Chapter Summaries

Ding Yu dreamed he was trapped in the exhausted body of a poor boy called Zhuzi, then awoke in his university dorm to find government agents waiting to take him for questioning. On the drive, he saw an enormous celestial body beside the sun, and the agents brought him to an unfamiliar destination.

• In a vivid dream, Ding Yu watched Zhuzi toil in a wasteland with his father and elder brother until a storm knocked him down.
• Ding Yu woke in his dorm, dismissed the dream, and hurried to collect his preordered gaming headset for Star River’s upcoming open beta.
• Three men from the Special Affairs Processing Office arrived with a device pointed at Ding Yu’s room and required him to accompany them for questioning.
• Ding Yu saw an enormous pale-yellow celestial body beside the sun, and the square-faced agent said it had appeared the previous night.
• After more than three hours in a black sedan, Ding Yu arrived at an unfamiliar place and was startled by what he saw.

Ding Yu and other young people learned that their shared dreams linked them to the other world associated with Saitan, then entered Zero-Type sleeping pods to investigate its supernatural powers. An unknown energy made Saitan disappear and wrecked most of the pods, leaving only three operational as Taiyuan began rebuilding its damaged subsystem.

• Ding Yu followed armed soldiers into an underground base, where Dr. Chen explained that Saitan was a passage to another world and that the invited students had dreamed of people there.
• Dr. Chen told the students that their shared birth date and location made them uniquely able to connect with Saitan, and that they should investigate supernatural powers in the other world.
• After tests reduced the group to about thirty candidates, the students received training and prepared to enter the other world through Zero-Type sleeping pods.
• Ding Yu noticed a girl named Xu Ting beside a neighboring pod, then fell asleep after Dr. Chen repeated the mission's risks and instructions.
• Unknown energy penetrated the base's defenses and damaged most sleeping pods; Dr. Chen and General Xu learned that Saitan had disappeared, while Taiyuan began reconstructing its lost subsystem.

Ding Yu awoke in the body of Wang Tiezhu, a poor village boy, and tried to understand his new life and the failed Taiyuan Auxiliary System. He learned that Yellowstone City was preparing to call up spirit labor, and his grandfather planned to send him to White Cloud Abbey to keep him from being conscripted.

• Ding Yu woke in Wang Tiezhu's body, collapsed after his mother embraced him, and later recovered enough to speak with his family.
• Ding Yu learned fragments of Wang Tiezhu's memories and discovered that his family lived in poverty in Wang Family Village near Yellowstone City.
• Wang Kui gave Ding Yu a wild fruit, and Ding Yu resolved to gather information about the unfamiliar world without losing his sense of self.
• Ding Yu ate black pea porridge with Wang Kui and Wang Dagang while worrying that his mother had not returned from her grandfather's home.
• Ding Yu's mother returned with his grandfather, who revealed that Yellowstone City would soon call up males over ten for spirit labor.
• Ding Yu's grandfather said he would send him to White Cloud Abbey to avoid spirit labor, while Wang Kui planned to serve alongside Wang Dagang.

Ding Yu avoided spirit labor by joining White Cloud Abbey, where Daoist Chongyun registered him under the new name Wang Yu and the Daoist name Autumn Leaf. As Dongyue showed him around, Wang Yu discovered the Abbey Master’s remarkable martial strength and learned that a sealed, talisman-covered building held an unexplained secret.

• Ding Yu’s grandfather left him at White Cloud Abbey, where Daoist Chongyun agreed to take him in as a novice in return for a favor.
• Daoist Chongyun entered Autumn Leaf and Wang Yu in the abbey register, warning Wang Yu to conceal his original identity to avoid being taken for spirit labor.
• Dongyue showed Wang Yu the abbey, explained its residents and rules, and said that the absent senior disciple Qingfeng was away performing rituals.
• Dongyue demonstrated the heavy Vajra Staff Technique and showed Wang Yu a deep palm print Daoist Chongyun had left in a stone weight.
• Dongyue told Wang Yu that a locked stone building was sealed with talismans, that Qingfeng had entered it, and that approaching it would reveal something strange.

