Chapter Summaries

Su Mu awoke as a fragile soul in Great Liang’s imperial palace after a failed ritual and learned that the eldest princess had ordered him spared. The maids led him away without answering his questions, while his survival remained uncertain.

• Su Mu found himself in the middle of a battle in the imperial palace and was knocked unconscious by a lightning strike.
• The invaders revealed that Great Liang’s ritual had failed and its national fortune had weakened, then the black-clad figures blew themselves up and the defenders wiped them out.
• The eldest princess apologized to her officials for the trouble ahead and said fiends might rise as Great Liang’s national fortune diminished.
• The officials debated destroying Su Mu, judging his summoned soul body too weak to be useful, but the eldest princess ordered them to keep him.
• Several maids led Su Mu away as he wondered what had happened to him and why they treated him with disdain.

Su Mu was left in a room in Great Liang after a failed ritual summoned his incomplete soul form instead of an auspicious beast. He awoke back in his own world unable to move properly and feared that the part of his soul still in Great Liang might die and kill him as well.

• Ministers discussed how the disrupted ritual had failed to summon an auspicious beast and worried that Great Liang would face trouble.
• Su Mu examined his unfamiliar room and saw a huge moon with a figure moving across it before the figure vanished.
• Su Mu woke at his computer in his own world, then discovered he could barely control his body and suspected part of his soul was still in Great Liang.
• Su Mu searched online for information about souls but found nothing that explained his condition.
• Su Mu managed to get up in daylight and found that sunlight did not affect him.

Su Mu struggled with his paralysis in his rented room until he suddenly passed out and awoke as a soul in the wooden room. The eldest princess examined him and concluded he was an ordinary, incomplete soul with nothing special about him.

• Su Mu quit his job and spent three days trying to regain control of his body, but doctors and his own efforts could not help him.
• Su Mu suddenly felt a tremor in his mind and passed out.
• Su Mu awoke in a wooden room and followed a maid toward the eldest princess, nearly overwhelmed by the scorching sunlight until the maid cooled him.
• The maid carried Su Mu to a palace above the grounds, where the eldest princess dismissed the maids and spoke with him.
• The eldest princess examined Su Mu and decided that the damaged formation had summoned an ordinary, weak soul rather than a powerful being.

Su Mu struggled to convince the eldest princess that he could be useful after his summoning brought her little more than an ordinary person. When he demonstrated that a lightning rod could divert a bolt, the princess began to reconsider whether his advice might help her survive her coming tribulation.

• The eldest princess threatened to destroy Su Mu unless he could offer her something useful, and he suggested generating electricity, which she dismissed as inferior to cultivation methods.
• The eldest princess asked whether Su Mu knew how to gather national fortune, practice divination, make medicines or Spirit Artifacts, or survive a tribulation, and he admitted he knew nothing about most of them.
• Su Mu offered incense, bathing, and polite prayers as ways to survive a tribulation, angering the eldest princess enough to crack the pavilion floor.
• Su Mu then recommended placing a pointed iron pole nearby, and the eldest princess shaped one from molten iron and set it near him.
• A bolt of lightning veered away from Su Mu and struck the iron pole, making the eldest princess wonder whether his strange advice could improve her chances of surviving her tribulation.

After Su Mu’s improvised advice, the Princess Royal considered how to improve her chances of surviving her Nascent Soul Tribulation, while Su Mu learned just how deadly it would be. He was left fearing that his survival depended entirely on her overcoming the Spirit-Annihilating Lightning Tribulation.

• The Princess Royal told Su Mu to withdraw, then admitted to a black-clad woman that she had only a forty percent chance of surviving her tribulation.
• The black-clad woman offered to seek protective calligraphy from the Academy of Righteousness, but the Princess Royal doubted they could obtain any in time.
• Su Mu worried that his improvised suggestion might fail and that he would die if the Princess Royal did not survive.
• A maidservant asked Su Mu whether his method could help the Princess Royal, and he assured her it should help somewhat.
• Su Mu asked to learn about heavenly tribulations, and a maidservant explained that the Princess Royal would face the exceedingly lethal Spirit-Annihilating Lightning Tribulation.
• After hearing the explanation, Su Mu felt increasingly powerless and was left alone to contemplate his uncertain fate.

