Chapter Summaries

Duoduo showed an extraordinary talent for talisman crafting, copying a Fireball Talisman pattern perfectly and quickly reaching the Second Qi Refining Layer. Xu Qingtong began teaching her to make real talismans, and she produced one so well that he could only point out minor improvements.

• Duoduo copied the Fireball Talisman pattern from a jade slip, corrected her first attempt, and drew an exact copy for Xu Qingtong.
• Xu Qingtong rewarded Duoduo with spirit fruits and had her cultivate until she reached the Second Qi Refining Layer a month later.
• Xu Qingtong demonstrated how to channel spiritual power into a Fireball Talisman and showed Duoduo how to activate it against a stone stool.
• Duoduo made a real Fireball Talisman on her first try, prompting Xu Qingtong to suggest minor improvements and more spiritual power.

Xu Qingtong sold Duoduo’s talismans and gave the Thousand Talisman Pavilion proprietor her Blood-Soul Restriction Talisman to establish a connection that could help her after he left. Before departing for Juxian Academy, he arranged for Bao Qingping to look after Duoduo and her grandfather, then revealed a Talent Recruitment Order.

• Xu Qingtong took Duoduo’s talismans to the Thousand Talisman Pavilion, where the assistant bought them for six hundred and thirty spirit stones.
• Xu Qingtong showed the assistant his Blood-Soul Restriction Talisman, then gave it to the proprietor to secure the shop’s goodwill toward Duoduo.
• Xu Qingtong told Duoduo and her grandfather that he would leave the next day, and he comforted Duoduo after she cried and clung to him.
• Xu Qingtong asked Bao Qingping to check on Duoduo and her grandfather, offering him five middle-grade spirit stones for the task.
• Bao Qingping warned Xu Qingtong about Juxian Academy, and Xu Qingtong showed him a Talent Recruitment Order.

Xu Qingtong went to Juxian Academy with a Talent Recruitment Order, but a gatekeeping disciple challenged him and Steward Li attacked him. After Nangong Zhen welcomed him inside, Xu Qingtong asked whether studying at the academy differed from joining it.

• Xu Qingtong asked Bao Qingping to look after Duoduo, and Bao Qingping agreed after seeing her craft a Fireball Talisman.
• Xu Qingtong traveled to Juxian Academy and was insulted by a gatekeeping disciple who questioned whether his Talent Recruitment Order was genuine.
• Xu Qingtong used his cultivation pressure against the disciple and countered Steward Li’s attack with a Golden Light Slash.
• Xu Qingtong sent Nangong Zhen a Sound Transmission Talisman, and Nangong Zhen arrived, confirmed the order, and brought Xu Qingtong into the academy.
• Xu Qingtong and Nangong Zhen discussed the Demonic Path before Nangong Zhen asked whether Xu Qingtong wanted to study at or join Juxian Academy.

Xu Qingtong showed Nangong Zhen his skills and revealed his real name, prompting the two to become sworn brothers. Nangong Zhen brought him to meet Juxian Academy’s headmaster, who asked Xu Qingtong to demonstrate his abilities.

• Nangong Zhen examined Xu Qingtong’s pill, artifact, and talisman, then said the headmaster would decide whether he could become an instructor at Juxian Academy.
• Xu Qingtong admitted that his name was not Chen Yu, and Nangong Zhen welcomed his honesty and proposed they become sworn brothers.
• Xu Qingtong accepted, and he and Nangong Zhen sealed their oath with blood, making Nangong Zhen the elder brother.
• Nangong Zhen reported Xu Qingtong’s circumstances to the headmaster and brought him to Cloudwater Retreat.
• The headmaster checked Xu Qingtong’s Talent Recruitment Order and asked him to demonstrate his alchemy, artifact refining, and talisman crafting.

Xu Qingtong demonstrated his talisman crafting and artifact refining to Shen Haotian and the Academy elders, impressing them with his abilities. They considered appointing him as a roving instructor, and Shen Haotian asked whether he had also studied puppetry.

• Shen Haotian examined Xu Qingtong’s Five Elements Divine Seals, pill, and Blood-Soul Restriction Talisman, and praised the talisman’s strength.
• Shen Haotian summoned three elders to assess Xu Qingtong’s request to become an Academy instructor.
• Xu Qingtong crafted a Spirit Talisman before the elders, who praised his unusual method and learned it could withstand a mid-stage Golden Core cultivator’s attack.
• Xu Qingtong activated his Five Elements Divine Seals, and the elders saw them neutralize their attacks through their coordinated power.
• The elders debated whether Xu Qingtong should teach talisman crafting or artifact refining before Shen Haotian proposed making him a roving instructor.
• Shen Haotian asserted that Xu Qingtong had promise in pill refining and asked whether he had also studied puppetry.

