Chapter Summaries

Liu Chun introduced Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu to his old friend Su Yaoguang, hoping they might make friends and eventually do business together. Su Yaoguang was surprised by how young the two visitors looked and could not determine their cultivation levels.

• Su Yaoguang warned Liu Chun against going to the Mortal Realm, believing its thin Spiritual Qi could hinder his cultivation, and offered him a place to stay.
• Liu Chun explained that his friend came from the Mortal Realm, had saved his life, and wanted to meet cultivators; he suggested Su Yaoguang might also do business with him.
• Su Yaoguang agreed to meet Liu Chun's friend, and Liu Chun returned to give Lin Xiao the answer.
• That afternoon, Lin Xiao disguised himself and went with Liu Chun and Jiang Youfu to Su's General Store.
• Su Yaoguang studied Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu, was puzzled by their youth and hidden cultivation levels, and Liu Chun solemnly introduced them.

Lin Xiao befriended Su Yaoguang over a meal, advancing his quest to meet cultivators, then learned that Yuan Qing’s patriarch was being worn down by a heart demon. He asked Yuan Qing if they could visit the patriarch.

• Lin Xiao treated Su Yaoguang and Liu Chun to a meal at the Immortal Fragrance Pavilion, and his [Befriend Cultivators] quest advanced from 2/5 to 3/5.
• Yuan Qing returned to the inn and told Lin Xiao that the Yuan Household patriarch might not survive the year without an Icefield Spirit or another way to save him.
• Yuan Qing explained that the patriarch had been locked in a struggle with a heart demon for years and was now exhausted in body and mind.
• Lin Xiao asked Liao Pantu whether observing someone afflicted by a heart demon was dangerous, then asked Yuan Qing if they could visit the patriarch.

Lin Xiao offered to use his Purification Technique to ease the Yuan Household ancestor’s struggle against an inner demon, hoping to bring Fuzi along to observe. Yuan Qing and Yuan Bi accepted his offer and began arranging a discreet visit.

• Lin Xiao told Yuan Qing that his technique might calm the ancestor’s mind and lessen the inner demon’s burden, while admitting he was unsure how much it would help.
• Yuan Qing gratefully agreed to tell his eldest uncle, and Lin Xiao asked him to keep the offer secret.
• Yuan Qing assured Lin Xiao that Yuan Bi was trustworthy, while privately resolving to protect Lin Xiao’s identity at any cost.
• Yuan Qing told Yuan Bi that Lin Xiao might be able to help the ancestor, and Yuan Bi welcomed the offer.
• Yuan Bi promised to arrange the visit discreetly and said he would even seal his own memories if Lin Xiao remained concerned.

Yuan Qing brought Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu into the Yuan Household to treat its ancestor, whose inner demon had grown more severe. After Yuan Bi left them alone with the ancestor in his sealed cave, Lin Xiao prepared to begin.

• Yuan Qing told Lin Xiao that he had arranged a secret midnight entrance through the Yuan Household's back door, and Lin Xiao brought Jiang Youfu along.
• Yuan Qing led Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu through the unguarded household and into the mountain where the ancestor was in seclusion.
• Yuan Bi warned them about the ancestor's spreading inner demon and opened the stone door, revealing the black Qi engulfing the old man.
• Lin Xiao told Yuan Bi and Yuan Qing to leave while he and Jiang Youfu treated the ancestor, and Yuan Bi withdrew and closed the stone door.

Lin Xiao used the Heart Purification Technique to treat the Yuan Household patriarch’s inner demon, asking Jiang Youfu to read The Doctrine of the Mean aloud so he could focus. The technique began erasing the black Qi, but Lin Xiao remained immersed in it as dawn came and Yuan Bi and Yuan Qing still waited outside.

• Lin Xiao told Jiang Youfu to observe the Yuan Household patriarch’s inner demon and explain what happened to the sect.
• Lin Xiao began using the Heart Purification Technique but struggled to concentrate, so he gave Jiang Youfu The Doctrine of the Mean to read aloud.
• Jiang Youfu’s reading calmed Lin Xiao, who then cast the technique and sent clear Qi toward the patriarch, erasing the black Qi it touched.
• Jiang Youfu saw the patriarch’s expression relax, while Liao Pantu was astonished that Lin Xiao’s technique could eliminate a severe Nascent Soul Realm inner demon.
• Lin Xiao became immersed in a silent darkness as he continued the technique, and Yuan Bi and Yuan Qing waited outside through the night until morning.

Lin Xiao used the Heart Purification Technique while Jiang Youfu read aloud, weakening the Yuan Household patriarch’s heart demon before collapsing from exhaustion. Yuan Bi took Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu away, then realized how much the black Qi around his patriarch had diminished.

