Chapter Summaries

Wang Quan refined three kinds of thunderfire seeds and learned from Qian Xiuyue that no clash had occurred between the Old Cultivation Method and the New Method. He entered the newly expanded Second-Layer World and was urged to choose the next building to clear.

• Wang Quan refined Great Yin Yin Thunder, Cold-Ice Yin Thunder, and Illusory Moon Yin Thunder, exhausting his Green Beetles in the process.
• Qian Xiuyue returned and told Wang Quan that a new building had appeared at the Drowning Dao Lower Court outpost, making the Second-Layer World safer for Yin Spirits.
• Qian Xiuyue explained that the Old Cultivation Method and the New Method had not clashed, and said her relationship with Zhao Hongyi had only partly improved.
• Wang Quan entered the crowded Second-Layer World and visited the Scripture Repository, where cultivators praised his People-Crossing Scripture.
• The cultivators asked Wang Quan to choose which building they would clear next, saying his scripture and work on the third building made him the most qualified.

Wang Quan and a physical-body cultivator investigated the Cafeteria, where its ghostly gatekeepers barred entry and attacked them. Wang Quan used the People-Crossing Scripture to torment one gatekeeper until it died, leaving the Cafeteria’s interior unexplored.

• Wang Quan chose the Cafeteria as the next building to investigate, and a scout reported that its powerful evil entities forced Yin Spirits to eat or be slaughtered.
• Wang Quan and a physical-body cultivator went to the Cafeteria, where its ghost-faced doors demanded Green Beetles and refused to let Wang Quan enter.
• The physical-body cultivator’s fierce flame and a Yin Spirit’s yin fire failed to harm the gatekeeper, which mocked them and accused Wang Quan of killing the general.
• Wang Quan recited the People-Crossing Scripture repeatedly, binding and beating the right-door ghost face until it agreed to open the door.
• Wang Quan repeatedly shut the door after the gatekeeper opened it, and the gatekeeper cursed him before dying.

Wang Quan and the cultivator who had descended in his true body entered a cafeteria full of powerful Evil dishes and began crossing them over with the People-Crossing Scripture. After Wang Quan eliminated the cafeteria’s roast chicken, a fat humanoid Evil arrived and challenged his claims about helping the dead.

• Wang Quan crossed over the ghost face guarding the cafeteria door, then entered with the other cultivator while the Yin Spirits were left outside.
• Wang Quan used Great Yin Yin Thunder to blast the Evil dishes and, with the cultivator’s help, restrained and crossed over a roast chicken.
• Wang Quan decided to clear the cafeteria despite the Evils’ strength, believing the Second-Layer World would grant greater rewards.
• A fat humanoid Evil arrived carrying an iron wok and ladle, and the cultivator warned Wang Quan that it was as strong as the Great Tomb general.
• Wang Quan claimed that the Great Tomb general had willingly asked to be crossed over and urged the fat man to accept his help.
• The fat man said only he and the Great Tomb general retained memories of their lives, while the other beings had none.

Wang Quan and a cultivator discovered that the Cafeteria became far more dangerous when Wang Quan entered, so they coordinated an effort to cleanse it from inside and out. After earning fifty points of yin virtue, Wang Quan resumed his cultivation and planned to test the Yang Qi Furnace spell after daybreak.

• The Cafeteria's evil delicacies attacked Wang Quan and the cultivator, forcing them to retreat before they were overwhelmed.
• Wang Quan proposed cleansing the Cafeteria's exterior by reciting scripture over its doors, windows, and pillars while the cultivator weakened its evil beings from within.
• Wang Quan bound a Malformed Great Dragon on a pillar with the People-Crossing Scripture, while the cultivator found the Cafeteria was weaker when Wang Quan was not inside.
• Cultivators carved Daoist Scriptures into the Cafeteria's doors and pillars and reinforced them with Dharma Power as attacks from within dimmed their light.
• Wang Quan returned to his body with fifty points of yin virtue, practiced the Moon-Gathering Cultivation Method, and planned to try the Yang Qi Furnace spell after daybreak.

