Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• A mass alert from Taiqing Bank informs everyone that Chen Zhuo has borrowed more than 100,000 Spirit Coins and warns them to keep their distance because their own balances cannot cover the risk.
• Wang Heng sees the notice while waiting for Little Jade’s blunt assessment. He switches her off before she can speak, but resolves to train for a hundred days and defeat Chen Zhuo.
• Students and teachers react with shock, envy, and suspicion. The teachers realize the loan is likely guaranteed by Teacher Xiao Yugang, whose distinguished wartime service gives him exceptional credit with the authorities.
• Chen Zhuo arrives in the Central Seats and takes his place, knowing that he activated the bank’s warning feature to discourage contestants from challenging him and interrupting his cultivation.
• He persuades Xie Yunling that borrowing heavily is a sensible route to rapid cultivation. Inspired by her own progress after taking out a loan, she decides to borrow more.
• Chen Zhuo invites Xie Yunling to team up for the tournament’s group event, claiming they can reach the top ten together.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Heng tries to maintain his composure after the warning undermines his confidence in his rivalry with Chen Zhuo. Though hurt and embarrassed, he turns the setback into a vow to improve and challenge Chen later.
• Chen Zhuo remains calm amid the crowd’s reactions and uses his debt strategically to deter challengers. He presents borrowing as a path to cultivation and recruits Xie Yunling as a teammate.
• Xie Yunling shifts from admiring Chen’s huge loan to adopting his risky financial logic. Her recent loan has accelerated her cultivation, making her receptive to borrowing more.
• Teacher Xiao Yugang is not directly present in the exchange, but his reputation and presumed role as Chen’s guarantor leave the teachers wondering why he has placed such confidence in Chen.

Significant themes

• Debt as a tool for advancement: Chen treats borrowing not as a burden but as an investment in cultivation and future success.
• Reputation and deterrence: The bank’s public warning turns Chen’s debt into a protective shield, discouraging weaker contestants from challenging him.
• Ambition and self-deception: Wang’s determination and Xie’s newfound enthusiasm show how setbacks and promises of rapid progress can fuel risky choices.
• Status and hidden backing: The teachers’ speculation about Teacher Xiao highlights how credit, reputation, and powerful connections shape people’s opportunities.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo warns Xie Yunling not to borrow more than she can repay. She still plans to take a loan, seeing that borrowing is common among the reserve trainees.
• Xie explains that several businesses have offered her advertising deals. Reserve members can earn roughly 50–60 Spirit Coins per match—or even during routine sparring—by reciting ad copy. Chen has received no offers and declines her offer to pass along the sponsors’ contacts, preferring to wait for better-paying opportunities.
• The Dao Tournament Reserve Training Class begins its challenge matches. Most reserve members are challenged, while Chen and students from the Body Cultivation and Combat Departments are largely left alone.
• Chen reconnects with Liang Ninghong, who invites him to train in the academy’s training room and offers instruction—for a fee. Chen agrees and looks forward to seeing the facility.
• Meng Yan abruptly defeats a Body Cultivation student with a brutal punch, leaving him with broken ribs and internal bleeding. The medical team treats the student, and Director Nangong warns Meng Yan to control his strength. Meng Yan accepts the reprimand calmly.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo gives practical financial advice but remains confident in his own prospects. He sees Liang’s paid offer as worthwhile, partly because he has Spirit Stones to spare.
• Xie Yunling shows increased confidence in borrowing and enthusiasm for the commercial opportunities available to reserve competitors. She offers to help Chen find sponsors.
• Liang Ninghong reveals both a friendly, helpful side and a businesslike streak: he offers to coach Chen, but charges for it. Chen responds warmly and agrees.
• Meng Yan demonstrates far greater power—and a more dangerous temperament—than his reputation suggests. His calm response afterward contrasts with the violence of his attack.
• Director Nangong oversees the matches and intervenes when Meng Yan’s force causes serious injury.

Significant themes

• Risk and ambition: Borrowing can accelerate cultivation, but only if debt remains manageable.
• Commerce in cultivation: Sponsorships and paid services are treated as ordinary parts of training and competition.
• Appearances versus reality: Meng Yan’s reputation does not reflect his strength, while Liang’s odd appearance does not prevent him from being thoughtful and capable.
• Competition and restraint: The reserve matches offer a chance to rise, but power must be controlled in a school setting.

Plot points and events

• After defeating another student, Meng Yan publicly challenges Chen Zhuo to a “friendly spar,” insisting it is unrelated to the competition slots. He offers a thousand Spirit Coins as the stake.
• Chen Zhuo accepts—not for the fight, but for the money—and draws his Thunderfire Sword. Its powerful thunder-and-fire Sword Qi impresses the crowd and startles Meng Yan.
• Meng Yan immediately apologizes, transfers the thousand Spirit Coins to Chen Zhuo, and concedes without exchanging a blow. He explains that he was only joking and that Chen is far stronger.
• The audience is baffled and divided over Meng Yan’s abrupt surrender. Director Nangong declares Chen the winner. Chen warns Meng Yan not to offer Spirit Coins so carelessly.
• Chen suspects Meng Yan had hoped to recruit him into the Feathered Immortal Cult. Chen has no interest, and considers revealing his sword harmless because its ownership is already discoverable.
• At noon, all three members of the Pill Appraisal Department—Chen, Meng Yan, and Xie Yunling—retain their competition slots, an unusually successful outcome for the department.
• After class, Chen and Liang Ninghong head to the Training Rooms. Liang explains their three tiers and cautions Chen not to overexert himself in the Advanced Training Room.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains calm and confident, but his decision to accept the challenge is driven by the promised reward. His formidable weapon ends the confrontation before it begins.
• Meng Yan is revealed as an enthusiastic Feathered Immortal Cult member who hoped to impress Chen and draw him into the group. Faced with Chen’s sword, however, he chooses to protect himself—and loses his medicine allowance in the process.
• Xie Yunling admires Chen’s sword and ability.
• Director Nangong oversees the challenge and confirms its result; she appears surprised by how quickly it ends.
• Liang Ninghong accompanies Chen and acts as a guide to the training facilities, showing concern for his safety.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: Chen’s weapon is enough to establish his strength without a fight.
• Money and motivation: Chen sees the challenge chiefly as a chance to earn Spirit Coins, while Meng Yan’s offer becomes an expensive mistake.
• Recruitment and persuasion: Meng Yan’s attempt to bring Chen into his cult is driven by his conviction that demonstrating its power will win him over—but his plan backfires.
• Public image and uncertainty: The spectators’ conflicting assumptions about Meng Yan and his technique highlight how quickly appearances shape opinion.

