Chapter Summaries

Chen Beiwu defeated Xu Ziqing by exploiting a flaw in her Spell Art and revealed his talent for mastering Variant Arts. Xu Ziqing gave him a precious Blazing Flame Pull jade slip, while the chapter ended with the danger posed by her powerful family connections.

• Chen Beiwu defeated Xu Ziqing by using Water Shadow Convergence to evade her perception and exploit a brief weakness in Blazing Flame Pull.
• Chen Beiwu explained how he had noticed Xu Ziqing's Magic Power hesitate as she changed forms, and she realized he had mastered Water Shadow Convergence.
• Xu Ziqing challenged Chen Beiwu to learn Blazing Flame Pull and gave him its Spell Art Jade Slip.
• Chen Beiwu accepted the jade slip and thanked Xu Ziqing, recognizing the goodwill she and Xu Lingling had shown him.
• Chen Beiwu stayed cautious around Xu Ziqing because her family connections could make a rival disappear without anyone knowing.

After Xu Lingling gave Chen Beiwu a valuable Frostfall Pill, she and Xu Ziqing openly acknowledged their rivalry for his affection. Back in his cultivation room, Chen Beiwu used an exaggerated story about the Spell Art Jade Slip to persuade Iron Egg to study Blazing Flame Pull.

• Chen Beiwu remembered how his cousin Chen Xiuran's affairs with two Golden Core clan daughters had ended in his disappearance and likely death.
• Xu Lingling gave Chen Beiwu a Frostfall Pill to congratulate him on reaching the Seventh Layer of Qi Refining, then accidentally broke a tree with her elbow as she ran off.
• Xu Ziqing teased Xu Lingling about spending Spirit Stones on Chen Beiwu and challenged her to compete fairly for him.
• Chen Beiwu worried that accepting the Frostfall Pill and Xu Ziqing's Spell Art Jade Slip could put him at risk, but both women told him to keep his gifts.
• Chen Beiwu claimed the Jade Slip held an ancient dog cultivation scripture and convinced Iron Egg to lick it and learn Blazing Flame Pull.

Chen Beiwu cultivated the Nine-Breath Qi Ingestion Divine Ability, gathered Fortune, and gave his mother Frostfall Pills from Xu Lingling. Huang Xiaoling insisted he return the costly gift, but Chen Beiwu argued that his future cultivation achievements would let him repay the debt.

• Chen Beiwu completed eight breaths of his Divine Ability, gathering White and Green Fortune and producing two traces of Blue Fortune in Nine-Breath Chaos.
• Iron Egg cowered after sensing Chen Beiwu's cultivation, then relaxed when Chen Beiwu spoke to it.
• Chen Beiwu noticed the Spirit Beast meat had returned in smaller quantity and felt relieved that his family's troubles were over.
• Chen Beiwu gave Huang Xiaoling Frostfall Pills and said Xu Lingling had given them to him.
• Huang Xiaoling urged Chen Beiwu to return the pills because the Chen Household could not afford to offend the Xu Household, but he said Xu Lingling had refused to take them back.
• Chen Beiwu promised he could repay the debt by reaching the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining in his second year of high school, then claimed he could reach the Ninth Layer before the College Entrance Examination and enter one of the Thirteen Immortal Sects.

Chen Beiwu explored the otherworld with Iron Egg, hunting beasts and collecting herbs while pursuing his cultivation goals. After Iron Egg defeated a Blackstone Bear, Lin Yu arrived seeking help, but Chen Beiwu could not understand her language.

• Chen Beiwu agreed with Huang Xiaoling that he would reach the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining before next September or return the Frostfall Pill.
• Chen Beiwu and Iron Egg left their cave abode, found Jade-Scale Snakes and Exotic Herbs, and continued exploring the otherworld.
• At alchemy class, Chen Beiwu told Xu Ziqing that Iron Egg was trying to learn Blazing Flame Pull and declined her offer to visit his home.
• Chen Beiwu spent a week attending classes and exploring the otherworld, catching snakes, gathering herbs, and cultivating.
• Iron Egg defeated a Blackstone Bear, and Lin Yu approached Chen Beiwu, pleaded for help in an unfamiliar language, and offered to serve him as a slave.

