Chapter Summaries

Sun Yigao watched Wei San pass the Heart-Questioning Road and report that he had come under imperial orders to speak with Liu Yunan. Liu Yunan accepted the emperor’s letter, promised a reply in three days, and sent Wei San back to Xiushui Village unconscious.

• Sun Yigao recognized Wei San as a martial artist with Qi Refining First Layer cultivation and alerted Liu Yunan when he entered the Heart-Questioning Road.
• Wei San endured the road’s dream trial, then overcame his awe of the immortals and climbed toward the Lingxian Sect.
• Liu Yunan appeared before Wei San and learned that he had come as a member of the emperor’s personal guard with an important message.
• Wei San presented the emperor’s letter, and Liu Yunan took it with his Object Control Technique and promised a reply at the village tree in three days.
• Liu Yunan hypnotized Wei San and carried him down the mountain; after waking near Xiushui Village, Wei San discovered the letter was gone and returned to Emerald Peak Town.

Liu Yunan, Liao Pantu, and Sun Yigao decided to delay responding to the emperor’s vague offer until Xiao emerged from seclusion. After delivering a letter to Wei San, Liu Yunan spoke with Village Chief Du Liushui and Hu Deli, who praised the sect’s role in the village and shared a memory of Xiao’s childhood.

• Liu Yunan, Liao Pantu, and Sun Yigao read the emperor’s letter and agreed to put off sending someone to the capital until they knew more.
• Liu Yunan hid near the village entrance and used the Object Control Technique to leave a letter where Wei San would find it.
• Wei San spotted the letter marked “For His Majesty's eyes only,” tucked it into his robe, and left after checking that no one was nearby.
• Liu Yunan met Village Chief Du Liushui and Hu Deli at the village entrance and joined them for a chat.
• Du Liushui and Hu Deli praised the Lingxian Sect’s contributions to Xiushui Village, and Du recalled how Xiao had grieved as a child after his mother died.

Liu Yunan spoke with Village Chief Du and Clan Leader Hu about the villagers’ support and promised that the Lingxian Sect would help the village prosper. Twenty days later, Emperor Li Zhouxuan considered Wei San’s report about the new sect and worried that the weakened Shangyang Sect could no longer stand against the other great sects.

• Liu Yunan recalled how the villagers had helped his family and listened as Village Chief Du and Clan Leader Hu offered their support to the Lingxian Sect.
• Liu Yunan returned to the mountain and told the sect members they could stop hiding from villagers and answer questions about the sect’s basic circumstances.
• Old Master Lin and Jiang Youfu agreed with Liu Yunan, and the Lingxian Sect decided to share limited information while keeping its strength secret.
• Twenty days later, Emperor Li Zhouxuan questioned Wei San about his visit to Xiushui Village and his experience on the Heart-Questioning Road.
• Li Zhouxuan judged that the new immortal sect was probably genuine and reflected on the Shangyang Sect’s takeover, its departing elders, and its weakened position among the three great sects.

Li Zhouxuan weighed how the Shangyang Sect’s decline could upset the balance between the great sects and the imperial court, then received a brief message from the new sect postponing their meeting. Meanwhile, Song Jusheng set out to return to the Shangyang Sect but encountered its elders and elite disciples rushing toward the capital.

• Li Zhouxuan considered how a weakened Shangyang Sect could destabilize the Pusi Kingdom and decided he needed to learn the new sect’s strength.
• Li Zhouxuan dismissed Wei San and opened the envelope, finding a Sound Transmission Talisman inside.
• Liao Pantu’s recorded message told Li Zhouxuan to arrange another meeting next year, and Li Zhouxuan was appalled that the sect had used an expensive talisman for so few words.
• Li Zhouxuan went to a palace in the imperial city and requested an audience with the Li family ancestor.
• Song Jusheng left the capital to find out what had happened at the Shangyang Sect, then encountered its elders and elite inner disciples hurrying toward the city.

