Chapter Summaries

Plot and events

• After defeating Ke You, Chen Zhuo asks Little Jade to explain the Heartless Dao. It has two extreme branches: the ruthless Severed-Heart Sword Dao and the devoted Supreme-Emotion Sword Dao. A more balanced approach treats the heart like a mirror—able to reflect emotions without being ruled by them—but mastering that balance is difficult, and few cultivators bother with the extra training.
• Chen Zhuo decides not to seek out the relevant cultivation manual yet. Instead, he plans to learn more by sparring with Lin Yi, a Heartless Dao practitioner in the Ancient Immortal Realm.
• In the Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven, Chen Zhuo tests whether Lord Jianmu can absorb medicines and pass their effects to him. Jianmu takes nutrient solution, a body-tempering elixir, and a divine-sense elixir; Chen Zhuo receives substantial benefits, including stronger Divine Sense and a rapidly improving body.
• Chen Zhuo then injects himself with the same elixirs, along with Nine Dragons Power. The effects are far more intense, and after three days of cultivation he concludes that Jianmu absorbs roughly a quarter of the benefits when used as an intermediary. He considers this disappointing but recognizes that Jianmu can still help bear the risks of dangerous medicines.
• Thinking about future Tree Person clones, Chen Zhuo decides he will need more saplings, especially Moon Jade Trees, rather than relying only on Jianmu.
• Zhang Zhi, assigned to stay near Chen Zhuo’s Cave Abode, reports that Li Changqing has gone to buy supplies. Chen Zhuo asks her to contact Lin Yi about a future sparring match and invite Senior Brother Jia from the Scripture Pavilion.
• Jia quickly arrives. Chen Zhuo reminds him of his offer of a thousand acres of spirit fields and announces that he wants to plant Moon Jade Trees, leaving Jia stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains opportunistic and cautious: he treats the Nascent Soul recommendation letter as protection, experiments with medicines before committing to them, and prefers Tree Person clones without independent wills. His ambition increasingly centers on cultivating and controlling plants.
• Lord Jianmu proves capable of absorbing medicines and transferring some of their effects to Chen Zhuo, while also benefiting himself. Chen Zhuo jokingly resents Jianmu for keeping a share.
• Zhang Zhi is dutiful and respectful, though privately exasperated when Chen Zhuo criticizes her slow progress. She explains that she earned her posting by placing second in his Qi Refining Sword Trial.
• Senior Brother Jia is eager to please Chen Zhuo and readily honors his promise of farmland; Chen Zhuo’s unusual plan to plant Moon Jade Trees catches him off guard.
• Chen Zhuo’s planned encounters with Lin Yi and Jia show how he uses sect relationships to pursue both martial learning and material resources.

Significant themes

• Balance versus extremes: The Heartless Dao’s challenge is learning to experience emotion without being controlled by it.
• Risk, experimentation, and control: Chen Zhuo tests new medicines and weighs their benefits against danger, preferring safeguards and controllable tools.
• Ambition and practical cultivation: Scarce resources encourage specialized techniques, while Chen Zhuo turns cultivation into a calculated effort to acquire strength, land, and useful plants.
• Humor and self-interest: The chapter’s cultivation philosophy is repeatedly undercut by Chen Zhuo’s irreverent, transactional outlook.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo decides to plant fifteen rare Moon Jade Trees on spirit farmland at Heavenly Drum Peak. Senior Brother Jia offers land, workers, and ongoing care; Chen asks him to look for older trees as well.
• Jia asks Chen to help his seven-year-old relative, who has a Triple Spiritual Root and Spirit Plant Sacred Body, find a master. Chen arranges for the child to join the Heavenly Drum Thunder Vein as Senior Brother Wan Jinzhao’s disciple.
• Chen senses that Golden Core Uncle-Master Liu Cheng has been secretly protecting him. He thanks Liu before heading to Heavenly Dawn Peak.
• Liu Cheng marvels at Chen’s unusually powerful Divine Sense, judging it comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator.
• Golden Core cultivator Wei Jing returns to the sect intending to test whether the astounding reports about Chen are true. He offers to teach Chen the Li Fire Lineage’s sword arts if the talent proves genuine.
• Liu Cheng and Wei Jing, along with Wang Shechuan, go to observe Chen’s Sword Trial with Lin Yi, a Foundation Establishment Late Stage Heartless Dao cultivator.
• Chen initially unleashes a dazzling array of weapons, techniques, and powers, startling Lin Yi, who points out that they were supposed to compare swords. Chen withdraws the techniques and prepares to fight with swordsmanship.
• Noticing the three Golden Core observers, Chen realizes Wei Jing is evaluating him. He decides to demonstrate his talent by drawing on insight from a jade slip, then challenges Lin Yi. The chapter ends as their Sword Qi clashes.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo remains confident and pragmatic: he invests in valuable spiritual resources, builds useful relationships, and accepts the customs of his cultivation world rather than trying to reform it. He also shows growing awareness of powerful cultivators nearby and deliberately presents himself as a prodigy.
• Senior Brother Jia proves helpful and politically astute, securing the trees’ care and seeking a sect connection for his talented young relative.
• Liu Cheng shifts from quietly protecting Chen to recognizing that Chen may be exceptional even among Heavenly Spiritual Root geniuses, particularly because of his Divine Sense.
• Wei Jing arrives skeptical of the extravagant claims about Chen, motivated by concern for the sect’s weakening leadership and looming generational gap. He is willing to mentor Chen if the reports hold up.
• Lin Yi is introduced as a disciplined, aloof Heartless Dao swordsman whose composure is briefly shaken by Chen’s overwhelming display.

Significant themes

• Talent and ambition: Chen’s abilities appear to exceed even the sect’s high expectations, prompting elders to reconsider what a true prodigy can be.
• Sect survival and succession: The Qiwu Sword Sect faces a shortage of future Golden Core cultivators, making Chen’s potential strategically important.
• Pragmatism and adaptation: Chen accepts the society around him as it is, focusing on survival, cultivation, and practical gains rather than attempting sweeping change.
• Power and presentation: Chen’s strength is real, but he also recognizes the value of demonstrating it to influential observers.

Character interactions

• Chen and Jia negotiate the Moon Jade Tree project, and Jia secures a future place in the sect for his young relative.
• Chen expresses gratitude to Liu Cheng for his unseen protection; Liu is startled that Chen could detect him.
• Wei Jing explains why he has come to assess Chen, while Liu and Wang accompany him to observe the trial.
• Chen’s extravagant opening display alarms Lin Yi, who redirects the encounter toward an actual sword comparison. Chen then turns the trial into an opportunity to impress the watching elders.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo spars with Lin Yi, using his superior sword skill—and advice from the Vast Dharma Universal Thunder Sword Monarch—to correct her technique and provoke her emotions. He ultimately defeats her in a contest of swordsmanship.
• Chen explains that the Heartless Dao’s flaw is suppressing emotion entirely. Its better realization is “Supreme Forgetting of Emotion”: emotions remain part of human nature, but need not rule one’s path.
• Lin Yi grasps the idea, thanks Chen, and immediately retreats to cultivate. Chen is surprised she leaves before hearing more.
• Golden Core True Person Wei Jing questions Chen about his swordsmanship. Their discussion impresses Wei, who gives Chen a sword pill to strengthen his fire-based sword art and help balance it with his thunder technique.
• A golden heavenly phenomenon reveals that Zhao Shu is forming—and successfully forms—the Imperial Pole World-Pacifying Golden Core. Soon afterward, crimson clouds and Separation Fire signal Lei Bingwen’s successful Core Formation as well. The sect gains two Golden Core cultivators in one day.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates remarkable sword insight despite being at an earlier cultivation stage, while quietly relying on the Sword Monarch’s guidance. He also gains a valuable sword pill and continues thinking strategically about strengthening his Divine Sense.
• Lin Yi is forced to confront the limits of her emotionless cultivation. Chen’s explanation gives her a new understanding, prompting an immediate retreat to pursue it.
• Wei Jing revises his judgment of Chen, recognizing his exceptional talent and rewarding him. His pride in the Flame Vein is tested when Zhao Shu forms a Core first, then restored by Lei Bingwen’s breakthrough.
• Zhao Shu and Lei Bingwen both achieve major breakthroughs, overturning the sect’s low expectations—especially in Zhao’s case.