Chen Beiwu refused to help Lin Yu when she appeared to be attacked by Lin Yu and the Tong Yu brothers, but he stayed hidden and struck after they relaxed. He killed Tong Yu and began hunting Lin Yu and the scar-faced bandit in the spreading mist.

• Lin Yu begged Chen Beiwu for help as the scar-faced burly man and Tong Yu caught up with her, but Chen Beiwu kicked away her hand and retreated with Iron Egg.
• After Chen Beiwu left, Lin Yu and the two bandits dropped their act and debated whether to pursue him, deciding against it because he seemed to belong to one of the Five Great Sects.
• Lin Yu sensed danger and dodged as Chen Beiwu used Water Chains to bind Tong Yu and attack the scar-faced burly man.
• Iron Egg lunged at Tong Yu, and Chen Beiwu shattered Tong Yu's Defensive Barrier and killed him with Water Needles.
• Lin Yu secretly prepared her Soul-Seizing Nail while the scar-faced burly man attacked Chen Beiwu with Talismans, but Chen Beiwu evaded them and concealed himself in mist to search for his next target.

Chen Beiwu killed Zhong Shan with a strengthened water Spell Art and disarmed Lin Yu, then demanded she record her language and writing in a Jade Slip in exchange for her life. When Lin Yu tried to escape, Iron Egg attacked her, and Chen Beiwu let the dog take the blame while promising it a large piece of meat.

• The burly man charged Chen Beiwu, who activated his improved Tide Array and used a Water Blade Talisman to kill him instantly.
• Lin Yu surrendered, and Chen Beiwu severed her arms before ordering her to hand over the group’s Storage Bags, Artifacts, and Talismans.
• Chen Beiwu gave Lin Yu a Jade Slip and promised to spare her if she recorded her language and writing system; after checking it, he let her leave.
• Iron Egg blocked Lin Yu’s escape with a Flame Hound, and she used the Soul-Seizing Nail to destroy it before a Flame Pillar trapped her.
• Chen Beiwu blamed Iron Egg for attacking Lin Yu and threatened to make it eat poisonous Illusion Weasel Wolf meat, then promised it a large bone-in piece instead.

Chen Beiwu escaped after defeating Lin Yu, then discovered a rare Stone-in-the-Grass while traveling and saw Mo Li threatened by a Five-Scarlet Snake. Mo Li threw powder at the snake, but an unfamiliar, strikingly beautiful person appeared before her as she braced for death.

• Chen Beiwu collected the Storage Bags and sealed Lin Yu's Soul-Seizing Nail before leaving the battlefield with Iron Egg.
• Chen Beiwu found only ninety-seven Low-Grade Spirit Stones among the bandit cultivators' spoils and studied a Jade Slip because he could not read their pill labels.
• Chen Beiwu discovered a Stone-in-the-Grass growing on a cliff and noticed Mo Li gathering it.
• A Five-Scarlet Snake lunged at Mo Li, who threw powder at it and closed her eyes in despair.
• Mo Li opened her eyes and saw an unfamiliar, beautiful person instead of the snake.

Chen Beiwu practiced speaking Southern Wilderness Language while meeting Mo Li, a villager who had nearly been killed gathering an herb to pay for her father’s medicine. After buying the herb from her and following her to Twin Rivers Village, he offered to cure her father and left Mo Li pleading for his help.

• Chen Beiwu killed the Five-Scarlet Snake, learned Mo Li had found the Stone-in-the-Grass, and paid her fifty taels of silver for it.
• Mo Li told Chen Beiwu that she needed money to treat her ill father, then led him toward Twin Rivers Village.
• As they traveled, Chen Beiwu practiced Southern Wilderness Language and learned about the village and the nearby Waterside Mountain Town.
• Chen Beiwu followed Mo Li to her home and said he could cure her father’s common cold.
• Mo Li offered the silver and begged Chen Beiwu to save her father.