• Jiang Youfu kept reading as Lin Xiao purified the Yuan Household patriarch’s heart demon, resisting its attempt to shake his concentration.
• Lin Xiao erased part of the heart demon, and the patriarch began fighting back as the black Qi and spreading sores on his body subsided.
• Lin Xiao fainted from overusing his spiritual power, and Liao Pantu gave Jiang Youfu a miniature spirit boat and an invisibility talisman.
• Jiang Youfu carried Lin Xiao out, and Yuan Bi offered to take them back on his spirit boat.
• Yuan Bi noticed that the heart demon’s Qi had thinned considerably and wondered whether Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu had achieved the remarkable change.

Yuan Bi learned that the Yuan Household's ancestor could now suppress his inner demon after Lin Xiao purified it, while Lin Xiao recovered at an inn. Yuan Bi thanked Lin Xiao in person and promised his friendship, bringing Lin Xiao one step closer to completing the [Make Connections] task.

• Yuan Bi returned to the Yuan Household and found that the ancestor's inner demon had weakened enough for him to suppress it himself.
• The ancestor asked Yuan Bi to thank Lin Xiao, then explained that he would recover gradually while keeping the news from the household.
• Jiang Youfu checked Lin Xiao at the inn, confirmed that he had only exhausted his spiritual power, and watched him recover.
• Yuan Qing thanked Lin Xiao for saving the ancestor and vowed to repay him personally.
• Yuan Bi visited Lin Xiao in disguise, thanked him on behalf of the Yuan Household, and offered him his friendship.
• Lin Xiao received a [Make Connections] task notification showing that his count had risen from 3/5 to 4/5.

Lin Xiao returned to the Yuan Household to continue purifying the ancestor’s inner demon, while Liu Chun set out after receiving a message from Elder Zhang. After working through the night, Lin Xiao completed the second treatment and saw the sores on the ancestor’s face begin to disappear.

• Lin Xiao arranged to return the next day to help the Yuan Household ancestor, and Yuan Bi said the ancestor had regained his senses and could suppress his inner demon.
• Liu Chun received a message from Elder Zhang and left early the next morning, prompting Lin Xiao to tell him to stay in touch.
• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu disguised themselves and went with Yuan Bi to the ancestor’s seclusion cave.
• Lin Xiao used the Heart Purification Technique while Jiang Youfu read the Doctrine of the Mean, and Yuan Bi and Yuan Qing guarded outside.
• After the treatment lasted through the night, Lin Xiao remained conscious, and the sores and blotches on the ancestor’s face began to disappear.

Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu left the Yuan Household after Lin Xiao purged Yuan Ruogu’s inner demon and earned his friendship. Back at the inn, they discovered Liu Chun’s younger sister lying unconscious in bed with a talisman on her head.

• Lin Xiao recovered while Yuan Ruogu eliminated the last remnants of his inner demon, then Yuan Ruogu thanked him and promised to answer his call.
• Lin Xiao received a third Floating Island Fragment after completing the sect construction side quest.
• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu accepted Yuan Bi’s invitation to a future private banquet and left the Yuan Household.
• At the inn, Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu followed an attendant carrying hot water to their room and found Liu Chun waiting inside.
• Liu Chun led them to his younger sister, who lay unconscious beneath a quilt with a talisman stuck to her head.

Liu Chun brought his gravely injured sister Liu Qin back from the Heavenly Profound Sect, where a minor elder had persecuted her and destroyed her cultivation. After hearing how close she was to death, Lin Xiao offered to ask the Yuan Household for help and, if they could not treat her, return to the sect so everyone could search for a solution.

• Liu Chun explained that his sister Liu Qin had been persecuted by a minor elder of the Heavenly Profound Sect, who destroyed her Spirit Root and cultivation.
• Elder Zhang had gathered evidence against the elder and brought Liu Qin out of the sect; the sect master sent the culprit to the Law Enforcement Hall for punishment.
• Liu Chun found Liu Qin's body severely damaged and unable to accept medicine, so he prepared a medicinal bath prescribed by a spiritual physician.
• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu left the room while Liu Chun placed Liu Qin in the bath, and Lin Xiao set up an isolation restriction.
• Liu Chun admitted that a talisman was only stabilizing Liu Qin temporarily and regretted not searching for her sooner.
• Lin Xiao offered to ask the Yuan Household for treatment the next day or return to the sect with Liu Chun to seek help.

Lin Xiao sought the Yuan Household’s help for Liu Chun’s injured sister, Liu Qin, and secured permission for her to use the Jade Wave Hot Spring. After Liao Pantu examined Liu Qin, he found that her Dantian was badly damaged, leaving her unable to cultivate even if her body recovered.