Significant themes

• Emotion versus emotional suppression: The chapter argues that cultivation need not erase feeling; mastery means transcending attachment rather than becoming numb.
• Talent and perspective: Chen’s skill astonishes senior cultivators, though the reader knows his insights are partly guided by a powerful sword master.
• Unexpected fortune and breakthrough: Two cultivators long considered unlikely candidates for Core Formation succeed on the same day, suggesting that apparent limits can be overcome.
• Recognition and mentorship: Chen’s guidance helps Lin Yi, earns Wei Jing’s respect, and leads to a meaningful gift.

Character interactions

• Chen’s teasing, instruction, and philosophical advice unsettle Lin Yi but ultimately inspire her.
• Wei Jing and Chen engage in a detailed sword discussion that leaves the other Golden Core cultivators largely unable to follow.
• Wei rewards Chen with the sword pill and invites him to visit South-Guard Pass.
• The sect elders react together to the two Core Formation phenomena, shifting from uncertainty to celebration—and, in Wang Shechuan’s case, renewed hope for his own advancement.

Key plot points and events

• The Qiwu Sword Sect reaches a new peak: Zhao Shu and Lei Bingwen have both formed Golden Cores, bringing the sect to eight Golden Core True Persons and restoring its rank as the second of the Nine Sects. The two newly advanced cultivators remain in seclusion to stabilize their realms.
• Chen Zhuo reflects on Zhao Shu’s unusual Fortune Golden Core. Its future depends on political power and the rise of a dynasty, making advancement to Nascent Soul extremely difficult; Lei Bingwen’s orthodox Five Elements Golden Core faces no such constraint.
• Deciding that a new Spiritual Root is still beyond his budget, Chen Zhuo invests in Divine Sense elixirs and Premium Big Fruits. He transfers 300,000 Spirit Coins to Sijing, who quickly supplies the goods at a generous discount.
• Back in the Heavenly Drum Grotto-Heaven, Chen Zhuo refines a Li Fire Sword Pellet gifted by Martial Uncle Wei. It begins producing Separation Fire Qi within his Immortal Aperture, complementing his First Wood Divine Thunder and making him a cultivator of both thunder and fire.
• Chen Zhuo feeds Jianmu more than five hundred Premium Big Fruits and uses two Divine Sense elixirs while cultivating his techniques and tempering his body. After a month of steady practice, his Divine Sense reaches eight hundred zhang—Golden Core level—even though he is only at Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
• His sudden Divine Sense sweep alarms Wan Jinzhao and Wang Shechuan. Wang recognizes that the power comes from Chen Zhuo and concludes the sect must prepare to unify the Southern Wasteland.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo remains ambitious and practical, prioritizing the training resources that can advance him now over saving for a Spiritual Root. He also shows concern for Zhao Shu’s difficult cultivation prospects.
• Zhao Shu has achieved Core Formation, but his Fortune Golden Core ties his future to dynastic rule. His success is celebrated even as the path ahead appears nearly impossible.
• Sijing shifts instantly from exhaustion under Yuanjun’s combat training to energetic business dealings when Chen Zhuo’s order arrives. She values premium goods and gives Chen a substantial friend’s discount.
• Yuanjun pushes Sijing to become a capable fighter, arguing that apothecaries must be able to gather dangerous ingredients and defend themselves. Sijing resents the demanding, old-fashioned training but resolves to work hard.
• Wang Shechuan is moved by the sect’s expanding strength and, upon sensing Chen Zhuo’s Golden Core-level Divine Sense, recognizes that the balance of power has changed.
• Wan Jinzhao mistakes Chen Zhuo’s Divine Sense for that of a Golden Core cultivator; startled while fishing, he loses a valuable carp and rushes back to safety.
• Martial Uncle Wei’s costly Li Fire Sword Pellet proves a major gift, strengthening Chen Zhuo’s fire cultivation and complementing his thunder abilities.

Significant themes

• Good fortune and collective advancement: Chen Zhuo’s Heavenly Subsidy and support help drive the sect’s rapid rise.
• Power carries conditions: Zhao Shu’s Golden Core breakthrough brings prestige but binds his future to political circumstances.
• Investment and ambition: Chen Zhuo treats money, elixirs, and cultivation resources as tools for building greater power.
• Unprecedented growth and political change: Chen Zhuo’s extraordinary Divine Sense signals that personal advancement may soon reshape the sect’s ambitions and the Southern Wasteland’s political order.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo enters the semifinal against Ye Shuangning, a celebrated Sword Dao prodigy, determined to prove that Teacher Xiao was right to believe in him.
• Though he admits Ye is the better swordswoman, Chen Zhuo plans to rely on his unusual advantages: Golden Core-level Divine Sense, the twenty-four Sea-Calming Pearls, and his powerful Thunderfire Sword.
• Before the match, Ye’s senior sectmate Chang Qing dismisses Chen Zhuo as an easy opponent and urges Ye to impress the visiting Nascent Soul True Lord. Ye, however, recognizes Chen Zhuo’s rapid growth and expects a difficult fight.
• True Lord Song Haozhi arrives unexpectedly to watch Chen Zhuo, whom he knows through a letter of recommendation and a previous encounter with Chen’s abilities.
• At the start of the match, Ye attacks with formidable swordsmanship. Chen counters by crushing her with his Golden Core-level Divine Sense, further suppressing her with the Sea-Calming Pearls, then striking with a thunder-and-fire Sword Aura.
• The fight ends in fewer than ten breaths. Ye is knocked from the arena, and Chen is declared the winner.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo displays confidence and tactical maturity. Rather than pretending to surpass Ye in sword skill, he recognizes her strengths and wins through the abilities he has cultivated.
• Ye Shuangning is shown to be talented, thoughtful, and fair-minded. Though she loses quickly, she had correctly judged Chen as strong and did not underestimate him.
• Chang Qing remains loyal to Ye but underestimates Chen, revealing her assumptions about his earlier rejection by Professor Zhang.
• Song Haozhi takes a personal interest in Chen, assessing whether the young cultivator is worthy of support from the Military Department.
• Professor Zhang is proud of Ye but begins to wonder whether Chen has connections and potential he overlooked.

Significant themes

• Self-determination and perseverance: Chen’s confidence reflects his belief that his fate is his to command, not heaven’s.
• Talent versus preparation: Ye has superior natural sword talent, but Chen’s accumulated resources and unconventional strengths let him win.
• Recognition and vindication: Chen fights partly to validate Teacher Xiao’s faith in him, while his victory challenges those who judged him by his past rejection.
• Strategy over direct competition: Chen succeeds by refusing to fight Ye on her strongest terms.

