Recaps

Wang Ba concealed most of his Spirit Chickens when Steward Li unexpectedly visited and questioned him about his cultivation and breeding. Steward Li told Wang Ba that Meng Randao had risen from a Servant Disciple to an Outer Sect disciple, then revealed the secret behind his rapid advancement.

• Wang Ba condensed a fourth drop of Yin Spirit Power and found his senses growing sharper.
• When Steward Li arrived, Wang Ba hid most of his Spirit Chickens and concealed his Yin Spirit Power, which drained rapidly as Steward Li entered.
• Wang Ba claimed he had reached the Fourth Layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture and admitted that he had bred the Spirit Chickens Steward Li saw.
• Steward Li explained that Meng Randao had mastered the Tenth Layer and joined the Outer Sect in under two and a half years, while Steward Li remained stuck at the Ninth Layer after thirty years.
• After Wang Ba gave him a Spirit Stone, Steward Li revealed that Meng Randao had already possessed a Spiritual Root.

Wang Ba suspected Steward Li was hiding his true strength and questioned the meaning of his remarks about Spiritual Roots. Old Hou revealed that the Body-Strengthening Scripture was designed to identify people with Hidden Spiritual Roots, leaving Wang Ba with the revelation that the scripture’s ninth-to-tenth-layer barrier depended on having one.

• Wang Ba realized Steward Li’s visit had consumed Yin Spirit Power unusually quickly and decided the steward was concealing his true identity and motives.
• Wang Ba continued cultivating by eating Spirit Chickens as he tried to make sense of Steward Li’s remarks about Spiritual Roots.
• Old Hou hurriedly delivered Chicken Feed, and Wang Ba gave him a Spirit Chicken egg before asking about the Chicken Plague; Old Hou said Spirit Chickens were not known to catch it.
• Wang Ba offered Old Hou a two-part Spirit Stone to learn why people who failed to master the Body-Strengthening Scripture within three years had no later hope.
• Old Hou explained that the scripture was created to reveal Hidden Spiritual Roots, and that people without a Spiritual Root could never break through from the ninth to the tenth layer unless...

Wang Ba avoided the Sect’s recruitment, focused on cultivating and raising animals, and learned that unrest might be brewing within the Sect. His quiet routine ended when someone tore the roof off his house.

• Wang Ba suspected that Old Hou had gained cultivation benefits from the Immortal Ascension Society, but Old Hou refused to explain further.
• When the Sect began recruiting new disciples, Wang Ba declined Steward Li’s offer to help at the ceremony and stayed to tend his Spirit Chickens.
• Shopkeeper Lu told Wang Ba that an inner sect disciple had chosen a servant disciple as a personal attendant and that a talented young woman had become an elder’s disciple.
• Wang Ba bought a thousand Tendon-Cutting Nematodes from Shopkeeper Lu, who warned him that something seemed wrong in the Sect and urged him to be cautious.
• Wang Ba stayed at home, condensed ten drops of Yin Spirit Power, and bred stronger Tendon-Cutting Nematodes, but lacked the high-grade Spirit Beast remains needed to raise more.
• Someone tore the roof off Wang Ba’s house.

After Ye Lingyu accidentally tore off Wang Ba’s roof, she apologized and gave him a talisman before leaving. Wang Ba later learned that Lu Yuansheng had died and discovered a batch of sick Precious Chickens at the grain shop, leaving the shopkeeper to call after him as he walked away.

• Ye Lingyu apologized to Wang Ba for tearing off his roof, introduced herself, and gave him a yellow talisman as compensation.
• Wang Ba examined the talisman but decided not to take it to a shop, then went to the Market to buy spirit rice and learn the latest Sect news.
• At the newly renamed grain shop, the goateed shopkeeper told Wang Ba that Lu Yuansheng had died and that the Lu Family’s circumstances had changed.
• Wang Ba followed the shopkeeper to the rear courtyard to see his Precious Chickens, then realized they were infected with Chicken Plague and stormed away.
• The shopkeeper called after Wang Ba, promising to make the sick chickens worth his while.

