Recaps

Xu Chuan revealed his identity as the Xu Household’s Grand Elder and offered the Zhou Household a pill-refining deal that could strengthen both lineages. After Zhou Sen’s visit, Xu Chuan explained to Xu Mingshu that cooperation and a possible marriage alliance would help the Xu Household develop safely.

• Xu Mingwei accepted a Mid-Grade Storage Pouch from Zhou Sen in place of the Su Household’s spirit fields, then returned San Shu’s guest-elder token and revealed that San Shu was his father, Xu Chuan.
• Zhou Sen visited Xu Chuan, who offered to refine second-tier pills for one-third of their value in payment; Zhou Sen said he would consult Zhou Qingfang.
• Zhou Sen introduced Zhou Shaocheng to Xu Mingshu, then warned his grandson that she was a Qi Refining cultivator and beyond his match.
• Xu Chuan told Xu Mingshu that his pill deal could ease tensions with the Zhou Household and that they might seek a marriage alliance; he promised to consider the options and respect their wishes.
• Xu Chuan and Xu Mingwei sorted the Su Household’s delivered wealth and decided to build a Daoist Canon Pavilion for the Xu Household’s texts.

Xu Chuan negotiated pill-trading and a marriage alliance between the Xu and Zhou Households, securing cooperation as both clans pursued their own growth. The Xu Household strengthened its defenses, and Yang Zhao and Yang Shidao arrived at Dongxi, where the chapter left them facing the mist-shrouded clan grounds.

• Xu Chuan cultivated his medicine field and prepared to grow spirit rice while the Zhou Household discussed his identity and proposed pill trade; Zhou Qingfang approved cooperation and ordered the clan to treat the Xu Household courteously.
• Zhou Sen and Zhou Xilin visited the Xu Household to arrange cooperation and a marriage alliance, and Xu Mingxian agreed to marry Zhou Zongni.
• Xu Mingshu complained that Xu Mingxian had broken their promise to grow old alone together, then returned to cultivate as he dismissed marriage as a diversion from cultivation.
• The Xu Household distributed magical artifacts, trained Zhang Wanqing in alchemy, and improved its defenses as other clans stopped sending investigators after discovering its strength.
• Yang Zhao and Yang Shidao arrived at Dongxi and found the Xu Household hidden behind a Mist Formation, where they rang the bell to alert the Patrol Guard.

Yang Zhao told his family that the Xu Household was preparing to become a Cultivation Clan and warned Wen Jing not to use the connection to approach them. Later, Xu Chuan revised the betrothal gifts for the Zhou Household, and Xu Mingxuan arrived at their Clan Grounds to deliver them, where he met Zhou Sen and the Zhou Household Head.

• Yang Zhao revealed that Xu Mingwei was a powerful cultivator and cautioned Wen Jing against trying to connect the Wen Household to the Xu Household.
• Xu Chuan removed magical items and other costly goods from the betrothal list and added martial and cultivation pills, including a High-Grade Divine Sense Pill.
• Xu Chuan inspected the spirit rice field, reviewed the household members’ cultivation progress, and noted that Xu Mingxian had reached the ninth layer of Qi Refining.
• Xu Chuan decided the Xu Household should develop more openly and use its marriage alliance with the Zhou Household to deter other clans.
• Xu Mingxuan led nine Xiantian Martial Artists to the Zhou Household with the betrothal gifts and met Zhou Sen and the Zhou Household Head.

Xu Mingxian’s betrothal to Zhou Zongni revealed Xu Chuan’s identity as Master San Shu and strengthened the Xu Household’s standing. Xu Chuan recruited Wu Mingsheng and his apprentices, then returned to the Pill Hall to explain his obligations to the Xu Household and arrange supplies.

• Xu Mingxuan presented the Zhou Household with a betrothal gift list featuring a High-Grade Divine Sense Pill, and the households set the betrothal for three months later.
• At the betrothal banquet, Zhou Shaoyuan revealed that Xu Chuan was the renowned alchemy grandmaster Master San Shu, shocking the gathered clans.
• Xu Chuan invited Wu Mingsheng to join the Xu Household as an artifact-refining guest elder, and Wu Mingsheng and his apprentices later moved to Dongxi after the apprentices passed the household’s assessment.
• Xu Chuan asked Wu Mingsheng to upgrade the household head’s Ink Flood Dragon Bow, then traveled to the Imperial Capital to obtain materials.
• Xu Chuan told Yun Zhongzi his real name and explained that he could no longer regularly serve the Pill Hall; Yun Zhongzi allowed him to keep his Guest Elder Token but ended his share of the Divine Sense Pill proceeds.

