Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo records the results of a pill test. The young tester, Li Changqing, reports feeling well and reaching Qi Refining Second Layer after taking the pill. He praises it as high-grade, although Chen Zhuo believes it was a failed pill containing toxic residue.
• Chen Zhuo realizes that standards differ between the Immortal Estate world and the Ancient Immortal Realm. He questions Changqing closely and revises his notes based on the young man’s account.
• Changqing introduces his shy younger sister, Li Yao. Chen Zhuo says he may return to them for future pill tests, then leaves.
• In the Shantytown, Chen Zhuo examines local goods and discovers that talisman paper—especially paper made from old Spirit Bamboo—is far cheaper and made from better raw materials than the paper available in the Immortal Estate world.
• He considers reselling supplies for profit, but avoids controlled materials that could get him in trouble. After comparing prices, he decides talisman paper is his best option and approaches the stallholder to negotiate.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is methodical and cautious: he adapts his test notes to unfamiliar local conditions and evaluates a potential trading opportunity without revealing his interest or risking too much capital.
• Li Changqing is grateful and respectful toward Chen Zhuo, viewing the pill as an exceptional success despite Chen Zhuo’s misgivings.
• Li Yao is introduced as timid and dependent on her older brother, only greeting Chen Zhuo after Changqing encourages her.

Significant themes

• Different standards across worlds: What Chen Zhuo regards as a defective pill is ordinary—and even impressive—to people in the Ancient Immortal Realm.
• Resource scarcity and economic opportunity: Materials abundant in one realm are scarce and costly in another, creating possible arbitrage.
• Prudence and constraint: Chen Zhuo sees lucrative opportunities but must weigh limited funds and the legal risks of dealing in controlled goods.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo interviews Changqing about the pill’s effects, while Changqing’s enthusiastic praise clashes with Chen Zhuo’s private assessment.
• Changqing formally introduces Li Yao, who shyly bows to Chen Zhuo.
• Chen Zhuo then deals with a Shantytown stallholder, quietly assessing the talisman paper and its resale potential before asking for a price.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo buys two sheets of premium talisman paper in the Ancient Immortal Realm, then has his reconnaissance drone watch the return point in case anyone followed him. He is especially wary because he recently sold Li Changqing a Qi Condensation Pill.
• Back in the Immortal Estate, Chen Zhuo contacts a talisman-making student who had previously tried to buy talismans from him. He claims the paper is an ancestral treasure made from three-hundred-year-old Spirit Bamboo, though the story is fabricated.
• The student, eager for better materials to improve her chances on a difficult final exam, arranges an in-person trade at the Public Cultivation Plaza the next day.
• Chen Zhuo sees the exchange as the start of a profitable middleman business. He begins tracking material prices and plans to earn enough to buy Needles while postponing his debt repayment.
• At the meeting, the student recognizes Chen Zhuo as “Default User 9527” and urgently asks to inspect the paper. She looks exhausted but has reached at least the ninth level of Qi Refinement, and says her advisor has allowed her only two hours away.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo remains guarded and calculating, using minimal speech in the Ancient Immortal Realm and taking precautions against being followed. In the Immortal Estate, he shows entrepreneurial ambition, inventing a convincing backstory to make the paper more valuable.
• The talisman-making student is revealed to be under academic pressure: she has failed a course before and fears failing her final exam. Her desperation makes the rare paper especially appealing, despite her fatigue and limited free time.
• Li Changqing does not appear directly, but Chen Zhuo’s concern that he might betray him shows how little trust Chen Zhuo places in others.

Significant themes

• Caution and distrust: Chen Zhuo treats even a small risk of being followed or exposed as serious.
• Cross-world opportunity and inequality: Materials that are ordinary or accessible in one world are scarce and valuable in the other.
• Commerce and self-interest: Chen Zhuo recognizes that connecting supply with demand could become a steady business, while the student seeks any advantage she can get.
• Academic pressure: The student’s exam anxiety illustrates the competitive demands of the Immortal Estate’s educational system.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo conducts a brief, wary purchase from the talisman-paper stall owner.
• He messages the student under her humorous username, persuading her that the paper is a valuable ancestral item; she responds enthusiastically and arranges to meet in person.
• At the plaza, the student approaches Chen Zhuo directly and presses to see the paper, setting up the trade as the chapter ends.

Key plot points and events

• Yu Xia buys Chen Zhuo’s two handmade talisman papers for 50 Spirit Coins. She recognizes their spiritual value despite dismissing his story that they are ancient heirlooms.
• The sale gives Chen Zhuo 64.3 Spirit Coins and inspires him to build a small trading business, carefully balancing profit against the risk of exposing his secret.
• He considers becoming a pharmaceutical sales rep, selling pills from the Immortal Estate in the Ancient Immortal Realm, where they are worth far more. He approaches Senior Sijing, an Alchemy Department student who already sells pills and enhancement injections.
• Sijing offers pills at set prices. Chen Zhuo asks to take some on credit so he can show them to customers. After considering the risk, she agrees to lend him three doses of Qi Gathering Powder and one Qi Condensation Pill, giving him three months to sell them.
• Chen Zhuo runs into Meng Yan, who avoids discussing his Waste Pill Appraisal. Chen Zhuo notices that Meng Yan has advanced from the First to the Second Qi Refining Layer unusually quickly and suspects something is wrong.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo grows more confident and entrepreneurial after his talisman sale, but remains cautious about protecting his secret. He weighs the cost of flying by sword, then chooses the bus instead.
• Yu Xia is commercially decisive: despite lamenting the wasted Spirit Bamboo, she promptly buys both sheets.
• Meng Yan appears evasive and has made a suspiciously rapid cultivation breakthrough, prompting Chen Zhuo’s concern.
• Sijing is practical and guarded. She needs to sell pills she made poorly, but worries Chen Zhuo might take them for himself; she ultimately extends limited credit under strict terms.