After Shangyang Sect’s survivors settled in the capital, Elder Luo declared that he would lead the sect’s reconstruction, while Song Jusheng learned why they had not fought the injured Nascent Soul Cultivator. On Frost's Descent, Mo Yuanjiao demonstrated his Air-Stepping Technique to his family before Baojian arrived.

• Song Jusheng learned that Elder Luo intended to rebuild Shangyang Sect and keep the sect master’s position for himself.
• Song Jusheng asked why the elders had not attacked the injured Nascent Soul Cultivator, and they defended their decision to protect the sect’s remaining members and legacy.
• The elders began discussing how to rebuild Shangyang Sect while the disciples settled into their new lodgings.
• On Frost's Descent, Mo Yuanjiao demonstrated the Air-Stepping Technique above the garden rockery while his bundled-up family watched.
• Grandmother Mo urged Mo Yuanjiao to dress more warmly and teased him with his childhood name, while Mother Mo joined in.
• Baojian entered the garden, greeted Mo Yuanjiao as young master, and waited nearby.

Mo Yuanjiao investigated the Shangyang Sect’s movements and told Liu Yunan what he had learned. He then revealed to Emperor Li Zhouxuan that he had joined the Lingxian Sect, offering to help the imperial court communicate with it.

• Mo Yuanjiao stayed with Old Madam Mo until she grew tired, then returned to his courtyard and heard Baojian’s report that Shangyang Sect members had been scouting land outside the city.
• Baojian told Mo Yuanjiao that the Cloud and Mist Sect and the Clear River Sect had tried to visit Shangyang Sect, but had not been received.
• Mo Yuanjiao sent Liu Yunan the intelligence he had gathered and decided to reveal himself to the emperor.
• Mo Yuanjiao went to the palace and told his cousin, Emperor Li Zhouxuan, that he had joined the Lingxian Sect and could help the court contact it.
• Li Zhouxuan was shocked when he understood what Mo Yuanjiao had said.

Mo Yuanjiao visited Li Zhouxuan in the imperial palace and revealed that he had joined the Lingxian Sect, while Li Zhouxuan concluded that the sect was more capable than his cousin let on. Back at the sect, Liu Yunan prepared its goods and traveled with Liao Pantu to complete Lin Xiao’s deal with the Many Treasures Pavilion, then returned to Xiushui Village.

• Li Zhouxuan questioned Mo Yuanjiao about his cultivation and sect, but misread his answers as proof that the sect and its master were powerful and wealthy.
• Mo Yuanjiao left the imperial palace, and Li Zhouxuan privately decided that his cousin’s sect must be extraordinary.
• Liu Yunan organized the Lingxian Sect’s members to make goods for Lin Xiao’s deal while they continued their cultivation and farming.
• After the sect gathered enough goods, Liu Yunan accompanied Liao Pantu through a teleportation array to Yuanling City.
• Liu Yunan completed the transaction at the Many Treasures Pavilion and returned to Xiushui Village with Liao Pantu.

As the Lingxian Sect’s name spread through the imperial court, the Li Clan Ancestor decided to leave seclusion and visit Xiushui Village. Mo Yuanjiao and General Mo also set out for the sect, while Old Madam Mo and Madam Mo stayed behind in the capital.

• Xiushui Village celebrated Minor Cold with five-grain porridge, and Liu Yunan eagerly asked Jiang Youfu for another bowl.
• The Lingxian Sect’s name reached the capital, prompting the Cloud and Mist Sect and Clear River Sect to send messages to their sects.
• Li Zhouxuan visited the Li Clan Ancestor, who said he planned to travel to Xiushui Village despite not having reached the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
• Mo Yuanjiao invited General Mo to visit the Lingxian Sect, while Old Madam Mo and Madam Mo remained in the capital.
• Three days after Minor Cold, Mo Yuanjiao, General Mo, and Mo Que left the capital for Xiushui Village.

Wei Hai read an imperial dispatch about the newly established Lingxian Sect and suspected it had been founded by the person who took his Spirit Stone mine. Excited by the chance to recover the mine, he sent disciples to locate the sect.