Character interactions

• Chang Qing encourages Ye and speaks dismissively of Chen; Ye respectfully but firmly counters that he is powerful.
• Professor Zhang and Dean Wang sit among the tournament officials, while Song Haozhi’s arrival shifts attention toward Chen.
• Chen and Ye exchange a brief, courteous acknowledgment before fighting; their match becomes a sharp demonstration of Chen’s hidden power.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points

• Chang Qing, distracted by financial news about Mystic Capital Biotech’s hiring, misses Ye Shuangning’s semifinal against Chen Zhuo. Chen defeats her in under thirty seconds.
• Spectators suspect a fix, but the Golden Core judges recognize that Chen used Golden Core-level Divine Sense, powerful rented Magical Artifacts, and a sword strike to overwhelm Ye before she could react.
• Professor Zhang challenges the result and insinuates that Chen may be connected to an Evil Cult. Nascent Soul True Lord Song Haozhi rebukes him, explaining Chen’s military service, the Spirit Coins he earned and spent, and the source of his artifacts. Song’s backing makes clear that Chen is unusually well protected.
• Ye questions why Chen avoided a swordsmanship contest. He answers that this is a Dao Tournament, not a sword tournament: she lost, regardless of the method.
• Rather than wait through the remaining matches, Chen challenges all three remaining contestants at once, declaring himself the strongest junior college student. Song accepts, with the condition that Chen will place fourth if he loses.
• Chen uses the opportunity to deliver a promotional pitch for Jade Purity Intelligence’s Magical Artifacts.
• Offended by his arrogance, Qi Panqiu persuades Sangluo Continent to help her defeat Chen, promising to withdraw afterward. Sangluo, secretly loyal to Chen, appears to accept and prepares to reveal a powerful technique: “Open, Third Eye!”

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo displays overwhelming confidence, tactical pragmatism, and a talent for turning public attention into advertising. His victory also shows the payoff from his investment in Divine Sense and equipment.
• Ye Shuangning is shaken by the swift defeat but accepts the logic of Chen’s argument, even though she believes she is superior to him in swordsmanship.
• Professor Zhang moves from indignation to fearful regret after Song reveals Chen’s achievements and protects him from the accusation. He privately wishes he had taken Chen as a disciple.
• Song Haozhi reveals a personal history of long-term retaliation against the Qi family, and that he has come partly to observe Qi Panqiu. He also considers Chen a promising future recruit for the Military Department.
• Qi Panqiu shifts from recognizing Chen’s powerful backing and likely victory to openly resisting his provocation. Her pride and anger drive her to challenge him despite the risks.
• Sangluo Continent is caught between apparent cooperation with Qi Panqiu and hidden loyalty to Chen, setting up the next confrontation.

Significant themes

• Power, status, and credentials: The cultivation world’s rigid hierarchy is likened to academic qualifications, while Chen’s exceptional backing places him in a special, protected category.
• Pragmatism versus specialized skill: Chen wins by using every available advantage rather than proving himself in a pure swordsmanship contest.
• Money and advancement: His spending on Divine Sense elixirs and artifacts demonstrates how wealth can accelerate cultivation, while his performance turns into a commercial opportunity.
• Pride and provocation: Chen’s challenge unsettles his opponents and draws Qi Panqiu into action, showing how arrogance can reshape a competition.
• Institutional power and vendettas: Song’s influence—and his long-running punishment of the Qi family—shows how personal grudges can be enforced through official systems.

Key plot points and events

• After Chen Zhuo vows to defend junior-college students from undergraduates competing in their division, news coverage and livestream discussion turn him into a popular symbol of merit over privilege. Viewers share contestants’ backgrounds, contrasting Chen’s upbringing in a welfare institute with the challengers’ wealthy or influential families.
• In a three-on-one match, Chen defeats Chang Qing almost instantly by suppressing his Divine Sense, absorbing his sword attack with the Twenty-Four Sea-Calming Pearls, and striking with his sword.
• Qi Panqiu attacks with Red Lotus Karmic Fire, but Chen counters with his fire and sword techniques, redirects the absorbed flames, and overwhelms her.
• Sangluo Continent unveils a bizarre transformation involving the Jade Purification Bottle and an obscene, censored technique. Chen, disgusted, attacks in earnest and knocks him out, damaging the bottle.
• Left alone, Qi Panqiu uses a powerful Red Phoenix Star Talisman to claim half of Chen’s Immortal Dao Potential. She then forcibly dissolves their Dao Companion relationship, expecting to receive half his wealth, and concedes before he can retaliate.
• Chen is declared the tournament’s strongest junior-college student. A bank notice reveals that dividing their shared property leaves him with over 210,000 Spirit Coins—far more than before. Qi, who expected a much larger payout, discovers that her balance has instead fallen by 130,000.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo proves his overwhelming combat superiority but remains practical and financially anxious; his victory is overshadowed by the apparent loss of savings and the unexpected bank result.
• Qi Panqiu shifts from fighting Chen to exploiting him financially. Her confidence collapses into bewilderment when the property division produces the opposite of what she expected.
• Chang Qing is decisively humbled, losing in the same way as his junior martial sister Ye Shuangning.
• Sangluo Continent reveals a grotesque, unconventional ability, but it fails to overcome Chen and costs him damage to his magical artifact.
• Professor Zhang is shaken by both of his disciples’ swift defeats and begins questioning his own teaching.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts talent and humble origins with wealth, lineage, and connections, framing Chen as a champion for junior-college students.
• It mixes spectacular cultivation combat with satire of public image, advertising, censorship, and financial systems.
• The property-splitting twist adds a comic edge to the theme that victory and apparent gain can bring unexpected consequences.

Character interactions

• Chang Qing and Qi Panqiu coordinate attacks against Chen, but he defeats them in succession; Sangluo’s attempt to join the fight turns into a bizarre spectacle.
• Chen’s disgust at Sangluo’s technique prompts him to abandon restraint and attack decisively.
• Qi uses her Talisman against Chen and ends their Dao Companion relationship for financial gain, while Chen is left frustrated and confused by the bank’s final accounting.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo wins the individual championship after defeating three stronger cultivators in under five minutes, earning the junior college crowd’s admiration.
• He asks the spectators to contribute Immortal Dao Potential through a payment QR code. They send him over 7,000 Spirit Coins’ worth before True Lord Song stops the collection.
• Chen receives the 500,000-Spirit-Coin championship prize. Together with his savings and the 130,000 coins from his ex-wife, Qi Panqiu, he now has 710,000. He plans to find a more secure Cave Abode after choosing a university.
• True Lord Song explains that he ensured the competition’s allocation process was fair, while allowing Qi Panqiu to use her Red Phoenix Star Talisman.
• Qi Panqiu asks Chen to return the money she gave him; he refuses, reminding her that she had used the talisman against him. Afterward, the Daoist Partner Bureau awards her the title “Taiqing Good Woman” for her generous divorce settlement and debt assumption. A two-percent discount persuades her to accept the honor despite her anger.
• Song offers Chen a place at Immortal Estate Law Enforcement University, a route into the Military Department, but leaves the decision to him. Chen says Taiqing University remains his first choice.
• Teacher Xiao advises that Taiqing University is unlikely to favor him, since it specializes in pharmaceutical research. If Chen excels at the Swordsmanship Tournament later in the year, Shangqing University might offer him a special admission route.
• As Chen weighs his options, Chunyu Heng, a representative of Jade Purity Intelligence, arrives and asks to speak with both Chen and Sijing.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo enjoys his victory and newfound support but remains pragmatic: he is already planning how to use his winnings and weighing schools that fit his goals. He prefers to stay in the Taiqing Domain, though he is open to alternatives.
• True Lord Song acts as Chen’s powerful supporter, praising his talent and offering career advice. He also makes a quiet, damaging assessment of Sangluo Continent, judging his abalone-on-the-forehead antics unsuitable for civil service; that note will follow Sangluo’s future applications.
• Qi Panqiu is bitter about losing her money and her appeal for its return, then becomes furious at being publicly praised for her divorce settlement. She reluctantly embraces the title for its discount.
• Teacher Xiao is proud of Chen’s performance and discusses realistic university pathways with him, especially the possibility of earning a special invitation through swordsmanship.
• Sangluo Continent anxiously fears Chen will punish him for a minor mistake, while remaining unaware that Song has already harmed his civil-service prospects.
• Chunyu Heng’s unexpected arrival opens a new possible opportunity for Chen and Sijing.