Chen Beiwu bought Wind-Expelling Powder to cure Old Mo’s typhoid and let Mo Li keep the money she had tried to repay. He stayed in Twin Rivers Village, where the villagers began to suspect he was an Immortal.

• Chen Beiwu promised Mo Li he would bring medicine for Old Mo and told Iron Egg he would take it somewhere with more spiritual energy to cultivate.
• Chen Beiwu bought two doses of Wind-Expelling Powder and a sheet of Spirit-Testing Paper, then left without selling his Second-Tier Spirit Medicine at the shop’s low prices.
• Mo Li and Old Mo knelt to thank Chen Beiwu after Old Mo recovered, and Chen Beiwu let Mo Li keep the silver coin she offered him.
• The villagers of Twin Rivers Village treated Chen Beiwu as an Immortal after seeing his strange habits and Old Mo’s recovery, while the village chief warned them not to disturb him.
• A child at the village school asked whether Immortals existed, and the old tutor denied it.

After mastering the Southern Wilderness Language, Chen Beiwu studied the Southern Wild Region and learned that Rogue Cultivators faced severe dangers while the Five Great Sects maintained the region’s limited order. He decided to seek admission to Mirror Moon Palace, hoping to test his suspicion that the region’s cultivation laws made Spell Arts much stronger and favored his talent.

• Chen Beiwu finished learning the Southern Wilderness Language and discovered that the Bandit Cultivator had deliberately falsified one entry in the Jade Slip.
• Chen Beiwu read books about the Southern Wild Region and learned that its abundant low-tier Spirit Veins supported many small Cultivation forces.
• Chen Beiwu learned that Rogue Cultivators suffered from the Five Have-Nots and that the Five Great Sects dominated the Earth Evolution Realm.
• Chen Beiwu decided to seek admission to Mirror Moon Palace because he feared the dangers of remaining a Rogue Cultivator.
• Chen Beiwu concluded that the Southern Wild Region’s cultivation philosophy and laws might explain why his Spell Arts were stronger there, and he believed his talent could help him join a great Sect.

Chen Beiwu left Mo Li after discovering her top-grade Metal-type Earth Spiritual Root and giving her cultivation manuals. At school, he learned that countering the Azure Thunder Tiger with a Yin-Yang Reversal Formation would require strength beyond his current ability, and he considered studying independently to focus on cultivation.

• Chen Beiwu made three unranked talismans and told Mo Li he was leaving, giving her the talismans for protection.
• Chen Beiwu used a Spirit-Testing Talisman and discovered that Mo Li had a top-grade Metal-type Earth Spiritual Root.
• Chen Beiwu gave Mo Li the Metal Refining Art and information about the Southern Wild Region before leaving.
• In Formation Arts class, Chen Beiwu asked Teacher Zhao how to use a water formation to defeat a Second-Realm Azure Thunder Tiger.
• Teacher Zhao explained that a Yin-Yang Reversal Formation could make the water formation counter lightning, but it required at least Second-Tier Divine Sense and Foundation Establishment cultivation.
• Chen Beiwu considered applying to study independently so he could focus on cultivating and gathering resources.

Chen Beiwu and his classmates traveled to the Spirit Beast Pavilion to choose Companion Beasts. After receiving passes to explore the grounds, Chen Beiwu planned to visit Blackfall Island with Xu Ziqing, who chose to accompany him.

• Chen Beiwu met Xu Ziqing and the other students at Shouhe No. 2 Middle School before Director Lin took them to the Spirit Beast Pavilion by Flying Shuttle.
• After the students arrived at the Spirit Beast Pavilion, Director Lin warned them to choose Companion Beasts suited to their Spiritual Root attributes.
• Steward Wei gave the students Jade Slips that served as identity proof, passes, and a way to consult the Pavilion's Artifact Spirit.
• Xu Ziqing told Chen Beiwu she planned to test Scarlet Flame Foxes, while Chen Beiwu planned to inspect Azure Spirit Newts, Darkwater Spirit Turtles, and Azure-Wave Spirit Carps.
• Lin Yi invited Xu Ziqing to Sulfur Reef Island, but she declined and said she would accompany Chen Beiwu to Blackfall Island.

