Chapter Summaries

After twelve years of studying with the Immortal Cultivation Assistance System, Li Xingkong passed his final kindergarten assessment and qualified to begin cultivating immortality. He rejected the system’s offer of a three-month break and insisted on starting the next stage immediately.

• Li Xingkong recalled how the system had trained him through preschool, junior kindergarten, and senior kindergarten, teaching him to control his body and prepare for cultivation.
• Li Xingkong took the seventeen-minute-and-thirty-two-second breath-holding assessment, carefully controlling his body and keeping time.
• The system confirmed that Li Xingkong had passed all his immortal cultivation kindergarten subjects and met the requirements to advance.
• Li Xingkong demanded a vacation, but the system projected he might not reach Foundation Establishment until age sixty.
• When the system offered him three months off, Li Xingkong refused and said he would resume studying the next day.

Li Xingkong began elementary immortal cultivation lessons, learning that Qi Refining aimed to improve how efficiently the body acquired energy. The system introduced several cultivation paths and left him stunned by methods based on gravity and popular faith.

• Li Xingkong finished his chores and asked the system to begin his elementary cultivation courses, which would take him from Qi Refining through Foundation Establishment.
• The system explained that Qi Refining could grant abilities such as going without food, flying, using spells, and dominating close combat because Li Xingkong was the planet’s only cultivator.
• The system described past cultivation civilizations that collapsed through depleted spiritual energy, monopolized paths, or losing the principles behind their methods, then told Li Xingkong the choice of path was his.
• The system explained that traditional Qi Refining used sunlight to raise energy intake, while a later method used gravity, inspired by the moon’s influence on tides.
• The system introduced a third method based on drawing on the mortal world and supporting a dragon court, leaving Li Xingkong asking whether people could truly wield the power of faith.

Li Xingkong learned about several qi refining methods and chose to begin with the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method. Just as he prepared to study it, the system revealed that Earth Star had no spiritual qi and announced that he would need to learn how to create it.

• The system explained the power of faith and described qi refining methods based on magnetic fields, geothermal energy, wind, and earthly baleful qi.
• Li Xingkong decided he could eventually learn every method and chose to start with the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method.
• The system projected a thick book about the method into Li Xingkong’s nervous system and told him qi refining required spiritual qi.
• Li Xingkong asked whether Earth Star had spiritual qi, and the system confirmed that it did not.
• The system began adjusting the elementary school curriculum to add artificial spiritual qi, leaving Li Xingkong dismayed at the prospect of having to create it.

Li Xingkong learned that producing spiritual qi would require a vast array of materials and a way to process them, so the system proposed using explosions to create precisely sized fragments. He rejected the system’s suggestions to steal missiles, reaffirmed that cultivation did not put him above ordinary people or the law, and concluded that making money was his immediate priority.

• Li Xingkong discovered that the materials needed to synthesize spiritual qi were numerous and that his savings would not cover them, while the system explained that ordinary processing machines were too expensive and imprecise.
• The system proposed placing materials in a sturdy sealed chamber and using explosives to produce fragments, then helping Li Xingkong find the rare pieces with the required precision.
• The system suggested stealing a Dongfeng-41 or Tomahawk missiles, but Li Xingkong rejected the ideas and joked that turning the system over to the state might help him reach qi refining sooner.
• Li Xingkong objected to the system’s claim that cultivators were unconstrained by mortal laws, saying that becoming a cultivator would not make him stop being human.
• Li Xingkong decided that he needed money for materials and a suitable place for explosion tests, and made earning money his immediate priority.

Li Xingkong struggled to find a way to make money, then accepted Wu Yan’s invitation to meet old high school classmates. On the train to the reunion, he asked the system about reaching Qi Refining and learned he was close, but still had an obstacle to overcome.

