Chapter Summaries

Lin Xiao learned more about the national seals and the fall of Huanyou Nation’s Zhao dynasty from Zhao Yunzhong, then met Shen Yingzi, whose father had lost most of his cultivation saving him. Lin Xiao encouraged Shen Yingzi to pursue cultivation and invited him and his father to visit the Lingxian Sect.

• Lin Xiao and Zhao Yunzhong agreed to keep the secrets of the nations and their national seals, and Lin Xiao recorded Zhao Yunzhong’s account of the Zhao clan’s lost national seal and overthrown dynasty.
• Zhao Yunzhong feigned a recurrence of his injuries to end Lin Xiao’s questions, and Lin Xiao left after the Azure Lotus Sect disciples came to care for him.
• Shen Yingzi thanked Lin Xiao for saving his father and told him that his father’s Golden Core would survive, but his cultivation and future progress would be severely diminished.
• Lin Xiao told Shen Yingzi to repay his father by acting rather than dwelling on guilt, and Shen Yingzi said he wanted to cultivate so he could help his father recover.
• Lin Xiao invited Shen Yingzi to try joining the Lingxian Sect as a musician and said his father could come with him.

Lin Xiao returned to Euphrates Poplar Village and found the villagers recovering under Fang Tuantuan’s watch. A formation stone led him to an ancient well, where he was pulled into a hidden space and discovered a glowing orb resembling the stone.

• Lin Xiao found Fang Tuantuan tending the villagers and learned that they had been recovering steadily.
• Lin Xiao considered how to protect the villagers from the harmful presence and examined the Taiyin Sealing Formation stone he had obtained from Wei Hai.
• The formation stone vibrated and guided Lin Xiao to an ancient well in the deepest part of Euphrates Poplar Village.
• The stone hummed loudly beside the well, and a tremendous suction pulled Lin Xiao into a small enclosed space.
• Lin Xiao found a glowing orb and a stream of water inside, and noticed that the orb looked similar to the formation stone.

Lin Xiao realized the space was a node of the Taiyin Sealing Formation, which had been built to seal Execution Stone, and suspected its weakened state had caused the trouble in Euphrates Poplar Village. He let his formation stone enter the ball of light, where it joined the other stone and began changing.

• Lin Xiao found that the ball of light repelled his spiritual power and Origin Qi but drew in his formation stone while stopping at his fingers.
• Lin Xiao recalled that the space felt like the Execution Stone mine and concluded it was a node of the Taiyin Sealing Formation.
• Lin Xiao suspected that the formation had weakened and Execution Stone Party activity had loosened the node near Euphrates Poplar Village.
• Lin Xiao let go of his formation stone, allowing the ball of light to draw it inside.
• The two formation stones circled each other as energy built between them, and their rough surfaces gradually became smooth before they stopped roughly half a day later.

Lin Xiao temporarily sealed the source of the illness in Euphrates Poplar Village and returned from the formation space. He told the villagers the danger could return, and they decided to remain nearby while relocating their homes to safer land.

• Lin Xiao restored the formation stone to the ball of light, suppressing the Execution Stone presence but leaving the Taiyin Sealing Formation incomplete.
• Lin Xiao used the stream to return to Euphrates Poplar Village and found Tuantuan being fed by young villagers.
• Lin Xiao put the patients to rest with a Hypnosis Technique and explained that the village’s illness had only been temporarily sealed.
• The young villagers decided to return to their homes for now and gradually build a new settlement on nearby wasteland.
• Lin Xiao offered to contact the authorities for relocation help, and the villagers thanked him and Tuantuan for their help.

Lin Xiao cleared a level building site for the villagers of Euphrates Poplar Village with a single sword strike, then left before the Alliance Army investigators arrived. After returning to Xiushui Village, he learned that Li Zhanying planned to enter seclusion and attempt a breakthrough to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

• Lin Xiao used his peachwood sword to level the wasteland and remove the dust, leaving the villagers amazed by his power.
• Lin Xiao told the villagers that Alliance Army cultivators would arrive to handle their follow-up treatment, then departed with Fang Tuantuan.
• Lin Xiao returned to Xiushui Village, where Fang Tuantuan ran toward the village school while he headed to the Finance Hall.
• Mo Yuanjiao told Lin Xiao that Li Zhanying was preparing to enter seclusion and break through to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
• Lin Xiao asked Qin Jianghe to prepare gifts for Li Zhanying as a courtesy to the imperial family.