Wang Yu discovered that he could see the mysterious Cloud Pattern in the White Cloud Scripture, and Daoist Chongyun told him this meant he had Spiritual Perception. The next morning, Dongyue brought him to the abbey’s martial arts lesson, where Daoist Chongyun invited Wang Yu to choose what he wanted to learn.

• Wang Yu touched the freezing stone hut, then received the White Cloud Scripture from Daoist Chongyun and began studying it.
• Wang Yu saw the shifting Cloud Pattern on the scripture’s final page, and Daoist Chongyun explained that only people with Spiritual Perception could see it.
• Daoist Chongyun let Wang Yu keep the scripture and warned him to view the pattern no more than once a day; Wang Yu later wondered whether his adult consciousness had given him Spiritual Perception.
• Dongyue woke Wang Yu and hurried him to the training ground for Daoist Chongyun’s monthly martial arts lesson.
• Dongyue demonstrated the Vajra Staff Technique, but Daoist Chongyun criticized his lack of progress and sent him to practice.
• Daoist Chongyun offered Wang Yu a choice between learning staff techniques, sword techniques, or unarmed combat.

Wang Yu chose to learn the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique after Daoist Chongyun demonstrated its speed and power, but his frail body limited his practice. On the fifth day, Senior Brother Qingfeng arrived with supplies, and Dongyue took Wang Yu to see the nourishing items he had promised.

• Daoist Chongyun judged Wang Yu unsuited to the Iron Refining Hand and Vajra Staff Technique, then demonstrated the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique and taught him its first seven moves.
• Wang Yu struggled to practice because his arm quickly grew sore and his body became exhausted, so Dongyue promised to bring him something nourishing.
• Wang Yu explored the temple hill, collected unfamiliar plants, and asked Dongyue about true qi and internal cultivation, but learned nothing useful.
• On the fifth day, Senior Brother Qingfeng arrived carrying bundles and gave one to Dongyue before going to see Daoist Chongyun.
• Dongyue told Wang Yu he had brought the promised nourishing supplies and led him to his room to show them.

Dongyue gave Wang Yu medicinal beast meat, whose effects drove him to run through the night. Qingfeng then enlisted Wang Yu to help contain a black vapor in a sealed stone room, where the chapter ended with Wang Yu pinning the vapor-filled meat down with a Thunderwood Sword.

• Dongyue gave Wang Yu a piece of medicinal beast meat and advised him to add strips to his porridge.
• After eating the meat, Wang Yu felt feverish and unusually energetic, so he ran laps around the training ground.
• Qingfeng explained how medicinal meat worked, then asked Wang Yu to hold a freezing yellow jar and follow him into the sealed stone room.
• Qingfeng removed the jar’s talisman and fought the black vapor that burst out, driving it into a piece of bloody meat.
• Qingfeng ordered Wang Yu to stab the meat with the Thunderwood Sword, and Wang Yu pinned it down as it writhed and released bluish smoke.

After helping Qingfeng seal a Yin Spirit, Wang Yu was offered lessons in suppressing them and woke the next morning with startling physical changes. Qingfeng suspected Wang Yu had awakened a bloodline power and brought him to Daoist Chongyun, who summoned them into his chamber.

• Wang Yu helped Qingfeng stop a Yin Spirit, learned about spirit talismans and lightning-struck wood, and received a small wooden sword.
• Qingfeng offered to teach Wang Yu methods for suppressing Yin Spirits, and Wang Yu agreed.
• After sleeping, Wang Yu found his strength, size, and height had increased dramatically, and the upper half of his face had turned scarlet.
• Wang Yu demonstrated that he could lift a heavy stone cauldron, convincing Qingfeng that his changes were extraordinary.
• Qingfeng told Daoist Chongyun that Wang Yu appeared to have awakened bloodline power, and Daoist Chongyun summoned them into his chamber.