• Li Xingkong considered several ways to earn money but rejected them as too risky, costly, or likely to draw unwanted attention.
• Wu Yan messaged Li Xingkong, and they agreed to meet with several old classmates at Wu Yan’s place the following Monday.
• Li Xingkong left his village before dawn and took a train toward the city where he had attended high school.
• Li Xingkong asked the system how quickly he could reach the city after attaining Qi Refining, and the system said he would be slower than the train at first but faster by the middle stage.
• The system told Li Xingkong that he was very close to Qi Refining, but compared his remaining progress to reaching the station only to discover he had forgotten his ID and ticket.

Li Xingkong returned to his hometown and reunited with his former class rep, teacher, and classmates. After hearing about their jobs and investments, he began shaping a plan to make money through stocks.

• Li Xingkong arrived in the city and visited his old high school, then bought milk before meeting his former class rep, Bade.
• Bade took Li Xingkong to visit their former teacher, and they reminisced before driving to the class reunion.
• Li Xingkong reunited with Wen Yi and chatted with seven or eight former classmates at lunch.
• Wen Yi told Li Xingkong that he had earned money from coins while Bade had lost money in stocks, giving Li Xingkong the idea to try stock trading.
• Li Xingkong spent the afternoon at a teahouse with his classmates and roughly worked out version 1.0 of his money-making plan.

Li Xingkong launched a stock-trading plan built around gathering early information from employees of listed companies, while the system promised to teach him how to judge whether statements were true. Nearly half a year later, he struggled with the theory behind qi refining, and the system urged him to keep going as a pioneer for his civilization.

• Li Xingkong explained his plan to profit from stocks by collecting firsthand information, and the system identified problems and offered to teach him a mental-power skill for judging truth.
• Li Xingkong created a muted group for friends and their contacts at listed companies, and it grew to more than five thousand members in three days.
• Li Xingkong began trading with 50,000 yuan using information from the group while continuing his studies.
• Li Xingkong spent the following months studying the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method and asked whether earlier cultivators had faced the same burden.
• The system explained that Li Xingkong was pioneering qi cultivation for Earth Star and urged him not to give up, leaving him daunted by the responsibility.

Li Xingkong prepared to travel to Prisoner Continent to find a place for his explosives experiment, first settling his parents into a village home. On his first flight, he met Guan Zhenzhen and tried to escape their awkward conversation, only to discover she was seated beside him on the plane.

• Li Xingkong chose Prisoner Continent as the destination for his experiment because it was nearby and had better transportation.
• Li Xingkong bought his parents a village home, prepared their plot for growing vegetables, and obtained a travel visa.
• Li Xingkong arrived at Dragon City Airport for his first flight and met Guan Zhenzhen, who shared sunflower seeds and added him on WeChat.
• Li Xingkong fled to the restroom when boarding began, then boarded the plane bound for Prisoner Continent.
• Li Xingkong found Guan Zhenzhen seated beside his assigned seat, number 37.

Li Xingkong flew toward Prisoner Continent, befriended Guan Zhenzhen again, and endured his first flight through a thunderstorm. After the plane emerged from the clouds, he spotted the continent’s coastline and prepared to arrive.

• Li Xingkong re-added Guan Zhenzhen after realizing he had deleted her, and she accepted his friend request.
• Li Xingkong boarded the plane and talked with Guan Zhenzhen while the system teased him about learning how to chat with women.
• Li Xingkong reflected on how childhood poverty and insecurity still held him back, then fell asleep during the flight.
• A thunderstorm shook the plane, and Li Xingkong worried about the danger before the flight attendants told passengers to fasten their seat belts.
• The plane cleared the storm, and Li Xingkong spotted Prisoner Continent’s distant coastline and welcomed his arrival.

Li Xingkong arrived in Prisoner Continent and trusted Guan Zhenzhen to show him around, but airport officers detained him while she stole his luggage. After he was released, he found his passport and a mocking note from Guan Zhenzhen, who had escaped with his belongings.

• Li Xingkong landed in Prisoner Continent and agreed to let Guan Zhenzhen guide him after they left the plane.
• Guan Zhenzhen asked Li Xingkong to watch her bag, then returned and sent him to the bathroom while she took his luggage outside.
• Two airport officers accused Li Xingkong of bringing in illegal items and detained him, preventing him from pursuing Guan Zhenzhen.
• Guan Zhenzhen waved Li Xingkong's passport at him, deleted him from her V contacts, and left with his belongings.
• After half a day of questioning, Li Xingkong collected his passport and found Guan Zhenzhen's taunting note tucked inside.

