Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo’s study of the incomplete Burning Heavens Great Sun Sword Chapter produces an unprecedented Great Dao phenomenon: a vast phantom sun that overwhelms nearby Qi Refinement disciples. Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng recognize it as a sign of Chen’s extraordinary mastery.
• The Jade Radiance Sect’s prodigy, Shu Yaotiao, arrives at the Qiwu Sword Sect to challenge its Qi Refinement disciples. Seeing the phantom sun and realizing Chen is far beyond her, she avoids fighting by claiming she will not challenge someone in seclusion, then promptly leaves to preserve her undefeated record and Dao heart.
• Chen completes his cultivation and gains the Great Sun Undying Physique, making his body as strong as a Foundation Establishment Body Cultivator’s and allowing him to contend with early- or even middle-stage Foundation Establishment opponents. His underlying Cangmeng Nourishing Origin Physique remains unchanged.
• Chen emerges to a stunned crowd, stages a dramatic entrance with a miniature sun, and recites a stirring poem. The disciples hail him as the sect’s Daoist Heir.
• Lei Bingwen, who has struggled with the Great Sun Sword Chapter for decades, asks Chen for guidance. Chen explains its principles using knowledge obtained through the Spell Repository’s deductions. He then answers questions about other techniques, helping many disciples gain insight; some break through their cultivation bottlenecks on the spot.
• Wang Shechuan praises Chen and prepares him to begin Foundation Establishment, providing a high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill and a Heavenly Thunderwood spirit object. He promises the sect will protect Chen and hints that Chen may later be used to challenge rival sects and suppress hostile clans.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo becomes markedly stronger and more confident, though much of his apparent mastery comes from using the Spell Repository’s optimized answers rather than deep independent understanding. He also shows generosity toward the sect by sharing what he has learned.
• Shu Yaotiao remains proud of her undefeated reputation but proves pragmatic: she recognizes Chen’s superiority and withdraws rather than risk damaging her Dao heart.
• Lei Bingwen shifts from longtime student of the Sword Chapter to Chen’s grateful pupil, finding that Chen’s explanation resolves years of confusion.
• Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng move from astonishment to ambitious planning. They regard Chen as the Sword Gate’s greatest hope and envision using his strength to restore the sect’s standing.
• The disciples’ awe turns into personal gratitude as Chen’s public instruction benefits cultivators across different levels.

Significant themes

• Talent and hierarchy: Exceptional ability overturns conventional seniority; Shu even upgrades Chen from “junior brother” to “senior brother.”
• Reputation and self-preservation: Shu protects her undefeated image by framing retreat as a principled choice.
• Knowledge and generosity: Chen’s willingness to teach strengthens both his relationships and the sect as a whole.
• Ambition and sect rivalry: The Sword Gate sees Chen’s rise as a chance to regain influence and confront rival powers.
• Comedy beneath grandeur: Chen’s seemingly profound presence contrasts with his practical reliance on precomputed answers and his knowingly theatrical performance.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo refuses a Foundation Establishment Pill, claiming his Heavenly Spiritual Root makes it unnecessary and that pill toxins could damage his cultivation. He says he wants to form a pure, stable foundation and offers the pill to a disciple who needs it more.
• Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng are persuaded by Chen’s reasoning. Wang arranges a sect-wide sword trial, with the pill as the prize for the winner. Chen accepts, pleased to turn the refusal into a display of generosity.
• Chen learns that Shu Yaotiao came to challenge him but left without fighting. He vows to visit the Jade Radiance Sect after reaching Foundation Establishment and settle the matter. Wang also recommends Lin Yi, a cultivator of the Heartless Sword Dao, as a sparring partner.
• After Chen leaves, Liu Cheng treats his statements as potentially sensitive sect knowledge: he orders them recorded, requires those present to undergo a Heart-Examining Stone test, and blocks anyone from leaving. He also realizes that Lei Bingwen has gained an insight that may lead to a Golden Core breakthrough.
• Back in the Immortal Estate World, Chen watches a promotional video for his college’s Dao Tournament team. Its promise to “make history” inspires him to take the competition seriously, since losing could leave him stuck playing in a band. He checks the draw, sees no obvious threats in his qualifying group, and prepares for the battle royale in three days.
• Elsewhere, Jade Purity Intelligence officials discuss a covert Spirit Chip project. The chips appear to be working well in several students, including Sijing and Jiang Ge; one chip-bearing contestant, Xu Kezhou, is in Chen’s group. The officials also discuss the project’s risks and possible links to plans for reviving deceased cultivators.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo continues to cultivate his image as a uniquely gifted and principled genius. His refusal is largely strategic: he does not want the pill, but knows that declining it will strengthen others’ belief in him. He also sees the tournament as a personal obligation after the promotional video.
• Wang Shechuan shifts from skepticism to belief, interpreting Chen’s ideas through the lens of his own stalled cultivation. He increasingly regards Chen as a source of valuable insight and as evidence of the sect’s renewal.
• Liu Cheng is impressed by Chen but remains responsible for protecting the sect. His response shows that admiration does not override his caution about espionage or sensitive information.
• Lei Bingwen reaches an important moment of enlightenment, potentially bringing him close to a major breakthrough.
• Chunyu Heng emerges as a cynical, disengaged Jade Purity Intelligence employee. Though responsible for monitoring the Spirit Chip operation, he resents his low pay, fears being made a scapegoat, and has little loyalty to the project.

Significant themes

• Truth, performance, and reputation: Chen’s persuasive explanation blends genuine conviction with deliberate image-making; others’ trust in him is shaped by his extraordinary talent.
• Tradition versus technological modernity: The Ancient Immortal Realm’s pills, spiritual roots, and sword trials coexist with the Immortal Estate’s technology, competitions, corporate projects, and spirit chips.
• The risks of power and knowledge: Chen’s claims could alter sect doctrine, prompting Liu Cheng to guard them as strategic secrets. Jade Purity Intelligence’s chips likewise raise ethical and political concerns.
• Commercialization and self-interest: The tournament is shaped by viewership and advertising, while corporate employees and executives are driven by pay, factional politics, and institutional survival.
• Mutual dependence: Chen recognizes that neither world alone accounts for his success; the Ancient Immortal Realm supplies cultivation resources, while the Immortal Estate provides technology and knowledge.

Character interactions

• Chen’s refusal unsettles Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng, who ultimately accept his reasoning because of his reputation and apparent innate talent.
• Wang converts Chen’s refusal into a sect event by making the pill the prize in a sword trial; he also relays Shu Yaotiao’s visit and suggests Lin Yi as a sparring partner.
• Liu Cheng’s strict security orders contrast with Wang’s growing admiration, reflecting the different responsibilities of a sect elder.
• Chen’s internal reaction to Shu Yaotiao’s aborted challenge is incredulous, but he responds outwardly with confidence and a promise to challenge the Jade Radiance Sect later.
• At Jade Purity Intelligence, Chunyu Heng gives the female colleague a casual project briefing and unsolicited opinions; she rebukes him and warns him to stick to his assignment.

