is giving Ji Zheng and Zhu Min powerful, specialized sword training. Li Zi is unconcerned, accepting that evasion—not combat—is her path.
• News arrives that the Bone-Cleansing Pill is working. One child from Lan Peak Village speaks for the first time after treatment, and two of the ten children treated awaken Spiritual Roots. The success earns the Medicine King Sect widespread praise and brings the local villagers’ gratitude to Li Zi’s Sect as well.

Character developments and interactions

• Ran Zirou turns away from Mo Feng and focuses on restarting her fortunes by finding Si Le, but Mo Feng’s offer gives her a possible reason to keep him alive.
• Mo Feng shifts from helplessness to scheming, using the promise of capturing Li Zi to negotiate for a cure.
• Li Zi remains pragmatic and relaxed about her weaker combat ability. She embraces running and footwork as a legitimate way to survive, rather than envying her senior disciples’ advantages.
• Ji Zheng and Zhu Min train intensely for the Wasteland journey, receiving advanced instruction from the Fifth Elder.
• The Medicine King Sect and Li Zi’s Sect share credit for the pill’s success, strengthening their reputations and improving ties with the villagers.

Significant themes

• Survival through self-knowledge: Li Zi accepts her limits and builds on her strengths instead of forcing herself into a conventional combat role.
• Ambition and transactional relationships: Ran and Mo Feng treat one another as potential tools, with trust replaced by bargaining.
• Healing and collective benefit: The Bone-Cleansing Pill’s results show the transformative power of cooperation and medical cultivation.
• Reputation and recognition: Public credit for the pill’s success brings gratitude and prestige to both Sects.

• Credit and public gratitude: The Medicine King Sect gives the Spirit Sword Sect half the credit for the Bone-Cleansing Pill, saying the formula would not have surfaced without it. Li Zi realizes her warning to Fu Chaoqing helped prevent Ran Zirou from claiming the achievement. Mortals gather at the mountain with flowers, gifts, and thanks; a child gives Li Zi an apple. Their trust moves her deeply and gives her a renewed sense of purpose in protecting them.
• Responsible testing: The Medicine King Sect confirms the pill has no side effects, then expands its testing by distributing it free in one city and carefully monitoring residents. Li Zi approves, contrasting this cautious approach with Ran Zirou’s reckless mass sales in the original story, which could have endangered mortals.
• Disciples’ resentment: Some Spirit Sword Sect disciples object that the pills’ rare ingredients are costly and dangerous to gather, especially from the Spirit Beast Forest. They feel that giving the pills away for free ignores their labor and cultivation needs, and set off to challenge the Sect Master. Li Zi sympathizes with their practical concerns and follows.
• A sudden confrontation: As the System begins explaining the significance of Si Yaoxie, Immortal Hàn Rì, and Cang Qing, it abruptly alerts Li Zi that the Spirit Sword Sect Master and the Demon-Refining Sect Master have started fighting.
  Character development and themes: Li Zi shifts from puzzlement and curiosity to a stronger awareness of the responsibility behind the disciples’ revered status. Her compassion for mortals coexists with sympathy for the cultivators bearing the cost of helping them. The chapter highlights public service, ethical medicine and careful testing, while also raising the tension between altruism and fair compensation.

Plot points and events

• Li Zi and the other disciples hurry to the Main Hall after hearing that the Spirit Sword and Demon-Refining Sect Masters are arguing. Their clash sends powerful Spiritual Power through the area, nearly knocking Li Zi from the air; the elders intervene before the hall is damaged.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master refuses to help find Spirit Medicines for free. The Spirit Sword Sect Master argues that her sect should help make amends for its ancestor’s past role in Si Yaoxie’s devastation of the Cultivation World and Mortal Realm. She counters that the Spirit Sword Sect’s ancestor, Cang Qing, was also involved, and that her sect deserves payment.
• The Spirit Sword Sect’s disciples support their master’s effort to provide Bone-Cleansing Pills to everyone in the Mortal World, but warn that gathering enough ingredients could consume time and hinder their cultivation. The Demon-Refining Sect Master mocks the Spirit Sword Sect for sacrificing its interests to preserve its reputation.
• As the groups move into the hall, Li Zi presses the System for the history behind the dispute. The System begins explaining events from hundreds of thousands of years earlier, when the realms were safe and Spiritual Power was abundant. Si Yaoxie, father of Demon Prince Si Le, was born in that era.
• Li Zi asks who Si Le’s mother was. The Demon-Refining Sect Master corrects her: Demon princes are not born from mothers; their bloodlines awaken on their own. The System then reveals that Si Yaoxie’s childhood sweetheart was Golden-Eyed Pine, a Primordial Demon Evil.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi remains an eager, openly curious spectator, valuing the unfolding gossip and demanding answers from the System—even when her questions expose gaps in her knowledge.
• The Spirit Sword Sect Master is unusually hot-tempered and insists that his sect should take responsibility for its ancestor’s actions, even at considerable cost. He rejects the accusation that he is acting merely to save face.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master is blunt, sarcastic, and adamant that her sect should be paid for its work. She also explains Demon lineage to Li Zi, while trading sharp insults with the Spirit Sword Sect Master.
• The First Elder acts as mediator, separating the Sect Masters and moving the discussion inside to prevent further disruption.
• The disciples are caught between the elders’ confrontation and their own concern that the medicinal search will interfere with their cultivation.

