Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Li Xiuying, an elderly woman, begs a gang of men not to demolish her home. She believes her missing husband, Hongxing, will need it to find the family.
• Her son, Zhang Jun, arrives with his wife and five-year-old son. He tells Xiuying that Hongxing has been gone for thirty years and tries to pull her away.
• When the child is struck and his mother attacked for resisting, Xiuying runs back into the house. Jun follows, trapped with her as the excavator continues tearing it down.
• A figure surrounded by lightning suddenly appears: Zhang Hongxing, returning after fifteen thousand years of cultivation. He recognizes the house and the photograph of himself and Xiuying, but is shocked by Xiuying’s aged appearance.
• Jun reveals that the year is 2021. Hongxing realizes thirty years have passed since he left in 1991 and recognizes Xiuying and their son. Before he can react, the house collapses.

Character developments

• Xiuying is frail but unwavering in her belief that Hongxing will return. His arrival restores her joy after decades of waiting.
• Jun is angry and helpless: he resents his absent father, but also feels guilty that he cannot protect or provide better for his family. His father’s sudden return leaves him stunned.
• Hongxing returns powerful and unchanged by time, only to confront the emotional shock of finding his wife aged and his son grown.
• Jun’s wife and child show fierce loyalty to their family, despite being overwhelmed by the thugs.

Themes

• The passage of time and separation: Hongxing’s cultivation has distorted his sense of time, while his family has lived through thirty years without him.
• Family, memory, and grief: Xiuying’s attachment to the house and her stories keep Hongxing present for the family, even as Jun resents his absence.
• Powerlessness and brutality: The family’s vulnerability contrasts with the gang’s cruelty and apparent impunity.
• A dramatic return: Hongxing’s arrival offers hope, but the chapter ends on a cliffhanger as the family’s home collapses.

Character interactions

• Xiuying clings to the house as the last link to Hongxing, while Jun tries to protect her and force her to accept his father’s presumed death.
• Jun and his wife defend their family against the thugs; their young son also tries to intervene and is violently struck.
• When Hongxing appears, Xiuying recognizes and welcomes him, while Jun questions who he is. Hongxing, initially unable to reconcile Xiuying’s appearance with his memories, learns the truth from Jun just before the collapse.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing rescues his family as their house is demolished by Boss Pan’s crew, then knocks down Boss Pan and the other thugs with ease.
• He reunites with his son, Zhang Jun, and meets his five-year-old grandson, Zhang Le, and daughter-in-law, Yan Mei. After explaining that a spacetime wormhole took him away thirty years earlier, he learns the gang was trying to force the family to sell their home.
• Zhang Jun stops him from killing the men, warning that it would bring trouble with the law. Instead, Zhang Hongxing singles out those who assaulted his family and gives them a beating, secretly placing a delayed, potentially fatal force inside several of them. He lets the rest go, and the terrified gang retreats without daring to threaten the family again.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing is protective and fiercely violent toward anyone who harms his family, but he tries to restrain himself when Zhang Jun reminds him of the consequences. He is also awkward and emotionally overwhelmed by meeting his grown son and young grandson.
• Zhang Jun is cautious and unsettled by his father’s sudden return, yet begins accepting him when Zhang Hongxing promises to take responsibility for the family. He acts as the voice of restraint.
• Zhang Le eagerly embraces his grandfather and peppers him with questions, quickly easing some of the tension.
• Yan Mei remains wary and formally introduces herself, reflecting how strange and abrupt the reunion feels.
• The thugs’ confidence collapses under Zhang Hongxing’s power and menacing presence; they turn on one another to avoid being punished.

Significant themes

• Family loyalty and protection: Zhang Hongxing’s response to the demolition is driven by his determination to defend his family.
• Reunion after lost time: His return forces father, son, and grandson to confront the years and generations he missed.
• Power and restraint: Zhang Hongxing can overpower the gang, but Zhang Jun’s intervention highlights the need to consider consequences.
• Intimidation as justice: The gang’s coercion is answered with overwhelming force, leaving them too frightened to retaliate.

Key plot points and events

• After their home collapses, Zhang Hongxing and his family move into Sincerity Hotel’s only two-bedroom suite. His amazement at modern life—and his thirty-year-old clothes—strengthens the family’s belief that he has traveled through time.
• Zhang Jun worries about how they will explain Hongxing’s youthful appearance, Li Xiuying’s age, and their unusual family situation. He also silently frets over the cost of finding a suitable home.
• Yan Mei proposes that Hongxing pose as a relative from the west. He agrees, easing her and Zhang Jun’s immediate concern.
• Li Xiuying struggles to face the husband she has long missed, distressed by the contrast between his youth and her aged appearance.
• Overnight, Hongxing absorbs Earth’s scarce spiritual energy, advances from late Qi Refining to the second level of Foundation Establishment, and decides to use electricity to accelerate his cultivation.
• Recognizing the family’s financial troubles, he resolves to earn money.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing is curious about the modern world and adapts pragmatically to the family’s cover story. Though confident in his cultivation abilities, he also takes responsibility for supporting the family.
• Zhang Jun is caught between believing his father is back and worrying about practical problems—especially housing, money, and explaining the situation. His respectful manner makes it difficult for him to confront Hongxing directly.
• Li Xiuying is emotionally conflicted: she had longed for Hongxing’s return, but his youthful appearance makes her feel ashamed and unable to meet his eyes.
• Yan Mei helps manage the awkward situation by suggesting a plausible explanation for Hongxing’s presence.
• Zhang Le’s excitement over his Ultraman toy briefly lightens the tense family atmosphere, while also introducing Hongxing to modern popular culture.

