Chapter Summaries

Lu Li’s fish-shaped jade pendant began devouring the secret realm’s blood-colored meridians, provoking the realm’s furious will. Outside, the will killed two True Lords, while Lu Li recognized the pendant’s appearance from the vision he had seen while refining his Life-Bound Law Artifact.

• The secret realm’s pressure intensified, injuring and killing Foundation Establishment cultivators as their Law Power fed the realm.
• Lu Li’s jade pendant flared and secretly absorbed the blood-colored meridians, making the mysterious will roar and search for its source.
• True Lord Xuanyu and the other True Lords knelt beneath the dark green markings covering the sky and pleaded with the will.
• A pink tongue tore apart True Lord Xuanyu and the peak master of Supreme Refinement Peak, then dragged them into the secret realm.
• Lu Li watched the pendant absorb the meridians in a growing vortex and realized it resembled the vision from when he refined his Life-Bound Law Artifact.

Lu Li’s jade pendant tore open the blood-colored secret realm, allowing Elder Jian, Ye Chenfeng, a sword pellet, and a broken sword to escape into the stars. The Three Commanderies were revealed as a Demon Beast feeding ground, and the great toad ordered True Lord Yuanhao to repair the Spirit Vein and deal with Lu Li.

• Lu Li’s jade pendant cut through the blood-colored secret realm, exposing the Azure Pool sect grounds and the dark green patterns above the sky.
• Elder Jian urged Ye Chenfeng to flee, summoned a sword pellet and broken sword, and escaped with him beyond the sky into the river of stars.
• The great toad demon appeared over the Three Commanderies, revealing to Lu Li that the region was a pond in a vast Demon Beast crop field.
• The jade pendant returned to Lu Li’s spiritual platform as the Spiritual Qi rapidly declined, and the great toad summoned the three True Lords.
• The great toad ate two True Lords and ordered the surviving True Lord Yuanhao to repair the Spirit Vein and deal with Lu Li.

Lu Li reported that the Azure Pool Three Commanderies were a demon's nest, with a great toad demon ruling over the region and the sect in chaos after the secret realm disaster. Li Yuanchao ordered Great Xia's teams to study the demon and find a way to protect Lu Li, while Lu Dahai joined the research effort.

• Lu Li told Li Yuanchao that the great toad demon and countless insects and beasts occupied the Azure Pool Three Commanderies, and that the demon had eaten four of the five great True Lords.
• Lu Li reported that the Azure Pool Spirit Vein had shattered, the sect was in chaos, and the demon seemed injured but remained dangerous.
• Li Yuanchao partially activated level-one combat readiness and ordered the bureau's teams and seven workshops to analyze the demon and develop countermeasures.
• Lu Dahai begged Li Yuanchao to let him go save his son, but Li Yuanchao, Zhang Xuanqing, and Xu Mu urged him to stay and help.
• Lu Dahai steadied himself and rushed to the laboratory area to support the research effort.

Li Yuanchao's team analyzed Lu Li's chances against the injured Nascent Soul-level great demon and concluded that surviving the immediate crisis could give him a chance to grow. With nuclear weapons unlikely to kill the beast, the researchers renewed their efforts to develop cultivation technology that could help him.

• A strategy team reported that the toad great demon was likely injured and that neighboring Demon Beasts might threaten its territory, giving Lu Li an opportunity to survive and grow.
• Li Yuanchao asked whether nuclear weapons could hurt the great demon, and the clerical soldier said they would probably only work if it exposed its weak points and stayed still.
• Researchers across the seven experimental workshops continued their work despite their doubts about nuclear weapons and their limited progress in cultivation technology.
• The Artifact Refining Industrial Production Workshop and three other workshops began a joint project using an unfinished Spirit Machinery component optimized by Lu Li's Divine Sense.
• Wang Zhiwen urged the researchers to keep working until they built Spirit Machinery powerful enough to challenge the beast.

After Azure Pool Sect was devastated, True Lord Yuanhao took command and forced the surviving disciples to begin repairs. He confessed to Lu Li that fear and desperation had driven him to submit, then told Lu Li they would jointly nurture immortal seedlings and serve the ancestor.

• True Lord Yuanhao proclaimed himself sect master, ordered the disciples to repair Azure Pool Sect, and threatened to kill anyone who disobeyed.
• Yuanhao brought Lu Li to his cave abode and asked what the world and cultivation were like.
• Yuanhao broke down, recounting how years of struggle and the demon’s control had destroyed his hopes and left him desperate to survive.
• Yuanhao told Lu Li that they would share responsibility for nurturing immortal seedlings and making offerings to the ancestor, calling Lu Li his colleague.