Xu Chuan prepared the Xu Household to become a cultivation clan, and an Immortal Inspector officially registered it as the Dongxi Xu Clan in the Great Wei Immortal Register. The Xu Household gained cultivation-clan privileges and received Spirit Rice seeds, while Xu Chuan declined a fifth-rank Immortal Official post.

• Xu Chuan demonstrated his pill-refining skill to Wei Dao, then visited True Person Yunding and discussed the challenges of building a clan.
• Steward Chen gathered pill ingredients and artifact-refining materials, which Xu Chuan gave to Wu Mingsheng to craft a magical artifact for Xu Mingwei.
• After preparing the Xu Household’s resources, Xu Chuan applied to elevate it into a Qi Refining Clan, and the Immortal Inspector arrived to assess it.
• The Immortal Inspector judged the Xu Household eligible as a fifth-rank Qi Refining Clan, and Xu Chuan declined its fifth-rank Immortal Official post.
• The Immortal Inspector explained the Xu Household’s Spirit Rice taxes, gave it four varieties of rice seeds, and registered it as the Dongxi Xu Clan in the Great Wei Immortal Register.

After entering the Immortal Register, the Xu Household prepared an Immortal Ascension Celebration that would also mark Xu Mingxian’s wedding, drawing attention from clans across the commandery. As the celebration approached, the Yuan Household plotted to damage the Xu Household’s reputation, while other clans searched for valuable gifts to win its favor.

• Xu Chuan announced a celebration in three months, with martial and cultivation contests, and arranged for Xu Mingxian’s wedding to take place on the same day.
• Xu Mingxuan visited the Zhou Household, which agreed to the wedding plans, while vassal families offered congratulations and discussed the contests.
• Rumors about Xu Chuan and his children spread through Qingjiang, and Xu Chuan told his family to observe the celebration’s rites carefully.
• The Yuan Household decided to hire rogue cultivators to attack Xu Household servants during the celebration and embarrass the family.
• The Chang Household considered offering its treasured spirit ore to seek healing for its Grand Elder, while the Yang Household selected a piece of ore containing a dormant Elder Spirit Insect as a gift.
• Three months passed as the Xu Household and its vassal families prepared for the celebration.

The Xu Clan held Xu Mingxian and Zhou Zongni’s wedding and formally declared itself a cultivation clan, while Xu Mingwei exposed the strength he had kept hidden by stopping an attack on the ceremony. The celebrations continued with a martial contest, where the Huang Household won the Grandmaster Martial Pills.

• Over three months, Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingshu, and Xu Mingxuan advanced their Qi Refining cultivation while concealing their true levels, and other Xu Household members also made progress.
• Xu Mingxian and Zhou Zongni married at the white stone altar, where Xu Chuan announced the Xu Household’s Immortal Ascension Celebration and its contests.
• Three gray-robed cultivators attacked the ceremony with fire spells, but Xu Mingwei intercepted their spells, wounded them with the Ink Flood Dragon Bow, and captured them.
• Xu Chuan led the Xu Clan through its offering rites and declared it a Cultivation Clan of Moon Lake Commandery; the clans congratulated the Xu Household, and Xu Chuan warned the Yuan Household over the attackers’ deaths.
• Li Zhi defeated Zhou Shaocheng in the martial contest, but Huang Zhenlong beat Li Zhi and the Huang Household ultimately won the six Grandmaster Martial Pills.

After the Xu Household’s celebration, the Chang and Yang Households offered valuable gifts and pledged to follow the Xu Household in exchange for support. Xu Chuan treated the Chang Household’s Grand Elder and brokered reconciliation between the two families, while Xu Mingxian and Zhou Zongni began married life together.

