Chapter Summaries

Jiang Beiran tested the Five Golden Flowers’ musical talent, then struggled with a system option requiring him to refine an Earth Grade Middle Rank healing Spirit Pill. The next morning, he prepared Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze for a long trip and spent time playing the new edition of Simulated Immortal Cultivation with Shi Fenglan.

• Jiang Beiran discovered that the Yu Family Three Sisters had exceptional musical memory, perception, and pitch, and assigned them to compose music every day.
• Jiang Beiran returned to the Self-Boundary, reviewed four collected treasures, and received a system option to refine an Earth Grade Middle Rank healing Spirit Pill, which he knew he could not yet make.
• Jiang Beiran told Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze to prepare for a long trip, planning to take them to a larger stage and bring Qu Yangze to Gu Qinghuan.
• Jiang Beiran visited Shi Fenglan, who eagerly tried the third edition of Simulated Immortal Cultivation and won their first round with a lucky, powerful hand.
• Shi Fenglan asked Jiang Beiran to make her Chain Fairy game piece come alive, and Jiang Beiran explained that Jiang Ziya had begun imitating his movements after gaining limited intelligence.

Jiang Beiran traveled with Shi Fenglan and his companions to Tan Kingdom, where he studied the Flying Mansion and introduced Shi Fenglan’s friends to Simulated Immortal Cultivation. After reaching Qingyun City, he met Gu Qinghuan and Luo Wenzhou, who reported that the Sun-Slaying Glaze was held by Wen Yunyan of Floating Cloud Manor, leaving Jiang Beiran to consider how to acquire it.

• Jiang Beiran defeated Shi Fenglan at a card game, then set out with her and his companions aboard her Flying Mansion.
• Jiang Beiran studied the Flying Mansion’s formation connections while Shi Fenglan taught Wu Qingce, Qu Yangze, and Xia Lingdang her own invented game rules.
• Jiang Beiran caught Shi Fenglan cheating, corrected the group on the rules, and showed them how to play Simulated Immortal Cultivation before they arrived in Tan Kingdom.
• Wu Qingce learned that they had reached Qingyun City in Dayang Prefecture, Yun Province, and Jiang Beiran sent a paper kite to summon Gu Qinghuan and Luo Wenzhou.
• Gu Qinghuan reported that Wen Yunyan, the Third Young Master of Floating Cloud Manor in Jiashan County, held the Sun-Slaying Glaze and relied heavily on its power.
• Gu Qinghuan asked Jiang Beiran to help decide how they should obtain the Sun-Slaying Glaze.

Jiang Beiran learned that Gu Qinghuan and Luo Wenzhou had uncovered evidence that the Shen Family had orchestrated Wen Yuanzheng’s romance with Lin Yan, whose death had driven Wen Yunyan to seek revenge. Gu Qinghuan planned to trade Lin Yan’s letter for the Sun-Slaying Glaze, but warned Jiang Beiran that the Shen Family’s influence could draw them into a dangerous struggle.

• Gu Qinghuan explained that Wen Yunyan wanted revenge after his brother Wen Yuanzheng and Lin Yan were found dead, and that the Wen Family suspected Liu Zhousi of the murder.
• Luo Wenzhou revealed that he had gained Ren Enlian’s trust and obtained Lin Yan’s letter, which exposed the Shen Family’s plan to use her to entrap Wen Yuanzheng.
• Jiang Beiran learned that Gu Qinghuan intended to exchange the letter for Sun-Slaying Glaze and had built a reputation as a detective to approach Wen Yunyan.
• Gu Qinghuan identified the Shen Family as the greatest danger, despite its celebrated reputation for generosity and good works.

Jiang Beiran learned more about the Shen Family’s dangerous influence and sent Gu Qinghuan to arrange a meeting with Wen Yunyan. While waiting for the meeting, he tested Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze’s new abilities and discovered that Qu Yangze could grow and detonate poisonous mushrooms whose spores tried to colonize Jiang Beiran’s body.

• Jiang Beiran suspected that the Shen Family provoked conflicts so it could mediate them and gain influence, then told Gu Qinghuan to arrange a talk with Wen Yunyan.
• Gu Qinghuan gave Jiang Beiran travel permits, currency, and maps before leaving with Luo Wenzhou; Jiang Beiran took the others into the Flying Mansion and played Simulated Immortal Cultivation with Shi Fenglan.
• Two days later, Jiang Beiran received word that Wen Yunyan had met Gu Qinghuan and would speak with him face-to-face the next day.
• Jiang Beiran invited Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze to accompany him to the meeting and heard that Wu Qingce’s Flying Thunder disrupted Qu Yangze’s scouting ability.
• Qu Yangze showed Jiang Beiran that he could grow different mushrooms on his arm, use them to enhance himself, and detonate them into poisonous spores.
• Jiang Beiran entered the spore cloud to examine it, and the spores became active inside him and tried to make his body their new home.

