Chapter Summaries

Lin Shisan entered the Tai Chi Hall’s Azure Cloud Lineage as a servant disciple after his father’s demon core earned him a final chance to join the sect. He settled into his new home, honored his father’s memory, and began pursuing the cultivation path his poor aptitude had nearly closed to him.

• Grand Elder Qin Xun accepted Lin Shisan as a servant disciple because his father had offered a demon core, despite Lin Shisan having a spiritual root but no Dao Seed.
• Chen Yang explained the sect’s rules and assigned Lin Shisan to serve at the Pill Hall, where he would clean and prepare for Steward Zhao’s pill refining.
• Lin Shisan settled into his quarters and placed his father Lin Qinghan’s spirit tablet on the table with two peaches as offerings.
• Lin Shisan recalled that Lin Qinghan had died from wounds sustained while obtaining the third-tier demon core that secured his son’s admission.
• Lin Shisan thanked his father for bringing him one step closer to cultivation, the dream he had held since childhood.

Lin Shisan worked diligently as a servant disciple in the Pill Room and found a small black cauldron in the furnace dump to use for offerings to his father. The next morning, he discovered that the spoiled peaches inside it had become fresh, just as news spread that a body had surfaced in the Clearwater River.

• Lin Shisan cultivated through the night and reported to the Pill Room, where Steward Chen Yang assigned him to clean two furnaces.
• Lin Shisan cleaned his first furnace carefully, then hauled furnace ash and pill residue behind the mountain with the other servant disciples.
• After finishing his second furnace late, Lin Shisan searched the dump and found an intact little black cauldron to place before his father's memorial tablet.
• A seven-colored radiance briefly emerged from the little black cauldron after Lin Shisan fell asleep.
• Lin Shisan found that the damaged peaches in the cauldron had become fresh, then heard a commotion announcing a body in the Clearwater River.

Lin Shisan drew the hardest wood assignment and struggled to chop black maple bamboo, then discovered that peaches from the Little Black Cauldron seemed to restore his energy and loosen his stagnant cultivation. The next morning, after finding his cultivation unchanged, he was summoned by an unfriendly woman.

• Lin Shisan heard that a servant had died after offending an outer sect disciple, then went to the pill-refining room.
• Chen Yang assigned the servant disciples wood to chop by lot, and Lin Shisan drew black maple bamboo, the hardest kind.
• Lin Shisan packed food and belongings, traveled to Black Maple Grove, and spent hours chopping bamboo with little progress.
• After eating a peach from the Little Black Cauldron, Lin Shisan felt more energetic and sensed his cultivation loosening, so he ate another peach and continued working through the night.
• The next morning, Lin Shisan found that his cultivation had not changed and heard an unfriendly woman call him over.

Lin Shisan was forced to abandon his tree-chopping work to help an arrogant woman search for her spirit cat, which killed Niu Shan. After burying his fellow disciple, Lin Shisan resolved to grow stronger and returned to chopping bamboo.

• A masked woman in white ordered Lin Shisan to stop chopping black maple bamboo and join the search for her spirit cat.
• After nearly half a day of searching, Lin Shisan and the other servant disciples found Niu Shan mortally wounded by a huge catlike demon.
• Niu Shan died while Lin Shisan stood by, unable to save him, and the woman in white arrived to reclaim the demon, which transformed into a tame tabby.
• The woman in white left without acknowledging Niu Shan, and Lin Shisan buried him and bowed farewell.
• Lin Shisan resolved to become strong enough to control his fate, then returned to the bamboo forest and resumed chopping as the sun set.

After felling and cutting black maple bamboo, Lin Shisan ate an apple from the Little Black Cauldron and broke through to the second body tempering realm. He tested the cauldron on porridge and buns, then heard an unknown voice demand that he hand something over.

• Lin Shisan chopped down the black maple bamboo, cut it to the required dimensions, and stored the pieces in his Locator Ring.
• Lin Shisan ate an apple from the Little Black Cauldron, cultivated through a loosening bottleneck, and advanced to the second body tempering realm.
• Lin Shisan suspected the Little Black Cauldron could improve ruined pills and tried placing porridge and steamed buns inside it.
• After a wisp of seven-colored radiance appeared, Lin Shisan concluded the cauldron could improve ordinary food and needed at least four hours to do so.
• As Lin Shisan wondered whether the cauldron could help awaken his Dao Seed, an unfamiliar voice demanded that he hand it over.

Lin Shisan was beaten by an Outer Disciplinary Team member demanding a missing item, then learned Chen Yang suspected him of having Niu Shan’s missing tracking ring. After taking on part of Niu Shan’s workload, Lin Shisan recovered somewhat and wondered how to awaken his Dao Seed.