Significant themes

• Ambition and educational mobility: Chen’s victory brings multiple routes to university and public service, but each comes with different prospects and obligations.
• Money and cultivation: Spirit Coins, Immortal Dao Potential, prizes, and donations shape both Chen’s plans and the competition’s stakes.
• Public image and bureaucracy: Officials and institutions can reward, label, or quietly obstruct people, as shown by Qi’s honorary title and Song’s record about Sangluo.
• Comedy through hypocrisy and irony: The crowd’s grand support comes in tiny transfers; Qi is honored for a sacrifice she resents; and an absurd personal stunt has lasting bureaucratic consequences.

Key plot points and events

• Jade Purity University’s Taiqing Branch recruiter, Chunyu Heng, offers Chen Zhuo a place through its partnership with Jade Purity Intelligence. The offer comes with a work commitment after graduation and a three-day deadline.
• Xiao Yugang reassures Chen Zhuo that attending Jade Purity University will not conflict with his Military Department ties: the institutions and factions are deeply connected, and Yuqing Domain is currently supporting the military.
• Chen Zhuo chooses Automated Production and Manufacturing Technology, hoping to learn how to mass-produce equipment and make better use of the resources in the Ancient Immortal Realm. He will also join a Divine Sense research lab.
• Xiao Yugang says the Military Department has approved 100,000 Spirit Coins to repay Chen Zhuo’s debt and is processing his military merits. Chen Zhuo is also due to receive a damaged battlefield magical robe downgraded to a Supreme-Grade Magical Artifact.
• Chunyu Heng privately discusses Sijing’s experience with a Spirit Chip. He believes she may eventually serve as the vessel for the ancient being inside it, unaware that the entity has no intention of possessing her.
• Sijing and Chen Zhuo reaffirm their plan to rise together. She offers to help supply cultivation and body-strengthening medicines, while Chen Zhuo plans to focus on advancing his cultivation.
• Sijing refuses to live near Chen Zhuo because she must keep her mother’s presence—and her mother’s true intentions—secret from Jade Purity Intelligence.
• Chen Zhuo discovers that his debt has already fallen to 50,000 Spirit Coins, though the reason is not explained.
• In a parallel scene, Lü Yaochen wins the Taiqing Domain’s undergraduate Dao Tournament. Though he presents himself as self-made, he comes from an immensely powerful family and has extraordinary inherited resources. He is told to visit a vocational college as a guest instructor, where he may face Chen Zhuo and other semifinalists. Lü agrees but postpones the visit so he can cultivate with a Spirit-Communing Immortal Vine.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo makes a pragmatic university choice, balancing his ambition with the need to preserve his freedom and protect his secrets. He trusts Xiao Yugang’s advice and accepts help from Sijing.
• Xiao Yugang acts as a cautious mentor, reassuring Chen Zhuo about political complications while warning that he should not abandon swordsmanship.
• Sijing remains supportive of Chen Zhuo but grows more guarded. She hides her mother’s existence to protect her from Jade Purity Intelligence.
• Chunyu Heng sees Chen Zhuo as an exceptional recruit and suspects his rapid Divine Sense growth has an unusual cause. His interest in Sijing is also shaped by Jade Purity Intelligence’s desire to study Spirit Chip entities.
• Lü Yaochen is portrayed as powerful, boastful, and acutely conscious of lineage politics. His ambition to improve his succession standing gives him a reason to recruit talent, despite his contempt for vocational colleges.

Significant themes

• Interwoven institutions and factions: The military, universities, and corporations are so entangled that clear political boundaries are difficult to maintain.
• Secrecy and surveillance: Chen Zhuo and Sijing carefully conceal their unusual abilities and circumstances, while Jade Purity Intelligence watches and evaluates potential recruits.
• Pragmatism and ambition: Chen Zhuo chooses a seemingly mundane major for its practical value, while Lü pursues cultivation and status within his powerful lineage.
• Inherited privilege versus earned achievement: Lü claims to rely on hard work, but his family, wealth, and access to rare resources give him immense advantages.
• Partnership and trust: Chen Zhuo and Sijing reaffirm their shared ambitions, even as Sijing keeps a dangerous secret from him to protect them both.

Key plot points and events

• Three days after winning the title of strongest junior college student, Chen Zhuo returns to his school to a hero’s welcome. The college celebrates his unprecedented transfer to Yuqing University and hopes his fame will help secure more funding.
• Chen Zhuo has spent the intervening days giving paid speeches and endorsements to raise money. His military-approved purchase eligibility allows him to buy only a lower-tier Heavenly Spiritual Root, priced at 1.2 million Spirit Coins.
• Dong Xuejiao congratulates him and asks about supplying potions again. Chen Zhuo insists on keeping separate contact addresses for his old junior-college circle and future university classmates. After she sends him 100 Spirit Coins, he warmly recognizes her and agrees to consider business.
• Members of Dong’s One Heart Society offer 50,000 Spirit Coins for permission to use photos with Chen Zhuo in their social-media promotions. He accepts, bringing his funds to 1.07 million—still 130,000 short.
• Chen Zhuo takes out a 300,000-Spirit-Coin bank loan, then visits Taiqing Pharmaceutical to purchase a Fire-Attribute Heavenly Spiritual Root. After verifying his rare military approval, the staff sell it to him for 1.2 million.
• The transplant can be performed by a doctor for an extra 200,000 Spirit Coins or refined by the cultivator himself. Wary of letting others operate on his Immortal Foundation—and protective of his own secrets—Chen Zhuo chooses self-refinement. The store provides instructions and arranges an escort home.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo embraces his new status without abandoning his former school or friends, though he is also pragmatic and eager to monetize his fame. His long-held wish to possess a genuine Heavenly Spiritual Root is finally within reach.
• Dong Xuejiao initially expects Chen Zhuo to have discarded his junior-college connections, as she herself discarded hers after transferring. His loyalty delights her, and she quickly shifts to treating him as a senior.
• The pharmaceutical staff’s surprise and respect reveal how exceptional Chen Zhuo’s purchase authorization is for someone at his cultivation level.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and social status: Chen Zhuo rejects the usual contempt for junior-college acquaintances, even as the gap between junior college and university is portrayed as vast.
• Ambition and sacrifice: He exhausts himself with appearances and takes on a major loan to obtain the Spiritual Root he has long desired.
• Trust and self-protection: Refining the root himself avoids the risks of exposing his Immortal Foundation to another person, despite the convenience and safety of professional surgery.
• Money and opportunity: Fame, endorsements, banking, and institutional eligibility all become practical means of pursuing cultivation.