Plot and events

• The Dao Tournament qualifiers begin, with the vocational-college competitors entering a free-for-all; only the last four in Group A will advance.
• Xu Kezhou believes he can defeat Chen Zhuo. He relies on a combat Spirit Chip containing the experience of True Person Xiao Chuan, and hopes a dramatic Group A victory will bring him fame, advertising contracts, and Immortal Dao Potential.
• Chen Zhuo’s arrival is announced indirectly by a Taiqing Bank debt alert, which astonishes the competitors and reinforces his reputation. Xu confronts him with a challenge, but Chen dismisses him and declares he will prove that no vocational-college student can claim supremacy over him.
• The tournament organizers secretly arrange the competitors’ starting positions. They place Xu near Chen and plan to play Xu’s interview during their encounter, while supposedly treating the manager’s nephew Zhang Chao impartially.
• Once teleported into the arena, Chen quickly recovers, activates a protective sword shield, and senses that Xu is nearby. He looks forward to fighting him.
• In a separate skills competition, judges initially look down on vocational-college entries. They are stunned by the exceptional Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid made by Sijing and award her the Gold Award.
• A Golden Core True Person offers Sijing 500,000 Spirit Coins for the potion. She refuses because she has promised it to a friend who needs it, but offers to brew another batch if supplied with materials. The judge is surprised by her loyalty and tells her to prepare for the awards ceremony.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Kezhou is ambitious and confident, convinced his Spirit Chip can overcome Chen. Chen’s indifference and the bank alert intensify his envy and determination.
• Chen Zhuo is stronger than before, having mastered additional physiques and techniques. He views the other competitors as manageable but accepts that his reputation makes him a target. His clash with Xu is set up, though the fight has not yet begun.
• Sijing demonstrates both outstanding alchemical skill and personal loyalty. She turns down a lucrative offer to keep her promise to Chen.
• The organizers’ behind-the-scenes favoritism contrasts with the tournament’s public claims of fairness.

Significant themes

• Ambition and spectacle: Competitors and Chen alike understand that public attention can bring financial and cultivation benefits.
• Prejudice and recognition: Vocational-college students are dismissed by elites, yet Chen’s reputation and Sijing’s Gold-winning work challenge those assumptions.
• Loyalty versus self-interest: Sijing chooses friendship over immediate profit, a choice the judge finds alien in a world where people are often treated as potential assets.
• Corruption beneath official fairness: The tournament’s organizers manipulate placements while presenting the competition as impartial.

Plot points and events

• In the vocational-college qualifiers, Xu Kezhou activates an “auto-pilot” Spirit Chip that lets the swordsmanship of a long-dead Golden Core master, True Person Xiao Chuan, control his movements.
• Chen Zhuo recognizes the sudden change and fights him. Xu Kezhou’s defensive earth-style swordsmanship withstands Chen’s lightning, fire, and combined attacks, but Chen eventually invokes his Great Sun Undying Physique. His overwhelming sword strike breaks Xu’s defense, eliminates him, and disconnects the Spirit Chip.
• Spectators take Chen’s victory for granted, while the tournament manager realizes Xu was far stronger than his seeding suggested. The manager’s nephew is then eliminated by Chen in one move; a staff member argues that losing to a future champion may still look good on the nephew’s résumé.
• Chen dispatches the remaining contestants with ease. After an earlier group attack fails, the survivors hide from him, turning the qualifying round into a hunt in which Chen searches them out one by one.
• At Jade Purity Intelligence, Chunyu Heng learns that Xu—whom the company hoped would promote its Spirit Chip—was the first contestant eliminated. After watching the match, Chunyu decides to approach Chen for an endorsement and sue Xu for damages while reclaiming the chip.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is revealed as far more powerful than his peers: he combines formidable swordsmanship, thunder and fire techniques, and the Great Sun Undying Physique. He remains confident and dismissive, frustrated more by the lack of worthy opponents than by the tournament itself.
• Xu Kezhou shifts from cocky schemer to a vessel for Xiao Chuan’s disciplined, defensive swordsmanship. Though his borrowed expertise makes him formidable, he cannot control the fight or overcome Chen.
• The tournament manager and staff member clash over the manager’s nephew’s placement, with the staff member’s opportunistic résumé logic unexpectedly persuading the manager.
• Chunyu Heng moves quickly from disappointment in Xu to treating Chen as a more valuable advertising asset, revealing the company’s willingness to turn contestants and even sword techniques into marketing.

Significant themes

• Borrowed power versus exceptional talent: Xu’s Spirit Chip grants access to a master’s skill, but Chen’s own breadth and strength prevail.
• Spectacle and perception: Spectators miss the skill behind the match, while tournament officials recognize Xu’s ability; reputation and seeding do not reliably reflect true strength.
• Commercialization of cultivation: The company sees martial achievements as advertising opportunities and responds to failure with lawsuits and product control.
• Competition as farce: Chen’s dominance turns a tournament into hide-and-seek, while bureaucratic and marketing concerns continue around the arena.

Key plot points and events

• Sijing arrives at the Junior College Dao Tournament after winning the alchemy division’s Gold Award. Chen Zhuo has dominated his arena, using his lightning dragon and fire phoenix to eliminate nearly everyone and finish first with 51 elimination points.
• In the lounge, Sijing publicly rebukes and kicks a lab-coated admirer who insults Chen Zhuo, insisting that he is her “dad.” She sends the group away and gives Chen Zhuo the top-grade Foundation Establishment Spirit Liquid she won as her prize.
• Sijing advises Chen Zhuo to prepare carefully for Foundation Establishment and tells him she has also bought Spirit Liquid and secured a place in Taiqing Pharmaceutical University’s graduate cultivation program. They agree to work together in the future by supplying medicinal materials to her lab.
• Chen Zhuo decides to attempt Foundation Establishment in the Ancient Immortal Realm, where spiritual energy is abundant and the breakthrough will not create suspicious disturbances in the Immortal Estate World. He seeks an official, spiritually rich seclusion room.
• Jade Purity Intelligence contacts him to sponsor the tournament’s “Finishing Move Naming Rights.” Chen Zhuo negotiates an endorsement deal worth 250,000 Spirit Coins, plus long-term use of a Supreme-Grade Magical Artifact.
• He immediately spends most of the money on Foundation Establishment aids, including a Realm-Guarding Needle. After securing the seclusion room and activating its protective formations, he uses the World-Breaking Pearl to begin his breakthrough.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates overwhelming combat ability and confidence, but remains cautious about revealing his ability to travel between worlds. He is also pragmatic: he gladly accepts Sijing’s gift, negotiates a sponsorship, and invests heavily in his breakthrough.
• Sijing emerges as a celebrated young alchemist with powerful prospects and possible mentorship from Golden Core cultivators. Despite her success and busy schedule, she remains loyal to Chen Zhuo and actively supports his cultivation.
• Chen Zhuo and Sijing continue their playful “mother and son” banter, which masks genuine friendship and mutual trust.

Significant themes

• Preparation and ambition: Chen Zhuo gathers resources and safeguards before attempting a major breakthrough.
• Institutional status and prejudice: Sijing’s new prestige earns respect, while the chapter notes the social stigma junior-college transfer students face.
• Power, commerce, and opportunity: Tournament success attracts corporate sponsorship, turning reputation into resources.
• Secrecy and risk: Chen Zhuo carefully hides his cross-world cultivation to avoid drawing the attention of powerful authorities.

