Recaps

Lin Xiao discovered that Xiaoluan had reached Spirit Awakening Fifth Layer and taken Big Peach as a disciple, but learned that the other two pheasants had died after eating the Demon Core. He warned Xiaoluan to ration the pearl, promised to build a better shelter for Xiaoluan and Big Peach, and left with Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan as the first heavy rain of Grain Full approached.

• Lin Xiao found Xiaoluan about to kick Big Peach awake and learned that Xiaoluan had named the pheasant disciple Big Peach.
• Jiang Youfu revealed that Xiaoluan had reached Spirit Awakening Fifth Layer, and Lin Xiao noticed that Big Peach had reached Spirit Awakening First Layer.
• Xiaoluan told Lin Xiao that the other two disciples had died after eating some of the pearl, so Lin Xiao warned Xiaoluan to use it sparingly and not give any more to Big Peach.
• Lin Xiao promised Xiaoluan a suitable place to live, then told Xiaoluan and Big Peach to seek help from Senior Liao or Mo Yuanjiao if the rain made their shelter unsafe.
• Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, and Liu Yunan returned home as thunder heralded the coming Grain Full rain, and the villagers prepared to collect water and shelter indoors.

As relentless rain fell over Xiushui Village, Liao Pantu taught the Lingxian Sect disciples and answered their cultivation questions. Liu Yunan and Mo Yuanjiao broke through by evening, while villagers in low-lying homes began preparing for flooding.

• Heavy rain began falling across Xiushui Village, delighting young villagers but worrying the elders about flooding.
• Liao Pantu joined the Lingxian Sect disciples and offered to answer their cultivation questions.
• Liao Pantu patiently explained the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction, and Lin Xiao and Mo Yuanjiao listened closely.
• The disciples continued cultivating through the afternoon as the rain showed no sign of stopping.
• Liu Yunan advanced to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, and Mo Yuanjiao advanced to the Qi Refining Second Layer.
• Villagers in low-lying homes swept water from their courtyards and dug drainage ditches.

After heavy rain threatened the village’s crops, Lin Xiao created techniques to absorb water and control objects, then used the Water Absorption Technique to protect flooded fields. Just as the villagers felt relieved, they learned that every household in the county faced an unexpected corvée levy to repair the Ancient Moon River embankments.

• Lin Xiao and the villagers braved the rain to prop up battered crops in his family’s fields and the old family home’s fields.
• Lin Xiao created the Cloud Control Technique, the Water Absorption Technique, and the Object Control Technique overnight.
• When the rain eased, Lin Xiao absorbed floodwater from his family’s fields and several badly flooded plots around the village.
• The villagers found their fields clear of excess water and felt relieved.
• Village chief Du Liushui received notice that households across Anqun County had to provide corvée labor for the Ancient Moon River embankments or pay a commutation fee, and Xiushui Village erupted in protest.

Lin Xiao paid five taels to spare his family from dangerous corvée labor, settling a dispute over which brother should go. As families across the county dealt with the assignment, a small, dirty boy appeared at Xiushui Village before daybreak.

• Villagers across the area worried over the costly and dangerous corvée assignment, and Lin Dashan returned to the old Lin family home to discuss it with Lin Dayou.
• Lin Dashan and Lin Dayou argued over which of them should serve, while Old Master Lin and Old Madam Lin considered paying to avoid sending either brother.
• Lin Xiao produced five taels of silver, and the Lin family agreed to pay the assignment fee; Lin Dayou refused repayment, and Lin Xiao said he was glad to help his family.
• Liu Yunan paid a hundred copper coins, while the Hu family submitted thirteen-year-old Tietou for service despite his mother's protests.
• Before daybreak the next morning, a small, grime-covered boy in tidy faded clothes appeared at the entrance to Xiushui Village.

Gu Yuxiao arrived in Xiushui Village carrying Qin Jianghe’s money, account books, and letter for Lin Xiao, and asked to join his sect as Jianghe’s disciple. Lin Xiao accepted her and sent her back with a Sound-Retaining Talisman for Jianghe, while Gu Yuxiao realized he had seen through her disguise.

• Gu Yuxiao disguised herself as a boy, found the Lin house, and told Lin Xiao she had come to deliver a message from Boss Qin.
• Gu Yuxiao gave Lin Xiao a Storage Bag containing thirty taels of silver, account books, and Qin Jianghe’s letter explaining his business and warning about the coming corvée labor.
• Lin Xiao read the letter, made a Sound-Retaining Talisman, and placed it in the Storage Bag for Qin Jianghe.
• Lin Xiao told Gu Yuxiao that she could join the sect and that Jianghe could choose suitable disciples himself in the future.
• Gu Yuxiao rushed away to report back to Jianghe, then realized Lin Xiao had known she was a girl.