Wang Quan rented a hundred pairs of kidneys to accelerate his cultivation of the [Yang Qi Furnace] spell. After attaching them with [Parting Chaos], he began weaving furnaces around each pair, leaving Qian Xiuyue and the spirit monsters shocked and suspicious.

• Wang Quan stored his gathered purple qi for later use and asked the Round-Faced Daoist Nun to rent him kidneys.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun arranged delivery of a hundred pairs of ordinary kidneys, and Wang Quan began practicing the [Yang Qi Furnace] spell on his own kidneys.
• A Red-Crowned Crane delivered the kidneys and collected a thousand Green Fly Coins for the delivery.
• Qian Xiuyue and the spirit monsters teased Wang Quan, who insisted he was practicing a spell.
• Wang Quan enlarged the delivery jar, attached the hundred pairs of kidneys with [Parting Chaos], and wove furnaces around them.

Wang Quan found that [Yang Qi Furnace] steadily strengthened his body when he merged it with rented kidneys, so he sold a strand of [Bright Moon Mana] and ordered at least a thousand pairs each day. The Round-Faced Daoist Nun discovered that the kidneys he returned were unusually healthy, leaving her and the Thin-Waisted Daoist wondering whether Wang Quan had even used them.

• Wang Quan tested [Yang Qi Furnace] with the rented kidneys and felt it steadily strengthen his organs and tissues.
• Wang Quan decided to keep cultivating the spell and asked the Round-Faced Daoist Nun to sell a strand of [Bright Moon Mana] and supply at least a thousand pairs of kidneys daily.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun recruited kidney suppliers, while the Thin-Waisted Daoist initially resisted supplying all his stock to Wang Quan.
• The Red-Crowned Crane delivered Wang Quan's returned kidneys and his stored strand of [Bright Moon Mana] to the Miscellaneous Goods Hall.
• The Thin-Waisted Daoist inspected the kidneys and found them healthy and ready to use again, prompting the Round-Faced Daoist Nun to wonder whether Wang Quan had used them at all.

Wang Quan expanded his kidney rental operation to ten thousand pairs while the Round-Faced Daoist Nun negotiated supplies and discussed buying or cultivating kidneys. Meanwhile, Qian Xiuyue’s Manor was completed, and she invited Wang Quan to a banquet where he could meet other cultivators.

• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun negotiated lower rental prices, and Wang Quan agreed to rent a thousand pairs of kidneys for at least ten days.
• Wang Quan increased his rentals until ten thousand pairs of kidneys reached his attachment limit, then asked the Round-Faced Daoist Nun to watch for cheap kidneys to buy.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun asked whether Wang Quan would sell his kidney-preserving spell, but he directed interested cultivators to the Drowning Dao Lower Court’s transmission halls.
• Qian Xiuyue’s Manor was completed after the conflict between the New Method and the Old Cultivation Method eased and Qian Xiuyue and Zhao Hongyi agreed to cooperate.
• Qian Xiuyue invited Wang Quan to a banquet, explaining that cultivators from the Lower Court would attend and could help one another.

Wang Quan strengthened his body with [Yang Qi Furnace], ended his kidney rental arrangement, and agreed to ask Qian Xiuyue about positions at Seven Maidens Mountain Manor. At the lavish banquet, he encountered Wu Yong but refused to join him at the table, choosing to enjoy the festivities alone.

• Wang Quan expanded [Yang Qi Furnace] across his body and concluded that buying kidneys would be more cost-effective than renting them or purchasing spirit herbs.
• Wang Quan told the Round-Faced Daoist Nun he no longer needed to rent kidneys, and she arranged for the Red-Crowned Crane to collect ten thousand pairs.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun asked Wang Quan to seek positions at Seven Maidens Mountain Manor for young people from her lineage, and he agreed to ask Qian Xiuyue.
• Cultivators and spirit monsters arrived at Seven Maidens Mountain for the banquet, where Wang Quan watched the elaborate performances and feasts from a quiet corner.
• Wu Yong questioned why Wang Quan had no seat and invited him to join the middle-tier table, but Wang Quan declined so he could enjoy the banquet on his own.