Jiang Beiran learned that the spores were parasitic, then watched Gu Qinghuan accept Wen Yunyan’s request to investigate his elder brother’s death. After receiving Huo Hongfei’s promising update about Imperial Gu in Zeng Kingdom, Jiang Beiran arranged a barbecue for the evening.

• Jiang Beiran discovered that the spores parasitized their hosts, and Qu Yangze absorbed them so Jiang Beiran could later refine the mushroom into a poison pill.
• Gu Qinghuan met Wen Yunyan, who hired him to find evidence about his elder brother’s death and agreed that someone might have staged the bodies to provoke conflict with the Liu Family.
• Gu Qinghuan planned to investigate the Liu Family first, then look toward the Biyun Sect, while Jiang Beiran observed their negotiation with Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze.
• Jiang Beiran received Huo Hongfei’s letter reporting that Imperial Gu had been sold on Zeng Kingdom’s black market and that he had found the seller’s contact point.
• Jiang Beiran replied to Huo Hongfei, returned to the living room, and announced that everyone would have barbecue that night.

Gu Qinghuan revealed that the Shen Family had orchestrated Wen Yunyan’s elder brother’s death and persuaded Wen Yunyan to help organize resistance against them. Jiang Beiran approved Gu Qinghuan’s plan to establish a base in Yun Province and assigned Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze to work with him.

• Wen Yunyan met Gu Qinghuan, who named the Shen Family as the mastermind behind his elder brother’s death and asked for Wen’s Sun-Slaying Glaze in return for the investigation.
• Wen Yunyan offered the Sun-Slaying Glaze if Gu Qinghuan helped him avenge his brother, and Gu Qinghuan agreed to help him bring down the Shen Family.
• Gu Qinghuan gave Wen Yunyan a letter and jade slip implicating Lin Yan and Shen Xiuyong, then explained how the Shen Family manufactured conflicts to expand its influence.
• Wen Yunyan accepted Gu Qinghuan’s plan to unite families and sects harmed by the Shen Family, then left to begin preparations in Haixu Town.
• After Wen Yunyan departed, Jiang Beiran learned that Gu Qinghuan intended to reshape Yun Province and establish it as a forward outpost, and assigned Wu Qingce and Qu Yangze to work with him.

Jiang Beiran pursued the Imperial Gu lead in Zeng Kingdom and discovered that Qu Yangze’s King Gu could sense a special scent left by the Imperial Gu. Qu Yangze, Huo Hongfei, and Ju Zimin began tracking it, while Jiang Beiran stayed behind to investigate the empty contact house.

• Jiang Beiran arrived in Zeng Kingdom with Qu Yangze and met Huo Hongfei, who reported that the suspected contact, Liang Hong, had vanished from his empty safe house.
• Jiang Beiran brought Qu Yangze to the house, where the thirteen King Gu inside him became excited after detecting a scent.
• Jiang Beiran suppressed the King Gu as Qu Yangze’s body transformed, then learned they were reacting to the scent of a likely female Imperial Gu.
• Qu Yangze used his antennae to track the scent, and Jiang Beiran sent him with Huo Hongfei and Ju Zimin to search the places it had passed through.
• Jiang Beiran searched the safe house for clues but found no useful traces and waited for Qu Yangze’s report.

Jiang Beiran followed Qu Yangze’s Gu insects to a hidden formation and broke into a vast enclosed space. There, he and his companions encountered a group of powerful Exotic Beasts, leaving them facing an unexpected threat.

• Jiang Beiran left Xia Lingdang’s cultivation practice and joined Huo Hongfei, Ju Zimin, and Qu Yangze in a forest where the Gu insects sensed a strong fragrance.
• Jiang Beiran used an Evil-Suppressing Seal, a Mystic Void Flying Star Compass, and Phoenix Bell Feathers to identify and break the Heavenly Dream Mist Formation.
• Jiang Beiran and the others entered the hidden space beneath the marsh, where Qu Yangze followed the stronger scent of the Gu insects.
• Jiang Beiran detected a group of sixth-rank-or-higher Exotic Beasts advancing toward them and stopped as they surrounded the party.
• The leading Red-Winged Dijiang confronted Jiang Beiran, who asked whether it could talk.