Significant themes

• Responsibility across generations: The Sect Masters dispute how much present-day sects owe for their ancestors’ past actions.
• Idealism versus practical cost: The Spirit Sword Sect’s wish to provide free treatment clashes with the labor and resources required to gather ingredients.
• Pride and reputation: The Demon-Refining Sect Master suggests that generosity may be driven by the desire to appear noble.
• Curiosity and hidden history: Li Zi’s questions begin to uncover a much older story involving Si Yaoxie and the origins of Demon bloodlines.

Key plot points and events

• Li Zi’s system explains that the Demon Realm is a vast world of powerful magical beasts and demon cultivators. Golden-Eyed Pine, Si Yaoxie’s partner and Si Le’s mother, was a pine tree transformed into human form after absorbing a dragon’s breath.
• Si Yaoxie discovered a weak point in the Barrier separating the Demon Realm from the Cultivation World. He persuaded the young, isolated Immortal Hàn Rì to help him break it, building a close connection with her over thirty years.
• First Confucian Cultivator Cang Qing loved Hàn Rì and accompanied her, but grew alarmed when he learned that the magical artifact she was repairing was meant to break the Barrier. He tried to stop her; they fought for ten days and nights, until Hàn Rì’s tribulation lightning gave her the advantage. She then shattered the Barrier with Si Yaoxie.
• The Demon Realm invaded, causing widespread devastation. Cang Qing died protecting Hàn Rì. She eventually ascended, killed Si Yaoxie, and repaired the Barrier, after which the war between immortals and demons continued for hundreds of thousands of years.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master accepts responsibility for Hàn Rì’s actions as her descendant, but the Spirit Sword Sect Master urges her to hear more. Li Zi questions whether the commonly accepted account makes sense, and the system confirms that it is only the world’s version of events—with major gaps.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi reacts to the revelations with irreverent humor, then shows perceptiveness by questioning Hàn Rì’s motives and the logic of the history.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master moves from reflection to a stern willingness to accept her sect’s responsibility.
• The Spirit Sword Sect Master challenges her to delay judgment and listen further.
• Cang Qing is portrayed as devoted to Hàn Rì: he stays beside her despite knowing she loves someone else, opposes her plan, and ultimately gives his life protecting her.
• Hàn Rì appears determined enough to defy Cang Qing and risk catastrophe, but the reasons behind her actions remain unexplained.

Significant themes

• History and rumor may conceal a more complicated truth; an account repeated for generations is not necessarily coherent or complete.
• Devotion, ambition, and loyalty can collide with catastrophic consequences.
• Personal responsibility and inherited responsibility are raised through the Demon-Refining Sect Master’s willingness to answer for her ancestor.
• The contrast between grave historical revelations and Li Zi’s comic commentary provides a running shift in tone.

Key plot points

• The System reveals the truth behind Immortal Hàn Rì’s tribulation and the opening of the Barrier: Demon Venerable Si Yaoxie had used his bewitchment technique on her for decades, influencing her through daily conversations across the Barrier.
• Hàn Rì gradually recognized the control and fought to regain herself. Cang Qing learned what was happening and stayed by her side, protecting her.
• The magical artifact was meant to help Hàn Rì transcend her tribulation—not open the Barrier. Si Yaoxie’s invasion forced events forward, but Hàn Rì became immortal and killed him. She and Cang Qing nevertheless made a costly mistake by keeping his plot secret from the Cultivation World.
• After becoming immortal, Hàn Rì secluded herself and created countless worlds in her memories where she and Cang Qing could live happily together.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master urges Sect Master Jiang to reconsider whether the Bone-Cleansing Pill should be given to mortals for free. After she leaves, Jiang asks Li Zi for advice. Li Zi proposes using mortal rulers and other intermediaries to distribute the pills efficiently.