Significant themes

• Displacement and adaptation: Hongxing must learn to live in a world transformed during his absence.
• Family duty and practical hardship: The family’s reunion is complicated by money, housing, and the need to conceal an extraordinary truth.
• Aging, appearance, and intimacy: Hongxing and Xiuying’s reunion is painful because they now look mismatched, despite their shared history.
• Power meeting modernity: Hongxing applies cultivation knowledge to Earth’s technology, seeing electricity as a new resource for growth.

Plot points and events

• After failing to make money outside the county hospital, Zhang Hongxing buys a pot of clivia and a pot of four-season osmanthus for 100 yuan.
• In a secluded spot, he inscribes both plants with a spiritual cultivation array. Their appearance barely changes, but they become unusually vital and release a restorative fragrance.
• Zhang returns to the flower market, labels the clivia at 800,000 yuan and the osmanthus at 600,000, and waits quietly as passersby mock his prices.
• Mr. Zhuang, a respected flower enthusiast and longtime tai chi practitioner, notices the plants. Their fragrance produces a powerful sensation within him, which Zhang confirms is connected to the flowers.
• Zhuang agrees to buy both plants. Unable to pay immediately in cash, he arranges to deliver the money to Zhang’s hotel. Zhang leaves, while Zhuang takes the plants and dismisses the shopkeeper’s warnings as shortsighted.

Character developments

• Zhang Hongxing demonstrates patience and confidence in his transformed plants’ value. He remains unconcerned by ridicule and focuses on making a straightforward sale.
• Zhuang Huaide experiences what he believes is the long-sought awakening of internal energy after decades of tai chi practice. His skepticism gives way to excitement and gratitude.
• The shopkeeper is confident the plants are ordinary because he sold them cheaply, and his narrow judgment persists even after Zhuang recognizes their effects.

Significant themes

• Hidden value and appearances: The plants look ordinary, but their true worth is concealed from nearly everyone.
• Knowledge versus shortsightedness: Zhang and Zhuang understand the flowers’ significance, while the crowd and shopkeeper judge only by appearances and price.
• Effort and opportunity: Zhang says the flowers contributed to Zhuang’s breakthrough, but credits Zhuang’s decades of practice as well.

Character interactions

• The crowd mocks Zhang’s prices, but he refuses to engage.
• Zhuang questions Zhang about the flowers’ effects; Zhang confirms their role without taking credit away from Zhuang’s own effort.
• The shopkeeper tries to warn Zhuang against being deceived, but Zhuang rejects the warning and calls him “utterly shortsighted.”

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing disappears for the morning, leaving his family worried. Zhang Jun searches for him while Yan Mei stays with the distressed Li Xiuying.
• Zhang Hongxing returns, explaining that he went to the flower and bird market to earn money and was delayed. The family reunites over lunch.
• He reassures Li Xiuying that he may be able to restore her youth within six months. Zhang Jun backs him up, helping revive her hope.
• Zhang Jun says the family plans to accept a demolition-compensation agreement and buy a larger home. Zhang Hongxing tells him money is already on its way.
• Zhuang Hao, representing Jiayun Real Estate, arrives with two million yuan for Zhang Hongxing’s flowers and a further twenty million as an offering to become his disciple.
• Zhuang Hao tests Zhang Hongxing with a kick. Zhang Hongxing catches him and throws him outside. Impressed rather than angered, Zhuang Hao apologizes and begs to train under him, but Zhang Hongxing refuses and sends him away.

Character developments

• Zhang Jun moves from fear and frustration to greater acceptance of Zhang Hongxing, increasingly calling him “Dad” and trusting his abilities.
• Li Xiuying remains shaken by Zhang Hongxing’s changed identity and her own old age, but his promise gives her renewed hope.
• Zhang Hongxing shows concern for his family while remaining matter-of-fact about his extraordinary powers and wealth. He is firm about refusing Zhuang Hao’s discipleship.
• Zhuang Hao shifts from eager skepticism and a provocative test to deep respect and awe after witnessing Zhang Hongxing’s strength.

Significant themes

• Family reconciliation: A shared meal and Zhang Jun’s willingness to call Zhang Hongxing “Dad” help restore a sense of family despite the upheaval.
• Hope amid the impossible: Li Xiuying’s hope of regaining her youth reflects the family’s growing willingness to believe extraordinary things can happen.
• Power and humility: Zhang Hongxing’s skill is overwhelming, but he does not seek students, status, or extravagant gifts.
• The extraordinary meeting ordinary life: Questions about housing, money, and family coexist with otherworldly travel and martial-arts mastery.

Character interactions

• Yan Mei quietly supports the family, caring for Li Xiuying and preparing food while Zhang Jun searches.
• Zhang Jun and Zhang Hongxing begin rebuilding their father-son relationship through conversation and the meal.
• Zhang Hongxing directly comforts Li Xiuying, and Zhang Jun reinforces his reassurance.
• Zhuang Hao’s attempt to test Zhang Hongxing becomes a demonstration of the latter’s power; his apology and offer of money are met with refusal.