Chen Beiwu and Xu Ziqing visited Blackfall Island to choose a Companion Beast, where Chen tested several Azure Spirit Newt hatchlings and rejected them for lacking fighting spirit. They continued their search for a beast better suited to him.

• Xu Ziqing admired the Fourth-Tier formation that created the Spirit Beast Pavilion's islands, and Chen Beiwu followed the Jade Slip's directions to a lake where Azure Spirit Newts lived.
• Chen Beiwu trapped five Azure Spirit Newt hatchlings in a Water Prison while other cultivators tried to catch them by hand.
• A giant adult Azure Spirit Newt surfaced, but Chen released the hatchlings unharmed, and the beast returned to the lake without attacking.
• Xu Ziqing warned Chen that frightening the hatchlings could prevent them from approving a Companion Beast Contract.
• Chen Beiwu decided the hatchlings' instinct to call for help instead of fighting showed that the gentle Azure Spirit Newts were not suitable for him.

Chen Beiwu searched several habitats for a suitable Companion Beast but found none that appealed to him. At Four Seas Lake, a Golden Core True Person offered him a token to approach the Darkwater Spirit Turtles, then hinted that Chen Beiwu should pay for it.

• Chen Beiwu rejected the Azure-Wave Spirit Carp at Jade-Horn Spring because none of them met his standards.
• Chen Beiwu and Xu Ziqing went to Four Seas Lake to look for a Darkwater Spirit Turtle.
• A cultivator riding a Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle approached Chen Beiwu and Xu Ziqing, and Xu Ziqing recognized him as a Golden Core True Person.
• Han Liangcai explained that only those with an affinity for Darkwater Spirit Turtles could obtain a token to approach them.
• Han Liangcai hinted for payment, and Chen Beiwu and Xu Ziqing were left confused by the Golden Core True Person's request.

Han Liangcai gave Chen Beiwu a fragment of an ancient turtle shell and suggested that his destiny might be tied to the Darkwater Spirit Turtle. Han Liangcai then explained that he was searching for a new Hidden Dragon in Fallen Dragon Prefecture by using a treasure to divine the destiny configurations of people connected to Spirit Stones.

• Han Liangcai refused Xu Ziqing’s Spirit Origin card, took Chen Beiwu’s Low-Grade Spirit Stone, and gave him a shell fragment that would keep spirit turtle hatchlings from hiding.
• Chen Beiwu entered Four Seas Lake with the keepsake while Xu Ziqing stayed behind, and Han Liangcai wondered whether Chen Beiwu was the Hidden Dragon of Fallen Dragon Prefecture.
• Han Liangcai explained that the Mysterious-Water Nether Turtle hoped to find a Hidden Dragon and forge a Cause and Effect bond that could help it advance to Demon King.
• Han Liangcai recalled that True Lord Still Abyss, formerly Fang Shanglong, had been the previous Hidden Dragon and had the Northern Heaven Five Qi Destiny.
• Han Liangcai revealed that he used the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Mirror to divine the destiny configurations of people connected to Spirit Stones and search for the next Hidden Dragon.

Chen Beiwu searched the underwater world for a Darkwater Spirit Turtle to contract and discovered a hatchling with unprecedented Golden Fortune. As other cultivators competed for the Variant Spirit Turtle, Guan Ange offered it a Spirit Jade Carp, but the turtle dismissed the gift and wandered away.

• Chen Beiwu joined the line of cultivators trying to contract Darkwater Spirit Turtles and found that none of the hatchlings in the coral had Orange Fortune.
• Chen Beiwu spotted a basketball-sized Variant Spirit Turtle with Golden Fortune and decided it would be his Companion Beast.
• Guan Ange rushed ahead to try contracting the Variant Spirit Turtle while Chen Beiwu and the other cultivators watched.
• Guan Ange offered the turtle a Spirit Jade Carp and promised to provide one every month if it became his Companion Beast.
• The Variant Spirit Turtle yawned at Guan Ange's offer and wandered away.

