Chapter Summaries

Zhang Jing bought a Cloudwater Shield, then discovered that his Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light could remove the impurities from cheap Spirit-Nurturing Pills. After testing one in a rented cultivation chamber, he confirmed he could use them as an affordable substitute for Purple Spirit Pills.

• Zhang Jing entered Shopkeeper Chen’s law artifact pavilion with Ji Bochang and bought a thirty-spirit-stone Cloudwater Shield after hearing about the shopkeeper’s orphaned niece, Linglong.
• Ji Bochang bought all five Purple Spirit Pills at the Wonderful Pill Pavilion, while Zhang Jing noticed that Spirit-Nurturing Pills cost only two spirit stones each.
• Zhang Jing realized his Origin-Gathering Spiritual Light might remove the impurities caused by Spirit-Nurturing Pills, then returned to buy one after declining Ji Bochang’s invitation to the ghost market.
• Zhang Jing rented a high-grade cultivation chamber and tested the pill, finding that one Spirit-Nurturing Pill equaled about seven to ten days of cultivation and its impurities took three days to remove.

Zhang Jing advanced his cultivation, tested his Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Technique, and discovered that his Five-Law Spirit River could store spells for later use. On his way back from buying pills, he encountered four men attacking an old man and his grandson, and his first spell battle began when they turned on him.

• Zhang Jing used a Spirit-Nurturing Pill in an advanced Cultivation Chamber and found that his Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Technique had gained the sharpness trait.
• Zhang Jing tested the technique against a bronze target, then learned that his Five-Law Spirit River could hold five spell fish and began learning the Ice-Light Incantation.
• Zhang Jing bought five Spirit-Nurturing Pills and hurried home, remembering that he still needed to patch his wall.
• Xu Boss and three men in black forced Old Shi to reveal an inheritance and swore to spare his grandson, Ming'er, before Old Shi died.
• Zhang Jing arrived as the men in black faced the aftermath and tried to kill him, so he used layered Ice-Light Incantations and the Water Cloud Shield to defend himself.
• Zhang Jing blocked the men's attacks and struck Xu Boss with a dark blade of light as Third's Flying Needle Law Artifact failed to pierce his defenses.

Zhang Jing killed four black-clad cultivators who attacked him, took their spoils, and learned that the old man’s grandson had already died. As the assessment rankings approached, he returned to cultivation, then watched two purple-robed men arrive at the Inheritance Pavilion and raise enormous pillars in the Square.

• Zhang Jing defeated the attackers with his Ice-Light Incantations and Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Technique, then took their Flying Needle Law Artifact.
• The dying old man offered Zhang Jing the Azure Sparrow Qi-Gathering Formula in exchange for finding a home for his grandson, but Zhang Jing discovered the boy had already died.
• Zhang Jing collected the attackers’ belongings, including a Storage Bag, a working Law Artifact Flying Sword, and forty-seven Spirit Stones.
• Two blue-robed Dao Academy disciples questioned Zhang Jing but let him leave, reasoning that a talented new disciple might soon enter the Inner Academy.
• Zhang Jing sorted his spoils and resumed cultivating as the assessment’s conclusion approached.
• Two purple-robed men appeared above the Square, and one raised enormous stone pillars from the ground.

Zhang Jing broke through to the Qi Refining Second Layer and learned that the assessment’s second stage would be spell combat for rankings and rewards. As he prepared to compete, his parents continued delaying their move from Zhangji Pharmacy while the Hundred Medicines Pavilion pressured them to leave.

• Zhang Jing consumed his final Spirit-Nurturing Pill, broke through to the Qi Refining Second Layer, and tested how his stronger spiritual power enhanced his techniques and Flying Sword.
• Zhang Jing reorganized the skills recorded on his Jade Talisman and confirmed that his Five-Law Spirit River could hold more law techniques.
• Zhang Jing met Ji Bochang at the Inheritance Pavilion, where Ji Bochang offered to recommend him to the Five-Colored Squad if he made the top twenty.
• Senior Brother Liu announced that the assessment’s second stage would be spell combat in three days, with Dao Merit rewards for the top thirty.
• Zhang Jing told Ji Bochang he would return to cultivation, while Zhang Mother and Zhang Father faced renewed pressure from the Hundred Medicines Pavilion to vacate Zhangji Pharmacy.