Su Mu returned to Earth, discovered that time passed at the same rate in both worlds, and ate after realizing he was hungry. He searched for advice about tribulation transcendence, but after an Earth group could not help, he prepared to return to the Immortal Cultivation Realm.

• Su Mu returned to his rented room on Earth and learned it was the nineteenth, then ordered and ate takeout.
• Wang Peng visited because Su Mu had ignored his messages and calls, and Su Mu told him he had quit work because he felt tired.
• Su Mu searched forums for advice on tribulation transcendence and found a Foundation Establishment group.
• The group members welcomed Su Mu but said tribulation transcendence was beyond their knowledge.
• Su Mu stayed in the group and tidied his room as he prepared to return to the Immortal Cultivation Realm.

Su Mu returned to the cultivation world and learned that incense could strengthen his fading soul. Hoping to find calligraphy that might help the eldest princess survive her tribulation, he persuaded the maid to take him into the imperial capital, where they began exploring its streets.

• Su Mu returned to the cultivation world and found the maid offering incense, which he absorbed to make his fading soul more solid.
• Su Mu asked how cultivators improved their chances of surviving a tribulation, and the maid described calligraphy from the Academy of Righteousness, fortune, and Spirit Artifacts.
• The maid mentioned that scholars were gathering literary works in the imperial capital, and Su Mu persuaded her to take him to look for calligraphy.
• The maid led Su Mu out of the palace and through the imperial capital, where he observed its buildings, residents, and strange vendors.

Su Mu accompanied the maid to watch scholars from the Academy of Righteousness gather literary inspiration, hoping to learn how it could help with surviving a tribulation. They secured a costly room overlooking the scholars, who arrived and began drinking together, while Su Mu waited for the gathering to begin.

• Su Mu asked whether bringing him out would cause trouble, and the maid said she had already reported to the eldest princess.
• Su Mu questioned the maid about the gathering of literary inspiration as they walked through the imperial capital, where cultivators and monks watched him.
• The maid paid fifty taels for the last room on the fifth floor of a nearby restaurant and ordered tea.
• The maid pointed out the distant pavilion where scholars from the Academy of Righteousness would gather, and Su Mu watched them arrive.
• After the scholars sat down to drink and chat, Su Mu asked when they would begin, and the maid said it would probably be soon.

Su Mu watched Mingze produce a five-inch calligraphy piece imbued with Righteous Qi, but as a soul he could not look at it without pain. After hearing the poem recited, Su Mu asked the maid to obtain more calligraphy rubbings so he could learn the characters and test whether he could write something himself.

• Su Mu watched Mingze write characters in the sky, which settled onto paper and released five inches of Righteous Qi.
• Su Mu's eyes hurt when he looked at the Righteous Qi, while onlookers praised Mingze's work and discussed Great Liang's growing troubles with demons.
• The maid asked Su Mu whether the literary display had given him a way to help the eldest princess, and he claimed he could not see the writing clearly.
• The maid recited Mingze's calligraphy piece, and Su Mu was surprised by how unimpressive he found its words.
• Su Mu asked the maid to make rubbings of other calligraphy pieces so he could learn the characters and test his own writing, and she agreed.

The Eldest Princess learned that Great Liang was facing growing unrest and had only seven days before her heavenly tribulation. Her maid confronted Su Mu after realizing he might not be able to help, leaving him to reconsider the danger of attempting to write a calligraphy masterpiece.

• The Eldest Princess heard that spirits were restless, neighboring countries were gathering troops, and disasters and demons were increasing across Great Liang.
• The Eldest Princess told her maid that her tribulation would descend in seven days and said she would face it without further treasures.
• The maid insisted Su Mu might help, but the Eldest Princess explained that his incomplete soul and lack of spiritual power made writing a calligraphy masterpiece impossible.
• The maid accused Su Mu of misleading her, then warned that he would not survive if the Eldest Princess failed her tribulation.
• Su Mu admitted to himself that he had encouraged the maid's hopes and decided not to risk writing poetry, since the Righteous Qi might kill him.

Su Mu returned to Earth, called his parents, and worried about his father's health and their sacrifices for him. He learned that his Foundation Establishment Group planned a forest training session, but his paralysis made it difficult to join.