• A long-faced disciplinary team member attacked Lin Shisan and demanded an item, then left after warning him not to lie.
• Chen Yang asked Lin Shisan about Niu Shan’s missing tracking ring, and Lin Shisan denied seeing it.
• Chen Yang gave Lin Shisan a materials list and ordered him to take responsibility for one fifth of Niu Shan’s materials.
• Lin Shisan regulated his true qi, ate his food, and cultivated through the night as his Little Black Cauldron helped his chest wound begin to heal.
• Lin Shisan found no Dao Seed in his dantian and wondered whether spirit fruit or greater cultivation could help awaken it.

Lin Shisan struggled through the lightning in Thunderclap Ravine and managed to fell a thunderwood tree, but he was left too injured and exhausted to finish his assignment on time. He found a Storage Ring nearby and discovered valuable items inside, leaving him amazed at his fortune.

• Lin Shisan left the Black Maple Bamboo grove and paid his final respects to Niu Shan before traveling to Thunderclap Ravine.
• Lin Shisan failed several times to enter the ravine, then fell asleep and dreamed of his father and Niu Shan.
• Lin Shisan leaped through the lightning arcs, landed beside a nearly severed thunderwood tree, and finished cutting it down.
• A lightning arc struck Lin Shisan as the tree fell, leaving him numb and unable to return before sunset or cut the wood into blocks.
• Lin Shisan found a ring near his feet and discovered it was a Storage Ring with more space than his Locator Ring and valuable things inside.

Lin Shisan found Spirit Stones and Body Tempering Liquid in Niu Shan’s storage ring, then drank the liquid to treat his injuries and collapsed in agony. The next morning, Zhou Xiaotian arrived at the Pill Room furious that the ingredients for Zhao Xun’s pill refinement were missing and badly injured Chen Yang.

• Lin Shisan discovered twenty Spirit Stones and two bottles of Body Tempering Liquid among Niu Shan’s Thunderwood, and worried that the ring’s contents had drawn the long-faced enforcement disciple’s attention.
• Lin Shisan drank Body Tempering Liquid to treat his wounds, but its painful effects combined with his injuries and the stream’s cold water until his body went rigid.
• Zhou Xiaotian visited the Pill Room to meet Zhao Xun, hoping to improve his standing, and learned that the required Black Maple Bamboo was missing.
• Zhou Xiaotian lifted Chen Yang by the throat, blamed him for failing to prepare the ingredients, and hurled him into a pillar, breaking three ribs.
• The four menial disciples stood frozen as Zhou Xiaotian’s fury cowed them.

Zhou Xiaotian dragged the badly injured Lin Shisan back to the Pill Room, where he confirmed Lin Shisan had brought the final pill-refining materials. Chen Yang shifted the blame onto Lin Shisan, and Zhou Xiaotian left to welcome Immortal Lord Zhou after ordering Chen Yang to prepare the pill refining.

• Chen Yang begged Zhou Xiaotian for mercy and promised to retrieve Lin Shisan, but Zhou Xiaotian's killing aura dragged Lin Shisan into the Pill Room.
• Zhou Xiaotian's dragon-shaped tornado battered Lin Shisan and dropped him to the ground, leaving him gravely wounded.
• Zhou Xiaotian took Lin Shisan's Locator Ring and found the Black Maple Bamboo and thunderwood needed for pill refining.
• Chen Yang blamed Lin Shisan's mistake for the trouble and urged Zhou Xiaotian to focus on welcoming Immortal Lord Zhao, reigniting Zhou Xiaotian's killing intent.
• Zhou Xiaotian ordered Chen Yang to assign the remaining tasks and left to welcome Immortal Lord Zhou.
• Chen Yang told Lin Shisan to burn the wood and light the Pill Furnace, and Lin Shisan agreed despite not knowing how to tend the fire.

Lin Shisan was forced to help Zhao Xun refine pills under Chen Yang’s supervision, with Chen Yang making clear that any failure would be blamed on the servants. After eight hours, the Pill Furnace exploded, and Chen Yang fixed a sinister gaze on Lin Shisan as death seemed to loom over him.

• Chen Yang assigned Lin Shisan to tend the fire and warned him not to make mistakes, while Lin Shisan resolved to escape the Tai Chi Hall if he survived.
• Zhao Xun arrived to refine pills and mocked Chen Yang, who blamed the menial disciples in advance for any failure.
• Zhou Xiaotian promised the servants a reward if Zhao Xun succeeded and threatened them if he failed.
• Lin Shisan carefully followed Zhao Xun’s instructions and fed firewood into the furnace for eight hours as the pills formed.
• Chen Yang praised Zhao Xun before the Pill Furnace suddenly exploded, and Chen Yang turned his sinister gaze on Lin Shisan.

