Chapter Summaries

After reaching the fifth layer of Body Tempering, Ying Huaixu perfected his sword techniques and tested their power. The next day, he unlocked several game features and discovered a shop that could supply valuable pills, leaving him eager to exploit it while realizing his breakthroughs had consumed pills automatically.

• Ying Huaixu advanced to the fifth layer of Body Tempering, then tested his strength by lifting a boulder weighing fifty thousand jin with one arm.
• Ying Huaixu perfected Frost Step and Heavenly Frost Sword, testing their speed and icy power in the mountains behind the sect.
• Ying Huaixu decided to rest and check whether the game's other features still worked the next day.
• Ying Huaixu unlocked the mailbox, True Spirit Eye, Sect Activity, and shop features, and found preregistration rewards in his mailbox.
• Ying Huaixu bought out the shop's supply of pills and realized that eight Blood-Coagulating Pills had been consumed automatically during his breakthroughs.

Ying Huaixu chose to work in the Pill Room, where he saw how poorly an old disciple refined pills and completed his first sect activity. He returned to his Cave Abode with experience and sect contribution, planning to test pill refining and look for an adventure quest the next day.

• Ying Huaixu chose the Pill Room for his daily sect activity and gave the senior disciple three special spirit herbs on the way.
• Ying Huaixu registered with the Pill Room steward and was assigned to clean refining room seventeen.
• Ying Huaixu accidentally startled an old pill refiner into exploding his furnace, then learned to clean the room and furnace each day for sect contribution.
• Ying Huaixu watched the old man fail at most of his pill batches and compare his results unfavorably with Doctor Li's.
• Ying Huaixu cleaned the pill furnace, earned 1,500 experience and ten sect contribution, then returned to his Cave Abode planning to test the pill refining system.

Ying Huaixu watched Huang Tianqi repeatedly fail at alchemy, then accepted an Adventure Quest to try refining a pill himself. Using the system’s furnace prompts and temperature controls, he completed the process without an explosion and produced a fragrant pill.

• Ying Huaixu noticed his daily quest reward had risen from 300 experience points to 1,000 and went to work in the Pill Room.
• Ying Huaixu found Huang Tianqi repeatedly failing at the same step of alchemy, and Huang Tianqi insisted his mistakes reflected his extraordinary talent.
• Huang Tianqi followed his instincts, triggering an explosion that damaged the Pill Room and set off a chain of furnace explosions.
• Huang Tianqi gave Ying Huaixu a Pill Formula, activating an Adventure Quest that challenged him to experience the hardships of alchemy.
• Ying Huaixu used the system’s prompts to add herbs and control the furnace temperature, then opened it to reveal a successfully refined pill.

Ying Huaixu demonstrated extraordinary alchemical talent, earned second-grade alchemist status, and produced two hundred Bone-Strengthening Pills in one batch. Huang Tianqi tried to persuade his father, the Pill Peak Master, to recruit Ying Huaixu to Pill Peak, but his father dismissed the idea without watching the evidence.

• Ying Huaixu refined seven Supreme-grade Spirit-Breaking Pills, and Huang Tianqi learned that he could already make four kinds of pills.
• Huang Tianqi gave Ying Huaixu a second-grade alchemist token, completing his quests and unlocking the alchemy function.
• Ying Huaixu refined two hundred Bone-Strengthening Pills at once while Huang Tianqi watched in disbelief.
• Huang Tianqi contacted the Pill Peak Master and urged him to recruit Ying Huaixu, but the Pill Peak Master dismissed the suggestion and ignored the Projection Stones.
• Huang Tianqi lamented that his father had missed an opportunity, while the Pill Peak Master called his son delusional.

Lü Qingyi rejected the special treatment prepared for Ye Ningshuang, insisting that the Child of Prophecy prove herself in the outer sect. After discovering Ying Huaixu’s rapid progress and alchemy achievements, Lü Qingyi questioned the Grand Ancestor’s prophecy and set events in motion to test him.

