Chapter Summaries

Plot

• In the Immortal Estate of 14994, Chen Zhuo celebrates gaining the ability to cultivate after receiving an artificial spiritual root. He earned his implantation through placing third in the mortal division of a vocational and technical examination, which also won him admission to Taiqing City Alchemy Vocational and Technical College.
• The root is a low-grade, single-element wood root with weak sensitivity. Its 5,000-spirit-stone cost leaves Chen Zhuo with a century-long loan, though the first fifty years are interest-free.
• Before classes begin, Chen Zhuo studies the basic wood cultivation method, the Everlasting Spring Art. After following a video lesson, he successfully refines his first wisp of qi.
• His first success is abruptly undone: the qi is swallowed away, a mysterious Black Bead appears, and a flash of light transports him out of his cave dwelling.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo is excited but practical. Seventeen years of determination have brought him from being a rootless mortal to the threshold of cultivation, and he faces his debt with careful optimism.
• His confidence and enthusiasm grow when he successfully refines qi, then turn to shock and suspicion when his energy vanishes.

Themes

• Persistence and aspiration: Chen Zhuo overcomes the limits of his birth and keeps pursuing cultivation.
• Modernized cultivation: Spiritual roots, education, cultivation facilities, and loans are administered through institutional technology.
• Opportunity and debt: Entry into the immortal path is possible, but it comes at a steep financial cost.
• The unexpected: Chen Zhuo’s first breakthrough leads not to a straightforward start but to a mysterious supernatural event.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo’s interactions are primarily with institutional messages from the Immortal Estate, the college, and the cultivation platform, which establish the rules and costs of his new life.
• An instructional video featuring student Zhang Ping guides Chen Zhuo through the Everlasting Spring Art. No face-to-face interactions occur before the Black Bead transports him.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo awakens in an unfamiliar wilderness and suspects he has been transported out of the Immortal Estate. The spiritual energy is so dense that even breathing overwhelms him.
• Seeing no enforcement cultivators arrive to charge him for using a nature reserve, he decides to cultivate. In a few hours, he reaches the First Layer of Qi Refining—a breakthrough that would normally take him seven or eight days.
• While examining his spiritual energy, Chen Zhuo discovers a black bead in his mind. Feeding it spiritual energy makes it transport him between the wilderness and his cave dwelling in the Immortal Estate.
• He tests the bead’s world with his Spirit Message Jade Slip. It has no signal, suggesting the place lies beyond the Immortal Estate’s jurisdiction. An offline test shows its spiritual energy concentration is 4.39, far above the Immortal Estate’s usual level of 1 and his college’s level of 2.
• Realizing the world offers an exceptional cultivation environment, Chen Zhuo immediately resumes training.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo begins frightened and confused, but his practical, opportunistic nature takes over: he accepts the risk of being caught to take advantage of the spiritual energy.
• His first breakthrough brings confidence and excitement, though he also shows discipline by calming himself to avoid cultivation deviation.
• The bead’s discovery sparks his ambition. He starts thinking of the wilderness as a personal resource for rapid cultivation.

Significant themes

• Opportunity amid hardship: Chen Zhuo’s debt and poverty make him wary of spiritual-energy costs, yet he is willing to take calculated risks.
• Technology and cultivation: Modern magical devices help him test and interpret an ancient, unfamiliar world.
• Power through resources: Access to unusually dense spiritual energy turns a remote wilderness into a major advantage.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo has no direct encounters with other people in this chapter. His main “interaction” is with the black bead, whose response to spiritual energy reveals its transport ability.

Key plot points and events

• At Taiqing Alchemy Vocational Technology College, senior student Sijing tells newly admitted, late-implanted cultivators that they are far behind those born with Spiritual Roots.
• She presents an alternative to traditional cultivation: Taiqing Pharmaceutical’s medicines and injections, which supposedly strengthen the body and speed progress through the first three Qi Refinement levels.
• When a student says the newcomers lack money, Sijing promotes Xiuxiu Tong small loans, offering a discount code through her livestream.
• She closes by warning students not to borrow if they lack talent—but the remark cleverly plays on their ambition and pushes them toward spending.
• After class, students debate borrowing money and using the products. Chen Zhuo, despite privately criticizing Sijing’s sales tactics, contacts her to ask about the loans.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is unusually composed because his hidden advantage—the Microcosm—has let him reach the second Qi Refinement level in three months. He still has no money, prefers traditional cultivation, and sees himself as practical rather than destined for greatness. His decision to contact Sijing suggests financial need may override his reservations.
• Sijing comes across as a charismatic, commercially savvy recruiter. She mixes discouraging comparisons, optimistic promises, and apparent concern to sell both medicine and loans.
• The students are shown as hardworking and ambitious, but anxious about being behind. Their pride makes them especially vulnerable to Sijing’s pitch.

Significant themes

• Modern commercialization of cultivation: Spiritual progress is marketed through branded products, livestream discounts, and consumer loans.
• Traditional versus “scientific” cultivation: Chen Zhuo favors the old way, while the college promotes efficiency through pharmaceuticals.
• Inequality and pressure: Late-implanted cultivators start behind innate talents and face limited career prospects, making shortcuts appealing.
• Ambition as a sales tool: Sijing’s warning about lacking talent is less reassurance than a way to provoke students into proving themselves.

