Chapter Summaries

Shopkeeper Tong demonstrated how Buddhist power connected sheets of paper through a Heart-to-Heart Method, and Lin Ke realized fifth-realm cultivators could serve as living network servers. The chapter ended when Shopkeeper Tong revealed her Buddhist red dust heart, alarming Li Chungang.

• Shopkeeper Tong used the Ma Mantra to empower rice paper and explained how her literary heart could connect distant sheets across the Divine Land.
• Lin Ke asked whether a dead Great Confucian’s literary heart could still function, then wondered where he could acquire a Buddha to use as a network unit.
• Lin Ke imagined keeping fifth-realm cultivators as unpaid servers and asked Shopkeeper Tong where the world had the most monks.
• Shopkeeper Tong warned Lin Ke that Bodhi Temple had powerful cultivators and accused him of wanting to seize forced laborers.
• Shopkeeper Tong revealed her Buddhist red dust heart, and Li Chungang recognized it with alarm.

Lin Ke enlisted Shopkeeper Tong to host up to five million instances of the Heart-to-Heart Method in exchange for thirty percent of the shares, and others asked to join his ventures. Dean Wu brought Lin Ke’s painting “Sunrise” back and confirmed that Lin Ke could take in the academy’s students, then Lin Ke asked about Dean Wu’s literary heart and the Heart-to-Heart Method.

• Li Chungang explained that Shopkeeper Tong had left Bodhi Temple because his Buddhist heart was tainted by the mortal world, while Shopkeeper Tong said he could support around five million instances of the Heart-to-Heart Method.
• Lin Ke offered Shopkeeper Tong thirty percent of the shares to serve as the method’s host, and Shopkeeper Tong agreed.
• Matchmaker and others asked Lin Ke to let them take part in his business, while Bai Zhantang revealed that he was the Third Prince and Lin Ke put him in charge of the milk tea shop.
• Dean Wu arrived with Lin Ke’s painting “Sunrise” and asked whether Lin Ke could take in the students from his academy.
• Lin Ke confirmed that he could take in the students, then asked Dean Wu what type of literary heart he had and whether he knew of the Heart-to-Heart Method.

Lin Ke took stock of his gains and tested the powers of his new treasures while planning to use his Palace Examination eligibility to challenge the system of servile status. Minister Qi arrived during a test, triggered the defenses around Lin Ke’s room, and came to tell him several things.

• Lin Ke reviewed his new resources and celebrated qualifying for the Palace Examination, which he hoped to use to draw attention to servile status and promote broader reform.
• Lin Ke tested the effects of the Pokémon comic and his oil painting Sunrise, then activated novel-based defenses at his roof and doorway.
• Minister Qi entered Lin Ke’s room, mistook the novel aura for a threat, and fought off the phantom cauldron before Lin Ke explained he was testing his powers.
• Minister Qi repaired the shattered door and said he had rushed back to tell Lin Ke a few things.

Minister Qi asked Lin Ke to prepare for the next contest against Qi Ye and revealed that he wanted Lin Ke to defeat his son decisively so Qi Ye would abandon the path of the hidebound Confucians. Lin Ke felt confident in the literary and miscellaneous categories, while Minister Qi promised to help him exploit Qi Ye’s weaknesses in the Martial Path.

• Minister Qi asked Lin Ke what he thought about competing against Qi Ye in six months, and Lin Ke considered the literary, martial, and miscellaneous categories.
• Minister Qi regretted sending Qi Ye to study under a Great Confucian and explained that he still cared deeply for his eldest son.
• Lin Ke guessed that Minister Qi wanted him to lose the next round, but Minister Qi said he wanted Lin Ke to crush Qi Ye’s confidence and change his path.
• Lin Ke said he was ninety-eight percent confident in the literary and miscellaneous categories but worried about facing Qi Ye in the Martial Path.
• Minister Qi said he knew Qi Ye’s weaknesses and urged Lin Ke to seize the advantage over the two hidebound Confucians.

Minister Qi equipped Lin Ke with a concealment technique, a Seven-Colored Exquisite Tower, and an External Incarnation before taking him to train against Qi Ye. The chapter ended with Lin Ke trying to make Minister Qi his two hundred and thirty-second teacher and pressing him for a vault location and a signed agreement.

