Chapter Summaries

Lin Xiao learned that the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree had helped save Yuanjiao and the others, while rumors about the immortal sect protecting Xiushui Village spread among visitors. Ma Changlong passed the Heart-Questioning Road but turned back after finding the mountain gate hidden in mist, determined to settle in the village and try again when the sect recruited disciples.

• Lin Xiao returned to the mountain, and Liu Yunan told him that the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree had shrunk after saving Yuanjiao and the others.
• Lin Xiao concluded that the tree had responded to danger because members of Mo Yuanjiao's group cultivated the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction, and he shared this with Liu Yunan and Liao Pantu.
• Liu Yunan rushed to the Lingxian Dining Seat and secretly put out the dishes after realizing it was his turn to serve food.
• Villagers told visitors that immortals had moved the village to safety and defeated a villain, prompting more people to seek homes in Xiushui Village.
• Ma Changlong passed the Heart-Questioning Road, but the mist hid the mountain gate, so he decided to finish building his house and wait for the sect to recruit disciples.

After Lin Xiao described the Golden Core Stage’s lifespan, Liao Pantu explained why Jiang Youfu’s sudden Foundation Establishment had given him a firm Dao foundation. The Lingxian Sect then planned its New Year celebrations as villagers prepared for New Year’s Eve.

• Lin Xiao told everyone that Golden Core cultivators could live for over three hundred years, and Liao Pantu explained how cultivation foundations affected lifespan.
• Jiang Youfu worried that his rapid breakthrough meant he would die young, but Liao Pantu reassured him that his sudden enlightenment had given him an exceptionally solid foundation.
• Liu Chun learned about the young cultivators’ achievements and felt pressed to return to cultivating.
• The group assigned tasks to decorate the Lingxian Sect for its first New Year celebration together, while their families prepared to honor their ancestors.
• The villagers reflected on their dreams in the Peach Blossom Mountain Path and made preparations for New Year’s Eve dinner.

Lin Xiao joined his family’s New Year preparations at the Lin Household’s old residence, where they sacrificed the pig given by the Lingxian Sect. After watching his family struggle to scald the carcass, he stepped in to use a newly devised heating spell.

• Lin Xiao’s father brought Lin Xiao and Lin Yun to the old residence, where the family prepared offerings for the New Year sacrifice.
• Liu Yunan’s sect gifts reached the Xiushui Village families as live pigs, while other sect members received equivalent compensation.
• Lin Lei slaughtered the Lin family’s pig as Lin Xiao caught its blood, and Old Master Lin decided the younger generation would take turns learning to slaughter pigs.
• Lin Dayou and Eldest Uncle Lin poured boiling water over the whole pig to remove its bristles, but Lin Xiao offered to handle the task.
• Lin Xiao formed a Method Formula and used his newly devised Distillation Technique to heat the pig in the wooden basin.

Old Master Lin and the other families of Xiushui Village went to Grave Mountain for the ancestral rites, while their new cultivation changed how relatives treated them. Li Zhanying watched the villagers and the rites, and Lin Xiao ended the chapter paying respect to his ancestors.

• Old Master Lin told his relatives that cultivation had made farming easier, and his family reunited warmly with their old friends on the way to Grave Mountain.
• Tietou's mother, the Qin Household, and Jiang Youfu's family received different reactions from their relatives, while the Sun Household was largely unaffected.
• Li Zhanying followed the villagers at a distance, admired their everyday customs, and felt that the Lingxian Sect's honest character could be a blessing for Pusi Kingdom.
• At noon, the families of Xiushui Village set out offerings on Grave Mountain and began their ancestral rites.
• Lin Xiao and his family respectfully kowtowed before their ancestors' gravestones.

During the ancestral rites, Li Zhanying witnessed a mysterious light from Grave Mountain touch the villagers and spread through Xiushui Village, leaving him questioning whether ancestral spirits could manifest. Elsewhere, Liao Pantu prepared to give Lin Xiao looted treasures, while General Mo grew impressed with Lingxian Sect and asked Mo Yuanjiao to arrange a meeting with Lin Xiao and a tour of the sect.

• As Xiushui Village paid respects to its ancestors, Li Zhanying saw a white light gather incense smoke into a giant hand that stroked the villagers before dissolving into mist over the village.
• Lin Xiao sensed something during the rite but kept his head bowed, while Li Zhanying wondered whether the ancestors' spirits had appeared.
• After the communal rites, Lin Dayou took Lin Yun and Lin Xiao to their mother's grave, then stayed behind to speak with his wife as the brothers visited their grandparents' graves.
• Liao Pantu burned incense for his ancestors and decided to give Lin Xiao the Storage Ring and Storage Bag he had taken from the Nascent Soul Cultivator at New Year's Eve dinner.
• After paying respects with Mo Yuanjiao and Mo Que, General Mo asked Mo Yuanjiao to arrange a conversation with Lin Xiao and confirmed he wanted to look around Lingxian Sect the next day.