Character developments and interactions

• Hàn Rì is revealed as a determined survivor who resisted Si Yaoxie’s long-term influence and ultimately defeated him. Her imagined worlds with Cang Qing suggest enduring grief and love.
• Cang Qing protected Hàn Rì and sacrificed his life to correct his failure to reveal Si Yaoxie’s existence.
• Sect Master Jiang feels responsible for the suffering caused by Cang Qing’s secrecy and views free distribution of the Bone-Cleansing Pill as atonement. The System argues that neither Cang Qing nor Hàn Rì should bear the world’s blame.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master takes comfort in this account, rejecting the idea that her sect owes mortals further service after years of protection and sacrifice.
• Li Zi consoles herself over Hàn Rì and Cang Qing’s tragic story, then offers practical advice to Jiang about distributing the pills through mortals rather than relying on sect disciples.

Significant themes

• Misplaced blame and responsibility: The System insists the tragedy was caused by Si Yaoxie and broader failures, not by Hàn Rì or Cang Qing alone.
• Love, sacrifice, and grief: Cang Qing’s protection and Hàn Rì’s memory-worlds show the depth of their bond and the pain left by his death.
• Cooperation and practical governance: The debate over the Bone-Cleansing Pill shifts from whether mortals deserve aid to how that aid could actually reach them.

Plot points and events

• Li Zi worries that her suggestion to involve Mortal-world rulers in distributing the Bone-Cleansing Pill may have offended the cultivators. The Sect Master approves of her idea, and the Demon-Refining Sect Master agrees there is no need for the Sects to “atone” to Mortals.
• Fu Chaoqing tells Li Zi that the Sect Master wants her to strengthen her body before departing for the Barren Land, then form a Life-and-Death Contract with Lin Ning’er, the Nine-Tailed Fox. Li Zi is surprised because, in the original story, Ran Zirou forced Lin Ning’er into a Master-Servant Contract.
• Li Zi undergoes a painful two-day medicinal treatment to prepare for the contract. She and the system mistake her good fortune for sheer luck, while Fu Chaoqing quietly recognizes that they have missed the real reason.
• Meanwhile, the Sect Masters arrange for wealthy families and princes to distribute the Bone-Cleansing Pill. Ten families buy the formula and agree to pay the Sects 400,000 Spirit Stones annually. The Medicine King Sect gives the Spirit Sword Sect 40 percent of its share in gratitude for Li Zi’s insight, and the Sects warn the families to keep the pills affordable.
• After recovering, Li Zi learns that the Spirit Sword Sect has become significantly wealthier. Its Inner Sect disciples’ monthly allowances have increased.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi shows practical concern for how a plan would work among Mortals, though she remains anxious about how cultivators interpret her perspective. She is delighted and bewildered by her unexpected fortune, including the chance to contract with Lin Ning’er.
• Fu Chaoqing prepares Li Zi’s treatment and helps her through the contract preparations. His silent reaction suggests he understands more than Li Zi and the system do about why she is receiving these benefits.
• Lin Ning’er appears affectionate and willing to contract with Li Zi, unlike her hostile, coerced role in the original story.
• The Sect Masters cooperate to turn Li Zi’s suggestion into a practical arrangement, generating income while limiting exploitation of ordinary people.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: The Sects use their influence both to profit and to keep distributors from overcharging Mortals.
• Fate and altered storylines: Events diverge from the original novel, especially in Lin Ning’er’s relationship with Li Zi.
• Good fortune and misunderstanding: Li Zi reads her gains as lucky coincidences, while Fu Chaoqing seems to know there is more behind them.
• Mortals and cultivators: Li Zi’s Mortal-minded practicality prompts a plan that benefits both the Sects and ordinary people.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Fu Chaoqing tells Li Zi that the Sect Master and Medicine King Sect Master have acted on her suggestion about the Bone-Cleansing Pill. Licensing the recipe could bring money into the Mortal World, create demand for medicinal ingredients, and let commoners earn money by gathering common herbs.
• Li Zi enjoys a rare chance to rest and notices that the Sect’s disciples are unusually cheerful and friendly. A senior brother asks about her impending contract with the Nine-Tailed Fox, Lin Ning’er, and warns that such contracts can be painful.
• The System confirms the danger: even a Nascent Soul cultivator once suffered severe damage to his Divine Soul while contracting with a Nine-Tailed Fox with an Ancient Bloodline. Li Zi panics and returns to her Cave Abode, questioning why the contract is necessary.
• The Sect Master explains that Ning’er’s Divine Soul has been unstable since an attack at birth and may dissipate; a contract could save her. He says Li Zi is the only suitable person available, placing emotional pressure on her to agree.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master offers to use the Sect’s Secret Art to minimize the pain. The chapter ends as Li Zi watches the Fifth Elder prepare a formation around the unconscious fox, with her Master, Sect Master, elders, and senior disciples present.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi is delighted by the potential benefits of the Bone-Cleansing Pill, but her excitement turns to fear when she learns the risks of contracting with Ning’er. She also shows growing caution by questioning the need for the contract.
• The Sect Master tries to persuade Li Zi through an appeal to her compassion; her inner thoughts recognize his guilt-tripping even as she is moved by Ning’er’s plight.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master offers practical support, while Li Zi’s Master and fellow disciples gather to help her through the procedure.
• A light comic moment arises when the System starts to reveal intimate gossip about a newlywed disciple, drawing teasing interest from those nearby.

