Chapter Summaries

Zhao Yi tended Linghua Island’s spirit fields and reunited with Liu Yu and Wang Qing, who had advanced in their cultivation. He led them back to the Daoist temple, where the chapter left their lives and the island’s scarce resources in focus.

• Zhao Yi finished watering two mu of spirit rice, exhausted himself with the Rain Transformation Technique, and went to cool off in the river.
• Zhao Yi met Liu Yu and Wang Qing at a mountain pavilion, where Liu Yu said he had broken through to the Meridian Opening stage.
• Liu Yu gave Wang Qing his four remaining Essence Qi Pills to help him advance from the Qi Nurturing Stage.
• Zhao Yi told his junior brothers to return with him to the Daoist temple because he had something to discuss.
• The chapter described Linghua Island’s history, its lack of a spirit vein, and the spirit fields and spring that sustained Zhao Yi and his disciples.

Zhao Yi realized Daoist Mu was probing Linghua Island because he suspected Chen Yihua had died, and decided to strike first before Daoist Mu attacked them. Zhao Yi, Liu Yu, and Wang Qing prepared for the journey to Jade Pearl Island, where they planned to confront him.

• Zhao Yi remembered that Chen Yihua had died protecting him on Azure Cloud Island and explained why the disciples had kept his death secret.
• Zhao Yi told Liu Yu and Wang Qing that Daoist Mu's repeated visits to ask about Chen Yihua suggested he suspected the truth and might target them.
• Zhao Yi revealed that he had reached greater mastery of Meridian Opening and proposed a surprise attack on Daoist Mu, despite Liu Yu's warnings about the older cultivator's hidden strength.
• Liu Yu and Wang Qing agreed to accompany Zhao Yi, and the three chose to approach Jade Pearl Island from the north.
• Zhao Yi prepared his halberd, protective inner armor, and spiritual talismans while Liu Yu and Wang Qing readied their weapons and talisman arrows.

Zhao Yi led Liu Yu and Wang Qing in a night raid on Jade Pearl Island to kill Daoist Mu, carefully avoiding traps around his abbey. When Daoist Mu left to deal with a sea beast attacking the harbor, Zhao Yi decided to wait in ambush and strike after the fight weakened him.

• Zhao Yi, Liu Yu, and Wang Qing reached Red Basin Reef and swam through rough seas to Jade Pearl Island.
• Zhao Yi climbed the island’s sheer northern cliff, lowered a rope for Liu Yu and Wang Qing, and led them around traps near Qingxin Abbey.
• A fisherman arrived to report that a sea beast was attacking the harbor, and Daoist Mu left the abbey with him.
• Zhao Yi rejected entering the abbey and chose to ambush Daoist Mu when he returned weakened from fighting the sea beast.

Zhao Yi, Wang Qing, and Liu Yu ambushed the exhausted Daoist Mu during a storm, but he used talismans and Iron Thread Vines to fight back and flee. Zhao Yi risked his life with the Boiling Blood Art while his companions helped break Daoist Mu’s shield, and Zhao Yi killed him; a speck of light then flew from Daoist Mu’s body into Zhao Yi.

• Zhao Yi ambushed Daoist Mu with his halberd as Wang Qing and Liu Yu joined the attack.
• Daoist Mu defended himself with talismans and Iron Thread Vines, trapping Zhao Yi and Liu Yu before fleeing downhill.
• Zhao Yi used the Boiling Blood Art to break free and pursue Daoist Mu, while Wang Qing’s Talisman Arrow froze Daoist Mu’s feet.
• Wang Qing struck Daoist Mu with an Explosive Talisman Arrow, and Liu Yu cracked his Golden Light Talisman shield with his sword.
• Zhao Yi shattered Daoist Mu’s defense and killed him with his halberd, then Liu Yu cut the body further.
• A speck of light emerged from Daoist Mu’s body and merged into Zhao Yi.