Character interactions

• Sijing addresses the class as both a mentor and salesperson, using their disadvantage to introduce products and debt.
• A hesitant student, Meng Yan, raises the issue of affordability, prompting Sijing to advertise loans.
• The students respond by comparing risks, costs, and family advice.
• Chen Zhuo silently judges Sijing’s pitch, then approaches her through Spirit Message to ask about borrowing.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo decides to borrow heavily to fund his cultivation, convinced that succeeding with his “cheat” will let him repay later.
• Senior student Sijing promotes a lending platform, emphasizing how loans can pay for cultivation resources. Chen Zhuo accepts a 300-Spirit-Coin loan, then asks how to borrow more.
• Sijing offers to send him links to other lenders, seeing him as a promising customer.
• The chapter explains Sijing’s own approach: she has repeatedly borrowed, spent, earned scholarships, and borrowed again. She is now deeply in debt but hopes to reach Foundation Establishment and transfer to Taiqing University, where repayment can be deferred while she studies.
• Serious overdue debts can eventually lead to being sent to fight in the dangerous Star Realm War.
• Sijing learns Chen Zhuo has a low-grade spiritual root, belongs to a disadvantaged “mortal class,” and studies Pill Appraisal and Rating—a risky, paid specialty involving testing potentially harmful pills. Despite pitying his prospects, she returns to selling him medicine for the commission.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is bold and increasingly enthusiastic about borrowing, treating debt as a way to buy “immortal potential.”
• Sijing is revealed as both a practiced, heavily indebted student and a commission-driven recruiter. She has genuine familiarity with Chen Zhuo’s situation, but her sympathy does not outweigh her desire to make sales.

Significant themes

• Debt as both opportunity and trap: Loans promise access to cultivation resources, but can lead to crushing obligations or forced service in war.
• Commercialized cultivation: Advancement is tied to money, credit, medicine, and paid services.
• Unequal opportunity: Spiritual roots, class status, and access to in-person education shape students’ futures.
• Satire of sales culture: Inspirational language about talent and potential masks financial self-interest.

Character interactions

• Sijing flatters Chen Zhuo’s talent and urges him to borrow for medicine; Chen Zhuo listens selectively, takes the loan, and asks for more.
• Sijing compares him to her younger self and offers further lending options, while privately judging his prospects as poor because of his spiritual root and class.
• She ends by pitching campus medicine, prioritizing her commission over whether Chen Zhuo can repay his growing debt.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo spends most of his borrowed Immortal Dao Potential on two cultivation injections and a reconnaissance drone. He plans to use the drone to map the Spirit Pearl World and find a safe place to grow spirit herbs for profit.
• After entering the world, he postpones using the injections—whose effects may leave him agitated—and launches the drone instead.
• The aerial survey reveals rich natural scenery and abundant wildlife, including a tiger whose bones might be valuable for alchemy. Chen Zhuo considers selling such materials but worries that his low cultivation and inability to explain their source would make trading risky.
• The drone spots a maintained road. Later, its footage shows a traveling party of about a dozen people, including trained guards carrying a sedan chair.
• The drone detects a spiritual-energy target inside the sedan chair: a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refinement. Chen Zhuo recalls the drone before the party can notice it.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo is practical and cautious: he sees the small world chiefly as a potential source of income, but avoids taking risks he cannot manage.
• His assumption that the world is an isolated wilderness is shaken. He realizes it may be a complete, inhabited world rather than a mere fragment.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo has no direct contact with the travelers. He observes them remotely and deliberately keeps his presence hidden.
• The contrast between Chen Zhuo’s modern electronic drone and the party’s ancient-style clothing highlights how separate—and potentially dangerous—their worlds may be.

Significant themes

• Discovery and uncertainty: A seemingly private refuge may contain an entire society.
• Pragmatism and survival: Chen Zhuo balances the promise of profit against the risks of cultivation, trade, and exposure.
• Technology across worlds: Modern equipment gives Chen Zhuo an advantage, though its limits matter when confronting spiritually sensitive cultivators.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo reviews footage of the Spirit Pearl World and concludes it is an ancient cultivation realm where the strong prey on the weak. He resolves to be cautious, though the World-Breaking Pearl gives him a way to escape danger—and, if necessary, his debts.
• He worries that he may not understand the locals, but overhears the sedan’s passengers and realizes their language is nearly the same as his own.
• Rather than explore an unfamiliar, potentially dangerous world, Chen Zhuo decides to use it mainly as a place to cultivate, where spiritual energy is plentiful. His long-term goal remains reaching Foundation Establishment while he is still a student, in hopes of transferring from vocational college to university.
• Back in the Immortal Estate, he injects two costly medicines bought with borrowed spirit coins: Myriad-Mechanism Essence-Nourishing Solution and Spirit-Flow Stabilizing Injection.
• The medicines cause intense, painful sensations and sharply increase his ability to absorb spiritual energy. Chen Zhuo returns to the Spirit Pearl World to take advantage of its abundant energy, using the stabilizing injection to keep his body from being overwhelmed.
• His cultivation accelerates dramatically: he believes he may reach Qi Refining Third Layer in a month instead of the eight months it would normally take. He decides to pursue “bulk-order” cultivation with medicine—but realizes he still has no way to earn immortal-path potential.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo is cautious about entering the unknown realm, but quick to spot how its resources could serve his ambitions.
• He remains focused on academic advancement, treating cultivation as a means to reach Foundation Establishment and improve his educational prospects.
• The dramatic results of the injections shift him from patient, conventional training toward an aggressive, medicine-driven approach, despite the risks and cost.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo has no direct encounter with anyone in the Spirit Pearl World in this chapter. He overhears the sedan bearers speaking with their passenger, which confirms that he can understand the local language and catches references to trade and “spirit slaves.”
• His decisions are shaped by advice from Sijing, whose recommendation led him to buy the medicines.