• The Zhou Household won the Immortal Way competition, and the Chang Household presented Xu Chuan with millennium lightning-struck peachwood in exchange for treatment of its injured Grand Elder.
• Xu Chuan diagnosed the Grand Elder’s yin-baleful contamination and gave the Chang Household an Evil-Breaking Pill formula, while making clear that the household would serve the Xu Household.
• Yang Zhao offered Xu Mingwei a jade case containing spirit insects and asked the Xu Household to shelter the Yang Household; Xu Chuan accepted the gift and ordered the Yang and Chang Households to cooperate.
• Xu Mingxian and Zhou Zongni agreed to pursue the Immortal Way together, and Zhou Zongni received Mid-Grade Qi-Nourishing Pills from Xu Chuan after the wedding tea ceremony.
• Xu Chuan refined Evil-Breaking Pills and gave Chang Haowen medicine for his grandfather; after the Grand Elder recovered, the Chang and Yang Households restored their marriage alliance and set off changes among the Commandery Seat’s clans.

Xu Chuan’s family celebrated Xu Dezhao’s marriage and welcomed the fourth generation when Xu Dezhao’s son, Xu Chonghui, was born with strong potential. As the Xu Household quietly built influence through the Moon Lake Martial Alliance, Xu Chuan assigned the new generation’s fate talents and summoned Xu Deling to give her [Thousand Temperings].

• Xu Mingyuan proposed secretly using the Chang and Yang Households to break up the Jade Truth Alliance and establish a Moon Lake Martial Alliance under the Xu Household’s control, and Xu Mingwei and Xu Chuan approved the plan.
• Xu Dezhao began cultivating as an immortal, reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining, and married Shen Qingyi; Xu Chuan also planned to use the wedding to apply Soul Restrictions to attendees.
• The Jade Truth Alliance collapsed, its leading clans were destroyed, and more than half its member clans joined the Moon Lake Martial Alliance led by the Chang and Yang Households.
• Xu Dezhao and Shen Qingyi had a son, Xu Chonghui, whose genealogy entry showed a peak ninth-rank false fire virtue bloodline and mixed spiritual root aptitude; Zhou Zongni also revealed that she was expecting a child.
• Xu Chuan examined the fourth generation’s four fate talents, bestowed [Withering and Flourishing] on himself, and chose Xu Deling to receive [Thousand Temperings].

Xu Chuan offered the Zhou Household a cheaper pill formula in exchange for Zhou Qingfang’s lifelong protection of the Xu Household and access to some of its cultivation lore. As Zhou Qingfang weighed the bargain, Xu Sen judged that cooperation could benefit both clans and let the Xu Household develop without fear of the Zhou Household.

• Xu Chuan approved Xu Deling’s choice to pursue Wu Shunan if he married into the Xu Household, then bestowed [Thousand Temperings] on her and told her to study the clan’s Artifact Refining Classics.
• Xu Dejing married Wu Tao, and Xu Mingxian and Zhou Zongni later had a daughter, Xu Deyue, whom Xu Chuan identified as a candidate for [Moon-Cold Yin Essence].
• At Xu Deyue’s full-month celebration, Xu Chuan offered Zhou Sen a pill formula with sixty to seventy percent of the True Essence Pill’s efficacy in exchange for Zhou Qingfang’s promise to protect the Xu Household and permission to select texts from the Zhou Household’s repository.
• Zhou Sen brought the offer to Zhou Shaoyuan and Zhou Qingfang, explaining that the formula could let the Zhou Household support its ancestor without relying on Xu Chuan’s supplies.
• Zhou Sen assessed that Xu Chuan wanted security for the Xu Household and that the bargain could benefit both clans; Zhou Qingfang and Zhou Shaoyuan continued weighing its risks and gains.

Zhou Qingfang agreed to a Nonaggression Pact with Xu Chuan, accepting the Xu Household as an equal partner under the Zhou Household’s protection. Their conversation also revealed a path toward Foundation Establishment through the Wuhua Secret Realm, and Xu Chuan left with a chance to prepare for the Grand Assembly twenty-three years away.