Xu Qingtong demonstrated Biyue’s power to the Juxian Academy Headmaster and elders, earning an appointment as a patrol instructor. After telling Nangong Zhen the news, he met Wang Yuning of the Internal Affairs Hall, who arrived to arrange his residence.

• Xu Qingtong summoned Biyue and showed the Headmaster and elders her attack, which the Headmaster judged nearly as powerful as a mid-stage Golden Core strike.
• Shen Haotian and the elders approved Xu Qingtong’s appointment, and Shen gave him a patrol instructor’s Identity Token.
• Xu Qingtong left Cloudwater Retreat to thank Nangong Zhen for recommending him, and the two discussed his heavier teaching duties and the value of academy merit.
• Wang Yuning arrived at Nangong Zhen’s residence to meet the newly appointed patrol instructor, and Xu Qingtong exchanged greetings with her.

Xu Qingtong settled into a cave abode at the Academy, learned the rules and duties of his new post, and mourned his Third Senior Sister while renewing his vow to bring her back. He then joined Nangong Zhen for a tour of the Academy’s important departments.

• Wang Yuning showed Xu Qingtong a spacious cave abode with an earthfire chamber, gave him a storage bag with clothes, a year’s stipend, Academy rules, and his duties, and he placed a Blood-Soul Restriction on the entrance.
• Xu Qingtong read that he would teach six days each month starting next month, instructing Qi Refining disciples in artifact refining and talisman crafting, and could recommend one student for admission each year.
• Xu Qingtong spent a day grieving for his Third Senior Sister, then swore to bring her back within three years.
• Xu Qingtong told Nangong Zhen he had settled in and explained that his cave’s restriction had blocked Nangong Zhen’s voice transmission.
• Nangong Zhen took Xu Qingtong on a tour, showing him the Qi Refining Disciples’ area, the External Affairs Hall, and the Many Treasures Pavilion.

Xu Qingtong learned that a Tiger-Patterned White Jade Lotus cost thirty thousand Merit Points and considered how to earn enough to buy one for his senior sister’s resurrection. Back at his cave abode, he decided to study puppet crafting so he could qualify to teach another subject.

• Xu Qingtong visited the Many Treasures Pavilion with Nangong Zhen and learned that its thousand-year-old Tiger-Patterned White Jade Lotus cost thirty thousand Merit Points.
• Steward Cai told Xu Qingtong that a five-hundred-year-old lotus could be used to refine a Tribulation-Transcending Substitute and that someone from Zhonglü City had recently asked about an older one.
• Nangong Zhen offered to help Xu Qingtong borrow Merit Points, but Xu Qingtong declined and went drinking with him at an academy restaurant.
• Xu Qingtong calculated that earning the Merit Points through teaching would take years and considered learning another skill to increase his income.
• Xu Qingtong chose to study puppet crafting and began reading Han Minghui's Han Clan Mechanism Art.

Xu Qingtong studied the Han Clan Mechanism Art by dismantling a Puppet Guard, then learned that his first teaching lesson at Juxian Academy was due the next day. After working through the night to rebuild the puppet with his own alterations, he found it could no longer be activated and hurried off to teach.

• Xu Qingtong dismantled one of his Puppet Guards and spent twelve days studying its components and spiritual power circulation.
• Wang Yuning visited Xu Qingtong to remind him of his first lesson and gave him several Sound Transmission Talismans.
• Xu Qingtong learned that his inspector duties earned at least one thousand merit each month and admitted he needed twenty-five thousand more.
• Xu Qingtong prepared for his talisman-crafting lesson, then reassembled the Puppet Guard with his own modifications.
• Xu Qingtong discovered the rebuilt puppet would not activate and left his cave abode to teach his first lesson.

Xu Qingtong began his first talisman-crafting lesson by silencing unruly students and assessing their skills. After improving one student's Shield Talisman through hands-on guidance, he taught the class techniques and left them practicing eagerly.

• Xu Qingtong entered the Lecture Hall and used a Blood-Soul Restriction to freeze a student who disrupted his lesson.
• Xu Qingtong assessed the students' talisman skills, learning that they could all craft low-grade talismans, three could make mid-grade talismans, and none could make high-grade talismans.
• A girl in a yellow dress demonstrated her Shield Talisman, which withstood four Water Arrow Talismans.
• Xu Qingtong coached the girl on her technique, and her improved Shield Talisman withstood seven Water Arrow Talismans without breaking.
• Xu Qingtong taught the class low-grade talisman techniques, and the students practiced, sought his appraisal, and asked him questions.