Character interactions

• Dean Wang publicly celebrates and escorts Chen Zhuo, while the school community treats him as a symbol of its potential.
• Chen Zhuo and Dong Xuejiao exchange messages that move from formal distance to friendly familiarity after she sends him money; their conversation leads to a paid promotional arrangement with her society.
• At Taiqing Pharmaceutical, Chen Zhuo’s authorization changes the sales assistant’s skepticism into deference. The red-robed Golden Core cultivator explains the transplant choices, and Chen Zhuo confidently selects self-refinement.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo brings an expensive Artificial Fire-Type Heavenly Spiritual Root back to his newly rented, well-defended residence. After learning that a major Dao Tournament event has been postponed, he buys a final supply of medicines and travels to the Ancient Immortal Realm to refine the root.
• The Ancient Immortal Realm’s exceptionally rich Spiritual Qi causes the root to flare violently as soon as it is exposed. Chen Zhuo begins refining it, triggering a tremendous display of fire and energy that shakes the Qiwu Sword Sect.
• After two days, Chen Zhuo completes the refinement and integrates the Fire Spiritual Root into his Immortal Foundation. His Spiritual Qi sensitivity rises to roughly 56–57, comparable to an ordinary Heavenly Spiritual Root. His Wood Spiritual Root also strengthens, aided by the fire’s growth and Jianmu.
• Meanwhile, newly promoted Golden Core True Persons Lei Bingwen and Zhao Shu celebrate their breakthroughs and credit Chen Zhuo with helping them overcome their cultivation obstacles. Sect leader Wang Shechuan rejects an unimpressive gift meant for Chen Zhuo and considers punishing the Pu family for its past plot against him.
• The sect’s leaders and disciples see the vast crimson phenomenon above Heavenly Drum Peak. Wang Shechuan recognizes it as another result of Chen Zhuo’s cultivation, while Lei and Zhao are astonished by its scale.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo gains a major cultivation advantage and grows even more confident. He plans to spend a month adapting to his enhanced strength before descending the mountain to test himself in the Southern Wilderness.
• Lei Bingwen and Zhao Shu have recently reached Golden Core and feel indebted to Chen Zhuo, promising to protect his path.
• Wang Shechuan continues to treat Chen Zhuo as an extraordinary prodigy and is willing to use the Dao Heir’s interests to justify action against the Pu family.
• Jianmu, usually imposing, recoils defensively from the Heavenly Spiritual Root’s overwhelming power.

Significant themes

• Talent and cultivation: Chen Zhuo’s advancement reinforces the chapter’s central question of what makes someone a heaven-favored genius.
• Power and spectacle: His cultivation creates phenomena that even newly advanced Golden Core experts mistake for a major breakthrough or secret realm.
• Patronage and obligation: Lei and Zhao’s gratitude shows how Chen Zhuo’s insight has earned him loyalty and protection.
• Resources and status: The Spiritual Root’s high cost, strict control, and importance to advancement underline how valuable cultivation resources are.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo handles the Spiritual Root alone, overcoming its violent reaction through determined refinement.
• Lei and Zhao discuss their breakthroughs and their debt to Chen Zhuo; Wang Shechuan reassures them that the alarming phenomenon is simply another sign of their Daoist Child’s progress.
• Sect disciples react with confusion and evacuate Heavenly Drum Peak, accustomed to Chen Zhuo’s unusual displays but unsettled by this one’s scale.

Key events

• After a month in seclusion, Chen Zhuo emerges having fully refined his Heavenly Fire Spiritual Root and learned the basics of the Foundation Establishment section of the Burning Heavens Great Sun Sword Chapter.
• He cuts a branch from the five-thousand-year-old Jianmu and spends three days refining it into a small ruyi-shaped treasure. Once further nourished, it will let him draw on Jianmu’s cultivation-boosting energy while away from the grotto-heaven.
• Li Changqing reports that he has reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement after finding a dead cultivator’s cave abode. He also gives Chen Zhuo the missing half of a talisman. Reunited with Chen’s half, it contains dense demonic qi, which Chen plans to use to strengthen his body after acquiring suitable purification equipment. Chen rewards Li with pills.
• Lin Yi offers Chen Zhuo the Essence Soul of a nearly Golden Core-stage Fire Flood Dragon in exchange for further guidance. He explains the opening of the Mirror Heart Emotion-Observing Chapter, prompting her to reflect on how one must first experience emotion before transcending it.
• On Heavenly Rosy Cloud Peak, Chen learns that two former peers, Lei Bingwen and Zhao Shu, have reached Golden Core, while Lu Xu has advanced to Mid Golden Core. The sect has also gathered thirteen Wood-attribute treasures for him.
• The sect reports that the Continuity-Restoring Immortal Grass has disappeared in Guo Kingdom, and that the Pu, Ming, and Ruan families at Greenstone Market are suspected of disloyalty. Pu family head Pu Chengyue has reached False Golden Core and is conspiring with Western Mountain and the Southern Barbarians.
• Chen volunteers to investigate. The sect expects him to confront the missing treasure’s culprits and traitors, as well as possible Foundation Establishment challengers from rival regions. He confidently declares that no Foundation Establishment cultivator can withstand his sword.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo grows stronger and more self-reliant, combining rapid spiritual-root refinement, sword training, and practical preparation for life beyond the sect. He also treats Li Changchang’s discovery carefully, rewards his judgment, and shares cultivation insight with Lin Yi.
• Li Changqing has advanced quickly to Late Qi Refinement and shows sound judgment by bringing Chen the dangerous talisman rather than handling it carelessly.
• Lin Yi continues to seek Chen’s counsel. Her earnest response to his teaching suggests a change in her understanding of the Heartless Dao; Zhang Zhi even suspects her feelings for Chen have unsettled that path.
• The sect’s Golden Core elders recognize Chen’s ability and send him on a dangerous mission, while warning that they cannot intervene if rival forces use Foundation Establishment cultivators against him.

Significant themes

• Power and cultivation: Spiritual resources, disciplined practice, and cultivation breakthroughs drive advancement.
• Experience as a test: Chen’s mission will make him confront killing and prove his strength beyond the safety of the sect.
• Emotion and the Dao: Lin Yi’s Heartless Dao raises the question of whether transcendence requires first experiencing emotion.
• Loyalty and betrayal: The suspected collusion at Greenstone Market turns the mission into a test of allegiance as well as combat.