Zhang Jing passed the ranking assessment’s first round by holding off a puppet with his Flying Sword and Water Cloud Shield, while Chen Xiandao revealed the power of his Upper-Grade Cultivation Method. Zhang Jing sensed Dao Rhyme in Chen Xiandao’s punch and realized Upper-Grade Cultivation Methods were connected to it.

• Zhang Jing arrived at the Inheritance Pavilion, where Senior Brother Liu announced that candidates had to withstand a puppet for thirty breaths to pass.
• Zhang Jing took the ninth platform and used his Water Cloud Shield and Flying Sword to defeat the puppet on the twenty-seventh breath.
• Wu Mingyuan narrowly passed on the tenth platform and felt relieved that he had previously apologized to Zhang Jing.
• A senior brother from the Hundred Rivers Squad asked a junior to recruit Zhang Jing again after the rankings were settled.
• Chen Xiandao passed by sending his puppet flying with one punch, and Zhang Jing sensed crimson Dao Rhyme around the strike through Mind’s Eye.

After the first-round evaluations, the academy announced ranking-battle rules that forced contestants to choose only one ranking tier, making each choice a risky gamble. Zhang Jing passed the first two stages and remained among sixteen contestants preparing to challenge for the top ten, surprising Senior Brother Liu with his Qi Refining Second Layer cultivation.

• Shen Qingqing defeated her opponent with a law technique that showed a trace of Dao rhyme, and Senior Brother Liu announced that fifty-three contestants had passed the first evaluation.
• Zhang Jing reflected that Shen Qingqing and Chen Xiandao had reached the third layer of Qi Refining, then met up with Chu Lingyun, Deng An, Wu Mingyuan, and Ji Bochang, who had all passed.
• Senior Brother Liu announced that contestants could enter only one of three ranking stages, with challenges determining ranks and no replacements for vacancies.
• Third-Grade contestants and then Grade B geniuses claimed the lower rankings, while Chu Lingyun and Deng An gave up on pursuing the top ten because the risk was too high.
• After the first stage awarded ten identity tokens, Ji Bochang entered the second stage while Zhang Jing chose to wait, revealing that he intended to compete for the top ten.
• Sixteen contestants remained for the final stage, and Senior Brother Liu noticed Zhang Jing among them and remarked on his Qi Refining Second Layer cultivation.

Zhang Jing challenged for the Third Demonstration Platform, defeating Xu Wan and then Xia Fangming with his powerful Law Techniques and Law Artifacts. He held the platform uncontested, leaving the other candidates to compete for the remaining places.

• Chen Xiandao defeated Shen Qingqing on the First Law-Performance Platform and took the second platform without challenge.
• Zhang Jing claimed the empty Third Demonstration Platform, then defeated Xu Wan with his Water Cloud Shield and Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Technique.
• Xia Fangming challenged Zhang Jing, attacking with a golden hammer, a bronze mirror, and three puppets.
• Zhang Jing's Ice-Light Incantation protected him from the hammer, and his sharp Ice Condensation Edge-Forming Techniques broke Xia Fangming's defenses and defeated his puppets.
• Xia Fangming conceded, and no one answered Senior Brother Liu's call to challenge Zhang Jing for the Third Demonstration Platform.

After placing third in the Dao Academy assessment, Zhang Jing received a special Identity Jade Pendant and drew the attention of several powerful Outer Court squads. Zhang Yangchu offered him generous support to join the Luodu Squad, and Zhang Jing accepted.

• Inner Academy disciples noticed Zhang Jing’s unusual talent for Law Techniques and discussed his potential to join their ranks someday.
• The third stage ended, and Zhang Jing and the other nine survivors received Identity Jade Pendants; Zhang Jing discovered his pale violet pendant had a vast storage space and a defensive Law Technique.
• Chu Lingyun and Deng An compared their pendants, and Deng An reflected on how far Zhang Jing had surpassed them.
• Leaders from several squads competed for the chance to recruit Zhang Jing, and Zhang Yangchu of the Luodu Squad approached him first.
• Zhang Yangchu offered Zhang Jing monthly Purple Spirit Pills, a chance to redeem a middle-grade inheritance, a cave abode, and no cut of his Dao Merit, and Zhang Jing agreed to join the Luodu Squad.

