Recaps

Lin Xiao and the other Lingxian Sect youngsters used their cultivation to create a spectacular New Year’s fireworks display over Xiushui Village. The fireworks ended with messages of blessing, leaving the villagers delighted and He Shaojun praising her teacher, Sun Yigao.

• The villagers of Xiushui Village watched in wonder as Lin Xiao and the others sent colorful fireworks across the night sky, while children ran outside to play beneath them.
• Liao Pantu and Liu Chun were moved by the youngsters’ choice to share their cultivation with ordinary villagers and their families.
• He Siyou watched the display with Madam He and He Shaojun, who excitedly pointed out a rabbit-shaped firework.
• As the youngsters’ spiritual power ran low, most of them joined the village children, while Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, and Sun Yigao continued setting off fireworks.
• The fireworks formed the words “blessings, longevity, peace, and health,” which Village Chief Du explained to his grandson Dou'er.
• He Shaojun recognized Sun Yigao’s handwriting in the words “peace and joy” and told her parents how wonderful her teacher and his lessons were.

On New Year's, Lin Xiao received gifts from the system and exchanged gifts with Prefect Tong and Xue Chengfeng, who visited the Lingxian Sect to offer their respects. After they declined his invitation to stay for a meal, Lin Xiao suggested they walk the Heart-Questioning Road before leaving.

• Li Zhanying secretly sent a message to the capital while she and Wang Goudan watched the fireworks.
• Lin Xiao received two first-year New Year's gift packs from the system but decided to open them later.
• The elders gave the youngsters red envelopes and New Year's blessings when they returned to the mountain.
• Tietou told Lin Xiao that Tong Shuzheng had come looking for a young immortal surnamed Lin, and Lin Xiao went down to meet him and Xue Chengfeng.
• Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng presented New Year's gifts to the Lingxian Sect, and Lin Xiao accepted them and gave each man a gift in return.
• After Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng declined Lin Xiao's invitation to dine, Lin Xiao invited them to walk the Heart-Questioning Road before they left.

Lin Xiao invited Xue Chengfeng and his companion to try the Heart-Questioning Road, then met with General Mo to discuss the risks of the Lingxian Sect’s cultivation methods. He explained that only sect disciples could cultivate them and that the methods taught at the foot-of-the-mountain school were excerpts that did not grant cultivation.

• Xue Chengfeng and his companion entered the Heart-Questioning Road after Lin Xiao invited them.
• Lin Xiao asked Liu Yunan to record the New Year’s gifts from Tong Shuzheng and the pills he had given in return.
• Mo Yuanjiao brought General Mo to the sect’s main hall for a private conversation with Lin Xiao.
• General Mo warned that the Lingxian Sect could become a target if people learned that its cultivation did not depend on Spirit Roots.
• Lin Xiao explained that only Lingxian Sect disciples could gain cultivation from its methods, and that Yigao had modified the school’s teaching materials into excerpts that did not teach cultivation.

Lin Xiao worried that the Lingxian Sect’s growing prominence would endanger its disciples and Xiushui Village, and considered hiding the sect from the world. After admitting his fear to Lin Dayou, he heard his father say that fear was a good thing.

• General Mo agreed that the sect’s cultivation method would eventually be exposed, and considered bringing his family to join the Lingxian Sect.
• Lin Xiao asked the system whether he could disband the sect, then considered withdrawing it from the world for decades or centuries.
• Lin Xiao spent the day brooding while the sect members ate together, and Sun Yigao sensed that something troubled him.
• After dinner, Lin Xiao told Lin Dayou that he was scared and wanted to hide the sect.
• Lin Xiao explained that he feared Xiushui Village would have been destroyed without the warning and Senior Liao’s defense, and Lin Dayou said that knowing fear was good.

Lin Xiao reflected on his father’s advice about fear, then walked through Xiushui Village and reassured Li Zhanying that Lingxian Sect would not oppose the Li Imperial Clan so long as the court served the people. He returned to the sect in better spirits and prepared to open his system gift.

• Lin Dayou told Lin Xiao that fear was natural and promised to support whatever he chose to do, before Lin Xiao teased him about needing a bath and fled from his straw sandal.
• Lin Xiao used the Concealment Technique to stroll through Xiushui Village on New Year’s Day and met Li Zhanying.
• Li Zhanying explained that he had left the capital after two years of cultivation without progress and asked whether Lingxian Sect would ever become an enemy of the Li Imperial Clan and Pusi Kingdom.
• Lin Xiao said Lingxian Sect would not interfere as long as the Li Imperial Clan’s court acted for the good of the country and its people.
• Lin Xiao returned to the mountain, felt less lost, and shut himself in the sect hall to open his system’s New Year’s gift.