He Siyou moved his family into Xiushui Village on New Year’s Eve and witnessed the spiritual display over Grave Mountain. After returning to the Lingxian Sect, Lin Xiao joined Liao Pantu to inspect the storage items taken from a Nascent Soul Cultivator, while Mo Yuanjiao took General Mo on a sect tour.

• He Siyou saw white light rise from Grave Mountain, form a giant hand, and scatter across Xiushui Village.
• The villagers returned from their sacrificial rites and saw He Siyou’s belongings being moved into his new residence.
• He Siyou respectfully greeted Sun Yigao, his daughter’s teacher, as Sun Yigao passed with his family.
• Liao Pantu showed Lin Xiao the Storage Rings and Storage Bags recovered from the Nascent Soul Cultivator, and Lin Xiao went with him to the sect’s main hall.
• Xiaoluan set a spiritual rope across the mountain path so it would wake if Tuzi arrived, while Lin Xiao left to inspect the storage items.
• Mo Yuanjiao saw Lin Xiao enter the main hall with Liao Pantu and decided to take General Mo to the formation hall instead.

Lin Xiao and his companions found a mysterious formation stone among the spoils and learned through appraisal that it came from the Taiyin Sealing Formation. Lin Xiao kept it and planned to ask a stranded Shangyang Sect disciple whether the formation belonged to his sect.

• Liao Pantu, Lin Xiao, and Liu Yunan counted the spoils taken from Wei Hai and found a pitch-black stone among them.
• Lin Xiao used his appraisal ability and learned the stone was an irreplaceable formation stone from an activated Taiyin Sealing Formation.
• Liao Pantu said he had never heard of the Taiyin Sealing Formation, though he knew of the distant Immortal Ascension Domain and a Taiyang Formation.
• Lin Xiao decided to keep the stone in his private storage and wondered whether the Taiyin Sealing Formation belonged to the Shangyang Sect.
• Wang Goudan failed to pass the Heart-Questioning Road and stayed in Xiushui Village after Li Zhanying asked him to serve as his attendant.
• Lin Xiao suggested asking Wang Goudan about the formation while the Shangyang Sect disciple remained nearby.

Lin Xiao questioned Wang Goudan about the Shangyang Sect and learned that it had no known forbidden area, though its inheritance was tied to a missing sect master's token. He returned to the Lingxian Sect as the New Year's Eve dinner was ready to begin.

• Lin Xiao visited Wang Goudan in Xiushui Village and invited him to talk.
• Wang Goudan knew little about the Shangyang Sect's history but eagerly shared anecdotes and rumors about the sect.
• Lin Xiao learned that the Shangyang Sect's Nascent Soul patriarch had died in seclusion and that a sect master's token needed to claim the sect's inheritance had gone missing after Wei Hai killed the former sect master.
• Lin Xiao concluded that the Shangyang Sect probably did not contain the Taiyin Sealing Formation and returned to the Lingxian Sect.
• The sect members welcomed Lin Xiao to the table, and Jiang Youfu began sending the New Year's Eve dishes over with the Object Control Technique.

During the New Year's Eve dinner, Lin Xiao toasted the Lingxian Sect and everyone celebrated together. In Liaoju Prefecture, Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng received an imperial dispatch identifying the sect as legitimate and discussed the court's changed approach to it.

• Snow began falling during the dinner, and Liao Pantu raised a barrier while Mo Yuanjiao used a formation to keep the food warm.
• Lin Xiao toasted a better new year for the cultivators, the village, and the Lingxian Sect, then led everyone in eating.
• Liu Yunan realized he had forgotten to buy firecrackers, and the others laughed before enjoying the meal.
• Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng received an urgent dispatch from the imperial court and learned that the Lingxian Sect was a legitimate immortal sect.
• Tong Shuzheng and Xue Chengfeng decided to send the Lingxian Sect New Year's gifts and wondered whether the court planned to change how it dealt with sects.

On New Year's Eve, Xiushui Village and the Lingxian Sect celebrated together while Liao Pantu captivated the elders with stories of his cultivation journey. Lin Xiao and the youngsters secretly learned a spell and took positions around the village, waiting for midnight to begin their surprise.

• Tong Shuzheng agreed to visit the Lingxian Sect with Xue Chengfeng to deliver New Year's gifts.
• Xiushui Village celebrated with lanterns, food, firecrackers, and couplets written by Sun Yigao's students.
• Lin Xiao invited Lin Yan, Lin Ying, Liu Shengsheng, and the other youngsters to learn a new spell before midnight.
• Liao Pantu joined the elders' conversation and enthralled them with stories from his cultivation life.
• Lin Xiao asked the elders to look toward the village at midnight, then led the youngsters to their assigned positions.
• Village Chief Du's great bronze gong rang out to mark midnight.

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.