• Su Mu returned to Earth, ordered takeout, and called his father to ask about his health.
• Su Mu urged his father to stop working so hard, but his father said he wanted to save money for Su Mu's future home and marriage.
• Su Mu spoke with his mother, who asked whether he had eaten and whether he had a girlfriend.
• After the call, Su Mu's parents continued working on the mountain and discussed their worries about his future and the costs of his father's accident.
• Su Mu read that the Foundation Establishment Group was arranging further training and asked whether its members had made progress cultivating.
• Qingyi and Shanluan welcomed Su Mu into the group, whose members invited him to join the training, but Su Mu sighed at how difficult it would be to leave home in his condition.

With the eldest princess’s tribulation one day away, Su Mu asked Xiao Wu to take him to the valley where she would face it. He reached the guarded site and saw the Emperor of Liang and the princess as Great Liang’s officials and onlookers awaited the outcome.

• Su Mu declined Wang Peng’s job suggestions and returned to the cultivation world, where he worried that the eldest princess’s failure would mean his death too.
• After several days passed, Su Mu asked Xiao Wu to take him to the place where the eldest princess would face her tribulation.
• Xiao Wu led Su Mu through the valley’s checkpoints, where the imperial carriage’s presence nearly caused his soul body to disperse.
• The Emperor of Liang recognized Su Mu as the incomplete soul summoned by the eldest princess and said he could accompany her if she failed.
• Su Mu saw the eldest princess sitting cross-legged as officials and onlookers gathered to watch her tribulation.

Xiao Luanji prayed to Heaven before her tribulation, and the Heavenly Dao responded, improving her chances of survival. Su Mu then had her write a scripture that unleashed immense Righteous Qi and drew the attention of powerful beings, while the Heavenly Dao praised them.

• Xiao Luanji prayed to Heaven before undergoing her Golden Core tribulation, and a vast eye appeared in the clouds in response.
• The Emperor of Liang and the onlookers realized the prayer had worked and estimated Xiao Luanji's chance of surviving at seventy percent.
• Su Mu approached Xiao Luanji and asked her to write as he recited, and she allowed him through the guard line.
• As Xiao Luanji wrote Su Mu's verses, the Heavenly Dao fixed its gaze on them and dark clouds spread for more than a thousand li.
• The scripture released immense azure Righteous Qi, attracting attention at the Academy of Righteousness, in Green Hollow, and in the Qin River.
• The eye in the sky transformed into the aged face of a Daoist priest, who spoke a single word of praise: “Good!”

Su Mu’s Dao writing summoned the Heavenly Dao and produced six-inch Righteous Qi, giving the eldest princess a near-certain chance to survive her tribulation. After she overcame it, Xiao Wu brought Su Mu back to the palace and gave him golden incense while telling him to consider his reward.

• Su Mu’s writing caused the Heavenly Dao to manifest, and its Righteous Qi settled at six inches as an azure lotus formed around him.
• The eldest princess sent Su Mu to Xiao Wu and prepared to face the heavenly tribulation.
• Su Mu feared the lightning as a soul body while Xiao Wu told him the eldest princess had passed the fiercest strikes.
• The thunder ceased, and the eldest princess appeared to have survived the tribulation; Xiao Wu took Su Mu back to the palace grounds.
• Xiao Wu gave Su Mu three sticks of golden incense, apologized for how he had been treated, and urged him to decide what reward he wanted.

Su Mu asked Xiao Wu about rewards that could stabilize his soul form and learned that obtaining a physical body would require rare treasures. After the Emperor of Liang dismissed the idea of an audience, the eldest princess summoned Su Mu and gave him Soul Jade to keep his soul intact.

• Su Mu asked Xiao Wu for a treasure to prevent his soul form from dissipating, and she suggested Soul Jade, soul-nourishing wood, or a Soul-Tethering Rope.
• Su Mu asked whether he could obtain a physical body, and Xiao Wu explained that creating one required many precious treasures and was usually done by wealthy Nascent Soul experts.
• The Emperor of Liang learned that Su Mu had helped the eldest princess overcome her heavenly tribulation, but chose not to summon him and told the eldest princess to reward him generously.
• Three days later, Xiao Wu brought Su Mu to meet the awakened eldest princess, who invited him to name his reward.
• Su Mu asked for something to stabilize his soul form, and the eldest princess gave him Soul Jade, which sank into his arm.