Lin Xiao opened the New Year gifts and found that his host gift was a mountain of spirit-beast meat, while the sect received a pearl that could grant a small world when connected to the Yaoguang Floating Island. He stored the meat for the sect and decided to keep developing Lingxian Sect rather than go into seclusion, leaving the group to cultivate under pressure for the next few years.

• Lin Xiao appraised the meat in his large New Year gift and discovered it came from several kinds of low-tier spirit beasts, all suitable for cooking.
• Lin Xiao appraised the small gift for Lingxian Sect and learned that its Yaoguang Attached Pearl could grant a small world when connected to the Yaoguang Floating Island.
• Lin Xiao put the meat in the sect storeroom with a note for Fuzi to cook it, and Liu Yunan found it the next morning and took some to Fuzi.
• Lin Xiao decided against going into seclusion, reasoning that careful recruitment would keep the sect's cultivation methods from being discovered for a few years.
• Lin Xiao planned for everyone in the sect to cultivate diligently and become strong enough to hold their own in the mortal world.

Lin Xiao wandered through the sect, avoiding embroidery lessons, encouraging Tietou’s artifact refining, and failing to kick Fang Tuantuan. Feeling idle despite being the sect master, he remembered the village school at the foot of the mountain.

• Lin Xiao found Lin Yan learning embroidery from Yang Jinshu, then hurried away when they invited him to try it.
• Lin Xiao visited the Artifact Refining Hall and encouraged Tietou, whose heavy hammer blows erased the pattern forming on the mystic iron.
• Lin Xiao nearly kicked Fang Tuantuan beside the cold pool, but the cat sensed his intent and startled him into stopping.
• Lin Xiao reflected that Tuzi handled most sect arrangements and wondered what he could do besides cultivate.
• Lin Xiao remembered the village school at the foot of the mountain.

Lin Xiao discussed the sect’s growing stock of spirit plants and plans to expand its facilities with Liu Yunan. Meanwhile, Mother Qin told Qin Jianghe that Niu Xiaoxue had returned from the immortal sect and wanted to join their sect.

• Liu Yunan showed Lin Xiao the sect’s surplus spirit plants, and Lin Xiao told him to keep a reserve and sell the rest.
• Lin Xiao asked Liu Yunan to plan future construction for the expected recruitment of new disciples and encouraged him to train assistants.
• Mother Qin went to the cultivation room to find Qin Jianghe and waited until he finished cultivating.
• Mother Qin told Qin Jianghe that Niu Xiaoxue had returned and wanted to join their sect.

Niu Xiaoxue decided to stay home after learning that a powerful new sect had appeared near her village, and Mother Qin worried that the Niu family might ask Qin Jianghe to help her join. Qin Jianghe reassured his mother that future recruits would have to pass the sect’s assessments and invited her to visit Songyang County with him after the New Year so she could gain experience.

• Niu Xiaoxue told her family she would not return to the struggling Shangyang Sect and learned that the new sect was in neighboring Xiushui Village.
• Niu Xiaoxue decided to enjoy a few days at home before seeking admission to the new sect, while her parents spread news of her return among nearby villages.
• Qin Jianghe told Mother Qin that Niu Xiaoxue’s arrival was no concern and that future disciples would have to pass the sect’s assessments without special treatment.
• Qin Jianghe explained that the Heart-Questioning Road would likely become harder and considered taking his mother to gain experience at the escort agency.
• Qin Jianghe invited Mother Qin to Songyang County after the New Year and encouraged her by praising her skills and accomplishments.

Qin Jianghe arranged for Mother Qin and Tietou's mother to travel with him to Songyang County after the New Year, while Yang Jinshu asked him to look for news of her parents. At the Lingxian Sect, Liu Chun told Lin Xiao he had reached the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and asked to leave early for the Talisman Master Assembly.

• Mother Qin agreed to accompany Qin Jianghe to Songyang County, and Tietou's mother asked to join them; their families approved.
• Lin Xiao's eldest aunt and Jiang Youfu's mother considered going but decided not to, while some of the fathers postponed visiting Qin Jianghe's escort agency.
• As Mother Qin and Tietou's mother prepared to leave, Yang Jinshu asked Qin Jianghe to seek news of her missing parents, and he agreed.
• Liu Chun told Lin Xiao that life at the Lingxian Sect suited him and that he had recently advanced to the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Liu Chun said he had nearly finished studying the Complete Compendium of Basic Talisman Drawing and asked to leave early with the sect's trading party for the Talisman Master Assembly.