After placing third in the Dao Academy assessment, Zhang Jing prepared to return home while the Ji Clan moved to befriend his family. He learned that his parents were being forced to leave their pharmacy, but Master Liu and Ji Xianming arrived with news of his success and the Ji Clan’s gifts; by the next day, the family had received the deed to the Hundred Herbs Pavilion.

• Zhang Yangchu welcomed Zhang Jing to the Luodu Squad, gave him Purple Spirit Pills and a Communication Talisman, and suggested he visit home.
• Ji Bochang told his senior sister that Zhang Jing had placed third and contacted his elders, who set out to assist Zhang Jing’s family.
• At Zhangji Pharmacy, Zhang Father and Zhang Mother agreed to move after a representative of the Hundred Herbs Pavilion demanded that they vacate within two days.
• Master Liu received the results showing Zhang Jing ranked third and Ji Bochang fifteenth, then met Ji Xianming on the way to Zhang Jing’s home.
• Master Liu congratulated Zhang Father and Zhang Mother on Zhang Jing’s success, while Ji Xianming learned the Hundred Herbs Pavilion had pressured them over their property.
• The Ji Clan gave Zhang Jing’s parents valuables, farmland, and a residence, and the next day a man delivered them the deed to the Hundred Herbs Pavilion.

Zhang Jing exchanged a hidden, lethal cultivation method for Dao Merit and learned that a high-grade method cost far more than he could easily earn. On the journey home, Senior Brother Qiu introduced him to Immortal Dao crafts, and Zhang Jing arrived at Yong'an Academy to reunite with his family.

• Senior Brother Liu discovered that Zhang Jing’s Azure Sparrow Qi-Gathering Method was a trap designed to turn cultivators into a White Bone Three-Origin Great Elixir, and offered him three hundred Dao Merit for it.
• Senior Brother Liu told Zhang Jing that a high-grade cultivation method cost nine thousand Dao Merit and advised him to prioritize cultivation and reach the Inner Academy.
• Senior Brother Liu arranged for Zhang Jing to travel home aboard an Azure Firmament Spirit Crane, then identified the method as connected to the Three-Lives White Bone Dao and the Decaying-Bone Crow.
• Senior Brother Qiu praised Zhang Jing’s assessment performance and encouraged him to visit the Thousand Techniques Pavilion to learn about Immortal Dao crafts.
• The Azure Firmament Spirit Crane arrived at Yong'an Academy with Zhang Jing and more than a dozen failed assessors, and Master Liu welcomed Zhang Jing and urged him to go home to his parents.

Zhang Jing returned home after placing third in the Dao Academy assessment, accepted the Ji Clan’s support, and learned they had dealt with the threat from the Hundred Medicines Pavilion. After helping his parents settle into a new residence, he returned to Dragon Lake Dao Academy and arrived at the Luodu Squad’s island.

• Zhang Jing reunited with his parents and reassured them that the Ji Clan’s gifts and residence were offered in goodwill.
• Ji Xianming visited Zhang Jing, explained the Hundred Medicines Pavilion’s threats, and said the pavilion owner and the rogue cultivator backing him had been dealt with.
• Zhang Jing stayed home through the Chang'an Festival, moved his parents into their new residence, and watched his family become prominent in the city.
• Zhang Jing returned to Dragon Lake Dao Academy after a ten-day journey and contacted Zhang Yangchu for a pickup.
• Zhang Yangchu carried Zhang Jing by Flying Sword past the many Mission Team islands and brought him to the Luodu Squad’s vast island.

Zhang Yangchu brought Zhang Jing to Luodu Squad’s Merit Hall to register him and secure the promised cave abode and middle-grade inheritance voucher. Zhang Jing received both, and Tong Yao agreed to take him on a mission soon as Zhang Yangchu left.

