Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• On July 20, Chen Shu visits his teachers, discusses the improved Thunder Magic, studies artifacts from the Duqin Cube, and takes advantage of their hospitality and research findings. Both teachers seem relieved that he is safe.
• Classes begin the next day. Chen Shu returns to class, eager to announce his return to his classmates; Ning Qing attends her first course, Diverse Universes and Planes.
• The elderly Professor Ouyuangong welcomes Ning Qing back after her term-and-a-half absence. She explains only that unavoidable matters kept her away.
• In class, Ouyuangong discusses the limits of knowledge about other universes and shares an extraordinary claim: the New Sage traveled to other universes, saw the Sea of Universes, and returned to usher in a new age before vanishing. He stresses that this account comes from his own experience and reflection, not documented evidence.
• After class, Ning Qing lingers beneath the campus osmanthus blossoms. She tells Ouyuangong she is waiting to have lunch with someone she likes. When Chen Shu messages that he has left campus, she sends him a photo of the flowers instead of replying directly.

Character developments

• Chen Shu resumes student life after his long absence, maintaining his playful confidence while reconnecting with his teachers and studies.
• Ning Qing remains reserved and independent, but her thoughts reveal that she is making plans with Chen Shu in mind—particularly learning Sky-Riding Art so they can travel outside the city together.
• Ouyuangong emerges as a devoted, reflective teacher near the end of his life. Despite entering Spiritual Decline and likely having little time left, he continues teaching and shares knowledge he considers important.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and the unknown: The lecture encourages students to imagine realities beyond what current research can prove.
• Legacy and change: The New Sage’s journey and reforms transformed society, while Ouyuangong’s teaching carries knowledge forward.
• Mortality and youth: Ouyuangong’s declining health contrasts with the students’ youth, making his appreciation of their energy—and of the recurring blossoms—especially poignant.
• Quiet affection: Ning Qing’s indirect message to Chen Shu and her anticipation of lunch convey intimacy through small, understated gestures.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu’s teachers show concern for him while discussing his work and letting him benefit from their resources.
• Ouyuangong treats Ning Qing gently, respecting her privacy and welcoming her back without pressing her for explanations.
• Ning Qing’s classmates greet her, but her cool manner preserves the distance she prefers.
• In their brief post-class conversation, Ning Qing and Ouyuangong share an appreciation of the blossoms; afterward, she communicates with Chen Shu by sending him a photograph.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Shu learns that Ning Ji (Xiaoxiao) skipped lunch to volunteer at freshman orientation, eager to be called “senior.” He and Ning Qing eat together, then go watch her work.
• Ning Ji cheerfully guides freshmen, insists on carrying their luggage, and proudly tells them she has opened her Spirit Sea. When she spots Chen Shu and Ning Qing watching, she panics and pretends not to recognize them.
• A week into the term, Chen Shu passes the student-club recruitment tents. He sees Brother Meng leading the Poetry Society’s recruitment and Jiang—now a fifth-segment Martial Artist—at the Martial Arts Society, though Jiang holds no club position.
• With classes, cultivation, and his work adapting Cloud-Sky Art into Thousand Mechanisms Art consuming his time, Chen Shu decides against joining a club.
• He cycles beyond Jade Capital’s no-fly zone and tests Rising with the Wind, which launches him rapidly above the clouds. The flight is thrilling but highly forceful and difficult to steer, so he begins adjusting his spirit-power output.

Character developments

• Chen Shu is curious and playful, but also aware of his limited time. His new technique gives him exhilarating flight, while its abrupt handling reveals that he still needs practice.
• Ning Qing remains composed and dryly teasing, tolerating Chen Shu’s childish banter and his habit of spending freely when she is paying.
• Ning Ji shows dedication and pride in her role as a senior. Her eagerness for the title contrasts with her stern presentation; her strength lets her manage luggage despite her small stature.

Significant themes

• Growing responsibility: Ning Ji embraces the duties of a senior, while Chen Shu weighs extracurricular life against study and training.
• Ambition and self-discipline: Chen Shu’s demanding schedule reflects the effort required to pursue cultivation and master new techniques.
• Freedom with limits: Flight offers a powerful sense of exhilaration, but is constrained by regulations and the need for control.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu and Ning Qing trade teasing, deadpan remarks on their way to lunch.
• Ning Ji warmly assists freshmen, though she insists on being addressed as “senior” and refuses help or rest.
• Chen Shu observes the club members and exchanges greetings with Brother Meng and Jiang before heading out to practice.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu masters the Rising with the Wind flying spell. It offers exceptional acceleration and sharp maneuverability, though its forceful turns require careful control and it consumes Spirit Power quickly. After an exhilarating test flight, he remains unsure whether he prefers it to the steadier, longer-range Cloud-Sky Art.
• At home, Ning Qing replants the courtyard roses, explaining that the old plants drowned from overwatering and should regrow within a year. Chen Shu teases her about learning to fly, while privately worrying about Xiaoxiao growing up.
• Chen Shu spends the following weeks adapting his spells and studying the Spirit Form, a major Spiritual Cultivation art that turns the Spirit Sea into a tangible form, enabling tremendous burst output at the cost of rapidly exhausting one’s reserves. His books cover only its principles, so further study and instruction will be needed.
• Brother Meng, anxious about his new role as Poetry Society president, follows Chen Shu’s suggestion to hold a three-line love-poem contest. It becomes a popular campus craze and boosts Meng’s confidence.
• Chen Shu attends the university’s Mid-Autumn Gala with Qingqing, Xiaoxiao, Chen Banxia, and Zhang Suannai, and is delighted to see Highness Cinnabar.
• For Xiaoxiao’s eighteenth birthday, Chen Shu and Qingqing shop for ingredients. Chen Banxia and Zhang Suannai arrive early. Zhang asks about the vanished blue-purple roses she remembers; Chen Shu dodges naming them, but Xiaoxiao finally tells her the variety is Illumination at Night, leaving Zhang stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu grows more skilled and adventurous in flight, while balancing ambitious cultivation work with rest. His excitement at Xiaoxiao’s coming-of-age is mixed with protective, almost parental concern.
• Ning Qing quietly tends the replanted garden and is also learning to fly, though she has not mastered it yet. Chen Shu’s teasing and her restrained replies show their comfortable closeness.
• Xiaoxiao is about to turn eighteen. Chen Shu’s reflections show that he is both proud of her growing up and uneasy about the change.
• Meng Chunqiu swings between anxiety over his presidency and pride after the poetry contest succeeds.
• Zhang Suannai fondly recalls the old roses and presses Chen Shu for their name. His evasiveness makes the eventual revelation—“Illumination at Night”—a comic moment.
• Chen Shu’s affectionate, teasing exchanges with Qingqing, Xiaoxiao, and Zhang Suannai emphasize the warmth of his household and friendships.