Lin Xiao returned to the Lingxian Sect, brought his father back from the spiritual fields to cultivate, and used Origin Qi to circulate the Original Essence Heart Sutra. His breakthrough stirred a Spiritual Qi vortex that helped everyone in the cultivation room, and the chapter ended with the sect members surrounding him after learning he had reached Late Golden Core.

• Lin Xiao found that Lin Dayou was tending the spiritual fields instead of cultivating, so he carried him back to the cultivation room and watched him enter meditation.
• Lin Xiao examined his Golden Core and Origin Qi, then used Origin Qi to circulate the Original Essence Heart Sutra.
• A Spiritual Qi vortex formed around Lin Xiao and greatly improved the cultivation and comprehension of everyone in the cultivation room.
• Lin Xiao advanced from Golden Core Early Stage to Late Golden Core as the vortex subsided.
• Liao Pantu explained that he had guarded the cultivation room while Lin Xiao broke through, and the Lingxian Sect members gathered around Lin Xiao to ask about his new realm.

After Lin Xiao reached the Late Golden Core, the Lingxian Sect learned that the Alliance Army was withdrawing most of its forces from Huanyou Nation while helping Zhao Yunzhong secure its borders against the Imperial Preceptor. The sect considered the crisis settled for now and returned to cultivation and rebuilding.

• Lin Xiao reached the Late Golden Core, and the Lingxian Sect celebrated with a feast prepared by Jiang Youfu and Liu Shengsheng.
• News arrived that most villagers of Euphrates Poplar Village had recovered and rebuilt their homes.
• The Alliance Army decided to withdraw most of its troops from Huanyou Nation while leaving a few elite outposts behind.
• Zhao Yunzhong agreed to keep the Imperial Preceptor from escaping, and formation masters helped build a protective net along Huanyou Nation's borders.
• The Lingxian Sect considered the matter settled and returned to cultivation and building the sect.

Three years after the Lingxian Sect began helping people, its fame had spread throughout the Pusi Kingdom, and a storyteller in Liaoju Prefecture shared news that it would soon recruit disciples. A boy called Brother Rong gathered two friends to tell them the news, while Sister Little Four could not join them because her father had returned home angry.

• A storyteller in a Liaoju Prefecture teahouse recounted a tale of a Lingxian Sect immortal saving a man from a mountain demon.
• The storyteller explained that the Lingxian Sect had become famous for helping people, including during last year's droughts and locust plagues.
• The storyteller announced that the Lingxian Sect would soon recruit disciples, citing people from Xiushui Village as his source.
• Brother Rong heard the news and hurried to a residential lane to summon his friends.
• Brother Rong learned that Sister Little Four could not come because her father was home, then whispered the exciting news to the two boys who had joined him.

As the Lingxian Sect prepared to recruit disciples, Xiaoluan managed the Beast Garden and rationed Demon Beast meat to the Spirit Cuisine Hall. After Big Peach delivered records and feed, Xiaoluan took her into the garden to teach her how to feed the beasts.

• News of the Lingxian Sect's recruitment spread throughout Hufang Province, drawing the attention of people beyond its borders as well.
• Jiang Chengtian begged Xiaoluan for Demon Beast meat, and Xiaoluan eventually allowed him to take one level-one beast.
• Big Peach brought Xiaoluan the Beast Garden's updated records and freshly harvested feed from the spirit fields.
• Xiaoluan ordered Big Peach to carry the Storage Bags and followed her into the Beast Garden to teach her how to feed the Demon Beasts.

Fang Mancang returned to the Lingxian Sect for a short visit and found the Finance Hall overwhelmed with trade records. He joined Qin Jianghe, Jiang Youdi, and Lin Yan in sorting accounts, promising to share snacks from the capital once they finished.

• Fang Mancang greeted Lin Dayou while he worked in the spirit fields and said he would stay for two days.
• Fang Mancang traveled to the floating island and entered the expanded Finance Hall, where cabinets held the sect’s financial records.
• The chapter described how Lingxian Sect members had learned to make Jade Slips and advanced in artifact refining and array crafting.
• Fang Mancang found Qin Jianghe, Jiang Youdi, and Lin Yan buried in account books and packing lists.
• Fang Mancang sat down to help sort the records and offered to share snacks he had brought from the capital.

The Lingxian Sect’s Finance Hall discussed expanding trade beyond the Pusi Kingdom and hoped the coming recruitment would bring more capable workers. A message from Sun Yigao then raised the academy’s need for more books, leaving Qin Jianghe to discuss whether its finances could cover the expense.

