Chapter Summaries

After the reward silver vanished, Ling Yi convinced Qin Changming that an immortal cultivator might be responsible and accepted his offer to become a guard and learn cultivation. Ling Yi quickly reached Seventh Pin Martial Practitioner in secret, then sensed Qin Changming had fallen asleep and prepared to enter his dream.

• Qin Changming discussed the missing reward silver with Ling Yi, who suggested an immortal cultivator might have taken it.
• Qin Changming offered Ling Yi a guard's post and gave him two basic cultivation manuals, while explaining that the missing relief funds could provoke the emperor's wrath.
• Ling Yi placed a Dream Entry Mark on Qin Changming after seeing him out.
• Ling Yi studied the Elementary Qi Absorption Method and gained Internal Energy, reaching Seventh Pin Martial Practitioner in one session.
• Ling Yi sensed Qin Changming had fallen asleep and activated the Dream Entry function.

Qin Changming was beaten in a strange dream where his cultivation vanished, then woke weakened and discovered his Body Tempering cultivation had fallen. Suspecting a Divine Ability martial practitioner connected to the Bureau of Entertainment, he waited until dawn and sent for Ling Yi.

• Qin Changming fell asleep and found himself in an unfamiliar world where a man called Master Feng beat him while he lacked his cultivation.
• Qin Changming woke from the dream feeling hollowed out and found that his cultivation had fallen from the Body Tempering Fourth Layer to the Body Tempering Third Layer.
• Qin Changming suspected someone had used an illusion or a Divine Ability against him and reconsidered whether the stolen reward silver involved a Divine Ability martial practitioner rather than an immortal cultivator.
• Qin Changming decided to report the suspected Divine Ability martial practitioner to the second prince, but his weakness made him collapse before he could leave.
• At dawn, Qin Changming called for someone to fetch Ling Yi from storeroom Ding Twenty-Six.

Ling Yi learned how the enhanced Dream System affected Qin Changming and pretended to worry about his condition. Qin Changming sent Ling Yi to deliver a secret letter to his master, likely the Second Prince, leaving Ling Yi to weigh the risks of carrying out the mission.

• Ling Yi realized the Dream System’s three-visit cycle could drain attributes, copy techniques, and plunder cultivation, and suspected its enhanced version had severely harmed Qin Changming.
• Ling Yi used his control over his facial muscles to appear tearful and reassure Qin Changming, who decided he could trust him with an important task.
• Qin Changming gave Ling Yi a letter and jade token, along with passwords to use at the Full Fragrance House, and ordered him to deliver the letter personally to the master.
• Ling Yi repeated the instructions and left, while Qin Changming promised him future riches if the mission went well.
• Ling Yi suspected the master was the Second Prince and considered the dangers of refusing the mission, but decided to proceed for now.

Ling Yi left the Bureau of Entertainment carrying Qin Changming’s token and was followed through the capital before he reached the Full Fragrance House. There, his Shadow Puppet found the captured Qianxue, so Ling Yi upgraded his Power of Shadow and secretly rescued her into the Hidden Asgard.

• Ling Yi left the Bureau of Entertainment with Qin Changming’s token, realizing it marked him as part of the second prince’s faction and would draw attention.
• Ling Yi spotted several people following him, disguised himself in a white silk robe, and arrived at the Full Fragrance House at lunchtime.
• Ling Yi’s Shadow Puppet searched the Full Fragrance House and discovered Zhao Dongxue, the former top courtesan Qianxue, wounded and trapped in a cage.
• Ling Yi upgraded his Power of Shadow to lv2, gaining four Shadow Puppets, the ability to create shadows, and a five-kilometer operating range.
• Ling Yi decided to save Qianxue and have the Shadow Puppet carry her into the Hidden Asgard, then finished his meal and approached the counter.

Ling Yi infiltrated the Jia room, copied Wei Xu’s Power of Sealing and Wei Hong’s Multitasking talent, and learned how the sealing ability had captured Qianxue. He treated Qianxue’s wounds in the Hidden Asgard, while both tested the other’s intentions, and he left her imprisoned until he could decide what to do with her.