Wang Ba learned that Lu Yuansheng’s death had brought the Lu family’s fortunes crashing down, and he eventually followed a strange impulse to visit Shopkeeper Lu in South Lake Village. He arrived at the family’s home and found their circumstances worse than he had expected.

• Wang Ba bought forty-six sick Precious Chickens, added lifespan to each, and kept them apart from his healthy chickens.
• Old Hou told Wang Ba that Lu Yuansheng had been killed and that the Lu family had lost its grain shop and moved to South Lake Village.
• Wang Ba finished repairing his roof and made his room more comfortable.
• Wang Ba felt compelled to visit Shopkeeper Lu, took a chicken in a bamboo basket, and went to the Lu family’s home in South Lake Village.
• Wang Ba saw that the Lu family’s situation was even worse than he had imagined.

Wang Ba visited the ailing Shopkeeper Lu, sold him a Spirit Chicken for half a Spirit Stone, and received a cryptic warning to leave the Sect. He debated whether to heed it, then heard someone behind him ask his name.

• Wang Ba visited Shopkeeper Lu and learned that the Lu Lineage had fallen into hardship after deaths, illness, and an attack on Seventh Uncle.
• Wang Ba sold Shopkeeper Lu a Spirit Chicken for half a Spirit Stone, hoping to help the Lu Lineage while preserving Shopkeeper Lu's dignity.
• After sending Lu Anwu away, Shopkeeper Lu privately warned Wang Ba to leave the Sect because a major upheaval was coming.
• Wang Ba weighed the danger of staying against the resources and relative safety the Sect provided, and remained uncertain about leaving.
• As Wang Ba neared South Lake Market, a cold voice behind him asked whether his name was Wang Ba.

Wang Ba met Zhao Feng, an Outer Sect disciple who recognized his hidden spiritual root and warned him that upheaval was coming within the Sect. After his third-generation Spirit Chickens hatched, Wang Ba decided to investigate the Sect’s boundaries so he could leave.

• Zhao Feng stopped Wang Ba, identified his perfected Body-Strengthening Scripture and hidden spiritual root, and said he had done well by helping the Lu Household.
• Zhao Feng gave Wang Ba a protective magic pendant that would summon him once and revealed that he had once received kindness from Lu Yuansheng.
• Wang Ba considered Zhao Feng’s warning about upheaval and grew more determined to leave the Sect.
• Seven days later, Jia Four’s three eggs hatched into third-generation Spirit Chickens with lifespans near 80 years and grayish-white Spiritlight.
• Wang Ba recorded his breeding observations, then turned his attention to the Sect’s boundary defenses as he prepared to leave.

Wang Ba bought a one-use underground passage map from Gou Mu to escape the Eastern Saint Sect, where he feared the danger and could not leave through normal channels. He found the map hidden in the pictures and hoped it would let him slip out unnoticed.

• Gou Mu sold a picture book to the burly customer for nine taels after bargaining with him.
• The customer revealed himself as Wang Ba and worried that the map had cost him nine Spirit Stones.
• Wang Ba recalled that leaving the sect legally was nearly impossible because his departure would require approval and someone to replace him at Dingbaqi Manor.
• Wang Ba decided to use Rat-Head Gou Mu’s one-use underground passages to escape the sect.
• Wang Ba examined the book and discovered that the map was hidden on a beauty’s red-painted toenail.

Wang Ba planned to leave the Eastern Saint Sect in fifteen days through Rat-Head Gou Mu’s hidden tunnels and gathered information for life beyond the sect. Before he could carry out his plan, Ye Lingyu damaged his roof again and left him a middle grade Spirit Stone, then Old Hou arrived with a manager of the Immortal Ascension Society.