Jiang Beiran confronted the Exotic Beasts guarding the barrier and used his imposing attitude to make the Dark Nether Qiongqi lead him through the forest while he searched for an aggressive insect. The Qiongqi revealed that a human had sheltered its group ten years earlier, then wondered whether it should accept Jiang Beiran’s offer to take them outside.

• Jiang Beiran told the Steel-Backed Huai to fetch its king, and the Dark Nether Qiongqi arrived and stopped a Ba Serpent from attacking him.
• Jiang Beiran insulted the Qiongqi’s breath and demanded that it guide him to find an aggressive insect; the Qiongqi, unable to judge his strength, let the group’s subordinates leave.
• Jiang Beiran had Qu Yangze follow the scent through the forest while the Qiongqi asked how he could speak Exotic Beast language.
• The Qiongqi told Jiang Beiran that a human had led its group into the barrier ten years earlier to protect them after humans attacked and captured their leader.
• The Qiongqi admitted its group had been unable to leave the barrier, then hesitated when Jiang Beiran offered to take them outside in exchange for a reward.

Jiang Beiran found Zhu Shangzhen imprisoned in the Dark Nether Qiongqi’s nest and forced him to hand over the Imperial Gu. After learning Zhu Shangzhen could teleport into nearby barrier spaces, Jiang Beiran secured his release and continued questioning him.

• The Dark Nether Qiongqi warned Jiang Beiran that a human was locked in its nest, and Jiang Beiran realized the prisoner likely carried the Imperial Gu.
• Jiang Beiran and his companions entered the nest, where Qu Yangze reacted violently to Zhu Shangzhen, the imprisoned cultivator.
• Jiang Beiran threatened Zhu Shangzhen until he surrendered the Imperial Gu, which Huo Hongfei collected.
• Jiang Beiran questioned Zhu Shangzhen and learned that he was an unaffiliated cultivator whose innate ability let him teleport into nearby barrier spaces once his Soul Power refilled each month.
• Jiang Beiran asked the Dark Nether Qiongqi to release Zhu Shangzhen, then took him below to continue asking questions.

Jiang Beiran learned about Zhu Shangzhen’s dangerous Fate-Guided Teleportation talent and offered to recommend him to the Lin Family so he could study the Universe Art. Back at the lair, Jiang Beiran discovered the Imperial Gu was near death and prepared to place it inside Qu Yangze, with Old Wang promising to control the other King Gu.

• Zhu Shangzhen told Jiang Beiran about his teleportation talent, its limits, and the rare occasions when it had taken him to another world.
• Jiang Beiran advised Zhu Shangzhen that learning the Universe Art could make his repeated teleports safer, and Zhu Shangzhen admitted he feared trusting a master.
• Jiang Beiran offered to recommend Zhu Shangzhen to the Lin Family of the Qi Kingdom, but told him to return once he had figured out what came next.
• Jiang Beiran examined the Imperial Gu and found that its life force was nearly exhausted.
• Jiang Beiran asked Old Wang whether it could control the other twelve King Gu if the Imperial Gu entered Qu Yangze’s body, and Old Wang agreed.
• Jiang Beiran warned Qu Yangze that the King Gu would fight over the Imperial Gu, and Qu Yangze said he would be fine.

Jiang Beiran watched Qu Yangze form a cocoon after swallowing the Imperial Gu, then rejected Zhu Shangzhen’s offer to become his disciple. While feeding the exotic beasts, he pressed the Dark Nether Qiongqi to reconsider leaving the barrier, and the chapter ended with it facing his question about how its former territory had been won.

• Jiang Beiran sent the Imperial Gu into Qu Yangze, whose body produced golden threads until he fell unconscious inside a cocoon.
• Jiang Beiran stayed by the cocoon as Old Wang fought the other twelve King Gu, and five days passed without the battle ending.
• Zhu Shangzhen apologized to Jiang Beiran and offered to join his school, but Jiang Beiran rejected him and sent him away to reconsider.
• Jiang Beiran prepared food for the exotic beasts, and the Dark Nether Qiongqi thanked him before explaining its reluctance to leave the barrier.
• Jiang Beiran challenged the Dark Nether Qiongqi’s hesitation, asking whether its former territory had simply fallen from the sky.