• Ling Yi used the code phrase to enter the Jia room and copied Wei Xu’s Power of Sealing talent and Wei Hong’s Multitasking talent.
• Ling Yi told Wei Hong that Qin Changming had grown older and weak, prompting Wei Hong to hurry away and lock Ling Yi inside the room.
• Ling Yi used Perception to check that no one was nearby, then vanished into the Hidden Asgard, where he found Qianxue awake and tending her wounds.
• Ling Yi applied medicine to Qianxue’s back, and she revealed she knew he had stolen the missing two million taels of silver.
• Qianxue asked Ling Yi how he would compensate her, while Ling Yi told her to come up with a plan that would keep her alive and earn his trust.
• Ling Yi left Qianxue in the Hidden Asgard and resolved to deal with the second prince’s affairs before deciding what to do with her.

Wu Chengtian learned that the emperor was suspected of stealing people’s lifespans and secretly poisoned Ling Yi during their meeting. Ling Yi resisted the poison and abducted Wei Xu, while Wu Chengtian ordered preparations for the emperor’s birthday banquet and raged over Wei Xu’s disappearance.

• Wei Hong reported that Ling Yi had no suspicious background and that Qin Changming’s condition resembled the victims’ mysterious loss of strength and lifespan.
• Wu Chengtian told Wei Hong to prepare Soul Control Powder, then met Ling Yi and accepted Qin Changming’s letter.
• Wu Chengtian poisoned Ling Yi with a touch, but Ling Yi’s Immunity to All Poisons talent neutralized it.
• After reading Qin Changming’s letter, Wu Chengtian told Ling Yi to reassure Qin Changming and ordered Wei Hong to summon three Grandmasters and bring the medicine people ahead of schedule.
• Wei Hong reported that Qianxue and Wei Xu were missing, and Wu Chengtian ordered him to find Wei Xu.
• Ling Yi revealed that he had taken Wei Xu and locked him inside the Hidden Asgard as revenge and to keep the talented man for later.

Ling Yi explained his talent-copying ability to Wei Xu and Qianxue, then offered them a chance to become his followers and receive copies of his talents. He revealed his ambition to unify the seven kingdoms and left the pair facing a choice that was effectively forced.

• Ling Yi told Wei Xu and Qianxue that he could copy and upgrade talents, and explained that his many talents also provided enough stamina to use them.
• The system activated Follower Mode, allowing Ling Yi to copy his talents to followers whose Loyalty reached 80 or higher, with their Loyalty then unable to decrease.
• Ling Yi offered Wei Xu and Qianxue three options: die, follow him, or remain imprisoned in the Hidden Asgard.
• Ling Yi said he intended to unify the seven kingdoms and predicted that turmoil in the central Wu Kingdom could trigger the process.
• Qianxue recognized that Ling Yi had given them no real choice, and Ling Yi asked them to state their decisions.

Ling Yi questioned Wei Xu and Qianxue, who revealed her past as the third princess’s trained agent and exposed the secret that Emperor Wu Canglan had been possessed. Ling Yi trusted Qianxue, and she became his first follower.

• Ling Yi pressed Wei Xu about the emperor’s cultivation, and Wei Xu recounted the story of Wu Canglan’s disappearance at a Daoist temple three years earlier.
• Qianxue revealed that she was originally Zhao Dongxue, an orphan recruited by Hua Sha to serve the third princess and infiltrate the Zhao family.
• Qianxue explained how she became the Bureau of Entertainment’s flower queen, helped finance the third princess, and planned to escape the succession struggle after Lü Yuan disrupted their arrangements.
• Qianxue said the second prince’s men captured her after using scented powder to track her and sealing her Divine Ability and cultivation.
• Qianxue revealed that the original Wu Canglan was dead and that his body had been possessed after the emperor’s visit to the Daoist temple.
• Ling Yi checked his system panel, trusted Qianxue, and listed Zhao Dongxue as his first follower.

Ling Yi revealed Wu Yunxiao’s identity and copied his talents to Qianxue before leaving Wei Xu behind in the Hidden Asgard. In an alley, he encountered Wu Yunxiao, Qin Ru, and Wu Kong, copied their talents, and spent most of his silver unsealing the first layer of Devour Heaven and Earth.

