Chapter Summaries

Liao Pantu discovered that Everbright Mountain’s many Soul-Nourishing Tree saplings would greatly aid his cultivation, but he struggled to choose between staying there and tending the medicine garden. In Pusi Kingdom, Li Zhanying ordered a search for He Yi after hearing that he had gone traveling east and had not returned.

• Liao Pantu examined the Soul-Nourishing Tree saplings on Everbright Mountain and considered moving there to cultivate, but worried about leaving the medicine garden without a successor.
• Li Zhouxuan reported to Li Zhanying that the three major sects had increased their crafting orders and purchases, and that other neighboring sects had begun sending envoys to negotiate.
• Li Zhanying asked about He Yi, and Li Zhouxuan explained that He Yi had gone traveling east ten days earlier and had not returned.
• Li Zhanying ordered Li Zhouxuan to notify the prefectural governments to search for He Yi and sent Li Zeyuan east to confirm his safety.

Li Zeyuan set out after receiving a message from Li Zhanying, who valued his simple nature and wanted to see how far his cultivation could go. Meanwhile, He Yi waited in a Liaoju Prefecture teahouse for a storyteller who had gone to Xiushui Village to gather fresh news about the Lingxian Sect, but found no storytelling scheduled that day.

• The Lingxian Sect told the Li Clan it would teach them to make Sound Transmission Talismans, giving the clan a potential source of wealth and support for raising more cultivators.
• Li Zeyuan left his imperial estate after receiving a message from Li Zhanying.
• Li Zhanying reflected that Li Zeyuan's unambitious, peaceful temperament might help his cultivation, and he wanted to see how far Li Zeyuan could go.
• He Yi visited a teahouse in Liaoju Prefecture, where a veiled performer sang instead of a storyteller discussing the Lingxian Sect.
• The waiter told He Yi that the storyteller had gone to Xiushui Village for fresh material and was expected back around that day, though no storytelling was scheduled.

After learning all he could about the Lingxian Sect from a storyteller, He Yi set out for Xiushui Village to investigate the place himself. Meanwhile, the sect held a groundbreaking ceremony on Everbright Mountain, where Lin Dayou and many others relocated their loved ones’ graves before gathering for a feast.

• He Yi left the teahouse after discovering that the storyteller had gone to Xiushui Village, and decided to visit the village himself.
• The Lingxian Sect arranged spirit vessels to bring disciples home so they could relocate their relatives’ graves to Everbright Mountain.
• Lin Xiao began the ceremony by digging the first shovelful of earth, after which Lin Dayou and the others buried their loved ones in their assigned spaces.
• Lin Dayou left a cenotaph for his wife at the family burial ground, a choice that encouraged other Xiushui Village natives to move their relatives’ graves.
• The Spirit Cuisine Hall served a lavish feast, and Ma Changlong’s food arrangements impressed Jiang Youfu and the other disciples.

Lin Xiao held the Lingxian Sect’s first official feast for the whole sect, then worked with the Teaching and Research Group to prepare evening classes on Cultivation Methods. The chapter ended with the sect preparing to post the available method categories so members could choose which classes to attend.

• Lin Xiao gathered the Lingxian Sect at the main hall and announced the sect’s first official feast since its first recruitment.
• The sect members ate, drank, and celebrated together around a bonfire while Lin Xiao watched from the Ten-Li Peach Blossom Tree.
• The next day, Lin Xiao, Sun Yigao, and the others checked the lesson plans for the first level of each Cultivation Method.
• Lin Xiao and the others scheduled two short Cultivation Method classes each evening so lessons would not conflict with cultivation or work.
• Lin Xiao and the others decided to post the Cultivation Method categories so disciples could choose classes taught by the corresponding teachers.

The Lingxian Sect’s Teaching and Research Group arranged classes for disciples and chose Lingxian Academy as a temporary venue. Liao Pantu then explained Daoist names and why he had abandoned his birth name, leaving Mo Yuanjiao curious about discovering his own.

• Sun Yigao, Yang Jinshu, and Mo Yuanjiao agreed that disciples should settle into their chosen Cultivation Method classes rather than switch freely.
• Sun Yigao suggested holding classes at Lingxian Academy, and Lin Xiao agreed to plan proper teaching halls later instead of rushing to build them.
• Liao Pantu said Bai Zhu and other disciples had formed a study group, which had reduced the number of questions instructors received.
• Liao Pantu explained that he had used his Daoist name for over a hundred years and had forgotten his birth name; Lin Xiao’s system confirmed that it displayed only the name Liao Pantu acknowledged.
• Liao Pantu told Mo Yuanjiao and the others that meditation could reveal a Daoist name, which could help guide cultivation and overcome bottlenecks.