Significant themes

• Power and survival: The Spirit Pearl World’s harsh hierarchy makes caution and strength essential.
• Pragmatism and ambition: Chen Zhuo treats the new realm as a resource for cultivation and keeps his sights on advancement.
• Cost and risk of shortcuts: Medicines promise rapid progress but bring pain, physical strain, and financial debt.
• Education and social mobility: His cultivation goal is closely tied to escaping the limits of vocational college.

Plot points and events

• After taking two potent injections, Chen Zhuo reaches the second level of Qi Refinement. He feels physically invigorated, though his cultivation remains unstable.
• A spiritual Leopard stalks him. Recognizing that the first-level demon beast could hurt him, Chen Zhuo uses the World-Breaking Pearl to escape to the Immortal Estate.
• He realizes demon-beast meat might provide a source of income and Immortal Path Potential if he can safely hunt and sell it as jerky. He considers buying a better magical artifact, but puts the plan aside to attend class.
• Chen Zhuo logs into an online lesson with classmates Meng Yan and Liang Ningwan. The recorded lecture begins teaching the Young Dragon Military Fist, a body-refining method—then cuts off after a free preview and demands five Spirit Coins to continue.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo’s newfound strength makes him confident, even joking that academic success could lead him all the way to Nascent Soul. The Leopard encounter tempers that bravado: he recognizes his limits and chooses escape over a risky fight.
• His entrepreneurial instincts emerge as he considers turning demon-beast meat into a business, though his lack of funds remains an obstacle.
• Meng Yan reflexively greets the recorded teacher; Liang Ningwan points out that an online recording cannot answer him. Chen Zhuo shares the class’s low status and is stunned when even required coursework costs money.
• Liang Ningwan is introduced as the top ordinary-human examinee from their city, now studying the same subject as Chen Zhuo. She came from a cultivation family but lacked a spiritual root until she earned the right to have one implanted.

Significant themes

• Money and access: Spirit Coins constrain Chen Zhuo’s choices, from buying equipment to learning a required technique.
• Unequal opportunity: The chapter contrasts Chen Zhuo’s unsupported upbringing with Liang Ningwan’s family background and illustrates how children’s prospects depend on spiritual roots and resources.
• Practical cultivation: Strength, physical training, and resourcefulness matter alongside spells and spiritual advancement.
• Confidence versus caution: Chen Zhuo’s ambition is challenged by the danger of the demon beast, prompting him to value survival and preparation.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo resents paying five Spirit Coins for an online lesson, then learns the fee has become permanent Immortal Dao Potential. He studies the first form of the Young Dragon Military Fist, a modern military technique adapted for early Qi Refinement cultivators.
• After practicing for an hour, he estimates that his current cultivation methods will take about seven months to reach Qi Refining Third Layer. He complains that the Immortal Estate world’s spiritual energy is too thin.
• Chen Zhuo remains wary of the Leopard he encountered in the Spirit Pearl World. He fears it might someday grow powerful and become a threat, so he resolves to kill it. With his reconnaissance drone still in the other world, he plans to obtain both a way to defend himself and a means of attacking from a distance.
• His balance is only about 49 Spirit Coins—too little for a proper magical artifact. The campus secondhand market mostly offers odd jobs and risky deals, so he searches the wider college network instead.
• Chen Zhuo finds two useful listings at the struggling Talisman-Making College: a Golden Armor Talisman for defense and a Sword Qi Talisman for offense. Though talismans are considered obsolete, he decides they suit his needs.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo is observant and determined, but his caution can become extreme: he treats even a wildly unlikely future threat from the Leopard as reason to eliminate it.
• He is resourceful and willing to exploit overlooked technology. Rather than spend beyond his means, he looks to an unfashionable, inexpensive solution.
• His attitude toward the Military Fist lesson shifts once he realizes its cost has increased his Immortal Dao Potential.