Character interactions

• Sijing proudly watches Chen Zhuo’s victory, then defends him against the insulting admirer and gives him her prize.
• The other contestants leave Chen Zhuo and Sijing alone, wary of Chen Zhuo’s performance and respectful of Sijing’s rising status.
• Chen Zhuo and Sijing exchange advice and make plans to cooperate through her university laboratory.
• Chen Zhuo negotiates directly with Jade Purity Intelligence’s representative, expanding the sponsor’s offer before agreeing to the contract.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo prepares for Foundation Establishment by steadying his Dao heart and creating a Substitute Wood Puppet from the Jianmu. After adding his essence blood and Divine Sense, he completes the puppet, giving himself an extra safeguard.
• He chooses the superior Cloud-Tip Bamboo as his Foundation Establishment Spirit Object, saving the less potent Heavenly Thunderwood for later reinforcement. He then uses the Foundation-Building Heavenly Swan Cultivation Essence and the Origin Return Foundation Establishment Method to condense his spiritual energy.
• Chen Zhuo’s breakthrough draws spiritual energy from across the sect. Thunder, a phantom blazing sun, and an enormous Jianmu appear above Heavenly Drum Peak, accompanied by First Wood Divine Thunder.
• The Qiwu Sword Sect mistakes the disturbance for a possible crisis and activates its mountain-protecting formation, orders disciples to shelter, and mobilizes Foundation Establishment cultivators to secure the area.
• Wang Shechuan recognizes the signs as Chen Zhuo’s sword arts shaping his Immortal Foundation. The elders conclude the extraordinary spectacle may indicate a rare Perfect Immortal Foundation.
• The sun merges with the Jianmu and becomes a fruit on its branch; lightning then coils around the tree before the visions disappear. Chen Zhuo successfully reaches Foundation Establishment.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo shows disciplined preparation and growing confidence. He puts cultivation above the temptation to sell a spirit object, and his breakthrough confirms his exceptional potential.
• Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng move from relaxed discussion to alarm, then awe and excitement. Wang interprets the signs and directs the sect’s emergency response; Liu voices the elders’ disbelief at the scale and speed of Chen’s progress.
• The sect’s disciples and cultivators react with confusion and fear, then gather in amazement as they learn the spectacle is Chen’s breakthrough. Wan Jinzhao celebrates his junior sectmate’s achievement.

Significant themes

• Discipline and safeguarding: Chen clears his mind and prepares protections before attempting a dangerous breakthrough.
• Cultivation and ambition: He chooses to invest valuable resources in his own advancement rather than sell them.
• Exceptional talent and hope: Chen’s unprecedented speed and celestial signs suggest the potential for a Perfect Immortal Foundation and, eventually, Nascent Soul attainment.
• Collective fate: The sect’s rapid mobilization and jubilant response frame Chen’s personal success as a blessing for the entire Azure Immortal Sect.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo emerges from seclusion after successfully reaching Foundation Establishment. His flawless level-ten Immortal Foundation is equivalent to Perfect Foundation Establishment in the Ancient Immortal Realm, and his immense aura makes a dramatic impression.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivators who guarded him congratulate him and welcome the chance to benefit from his insights, having learned that Chen’s wisdom can give back to the sect rather than merely consume its resources.
• Golden Core True Persons Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng praise Chen and gift him a flying Magical Artifact. They urge him to consolidate his realm and offer to obtain Foundation Establishment Spirit Objects for him.
• Chen explains a simplified version of the Origin Return Foundation Establishment Method, which he claims can improve the odds of success by strengthening spiritual energy during the breakthrough. The two True Persons recognize that the theory may genuinely work.
• To protect the method, Wang and Liu plan a secret test using a captured peak-Qi-Refinement outsider. If successful, they intend to restrict its use to trusted sect disciples and swear oaths against revealing it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is calm and modest about his extraordinary achievement. He accepts Wang’s gift readily, but carefully withholds the complete method, intending to reveal it gradually so his knowledge seems credible. He also refuses to claim authorship, restoring the technique’s original name.
• Wang Shechuan and Liu Cheng shift from delighted curiosity to serious concern over the method’s potential. Their protectiveness shows both their affection for Chen and their fear that the technique could disrupt the cultivation world.
• The Foundation Establishment cultivators move from earlier suspicion about a Heavenly Spiritual Root disciple’s demands on sect resources to respect and enthusiasm, hoping to learn from Chen.

Significant themes

• Knowledge as a source of shared wealth: Chen’s teachings can benefit the sect as much as material resources do.
• Exceptional talent and humility: Despite his remarkable foundation and insight, Chen avoids boasting or taking undeserved credit.
• Secrecy and responsibility: A method that could transform Foundation Establishment brings both great promise and serious risks, prompting the elders to guard it closely.
• Contrasting cultivation cultures: The chapter humorously contrasts the Immortal Estate’s efficiency-minded, resource-conscious cultivators with older, more deliberate traditions.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• After reaching Foundation Establishment, Chen Zhuo cultivates in Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven, injecting Nine Dragons Power and refining the Heavenly Thunderwood. Because it complements his First Wood Divine Thunder Seed, it greatly strengthens him. After thirteen days, he completes the refinement and becomes confident he can challenge peak Foundation Establishment opponents in the Ancient Immortal Realm.
• Li Changqing reports finding a damaged, demon-blood-written talisman containing an ancient seal and a Golden Core-level aura. Chen Zhuo takes responsibility for investigating it, rewards Li with pills and Spirit Stones, and encourages him to bring him similar discoveries.
• Chen Zhuo visits the Scripture Pavilion, where the guards—both cultivators who previously gave him spirit plants—eagerly offer favors in hopes of gaining access to scriptures. He borrows more cultivation methods and returns to the Immortal Estate.
• There, Chen Zhuo registers as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, gains a monthly subsidy and privileges, and tips the security guard, who tells him how to access free flying-sword rides.
• Chen Zhuo uploads the techniques he memorized to the Spell Repository and gathers enough credits to pay for a deduction of the Foundation Establishment portion of the Burning Heavens Great Sun Sword Chapter. The deduction is expected to take over sixty days.
• As he leaves, an explosion shakes the Spell Repository. An alert announces that the Feathered Immortal Cult is conducting a terrorist attack in the university district.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo grows substantially stronger through refining the Heavenly Thunderwood and becomes increasingly self-assured. He sees contributing techniques to the Immortal Estate as a way to support it, while also cleverly using its systems and resources to advance himself.
• He treats Li Changqing generously, rewarding his caution and encouraging him to search for more unusual items. Li, grateful and eager to help, plans to visit the Market again.
• Chen Zhuo’s interactions with the Scripture Pavilion guards are cordial but transactional: they hope his influence will help them obtain useful scriptures.
• In the Immortal Estate, Chen Zhuo builds goodwill with the security guard through a modest tip; the guard repays him with insider information about Foundation Establishment privileges.