Concise Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo leaves the Qiwu Sword Sect to train, taking his time to enjoy the Southern Wilderness and quietly scan for ambushes. Three Golden Core True Persons secretly follow to protect him; Lu Xu and Zhao Shu remain at the sect.
• Spies report his departure to both Western Mountain and the Southern Barbarians. The rival powers view the Heavenly Spiritual Root Daoist Heir as a future threat and prepare to kill him.
• In Western Mountain, a leader of the New Esoteric Church orders Dalawasang to return and plans to use him to assassinate Chen Zhuo. Dalawasang is to carry the power of a Maha through a secret art, backed by a drum made from his sister’s remains.
• The Five Creeks Barbarian great witch sends Aman to Greenstone Market to wait for Chen Zhuo and arrange an attack. He also dispatches Hao Hu—an undercover barbarian known as the robber Hao Hu—to test or kill the young Daoist Heir, and calls the other great witches to prepare for a possible joint assassination.
• Chen Zhuo encounters Hao Hu and the Blood Fiend Society. With a single sword strike, he kills Hao Hu and cleaves their flying ship in two. He then wipes out the fleeing gang, including its strategist, with his Great Sun Sword technique.
• Afterward, Chen Zhuo detects a hidden figure. The novice monk Dan Zeng—also known as Ding Zhen—reveals that he serves a True Esoteric master allied with the southern sects. He warns that Dalawasang is coming with a Pseudo-Magical Treasure and offers Chen Zhuo a treasure vase said to counter evil arts.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo is eager and confident, but also deliberately cautious: he travels slowly, searches for threats, and appears to welcome the chance to test himself. His effortless defeat of the robbers demonstrates that his strength already rivals that of a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• The Golden Core protectors remain convinced that Chen Zhuo can handle ordinary threats, though his performance still surprises them.
• The Five Creeks great witch is alarmed by Chen Zhuo’s potential and shifts from a targeted probe to considering a coordinated assassination.
• Aman accepts her mission without visible emotion, marking her as a disciplined and dangerous opponent.
• Dan Zeng/Ding Zhen is revealed as a messenger from a faction allied with the Nine Sects, carrying intelligence and a defensive relic.

Significant themes

• Talent attracts danger: Chen Zhuo’s promise threatens rivals, prompting espionage, political maneuvering, and assassination plots.
• Training under protection: The sect allows its heir to face real trials while secretly guarding him.
• Competing religious paths: The True Esoteric Cult’s disciplined, consent-based practices are contrasted with the New Esoteric Church’s violent use of human remains.
• Confidence versus caution: Chen Zhuo’s boldness is balanced by his careful surveillance and swift response to danger.
• Appearances and mistaken identity: Chen Zhuo nearly attacks Dan Zeng because of his name and suspicious behavior, while the monk’s hidden approach makes him appear hostile.

Character interactions

• The Golden Core True Persons discuss Chen Zhuo’s safety and observe his fight without intervening.
• Hao Hu and the Blood Fiend Society attempt to rob and challenge Chen Zhuo; he answers with overwhelming force.
• Dan Zeng approaches after the battle, identifies himself as an ally, and warns Chen Zhuo about Dalawasang. Chen Zhuo’s fixation on the monk’s unusual name ends the chapter on a comic note.

Plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo meets young Dan Zeng, who delivers a single-use protective vase from Great Might He Luo Master. Chen Zhuo plans to travel west to Greenstone Market, then continue to Great Li Mountain to return it.
• After Dan Zeng departs, Chen Zhuo examines the Robber Cultivators’ spoils. He keeps their Storage Bags, Magical Artifacts, and cultivation manuals, intending to salvage materials and upload the manuals to the pirated Spell Repository. He regrets destroying the robbers’ souls before he could collect them in his Blood Sword.
• Chen Zhuo abandons his attempt to draw out stronger enemies and flies at great speed toward Greenstone Market. The Golden Core elders assigned to guard him struggle to follow without revealing themselves.
• During the journey, Chen Zhuo consults the deceased Golden Core True Person Jiming through the pirated repository. Jiming reviews Chen Zhuo’s cultivation and advises him on safely circulating his energy as his new Fire-type Heavenly Spiritual Root adapts.
• At Greenstone Market, the Pu, Ming, and Ruan clans learn that Chen Zhuo is approaching. Their leaders fear he will uncover their dealings: they have sold resources to the Southern Barbarians and Western Mountain, and the Ruan clan previously helped lure a Sword Sect target to the market.
• The Pu and Ruan leaders decide to resist rather than surrender. They plan to use the market’s defensive formation and recruit its sect steward, other cultivators, and the Five Creeks Barbarian Saintess, who is expected to arrive soon. Their larger goal is to unite the clans, defect south, and form the Three-Stone Barbarians.
• The Ming clan head, who had thought his family was merely engaged in illicit trade, realizes they are implicated in treason. He agrees to recruit three rogue cultivators. A scout then reports a fast-moving sword light approaching, prompting Pu Chengyue to order the formation activated and send for the sect steward.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo is increasingly confident in his strength and dismissive of ordinary opponents. He is practical and opportunistic, gathering loot and reference material while continuing to refine his cultivation.
• Dan Zeng is nervous but deeply impressed by Chen Zhuo’s bold plan, viewing him as a genuine prodigy and blessing his journey.
• The pursuing elders, especially Liu Cheng and Wang Shechuan, are surprised by Chen Zhuo’s speed but trust that he can survive until they catch up.
• Pu Chengyue and the Ruan clan head are committed to armed resistance, relying on their numbers, the formation, and barbarian support. The Ming clan head shifts from frightened caution to reluctant commitment after recognizing how far his clan has been drawn into betrayal.
• Chen Zhuo’s exchange with True Person Jiming shows how he uses the repository’s dead experts as advisers, linking his cultivation progress to the chapter’s broader system of shared knowledge.

Significant themes

• Confidence versus fear: Chen Zhuo’s self-belief contrasts with Dan Zeng’s nerves and the market leaders’ mounting panic.
• Complicity and consequences: The Ming clan head’s realization that “crooked” business has become treason highlights how small compromises can lead to irreversible involvement.
• Knowledge as a resource: Chen Zhuo collects manuals and seeks expert guidance, treating information as essential to growth.
• Corruption and divided loyalties: Greenstone Market’s prosperity rests on clandestine dealings against the very sect that governs it, setting up a confrontation between institutional loyalty and self-preservation.

Key plot points and events

• In Greenstone Market, rogue cultivator Xiao Changsheng struggles to bargain for an overpriced Qi Gathering Pill. His shopping is interrupted when the market’s defensive formation seals the area, alarming the crowd.
• A young sword cultivator arrives and identifies himself as Chen Zhuo, the Qiwu Sword Sect’s True Disciple and Daoist Heir. He says he has come to inspect the market.
• Chen Zhuo accuses steward Cheng Yang of colluding with the Southern Barbarians and Western Mountain, taking bribes, trafficking resources, and selling intelligence. He kills Cheng Yang instantly and absorbs his escaping soul into a Blood Sword.
• Chen announces that the Pu, Ming, and Ruan lineages are also implicated. He vows to execute their Foundation Establishment cultivators, send their Qi Refinement members to serve at Great Li Mountain, and spare their ordinary people.
• The three lineages’ leaders plot to resist. Pu Chengyue stays behind while six cultivators attack Chen, hoping to assess his strength and strike at a decisive moment.
• Chen kills three early-stage Foundation Establishment attackers with one sword stroke, then uses his Great Sun Hanging Radiance technique to incinerate a middle-stage Pu cultivator. He kills the fleeing Ruan patriarch with First Wood Divine Thunder.
• Ming patriarch Ming Jing surrenders and offers the lineage’s treasures. Chen refuses the attempted bribe and strikes him down, noting that the treasures are already in the market.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Changsheng begins as a cautious, resource-conscious minor cultivator. He witnesses Chen’s arrival and the sudden execution of powerful figures, along with the market crowd.
• Chen Zhuo is revealed as far more formidable than his Foundation Establishment Early Stage suggests. His confidence, overwhelming Divine Sense, exceptional swordsmanship, and lethal techniques make him the dominant force in the chapter.
• Cheng Yang shifts from market steward to exposed traitor and is executed before he can retreat into the formation.
• Pu Chengyue is calculating: he sends others to test Chen while planning to deliver a surprise attack and flee. The Ruan and Ming patriarchs, though wary of his motives, join the assault.
• Chen’s exchanges with the attackers underscore the imbalance of power: he taunts them, dispatches several with ease, and rejects Ming Jing’s plea for mercy.