Wang Quan attended the Star Alliance’s opening banquet but remained distant from its revelry, while Qian Xiuyue challenged Wu Yong’s assumptions about him. After arranging places for ten people from Wang Quan’s friend’s lineage, Wang Quan entered the second-layer world to continue cleansing the cafeteria carvings as the retreat activated its vast star array.

• Wu Yong complained that Wang Quan had refused his banquet invitation, and Qian Xiuyue told him that his arrogance about choosing Wang Quan’s cultivation method had caused the distance between them.
• Wu Yong searched the banquet and found Wang Quan among the upper-tier guests, where Wang Quan drank quietly amid the festivities.
• Qian Xiuyue agreed that Wang Quan’s friend could send ten people to the retreat, without preferential treatment for them.
• Wang Quan told Qian Xiuyue he would enter the second-layer world rather than cultivate that night, and she warned him that doing so cost him cultivation time.
• The Seven Maidens Mountain Retreat raised 365 banners to activate the All-Heaven Starry Array, drawing starlight from surrounding mountains.
• Wang Quan continued cleansing carvings in the second-layer world, finding that permanent cleansing took more recitations but yielded greater rewards.

Wang Quan steadily studied the Daoist Scriptures and cultivated while handling work in the Second-Layer World, bringing his Yin Spirit close to the Yang Spirit realm. He explained the value of scripture study to Ying Jiaren and her companion, then left the boy yearning for the lavish life of cultivators’ Manors.

• Wang Quan returned to the Scripture Repository, passed another volume’s examination, and told Ying Jiaren and her companion that the Daoist Scriptures were important.
• Wang Quan told the Round-Faced Daoist Nun about Qian Xiuyue’s agreement and declined her offer to take him to Fairy Qin.
• Wang Quan spent the following weeks studying scriptures, gathering qi, refining Dharma Power, clearing evil, and helping the Officiant Daoist Nun and Dream Nun with ceremonies.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun and Dream Nun told Wang Quan they had paid over five hundred thousand Green Beetles to escape the Blissful Union House, and asked him to help settle the score someday.
• Wang Quan checked his First-Rank Dao Seal and found that his Yin Spirit was nearing the Yang Spirit realm, but he decided to wait before seeking Heavenly Opportunity.
• Ying Jiaren and her companion asked Wang Quan about cultivators’ Manors, and he confirmed that their banquets were even more lavish than they had heard.

Wang Quan’s Dharma Power grew beyond four hundred strands, and he began refining his Yin Spirit while continuing to handle the booming funeral business. During a funeral procession in the winter snow, his gathered sunlight suddenly weakened, and a rooster spirit monster warned him that an anomaly had appeared.

• Ying Jiaren persuaded the youth to keep studying the Daoist Scriptures instead of rushing into action.
• Wang Quan’s Dharma Power exceeded four hundred strands, while the Officiant Daoist Nun explained that many New-Method Cultivators died from backlash after dismantling Fundamental Methods.
• By December, Wang Quan had more than five hundred strands of Dharma Power and decided to begin refining his Yin Spirit into a Yang Spirit.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun persuaded Wang Quan to keep attending funerals because the work paid well and cultivators were booking burials to avoid becoming anomalies.
• Wang Quan gathered gentle sunlight to refine his Yin Spirit during a funeral procession, but the sunlight abruptly dwindled and a rooster spirit monster warned him of an anomaly.

Wang Quan's funeral procession encountered an anomaly who demanded the coffin, but he defeated her and destroyed her remains before continuing to the Drowning Dao Lower Court. New-Method Cultivators later found that his iron-hooped burial mound was difficult to turn into an anomaly.

• Wang Quan refused to hand over the coffin to the anomaly who recognized him as the Daoist who had buried her, and his spirit monsters attacked her procession.
• The anomaly fled as black smoke, but Wang Quan froze and shattered her with Yin Lightning.
• Wang Quan buried the coffin, reinforced the mound with iron hoops, then went to the anomaly's grave and had her remains ground to bone meal and destroyed.
• New-Method Cultivators arrived and complained that the anomaly had been destroyed before they could use her.
• The cultivators found Wang Quan's iron-hooped mound and learned that undoing its protections required deciphering scriptures they could not afford to have read.