Significant themes

• Cultivation through knowledge and exchange: Chen Zhuo strengthens himself by collecting and sharing techniques across two worlds.
• Reciprocity and patronage: He rewards helpful subordinates and cultivators, encouraging continued cooperation.
• Uneven access to resources: The contrast between the Ancient Immortal Realm’s abundant magical artifacts and the Immortal Estate’s restrictions highlights different systems of wealth and control.
• Comedy amid danger: Chen Zhuo’s casual confidence and practical concern for perks give way abruptly to the serious threat of a cult attack.

Plot points and events

• With the Feathered Immortal Cult attacking University Town alongside the Market Crash Society, Chen Zhuo initially tries to flee the Spell Repository and hide at his college.
• He discovers the district’s powerful defensive Formation is holding, but internal agents and opportunistic looters are already causing trouble. He returns to Taiqing City Alchemy Vocational and Technical College and takes shelter in a classroom.
• News reports reveal that the Cult has launched attacks across all Five Domains, with the Daluo and Yuqing Domains suffering especially badly. The Immortal Estate imposes a curfew and warns against looting.
• Xiao Yugang contacts Chen Zhuo and recruits him into University Town’s temporary law enforcement squad. The squad is meant to deal with spies and criminals inside the Formation while regular forces hold off the attackers outside.
• Recruits may keep the spoils from a cult member’s death up to 500,000 Spirit Coins, provided they report the kill. Chen Zhuo eagerly sees this as a way to establish a legitimate origin for goods he brought from the Ancient Immortal Realm.
• Chen Zhuo receives a Temporary Killing Permit, allowing him to kill during the crisis under official authorization. He is warned to record every killing with a body camera and avoid harming innocents.
• After collecting 37,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones to use as spoils, Chen Zhuo equips his body camera, draws his Wind-Thunder Sword, and sets out to hunt evildoers.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo shifts from cautious self-preservation to enthusiastic participation once he learns he can lawfully fight cultists and keep limited spoils. His motives mix civic duty, curiosity about his new Foundation Establishment strength, and a desire to legitimize his hidden resources. He nevertheless accepts the restrictions and insists he will spare innocents.
• Xiao Yugang acts as a trusted mentor and recruiter, balancing praise for Chen Zhuo’s cultivation with practical warnings about oversight and misuse of the permit.
• Chen Zhuo’s classmates and past antagonists remain outside his focus; he says he has no intention of using the emergency authority to settle old scores.

Significant themes

• Order amid crisis: The city’s defenses can repel a large external assault, but internal sabotage and opportunistic crime create a second, harder-to-control threat.
• Lawful force and accountability: Emergency powers are granted, but body-camera recording and review place clear limits on their use.
• Self-interest alongside heroism: Chen Zhuo presents himself as a defender of justice, yet is plainly excited by the chance to claim spoils and make use of the permit.
• Satire of bureaucracy and commerce: Official notices, compensation rules, online rumors, and the Market Crash Society’s grievances give the invasion a comic, administratively tangled tone.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo checks in with Xiao Yugang out of concern, then accepts his recruitment offer with exaggeratedly righteous enthusiasm.
• Xiao explains the internal-security mission and spoils policy, then cautions Chen Zhuo not to confuse a temporary permit with permission for personal revenge.
• Their mentor–student relationship is warm and trusting: Chen Zhuo credits Xiao for his progress, while Xiao gives him responsibility but emphasizes safety and accountability.

Key plot points and events

• The Feathered Immortal Cult attacks the Pill Appraisal Department building. Teacher Ye is badly wounded, and the students rely on a defensive Formation operated by Yuan Mingde, who failed his Foundation Establishment attempt and reached Qi Refining’s thirteenth layer instead.
• Teacher Nangong, a green-glowing Soul Cultivator rescued by the cult, urges the attackers to finish quickly. Zhang Lin, a Foundation Establishment cultivator, tries to recruit the vocational-college students by promising them power over university graduates.
• Xie Yunling counters the recruitment pitch by reminding students that the Immortal Estate may allow them to transfer to universities if they perform well during the upheaval. The students begin to rally behind her, and the cult escalates its assault.
• Chen Zhuo arrives while pursuing the attackers. He kills a cult member, then senses Zhang Lin inside the siege and prepares to strike—also noting that a powerful enemy’s Storage Bag would give him a plausible explanation for the Spirit Stones he collects.
• Zhang Lin dismisses Teacher Nangong’s warning about an approaching Foundation Establishment cultivator. When Chen Zhuo appears, Nangong identifies him as a Dao Tournament competitor and escapes.
• Zhang Lin attacks Chen Zhuo, but Chen Zhuo’s Thunderfire Sword overwhelms his defenses. Chen Zhuo dispels Zhang Lin’s sinister techniques with First Wood Divine Thunder, then uses the Starfall Shattered-Light Technique to rain explosive starlight down on him and beheads him.
• Chen Zhuo takes Zhang Lin’s Storage Bag and pursues Nangong. The students and teachers are left stunned by how quickly he defeated the attacker. Nangong warns Chen Zhuo that murder is illegal; Chen Zhuo replies that he has a Temporary Killing Permit.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is shown as formidable, confident, and pragmatic: he dispatches enemies with ease, uses powerful techniques, and thinks strategically about the legal and financial consequences of his actions.
• Xie Yunling proves a decisive and courageous leader, resisting the cult’s appeal and giving wavering students a reason to keep fighting.
• Teacher Nangong is opportunistic and self-preserving. Though he helps direct the attack, he flees as soon as Chen Zhuo appears.
• Zhang Lin is driven by resentment over failing to transfer to university. His bitterness makes the cult’s promise of reversing the education hierarchy compelling to him, but his rage and delusions lead to his defeat.
• Teacher Ye is revealed as unusually resistant to drugs, though his combat ability is limited; he survives the initial assault but is badly injured. Yuan Mingde is disappointed by his failed breakthrough but still helps defend the building.

Significant themes

• Education and status: The cult exploits vocational students’ real resentment toward university privilege, while Xie offers university transfer as an alternative path to advancement.
• Manipulation and hypocrisy: The Feathered Immortal Cult promises empowerment through grievance, but its supposed champion, the Feathered Immortal Sage, is himself revealed to have attended elite universities.
• Ambition and resentment: Zhang Lin’s personal failure becomes hatred of others’ success, illustrating how wounded pride can be turned into fanaticism.
• Power, law, and self-interest: Chen Zhuo’s violence is presented humorously alongside his concern for permits, evidence, and loot, blending heroic action with bureaucratic and financial pragmatism.