After defeating Daoist Mu, Zhao Yi discovered a Sect Jade Register in his dantian that could record cultivators and manipulate fortune. He added two fortune points to his own fortune and, after recovering enough to stand, joined Liu Yu to check on Wang Qing.

• Wang Qing retched at the sight of Daoist Mu's corpse, then joined Liu Yu in searching it while Zhao Yi went to treat his injuries.
• Zhao Yi meditated and discovered the Sect Jade Register, which could record true spirits, trace lives, and alter fortune at a cost.
• Zhao Yi examined the register, named his sect Linghua, and spent his two available fortune points to raise his fortune from seven to eight.
• Zhao Yi told Liu Yu that his meridians would need a month to heal and warned that they must not use the Boiling Blood Art recklessly again.
• After learning Wang Qing was searching the Daoist temple for treasure, Zhao Yi and Liu Yu went to find him.

Zhao Yi and Liu Yu searched Daoist Mu’s temple for valuables and hidden items. Zhao Yi uncovered Daoist Mu’s cultivation art and a beast-taming record, then left the bamboo house with the books and a valuable incense burner.

• Liu Yu told Zhao Yi that Daoist Mu’s corpse had been destroyed and reported the items taken from him.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu offered incense to Immortal Venerable Yuanhua, then searched the temple and found purple jade bamboo in the rear courtyard.
• Zhao Yi cautioned Wang Qing about searching carelessly and discovered that Daoist Mu’s annotated Dao text could be useful.
• Zhao Yi examined the bedroom’s furnishings and found a wind-milled copper incense burner worth several spirit stones.
• Zhao Yi uncovered a trapped box beneath the floor containing the Azure Wood Pure Spirit Art, then found Wang Xuanmu’s First Record of Beast Taming hidden in a wall.
• Zhao Yi set the two books and incense burner on the table and left the bamboo house while Liu Yu and Wang Qing continued searching.

After defeating Daoist Mu, Zhao Yi and his fellow disciples searched his residence and uncovered hidden spiritual resources. Zhao Yi divided the spoils and left Liu Yu and Wang Qing to govern Jade Pearl Island while he returned to Linghua Island to recover.

• Wang Qing found Daoist Mu's Azure Wood Pure Spirit Art and beast-taming manual, and Zhao Yi approved Wang Qing's plan to practice the cultivation method.
• Liu Yu discovered a hidden hole beneath the kitchen's water vat containing spirit stones, pills, and two spirit pearls.
• Zhao Yi and his fellow disciples gathered their spoils, and Zhao Yi distributed a spirit pearl and pills to Liu Yu and seeds and a sword to Wang Qing.
• Zhao Yi told Liu Yu and Wang Qing to announce Linghua Island's rule over Jade Pearl Island and test the islanders for cultivation aptitude.
• Zhao Yi said he would return to Linghua Island to recover while Liu Yu and Wang Qing stayed on Jade Pearl Island.

Zhao Yi returned to Linghua Island, tended its spirit fields while recovering from his injuries, and reflected on the island’s cultivation resources and his spirit-nurturing powder business. On Jade Pearl Island, Liu Yu and Wang Qing tested the residents for spiritual roots and found only Chunsheng, whom they brought back to the abbey.

• Zhao Yi returned to Linghua Island and confirmed that its spirit fields were safe, then rested and took a Spring Return Pill to ease his injuries.
• Zhao Yi inspected the Three Talents Spirit-Nourishing Formation and used the Rain Transformation Technique to water and check the Spirit Rice over four days.
• Zhao Yi checked his island traps but skipped his usual sea patrol because his injuries were still serious, then resumed intensive cultivation.
• Liu Yu and Wang Qing tested the spiritual roots of Jade Pearl Island’s residents and found that fourteen-year-old Chunsheng had cultivation aptitude.
• Liu Yu welcomed Chunsheng, and Wang Qing helped him pack so he could move up the mountain to the abbey that day.