Daoist Chongyun identified Wang Yu’s partially awakened bloodline as that of the Iron-Eater Crocodile and took him as his second disciple. After explaining the bloodline’s possible abilities, Chongyun removed the needles and left Wang Yu’s bloodline power still only half awakened.

• Daoist Chongyun examined Wang Yu’s blood energy, recognized signs of a partially awakened bloodline, and accepted him as his second disciple.
• Chongyun explained the origins and rarity of bloodlines, then used silver needles and a talisman to draw out Wang Yu’s bloodmark.
• Chongyun compared Wang Yu’s incomplete bloodmark with a Bloodmark Compendium and identified it as the Iron-Eater Crocodile bloodline.
• Wang Yu read about the bloodline’s possible abilities, including Copper Skin and Iron Bones, Stone Armor, Blood Frenzy, and Metal-Dowsing Art.
• Chongyun explained that Wang Yu’s physical strength had increased with the awakening and that he would need to awaken the rest of his bloodline before gaining an innate ability.
• Chongyun removed Wang Yu’s needles, causing the bloodmark to fade as his blood flow returned to normal.

Wang Yu endured the painful yin-energy Spirit Seed implantation, learned the basics of cultivation, and began studying the Yin Water Art. He sensed spiritual energy and drew it toward his dantian in his first cultivation session.

• Daoist Chongyun implanted a Spirit Seed in Wang Yu using freezing yin energy, and Wang Yu endured the pain without losing consciousness.
• Wang Yu returned to his room and fell into an unusually deep sleep, then woke the next morning and examined the slight chill in his abdomen.
• Wang Yu escaped Dongyue’s questions and learned about meridians, divine sense, and sensing spiritual energy from Qingfeng.
• Daoist Chongyun gave Wang Yu Blood-Refining Soup and explained Immortal Cultivators, Spirit Roots, and the stages of cultivation.
• Daoist Chongyun taught Wang Yu the first three levels of the Yin Water Art, and Wang Yu began cultivating by drawing spiritual energy toward his dantian.

Wang Yu cultivated the Yin Water Art and practiced the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique, growing stronger as his bloodline awakened. After a visitor from the Huang Household departed, Daoist Chongyun warned that Wang Yu needed to advance quickly to protect himself and led him away.

• Daoist Chongyun instructed Wang Yu to cultivate the Yin Water Art for an incense stick each day, take Blood-Refining Soup every three days, and stop contemplating the Cloud Pattern.
• Dongyue congratulated Wang Yu on becoming Daoist Chongyun’s disciple and asked him to show his spells once he learned them.
• Wang Yu practiced the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique through the night, gained a basic grasp of its first seven forms, and shattered his wooden sword against a sapling the next morning.
• Over the following days, Wang Yu grew stronger on Blood-Refining Soup, learned the remaining forms of the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique, and heard from Qingfeng that the Yin Water Art had twelve levels.
• A yellow-robed visitor called Martial Uncle Huang offered Daoist Chongyun a wooden box and again urged him to join the Huang Household, but Daoist Chongyun refused.
• Daoist Chongyun found Wang Yu’s Spirit Seed had grown only slightly, said he needed to reach the second level within six months to protect himself, and told him to come along.

Wang Yu learned that purified Yin Spirits could accelerate his Yin Water Art cultivation, but a violent attack on White Cloud Abbey shattered his plans. After Qingfeng’s severed head was thrown through the gate, Wang Yu fled into the mountains and was caught by four masked pursuers, with a bolt lodged in his shoulder.

• The Daoist showed Wang Yu how purified Yin Spirit energy aided the Yin Water Art, gave him a Yin Marrow Bottle, and promised further help if he reached the second level within half a year.
• An Emerald Little Bird arrived at White Cloud Abbey, and Daoist Chongyun left with Qingfeng.
• That night, masked attackers smashed into the abbey and threw Qingfeng’s severed head inside; their White-Clad Youth ordered the remaining disciples killed.
• Wang Yu and Dongyue fled in different directions, and Wang Yu took an iron sword and ran down the mountain.
• A masked pursuer shot Wang Yu in the left shoulder with a crossbow, and four attackers surrounded him.