Plot points and events

• Zhuang Hao tells his grandfather, Zhuang Huaide, about Zhang Hongxing’s overwhelming presence. Huaide advises avoiding him, believing he may be powerful enough to overcome ordinary weapons.
• Zhang Jun’s family questions why Hongxing received two million yuan. Hongxing says it came from selling flowers and tells them to use the money, promising to repay the additional twenty million himself.
• Hongxing learns that daughter Zhang Ying lives in the capital and son Zhang Bing is serving on a dangerous border mission. He asks Jun to contact them and invite them home.
• Having reached Foundation Establishment, Hongxing performs Meridian Cleansing and Marrow Washing on his wife, Li Xiuying. She looks noticeably younger and healthier, and is overcome with joy.
• Seeing the results, Yan Mei eagerly seeks Hongxing’s favor. He promises to make her a beauty treatment as well.
• The family buys a spacious private residence for 1.8 million yuan, intending to accommodate the whole family. Hongxing senses a problem before entering: a large mulberry tree in the back courtyard is surrounded by powerful yin energy.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhuang Huaide becomes wary of Hongxing and counsels caution; Zhuang Hao remains impressed but questions whether Hongxing could truly withstand modern weapons.
• Zhang Jun is cautious about accepting unexplained money, while Hongxing is impatient with his questions but wants to reunite the family.
• Li Xiuying regains vitality and renewed hope through Hongxing’s cultivation ability.
• Yan Mei shifts from discomfort around Hongxing to enthusiastic deference after witnessing Xiuying’s transformation.
• The family’s excitement over their new home contrasts with Hongxing’s awareness of the supernatural danger on the property.

Significant themes

• Ancient cultivation versus modern power: Huaide wonders whether Hongxing’s abilities could challenge conventional weapons.
• Family reunion and care: Hongxing’s priorities include bringing his children home and restoring Xiuying’s health.
• Power, trust, and influence: Hongxing’s money and abilities gradually win his family’s confidence.
• Hidden danger beneath good fortune: The attractive, affordable house may carry a supernatural threat tied to the yin-charged mulberry tree.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing discovers ominous yin energy around the mulberry tree in his family’s new backyard. He subdues the tree, inscribes it with a talisman that turns its yin energy into spiritual energy, and sets up formations to keep that energy within the yard. He expects the home to become a blessed place that may help its residents live longer.
• He plants a peony in a pot, intending to cultivate it as an ingredient for a Longevity Pill for Zhuang Huaide, in return for twenty million.
• Zhang Hongxing offers to take over taking his grandson Lele to and from kindergarten, eager to spend time with him after years of solitude.
• At the school, he meets Lele’s teacher, who is surprised by his youthful appearance. Lele proudly tells her that his grandfather knows kung fu, while Zhang Hongxing’s casual manner leaves her unimpressed.
• On the walk home, Lele reveals that he thinks the family has little money and wishes he could take his parents and grandparents to an amusement park when he grows up. Moved by his generosity, Yan Mei cries. Zhang Hongxing promises to take Lele himself, prompting the boy to cheer, “Long live Grandpa!”

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing channels the affection he once felt for his children into Lele. His excitement at becoming involved in the boy’s daily life shows his deep longing for family connection after 15,000 years of isolation.
• Lele is loving and considerate: despite wishing for the things other children have, he plans to use his future earnings to treat his family rather than himself.
• Yan Mei accepts Zhang Hongxing’s offer to handle school runs, then is moved by Lele’s selflessness and feels guilty that her son has gone without outings.
• Teacher Yang is skeptical of Zhang Hongxing, both because he looks too young to be a grandfather and because she disapproves of his handling of Lele.

Significant themes

• Family love and reunion: Zhang Hongxing’s renewed closeness with his grandson helps fill the loneliness of his long separation from family.
• Generosity and care: Lele’s wish to provide for his family, and Zhang Hongxing’s promise to give him a happy outing, highlight mutual affection across generations.
• Power used for protection and well-being: Zhang Hongxing’s supernatural abilities are put to practical use, improving the family’s home and supporting future plans to make a life-extending pill.

Key plot points

• Over dinner, Zhang Hongxing asks about his children: Yingzi is returning the next day, while Xiaobing remains away on a special military mission amid rising tensions near Buddha Country.
• The next morning, Zhang Hongxing takes his grandson Zhang Le (Keke) to kindergarten. On the way, Keke greets his friend Tiantian, but her mother discourages their friendship and tells her to spend time with wealthier-looking classmates instead.
• Zhang Hongxing hears the exchange but refuses to interfere with whom his grandson plays with. At the kindergarten, he gives Teacher Yang his phone number and says she can contact him about Zhang Le.
• After leaving, he goes to the old Jade Treasure Hall clinic, hoping to see Physician Xu and buy medicine. The clinic is run-down and opens only in the afternoon; its elderly attendant explains that few people seek traditional medicine anymore and that Physician Xu’s son might have sold the place. Zhang Hongxing says he has come to buy medicine.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing enjoys ordinary family life, especially playing with Keke, in contrast to the danger and violence he remembers from the Immortal Realm. He is patient with his grandson and dismissive of Tiantian’s mother’s class prejudice. He also reconnects with Jade Treasure Hall, a place tied to his past.
• Keke and Tiantian show genuine affection and enthusiasm for each other, but Tiantian is pressured by her mother to end the friendship.
• Tiantian’s mother judges Keke’s family by appearances and tries to steer her daughter toward children she considers more suitable.
• Teacher Yang is curious about Zhang Hongxing’s youthful appearance for his age and accepts his contact details.