Significant themes

• Freedom and mastery: Flying captures Chen Shu’s sense of exhilaration, while its risks and costs demand discipline.
• Power versus efficiency: The two flight techniques and the Spirit Form each trade endurance for speed or explosive force.
• Growth and change: The replanted roses and Xiaoxiao’s eighteenth birthday both mark renewal and the passage of time.
• Home, care, and belonging: Gardening, cooking, celebrations, and playful conversation reveal the bonds that anchor Chen Shu amid his cultivation ambitions.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Suannai realizes that her roommate, Ning Qing, is Illumination at Night in the group chat—and that Chen Shu had been secretly using her phone. A rush of old messages reminds Suannai of all the embarrassing things she said about Ning Qing and Chen Shu, leaving her frozen with shame.
• Her friend Chen Banxia takes her for a drive. Suannai remains dazed for the outing, then returns to the courtyard acting cheerful, apparently having recovered—or pushed the memory aside.
• Suannai joins Chen Shu and Ning Qing in the kitchen, samples the sausage, and eats lunch with the others. The meal includes several potato dishes chosen by Xiaoxiao, the birthday girl.
• Suannai eats enthusiastically, taking six bowls of rice, while studiously avoiding conversation. By the end, she behaves as if she has no recollection of the group-chat disaster.

Character developments

• Zhang Suannai shifts from panic and humiliation to an almost comically complete mental reset. Her appetite and delight in the food reassert themselves, and she seems able to compartmentalize the crisis.
• Chen Banxia is affectionate and energetic, trying to cheer Suannai up with a drive, though she senses something remains unusual when they return.
• Chen Shu and Ning Qing appear comfortable working together in the kitchen. Chen Shu checks on Suannai and offers her food without pressing her.
• Xiaoxiao gets to choose multiple birthday dishes, especially potatoes, and quietly continues her courtyard chores.

Significant themes

• Embarrassment and denial: Suannai’s private online behavior collides with her real-life relationships, but she copes by suppressing or forgetting the humiliation.
• The strong protect themselves: The chapter’s comic premise suggests that even emotional shock can trigger a powerful self-defense mechanism.
• Food and ordinary pleasures: Cooking, shared meals, and Suannai’s appetite restore a sense of normality after her internal crisis.
• Affection expressed through routine: Friends show care through practical gestures—taking someone for a drive, cooking together, and sharing food.

Character interactions

• Banxia worries over Suannai’s frozen reaction and takes her driving to lift her spirits.
• Suannai and Banxia return to find the others cooking; Banxia’s unease contrasts with Suannai’s sudden breeziness.
• Chen Shu offers Suannai sausage, while Banxia grabs some first. At lunch, the group shares dishes, with Xiaoxiao’s potato-heavy choices becoming a running joke.

Plot points and events

• Ning Qing peels grapes for Chen Shu, while Chen Banxia and Zhang Suannai watch and privately envy the attention. Xiaoxiao has her own bowl of peeled grapes but guards it from Chen Banxia.
• Chen Banxia falls asleep, and Zhang Suannai dozes off too. She dreams that her roommate, Ning Qing, attends a group dinner and introduces herself as “Illumination at Night”—revealing that she is the online group member Zhang Suannai hoped she would never recognize. The dream becomes a disastrous storm at sea, and Zhang Suannai wakes in a panic.
• Believing her carefully crafted image has been exposed, Zhang Suannai flees the house and takes to the sky on her sword. She encounters Chen Shu and confronts him for not warning her that Ning Qing was in the group.
• Chen Shu says he did not know at first either, and reminds Zhang Suannai that he had tried to hint at the truth a year earlier by sending her Illumination at Night flowers. He advises her to act as if the embarrassing group history never happened, as he did when Ning Qing learned about his own antics.
• Chen Shu returns home to find Xiaoxiao swinging and eating grapes. She has finished the homework Ning Qing assigned, and Chen Shu gently sympathizes with her.

Character developments

• Zhang Suannai is revealed to care deeply about her reputation, especially in front of her roommate. Her panic and attempts to blame Chen Shu gradually give way to regret and fear that Ning Qing now sees her as foolish.
• Chen Shu is practical and unruffled, defending himself while offering Zhang Suannai the same coping strategy he used: pretend the embarrassing past is forgotten.
• Xiaoxiao enjoys her new adulthood with a fresh sense of agency. She feels that even if her sister “bullies” her, it will now be by choice rather than because she has no say.
• Ning Qing appears through her considerate grape-peeling and her assignment for Xiaoxiao, while her knowledge of the group looms large in Zhang Suannai’s anxiety.

Significant themes

• Reputation and embarrassment: Zhang Suannai fears that private, unflattering behavior will undermine the image she has built.
• Dreams and anxiety: The surreal dream magnifies her dread, turning a social discovery into an apocalyptic scene.
• Care in everyday gestures: Peeling and sharing grapes expresses affection and attentiveness.
• Growing independence: Xiaoxiao’s adulthood matters less as a change in routine than as a new feeling of choice and self-determination.