Character interactions

• Xie Yunling directly challenges the cult’s recruitment pitch and rallies her classmates around the possibility of transferring to university.
• Nangong and Zhang Lin cooperate uneasily: Nangong looks down on Zhang, warns him of danger, then abandons him when the threat becomes real.
• Chen Zhuo’s brief but overwhelming confrontation with Zhang ends the siege; his pursuit of Nangong continues the conflict beyond the building.
• The battered Teacher Ye, Yuan Mingde, Xie Yunling, and the other students can only watch in shock as Chen Zhuo intervenes.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo confronts Teacher Nangong, a former ally turned cultist. Nangong pleads for his life, offering secrets about the attack and Spiritual Roots, but Chen Zhuo kills him with First Wood Divine Thunder.
• Chen Zhuo stages the scene to make it look as though he recovered a Storage Bag containing 37,000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. He plans to use the apparent spoils to explain roughly 500,000 Spirit Coins’ worth of assets.
• Returning to the Pill Appraisal Department, Chen Zhuo confirms he has reached Foundation Establishment and tells everyone to wait for Law Enforcement. His classmates are stunned by how quickly he advanced.
• Chen learns that Meng Yan is absent because he went with the Lineage to attack the Spell Repository.
• The Temporary Killing Permits expire after only a few hours. The Feathered Immortal Sage has unexpectedly broken through to Spirit Transformation, taken the title Profound Metamorphosis Soaring Feather Divine Lord, and negotiated to join the Immortal Estate as its eighth Divine Lord. The world he governs will become the sixth realm, the Mysterious Capital Domain.
• Some cultists reject the new Divine Lord, continue resisting, and steal core secrets from the Spell Repository. Teacher Xiao Yugang invites Chen Zhuo to join the military operation against them, offering safe perimeter duty and forgiveness of Chen’s 100,000-Spirit-Coin sword loan. Chen accepts, then reveals that his spoils amount to 37,000 Spirit Stones, astonishing Xiao.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo shows himself to be decisive and ruthless when threatened, but also pragmatic and opportunistic: he kills Nangong, disguises his gains, avoids needless combat, and accepts a low-risk military assignment for financial benefit. He dismisses Nangong’s claim that Acquired Spiritual Roots can grow, preferring to spend money on cultivation before pursuing a better root.
• Teacher Nangong tries to exploit their past connection—he once helped Chen enter the Dao Tournament—but Chen counters that Nangong secretly took a 550-Spirit-Coin commission from him. Nangong’s offers of knowledge fail to save him.
• Xie Yunling cautiously approaches Chen and asks about his advancement and the crisis, hinting at concern and interest; Chen answers her but remains focused on recovery.
• Teacher Xiao Yugang becomes Chen’s contact for the coming operation and offers him a financially attractive way to participate. Their exchange ends on a comic note when Xiao realizes Chen’s “haul” is far larger than expected.

Significant themes

• Power and political upheaval: The crisis ends not through the cult’s defeat but through its leader’s sudden rise and political realignment.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Chen weighs cultivation, money, risk, and marriage-related financial threats with calculating practicality.
• Moral compromise and survival: Chen’s killing and staged evidence show how easily violence and deception become tools in a chaotic system.
• Satire of institutions and commerce: The divine leader’s transition into an official ruler and company chairman, along with Chen’s schemes around loans and spoils, gives the upheaval a bureaucratic and businesslike absurdity.

Key plot points and events

• The news announces that the Feathered Immortal Cult has been destroyed and that its former leader, the Feathered Immortal Elder, has supposedly been slain. In reality, the Immortal Estate has given him a new identity as a Spirit Transformation Divine Lord, concealing his past to protect its reputation.
• With Xiao Yugang’s help, Chen Zhuo exchanges more than 37,000 Spirit Stones for 500,000 Spirit Coins without being cheated. He then joins the operation to hunt down the cult’s remaining members, postponing a visit to collect a promised magical artifact.
• Chen and Xiao are assigned to guard a road outside Taiqing City while the main force attacks the cult’s base at a sewage-treatment plant. A clash between Nascent Soul True Lords erupts there, and Blood Skull Old Fiend holds off two opponents while helping cultists escape.
• Xiao takes most of the guards west to intercept fleeing Foundation Establishment cultivators, leaving Chen alone at the checkpoint. Two figures approach from the plant: Wang Heng and Meng Yan.
• Chen recognizes a powerful killing aura on Meng Yan as Blood Skull Old Fiend’s blood essence and realizes it may be Blood-Drop Life Seizure, a witchcraft technique that lets someone escape into another body.
• The chapter reveals that Meng Yan stole a mysterious set of bamboo slips during the chaos. He believes he and Wang Heng can flee to another domain, unaware that Blood Skull Old Fiend deliberately allowed the theft and has targeted him for possession. The chapter ends with Chen confronting them.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains practical and self-assured. He appreciates Xiao’s connections, takes his checkpoint duty seriously, and is confident from having previously defeated a Foundation Establishment cultivator. His recognition of the witchcraft suggests he may understand the danger before Meng Yan does.
• Xiao Yugang acts as Chen’s mentor and protector, securing a fair exchange and warning Chen not to risk his life against stronger fugitives. He leaves to reinforce the western defense.
• Meng Yan shifts from student to ambitious fugitive. Elated by stealing the slips and convinced he has outsmarted the authorities, he is oblivious to the danger posed by Blood Skull Old Fiend’s plan.
• Wang Heng is frightened and regrets being drawn into treason and the attack on the Spell Repository. His panic contrasts with Meng Yan’s excitement.
• Chen’s brief message exchange with Sijing shares news of their Foundation Establishment breakthroughs; Chen jokingly downplays his own achievement.

Significant themes

• Institutional hypocrisy and image-making: The Immortal Estate conceals the Feathered Immortal Elder’s crimes while publicly celebrating his new status.
• Greed and misplaced confidence: Meng Yan treats the stolen treasure as a personal triumph, not realizing he may be carrying out his enemy’s plan.
• Unequal power and danger: The Nascent Soul battle’s effects reach far beyond the battlefield, underscoring the gap between high-level cultivators and ordinary guards.
• Duty versus self-preservation: Xiao urges Chen to prioritize survival, while Chen stays at his post and faces an unexpected threat.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo confronts Meng Yan and Wang Heng, who are trying to reach the Daluo Domain. He rejects Wang Heng’s claim that they are still classmates because Wang Heng joined the Feathered Immortal Cult.
• Chen Zhuo kills Wang Heng with a single sword strike. Wang Heng’s last words and thoughts are about protecting Little Jade.
• As Chen Zhuo faces Meng Yan, the Blood Skull Old Fiend begins possessing him. The fiend’s original body is already fighting two Nascent Soul True Lords, Murong Yi and Song Haozhi.
• Chen Zhuo attacks before the possession can take hold fully, unleashing his Great Sun Undying Physique, Thunderfire Sword techniques, Starfall Shattered-Light Technique, and other spells. The fiend’s chosen host is badly damaged before he can act.
• The fiend regenerates the possessed body and transforms it with the Heavenly Apex Giant Demon Art. Chen Zhuo counters with his exceptionally powerful First Wood Divine Thunder, destroying the fiend’s demonic limbs and forcing him to withdraw his consciousness to save his true body.
• Exhausted but victorious, Chen Zhuo finds a spiritual book slip among Meng Yan’s remains. It identifies itself as a backup Spell Repository containing several stored Divine Senses. Realizing its importance, Chen Zhuo secretly removes it to the Ancient Immortal Realm, then returns to the Immortal Estate and resolves to deny having seen it.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo proves both ruthless and tactical: he kills Wang Heng without hesitation and attacks the possessing fiend during its vulnerable arrival. Though he boasts of defeating a Nascent Soul cultivator, he recognizes that he survived only because of his specialized lightning and the True Lords’ intervention.
• Meng Yan is revealed as a pawn in the fiend’s scheme. His possession-enhanced body fights Chen Zhuo, but he is overwhelmed and killed after the fiend abandons him.
• Wang Heng dies still devoted to Little Jade, underscoring how his personal attachment persists even after he has betrayed the Immortal Estate.
• The Blood Skull Old Fiend is exposed as a calculating survivor who planned to escape his own defeat by possessing a fleeing disciple. Chen Zhuo’s interference forces him to abandon that plan and focus on escaping his battle with the True Lords.

