Chapter Summaries

After Red Hair threatened to kill Chen Lin’s brother unless he paid the remaining ransom, Chen Lin secretly traced the kidnapper and prepared to act. General Zhao reported that elite soldiers trained in Chen Lin’s breathing technique had formed the Jiaolong Guard, and offered to send them to rescue the family.

• Red Hair received a fabricated payment record and gave Chen Lin one day to pay the rest of the ransom, threatening to send back an urn instead of his brother’s body.
• Friday traced Red Hair to Triumphant Garden in Simple Village and identified him as Zhang Long, a smuggling-network manager with about forty subordinates.
• Ye Wenjun arrived with national security officers, watched the kidnapping video, and handed Chen Lin an encrypted communicator so he could speak with General Zhao.
• General Zhao told Chen Lin that thirty of five hundred soldiers had mastered the Taiyin Breathing Technique enough to form the Jiaolong Guard.
• General Zhao asked Chen Lin whether the Jiaolong Guard could handle the rescue as its first real combat test.

Chen Lin revealed to his stunned family that he worked for the country as a special advisor with authority beyond even General Zhao. His family struggled to comprehend his status, while Zhang Ruoxi resolved to reach his side.

• Chen Lin accepted General Zhao’s offer to send thirty elite soldiers to the scam compound, leaving his family stunned when they heard the general address him respectfully.
• Chen Qianqian realized she would never dare talk back to Chen Lin again, while Zhang Ruoxi decided she had to make it to his side.
• Chen Lin confirmed to Chen Guofu that the caller had been General Zhao and explained that he was working for the country as a special advisor.
• Ye Wenjun introduced himself as deputy director of the National Security Administration and told the family that Chen Lin outranked everyone in Huaxia.
• Liu Shuqin cried and sent Chen Qianqian to get Chen Lin water, while Chen Qianqian trembled in the kitchen, ashamed of how she had treated him.

Chen Lin reassured Wang Guihua that he would bring her son Dayong home safely, while the Jiaolong Guard arrived in Yicheng and headed for Chen Family Village. Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing drove there to meet their daughter and Chen Lin, arriving just after the soldiers departed.

• Chen Lin comforted Wang Guihua and promised to protect Dayong and return him safely before dawn.
• Ye Wenjun told Chen Lin the Jiaolong Guard would arrive in three hours, and Chen Lin returned to the Farmhouse Courtyard.
• Thirty Jiaolong Guard members arrived at a military airfield near Yicheng and drove toward Chen Family Village.
• Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing learned from Song Qiuya that the group was in chaos and drove to Chen Family Village.
• Song Jiahe spotted the military jeeps, and Song Guoan realized they were heading to the Chen family's Farmhouse Courtyard.
• Song Guoan parked outside Chen Guofu's courtyard as Ye Qingqing fixed her gaze on the neighboring house.

Chen Lin dispatched thirty Jiaolong Guards to destroy the Simple Village telecom fraud syndicate, with Friday providing intelligence and Lao Qing ordered not to intervene unless necessary. Song Guoan, Ye Qingqing, and Song Jiahe watched in shock as the guards departed, then Chen Lin warmly invited them inside.

• Thirty Jiaolong Guards saluted Chen Lin as Song Guoan, Ye Qingqing, and Song Jiahe watched in disbelief.
• Chen Lin ordered the guards to eradicate the Simple Village telecom fraud syndicate and told Friday to supply surveillance, personnel, and building data.
• Chen Lin instructed Lao Qing not to intervene unless the guards faced a life-or-death situation, then sent the team out in seven military jeeps.
• Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing remained stunned after the convoy departed, while Song Guoan admitted he felt he had wasted half his life.
• Chen Lin dropped his stern commander’s demeanor, opened the courtyard gate, and invited Song Guoan, Ye Qingqing, and Song Jiahe inside.

Song Qiuya reunited warmly with her mother and sister at Chen Lin’s courtyard, while Song Guoan told Chen Lin about the unusual support he had received and realized Chen Lin already knew what was behind it. The family’s mood lightened when Qin Chuxia and Song Jiahe amused themselves with the cats, and Song Qiuya quietly took Chen Lin’s hand.

• Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing nervously shared tea with Chen Lin while Song Jiahe watched him with curiosity.
• Song Qiuya arrived with Qin Chuxia and embraced Ye Qingqing, while Song Jiahe gave her a white Hachimi plush toy.
• Qin Chuxia teased Chen Lin by admitting she was jealous that Song Qiuya had him, and Song Guoan witnessed their exchange.
• Song Guoan told Chen Lin about the Provincial Party Committee’s support, jewelers’ partnership offers, and Gao Yuliang’s friendly conduct; Chen Lin’s response convinced him that Chen Lin knew about it all.
• Qin Chuxia and Song Jiahe visited Clear Wind and Bright Moon, and their laughter eased the tense mood in the main room.
• Song Qiuya watched her family with Chen Lin, felt reassured, and reached beneath the table to take his hand.

Huaxia’s Jiaolong Guard secretly crossed into Simple Village after Tai Kingdom officers were ordered to ignore their arrival. After reaching Triumphant Garden, the team prepared to rescue a hostage and destroy the compound.

• Senior Colonel Songchai received orders to let Huaxia helicopters land and to keep his border base blind and deaf to their mission.
• Three Z-8L helicopters and five WZ-10 escorts arrived, bringing thirty Jiaolong Guard soldiers, the robot Friday, and a man in a black suit.
• The Jiaolong Guard followed Friday through the rainforest, evading sentries, sensors, and minefields to reach the outskirts of the West Port Special Zone.
• The scar-faced captain identified room 404 in Building A of Triumphant Garden as the hostage’s location and ordered Friday to share the compound’s tactical layout.
• The Jiaolong Guard split into ten teams and began approaching Triumphant Garden to rescue the hostage and raze the compound.

Zhang Hu and the Jiaolong Guard rescued Liu Dayong and hundreds of trafficked Huaxia citizens from Triumphant Garden, then destroyed the compound with explosives. General Sang Kun intercepted their convoy at the border, and Lao Qing stepped forward as a tank fired at him.

• Zhang Hu led the Jiaolong Guard in storming Triumphant Garden, killing the armed criminals and rescuing Liu Dayong.
• The Jiaolong Guard gathered more than three hundred trafficked Huaxia citizens and prepared to escort them home.
• Zhang Hu detonated 1,500 kilograms of C4, destroying Triumphant Garden and enraging General Sang Kun, whose son Sang Zhuo ran the compound.
• Sang Kun sent troops and tanks to intercept the convoy on the road to the Tai Kingdom border.
• Lao Qing walked toward the armored company, and Sang Kun ordered a tank to fire a shell at him.

Lao Qing caught and crushed a tank shell, then destroyed Sang Kun’s armored company and killed the general, allowing the rescued Huaxia citizens to escape. Footage of the rescue went viral, and Senior Colonel Songchai watched it in disbelief at a Tai Kingdom border base.

• Lao Qing caught a 155 mm shell with his bare hand and crushed it into scrap.
• Lao Qing destroyed twelve tanks and over a hundred infantrymen in three minutes, then tore open Sang Kun’s command vehicle and killed him.
• Zhang Long ordered the withdrawal, and the trucks carried the rescued Huaxia citizens through the terrified border troops and into the Tai Kingdom.
• A drone video of the assault and the fall of Triumphant Garden spread across overseas and domestic social media.
• Senior Colonel Songchai watched the footage repeatedly and wondered how a small force had defeated Sang Kun’s troops.

Zhang Long returned with 342 rescued Huaxia citizens, and Songchai arranged transport planes to send them home. Chen Lin watched the rescue from Yicheng, where the Imperial Seal’s prayer power strengthened his courtyard barrier, while the villagers awaited Liu Dayong’s return.

• Zhang Long reported the successful mission to Songchai and demanded ten transport planes to bring 342 compatriots home before dawn.
• Songchai agreed to provide the planes after seeing Lao Qing, then ordered the air force to prepare them.
• Chen Lin watched the rescue through Friday’s signal and found that the gratitude and reverence of the rescued people had strengthened the Jade Seal’s barrier around his courtyard.
• Ye Wenjun welcomed the rescued Huaxia citizens at the Yicheng airfield, where officials registered them, provided travel money, and arranged medical care.
• After the last group boarded a train, Ye Wenjun led the Jiaolong Guard, Friday, and Lao Qing toward Chen Family Village.
• Chen Guofu, Liu Shuqin, Wang Guihua, and Liu Desheng waited anxiously for Liu Dayong when a car approached the village.

Liu Dayong returned safely to Chen Family Village, and General Zhao arranged for the Jiaolong Guard to remain under Chen Lin’s command. Chen Lin gained a force of thirty elite soldiers to deploy on future missions.