Significant themes

• Compassion and responsibility: Li Zi is asked to risk herself to protect Ning’er’s fragile soul.
• Power, sacrifice, and danger: The contract promises help for Ning’er but may seriously harm Li Zi’s Divine Soul.
• Economic benefit and social good: The pill recipe could enrich the Sect and improve ordinary people’s livelihoods.
• Persuasion and personal agency: Li Zi recognizes the pressure being placed on her and asks why she must undertake the contract at all.

Plot points and events

• Li Zi undergoes a dangerous Contract Ceremony, supported by the Fifth Elder’s medicinal preparations and the Demon-Refining Sect Master’s power, which moderates the overwhelming Spiritual Power entering her body.
• Li Zi asks the System why the Demon-Refining Sect Master came to help. The System initially guesses she and Sect Master Jiang may have been old friends, but the Demon-Refining Sect Master privately rejects that explanation: she came because of Li Zi and what Li Zi revealed about their shared past.
• As the ceremony continues, the System uncovers a major secret linking the First Painting Immortal Wen Yun’s harem, a woman of the Devil Race, and the Demon Prince’s escape—events that may threaten the whole Cultivation World.
• The System begins recounting an ancient Cultivator tournament. Sect Master Jiang and the Demon-Refining Sect Master both reached the finals, competing for the Black Tortoise Immortal Nectar. The chapter ends as the final match between Jiang and a male Cultivator is about to be explained.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi endures severe pain without breaking her meditative state and uses conversation with the System to distract herself. She remains curious and perceptive, even during the ceremony.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master acts warmly and protectively toward Li Zi, despite her usual sharpness. Her help is personal: Li Zi’s revelations enabled her to honor Immortal Hàn Rì by establishing an Ancestral Hall.
• Sect Master Jiang appears uncomfortable under the Demon-Refining Sect Master’s disapproval, hinting at an old grievance between them.
• The Fifth Elder and Fu Chaoqing carefully support the ceremony, while the other elders and disciples listen closely to the emerging revelations.

Significant themes

• Hidden history and buried grievances: Present-day events are shaped by secrets and rivalries from thousands of years earlier.
• Loyalty and personal motives: The Demon-Refining Sect Master helps not out of friendship with Jiang, but out of gratitude and reverence connected to Li Zi’s discoveries.
• Endurance and trust: Li Zi withstands dangerous forces by relying on the support of those around her.
• Personal history with world-altering consequences: The unfolding secret connects old relationships to the Demon Prince’s escape and the safety of the Cultivation World.