Chen Beiwu learned that Darkwater Spirit Turtles chose companions through Spirit Bond Sense and fate compatibility, giving him confidence in his Nine-Breath Chaos. Lin Xinghe arrived with a Foundation Establishment Steward to claim the Variant Species hatchling, seeking the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect’s First Seat and its promised path to Nascent Soul.

• Guan Ange failed to attract the Darkwater Spirit Turtle with Spirit Jade Carp and told Chen Beiwu that the turtles sensed fate compatibility through their Innate Talent of Spirit Bond Sense.
• Chen Beiwu realized his Nine-Breath Chaos might make him a strong match for the hatchling, while Guan Ange considered whether to recruit him.
• A Foundation Establishment cultivator arrived at Four Seas Lake in a luxurious Flying Boat and introduced the arrival of Lin Xinghe.
• Lin Xinghe approached the hatchling, hoping to gain admission to the Cavern Mystery Immortal Sect without an exam and secure the Position of Cavern Mystery First Seat.

Lin Xinghe tried to win the Variant Spirit Turtle as his Companion Beast by appealing to his cultivation potential, but it rejected him for lacking spiritual resonance. He then offered a drop of Demon King Blood, leaving the turtle visibly tempted.

• Lin Xinghe introduced himself and asked the Variant Spirit Turtle to become his Companion Beast.
• The Variant Spirit Turtle used its Spirit Bond Sense to assess Lin Xinghe but rejected him because it felt no spiritual resonance with him.
• Lin Xinghe revealed a jade box containing a drop of Demon King Blood, whose terrifying Aura froze most of the cultivators present.
• Guan Ange identified the blood as belonging to an Azure Waves Mysterious Softshell Turtle, a Fourth-Realm Demon King.
• Lin Xinghe offered the Demon King Blood to the Variant Spirit Turtle in exchange for a Companion Beast Contract, and the turtle hesitated as it considered the offer.

Lin Xinghe failed to win the Variant Spirit Turtle with Demon King Blood and left Four Seas Lake. Chen Beiwu then approached the turtle, unaware that it had already dismissed him as an unremarkable cultivator.

• The Variant Spirit Turtle rejected Lin Xinghe's Demon King Blood because it lacked the power of Demon King Essence Blood to awaken its bloodline, and Lin Xinghe left Four Seas Lake.
• The Darkwater Spirit Turtle revealed a Miniature Water Realm filled with rare Spirit Fish, including four Third-Tier Treasure Fish, as it considered what to eat.
• Chen Beiwu recognized the Spirit Fish and, despite onlookers mocking his chances, walked toward the turtle while Guan Ange began asking his father about it.
• Chen Beiwu introduced himself and asked the Darkwater Spirit Turtle to become his Companion Beast, but it rolled its eyes and dismissed his claimed talent.

Chen Beiwu failed to win the Darkwater Spirit Turtle over through his Fortune and Fate Pattern, so he tempted it with elaborate fish recipes and negotiated payment for cooking. He chose a peculiar Golden Scale fish, which Nine-Breath Chaos identified as a legendary find, and the chapter ended with him recognizing its potential.

• Chen Beiwu offered to analyze the Spirit Fish and described enticing recipes for Jade Marrow Carp and Redblood Fish, prompting the Darkwater Spirit Turtle to use its Spirit Bond Sense talent.
• The Darkwater Spirit Turtle rejected Chen Beiwu as a Companion Beast but stopped him from leaving and demanded Redblood Fish sashimi.
• Chen Beiwu agreed to cook the fish in exchange for one Spirit Fish from the Miniature Water Realm.
• The Darkwater Spirit Turtle blocked Chen Beiwu from choosing its prized Rainbow-Horned Pomfret, so he selected an unusual, round Golden Scale instead.
• Nine-Breath Chaos revealed that the Golden Scale had extraordinary potential, making Chen Beiwu's heartbeat quicken.