• Liu Dayong reunited with Wang Guihua and Liu Desheng after the Jiaolong Guards brought him back to the village.
• Zhang Long and the Jiaolong Guards reported their mission’s success to Chen Lin, who praised their service to Huaxia.
• General Zhao offered to leave the thirty Jiaolong Guards in Yicheng, and Chen Lin accepted them as a force that would answer directly to him.
• Chen Lin ordered Zhang Long and the Jiaolong Guards to stay in Chen Family Village, train, and await missions.
• Song Qiuya, Li Xiaoyue, Song Guoan, and Ye Qingqing watched Chen Lin take command of the soldiers from the second-floor balcony.

After Chen Lin rescued Liu Dayong, he gave him and his parents jobs at the Resort, then showed Song Qiuya and her family around Chen Family Village. Once Song Qiuya left to visit her company, Chen Lin began cultivating to address his lack of combat strength.

• Liu Dayong knelt before Chen Lin and vowed to give him his life in gratitude for the rescue.
• Chen Lin offered Liu Dayong a deputy security captain position at the Resort, with a monthly salary of twenty thousand and a year-end bonus.
• Chen Lin invited Wang Guihua and Liu Desheng to work at the Resort, and the family accepted eagerly.
• Song Qiuya took Chen Lin's arm as he showed her parents and younger sister around the village and Reservoir.
• Song Qiuya drove her family to visit the Autumn Forest Group, while Chen Lin returned to the Farmhouse Courtyard and practiced the Azure Origin Sword Art with spirit stones.

Simple Village’s attempt to accuse Huaxia of aggression backfired when its evidence turned out to be a Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf clip. Chen Lin completed Yang Yuting’s treatment, restoring her ability to walk, while she secretly tried to ensure Zhang Ruoxi would keep visiting him.

• Basong called for an international press conference to expose Huaxia after Simple Village’s soldiers and businesses were destroyed.
• Simple Village’s evidence played a Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf scene, turning the press conference into a global joke.
• Huaxia’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson mocked Simple Village by offering drug rehabilitation treatment for its soldiers.
• Chen Lin treated Yang Yuting, and she regained her ability to walk and even jog.
• Yang Yuting pretended her legs were still weak and signaled Zhang Ruoxi as she headed inside with her.

Yang Yuting pushed Zhang Ruoxi to seize her chance with Chen Lin, and Zhang Ruoxi confessed that she was ready. Chen Lin was about to kiss her when Chen Qianqian barged into the courtyard, leaving the pair embarrassed as she backed away and told them to carry on.

• Yang Yuting sent Zhang Ruoxi out to approach Chen Lin and urged her to be bold.
• Zhang Ruoxi reminded Chen Lin of his promise to talk later and told him she had made up her mind and was ready.
• Chen Lin gently touched Zhang Ruoxi’s cheek and leaned in to kiss her.
• Chen Qianqian entered with milk tea and caught Chen Lin and Zhang Ruoxi about to kiss.
• Chen Lin and Zhang Ruoxi sprang apart, and Chen Qianqian backed away, saying she had seen nothing.

After an awkward encounter with Zhang Ruoxi, Chen Lin cultivated for six hours and broke through to the second layer of the Azure Origin Sword Art. He later walked through Chen Family Village, where rumors about his role in Dayong’s rescue had made the villagers treat him with new deference.

• Zhang Ruoxi fled after sharing a brief intimate moment with Chen Lin, and Chen Qianqian teased him before running off.
• Chen Lin returned to his Farmhouse Courtyard and cultivated with spirit stones and Essence-Enhancing Pills.
• Chen Lin broke through the barrier at the peak of the seventh level of Qi Refining and reached the second layer of the Azure Origin Sword Art.
• Chen Lin walked around Chen Family Village and noticed that villagers treated him with cautious respect.
• Third Uncle Chen told his wife that Chen Lin had commanded the Jiaolong Guards and helped rescue Dayong, while rumors about Chen Lin spread through the village.

Chen Lin visited the Song-Style Courtyard House construction site, spotted Jiaolong Guard members keeping watch, and went to River View Splendor Mansion to cook for Song Qiuya’s family. His ordinary-looking meal stunned Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing with its flavor and restorative warmth, leaving them amazed by how Chen Lin usually ate.

• Chen Lin inspected the construction site and identified seven Jiaolong Guard members hidden around the village by their Taiyin Breathing Technique.
• Chen Lin gathered spirit-spring-raised ingredients and drove to River View Splendor Mansion to cook for Song Qiuya and her parents.
• Song Guoan asked Song Qiuya what level Chen Lin had reached, but she replied to Chen Lin’s message that she was waiting for him.
• Chen Lin prepared eight dishes with spirit spring water while Song Guoan, Ye Qingqing, and Song Jiahe waited, drawn in by the aroma.
• Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing tasted the meal and were astonished by its flavor and effects, while Song Jiahe eagerly ate everything.