Xu Qingtong repaired and made a new puppet, then prepared to teach artifact refining at the Academy. He introduced the Artifact Refining Society to the properties of materials and demonstrated how purification changed a piece of germanium copper stone.

• Xu Qingtong spent three days finding and repairing the problem in Han Minghui's puppet, then modified it so he could control it like a magical artifact.
• Xu Qingtong forged a new puppet guard in the Earthfire Chamber and successfully completed its ritual refinement.
• Xu Qingtong checked the Seven-Star Bracelet, where his senior sister remained asleep, Xiao Qi had reached the fourth tier, Xiao Bai slept beside a wine jar, and Xizi dug a hole.
• Xu Qingtong arrived at the Artifact Refining Society and told the students he would teach them about materials rather than refining techniques.
• Xu Qingtong explained how glazed ice could contain both water and wood attributes, then demonstrated purifying germanium copper stone and displayed its two resulting pieces.

Xu Qingtong impressed students and Zhou Wenyu with his artifact-material purification lecture, then drew a crowd to his talisman-crafting class. He demonstrated a low-tier Shield Talisman that withstood repeated attacks from Foundation Establishment cultivators.

• Xu Qingtong explained how different purification methods could make the same material produce distinct results, and answered students’ questions late into the evening.
• Zhou Wenyu of the Artifact Refining Pavilion praised Xu Qingtong’s ancient purification method, and Xu revealed that he had learned it from the Ancient Ruins.
• Five days later, Xu Qingtong found Foundation Establishment cultivators among the audience at his talisman-crafting lesson and began teaching them.
• At the cultivators’ request, Xu crafted a low-tier Shield Talisman and said its defense nearly matched a mid-tier Divine Shield Talisman.
• Xu Qingtong activated the shield, and it blocked a series of low-tier talisman attacks with little damage.

Xu Qingtong accepted a request to help the Talisman Crafting Pavilion produce spirit talismans while arranging his teaching schedule to make time for the work. After studying unfamiliar designs, he found his rhythm and crafted over a hundred talismans.

• Xu Qingtong continued teaching students at Juxian Academy, and the sect master raised his monthly remuneration to thirteen hundred merit.
• The first elder asked Xu Qingtong to help the Talisman Crafting Pavilion produce spirit talismans while Yang Yuanqing entered life-and-death seclusion.
• Xu Qingtong agreed, requested that his lessons be grouped together, and swore not to pass the academy's Spirit Talisman Compendium to outsiders.
• Xu Qingtong placed a restriction on the jade slip so only he could read it and it would be destroyed if anyone tried to examine it by force.
• After completing his lessons in six days, Xu Qingtong received materials and a list of talismans from the first elder and began crafting them.
• Xu Qingtong spent nearly ten days learning the unfamiliar designs, then produced over a hundred spirit talismans in the following days.

After half a year of teaching and crafting at Juxian Academy, Xu Qingtong visited Duoduo in Zhonglü City and found that she had advanced in talisman making. On his return, memories of Third Senior Sister led him to realize that she had saved him twice, though he still did not know how.

• Xu Qingtong finished his Academy talisman work, met Nangong Zhen, and registered to travel to Zhonglü City.
• Xu Qingtong visited Duoduo and her grandfather, checked Duoduo’s cultivation, and watched her craft a Rain of Fire Talisman.
• Xu Qingtong spent two days instructing Duoduo in cultivation and talisman making before heading back to Juxian Academy.
• Xu Qingtong remembered Third Senior Sister’s death and realized she had saved him twice, then arrived at the Academy’s ceremonial gateway.

Xu Qingtong asked Shen Haotian for help obtaining the Tiger-Patterned White Jade Lotus so he could refine an incarnation to revive his Third Senior Sister. He acquired the lotus with borrowed merit and headed back to his cave abode to begin preparing for two months of seclusion.

• Xu Qingtong asked Shen Haotian for another teaching assignment so he could earn merit faster to buy the Tiger-Patterned White Jade Lotus.
• Xu Qingtong explained that he needed the lotus to reconstruct his loved one's body, and Shen Haotian lent him thirty thousand merit.
• Xu Qingtong exchanged his Identity Token for the thousand-year-old Tiger-Patterned White Jade Lotus at the Many Treasures Pavilion.
• Xu Qingtong asked Shen Haotian for two months of leave to refine the incarnation, and Shen Haotian approved.
• Xu Qingtong ran into Wang Yuning on his way back but left without visiting Nangong Zhen.