• Ling Yi told Qianxue that Hua Sha was Wu Yunxiao, and Qianxue reasoned that the princess held back her cultivation because she feared some powerful threat.
• Ling Yi copied Devour Heaven and Earth and his other talents to Qianxue, then told her he needed two million taels of silver to upgrade talents.
• Ling Yi left Wei Xu in the Hidden Asgard to sort supplies and took Qianxue out into an alley.
• Ling Yi encountered Wu Yunxiao, Qin Ru, and Wu Kong, identified their talents, and copied all three women’s talents at level two.
• Ling Yi unsealed the first layer of Devour Heaven and Earth for one million taels, leaving him without enough silver to unseal the Hidden Asgard’s second layer.

Ling Yi learned the limits of his upgraded Soul Seal and Precognition talents, then met Princess Wu Yunxiao, who asked him to help her become empress. After accepting her money and token, he returned to the Bureau of Entertainment and planned to investigate Bai Xiaolin through a Shadow Puppet.

• Ling Yi learned that his lv2 Soul Seal could control humans with a low success rate and that lv2 Precognition could glimpse ten seconds anywhere within the next ten years, though Wu Kong said she could no longer see his future.
• Wu Yunxiao asked Ling Yi to help her become empress, and Wu Kong insisted he would; Wu Yunxiao gave him ten million taels of silver and a token granting access to her residence.
• Wu Yunxiao and her companions vanished in pink mist, and Ling Yi assigned Qianxue to gather wealth and seek his help if trouble arose.
• Wei Hong tested Ling Yi's martial skills, found he had not cultivated, and told him to improve so he could serve their master.
• Ling Yi returned to the Bureau of Entertainment, briefed Qin Changming, and planned to use a Shadow Puppet to test Bai Xiaolin before placing a Dream Entry Mark on him.

Bai Xiaolin revealed that she was a cultivator seeking to unseal the Hidden Asgard, and Ling Yi used a Shadow Puppet to complete the first seal’s condition. After taking control of Wei Xu and making him a follower, Ling Yi entered the newly revealed tower to explore it.

• Bai Xiaolin reflected on her slow cultivation in the Southern Province and decided she needed to leave to reach Foundation Establishment and unseal the Hidden Asgard’s first layer.
• Ling Yi’s Shadow Puppet confronted Bai Xiaolin, dodged her fireball, and surprised her with a second puppet before proposing a deal.
• Bai Xiaolin destroyed the puppet with a sword-shaped burst of Qi Jin, while Ling Yi’s objective was fulfilled and the Hidden Asgard’s first layer was unsealed.
• Ling Yi entered the expanded Asgard, placed a Soul Seal on Wei Xu, then removed it while keeping Wei Xu as a follower with locked loyalty.
• Ling Yi copied his innate Divine Abilities to Wei Xu, including the unsealed Hidden Asgard, and entered the tower to investigate.

Ling Yi cultivated in the Treasure Tower, discovered that followers’ Hidden Asgards supplied resources, and reached Qi Refining, Third Level. He then ordered Wei Xu to return to the second prince and take control of him and his people.

• Ling Yi crushed the Treasure Tower Spirit’s true body and sealed it away, then found immortal cultivation techniques in the tower.
• Ling Yi chose the Five Spirits Art and used pills to cultivate, reaching Qi Refining, Third Level by nightfall.
• Ling Yi realized he could use Spiritual Power to summon Shadow Puppets without limit as long as his Spiritual Power lasted.
• Ling Yi saw Wei Xu cultivating and learned that Wei Xu had obtained techniques and resources from his Hidden Asgard.
• Ling Yi told Wei Xu to leave two-thirds of his resources in the Treasure Tower and ordered him to return to the second prince and take control of him and his people.

Ling Yi gathered five marked sleepers in a shared dream and defeated them to gain attributes. Wu Chengtian and Wei Hong recognized the attack and decided to act at the empress's birthday banquet in three days to expose Wu Canglan.