The Lingxian Sect disciples learned that comprehending their Daoist titles could help them break through cultivation bottlenecks, while Xiushui Village began building a protective wall as it expanded into a town. Bai Zhu and Liang Zhonghuai offered the village chief help from Azure Cloud Peak, leaving the wall’s construction underway as Liang admired the sect’s home village.

• The four disciples learned that understanding their Daoist titles could help stagnant cultivators break through, and Mo Yuanjiao imagined how impressive his title would sound.
• Village Chief Du and the elders began building a thick wall around Xiushui Town to protect residents from wild beasts, starting near Lingxian Academy.
• Bai Zhu and Liang Zhonghuai greeted Village Chief Du and offered to have Azure Cloud Peak disciples take turns loosening and warming the soil for construction.
• Liang Zhonghuai looked across Xiushui Village and admired the lively landscape and the place where the Lingxian Sect had been founded.

Yang Jinshu introduced Cultivation Method electives at Lingxian Sect, requiring each disciple to choose five methods. Meanwhile, He Yi arrived at Xiushui Village, sensed Yin Qi in the mountains, and discovered that Lingxian Sect had a floating island.

• Yang Jinshu distributed Cultivation Method Course Selection Forms and explained why disciples needed to cultivate combat methods for future dangers outside the sect.
• Yang Jinshu told the disciples to select five Cultivation Methods and submit their forms to Bai Zhu before dinner.
• He Yi arrived at Xiushui Village and blended in with the tourists visiting the under-construction village.
• He Yi sensed Yin Qi at the end of the North Mountain Range and sent a spiritual talisman toward it.
• He Yi spotted a floating island above the clouds and was astonished that Lingxian Sect possessed one.

Lin Xiao organized sect-wide Cultivation Method classes and built fifty training rooms on a mountain beyond Azure Cloud Peak. He finished by placing a jadeite stele beside the rooms, inscribed with “Path of Cautious Conduct.”

• Every Lingxian Sect member except the Teaching and Research Group submitted forms choosing five Cultivation Methods, and classes began that night at Lingxian Academy under an Isolation Formation.
• After ten days, more than a dozen sect members mastered the first level of all five methods they had chosen, allowing them to take on much of the Teaching and Research Group’s teaching work.
• Lin Xiao selected a peak beyond Azure Cloud Peak and built fifty Cultivation Method training rooms with enlarged interiors, formations, and protected practice areas.
• Lin Xiao tested every room and confirmed that each could withstand his Nascent Soul Realm strength without damage.
• Lin Xiao used the Item Synthesis function to make a jadeite stele and planted it beside the rooms, where it displayed the words “Path of Cautious Conduct.”

He Yi investigated strange traces near Xiushui Village and concluded that he would need to visit the Lingxian Sect to learn more. Meanwhile, an alchemy experiment at the sect failed when Sun Yigao could not stabilize the pill furnace, wasting a rare ingredient.

• He Yi discovered traces of a powerful Nascent Soul Demon Beast and a Spirit-Devouring Beast near Xiushui Village, along with an area mysteriously free of the Demon Beast’s presence.
• He Yi decided to visit the Lingxian Sect after finding no more information outside its territory.
• A furnace exploded in the Alchemy Chamber, and Liao Pantu and Sun Yigao emerged regretful but unharmed.
• Sun Yigao explained that his cultivation had been too weak to stabilize their experimental pills at the final stage.
• Qin Jianghe revealed that the failed experiment had consumed quenching ice essence, a rare ingredient he had bought for fifty thousand Spirit Stones.

After a difficult experiment, Liao Pantu and Sun Yigao decided to focus on cultivation, prompting the pill-refining chamber and other Lingxian Sect members to make cultivation a higher priority. Liao Pantu prepared the herb garden for his retreat on Everbright Mountain, while Sun Yigao began cultivating by reading at the Heart-Rectifying Mirror, leaving the sect with a more diligent atmosphere.

• Liao Pantu and Sun Yigao set aside pill research and entered seclusion to improve their cultivation, inspiring the pill-refining chamber to do the same.
• Lin Xiao arranged for twenty sect members to tend the medicinal herbs and six more to guard the herb garden so Liao Pantu could cultivate without worry.
• Liao Pantu chose Everbright Mountain for his retreat, while Sun Yigao sat beside the Heart-Rectifying Mirror and immersed himself in his books.
• Jiang Youfu and Liu Yunan watched Sun Yigao read and recalled how much they had admired his devotion to books since childhood.
• The Lingxian Sect members renewed their focus on cultivation, and Lin Xiao recognized how Sun Yigao and Liao Pantu had inspired them through example.