Xu Qingtong refined an incarnation for Du Siwen and awakened her soul, but found he could not merge it with the body using his usual method. He proposed connecting their bloodstreams to restore circulation, and Du Siwen agreed to cooperate.

• Xu Qingtong used the tiger-patterned white jade lotus and Du Siwen's essence blood to refine an incarnation for her.
• After shaping the body and awakening it with Du Siwen's essence blood, Xu Qingtong released her soul and removed its seals until she woke.
• Xu Qingtong covered the naked incarnation with an Academy robe, then realized he did not know how to merge Du Siwen's soul into it.
• Xu Qingtong proposed sending his blood into Du Siwen's body to activate her circulation, and she gave him permission to proceed.

Xu Qingtong revived Du Siwen by circulating his blood through her body, and the two reunited at Juxian Academy. After helping her adjust to her new body and crafting treasures for her, he planned to take her to Zhonglü City to buy clothes and explore Central Province.

• Xu Qingtong connected his wrist to Du Siwen's and circulated his blood until she regained control of her body and awakened.
• Du Siwen learned that she had been asleep for two years, and Xu Qingtong tearfully apologized before she teased him about her new body and his familiarity with it.
• Xu Qingtong brought Du Siwen food and wine, told her about Juxian Academy and his time in Central Province, and admitted he had not searched for Dongfang Girl.
• Du Siwen comforted Xu Qingtong and then cultivated to adjust to her body while he went to refine treasures for her.
• Three days later, Xu Qingtong gave Du Siwen a halberd, armor, earrings, and a necklace, then offered to take her to Zhonglü City to shop and see Central Province.

Xu Qingtong took Du Siwen to Zhonglü City, where she bought clothes and changed at the courtyard where Duoduo lived. Du Siwen witnessed Duoduo craft a mid-grade talisman and praised her skill as Xu Qingtong’s true teaching.

• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen entered Zhonglü City and went to Ruifuxiang, where Du Siwen bought clothes and undergarments.
• Xu Qingtong paid for the clothes and led Du Siwen to the courtyard where Duoduo lived so she could change.
• Xu Qingtong introduced Du Siwen to Duoduo and her grandfather, and Duoduo took Du Siwen to change into women’s clothes.
• Xu Qingtong told Du Siwen that Duoduo could craft mid-grade talismans, and Duoduo demonstrated her skill.
• Du Siwen praised Duoduo’s talisman crafting as Xu Qingtong’s true teaching, and Xu Qingtong predicted Duoduo would surpass him.

After leaving Zhonglü City with Du Siwen, Xu Qingtong encountered an academy steward who threatened him over the tiger-patterned white jade lotus. He and Du Siwen devised a cover story for her identity, but the gatekeeper stopped her at Juxian Academy for lacking an Identity Token.

• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen left Zhonglü City after Xu Qingtong promised to bring Du Siwen back to visit Duoduo and her grandfather.
• A Golden Core late stage academy steward demanded Xu Qingtong's tiger-patterned white jade lotus and threatened to make trouble for him after Xu Qingtong said he had already used it.
• Xu Qingtong worried that the academy would question Du Siwen's connection to him, so they agreed she would pose as his betrothed dao companion, Dongfang Hui.
• Xu Qingtong and Du Siwen reached Juxian Academy, where the gatekeeper let Xu Qingtong enter but barred Du Siwen because she had no Identity Token.

Xu Qingtong forced his way into the Academy with Du Siwen, then defended his actions before the Grand Elder and Sect Master Shen Haotian. Steward Ji was removed from his post after Xu Qingtong exposed his grudge, and Xu Qingtong secured the chance to recommend Dongfang Hui for admission.

• Xu Qingtong struck an Academy guard who barred his entry, then used Biyue and the Five Elements Divine Seals to repel Steward Ji's attack.
• The Grand Elder questioned Xu Qingtong and Steward Ji, and the awakened guard confirmed that Steward Ji had ordered them to scrutinize Xu Qingtong and his guest despite Xu Qingtong identifying her as a recommended student.
• The Grand Elder took Xu Qingtong and Steward Ji to Cloudwater Retreat for Sect Master Shen Haotian to judge the dispute.
• Xu Qingtong told Shen Haotian that Steward Ji had resented him for using the tiger-patterned white jade lotus that Steward Ji wanted.
• Shen Haotian removed Steward Ji from his steward post and ordered him to receive punishment at the Enforcement Hall.
• Xu Qingtong said he had used the tiger-patterned white jade lotus on Dongfang Hui and wanted to recommend her for Academy admission.