Significant themes

• Power and survival over convention: Chen Zhuo ignores the usual expectation of waiting for an opponent to finish transforming; in this world, hesitation could mean death.
• Betrayal and belonging: Chen Zhuo declares that Wang Heng’s allegiance to the Feathered Immortal Cult has ended their former ties as classmates.
• Preparation and specialization: Chen Zhuo’s First Wood Divine Thunder proves decisive against a powerful enemy whose methods it counters, while the True Lords’ pressure on the fiend’s true body creates his opportunity.
• Secrecy and institutional risk: The stolen Spell Repository backup could cause serious trouble, so Chen Zhuo hides it and carefully considers how to avoid suspicion.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo and Wang Heng clash over Wang Heng’s betrayal; Wang Heng tries to appeal to their former relationship and promises future help, but Chen Zhuo refuses the appeal and kills him.
• Chen Zhuo confronts Meng Yan, who becomes the fiend’s vessel. Their fight shifts from a personal encounter into a battle against the possessing Nascent Soul cultivator.
• Murong Yi and Song Haozhi recognize the fiend’s possession technique and intensify their assault on his true body, indirectly helping Chen Zhuo force the possessed presence to withdraw.
• After the battle, Chen Zhuo’s discovery of the backup repository changes his priorities from simply surviving the encounter to concealing a potentially dangerous piece of evidence.

Key plot points and events

• Murong Yi and Song Haozhi kill the Blood Skull Old Fiend, capturing and destroying his fleeing Nascent Soul. They debate whether killing him outright was wasteful, but Song argues that the newly ascended Divine Lord Cui Jinghuan had intended to spare his former subordinate.
• The two discuss the Immortal Estate’s political maneuvering: the established Divine Lords want to keep rivals from reaching Spirit Transformation and have assigned Cui the troubled Mysterious Capital Domain to tie him down. His breakthrough may inspire other Nascent Soul cultivators to seek power outside the system.
• Murong and Song set out to trace the Old Fiend’s actions and recover stolen Spell Repositories.
• At a checkpoint, Chen Zhuo tells Xiao Yugang that the two intruders were former classmates. Murong and Song arrive, and Song identifies Chen as the person who blocked the Old Fiend’s split spirit, recognizing the First Wood Divine Thunder on him.
• Song is astonished to learn Chen attends a vocational college. Xiao praises Chen’s recent achievements and hints that he hopes the True Lords will take him on as a disciple.
• Murong credits Chen for his role in the Old Fiend’s defeat and offers to jointly recommend him to Taiqing Defense Science and Technology University.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains composed after a dangerous encounter with Nascent Soul cultivators, though Song’s Divine Sense briefly overwhelms him. His strength, divine sense, and thunder technique earn the attention of powerful figures.
• Xiao Yugang shifts from confusion to pride when he learns Chen helped stop the Old Fiend. He advocates for Chen’s future and presents his accomplishments to the True Lords.
• Murong Yi and Song Haozhi reveal both practical caution and political awareness. Song recognizes Chen’s contribution, while Murong turns that recognition into a concrete opportunity.
• Murong and Song’s conversation about the Old Fiend’s death also exposes their differing instincts: Murong considers the value of selling or interrogating the enemy, while Song favors eliminating the threat and avoiding conflict with the new Divine Lord.

Significant themes

• Political power and resource control: The Divine Lords protect their positions by limiting who can ascend and by steering rivals into conflicts.
• Ambition outside the system: Cui’s breakthrough shows that conventional advancement may be blocked, encouraging others to seek their own paths.
• Recognition and opportunity: Chen’s unexpected service brings him attention and a possible route from vocational college into elite military education.
• Pragmatism and danger: Even a minor victory can draw powerful allies—and expose someone to the calculations of larger factions.

Key plot points and events

• Murong Yi and Song Haozhi invite Chen Zhuo to attend Taiqing Defense Science and Technology University. Xiao Yugang explains that the route requires military service and five years in law enforcement, followed by a strictly disciplined military education. Worried about losing his freedom and being drawn into the escalating Star Realm War, Chen Zhuo declines.
• The two Nascent Soul cultivators accept his decision and offer recommendation letters without naming a university. They also award him second-class military merit, the right to purchase a lower-grade Heavenly Spiritual Root, a supreme-grade Magical Artifact, and authorization to use and purchase Magical Treasures.
• Xiao Yugang privately warns Chen Zhuo that the war has intensified, making military enrollment especially risky. Chen Zhuo recognizes how much Xiao has supported him and decides to pursue pharmacology and healing at Taiqing University, hoping eventually to repair Xiao’s damaged cultivation foundation.
• Chen Zhuo reflects that the operation’s greatest prize was not the military commendation but the stolen Spell Repository—and, by chance, the powerful Vast Dharma Universal Thunder Sword Monarch.
• He visits Jade Purity Intelligence to claim the artifact promised in his sponsorship contract. Manager Sun offers him Wang Heng’s Little Jade, whose access was revoked after Wang was suspected of belonging to the Feathered Immortal Cult.
• Chen Zhuo accepts the Little Jade and is shown a set of twenty-four pearls: a newly developed, growth-capable technological artifact inspired by the legendary Sea-Calming Pearls. He can borrow it for twenty years, but must limit himself to three defeats or face a five-million-Spirit-Coin penalty. Confident in his abilities, he agrees to the terms.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo shows loyalty to his college and gratitude toward his mentors, but also independence: he refuses an impressive military-school offer that would restrict his choices. His priorities shift toward helping Xiao Yugang, and he eagerly takes on the challenge of the experimental artifact.
• Xiao Yugang acts as a protective mentor, explaining the risks Chen Zhuo might not hear from the senior officials and treating him with fatherly care.
• Murong Yi and Song Haozhi respect Chen Zhuo’s refusal rather than taking offense, and reward him generously for his contribution.
• Manager Sun guides Chen Zhuo through the sponsorship offer. Chen Zhuo remains wary about Jade Purity Intelligence’s claims regarding privacy but chooses the Little Jade that best suits him.