• Jiang Youfu gave Liu Chun Spirit Cuisine, and Liao Pantu gave him Origin-Nourishing Pills for Liu Qin.
• Lin Xiao went to the Yuan Household and asked Yuan Bi how Liu Qin could be treated.
• Yuan Bi offered Liu Qin the use of the Jade Wave Hot Spring, warning that it might take five to ten years or longer to help.
• Lin Xiao agreed to the long treatment and arranged to bring Liu Qin to the Yuan Household’s back mountain.
• After Liu Qin’s medicinal bath, Liao Pantu examined her and determined her damaged Dantian would prevent her from cultivating.
• Lin Xiao returned to the inn and told the others about the Jade Wave Hot Spring.

Liu Chun brought Liu Qin to the Yuan Household’s Jade Wave Hot Spring so she could recover, while Lin Xiao arranged for the Yuan family to look after them. After Lin Xiao revealed that they belonged to a small sect, Yuan Bi asked whether the sect planned to do business in Yuanling City.

• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu brought Liu Chun and Liu Qin to the Yuan Household, where Yuan Bi offered Liu Chun a place to stay and make talismans beside the Jade Wave Hot Spring.
• Yuan Bi showed Liu Chun the secluded hot spring and gave him a jade talisman for contacting the household.
• Yuan Bi learned from Yuan Zhiyun that Liu Chun had placed thirty-ninth at the Talisman Master Assembly and told her to attend to his needs.
• Lin Xiao asked Yuan Bi to look after Liu Chun and Liu Qin, explaining that they came from a small, distant sect that would send visitors every few months.
• Yuan Bi asked Lin Xiao whether the sect intended to do business in Yuanling City.

Lin Xiao and Yuan Bi agreed to a supply partnership that would bring basic goods from small sects and lineages to Yuanling City. Meanwhile, Liu Chun arrived at the Jade Wave Hot Spring with Liu Qin and began checking the area.

• Lin Xiao explained that his sect wanted to act as a middleman for small sects and lineages, and Yuan Bi agreed to discuss doing business together.
• Yuan Bi described Yuanling City's supply shortages and proposed paying thirty percent above the previous market rate, but Lin Xiao declined.
• Yuan Bi settled on a purchase price ten percent above the previous market rate, and Lin Xiao agreed to the partnership.
• Jiang Youfu brought out a pile of food to celebrate the successful agreement.
• Liu Chun carried Liu Qin into the Jade Wave Hot Spring area, inspected the hut and its surroundings, and tested the spring water.

Liu Chun placed Liu Qin in the Jade Wave Hot Spring and prepared to care for her while making talismans for the Lingxian Sect. Meanwhile, Myriad Connections increased its presence in Yuanling City to investigate Execution Stone Powder, while Tong Hua, Liang Zhonghuai, and Yu Guang searched the Wu Household ruins for clues.

• Liu Chun lowered Liu Qin into the Jade Wave Hot Spring, where her color returned and her body began recovering.
• Yuan Zhiyun brought Liu Chun a Storage Bag filled with a talisman-making table, materials, cultivation supplies, and medicines for Liu Qin.
• Liu Chun set up the talisman-making table and resolved to make more talismans for the Lingxian Sect while staying with his sister.
• Myriad Connections increased its personnel and funding in Yuanling City to find information about Execution Stone Powder before the United Heroes Hall.
• Tong Hua, Liang Zhonghuai, and Yu Guang were sidelined by the new Myriad Connections personnel and searched the Wu Household ruins at night alongside other hidden forces.

After searching the Wu Household for clues about the Execution Stone powder, Liang Zhonghuai and Tong Hua took three-year leaves from Myriad Connections, while Yu Guang stayed and was reassigned. Liang Zhonghuai returned to Lixu City, where Auntie Yang welcomed him home.

• Tong Hua explained that their boss had handed the Execution Stone matter to others because he wanted to avoid involvement, and speculated that the First Spirit Venerable might take action.
• After the trio returned their gathered objects, Liang Zhonghuai and Tong Hua requested three-year secluded cultivation leaves, while Yu Guang chose to keep working for better pay and benefits.
• Their boss approved the leaves, Liang Zhonghuai and Tong Hua left Yuanling City, and Yu Guang was reassigned to another team.
• The three said goodbye outside Yuanling City's gates, with Tong Hua heading home and Liang Zhonghuai returning to his courtyard in Lixu City.
• Liang Zhonghuai arrived home and offered to help Auntie Yang with the water.

Liang Zhonghuai agreed to take Auntie Yang to the Mortal Realm to search for her missing daughter, and they began preparing for the difficult journey. By the following afternoon, they had packed up and left their courtyard in Lixu City locked and protected.