Significant themes

• Opportunity and risk: Chen Zhuo sees a path to wealth, yet recognizes that reckless profit-seeking could endanger him.
• Value depends on context: Items and medicines that are inexpensive or considered flawed in one realm can be valuable in another.
• Ambition under constraint: Chen Zhuo and Sijing pursue advancement through trade, while money, trust, and the dangers of Pill Toxin shape their choices.

Key plot points

• After receiving four batches of pills by Paper Crane, Chen Zhuo returns to the shantytown and checks his reconnaissance drone’s recordings. No one has been watching his hiding place, though he resolves to stay cautious.
• He takes all the pills to Jishi Hall. The shopkeeper assesses them as better quality than Chen Zhuo expected and offers 60 Spirit Stones. Chen Zhuo bargains the price up to 70.
• The sale turns the pills, which cost about 20 Spirit Stones, into a 50-Stone profit. Chen Zhuo realizes trading goods could help him repay his debt quickly—but suspects the shopkeeper may have paid too readily.
• Wanting protection after showing he has money, Chen Zhuo heads to Cloudford Market. A gatekeeper initially claims no residences are available, but Chen Zhuo pays him two extra Spirit Stones and secures a one-month token for a cave abode.
• Chen enters the market and is struck by its far denser spiritual energy. Meanwhile, two men in the shantytown—apparently acting on Shopkeeper Han’s information—watch him enter and plan to wait for him to leave, believing he has substantial wealth.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates growing commercial confidence by negotiating the sale upward, while remaining wary of danger. He chooses to spend on temporary safety and better cultivation conditions.
• The Jishi Hall shopkeeper recognizes the pills’ value and pays Chen Zhuo’s requested price. After Chen leaves, he signals his apprentice to follow, suggesting the transaction has attracted unwanted attention.
• The gatekeeper first uses the crowded market as a reason to deny Chen a room, then changes his story after receiving a bribe. He warns Chen about the token’s tracking restriction and penalties for overstaying.
• The two waiting men reveal that Chen’s sale has made him a target. They intend to ambush him after his stay, assuming he is wealthy.

Significant themes

• Caution and vulnerability: Chen’s precautions help him avoid immediate danger, but visible wealth creates new risks.
• Commerce and debt: A profitable trade offers Chen a meaningful step toward repayment and greater independence.
• Corruption and exploitation: Access to safety and housing depends on bribing the gatekeeper, while others seek to exploit Chen’s apparent wealth.
• Unequal environments: Cloudford Market’s abundant spiritual energy contrasts sharply with the shantytown, emphasizing how location shapes a cultivator’s prospects.

Key plot points

• Chen Zhuo reaches his rented Cave Abode in the Ancient Cultivation Realm. Its bare stone furnishings and lack of sunlight don’t matter to him: its spiritual-energy concentration of 8.98 is extraordinarily high, and a month costs only ten Spirit Stones.
• Eager to use that precious cultivation time, he returns to the Immortal Estate to settle his pill sales with his senior, Sijing. They agree on payment in Spirit Stones, and she offers to bring him more pills later.
• Chen Zhuo asks for a cultivation enhancer. Sijing describes two options: a fast-acting but expensive injectable, and a cheaper inhaled nebulizer. He chooses the nebulizer and pays thirty Spirit Stones for one made by Li Hao, a respected college alumnus.
• After meeting Sijing in the College District for a discreet exchange, Chen Zhuo hurries back to his Cave Abode. He activates the World-Breaking Pearl to return to the Ancient Realm and tries the nebulizer. The chapter ends as he inhales its pale-blue, mint-scented mist and feels an immediate rush.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is ambitious and resourceful, eager to make the most of his limited time in the Ancient Realm. His unexpectedly fast pill sales and ready supply of Spirit Stones impress Sijing, while his choice of the less expensive enhancer shows practical judgment.
• Sijing shifts from looking down on Chen Zhuo as a technical-school student to recognizing him as a capable vocational-college peer. Though curious about where his Spirit Stones came from, she respects his privacy and helps arrange the enhancer purchase.
• Their relationship moves toward mutual professional respect: they conduct the transaction efficiently and agree to trade again.