• Training-room visit: Chen Zhuo and Liang Ninghong visit the college’s underground advanced training room. Their Dao Tournament Reserve status gives them free access, with unused hours carried over: Liang has eight hours and Chen six. Liang explains that the college’s success in the tournament earns rewards for its Golden Core administrators, who need resources and longevity as they age.
• Facilities and training: The underground room has an unusually dense spiritual-energy field, produced by an expensive Yin-Baleful Spirit-Gathering Array, along with extensive equipment for testing spiritual energy, Divine Sense, strength, and physical conditioning. Chen is initially unimpressed by the energy level but amazed by the room’s scale and scientific-looking training setup. Liang recommends taking an injection before exercising.
• Medicine shortage: Chen has no injections with him and learns that prices have risen because Senior Sijing has bought up much of the local supply of Qi Refinement medicines. Liang complains that the bulk buying has diverted alchemists from producing body-cultivation injections. He explains that few students make low-grade medicines, and the Qi Refinement market is small; more lucrative Foundation Establishment medicines attract better-equipped alchemists.
• Character developments and interactions: Liang is warmhearted and knowledgeable, guiding Chen through the facilities and explaining the college’s incentives and local medicine market. Chen admires the equipment but remains suspicious of unexpected generosity, briefly wondering whether the training room is a trap. He also privately notices Liang seems unusually sharp, perhaps because his medicine has worn off. When Chen realizes his own buying may be contributing to the shortage, he stays quiet rather than admit it.
• Themes: The chapter mixes scientific infrastructure with cultivation, showing how technology and spiritual practice coexist. It also highlights the commercial pressures behind cultivation—limited resources, supply shortages, and competition for profit—as well as the ever-present anxiety of mortality among powerful cultivators.

Key plot points and events

• After receiving an experimental body-cultivation injection, Liang Ninghong develops a pointed head, speaks incoherently, and radiates Demon Power. Chen Zhuo infers that the drugs are derived from Demon Beasts and may harm the brain. He refuses to pay Liang the promised Spirit Stones, reasoning that the “training” was useless.
• Chen tests himself at the Advanced Training Room. His spiritual energy measures 839 units, roughly equivalent to an eighth-layer Ancient Cultivator. His Divine Sense is normal for his sixth layer, his physical strength is above average, and his spell power is also around the eighth layer.
• Chen concludes that his swordsmanship could let him challenge ninth-layer Ancient Cultivators, though he is less formidable by Immortal Estate standards. The Thunderfire Sword would greatly strengthen him, but he wants to rely on his own abilities when possible.
• At the Swordsmanship Dojo, Teacher Xiao tells him to use the Thunderfire Sword in a trial and mentions the ten Spirit Stones Instructor Yuan gave him. Xiao urges him to do his best, then disappears, leaving Chen unsure what the trial involves.
• Chen charges the sword and faces seventh-layer Puppet Dolls. He deliberately holds back the sword’s built-in sword intent, choosing to fight with his own Sword Qi. His attacks quickly break the dolls’ Protective Spiritual Light and cut through their formation.
• Xiao and an unidentified middle-aged Daoist observe Chen’s performance from the hall’s second floor.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo shows confidence in his combat potential but also pride and discipline: he wants to develop genuine sword intent rather than depend on the Thunderfire Sword’s built-in power. He remains ambitious, imagining how strong he will become after completing his drug regimen.
• Liang Ninghong appears to be suffering serious physical and mental effects from the body-cultivation injection.
• Teacher Xiao gives Chen a cryptic challenge, suggesting the trial may have greater significance than Chen realizes.

Significant themes

• Power and its costs: The drugs promise physical improvement but may carry dangerous, Demon Beast-related side effects.
• Self-reliance versus borrowed strength: Chen chooses to test his own swordsmanship instead of leaning on the weapon’s full power.
• Measurement and competition: The Immortal Estate’s tests quantify different abilities, while Chen compares himself with cultivators in both the Ancient Immortal Realm and the Estate.
• Ambition and debt: Chen jokingly frames his future success as that of a “prodigy powered by loans.”

Character interactions

• Chen dismisses Liang’s supposed instruction and withholds payment after Liang’s incoherent demonstration.
• Chen respectfully follows Xiao’s directions, though he privately puzzles over Xiao’s warning to do his best.
• Xiao and the unnamed Daoist silently watch Chen fight, setting up a likely evaluation of his abilities.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Xiao Yugang and Professor Zhang watch Chen Zhuo fight and discuss his prospects as a student. Zhang recognizes his solid sword fundamentals and unusual talent but considers him disadvantaged by his poor, implanted Spiritual Root.
• Zhang favors better-connected candidates: a gifted young woman from Shangxu Vocational College and Chang Qing, whose family has influence. Xiao believes Chen Zhuo’s swordsmanship is more remarkable precisely because he has no training or backing.
• Though Zhang does not select Chen Zhuo, he offers practical support: his implanted-Spiritual-Root loan will be waived under a special talent policy, and he may choose a grade-D cultivation method from the Spell Repository for free.
• Meanwhile, Chen Zhuo endures a prolonged arena battle, defeating over a hundred seventh-layer Qi Refining Puppets and several stronger ones. Exhausted and nearly out of power, he faces five eighth-layer Puppets equipped with metal-based attacks that counter his wood-based abilities.
• Rather than keep attacking, Chen Zhuo gathers his scattered Thunder Qi in his Qi Sea and uses his understanding of the Azure Sun Thunder-Controlling Sword Scripture to condense it into a First Wood Divine Thunder Seed. Its lightning paralyzes the five Puppets, ending the trial as the arena powers down.
• Xiao Yugang praises Chen Zhuo’s breakthrough: the Thunder Qi has become a seed, allowing thunder to arise on its own.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates endurance, adaptability, and independent insight. Under pressure, he shifts from forceful attacks to refining his cultivation, achieving a major advancement.
• Xiao Yugang shows strong faith in Chen Zhuo’s potential, valuing his originality and innate feel for the sword over pedigree or conventional credentials.
• Professor Zhang remains pragmatic and status-conscious, prioritizing promising students who will help his career. Still, he recognizes Chen Zhuo’s worth enough to grant him financial and educational assistance.