Liu Chun asked Lin Xiao for permission to attend the Talisman Master Assembly, and Lin Xiao encouraged him. Far away, Han Weishu clashed with her father, Han Shangyi, who locked her in a dark room after throwing away her bundle of wild greens; she summoned her secret Earth Spirit to retrieve them.

• Liu Chun told Lin Xiao he wanted to attend the Talisman Master Assembly, and Lin Xiao gave him permission and wished him success.
• Han Weishu returned across a bridge carrying wild greens and rejected Yu Jie's attempt to escort her home.
• Han Shangyi arrived, scolded Han Weishu for neglecting cultivation, and threw away the wild greens she had received from A-Liang.
• Han Shangyi carried Han Weishu back to the sect and locked her in a dark room while he went to meet an elder from the Cloud and Mist Sect.
• Han Weishu summoned her secret Earth Spirit, Qiuqiu, and asked it to find the discarded wild greens.

Han Weishu escaped the Clear River Sect and caught up with Tong Jialiang as he left Ox Head Village. Tong Jialiang explained that he was traveling to Songyang County to meet his cousin, who had summoned him to help with important work.

• Han Weishu’s Earth Spirit Qiuqiu failed to find the wild vegetables after Jiang Youfu picked them up in the back mountain.
• Han Weishu escaped the unlocked-guardless room by picking its lock and slipped out of the Clear River Sect with Qiuqiu’s help.
• Han Weishu traveled for two days and reached Ox Head Village, where she hid and waited for Tong Jialiang to leave.
• Tong Jialiang told Han Weishu that his cousin had urgently asked him to go to Songyang County in Hufang Province and wait at an escort agency.

Han Weishu persuaded Tong Jialiang to travel with her, and Lin Xiao and the Lingxian Sect members carved a long mountain path into North Mountain. After finishing the path overnight, the exhausted group collapsed beside the mountain spring.

• Han Weishu insisted on accompanying Tong Jialiang, and he agreed to take her along without stopping at her home to pack.
• Lin Xiao and Liu Yunan led the Lingxian Sect members in measuring a route up North Mountain for the sect’s expansion.
• Lin Xiao cut two long grooves into the mountain wall and carved away the stone between them while the others cleared, shaped, and stepped the route.
• The sect members worked from noon until early the next morning to finish a winding path with nearly seven thousand steps.
• Lin Xiao used his iron spirit boat to carry the exhausted workers down, then collapsed beside them near the mountain spring.

After the sect members finished building a mountain path, Liao Pantu set a Mountain-Stabilizing Stone beside it and asked Lin Xiao to name the path. Lin Xiao chose “First Path,” and Liao Pantu began carving the name into the stone.

• The exhausted sect members rested beside the Spirit Vein after completing the mountain path, while Xiaoluan, Tuantuan, and Big Peach tried to fan them.
• Sun Yigao joined the group after teaching his classes and prepared to return to Songyang County with Qin Jianghe and the two mothers after the Lantern Festival.
• Liao Pantu recalled how taking Yin Xuanzi’s treasured possession had started their centuries-long feud, which ended with Yin Xuanzi extracting and dividing his soul.
• Liao Pantu placed a Mountain-Stabilizing Stone beside the mountain path and asked Lin Xiao to name it.
• Lin Xiao suggested “First Path,” and the others agreed before Liao Pantu began carving the name into the stone with a peachwood sword.

After the Lingxian Sect completed its first path, Lin Xiao chose to leave the mountain undeveloped for future disciples and asked Yang Jinshu to design new sect uniforms with defenses suited to different cultivation levels. General Mo also told him that the other great sects had made moves and Shangyang Sect's elders planned to return to their sect grounds; the chapter ended with the sect celebrating the fifteenth by eating yuanxiao together.

• Jiang Youfu asked when the mountain would be built up, and Lin Xiao said they would leave it for later generations to develop.
• The sect members cultivated, then went their separate ways while General Mo failed to find Mo Yuanjiao and Mo Que.
• General Mo told Lin Xiao that the other two great sects had made moves and Shangyang Sect's elders planned to return after hearing Wei Hai had been wiped out.
• Lin Xiao asked Yang Jinshu to design new sect uniforms, and she eagerly agreed to prepare sketches.
• Jiang Youfu made yuanxiao, and the Lingxian Sect gathered to eat together.