Character interactions

• Ning Qing’s affectionate attention to Chen Shu prompts quiet envy from Chen Banxia and Zhang Suannai; Xiaoxiao, meanwhile, protects her own grapes.
• Zhang Suannai confronts Chen Shu in midair, but his explanation defuses much of her anger and redirects it toward her own missed clues and fears.
• Chen Shu returns to a peaceful scene with Xiaoxiao, whose contentment contrasts with Zhang Suannai’s turmoil.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu drives Chen Banxia’s small convertible back to Ling’an Academy with Xiaoxiao. Ning Qing and Zhang Suannai pass them on motorcycles; Zhang shows off with a wheelie, so Chen Shu tells Xiaoxiao to film her and threaten to report her for dangerous driving. Zhang immediately behaves.
• At the school gate, Xiaoxiao tries to join her sister’s ride, but Ning Qing leaves without waiting. Xiaoxiao ends up riding with Zhang Suannai, making her threat to report Zhang awkward.
• After returning to his room, Chen Shu finds Meng Chunqiu waiting to celebrate the success of their three-line love-poem event. The contest has attracted widespread online attention and more than a thousand additional submissions; Ling’an Academy’s Poetry Society even wants to hold a similar contest.
• Chen Shu modestly deflects credit, knowing the idea was neither wholly original nor truly his. Meng Chunqiu shares that his family has also been discussing the contest.
• Chen Shu watches the news with Meng. Reports include another Puluo attack on Yuanzhou and ongoing international tensions, including Lanya’s operations in Duqin and its support for anti-Yi forces in Puluo.
• The news makes Chen Shu think about Cao Ci and the Dream Moon Cult. He doubts that Yi Nation’s crackdown has seriously weakened the powerful Ninth Tier or his far-reaching organization.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu enjoys borrowing Chen Banxia’s car and playfully retaliates against Zhang Suannai’s reckless riding by having Xiaoxiao film her. He remains unassuming about the poetry contest’s success and uses watching the news as a break from his studies.
• Xiaoxiao follows Chen Shu’s lead in filming Zhang, then ends up riding with her after Ning Qing leaves.
• Zhang Suannai provokes Chen Shu with a wheelie but stops when she realizes she is being recorded.
• Meng Chunqiu is exuberant and proud of the contest’s popularity. Chen Shu reflects that Meng may have grown up overshadowed by his more accomplished royal-family brother, making this success especially meaningful to him. Meng also shows generosity by offering Chen Shu more of the expensive tribute candies.
• Ning Qing rides ahead and does not wait for Xiaoxiao, leaving her to join Zhang.

Significant themes

• Recognition and overshadowing: The contest gives Meng a visible achievement despite his life in the shadow of his elder brother.
• Modesty and borrowed credit: Chen Shu declines to claim authorship of an idea that was not truly his.
• Playful companionship: The car ride and motorcycle rivalry create lighthearted exchanges among Chen Shu, Xiaoxiao, Ning Qing, and Zhang.
• Power and political instability: The news highlights international rivalries, proxy conflicts, and the uncertain reach of Yi Nation’s campaign against Cao Ci and the Dream Moon Cult.

Key plot points and events

• In the Demon Nation, a Fifth Tier wolf demon breaks into a deer demon’s apartment and kills him. He revels in the hunt, sees modern society as a cage that suppresses natural instincts, and escapes as neighbors and police respond.
• On Lonely Island, Cao Ci and the Dream Moon Cult use the Celestial Mirror to locate hosts carrying fragments of the shattered Plane Origin. The fragments are hidden in hundreds of people worldwide and appear to have no effect on their hosts.
• The cult has chosen the easier method of recovering each fragment: killing its host. After one recovery, the mirror repeatedly identifies the next host as a young man in Jade Capital. Cao Ci realizes that reaching him may be nearly impossible because the capital is heavily guarded by Ninth Tier cultivators.
• On Double Ninth Festival, Chen Shu and Secretary Ning (Qingqing) fly to New Orthodox Temple. Ning has learned the Sky-Riding Art after a month of instruction, though Chen Shu uses her incomplete mastery as an excuse to hold her hand. She repeatedly resists his attempts at affection. At the temple gate, a large monk waits for them.

Character developments

• The wolf demon embraces his predatory instincts and rejects the restraint of civilized society, becoming a direct threat to public safety.
• Cao Ci remains calculating and ruthless, but the Celestial Mirror’s discovery exposes a serious obstacle to the cult’s plans.
• Secretary Ning shows exceptional ability in learning spiritual techniques, while maintaining a reserved, independent attitude toward Chen Shu’s flirtation.
• Chen Shu continues to tease Qingqing and seek excuses for physical closeness, even as she rebuffs him.

Significant themes

• Civilization versus instinct: The wolf demon views social equality and self-restraint as artificial limits, while his attack demonstrates the danger of that belief.
• Power, secrecy, and pursuit: Cao Ci’s concealment and the hunt by rival powers show how dangerous knowledge and powerful artifacts can be.
• The cost of expediency: The Dream Moon Cult chooses murder as the quickest way to obtain the Origin fragments, treating lives as expendable.
• Affection and boundaries: Chen Shu’s playful advances contrast with Qingqing’s consistent resistance and self-possession.

Character interactions

• The wolf demon kills the deer demon after a brief, hopeless struggle; the victim tries to bargain and defend himself but is overwhelmed.
• Cao Ci consults the Celestial Mirror with a fellow cult member, then confronts the implications of its repeated identification of the same protected host.
• Chen Shu instructs Ning in flight and repeatedly tries to hold her hand; she allows the initial support but withdraws her hand and rejects further attempts as they approach the temple.

Key events

• On the Double Ninth Festival, Chen Shu and Ning Qing return to New Orthodox Temple. The great monk, Shangzhi Xiaming, appears to thank Chen Shu for helping his disciple Tongzhi find what he sought, though Chen failed to bring him back. Xiaming says Tongzhi has become a Buddha, then vanishes—revealed to have been an apparition.
• Green-Lamp Ancient Buddha, now addressed as Tongdeng, guides the pair around the temple. Chen Shu jokes with him and deftly evades questions about Spirit Sect elders applying to join both the Buddhist and Daoist orders.
• Tongdeng takes them to the white pagoda, where the fog clears to reveal an expansive view of autumnal Jade Capital. He explains that the Bodhisattva of Calamity planted the daisies around the pagoda after the former emperor abdicated; they bloomed overnight and have never withered. Chen Shu jokes about the flowers and asks whether he may pick one, but does not.
• After taking photos, eating at the temple, and paying respects to Buddha, Chen and Qingqing leave. Tongdeng invites them back in spring. On the descent, Chen leans on Qingqing for balance, but she pushes him away. A windblown daisy lands in Chen’s hand.
• Back home, Xiaoxiao watches a television program about the Sword Sect while Zhang Suannai practices sword movements nearby. Chen sends photos from the temple. Xiaoxiao realizes he took Qingqing out alone, using her adulthood as a reason not to bring her or Peach, and regrets growing up.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu remains playful and opportunistic, teasing Qingqing and Tongdeng, while showing genuine gratitude when remembering Master Tongzhi. His evasiveness about the Spirit Sect elders hints at involvement he prefers not to explain.
• Ning Qing stays composed and reserved, quietly observing the monks’ exchanges and resisting Chen’s jokes and attempts to lean on her.
• Tongdeng is warm and hospitable, with a humorous, sociable side; he also remembers Chen’s rice dumplings and mooncakes and offers the couple special access on a future visit.
• Shangzhi Xiaming conveys calm gratitude and acceptance of his disciple’s spiritual fate.
• Xiaoxiao appears hurt and left out when she sees Chen and Qingqing’s outing, revealing her attachment to her brother-in-law and reluctance to be treated as grown.