Significant themes

• Talent versus privilege: Chen Zhuo’s unpolished, self-developed skill contrasts with candidates supported by exceptional aptitude or influential families.
• Persistence and innovation: Chen Zhuo succeeds not by simply fighting harder, but by adapting and applying what he has learned.
• Recognition versus opportunity: Xiao sees Chen Zhuo’s promise, but institutional choices still favor candidates with resources, connections, and obvious credentials.
• Cultivation through understanding: Chen Zhuo’s breakthrough comes from comprehending and refining his technique, not merely accumulating power.

Character interactions

• Xiao and Zhang debate Chen Zhuo’s potential, revealing their different priorities: Xiao values distinctive talent, while Zhang weighs aptitude, backing, and career risk.
• Xiao recalls rejecting Chang Qing and contrasts Chang Qing’s inherited exposure to swordsmanship with Chen Zhuo’s self-made ability.
• Zhang’s offer of loan forgiveness and a free cultivation method gives Chen Zhuo support despite not choosing him.
• After Chen Zhuo’s breakthrough, Xiao directly validates his achievement, reinforcing their mentor-student bond.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo has independently condensed the First Wood Divine Thunder’s Thunder Seed after just over half a month. Xiao Yugang is impressed, especially since Chen had no instructor.
• Xiao reveals that Professor Zhang Jingming of Supreme Purity Sword Dao University admired Chen’s swordplay but could not take him as a disciple. Zhang nevertheless secured him benefits under the Outstanding Student Policy: his Spiritual Root implantation fee is waived, and he may choose one free D-grade spell.
• Chen initially considers a Divine Sense technique, but Xiao advises against training Divine Sense at his current stage, explaining that it is more effectively improved later through medical and pharmaceutical methods.
• Xiao recommends that Chen use his free spell choice on a Foundation Establishment method. Such a method prepares the Qi Sea for Foundation Establishment, reducing its difficulty by roughly 10–20% and offering a possible path for cultivators with limited resources.
• Chen accepts the advice and agrees to begin preparing early, since Foundation Establishment resources are costly and delaying a first attempt past age fifty makes success harder.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates exceptional comprehension and growing confidence, while remaining receptive to Xiao’s guidance. He views Xiao as a deeply trustworthy mentor and is determined to pursue cultivation rather than accept a lower-ceiling alternative.
• Xiao Yugang shows pride in Chen’s talent and continued commitment to helping him, drawing on his own experience to steer Chen toward practical long-term preparation.

Significant themes

• Talent versus innate limitations: Chen’s weak Spiritual Root aptitude is set against his remarkable self-taught insight and determination.
• Pragmatism in cultivation: Modern cultivation relies heavily on injections, medicine, and surgery, sometimes more than traditional training.
• Preparation and resource inequality: Foundation Establishment methods offer poorer cultivators a way to improve their odds, while the best resources remain extremely expensive.
• Ambition and labor: Chen jokes about Soul Cultivators’ wages and risks, rejecting a career he sees as dangerous and limiting in favor of his own Dao path.

Character interactions

• Xiao praises Chen’s achievement and explains the university benefits arranged through Professor Zhang.
• Chen asks Xiao for advice about choosing a spell, showing trust in his judgment.
• Xiao discourages Chen from pursuing Divine Sense training for now and recommends preparing for Foundation Establishment instead; Chen accepts his counsel.

Plot and events

• Swordsmanship instructor Xiao Yugang lends Chen Zhuo a Storage Bag, allowing him to carry items openly in the Immortal Estate. Chen is touched by the thoughtful gift and resolves to reach Foundation Establishment within ten years.
• At the Spell Repository, Chen chooses the general-purpose Origin Return Foundation Establishment Method. He had hoped for a wood-attribute method, but those are higher-grade and unavailable to him. The method works by repeatedly compressing and purifying spiritual energy.
• Chen considers buying unauthorized techniques or more medicine, but hesitates: illicit purchases risk legal penalties, and spending his limited Immortal Dao Potential could jeopardize his chance to enter the Dao Tournament.
• Sijing invites him to buy newly smuggled medicine. Chen declines. She concludes that he has personally consumed all the medicine she previously sold him, explaining his rapid progress to Qi Refining Sixth Layer. She views him as a valuable future customer and plans to stay close.
• Chen travels to the Ancient Immortal Realm using a separate, inexpensive first-generation Spirit Message Jade Slip. He carefully keeps possessions from the two worlds separate, taking only what he needs in each. As the Sword Boat nears the Qiwu Sword Sect, he decides to explore and learn about the sect he has never seen.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is grateful to Xiao and increasingly cautious as his circumstances grow more complicated. He weighs his rapid advancement against the cost and risks of illegal purchases, and adopts stricter habits to protect the separation between the two worlds.
• Xiao Yugang shows practical concern for Chen by lending him a Storage Bag, while keeping their relationship warm but informal.
• Sijing is shrewd and entrepreneurial, but wary of dangerous customers. Her dealings with Chen shift from suspicion to confidence that he is a reliable, profitable buyer.