Plot points and events

• During Li Zi’s Contract Ceremony, the system explains why Sect Master Jiang once gave up the Black Tortoise Immortal Nectar. His opponent had claimed it was needed to save his younger sister, but had been bewitched by a Devil Race woman and driven to desperate violence. Jiang yielded partly because he feared the man. The woman later became involved with Wen Yun; had Jiang resisted, she might have targeted the Spirit Sword Sect.
• The Fifth Elder and the Demon-Refining Sect Master complete an equal Blood Contract between Li Zi and Lin Ning’er. The bond lets them sense one another’s feelings and intentions, and means they will live or die together.
• Lin Ning’er falls asleep from exhaustion. Li Zi absorbs the Spiritual Power released by the contract and rapidly advances from the First to the Fourth Tier of Foundation Establishment, with her meridians and Dantian strengthened. She expects few cultivation bottlenecks before Golden Core.
• A silver-lettered message arrives for Sect Master Jiang, whose grave reaction prompts the First Elder to ask what has happened.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang’s past decision is revealed as an act of fear and caution rather than compassion. The memory remains a Heart Demon, and the system’s explanation gives him reason to reconsider it.
• Li Zi gains power and a deeper connection to Lin Ning’er, while the story of the Devil Race makes her more wary and determined to prepare ways to survive.
• The Fifth Elder guides Li Zi through the sudden influx of Spiritual Power; the Demon-Refining Sect Master works with him to establish the contract. Li Zi and Lin Ning’er’s relationship is formalized as an equal partnership.

Significant themes

• Fear and survival: Jiang’s surrender prevented danger to the Spirit Sword Sect, even though it left him troubled.
• Power and its costs: The contract accelerates Li Zi’s cultivation but binds her fate to Lin Ning’er’s.
• Bewitchment and altered identity: The Devil Race woman’s method can distort a person’s nature and drive them toward obsession.
• Preparation in a dangerous world: Li Zi sees her new advantages as tools she must use carefully to stay alive.

Key plot points

• The Spirit Sword Sect Master recalls Wang Ling, a rogue cultivator whose terrifying, savage gaze once became the source of his Heart Demon and stalled his cultivation.
• The First Elder explains that the man’s appearance may have reflected the Devil Race’s blood-soaked influence. Reframing the memory helps the Sect Master overcome his fear, and he nears a breakthrough.
• The Sect Master reveals that Wang Ling later went mad, murdered several mortals, and died by suicide in prison. The circumstances seem suspicious, suggesting the Demon woman who used him may have left him alive but ruined.
• At the Demon-Refining Sect, the elders prepare an Ancestral Hall for High Immortal Hàn Rì. Letters from other sects confirm they will attend, easing the elders’ long-held concern that Hàn Rì’s name and actions would remain condemned.
• The Demon-Refining Sect arranges for one of its young disciples to travel with Li Zi to the Wasteland. Meanwhile, two major powers begin a joint investigation into Wang Ling.

Character developments and interactions

• The Sect Master moves from shame and fear toward understanding and confidence, with the First Elder’s candid account of his own fear in battle helping him release his Heart Demon.
• The First Elder supports his senior brother but urges him to enter seclusion once his breakthrough is imminent; he also plans to contact the Demon-Refining Sect about Wang Ling.
• The Demon-Refining Sect Master reassures her elders that other sects will accept the account of Hàn Rì’s past. The Second Elder’s grief and relief show how deeply the lineage has suffered under its inherited guilt.
• The elders’ shared determination turns the discovery about Hàn Rì into action: they prepare the Ancestral Hall, arrange Li Zi’s companion, and cooperate in the investigation.

Significant themes

• Fear and self-understanding: The Sect Master’s fear becomes manageable once he understands its cause rather than treating it as proof of personal weakness.
• Guilt, memory, and vindication: The Demon-Refining Sect seeks to restore Hàn Rì’s reputation and relieve generations of inherited guilt.
• Unresolved consequences: Wang Ling’s tragic fate suggests that the Demon woman’s influence and the events surrounding him still require investigation.

Key events

• Li Zi travels toward the Wasteland with Ji Zheng and Zhu Min, newly at the Fourth Tier of Foundation Establishment. Zhu Min explains that the Demon-Refining Sect Master prevented her cultivation from rising too far too quickly and damaging her foundations.
• The group knows little about the Wasteland, and Li Zi worries that her System cannot provide the promised information or a map.
• Steward Song invites them to meet Song Wanbai, the young manor master of Jize Manor, who has visited the Wasteland twice and may assist them. Ji Zheng accepts the invitation.
• On the carriage ride, Ji Zheng explains Jize Manor’s connection to High Immortal Hàn Rì and the Demon-Refining Sect’s former power and lasting influence.
• Li Zi recognizes Song Wanbai’s name from the novel: she remembers a future villain who serves as a Maid in the Demon Realm and is devoted to the Demon Prince, Si Le. Ji Zheng dismisses the idea as impossible, arguing that Song’s awakened Immortal Bloodline makes her a natural enemy of the Demon Prince and potentially a key opponent in the next Immortal-Demon War.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi’s cultivation boost has increased her confidence, though the danger ahead and the System’s unreliability still unsettle her. She also keeps her knowledge of the novel’s future in mind.
• Ji Zheng and Zhu Min remain wary about the Wasteland but respond positively to Jize Manor’s offer. Ji Zheng is protective and earnest as he explains why Song Wanbai’s lineage makes Li Zi’s theory implausible.
• The System, usually boastful, sounds uncertain when it cannot supply information about the Wasteland.
• Steward Song’s respectful invitation is also a gesture of goodwill toward Li Zi, who helped clear High Immortal Hàn Rì’s name.