Lin Xiao learned more about Gu Yuxiao and Qin Jianghe’s promise to look after her, then addressed Tietou’s family being forced into corvée labor. Worried the Ancient Moon River’s dike might burst, he began studying artifact refining so he could make a spirit boat.

• Lin Xiao read Qin Jianghe’s letter and learned that Gu Yuxiao was Escort Chief Gu’s orphaned daughter, whom her father had hoped Qin Jianghe would marry and support.
• Lin Xiao learned that Tietou’s family had arranged for him to perform corvée labor, so he gave Tietou money to settle the demand and help Qin Jianghe’s parents.
• Tietou refused the money at first, then wept as he told Lin Xiao how badly his family was treating him and his mother.
• Lin Xiao told Tietou to give the money to the village chief and bring his mother to stay on the mountain.
• Lin Xiao went to the artifact refining hall, studied the basic techniques, and decided to make a spirit boat that could travel on water and fly.

Lin Xiao forged his first spirit boat from Mystic Iron, carved inscriptions that let it change size and fly, and tested it successfully. Mo Yuanjiao arrived eager to learn artifact refining, and Lin Xiao gave him a basic manual to study.

• Lin Xiao refined ten jin of Mystic Iron with five Spirit Stones and hammered it into a plain spirit boat.
• Lin Xiao carved a size-changing inscription and reflected on how Spirit Inscriptions gave Law Artifacts their functions.
• Mo Yuanjiao asked to learn artifact refining, and Lin Xiao gave him the Complete Compendium of Basic Artifact Refining Techniques.
• Lin Xiao branded the palm-sized boat with his Divine Sense Mark and expanded it into a five-meter vessel.
• Lin Xiao used his Divine Sense to take off and steer the spirit boat smoothly.

Lin Xiao revealed the Lingxian Sect’s humble reality to Mo Yuanjiao, who chose to stay and help build it. As they discussed standards for recruiting future disciples, Lin Xiao received a system task to construct a heart-questioning path.

• Lin Xiao explained to Mo Yuanjiao that the Lingxian Sect was small, that Senior Liao was weakened, and that Lin Xiao’s father was genuinely only at Qi Refining First Layer.
• Mo Yuanjiao said he was not disappointed and chose to stay, believing his experiences and rapid cultivation were a bond of fate with the sect.
• Lin Xiao and Mo Yuanjiao pledged to build and protect the Lingxian Sect together, while Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan emerged and welcomed Mo Yuanjiao.
• Lin Xiao asked what standards the sect should use when accepting disciples as it grew.
• The system assigned Lin Xiao a task to build a heart-questioning path that all future recruits must pass.

After hearing how deadly corvée labor could be, Lin Xiao decided to use his cultivation to help protect the workers repairing the Ancient Moon River dam. He made fifty Large Reinforcement Formations and reached the dam as laborers worked through the dusk.

• Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan described the dangers of dam work and past corvée labor deaths, leaving Mo Yuanjiao and Lin Xiao silent.
• Lin Xiao realized he should do more than prepare for a possible dam failure and decided to help the laborers.
• Lin Xiao studied the Large Reinforcement Formation and engraved fifty formations using the Kunpeng Formation Plate.
• After recovering his spiritual power, Lin Xiao followed the laborers to the Ancient Moon River dam.
• Lin Xiao saw countless workers repairing the enormous dam amid the river mist and dusk.

Lin Xiao secretly placed Reinforcement Formations along Guchuan Dam while Prefect Tong oversaw its repairs. When a worker’s rope caught fire and he fell, Lin Xiao caught him before he hit the water.

• Lin Xiao realized Guchuan Dam was close to collapse and learned the workers repaired it in shifts.
• Prefect Tong continued managing the repairs and sought help from the Shangyang Sect despite slow replies.
• Lin Xiao used Concealment Technique to reach the dam’s far side and placed Reinforcement Formations every hundred meters.
• Wei Dagui noticed the dam seemed more stable as he worked, but his companion’s torch accidentally set his hemp rope alight.
• Wei Dagui’s rope broke, and Lin Xiao caught him as he fell.