Significant themes

• Law versus the gray market: cultivation techniques and medicine are tightly regulated, yet illicit markets offer tempting shortcuts.
• Ambition and resource management: Chen must balance cultivation, money, and Immortal Dao Potential while pursuing a Dao Tournament opportunity.
• Caution and compartmentalization: as Chen grows more powerful and attracts attention, he deliberately keeps his identities, tools, and possessions in the two worlds separate.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo leaves his room and is greeted by Zhang Zhi, a Rosy Vein disciple assigned to attend him.
• At Chen Zhuo’s request, Zhang Zhi explains the Qiwu Sword Sect’s history: it descended from the Azure Immortal Sect, which was devastated during a demonic conflict and later split into eight sects. The Qiwu Sword Sect retained five sword veins, each associated with an element and a distinct sword style.
• The sect no longer assigns disciples to veins according to Spiritual Root; a disciple’s master determines their affiliation. Although everyone learns sword techniques, only about one in five is truly devoted to the sword path.
• Zhang Zhi outlines the sect’s six Golden Core True Persons. The Rosy Vein has the most, while the Dawn Vein has none and is struggling to survive.
• Chen Zhuo notices the Thunder Vein’s apparent tension with the Rosy Vein and asks Zhang Zhi about it. She hesitates because the Rosy Vein’s former grand elder failed to support the Thunder Vein at Great Li Mountain, where Zhongli Sheng died. A Clear Void Temple True Person ultimately helped save the mountain.
• Chen Zhuo returns to cultivation, reflecting that Zhongli Sheng’s death may connect him to the Thunder Vein’s past. He then jokingly wonders if Zhongli faked his death, linking the idea to a famous gaming reference.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo comes across as observant and pragmatic. He seeks information without pressing Zhang Zhi when he realizes the subject is painful. Though he feels no personal attachment to Zhongli Sheng, he accepts that his nominal master’s history may now affect him.
• Zhang Zhi is proud of her sect and eager to help Chen Zhuo, but becomes uncomfortable when asked about the Rosy Vein’s past conduct. Her reaction reveals the sect’s unresolved guilt and factional tensions.

Significant themes

• Sect history and decline: The Qiwu Sword Sect’s former prestige contrasts with its present weakness and internal divisions.
• Factional responsibility and resentment: The Rosy Vein’s failure to aid the Thunder Vein has left lasting distrust, even though Zhongli himself accepted the decision at the time.
• Identity and obligation: Chen Zhuo distinguishes between the teachers he considers truly his own and the nominal master whose legacy nevertheless ties him to the sect’s conflicts.
• Humor amid serious intrigue: The chapter’s final, anachronistic gaming reference punctures the solemn speculation about Zhongli’s possible fake death.

Character interactions

• Zhang Zhi respectfully briefs Chen Zhuo on the sect and its power structure.
• Chen Zhuo’s direct question about the rivalry puts Zhang Zhi in a difficult position; he responds gently when he sees her embarrassment.
• Their exchange establishes a courteous relationship while hinting that Chen Zhuo’s connection to the Thunder Vein may draw him into its feud with the Rosy Vein.

• Cultivation and arrival: After a month of intensive cultivation aboard the Sword Boat, Chen Zhuo reaches the peak of Qi Refining’s Sixth Layer, though he expects the next breakthrough to take longer. His limited access to spiritual energy makes him eager to reach the sect, whose richer resources could accelerate his progress.
• Anxiety about the sect: Chen Zhuo welcomes the prospect of better cultivation conditions but worries that tensions between the Thunder and Rosy Veins could bring the scheming and persecution familiar from cultivation stories. He hopes simply to cultivate peacefully and advance.
• Welcome at Qiwu Mountain: The Sword Boat reaches the Qiwu Sword Sect, where Chen Zhuo is struck by the mountain’s abundant spiritual energy. True Persons Lu and Xu greet him and explain that they will introduce him to senior sect leaders and help guide him if problems arise.
• A grand public welcome: The sect’s bells ring and auspicious signs fill the sky, initially making some disciples think a new Golden Core cultivator has emerged. Instead, Sect Leader Wang announces Chen Zhuo’s arrival: as the sect’s first Heavenly Spiritual Root disciple since its move to the Southern Wilderness, he joins the Thunder Vein as a Thunder Sword True Disciple and is elevated to Sword Gate Dao Heir. All five peaks must honor him, and no lineage may deny him its secret teachings.
  Character developments and interactions: Chen Zhuo moves from private anticipation and worry to determined acceptance of whatever sect politics may bring. Lu and Xu act as welcoming guides, while Wang’s sweeping decree grants Chen Zhuo exceptional status before he has even begun life at the sect. The disciples’ unified cry of welcome shows the scale of that honor.
  Significant themes: The chapter contrasts Chen Zhuo’s modest wish for peaceful cultivation with the extraordinary expectations attached to talent and status. It also emphasizes the importance of spiritual resources, the weight of sect hierarchy and lineage, and the way a gifted newcomer can become a symbol for an entire institution.

Plot points

• Chen Zhuo returns to the Qiwu Sword Sect and is publicly welcomed as its Daoist Heir, a rank above True Disciple and an exceptionally rare honor.
• The sect’s leaders justify the appointment by citing his Heavenly Spiritual Root, the first the sect has seen in five thousand years, and the boost his fame could give the sect’s morale.
• Chen feels overwhelmed by the attention and the expectations attached to his new status. He briefly fantasizes about buying a Heavenly Spiritual Root, but knows such Roots are tightly regulated and require official approval.
• When Xu Chan notices his distress, Chen improvises an emotional story about having grown up without family and finally feeling at home. Xu sympathizes, sharing his own childhood loss, but Lu Xu tactfully changes the subject.
• Chen is escorted to the main peak, where he meets sect leader Wang Shechuan, True Person Skyglow, and Liu Cheng, True Person Mountain-Suppressing.
• Wang praises Chen’s spiritual energy and strong foundation, then gives him the Cloudglow Heart-Guarding Mirror, a supreme-grade protective Magical Artifact that once helped establish Wang’s reputation.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is elevated in status but remains anxious and self-effacing; he uses humor and quick improvisation to cope with pressure.
• Xu Chan is prickly about the appointment but accepts its logic. He responds warmly when Chen claims to have suffered a lonely childhood.
• Lu Xu acts as a mediator, defending the decision to name Chen Daoist Heir and steering the conversation away from a sensitive subject.
• Wang Shechuan welcomes Chen enthusiastically, evaluates his abilities, and offers him a valuable personal gift. Liu Cheng is introduced as another imposing Golden Core leader.
• Chen’s comparisons between the sect’s commanding True Persons and the comparatively ordinary-looking True Person Luo reveal his outsider’s perspective on the different worlds he inhabits.