True Lord Yuanhao revealed that the Azure Pool Three Commanderies were the Nether Toad Patriarch’s cultivation ground and that Dao Fruit recipients became his blood food, but Lu Li stayed focused on finding a way home. Sent to help repair the shattered Spirit Vein, Lu Li considered the jade pendant’s hidden power and realized the Spirit Vein fragments might be valuable to Great Xia.

• True Lord Yuanhao explained that he served the Nether Toad Patriarch and managed the blessed land, including culling mortals and preparing a blood-food offering every hundred years.
• Yuanhao told Lu Li that Dao Fruit recipients were intended as the Patriarch’s blood food, but Lu Li believed his artifact-refining talent had spared him from being devoured.
• Yuanhao gave Lu Li pills and supplements, ordered him to refine the Dao Fruit and reach Core Formation, and warned that leaving the three commanderies would attract other blessed-land lords.
• At the inner sect, Lu Li put away the pills and examined his jade pendant, suspecting it could grow powerful enough to kill and that it might feed on Blood Qi.
• Lu Li inspected the shattered Spirit Vein and wondered whether its fragments could be sent back to Great Xia.

Lu Li secretly sent a Spirit Vein fragment from Azure Pool to Great Xia, where Bureau 749 installed it and detected a stronger Spiritual Qi revival. He agreed to keep smuggling out fragments and resources, then asked whether the jade pendant could transport yin souls.

• Lu Li used the Mountain-Moving Method to send a Spirit Vein fragment to Bureau 749 while appearing to help repair Azure Pool’s Spirit Vein.
• Lu Li told the Bureau 749 duty officer to have Xu Mu and the others seal the fragment underground, and Xu Mu installed it beneath the base.
• Wang Zhiwen’s researchers detected denser Spiritual Qi and signs that drawing Qi into the body might become possible.
• Lu Li told Wang Zhiwen he could send more fragments, and Wang Zhiwen urged him to exploit the chaos and smuggle out Azure Pool’s resources.
• Lu Li shared True Lord Yuanhao’s account of the situation, and Bureau 749 warned him that other great demons might raid Azure Pool.
• Lu Li agreed to be careful and asked Wang Zhiwen whether yin souls could pass through the jade pendant.

After Spiritual Qi readings surged in Great Xia, Li Yuanchao convened a national meeting and announced plans to accelerate cultivation research and prepare for nationwide cultivation. The chapter left Great Xia poised to train selected veterans as its first standardized cultivators and members of the Cultivation Administration.

• Lu Li confirmed that Yin spirits could be transmitted to Great Xia, but decided not to send back a Foundation Establishment soul until Great Xia was better prepared.
• Spiritual Qi readings rose at Bureau 749’s base, and Li Yuanchao called an urgent meeting as officials recognized the revival was accelerating.
• Li Yuanchao announced that Great Xia would mobilize national resources to develop a safe cultivation system and support Lu Li.
• Officials reviewed an upgraded Self-Cultivation Outline that included a state-verified basic Qi Introduction method.
• Li Yuanchao launched Great Wall Foundation Establishment, selecting qualified veterans for unified cultivation training and the first ranks of the Cultivation Administration.

Great Xia quietly introduced the second phase of its cultivation guidelines at universities, naming students as the first group to practice. Students and staff initially mocked the Qi Introduction method, but some began trying it, and Director Wang admitted he might be sensing Qi himself.

• Li Yuanchao announced that Great Xia would seize the opportunity to become a leader in the age of cultivation.
• Great Xia distributed the disguised Phase Two cultivation guidelines through universities, making students the first designated group to begin cultivation.
• Li Ming found the Basic Guiding Breathing Method in the document and joked about it in his class chat, where classmates and the counselor treated it as a gag.
• Students across the country discovered that their universities had received the same document, and some began to suspect it might be genuine.
• Some students tried the Qi Introduction method, while counselors debated the guidelines and heard reports of students feeling heat and swelling in their lower abdomens.
• Director Wang said universities should follow the higher-ups' instructions, then wondered whether he felt a Qi sensation himself.

Lu Yao displayed a mysterious ability while wishing she could join the Great Wall selection, and Great Xia’s military Spirit Root screening found that about one percent of eligible veterans had Spirit Root aptitude. Li Yuanchao approved the next phase, establishing a cultivation force, while dismissing concerns about foreign powers.

• Lu Yao’s squad leader left for the medical examination, and Lu Yao used her unexplained power to send documents flying before wondering whether revealing her ability could let her join the selection.
• The military regions conducted Spirit Root tests, and the preliminary results identified 2,813 qualified veterans with Spirit Root aptitude, roughly one percent of the eligible force.
• Li Yuanchao learned the screening results and approved the second phase of the Great Wall Plan, selecting the top one hundred for Bureau 749 and assigning the other Spirit Root possessors to a new cultivation administration base.
• Li Yuanchao dismissed a report about the Five Eyes Alliance and Beautiful Country, saying Great Xia would focus on Spiritual Qi’s revival.