Significant themes

• Tradition versus modernization: Talismans have been displaced by Spirit Chips, yet old methods may still be practical in the right hands.
• Scarcity and ingenuity: Chen Zhuo’s limited funds force him to improvise instead of buying powerful equipment.
• Caution and survival: In a world where death is permanent, Chen Zhuo prioritizes preparation and long-term security.
• Commercialized cultivation: Lessons, training, and spiritual progress all carry costs, even within a system that offers free tuition.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo interacts with Teacher Wang Yanqing through the paid virtual lesson; Wang explains the Military Fist’s purpose, structure, and military ownership.
• Though Meng Yan and Liang Ningwan disappear after Chen Zhuo pays, he does not investigate and focuses on the lesson.
• His encounter with the Leopard continues to shape his plans, even though the animal is absent from the chapter.
• Chen Zhuo browses listings from other students and colleges, ultimately selecting talismans from the institution others dismiss as obsolete.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo finds Golden Armor and Sword Qi Talismans advertised for far below their usual price and worries they may be unreliable.
• The seller explains that they are failed class assignments: the Sword Qi Talismans have about half the standard power, while the Golden Armor Talismans have only a fraction of the usual defense. The seller insists they still work.
• Because Chen Zhuo has little money and plans to face a first-level Leopard Demon Beast, he decides the weaker talismans should suffice. He negotiates the price down from ten to eight Spirit Coins each and orders three defensive talismans and two offensive ones.
• The forty-coin purchase nearly empties his account, but Chen Zhuo sees it as an investment in clearing the danger from the Spirit Pearl World, cultivating there, and eventually earning enough to repay his debts and improve his Spiritual Root.
• While waiting for delivery, he cultivates and plans to use the Sword Qi Talismans to attack and the Golden Armor Talismans to defend. The package arrives quickly by Paper Crane, with no extra shipping charge.
• Chen Zhuo inspects the crude-looking talismans and confirms that at least the Sword Qi Talismans contain less spiritual energy than normal. He decides to test them.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo’s anxiety over both high and low prices reveals his cautious, frugal nature. He nevertheless makes a calculated risk when the discounted talismans seem adequate for his needs.
• He shows resourcefulness in bargaining, weighing the seller’s costs and his own limited funds rather than demanding an unrealistic price.
• His outlook shifts from suspicion toward the seller to surprise and appreciation when the package arrives without an extra charge. He also remains optimistic, imagining future cultivation, income, and a better Spiritual Root.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo questions the seller directly about the talismans’ low price and presses for details about their flaws before negotiating.
• The seller is candid about the defects, agrees to a lower price, and arranges prompt delivery.
• Chen Zhuo’s pleasant surprise at the seller’s considerate shipping reinforces his sense that kindness can still exist in the world.

Significant themes

• Risk versus affordability: Chen Zhuo accepts reduced performance because standard talismans are beyond his budget.
• Practical ambition and self-reliance: He treats the purchase as a necessary step toward safety, cultivation, and financial independence.
• Hope amid hardship: Despite his near-empty balance and poor Spiritual Root, Chen Zhuo remains convinced that success and repayment are possible.
• Everyday kindness: The seller’s honesty and free delivery challenge Chen Zhuo’s expectation that everyone will exploit an opportunity.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo tests a cheap Golden Armor Talisman, confirming that it can withstand a powerful punch, though it lasts only about forty to fifty seconds.
• Planning to kill a Leopard waiting for him in the Spirit Pearl World, he prepares Golden Armor Talismans and two Sword Qi Talismans so he can fight without risking injury.
• On arrival, he activates his armor talisman just as a barbed black net—controlled by a sinister old cultivator—strikes him. The barrier holds, though it weakens under the attack.
• The old man claims the Leopard as his prey and pretends to offer it to Chen Zhuo, while secretly waiting for the barrier to expire so he can kill him and take his belongings.
• Chen Zhuo attacks first with a Sword Qi Talisman, severing the old man’s arm. He follows with a second strike, which cuts off the man’s head.
• Still wary of a counterattack, Chen Zhuo approaches only after activating another armor talisman. His Spirit Message Jade Slip confirms the old man is dead and identifies him as a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo proves cautious, resourceful, and decisive. He carefully weighs the cost of protection against the risk of injury, then shows no mercy once he recognizes the old man’s murderous intent.
• The sinister old man is revealed as deceptive and opportunistic. He mistakes Chen Zhuo’s unusual appearance and talismans for signs of noble-clan status, and plans to murder him to benefit his grandson—but his confidence in outlasting the barrier proves fatal.

Significant themes

• Preparation and pragmatism: Chen Zhuo relies on planning and tools rather than taking unnecessary physical risks.
• Deception and suspicion: The old man’s polite words conceal murderous intentions, reinforcing the danger of trusting strangers in the wilderness.
• Survival over mercy: Chen Zhuo treats the encounter as a fight to the death and strikes before the old man can recover.
• The cost of risk: Chen Zhuo’s concern about medical expenses shapes his preference for spending on talismans to avoid injury.

Character interactions

• The old man first attacks Chen Zhuo, then shifts to false courtesy when the Golden Armor Talisman defeats his opening move.
• Chen Zhuo answers the apparent apology briefly, using the old man’s distraction to launch his first attack.
• After the old man begs for mercy, Chen Zhuo refuses to relent, recognizing that the man was already trying to kill him.
• Chen Zhuo relies on the Spirit Message Jade Slip at the end to verify that the threat is truly gone.

