Chapter Summaries

At the Welcoming Inn, Gao Peiyao told Chen Jianghe and Yu Daniu that she planned to leave Mirror Moon Lake and try to join the Tian Nan Sect. With Zhou Miaoyun set to travel with her as far as Qinghe Market, the chapter ended with Chen Jianghe and Yu Daniu offering spirit stones to support their journey.

• Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun met Chen Jianghe and Yu Daniu at the inn, where they discussed Yun Bufan's cultivation and the Yun Household's troubles.
• Yu Daniu asked Gao Peiyao why she planned to leave Mirror Moon Lake, and she explained that she wanted to attempt the Tian Nan Sect's recruitment examination.
• Gao Peiyao said she could travel with Zhou Miaoyun to Qinghe Market, then take a flying boat toward the Tian Nan Sect.
• Chen Jianghe gave Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun spirit stones, and Yu Daniu added a gift to help with Gao Peiyao's travel expenses.

At the Mutual Aid Alliance’s final year-end gathering, Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun left Mirror Moon Lake, while Chen Jianghe decided to begin learning the Talisman Dao. He bought a Qi-Nurturing Pill and talisman-making supplies, including a worn secondhand brush, and left the market ready to test his talent.

• Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun repaid their debts and took their leave, ending the alliance’s annual year-end gatherings as they departed Mirror Moon Lake.
• Yu Daniu invited Chen Jianghe to visit on New Year’s Eve, and Chen asked him to find a book on common knowledge about the cultivation world.
• Chen Jianghe used his remaining funds to buy a Qi-Nurturing Pill, twenty sheets of talisman paper, and a box of spirit ink.
• Chen Jianghe bargained a stallholder down to one spirit stone for a worn peachwood talisman brush and left the cultivator market with his supplies.

Chen Jianghe used a Qi-Nurturing Pill to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, then considered the expense of further cultivation for himself and Xiao Hei. After the Yun Household delivered the Small Blue Fish fry, he began trying to draw talismans as a new source of income.

• Chen Jianghe returned to the Inner Waters with his purchases and spent two days preparing for his breakthrough.
• Chen Jianghe told Xiao Hei to guard the fish and promised to buy him Qi-Nurturing Pills when they could afford them.
• Chen Jianghe took the Qi-Nurturing Pill and used the Origin Returning True Water Art to break through to the fourth level of Qi Refining.
• Chen Jianghe calculated the cost of further cultivation for himself and Xiao Hei and decided to pursue the Talisman Dao for income.
• Chen Jianghe stabilized his cultivation and skipped the New Year's Eve visit to Heart of the Lake Island to conserve his remaining funds.
• Chen Jianghe entrusted the Yun Household's delivery of a hundred Small Blue Fish fry to Xiao Hei and began trying to draw talismans.

Chen Jianghe taught himself to draw spirit talismans, progressing from Water-Cleansing Talismans to Water-Gathering Talismans. After a month of practice, he reached a ninety percent success rate with Water-Gathering Talismans and prepared to attempt low-grade spirit talismans.

• Chen Jianghe began drawing talismans and destroyed his first attempts while learning to control his magical power and steady his wrist.
• After meditating, Chen Jianghe succeeded on his third attempt at a Water-Cleansing Talisman and tested it by purifying lake water.
• Over seven days, Chen Jianghe drew ten Water-Cleansing Talismans, improving their effectiveness and reaching a ninety percent success rate.
• Chen Jianghe spent two days learning to draw Water-Gathering Talismans, then practiced them for half a month until his success rate also reached ninety percent.
• Chen Jianghe counted his completed talismans and prepared to try low-grade spirit talismans, noting that his spirit ink was nearly used up and his Peachwood Talisman Brush was damaged.

Chen Jianghe completed another Water Arrow Talisman, bought new talisman-making supplies at the Cultivator Market, and received a jade slip from Yu Daniu. He learned that the slip contained the Yun Household’s basic cultivation-world knowledge and would need to be returned on New Year’s Eve.

• Chen Jianghe assessed his progress in drawing low-grade talismans and decided to invest in a replacement brush and more materials.
• Chen Jianghe heard conflicting rumors that Lan Tianxiang had committed several robberies, then traded his spirit talismans and spirit stones for supplies at the Cultivator Market.
• Yu Daniu sent Chen Jianghe a letter boasting that his fifth child, another boy, had been born.
• A White Egret delivered Yu Daniu’s letter and a jade slip containing the Yun Household’s Basic Knowledge of the Cultivation World.
• Chen Jianghe took the jade slip into the cabin to read it, knowing he had to return it by New Year’s Eve.

Chen Jianghe studied the Yun Household Magazine to learn about the Tian Nan Region, cultivation arts, and spirit-beast bloodlines. Xiao Hei revealed that the Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art had doubled its magical power, leaving Chen Jianghe to wonder whether the art could improve its talent and bloodline.