• Liang Zhonghuai offered to accompany Auntie Yang to the Mortal Realm to look for her daughter, who had been missing for nearly fifteen years.
• Auntie Yang agreed and recalled how she and Uncle Yang had cared for Liang Zhonghuai after he fled his Lineage and how Uncle Yang later died in a cultivator’s rampage.
• Liang Zhonghuai told Auntie Yang that he considered her and Uncle Yang family and had saved Spirit Stones and obtained flying Law Artifacts for the journey.
• Liang Zhonghuai bought supplies while Auntie Yang retrieved Uncle Yang’s ashes from the backyard grave and packed her belongings.
• Liang Zhonghuai and Auntie Yang finished preparing by the following afternoon, then left their courtyard locked and protected.

Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu prepared to leave Yuanling City and said goodbye to Liu Chun and the Yuan family. Yuan Qing joined them, and the three departed through Lin Xiao’s teleportation array.

• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu finished preparing supplies and discussed future business arrangements with Yuan Bi.
• Lin Xiao gave Liu Chun a Storage Bag and urged him to care for himself and his recovering sister.
• Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu said goodbye to Liu Chun and Yuan Ruogu before meeting Yuan Qing outside the courtyard.
• Yuan Bi entrusted Yuan Qing to Lin Xiao and Jiang Youfu, and Yuan Qing left the Yuan Household with them.
• Lin Xiao activated a teleportation array outside the city, and the three vanished in a flash of white light.

Lin Xiao brought Yuan Qing and Fuzi to Xiushui Village, where Yuan Qing was struck by the peaceful atmosphere and the mortals’ unusual ease around cultivators. Lin Xiao began explaining that they were in the Mortal Realm and what a village was.

• Lin Xiao brought Yuan Qing and Fuzi to a spot by the Heart-Questioning Road, keeping Yuan Qing from being tested before Lin Xiao could explain their situation.
• Yuan Qing woke to find himself in Xiushui Village, where villagers and tourists cheered at the sight of Lin Xiao and the others appearing.
• Lin Xiao led Yuan Qing and Fuzi to the village school to speak privately, and Yuan Qing felt the place’s atmosphere ease his mind.
• Yuan Qing asked whether the village was Lin Xiao’s hometown, and Lin Xiao explained that it was in the Mortal Realm and described how farming communities lived in villages.

Lin Xiao revealed to Yuan Qing that Liao Pantu had once harmed Yuan Qing’s senior brothers, then explained Liao Pantu’s place in the Lingxian Sect and let Yuan Qing decide how to feel about him. After learning Lin Xiao was the sect master, Yuan Qing chose to join the Lingxian Sect as his disciple.

• Lin Xiao told Yuan Qing that the village was where the Lingxian Sect was located and brought Liao Pantu out of the Soul-Nourishing Pendant.
• Liao Pantu reminded Yuan Qing that they had met in the Green Field Mystic Realm, where Liao Pantu had trapped Yuan Qing’s senior brothers before helping restore them.
• Lin Xiao acknowledged Liao Pantu’s past actions and explained that he had become an elder of the Lingxian Sect, leaving Yuan Qing free to make his own choice.
• Yuan Qing recognized that Lin Xiao was the sect master and decided he wanted to join the Lingxian Sect as Lin Xiao’s disciple.

Lin Xiao returned to the Lingxian Sect, greeted its members, and caught up on sect business. Liu Yunan reported that Huanyou Nation and its neighbors had begun preparing for war, which was expected to intensify in autumn.

• Lin Xiao led Yuan Qing to the sect’s Heart-Questioning Road, where Yuan Qing stepped onto the peach blossom path before Lin Xiao and the others returned to the sect.
• Xiaoluan rushed to greet Lin Xiao, Jiang Youfu, and Liao Pantu, while Lin Xiao told her to learn how to teach from Senior Brother Sun after seeing Big Peach’s shed feathers.
• Lin Xiao visited Lin Dayou in the spirit fields and teased him about remaining at the Third Layer of Qi Refining; Lin Dayou tried to swat him with a shoe, and Lin Xiao ran off.
• Lin Xiao gave Liu Yunan the payment for Liu Chun’s goods and explained that Liu Chun’s sister was receiving treatment at the Yuan Household while Elder Liu stayed with her.
• Liu Yunan reported that the imperial family had accepted the sect’s terms, a capital shop had been secured for contact with the court, and Huanyou Nation had joined neighboring nations in deploying troops.
• Liu Yunan told Lin Xiao that General Mo had already left with his army and that the court expected the war to begin in earnest in autumn.