• Ling Yi decided to build his strength before leaving for the Central Province and chose to farm attributes from five sleeping people, sparing Qin Changming.
• Ling Yi pulled Qin Ru, Wu Kong, Wu Chengtian, Wei Hong, and Lü Yuan into one dream and challenged them to fight him for an immortal cultivation technique.
• Ling Yi defeated Qin Ru and the other four, then ended the dream after gaining attributes that raised his cultivation to Body Tempering Seventh Layer, Seventh Pin Martial Practitioner, and Qi Refining Third Level.
• Wu Chengtian woke in terror and met Wei Hong, who confirmed that he had also fought the masked figure in the dream.
• Wu Chengtian ordered Wei Hong to prepare for an attack at the empress's birthday banquet in three days, aiming to expose Wu Canglan rather than necessarily succeed.

Ling Yi sold Lü Yuan a poem and musical score for the empress’s birthday banquet, then learned Qin Changming planned to send him into the imperial palace to assassinate the Martial Emperor. Ling Yi accepted the mission while suspecting Qin Changming intended to use him as a disposable pawn.

• Ling Yi cultivated for three days, reaching Body Tempering Eighth Layer, First Pin Innate, and Qi Refining Twelfth Layer Great Perfection.
• Lü Yuan visited Ling Yi and paid him twenty thousand taels for the poem “When Will the Bright Moon Appear” and its musical score to perform at the empress’s birthday banquet.
• Lü Yuan told Ling Yi that someone had advised her to seek his help if she ran into trouble, then left to practice the song.
• Qin Changming visited Ling Yi, said he had a dangerous mission for him, and ordered him to enter the imperial palace disguised as a eunuch.
• Qin Changming told Ling Yi to wait for a chance to assassinate the Martial Emperor, Wu Canglan, and Ling Yi agreed while privately questioning why he had been chosen.

At Empress Qin Ru’s birthday banquet, Ling Yi discovered that Wu Canglan shared his body with Si Ming and copied his Karmic Luck Body and Power of Reincarnation talents. The banquet’s gift presentations began with Wu Chengyun offering a salt-refining method in exchange for a favor, and Wu Canglan reacted with delight to the refined salt.

• Ling Yi saw Wu Canglan’s status entry naming Si Ming and copied the Karmic Luck Body and Power of Reincarnation talents.
• Ling Yi surveyed the officials and imperial family at Qin Ru’s birthday banquet while waiting for the scheduled performances and gifts.
• Lü Yuan performed “When Will the Bright Moon Appear,” earning applause from the hall.
• Wu Chengyun presented Qin Ru with a wooden box and asked for one favor if his gift pleased her.
• Wu Chengtian objected to Wu Chengyun’s request, but Wu Canglan rebuked him and allowed Wu Chengyun to proceed.
• Wu Chengyun revealed that his gift was a method for refining salt, and Wu Canglan tasted the white refined salt and was delighted.

Wu Chengyun asked Wu Canglan to strip him of the crown prince title, but the emperor refused and sent him away. When Wu Canglan’s entry changed to Si Ming, an ambush erupted in the hall, and Ling Yi’s attempt to devour Si Ming’s cultivation coincided with the arrival of dark clouds and a lightning tribulation.

• Wu Chengyun offered the fine salt refining method and asked Wu Canglan to remove him as crown prince and grant him a title outside the capital, but Wu Canglan refused.
• Wu Canglan rebuked Wu Chengyun over his past conduct and ordered him to leave the hall, while Qin Ru watched in silence.
• Wu Canglan’s entry changed to Si Ming, who announced that his cultivation had reached a critical point and prepared to leave.
• Wu Chengtian knocked over his wine cup, and two Shadow Puppets emerged to attack Si Ming as Ling Yi pretended to protect the emperor.
• Si Ming destroyed the first two Shadow Puppets, but four more appeared, and Ling Yi used Devour Heaven and Earth to drain Si Ming’s cultivation.
• Dark clouds suddenly covered the sky, and Ling Yi realized a lightning tribulation was beginning.

Ling Yi was forced into a Foundation Establishment Lightning Tribulation while Si Ming (Wu Canglan) left the hall and revealed his identity to the Wu royal family. As Ling Yi endured the lightning outside, Si Ming explained his arrangement with Wu Canglan and challenged the court to stop him.