Significant themes

• Family and ordinary happiness: Everyday moments with Keke bring Zhang Hongxing joy.
• Class prejudice and parental influence: Tiantian’s mother prioritizes status over her daughter’s sincere friendship.
• Tradition versus modernity: Jade Treasure Hall’s decline reflects the dwindling popularity of traditional Chinese medicine and the shift toward large hospitals.
• Aging and appearance: Zhang Hongxing’s youthful looks surprise those around him, though he attributes them to a good mindset.

Key plot points

• Zhang Hongxing visits eighty-eight-year-old Physician Xu to buy rare medicinal herbs. Xu recognizes him as the same young man he met thirty years earlier, though Zhang has not visibly aged.
• Zhang offers to teach Xu qi cultivation, hoping to revive traditional Chinese medicine, whose decline he attributes partly to lost techniques and scarce medicinal ingredients.
• Xu asks Zhang to teach his Western-medicine-trained grandson instead. Zhang refuses to bypass Xu, promising to teach Xu directly and letting him pass the method on himself.
• In Xu’s dispensary, Zhang uses an old ginseng root and a decoction stove to refine 108 Beauty-Preserving Pills. Xu watches the stove move through the air and sees the pills form by themselves.
• Xu takes a pill, and Zhang guides him through the Qi Refining Method. Afterward, Xu develops circulating internal qi, feels decades younger, and formally becomes Zhang’s disciple.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shows both extraordinary power and a commitment to preserving traditional knowledge. He treats Xu as a worthy student rather than transferring the teaching to the younger generation.
• Physician Xu shifts from astonishment and excitement to wholehearted trust and gratitude. His newly acquired qi renews his hope that his acupuncture practice—and traditional medicine more broadly—can thrive.
• Xu’s elderly wife helps steady him and guards the dispensary while Zhang works. Xu bows to Zhang before training and kneels to accept him as Master afterward.

Significant themes

• Preserving cultural knowledge: The chapter frames traditional Chinese medicine as a valuable inheritance that could be revived rather than discarded.
• Teaching across generations: Zhang insists that Xu learn for himself, empowering him to pass the method on within his family.
• The extraordinary alongside the practical: Ancient herbs, acupuncture, cultivation, and pill-refining meet ordinary clinic equipment and modern medical practice.
• Renewal and aging: The pill and qi cultivation restore much of Xu’s vitality, offering both physical rejuvenation and renewed purpose.

Key plot points and events

• Professor Yang Weiguo, a 68-year-old scientist leading a maglev project, collapses after three sleepless days spent trying to solve the project’s remaining noise and electromagnetic-radiation problems. His assistant, Lin Mo, recognizes signs of a stroke and rushes him to hospital.
• Neurology chief Liu Weimin says surgery is too risky and offers little hope of recovery. Lin, distraught, lashes out at Liu.
• In Liu’s office, Liu and department chief Guo Dachong argue over whether to seek help from Xu Qinian, an elderly traditional Chinese medicine practitioner. Their dispute turns physical. The hospital director disciplines both but favors Liu; Guo resigns.
• Guo visits Professor Yang’s ward and recommends Xu. Lin considers taking Yang out of hospital, but Liu warns him he would be responsible if Yang worsens. Lin decides to keep Yang there while sending someone to Shimen County to fetch Xu.
• In a separate scene, Zhang Hongxing returns home carrying his grandson. He gives Li Xiuying “Beauty-Preserving Pills” that he says he made himself. After taking one, she notices changes to her skin and hair and resolves to improve her health and appearance.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Mo moves from guilt and anger to cautious hope. He blames himself for not making Yang rest, but remains uncertain whether to trust Guo’s recommendation.
• Liu Weimin is confident in his medical authority and dismissive of traditional Chinese medicine. He clashes with Lin and, more intensely, with Guo.
• Guo Dachong is willing to challenge Liu and risk his position in order to give Yang another chance; after the director sides with Liu, he resigns.
• Li Xiuying accepts Zhang Hongxing’s gift with gratitude but also feels increasingly inferior as his abilities make him seem more extraordinary. The pill gives her renewed confidence and motivates her to work on her appearance.
• Zhang Hongxing is portrayed as powerful and generous, though his unusual abilities continue to unsettle Li’s sense of equality in their relationship.

Significant themes

• Medical authority versus alternative treatment: The argument over Xu’s possible treatment pits established hospital expertise against traditional medicine and anecdotal evidence.
• Exhaustion and responsibility: Yang’s collapse underscores the cost of overwork, while Lin’s guilt reflects the burden placed on caregivers.
• Status and self-worth in relationships: Li’s admiration for Zhang coexists with insecurity as their perceived differences grow.
• Hope under uncertainty: Despite the doctors’ pessimism, Guo and Lin seek another possibility for Yang.