Jiang Beiran fed the Dark Nether Qiongqi and gave it a copper coin to help it decide whether to leave the barrier, then returned to Xinyao Town and comforted Shi Fenglan. The chapter ended with Shi Fenglan eagerly agreeing to go out with him.

• The Dark Nether Qiongqi recalled its homeland’s destruction and doubted whether it should keep hiding in the barrier.
• Jiang Beiran fed the Dark Nether Qiongqi and gave it a copper coin, explaining that its reaction to the toss might reveal what it truly wanted.
• Shi Fenglan waited restlessly in the Flying Mansion, then welcomed Jiang Beiran and eagerly ate the meal he had prepared.
• Shi Fenglan cried because she feared Jiang Beiran would ignore her like her father, and Jiang Beiran promised to find the reason for her unusual background and stay with her.
• Jiang Beiran asked Shi Fenglan whether she wanted to go out, and she happily agreed.

Jiang Beiran brought Shi Fenglan into the barrier, assigned Huo Hongfei and Ju Zimin to build a force in Zeng Kingdom, and continued monitoring Qu Yangze’s cocoon as the Imperial Gu revived. He also discovered that Shi Fenglan could befriend the Dark Nether Qiongqi and that his zither music could put nearby Exotic Beasts to sleep.

• Jiang Beiran introduced Shi Fenglan to the Dark Nether Qiongqi, which let her pet its mane after he promised it lamb chops.
• Jiang Beiran ordered Huo Hongfei to remain in Zeng Kingdom and build a local force, with Ju Zimin supporting him.
• The Imperial Gu revived inside Qu Yangze after absorbing nutrients for eight days, causing the twelve King Gu to retreat to their strongholds.
• Shi Fenglan grew close to the Dark Nether Qiongqi and began riding on its neck, while Jiang Beiran continued watching Qu Yangze’s cocoon.
• Jiang Beiran practiced playing Rain Sound with Phantom Sound and Spiritual power until three seventh-tier Exotic Beasts in the nest fell asleep.
• Jiang Beiran decided to practice expanding the range of his zither music’s effect.

Jiang Beiran assessed Zhu Shangzhen’s offer of service, accepted his treasures, and sent him to prove himself with the Lin Family. As Qu Yangze’s cocoon neared breaking, the Dark Nether Qiongqi asked Jiang Beiran to find its group a safe home, and he agreed in exchange for a spiritual stone.

• Jiang Beiran kept composing music while Zhu Shangzhen waited to meet him, convinced that the black-robed senior was an exceptional Mysterious Musician and cultivator.
• Zhu Shangzhen presented Jiang Beiran with a written account of his life and several Universe Rings filled with rare treasures, hoping to enter his service.
• Jiang Beiran agreed to introduce Zhu Shangzhen to the Lin Family but told him to prove his abilities before he would take him in, then sent him out of the Formation Technique with Talisman Paper to contact him later.
• Jiang Beiran inspected Qu Yangze inside the cracked cocoon and found that Old Wang had moved into a lung, leaving the Imperial Gu to occupy the heart.
• The Dark Nether Qiongqi asked Jiang Beiran to find its group a safe place to live and offered him a spiritual stone as payment; Jiang Beiran accepted and agreed to help.
• The Dark Nether Qiongqi said it wanted to fulfill its late Big Brother’s wish, then mourned as it remembered its sacrifice.

Qu Yangze emerged from his cocoon, and Jiang Beiran prepared to leave the Zeng Kingdom after securing the Imperial Gu. While seeking a suitable home for the Dark Nether Qiongqi, Jiang Beiran learned of the powerful Exotic Beasts ruling the Ancient Ruins and considered meeting them himself.

• Qu Yangze broke out of his cocoon, and Jiang Beiran found him stable enough to rest before returning to the Tan Kingdom.
• The Dark Nether Qiongqi declined Shi Fenglan’s offer to live with her because it wanted to grow stronger among its own kind.
• Jiang Beiran received Zhu Shangzhen’s message, replied that he would arrange for him to go to the Lin Family, and then met Ju Zimin.
• Ju Zimin showed Jiang Beiran the vast Ancient Ruins territory controlled by Exotic Beasts and named the Azure Dragon, Taowu, Golden-Armored Qilin, and Yingzhao as its four renowned beasts.
• Ju Zimin explained that humans had failed to communicate or cooperate with the Exotic Beasts, and Jiang Beiran resolved not to become a public intermediary.
• Jiang Beiran wondered whether he could make friends with the Exotic Beasts of the Ancient Ruins directly.