Significant themes

• Freedom versus security: Chen Zhuo turns down a prestigious military path because he values autonomy and fears the demands of wartime service.
• Merit and opportunity: His battlefield contribution earns access to recommendations, cultivation resources, and rare equipment that could transform his future.
• Mentorship and gratitude: Xiao’s selfless support inspires Chen Zhuo to make helping his teacher a personal goal.
• Risk, ambition, and comic bravado: The new artifact offers extraordinary potential but carries a punishing penalty; Chen Zhuo accepts with confidence, while privately acknowledging that he may still lose.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo leaves Jade Purity Intelligence with a lifetime membership and 600,000 Spirit Coins, plus twenty-four Replica Sea-Calming Pearls. He fears Qi Panqiu’s Red Phoenix Star Talisman could claim half his assets.
• Little Jade outlines three defenses: spend his Immortal Dao Potential on medicines, entrust it to someone he trusts, or invoke the powerful officials who have endorsed him. Chen Zhuo prefers the trusted-transfer option and considers asking Teacher Xiao.
• Qi Panqiu unexpectedly sends Chen Zhuo a friend request, asking him out and asking about True Lord Canghai Hanming. Her family wants her to befriend Chen because he has influential backing—especially the family’s old enemy, True Lord Song.
• Chen rejects her as a “gold digger.” Though embarrassed and angry, Qi resolves to beat him in the tournament instead.
• Back in his Cave Abode, Chen decides not to bring the Replica Sea-Calming Pearls into Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven. He asks Sijing to buy up to 200,000 Spirit Coins’ worth of Foundation Establishment medicines, then returns to the grotto.
• Chen discovers that the scroll there is the Azure Immortal Sect’s Spell Repository. Its cultivation-method derivation is painfully slow, but it can provide guidance from stored Divine Senses.
• He selects the Vast Dharma Universal Thunder Sword Monarch, whose remnant Divine Sense criticizes Chen’s sword technique, promises to supervise his training, and begins guiding his cultivation.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo shifts from fearing Qi Panqiu’s talisman to feeling protected by his powerful connections. He remains wary of the pearls and prefers practical preparation over relying on prestige.
• Qi Panqiu is caught between her family’s demand to exploit wealthy students and its new order to cultivate Chen’s favor. Rejected, she turns her frustration into a determination to defeat him.
• Little Jade displays unexpectedly humanlike, overly affectionate behavior before reverting to useful, matter-of-fact advice.
• Chen and the Sword Monarch begin a teacher-student relationship: the Monarch is blunt and commanding, while Chen is eager for expert instruction. The Monarch also sharply corrects Chen when his attention wanders.

Significant themes

• Power and protection: Wealth makes Chen vulnerable, while influential allies can deter threats.
• Family legacy and old grudges: Qi Panqiu’s choices are shaped by her lineage and a feud that has lasted over a thousand years.
• The value of knowledge: The genuine Spell Repository’s strength comes from the accumulated Divine Senses of generations of cultivators.
• Training and discipline: Chen’s talent has produced Sword Aura, but the Sword Monarch insists that real progress requires technique, focus, and rigorous guidance.

Key plot points and events

• A month after unlocking the Azure Immortal Sect’s Spell Repository, Chen Zhuo wins his round-of-sixteen match with a single move. He has trained intensely under Vast Dharma Universal Thunder Sword Monarch, refining his swordsmanship and nearing the point of forming his own Sword Intent.
• The junior college tournament has an unusually strong field: seven of its eight quarterfinalists are Foundation Establishment cultivators. Chen Zhuo’s next opponent is Ke You, a writer who cultivates Resentful Qi by frustrating readers with deceptive, upsetting stories. Sijing and the crowd urge Chen Zhuo to defeat him.
• Sijing says she has enrolled at Taiqing Pharmaceutical University and is making Chen Zhuo’s cultivation medicine herself. Chen Zhuo hopes to become the first junior-college transfer accepted to Three Purities University.
• Sijing secretly speaks with the consciousness of Yu Yun, a Nascent Soul pharmacist from 7,500 years ago, preserved in her Spirit Chip. Yu Yun objects to Sijing calling Chen Zhuo “Dad,” but Sijing dismisses the concern as a modern habit and promises to share ice cream with her.
• Chen Zhuo invites Sijing to the Star Realm War Museum to see the original Azure Wood Body Tempering Technique. She declines to work on medicine, and he goes alone, hoping the text will let him continue cultivating with Lord Jianmu’s help.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is now a confident, celebrated competitor. His training has shifted him from simply directing his Thunderfire Sword’s powers toward developing genuine sword understanding. He and Sijing show mutual warmth and support, though he remains unaware of her Spirit Chip secret.
• Sijing is devoted to helping Chen Zhuo, sourcing and preparing his medicine while pursuing her own pharmaceutical studies. She is also adjusting to the unexpected presence of Yu Yun’s consciousness and has chosen to treat her as a mother.
• Yu Yun is revealed as a principled but meddlesome remnant who rejects body possession and worries about Sijing’s attachment to Chen Zhuo. Her scientific legacy is darkly ironic: a failed experiment killed thousands, but her research later produced a powerful military weapon.
• Ke You is established as Chen Zhuo’s next rival, notorious for exploiting readers’ frustration to cultivate Resentful Qi. His reputation gives Chen Zhuo a personal reason to want to beat him.

Significant themes

• Cultivation through effort: Chen Zhuo’s progress comes from grueling fundamentals, not merely innate talent or powerful techniques.
• Resentment as a resource: Ke You’s work turns audience anger into spiritual power, satirizing exploitative storytelling.
• Generational and cultural differences: Yu Yun’s ancient values clash with Sijing’s modern slang and habits.
• Science, legacy, and unintended consequences: Yu Yun’s disastrous experiment becomes the basis for a weapon celebrated in her name.
• Loyalty and support: Sijing’s practical help and the crowd’s encouragement strengthen Chen Zhuo’s resolve.

Key plot points and events

• At the Star Realm War Museum, Chen Zhuo hires Lin Wan as a guide and asks to see the original manuals captured during the fifth Star Realm War.
• He pays 500 Spirit Coins to study Myriad Prison-Subduing Force, a powerful martial cultivation technique later adapted by the Immortal Estate into the Azure Wood Body Tempering Technique.
• The manual teaches a cultivator to bond with and grow alongside an ancient tree, drawing on its Spiritual Qi and eventually gaining its traits. Chen realizes the Ancient Immortal Realm has the resources to practice parts of the method that the Immortal Estate cannot.
• Chen returns to his Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven and cultivates beside Jianmu, feeding it Premium Big Fruits while using the manual’s tree-nurturing methods. His Spiritual Qi sensitivity and Divine Sense improve, his Spiritual Qi grows stronger, and his Immortal Foundation becomes steadier.
• He cannot fully cultivate the technique because its early-stage methods conflict with his existing path. Nor can he refine a Jianmu branch to carry his bond with him: that process would take at least half a year, and his quarterfinals are imminent.
• Chen decides that, rather than buy a Wood Attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root, he will pursue a Fire Attribute one to complement his fire-based sword technique and Jianmu’s support. He returns to the Immortal Estate with two hours left before his match against Ke You, whom he confidently declares he is ready to face.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo remains ambitious and self-assured, but his confidence now rests on a practical new source of strength. He recognizes that one night of cultivation is helpful rather than miraculous, while anticipating a substantial boost if he continues for months.
• He shows growing strategic flexibility by adapting useful pieces of the manual instead of insisting on following it completely, and by reconsidering which Spiritual Root would best advance his cultivation.
• Lin Wan appears opportunistic: attracted by Chen’s age and cultivation level, she hopes guiding him might lead to a romantic connection or other personal gain.
• Jianmu is treated as an active cultivation partner. Chen promises it the chance to gain Divine Sense once he reaches Nascent Soul.

