Chapter Summaries

Lin Xiao persuaded the Lin Household to discuss cultivation calmly, then used his earnings to begin paying monthly salaries to his sect members. He delivered Lin Yun’s pay and headed to Hu Liang’s home next.

• Lin Xiao urged Eldest Uncle Lin's Wife and Lin Lei to discuss cultivation without arguing, and invited the Lin Household to join him.
• Lin Dayou refused Lin Xiao’s attempts to persuade him to cultivate, then handed over Lin Xiao’s earnings.
• Lin Xiao divided the copper coins into strings, kept one month’s salary for himself, and planned to buy grain for the sect.
• Lin Xiao gave Lin Yun a string of copper coins as his sect salary, and Lin Yun returned to cultivating.
• Lin Xiao set out to pay the other sect members and arrived at Hu Liang’s home in the middle of the village.

Lin Xiao paid Tietou his wages and gave him money to buy a roast chicken, then brought Qin Jianghe along to deliver stipends to their fellow sect members. The two arrived at Sun Yigao’s home to pay his stipend.

• Lin Xiao met Tietou outside the Hu Household and secretly paid him his wages, then gave him thirty-eight copper coins to buy a roast chicken.
• Third Aunt Hu questioned Tietou about Lin Xiao’s earnings, but Tietou’s mother called him inside before he could reveal anything.
• Lin Xiao visited Qin Jianghe and handed him his stipend and the remaining money to manage as the sect’s finance elder.
• Qin Jianghe agreed to help pay the other members and went with Lin Xiao to Sun Yigao’s home.
• Auntie Sun welcomed Lin Xiao and Qin Jianghe, and Lin Xiao explained that they had come to give Sun Yigao his sect stipend.

Lin Xiao and Qin Jianghe distributed sect stipends to Sun Yigao, Jiang Youfu, and Liu Yunan, strengthening their enthusiasm for the sect. Lin Xiao realized he had forgotten Xiaoluan and headed up the mountain at night to ask whether the little demon chicken should receive a stipend.

• Auntie Sun welcomed Lin Xiao and Qin Jianghe, and Sun Yigao joined them after dressing formally; the three agreed to set aside formalities among friends.
• Lin Xiao and Qin Jianghe gave Sun Yigao a hundred copper coins as his sect stipend, and Lin Xiao asked him to help teach future sect members.
• Lin Xiao gave Jiang Youfu his stipend, then suggested he use some money to join Tietou for roast chicken.
• At Liu Yunan's home, Lin Xiao and Qin Jianghe gave him a hundred copper coins, lifting his spirits despite his sister's lingering fever.
• After leaving, Lin Xiao noticed the stipend task was still incomplete because he had forgotten Xiaoluan, so he went up the mountain to ask whether the little demon chicken should receive coins.

Lin Xiao completed the sect stipend task by giving Xiaoluan a Spirit Stone and received Spirit Stones, a uniform recipe, and growth-accelerating bone meal. The next morning, Lin Dayou confronted him about cutting up his new belt, then left him to sleep again.

• Lin Xiao gave Xiaoluan a Spirit Stone as its sect stipend, and Xiaoluan said it could absorb the stone for three months.
• Lin Xiao completed the stipend task and received twenty Spirit Stones, a basic sect uniform recipe, and fifty portions of Spirit Plant Growth-Accelerating Bone Meal.
• Lin Xiao examined the uniform recipe, decided to test it later, and went to sleep.
• Before dawn, Lin Dayou woke Lin Xiao and demanded to know where his new belt was.
• Lin Xiao showed Lin Dayou the Storage Bag he had made from the belt, and Lin Dayou told him to keep using a grass rope or buy a replacement himself.
• Lin Dayou went to wash clothes, and Lin Xiao fell asleep again.

Lin Xiao planted Mo Mulberries in a new Spirit Field, then realized the spirit silkworms would still take time to grow. Worried about a sect arriving in nine days, he made strengthening his members the priority and built a cultivation room.