Significant themes

• Justice and corruption: Chen presents his mission as a purge of collaborators and corrupt officials, though his executions are swift and uncompromising.
• Overwhelming power: Chen’s abilities far exceed what his apparent cultivation rank would suggest, turning a coordinated attack into a rout.
• Fear and self-interest: The lineage leaders cooperate out of necessity, while Pu Chengyue’s strategy places others in danger to protect himself.
• The cost of betrayal: Those accused of aiding the sect’s enemies face death, while their followers are assigned punishment and ordinary people are spared.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo kills seven Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Pu, Ming, and Ruan families in about half an hour, overwhelming Greenstone Market’s defenders.
• Pu Chengyue, the powerful but injured Pu ancestor, refuses to fight and claims he is awaiting reinforcements. Privately, he fears Chen Zhuo and regrets staying in the Market for profit.
• Market residents and Chen Zhuo’s Golden Core allies are stunned by the slaughter. Wang Shechuan summons Qiwu Sword Sect disciples to help surround the Market and prevent the three families’ descendants from escaping.
• The Southern Barbarians’ Holy Maiden, Chi Zhao, has been hiding nearby since before Chen Zhuo arrived. After witnessing his strength, she suspects a rival arranged her death and decides to stay hidden until he leaves.
• Chen Zhuo releases the Qi Refinement souls trapped in his Blood Sword, though he intends to keep the seven Foundation Establishment souls.
• He cannot break the Market’s powerful defensive formation by force, so he consults three learned figures in the Pirated Spell Repository. They identify a flaw at the formation’s Xun position.
• The Vast Dharma Universal Thunder Sword Monarch warns Chen Zhuo that someone—Chi Zhao—is concealed in the mountains, shifting his attention from the formation.

Character developments and interactions

• Pu Chengyue changes from plotting an ambush to cowering behind the formation. His fear exposes the gap between his formidable reputation and his willingness to risk himself.
• Chen Zhuo remains composed and somewhat irreverent, treating the defeated cultivators’ souls as both useful trophies and, in the Qi Refinement cases, an embarrassing burden he can mercifully release.
• Chi Zhao goes from confidence in her own power to frightened suspicion, blaming the rival Chi Lan for sending her into danger.
• The Market’s residents, especially Xiao Changsheng, are shaken by Chen Zhuo’s strength; Xiao blurts out that he wants to join the Qiwu Sword Sect.
• Wang Shechuan, Liu Cheng, and Lei Bingwen reconsider their role as Chen Zhuo’s protectors, realizing they may be little more than observers during his battles. Wang nevertheless takes action by calling in reinforcements.
• Chen Zhuo and the three repository figures collaborate: Tianyan and Jiming diagnose the formation, while the Sword Monarch offers a technique and alerts Chen Zhuo to the hidden Holy Maiden.

Significant themes

• Power and perspective: Chen Zhuo’s effortless victories make Foundation Establishment strength seem trivial, though the chapter stresses that Golden Core power remains a distinct, much greater threshold.
• Fear, greed, and regret: Pu Chengyue’s desire to gain resources and advance toward Core Formation led him to betrayal; his deeper regret is that he stayed to keep making money.
• Overconfidence humbled: Chi Zhao’s belief that others were beneath her collapses after witnessing Chen Zhuo’s power.
• Knowledge as a weapon: The formation cannot be overcome by strength alone; expertise and careful observation reveal its weakness.
• Dark comedy: Chen Zhuo’s self-image as a “good person,” his concern about the reputation of his soul collection, and the allies’ frustrated realization that they may not be needed undercut the chapter’s grim violence.

Plot and key events

• Chen Zhuo’s Nascent Soul remnant detects Chi Zhao hiding nearby, though Chen’s Divine Sense cannot. He attacks the spot, forcing Chi Zhao to reveal herself.
• Chi Zhao defends herself with Moon Cicada Gu, essence blood, and a Blood Curse, but she is no match for Chen. He demands her concealment technique and threatens to search her soul.
• From inside Greenstone Market’s Formation, Pu Chengyue mistakes the clash of Chen’s sun and Chi Zhao’s moon for an even fight. Fearing consequences whether Chi Zhao wins or loses, he leads four Foundation Establishment cultivators and the family’s Jadeheat Rhino out to assist her.
• Chen turns to fight the newcomers, giving Chi Zhao an opening. She rushes into the Market, kills Pu Chengji when he objects, takes the Formation’s control disc, and seals the gap—stranding Pu Chengyue and his companions outside with Chen.
• Pu Chengyue and the others realize the Saintess has abandoned them. Chen, angered at being interrupted, prepares to attack them with both thunder and fire sword intent.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Zhuo learns that Chi Zhao’s concealment is extraordinarily effective and resolves to obtain it. He also senses a powerful attraction in her pink-purple Dao-Physique aura, but sets that discovery aside while fighting.
• Chi Zhao proves resourceful and ruthless: she uses her opponents’ intervention to escape, then kills Pu Chengji rather than risk losing her refuge. She shows no concern for Pu Chengyue’s fate.
• Pu Chengyue acts out of self-preservation, bringing others into danger because he believes helping the Saintess is his safest option. His confidence quickly turns to bewilderment and regret.
• Pu Chengji questions Chi Zhao’s actions and is killed for it. The other Pu cultivators, abandoned outside, accuse the Saintess of betrayal and wonder whether they can still make peace with Chen.

Significant themes

• Self-preservation and betrayal: Chi Zhao, Pu Chengyue, and the others each act to protect themselves, even at one another’s expense.
• Misread appearances: The Market’s Formation obscures the fight, leading Pu Chengyue to mistake Chi Zhao’s desperate defense for an even contest.
• Power and exploitation: Chen treats Chi Zhao’s concealment art as something to seize, while Chi Zhao’s survival depends on using her abilities and opportunities decisively.

Key plot points and events

• Furious at being interrupted, Chen Zhuo resolves to stop holding back. He recognizes that recent victories have made him overconfident and decides to treat his opponents cautiously.
• Chen attacks the four Foundation Establishment cultivators with a new crimson-and-azure Thunder Dragon sword strike, killing three immediately. Ruan Cun evades the first blow but dies to his follow-up slash.
• He turns on Pu Chengyue, first using the charging Giant Rhinoceros to test his newly empowered martial technique. Chen smashes its horn and skull with a punch, then cuts the beast apart with his sword.
• Pu fires the ancestral Fusang Sunset Bow, a Pseudo-Magical Treasure powerful enough to destroy Chen’s defensive artifacts and break his Body-Protecting Sword Curse. Chen survives the direct hit without even a mark, thanks to the combined protection of his Great Sun Undying and Cangmeng Nourishing Origin physiques.
• Chen kills Pu with a single full-strength punch from the Myriad Prison-Subduing Force. Pu’s body is pulverized; Chen captures his fleeing soul with the Blood Sword and claims the bow and arrows.
• Trapped behind a Third-Tier Formation, the Southern Witch Saintess Chi Zhao offers an apology, a tribal treasure, peace with the Nine Sects, and an alliance against Western Mountain’s evil cultivators. Chen does not accept or respond; instead, he asks his allies for a way to break the Formation within half a day and requests the Sword Lord’s Formation-Breaking Sword Form.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo learns from his recent arrogance and deliberately uses his full strength. The fight confirms that his two physiques together make his body comparable to a Golden Core Body Cultivator’s, while his confidence remains tempered by caution.
• Pu Chengyue shifts from bargaining and confidence to desperate hope, then terror and death. His prized bow proves powerful but cannot overcome Chen’s physical defenses.
• Chi Zhao moves from judging Pu’s alliance as potentially useful to fearing Chen’s strength. Once protected by the Formation, she regains enough composure to negotiate and threaten the consequences of trapping or provoking her people.