Significant themes

• Prestige and pressure: Recognition elevates Chen but also intensifies his fear of failing expectations.
• Talent and institutional ambition: The sect’s celebration reflects both genuine admiration and its hope that Chen’s potential will strengthen its standing.
• Belonging and family: Chen frames his arrival as finding a home, while Xu Chan’s response hints at shared loneliness and the importance of mentorship.
• Status, gifts, and responsibility: Wang’s heirloom artifact signals the sect’s investment in Chen and the obligations that come with his new rank.

Key plot points and events

• True Person Wang gives Chen Zhuo the Cloudglow Heart-Guarding Mirror, a defensive artifact said to protect and strengthen his spirit.
• Uncle-Master Liu lends Chen the Peak Vein’s Mountain-Quelling Essence Belt, a powerful Magical Treasure containing part of a Spirit Meridian that can bolster cultivation and stabilize his foundation.
• Xu Chan encourages Chen to accept the gifts. Wang praises Chen’s rare talent and says he will take him to Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain in ten days to find a flying sword.
• Xu Chan escorts Chen to Heavenly Drum Peak, where Chen is to cultivate for the next hundred years. Chen privately recognizes the belt’s enormous value, though it is only on loan.
• During the journey, Xu Chan urges Chen not to inherit old factional grudges. He warns that infighting once shattered powerful sects and weakened the Central Lands, leaving them vulnerable to outside enemies.
• Xu Chan explains that he must soon return to guard Great Li Mountain. His disciple Wan Jinzhao, a Thunder Vein True Disciple, will assist Chen at Heavenly Drum Peak.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is delighted by the gifts and accepts them without the modest refusal he had considered. He also takes Xu Chan’s warning about unity seriously and promises to remember it.
• Xu Chan reveals a principled, farsighted side beneath his cold manner: although he bears a personal grudge against Wang, he wants Chen to judge the next generation independently and help preserve the sect.
• True Person Wang is generous and encouraging toward Chen, though his praise and comparison to another gifted disciple leave Chen unsure whether he is sincerely congratulating him or stirring rivalry.
• Uncle-Master Liu supports Chen’s cultivation by lending him a major Peak Vein treasure.

Significant themes

• Sect unity over factional loyalty: The five veins must stand together rather than let inherited grievances divide them.
• Learning from history: The “fallen cart ahead” symbolizes past sects destroyed by internal conflict, a warning to those who follow.
• Responsibility accompanying talent: Chen’s status and potential bring not only privileges but an obligation to protect the Sword Gate’s future.
• Mentorship and cultivation: The gifts, promised sword, and placement at Heavenly Drum Peak prepare Chen for a demanding path.

Character interactions

• Wang and Liu honor Chen with gifts; Xu Chan cuts through ceremony by telling him to accept them.
• Wang praises Chen and offers future help, while Chen responds respectfully but remains uncertain about Wang’s intentions.
• Xu Chan distinguishes his personal hostility toward Wang from Chen’s relationship with the Rosy Vein, urging him to build friendships rather than perpetuate old conflicts.
• Xu Chan directs Chen to rely on Wan Jinzhao for help after Xu returns to his post.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo arrives at Heavenly Drum Peak with Grandmaster Xu Chan. Xu is appalled to learn that Wan Jinzhao has gone fishing instead of waiting for them, and flies off to retrieve him.
• Chen is led to the finest Cave Abode on the peak. Its spiritual energy is vastly richer than anywhere he has cultivated before; his jade slip measures the surrounding density at 32.33, with a peak estimate of 35.
• Exploring behind a waterfall, Chen discovers the Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven and three genuine Spirit-Eye Springs. Inside, the spiritual-energy density reaches 36. The luxurious cave also contains a working Magical Artifact pill furnace.
• Eager to take advantage of the conditions, Chen uses his “Azure Dragon,” Origin-Returning Needles, and electronic cigarette, then begins cultivating, confident he can break through to the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining.
• Meanwhile, Golden Core elders discuss Chen’s astonishing sword talent. Lu Xu reveals that Chen learned the basics of the sect’s sword scripture in three days, detected a flaw in it, and proposed a correction that improved the technique.
• The elders conclude that Chen must be protected, while also debating whether he should eventually undertake missions to keep his Sword Heart sharp. As they watch, strange clouds and unusually pure spiritual energy gather over Heavenly Drum Peak, apparently signaling Chen’s breakthrough.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is thrilled by his new environment and remains pragmatic and irreverent, treating an elite cultivation retreat as an opportunity to power-level. His exceptional cultivation and sword comprehension increasingly seem beyond ordinary “Heavenly Spiritual Root” talent.
• Xu Chan shows both authority and exasperation: he arranges the best possible home for Chen, then immediately sets off to deal with Wan Jinzhao’s absence.
• The leading disciple is awed by Chen’s progress and becomes fervently loyal, viewing Chen’s success as a future benefit for the entire Thunder Vein.
• Wang Shechuan, Lu Xu, and Liu Cheng shift from admiration to a sense of responsibility. They see Chen as a possible future leader capable of restoring their sect’s standing, and resolve to protect his path.

Significant themes

• Talent and hope: Chen’s gifts inspire the elders to imagine a return to Jiangnan and a brighter future for their sect.
• Protection versus growth: The elders must balance safeguarding Chen with giving him enough challenges to develop as a swordsman.
• Awe and comic contrast: Chen’s casual, humorous habits contrast with the elders’ reverence and the grand, almost miraculous cultivation setting.
• Unexplained potential: The breakthrough’s extraordinary effects suggest Chen may be far more exceptional than the sect’s records—or even the label “Heavenly Spiritual Root”—can explain.