Significant themes

• Technology and cultivation: Modern devices and pharmaceutical enhancers are woven into the pursuit of spiritual advancement.
• Ambition and efficiency: Chen Zhuo treats his month in a high-quality Cave Abode as precious and acts quickly to maximize it.
• Status and respect: Sijing’s changing opinion highlights how achievement can overturn educational and social prejudice.
• Secrecy and trust: Chen Zhuo’s unexplained wealth raises questions, but Sijing chooses not to pry.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo’s cultivation accelerates dramatically after he combines a beneficial environment, medicine, and a refined wood-attribute Qi Refinement technique. He expects to reach the Fourth Layer soon.
• Though he can profit by trading goods, Chen remains cautious: he has too few Spirit Coins to risk attracting the Immortal Estate’s scrutiny. He also fears being robbed after receiving a large payment, so he decides to spend his limited resources on quality talismans for protection.
• The chapter outlines the setting’s political economy: the Immortal Estate shares power with corporate successor-sects, while the Taiqing Domain’s relatively lax oversight allows black markets to flourish.
• Half a month later, Chen is nearing the Fourth Layer and attends an in-person class, partly to collect a Waste Pill.
• He notices Meng Yan has progressed unusually fast and is acting evasive. Meng Yan leaves Chen to join students from the regular class.
• Liang Ningwan warns Chen that a third of Taiqing City is locked down because the Feathered Immortal Cult has returned, targeting vocational-college students and those with implanted Acquired Spiritual Roots.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo becomes more powerful but remains pragmatic and wary. He prioritizes survival, manages his finances carefully, and grows suspicious when Meng Yan’s behavior changes.
• Meng Yan appears to have advanced rapidly, claiming he found cheap pills, but his guilt, avoidance, and new association with regular-class students suggest he may be hiding something.
• Liang Ningwan emerges as a source of important information, warning Chen about the cult and urging caution.

Character interactions

• Chen ignores Wang Heng’s dismissive glance and seeks out Meng Yan, whose evasiveness raises his suspicions.
• After Meng Yan leaves, Chen approaches Liang Ningwan. She quietly shares the lockdown warning and identifies the Feathered Immortal Cult as the threat.

Significant themes

• Power and inequality: The story’s cultivation society is increasingly shaped by capital, corporate rule, and class divisions between students with different kinds of spiritual roots.
• Security and mistrust: Chen’s wealth and progress make him vulnerable to robbery, while Meng Yan’s secrecy and the cult’s return deepen the atmosphere of danger.
• Pragmatism and survival: Chen repeatedly weighs advancement against risk, choosing practical protection over more ambitious but uncertain gains.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo learns that the Feathered Immortal Cult was a sect destroyed five thousand years ago for opposing the corporatization of cultivation. Its surviving members now operate underground, recruit frustrated cultivators with appealing promises, and foment unrest and terrorist attacks in Taiqing City.
• Liang Ningwan warns that the cult’s promised resources are mostly a lure—and may involve brutal flesh-and-blood techniques. She suspects Meng Yan’s unusually rapid progress could point to a hidden connection.
• Liang also hints that Chen Zhuo’s own rapid cultivation is suspicious. Chen insists he has earned his progress through hard work, though his comic boasts leave Liang unconvinced.
• Liang asks to buy physical Spirit Stones. Chen agrees to sell her three after class, partly to maintain ties with her well-connected family. He realizes his belongings may not be safe at his Cave Abode and considers moving them into the Ancient Immortal Realm.
• The lecturer announces a visit from True Person Luo of the Taiqing City Law Enforcement Department, who has come to speak about guarding against evil cults. Luo appears in the classroom, and Chen recognizes him as a Golden Core cultivator.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains secretive about his cultivation and resources, presenting his advancement as the result of punishing effort. He also shows practical caution, weighing both his finances and the security of his Storage Bag.
• Liang Ningwan acts as an informed, cautious classmate: she explains the cult’s history, questions rapid cultivation, and seeks access to Chen’s valuable Spirit Stones. Her suspicion of Chen is tempered by her desire to preserve their connection.
• True Person Luo arrives as a powerful new authority figure. His casual, friendly introduction contrasts with the immense pressure Chen feels from his Golden Core presence.

Significant themes

• Propaganda and social discontent: The cult’s appealing slogans exploit frustrated lower-level cultivators, while official accounts frame it as a dangerous threat.
• Cultivation and hidden advantage: Rapid progress invites suspicion, raising questions about whether success comes from effort, secret resources, or illicit methods.
• Resource scarcity and inequality: Physical Spirit Stones are especially valuable in an era of depleted spiritual energy, while access to them depends partly on money and connections.
• Corporate power and moral compromise: The chapter contrasts the corporatized cultivation system with the cult’s older, more brutal Devil Dao methods.

Key plot points and events

• Golden Core Cultivator True Person Luo visits Chen Zhuo’s class. He kindly assesses students’ cultivation, praising or correcting them. He calls Chen Zhuo’s foundation solid, but pauses in surprise before offering only general advice.
• After Luo leaves, the students buzz with excitement. Chen Zhuo wonders why Luo reacted unusually to him and notices Meng Yan seems intensely relieved, though he cannot tell why.
• Teacher Qin resumes class, explaining Qi Gathering Powder and its modern, much more potent equivalent.
• Chen Zhuo leaves with a sample of the powder and plans to offer it to Li Changqing first; if Li has no Spirit Stones, he will sell it alongside other medicines to Jishi Hall. He also recognizes that detailed usage reports could help his academic transfer or job prospects.
• Chen Zhuo trades six sheets of rare, three-hundred-year-old Spirit Bamboo Talisman Paper to Yu Xia for a complete first-tier, high-grade Sword Qi Talisman.
• Yu Xia explains that the Talisman can be controlled with spiritual sense, circles within three feet of its user, and delivers power comparable to a top-grade Magical Artifact for twenty seconds.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains practical and ambitious: he weighs how to sell his medicine, improve his prospects, and acquire stronger tools for cultivation.
• True Person Luo comes across as powerful but approachable, contrasting with the status-consciousness Chen Zhuo has seen among students.
• Yu Xia is exhausted but proud of her talisman-making. She readily trades her prized work, then urges Chen Zhuo to bring her raw Spirit Bamboo in future.
• Meng Yan’s unusually intense relief after Luo’s visit hints at an undisclosed concern.