Key plot points and events

• After killing the sinister old man in Fallen Valley, Chen Zhuo retrieves the man’s black net Magical Artifact and Storage Bag, then leaves the area through the World-Breaking Pearl.
• Back in the Immortal Estate, he finds the bag contains a few Spirit Stones, clothes, books, and a map. Though the haul is smaller than he hoped, the Storage Bag and other spoils still make him a substantial profit.
• Chen Zhuo stores the Leopard’s corpse in the bag and roasts some of its meat. The spiritually nourished meat boosts his strength and blood qi.
• Since the old man claimed to be hunting with companions from Cloudford Market, Chen Zhuo worries they may seek revenge. He decides to avoid the Spirit Pearl World for ten days or so and cultivate safely at home.
• He checks his college schedule and prepares for an upcoming in-person Spiritual Root Implantation lesson. He also plans to learn how to operate the black net and sees potential in trading goods between the two worlds.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo is surprised by how little killing affects him, but he recognizes that survival in the Spirit Pearl World requires decisiveness.
• He shows both opportunism and caution: he eagerly claims the dead man’s valuables, yet chooses not to return to dangerous territory until the risk has passed.
• He begins thinking beyond immediate survival, considering how his college training and access to both worlds might support a profitable business.

Significant themes

• Power and law: The Immortal Estate officially forbids killing, but its laws are portrayed as unevenly enforced and entangled with fines and financial interests. The Spirit Pearl World, by contrast, openly rewards strength and violence.
• Survival and pragmatism: Chen Zhuo treats lethal force, retreat, and resource-gathering as practical necessities.
• Opportunity amid scarcity: Even modest loot can be valuable in a world where magical goods and spatial storage are expensive.
• Cross-world exchange: Differences in technology, resources, and demand create the possibility of trade between the two realms.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo’s only direct encounter is with the sinister old man, who attacks him and is killed. The old man’s mention of Cloudford Market and possible companions shapes Chen Zhuo’s later decision to lie low.
• Chen Zhuo also engages indirectly with his college and the Immortal Estate’s institutions through his scheduled lesson, online resources, and plans to sell the Magical Artifact through a secondhand platform.

Key plot points and events

• In class, Meng Yan admires Chen Zhuo’s rapid progress and assumes he must have a powerful lineage or unusually good Spiritual Root. Chen avoids explaining and says success comes from hard work, though Meng Yan suspects there is more to it.
• Chen observes that most classmates have innate Spiritual Roots and have cultivated for years, putting them well ahead of students like him and Meng Yan, whose roots were implanted.
• Wang Heng, an innate-root cultivator, asks his Spirit Message Jade Slip assistant whether sitting beside Meng Yan could harm his cultivation. He then insults implanted roots as inferior and mocks their owners as destined for factory work.
• When Meng Yan is hurt but cannot answer, Chen intervenes. He ridicules Wang Heng’s slow progress despite years of family support, provoking him into a confrontation.
• Wang Heng consults his assistant, which confidently predicts his victory based on his cultivation level and innate root. Reassured, he accepts Chen’s challenge.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is outwardly modest about his cultivation but increasingly confident and willing to defend others. His recent victory in the Spirit Pearl World has emboldened him.
• Meng Yan is friendly and eager to connect, but his insecurity about his implanted Spiritual Root makes him vulnerable to Wang Heng’s insults.
• Wang Heng is proud of his innate Spiritual Root and family’s sacrifices, yet insecure enough to rely on an assistant’s reassurance before accepting a fight.

Character interactions

• Meng Yan seeks Chen’s advice and admires his progress; Chen offers a generic encouragement rather than revealing his circumstances.
• Wang Heng’s prejudice humiliates Meng Yan, drawing laughter from other innate-root students.
• Chen challenges Wang Heng verbally, defending Meng Yan and turning the argument into a proposed fight.
• Wang Heng treats his jade-slip assistant as an authority, and its flattering prediction restores his confidence.

Significant themes

• Class and discrimination: Innate and implanted Spiritual Roots divide students into social ranks, with implanted-root cultivators treated as lesser.
• Merit versus inherited advantage: Chen’s “hard work” rhetoric contrasts with the privileges of students born with Spiritual Roots, while Wang Heng’s family sacrifices complicate his claims of superiority.
• Insecurity and self-deception: Wang Heng’s reliance on a reassuring assistant exposes the gap between his confidence and his actual certainty.
• Solidarity and courage: Chen chooses to confront prejudice rather than let Meng Yan face it alone.

Key plot points

• Meng Yan warns Chen Zhuo against confronting Wang Heng, who has reached Qi Refinement’s Fourth Layer. Chen stays, reasoning that academy rules prohibit students from using spiritual-energy attacks in ordinary fights.
• Wang Heng consults his Spirit Message Jade Slip, “Little Jade,” which confidently assures him he will win. Chen assumes Wang’s reliance on the device means he has little reason to worry.
• The two face off before their classmates. Wang adopts the academy’s standard military-fist stance; Chen takes a Wing Chun stance. Most onlookers expect Wang to win.
• Chen attacks first and keeps pressing forward, using rapid punches and a willingness to trade injuries. Wang’s hesitation and retreat let Chen take control of the fight.
• Chen lands a final powerful blow, and Wang collapses. The classroom is stunned that a Second-Layer cultivator with an implanted Spiritual Root has beaten someone at the Fourth Layer.
• Wang asks Little Jade why its prediction was wrong. It apologizes and offers possible explanations for Chen’s ability, including an innate Dao body or a family background in military combat.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo shows composure, confidence, and a relentless fighting style. He uses the rules and his opponent’s reluctance to get hurt to overcome Wang’s advantage in cultivation.
• Wang Heng begins arrogant and reassured by Little Jade’s advice, but becomes confused and increasingly frightened when Chen’s aggression disrupts his expectations. After losing, he turns to the Jade Slip again rather than addressing the crowd.
• Meng Yan starts out worried for Chen, then cheers him on once Chen gains the upper hand.
• Little Jade is presented as overconfident and unreliable: it first assures Wang of victory, then revises its assessment after he loses.
• The classmates initially dismiss Chen and support Wang, but their reaction shifts to shock and speculation after the upset. Liang Ningwan watches with curiosity.