• Wei Hai squandered the Shangyang Sect's storehouse while ignoring earlier imperial dispatches.
• A disciple delivered another official dispatch, and Wei Hai learned that the court recognized a new Lingxian Sect in Liaoju Prefecture.
• Wei Hai recalled Jin Nanhuan's claims about the person who had saved the children and taken the Spirit Stone mine.
• Wei Hai suspected the mine was now with Lingxian Sect and summoned Foundation Establishment disciples to find it within five shichen.

Wei Hai forced Shangyang Sect disciples to search Liaoju Prefecture for information about the Lingxian Sect, promising an antidote to whoever returned first. At the same time, Mo Yuanjiao reached Liaoju Prefecture with General Mo and Mo Que, while a suspicious Foundation Establishment cultivator arrived at Xiushui Village and was captured by Liao Pantu and Liu Yunan.

• Wei Hai gave the Shangyang Sect disciples poison pills that would take effect in five hours and sent them to gather information about the Lingxian Sect in Liaoju Prefecture.
• Mo Yuanjiao, General Mo, and Mo Que arrived in Liaoju Prefecture and checked into an inn, where a plainly dressed elderly man later rented a room.
• Tietou stopped a Foundation Establishment cultivator approaching Xiushui Village, but the man struck him aside and headed toward the Lingxian Sect.
• After Tietou reported the incident, Liu Yunan and Liao Pantu watched the road and saw the cultivator inspect the surroundings before flying away.
• Liao Pantu used Divine Sense and a Spirit-Binding Rope to capture a second Foundation Establishment cultivator, and Liu Yunan began questioning him about his intentions.

Liu Yunan learned that Wei Hai, a Nascent Soul Cultivator, was expected to attack, and the Lingxian Sect prepared to protect Xiushui Village and evacuate its villagers. Liao Pantu raised a defensive formation around the village, while the evacuation stalled at the Heart-Questioning Road and Liu Yunan retrieved Lin Xiao’s Two Aspects Life and Death Formation.

• A Foundation Establishment cultivator told Liu Yunan that Wei Hai would come to attack after forcing him to locate the Lingxian Sect, and Liao Pantu urged Liu Yunan to make preparations.
• Liu Yunan sent Liu Shengsheng to give the captive a detoxification pill, then warned the sect members and began arranging to move Xiushui Village’s villagers up the mountain.
• Liao Pantu placed 199 elementary defensive formations around Xiushui Village, creating a dome that could withstand a few full-force attacks from a Nascent Soul Cultivator.
• The Lingxian Sect members hypnotized villagers who refused to leave and carried them toward the mountain, but the Heart-Questioning Road stopped them from going farther.
• Liu Yunan entered the sect’s storeroom and took out the Two Aspects Life and Death Formation that Lin Xiao had stored there.

Wei Hai attacked the Lingxian Sect’s Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation after demanding its Spirit Stone mine, while Liu Yunan hurried to prepare the Two Aspects Life and Death Formation. The villagers remained protected on the Heart-Questioning Road as sect members fought their fear and put out the fires, and Wei Hai sensed people approaching Xiushui Village.

• Liu Yunan took the Two Aspects Life and Death Formation plate and hurried toward the front mountain, determined to use it against the Nascent Soul Realm threat.
• Wei Hai arrived at Xiushui Village, saw the villagers gathered on the mountain path, and demanded that Liao Pantu return the Spirit Stone mine.
• Wei Hai launched an explosive fireball at the Lingxian Sect’s Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation, setting the forest ablaze, but the formation held and Heart-Questioning Road petals shielded the villagers.
• The Lingxian Sect members panicked at Wei Hai’s destructive power, while Liao Pantu judged that Wei Hai’s cultivation foundations were weak and trusted the sect’s defenses.
• Sun Yigao rallied the sect members to extinguish the forest fire as Wei Hai prepared another attack and sensed several people approaching along the road outside the village.

Mo Yuanjiao, General Mo, and Mo Que were ambushed by Wei Hai outside Xiushui Village, and Mo Yuanjiao was badly injured. A lightning bolt struck Wei Hai as Mo Que carried the two others into the village and continued toward the Lingxian Sect, while someone flew out from the sect to meet them.