Wang Yu fought off four masked attackers, but severe blood loss left him helpless before a white-robed young man who demanded Old Daoist Chongyun's treasure. As the young man attacked, the Taiyuan Auxiliary System activated and took control of Wang Yu's body to protect him.

• Wang Yu killed the masked leader with the first form of the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique, then fought the two saber-wielders and killed them with his broken sword and a shoulder charge.
• Wang Yu faced the remaining spearman, who fled, but a Silver Wheel flew from the woods and killed him.
• A white-robed young man emerged and demanded that Wang Yu reveal the whereabouts of Old Daoist Chongyun's treasure, claiming he had killed Senior Brother Qingfeng.
• Wang Yu collapsed from blood loss as the white-robed young man sent his Silver Folding Fan at him.
• The Taiyuan Auxiliary System activated, rolled Wang Yu out of the fan's path, and began controlling his body while suppressing pain and reducing his bleeding.

Wang Yu’s newly activated Taiyuan Auxiliary System took control of his body and helped him kill the young man in white before running out of energy. Daoist Chongyun rescued him and brought him to a hidden cavern, where he revealed that he was dying from poison and prepared to show Wang Yu the contents of a buried bundle.

• The Taiyuan Auxiliary System activated its self-protection and overclocked synchronization modes, loaded a saber technique, and used Wang Yu’s body to kill the young man in white.
• After the system shut down, Wang Yu checked the dead men, treated his wounds, and took the young man’s talismans, armor, fan, and rapier.
• Daoist Chongyun found Wang Yu with a Sky-Dancing Talisman and flew with him to a concealed cavern near a town.
• Daoist Chongyun showed Wang Yu the cavern’s Four Beast Diagram and offered him a place to hide with stored food and nearby water.
• Daoist Chongyun confessed that poison and injuries had left him near death, then uncovered a bundle containing a book, an iron box, a gourd, and a jade pendant.

Daoist Chongyun gave Wang Yu the Clear Spirit Liquid, cultivation notes, and a token before confronting Uncle-Master Huang, who demanded the treasure. Chongyun used a hidden Spirit Sword to kill Huang, then died himself, leaving Wang Yu alone with the gourd and notes.

• Daoist Chongyun explained the Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment Realms and warned Wang Yu not to open the Clear Spirit Gourd before attempting a breakthrough.
• Daoist Chongyun gave Wang Yu his cultivation notes and a Li Household token, then revealed that Uncle-Master Huang had followed them into the cave.
• Uncle-Master Huang admitted that the Huang Household had sided with Chongyun's enemy and demanded the Clear Spirit Liquid in exchange for Wang Yu's life.
• Daoist Chongyun opened an iron box and pretended it held a Spirit Sword, causing Uncle-Master Huang to flee before returning with a Golden Light Talisman and shield.
• Daoist Chongyun unleashed Shadow-Splitting Sword Light from a battered sheath and killed Uncle-Master Huang, but then died from his injuries.

After burying Daoist Chongyun, Wang Yu studied the Black Leather Booklet and learned about cultivation, the Yellowstone City region, and his master's final wishes. He examined the objects left behind and discovered several unusual properties, but the gray bag remained a mystery.

• Wang Yu buried Daoist Chongyun in a flowered meadow and recalled that his master's notes directed his disciple to seek the Li Household, though Wang Yu doubted he could travel there.
• Wang Yu read the Black Leather Booklet and learned about cultivation stages, spirit veins, the Huang Household's control of the local spirit vein, and the Hundred Treasures Pavilion's tower ship on the Redwater River.
• Wang Yu studied the booklet's records of spirit inscriptions, the Yin Water Art, medicinal formulas, and Daoist Chongyun's concerns about the Huang Household and his wish for his disciple to join the Li Household.
• Wang Yu discovered that the jade pendant repelled dust and that the damaged iron shield was made of exceptionally durable material.
• Wang Yu tested the emerald-green gourd and found liquid inside, then put on the fire- and blade-resistant glove and considered practicing bare-handed blade snatching.
• Wang Yu picked up the ordinary-looking gray bag and found it puzzling.