After the eldest princess rewarded Su Mu for helping her reach the Nascent Soul Realm, he asked for a way to restore his body, resources, and freedom to leave the palace. He received a recovery method and new accommodations, while the eldest princess promised to search for a suitable non-ghost cultivation method.

• The eldest princess gave Su Mu a method that could help him regain control of his body when he returned.
• Su Mu asked for a non-ghost cultivation method, Spirit Stones, gold, and permission to enter and leave the palace grounds freely.
• The eldest princess agreed to provide the resources and a token, but said she would have someone search the library for a suitable cultivation method.
• Su Mu took his leave, and Xiao Wu brought him to a spacious, elegant courtyard selected by the eldest princess.
• Su Mu admired his new home and reflected on how valuable such a courtyard would be on Earth.

Su Mu received gold and Spirit Stones from the eldest princess, arranged for Xiao Wu to accompany him when he left the palace, and began studying his cultivation method. In Green Hollow, the Demon Queen learned that Su Mu’s prayer had caused a heavenly manifestation and decided to invite him to her birthday, hoping he could help her survive her coming tribulation.

• Su Mu examined the gold and Spirit Stones sent by the eldest princess and gave Xiao Wu gold to repay her and ask for her help on future outings.
• Xiao Wu told Su Mu that copies of his prayer could be sold for gold, prompting him to consider a plan.
• Su Mu put aside the reward and began studying the cultivation method while Xiao Wu withdrew.
• In Green Hollow, the Demon Queen heard that Su Mu’s prayer had caused the phenomenon during Xiao Luanji’s tribulation.
• The Demon Queen rejected her subordinate’s suggestion to abduct Su Mu and ordered him invited to her birthday without force.
• The Demon Queen wondered whether Su Mu could help her survive her own heavenly tribulation.

Su Mu learned the Remnant Essence Scripture and discovered that Earth had too little Spiritual Power for him to make meaningful progress. Back in the cultivation world, he proposed selling copies of a prayer written with Righteous Qi to earn silver.

• Su Mu memorized the Remnant Essence Scripture, returned to Earth, and found he could still recall the cultivation method.
• After failing to sense Spiritual Power at home, Su Mu asked Xiao Wu and learned that it gathered where trees and medicinal herbs grew densely.
• Su Mu cultivated at three places in a city park, absorbed their limited Spiritual Power, and realized the areas would take a long time to recover.
• Su Mu returned to the cultivation world and asked Xiao Wu to write out the prayer so they could sell it and share the silver.

Su Mu learned about spirit rice and the costs of cultivation while Xiao Wu transcribed ten pieces of his calligraphy for them to sell. After Xiao Wu left with the calligraphy, Su Mu learned that the God of Supreme Yin was said to live on the moon and found that its Heavenly Yin power soothed him at night.

• Su Mu asked Xiao Wu about spirit rice, and she showed him some while explaining that it was expensive and could help children awaken spirit roots.
• Xiao Wu and Su Mu talked through the afternoon and produced ten pieces of calligraphy.
• Su Mu offered Xiao Wu twenty percent of the profits and entrusted her with selling the calligraphy.
• Su Mu asked whether Chang'e lived on the moon, and Xiao Wu told him that the God of Supreme Yin was said to dwell there.
• Xiao Wu left with the calligraphy, and Su Mu watched the moon as its Heavenly Yin power eased the strain on his soul body.

Su Mu reached the point where he could walk without a stick and went exploring the imperial capital with Xiao Wu, who had been assigned to attend to him. They visited spirit fields, where Su Mu saw spirit crops, spirit fish, and cultivators using the Minor Spirit Rain Technique.

• Su Mu searched the city’s surroundings for spiritual power and made enough cultivation progress to walk without a stick, though long walks still tired him.
• Xiao Wu told Su Mu that the eldest princess had approved her staying by his side, and the two left the palace grounds together.
• Xiao Wu bought food from a street vendor and ate it while Su Mu watched, unable to eat.
• Su Mu and Xiao Wu found spirit fields inside the city, reclaimed around a small spirit spring discovered a hundred years earlier.
• Xiao Wu explained how spirit fish lived among the crops and how cultivators used the Minor Spirit Rain Technique to water the fields.