• Mo Que noticed that Xiushui Village was empty, and Mo Yuanjiao spotted Wei Hai hovering above it.
• Wei Hai attacked Mo Yuanjiao, who used his defensive talismans and formation before taking the brunt of the strike and collapsing unconscious.
• Liao Pantu told the three to run into the village, and Mo Que carried General Mo and Mo Yuanjiao toward the entrance.
• Wei Hai sent a huge hand of spiritual power after them, but a bolt of lightning struck him and made the hand vanish.
• Mo Que rushed deeper into the village toward the Lingxian Sect as a figure flew out from the sect to meet them.

Wei Hai attacked Xiushui Village after Mo Yuanjiao returned, while Lin Xiao began his Golden Core Lightning Tribulation inside the Nature Platform. The chapter left the Lingxian Sect members discovering that lightning was being drawn into the little white stone at the platform’s entrance.

• After Senior Liao announced Mo Yuanjiao’s return, Sun Yigao rushed toward the village entrance and Liao Pantu followed, ordering Liu Yunan and the others to stay inside the sect’s barrier.
• Wei Hai launched fireballs at two parts of Xiushui Village, but Liao Pantu activated a large-scale defensive formation that blocked them.
• Lin Xiao reached the threshold for breaking through to the Golden Core stage, and lightning coursed through the Nature Platform’s stream and pool to strike him.
• Jiang Youfu and the Lin Household hurried toward the mountain behind the Returning to the Garden Mountain Dwelling after a bolt of lightning passed through the Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation.
• Jiang Youfu and the others saw two more bolts strike the same spot and vanish into the little white stone at the entrance to the Nature Platform.

Lin Xiao endured a Golden Core Lightning Tribulation inside the sealed Nature Platform while Wei Hai was struck by matching lightning as he attacked Xiushui Village. Liao Pantu ambushed Wei Hai with talismans to buy time, and the disguised Li Clan Ancestor quietly approached as the battle continued.

• Jiang Youfu and the Lin Household tried unsuccessfully to enter the Nature Platform as lightning struck Lin Xiao inside.
• Wei Hai realized the lightning over him matched a tribulation occurring above the new sect, but misjudged its nature and continued attacking the defensive array.
• Liao Pantu used a Water Dragon Talisman and another talisman to trap Wei Hai inside an ice dragon, then hurried toward Mo Yuanjiao to rescue him.
• The disguised Li Clan Ancestor approached Xiushui Village unnoticed and was astonished to see Wei Hai frozen inside the ice dragon.

Wei Hai broke free of the ice and continued attacking Xiushui Village’s defensive formation as Liao Pantu carried the unconscious Mo Yuanjiao and General Mo toward the Heart-Questioning Road. A streak of pink light rescued the injured and brought them to the Lingxian Sect, where the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree healed them with its pollen.

• Wei Hai shattered the ice dragon, then endured lightning strikes while raging at the hidden attacker who had nearly frozen him.
• Liao Pantu took Mo Yuanjiao and General Mo from Mo Que and hurried with the group toward the Heart-Questioning Road as Wei Hai battered the village’s defensive formation.
• Wei Hai’s attack collapsed the formation and blasted Liao Pantu and the others off their feet, scattering the injured.
• Pink light struck Wei Hai, then swept up Liao Pantu, Mo Yuanjiao, General Mo, Sun Yigao, and Mo Que and carried them to the Lingxian Sect’s mountain path.
• The Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree shed pollen over the injured, and Mo Yuanjiao and the others slowly awoke.

After the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree protected the sect members, Wei Hai attacked the Lingxian Sect’s formation until Li Zhanying intervened to protect the kingdom’s people. Lin Xiao emerged and struck Wei Hai with a powerful sword technique, leaving Wei Hai uncertain of his cultivation and age.