Character interactions

• Xu Chan delegates Chen’s care to the peak’s disciples before going to retrieve Wan Jinzhao.
• Chen’s guide treats him with deep respect and privately pledges loyalty, while Chen’s poetic flourish receives no special reaction.
• The elders exchange reports of Chen’s abilities, then discuss how best to protect and train him. When the breakthrough phenomenon appears, Wang Shechuan confidently claims it is normal for Heavenly Spiritual Roots, despite having no real precedent.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo breaks through to Qi Refining Seventh Layer, entering Late Qi Refinement with little difficulty thanks to the Ancient Immortal Realm’s abundant spiritual energy, his cultivation methods, and the Mountain-Suppressing Jade Belt.
• His rapid progress consumes most of his medicine. He calculates that he will need a Foundation Establishment Injection and a Foundation Establishment Spirit Object, but the injection alone costs 150,000 Spirit Coins. He decides he must become an official Dao Tournament competitor and win both individual and team championships to fund his next breakthrough.
• Chen Zhuo discovers he can now fly, then uses springwater to drink the medicine residue left in his syringes rather than waste it.
• His breakthrough’s unusual spiritual-energy phenomenon astonishes the disciples of Heavenly Drum Peak, who interpret it as proof of his extraordinary wood-attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root.
• Xu Chan returns with Wan Jinzhao and assigns Wan to teach Chen Zhuo swordsmanship fundamentals. Xu also tells Wan to teach him poetry.
• Wan leads Chen to a secluded spirit pool, ostensibly for sword practice but partly hoping to fish. He demonstrates the five forms of the Azure Sun Thunder-Controlling Sword Scripture.
• Chen identifies five flaws in Wan’s technique and explains improvements he developed to the manual. Wan realizes Chen is right and ends up thanking him as though Chen were his teacher.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo grows more ambitious and practical: he recognizes the cost of cultivation and finds a concrete reason to win the Dao Tournament. His sword insight also proves far beyond what others expect from someone who has cultivated for less than a year.
• Wan Jinzhao begins relieved that a gifted junior can share the Thunder Vein’s burden, and eager to teach him. His confidence collapses as Chen corrects his swordsmanship; admiration turns into stunned uncertainty and even fear.
• Xu Chan remains protective of Chen’s development, arranging instruction in swordsmanship and poetry before leaving for the Lu family.
• The Thunder Vein disciples’ awe reinforces Chen’s growing reputation as an exceptional talent.

Significant themes

• Resources and opportunity shape cultivation: abundant spiritual energy and good techniques make Chen’s breakthrough far easier than the hardships described in his textbooks.
• Ambition and financial pressure: exceptional talent does not eliminate the practical cost of advancement; Chen needs money and must compete for it.
• Appearance versus ability: Chen is assigned basic instruction, yet he turns out to be the more knowledgeable swordsman.
• Comedy through reversal: Wan expects to mentor Chen, but the lesson quickly becomes Chen teaching Wan.

Character interactions

• Xu Chan entrusts Wan with Chen’s sword training, while also asking him to teach Chen poetry.
• Wan welcomes Chen as a potential relief from the pressure of carrying the Thunder Vein’s future.
• Chen’s blunt questions about Wan’s unsuccessful fishing irritate him, though Wan tries to defend fishing as a way to clear his mind.
• During sword practice, Chen respectfully points out Wan’s errors and explains his revisions. Wan’s role shifts from senior instructor to astonished student.

Key plot points and events

• Wan Jinzhao is astonished by Chen Zhuo’s understanding of the Azure Sun Thunder-Controlling Sword Scripture. Worried that others might target such a gifted disciple, he urges Chen to keep his sword talent secret until he reaches Golden Core.
• Wan and Chen spar. Chen’s theoretical knowledge is exceptional, but he initially struggles in practical combat, having mostly beaten weaker opponents or fought puppets. Wan gives him blunt, useful advice about reading openings, retreating, and using Talismans.
• Wan explains the sect’s Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain, where disciples can choose swords once bonded to fallen sword cultivators. Chen secretly plans to find one resembling his Immortal Estate Thunderfire Sword so he can introduce his own weapon without raising suspicion. Wan reveals that his chosen sword is hidden inside a fishing rod.
• In the Immortal Estate, Chen asks Teacher Xiao Yugang for help with an imagined ancient-style sword opponent. Xiao accepts Chen’s claim that he is a sword prodigy and teaches him how to counter it.
• Chen questions the value of training against wooden puppets. Xiao explains that the drills prepare him for the Astral Realm Battlefield, where large numbers of low-level, blade-wielding martial cultivators fight. He also describes how different domains contribute to the war effort.
• Returning to Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven, Chen spars with Wan again. After five days of watching and learning Wan’s techniques, Chen suddenly counters his attacks with ease, leaving Wan stunned.
• Their bout is interrupted by a spectacular sight: Golden Core cultivators Xu and Lu carry a gigantic, five-thousand-year-old Moon Jade Tree toward Heavenly Drum Peak. Chen immediately considers using its wood to improve his body-tempering.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is grateful for the protective, familial care he receives at Heavenly Drum Peak, but continues to conceal the true source of his knowledge and skill. He is resourceful and quick to adapt, using advice from both worlds to improve.
• Wan Jinzhao acts as a caring elder brother, first protecting Chen’s secret and then training him honestly. His confidence turns to disbelief when Chen rapidly masters his fighting patterns.
• Xiao Yugang is proud of Chen and enthusiastically mentors him, mistaking Chen’s rehearsed explanations for signs of extraordinary natural talent.
• Chen and Wan’s relationship grows through repeated sparring: Wan teaches Chen practical combat, while Chen’s rapid progress leaves both of them rethinking his abilities.

Significant themes

• Concealed talent and mistaken genius: Chen’s apparent prodigy status comes partly from borrowing knowledge and observations, while others interpret his progress as innate brilliance.
• Practice and adaptation: Chen’s combat weakness improves through focused observation and hands-on sparring.
• Mentorship and belonging: Wan’s concern and Xiao’s encouragement give Chen a sense of family and support.
• Different worlds, different kinds of experience: The Ancient Immortal Realm emphasizes lethal combat, while the Immortal Estate offers structured training and specialized preparation for interworld warfare.