Sun Yigao saved Wei Dagui from falling into the river while Lin Xiao placed Reinforcement Formations along Guchuan Dam. Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao agreed that they wanted to help people, and Wei Dagui returned to work after keeping his rescue secret.

• Sun Yigao caught Wei Dagui as he fell from Guchuan Dam, carried him safely to the bank, and returned to watch over the repairs.
• Lin Xiao placed fifty Reinforcement Formations along the dam and sensed Sun Yigao nearby.
• Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao met and discussed Sun Yigao's exam, their reasons for helping the workers, and their shared path.
• Wei Dagui told the supervising constable that he had survived the fall by swimming to shore, without mentioning Sun Yigao.
• The constable believed Wei Dagui had fallen, told him to rest, and ordered him to return to work the next day.

Tong Shuzheng learned that laborers injured during the dam repairs had all returned unharmed, prompting speculation that a reclusive immortal was protecting them. He decided to watch for more evidence and, if the story proved true, leave a quiet gift of thanks.

• Xue Chengfeng told Tong Shuzheng that no laborers were missing after the day's dam repairs.
• Tong Shuzheng rewarded the constables with fifty extra copper coins each for their work.
• Xue Chengfeng reported that workers who fell into the river or off the dam had returned unharmed, and witnesses believed an immortal had saved them.
• Xue Chengfeng connected the rescues to Immortal Jin's earlier remarks and suggested another immortal was secretly in the prefecture.
• Tong Shuzheng agreed to observe events for two more days and planned to leave a discreet gift if the immortal's presence was confirmed.

Lin Xiao guarded the repairs at Guchuan Dam with Sun Yigao while arranging for Liu Yunan to manage the Lingxian Sect’s affairs. Sun Yigao placed first in the prefectural examination and told Lin Xiao he planned to open a low-cost private school in their village.

• Lin Xiao returned to Xiushui Village, appointed Tuzi as his assistant, and then went with Sun Yigao to watch over the dam repairs.
• The Xiushui Village laborers gathered to travel to Guchuan Dam, where Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao secretly treated life-threatening injuries and no laborers died during the first five days.
• Tong Shuzheng returned to Guchuan Dam after announcing the prefectural examination results, and Sun Yigao had placed first again.
• Sun Yigao told Lin Xiao that cultivation had improved his memory and understanding, then explained that he planned to use his examination privileges to open an affordable private school in the village.

Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao planned a private school near the sect, where village children could study and read low-level cultivation manuals. Meanwhile, Mo Yuanjiao advanced to the Third Layer of Qi Refining and sent a letter home, while Chen Feng searched for him after waiting in the wrong county.

• Sun Yigao proposed teaching at a school in his home village, and Lin Xiao offered to build one near the sect.
• Lin Xiao suggested using low-level cultivation manuals as school texts, and the system confirmed outsiders could study them but could not cultivate from them.
• Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao agreed to include the private school in the sect's plans.
• Mo Yuanjiao reached the Third Layer of Qi Refining, wrote a detailed letter home, and had Mo Que send it.
• Chen Feng, assigned by the Shangyang Sect to receive Mo Yuanjiao, waited in Anqun County before realizing he had likely passed through and setting out to search the route.

Lin Xiao created Location Sound Transmission Talismans and spiritual farming tools while guarding Guchuan Dam, then rescued Xue Chengfeng as the repairs neared completion. Xue identified himself as Tong Shuzheng’s adviser and offered Lin Xiao a gift on the prefect’s behalf.

• Lin Xiao combined Sound Transmission Talismans with Teleportation Talismans to create Location Sound Transmission Talismans, then gave ten to Sun Yigao before he left for his examinations.
• Lin Xiao synthesized improved spiritual farming tools, including curved-shaft plows, and imagined his father’s reaction to them.
• After a month of repairs, Guchuan Dam was nearly complete, and Lin Xiao planned to return to Xiushui Village after another day or two on guard.
• Lin Xiao saw a robed man fall from the dam and used the Air-Stepping Technique to rescue him.
• The man introduced himself as Xue Chengfeng, adviser to Tong Shuzheng, and presented a gift from the prefect to thank Lin Xiao for protecting the laborers.

Lin Xiao accepted Lord Tong’s gift through Xue Chengfeng and gave him a talisman for contacting him about emergencies. After the Guchuan Dam was repaired, Lin Xiao returned to Xiushui Village and rejoined everyone on North Mountain, where he discovered Jiang Youfu had become an unexpectedly talented cook.