• Lin Ke asked Minister Qi about the martial path and learned that Qi Ye was his only son, heavily nurtured despite having grown crooked.
• Minister Qi asked Lin Ke to defeat Qi Ye without killing him, then explained that Qi Ye hated wild beasts, spirit beasts, and demon beasts.
• Minister Qi gave Lin Ke a Thousand-Illusion Sea Mirage pearl and used the stratagem Concealing Heaven to Cross the Sea to conceal him from others.
• Minister Qi placed the Seven-Colored Exquisite Tower in Lin Ke, giving him the ability to divide his attention, and created an External Incarnation for him.
• Lin Ke thanked Minister Qi and offered to take him as his two hundred and thirty-second teacher, then asked the pale-faced Minister Qi about his family vault and an apprenticeship agreement.

Lin Ke experimented with his new external incarnation, while Ning Caichen mistook its strange movements for a seizure. The chapter ended with Ning Caichen binding Lin Ke and stuffing a root into his mouth to keep him from biting his tongue.

• Minister Qi praised Lin Ke, urged him to master his External Incarnation, and said they would visit a place together soon.
• Lin Ke used A Leaf Shrouds the Heavens to strengthen the Bronze Immortal Gate’s aura and set up a cauldron trap above his doorway.
• Lin Ke tested his external incarnation, struggling to coordinate it as he ordered it to move, dance, and chop firewood.
• Ning Caichen and Little Wa saw the double’s awkward movements, and Ning Caichen mistook it for Lin Ke having epilepsy.
• Ning Caichen bound Lin Ke with roots and shoved a large root into his mouth to stop him from biting his tongue.

Lin Ke trained himself to control his External Incarnation, which used the Thousand-Illusion Sea Mirage as its shell and the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Tower flower as its soul. After mastering independent movement and dividing his attention among tasks, he prepared for the next day's disciple recruitment and discovered he could write with his foot.

• Ning Caichen mistook Lin Ke's External Incarnation for him and tied it up with tree roots, while Wu Daozi misread the scene and retreated in alarm.
• Lin Ke explained that the incarnation was also him, asked Ning Caichen and Little Wa to watch it when he left, and called on the neighbors for help.
• Lin Ke practiced controlling the incarnation by making it dance, then trained himself to read and write at the same time.
• Lin Ke prepared disciple information forms and agreements while writing with his left hand, then added painting with his hands.
• Lin Ke gripped a brush with his left foot and continued writing his novel while his hands painted and prepared forms.

Lin Ke mastered the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Tower flower’s multitasking ability overnight and discovered new powers from the Thousand-Illusion Sea Mirage. Minister Qi arrived to take him away, and the chapter ended with Lin Ke ready to leave after receiving a storage bracelet.

• Lin Ke tested his new multitasking, flexibility, and water-sensing abilities, then sent more than half his power of reform into his External Incarnation.
• Minister Qi visited Lin Ke and learned that he had mastered multitasking in one night, far faster than Minister Qi’s own thirty-five days.
• Lin Ke packed his treasures while Minister Qi decided they could leave now that Lin Ke had mastered the technique.
• Minister Qi gave Lin Ke a Mount Sumeru in a Mustard Seed bracelet to carry his belongings.

Lin Ke transformed a Mount Sumeru in a Mustard Seed bracelet into a tooth plate and tested its storage power in front of Minister Qi. Minister Qi warned him that the Ten Thousand Mountains and Cloud Dream Marsh were deadly places, though Lin Ke could bring a bodyguard to save his life.

• Lin Ke discovered that the bracelet changed shape and color when he channeled his power of reform into it.
• Lin Ke shaped the bracelet into a tooth plate and demonstrated how he could store and retrieve large objects through his mouth, leaving Minister Qi speechless.
• Minister Qi warned Lin Ke about the beasts, armored insects, vermin, and powerful Beast Kings in the Ten Thousand Mountains and Cloud Dream Marsh.
• Minister Qi explained that anyone below the Third Realm could be killed there without consequence, even a son of the Sage Emperor.
• Minister Qi told Lin Ke he could bring a bodyguard, but using the bodyguard would bar him from returning for the rest of the year.

Minister Qi took Lin Ke to the Golden Crow Sun Realm to find him a powerful bodyguard, but his arrival stirred the palace and revealed that the Golden Crow Emperor was in seclusion. Minister Qi regretted that Lin Ke could not take the emperor as his disciple, leaving the emperor’s wife staring at Lin Ke in surprise.

• Minister Qi brought Lin Ke to the Golden Crow Sun Realm and explained that the Sage Emperor tolerated other rulers because their power was beneath his notice.
• Minister Qi released his aura to summon Jingang and announce their arrival to the Golden Crow palace.
• A huge Golden Crow flew to them and transformed into a woman, who said that her husband, the Golden Crow Emperor, was in life-or-death seclusion.
• Minister Qi unleashed a tide of Confucian thought, confirmed the emperor was truly in seclusion, and lamented that Lin Ke could not have the emperor as his disciple.
• The Golden Crow Emperor’s wife stared at Lin Ke after hearing Minister Qi’s remark.