After Jiang Jianghe and Mo Yuanjiao’s groups departed, Lin Xiao assigned Liao Pantu to build the sect’s new herb garden. Meanwhile, the Shangyang Sect’s returning elders and disciples found their headquarters deserted and learned that most of the people left behind had already escaped.

• Lin Xiao lent Jiang Jianghe a spirit boat, and the six travelers left the Lingxian Sect with food packed by Jiang Youfu.
• Lin Xiao received a task to build an herb garden and persuaded Liao Pantu to take charge of it.
• Jiang Jianghe and Mo Yuanjiao’s groups separated at Songyang County, and Mo Yuanjiao saw a Shangyang Sect spirit ship flying toward the capital.
• Elder Luo led the returning Shangyang Sect group through the broken gates and called the sect members to gather.
• The returning elders learned that most laborers had fled while the gates were unguarded, leaving only a few disciples and the miners behind.

Elder Luo and the returning elders took control of the Shangyang Sect, while the people they had abandoned quietly formed a rival faction. In the village, Sun Yigao guided his students to find their own goals, and Lin Xiao began discussing Xiushui Village’s next stage of development with Village Chief Du.

• Elder Luo’s group reclaimed the Spirit Stone mines and reorganized the Shangyang Sect, whose remaining members secretly split into two factions.
• Sun Yigao told his students that cultivation and reading served a larger purpose, and urged them to discover their own goals rather than adopt his.
• A student asked when Teacher Mo would return as the students spent their midday break with Sun Yigao.
• Lin Xiao visited Village Chief Du and asked whether Xiushui Village should develop further, and Village Chief Du agreed that it was time.

Lin Xiao and Village Chief Du planned restaurants, inns, and shops to serve the growing number of visitors to Xiushui Village, while Qin Jianghe brought his mother and Tietou's Mother to the Lingxiao Escort Agency. The chapter ended with the agency's residents drawn toward the aroma of the food Qin Jianghe was warming.

• Lin Xiao and Village Chief Du agreed to open a restaurant, inns, and trading businesses, with the Lingxian Sect funding the ventures and the village chief recruiting workers.
• Lin Xiao and Village Chief Du inspected possible shop locations, settled on sites, and Lin Xiao gave the village chief money to arrange the land deeds.
• Village Chief Du began writing down the land boundaries, and Lin Xiao returned to the mountain and had Liu Yunan record the plans.
• Qin Jianghe arrived at the Lingxiao Escort Agency with Mother Qin and Tietou's Mother, and Gu Yuxiao, Fang Mancang, and Fang Manliang questioned the women about life in the Lingxian Sect.
• Mother Qin learned about Gu Yuxiao's background and felt sympathy and affection for her, while Qin Jianghe warmed food from Jiang Youfu in the kitchen.
• The food's aroma made the people chatting in the main room and the escorts on duty hungry.

Qin Jianghe enlisted the escort brothers to search for Yang Jinshu’s missing family and considered expanding the Lingxiao Escort Agency beyond Songyang County. As he discussed the plan with Gu Yuxiao and his cousins, Mother Qin and Tietou's Mother explored the city with Location Teleportation Talismans to return safely.

• Qin Jianghe shared food and wine with the escort brothers, then asked them to search for Yang Jinshu’s parents and told them what he knew about their disappearance.
• Master Gao and the other escorts promised to make inquiries for Yang Jinshu’s family while traveling on escort jobs.
• Qin Jianghe reviewed the agency’s business and considered expanding after the Lingxiao Escort Agency secured contracts and protection agreements with other Songyang County agencies.
• Qin Jianghe called Gu Yuxiao and his two older cousins to discuss expanding the agency elsewhere.
• Mother Qin and Tietou's Mother explored the city, relying on Location Teleportation Talismans to return to the escort agency if they got lost.

Niu Xiaoxue returned to Xiushui Village with her parents, boasting that her cultivation made her superior to ordinary people. The family left their carriage in the village’s new parking lot, and Niu Xiaoxue strode into the village while her parents hurried after her.

• Niu Xiaoxue told Madam Liu that her Qi Refining cultivation and Mutated Single Spirit Root made her different from ordinary people.
• Niu Dafu heard Niu Xiaoxue's remarks and distanced himself from the coachman, while the coachman fell silent in embarrassment.
• A villager directed the family to leave their carriage in Xiushui Village's new parking lot, where visitors' vehicles and livestock had to be kept.
• Niu Xiaoxue jumped from the carriage and walked into the village, and Niu Dafu and Madam Liu followed her.
• The coachman parked the carriage, received a wooden number tag, and waited beneath a tree while examining the unusually cool, heavy tag.