Significant themes

• Power and accessibility: Techniques once associated with elite Golden Core cultivators are available through modern talismans.
• Ambition and opportunity: Chen Zhuo treats grades, reports, medicines, and trades as steps toward a better cultivation path.
• Tradition and modernity: Ancient cultivation materials and practices coexist with contemporary institutions, products, and online commerce.
• Unanswered mysteries: Luo’s reaction to Chen Zhuo and Meng Yan’s relief raise questions that remain unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo returns to the Ancient Immortal Realm, reflecting on how to sell pills more discreetly after attracting attention with a large sale.
• He cultivates in his stone-bed cave abode, then uses the vape’s final two puffs to prepare for a breakthrough.
• The medicine strengthens his body, and he gathers the spiritual energy in his dantian to open his Qi Sea.
• After a period of cultivation, his spiritual-energy vortex bursts and becomes a vast Qi Sea. Chen Zhuo reaches Qi Refining Fourth Layer, entering Middle Qi Refinement.
• The new Qi Sea lets him store spiritual energy and cast spells more powerfully, efficiently, and for longer. His physical strength also improves.
• He looks ahead to eventual Foundation Establishment, but remembers the bandit cultivators outside and decides he needs practical combat spells. He plans to visit the Immortal Estate’s Spell Library.
• Before consolidating his breakthrough, he dismantles the nearly empty vape and licks up its last drops rather than waste them.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo moves from cautious cultivation toward greater confidence and ambition, imagining that he might one day become a respected “True Person.”
• His breakthrough also makes him more pragmatic: he recognizes that cultivation alone is not enough and that he must prepare for real combat.
• His resourcefulness—and comic frugality—shows in his plans to sell pills in smaller batches and his refusal to waste the vape’s remnants.

Significant themes

• Progress through cultivation and resources: Chen Zhuo’s poor Spiritual Root makes advancement difficult, so he relies on the cave’s spiritual energy and unconventional aids.
• Power brings new possibilities and responsibilities: Opening a Qi Sea unlocks stronger spellcasting, but also makes combat preparation more important.
• Ambition tempered by caution: Chen Zhuo dreams of rapid advancement, yet stays aware of the dangers waiting outside.
• Humor amid cultivation: His exaggerated reactions to the vape and determination to use every last drop keep the breakthrough’s serious stakes playful.

Character interactions

• The chapter is largely focused on Chen Zhuo’s solitary cultivation and internal thoughts.
• He recalls True Person Luo, whose bearing inspires his ambition.
• The bandit cultivators remain an offstage threat that shapes his decision to seek combat techniques.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo stabilizes his Qi Sea after several more days of cultivation. Since the Everlasting Spring Art is only a foundation-building technique, he decides to seek a stronger method through the Spell Repository, also known as the Spiritflow Codex.
• The Repository holds vast numbers of techniques and spells, and rewards people whose verified submissions add something new. It is overseen by preserved divine senses of deceased high-level cultivators, making it difficult for the Immortal Estate to control or alter.
• Chen Zhuo qualifies for a personalized technique recommendation at Qi Refining Fourth Layer, but the consultation costs 100 Spirit Coins—and he has none. He considers submitting spells taken from the sinister old man, deciding that his existing evidence already makes further suspicion unlikely.
• With his market cave abode due to expire in three days, Chen Zhuo returns to the Immortal Estate and travels to University Town, where the Repository’s physical branch offers in-person “checkups.”
• After identity verification and a wait in line, he enters a private room and submits a transcription of the Azure Abyss Embracing Unity Scripture.
• The Repository judges it an old, crude water-attribute technique, finding many flaws and little useful content—but awards Chen 500 Spirit Coins for submitting it.

Character development

• Chen Zhuo is cautious about drawing attention to the techniques he possesses, but pragmatism wins out: he needs Spirit Coins and a better cultivation method.
• He shows growing confidence in relying on the Repository, reasoning that its ancient, impersonal overseers are unlikely to expose him.
• He remains resourceful and forward-looking, balancing cultivation goals against practical pressures such as the looming cave-abode deadline.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo has a brief, procedural exchange with the weary registration official, who verifies his identity and directs him inside.
• He receives guidance from the Repository’s automated Spell Spirit and follows the system’s submission process. The Repository’s evaluation and reward are the chapter’s central response to his decision.