Significant themes

• Practical ability versus status: A higher cultivation level and Innate Spiritual Root do not guarantee victory.
• Mindset and resolve: Chen’s willingness to press the attack contrasts with Wang’s reluctance to risk injury.
• The cost of cultivation: Students avoid intervening because injuries require treatment and consume Immortal Dao Potential.
• Unreliable guidance: Wang’s dependence on Little Jade leaves him confident for the wrong reasons.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo defeats Wang Heng, a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator, despite being only at the Second Layer. Little Jade’s unsolicited advice that Wang surrender makes the loss—and the class’s laughter—even more humiliating.
• The class prefect ends the confrontation, tells Wang not to look down on students with implanted Acquired Spiritual Roots, and urges the class to treat Chen Zhuo well.
• Classmates quickly approach Chen Zhuo, assuming his Spiritual Root is exceptionally high-grade and hoping to gain influence or favors. Chen adds them all, thinking he might someday borrow money from them.
• When Wang tries to ingratiate himself with a classmate, Little Jade publicly advises against trusting or lending to him. The classmate dismisses Wang, who faints again before retreating to the back row.
• Chen reflects on how useful Little Jade could be, especially for identifying items in the Spirit Pearl World, and senses that he is nearing Qi Refining Third Layer. A lecturer arrives, restores order, and begins class.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo stays composed after his victory and avoids provoking the class, showing restraint and practical self-interest. He is also curious about improving his cultivation and making better use of Little Jade.
• Wang Heng goes from arrogance to humiliation and resentment. Though he vows to endure and return, his defeat and rejection leave him isolated.
• The prefect acts as a mediator, condemning Wang’s prejudice while recognizing Chen’s apparent potential.
• Little Jade proves both influential and tactless, shaping how classmates judge Wang and Chen through blunt public assessments.

Significant themes

• Prejudice and status: Wang’s contempt for implanted Spiritual Roots is overturned when Chen’s performance suggests exceptional potential.
• Reputation and opportunism: The class rapidly shifts toward Chen once they believe he may be powerful, with many seeking connections for selfish reasons.
• Technology’s influence: Little Jade functions as an adviser and social authority, affecting relationships as well as practical decisions.
• Restraint and ambition: Chen avoids unnecessary conflict while focusing on cultivation and his studies.

Character interactions

• Chen defeats Wang but refrains from taunting him further.
• The prefect reprimands Wang and encourages the class to befriend Chen; classmates respond with eager introductions and requests.
• Little Jade’s loud judgments prompt a classmate to reject Wang, deepening his humiliation.
• Chen observes the fallout, considers Little Jade’s potential usefulness, and turns his attention to the upcoming lecture.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo reflects on his disappointing, slide-reading lecture and considers how to turn the valuable loot he took from a sinister old man into usable money. Selling the Storage Bag or Black Net would attract attention, while his three and a half physical Spirit Stones are small enough to exchange discreetly.
• A practical assignment interrupts the lesson: each student receives a Qi Condensation Pill made by an Alchemy Department student and must identify its toxins and possible side effects. Students will be paid two Spirit Coins for a report due in thirty days.
• The lecturer says the pills are substandard but unlikely to be fatal; possible effects include meridian damage, abdominal pain, diarrhea, or disrupted spiritual energy. He distributes the pills without letting students choose and promptly dismisses class.
• Students complain that the lecturer appears to have kept most of the money allocated for the assignment. Chen puts his pill away and considers approaching Liang Ningwan to offer his Spirit Stones.

Character developments

• Chen’s desire to cultivate is earnest: unlike in his previous college days, he pays attention and hopes practical work will help him progress.
• He remains cautious and pragmatic, weighing the risks of selling controlled magical goods against the modest value of his Spirit Stones.
• He shows tentative generosity toward Liang, deciding to see whether she needs or can afford his help.

Significant themes

• Resource scarcity and regulation: Even useful loot is difficult to convert into money because the Immortal Estate tightly controls magical goods and resources.
• Exploitation disguised as opportunity: Poor students accept potentially harmful pills in exchange for low pay, effectively serving as test subjects.
• Unequal privilege: Students from cultivation families have better schooling and connections, while poorer students rely on risky work to support their cultivation.

Character interactions

• The indifferent lecturer treats the class as a source of extra pay, assigns the students dangerous appraisal work, and leaves without addressing their concerns.
• Innate-rooted classmates compare notes and complain about the lecturer’s apparent cut of the payment.
• Chen notices Liang Ningwan and considers offering her his Spirit Stones, though he has not yet approached her.