With funeral work drying up, Wang Quan left the Lower Court’s month-long storm to find stronger sunlight for refining his yin spirit. He reached a sunny region and began gathering sunlight, which stung his spirit and drew out black smoke, but caused no apparent harm.

• As cultivators rushed into the funeral business, Wang Quan found less work and focused on advancing his yin spirit toward a yang spirit.
• Wang Quan decided to travel a thousand li beyond the wind and snow to gather stronger sunlight, bringing his paper people, the [Plain Moon Paper-Cutting Box], and a thousand pairs of kidneys.
• Wang Quan paid or fought off roadblockers and reached the boundary between the snow-covered land and dry ground.
• Wang Quan gathered sunlight with the [Great Sun Across the Sky Art], and it burned his yin spirit while black smoke rose from it.
• Wang Quan gradually increased the sunlight he gathered, and nothing went wrong.

Wang Quan rapidly advanced his Yin Spirit toward becoming a Yang Spirit by refining it with sunlight and engraving the [Yang Spirit Scripture]. In the Second-Layer World, his emerging strength helped him clear Cafeteria evils with fewer recitations, and he prepared to leave after a cultivator asked why he was going early.

• Wang Quan adapted to thousands of strands of sunlight in half a day and began engraving the [Yang Spirit Scripture] onto his Yin Spirit.
• Wang Quan engraved one hundred Dao characters, while the growing cost of each new character led him to accept that the transformation would take time.
• Wang Quan entered the Second-Layer World, where the matching [Yin Spirit Scripture] appeared and his Yin Spirit began repelling the darkness.
• Wang Quan recited the People-Crossing Scripture five times to disperse a paper-cut [joy] evil, then cleared two more evils with two and three recitations.
• A cultivator asked Wang Quan why he was leaving the Cafeteria so early.

Wang Quan rapidly carved his [Yang Spirit Scripture] but found progress slowing after reaching three thousand Dao characters, so he chose to pursue a supreme-grade Yang Spirit. When he learned Qin Feng had left the Lower Court for the Market Ward, Wang Quan set out to kill him and arrived at the Drowning Dao Lower Court.

• A true-body cultivator urged Wang Quan to prioritize forming a high-grade Yang Spirit and said the others could wait several years for him to finish.
• Wang Quan reached three thousand Dao characters in ten days, but his Yin Spirit began resisting further additions and slowed his progress to a few dozen characters a day.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun sent Wang Quan information, including that Qin Feng had left the Lower Court for the Market Ward.
• Wang Quan prepared to pursue Qin Feng and used repeated [Moonlight Escape] spells to travel toward the Drowning Dao Lower Court.
• An old Daoist warned new seekers that the Market Ward was dangerous, then greeted Wang Quan as Fellow Daoist Flower-Scatterer when he arrived.
• Wang Quan told the old Daoist that he was looking for an aggrieved party to help with a funeral and scatter flowers.

Wang Quan used a water mirror to show the newcomers how he could attack distant enemies, then unleashed Yin Thunder and paper-cutting techniques on Qin Feng and a New Method gathering. Qin Feng and most of the cultivators died in the blasts, while a handful survived amid the ruins.

• The old Daoist asked Wang Quan to demonstrate his abilities for the newcomers, and Wang Quan agreed to teach them a lesson.
• Wang Quan contacted the Officiant Daoist Nun about disposing of a corpse, then used sandalwood incense and a water mirror to locate Qin Feng at a gathering.
• Wang Quan sent several kinds of Yin Thunder through the water mirror, killing many cultivators and badly injuring Qin Feng.
• Qin Feng repelled some paper maidens with Biting Chill Wind, but their Great Yin Yin Thunder charges exploded and tore him apart.
• More paper maidens attacked Qin Feng, and the final explosions destroyed the hall, leaving Qin Feng dead and only a handful of cultivators alive.

Wang Quan killed Qin Feng of the Miscellaneous Goods Hall and returned to cultivate, choosing a defensive spell to counter lightning and fire. He began refining [Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust], leaving it hidden in his hair as he focused on strengthening his Yin Spirit.