Thomson struggled to determine why Great Xia was gathering resources and veterans, then watched it announce a sweeping nationality screening and temporary departure order for foreign nationals. When other countries considered pressuring Great Xia, it revealed its deployed fleets and nuclear missile silos, and the world fell silent.

• Thomson demanded answers from his analysts about Great Xia’s breathing method, unusual heat activity near Jing City, and veteran transfers, but they could offer no concrete explanation.
• Thomson’s president berated him for providing only speculation and ordered him to use every resource to discover Great Xia’s plans.
• Senior Colonel Zhang Lijian announced that Great Xia would screen foreign nationals, suspend most entry applications, and ask foreigners in the country to leave temporarily.
• Thomson and the president reacted with alarm as the announcement triggered global speculation, condemnation, and plans for summits and joint military exercises.
• Great Xia deployed its armed fleets to its maritime boundary and opened its nuclear missile silos, prompting other countries to abandon their pressure campaign.

Lu Yao revealed her telekinetic ability to her commander and asked to join the Great Wall Selection, prompting Bureau 749 to summon her to its secret base. There, she unexpectedly saw her father, Lu Dahai, in the command hall.

• Lu Yao called Lu Dahai for advice about her new ability and the Great Wall Selection, but he ended the call because he was busy at the factory.
• Lu Yao told her commander she wanted to join the selection, then made papers float with her ability to prove herself.
• After receiving news of Lu Yao’s ability, Li Yuanchao summoned Wang Zhiwen and the human biology experts to Bureau 749’s base.
• Lu Yao traveled by helicopter to Mount Baiwang and descended into Bureau 749’s underground base, where she learned about its levels and secret facilities.
• Lu Yao entered the fourth-level command hall and was astonished to see her father, Lu Dahai.

Lu Yao discovered that her father and brother were involved with Bureau 749, and Lu Dahai showed her the underground base and its research workshops. The chapter ended with Lu Yao horrified as she watched Xu Mu produce translucent mouse spirits in the Soul and Consciousness Information Workshop.

• Lu Yao arrived at Bureau 749 and was shocked to find Lu Dahai there.
• Li Yuanchao told Lu Yao that Lu Dahai was a bureau member and Lu Li was a founding member and honorary leader of the Pioneer Group.
• Lu Dahai explained the bureau and Lu Li's mission in the cultivation world as he took Lu Yao through the base.
• Lu Dahai revealed that he was a cultivator at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer and expected to reach the fifth layer soon.
• Lu Dahai showed Lu Yao the Soul and Consciousness Information Workshop, where Xu Mu used a black banner to summon translucent mouse spirits.
• Lu Yao stared at the mouse spirits in horror and asked whether they were the souls her father had mentioned.

Lu Yao visited Bureau 749 with her father, Lu Dahai, and witnessed experiments that uploaded a mouse’s soul into a virtual sandbox and an industrial operation that mass-produced magical artifacts. The tour ended with her meeting Brocade Fur, the first spirit machinery creature made using a method sent by Lu Li.

• Lu Yao watched Xu Mu guide a white mouse’s soul into a bionic body while researchers synchronized its movements with a virtual model in the Spirit World sandbox.
• Wang Zhiwen explained that the experiment tested whether a soul’s consciousness, memories, and instincts could survive being uploaded to an information network.
• Lu Yao asked whether she and her mother lacked spirit roots, and Lu Dahai reassured her that consciousness uploading or bionic transfers might offer a future path for her mother.
• Lu Dahai showed Lu Yao the artifact-refining workshop, where automated production lines manufactured flying swords and other magical equipment.
• Lu Yao toured several research and production workshops before reaching the crop cultivation workshop, where a mechanical mouse greeted Lu Dahai.
• Lu Dahai introduced the mouse as Brocade Fur, the first spirit machinery creature created using a method Lu Li had sent back.

Lu Dahai showed Lu Yao the bionic mouse Brocade Fur, whose soul had survived for five years in a spiritually active environment, before bringing her to the laboratory to investigate her unusual condition. Tests revealed her innate Divine Sense was exceptionally strong, leading Wang Zhiwen to propose that she could help create a virtual world where ordinary people could preserve their consciousness and cultivate Divine Sense.

• Lu Dahai explained that Brocade Fur had a soul and had survived for five years beside the spirit fields, where its resilience and intelligence had grown.
• Lu Dahai introduced Lu Yao to Zhang Xuanqing, then hurried her away to investigate her condition.
• Lu Dahai and Lu Yao entered a laboratory where Wang Zhiwen, Li Yuanchao, and neuroscience experts prepared a Divine Sense strength detector.
• The detector assessed Lu Yao's innate Divine Sense as S+, approaching the level of a Qi Refining Middle Stage cultivator and potentially strengthened by rising Spiritual Qi.
• Wang Zhiwen proposed that Lu Yao help build a virtual world for ordinary people to preserve their consciousness and develop a path of Divine Sense cultivation.