After recovering from his injuries, Zhao Yi secured his hidden cave and returned to his cultivation before visiting Jade Pearl Island. He found Wang Qing teaching the newly recruited Chunsheng and gave Liu Yu a Spirit Pearl to help him grow stronger for the upcoming Trade Fair.

• Zhao Yi recovered, inspected and secured his underwater cave, and stored cultivation manuals, spirit stones, and other valuables there.
• Zhao Yi resumed cultivation on Linghua Island and drove off a sea beast that attacked him.
• A month later, Zhao Yi visited Jade Pearl Island and found Wang Qing teaching Chunsheng, a fourteen-year-old islander with cultivation aptitude.
• Liu Yu told Zhao Yi that Wang Qing had reached perfection in qi nourishing and that the Spirit Pearl had helped him open twenty-one meridians.
• Zhao Yi gave Liu Yu his Spirit Pearl so Liu Yu could advance toward minor attainment in meridian opening before their trip to Little Wave Island for the Trade Fair.

Zhao Yi patrolled Jade Pearl Island, learned more about its terrain and the islanders’ lives, and began taking fishing boats out to patrol the surrounding waters. On his first sea patrol, he baited and killed a Giant-Mouth Fish, securing dinner.

• Zhao Yi circled Jade Pearl Island, inspected its cliffs and traps, and returned to Qingxin Abbey to make lunch.
• After resting, Zhao Yi went to the harbor and ordered two islanders to take him out to sea, announcing that he would patrol the waters every three days.
• During his patrol north of the island, Zhao Yi used his Spirit Eye to spot a Giant-Mouth Fish beneath the boat.
• Zhao Yi baited the Giant-Mouth Fish, dodged its leap, hauled it aboard, and killed it with his fists.
• The two fishermen marveled at Zhao Yi’s strength, and he was pleased to have caught dinner.

Zhao Yi discovered that the fishy taste in Jade Pearl Spring came from a school of Spirit Fish cultivating moonlight in a hidden cave. After investigating their shelter, he realized the spring’s newly emerged spiritual power had transformed the fish and decided to protect them, though the islanders depended on the spring for drinking water.

• After returning from patrol, Zhao Yi went to fetch water from Jade Pearl Spring and noticed its water tasted faintly fishy.
• Zhao Yi meditated beside the spring until night, then used the Spirit-Piercing Dharma Eye to spot a school of Spirit Fish gathering spiritual light from the moon.
• At dawn, Zhao Yi watched the fish retreat into a crevice at the bottom of the spring and recalled how valuable Spirit Fish were.
• After morning practice and breakfast, Zhao Yi swam into the spring and found the Spirit Fish in a hidden cave containing faint spiritual power.
• Zhao Yi realized the cave had begun releasing spiritual power over the past ten years, turning the spring’s small fish into Spirit Fish, and considered sealing off the spring despite its importance as the island’s only source of fresh water.

Zhao Yi fed the spirit fish at Jade Pearl Spring with spirit rice and Origin-Nourishing Pills, helping the school grow while arranging reservoirs and making the island safer. After the lead fish grew into a three-cun-long king, Zhao Yi decided to ask Liu Yu to come to Jade Pearl Island so he could restock supplies without leaving the fish unattended.

• Zhao Yi persuaded the islanders to dig two reservoirs by promising Origin-Nourishing Pills to the workers.
• Zhao Yi scattered spirit rice flour into Jade Pearl Spring, and the spirit fish eagerly ate it.
• Zhao Yi patrolled the sea regularly, shared his catches with fishermen, and saw their work on the reservoirs speed up.
• The lead spirit fish attacked Zhao Yi with a water arrow, then grew larger after eating spirit rice and an Origin-Nourishing Pill.
• Zhao Yi counted fifty-seven spirit fish and decided to send a message asking Liu Yu to come to Jade Pearl Island.

Liu Yu arrived at Jade Pearl Island and learned about the spirit fish at Jade Pearl Spring, while he and Zhao Yi discussed their work and upcoming plans. After Liu Yu returned to Linghua Island, Wang Qing broke through to the Meridian Opening stage, and he and Zhao Yi headed back to the island.