• The master of Pill Peak sent Ye Ningshuang a top-grade Bone-Strengthening Pill while preparing other pills for her.
• Lü Qingyi judged Ye Ningshuang too dependent on other disciples and crushed the pill sent from Pill Peak, saying Ye Ningshuang should earn one herself.
• Tong Xinran reminded Lü Qingyi that Ye Ningshuang might struggle to reach meridian opening without help, but Lü Qingyi checked Ying Huaixu’s activity logs instead.
• Lü Qingyi learned that Ying Huaixu had reached the fifth level of body tempering, qualified as a Second-Rank Alchemist, and refined two hundred Bone-Strengthening Pills in three days.
• Lü Qingyi questioned whether the Grand Ancestor could be wrong, then ordered the Pill Room closed for inspections and the Hunting Hall to issue an urgent, high-reward Bandit-Suppression Mission.

Ying Huaixu completed his daily quest and joined Ye Ningshuang on a world mission investigating vanished villagers. He noticed the mission had appeared earlier than expected and worried about how its altered timing might affect Ye Ningshuang’s progress.

• Ying Huaixu chopped a hundred logs to complete his daily quest, then found the Pill Room closed for repairs.
• Ying Huaixu spotted a world mission at the Demon Hunting Hall and waited for Ye Ningshuang, whose involvement he believed was necessary to complete it.
• Ye Ningshuang arrived and accepted the mission to investigate missing villagers near the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, and Ying Huaixu joined her.
• Ying Huaixu noticed Ye Ningshuang was only at body tempering first layer, earlier than in the game, and worried about her future cultivation and the Hongmeng mission.
• Senior Brother He questioned Ying Huaixu’s cultivation, and Ying Huaixu said he had been an accomplished martial artist before joining the sect and was now at body tempering fifth layer.
• Senior Brother He and the other two disciples welcomed Ying Huaixu’s help on the mission.

After Ying Huaixu and his companions accepted a dangerous mission, Lü Qingyi defended her decision to let Ye Ningshuang take it, promising to assess her personally. On the journey, He Xiuyuan tried to court Ye Ningshuang, but she followed Ying Huaixu instead, leaving He Xiuyuan to believe she already loved him.

• Lü Qingyi rejected the sect master's objections to Ye Ningshuang taking the dangerous mission and said she would not accept Ye Ningshuang as her disciple if she failed to satisfy her.
• Ying Huaixu and the others rode nearly three hundred kilometers toward the mission site because the Townstone could not teleport them.
• He Xiuyuan asked Ying Huaixu if he and Ye Ningshuang were involved, then said he intended to court her.
• Ying Huaixu warned He Xiuyuan that Ye Ningshuang was out of his league and wondered whether he could change He Xiuyuan's tragic fate.
• He Xiuyuan tried to care for Ye Ningshuang, but she rode after Ying Huaixu and repeated his offer to ask if he was hungry, thirsty, or tired.
• He Xiuyuan concluded that Ye Ningshuang's heart already belonged to Ying Huaixu.

Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan killed a bandit gang after the bandits threatened their group and demanded Ye Ningshuang. A man from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect tried to blackmail them with a Projection Stone, but Ying Huaixu killed him and completed a side mission.

• Ying Huaixu killed several men after sensing their murderous intent, and He Xiuyuan confirmed they were bandits carrying stolen goods.
• More bandits confronted the group, and their leader demanded that Ye Ningshuang stay behind.
• He Xiuyuan killed the bandits after the leader rejected his attempt to reason with them.
• A masked man from the Thousand Mechanisms Sect appeared with a Projection Stone and tried to blackmail He Xiuyuan.
• Ying Huaixu defeated and killed the masked man as he fled, completing a side mission and earning 2,000 experience.

Ying Huaixu traveled toward Falling Radiance City with Ye Ningshuang and He Xiuyuan, while recalling that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had betrayed them and set a trap tied to a world boss. He learned more about the Great Sun Sacred Ground and the long-running feud between the Thousand Mechanisms Sect and the Divine Firmament Sword Sect.