Key plot points and events

• After class, Chen Zhuo asks Liang Ningwan about pill toxins. She explains that ancient pills commonly caused toxins to build up and obstruct spiritual-energy circulation, while modern medicine is often purified or delivered by injection to avoid that problem.
• Chen realizes this warning matters in the Spirit Pearl World, whose cultivation methods resemble those of the Ancient Immortal Realm. He also sees a possible business opportunity: selling failed pills there for Spirit Stones.
• Chen then asks Liang Ningwan if she has Spirit Coins. When she assumes he wants a loan, he says he has “goods” that are “ninety-nine percent pure.”
• Liang Ningwan mistakes him for a black-market medicine dealer and eagerly leads him to a spot beyond the surveillance cameras. Chen presents a glowing Spirit Stone, leaving her baffled: he is not a drug rep after all.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo shows growing commercial ambition, thinking beyond cultivation to how knowledge and resources might be traded between worlds. He keeps his real intentions hidden, but his vague sales pitch causes confusion.
• Liang Ningwan proves knowledgeable about modern cultivation and the underground medicine trade. Though financially pressured and determined to support her own ambitions, she is open to profitable opportunities.
• Liang Ningwan’s family situation is briefly revealed: she wants independence from her lineage, while her younger sister spends her time supporting a livestreaming rights movement rather than pursuing cultivation.

Character interactions

• Liang initially agrees to help Chen because she considers him worth knowing after his rapid progress and fight with Wang Heng.
• Their conversation shifts from cultivation advice to a comic misunderstanding: Chen’s “goods” sound like illicit medicine to Liang, while he simply wants to sell a Spirit Stone.
• Liang’s caution about lending money quickly gives way to enthusiasm once she believes Chen has a black-market supply connection.

Significant themes

• Modernization and tradition: Modern pharmaceutical technology has changed how cultivation medicine works, while ancient pills remain risky.
• Economic pressure: High cultivation costs push cultivators toward loans, side businesses, and black-market trade.
• Opportunity and misunderstanding: Chen’s cross-world business idea is promising, but his cryptic pitch leads Liang to interpret it through the familiar realities of the underground medicine market.

Chapter Summary

• Chen Zhuo sells Spirit Stones to Liang Ningwan. He offers her three and a half usable Spirit Stones for forty Spirit Coins. The sale brings his balance to 49.83 coins and slightly raises his Immortal Dao Potential. Liang notices his suggestion that he may have more stones later, but respects his privacy and does not press him.
• He weighs money against cultivation and safety. Chen plans to return to the Spirit Pearl World once conditions settle, gather more resources, and sell herbs and ores gradually. His priority is becoming stronger so he can explore safely. He has no intention of using his new funds to repay his large cultivation debt yet, and considers how to raise his potential further.
• Chen rejects the risky pill he made. He considers taking a substandard Qi Condensation Pill to advance, but worries about its high toxin content. Since detoxifying agents are prohibitively expensive, he decides not to eat the pill and to rely on ordinary cultivation instead.
• He equips himself for the next expedition. Chen buys seven protective Golden Armor and Sword Qi Talismans at a discount from a fellow student who needs money for exam materials. Remembering how frightening his previous fight was, Chen welcomes the added protection. He also buys inexpensive period-style clothes and learns how to use his Black Net Magical Artifact.
• After several days of study and cultivation, Chen prepares to return. He trains in military boxing, attends classes, cultivates, and shares cultivation insights with Meng Yan and Liang Ningwan. Eating all the spiritual Leopard meat helps bring him close to Qi Refining Third Layer. Before leaving, he readies his talismans, wraps the Black Net around his wrist, and relies on the World-Breaking Pearl as an emergency escape. He then returns to the green, mountainous world.

Character Developments and Themes

Chen is increasingly resourceful and business-minded, but also more cautious as the dangers of cross-world exploration become real. He chooses steady cultivation over the uncertain shortcut of a toxic pill and invests in practical protection. His sale to Liang Ningwan and friendly exchanges with his classmates show growing trust and cooperation, while both sellers keep their private motives largely to themselves.
The chapter emphasizes financial pressure, self-reliance, and the cost of progress: cultivation and crafting require money, while debt, dangerous pills, and exploration all carry risks. It also highlights preparation and restraint, as Chen avoids a tempting but hazardous shortcut and carefully layers his defenses before venturing out again.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo returns to the Ancient Cultivator world and activates a Golden Armor Talisman, but finds no immediate danger. The sinister old man’s corpse has disappeared, apparently eaten by mountain beasts.
• Using his Spirit Message Jade Slip, Chen Zhuo scans for nearby spiritual energy and finds it exceptionally abundant—comparable to a high-grade spirit-gathering chamber in the Immortal Estate world.
• He reflects on how Spiritual Root standards have changed over ten thousand years. His sensitivity score of nineteen is inferior by modern classifications, but roughly ordinary by Ancient Cultivator standards.
• While cultivating, Chen Zhuo reviews items taken from the old man’s Storage Bag. With help from Little Jade, he deciphers the old man’s manual, the low-level water-aligned Azure Abyss Embracing Unity Scripture, which includes the spells Soft Water Barrier and Water Thread Bind.
• He also studies a map marking three nearby cultivator markets—Cloudford Market, Jade Radiance Market, and Grand Void Little Market—all protected by the Qiwu Sword Sect. He estimates he is a few dozen kilometers from Cloudford Market but postpones exploring until he is stronger.
• Drawing on spiritual energy and energy stored from eating leopard meat, Chen Zhuo breaks through to the Qi Refining Third Layer.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains cautious after his earlier danger, checking his surroundings before relaxing.
• He uses Little Jade as a practical tool for detecting spiritual energy and interpreting Ancient Cultivator writing; their interaction is helpful and familiar, though Little Jade’s enthusiastic praise is clearly automated.
• Chen Zhuo is both awed by the Ancient Cultivator world’s abundant energy and frustrated by the comparison with modern spiritual-aptitude standards. He comforts himself by considering his abilities normal for this era.
• Rather than rush toward the markets, he chooses patient cultivation, showing a growing preference for preparation and self-preservation.