• Wang Quan told the Officiant Daoist Nun that he had killed Qin Feng, and she warned him not to expose himself.
• Wang Quan spoke to the gathered youths about the dangers of immortal cultivation before the old Daoist led them away.
• Wang Quan returned to his cultivation site and decided to learn [Seventy-Two Paths of Smoke and Dust] to defend against lightning and fire.
• Wang Quan gathered seventy-two strands of smoke and dust and wove them into a cloud sturdy enough to support him.
• Wang Quan hid the newly formed spell among his hair and returned his attention to cultivating his Yin Spirit.

Wang Quan learned that his Yin Spirit’s progress toward becoming a Yang Spirit had stalled, then chose to pursue the [Spirit Refinement +1] trait and traded Dharma Power for stellar essence to gain heavenly opportunity. The Round-Faced Daoist Nun warned him that news of Qin Feng’s death had spread and that the New-Method Alliance could pose a danger.

• Wang Quan told a cultivator he had branded over three thousand Dao characters onto his Yin Spirit, but learned that only special spirit medicines and magic artifacts could speed his path to becoming a Yang Spirit.
• After hearing that the required supplies cost ten million Green Beetles per set, Wang Quan examined the [First-Rank Dao Seal] traits and decided he wanted [Spirit Refinement +1] as his second trait.
• Wang Quan decided to sell one hundred strands of Dharma Power for ten strands of essence and arranged a trade with the Round-Faced Daoist Nun.
• Wang Quan and the Round-Faced Daoist Nun exchanged the Dharma Power and stellar essence in the Lower Court’s coffin district.
• The Round-Faced Daoist Nun warned Wang Quan that news of his killing Qin Feng had spread and that the radical New-Method Alliance might threaten him.

Wang Quan discovered that Spirit Refinement +1 greatly improved his cultivation, while cultivators at the Drowning Dao Lower Court argued over the aftermath of his attack and whether to seek revenge. The orthodox cultivators prepared to investigate the Seven Maidens Mountain Estate as they worried that Wang Quan might strike again.

• Wang Quan used Heavenly Opportunity to gain Spirit Refinement +1, then found that Dao characters merged into his Yin Spirit much faster than before.
• Wang Quan refined three strands of Dharma Power overnight and gathered more purple qi and sunlight than usual before beginning to transform his Yang Spirit.
• At the Drowning Dao Lower Court, cultivators surveyed the aftermath of Wang Quan's attack on Qin Feng and debated how to deal with the Flower-Scatter Daoist.
• The Officiant Daoist Nun offered to lure Wang Quan out while arranging the funerals, but the organizer rejected her price and continued seeking cheaper bids.
• Qin Feng's orthodox allies debated whether to retaliate, then agreed to watch the entrance, gather resources, and send a cultivator to sound out the Seven Maidens Mountain Estate.

Qian Xiuyue learned that Wang Quan had killed Qin Feng and dozens of New-Method Cultivators, leaving her companions stunned by his strength. After weeks of cultivation, Wang Quan reached nine thousand Dao characters and over seven hundred strands of Dharma Power, but powerful temptations to transform his Yin Spirit began testing him.

• Qian Xiuyue accepted a hundred thousand Green Fly Coins from a New Method cultivator and asked Wang Quan whether he intended to attack the group.
• Wang Quan said Qin Feng's death was payback for a personal grudge and promised not to pursue anyone who did not provoke him; he and Qian Xiuyue agreed to split the fee.
• Qian Xiuyue told her companions about Wang Quan's long-range attacks and killings, and they doubted they could catch up to his progress.
• Wang Quan returned to the Drowning Dao Lower Court and continued cultivating, reading scriptures, and clearing away evil instead of transforming his Yin Spirit at six thousand Dao characters.
• Over the following weeks, Wang Quan's Yang Spirit Scripture reached nine thousand characters and his Dharma Power exceeded seven hundred strands.
• Wang Quan resisted the unusually strong temptations to transform his Yin Spirit and wondered whether other cultivators faced the same test.