Significant themes

• Knowledge versus uncertainty: Li Zi has foreknowledge from the novel, but events and the System’s gaps complicate her confidence in it.
• Power and its costs: Rapid cultivation can be dangerous if it undermines a cultivator’s foundations.
• Fate, bloodline, and contradiction: Song Wanbai’s inherited Immortal power seems incompatible with the role Li Zi remembers her playing in the Demon Realm.
• Legacy and political ties: Hàn Rì’s influence shapes the fortunes of her descendants and the standing of Jize Manor and the Demon-Refining Sect.

Plot points and events

• Li Zi doubts that the Song Wanbai they are seeking is the same person described as a proud, powerful immortal. The system continues searching its records.
• Li Zi, Ji Zheng, and Zhu Min arrive at the lavish Song manor to invite Song Wanbai to join their expedition to the Wasteland. Ji Zheng believes her strength would make the journey safer.
• Before they can meet her, Xiao Rujin mocks their group—especially Li Zi, who is only at Foundation Establishment. His Eighth-Level Golden Core aura pressures Ji Zheng and Zhu Min, but he withdraws it before a fight begins.
• Huo Yuangan and Song Qi arrive. They, too, are Golden Core cultivators bound for the Wasteland. Xiao Rujin carries the Skyveil Seal, inherited through his bloodline.
• Xiao warns that the Wasteland is so dangerous even their experienced group may not return, arguing that Li Zi should not go. Zhu Min rebukes him and frightens him into silence with a display of her sword and killing intent.
• Xiao asks whether Song Wanbai has agreed to travel with his group. Song Qi claims she will choose Xiao, then questions where Li Zi and her companions came from and whether they are truly her friends.

Character developments

• Li Zi remains curious and observant, impressed by the Song family’s wealth, but becomes unsettled when she hears how deadly the Wasteland may be.
• Ji Zheng stays focused on recruiting Song Wanbai and restrains Zhu Min to avoid jeopardizing their purpose.
• Zhu Min proves fiercely protective of Li Zi and quick to confront insults, while showing formidable combat power.
• Xiao Rujin begins arrogant and contemptuous, but Zhu Min’s intimidation forces him to rein in his behavior. He is also confident that his childhood connection gives him an advantage with Song Wanbai.
• Song Qi presents himself as courteous but appears eager to flatter Xiao and dismiss the newcomers.

Significant themes

• Power and status: Wealth, bloodlines, cultivation rank, and family connections shape how characters judge one another.
• Protection and risk: The chapter raises the question of whether Li Zi is prepared for the Wasteland’s dangers.
• Pride and intimidation: Xiao’s arrogance is checked by Zhu Min’s overwhelming presence.
• Uncertainty and rivalry: Song Wanbai’s identity and choice of companions remain unresolved.

Character interactions

• Ji Zheng and Zhu Min jointly protect Li Zi from Xiao’s taunts and pressure.
• Ji Zheng restrains Zhu Min to keep their recruitment mission on track, but Zhu Min later confronts Xiao when he criticizes Li Zi.
• Xiao warns the group about the Wasteland, though his concern is mixed with condescension.
• Song Qi backs Xiao’s claim that Wanbai will join him and challenges the visitors’ legitimacy.