Significant themes

• Power and overconfidence: Chen’s reflection on his growing arrogance contrasts with Pu’s belief that his weapon and potential rewards guarantee victory.
• Preparation and adaptability: Chen combines swordsmanship, martial arts, defensive artifacts, and two body-enhancing techniques rather than relying on one approach.
• Negotiation under pressure: Chi Zhao’s peace proposals are driven by fear, while Chen’s silence leaves the balance of power—and the possibility of further conflict—unsettled.
• The limits of reputation and treasure: Pu’s near-Golden-Core attack is formidable, but Chen’s cultivation and physical resilience prove decisive.

Character interactions

• Chen rejects Pu’s offer to make peace and attacks him and his companions.
• Pu’s allies are caught off guard when Chen strikes while appearing to address Pu; only Ruan Cun briefly escapes the initial attack.
• Pu’s bow attack briefly impresses Chi Zhao, but Chen’s survival convinces her that fighting him is futile.
• Chi Zhao appeals to Chen with promises, threats, and a proposed alliance, while Chen turns instead to his allies and the Sword Lord for a way through her Formation.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Zhuo studies Greenstone Market’s defensive formation, then uses a massive sword of spiritual energy to exploit a weakness at its Xun position. After eight strikes, he shatters the third-tier formation.
• The formation-breaking attack is powerful but slow and costly, nearly exhausting Chen Zhuo’s reserves; a Jianmu branch helps replenish his energy.
• Once inside, Chen Zhuo orders the market’s cultivators to keep the peace and forbids looting, arson, murder, assault, and abduction. He summons members of the Pu, Ming, and Ruan Households to face judgment.
• The Southern Barbarian Saintess, Chi Zhao, surrenders rather than fight. She offers her Witchcraft arts and a ransom, and Chen Zhuo seals her Immortal Foundation to prevent her from casting powerful spells. Her collection includes the aura-concealment method he wanted.
• Chen Zhuo’s actions deter looters and compel the three households’ cultivators to submit. Sword Gate disciples arrive after the battle and are ordered to maintain order and repair the formation.
• In private, Chi Zhao suggests that her Harmony Dao Physique can help Chen Zhuo advance his cultivation. He accepts, jokingly calling her by her childhood name, Aman.

Character developments

• Chen Zhuo demonstrates tactical insight and formidable power, identifying a flaw in the formation from outside it. He also shows practical restraint: despite his threats, he prioritizes restoring order and declines to waste resources on a bounty when the targets can surrender directly.
• Chi Zhao shifts from anxious confidence to alarm as Chen Zhuo breaks through the formation. She ultimately chooses surrender and negotiation, though she remains resentful when he seals her powers.
• The market’s cultivators and Sword Gate disciples move from panic and disbelief to submission and respect after witnessing Chen Zhuo’s strength.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Chen Zhuo’s overwhelming force establishes control, but he uses it to impose rules and restore order.
• Knowledge and perception: His ability to detect a hidden structural weakness outstrips Chi Zhao’s expertise, showing how insight can matter as much as raw strength.
• Pragmatism and ambition: Chen Zhuo weighs the costs and benefits of his techniques and accepts Chi Zhao’s cultivation offer because it serves his advancement.
• Comedy through misunderstanding and contrast: Chi Zhao misreads Chen Zhuo’s intentions, while the chapter’s grand displays of power sit alongside his blunt, irreverent thoughts.

Character interactions

• Chen Zhuo’s silence and focused preparation unnerves Chi Zhao, who imitates him but misinterprets what his closed eyes mean.
• Chi Zhao recognizes the formation’s weakness only after Chen Zhuo targets it, deepening her impression of his extraordinary abilities.
• After the battle, Chen Zhuo’s firm commands make both civilians and potential troublemakers comply; Sword Gate disciples publicly welcome him.
• Chi Zhao negotiates her surrender and later offers a cultivation benefit. Chen Zhuo responds casually, balancing control over her with acceptance of her proposal.

Key plot points and events

• Chi Zhao wakes after spending the night cultivating with Chen Zhuo. She feels well, recognizes how much the experience benefited her, and decides to tell the Great Shaman that she has chosen her Holy Son—hoping to prevent the Southern Wu from acting against Chen Zhuo.
• Chen Zhuo enters seclusion and uses his secret modern drugs, along with the spirit gu pure qi he received from Chi Zhao, to accelerate his cultivation. He breaks through from Foundation Establishment early stage to middle stage.
• His breakthrough creates a striking phenomenon: a vortex of spiritual qi forms over Greenstone Market, and fragrant jade bamboo rapidly sprouts around it. Residents and Qiwu Sword Sect cultivators identify the spectacle as a sign of Chen Zhuo’s advancement.
• After emerging, Chen Zhuo learns Chi Zhao wants him to return with her and become the Southern Wu Holy Son through the Ancestral Spirit Ritual. He postpones the decision, but his interest spikes when he hears the Ancestral Tree has existed for over twenty thousand years.
• Hoping to stabilize his new cultivation stage—and with some spirit gu pure qi still remaining—Chen Zhuo takes Chi Zhao back into the seclusion room to cultivate again.

Character developments

• Chi Zhao becomes more pragmatic and accepting of her relationship with Chen Zhuo. She sees him as a better match than a future Holy Son chosen at random and recognizes that joining forces with him could benefit the Southern Wu.
• Chen Zhuo grows stronger and more confident after his breakthrough. His interest in becoming Holy Son is initially limited, but the Ancestral Tree’s age makes him eager to learn more and potentially claim the role.
• The Qiwu Sword Sect cultivators and Greenstone Market residents gain renewed awe for Chen Zhuo, interpreting his rapid progress and breakthrough phenomenon as evidence of extraordinary talent.

Significant themes

• Cultivation through unconventional means: Chen Zhuo combines spiritual resources with modern drugs, treating every available advantage as worth using.
• Mutual benefit and alliance: Chi Zhao’s and Chen Zhuo’s cultivation strengthens both of them, while their growing partnership may bridge the long-standing divide between the Southern Wu and the Southern Wilderness sects.
• Ambition and political opportunity: The Holy Son proposal could turn a personal bond into a major political alliance and help resolve an old feud.
• Talent and reputation: Chen Zhuo’s rapid advancement astonishes others and fuels expectations that he may become a remarkably young Golden Core cultivator.

Character interactions

• Chi Zhao explains the Southern Wu custom that a man who receives her spirit gu pure qi should return with her and complete the Ancestral Spirit Ritual.
• She frames Chen Zhuo’s potential role as a chance to unite the Southern Wu and the Southern Wilderness. He listens but initially defers the decision.
• Once she describes the ancient Ancestral Tree, Chen Zhuo’s enthusiasm shifts, amusing and surprising Chi Zhao.
• The chapter ends with Chen Zhuo asking Chi Zhao to help stabilize his breakthrough through further cultivation.