• Lin Xiao dug up ground and synthesized a roughly fifty-square-meter Spirit Field, then planted five Mo Mulberry seeds and used growth-accelerating bone meal on them.
• He placed ten spirit silkworm eggs on the new leaves, but realized he had no way to speed up the silkworms’ growth.
• Lin Xiao considered the approaching Shangyang Sect and decided his sect urgently needed to grow stronger.
• He took the Initial-Grade Spirit Gathering Formation from the thatched shelter and used it with mud, wood, straw mats, and four Spirit Stones to synthesize a cultivation room.
• Lin Xiao placed the roughly thirty-square-meter cultivation room behind and to the right of the sect’s main hall, and the system issued a task reward.

Lin Xiao built a cultivation room that greatly accelerated the sect members’ training, and the group spent five days cultivating there. As Sun Yigao reached Qi Refining Second Layer and the others all reached Qi Refining, Lin Xiao neared Qi Refining Fifth Layer, but Qin Jianghe arrived looking troubled after visiting his prospective bride’s family.

• Lin Xiao opened the cultivation room, and its dense Spiritual Qi prompted everyone to settle in and cultivate.
• Lin Xiao and the others shared lunch, then spent five days cultivating while villagers speculated that they were practicing martial arts.
• Lin Xiao discovered that the spirit silkworms had begun spinning silk and forming cocoons.
• The system announced that Sun Yigao had advanced to Qi Refining Second Layer; Lin Xiao also learned that Qin Jianghe and Hu Liang had reached Qi Refining First Layer, meaning every sect member had begun cultivating.
• Lin Xiao, close to Qi Refining Fifth Layer, stopped Qin Jianghe from entering the cultivation room and asked why he looked listless after visiting his prospective bride’s family.

Lin Xiao synthesized elegant, self-sizing Lingxian Sect uniforms and took the sect’s young disciples to Emerald Peak Town to watch the Shangyang Sect recruit. The group pushed through the packed marketplace to get a closer view of the recruitment.

• Qin Jianghe complained to Lin Xiao about his prospective bride and her family, so Lin Xiao dragged him off to cultivate; Lin Xiao advanced to the Qi Refining Fifth Layer.
• Lin Xiao used the Item Synthesizer to turn spirit silkworm cocoons, cotton, and Spirit Stones into ten white Lingxian Sect uniforms.
• The disciples admired their uniforms but put them away to save for a special occasion.
• Lin Xiao led everyone except Xiaoluan to town, and the young men raced there on foot, with Jiang Youfu losing and barking three times.
• Lin Xiao and the disciples entered crowded Emerald Peak Town and squeezed through the marketplace crowd for a better view of the Shangyang Sect recruitment.

At the Shangyang Sect's recruitment, Niu Xiaoxue revealed a rare mutated lightning spirit root and was accepted, while Qin Jianghe watched the girl he had expected to marry choose a different path. Lin Xiao and the others tried to comfort Qin Jianghe, who eventually smiled and joined their roughhousing.

• Lin Xiao and Sun Yigao reached the front of the crowd as the Shangyang Sect began testing children under twelve.
• Qin Jianghe spotted Niu Xiaoxue, the girl he had met as a potential bride, waiting to be tested.
• Niu Xiaoxue's test produced a flash of white light, revealing a single mutated lightning spirit root, and the sect disciples accepted her.
• Feng Xuanqie welcomed Niu Xiaoxue, gave her an umbrella, and introduced himself as Senior Brother Feng.
• The others gathered around the dejected Qin Jianghe and tried to console him, and he finally smiled before they teased him for acting sad.

Lin Xiao observed the Shangyang Sect’s recruitment and realized its cultivators’ elemental Qi differed from the cultivation path used by the Lingxian Sect. On the final day, the system shielded him from a high-level cultivator’s Divine Sense, and he watched the Shangyang Sect depart with its newly recruited disciples aboard a spirit ship.

• Lin Xiao noticed that the three Shangyang Sect cultivators gave off elemental Qi and wondered whether Spirit Roots were only one path to cultivation.
• Lin Xiao and the others stopped attending the recruitment, while villagers doubted that the boys from Xiushui Village could really cultivate.
• Lin Xiao went alone to watch the final departure and approached the Shangyang Sect cultivators gathered outside Emerald Peak Town.
• The system activated its Divine Sense Probe Prevention Function when a middle-aged cultivator probed Lin Xiao, causing the cultivator’s sensing to fail.
• The middle-aged cultivator summoned a spirit ship, and Lin Xiao bowed as the Shangyang Sect’s cultivators and newly recruited disciples boarded it.