Lin Shisan survived Chen Yang’s attack when Zhao Xun stopped the sword and blamed the failed pill batch on a possible furnace problem. Zhao Xun had Lin Shisan choose another furnace, and a second Body Tempering Pill emerged successfully.

• Chen Yang accidentally took the exploding Pill Furnace’s scalding contents in Lin Shisan’s place, then drew his sword and attacked him.
• Zhao Xun stopped Chen Yang’s sword, and Chen Yang’s blade broke before it could strike Lin Shisan.
• Zhao Xun dismissed Lin Shisan’s responsibility for the explosion and ordered him to choose another Pill Furnace.
• Lin Shisan chose Pill Furnace No. 6, and Zhao Xun began a second attempt to refine the Body Tempering Pills.
• After nearly eight hours of refining, Zhao Xun ordered the servants to open the furnace, and a glittering Body Tempering Pill floated out.

Zhao Xun successfully refined Origin Vein Pills, cleared Chen Yang’s past offenses, and reserved Lin Shisan as his mascot, protecting him from Chen Yang. After Zhao Xun and Zhou Xiaotian left, Chen Yang tried to take the cultivation manual Zhou had given Lin Shisan.

• Zhao Xun opened the remaining furnaces and produced six Origin Vein Pills, including two second-grade pills.
• Chen Yang praised Zhao Xun, who forgave his past offenses and rewarded the servants with spirit coins.
• Zhao Xun reserved Lin Shisan as his mascot, and Zhou Xiaotian gave Lin Shisan a Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual.
• Chen Yang sent the other servants away without distributing their spirit coins, then tried to snatch Lin Shisan’s manual.
• Lin Shisan feared Chen Yang’s retaliation and offered him the scroll as a token of respect.

After Chen Yang mocked Lin Shisan and ordered him to clean the Pill Room, Lin found a partly intact Body Tempering Pill in the exploded furnace and hoped his Little Black Cauldron could improve it. Chen Yang tried to take the pill, but Lin refused and crushed it rather than give it to him.

• Chen Yang ridiculed Lin Shisan's Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual, threw it at his feet, and ordered him to clean the Pill Room and furnace.
• Lin swallowed his anger, waited for Chen Yang to leave, then searched the exploded furnace for a Body Tempering Pill he had seen fly out.
• Lin found five black pills; the first four crumbled to ash when he touched them, but the fifth was intact and bore a pill mark.
• Chen Yang returned, spotted the pill, and tried to persuade Lin to give it to him so he could meet his sect quota.
• Lin refused to hand over the pill and crushed it rather than let Chen Yang take it.

Lin Shisan smashed the Body Tempering Pill, and Chen Yang attacked him in fury. Ning Hao interrupted the fight with news that Immortal Lord Zhao urgently wanted to see Lin Shisan, leaving Chen Yang to let him go while warning him not to expose what happened.

• Lin Shisan smashed the Body Tempering Pill, provoking Chen Yang to draw his broken Black-Iron Azure Edge and attack.
• Lin Shisan faced Chen Yang's stronger strike, remembered his father, and lunged back despite his wounds.
• Ning Hao arrived with a message that Immortal Lord Zhao urgently wanted to see Lin Shisan, and Chen Yang's blade only grazed Lin Shisan's neck.
• Ning Hao confirmed that Zhao Xun's sword-bearing attendant was waiting, and Chen Yang allowed Lin Shisan to leave with Ning Hao.
• Chen Yang threatened Lin Shisan to keep quiet and gave Ning Hao Spirit Coins while telling him to accompany Lin Shisan.

Lin Shisan recovered from Chen Yang’s attack and befriended Ning Hao after giving him Body Tempering Liquid. Later, an Herb Hall menial disciple explained how discarded pills could be exchanged for Spirit Coins, leaving Lin Shisan considering the opportunity.

• Lin Shisan thanked Ning Hao for saving him, and Ning Hao condemned Chen Yang for exploiting and nearly killing them.
• Lin Shisan’s injuries worsened, so Ning Hao helped stabilize him with his true qi.
• Lin Shisan gave Ning Hao his remaining Body Tempering Liquid, and Ning Hao accepted it as a friend.
• Chen Yang sent Ning Hao away and left Lin Shisan to finish cleaning the Pill Room alone.
• At the rear mountain, Lin Shisan met an Herb Hall disciple collecting discarded pills and asked what they were worth.
• The Herb Hall disciple told Lin Shisan the prices he offered for marked Body Tempering Pills and Origin Vein Pills.