• Zhang Yangchu explained that Luodu Squad’s strength came from its Inner Academy connections, but its members had to accept dangerous demon-suppression missions and train future disciples.
• Zhang Yangchu brought Zhang Jing to the Merit Hall, where Tong Yao registered him on the squad roster and gave him a jade slip about the Dao Academy and Luodu Squad.
• Zhang Yangchu told Tong Yao that Zhang Jing had placed third in an unusually difficult assessment, impressing her with his performance against exceptional candidates.
• Tong Yao gave Zhang Jing the key to West Cave Abode Twenty-Three and a voucher for a middle-grade inheritance after Zhang Yangchu confirmed the captains had approved them.
• Zhang Yangchu asked Tong Yao to take Zhang Jing on a suitable mission, reminded him to collect his Purple Spirit Pills on the first of each month, and departed.

Zhang Jing learned how the Luodu Squad handled Demon-Suppression Missions and decided that making talismans offered a better way to earn Dao Merit. He settled into West No. 23 Cave Abode, whose dense spiritual qi accelerated his cultivation, then set out to pursue a Talisman Making inheritance.

• Tong Yao explained the Luodu Squad's ranks, mission rules, and rewards to Zhang Jing.
• Zhang Jing decided solo missions would not earn Dao Merit quickly enough and planned to focus on Talisman Making.
• Zhang Jing used his Jade Key to find and open West No. 23 Cave Abode, discovering its dense spiritual qi and many facilities.
• Zhang Jing cultivated overnight in the cave abode and saw his progress toward the third level of Qi Refining accelerate.
• Zhang Jing took out his Middle-Grade Inheritance exchange voucher and headed out to pursue a Talisman Making inheritance.

Zhang Jing rented a Spirit Crane and exchanged his Middle-Grade Inheritance voucher for the Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon. He then rode to the Thousand Techniques Pavilion to look for Talisman Making materials.

• Zhang Jing rented a Spirit Crane for two Spirit Stones after learning that buying one would cost a hundred Dao Merit.
• Zhang Jing exchanged his Middle-Grade Inheritance voucher for the Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon, despite Senior Brother Liu urging him to focus on cultivation.
• Senior Brother Liu gave Zhang Jing the Jade Slip, which contained Talisman Making methods and instructions for nearly twenty kinds of talismans.
• Zhang Jing rode his Spirit Crane to the Thousand Techniques Pavilion and followed the other disciples through its great gate.

Zhang Jing explored the Thousand Techniques Pavilion and studied the prices and quality of talismans, deciding that making and selling them could earn him substantial Dao Merit. After buying talisman-making supplies, he left the pavilion with barely a hundred Dao Merit remaining.

• Zhang Jing entered a talisman shop and examined the prices of low-, mid-, and high-grade talismans, noting the strong demand and potential profits.
• Zhang Jing concluded that his Jade Talisman's skill proficiency and the [Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon] could eventually help him make valuable talismans to sell.
• A senior brother pulled Zhang Jing to a stall offering cheaper talismans, but Zhang Jing questioned their quality, tried to bargain, and left without buying any.
• Zhang Jing visited a shop for talisman-making materials and spent most of his remaining Dao Merit on spirit ink, brushes, and blank spirit paper.
• Zhang Jing found his Spirit Crane outside the Thousand Techniques Pavilion and flew away on its back.

Zhang Jing set up a talisman-making room and began learning the Spirit Star Nine Evolutions method by drawing Star-Attracting Talismans. After repeated failures, he produced a superior-quality talisman and raised his technique to level one, gaining the intermediate Talisman Source Nurturing trait.

• Zhang Jing returned the Spirit Crane and went to his cave abode after deciding to buy talisman-making supplies at the Thousand Techniques Pavilion.
• Zhang Jing cleared a chamber and arranged it as a talisman-making room, then studied the Spirit Star Nine Evolutions method in the Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon.
• Zhang Jing chose to make a Star-Attracting Talisman and failed his first attempt, gaining one experience point in the technique.
• Zhang Jing used the Mind's Eye state on his second attempt and drew half the talisman's patterns before failing, raising his experience to seven out of seventy.
• On his eleventh attempt, Zhang Jing completed a superior-quality Star-Attracting Talisman and reached level one in the Ninefold Evolution Spirit Star Talisman Canon, awakening the intermediate Talisman Source Nurturing trait.