Wang Yu activated overclocked synchronization mode and discovered it greatly enhanced his senses, analysis, and control of his body. He used the mode to reproduce the Draw-Cutting Art, but it left him mentally exhausted, and he realized its enhanced techniques were difficult to perform outside synchronization.

• Wang Yu examined the Yellowstone City Lord's Storage Bag but could not open it because he lacked dharma power.
• Wang Yu activated overclocked synchronization mode and found that it sharpened his senses and boosted his analytical abilities and physical control.
• Wang Yu lifted and threw a massive boulder, then tested the mode's limits and learned it could not access the system's database or issue commands like the automatic protection mechanism.
• Wang Yu used the muscle memory left by the automatic protection mechanism to practice the Draw-Cutting Art, eventually splitting a small tree with a powerful strike.
• Wang Yu exited overclocked synchronization after Taiyuan warned him that his mental strength was nearly depleted, and he recovered from exhaustion and a nosebleed.
• Wang Yu found that his overclocked Draw-Cutting Art was difficult to reproduce outside the mode and wondered whether the Wind-Splitting Sword Technique could be similarly enhanced.

Wang Yu deduced and began practicing the Four Beast Diagram, but after waiting in the cavern for thirteen days without returning to Blue Star, he realized time flowed very differently between the worlds. He decided to leave the Yellowstone City region and seek a safer place to survive until he could return.

• Wang Yu used overclock synchronization to decipher the Wolf-Running Diagram into four cultivation postures.
• Wang Yu practiced the Wolf-Running forms, felt his strength and stamina improve, and deduced the remaining Tiger Pounce, Bear Embrace, and Ape Roar forms.
• Wang Yu waited in the sealed cavern for nearly half a month, but his consciousness did not return to Blue Star.
• Wang Yu concluded that time flowed at vastly different rates between the worlds and resolved to stay alive until he could return.
• Wang Yu treated his wound with overclock synchronization, gathered his belongings, concealed his tracks, and headed toward a nearby large town.

Wang Yu entered Yellowstone City in disguise and bought a passage ticket to the Wu Kingdom from the Hundred Treasures Pavilion. He also traded for spell-learning objects and left with a month to wait before the Magical Ship arrived.

• Wang Yu reached Yellowstone City with Uncle Zhao, entered under a false hometown, and found the city calm despite the Yellowstone City lord's death.
• Wang Yu checked the city for signs of trouble, then visited the Hundred Treasures Pavilion and purchased a Magical Ship ticket using three Lightness Talismans.
• Wang Yu bought a red beast hide bearing the Firefly spell patterns and received an introductory spell book after trading away Daoist Chongyun's iron box for fourteen spirit stones.
• The shopkeeper warned Wang Yu that the spell patterns would fade within a year, and Wang Yu left while privately cursing the crooked merchant.

Wang Yu studied spirit stones and spell markings, then planned how to strengthen himself before his departure. After failing to activate the Silver Folding Fan with his limited dharma power, he left the inn to seek ingredients for Blood-Refining Soup.

• Wang Yu discovered that a spirit stone greatly accelerated his Yin Water Art cultivation, though it lost much of its energy after one session.
• Wang Yu read Introduction to Spells and learned how spell spirit markings were comprehended and visualized as spell marks.
• Wang Yu used Overclock to analyze one marking for the Firefly Spell, then planned to focus on cultivation, body tempering, martial techniques, and equipment.
• Wang Yu tried channeling his dharma power into the Silver Folding Fan, but it stopped glowing before activating and exhausted his power.
• Wang Yu memorized the three recipes in the Black Leather Booklet, put on his cloak, and left the inn.