Sun Yigao investigated why the Heart-Rectifying Mirror changed after he finished books while Lin Xiao agreed to meet He Yi, an envoy from the Immortal Cultivation Realm investigating the Execution Stone incident. He Yi arrived at the academy reception room and surveyed the Lingxian Sect’s school, puzzled by its mortal teachers and students.

• Sun Yigao returned to the Heart-Rectifying Mirror to investigate how his reflection changed after he finished reading books.
• A General Affairs Hall disciple reported that He Yi, a Golden Core cultivator and envoy investigating the Execution Stone incident, had come to visit Lin Xiao.
• Lin Xiao recognized He Yi from the Talisman Master Assembly and agreed to receive him.
• A Lingxian Sect disciple escorted He Yi to the academy reception room and served him tea.
• He Yi examined the academy with his Divine Sense, found that its teachers and students were mostly mortals, and wondered why the Lingxian Sect taught them.

He Yi confronted Lin Xiao about the Lingxian Sect secretly drawing in Yin Qi from the area around Everbright Mountain. He Yi warned that the Immortal Cultivation Realm might condemn the sect, leaving Lin Xiao aware that He Yi could report the matter.

• Lin Xiao welcomed He Yi and asked why he had come to the Lingxian Sect.
• He Yi assessed Lin Xiao's apparent youth and the sect's rumored strength before asking why it was drawing in Yin Qi.
• Lin Xiao realized He Yi had detected the Yin Qi around Everbright Mountain and admitted it had resulted from the sect's formation research.
• Lin Xiao offered to take responsibility for any harm, while He Yi explained that such actions could invite condemnation if the Immortal Cultivation Realm learned of them.
• Lin Xiao understood that He Yi could report the sect's activities to the Immortal Cultivation Realm.

Lin Xiao saw through He Yi’s attempt to use the Lingxian Sect’s Yin Qi to intimidate him, but remained open to befriending the Talisman Master Assembly winner. He Yi questioned why the sect helped ordinary people, and Lin Xiao challenged his assumptions about the purpose of cultivation; He Yi ended by insisting cultivators should spend their time advancing their skills rather than helping mortals.

• Lin Xiao realized He Yi had used talk about Yin Qi to pressure him into granting a request, but judged that He Yi was unlikely to endanger the Lingxian Sect by exposing it.
• Lin Xiao considered investigating He Yi’s circumstances and thought that befriending the Talisman Master Assembly’s first-place winner might help Liu Chun and the sect’s talisman-making enterprise.
• He Yi’s attempt to steer the conversation toward his request stalled when Lin Xiao calmly invited him to ask more questions.
• He Yi asked why the Lingxian Sect aided ordinary people and established academies when those efforts brought cultivators little practical benefit.
• Lin Xiao asked what cultivators should do after living as long as the heavens, and He Yi argued that they should cultivate and practice useful skills instead of spending time on mortals.

Lin Xiao took He Yi to Xiushui Village for a visit, leaving He Yi puzzled by his casual behavior and apparent attachment to mortal life. As they departed with a growing haul of food from the villagers, Lin Xiao continued toward his next errand.

• Lin Xiao interrupted his conversation with He Yi and invited him to dinner, then led him from Lingxian Academy toward Xiushui Village.
• He Yi wondered about Lin Xiao's cultivation and behavior as Lin Xiao casually tugged him along through the village.
• Children recognized Lin Xiao, ran home to announce his arrival, and the village chief's daughter-in-law welcomed him and He Yi inside.
• Lin Xiao gave Village Chief Du a pouch of pills to take when he felt weak, then prepared to leave without staying for dinner.
• Village Chief Du's daughter-in-law sent Lin Xiao off with a basket of food, and another villager soon brought him a bag of fruit and roasted snacks.

Lin Xiao shared food with He Yi and explained why the ordinary warmth of Xiushui Village mattered more to him than power or desire. He Yi lost consciousness after something in his Sea of Consciousness shattered, leaving Lin Xiao worried he might be pretending to be injured.

• Lin Xiao collected food from villagers, then brought out glutinous corn and persuaded He Yi to try it.
• He Yi tasted the corn, found it delicious, and finished every kernel without asking Lin Xiao for more.
• Lin Xiao took He Yi to a hill overlooking Xiushui Village and described mortals and cultivators as equally born into the world and striving to live.
• Lin Xiao said he wanted to protect the everyday warmth of village life and keep the lights and cooking smoke of homes from going out.
• He Yi stared at the cooking smoke as Lin Xiao spoke, then felt something in his Sea of Consciousness shatter and collapsed.
• Lin Xiao wondered whether He Yi had a hidden illness or was faking an injury, and worried his poor sect could not afford compensation.