Minister Qi took Lin Ke to the Imperial Capital after arranging for Jingang to protect him, and Lin Ke was awestruck by the city’s grandeur and the Sage Emperor’s authority over Heaven. Minister Qi showed him the hidden realm containing the noble residences and explained that the great houses controlled access to their domains.

• Lin Ke met the Golden Crow Matriarch and thanked her after learning that the Little Golden Crow Prince had been revived in the Sun Pool.
• Minister Qi demanded that the Matriarch lend Jingang to protect Lin Ke for three months and warned her not to reveal Lin Ke’s whereabouts.
• Minister Qi and Lin Ke left, and Minister Qi explained that he distrusted the Matriarch because she had wavered between him and Old Man Lin.
• Minister Qi brought Lin Ke outside the Imperial Capital, where Lin Ke saw the city’s imperial inscription and marveled at its scale and authority.
• Minister Qi explained that the floating buildings belonged to another realm and pointed out the Lin Residence among the great noble estates.

Minister Qi strengthened Lin Ke’s “Sunrise” with Solar Essence and took him and Jingang to the Ten Thousand Mountains, while arranging a contest in fiction, beast taming, and musical instruments. Lin Xuanji planned how to prepare Qi Ye for the challenges, including recruiting teachers and capturing a White Flood Dragon.

• Minister Qi poured Solar Essence from the Sun Pool into Lin Ke’s “Sunrise,” raising it to the second stage and strengthening its aura of hope.
• Minister Qi summoned Jingang and asked him to escort Lin Ke to Cloud Dream Marsh in the Ten Thousand Mountains; he also revealed that Lin Ke had an External Incarnation made from a Thousand-Illusion Sea Mirage and a flower from the Seven-Treasure Exquisite Tower.
• Minister Qi used a Grand Translocation to take Lin Ke and Jingang away from the Capital City.
• A servant delivered Minister Qi’s message to two men: the contest would cover fiction, beast taming, and musical instruments.
• Lin Xuanji proposed having Sage Yu teach Qi Ye fiction and capturing a Third Realm White Flood Dragon for the beast-taming challenge.
• Lin Xuanji noted Qi Ye’s skill with the pipa as the men considered the musical-instrument challenge.

Lin Ke and Jingang arrived at the Ten Thousand Mountains, where Lin Ke learned he could claim a mountain island by defeating a Third Realm demon. After Minister Qi left them behind, Lin Ke prepared to explore on his own, armed with his Imperially Sanctioned Staff, which he called the Heavenly Hammer.

• Minister Qi explained that Lin Ke could become an Island Lord by killing a minor demon, then departed and told Lin Ke and Jingang to stay for three months.
• Jingang told Lin Ke that Island Lords had to be at least in the Third Realm and that a protector's help would trigger the Cloud Dream Marsh formation and teleport them out.
• Lin Ke took out the Imperially Sanctioned Staff and decided to train without Jingang's help.
• Lin Ke disguised himself by removing his Confucian Robes and transformed the staff into a hammer with a stone.
• Lin Ke said he would use the Heavenly Hammer to take a demon's home, but Jingang explained that the Ten Thousand Mountains had plenty of unoccupied peaks.

Lin Ke tried to persuade Jingang that his muddy, nearly naked appearance was part of exploring different paths of the Dao, and Jingang was deeply impressed. Their carefree journey began with a snake biting Lin Ke on the lip, leaving him swollen for three months.

• Lin Ke explained to Jingang that living like a beast and embracing chaos were ways of tasting the Dao, while Jingang followed the path of ritual and order.
• Jingang said Lin Ke could be his teacher, then agreed to seek a cave dwelling and explore the Dao of Laozi and Zhuangzi.
• A concealed green snake suddenly bit Lin Ke on the lip before he could react.
• Lin Ke smashed the snake into pieces with his hammer, and Jingang identified it as a venomous spirit snake that would cause swelling for about three months.
• Jingang suggested Lin Ke could treat his changed appearance as another way to taste the Dao, and Lin Ke silently rejected the idea.

Lin Ke took the name Chen Ping'an, joined Jingang—whom he nicknamed Stone Rat—and set out to claim a mountain. There, he drove off two mudskipper demons who mistook him for a beautiful woman, but a massive woman appeared and called him her husband.