Lin Shisan learned how ruined pills were traded and bought one to test the Little Black Cauldron. The cauldron successfully refined it into a Two-Pattern Body Tempering Pill, revealing its power to upgrade pills.

• Zheng Qian explained that ruined pills could be purified and sold, and offered to buy any Lin Shisan found.
• Lin Shisan bought a ruined Body Tempering Pill from Zheng Qian for forty Spirit Coins and returned to his quarters cautiously.
• Lin Shisan placed the ruined pill and Zhou Xiaotian's Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual in the Little Black Cauldron, then cultivated through a sleepless night.
• The next day, Lin Shisan saw seven-colored radiance and smelled pill fragrance coming from the Little Black Cauldron.
• Lin Shisan retrieved a perfectly formed Two-Pattern Body Tempering Pill and realized the cauldron had upgraded it.

Lin Shisan returned from work expecting to find his Body Tempering Pill upgraded, but discovered it had vanished from the Little Black Cauldron. The room showed no sign of entry, leaving him unable to explain what had happened.

• Lin Shisan put the two-mark Body Tempering Pill back in the Little Black Cauldron and left for work, hoping it would gain more pill marks.
• Ning Hao dragged Lin Shisan to the overseers’ courtyard, where they learned that an outer sect disciple had badly beaten Chen Yang.
• Lin Shisan returned to his room and searched the Little Black Cauldron for the upgraded pill, but found only the Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual.
• Lin Shisan checked the room and the hair he had placed on the door latch, finding no evidence anyone had entered, yet the pill remained missing.

Lin Shisan discovered that the Little Black Cauldron had transformed his old cultivation manual into a blank scroll titled the Nine Revolutions Star Art, which filled with ancient writing when starlight entered it. He learned that star-power cultivation could suit his false spiritual root, but its dangerous requirements left him unsure whether he could use the art.

• Lin Shisan saw that the Little Black Cauldron had restored and renamed the Tai Chi Body Tempering Manual, but found all twenty pages blank and mourned the loss of his two-pattern Body Tempering Pill.
• A gust of wind carried the scroll outside, where starlight gathered and streamed into its pages, revealing golden characters.
• Lin Shisan read that star power required no Dao Seed but could destroy the body, and that the ancient practice had been abandoned after the dragon race disappeared.
• Lin Shisan found the Old Madman's instructions for the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art, which required reaching the ninth level of body tempering and gradually tempering the body with plant essence, metallic baleful energy, and star power.
• Lin Shisan dismissed the art's costly requirements as impractical, then read that lightning-bearing plants and animals could substitute for the thunder of the nine heavens.

Lin Shisan tested the Nine Heavens True Dragon Art with thunderwood, endured severe shocks, and discovered that Body Tempering Liquid eased his injuries. After making it through work with Ning Hao’s help, he arranged to buy another Body Tempering Pill from Zheng Qian to see whether the scroll would advance the art again.

• Lin Shisan shocked himself with thunderwood, then drank Body Tempering Liquid and found that it eased his pain and numbness.
• Lin Shisan tried a smaller piece of thunderwood, accidentally touched the first piece again, and suffered a much stronger lightning shock.
• Ning Hao found Lin Shisan badly injured and helped him get to work late; Feng Qiufeng let them off with a warning.
• Lin Shisan urged Ning Hao to return home and make his planned breakthrough, then finished his work at the rear mountain.
• Zheng Qian helped Lin Shisan clear the furnace and offered him a twenty-five-percent discount on another Body Tempering Pill, which Lin Shisan wanted to buy.

Ning Hao prepared to use Lin Shisan’s Body Tempering Liquid to attempt a breakthrough, but Feng Qiufeng and Chen Yang confronted him over the bottle and Lin Shisan’s earlier deception. Meanwhile, Lin Shisan continued his electric-shock experiments and worried that he had run out of Body Tempering Liquid.

• Ning Hao prepared to attempt a breakthrough with the Body Tempering Liquid Lin Shisan had given him, but Feng Qiufeng’s urgent knocking interrupted him.
• Feng Qiufeng and Chen Yang stormed into Ning Hao’s courtyard, forced him down, and questioned him about Niu Shan’s Storage Ring and the Body Tempering Liquid.
• Ning Hao denied receiving the liquid from Lin Shisan, but Chen Yang accused him of helping Lin Shisan deceive him and asked him to choose between them.
• Chen Yang left Ning Hao with a warning to make the right choice, while Feng Qiufeng threatened him over his denials.
• Lin Shisan endured another electric shock during his experiments and lamented that his Body Tempering Liquid had run out and he needed money to get more.