Significant themes

• Spiritual transformation and acceptance: Tongzhi’s absence is framed not as failure but as the fulfillment of his search and his becoming a Buddha.
• Ordinary life alongside the sacred: Temple rituals and extraordinary Buddhist events coexist with meals, photography, teasing, and everyday routines.
• Change and continuity: The mist clears, leaves fall, and visitors come and go, while the temple and its daily rhythms endure.
• Growing up and separation: Xiaoxiao’s new adulthood brings independence but also the painful sense of being excluded from familiar family closeness.

Summary

On the Double Ninth Festival, Chen Shu returns from New Orthodox Temple with photos of Qingqing beneath the White Pagoda. While chatting with Meng Chunqiu and Jiang Lai, he mentions the Marguerite daisies there. Meng reveals that identical flowers mysteriously appeared outside the former emperor’s chambers after his abdication; people suspected the Sword Master had sent them. Chen Shu reflects on the former emperor’s old friendships with the Bodhisattva of Calamity and other powerful figures, and on the loneliness that can come with age and loss. His wistful line about drinking together on the festival prompts Meng to marvel at his “improvised poetry”—though Chen Shu says the verse was by Meng Haoran, a name that happens to be Meng Chunqiu’s elder brother’s.
Chen Shu posts his festival photos, then enthusiastically messages Qingqing, asking her to make dried flowers, view his pictures, like his post, and publish one of her own. She does, choosing some of the same landscape and flower shots but different portraits—ones that show Chen Shu less prominently.
The conversation turns to Jiang Lai, whose recent Arena fights have earned him a devoted following despite several losses. Chen Shu teases him about his popularity and encourages him to aim for the Martial King Tournament. He offers to develop new Runes for Jiang, but Jiang’s existing set should serve him through the Sixth Segment, and Chen Shu has no suitable new ideas yet.
Later, the news reports renewed violence in Puluo and the Moonlit Heroine punishing traitors linked to Lanya. Chen Shu privately jokes that “Brother Luo” is enjoying himself and wonders whether the King Court will rein the heroine in. He then makes a decision without explaining it. Jiang leaves to keep his disciplined sleep schedule, while Meng remains troubled by a negative reply from his elder brother; Chen Shu says something to him and heads to his room.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu comes across as affectionate, playful, and eager to nurture his friends. His memories of the former emperor’s friendships reveal a more reflective side, while his photo-posting and teasing keep the mood light.
• Qingqing cooperates with Chen Shu’s requests, though she responds to his over-the-top gratitude with dry humor. Her choice of portraits subtly puts Chen Shu less at the center than he does in his own post.
• Jiang Lai is a rising Fifth Segment fighter whose approachable appearance has made him unusually popular with women. He remains modest about his record and confident in his current Rune set.
• Meng Chunqiu is amused by Chen Shu’s poetry and shares background about the former emperor, but ends the chapter preoccupied with his elder brother’s rejection.
• Chen Shu and his roommates trade friendly teasing: he jokes about Jiang’s fame and ambitions, while Meng reacts to Chen’s supposed poetic talent.

Significant themes

• Friendship, aging, and impermanence: Chen Shu’s thoughts about the former emperor’s dwindling circle suggest the sadness of outliving old friends.
• Affection expressed through humor: Chen Shu’s exaggerated messages to Qingqing and his teasing of Jiang show closeness through playful banter.
• Ambition and potential: Jiang’s rapid progress makes him a candidate for greater success, while Chen considers how to support him.
• Political unrest and hidden power: Puluo’s escalating violence and the Moonlit Heroine’s actions hint at broader political tensions that may shape Chen Shu’s unexplained decision.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Shu teases his sister, Chen Banxia, about advancing to the Sixth Tier. She advises him to stop there too, arguing it offers a good balance of strength and lifespan without the difficulty and risks of High Tier cultivation.
• In an Ancient Cultivator group chat, Chen Shu offers a rare Auxiliary Potion. After some joking bids, he explains that he and Grandma Always Says advanced quickly after being stranded overseas and finding an accelerated-cultivation card and an experience pill.
• At Jade Capital’s underground Arena, Chen Shu and Meng Chunqiu watch Brother Jiang fight a female Fifth Segment Martial Artist. She uses a Heavenly Steed bloodline that improves explosive power and endurance, but after wearing herself out, she loses to Brother Jiang’s sudden, powerful counterattack.
• Chen Shu and Meng return backstage with Brother Jiang after the match. As they leave, they see the gruff spectator who complained about Chen Shu’s sweet potato now eating one himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Banxia is relaxed about cultivation and encourages Chen Shu to value quality of life over reaching the highest tier. Their teasing exchange shows their affectionate, familiar sibling dynamic.
• Chen Shu is playful and understated: he shares his cultivation secret in the group chat, jokes with Meng Chunqiu, and slips his rubbish into Meng’s pocket. Meng is initially self-conscious about eating in public but soon joins in.
• Brother Jiang’s reputation has grown along with his skill. His patient defensive style lets him conserve strength and exploit opponents’ exhaustion; his victory draws enthusiastic fans.
• The female fighter’s progress is evident: unlike two years earlier, her strength now matches her opponent’s, and she fights relentlessly to the end. Her fans’ concern and admiration persist despite her loss.