• Wang Ba studied Rat-Head Gou Mu’s map and decided to leave the Eastern Saint Sect through the hidden tunnels in fifteen days, taking only a few essentials.
• Wang Ba bought books about nearby sects and cultivators to prepare for choosing a sect after his departure.
• Ye Lingyu crashed through Wang Ba’s roof again, apologized, and left him a middle grade Spirit Stone as compensation.
• Wang Ba decided to return Ye Lingyu’s Spirit Stone through Steward Li with witnesses present.
• Old Hou arrived with an unfamiliar man and introduced him as a manager of the Immortal Ascension Society.

Wang Ba met Yu Changchun, a Qi Refining steward of the Immortal Ascension Society, who claimed the Society could help people without Spiritual Roots cultivate and invited Wang Ba to join. Yu Changchun gave him the first volume of the Society’s method, and Wang Ba began reading it while knowing Yu Changchun was still watching him.

• Wang Ba realized Yu Changchun was a Qi Refining cultivator and grew suspicious of the Immortal Ascension Society.
• Yu Changchun introduced himself and claimed Wang Ba had the potential to become a cultivator through the Society’s special method.
• Yu Changchun demonstrated his cultivation, and Wang Ba pretended to be shocked and awed.
• Old Hou vouched for the Society’s method and offered to show Wang Ba his progress with a Spiritual Root Testing Talisman.
• Yu Changchun invited Wang Ba to join the Society and gave him the first volume of its cultivation method.
• After Yu Changchun and Old Hou left, Wang Ba studied the book while Yu Changchun continued watching him.

Yu Changchun monitored Wang Ba after giving him the first volume of the Bone-Burying Secret Art, while reporting his recruitment efforts to the Chief Steward through Old Hou. Wang Ba escaped the surveillance by staying in his room, studied the art’s bone-replacement methods, and learned that its solution to the dangers of foreign bones was in the second volume.

• Yu Changchun watched Wang Ba read the Bone-Burying Secret Art and expected the book to draw him in.
• Old Hou relayed the Chief Steward’s questions, and Yu Changchun reported recruiting over eighty Servant Disciples and warned that further recruitment might attract attention.
• After the Chief Steward ordered Yu Changchun to monitor Wang Ba and prevent leaks, Yu Changchun privately resented Old Hou and checked the water mirror for Wang Ba.
• Wang Ba found that remaining inside his room stopped Yu Changchun from seeing him and examined the book’s method of implanting bones to help form a Spiritual Root.
• Wang Ba learned that bone replacement could accelerate the Body-Strengthening Scripture but risked mental confusion, and that the remedy was recorded in Volume Two.

Wang Ba realized the Immortal Ascension Society was secretly surveilling him and began searching for a way to escape its attention before leaving the sect. While investigating a ruined room in the Mountain Manor, he found signs of unexplained destruction and ended the chapter baffled by a mischievous little hen.

• Wang Ba recognized the Immortal Ascension Society’s Bone-Burying Secret Art as bait and decided to keep the booklet in case the Body-Strengthening Scripture failed him.
• Wang Ba discovered that Yu Changchun’s surveillance reacted whenever he left his room, and suspected the society had been watching him for some time.
• Wang Ba cleaned the Mountain Manor and found that the rooms were outside the surveillance he could sense, though escaping observation elsewhere seemed nearly impossible.
• Wang Ba entered Old Sun’s Room and found smashed cabinets, a shattered stone bed, and deformed chicken cages, but could not determine who or what had caused the damage.
• Wang Ba ruled out Jia Five as the culprit, then slapped away a little hen that repeatedly hopped onto his leg to defecate.

Wang Ba discovered that Jia Seven had mutated into a Spirit Chicken with remarkable fighting ability and considered keeping her as a companion. He then tried to use Yin Spirit Power to disguise himself as air and evade the Immortal Ascension Society's surveillance, but a Precious Chicken suddenly flew toward him.