• Liu Yu arrived at Jade Pearl Island, told Zhao Yi he had reached Minor Achievement of Meridian Opening, and reported Chunsheng's low-grade water spiritual root.
• Zhao Yi told Liu Yu about the fifty-seven spirit fish at Jade Pearl Spring, and the two watched them eat spirit rice flour and absorb moon essence.
• Liu Yu left for Linghua Island after Zhao Yi asked him to help Wang Qing break through before the trade fair.
• Zhao Yi observed that several more spirit fish had grown to two inches as time passed.
• Wang Qing met Zhao Yi at Qingxin Abbey after breaking through to the Meridian Opening stage, and they returned to Linghua Island together.

Zhao Yi returned to Linghua Island and found the spirit rice ready for harvest, then formally accepted Chunsheng as Chen Yihua’s fourth disciple on his master’s behalf. Chunsheng received the name Li Hai and gifts from his three senior brothers.

• Zhao Yi inspected the ripe spirit rice with Liu Yu, Chunsheng, and Wang Qing, and decided they would begin harvesting the next day.
• Zhao Yi learned that Chunsheng had studied Daoist scriptures with Liu Yu and martial arts with Wang Qing, and arranged for him to formally take a master that evening.
• In the Ancestral Hall, Chunsheng performed the rites and became a third-generation cultivator of Linghua Island, with Chen Yihua as his master.
• Chunsheng drew the surname Li by divination and chose Hai as his given name, becoming Li Hai.
• Zhao Yi gave Li Hai a Wondrous Sound Conch, Liu Yu gave him a wooden sword, and Wang Qing gave him a jade bead.

Zhao Yi and his fellow disciples harvested Linghua Island’s spirit and ordinary rice, then processed the ordinary rice into Jade Essence Rice. After calculating their yields and expenses, they prepared to sell most of the harvest to fund pills, formation stones, and other needs.

• Zhao Yi led Liu Yu, Wang Qing, and Li Hai through morning practice and assigned them work to harvest the island’s fields themselves.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu cut rice while Wang Qing and Li Hai gathered it, and the group harvested all fifty-two mu of fields within seven days.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu dried and husked the harvest, weighing 232 jin of spirit rice and 157 shi of ordinary rice.
• Zhao Yi sent Wang Qing to Jade Pearl Island with ten jin of spirit rice while the others prepared herbs and medicinal liquid to process the ordinary rice.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu spent five days using the refining artifact to turn the ordinary rice into fifty-one shi of Jade Essence Rice, and the group planned to sell most of both kinds of rice to cover their expenses.

Zhao Yi prepared for the annual trade fair on Little Wave Island, calculating the many expenses facing Linghua Island and deciding to attend with Liu Yu. After the trade fair date was announced, Zhao Yi and Liu Yu departed, leaving Wang Qing and Li Hai to guard Linghua Island.

• Zhao Yi counted the goods he planned to sell and the supplies and medicines he needed to buy, realizing the expenses would exceed his expected income.
• Liu Yu told Zhao Yi that the Zhao Family of Little Wave Island had announced the trade fair for October twenty-seventh.
• Zhao Yi decided to leave the next day with Liu Yu and ordered Wang Qing to return to Linghua Island to guard it.
• On October twenty-third, Zhao Yi and Liu Yu sailed away aboard the Linghua while Wang Qing and Li Hai watched from the harbor.

Zhao Yi and Liu Yu traveled to Little Wave Island for the Zhao Family’s trade fair, where they learned about the island’s growing influence and the other powers in the Yunsha Sea Region. After arriving, they claimed a trading plot and found that Fubo Pavilion had set up shop, though its high prices worried Zhao Yi.