Significant themes

• Practicality over ambition: Chen Banxia frames the Sixth Tier as a sensible limit, balancing power, lifespan, and the cost of cultivation.
• Tradition transformed by technology: The chapter contrasts dangerous, improvised ancient bloodline fusion with modern, regulated potions that make enhancement safer, while noting that access varies by country.
• Endurance and strategy: Brother Jiang wins through restraint and timing, while the female fighter’s aggressive style demonstrates courage but leaves her vulnerable once exhausted.
• Everyday humor amid serious pursuits: Group-chat banter, snacks, and casual teasing ground the chapter’s cultivation and combat world in ordinary social life.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu finds Jiang Lai studying Martial Artists and Otherworldly Beast Bloodlines and guesses that Jiang intends to pursue the dangerous traditional method of merging with a beast bloodline. Jiang confirms little, but says he will first follow the Martial Artist’s path as far as he can.
• Chen Shu warns him that traditional merging has a high death rate and argues that Jiang could still achieve great success through safer means. Jiang remains committed to deciding later.
• As finals approach, Chen Shu studies Spirit Form fundamentals. He has integrated the Cloud-Sky Art into the Thousand Mechanisms Art and is working on another technique. He reflects on his ambitions: advance his cultivation, eventually reach the Ninth Tier, and investigate a possible route home.
• After class, Chen Shu finds Ning Qing and her younger sister Xiaoxiao waiting in the snow to walk with him. They go to the campus snack street for a late-night meal.
• At the stall, Chen Shu and Ning Qing engage in a playful, silent contest over legroom beneath the table. Xiaoxiao proudly shares that she has reached the Second Tier, only to learn Ning Qing did it in two months. The sisters leave Chen Shu and Ning Qing alone; their contest ends, and Ning Qing gives him a frosty look.

Character developments

• Jiang Lai is shown as disciplined, self-aware, and determined. His ambition to push the limits of the Martial Artist’s path may lead him to consider a dangerous bloodline-merging method.
• Chen Shu is teasing and observant, but genuinely concerned for Jiang. He also remains focused on his own cultivation and uncertain long-term plans.
• Ning Qing expresses affection indirectly by waiting in the snow to accompany Chen Shu, while maintaining her quiet, self-possessed manner. Her competitiveness and playful friction with him surface during dinner.
• Xiaoxiao is cheerful and proud of her rapid progress, though she is deflated when compared with her sister’s extraordinary speed.

Significant themes

• Ambition and risk: Jiang’s pursuit of his full potential contrasts with the dangers of traditional bloodline merging.
• Different paths to strength: Martial Artists and cultivators face distinct limits and forms of advancement.
• Affection through ordinary gestures: Waiting in the snow, sharing food, and playful teasing convey closeness more than direct declarations.
• Everyday warmth amid winter: Study, dorm life, and late-night snacks create a cozy counterpoint to the characters’ demanding ambitions.

Plot points and events

• On a snowy evening, Chen Shu slips into Ning Qing’s room while she bathes, then lies on her bed and cuddles her after she returns. He admires her legs, asks about her peach-scented lip mask, and she applies some to his lips.
• The next morning, Ning Qing enters while Chen Shu is dressing, claiming she wanted to check whether he had locked the door. He protests her lack of manners; she dismisses his complaint and selects clothes from the wardrobe.
• Ning Qing meditates through a white cat’s borrowed senses, watching the snowfall from the living-room window. Chen Shu rests his head on her leggings-clad thighs and chats about clothes and her cultivation.
• She explains that she has nearly completed this stage of the Other-Mind Way. At High Tier, she will repeat what she has learned from a changed perspective, then undertake the Emotion and Desire Way: experiencing each of the seven emotions and six desires both in an intensified state and in its absence.
• Ning Qing says this discipline helps Esoteric Sect cultivators understand ordinary people’s feelings and desires, which their detached cultivation can dull. Chen Shu teases her about the process and asks suggestive questions about bodily and mental desire. She warns that intensified anger could make her dangerous to him; he is delighted at the prospect, and she considers skipping that practice.

Character developments

• Chen Shu remains playful, affectionate, and physically drawn to Ning Qing. He seeks comfort in her presence, but his teasing also reveals how readily he tries to provoke her.
• Ning Qing is patient with Chen Shu’s closeness and explains her cultivation matter-of-factly. Her claim that she feels ordinary emotions more deeply than most cultivators suggests unusual emotional warmth beneath her composure.

Significant themes

• Cultivation and humanity: The Emotion and Desire Way is meant to reconnect transcendent cultivators with ordinary experience by making them understand both heightened feelings and their absence.
• Intimacy and teasing: Chen Shu’s casual affection contrasts with Ning Qing’s composed responses, creating a familiar, gently comic dynamic.
• Self-knowledge through contrast: Ning Qing’s practice treats opposite emotional states as a way to understand feelings more fully.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu openly flirts and seeks physical closeness; Ning Qing generally tolerates him while setting limits, such as moving his hand away and lifting his head from her legs.
• Their banter grows into a discussion of cultivation. Chen Shu mocks her formal phrasing and tries to provoke her, while Ning Qing calmly counters him—and warns that her anger practice may make his teasing genuinely risky.