• Chen Jianghe memorized the gazetteer and information about treasures and cultivation arts from the Yun Household Magazine.
• Chen Jianghe learned that spirit beasts advanced through bloodline inheritances and that their potential depended on bloodline purity.
• Chen Jianghe wondered why Xiao Hei cultivated faster than a spirit beast with a first-grade bloodline should.
• Chen Jianghe contacted Xiao Hei, who said the Three-Turn Demon Ascension Art had doubled its magical power.
• Xiao Hei said another Qi-Nourishing Pill could bring it to the peak of the early first tier, and Chen Jianghe suspected the art could improve its talent or bloodline.

Chen Jianghe studied the Yun Household Miscellany, learned about pills and dharmic instruments, and spent five months improving his Water Arrow Talisman skills to earn spirit stones. On New Year's Eve, he left Xiao Hei hiding at the bottom of the lake and traveled with the fleet to Heart of the Lake Island to visit Yu Daniu.

• Chen Jianghe decided he could safely leave the Yun Household around age fifty, relying on his growing talisman skills and Xiao Hei's rapid cultivation.
• Chen Jianghe finished reading the Yun Household Miscellany and learned the uses and costs of cultivation pills and dharmic instruments.
• Chen Jianghe prepared talisman materials and practiced drawing Water Arrow Talismans, aiming to earn spirit stones for Xiao Hei's Qi-Nourishing Pills and more spirit ink.
• Over five months, Chen Jianghe used thirty-five sheets of talisman paper to make seven Water Arrow Talismans, raising his success rate to forty percent.
• On New Year's Eve, Chen Jianghe told Xiao Hei to hide in the lakebed, then rode his black canopy boat with the fleet toward Heart of the Lake Island.

Chen Jianghe replenished his supplies on Heart of the Lake Island, then visited Yu Daniu’s family with gifts for the children. He met Yun Huixiang and joined the household for a New Year’s Eve meal, while he and Yu Daniu wondered about Gao Peiyao and Zhou Miaoyun.

• Chen Jianghe sold seven Water Arrow Talismans at Clock Tower Market, bought a Qi-Nourishing Pill and spirit ink, and purchased five puppet toys for Yu Daniu’s children.
• Chen Jianghe visited Yu Daniu at No. 32 Fumen Residence and returned the pouch containing the jade slip.
• Chen Jianghe and Yu Daniu discussed whether Gao Peiyao had passed the Tian Nan Sect’s assessment and whether Zhou Miaoyun had written from Qinghe Market.
• Yun Huizhen arrived with dinner and introduced her younger sister, Yun Huixiang, to Chen Jianghe.
• Chen Jianghe suggested that Yu Daniu invite the children to join them at the table.

Yu Daniu worried over whether his children would have Spiritual Roots, while his wife Yun Huizhen asked Chen Jianghe what he thought of her sister Yun Huixiang. Back in the Aquaculture Waters, Chen Jianghe reflected on his progress and gave Xiao Hei a Qi-Nourishing Pill, which strengthened the turtle’s magical power.

• Yun Huizhen complained that Yu Daniu was consumed by anxiety over Xiao Niu’s upcoming Spiritual Root test, and Chen Jianghe tried to comfort them.
• As Chen Jianghe left, Yu Daniu asked what he thought of Yun Huixiang, then learned that she wanted a husband at least at the late Qi Refining stage and looked down on Chen Jianghe’s prospects.
• Chen Jianghe returned to the Aquaculture Waters, reflected on turning thirty and his steady progress in cultivation and the Talisman Dao, and resolved not to rush.
• Xiao Hei eagerly demanded the Qi-Nourishing Pill and drove away the Small Blue Fish that swarmed toward it.
• After swallowing and refining the pill, Xiao Hei’s magical power grew stronger, and he asked Chen Jianghe to draw him a pie.

Chen Jianghe continued improving his talisman skills while caring for Xiao Hei, then received a letter from Zhou Miaoyun about her family settling in Qinghe Market. Her invitation led him to consider the market as a future destination, and he wondered whether Gao Peiyao had joined the Tian Nan Sect.

• Chen Jianghe promised Xiao Hei clear spirit herbs as rewards for raising extra small blue fish.
• Chen Jianghe spent the next half year practicing talisman-making and improved his success rate to around forty percent.
• Chen Jianghe received Zhou Miaoyun’s letter saying her family had settled in Qinghe Market and offering to help if he ever left the Yun Household.
• Chen Jianghe wrote back to Zhou Miaoyun and considered Qinghe Market as a safe place with abundant spiritual energy.
• Chen Jianghe wondered whether Gao Peiyao had joined the Tian Nan Sect.