• The Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree shrank slightly after healing injuries, and Mo Yuanjiao and Mo Que awoke safely back at the sect.
• Wei Hai tried to destroy the village, but Li Zhanying stopped his attack and asked him to spare the homes of the Pusi Kingdom’s people.
• Li Zhanying agreed not to interfere in Wei Hai’s grudge with the sect as long as Wei Hai left the kingdom’s people unharmed.
• Wei Hai returned to attacking the Lingxian Sect’s Mountain-Protecting Grand Formation and shouted insults until Lin Xiao’s wooden sword destroyed his fireball.
• Lin Xiao emerged from the flames and struck Wei Hai with Mountains and Rivers Overturned, the Heavens Exhausted, sending him flying a thousand meters.
• Wei Hai took a Rejuvenation Pill and wondered whether Lin Xiao was a powerful Golden Core cultivator or a Nascent Soul cultivator using a Youth-Preserving Pill.

Lin Xiao emerged from seclusion and fought Wei Hai, a Nascent Soul Cultivator who had devastated Xiushui Village. With Liu Yunan’s help, Lin Xiao trapped Wei Hai in the Two Aspects Life and Death Formation and left him near death.

• Wei Hai taunted Lin Xiao and demanded that he return the Spirit Stone mine, while Lin Xiao saw the destruction in Xiushui Village and silently prepared to fight.
• Lin Xiao charged Wei Hai, but Wei Hai’s spiritual power shield repelled him and sent him flying toward the Lingxian Sect.
• Liu Yunan revealed that he had secretly set up the Two Aspects Life and Death Formation in front of the Heart-Questioning Road and lured Wei Hai into it with Lin Xiao’s help.
• Liu Yunan controlled the formation’s attacks as Wei Hai struggled to defend himself, and Lin Xiao joined the fight inside the formation.
• A spike from the formation pierced Wei Hai’s Nascent Soul, leaving him barely alive, and Lin Xiao raised his peachwood sword over him.

Lin Xiao killed Wei Hai after deciding the dangerous Nascent Soul Cultivator could not be spared, and Liu Yunan erased his remains with the formation’s ultimate attack. Li Zhanying, an imperial ancestor who had blocked visitors from reaching the village, arrived and asked Lin Xiao what he planned to do about the people asleep on the Heart-Questioning Road.

• Lin Xiao shattered Wei Hai’s Nascent Soul and watched him die, then told Liu Yunan to use Divine Soul Annihilation.
• Liao Pantu searched Wei Hai’s body for storage rings and Storage Bags before Liu Yunan wiped out everything inside the formation.
• Eldest Uncle Lin’s wife worried the authorities would punish the villagers, but Lin Xiao, Liu Yunan, and an old man assured her they would not interfere.
• Jiang Youfu and Mo Yuanjiao discussed how Mo Yuanjiao had forgotten to give his father a Teleportation Talisman, while Mo Yuanjiao praised Lin Xiao for defeating Wei Hai.
• Liao Pantu identified the newcomer as Li Zhanying, a Nascent Soul Realm ancestor of the Pusi Kingdom’s imperial family, and Lin Xiao greeted him as the Lingxian Sect’s master.
• Li Zhanying asked Lin Xiao when the people on the Heart-Questioning Road would wake and what arrangements he planned, explaining that he had stopped other visitors from approaching the village.

Lin Xiao welcomed Li Zhanying as a guest of Xiushui Village while making clear he was not yet a guest of the Lingxian Sect. As the villagers began waking from the Heart-Questioning Road, Lin Xiao went to meet village chief Du Liushui and Hu clan chief Hu Deli.

• Liu Yunan advised Lin Xiao to let the visitors enter Xiushui Village, and Li Zhanying removed his barrier.
• Li Zhanying asked to stay in Xiushui Village, and Lin Xiao agreed to have the village chief arrange his lodging.
• Jiang Youfu offered to cook for everyone, while Lin Xiao, Liu Yunan, and Liao Pantu warned him not to make the food too good and attract the imperial family's attention.
• Sun Yigao led the group to the village school, and Lin Xiao stayed to keep Li Zhanying company while the villagers remained on the Heart-Questioning Road.
• Du Liushui and Hu Deli emerged from the Heart-Questioning Road, and Lin Xiao went to greet them.