Significant themes

• Mutual cultivation and reciprocity: Chen and Jianmu benefit from a growing bond, while Chen frames his cultivation as a future opportunity for the tree as well.
• Adaptation across worlds: Different names and methods can lead to comparable stages of cultivation, and Chen can repurpose knowledge that the Immortal Estate could not fully support.
• Potential versus timing: The technique promises major long-term gains, but the upcoming tournament prevents Chen from completing its slowest, most demanding steps.
• Confidence grounded in preparation: Chen is excited by his progress yet understands that it has not made him invincible.

Character interactions

• Lin Wan warmly but calculatingly offers to guide Chen; he hires her, then dismisses her once she has brought him to the manuals.
• Chen’s relationship with Jianmu is cooperative and increasingly personal: he nurtures the tree, draws on its support, and promises to help it grow in return.
• Chen ends by mentally challenging Ke You, turning his new gains into confidence before the quarterfinal match.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• The junior-college quarterfinal between Chen Zhuo and Ke You draws an unusually large crowd. Spectators curse Ke You and his family, feeding the power of his hereditary Resentful Qi Art.
• Ke You deliberately arrives early to absorb the audience’s resentment. Though he fears Chen Zhuo’s reputation and powerful military connections, he decides to use a scheme he had been saving for the final.
• Ke You pretends to repent for his offensive writing, then teases the crowd with a recommendation for a provocative novel without giving its title. When the audience grows frustrated, he finally names it: The Mountain Boy’s Immortal Journey: Beauties from Every Walk of Life Fall for Me.
• From the waiting room, Chen Zhuo recognizes Ke You’s strategy. He plans to win quickly—or at least make Ke You look bad enough to satisfy the crowd and drain away their resentment.
• At the start of the match, Chen Zhuo makes a show of his strength: he draws the Supreme-Grade Thunderfire Sword, summons twenty-four glowing Sea-Calming Pearls, and fills the arena with Jade Bamboo. His display excites the spectators, whose resentment toward Ke You begins to fade.
• Ke You responds by revealing the novel’s title, prompting people to search for it. He expects readers to reach its cruel twist ending and become furious: the protagonist’s romantic adventures were only a dream, and in reality he is a servant guarding a wealthy young master’s harem.
• The referee starts the match just as Chen Zhuo senses Ke You has a further plan.

Character developments and interactions

• Ke You is shameless and strategically cunning. He treats insults as fuel, remains confident in hostile surroundings, and uses provocation—and potentially a deliberately infuriating novel ending—to keep resentment flowing.
• Chen Zhuo is disciplined and tactical. Rather than merely attacking, he understands that the crowd’s emotional response affects Ke You’s strength and tries to undermine that advantage. His formidable equipment and Spiritual Qi impress the audience before combat even begins.
• The spectators are both Ke You’s source of power and his vulnerability: their curses strengthen him, but their excitement at Chen Zhuo’s display can weaken him. They are also easily drawn into Ke You’s bait.
• Xiao Yugang approves of Chen Zhuo’s direct, forceful approach, though the bamboo appearing around him raises questions about Chen Zhuo’s Immortal Foundation.
• Sijing admires Chen Zhuo’s expensive-looking gear and jokes about charging him more for preparing his medicine.

Significant themes

• Emotion as power: Resentment is not just social hostility but a tangible combat resource, making public opinion part of the battlefield.
• Performance and manipulation: Both competitors shape the crowd’s feelings—Chen Zhuo through a show of strength, Ke You through provocation and bait.
• Unusual cultivation and comic absurdity: The chapter contrasts conventional combat arts with the eccentric rules of the Immortal Estate, where even an intentionally aggravating story can become a tactical weapon.

Key plot points and events

• At the start of the match, Chen Zhuo asks Little Jade to look up a novel by Ke You. Its ending—where every heroine has married someone else and the protagonist wakes from a dream—confirms that Ke You is the author behind the stories provoking readers’ resentment. Chen Zhuo decides to finish the fight quickly, before the audience can be distracted by the book.
• Ke You cloaks the arena in Resentful Qi, both obscuring the fight and trying to protect the resentment that fuels his power. Chen Zhuo’s twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls absorb the dark mist and illuminate the arena, suppressing Ke You’s senses.
• Ke You lists more of his notorious pen names, briefly restoring his power through the resulting resentment. Chen Zhuo then tears apart the mist with a Thunderfire Sword strike infused with First Wood Divine Thunder. The audience sees Ke You’s defenses collapse as Chen sends him flying.
• Ke You’s strength wanes as the crowd cheers Chen Zhuo. He makes a desperate Resentful Qi Assault, but Chen turns the mist he previously absorbed back on him. The resentment overwhelms Ke You because it comes from his own mind, leaving him distracted and mentally compromised.
• Rather than end the fight with his sword, Chen breaks Ke You’s legs and arms with the Myriad Prison-Subduing Force. The referee stops the match, declares Chen the winner, and advances him to the semifinals.
• Afterward, Chen apologizes to his teacher, Xiao Yugang, for losing his temper. Xiao reassures him that a sword cultivator need not suppress his feelings. Chen then learns that the Heartless and Severed-Emotion Dao are outdated paths with serious long-term drawbacks. He resolves to warn members of his sect who practice heartless swordsmanship.
• Sijing tells Chen that his next opponent will be either Ye Shuangning or Chang Qing, who must first fight each other. She also gives him the Foundation Establishment drugs he requested, including enhanced plant nutrient solution.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates sharp tactical thinking, rapidly improving swordsmanship, and growing confidence in combining his sword, magical artifacts, and martial techniques. His anger at Ke You’s writing, however, drives him to inflict serious injuries rather than simply win.
• Ke You is exposed as an author of the stories that fuel the audience’s resentment. Once the crowd turns against him and his own resentment overwhelms him, his confidence collapses and he is soundly defeated.
• Xiao Yugang recognizes Chen’s remarkable progress and supports his emotional response, while also warning him about the pitfalls of Heartless Dao cultivation.
• Sijing remains a pragmatic intermediary, conveying tournament information and supplying Chen’s requested drugs. Her mother, Primordial Lady, also reveals a forceful, combat-minded side by insisting Sijing needs martial training.

Significant themes

• Resentment as power—and vulnerability: Ke You’s cultivation depends on readers’ anger, but the emotion becomes destructive when turned inward.
• Consequences and audience judgment: The crowd’s hostility deprives Ke You of the energy he needs, while his infamous stories make Chen’s harsh victory popular.
• Emotion versus emotional denial: Xiao argues that sword cultivators should follow their hearts; rigid paths that reject emotion may offer strength but undermine future growth.
• Progress through self-correction: Chen’s improved swordsmanship reflects his ability to study and adapt.

Character interactions

• Chen uses Little Jade’s information to confront Ke You’s reputation and tactics, then turns Ke You’s own Resentful Qi against him.
• The crowd cheers Chen and condemns Ke You, directly affecting Ke You’s power and mental state.
• Primordial Lady praises Chen to Sijing but uses the match to argue that pharmacists should train to fight, much to Sijing’s dismay.
• Xiao Yugang comforts Chen and shares his views on sword cultivation before leaving to pursue Chen’s military merit.
• Sijing briefs Chen on the semifinal schedule and passes him the regulated drugs, jokingly warning him not to implicate her if he is caught with any leftovers.