Significant themes

• Technology and cultivation: The Spell Repository functions like an advanced magical database, blending immortal legacies with artificial intelligence.
• Knowledge as currency: Research and the submission of spells can earn Spirit Coins, turning scholarly work into a practical livelihood.
• Trust versus secrecy: Chen Zhuo must decide whether to rely on the Repository despite concerns about revealing the origins of his techniques.
• Practical ambition: Progress in cultivation depends not only on spiritual talent but also on money, access, and strategic choices.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo submits the Azure Abyss Embracing Unity Scripture to the Spell Repository and receives 500 Spirit Coins, bringing his balance to 545.3. He rejects a costly 3,000-Coin optimization offer and has no intention of practicing the water-attribute technique.
• He undergoes an examination so the repository can recommend a cultivation technique. The test places him at Qi Refining Fourth Layer, with a lower-grade, mid-tier single wood Spiritual Root and spiritual-energy sensitivity of 20—one point higher than before.
• The repository offers three techniques: the slow but later-stage-focused Withering and Flourishing Scripture, the health- and longevity-oriented Myriad Woods Bow to Origin Skill, and the deceptive but combat-weaker Myriad Phenomena Art.
• Prioritizing survival, steady cultivation, and compatibility with future wood techniques, Chen Zhuo chooses and buys the Myriad Woods Bow to Origin Skill for 300 Spirit Coins.
• He returns to his Cave Abode, checks for any changes to his online classes, then teleports to the Ancient Immortal Realm. He plans to spend the next three days learning the technique before facing people waiting in ambush outside.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is delighted by the unexpected reward but remains practical, refusing both an unaffordable optimization and a technique that conflicts with his Spiritual Root.
• He states his priorities clearly: cultivate quickly, fight effectively, and above all stay alive. His choice reflects a cautious, flexible approach rather than a focus on direct power.
• The repository’s spirit examines him and recommends techniques; Chen Zhuo makes the final selection based on his own needs. He also interacts briefly with his group chat and online class information before returning to the Ancient Immortal Realm.

Significant themes

• Survival and pragmatism: Chen Zhuo chooses longevity, adaptability, and preparation over flashy combat specialization.
• Resources and trade-offs: Spirit Coins determine what he can afford, so he weighs immediate needs against expensive improvements.
• Preparation amid danger: His study of the new technique is explicitly meant to prepare him for an impending ambush.
• Growth and uncertainty: His increased spiritual-energy sensitivity hints that his experiences in the Ancient Immortal Realm may be changing or nourishing his Spiritual Root.

Summary

• Chen Zhuo cultivates in Cloudford Market City using the newly acquired Myriad Woods Bow to Origin Skill. Its circulation of wood-aspected spiritual energy is far more efficient than the Everlasting Spring Art, and its life-nourishing effects leave him feeling revitalized. After three days, he leaves the market city and returns to the Shantytown.
• Two predatory cultivators follow him: a tall, thin man and a burly, hawk-faced man, both at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer. They are notorious bandits who prey on inexperienced visitors and operate with the support of Shopkeeper Han of Jishi Hall. They assume Chen Zhuo, a weaker Fourth-Layer cultivator, will be an easy target.
• Chen Zhuo leads them to a secluded stream and confronts them calmly, hinting that the spot will become their grave. The tall man scoffs at him, while the burly man threatens him.
• Chen Zhuo activates a Premium Sword Qi Talisman. Its sword qi instantly kills the tall cultivator. Believing the attack was a one-use talisman, the burly man readies his shield and blood-red saber and attacks.
• The sword qi turns back and kills the burly man as well. Realizing too late that Chen Zhuo’s weapon is a powerful Talisman Treasure, he dies in disbelief. The treasure then vanishes, and Chen Zhuo remarks that he must bury the bodies at the very spot they had chosen for his grave.

Character developments and interactions

Chen Zhuo’s cultivation has improved, and he shows confidence, composure, and tactical awareness: he notices he is being watched, chooses the ground, and lets his pursuers underestimate him. The two bandits’ greed and overconfidence lead them to misjudge both their target and his weapon. Their exchange shifts from smug threats to panic as Chen Zhuo’s sword qi proves far more powerful than expected.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts cultivators’ outward strength with their true resources: the bandits rely on Chen Zhuo’s lower cultivation level, while he has a decisive hidden advantage. It also emphasizes the danger and lawlessness of the Shantytown, the value of powerful cultivation techniques, and the consequences of greed and underestimation.

Key plot points and events

• After killing the two cultivator bandits, Chen Zhuo takes their Storage Bags and Magical Artifacts. He finds spirit stones, a defensive shield, two sabers—including the Bloodbound Saber—and Qi Gathering Powder that appears to have come from Shopkeeper Han’s shop.
• Chen Zhuo concludes that Han secretly works with bandits who target outsiders. He burns and buries the bodies, then returns to the Shantytown.
• At Jishi Hall, Chen sells four portions of Qi Gathering Powder and a Qi Condensation Pill for 93 spirit stones. He then offers Han the Bloodbound Saber, which Han recognizes as Liu Wu’s weapon. Han conceals his knowledge and buys it for 55 spirit stones.
• Chen leaves with 148 spirit stones in total, satisfied to turn his spoils into money without drawing attention elsewhere.
• After Chen departs, Han warns his medicine boy to keep quiet. Though the boy doubts Chen could defeat two stronger cultivators, Han suspects Chen belongs to a powerful cultivation clan and has a high-level protector nearby. He orders the shop closed and goes to seek his master’s help.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is resourceful and cautious: he capitalizes on the bandits’ deaths but avoids unnecessary risks, recognizing that repeated fights could eventually go badly. He confronts Han indirectly, using the Bloodbound Saber to signal what happened without openly accusing him.
• Shopkeeper Han is calculating and wary. He hides his recognition of the saber, bargains as if unaware, then invents a theory that Chen is a clan scion protected by a powerful cultivator. His fear overturns his earlier confidence in the bandits’ scheme.
• The medicine boy is frightened by Chen’s return and later by Han’s warning. Han abruptly silences him and instructs him to treat Chen with exceptional courtesy if he returns.