• Ling Yi used a guard's Disguise talent and his armor to flee the hall, but the Lightning Tribulation forced him out of the shadows and barred him from entering the Hidden Asgard.
• Shadow Puppets appeared above Ling Yi to absorb the lightning, while he consumed Spirit Gathering Pills to replenish his Spiritual Power.
• Si Ming (Wu Canglan) and Bai Xiaolin recognized that Ling Yi was undergoing an extraordinary Foundation Establishment Lightning Tribulation, and the palace's princes, nobles, and ministers gathered to watch.
• Wu Chengtian questioned Si Ming about Wu Canglan, and Si Ming admitted that he was Si Ming occupying Wu Canglan's body, claiming they were cooperating while he borrowed the Wu Kingdom's Karmic Luck to heal his soul.
• Si Ming told the royal family that Wu Canglan was alive and would receive Si Ming's cultivation in exchange for the arrangement, then taunted them to wait for Ling Yi to survive the tribulation and kill him.

Ling Yi survived a five-shichen Lightning Tribulation and stabilized his realm as Bai Xiaolin explained the Martial Dao and Immortal Dao to the gathered nobles. Ling Yi asked where he could find Spirit Stones, but Bai Xiaolin instead asked whether Ling Yi had been the one there that night.

• Wu Yunxiao accepted that immortal cultivators existed after watching Ling Yi's Lightning Tribulation, while Wu Chengyun asked Bai Xiaolin to explain the difference between immortal cultivators and Martial Practitioners.
• Bai Xiaolin explained the Martial Dao, the Immortal Dao, their realms, and the Azure Emperor's rise to rule the Immortal Realm.
• Ling Yi's Lightning Tribulation ended at dawn, and Si Ming and Bai Xiaolin discussed how Ling Yi had survived and the pills and abilities he had used.
• Bai Xiaolin warned Si Ming that Ling Yi's great Karmic Luck meant he should be befriended rather than antagonized.
• Ling Yi descended after stabilizing his realm, and after the others greeted him, he asked where to find Spirit Stones; Bai Xiaolin asked whether Ling Yi had been there that night.

Ling Yi learned of an ancient sect ruin in the Wu Kingdom containing countless Low-Grade Spirit Stones and more than a hundred thousand Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones, then arranged an expedition to collect them. As Wu Canglan began organizing the group, Lü Yuan revealed that she had secretly gathered a chest of Spirit Stones.

• Bai Xiaolin told Ling Yi about an undiscovered ancient sect ruin in the Wu Kingdom, and several members of the court asked to join the expedition.
• Ling Yi ordered Si Ming to organize a group of fewer than a hundred people and set their departure for three days later.
• Ling Yi returned to the palace hall in eunuch robes and joined Qin Changming, while Si Ming handed responsibility for organizing the expedition to Wu Canglan.
• Wu Canglan decided the Wu Kingdom's imperial family and loyalists should take priority, hoping the expedition would help strengthen the kingdom's Martial Dao.
• Lü Yuan returned to her room, reflected on seeing Ling Yi transcend his tribulation, and took a wooden chest half-filled with blue Spirit Stones from beneath her bed.

Lü Yuan gave Ling Yi 200 Spirit Stones and agreed to become his follower so she could pursue cultivation and freedom. Ling Yi copied her Photographic Memory talent, strengthened his own talents and those of his followers, and prepared them for the cultivation ruins.

• Lü Yuan asked Ling Yi to take her to the cultivation ruins, explaining that she wanted to escape the Bureau of Entertainment and pursue the immortal path.
• Lü Yuan gave Ling Yi a box containing 200 Spirit Stones that her father had left in the Lin Clan’s care.
• Ling Yi spent 10 Spirit Stones copying Lü Yuan’s Photographic Memory talent, raising it to lv3 and greatly expanding his Spiritual Sense and Divine Sense.
• Lü Yuan agreed to follow Ling Yi, became his fourth follower, and received copies of his talents and Divine Abilities.
• Qianxue and Wei Xu emerged from Ling Yi’s shadow, worried about their approaching Foundation Establishment Tribulations.
• Ling Yi spent 20 Spirit Stones raising Power of Shadow and Power of Sealing to lv3, which strengthened Qianxue’s and Wei Xu’s corresponding talents.