Plot points and events

• In the girls’ dorm, Zhang Suannai cultivates in the noisy living room while the younger sister returns with Peach, covered in snow after being buried in it with Chen Shu. The girl refuses to tell Suannai how advanced Chen Shu’s cultivation is because Suannai admits she is considering challenging him.
• Suannai is anxious about the intercollegiate Martial Body Meet next semester. As the reigning champion and a fourth-year student, she feels she must compete—and win—against Chen Shu, her only serious rival.
• Chen Shu has unexpectedly become free after mastering a spell technique and finishing the prerequisite reading for Spirit Form. He jokes with his roommates about Jiang Lai’s many gifts from admirers, and about finding a wealthy woman to support him.
• He leaves to take his Moral Cultivation exam, then receives two dense Spirit Form training volumes. He begins studying them in the basement, recognizing that the material is difficult and that he should seek help from the Vice Sect Master rather than practice carelessly.
• The chapter ends as the formal final exams begin.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Suannai insists she is now hardworking, but her habits reveal that she still prefers company and background noise while cultivating. Beneath her bravado, she worries about losing to Chen Shu, though her competitive spirit makes her eager for the match.
• The younger sister is playful and mischievous, particularly with Peach, but becomes guarded when Suannai asks about Chen Shu. She is also repeatedly watching a documentary about the Sword Sect, suggesting a growing interest in it.
• Chen Shu shifts from intense work to uncomfortable idleness and recognizes that deadlines, rather than free time, motivate him. He remains playful and boastful in conversation, while taking the difficult Spirit Form training seriously.
• Jiang Lai is embarrassed by the attention and increasingly extravagant gifts from admirers. Meng Chunqiu joins Chen Shu in teasing him, while Chen Shu turns the conversation into a boastful joke about wealthy women.
• Suannai’s friendly conversation with the younger sister turns tense around Chen Shu’s cultivation and the possibility of a fight; Chen Shu’s dorm banter, by contrast, is lighthearted and teasing.

Significant themes

• Rivalry and ambition: Suannai’s determination to defend her title drives her to train, while Chen Shu’s strength gives the coming competition real stakes.
• Discipline and procrastination: Both Suannai and Chen Shu present themselves as ambitious, but their habits complicate that image; Chen Shu especially notices how deadlines spur him into action.
• Cultivation and knowledge: Spirit Form requires careful study and foundational understanding, emphasizing the risks and difficulty of mastering advanced techniques.
• Humor and social life: Jokes about admirers, wealth, and laziness balance the chapter’s underlying pressure about exams and competition.

Key plot points and events

• The Vice Sect Master reassures Chen Shu that his difficulty manifesting the Spirit Sea is normal and encourages patience. Chen Shu plans to visit the Spirit Sect after his final exam.
• Before his Spirit Sea test, Chen Shu tells his roommates he has reached Sixth Tier. At the test, the machine confirms it, stunning his classmates and teacher. He can sense—and even interfere with—the machine’s Spirit Power, but chooses to report his true level.
• Afterward, Chen Shu spends nearly twenty days at the Spirit Sect studying the Spirit Form and consulting the Vice Sect Master. He then returns to Jade Capital and travels home to Bai City with his sister Chen Banxia and others for the holiday.
• On the flight, Banxia learns Chen Shu is receiving special treatment from the Spirit Sect. She worries that his rapid advancement may lead him onto a path he cannot later leave, and pours herself wine to ease her anxiety.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu is increasingly comfortable with his abilities and with his roommates, but remains matter-of-fact rather than boastful. He works intensely while at the sect so he can relax later, and he avoids forcing a formal master-disciple relationship with the Vice Sect Master.
• Chen Banxia is revealed as deeply protective of her younger brother. Beneath her teasing and practical questions, she fears that his talent and the sect’s attention could deprive him of the freedom to choose his own future.
• The Vice Sect Master acts as a calm, direct mentor, offering guidance without pressure.
• Chen Shu encourages anxious roommate Jiang Lai to answer every exam question he can, and arranges a farewell meal with Meng Chunqiu. His test result also gives his classmates and teacher a new source of pride—and bragging rights.

Significant themes

• Talent, ambition, and freedom: Chen Shu’s rapid rise brings opportunity, but Banxia worries that success may turn into an irreversible obligation.
• Patience and practice: Mastering the Spirit Form depends on intuition and persistence, not simply memorizing instructions.
• Family affection: Banxia’s worries show how love can express itself as anxiety over another person’s choices.
• Work and leisure: Chen Shu deliberately studies hard during his sect visit so he can enjoy time with Qingqing and relax afterward.

Key plot points

• Back in Bai City, Chen Shu and Chen Banxia prepare New Year food, with Qingqing and Xiaoxiao recruited to help. On New Year’s Eve, the four go out for snacks.
• Chen Shu plans to drive Banxia to Jade Capital on the seventh and invites Qingqing to visit his grandmother on the second. Banxia teases him about taking Qingqing to meet family, while Xiaoxiao remains oblivious.
• Qingqing feeds Chen Shu a piece of octopus when his hands are full, a small, affectionate gesture that leaves Banxia astonished.
• At the Sword Sect, Zhang Suannai spends New Year’s Eve playing mahjong with the Old Sword Master and other disciples. Sixth Senior Sister announces that she and Old Seven will marry after the New Year, startling the table.
• In Jade Capital, Meng Haoran says he will go to troubled Puluo after the holiday, where the country plans another military intervention. A masked King Court swordswoman insists on accompanying him as his bodyguard, citing a prophecy of danger and her desire to grow stronger.
• Elsewhere, a girl watches the fireworks with a huge beast and sings it a song taught to her by a senior brother. The beast is moved by her singing.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu and Qingqing: Their comfortable closeness shows through Qingqing’s easy willingness to feed him and Chen Shu’s invitation to visit his grandmother.
• Chen Banxia: She jokes about her brother’s relationship but also reacts protectively when he insults her; she remains playful and quick to tease.
• Zhang Suannai: Her familiar, affectionate rapport with the Old Sword Master contrasts with the comic shock of the marriage announcement.
• Meng Haoran and the masked swordswoman: Their calm, frank exchange reveals mutual trust. She is ambitious and pressured by Zhang Suannai’s advancement, while he accepts danger as part of his royal duty.
• The girl and the beast: Her gentle attempt to share the holiday—and the beast’s softened response—suggests a growing emotional bond.