Lu Yao joined Wang Zhiwen’s laboratory to study virtual sandbox worlds, while Lu Li sent five Spirit Vein fragments back to Great Xia. Hearing her brother’s voice through the jade pendant, Lu Yao tearfully made him promise to become an immortal and return; Lu Li agreed and asked why she was there.

• Lu Yao asked to join Wang Zhiwen’s laboratory, and Wang Zhiwen welcomed her expertise in cyberspace security research.
• Li Yuanchao learned that Lu Li’s transmission had connected and that he had sent five Spirit Vein fragments.
• Lu Dahai and Lu Yao entered the command hall, where Xu Mu took the fragments underground to nurture them.
• Lu Li reported that his sect was repairing its Spirit Vein and that dangerous changes were happening beyond the three commanderies.
• Lu Yao spoke to Lu Li through the jade pendant, broke down in tears, and made him promise to become an immortal and return.
• Lu Li promised he would come back and asked Lu Yao why she was in the command hall.

Lu Li learned that his mortal sister Lu Yao had unusually powerful Divine Sense and wondered whether his family had extraordinary ancestors. After hearing that Azure Pool’s upheaval had caused a severe shortage of pills and a surge in demand, he urged Great Xia’s workshops to ramp up production.

• Wang Zhiwen told Lu Li that Lu Yao’s Divine Sense was close to the Qi Refining Middle Stage, despite her having no Spiritual Power or Spirit Root.
• Lu Li reassured Lu Yao, then asked Zhang Xuanqing, Chen Fang, and Zhou Zhenhua about the workshops’ production capacity.
• Zhou Zhenhua said the artifact workshop could produce about three automatic Pill Furnaces per day with Lu Li’s help, while Chen Fang estimated the pill workshop could make about fifty first-tier pills daily.
• Lu Li explained that Azure Pool’s upheaval had left disciples short of pills and created a major opportunity to sell automatic Pill Furnaces and medicines.
• A psychologist described the disciples’ increased spending as revenge spending, and Li Yuanchao ordered cultivation materials redirected to the artifact workshop and production of Pill Furnaces and pills accelerated.

Lu Li took advantage of Azure Pool’s weakened state to repair the Spirit Vein and prepare Great Xia for future threats. After hearing that pill prices were rising, he gave Xu Xiong Spirit Stones to buy medicinal ingredients and launch Yellow Sprout Pill presales.

• Lu Li reflected on the danger posed by a Nascent Soul great demon and resolved to use the power vacuum to strengthen himself, gather resources, and help Great Xia.
• Lu Li left his disciples Changming and Changye to cultivate while he went to repair the Spirit Vein among Azure Pool’s ruined peaks.
• Lu Li found Xu Xiong, who was still grieving Master Wu and struggling to recover from the sect’s upheaval.
• Xu Xiong told Lu Li that disciples were clamoring for pills, especially Yellow Sprout Pills, and that pill prices had risen by as much as thirty percent.
• Lu Li gave Xu Xiong three thousand Spirit Stones to buy medicinal ingredients and told him to postpone automatic Pill Furnace presales while opening presales for Yellow Sprout Pills.

Lu Li searched for spirit vein fragments while refining a Dao Fruit and studying a third-tier artifact refinement manual. Seeking a way to strengthen his divine sense, he asked Yuanhao for help and received far more than the technique he requested.

• Lu Li found a spirit vein fragment and secretly sent it back to Blue Star.
• Lu Li practiced the Blade Heart Chapter but stopped when the strain hurt his divine sense, deciding to seek a strengthening technique.
• Lu Li visited Yuanhao and asked for a divine sense technique, and Yuanhao gave him a third-tier method for nurturing and refining divine sense.
• Lu Li pressed Yuanhao for alchemy and cultivation techniques, life-preserving methods, spirit stones, and law artifacts, prompting Yuanhao to yell at him to leave.
• As Lu Li turned to go, a stream of golden-shimmering jade slips flew out toward him.

Lu Li received four third-tier techniques from Yuanhao and began cultivating a Divine Sense method despite its painful demands. Meanwhile, Xu Xiong announced that he and a fellow Daoist would begin selling pills in one month, offering bonus pills to disciples who registered and paid in advance.

• Yuanhao gave Lu Li four third-tier methods and warned him to improve his cultivation and Dao of Artifact Refinement.
• Lu Li sent three methods to Great Xia for coordinated study and began comprehending the Three-Refinement Spirit-Tempering Instruction.
• Lu Li endured intense pain as he practiced separating his Divine Sense into threads, the method’s first tempering stage.
• Xu Xiong visited the Pill Hall and announced that he and a fellow Daoist would sell pills in one month, giving three hundred free pills for every five hundred Spirit Stones deposited in advance.