Significant themes

• Power and perception: Chen’s true resources are unknown to Han, who mistakes his success for evidence of powerful family backing.
• Pragmatic survival: Chen chooses profit and caution over seeking further fights or drawing attention.
• Complicity and criminality: Han’s respectable medicine shop masks his involvement in an ambush scheme.
• Social hierarchy: Han interprets Chen’s finely made clothes as proof of noble cultivation-clan origins, revealing how status shapes people’s assumptions.

Summary

Plot and events

• After earning 148 Spirit Stones, Chen Zhuo calculates that he has covered a third of the cost of acquiring a Spiritual Root. He reflects on the five cultivation domains and their specialties, then reminds himself that, without known family connections, he must rely on his own resources.
• He visits Li Changqing to complete his monthly report on Qi Gathering Powder. Although Li Changqing can afford only two of the eight Spirit Stones, Chen Zhuo lets him owe the rest.
• Chen Zhuo observes Li Changqing inhale the powder and records its effects. After a short time, Li Changqing feels energized and says the dose will save him months of cultivation; Chen Zhuo also notes his cultivation difficulties.
• Li Changqing’s younger sister, Li Yao, shyly offers Chen Zhuo two wild fruits. He accepts kindly.
• Li Changqing tells Chen Zhuo that the Qiwu Sword Sect will recruit disciples in three months. The sect admits qualified young cultivators directly and lets others compete for places. Since Chen Zhuo has recently reached the Fourth Layer of Qi Refinement, he may qualify for the assessment. He asks Li Changqing to explain the sect and whether the Xu Kingdom has other sects.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is practical and alert: he values his newfound wealth, stays wary of dangers in the Shantytown, and uses Shopkeeper Han’s likely suspicion of hidden backing to his advantage.
• Despite his caution, Chen Zhuo shows compassion by extending Li Changqing credit and treating Li Yao warmly.
• Li Changqing is grateful and respectful, while his advice about recruitment gives Chen Zhuo a possible path forward.
• Li Yao’s small gift reveals her affection and trust toward Chen Zhuo.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance and social inequality: Chen Zhuo lacks the family resources that let wealthy students study across domains, so he must build his future himself.
• Cultivation intertwined with technology and commerce: The domains specialize in complementary fields, while spiritual drugs and formal training shape advancement.
• Compassion amid hardship: Chen Zhuo’s generosity contrasts with the dangers and scarcity of life in the Shantytown.
• Opportunity and ambition: The approaching recruitment offers Chen Zhuo a chance to advance beyond his current circumstances.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo considers joining the Qiwu Sword Sect, a powerful sect ranked third among the Southern Wilderness’s nine major sects. Though joining would give him access to better cultivation resources, he worries it could expose his secret travel to the Immortal Estate and the World-Breaking Pearl.
• He decides to enter the sect’s selection, reasoning that his modest Spiritual Root should make him only an outer disciple—and therefore less likely to attract attention.
• Li Changqing reveals why he has been praising the sect: he hopes Chen Zhuo will look after him and his sister, Li Yao, if Chen Zhuo becomes a disciple. Chen Zhuo gives no firm promise, but advises Changqing to save Spirit Stones for future pills.
• Chen Zhuo rents a market-city Cave Abode for three months, paying thirty-two Spirit Stones. He resolves to cultivate there while keeping a low profile, especially by pausing his pill sales and focusing instead on Talisman-Making College.
• He buys a 370-year-old Purple Spirit Bamboo stalk for seven Spirit Stones, then uses the World-Breaking Pearl to return to the Immortal Estate.
• There, he finds several messages: Meng Yan wants to talk, his Alchemy College counselor has called a meeting, and Senior Sister Sijing invites him to meet Dong Xuejiao, a graduate who recently transferred into a bachelor’s program and now has better access to pharmaceutical supplies.
• Chen Zhuo declines Meng Yan’s invitation, acknowledges the college meeting, and thanks Sijing. He also asks whether he should pay her the twenty Spirit Stones from his latest drug sales.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo commits to pursuing greater opportunities despite the risks, but becomes more cautious about his wealth and conspicuous pill business. He is also actively seeking a better source of injectable drugs.
• Li Changqing shows ambition and dependence on Chen Zhuo’s future status, hoping Chen Zhuo will help him and Li Yao later.
• Dong Xuejiao is introduced as a newly successful undergraduate transfer whose connections may benefit Chen Zhuo.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo listens to Li Changqing’s praise of the Qiwu Sword Sect, then responds cautiously to Changqing’s request for future help.
• He politely avoids Meng Yan, whose unpredictable situation he considers dangerous.
• Through Sijing, Chen Zhuo is offered an introduction to Dong Xuejiao, and he raises the question of repaying Sijing for the drugs he sold.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus caution: Chen Zhuo chooses the sect despite the danger of exposing his secret.
• Secrecy and survival: He limits profitable pill sales to avoid drawing the attention of powerful cultivators.
• Opportunity and social mobility: The sect and Dong Xuejiao’s transfer represent routes to better resources and standing.
• Patronage and obligation: Changqing seeks future support, while Chen Zhuo remains mindful of repaying Sijing.