Summary

• The author celebrates meeting the book’s launch-day update goal, posting 50,000 Chinese characters: 30,000 prepared in advance and 20,000 written that day.
• They joke that the only consequence was dusty cuffs, and say they feel less pressure now that they no longer try to force a joke into every chapter. This change has helped them write faster.
• The author explains that their monthly-ticket target was meant to motivate them, not obligate readers. They encourage readers to vote for whichever book they prefer and promise to keep updating regardless.
• Character and interaction: Chen Zhuo is mentioned as the person readers may support with their monthly tickets. The author addresses readers warmly, thanks them for their encouragement, and promises more updates.
• Themes: Persistence, writing discipline, reader support, and freedom from self-imposed pressure.

Key plot points and events

• Uncle-Masters Xu Chan and Lu Xu deliver the enormous Jianmu to Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven, where it shrinks into a sapling and takes root beside the spirit-eye spring. Lu Xu receives a Calamity-Breaking Pill from Xu Chan in exchange for the Moon Jade Tree, and leaves.
• Xu Chan gives Chen Zhuo a jade token to summon him in an emergency, then goes to confront Wan Jinzhao for neglecting his teaching duties.
• Wan explains that Chen has surpassed him in swordsmanship in only five days—and even improved the Azure Sun Thunder-Controlling Sword Scripture enough to increase Wan’s cultivation speed. Xu accepts that Wan is no longer suited to teach Chen, but tells him to stay nearby and help as needed. Xu decides to seek a teacher from the Heartless Dao.
• Chen begins practicing the Azure Wood Body Tempering Technique with the five-thousand-year-old Moon Jade Tree. The technique connects him to the tree, but the abundant ambient spiritual energy means the tree does not need to consume Chen’s magic power: he receives its benefits essentially for free.
• The connection temporarily heightens Chen’s Spiritual Root sensitivity, markedly improving his cultivation speed. It also strengthens his body and may extend his lifespan. Chen concludes that he should save for a Heavenly Spiritual Root rather than buy a lesser one.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains curious and practical, repeatedly investigating unexpected effects of his cultivation. He turns the tree’s unusual behavior into a major advantage and becomes increasingly excited about the technique.
• Wan Jinzhao accepts his defeat by Chen and lets go of the pressure created by his reputation and years of training. His frustration gives way to relief and humor; he recognizes Chen as the one capable of teaching him.
• Xu Chan shows strong support for Chen, giving him a valuable pill, a safety token, and freedom to use the tree as he wishes. Though initially angry with Wan, he adjusts once he understands Chen’s extraordinary progress.
• Lu Xu parts with the Moon Jade Tree reluctantly but is satisfied with the valuable pill and acknowledges that Chen receives exceptional care from the Thunder Vein.
• The exchanges between Xu Chan and Lu Xu reveal friendly rivalry and bargaining between their lineages, while Xu Chan’s confrontation with Wan becomes a frank discussion of Chen’s startling talent.

Significant themes

• Talent and shifting roles: Chen’s rapid growth overturns the usual teacher–student relationship, leaving Wan as the learner.
• Acceptance and freedom from pressure: Wan finds peace by accepting that he cannot match Chen, rather than treating defeat as personal failure.
• Hidden value and adaptation: A technique overlooked or reshaped for one world proves far more powerful in another, where abundant spiritual energy changes how it works.
• Good fortune through experimentation: Chen’s unexpected discovery transforms body tempering into a way to improve his cultivation efficiency and informs his long-term plans.

Plot points and events

• True Person Wang Shechuan reflects on his decision not to risk a breakthrough to Nascent Soul, preferring to safeguard the Qiwu Sword Sect. When a vision of the Jianmu appears over Heavenly Drum Peak during Chen Zhuo’s cultivation, Wang reassures Liu Cheng that it is an expected sign of Chen’s Heavenly Spiritual Root—even though he is largely improvising.
• Chen Zhuo’s Azure Wood Body Tempering Technique produces a brief phenomenon of heaven and earth. He discovers that it strengthens his Law Body and wood spiritual energy, extends his lifespan, and allows his body to be tempered while he cultivates.
• These benefits inspire Chen to aim for a Second Wood Dharma Body, whose yin-wood qualities would complement the First Wood energy in his sword techniques and offer strong recovery and sustained spiritual energy.
• Two days later, Chen leaves the Jianmu and prepares to visit Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain with Wang, as promised. Li Changqing, now a disciple of Heavenly Drum Peak, has been assigned to relay Chen’s orders; Li’s sister is studying the sword on the Dawn Vein.
• Wang brings Chen to Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain, a repository of the bonded swords of fallen Foundation Establishment cultivators. He explains that its killing intent suppresses Divine Sense, that Chen must find a resonant sword within a month, and that the guarded mountain has only one safe entrance and exit.
• Since Wang admits he would not know if Chen were attacked inside, he lends him a powerful Nascent Soul–level sword Talisman Treasure with two uses remaining. Chen enters the mountain, where killing intent surges around him.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shechuan remains cautious about his own cultivation but becomes increasingly convinced that Chen’s Heavenly Spiritual Root could elevate the sect. He hides his uncertainty about the Jianmu phenomenon from Liu Cheng and maintains an air of expertise around Chen. His caution also shows in the protective talisman he gives Chen.
• Chen Zhuo gains confidence in the Jianmu’s value and recognizes a path toward a powerful Second Wood Dharma Body. His eagerness to cultivate contrasts with his wariness about the dangers of the sword trial.
• Liu Cheng accepts Wang’s explanation of the phenomenon and joins him in protecting Chen’s cultivation.
• Li Changqing reunites with Chen as a junior disciple and assigned attendant, while Chen briefly asks after Li’s sister.

Significant themes

• Caution versus ambition: Wang avoids a risky breakthrough, while Chen’s rapid gains encourage him to pursue an ambitious Dharma Body.
• Fate and cultivation: Chen is told that choosing a sword depends on resonance and destiny rather than force.
• Opportunity and danger: The Jianmu offers extraordinary benefits, but Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain’s concentrated killing intent makes Chen’s next opportunity hazardous.
• Appearances and uncertainty: Wang confidently explains events he does not fully understand, revealing the gap between authority and knowledge.