Significant themes

• Changing standards and historical progress: Modern cultivators can improve their Spiritual Roots, making past standards seem weaker.
• Cultivation as an environmental advantage: The Ancient Cultivator world’s abundant spiritual energy makes progress far faster than in the Immortal Estate.
• Preparation before exploration: Chen Zhuo prioritizes strengthening himself before venturing into unfamiliar territory.
• Practical adaptation: He combines modern tools, ancient knowledge, and careful reasoning to navigate a world he barely understands.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo arrives at Cloudford Market, a major cultivation city under the Qiwu Sword Sect. Its grand, fortified upper city contrasts sharply with the crowded shack district at the mountain’s foot.
• In the district, he encounters poverty, wary rogue cultivators, and mortal martial artists who offer their services. A local guide, Liu Cong, asks for three Spirit Sand, but Chen refuses because he has none.
• Chen observes that most residents are low-level cultivators or martial artists, and suspects that crime thrives beneath the market’s thin veneer of order.
• Drawn by a medicinal scent, Chen finds Jishi Hall. Inside, a medicine apprentice berates a poor young cultivator who cannot afford Qi Gathering Powder. The elderly shopkeeper appears to be a powerful late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.
• Chen notices that the young man has nine Spirit Stones and considers offering him a ruined Qi Condensation Pill—not only because he seems less dangerous than the shopkeeper, but because Chen needs someone to test the pill and report its effects for a schoolwork record.

Character developments

• Chen is observant and cautious, quickly assessing the market’s social divisions, the strength of its residents, and the risks of dealing with them. He also reveals a practical, somewhat opportunistic streak in seeking a safer test subject for his pill.
• Liu Cong is eager to earn money and ingratiates himself with Chen, but accepts the refusal politely.
• The poor young cultivator is embarrassed and vulnerable; his lack of money leaves him at the mercy of the shop’s staff.

Character interactions

• Liu Cong approaches Chen as a prospective client, but Chen declines his guide service.
• At Jishi Hall, the apprentice publicly humiliates the young man over his inability to pay, while the shopkeeper reinforces the rejection with a cold dismissal.
• Chen watches the confrontation and weighs approaching the young man with his pill.

Significant themes

• Inequality: The magnificent city above stands in stark contrast to the impoverished shack district below.
• Precarious order: The market is governed by the sect, yet the poorer district feels dangerous and only loosely controlled.
• Survival and exploitation: Residents compete for money and resources, while poverty leaves some cultivators vulnerable to harsh treatment.
• Pragmatism in cultivation: Chen evaluates people according to both their usefulness and the danger they pose.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo follows a boy from Jishi Hall to the shantytown’s poorest outskirts, intending to sell him a pill in exchange for information about its effects.
• He offers the boy a privately refined Qi Condensation Pill for eight Spirit Stones, on the condition that the boy report every sensation. The boy has only seven Spirit Stones and fourteen grains of spirit sand, which Chen Zhuo accepts.
• The boy swallows the pill while Chen Zhuo watches and takes notes. After a period of pain and turbulent spiritual energy, the boy settles into normal cultivation.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo approaches the encounter as an experiment, confidently using his status as a cultivator to command the situation. His curiosity about the new pill outweighs concern for the boy’s discomfort.
• Li Changqing, the boy, is cautious but accepts the risk because the pill could help him reach the second layer of Qi Refining and join a demon-hunting team. He hopes to earn enough to support his younger sister and prepare her for Sword Gate’s recruitment.
• The little sister is introduced as frail and anxious, watching her brother’s test with evident worry.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo follows Li Changqing and makes the offer directly, while nearby martial artists watch protectively but do not intervene.
• Li Changqing treats Chen Zhuo with deference, pays what he can, and follows his instructions.
• The sister’s concern contrasts with Chen Zhuo’s detached observation as he records the pill’s painful effects.

Significant themes

• Class and status: Chen Zhuo’s cultivation gives him power over the mortal martial artists, whom he openly regards as inferior.
• Poverty and opportunity: Li Changqing accepts a risky trial because even a chance at advancement could improve his family’s prospects.
• Experimentation and ethics: Chen Zhuo treats a person’s suffering as useful data, while the boy’s desperate circumstances make his consent less than freely chosen.