Chapter Summaries

He Pingsheng began life as a water-hauling menial disciple on Bamboo Peak, hoping that proximity to cultivators might someday give him a chance to pursue immortality. After making several trips to the spring, he found a battered basin at the bottom of the pool and decided to take it back.

• Boss Zhang assigned fourteen-year-old He Pingsheng to haul water for Bamboo Peak and warned him to show the cultivators respect.
• He Pingsheng recalled that his five-element spiritual root had prevented him from entering the outer sect, and that Jiang Jian had recommended him for menial work.
• Han the Third showed He Pingsheng the water vats, his bare room, and the path to the spring.
• He Pingsheng tested the route and found that carrying enough water for the peak would take many exhausting trips.
• On his fifth trip to the spring, He Pingsheng spotted a battered earthenware basin in the pool and decided to bring it back.

He Pingsheng struggled through his water-carrying quota and discovered that the basin of water he had left overnight had turned emerald green. Boss Zhang brought him spirit rice to help him meet the next day's quota, but He Pingsheng suspected that Boss Zhang had kept half of it.

• He Pingsheng found that the water in his basin had turned emerald green and poured it out, thinking it had spoiled.
• He Pingsheng made fifteen trips carrying water and worried that he could not complete the twenty-trip quota the next day.
• Boss Zhang visited He Pingsheng and gave him spirit rice, claiming he was allotted ten jin each month because of his heavy work.
• He Pingsheng recognized the rice as low-grade spirit rice and suspected Boss Zhang had skimmed half of his share.

He Pingsheng discovered that half a basin of ordinary Spirit Rice had turned into a full basin of golden supreme-grade Spirit Rice, and eating it raw gave him remarkable strength. He concealed the rice and deliberately slowed his work to avoid attracting Boss Zhang’s suspicion.

• He Pingsheng woke to find a full basin of golden supreme-grade Spirit Rice in his locked room, though he had left only half a basin of ordinary rice there.
• He Pingsheng hid the rice beneath his bed, ate breakfast, and then swallowed a handful of the golden rice raw rather than risk its cooking smell exposing him.
• He Pingsheng felt renewed strength after eating the rice and hid the rest inside a trouser leg to disguise it as a pillow.
• He Pingsheng carried water to the dining hall’s vat far faster than usual, then realized his speed could make Boss Zhang suspicious.
• He Pingsheng deliberately dragged out his work and finished his twenty water-carrying trips long after nightfall.

He Pingsheng was accused of fouling Bamboo Peak’s spring after its water tasted worse, and Boss Zhang beat him while the pink-robed woman threatened to kill him. The blue-robed woman stopped the accusation and led everyone to Mountain Spring to investigate what had changed.

• He Pingsheng arrived at the dining hall and found a crowd gathered around Boss Zhang and a furious woman in pink robes.
• The woman in pink accused He Pingsheng of contaminating the spring, but he denied bathing in it.
• Boss Zhang knocked He Pingsheng down and beat him, then promised to kill him and replace him.
• A woman in blue robes arrived, stopped the woman in pink, and argued that bathing in the spring likely had not changed the water’s taste.
• The woman in blue led the two women, He Pingsheng, and the others to Mountain Spring to investigate.

He Pingsheng was cleared of responsibility for the changed mountain spring water and received two Golden Bone Pills as compensation. Boss Zhang then used his supposed rescue of He Pingsheng to claim one pill and the porcelain bottle, leaving He Pingsheng with only a promise of easier work.

• Boss Zhang filled a bucket from the spring, and the women in green and pink tasted the water and suspected the problem lay upstream.
• The woman in green used an Immortal Art to draw water from the waterfall, confirmed its taste had changed, and dismissed He Pingsheng’s blame.
• The woman in green gave He Pingsheng two Golden Bone Pills and apologized for her junior sister’s accusation.
• After the women left, Boss Zhang claimed he had saved He Pingsheng’s life and demanded a pill in return.
• He Pingsheng handed Boss Zhang the porcelain bottle and one pill after Boss Zhang promised him easier work, and Boss Zhang explained the pill markings.

He Pingsheng hid the Golden Bone Pill in his earthenware basin and was reassigned to clean Bamboo Peak's pill-refining room. When he checked the basin before moving, he found it had doubled the pill and raised its quality, leading him to suspect it was a treasure-gathering basin.