Key plot points and events

• At Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain, Chen Zhuo finds his Divine Sense almost completely suppressed by the mountain’s Killing Intent. He searches among countless swords for one resembling his Thunderfire Sword but finds no exact match.
• He chooses a fire-aligned Supreme-Grade Magical Artifact that looks close enough. When it resists him, he uses the pressure of his Nascent Soul Sword Talisman to make it submit—without activating the valuable talisman. He takes the sword only as a disguise, not as a new weapon, and returns to the Immortal Estate through the World-Breaking Pearl.
• Back in his room, Chen Zhuo reviews messages from Sijing, Dong Xuejiao, and Xie Yunling, then draws a precise picture of the borrowed sword so a shopkeeper can alter the Thunderfire Sword’s appearance.
• At the secondhand Magical Artifact shop, he asks the shopkeeper—an acquaintance of his teacher—to modify his sword for 500 Spirit Coins. The shopkeeper agrees, and Chen Zhuo waits while the work is done.
• Sijing repeatedly offers him a free sample of her potion, “Red-Yellow Dragon,” and eventually reveals she wants more rare materials like the Jambudvipa Leaf he previously supplied. Chen Zhuo agrees to seek them and trade.
• Sijing also offers to help him secure a substitute spot in Dao Tournament training. Chen Zhuo discovers that winning gold in the All-Domain Junior College Student Skills Competition carries an enormous prize package, including 300,000 Spirit Coins, a Supreme-Grade Magical Artifact, lessons with a Nascent Soul True Lord, and more.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo remains pragmatic and resourceful: he uses intimidation rather than prolonged sword-subduing, and plans to alter his real sword’s appearance so he can use it freely in the Ancient Immortal Realm.
• His financial concerns become more prominent. He has only a few thousand Spirit Coins left and recognizes that he needs a sustainable, legitimate way to earn money.
• Sijing’s motives become clearer: her generosity is tied to her need for rare ingredients and her hopes of benefiting from a major competition. Chen Zhuo accepts the arrangement warmly once he understands it.
• The shopkeeper is practical, briefly affronted by a simple cosmetic job but readily accepts it as paid work.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism over prestige: Chen Zhuo chooses a merely suitable sword rather than a celebrated treasure, since he only needs a convincing disguise.
• Trust and self-interest: Chen Zhuo is wary of free offers, while Sijing’s friendly persistence proves to have a practical purpose.
• Money and opportunity: Spirit Coins shape Chen Zhuo’s plans, and the competition’s rewards could offer a major financial and career opportunity.
• Technology and cultivation: Chen Zhuo applies practical tools and planning—his talisman, the World-Breaking Pearl, and sword modification—to navigate a magical world.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo’s exchange with the resistant sword is comic and forceful; he treats it like a stubborn opponent and uses the talisman’s aura to compel it.
• He approaches the shopkeeper respectfully, asks for a specific modification, and negotiates a straightforward paid service.
• In messages with Sijing, Chen Zhuo initially doubts her free potion offer, then agrees to help her source ingredients. Their relationship is friendly and mutually beneficial.
• Dong Xuejiao invites him to an alchemy exchange, and Xie Yunling invites him to team training, though the chapter focuses chiefly on his dealings with Sijing.

Key plot points and events

• Senior Sijing gives Chen Zhuo a rundown of likely competitors for an upcoming junior-college skills competition. She singles out Sangluo Continent, a powerful third-year from the Daluo Domain, and asks Chen to obtain spirit herbs for her; one or two would help, while three would be ideal.
• Chen researches the Azure Wood Body Tempering Technique, learning that its original text is kept in a museum and requires Foundation Establishment clearance and 3,000 Spirit Coins to access.
• A shopkeeper finishes refurbishing Chen’s Thunderfire Sword so it looks like another sword Chen acquired. Chen pays 500 Spirit Coins and returns to Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain.
• There, Chen channels his Sword Qi through the Thunderfire Sword, powered by both a Spirit Stone and the mountain’s abundant spiritual energy. The sword’s Thunderstruck Wood Sword Intent combines with Chen’s Jia Wood Thunder Seed, unleashing a tremendous display of azure lightning and life-infused wood-attribute thunder.
• The magical swords across the mountain resonate with Chen’s blade. More than ten thousand swords form a spectacular aerial torrent behind him as he descends, while the mountain’s baleful mist and chill wind recede.
• Outside the mountain, the sect’s Foundation Establishment disciples and leader, Wang Shechuan, witness the phenomenon. Wang improvises an explanation that Chen’s Heavenly Spiritual Root and Sword Dao Sacred Physique account for it, and the disciples take the display as a sign that their sect may recover its former glory.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo grows more confident about competing, convinced his late-stage Qi Refining cultivation and training give him an edge. His sword’s overwhelming response at Ten-Thousand-Blade Mountain further fuels his belief that he is a Sword Immortal.
• Sijing appears as an ambitious, talented competitor—already at the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer and aiming for gold. She relies on Chen to procure rare spirit herbs.
• Wang Shechuan is privately shocked by Chen’s feat, since it was not something he expected, but confidently presents it to the disciples as evidence of Chen’s exceptional potential.
• The Foundation Establishment disciples shift from astonishment to admiration, interpreting the spectacle as proof of a once-in-a-generation sword prodigy.

Significant themes

• Tradition versus modern technology: Chen’s refurbished, modern Thunderfire Sword commands ancient, hand-forged swords, suggesting the power of technological innovation as well as spiritual cultivation.
• Talent, reputation, and performance: Chen’s dramatic display turns his supposed potential into a public spectacle, while Wang’s explanation shapes how others understand it.
• Comedic irreverence: Chen’s crude misunderstanding of Sangluo’s “family heirloom,” his jokes about rival cultivators, and the contrast between grand sword-immortal imagery and his casual attitude keep the tone playful.
• Hope for renewal: The disciples see Chen’s feat as a sign that the Qiwu Sword Sect can regain its former stature.