• Wang Ba noticed that Jia Seven had a lifespan of 111.4 years and was nearly high grade.
• Jia Seven crushed and split stones with startling strength and speed, leading Wang Ba to realize she had caused the damage in Old Sun's room.
• Wang Ba concluded that Jia Seven had likely mutated during her breakthrough, named her Jia Seven, and considered keeping her for protection.
• Wang Ba reasoned that Yin Spirit Power might let him disguise himself as air, then tested the idea by leaving his room with a bucket of chicken droppings.
• As Wang Ba walked out while hidden by his disguise, a Precious Chicken spotted feed behind him and suddenly flapped toward him.

Wang Ba escaped the estate after realizing the Immortal Ascension Society’s surveillance was fixed in place, but a Qi Refining disciple and then a possible Foundation Establishment cultivator arrived in South Lake Village. Unsure whether Gou Mu had been exposed and unwilling to approach the powerful cultivator, Wang Ba changed course for South Lake Market.

• Wang Ba kept his Yin Spirit Power active and walked beyond the estate’s surveillance range, confirming that the monitoring did not follow him.
• Wang Ba abandoned his preparations and decided to leave the Sect immediately, hiding the bucket of chicken manure as he made his way toward South Lake Village.
• Wang Ba sensed a streak of light enter South Lake Village and wondered whether it was a Sect disciple responding to a disturbance.
• Wang Ba saw a second, more powerful streak of light with a glimpse of purple and suspected it belonged to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
• Wang Ba worried that Gou Mu might have been exposed, then turned away from South Lake Village and headed for South Lake Market.

Wang Ba learned that South Lake Village would be occupied for days, so he secretly returned to Dingbaqi Manor despite Yu Changchun’s surveillance. The next morning, after concluding Yu had not noticed his escape, Wang Ba heard that Niu Yong had gone missing.

• At South Lake Market, Wang Ba disguised as a burly man learned that new Servant Disciples were being settled in South Lake Village and the process could take eight or ten days.
• Wang Ba worried that staying outside would trigger a search, while the tunnel out of the Sect was watched by a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and he decided to return to Dingbaqi Manor under surveillance.
• Wang Ba used Yin Spirit Power to enter the manor unnoticed, did chores, and went back to his room while observing that harder disguises consumed more power.
• Yu Changchun watched Wang Ba return through a water mirror, then briefly roused Old Hou and sent him back to his work.
• The next morning, Wang Ba believed Yu Changchun had not noticed his escape, but then learned that Niu Yong had gone missing.

Wang Ba suspected the Immortal Ascension Society was behind Niu Yong’s disappearance but chose not to risk exposing himself. Meanwhile, Li Zhi visited Yu Changchun with news that the Society had nearly been discovered and asked about Wang Ba.

• Niu Yong’s younger brother told Wang Ba that Niu Yong had been missing for nearly two days and asked him to share any leads.
• Wang Ba suspected the Immortal Ascension Society had targeted Niu Yong, but stayed silent because he was under surveillance and feared for his life.
• Wang Ba decided against exposing the Immortal Ascension Society and conserved his Yin Spirit Power while waiting for Old Hou.
• Li Zhi visited Yu Changchun and revealed that Liu Changfeng had been killed after his attempt to lure a Servant Disciple nearly exposed the Society.
• Li Zhi warned Yu Changchun that the chief steward had killed Liu Changfeng as a warning, then asked how Yu Changchun had handled Wang Ba.

Yu Changchun and Li Zhi watched Old Hou try to draw Wang Ba into the Immortal Ascension Society by revealing its leader’s identity and describing his bone replacement. Li Zhi then stunned Yu Changchun by confirming that He Lin, whom Old Hou had named as the leader, really was one of them.

• Yu Changchun predicted that Wang Ba would join the society within three days, while Li Zhi warned that Wang Ba was cautious and should not be underestimated.
• Old Hou arrived at Dingbaqi Manor and told Wang Ba that the society’s leader had risen from the servant disciples and expected members to remain loyal after gaining Spiritual Roots.
• Wang Ba guessed that the leader might be He Lin, and Old Hou showed him the scar from his replaced pelvis and described the Spiritual Roots it might help him form.
• After Old Hou left, Yu Changchun claimed his story would win Wang Ba over, but Li Zhi revealed that He Lin really was a society member.