• Xue Chengfeng delivered Lord Tong’s gift to Lin Xiao, who accepted it and warned him not to risk jumping from the dam again.
• Lin Xiao gave Xue Chengfeng a Location Sound Transmission Talisman so he could report important situations.
• After seeing the Guchuan Dam repaired and the remaining labor made safer, Lin Xiao quietly left and returned to Xiushui Village.
• Lin Xiao noticed a new, spacious house near the mountain stream and went up North Mountain to ask the others about it.
• Liu Yunan explained that Jiang Youfu had started cooking and now prepared meals for everyone.
• Lin Xiao tasted Jiang Youfu’s potato and meat stew, praised it, and began eating while Lin Yun fetched him a chair and chopsticks.

Lin Xiao learned that his companions had built and furnished the school while he was away, then planned a visit to Jianghe with Jiang Youfu. He opened Prefect Tong’s gift and found a black disc that had once mysteriously carried Tong out of the mountains.

• Liu Yunan explained that the sect members had built the school and paid its expenses with money Lin Xiao had provided and by selling spare ink sticks.
• Lin Xiao praised their work, asked them to copy lower-tier cultivation manuals for the school, and arranged to visit Jianghe with Jiang Youfu the next day.
• Lin Yun told Lin Xiao that their father and the rest of the family were helping Old Master Lin make desks and chairs for the school.
• Lin Xiao showed everyone Prefect Tong’s gift and read the accompanying letter explaining how Tong had found the black disc in a hidden recess and later awakened outside a forest with it beneath him.

Lin Xiao obtained a teleportation formation disk and planned to ask Liao Pantu to guide him to the immortal cultivation world, while Qin Jianghe faced the deaths of three escort brothers in a mountain bandit attack. Qin Jianghe prepared to take another escort job to Suiyan Province and confront the bandits.

• Lin Xiao received a quest to befriend Foundation Establishment cultivators and appraised the Heaven and Earth Transposition Formation Disk, learning it could teleport him if he knew the destination.
• Lin Xiao realized Liao Pantu knew the immortal cultivation world’s location and returned to cultivating to prepare for the journey.
• Qin Jianghe heard from Fang Manliang that three escort brothers had died covering Chen Dali’s retreat from mountain bandits.
• Qin Jianghe ordered twice the funeral compensation for the dead brothers and said he would take the next escort job to Suiyan Province.

Qin Jianghe secretly left to pursue the mountain bandits after agreeing to let Gu Yuxiao join him, while Fang Manliang helped conceal his departure. Lin Xiao arrived at the escort agency, where Gu Yuxiao warned him that Qin Jianghe might face cultivators and began explaining the treasure that had protected her father.

• Gu Yuxiao asked to accompany Qin Jianghe after hearing that the mountain bandits resembled the people who had killed her father, and Qin Jianghe told her they would leave the morning after tomorrow.
• Qin Jianghe asked Fang Manliang to prepare rations and secretly departed that night, while Fang Manliang lied to Gu Yuxiao about where he had gone.
• After discovering Qin Jianghe was gone, Gu Yuxiao tried to leave alone, but the Fang brothers stopped her when they heard Lin Xiao had arrived.
• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu visited the Lingxiao Escort Agency, and Gu Yuxiao told Lin Xiao that Qin Jianghe had gone after the bandits alone and that cultivators might be among them.
• Gu Yuxiao began explaining that an old beggar had given her father a protective treasure, but she had not yet finished the story.

After learning that Gu Yuxiao’s father may have been killed by cultivators posing as mountain bandits, Lin Xiao took Gu Yuxiao and Fang Manliang to search for Qin Jianghe. They reached the bandits’ usual territory but found no sign of Qin Jianghe or the bandits.

• Gu Yuxiao told Fang Mancang and Fang Manliang that her father’s treasure had protected him from serious harm, making her suspect that something other than ordinary bandits had killed him.
• Lin Xiao agreed to search for Qin Jianghe and brought Gu Yuxiao along after confirming she knew the Concealment Technique.
• Fang Mancang stayed behind while Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, Gu Yuxiao, and Fang Manliang traveled by spirit boat toward the bandits’ territory.
• Gu Yuxiao became sick during the flight, and Jiang Youfu gave her a green fruit to settle her stomach.
• Lin Xiao searched the area with his Divine Sense but found neither Qin Jianghe nor any trace of the mountain bandits.

Qin Jianghe found the mountain bandits’ concealed stronghold, defeated them, and brought their wounded leader out to Gu Yuxiao as the man who had killed her father. He then explained how the bandit chief, a disgraced Cloud and Mist Sect cultivator, had hidden in the mountains using a stolen formation disk.