Lu Ningxiang summoned Jiang Beiran to rescue her from pursuers, then explained that Wuya Sect’s factional strife had left her family under threat after her father, former emperor Lu Huaian, disappeared. She revealed that she knew where her father’s hidden treasury was, giving her a bargaining chip as Jiang Beiran considered whether to help her.

• Lu Ningxiang used the stick and Ruyi Bamboo Slip to contact Jiang Beiran when she was stranded, cold, and hiding from pursuers.
• Jiang Beiran appeared in the cave, protected them with a Formation Technique, and gave Lu Ningxiang warm clothes, food, and water.
• Lu Ningxiang identified herself as the full-blooded elder sister of Tang Kingdom’s emperor, Lu Ganzhen, and described the political struggle surrounding Wuya Sect’s split and her father’s disappearance.
• Lu Ningxiang told Jiang Beiran that she had escaped the palace with help from her wet nurse and that she distrusted the relatives and elders around her.
• Lu Ningxiang revealed that her father had hidden a vast treasury and that she knew its location, which could persuade others to help her.

Jiang Beiran learned that Lu Ningxiang’s wet nurse had betrayed her and reasoned that the Wuya Sect had released her to test for royal contingencies and lure out her missing father. He went to seek Yan Guangqing’s help, but Yan warned that the Wuya Sect’s split could reshape the Tang Kingdom and that the conflict was too dangerous to enter casually.

• Jiang Beiran told Lu Ningxiang that her wet nurse’s sachet had exposed her and suggested her father might still be alive because the sect had not dared remove her brother from the throne.
• Jiang Beiran explained that the sect may have used Lu Ningxiang to search for her father’s treasury, test for contingency plans, or draw her father out, then left her in a safe cave and went to find Yan Guangqing.
• Jiang Beiran arrived at the Gantian Sect and asked Yan Guangqing whether he could still help broker an alliance between the Sheng Kingdom and the Tang Kingdom amid the Wuya Sect’s turmoil.
• Yan Guangqing said the upheaval could change the Tang Kingdom’s entire structure and warned Jiang Beiran not to get involved or become a disposable pawn.

Jiang Beiran persuaded Yan Guangqing to shelter Lu Ningxiang and help protect her family, then brought her to the Gantian Sect. Lu Ningxiang worried about Yan Guangqing’s motives but accepted Jiang Beiran’s reassurance as they arrived at his main hall.

• Jiang Beiran told Yan Guangqing how he had found Lu Ningxiang and asked whether Yan would take her in without causing trouble for himself.
• Yan Guangqing agreed to shelter Lu Ningxiang and help secure her family’s safety, partly because he believed her arrival in Jiang Beiran’s life was no coincidence.
• Jiang Beiran returned to Lu Ningxiang and told her that Yan Guangqing would host her and consider her family’s situation.
• Lu Ningxiang described her imperial father’s warning that Yan Guangqing was reliable when a matter brought him profit, and especially cautious when he appeared to cooperate without one.
• Jiang Beiran reassured Lu Ningxiang that Yan Guangqing could be trusted because she was prepared to pay any price to save her family, and she thanked him through tears.
• Jiang Beiran brought Lu Ningxiang to the Gantian Sect and led her toward Yan Guangqing’s main hall.

Jiang Beiran checked on the Shen Family investigation in Tan Kingdom, then brought Shi Fenglan and Xia Lingdang back to the Shi Family in Tong Kingdom. There, he reunited with Shi Hongfang, who arrived eager to talk over tea.

• Yan Guangqing told Jiang Beiran that Lu Ningxiang had the Tianyu Physique and urged him to accept her repayment, but Jiang Beiran declined to engage and prepared to leave for Tong Kingdom.
• Jiang Beiran considered visiting the Ancient Ruins with the Dark Nether Qiongqi, but decided to investigate Shi Fenglan's beast-king talent first and set course for Tan Kingdom.
• Qu Yangze reported that strange mushrooms were growing uncontrollably on his body, and Jiang Beiran told him to practice internal vision and examine himself.
• In Tan Kingdom, Gu Qinghuan reported progress investigating the Shen Family's victims, and Jiang Beiran entrusted the investigation to him while Wu Qingce continued developing Flying Thunder independently.
• Jiang Beiran brought Shi Fenglan, Xia Lingdang, and the others back to the Shi Family, then met Shi Hongfang at Ten Thousand Flower Valley and began preparing tea.