• He Pingsheng hid the Golden Bone Pill in his earthenware basin rather than use it to heal his injuries.
• He Pingsheng ate Spirit Rice and found his injuries had improved by the next morning.
• Boss Zhang assigned He Pingsheng to clean Bamboo Peak's pill-refining room and move into its servants' quarters.
• He Pingsheng found two pills in the basin where he had stored one.
• He Pingsheng noticed the pill had four markings, more than the grades he knew, and guessed the basin was a treasure-gathering basin.

He Pingsheng discovered that the Treasure-Gathering Basin had once improved Mountain Spring water and used a four-mark Golden Bone Pill to heal his injuries. After disposing of his golden Spirit Rice, he reported to the Alchemy Hall on Bamboo Peak and learned his new duties.

• He Pingsheng realized the Treasure-Gathering Basin had made the spring water crisp and sweet, then swallowed a four-mark Golden Bone Pill and recovered from his injuries.
• He Pingsheng hid his clothes and belongings in the basin and dumped all his golden Spirit Rice into a latrine drain before moving.
• He Pingsheng arrived at the Alchemy Hall, where Senior Brother Hao inspected his belongings and assigned him a room.
• Senior Brother Hao showed He Pingsheng the Alchemy Hall's furnace and told him to clean furnace ash and chop firewood carefully.

He Pingsheng learned his firewood duties from Senior Brother Hao Yun and discovered that moonlight caused his Treasure-Gathering Basin to fill with mysterious green water. He dumped the water to hide the basin’s powers and planned to test it later.

• Hao Yun taught He Pingsheng about firewood and sent him up the mountain to gather and prepare it.
• He Pingsheng watched his Golden Bone Pill overnight but found that neither it nor the basin had changed.
• Hao Yun told He Pingsheng that Martial Uncle Yuxuan would arrive in five days to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, so He Pingsheng gathered chestnut firewood.
• He Pingsheng filled the basin with water and saw moonlight gather into it, turning the water green and filling the basin by morning.
• He Pingsheng poured the green water onto the floor to conceal the basin’s power and considered testing the water on a squirrel.

He Pingsheng discovered that the Treasure-Gathering Basin could duplicate and improve an ordinary axe, then tested its limits. He met Senior Uncle Yuxuan as the elder arrived to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, and he coveted the Storage Bag that could hide his growing collection of enhanced objects.

• He Pingsheng placed an ordinary axe head in the Treasure-Gathering Basin and found two sharper, improved axe heads the next morning.
• He Pingsheng tested the enhanced axe and split a hard jujube-wood log with one stroke.
• After several days of experiments, He Pingsheng concluded that the basin could enhance and double objects, but could not enhance the same object twice.
• Hao Yun had He Pingsheng prepare the Alchemy Hall and kneel with him while they waited for Senior Uncle Yuxuan.
• Senior Uncle Yuxuan arrived by flying sword, dismissed their kneeling, and put his sword away in a Storage Bag.
• He Pingsheng envied Senior Uncle Yuxuan's Storage Bag because he needed a place to hide the basin and its enhanced objects.

He Pingsheng accompanied Hao Yun as Martial Uncle Yuxuan attempted to refine Foundation Establishment Pills, and Yuxuan questioned him about his spiritual root and parents. The Alchemy Furnace exploded, but Yuxuan took responsibility and left, telling them to clean up.

• Martial Uncle Yuxuan asked He Pingsheng about his five-element spiritual root and learned that his father was He Sanjie, then warned him not to tell others about their relationship.
• Yuxuan brought He Pingsheng and Hao Yun into the alchemy chamber, where Hao Yun prepared the fire and Yuxuan began refining Foundation Establishment Pills.
• As Yuxuan fused the ingredients, the Alchemy Furnace exploded and its energy wave knocked He Pingsheng to the floor.
• Yuxuan said the failure was his fault and blamed the Heavenly Spirit Fruit's quality, then left the chamber.
• Hao Yun reassured He Pingsheng that Yuxuan had a good temper and ordered him to clean the furnace and floor.

He Pingsheng cleaned up after an alchemy mishap, learned that Hao Yun knew no cultivation spells and refused to help him find a manual, and tested the Treasure-Gathering Basin’s water on a squirrel. When Linglong arrived to refine Qi-Gathering Pills, she recognized He Pingsheng and questioned how he had ended up working at the Alchemy Hall.