Plot and key events

• Zhang Jun brings his sister Zhang Ying and her daughter, Wenwen, to visit their father, Zhang Hongxing.
• Zhang Ying is surprised by her father’s youthful appearance. She is even more astonished when she sees that her mother, Li Xiuying, has also grown younger.
• Li explains that Zhang Hongxing made Beauty-Preserving Pills, which can maintain youth for five years. Zhang Ying takes one and saves two; Zhang Jun takes one as well.
• Zhang Jun jokes that the pill has made his beard disappear, prompting laughter from the family.
• Wenwen asks Zhang Hongxing to teach her magic so she can protect her mother. He offers to teach her “immortal arts” instead, and she eagerly agrees. He hopes his family will eventually cultivate alongside him and share a much longer life.
• Meanwhile, Zhang Jun’s wife, Yan Mei, goes to work at a supermarket after taking a Beauty-Preserving Pill. Her changed appearance draws attention, and she privately tells a trusted coworker about the pills, even giving her one.
• The coworker spreads the news, and supermarket employees confront Yan Mei, demanding that she reveal or sell more pills. Yan Mei insists she has only received three from a passing Taoist priest, but her explanation is met with disbelief. She accuses her friend, Qian Zhenzhen, of betraying her; Qian claims she is trying to help.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing welcomes his daughter and granddaughter warmly, gives his family access to the pills, and begins opening the door to sharing cultivation with them.
• Zhang Ying shifts from cautious distance toward renewed connection with her father, though her brief reaction to questions about her husband hints at unspoken difficulty.
• Wenwen grows more confident around her grandfather and reveals her protective devotion to her mother.
• Zhang Jun joins in the family’s teasing and affection, even as he mourns the loss of his beard.
• Yan Mei moves from enjoying the attention her changed appearance brings to feeling exposed and betrayed when the pills’ value becomes public.
• Qian Zhenzhen, once Yan Mei’s trusted friend, helps spread the secret and then defends herself as acting for Yan Mei’s benefit.

Significant themes

• Family reconciliation and closeness: Zhang Hongxing’s return brings relatives together and creates opportunities to rebuild bonds.
• Youth, longevity, and cultivation: The pills and Wenwen’s proposed training introduce the possibility that the family may share a much longer life.
• Trust and betrayal: Yan Mei’s confidence in a friend leads to gossip and pressure.
• A valuable secret as a burden: The chapter’s title reflects how possessing something coveted can make an innocent person a target.

Plot points and events

• After Yan Mei accidentally reveals the Beauty-Preserving Pill, a crowd of coworkers follows her, hoping to learn more. Afraid to lead them to her home or involve the police, she calls her husband, Zhang Jun.
• Zhang Jun goes to bring her home. Zhang Hongxing, prepared for this kind of attention, uses the mulberry tree as the center of an Illusion Array that makes the family’s property appear to be a dense forest to unauthorized visitors.
• While setting up the array, Zhang Hongxing involves the children and explains its purpose. Zhang Jun and Yan Mei return home safely, and the family shares dinner.
• Fifteen coworkers enter the illusion, convinced they can find their way through. They wander for hours, becoming exhausted, hungry, and thirsty.
• A military captain and a soldier arrive to investigate Zhang Hongxing. The captain recognizes the illusion and steps back out of its range, but the soldier becomes trapped. As the exhausted coworkers emerge nearby, the captain throws his belt toward the soldier to help him.

Character developments

• Yan Mei is frightened and overwhelmed, but trusts Zhang Jun when he reassures her.
• Zhang Jun relies on his father’s judgment and grows more confident in Zhang Hongxing’s unusual abilities.
• Zhang Hongxing is calm and prepared for scrutiny. He protects his family without confronting the crowd directly, while also sharing his knowledge with the children.
• The children, Zhang Le and Wenwen, grow comfortable with Zhang Hongxing and eagerly help him.

Character interactions

• Yan Mei turns to Zhang Jun for help; he comforts her and brings her home.
• Zhang Hongxing tells his son to let the pursuers follow, confident the array will protect the household.
• Zhang Hongxing teaches Zhang Le and Wenwen about arrays while they assist him.
• The trapped coworkers argue about what they are seeing and eventually enter the forest together.
• The captain shows caution and insight, while his soldier is caught in the illusion.

Significant themes

• Family protection and trust: The family relies on one another, especially on Zhang Hongxing’s ability to keep them safe.
• Knowledge versus misunderstanding: The coworkers interpret the illusion through fear and superstition, while Zhang Hongxing and the captain understand more of what is happening.
• Power and secrecy: The Beauty-Preserving Pill draws unwanted attention, and Zhang Hongxing’s array demonstrates the extraordinary abilities he is trying to keep contained.

Plot and events

• Lin Kui of the Xia Kingdom’s Wolf Fang Special Forces arrives at Zhang Hongxing’s home, where one of his men becomes trapped in the courtyard’s formation. After realizing it is a formation, Lin Kui introduces himself to Zhang Hongxing.
• Lin Kui explains that Xu Qinian, Zhang Hongxing’s nominal disciple, was called to Central City Hospital to treat Professor Yang Weiguo after a stroke. Hospital doctors, led by Liu Weimin, blocked Xu’s treatment and accused him of endangering Yang. Xu eventually treated him, and Yang’s symptoms initially improved, though his body remained weak. When challenged, Xu invoked Zhang Hongxing’s abilities.
• Lin Kui asks Zhang Hongxing to help Yang. Though initially irritated that Xu’s name has caused trouble, Zhang agrees after Lin Kui and Zhang Jun emphasize Yang’s service to the country. Lin Kui leaves, and Zhang says he will go to the hospital the next day.
• Zhang Hongxing releases the fifteen people who had been circling the formation, warning them in a way that leaves them frightened. Yan Mei worries about the consequences, but Zhang assures her they will be safe. She decides not to return to the workplace where the conflict began.
• Zhang gathers his family and teaches them a basic cultivation method. None can make progress after a night of instruction. He explains that cultivation requires perseverance and talent, then compares it to technological development: one draws on personal potential, the other on external power.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Kui shows respect for Zhang Hongxing and deep commitment to Professor Yang, even kneeling to ask for help.
• Zhang Hongxing moves from annoyance at Xu Qinian’s indiscretion to agreeing to help Yang, and takes a protective approach toward Yan Mei and the frightened visitors.
• Zhang Jun supports helping Yang because of his contributions to national technological progress.
• Yan Mei chooses to leave her job rather than return after the mistreatment she experienced.
• The chapter also presents Zhang as a father and teacher, guiding his family but making clear that cultivation cannot be forced.