• Zhou Qingfang rejected Zhou Shaoyuan’s suggestion to absorb the Xu Household and agreed to maintain friendly relations with it.
• Xu Chuan visited the Zhou Household, where Zhou Qingfang offered limited protection and they swore a Nonaggression Pact.
• Zhou Qingfang told Xu Chuan about the Wuhua Secret Realm, the Grand Assembly, and the chance to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills; the next assembly would begin in twenty-three years.
• Xu Chuan selected rare Frost Spells, cultivation texts, and the Great Wei Cultivation Miscellany from the Zhou Household’s library.

Xu Chuan organized the Xu Household’s new halls and approved plans to separate cultivators from mortals, while guiding Xu Deling’s artifact refining and Xu Mingshu’s spirit-insect breeding. Three months later, the mountain settlement and halls opened, and the younger generation began choosing their posts.

• Xu Chuan gave Zhou Sen the True Essence Pill formula, and the Zhou Household confirmed that its ingredients would cost roughly a third less than before.
• At the Clan Council, Xu Chuan approved the household’s halls, contribution-based missions and resources, monthly elders’ meetings, and the separation of immortals and mortals.
• Xu Deling reported that her success rate refining low-grade Magical Artifacts had risen to eighty or ninety percent, while Xu Mingshu explained that she had subdued Iron-Eater Flying Ants and was investigating how to raise them.
• Xu Chuan advised Xu Mingshu to gather ores and seek an ant queen, and directed that the spirit beasts receive resources and useful patrol missions.
• Three months later, the Xu Household opened its mountain halls and Mission Hall, which drew vassal households seeking work and rewards.
• Xu Dezhao told his younger siblings to choose halls based on their own interests and abilities rather than their fathers’ positions.

The Xu Household assigned its younger generation to the newly established halls while Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingyuan, Xu Mingxuan, Xu Mingshu, Xu Dezhao, and Xu Deling prepared to build trade connections beyond Moon Lake Commandery. Their journey toward Guangling Commandery began with Xu Mingxuan recognizing a possible contact, but the group encountered a bloody lineage feud on the way.

• Xu Dewen joined the Discipline Hall as deputy hall master, Xu Deheng agreed to manage the Mission Hall temporarily, and Shen Qingyi and Wu Tao began studying the immortal arts they had chosen.
• Xu Mingwei told Xu Dezhao that he and several relatives would establish the Xu Household Trading Company, while Xu Mingxuan tested Xu Deheng's judgment about the risks of expanding trade.
• Zhang Wanqing revealed that she was pregnant as Xu Mingwei, Xu Mingyuan, Xu Mingxuan, Xu Mingshu, Xu Dezhao, and Xu Deling departed Dongxi to establish trading routes.
• Xu Mingxuan recalled his former commander Ge Xuanhong in Guangling Commandery, and the group changed course toward its commandery seat to seek the Ge Household.
• The group spotted a bloody feud between lineages, and Xu Mingxuan urged them to investigate while Xu Mingyuan asked Xu Mingwei to look for identifying marks.

Xu Mingwei and his family rescued Ge Xuanhong’s branch from an ambush and traveled with them to the Ge Household’s grounds in Guangling Commandery. After learning about the rival clans’ conflict and the Ge Household’s suspicions, Xu Mingyuan pressed Clan Head Ge for a more generous reward, leaving the Ge elders struggling to respond.

• Xu Mingwei used his golden eagle eyes to identify the Ge Household’s weapons, and the Xu family hurried to aid the besieged group.
• The Xu family killed all six Zhu Household attackers, and Xu Mingxuan reunited with his former commanding officer, Ge Xuanhong.
• Ge Xuanhong explained the feud between the Wei and Feng factions, while the Xu family learned about the Ge Household’s position and Guangling Commandery’s spiritual energy sites.
• The Xu family accompanied Ge Xuanhong’s group to the Ge Household’s grounds, where Ge Yanhua discussed the suspicious ambush and cautioned against trusting outsiders too quickly.
• Ge Yanhua offered a bottle of High-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills as thanks, but Xu Mingyuan called the reward inadequate, prompting Ge Yanhua to reconsider.

Xu Mingyuan brought the Xu Household to Guangling Commandery’s market and used clever sales pitches to trade pills and magical artifacts for cultivation resources. He ended the chapter negotiating with Feng Yuzhen after she bought the Twin Snake Shears and asked him to lower the price of a jade hairpin.