• He Pingsheng cleaned the Alchemy Hall and dumped the furnace and pill ash over a cliff.
• He Pingsheng asked Hao Yun about cultivation spells and manuals, but Hao Yun said he had reached only the second level of Qi Refining and mocked He Pingsheng’s chances of cultivating.
• He Pingsheng fed a mouthful of green water from the Treasure-Gathering Basin to a squirrel, watched it for two days, and released it after seeing no unusual effects.
• Hao Yun rushed to fetch He Pingsheng because Linglong was coming to refine Qi-Gathering Pills and might punish them if the attempt failed.
• Linglong recognized He Pingsheng and accused him of giving her sister’s pills to Boss Zhang to get an easier job, and He Pingsheng admitted it.

Linglong attempted to refine Qi-Gathering Pills at the Alchemy Hall, but her batch failed and her companions beat Hao Yun. He Pingsheng returned to find Hao Yun injured and realized the older disciple had sent him away to spare him from the beating.

• Linglong demanded that Hao Yun guarantee her pill refinement would succeed, then threatened to hold him and He Pingsheng responsible if it failed.
• Hao Yun and He Pingsheng prepared the furnace while Linglong added ingredients, but Hao Yun sent He Pingsheng out to find jujube wood logs.
• He Pingsheng searched for an hour and returned to find the Alchemy Hall silent, Linglong and her companions gone, and Hao Yun injured on the floor.
• Hao Yun explained that Linglong's lackey had broken several of his ribs and asked He Pingsheng to care for him while he recovered.
• He Pingsheng thanked Hao Yun and understood that Hao Yun had sent him away to protect him from the beating.

He Pingsheng used the Treasure-Gathering Basin to enhance Hao Yun’s ruined pills into twenty-four supreme-grade Qi-Gathering Pills, then buried them to hide their powerful fragrance. Before he could give Hao Yun his remaining Golden Bone Pill, an elderly Daoist arrived to refine pills.

• Hao Yun assigned He Pingsheng to clean the Alchemy Hall and prepare to learn how to control heat while refining pills.
• He Pingsheng rescued twelve ruined pills from the rubbish and put them into the Treasure-Gathering Basin, then debated how to explain giving Hao Yun his remaining Golden Bone Pill.
• Overnight, the basin turned the ruined pills into twenty-four supreme-grade Qi-Gathering Pills whose strong fragrance worried He Pingsheng.
• He Pingsheng buried the pills beneath his floor to conceal their scent, and Hao Yun noticed the fragrance before it disappeared.
• Just as He Pingsheng prepared to give Hao Yun the Golden Bone Pill, an elderly Daoist arrived looking for Hao Yun and announced he had come to refine pills.

He Pingsheng told True Person Chongyang that Linglong had beaten Hao Yun, prompting the patriarch to leave and confront the matter. Hao Yun feared retaliation, but He Pingsheng gave him a supreme-grade Golden Bone Pill; the chapter left Linglong and two accomplices kneeling in the Teleportation Plaza to reflect on their wrongs.

• He Pingsheng told True Person Chongyang that Hao Yun was bedridden after Linglong beat him when her pill refinement failed.
• True Person Chongyang flew off in anger, while Hao Yun warned He Pingsheng that Linglong and Jade Virtue might retaliate against him.
• He Pingsheng gave Hao Yun a supreme-grade Golden Bone Pill, claiming his late parents had left it to him.
• Hao Yun swallowed the pill and felt his injuries beginning to heal.
• Linglong and the two disciples who helped beat Hao Yun were sentenced to kneel in the Teleportation Plaza for three days and reflect on their wrongs.

Hao Yun recovered from his injuries with He Pingsheng’s supreme-grade Golden Bone Pill and explained why people with more spiritual roots cultivated more slowly. He gave He Pingsheng a basic breathing and qi-guiding manual to memorize for seven days, leaving He Pingsheng to study it in private.

• Hao Yun told He Pingsheng that the supreme-grade Golden Bone Pill had healed him quickly and that Linglong and the other two disciples had been ordered to reflect at the Teleportation Plaza for three days.
• Hao Yun used a bowl and fruit to explain that cultivators with multiple spiritual roots absorbed spiritual energy more slowly because they could only refine one root at a time.
• He Pingsheng privately renewed his confidence, believing his Treasure-Gathering Basin and supreme-grade pills could overcome the disadvantage of his five-element spiritual root.
• Hao Yun gave He Pingsheng a Basic Breathing and Qi-Guiding Method to memorize for seven days, warning that only its first three levels were likely correct.
• He Pingsheng returned to his bedroom, shut the door, and began studying the manual.

He Pingsheng studied the Basic Breathing and Qi-Guiding Method and developed qi sense after three days, then learned how slowly Hao Yun and other cultivators with poor talent advanced. Hao Yun warned him not to cultivate and gave him a porcelain bottle, leaving He Pingsheng suspicious that it might be a test.