Li Xingkong arrived on Prisoner Continent, where a staged luggage theft, an indifferent police response, and a gun-toting taxi driver showed him how dangerous the place was. After being driven to the wrong city and learning he was still three hours from Nature City, he was left stranded in Freedom City.

• Li Xingkong called the police after his luggage was stolen, but an officer dismissed his complaint and mocked him for being an outsider.
• The system told Li Xingkong that the woman and two police officers had worked together to scam him, but he decided against confronting them.
• A taxi driver took Li Xingkong from the airport and shot out the tire of a group of youths' SUV to demonstrate how locals handled disputes.
• The driver charged Li Xingkong 590 after taking him to Freedom City instead of the city he intended to visit.
• A passerby told Li Xingkong that Nature City was three hours away, leaving him to realize he had crossed Prisoner Continent without meaning to.

After discovering a honey trap at the hotel, Li Xingkong subdued the receptionist and evaded the two police officers waiting outside. He stole valuables and a pistol from the staff quarters, leaving with a weapon for self-defense.

• Li Xingkong found hidden cameras in his hotel room and covered them with tape before going to sleep.
• The receptionist slipped into Li Xingkong’s room at night, and he realized she was setting a honey trap.
• Li Xingkong struck the receptionist unconscious and moved her into an empty room on the floor below.
• Seeing a police car waiting outside, Li Xingkong avoided the officers as they rode the elevator upstairs.
• Li Xingkong searched the staff quarters, took cash and valuables from a safe, and stole a pistol and bullets.

Li Xingkong searched for a remote farm where he could begin his development plan, then set out to inspect his preferred choice. When a group of biker punks tried to rob him, he fought them off and shot the one who attacked him with an axe.

• Li Xingkong researched farms for sale and chose several remote properties to inspect, planning to visit his top choice in the morning.
• Unable to find a taxi before sunrise, Li Xingkong was surrounded by two motorcycles carrying five punks who demanded tribute.
• Li Xingkong dodged a baseball bat and used precise punches and kicks to knock down the unarmed attackers.
• A thug charged at Li Xingkong with an axe, so Li Xingkong dodged the blow and shot the attacker in the leg with the stolen handgun.
• The wounded thug dropped the axe onto his other foot, and the remaining punks fled after hearing the gunshot.

Li Xingkong reached a remote farm on the Prisoner Continent and bought it from the farmer Mike for two million. He settled into the farmhouse that evening, pleased to have a place of his own and ready to get some proper rest.

• Li Xingkong called an ambulance for an injured thug, then took the thug’s cleaner motorcycle and rode toward a farm he had selected.
• Li Xingkong reached Mike’s remote farm, inspected the land, and agreed to buy it for two million.
• Mike drove Li Xingkong to the land exchange, where Li Xingkong completed the paperwork and became the farm’s owner.
• Li Xingkong returned to the farmhouse and found that Mike had left its furniture, supplies, and other belongings behind.
• Li Xingkong tidied the bedroom and prepared to sleep after settling into his new home.

Li Xingkong surveyed his farm on Prisoner Continent and spent nearly a month preparing a blast chamber to collect particle materials. After detonating explosives, the system captured the material but left Li Xingkong so exhausted and hungry that he collapsed.

• Li Xingkong surveyed his roughly three-hundred-mu farm and found it bordered by vast, uninhabited wasteland.
• Li Xingkong acquired a shell company and steel-purchasing approval, then had materials delivered to build a sturdy blast chamber.
• Li Xingkong planted corn across his land and disguised the chamber as a place for driving rats from their burrows.
• Li Xingkong detonated explosives inside the sealed chamber, which remained intact but had a bulged joint and a twisted door.
• The system took control of Li Xingkong's body, used Ultimate Eyesight to inspect the smoke, and collected the desired material.
• Li Xingkong collapsed after the system returned control, and he could not lift food to his mouth because he was severely exhausted and hungry.