• Xu Mingyuan learned about the Wei and Feng households’ rivalry and decided the Xu Household should help the Wei Household if conflict broke out, while quietly stirring tensions between the factions.
• Ge Yanfeng guided the Xu Household through the market, where Xu Mingyuan and Xu Mingxuan sold nine bottles of pills for spirit stones, spirit medicines, and a high-grade wind spell.
• Xu Deling, Xu Dezhao, and Xu Mingshu struggled to sell magical artifacts until Xu Mingyuan advertised them as practice pieces by an unnamed Artifact Refining Master.
• Xu Mingyuan demonstrated the Twin Snake Shears’ power, and Feng Yuzhen bought them for thirty-two spirit stones.
• Feng Yuzhen asked about the brooch and jade hairpin, then tried to bargain for the jade hairpin after Xu Mingyuan quoted twenty-eight spirit stones.

Xu Mingwei and his relatives lured a band of rogue cultivators into an ambush and defeated them, while the Feng Household investigated rumors that Wei Dao had become Yun Zhongzi’s disciple. The chapter ended with the Feng Household confirming Wei Dao’s exceptional talent and remaining uncertain about his ties to the Wei Household.

• Xu Mingyuan’s group discovered five rogue cultivators were following them, and Xu Mingwei planned to use the encounter to give his relatives combat experience.
• The Feng Household Head and Grand Elder consulted their ancestors about reports that Wei Dao had entered Yun Zhongzi’s tutelage; the ancestor urged them to avoid a fatal conflict with the Wei Household.
• Xu Mingwei and his relatives pretended to leave the Market District, then fought the five rogue cultivators when they caught up with them.
• Daoist Qinghe fled, but Xu Mingwei pursued and killed him with the Ink Flood Dragon Bow; Xu Mingwei’s relatives defeated the remaining attackers and looted their belongings.
• Xu Deling repaired Qinghe’s damaged shield, and the Xu family spent several days cultivating at the inn while she studied other magical artifacts.
• The Feng Household’s Second Elder returned from the Imperial Capital and confirmed that Wei Dao was Yun Zhongzi’s disciple, reportedly possessed a true spiritual root and wood-spirit bloodline, and had little contact with the Wei Household.

The Feng Household confronted the Wei Household over Wei Dao’s potential influence and secured an oath that neither clan would involve outside foundation-establishment forces in their conflicts. After Xu Mingyuan’s attempt to provoke a clash failed, he approached the Ge Household and began trading the Xu Household’s high-grade pills.

• Feng Wande informed the Feng Household Ancestor about the Wei Household’s newly discovered genius, and the ancestor went with Feng Xiuyuan to confront the Wei Household.
• The Feng Household Ancestor demanded that both clans swear not to enlist outside foundation-establishment forces, and the Wei Household Ancestor agreed to avoid an all-out war.
• Wei Changkong vowed to discover who had exposed the Wei Household’s secret, while Xu Mingyuan realized that his plan to sow discord had failed.
• Xu Mingyuan and Xu Mingwei decided to approach the Ge Household, whose ambitions and resources could make it a suitable partner.
• Xu Mingyuan offered Ge Yanhua high-grade pills, and the Ge Household bought three High-Grade Barrier-Breaking Pills and six High-Grade Qi-Gathering Pills while postponing a decision on lasting trade.

The Xu Household negotiated with the Ge Household while Xu Deling refined new Windfire Boots and attracted the attention of Ge Yuchen, who sought to arrange a match with her. The Ge Household ultimately hesitated to trade because of the Wei Household’s investigation, and Xu Mingyuan proposed a higher price to offset the risk.

• Xu Deling borrowed the Ge Household’s Artifact Refining Room and refined Windfire Boots, which she planned to give to Xu Mingyuan after Xu Mingwei declined them.
• Ge Yuchen asked Ge Xuanhong to introduce him to Xu Deling and later proposed a marriage match through his uncle.
• Xu Mingxuan told the Xu family about Ge Xuanhong’s proposal, and Xu Mingwei decided they would decline it by claiming Xu Deling was already promised.
• Xu Mingyuan and the others met the Ge Household’s branch patriarchs, who explained that the Wei Household’s investigation made trading risky.
• Xu Mingyuan said the Xu Household would leave if no agreement could be reached, then proposed trading at twenty percent above market price to compensate for the danger.