Key plot points and events

• Ji Zheng, Zhu Min, and Li Zi seek to travel with Song Wanbai through the dangerous Wasteland. Song Qi mocks their claim of knowing her and calls Li Zi useless; Xiao Rujin backs him and demands they leave.
• Zhu Min is ready to confront Song Qi, but Song Wanbai arrives and takes her place at the head of the room.
• Li Zi recognizes Song Wanbai as a character from the novel. The system identifies her as the story’s villain, and Li Zi recalls that Song Wanbai is fated to become Si Le’s maid and lover.
• Song Wanbai initially questions the wisdom of bringing a child to the Wasteland, but Ji Zheng and Zhu Min decide to leave rather than impose.
• As Li Zi departs, she silently hopes she could change Song Wanbai’s tragic fate. Song Wanbai unexpectedly stops them and invites them to stay for lunch—an unusual gesture for her.

Character developments

• Song Wanbai appears aloof and emotionally distant, but her decision to invite the group suggests she is intrigued by them or responding to something she cannot explain.
• Li Zi shows compassion for Song Wanbai and begins to feel a desire to prevent her future suffering, despite believing she may not see her again.
• Ji Zheng and Zhu Min remain composed under insult and are prepared to withdraw rather than force a partnership.
• Song Qi and Xiao Rujin are dismissive and hostile toward the newcomers; Xiao Rujin’s confidence falters when Song Wanbai challenges him.

Significant themes

• Fate versus agency: Li Zi knows Song Wanbai’s predicted ending and wonders whether she can change it.
• Appearance and hidden destiny: Song Wanbai’s beauty and reserve contrast sharply with the degrading future Li Zi remembers for her.
• Prejudice and worth: Li Zi is dismissed as “dead weight” because of her age and cultivation level, despite her extraordinary achievement.
• The uncanny influence of the system: Its voice is audible to the others, creating a mystery that may affect the group’s choices.

Character interactions

• Song Qi and Xiao Rujin insult Ji Zheng’s group and try to drive them away; Ji Zheng counters that Song Wanbai invited them.
• Zhu Min’s anger rises at Song Qi’s accusations, but Song Wanbai’s arrival stops the confrontation.
• Li Zi’s thoughts about Song Wanbai provoke a sudden, piercing stare from her.
• Song Wanbai rebukes Xiao Rujin when he tries to speak for her, then invites the departing trio to stay—leaving him unable to explain his objection.

Key plot points and events

• Song Qi urges Song Wanbai to let him, Xiao Rujin, and Huo Yuangan accompany her to the Wasteland, arguing that their past teamwork makes them the safest choice. Xiao Rujin adds that bringing Li Zi, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, would be a burden.
• Li Zi’s system exposes Song Qi’s secret: he is in love with Xiao Rujin’s second concubine and once kissed her while Xiao Rujin was drunk. Xiao Rujin had mistakenly believed he was responsible and apologized to her, so the revelation leaves him furious and the two men on the verge of a fight.
• The system also reveals that Huo Yuangan is cowed by his wife, while the three men are far less formidable than they act. Zhu Min’s skill with the sword—and her ability to fight opponents above her level—has already intimidated them.
• Song Wanbai has the men escorted out. Xiao Rujin soon attacks Song Qi, while Huo Yuangan tries unsuccessfully to calm them.
• At the meal afterward, Song Wanbai warns that the Wasteland is too dangerous for Li Zi. Li Zi insists she can protect herself, but her lack of confidence undercuts the claim. Ji Zheng asks Song Wanbai, who has visited before, for advice.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Zi is curious and quick to seize on gossip, privately prompting the system to investigate the men. She is also eager to go to the Wasteland, though Song Wanbai doubts her readiness.
• Song Wanbai remains composed and decisive: she dismisses the men despite their claims to be useful, and bluntly judges Li Zi’s chances of survival.
• Xiao Rujin and Song Qi shift from apparent close companions to enemies when Song Qi’s affair with Xiao’s concubine is exposed. Xiao feels betrayed; Song Qi is embarrassed and enraged.
• Huo Yuangan tries to mediate the quarrel but is mocked by Xiao for being afraid of his wife.
• Zhu Min earns the men’s wary respect through her intimidating swordsmanship.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus ability: The three men boast of their usefulness, but the system’s revelations and Zhu Min’s strength expose their weakness.
• Gossip and misunderstandings: The system’s careless reading briefly suggests Song Qi loves Xiao Rujin, then clarifies the real affair—yet the truth still destroys the men’s fragile camaraderie.
• Danger and self-confidence: The Wasteland’s risks make Song Wanbai question whether Li Zi is prepared, while Li Zi’s timid protest reveals her uncertainty.
• Brittle brotherhood: Xiao Rujin’s and Song Qi’s friendship proves shallow once personal betrayal comes to light.