• He Pingsheng read the Basic Breathing and Qi-Guiding Method and began practicing the Qi-Guiding Method to find his qi sense.
• Hao Yun found He Pingsheng practicing, then chopped the firewood himself so He Pingsheng could keep searching for qi sense.
• After three days, He Pingsheng sensed spiritual qi and told Hao Yun he had found his qi sense.
• Hao Yun said he had found his qi sense in one day, described how long cultivation had taken him, and advised He Pingsheng not to cultivate.
• Hao Yun gave He Pingsheng a porcelain bottle to hide valuable items, and He Pingsheng suspected it was a test and decided not to put anything inside.

He Pingsheng studied the alchemy formulas, practiced drawing in spiritual energy, and used the Treasure-Gathering Basin to turn a porcelain bottle into two jade bottles. The next morning, he found Hao Yun had not returned from visiting True Person Jade Virtue and grew uneasy.

• Hao Yun gave He Pingsheng the Thirty-Six Alchemy Formulas and told him to memorize the heat control for tending the alchemy fires.
• A disciple of True Person Jade Virtue summoned Hao Yun to the Virtue-Honoring Garden, and Hao Yun left He Pingsheng in charge of the Alchemy Hall.
• He Pingsheng practiced the Basic Breathing and Qi-Guiding Method for four hours but failed to draw spiritual energy into his body.
• He Pingsheng placed Hao Yun's porcelain bottle in the Treasure-Gathering Basin, which produced two bottles resembling mutton-fat jade.
• He Pingsheng found Hao Yun's room empty the next morning and worried that something had happened to him.

He Pingsheng hid the pills and books beneath his bed before Jade Virtue questioned him about the Supreme Golden Bone Pill. Jade Virtue revealed that Hao Yun was dead, left his corpse with He Pingsheng, and ordered him to bury it in the outer sect; He Pingsheng then shut the courtyard and rooms and went to his bedroom.

• Worried by Hao Yun’s absence, He Pingsheng sealed the pills in jade bottles and hid them with the books beneath his bed.
• Jade Virtue arrived and asked He Pingsheng whether he had given Hao Yun a Supreme Golden Bone Pill.
• He Pingsheng claimed he had received two ordinary Golden Bone Pills, eaten one, and lost the other when Boss Zhang took it.
• Jade Virtue said Linglong had accidentally killed Hao Yun and declared the matter settled by the Grand Ancestor’s judgment.
• Jade Virtue showed He Pingsheng Hao Yun’s seven-wound corpse and ordered him to bury it outside the inner grounds.
• He Pingsheng closed the courtyard and Hao Yun’s room, then returned to his own bedroom.

He Pingsheng hid his pills and books inside Hao Yun’s corpse so he could get them past the sect’s search, then buried Hao Yun outside Bamboo Peak. He left the Pill Hall with his few belongings, vowing to avenge Hao Yun once he became strong enough.

• He Pingsheng stitched his jade bottles and books inside Hao Yun’s wounds, then carried Hao Yun down the mountain after telling Boss Zhang he could no longer work for the Pill Hall.
• At the Teleportation Plaza, Linglong cursed at He Pingsheng, and the array guard searched both him and Hao Yun before directing him down the mountain path.
• He Pingsheng buried Hao Yun by the water and hid the bottles and books nearby, then buried two axes and praised the Treasure-Gathering Basin’s power.
• He Pingsheng returned to the Alchemy Hall for the night, said goodbye to Boss Zhang the next morning, and left with his clothes and shoes in a clay basin.
• Linglong spat on He Pingsheng and cursed him as he passed, and he left while promising himself he would kill her to avenge Hao Yun.

After leaving Bamboo Peak, He Pingsheng returned to his family home in the Great Void Sect’s outer sect and learned that his parents had left him a large store of contribution points. He recovered hidden items from Hao Yun’s grave and began practicing the Basic Breathing and Qi-Guiding Method at home.

• He Pingsheng descended Bamboo Peak and returned to the courtyard where he had grown up.
• He visited the Outer Sect Hall, where a disciple checked his card and found 1,686 contribution points left by his parents.
• He Pingsheng bought daily necessities and returned to his courtyard.
• He dug up two axes, two porcelain bottles, and two books buried near Hao Yun’s grave, then reburied the jade bottles at home.
• He Pingsheng stayed home to practice the Basic Breathing and Qi-Guiding Method, hoping to complete a circulation and reach the first level of the qi refining stage.