The Xu Household secured a pill-trading agreement with the Ge Household and traveled to Dragon River Commandery to investigate potential partners. There, Xu Mingyuan witnessed an old fisherman being beaten and stopped to buy his fish.

• Xu Mingyuan and the Ge Household's four branch heads agreed to trade pills for resources, with high-grade pills priced above market and the Ge Household promising to send trustworthy traders.
• Xu Yuchen regretted that Xu Deling had already left, while Xu Mingyuan's party departed Guangling Commandery for Dragon River Commandery.
• Xu Mingyuan proposed splitting into two groups to gather information before approaching the Xiao Household, and the family agreed to explore the commandery and its cultivator market.
• Near the commandery seat, Xu Mingshu grew angry when aristocratic guards whipped an old fisherman who could not hear them coming.
• Xu Mingyuan recalled his father as he watched the fisherman gather his scattered fish, then asked to buy them; the fisherman agreed but suggested Spirit Fish would suit Xu Mingyuan better.

Xu Mingyuan and his siblings discovered that the old Fisherfolk he had helped was killed by his gambling-addicted nephew, then found the Fisherfolk’s grandson, Ren Xiaoyao, had an earth spiritual root and took him into the Xu Household as Xu Mingyuan’s disciple. As they prepared to leave Great Fishing Village, Ren Xiaoyao revealed that he, not his grandfather, had raised the Spirit Fish.

• Xu Mingyuan bought all the old Fisherfolk’s fish and explained that his father had once lived like him before the Xu family’s fortunes improved.
• At the Cheng Family Gambling House, Xu Mingyuan saw the manager cheating, spoke with a Cheng Family cultivator, and learned about the clans around the Black Dragon River and the Clearwave Liu Clan.
• Xu Mingyuan recognized the silver taken from the old Fisherfolk’s gambling-addicted nephew, and Xu Mingshu killed the man after learning he had beaten and killed his father.
• The siblings found the old Fisherfolk dead and his frail grandson, Ren Xiaoyao, grieving beside him; they discovered Ren Xiaoyao had an earth spiritual root.
• Ren Xiaoyao asked to serve Xu Mingyuan, who instead accepted him as a disciple and brought him into the Xu Household after they buried the old Fisherfolk.
• Ren Xiaoyao said he had raised the Spirit Fish himself.

Xu Mingyuan’s group explored Dragon River Commandery, recruited Ren Xiaoyao, and sent Spirit Fish fry and a Fish Basket back to the Xu Household. Xu Chuan improved the fish-feed formula and perfected a Spirit Beast Pill, which helped White Tiger grow stronger but also led him to father a cub.

• Xu Mingyuan’s group found Xu Mingwei in the Clearwave Lake Market District, where Xu Mingshu introduced Ren Xiaoyao as Xu Mingyuan’s new disciple with earth spiritual roots.
• After judging Dragon River Commandery’s Liu Household too powerful to offer the Xu Household opportunities, Xu Mingyuan decided to stay briefly and acquire Spirit Fish fry and a Fish Basket.
• Xu Deling studied the Fish Basket, and Xu Mingshu sent it, a letter, and Spirit Fish fry back to the Xu Household with Third.
• Xu Chuan received the delivery, improved the Spirit Fish pellet formula, and developed a more effective feed that shortened the fish’s growth period.
• Xu Chuan perfected the Spirit Beast Pill and tested it on White Tiger, whose cultivation began to advance after repeated doses.
• After a month and a half, White Tiger’s excess energy led him to mate with a Female Tiger, and he accidentally fathered a cub.

Xu Chuan welcomed Ren Xiaoyao into the Xu Household, planned the clan’s expansion across Moon Lake Commandery, and traveled with Wu Tao to meet the Imperial Capital’s tax envoy. The chapter ended as the envoy arrived at Green Moon Terrace, while Xu Chuan also took note of an insect plague affecting the Lu Household’s spirit fields.