• Fang Mancang reported that the imperial family’s trade arrangements were going smoothly and several major sects had placed small orders.
• Qin Jianghe, Lin Yan, and Jiang Youdi hurried through their work so they could take Doudou to the medicinal garden and let her try Elder Liao’s grapes.
• Qin Jianghe received and played a message in which Sun Yigao asked whether the Finance Hall could afford to buy more books for the academy.
• The chapter explained that Sun Yigao had sent his students, including female students, to take the civil service preliminary examination so they could test their abilities among candidates from across the county and prefecture.
• Sun Yigao had secured the court’s approval for women to take the examinations, prompting a rush of female scholars to register and the reassignment of palace maids to conduct searches.

After the Lingxian Sect's students all passed the county and prefectural examinations, Sun Yigao planned to expand Lingxian Academy and try a new treatment for Tong Jialiang. He arrived at the Lin Household to explain the treatment, finding Tong Jialiang sitting by the window.

• Every student at the Lingxian Sect's private school passed the examinations, drawing new attention to the school.
• Sun Yigao decided with his master to treat Tong Jialiang on the Heart-Questioning Road and asked Qin Jianghe for Ruixing Grass to refine high-grade Grain Avoidance Pills.
• Qin Jianghe backed Sun Yigao's plans for the academy and went to the storeroom to retrieve Ruixing Grass and other herbs.
• Sun Yigao left Lingxian Academy and went to the Lin Household to discuss the new treatment with Baojian.
• Sun Yigao entered and saw Tong Jialiang staring blankly out the window.

Sun Yigao proposed using the Heart-Questioning Road to help Tong Jialiang confront the trauma that still kept him from recovering fully. Meanwhile, Mo Yuanjiao fled from the second miss of the Xuanyuan household, whose pursuit revealed their mothers had once arranged a marriage between them.

• Sun Yigao explained to Baojian that Tong Jialiang might recover by facing the nightmare of the Execution Stone mine on the Heart-Questioning Road, which Lin Xiao had assured him would protect his mind.
• Baojian thanked Sun Yigao for his efforts to help Jialiang.
• Mo Yuanjiao ran along the village road while a young woman chased him and refused to turn back.
• Mo Yuanjiao told the woman her makeup was smudged, prompting her to cover her face, but she still insisted on following him.
• Baojian told Sun Yigao that the pursuer was the second miss of Lord Xuanyuan's household and that their mothers had once made a verbal marriage agreement.

Mo Yuanjiao left Xuanyuan Haoyue waiting at the foot of North Mountain while fretting over his family's plans to arrange his marriage. Meanwhile, Old Master Lin remembered that Lin Yun was still unmarried and went to confront Lin Dayou.

• Xuanyuan Haoyue could not enter the Heart-Questioning Road, so she waited in her carriage while Mo Yuanjiao left a Divine Sense Mark on her longevity lock and went up the mountain.
• Mo Yuanjiao worried in the Formation Hall about his mother and grandmother arranging a marriage for him, preferring cultivation to marriage and children.
• The Lin family had arranged Lin Lei's marriage to a girl from Songyang County for November after keeping their connection to the Lingxian Sect secret until the match was settled.
• Old Master Lin realized that nineteen-year-old Lin Yun had no marriage prospects and went to trouble Lin Dayou for neglecting his son's marriage.

At the Lingxian Sect’s evening meal, the members discussed Lin Xiao’s year-long seclusion as he attempted to reach the Nascent Soul Realm. The chapter also recounted Liao Pantu’s efforts to fuse his Soul Refining Instruction with the sect’s heart sutra and noted Liu Chun’s cultivation progress while he remained in the Immortal Cultivation Realm.

• Yuan Qing wondered when Lin Xiao would emerge from seclusion, and Liao Pantu said his breakthrough from Golden Core to Nascent Soul would take time.
• The sect members’ cultivation achievements showed how quickly many Lingxian Sect cultivators had advanced over the past few years.
• Liao Pantu had recovered another part of his soul body and reached Late Golden Core, but his cultivation had advanced slowly because he was researching a fusion of his Soul Refining Instruction and the Original Essence Heart Sutra.
• Liao Pantu recalled how Jiang Youfu had developed the Original Essence Heart Sutra: Immortal Food Chapter, inspiring him to explore whether his own technique could take a unique path.
• Liu Chun had reached Golden Core while accompanying his younger sister in the Immortal Cultivation Realm, after switching from the Peach Blossom Spring Myriad Void Instruction to the Original Essence Heart Sutra.

Liu Chun reflected on how his work for the Yuan Household and cultivation of the Original Essence Heart Sutra had brought him from Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to Golden Core Early Stage. As Lingxian Sect’s first outside disciple recruitment approached, Liu Yunan reported that preparations were nearly complete, and the group discussed plans for the newcomers and a new square.