Significant themes

• Cultivation depends on innate talent and sustained effort, not simply instruction.
• Science and cultivation are different ways of developing power, shaped in part by the conditions of one’s environment.
• Respect and service to the country motivate Lin Kui’s appeal and Zhang’s decision.
• Trust and authority are contested at the hospital, where Xu’s medical confidence meets institutional suspicion.

Chapter Summary: “Life-Extending Vitality Pill”

Key plot points and events

• After Zhang Hongxing explains immortal cultivation, Zhang Jun and the others continue practicing but soon lose enthusiasm and stop to eat.
• On the way to kindergarten, Wenwen asks to stay with his grandfather rather than return to Capital City. He reveals that his father, who drinks heavily, beats both him and his mother.
• Enraged, Zhang Hongxing promises to find a way to keep Wenwen safe and asks him not to tell his mother about their conversation yet.
• Zhang Hongxing gathers mulberry wood essence and a peony, then spends three days refining nine Life-Extending Vitality Pills. Each pill can add fifty years to an ordinary person’s life and restore youth and vitality.
• He gives four pills to his family, who each take one, then travels to Xinzhou to treat Professor Yang. He asks Lin Kui to investigate Zhang Ying’s husband.
• At the hospital, Liu Weimin challenges Zhang Hongxing’s credentials and urges Lin Mo to trust scientific assessments. Professor Yang nevertheless chooses to proceed, hoping to return to his work on the Maglev Train Project.
• Rather than use acupuncture, Zhang Hongxing puts a Life-Extending Vitality Pill into Professor Yang’s mouth.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shifts from cultivation and medicine to confronting a family crisis: Wenwen’s disclosure makes him fiercely protective of his daughter and grandson. He also demonstrates growing confidence in his pill-refining abilities.
• Wenwen openly expresses his fear of returning home and trust in his grandparents, revealing the abuse he and his mother endure.
• Lin Mo struggles between concern for Professor Yang and confidence in his brother’s assurances about Zhang Hongxing.
• Professor Yang chooses hope and the possibility of continuing his work, despite the unconventional treatment and Liu Weimin’s doubts.
• Liu Weimin acts as a skeptical adversary, questioning Zhang Hongxing’s authority and appealing to scientific caution.
• Lin Kui supports Zhang Hongxing and offers to investigate Qin, while Xu Qinian maintains his respectful relationship with his master.

Significant themes

• Family protection and abuse: Wenwen’s confession exposes violence within Zhang Ying’s marriage and prompts Zhang Hongxing to intervene.
• Hope versus resignation: Professor Yang would rather risk an unusual treatment than accept the end of his career.
• Science and unconventional knowledge: Liu Weimin’s skepticism contrasts with Zhang Hongxing’s extraordinary cultivation-based medicine.
• Power and responsibility: Zhang Hongxing’s abilities bring new obligations—to protect his family, help Professor Yang, and address hidden wrongdoing.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing gives Professor Yang a Life-Extending Vitality Pill. Yang feels an extraordinary surge of health and energy, then undergoes medical examinations that confirm his condition has dramatically improved.
• Liu Weimin, a doctor who doubts Zhang, cannot accept the results. His worldview collapses, and he goes insane.
• After Yang stabilizes and is discharged, he thanks Zhang with one million, which Zhang accepts.
• Lin Kui gives Zhang a file about Qin Dagang, the husband of Zhang’s daughter Yingzi. The file portrays Qin as successful and devoted, but Zhang remains troubled by young Wenwen’s claim that Qin abused her and her mother.
• Zhang decides the investigation has not resolved the family matter and plans to return to the capital with Yingzi.
• Lin Kui asks Zhang to treat his bedridden grandfather. Zhang agrees to provide a pill, but asks Lin Kui to help with an unspecified problem in return. Lin Kui pledges his loyalty.

Character developments

• Zhang Hongxing demonstrates the power of his medicine and accepts both Yang’s payment and Lin Kui’s request, while carefully limiting access to his scarce supply of pills.
• Professor Yang regains his health and becomes deeply grateful to Zhang.
• Liu Weimin changes from skepticism to a breakdown when evidence contradicts everything he believes about medicine.
• Lin Kui sets aside his pride and begs for help for his grandfather, then commits himself to Zhang.
• Zhang remains suspicious of Qin despite the favorable report, prioritizing Wenwen’s account over appearances.

Significant themes

• Limits of conventional knowledge: Zhang’s medicine overturns the doctors’ understanding of what treatment can accomplish.
• Evidence and belief: Liu cannot reconcile observed facts with his assumptions, while Zhang refuses to dismiss a child’s allegation just because the available report is reassuring.
• Duty, gratitude, and reciprocity: Yang repays Zhang, and Lin Kui offers service in exchange for help.
• Scarcity and responsibility: Zhang’s pills are powerful but limited, raising the question of how many people he can help.