• Xu Chuan arranged careful care for the pregnant female tiger demon beast and hoped to improve her offspring’s bloodline.
• Xu Mingwei and his party returned to Dongxi with Ren Xiaoyao, whom Xu Mingyuan introduced as his disciple and a new member of the Xu Household.
• Xu Chuan approved plans for the Xu Clan Trading Company and new rules expanding the lineage’s cultivation training and protecting talented women from marrying out.
• Xu Chuan chose to attend the tax gathering himself with Wu Tao, and the Xu Household arrived at the Zhou Household’s Green Moon Terrace.
• Household Head Lu reported that an insect plague had devastated more than half of his spirit fields, prompting Xu Chuan to suspect a wider threat.
• A flying boat brought the Imperial Capital’s envoy and his escorts to Green Moon Terrace, where Xu Chuan and the other clan leaders greeted them.

An Imperial Capital envoy imposed strict freshness requirements and penalties while collecting spirit rice taxes from Moon Lake Commandery’s clans, but Xu Chuan’s Xu Household paid its quota without extra cost. After the envoy left, Xu Chuan rebuffed the Yuan Household head’s probing, while Zhou Shaoyuan suspected a Spirit-Gathering Formation explained the Xu Household’s abundant fresh rice.

• The refined young envoy recognized Xu Chuan as Grandmaster San Shu, asked him about Jade Yangzhi, and rewarded his advice with Jade True Brew.
• The envoy’s guards rejected old spirit rice and demanded extra spirit stones from several clans, including the Yu, Shui, and Shi Households.
• Xu Chuan and Wu Tao paid the Xu Household’s nine-thousand-jin quota entirely in fresh rice, and the envoy questioned how they had obtained it.
• After the envoy departed, Xu Chuan rebuffed the Yuan Household head’s questions, and Zhou Shaoyuan offered other clans fresh rice from the Zhou Household at a higher price.
• Zhou Shaoyuan suspected that a Spirit-Gathering Formation near Dongxi explained the Xu Household’s rice production and wondered whether Xu Chuan knew a Formation Master.

Xu Chuan guided the Xu Household’s growing family, trading company, and rising cultivators while warning them to develop cautiously and build loyalty. When a plague of spirit insects appeared beyond the Mist Formation, Xu Mingshu found that their defenses had stopped the swarm before she could capture it.

• Xu Chuan asked Xu Mingshu to raise plague-causing spirit insects and improve the female White Tiger’s offspring with a prescribed regimen.
• The Xu Household held a grand assembly and Year Sacrifice, welcomed Ren Xiaoyao further into the family, and began sending younger members to explore Qingjiang under guard.
• The Xu Clan Trading Company opened shops in the commandery seat and Market District, exchanging cultivation resources for materials and drawing interest from rogue cultivators and lower-ranked clans.
• Zhang Wanqing gave birth to Xu Deqian, several Xu Household members advanced in cultivation, and Xu Chuan instructed Xu Mingyuan to help Ren Xiaoyao develop a lasting sense of belonging.
• Xu Mingxian used his new spiritual consciousness to study formation techniques, while Xu Chuan and Xu Mingwei learned that a swarm of spirit insects had gathered outside the Mist Formation.
• Xu Mingshu and Xu Chuan entered the Mist Formation, where Xu Mingshu discovered that the defenses had stopped more than a thousand spirit insects and wondered whether the Xu Household’s defenses were too strong.

Xu Chuan and Xu Mingshu identified the crop-damaging Spirit Insects as Red-Spotted Insects and experimented to find what repelled them. As the infestation spread across Moon Lake Commandery, Zhou Sen visited the Xu Household seeking information, while Xu Chuan kept the results of his research to himself.

• Xu Mingshu communicated with the Spirit Insects and learned that an Insect Queen had awakened and sent them to search for food, prompting Xu Chuan to explain the queen’s potential value.
• Xu Mingshu identified the insects as Red-Spotted Insects, and she and Xu Chuan tested their reactions to plants, discovering that fishy herb incapacitated both larvae and adults.
• Xu Chuan began developing a colorless, odorless repellent, while Red-Spotted Insects damaged the Spirit Rice fields of households across Moon Lake Commandery, including the Zhou Household.
• Zhou Sen traveled to Dongxi to ask Xu Chuan about the infestation and learned that Xu Mingshu had identified the insects, but Xu Chuan said the Xu Household was still studying them.
• Zhou Sen left without meeting Xu Mingshu, intending to consult ancient records about Red-Spotted Insects.