• Over three years, Liu Chun advanced to Golden Core Early Stage while making talismans and cultivating at the Yuan Household, grateful that meeting Lin Xiao had changed his life.
• Liu Yunan arrived at Yaoguang Floating Island exhausted from organizing the Lingxian Sect’s first outside disciple recruitment, and the group welcomed him with dinner.
• After Liu Yunan said the arrangements were nearly complete, Jiang Youfu, Mo Yuanjiao, and Hu Liang each described what they hoped to teach the incoming disciples.
• Liu Yunan proposed building a square on a neighboring mountain in case more candidates passed the Heart-Questioning Road than expected, and Qin Jianghe agreed that Lin Xiao had previously suggested one.

While the Lingxian Sect members planned a new square, Mo Yuanjiao secretly packed food for Xuanyuan Haoyue, who was waiting hungry at the mountain’s foot. He sent her home in a sealed carriage and warned that he would tell her family to keep watch over her.

• Liu Yunan described a valley near the new disciples’ dormitory as the site for a square, and the volunteers divided up the construction work.
• Mo Yuanjiao asked Jiang Youfu to pack food for a supposedly hungry distant relative, and Jiang Youfu gave him a Storage Bag filled with enough food for two.
• Mo Yuanjiao went to the Heart-Questioning Road and found Xuanyuan Haoyue waiting in her carriage after failing to find food she liked in Xiushui Village.
• Mo Yuanjiao placed the food box in Xuanyuan Haoyue’s carriage, ordered her to eat and go home, and told her servants he would contact her family.
• Mo Yuanjiao sealed the carriage doors and sound, then guided the horse onto the road home while the servants and coachman hurried after it.

Han Weishu secretly delivered the Clear River Sect’s congratulatory gift and asked Mo Yuanjiao to let her take the Lingxian Sect’s disciple test early, hoping to study medicine under Mr. Sun and help A-Liang. After Mo Yuanjiao refused because the Heart-Questioning Road was closed, Han Shangyi allowed her to try joining the sect, while the Lingxian Sect began building its recruitment square.

• Han Weishu delivered the Clear River Sect’s gift to Mo Yuanjiao and asked to take the disciple recruitment test early.
• Mo Yuanjiao told Han Weishu that the Heart-Questioning Road would remain closed to outsiders until official recruitment, so she returned to the Lin Household courtyard to wait.
• Han Shangyi learned that Han Weishu had left for the Lingxian Sect, but declined Yu Jie’s offer to bring her home and let her try to join.
• Hu Liang watered and fed a Spirit Stone to the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree before heading to the valley where the sect square was being built.
• Liao Pantu guided the Artifact Refining Hall and Formation Hall as the workers shaped the square and began planning its platform, sound transmission, and decorations.

Lin Xiao underwent a profound transformation while meditating in the Nature Platform, as his Earth-Grade Golden Core expanded to encompass his body and then began condensing into a form resembling him. Outside, the Lingxian Sect completed its square and cultivation hall and prepared for recruiting newcomers, while Lin Xiao remained unaware of the year that had passed.

• Lin Xiao cultivated Origin Qi in the Nature Platform, and his Earth-Grade Golden Core swelled until it covered his body.
• Lin Xiao experienced a stillness in his Sea of Consciousness before Origin Qi surged through him and resonated with his soul.
• Lin Xiao's Golden Core drew inward into a shrinking form that retained the outline and features of his body.
• The Lingxian Sect members completed their square and built a large cultivation hall on a nearby peak.
• Yang Jinshu led the sect members in finishing landscaping and preparations for recruiting newcomers.
• Sun Yigao finished refining his high-grade Grain Avoidance Pills.

Xiushui Village celebrated the Lingxian Sect’s recruitment assembly as crowds filled the village and officials arrived to show their support. At a restaurant, Shen Yingzi reaffirmed his intention to try cultivating at the sect, and Yuan Jinsheng promised to accompany him.

• Xiushui Village’s chief and villagers accommodated the crowds who had come for the Lingxian Sect’s disciple selection.
• Xie Rong, Yin Xiaoxiao, Hua Xiao'er, and another boy made their way through the crowded streets as the village’s lion dance and firecrackers began.
• Tong Shuzheng arrived in a ceremonial procession, representing the imperial court in congratulating the Lingxian Sect.
• Yuan Jinsheng asked Shen Yingzi whether he still intended to cultivate at the Lingxian Sect despite three years of struggling to draw Qi into his body.
• Shen Yingzi said he would try before giving up, and Yuan Jinsheng agreed to accompany him.