Zhang Jing discovered that Talisman Source Nurturing could eventually make talisman production far more reliable, then spent a month cultivating and making talismans. He advanced to the Qi Refining Third Layer and prepared to sell his finished talismans and restock supplies.

• Zhang Jing realized that successful talisman-making could help him condense source talismans, allowing him to reproduce talismans without failure once he had enough spiritual power.
• After two days of testing, Zhang Jing found that his ordinary success rate for Star-Attracting Talismans was about ten percent, rising to around thirty percent when he activated the Mind's Eye Dao seed.
• Zhang Jing tried to infuse a Star-Attracting Talisman with Nether Flood Dragon Devouring the Void Dao Rhythm, but the lower-grade spirit paper disintegrated before he finished it.
• After a month of cultivation and talisman-making, Zhang Jing advanced to the Qi Refining Third Layer, and his Five-Law Spirit River gained room for twelve law technique fish.
• Zhang Jing reviewed his cultivation progress, then planned to visit the Thousand Techniques Pavilion to sell some of his talismans and buy more spirit paper and spirit ink.

Zhang Jing sold forty superior-quality Star-Attracting Talismans to the Thousand Techniques Pavilion for eighty Dao Merit and received a Communication Talisman for future sales. As he explored the market, a stranger offered an unusually high price for more talismans, making Zhang Jing wary.

• Zhang Jing visited the Thousand Techniques Pavilion's talisman shop to sell his superior-quality talismans.
• Ruan Xing'er called Senior Brother Zhu after Zhang Jing said he had dozens of low-grade superior-quality talismans.
• Senior Brother Zhu bought forty of Zhang Jing's Star-Attracting Talismans at two Dao Merit each and gave him a Communication Talisman for future sales.
• A middle-aged man in blue robes stopped Zhang Jing and offered forty Dao Merit for ten defensive and ten offensive talismans.
• Zhang Jing questioned the man's unusually high offer and suspected he had an ulterior motive.

Zhang Jing sold a small batch of talismans to a Jiaya Squad member who tried to recruit him, then spent Dao Merit on cultivation pills and talisman materials. He left the Thousand Techniques Pavilion determined to return and make more talismans.

• A Jiaya Squad member offered Zhang Jing a place in his squad while buying ten superior-quality talismans for twenty Dao Merit.
• Zhang Jing declined the recruitment offer because he was already in the Luodu Squad, and the man asked him to provide twenty talismans each month.
• Zhang Jing checked his Dao Merit and realized the Heavenly Craft Pavilion had deducted one merit for his Spirit-Concentrating Meditation Cushion.
• At the pill shop, Zhang Jing bought two bottles of Purple Spirit Pills and one expensive Origin Water Pill.
• Zhang Jing bought spirit paper and spirit ink, then left the Thousand Techniques Pavilion on a Spirit Crane, thinking he should hurry back to make talismans.

The Inheritance Pavilion announced that Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven would open in eighteen months to help disciples compete for places in Clear Firmament Mysterious Bright Heaven, and ordered the Outer Court’s qualified youngsters to join. Chen Xiandao and Zhang Jing prepared to leave on demon-slaying assignments with support and guidance from their senior fellow disciples.

• The Pavilion Master told the Inner Academy disciples that Clear Firmament Mysterious Bright Heaven would open in five years and that Dragon Lake would open Myriad Gods Lesser Void Heaven in eighteen months to help them prepare for the True Spirit Ranking.
• Senior Brother Jia told Chen Xiandao that the Coiling Dragon Squad would supply him with high-grade spirit pills and cultivation guidance, aiming to help him reach the tenth level of Qi Refining within a year and a half.
• Chen Xiandao insisted on completing his own assignment and said he would leave the next day to slay demons in Langya Commandery, Yun Province.
• Senior Sister Nanshu arranged for a Mistglow Squad junior sister to join a demon-slaying assignment and reminded her to collect Green Grain Spirit-Boosting Pills.
• Tong Yao gave Zhang Jing two Golden Armor Talismans and a Wind Sword Talisman for his first assignment, then told him they would be slaying demons.