• Ying Huaixu killed a Thousand Mechanisms Sect disciple who provoked the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, and He Xiuyuan mistakenly thought he had done it to protect his reputation.
• Ye Ningshuang shared food and wine with Ying Huaixu at a ruined temple, while He Xiuyuan joined them for a drumstick.
• Ying Huaixu realized that the mission at Falling Radiance City was part of a larger plot in which the Thousand Mechanisms Sect had betrayed them and prepared a trap.
• Ying Huaixu asked He Xiuyuan about the Great Sun Sacred Ground and learned that Xu Yaoyang was its little-known Holy Son.
• He Xiuyuan explained that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect and the Divine Firmament Sword Sect had a blood feud after accusations of copying led the second senior brother to smash the teeth of their disciples.

Ying Huaixu realized the Thousand Mechanisms Sect might have lured the Divine Firmament Sword Sect into a trap, but he and his companions were suddenly surrounded by a powerful wolf pack. As elite wolves overwhelmed the group, He Xiuyuan charged in and was sent crashing into rubble.

• Ying Huaixu reasoned that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect might have leaked its plan to draw Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples to Falling Radiance City, but worried that warning the sect could disrupt Ye Ningshuang's opportunity and future missions.
• He Xiuyuan independently suspected that the mission was a trap, and Ying Huaixu explained that they might be bait in a larger scheme.
• Ying Huaixu spotted danger around the ruined temple, and the group formed up as wolves surrounded them and triggered a side quest.
• Ying Huaixu fought the wolves, gained experience, and was battered by dozens of enormous elite wolves until he escaped their attack range.
• He Xiuyuan rushed to help Ying Huaixu, but an elite wolf struck him into the rubble, leaving him coughing up blood.

Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan fought off the wolves, but the arriving Phantom Night Wolf proved far stronger than expected. With escape impossible and He Xiuyuan outmatched, Ying Huaixu rapidly advanced his cultivation and prepared to fight alongside him.

• Ying Huaixu rescued Ye Ningshuang from a charging wolf, and He Xiuyuan slaughtered the pursuing elite wolves.
• A giant Phantom Night Wolf appeared, and Ying Huaixu recognized it as a boss whose dangerous second phase was still to come.
• He Xiuyuan unleashed his Rainbow Sword, but he only inflicted superficial wounds before the wolf's roar sent him flying.
• Ying Huaixu warned that the wolf would pursue them and that reinforcements would arrive too late, then proposed fighting it together.
• Ying Huaixu rapidly raised his cultivation to the ninth layer of body tempering, stunning He Xiuyuan.

Ying Huaixu fought the Phantom Night Wolf alone after it injured He Xiuyuan, using his ninth-layer strength and knowledge of the wolf's attacks to kill it. The quest rewards arrived, and Ye Ningshuang absorbed the beast's power and broke through to the third layer, leaving He Xiuyuan baffled by how easily his companions advanced.

• Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan charged the Phantom Night Wolf, which knocked He Xiuyuan down and left Ying Huaixu to fight alone.
• Ying Huaixu dodged the wolf's attacks, exploited its openings, and killed it with a slash to the neck.
• Ying Huaixu received 50,000 experience, 1,000 spirit stones, 20 Spirit Leaves, and a Phantom Night Wolf Pattern defensive jade pendant for completing the quest.
• He Xiuyuan praised Ying Huaixu's fighting and explained that he had stayed back because he thought Ying Huaixu did not need help.
• Ye Ningshuang absorbed power from the Phantom Night Wolf's corpse and advanced from the first to the third layer of body tempering, stunning He Xiuyuan.

Ye Ningshuang quickly reached the Body Tempering Third Layer and honed her techniques as the group traveled toward Falling Radiance City. After she killed a young master’s guards in an inn, she overcame her shock without needing reassurance, leaving Ying Huaixu impressed by her resolve.