Lin Xiao examined the unconscious He Yi, finding his Sea of Consciousness protected by a powerful expert but his Golden Core accessible to Origin Power. He Yi woke after three days and discovered major changes to his Sea of Consciousness and a white bead in his Golden Core.

• Lin Xiao found He Yi unconscious and discovered that a powerful expert’s Divine Sense prevented him from examining He Yi’s Sea of Consciousness.
• Lin Xiao used Origin Power to examine He Yi’s Golden Core and found a tiny white bead that responded warmly to his energy.
• Lin Xiao’s attempt to examine the Golden Core with Spiritual Power was blocked, unlike his examination with Origin Power.
• He Yi woke in the village inn after three days and confirmed that no one had attacked him.
• He Yi noticed that his Sea of Consciousness had transformed and that a lustrous white bead had appeared in his Golden Core.

After waking in the Mortal Realm, He Yi discovered that his Sea of Consciousness had changed, his Divine Sense had grown stronger, and he had advanced to the Golden Core Middle Stage, but an unknown bead in his Golden Core obstructed his cultivation method. Suspecting Lin Xiao was responsible, He Yi set out to find him and was directed to Lingxian Academy.

• He Yi found that his Sea of Consciousness had cleared and expanded, his Divine Sense range had increased by a third, and he had reached the Golden Core Middle Stage.
• He Yi discovered a lustrous white bead inside his Golden Core and found that the Myriad Waters Instruction circulated sluggishly around the change.
• He Yi touched the bead with his Divine Sense, causing faint rings of light to ripple from it, but could not learn more about it.
• He Yi concluded that Lin Xiao might be responsible for the changes and decided to seek him out.
• The innkeeper told He Yi to go to Lingxian Academy and speak with Teacher Pei, as Sect Master Lin had instructed.

Lin Xiao realized that his words had caused He Yi’s Golden Core to begin converting Spiritual Qi into Origin Qi, leaving He Yi unable to cultivate normally. He Yi declined Lin Xiao’s invitation to join Lingxian Sect and raised his third question about Lin Xiao’s ability to withstand Execution Qi, revealing that he possessed an ancient formation related to it.

• Lin Xiao learned from the system that his insights had caused He Yi’s transformation and suspected He Yi would need a cultivation method capable of handling Origin Qi.
• Lin Xiao told He Yi that joining Lingxian Sect might be the best way to resolve his predicament, but He Yi refused to join and returned to their unfinished discussion.
• He Yi asked about rumors that Lin Xiao had resisted Execution Qi during the campaign against the Execution Stone Party in Huanyou Nation three years earlier.
• Lin Xiao treated the rumors as unsubstantiated, while He Yi explained that the Talisman Sect’s repository contained an ancient manual describing Origin Qi as a power that overcame Execution Qi.
• He Yi said he had come not to confront Lin Xiao but because he possessed a formation from the manual called the Execution-Binding Treasure Formation.

He Yi told Lin Xiao that only cultivators who could refine and control Origin Qi could activate the Execution-Binding Treasure Formation, then used a village-made Lingxian carving to show his respect for the Lingxian Sect. Convinced that he and Lin Xiao shared the goal of stopping Execution Stone, He Yi asked to join the sect and presented his Talisman Sect identity token.

• He Yi explained that the Execution-Binding Treasure Formation could stop Execution Cultivators from escaping but required someone able to refine and control Origin Qi.
• Lin Xiao concealed his knowledge and offered to help find cultivators who could control Origin Qi, while He Yi studied his reaction.
• He Yi gave Lin Xiao a wooden Lingxian carving made by an old carpenter in a remote village, and Lin Xiao smiled at it.
• He Yi concluded that Lin Xiao's kindness toward mortals came from goodwill and trusted that they shared a goal of eliminating Execution Stone.
• He Yi requested to join the Lingxian Sect and showed Lin Xiao his Talisman Sect direct disciple identity token.

He Yi destroyed his Talisman Sect identity token and asked to join the Lingxian Sect, then entered its Heart-Questioning Road. As Lin Xiao worried about the Execution-Binding Treasure Formation and the danger of revealing his Origin Power, the chapter ended by describing Dao Lord Taihua as the pinnacle of the northern and southern Spirit Domains.

• He Yi destroyed his Talisman Sect identity token and asked Lin Xiao to let him join the Lingxian Sect.
• Lin Xiao brought He Yi to the Heart-Questioning Road, and He Yi entered after assuring Lin Xiao that his elders would not interfere.
• Lin Xiao asked the system whether anyone else could use Origin Power, then worried that activating the Execution-Binding Treasure Formation would expose him and endanger the sect.
• The chapter described the Talisman Sect's floating island and introduced Dao Lord Taihua as the strongest figure in the northern and southern Spirit Domains.