Chapter Summaries

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.

The Lingxian Restaurant and Lingxian Inn opened in Xiushui Village, drawing crowds eager to experience the Lingxian Sect’s businesses. Ma Changlong sampled a dish made by Immortal Jiang’s disciple and booked a room at the inn, while Gu Yuxiao watched the opening go well.

• Ma Changlong entered the Lingxian Restaurant and learned that it served one dish each day made by Immortal Jiang’s disciple, so he quickly ordered one.
• Ma Changlong tried the dish and found that it carried a sensation like the immortal aura he felt when eating Immortal Jiang’s cooking, though it tasted less impressive.
• Ma Changlong paid seven taels and six mace through the restaurant’s bamboo basket and left.
• Ma Changlong toured the Lingxian Inn and paid for a room to stay overnight.
• Gu Yuxiao watched both establishments fill with customers and remembered that Lin Xiao had said their purpose was to support Xiushui Village, not to make a profit.

Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang took shelter in a mountain village, where five cultivators drugged and captured the villagers while Han hid with Qiuqiu. The attackers woke their captives and began forcing them to move, while Han watched from concealment.

• Han Weishu and Tong Jialiang crossed the mountains after dark and were welcomed into a village by the chief's wife.
• At midnight, Han heard strange sounds and sent Qiuqiu to investigate, discovering five cultivators blowing knockout powder into the houses.
• Han held her breath and hid beneath Qiuqiu while the attackers tied up Tong Jialiang and carried him outside.
• The attackers gathered the villagers in the village center, leaving the chief's wife's infant behind because she could not walk.
• The cultivators gave the villagers an antidote, then ordered them to get up and dragged them forward.

Han Weishu stayed behind to protect the village chief’s baby and help the villagers left behind, then followed the kidnappers and discovered they were taking hundreds of captives out of the Pusi Kingdom aboard a spirit ship. She was left deciding whether to seek her father’s help or report the kidnapping to the authorities.

• Han Weishu let Qiuqiu follow the kidnappers while she checked the village chief’s baby and found that only the old, sick, disabled, and the baby remained in the village.
• Han Weishu revived the unconscious villagers with medicine, explained what had happened, and left them food and the baby before setting off after Qiuqiu.
• Han Weishu caught up with the kidnappers and secretly followed them for two days and one night, unaware that they had crossed beyond the Pusi Kingdom.
• Han Weishu saw the kidnappers load Tong Jialiang, the mountain villagers, and hundreds of other bound captives onto a spirit ship, and realized the kidnappers were likely from another country.
• After the spirit ship took off, Han Weishu sent Qiuqiu after it and considered whether to seek her father’s help or report the crime to the authorities.

Han Weishu tracked the abducted mountain people to a mine in Huanyou Nation and sought help from the reputable magistrate of Liaoju Prefecture. Meanwhile, Lin Xiao signed an alliance pact with the imperial court, and Tong Shuzheng sent Xue Chengfeng to verify Han Weishu’s report.

• Han Weishu decided to report the abductions to the authorities after Qiuqiu followed the spirit boat carrying the captives.
• Lin Xiao spent five hundred Spirit Stones to use the sect master's seal and signed the alliance pact Tong Shuzheng brought to the Lingxian Sect.
• Qiuqiu showed Han Weishu that the captives had been taken to a mine in Huanyou Nation and forced to mine seven-colored stone.
• After asking about the local authorities, Han Weishu traveled to Liaoju Prefecture and told Tong Shuzheng what she had discovered.
• Tong Shuzheng sent Xue Chengfeng and a group of constables to investigate the mountain settlement, alarming the local county officials.

Xue Chengfeng’s investigation uncovered several mountain strongholds where abducted workers had left behind starving or dead villagers, while Han Weishu warned Tong Shuzheng that the captives in the mines were in immediate danger. Lin Xiao agreed to retrieve them discreetly to avoid provoking a war and set out with Tong Shuzheng and Liu Yunan toward the border, awaiting the court’s response.

• Xue Chengfeng and the runners found several strongholds where able-bodied villagers had been abducted, and in one they discovered elderly people dead and infants reduced to gnawed remains.
• Tong Shuzheng learned from Han Weishu that abducted mountain folk were suffering uncontrollable nosebleeds in the mines while guards whipped them, so he sent an urgent report to the imperial court and sought help from the Lingxian Sect.
• Lin Xiao informed Mo Yuanjiao through a Location Sound Transmission Talisman and offered to lead a rescue, but Tong Shuzheng warned that crossing the border openly could trigger war.
• Lin Xiao and Tong Shuzheng decided to retrieve the captives privately, and Lin Xiao refused to involve the Shangyang Sect.
• Lin Xiao carried Tong Shuzheng toward Liaoju Prefecture to meet Han Weishu and head for the border, with Liu Yunan following as their helper.