Character interactions

• Lin Mo and Liu Weimin question Zhang’s treatment, while Yang’s recovery silences their doubts.
• Yang bows to Zhang and later offers him money in gratitude.
• Zhang challenges Lin Kui over his vague request; Lin Kui explains his grandfather’s condition and kneels to plead for help.
• Zhang offers the pill on the condition that Lin Kui assist him, and Lin Kui agrees.

Plot and key events

• Zhang Hongxing asks Lin Kui to locate his son, Zhang Bing, and learns that Zhang Bing is serving on the tense Xia–Buddha Country border, where clashes have become frequent.
• Determined to visit him, Zhang Hongxing prepares for the danger by cultivating through the night with electricity. By morning, he has reached the Golden Core Realm, making him extraordinarily difficult to kill.
• At Biler Red Valley, Zhang Bing’s sixteen-man squad confronts several hundred Buddha Country soldiers advancing with shields and batons. When warnings fail, Zhang Bing leads his outnumbered men into a brutal fight.
• Zhang Bing takes down ten enemies but is badly injured, and his squad is close to being overwhelmed when Zhang Hongxing and his four escorts arrive.
• Zhang Hongxing intervenes, hurling enemies aside and killing many with his overwhelming strength. When Buddha Country troops open fire, he catches bullets and sends them back with his true qi. The clash ends with no Buddha Country soldiers left standing.
• Buddha Country claims victory in its initial report. Xia Kingdom then releases its own account and video, contradicting the claim and turning public opinion against Buddha Country.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing moves from anxious father to decisive battlefield protector. His concern for Zhang Bing drives him to the border, while his new Golden Core power makes him nearly invulnerable. Once the enemy uses guns, he shows no restraint.
• Zhang Bing is shown as a courageous, disciplined leader. Despite overwhelming odds, he warns the advancing troops, rallies his men, and fights at the front.
• Lin Kui helps Zhang Hongxing by investigating Zhang Bing’s assignment and arranging the trip.
• Zhang Hongxing’s arrival transforms the battle: he rescues Zhang Bing and his remaining soldiers, while the Xia troops fight alongside him and return fire once guns are used.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and family: Zhang Hongxing risks a dangerous journey to reach his son.
• Courage and duty: Zhang Bing and his small squad refuse to yield despite being vastly outnumbered.
• Power and escalation: The shift from batons to gunfire escalates the clash, and Zhang Hongxing’s immense strength makes the consequences catastrophic.
• Propaganda and truth: The competing battle reports show how governments and online commentators use narratives to shape perceptions of victory.

Key plot points and events

• At Bile Red Valley Outpost, Xia forces have finished treating the wounded after a remarkable victory: they repelled the Buddha Country’s attack without losing anyone and killed 386 enemy soldiers, including two generals.
• Zhang Hongxing privately tells Zhang Bing that he is his father, who disappeared thirty years ago. Zhang Bing confirms the claim by calling his mother, then angrily confronts his father over the years of absence.
• Zhang Hongxing explains that he was trapped in another world and could not contact home. He turns the accusation back on Zhang Bing, who has also gone more than six months without calling his family. Zhang Bing admits he was wrong.
• Zhang Bing asks his father to teach him and his unit the martial arts that made him so formidable. Zhang Hongxing explains that cultivation cannot be learned by everyone and begins testing his son.
• To Zhang Hongxing’s surprise, Zhang Bing shows exceptional aptitude for immortal cultivation within half an hour.

Character developments

• Zhang Bing moves from shock and resentment to understanding and reconciliation with his father. His anger also gives way to excitement at the prospect of learning cultivation.
• Zhang Hongxing feels pride in his son but also the strain of being expected to strengthen the entire military. He begins considering whether cultivation could be combined with technology to improve Xia’s national power.

Significant themes

• Family separation and responsibility: Both father and son have been absent from their families, and their confrontation reveals the pain and obligations involved.
• National strength and personal sacrifice: Zhang Hongxing links a stronger homeland to fewer families being separated by conflict.
• Limits and potential of cultivation: Training depends on individual aptitude, though Zhang Bing’s unusual talent offers hope.
• Science and cultivation: Zhang Hongxing considers combining the two as a practical route to national advancement.

Character interactions

• Zhang Bing’s soldiers overhear the revelation, initially treating it as a joke before withdrawing to leave father and son alone.
• Zhang Hongxing and Zhang Bing argue about their respective absences, then reconcile enough for Zhang Hongxing to begin teaching him.
• As Zhang Hongxing guides Zhang Bing through the cultivation formula, he discovers that his son may be exceptionally gifted.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing tests Zhang Bing’s teaching ability, then sees the soldiers guarding Red Valley Garrison enduring heavy snow and wind.
• Moved by their dedication, Hongxing gathers materials and creates a Heaven-Earth Grand Formation to shelter the garrison. The effort costs him essence blood and reduces his cultivation from Golden Core to early Foundation Establishment. The formation brings springlike warmth and renewed plant life to the area.
• Zhang Bing realizes the personal cost of his father’s act and gives him a heartfelt military salute. Though their time together has been short, he now accepts Hongxing as his father.
• On the journey home, Hongxing considers how cultivation formations might be combined with technology and made usable by ordinary people.
• Meanwhile, Zhang Ying leaves with Wenwen despite her family’s pleas that she wait for Hongxing. He arrives home just after their plane takes off, narrowly missing them.
• Hongxing sends Zhang Jun to deliver a Life-Extending Vitality Pill to Elder Zhuang in repayment for an additional twenty million, then buys a ticket to Capital City to investigate whether Zhang Ying’s marriage involves domestic violence.
• At the airport, two foreign passengers cut ahead in a long queue with an employee’s help. When passengers object, the employee defends the preferential treatment as generosity toward foreign guests, provoking wider anger.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shows both self-sacrificing patriotism at the garrison and paternal protectiveness toward Zhang Ying. He acts rather than accepting the missed reunion as unavoidable.
• Zhang Bing grows closer to Hongxing, moving from addressing him as “Dad” to expressing genuine respect through his salute.
• Zhang Ying remains firm about returning to Capital City despite her family’s efforts to delay her.
• The airport passengers, especially the elderly people near the front, collectively challenge the unfair queue-jumping. The employee’s condescending explanation intensifies the dispute.
• The foreign passengers react differently: one appears ready to lose his temper, while the other restrains him.