• He Xiuyuan warned Ye Ningshuang to conceal her unusual cultivation progress from outsiders, and Ying Huaixu agreed.
• As the three traveled, Ye Ningshuang quickly mastered Body Tempering sword and movement techniques, while He Xiuyuan struggled with envy and pressure.
• Near Falling Radiance City, He Xiuyuan announced that he was ready to break through and entered secluded cultivation in a town.
• At an inn, a silk-clad young master tried to make Ye Ningshuang drink with him, so Ying Huaixu encouraged her to test her strength.
• Ye Ningshuang sent the young master flying with one palm, then killed the guards who attacked her with the Netherworld Sword Technique.
• After vomiting at the sight of the dead, Ye Ningshuang steadied herself, and Ying Huaixu admired her resolve.

Ye Ningshuang defeated the Xu Family’s Grandmaster after killing members of the family, while Ying Huaixu realized the incident might be part of her hidden history with Xu Yaoyang. Xu Yaoyang arrived and offered compensation, then left with his family, leaving Ying Huaixu unsure whether he had changed the events that would unfold.

• Ying Huaixu connected Ye Ningshuang’s past letters about killing with the deaths at the inn and realized he was witnessing details absent from the game.
• An old Xu Family Grandmaster attacked Ye Ningshuang, but she shattered his arm and sent him flying with one punch.
• The Xu Family head arrived, recognized Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang as immortals, and begged them to forgive his family, mentioning his son Xu Yaoyang.
• Ying Huaixu wondered whether Ye Ningshuang’s encounter with the Xu Family was connected to the relationship she had with Xu Yaoyang in the game.
• Xu Yaoyang arrived, thanked Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang for showing mercy, gave them two Storage Bags of spirit stones, and departed with his family.

Xu Yaoyang reprimanded his family after his younger brother provoked the Divine Firmament Sword Sect, then arranged to bring them near the sect and urged them to make peace with its disciples. Meanwhile, Ye Ningshuang worried about her growing excitement after killing someone, while Ying Huaixu questioned the game’s rules and his role in the world.

• Xu Yaoyang warned his father that provoking the Divine Firmament Sword Sect could destroy the Xu family and said the sect had agreed to let them live nearby.
• Xu Yaoyang scolded his younger brother for his behavior and told his father to stop spoiling him.
• Xu Yaoyang sent his father to invite the Divine Firmament Sword Sect disciples to the Xu estate and explained the value of building goodwill with them.
• Ye Ningshuang feared that becoming calmer and excited after killing someone meant she might turn into a murderous monster.
• Ying Huaixu reconsidered the Phantasmal Night Wolf encounter, He Xiuyuan’s early breakthrough, and why he had transmigrated into the game world.

Ying Huaixu refused the Xu Family head’s request and explained his outlook to Ye Ningshuang, who then pursued strength by slaughtering demonic beasts. When Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan followed her into the forest, they found her facing Xu Yaoyang beside a glowing spirit herb.

• Ying Huaixu refused the Xu Family head’s request after consulting Ye Ningshuang.
• Ying Huaixu told Ye Ningshuang that he fought to survive, and she felt they were alike.
• He Xiuyuan emerged from seclusion having reached meridian opening, and the group set out to help Ye Ningshuang gain experience.
• Ye Ningshuang slaughtered demonic beasts, devoured their souls, perfected her sword technique, and advanced to the body tempering sixth layer in one day.
• Ye Ningshuang entered the forest depths alone, and Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan hurried after her.
• Ying Huaixu and He Xiuyuan found Ye Ningshuang and Xu Yaoyang facing each other amid demonic beast corpses, with a glowing spirit herb between them.

Xu Yaoyang met the Divine Firmament Sword Sect group, learned that He Xiuyuan was the Great Sun Holy Lord’s son, and offered help that He Xiuyuan refused. Ying Huaixu then led He Xiuyuan and Ye Ningshuang to Falling Radiance City, where he showed off his wealth by treating them to a meal and giving each of them spirit stones.