Niu Xiaoxue reached the foot of North Mountain to ask to join the Lingxian Sect, where Li Zhanying appeared after another attempt at the Heart-Questioning Road. He told her he was not a sect member but offered to teach her cultivation, leaving her surprised by the unexpected proposal.

• Lin Xiao and Village Chief Du had workers build business sites on plots in Xiushui Village.
• Niu Xiaoxue ignored Niu Dafu and hurried to the foot of North Mountain, where she called out asking to join the Lingxian Sect.
• Li Zhanying appeared at the mountain path and told Niu Xiaoxue that the sect was not recruiting disciples yet.
• Niu Xiaoxue asked Li Zhanying to make an exception, believing him to be a senior member of the sect.
• Li Zhanying explained he was not in the Lingxian Sect and offered to cultivate with Niu Xiaoxue because he felt they were brought together by fate.

Wang Goudan left the Shangyang Sect and brought Niu Xiaoxue to Li Zhanying, who accepted her as a disciple. At the Lingxian Sect, Liao Pantu showed everyone his elaborate herb garden, completing Lin Xiao’s sect construction mission; afterward, Yang Jinshu brought Lin Xiao her new designs.

• Wang Goudan told Niu Xiaoxue he was leaving the Shangyang Sect and taking Li Zhanying back to his residence.
• Niu Xiaoxue recognized Li Zhanying as a powerful senior and asked to cultivate under him, and he accepted her.
• Liao Pantu showed the Lingxian Sect members his valley herb garden, with medicinal plants grown in carefully varied environments.
• Lin Xiao praised the herb garden, completing the sect construction mission and receiving a second Yaoguang Floating Island Fragment.
• Lin Xiao reviewed his remaining missions and considered who could learn formations and artifact refining.
• Yang Jinshu found Lin Xiao after the tour and brought him the designs she had made over the past two days.

Lin Xiao chose a new sect uniform design by Yang Jinshu, then synthesized fifty sets using spirit silkworm silk, dyes, a peach branch, and Spirit Stones. He admired the finished uniform and prepared to distribute the new clothes to the sect members.

• Lin Xiao selected a milky-white uniform embroidered with silver-pink peach motifs, learning that Lin Yan had mixed the distinctive color from silver.
• Yang Jinshu withdrew silver to prepare enough dye for the uniforms.
• Lin Xiao plucked a blossoming branch from the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree, and it took his offered Spirit Stones into its trunk.
• Lin Xiao synthesized the uniforms with the design, silk, dyes, peach branch, and two thousand Spirit Stones.
• Lin Xiao tried on a finished men's uniform, praised its feel and appearance, and took all fifty sets from storage to distribute.

Lin Xiao’s sect prepared to open its new inn and restaurant, and Gu Yuxiao arrived from Songyang County to manage them. After passing the Heart-Questioning Road, she joined the sect and began settling into her new home.

• Lin Xiao distributed the sect’s new uniforms as construction finished on the Lingxian Inn and Lingxian Restaurant in Xiushui Village.
• Gu Yuxiao announced that the inn and restaurant would open in fifteen days, then followed Liu Yunan to the Heart-Questioning Road.
• Gu Yuxiao passed the trial and climbed the mountain, mistaking Big Peach for Senior Xiaoluan when she greeted the pheasant.
• Liu Yunan welcomed Gu Yuxiao, gave her a sect uniform, and led her to the Returning to the Garden Mountain Dwelling to settle in.

Gu Yuxiao settled into the Lingxian Sect and took charge of preparing its inn and restaurant for business. After expanding the cultivation room, recruiting and training staff, and completing renovations, the Lingxian Restaurant and Lingxian Inn opened in Xiushui Village.

• Gu Yuxiao joined the sect for dinner, then toured its grounds with Liu Yunan and began cultivating with everyone.
• Lin Xiao expanded the cultivation room to accommodate the growing sect, while leaving the other halls unchanged.
• Gu Yuxiao began learning to manage the inn and restaurant, including recruiting villagers and overseeing renovations.
• Gu Yuxiao recruited servers from Xiushui Village and nearby communities, then trained them after the shops were renovated.
• Fifteen days later, the Lingxian Restaurant and the Lingxian Inn officially opened in Xiushui Village.