Significant themes

• New Year and renewal: Food, family, fireworks, and celebration connect characters across very different settings.
• Affection expressed through small gestures: Sharing food, making invitations, and singing reveal bonds more than declarations do.
• Duty, danger, and ambition: Meng Haoran’s mission and the swordswoman’s choice emphasize the costs of serving the realm and pursuing strength.
• Contrasts between peace and conflict: The festive fireworks illuminate both ordinary domestic happiness and the political instability awaiting the new year.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu brings Ning Qing and her younger sister, Xiaoxiao, to visit his grandparents for New Year. His grandmother warmly welcomes them, already knowing from Chen Shu that Qingqing is his future bride.
• The family walks through the countryside, revisiting the orchard and ravine where Chen Shu and his sister spent childhood holidays. The siblings share memories while Qingqing listens and Xiaoxiao takes in the scenery.
• Grandma and Grandpa serve an elaborate celebratory meal, prepared with considerable effort.
• During a quiet afternoon, Chen Shu reads the Ancient Cultivator group chat. Members discuss renewed turmoil in Puluo, where outside factions have become involved. The group leader says their aim is to keep the government under control and eliminate groups responsible for attacks on their country—not suppress public protest.
• The next day, the grandparents see the group off and give them New Year red envelopes. Grandma wishes Qingqing and Chen Shu a happy future together. Qingqing receives the thickest envelope. Before leaving, Peach sneaks a slap at the spotted dog that has been bothering her.

Character developments and interactions

• Grandma is affectionate and hospitable, delighted by Qingqing and eager to treat her as family. Her teasing confidence also shows in the group chat, where she boasts about flying down the mountain.
• Chen Shu enjoys embarrassing Qingqing and Xiaoxiao by presenting them as his future family, but his teasing earns him a punch from Qingqing. He shares warm, lively childhood memories with his sister.
• Qingqing remains composed through the attention and accepts Grandma’s welcome and envelope calmly. Her quiet closeness with Chen Shu suggests growing familiarity, though she still keeps him in check.
• Xiaoxiao is visibly awkward during Grandma’s affectionate greeting and hesitates before accepting her envelope, looking to Chen Shu for reassurance.
• Chen Banxia continues her playful rivalry with Chen Shu, using Grandma’s familiar “don’t hit your sister” rule to tease him.
• Peach is curious and energetic in the countryside but wary of the spotted dog. She ends the visit with a small act of revenge.

Significant themes

• Family and belonging: The visit folds Qingqing and Xiaoxiao into Chen Shu’s family traditions, especially through Grandma’s welcome and New Year wishes.
• Memory and continuity: The unchanged countryside prompts the siblings to revisit childhood, contrasting their changing lives with a landscape that seems untouched by time.
• Affection expressed through teasing: Chen Shu’s jokes, the siblings’ bickering, and Grandma’s familiar admonitions convey closeness.
• Personal warmth amid wider conflict: The peaceful holiday visit sits alongside news of escalating political unrest and cultivator conflict in Puluo.

Plot points and events

• After losing heavily at mahjong and regretting an unanswered boast in the Silly Goose Group, Zhang Suannai returns to Jade Capital exhausted and falls asleep.
• Her dreams turn her embarrassment into escalating nightmares: the group mocks her in front of her roommate, her roommate discovers her secret messages, and she loses the Martial Body Meet final to “Silly Cabbage.”
• She wakes in a cold sweat during a call with her master and claims she has found her “nemesis” and may have developed a Heart Demon. Her master points out that the Sword Sect does not believe in Heart Demons. When her roommate arrives, Zhang panics and denies having said anything unusual, prompting her master to question her composure.
• Elsewhere, Yi Nation attacks the Yolu Sect in Puluo after Lanya’s influence helped plunge the country into chaos. Modern aircraft, artillery, barriers, and armored ground forces overwhelm the sect’s defenses. The Yolu Sect eventually surrenders.
• As Meng Haoran reflects on how helpless traditional sects are against modern warfare, an alarm sounds. A Ninth Tier figure speeds toward the battlefield, survives a powerful strike from Hunter Aircraft, and lands among Yi Nation’s forces.
• In a separate scene, Meng Chunqiu admires the first peach blossoms of the season and remarks, “Pink blooms adorn the boughs; no green, and no sorrows.”

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Suannai is insecure about her failed attempt to show off and deeply anxious about her roommate discovering her embarrassing behavior. Her imagined humiliation reveals how much she cares about her roommate’s opinion. She remains irreverent, even dismissing her master’s criticism and joking about making ridiculous rules if she becomes Sword Master.
• Zhang and her master have a teasing, familiar exchange: he recognizes her unsettled state, questions her talk of nemeses and Heart Demons, and gently rebukes her lack of Sword Sect decorum.
• Meng Haoran shifts from confidence in Yi Nation’s military advantage to sober reflection on the vulnerability of cultivation sects—then faces the sudden arrival of a powerful new threat.
• Meng Chunqiu appears serene and contemplative, taking pleasure in the peach blossoms and their symbolic association with a fresh season.

Significant themes

• Embarrassment and social anxiety: Zhang’s dreams magnify her fear of being exposed and judged, especially by someone she admires.
• Tradition versus modernity: Yi Nation’s technology and organized firepower decisively defeat a powerful traditional sect, suggesting that cultivation alone no longer guarantees military strength.
• Power and uncertainty: The arrival of the Ninth Tier figure abruptly unsettles Yi Nation’s apparent victory and shows that modern superiority has limits.
• Renewal and composure: The peach blossoms and Meng Chunqiu’s tranquil observation provide a quiet counterpoint to Zhang’s comic turmoil and the battlefield’s violence.

Key events

• Cao Ci questions Meng Haoran, who explains that he is the current emperor’s great-grandson and a descendant of Meng Jingming. Cao Ci intends to take the fragment of an origin Haoran carries, but promises to keep him alive and return him because of his friendship with Meng Jingming.
• Haoran recalls his ancestor’s stories about Cao Ci and the old Jade Capital. Cao Ci is briefly transported by memories of its crowded, poor, lively streets.
• Haoran reflects on the complexity of human nature, considering how good people can gradually become corrupt. He recognizes that Cao Ci is no saint, but understands that Cao Ci is determined to pursue godhood.
• At Jade Summit Mountain, Chen Shu wakes with Peach, the white cat, and insists she stay with him until school resumes. He teases her and performs an ultrasonic teeth-cleaning spell despite her objections.
• Over breakfast, Chen Shu watches short videos: one reports the destruction of the Yolu Sect; another shows Zhang Suannai flying away from an expressway traffic jam, making her famous online. A later clip reports a mysterious sword-light flying from Jianbei City toward the Jade Capital.
• Chen Shu’s mood changes when he sees a report that, after the Yolu Sect battle, an unidentified Ninth-Tier cultivator attacked and abducted an officer who was resting. The footage and photograph identify the missing officer as Meng Haoran, though the report omits his royal-family status.