• Zhao Yi told Liu Yu about the Zhao Family’s strength and ambitions, the influential islands in the region, and Linghua Island’s weakened position after their master’s death and Daoist Mu’s slaying.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu reached Little Wave Island on the twenty-fifth of the tenth month and were guided into the harbor by Zhao Changyu of the Zhao Family.
• Liu Yu learned that Haikong Island, Black Wind Island, Silver Frost Island, Bamboo Sea Island, and Moon Gazing Island had already arrived, then gave Zhao Changyu two spirit stones for his help.
• After resting, Zhao Yi and Liu Yu claimed a trading plot for Linghua Island and saw that Bamboo Sea Island, Haikong Island, Black Wind Island, and Moon Gazing Island had also claimed plots.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu visited Fubo Pavilion’s stand and worried that its high prices would leave them short of spirit stones.

Zhao Yi sold Linghua Island’s Jade Essence Rice and Spirit-Nurturing Powder at the trading fair, then spoke with Junior Sister Liu from Peach Blossom Island about their absent masters and exchanged gifts. He remained at the stall after she left, waiting for Black Wind Island to collect its reserved rice.

• Zhao Yi and the sailors set up Linghua Island’s stall, where two cultivators bought three hundred jin of Jade Essence Rice after exchanging spirit medicine for spirit stones.
• Linghua Island sold fifteen hundred jin of Jade Essence Rice and all its Spirit-Nurturing Powder that morning, while Black Wind Island reserved the remaining six hundred jin.
• Zhao Yi stayed at the stall in the afternoon after sending the sailors away with pearls, and Junior Sister Liu invited him to a gathering aboard Peach Blossom Island’s ship.
• Zhao Yi explained that Senior Chen was recovering in seclusion after fighting a sea beast, and that Martial Uncle Mu had stayed behind to care for him.
• Liu Lianying gave Zhao Yi spirit peaches for Senior Chen and Senior Mu, and Zhao Yi gave her beauty-preserving pastries for Senior Liu.
• Urgent calls brought Junior Sister Liu away, and Zhao Yi returned to waiting at the stall.

Zhao Yi learned from Yuan Zifeng that the Wang Clan cultivators from Red Sand Island had been killed on their return voyage, and he suspected the powerful cultivators of Three Heroes Island. After discussing the danger with Liu Yu, Zhao Yi agreed they would finish trading with Fubo Pavilion and leave at once.

• Yuan Zifeng visited Zhao Yi’s stall, bought Green Jade Spirit Rice, and revealed that he had reached great completion of Meridian Opening, while Zhao Yi had advanced half a year earlier.
• Yuan Zifeng warned Zhao Yi that the Wang Clan master and his two disciples from Red Sand Island had been robbed and killed on their way home, and offered to travel back with him.
• Yuan Zifeng told Zhao Yi that Kongqing Island had taken over Red Sand Island, prompting Zhao Yi to suspect that Three Heroes Island’s cultivators had carried out the killings.
• Zhao Yi returned to the boat, gave Liu Yu a spirit peach, and told him about the attack and his suspicion of Three Heroes Island.
• Liu Yu agreed with Zhao Yi that they should leave as soon as they had finished trading with Fubo Pavilion the next day.

Zhao Yi and Liu Yu waited for Fubo Pavilion’s merchant ship after learning that cultivators from seven islands had been ambushed, then boarded to trade their spirit rice. They sold their White Jade Rice, bought seeds, and asked their guide to take them to a pill shop.

• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu waited at the dock, where Liu Yu learned that cultivators from seven islands had been ambushed after the previous trading fair.
• Fubo Pavilion’s merchant ship arrived at Little Wave Island, and its red-robed leader warned traders to follow the rules aboard.
• Zhao Yi and Liu Yu boarded with token number seven and hired a guide to show them around the ship.
• At Shop Ding Four, Zhao Yi and Liu Yu sold two hundred jin of White Jade Rice for one hundred spirit stones.
• Zhao Yi bought four jin of White Jade Rice seed for ten spirit stones, checked the seed and payment, and asked the guide to take them to a pill shop.