Yu Changchun learned that He Lin was one of their people, while Li Zhi stopped him from killing Wang Ba and left the servant disciple in his care. Under surveillance and running low on Yin Spirit Power, Wang Ba devised a way to replenish it using the epidemics affecting the Sect and slipped out of the Mountain Manor with two Spirit Chickens.

• Yu Changchun was shocked to learn from Li Zhi that He Lin was one of their people and tried to kill Wang Ba and the other witnesses, but Li Zhi stopped him.
• Li Zhi left Wang Ba in Yu Changchun's care for the next few days, and Yu Changchun resolved to watch Wang Ba closely.
• Wang Ba realized that a powerful cultivator had also been watching him and calculated that his remaining Yin Spirit Power would last only a few days.
• Wang Ba considered using the Sect's widespread chicken and pig epidemics to gain lifespan and accelerate his Yin Spirit Power recovery.
• Wang Ba drained most of the lifespan from forty-six Spirit Chickens, then left the Mountain Manor with two of them.

Wang Ba disguised himself as a sect disciple and gathered the lifespans of plague-stricken Precious Chickens from two estates. Back in his room, he used the lifespan he had accumulated to complete the seventh and eighth levels of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.

• Song Lun watched Chicken Plague devastate his flock at Ding Sixteen Manor and feared losing his livelihood.
• Wang Ba posed as a sect disciple, offered Song Lun two Spirit Chickens, and sent him out of the estate.
• Wang Ba touched more than four hundred sick Precious Chickens, gaining their lifespans while many died.
• Wang Ba bought over two hundred and forty plague-stricken chickens from a nearby estate and collected their lifespans, reaching about 1,810 years.
• Wang Ba spent 576 years to complete the seventh level and 1,152 years to complete the eighth level of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.

After strengthening his body, Wang Ba increased his ability to digest Spirit Chickens and condense Yin Spirit Power, while secretly gathering more chickens. As he questioned Old Hou about the Immortal Ascension Society, Yu Changchun prepared to kill him, and Old Hou’s body began to reveal a weapon of white bones.

• Wang Ba killed and stewed a Spirit Chicken, then told Old Hou that he had sick chickens to explain his continued chicken consumption.
• Wang Ba ate an entire Spirit Chicken and discovered that he could condense Yin Spirit Power much faster after advancing in the Body-Strengthening Scripture.
• Wang Ba secretly visited several manors and acquired nearly six hundred chickens, gaining about twelve hundred years of lifespan.
• Old Hou refused to explain more about the Immortal Ascension Society, and Wang Ba realized Yu Changchun might soon force him to join or kill him.
• Yu Changchun decided to kill Wang Ba if he refused to join, then used his power to make Old Hou’s eyes turn cold as white bones extended beneath his sleeves toward Wang Ba.

Wang Ba rejected Yu Changchun’s attempt to lure him into the Immortal Ascension Society and attempted bone replacement on his own using a Spirit Chicken bone. As Yu Changchun watched through a Water Mirror, Wang Ba endured the agonizing procedure, and Yu Changchun began to suspect he had grown stronger.

• Yu Changchun, speaking through Old Hou, urged Wang Ba to join the Immortal Ascension Society and warned him about the dangers of replacing bones alone.
• Wang Ba said he had already chosen what to use and returned to his house, leaving Yu Changchun to watch through a Water Mirror.
• Wang Ba slaughtered several Spirit Chickens, selected a bone, and cut into his left little finger to remove its topmost bone.
• Wang Ba inserted the Spirit Chicken bone, drew a blood pattern, and placed six Spirit Stones around it before activating the ritual.
• Wang Ba screamed through the painful procedure, while Yu Changchun admired his resolve and wondered why he seemed to have grown stronger.

Yu Changchun believed Wang Ba’s bone replacement had failed, then comforted him, gave him the lower volume of the Bone-Burying Secret Art, and accepted six Spirit Chickens as a gift. Yu Changchun left hoping to cultivate Wang Ba as a source of chickens, while Wang Ba privately cursed him and kept up the illusion of his injury.