Character developments and interactions

• Cao Ci is candid about his ambition and his debt to Meng Jingming, balancing a ruthless goal with a personal promise to spare Haoran if possible.
• Meng Haoran remains composed in captivity. His reflections reveal a thoughtful, observant outlook and an awareness that people cannot be reduced to simple moral labels.
• Chen Shu and Peach continue their playful, lopsided dynamic: Chen Shu treats her like a pet and jokes about her eventual transformation, while Peach resists being controlled but insists on sharing human food.
• Zhang Suannai becomes an overnight online sensation after her public display of sword flight.
• The news of Haoran’s disappearance links the earlier captivity scene to Chen Shu’s everyday life and signals the seriousness of the unfolding conflict.

Significant themes

• The complexity and changeability of human nature: Haoran sees how people can begin with admirable qualities and be corrupted gradually.
• Memory and nostalgia: Cao Ci misses the imperfect, crowded Jade Capital he remembers, whose old character may be lost if he returns.
• Ambition and moral responsibility: Cao Ci pursues divine power despite lacking the virtue expected of those who obtain an origin.
• Ordinary life amid extraordinary events: Chen Shu’s breakfast and social-media browsing sit alongside news of sect warfare, high-level cultivators, and an abduction.

Key plot points

• Chen Shu visits the Vice Sect Master and Sect Master on New Year’s Day. While watching them play Go, he learns that Cao Ci has kidnapped a direct heir of the Royal Family. The Sword King has been summoned to the capital, but the Royal Family’s weakened position and the need to follow procedure complicate a response.
• Chen Shu carefully expresses concern for his friend’s safety without pressing for sensitive details. The Sect Master reassures him that Cao Ci is unlikely to kill the heir.
• Chen Shu reports that he briefly connected his Spirit Sea to the outside world, though the connection was unstable. The Vice Sect Master encourages him not to rush and teaches him Go.
• The Vice Sect Master recognizes Peach as a spirit cat and describes how his own cat eventually took human form and was sent to the Eastern Continent to live independently.
• Later, Chen Shu reads the Ancient Cultivator Group’s worried discussion about the kidnapping. The Sword Master has reassured Zhang Suannai, easing the group’s fears.
• After two days of rain, the rapeseed flowers bloom across the landscape. Chen Shu takes Qingqing, Xiaoxiao, and Chen Banxia on a winter-break outing. Peach eagerly runs to Qingqing, who teasingly asks Chen Shu whether he has been unkind to her.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu remains cautious and considerate around powerful figures, but he is plainly worried about his friend. He also grows more comfortable with the Vice Sect Master, discussing his Spirit Sea and learning Go. Caring for Peach gives him a sense of calm and companionship.
• The Sect Master and Vice Sect Master are shown as longtime companions whose private relationship feels more like that of equals than master and disciple. The Vice Sect Master is direct and gently supportive; the Sect Master offers reassurance.
• Peach is affectionate toward Chen Shu when Qingqing is away, though she is especially excited to reunite with Qingqing. Her playful sounds and attachment provide comic warmth.
• Qingqing appears unusually gentle and cheerful when she arrives, a striking change from her usual coolness. Her teasing remark leaves Chen Shu—and the others—stunned.
• The Ancient Cultivator Group’s concern for its missing leader highlights the limits of its members’ power and their reliance on senior figures.

Significant themes

• Power, politics, and restraint: The Royal Family’s crisis shows how tradition, public perception, and formal procedures constrain even the powerful.
• Letting loved ones go: The Vice Sect Master’s story about his spirit cat frames independence as a natural part of growing up.
• Companionship and comfort: Peach’s trust helps Chen Shu set aside his worries, while the group’s concern reflects loyalty among friends.
• A shift toward warmth: Spring’s blooming flowers parallel Qingqing’s softened manner and the chapter’s gentle, hopeful mood.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Shu welcomes Ning Qing, Chen Banxia, and Xiaoxiao to Jade Summit Mountain, showing them his courtyard and offering to take them sightseeing.
• They visit the mountain’s famous rapeseed-flower fields, which are in full bloom. Chen Banxia enthusiastically photographs and films the scenery.
• While walking together, Chen Shu offers Ning Qing a flower to taste. She accepts it with unusual tenderness, then takes another flower from his hand and says she is “too happy for words.”
• Chen Banxia’s videos and photos capture the pair’s growing closeness, including Ning Qing linking arms with Chen Shu and the two walking hand in hand.
• That night, Zhang Suannai sees the images and videos. Shocked by Ning Qing’s smiles and affection, she jokingly—but increasingly seriously—imagines that Ning Qing must be gravely ill or foresee her death. A separate jump-scare video finally frightens her.

Character developments

• Ning Qing is conspicuously happier and warmer than usual. She smiles, indulges in small romantic gestures, and openly expresses her joy.
• Chen Shu feels relaxed in his friends’ company and is deeply moved by Ning Qing’s response to the flower, becoming dazed by their growing intimacy.
• Chen Banxia acts as an eager photographer and observer, documenting the outing and noticing Ning Qing’s unusual mood.
• Xiaoxiao is bewildered by her sister’s behavior and by the apparent romance, while Peach also seems captivated.
• Zhang Suannai reacts with disbelief to the evidence of Ning Qing’s affection, interpreting it through increasingly absurd worst-case theories.

Significant themes

• Romance and emotional change: Ning Qing’s reserved nature gives way to quiet, unmistakable affection.
• Beauty and shared experience: The spring landscape heightens the intimacy of the characters’ ordinary moments.
• Humor from misinterpretation: Zhang Suannai’s dramatic theories turn a tender relationship into a comic “horror” mystery.
• Observation and privacy: Chen Banxia’s recordings make private gestures visible to others, prompting speculation.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu and Ning Qing share a gentle, increasingly intimate exchange over the rapeseed flowers, culminating in hand-holding.
• Chen Banxia and Xiaoxiao watch their closeness with astonishment; Xiaoxiao even proposes that Ning Qing share Chen Shu’s room.
• Chen Banxia later shares the footage with Zhang Suannai, whose incredulous messages and reactions frame the chapter’s comic ending.