Li Xingkong’s repeated attempts to refine spiritual energy materials failed, so he prayed for luck before starting another test. A Motorcycle Gang arrived at his home to threaten him, and he used a detonator to scatter them.

• After two weeks of failed attempts to find materials, Li Xingkong prayed to the God of Wealth before beginning his sixteenth iron-powder test.
• Li Xingkong heard motorcycles approaching and suspected the riders were connected to an earlier conflict, so he armed himself with a gun and explosives.
• The Motorcycle Gang surrounded Li Xingkong’s house, and their cowboy-dressed leader demanded that he apologize and submit to his brother.
• Li Xingkong held up a detonator, then tossed it toward the circling riders and set it off, causing the gang to scatter.

Li Xingkong used dynamite to force the cowboy and his motorcycle gang to back down after they came to demand an explanation. Once they left, Li Xingkong cleaned up the explosion and drew a material, prompting the system to warn him to find food.

• Li Xingkong threw dynamite, startling the cowboy and the gang members watching from their motorcycles.
• Li Xingkong kept another stick of dynamite ready while he and the cowboy argued, and the gang members retreated to a distance.
• The cowboy agreed to leave Li Xingkong alone, then rode off with his gang.
• Li Xingkong put away his gun and dynamite, and the system called him a lunatic for frightening the gang.
• Li Xingkong cleaned up the explosion and completed his daily single draw, receiving a material.
• The system warned Li Xingkong that he needed to eat or it would drain him, and Li Xingkong hurried off to find food.

Li Xingkong recovered from the system’s exhausting search for a cultivation material and continued collecting supplies while preparing to begin cultivation. An Agriculture Bureau visit then forced him to register crops and insurance, leaving him with the realization that he had to farm his land.

• Li Xingkong let the system search the dust-covered secret chamber and collect a suitable material, then replenished his energy with high-energy bars.
• Li Xingkong discussed how much he had to eat with the system, tidied his house, and continued his daily routine while blasts opened the chamber for more material searches.
• Xierlin Laming and her security team arrived from the Agriculture Bureau to ask Li Xingkong to register the crops he intended to plant.
• Li Xingkong reviewed the forms, bought the required agricultural insurance, registered his crops, and listed Mike’s seeds as his seed source.
• After the Agriculture Bureau left, Li Xingkong learned that Prisoner Continent required farms to plant crops and could reclaim land left fallow for two consecutive years.

After a year of experiments, Li Xingkong collected the final material needed to create spiritual qi. The system began the process in the secret room, leaving Li Xingkong to watch its lesson in constructing spiritual qi.

• Li Xingkong spent the year farming, studying Qi Refining, and gathering materials through daily experiments, while Mike occasionally visited the farm.
• Li Xingkong found the final material, completing the collection needed for the next step.
• The system told Li Xingkong that he needed more energy to create spiritual qi, so he ordered liquid glucose and infusion equipment.
• Li Xingkong prepared and sterilized the secret room, then gathered the materials and got ready to begin.
• The system took control of Li Xingkong’s body and began constructing spiritual qi using an unorthodox method.

Li Xingkong and the system successfully manufactured spiritual qi, leaving him exhausted but able to begin cultivating with the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method. After recovering, he went into Nature City with Mike to celebrate and headed for a shooting range.

• The system used Li Xingkong’s gaze and body energy for nearly an hour to refine spiritual qi, while he consumed glucose and overheated.
• The system finished the spiritual qi and returned control to Li Xingkong, who collapsed from pain and accidentally pulled his IV needle through his vein.
• Li Xingkong confirmed that the spiritual qi had settled inside him, then slept for several days until his discomfort mostly passed.
• Li Xingkong decided to take a day off and drove to Nature City to celebrate, leaving the smoke from his earlier explosion behind.
• Li Xingkong met Mike, who had grown thinner and paler, and asked him to choose somewhere to go.
• Mike suggested a shooting range with machine guns, and Li Xingkong eagerly set off after receiving its location.