• Yu Changchun watched Wang Ba’s agony through the Water Mirror and concluded that his attempt at bone replacement had failed.
• Yu Changchun withdrew his presence and visited Wang Ba at Dingbaqi Manor, where he praised Wang Ba’s resolve and gave him the lower volume of the Bone-Burying Secret Art.
• Yu Changchun warned Wang Ba to recuperate for at least half a month and seek a better bone source before trying again.
• Wang Ba offered Yu Changchun six Spirit Chickens, and Yu Changchun accepted them and explained how his Spirit Beast Bag worked.
• Yu Changchun left, considering how Wang Ba’s chickens could help him, while Wang Ba maintained the illusion of his twisted finger and cursed Yu Changchun inwardly.

Wang Ba realized the Immortal Ascension Society had infiltrated the Sect and resolved to keep his distance from it. When Yu Changchun stopped watching him, Wang Ba took Jia Seven out to train and fed her Tendon-Cutting Nematodes, then quietly left with four Spirit Chickens after nightfall.

• Wang Ba recalled how he had fooled Old Hou by faking the bone-replacement process, and inferred that Steward Li was also part of the Immortal Ascension Society.
• After reading that the Bone-Burying Secret Art required taking bones from living people, Wang Ba resolved to escape the Sect and avoid the Society.
• Niu Yong's younger brother told Wang Ba that searchers still had not found Niu Yong, and feared he was dead.
• Wang Ba discovered his Yin Spirit Power was no longer circulating as if Yu Changchun had stopped watching him.
• Wang Ba fed Jia Seven Tendon-Cutting Nematodes and trained her in several combat maneuvers.
• That night, Wang Ba found he was still unobserved and quietly left with four Spirit Chickens.

Wang Ba completed the ninth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture and learned that he needed 4,608 years of lifespan to master the tenth, but believed his chicken-gathering could overcome the obstacle. After hearing that several sects were preparing for hostilities, he worried the conflict might disrupt his escape plan and hurried toward South Lake Village.

• Wang Ba collected nearly seven hundred sick chickens, then found footprints and flattened grass in a mountain hollow and carefully restored the area.
• Wang Ba spent lifespan to complete the ninth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture and discovered that the tenth layer required 4,608 years of lifespan.
• Wang Ba trained Jia Seven, worked at Dingbaqi Manor, and visited West Garden Market, where he saw crowds stockpiling talismans, pills, and Law Artifacts.
• A young servant disciple told Wang Ba that the Eastern Saint Sect and several other sects were preparing to commence hostilities and might reward volunteers with Spiritual Roots.
• Wang Ba sold two Spirit Chickens at elevated prices, disguised himself, and hurried toward South Lake Village to investigate.

Wang Ba found South Lake Village crowded with new servant disciples and learned that the Lu Household had been driven out but refused permission to leave the sect. After visiting Shopkeeper Lu, he met Zhao Feng, who gave him a powerful strand of sword Qi in a jade pendant and urged him to enter the outer sect.

• Wang Ba searched South Lake Village for the underground passage but found sect disciples watching the area, then learned from a servant disciple that the Lu Household had been driven out and that the sect was preparing for war against the Fu Kingdom.
• Wang Ba visited the Lu Household’s manor, found Shopkeeper Lu gravely ill, and left him several spirit stones.
• Zhao Feng stopped Wang Ba, sensed that he had reached the ninth layer, and revealed that he had helped the Lu Household but could barely protect them from their enemies.
• Zhao Feng told Wang Ba that he suspected Lu Yuansheng’s death involved people within the sect, then advised him to reach the tenth layer of the Body-Strengthening Scripture.
• Zhao Feng infused Wang Ba’s jade pendant with a single-use strand of sword Qi powerful enough to threaten ordinary cultivators below the seventh layer of Qi Refining, explaining that Lu Yuansheng had once treated him similarly.