• Xu Yaoyang offered Ye Ningshuang a spirit herb as an apology, and Ying Huaixu accepted it after she refused.
• Xu Yaoyang recognized He Xiuyuan and learned he had left the Great Sun Sacred Ground to become an outer disciple of the Divine Firmament Sword Sect.
• He Xiuyuan explained that he had destroyed his cultivation and left after his father repeatedly belittled him and his aptitude.
• Xu Yaoyang offered to help with the sect’s mission, but He Xiuyuan refused, and Xu Yaoyang departed as darkness fell.
• He Xiuyuan suggested they go straight to Falling Radiance City, and Ying Huaixu led the group there before dawn.
• Ying Huaixu took He Xiuyuan and Ye Ningshuang to a fine restaurant, paid for their meal, and gave each of them a hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Ying Huaixu explored Falling Radiance City, bought materials for his equipment-enhancement system, and discovered that the Nether Capital Merchant Guild’s three instances still existed in the real world. After earning spirit stones and securing a guild discount, he returned to the inn, where He Xiuyuan reminded him of their mission.

• Ying Huaixu left He Xiuyuan and Ye Ningshuang to enjoy the city, explored Falling Radiance City, and bought up refined ores and tempering stones from independent cultivators.
• Ying Huaixu visited the Nether Capital Merchant Guild and confirmed that its Spirit Stone, Medicinal Herb, and Equipment Materials instances were still available.
• Ying Huaixu defeated the Spirit-Devouring Beast and received rainbow jade, which the guild exchanged for fifty thousand Supreme Spirit Stones after taking its share.
• Ying Huaixu cleared the other two instances, exchanged their drops for herbs and equipment materials, and received a VIP token with a twenty-percent discount.
• Ying Huaixu returned to the inn, and the next morning He Xiuyuan woke him about their mission; Ying Huaixu claimed he had already investigated it.

Ying Huaixu told He Xiuyuan and Ye Ningshuang about a suspected Thousand Mechanisms Sect blood sacrifice plot and decided to investigate its hideouts. After finding and attacking a hidden base, he discovered that killing quest-related enemies granted him experience.

• Ying Huaixu warned He Xiuyuan that the Thousand Mechanisms Sect might be preparing a blood sacrifice formation, and they agreed to investigate that night without involving the city lord.
• Ying Huaixu bought Blood-Coagulating Pills and Qi-Recovery Pills, then went to scout a hideout while He Xiuyuan and Ye Ningshuang secretly followed him.
• Ying Huaixu noticed the pair on his map, confronted them, and led them straight to a Thousand Mechanisms Sect hideout.
• Ying Huaixu attacked and killed the disciples there with Frost Step and Heavenly Frost Sword, earning 1,000 experience.
• Ye Ningshuang took Ying Huaixu's excited grin as proof that they shared a dark side, while He Xiuyuan found his bloodied smile frightening.

Ying Huaixu uncovered the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s plan to sacrifice Falling Radiance City and predicted the sect’s next mission. He and Ye Ningshuang then turned their infiltration into a massacre of the sect’s outposts.

• Ying Huaixu retrieved a hidden scroll revealing the Thousand Mechanisms Sect’s plan to build a Blood Sacrifice Array and sacrifice Falling Radiance City’s residents.
• Ying Huaixu told He Xiuyuan to report that the information seemed suspiciously easy to find, and the completed report unlocked the mission’s second stage.
• The Divine Firmament Sword Sect assigned Ying Huaixu, He Xiuyuan, and Ye Ningshuang to investigate the City Lord’s Manor and the blood sacrifice’s intended target.
• Ying Huaixu proposed disguising themselves as Thousand Mechanisms Sect members so their spy contact would approach them.
• Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang instead killed everyone at an outpost and dragged a bewildered He Xiuyuan toward the next one.