Ye Qingqing urged Song Qiuya to secure her relationship with Chen Lin by having a child, while Chen Lin concealed why she had not become pregnant and admitted to himself that he was not ready to be a father. After Song Qiuya fell asleep, Chen Lin entered the Black Portal to make another transfer at the Myriad Worlds Garbage Transfer Station.

• After dinner, Ye Qingqing told Song Qiuya to set work aside and have a baby with Chen Lin, warning her that the red-haired woman next door also wanted him.
• Song Qiuya worried that she might have a problem because months had passed without a pregnancy, while Chen Lin knew his cultivation prevented conception unless he suppressed the conversion of his vital essence.
• Chen Lin pretended not to hear the balcony conversation and distracted himself by playing gomoku with Song Jiahe.
• Later, Chen Lin comforted the exhausted Song Qiuya and quietly left their bed after she fell asleep.
• Chen Lin entered a locked guest room, opened a Black Portal, and disappeared into it before the portal vanished three seconds later.

Chen Lin witnessed a vast rift open above the Gray Wasteland and dump another mountain of debris into it. He found a Storage Bag with no valuables but discovered that its chest held a trove of formation books and firsthand notes, which he began studying.

• Chen Lin arrived early at the Gray Wasteland and watched a rift tear open across the sky, spilling wreckage from other worlds.
• Chen Lin tested the rift with his spiritual power, felt overwhelmed by its scale, and resolved to keep advancing despite his current weakness.
• After the dumping ended, Chen Lin scanned the debris and pulled a Storage Bag from beneath broken bricks.
• Chen Lin found cold iron ore, Formation Flags, and a Bronze Chest in the bag, but no spirit stones, pills, or Magic Treasures.
• Chen Lin opened the chest and discovered a collection of formation books filled with practical diagrams and notes about failed attempts.
• Chen Lin began reading the formation books and recognized that their lessons could remain useful long after consumable treasures were gone.

Chen Lin obtained a chest of formation manuals, returned from the void, and broke through to the eighth level of Qi Refining. After making a breakfast that impressed the Song family, he saw Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing leave for Wucheng while Song Jiahe stayed behind.

• Chen Lin collected the formation manuals and left the void through the Black Portal.
• Chen Lin cultivated with mid-grade spirit stones and broke through to the eighth level of Qi Refining, extending his spiritual sense to over three hundred meters.
• Chen Lin cooked preserved egg and lean pork congee, and Song Guoan, Song Jiahe, and Ye Qingqing eagerly ate it.
• Song Guoan and Ye Qingqing departed for Wucheng, while Song Jiahe stayed with Song Qiuya and asked what they would eat that night.

Chen Lin studied formation theory, painstakingly crafted five formation flags, and installed them around Chen Family Village. He activated the Five-Element Return-to-Origin Formation, which enveloped the village and infused its air with spiritual energy.

• Chen Lin read about formations and learned that his backyard arrangement of spirit stones was not a real formation.
• Chen Lin spent the day engraving formation patterns, ruining eleven flags before completing five for the Five-Element Spirit-Gathering Formation.
• Chen Lin traveled through the mountains at night and buried the water, fire, wood, metal, and earth flags at their designated positions around Chen Family Village.
• Chen Lin activated the formation, causing its five spiritual channels to converge above the Reservoir and fill the village's air with spiritual energy.

After Chen Lin activated the formation, Chen Family Village’s air, plants, water, and wildlife changed dramatically overnight. Villagers and scientists noticed the changes, while Li Xiaoyue and Academician Zhong chose not to question Chen Lin’s role.

• Chen Lin sensed wildlife converging on the spiritual-energy-rich village and recognized the formation had made it a true feng shui treasure.
• Chen Guofu and Uncle Chen found their plants thriving, the air unusually clean, and Uncle Chen’s damaged jujube tree restored, prompting Chen Guofu to wonder whether Xiao Lin had done something again.
• Villagers and tourists gathered around the Reservoir to marvel at the transformed water, mountains, flowers, and abundance of wildlife.
• Su Mei asked Li Xiaoyue about the village’s abnormalities, and Li Xiaoyue told her not to ask about things she already knew.
• Academician Zhong confirmed the water’s trace-element concentration had risen and the air’s negative oxygen ion count was extraordinary, then declined to report the findings.