• Lin Ke named himself Chen Ping'an and declared that he would become the mountain king; Jingang chose the name Stone Rat.
• Lin Ke and Stone Rat headed into the mountains to gather Demon Beasts and spirit beasts under their command.
• Two mudskipper husbands fighting over Shizuka mistook Lin Ke for a beautiful mudskipper lady and tried to court and kiss him.
• Lin Ke struck at the two Second Realm demons with his hammer, forcing them to retreat, then claimed the mountain island.
• A massive woman appeared behind the mudskippers and called Lin Ke her husband.

Lin Ke and Jingang defeated three demons, then discussed Lin Ke’s Confucian talent and the limits of the Martial Path. They explored their new mountain home in Cloud Dream Marsh, where Lin Ke admired the scenery.

• Lin Ke killed two lesser demons and a Third Realm demon with the Blade of Public Will.
• Jingang urged Lin Ke to rely on his Confucian talent and other paths, but Lin Ke joked that reciting poetry might reveal his overwhelming gift.
• Lin Ke said he was still only in the First Realm and that the Martial Path remained strongest at the lower realms.
• Lin Ke and Jingang climbed their new mountain and surveyed its spring, sandy shore, and surrounding waters.
• Lin Ke marveled that Cloud Dream Marsh seemed larger than the Pacific Ocean of his previous life.

Lin Ke planned to establish a hidden power base in the Ten Thousand Mountains so he could oppose Lin Xuanji's faction and build strength among the overlooked groups there. Jingang agreed with the plan but left Lin Ke to begin the work alone while he entered secluded cultivation.

• Lin Ke reflected that organizations could provide influence and resources beyond individual combat power, and clarified that he would oppose the Sage Emperor if the emperor sacrificed his subjects for his goals.
• Lin Ke told Jingang they should build an organization in the Ten Thousand Mountains, train fighters and specialists, and secretly expand while Lin Xuanji's faction remained unaware.
• Jingang approved Lin Ke's proposal and said Minister Qi would likely support it.
• Lin Ke proposed catching spirit beasts to guard the mountain and provide cover for their base.
• Jingang declined to help because establishing the base was Lin Ke's trial, and he entered secluded cultivation after telling Lin Ke to summon him with a feather if danger arose.
• Lin Ke accepted Jingang's decision and set off to begin the work.

Lin Ke harvested valuable fins and skins from the mudskippers he had killed, then encountered a strange rat-and-duck family. He asked what species they were, leaving their response pending.

• Lin Ke examined the mudskipper corpses and discovered their large, venom-tipped fins held abundant demonic qi.
• Lin Ke broke off the fins and peeled away the skins, which could preserve qi and offer concealment, then stored the parts in his Mount Sumeru in a Mustard Seed tooth slice.
• A rat-bodied father with a duck head, a duck-bodied mother with a rat head, and their duck son arrived and lamented that the mudskippers had been eaten.
• Lin Ke asked the family whether they were Rat-Ducks.

Lin Ke fought a duck-headed father and a mouse-headed wife, revealing his Confucian abilities and summoning Xiao Zhi and Electric Mouse to help. Xiao Zhi captured the unconscious mouse-headed wife, while the duck family’s child swore revenge against mudskippers.

• The duck-headed father and mouse-headed wife attacked Lin Ke, who dodged their strikes and blocked their attacks with his Bamboo Staff and speed.
• Lin Ke summoned Xiao Zhi and Electric Mouse from a book, and Electric Mouse attacked the mouse-headed wife with 100,000 Volts.
• Lin Ke recited Brother Xun’s poem and used a blade of public will to wound the duck-headed father, revealing himself as a Confucian Scholar.
• The duck-headed couple urged their child to flee and then charged Lin Ke, while their child vowed to drive every mudskipper out of the world.
• Lin Ke dodged the duck-headed father, knocked out the mouse-headed wife, and Xiao Zhi captured her in a red-and-white sphere.

Lin Ke captured the mouse-duck family, fortified his island with imagined forbidden zones, and flew out with the Duck-Headed Mouse to learn his location. He discovered he was near the territory of the Mountain Giant Banyan and headed there to train.

• Lin Ke and Xiao Zhi captured the Mouse-Headed Duck, the Duck-Headed Mouse, and the tiny duck inside Pokémon.
• Lin Ke used his power of imagination to place life forbidden zones around the island, making it seem guarded by a Third Realm cultivator.
• Lin Ke summoned the Duck-Headed Mouse, learned it could carry him, and flew with it above the island.
• Lin Ke surveyed Cloud Dream Marsh and identified the large island where he and Jingang had arrived.
• Lin Ke learned that the island belonged to the good-tempered Mountain Giant Banyan and flew toward its territory to train.