Key plot points and events

• After rapidly selling Sijing’s pill stock, Chen Zhuo declines her Essence-Nourishing Pill but agrees to buy a Qi Condensation Pill. He plans to focus on cultivation until he becomes an outer disciple of the Qiwu Sword Sect, then sell pills within the sect.
• Sijing offers to introduce him to Senior Sister Dong, who can supply Azure Dragon, an injectable cultivation drug. Chen Zhuo learns that it is the first of the notoriously powerful “Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin” drugs, whose combined effects can be lethal. He nevertheless resolves to save up for Azure Dragon and make it a personal cultivation goal.
• Two days later, Chen Zhuo attends an in-person class in the Pill Appraisal Department. Counselor Yuan promotes a new student-loan program, arguing that borrowing is a sensible investment in one’s cultivation.
• Yuan also announces the upcoming annual Dao Tournament, where the strongest vocational-college student in the Taiqing Domain will be chosen. Chen Zhuo reacts with exaggerated awe at the prospect.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is increasingly entrepreneurial, thinking ahead to selling pills and posing as an alchemist once he joins the sect. He is also ambitious—and comically undeterred by the dangers of powerful drugs.
• Sijing treats Chen Zhuo as a lucrative business partner, while still maintaining the senior-sister/junior-brother etiquette between them.
• Meng Yan has advanced to Qi Refining Third Layer and become close to students with Innate Spiritual Roots. He is more distant from Chen Zhuo after Chen rejected his invitation to join their group.
• Counselor Yuan presents himself as an experienced, persuasive promoter of the college’s loan program.

Significant themes

• Cultivation as commerce: Pills, loans, and access to resources are all treated as investments and opportunities.
• Ambition versus risk: Chen Zhuo pursues rapid advancement despite knowing the drugs may kill users.
• Status and belonging: Students with Innate Spiritual Roots form their own social circles, while Chen and others with implanted roots are more peripheral.
• Satire of financial pressure: Yuan’s upbeat claim that debt makes cultivation smoother turns borrowing into a humorous, questionable sales pitch.

Character interactions

• Chen and Sijing negotiate pill sales through messages, mixing business with playful familiarity.
• Chen asks Sijing about stronger drugs, leading to the proposed introduction to Senior Sister Dong.
• In class, Chen remains apart from Meng Yan’s circle, while Counselor Yuan addresses the students with pitches for loans and the Dao Tournament.

Key plot points

• Counselor Yuan announces that the academy will begin selecting talented first-year students for the Dao Tournament Reserve. Reserve members may receive extra resources, including interest-free loans and free spells, and future tournament competitors will be chosen from the reserve.
• Chen Zhuo considers applying because he needs help developing his spells and wants to save his Spirit Coins.
• He overhears Wang Heng asking his companion, Little Jade, whether he can qualify. Little Jade harshly tells Wang Heng he is unfit for the tournament and even recommends dropping out. Wang Heng is hurt but asks how he can improve.
• Chen Zhuo decides the paid version of Little Jade is not worth its cost: it is intrusive, while his free version serves as a useful offline reference.
• Chen heads to Counselor Yuan’s office to apply. He also intends to ask for a loan, jokingly reasoning that borrowing money is a kind of talent—and that he could flee if he cannot repay it.
• When Chen raises the loan before completing his application, Counselor Yuan sets the form aside and eagerly agrees to discuss borrowing first.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo shows ambition and resourcefulness, viewing the reserve as a way to gain practical support. His willingness to pursue a loan reveals his irreverent, opportunistic sense of humor.
• Wang Heng remains insecure after his recent defeat by Chen Zhuo. Little Jade’s cutting criticism deepens his discouragement, though his question about changing himself suggests he still wants to improve.
• Counselor Yuan initially presents the reserve opportunity, then reacts with conspicuous enthusiasm when Chen mentions a loan, hinting that the financial discussion may be welcome—or unusually important.
• Chen notices Yuan’s meaningful glance at Meng Yan, but its significance remains unclear.

Significant themes

• Talent and opportunity: The reserve offers students a path to advancement, while Chen reframes borrowing as a form of personal ability.
• The costs of progress: Resources and spell training require money, forcing Chen to weigh support against debt.
• Technology and privacy: Chen rejects Little Jade’s paid upgrade because its access to personal cultivation data outweighs its benefits.
• Self-worth and discouragement: Wang Heng’s exchange with Little Jade contrasts the academy’s promise of advancement with the harsh judgments students may face.