Significant themes

• Duty and sacrifice: The soldiers’ service and Hongxing’s costly act underscore responsibility to the country and its people.
• Family and care: Hongxing’s concern for his daughter drives him to pursue her, while Zhang Bing’s salute marks a deepening father-son bond.
• Tradition and innovation: Hongxing’s effort to combine cultivation with technology points toward practical, accessible applications of supernatural knowledge.
• Fairness and national dignity: The airport confrontation raises questions about equal treatment, respect for local rules, and the misuse of hospitality as an excuse for privilege.

Plot points and events

• At the airport, the employee who had provoked the crowd continues insulting the Xia Kingdom and its people. Zhang Hongxing slaps her repeatedly, stopping only when security arrives.
• Witnesses confirm what happened. The employee is dismissed for her conduct; Zhang is briefly taken to the police office, then released after showing the expected respectful attitude. He receives special boarding treatment.
• On the plane, Jones, one of the foreigners involved earlier, taunts Zhang. Zhang twice overpowers him, first bending back his raised finger and then forcing him to his knees after Jones attacks. The flight attendants move Zhang to an empty luxury cabin, and the rest of the flight passes quietly.
• After landing in Capital City, Zhang seeks help investigating whether his daughter is being abused by her son-in-law. He calls Lin Kui, who arranges for Chu Yunxuan to assist him.
• Chu arrives in a red supercar with the preparations Zhang requested, and the two set off together.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing remains forceful and self-assured, using physical intimidation to answer insults and challenges. He is cautious about Chu’s flashy entrance but agrees to go with him.
• The airport employee doubles down on her contempt for her country even after being confronted; her behavior leads to her dismissal.
• Jones is openly antagonistic but repeatedly loses to Zhang, eventually refraining from further confrontation during the flight.
• Lin Kui is in high spirits because his grandfather’s health has improved after taking the Life-Extending Vitality Pill. Despite his chatter, he promptly agrees to help.
• Chu Yunxuan makes a flamboyant first impression but presents himself as prepared and ready to assist Zhang.

Significant themes

• Patriotism and national dignity: The employee’s insults provoke strong public anger and are treated as a serious breach of loyalty.
• Power and intimidation: Zhang resolves confrontations through physical strength, while Jones’s provocations repeatedly expose his weakness.
• Reputation and appearances: Chu’s flashy arrival makes Zhang doubt his reliability, though Chu claims to have prepared what is needed.
• Family responsibility: Zhang’s real purpose in coming to Capital City is to investigate his daughter’s welfare.

Key plot points

• Zhang Hongxing secretly watches the villa where his daughter Zhang Ying lives with her husband, Qin Dagang. He spots his granddaughter Wenwen crying outside.
• Wenwen tells him Qin is beating her mother. Zhang Hongxing rushes into the house and interrupts Qin as he is about to kick Zhang Ying.
• Zhang Hongxing catches Qin’s kick and throws him into a wall. Zhang Ying urges her father not to hurt Qin, but Qin insults her and accuses her of relying on a “sugar daddy.”
• Zhang Hongxing attacks Qin, then leaves with Zhang Ying and Wenwen. The three head to the airport, where he buys tickets for his daughter and granddaughter only.
• Though Zhang Ying worries he may take revenge too far, Zhang Hongxing reassures her that he will return in a few days. After seeing them off, he calls Chu Yunxuan, signaling he intends to deal with Qin further.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shifts from discreetly observing the household to acting openly when he learns his daughter is in danger. His anger is driven by his protective love for Zhang Ying and Wenwen.
• Zhang Ying has endured Qin’s abuse for years and has repeatedly forgiven him for the sake of their family. She finally speaks up, but still defends him at first, citing his good behavior when sober and his role as Wenwen’s father. After Qin’s insults, she leaves with her daughter.
• Wenwen sees her grandfather as a dependable protector and quickly regains hope when he arrives. She is eager to go home with him and her mother.
• Qin Dagang is shown as violent and controlling, especially when drunk. He dismisses Zhang Ying’s concerns, threatens her, and responds to her resistance with escalating violence.

Significant themes

• Family protection and loyalty: Zhang Hongxing intervenes without hesitation to protect his daughter and granddaughter.
• Domestic abuse and endurance: Zhang Ying has tolerated years of violence, partly to preserve her family, while Wenwen’s distress reveals its impact on the child.
• Breaking away from harm: Zhang Ying and Wenwen leave Qin’s home, suggesting a first step toward safety, even as Zhang Ying remains concerned about the consequences.
• Justice and revenge: Zhang Hongxing believes Qin should not be allowed to continue in peace, foreshadowing further action.