• Lin Xiao reasoned that Qin Jianghe should still be near the mountain bandits and led the others farther into the forest to search.
• Qin Jianghe followed the bandits’ traces to a hidden mountain passage concealed by a formation and discovered their valley stronghold.
• Lin Xiao and the others reached the valley after Qin Jianghe had defeated the bandits, and Fang Manliang recognized Qin Jianghe’s battered saber.
• Qin Jianghe gave Gu Yuxiao the wounded bandit chief, identified him as her father’s murderer, and left her to decide his fate.
• Outside the valley, Qin Jianghe told Lin Xiao that the bandit chief had left the Cloud and Mist Sect and stolen a concealment formation disk from its formation hall.

After Gu Yuxiao avenged her father, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu returned with Qin Jianghe to the Lingxiao Escort Agency and supplied him with cultivation resources and ways to contact the sect. The group reunited over a meal, while Fang Mancang planned to visit the sect when he could take time off.

• Jiang Youfu explained Senior Liao to Fang Manliang as screams sounded from the bandits’ valley.
• Qin Jianghe said he had crippled the bandit leader, and Gu Yuxiao emerged after avenging her father.
• Lin Xiao collected the stronghold’s valuables, and the five left the valley for Songyang County.
• Fang Manliang accompanied Gu Yuxiao to her father’s grave while Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu returned with Qin Jianghe to the escort agency.
• Lin Xiao gave Qin Jianghe Location Sound Transmission Talismans, cultivation books, Spirit Stones, and talisman-making tools, and Jiang Youfu offered Jianghe and Fang Mancang encouragement to visit the sect.
• Jiang Youfu cooked dinner, and all six ate together after Gu Yuxiao and Fang Manliang returned.

Qin Jianghe began training Gu Yuxiao to manage the escort agency while Lin Xiao arranged for most of the stolen bandit wealth to be returned to the people through Prefect Tong Shuzheng. After Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu returned to the sect, Lin Xiao focused on cultivation.

• Qin Jianghe asked Gu Yuxiao to learn bookkeeping so she could help manage the escort agency and let him return to the sect.
• Lin Xiao took most of the money and grain seized from the bandits to Liaoju Prefecture to entrust to Tong Shuzheng.
• Tong Shuzheng ordered compensation for people killed on the road and directed the remaining wealth toward flood relief.
• Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng watched Lin Xiao's letter disappear from the paper.
• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu returned to the sect after two days, and Lin Xiao began cultivating.

The Lingxian Sect harvested its first small crop of spirit grain and saved every grain for replanting as the village began a new farming season. Yamen runners then announced that Sun Yigao had placed first in the academy examination, earning Xiushui Village an exemption from miscellaneous taxes for the year.

• Jiang Youfu kept busy cultivating and improving his cooking while the sect used its mountain spoils to eat meat regularly.
• Lin Dayou ordered the Lingxian Sect to save its small harvest of spirit grain for seed, and the sect members plowed and planted in preparation for autumn.
• Yamen runners arrived in Xiushui Village with a red-silk announcement, prompting the village chief and villagers to gather.
• The runners announced that Sun Yigao had taken first place in the Hufang Province academy examination and that the county magistrate had exempted Xiushui Village from miscellaneous taxes for the year.
• The villagers cheered at the tax exemption, and Lin Xiao felt delighted by Sun Yigao’s achievement and confident about his future examinations.

Lin Xiao prepared to travel to the cultivation world to gather resources and strengthen Lingxian Sect before the three great sects discovered it. After telling everyone he would leave in two days, he faced Mo Yuanjiao’s offer to accompany him.

• The villagers of Xiushui Village celebrated their exemption from miscellaneous taxes after the runners departed.
• Lin Xiao learned from Liao Pantu that a Heart-Questioning Road required Heart-Questioning Stone from the Heart-Questioning Cliff, and he asked Liao Pantu to help him make a Soul-Nourishing Pendant for the trip.
• Lin Xiao arranged for Liu Yunan and Tuzi to handle sect and school affairs, then set his departure for five days later after reaching the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.
• Lin Xiao prepared Cultivation Methods, Law Techniques, talismans, formations, and pills while Liao Pantu mined Spirit Stones for him.
• Sun Yigao returned with his parents, and Lin Xiao told the gathered group he would leave for the cultivation world in two days; Mo Yuanjiao then offered to go with him.