Summary

• Chen Zhuo asks Counselor Yuan Mingde how much he can borrow to support his cultivation. Yuan says the standard limit is about 300 Spirit Coins, which Chen considers far too little: it would barely buy one cultivation “Needle.”
• Yuan, impressed by Chen’s rapid rise to Qi Refining Fourth Layer, assumes he has been using large amounts of cultivation drugs. He proposes arranging a 4,000–5,000 Spirit Coin loan by designating Chen a priority student and prospective Dao Tournament team member, in exchange for a 10% cut.
• Chen initially suspects loan fraud and worries about legal consequences. Yuan argues that the paperwork and policies are legitimate; the school would simply make the designation after securing the loan. He explains that several departments’ “prospective team” spots are routinely used to help students obtain loans, while actual tournament places usually go to combat-focused students.
• Chen leaves without agreeing, then asks three contacts for advice. Senior Sijing confirms that the arrangement is an accepted school practice and says Chen’s unusually fast cultivation makes him a defensible choice for the designation. Convinced the loan is legitimate, Chen decides to take it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is cautious and financially pragmatic. Though tempted by the larger loan, he initially refuses to commit until he checks the risks. Once reassured, he embraces the opportunity.
• Counselor Yuan is confident and practiced at navigating the school’s loan-and-designation system. He presents the arrangement as officially compliant and offers to handle the paperwork for a fee.
• Senior Sijing serves as Chen’s trusted source of inside information, explaining both the school’s custom and why Chen was selected. Chen also contacts Yu Xia and Liang Ningwan, though their responses are not included here.

Significant themes

• The chapter satirizes bureaucratic loopholes and institutional corruption, blurring the line between legitimate policy and a scam.
• It highlights the pressure to fund cultivation: rapid progress is linked to costly drug use and borrowing.
• “Potential” and merit are treated as measurable—and manipulable—through loans, rankings, and official designations.

Key events

• Chen Zhuo uses money from selling Purple Spirit Bamboo to repay his 300-Spirit-Coin loan, then immediately borrows 500 more, reasoning that his improved cultivation raises his borrowing limit. With the new loan and over ninety Spirit Stones in storage, he feels unusually wealthy and confident.
• He sends the bamboo to Yu Xia by courier and heads to a meeting on the South Campus with Sijing.
• The gathering includes senior Alchemy students and their lower-cultivation juniors, who appear to be their drug-selling subordinates. Chen Zhuo also spots Liang Ningwan beside her towering brother, Liang Ninghong.
• Sijing arrives late, apologizes to Chen Zhuo, and warns him to address their contact as Adept Dong, not Senior Dong: Dong has transferred to a bachelor’s program, so former juniors like Sijing may still use the old title privately, but newer students should observe the distinction.
• Sijing explains that Liang Ninghong is a Body Cultivation student and the son of a senior Law Enforcement Bureau official. The meeting abruptly turns ceremonial as everyone strikes a pose and a voice announces the return of the One Heart Society.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains resourceful and financially bold, treating loans and stored Spirit Stones as signs of his growing “potential.” He insists he is not a deadbeat, though he intends to delay repayment when possible.
• Yu Xia quickly buys his Purple Spirit Bamboo, reinforcing their practical, mutually beneficial relationship.
• Sijing shows unusual deference toward Chen Zhuo by apologizing for being late, surprising the other seniors. She then privately coaches him on etiquette and introduces him to the social hierarchy around the gathering.
• Chen Zhuo and Liang Ningwan exchange a brief greeting but do not speak, while Sijing identifies Liang Ninghong and his influential family.

Significant themes

• Wealth, cultivation, and ambition: Chen Zhuo sees financial resources as a way to support his cultivation, though his reliance on borrowing is played for comedy.
• Status and hierarchy: Academic seniority matters enough to dictate how Dong may be addressed, while family connections also shape how students are perceived.
• Informal power networks: The gathering suggests a distribution chain in which juniors work under senior students, hinting at a larger student-run organization.

Key plot points and events

• Dong Xuejiao returns to her old college as an undergraduate, making a dramatic entrance with an impressive robe and several magical artifacts. She enjoys the students’ admiration and explains that she has come back to spend time with her old classmates.
• Sijing introduces Chen Zhuo as a promising junior: despite having an implanted Spiritual Root, he has advanced quickly, excels at selling and administering medicine, and is being considered for financial support and a spell competition.
• Dong initially looks down on Chen Zhuo because of his Spiritual Root. Once Sijing tells her about his potential and likely access to Spirit Coins, Dong’s attitude changes abruptly: she warmly claims him as a junior and tries to sell him medicine.
• Chen Zhuo asks about Nine Dragons Pulling the Coffin, starting with its first “dragon,” Azure Dragon. Dong offers three forms at different prices: oral tablets, an injection, and intestinal absorption. Chen chooses one dose of the injectable version.

Character developments and interactions

• Dong Xuejiao presents herself as gracious and generous, but her grand display is partly calculated to protect her status as an undergraduate. Her swift shift from disdain to affection reveals her strong interest in making sales.
• Chen Zhuo remains respectful but wary of Dong’s sudden friendliness. He is practical about money and selects a single dose rather than buying more.
• Sijing acts as Chen’s advocate, giving Dong the details needed to recognize his promise and commercial value.
• The crowd flatters Dong, while Chen stays quiet until Sijing brings him forward. Their exchange highlights his low standing in the club and her elevated status.

Significant themes

• Status and social hierarchy: Undergraduate prestige shapes how Dong and the students treat one another.
• Money and opportunism: Dong’s attitude is driven as much by Chen’s potential spending power as by his merits.
• Appearance versus sincerity: Her impressive entrance and warm welcome are partly performances, leaving Chen unsure what to believe.
• Ambition and practicality: Chen wants to advance, but weighs his desire for the product against the need to live frugally.