Lin Xiao created and mastered the Cloud Soaring Technique, then tested its first tier by walking through the air and startled Jiang Youfu. Jiang Youfu told him that Widow Liu and Liu Shengsheng had come to see him, and Lin Xiao went to meet them at the mountain entrance.

• Lin Xiao watched the spirit ship depart and hurried back to the sect, inspired to create a flying technique.
• Lin Xiao used the Law Technique Creation Function to create the Cloud Soaring Technique, which had tiers for walking in the air, flying with Spiritual Power wings, and riding clouds.
• Lin Xiao tried the Air-Stepping Technique and soon walked in circles through the main hall.
• Jiang Youfu arrived, got startled by Lin Xiao in midair, and asked to learn the new Law Technique.
• Jiang Youfu told Lin Xiao that Tuzi's mother and younger sister had come to see him, so Lin Xiao went to the mountain entrance.
• Lin Xiao greeted Widow Liu, who thanked him for the money that had helped Liu Shengsheng receive treatment.

Widow Liu asked to join Lin Xiao’s sect and revealed that her family had once been wealthy merchants who hoped she would cultivate. Lin Xiao welcomed her and explained that his sect’s method did not require Spirit Roots.

• Lin Xiao let Widow Liu, Liu Shengsheng, and Liu Yunan into the sect and brought them to the great hall.
• Widow Liu told Lin Xiao she wanted to join his sect and cultivate alongside him.
• Widow Liu explained that she had dual earth and wood Spirit Roots and had nearly joined the Shangyang Sect before betrayal and disaster ruined her family’s fortunes and separated her from her parents.
• Widow Liu said she wanted to cultivate because she believed it was the only way to live with dignity, and Lin Xiao agreed to accept her.
• Lin Xiao told Widow Liu, Jiang Youfu, and Liu Yunan that his sect’s cultivation method did not require Spirit Roots.

Lin Xiao admitted Yang Jinshu and Liu Shengsheng into the Lingxian Sect and gave them cultivation manuals and uniforms. With the sect now at nine members, he checked their profiles and considered the sect’s lack of other cultivation manuals.

• Lin Xiao concluded that Sun Yigao’s cultivation speed showed little difference from his own and invited Widow Liu to cultivate.
• Widow Liu revealed her name was Yang Jinshu, and she and Liu Shengsheng joined the Lingxian Sect.
• Lin Xiao gave Yang Jinshu and Liu Shengsheng cultivation manuals and sect uniforms, bringing the sect’s membership to nine.
• Liu Yunan took his mother and sister to the cultivation room, while Jiang Youfu studied Hundred Beasts Spirit Speech to communicate with Xiaoluan.
• Lin Xiao checked the new disciples’ profiles and saw that Yang Jinshu was spiritually perceptive and wise and Liu Shengsheng had outstanding aptitude.
• Lin Xiao realized the sect had only one cultivation manual, leaving its members no choice in what they studied.

Lin Xiao experimented with synthesizing cultivation manuals and discovered that a focused core concept paired with a fitting catalyst produced better results. By using himself as the core and his spiritual power as the catalyst, he created the S-grade Original Essence Heart Sutra, upgraded the sect’s core manual, and began cultivating it.

• Lin Xiao gathered paper mulberry bark with Jiang Youfu and synthesized around ten manuals, but only two were A-grade and none reached S-grade.
• Lin Xiao compared his manuals and concluded that a solid central concept and a matching catalyst helped determine a manual’s grade.
• Lin Xiao used the concept of himself as the core and his own spiritual power as the catalyst, draining his reserves during synthesis.
• Lin Xiao synthesized the S-grade Original Essence Heart Sutra and set it as the sect’s core cultivation manual.
• The sect stele upgraded and granted Lin Xiao a permanent Key to the Green Field Secret Realm and a First-Tier Spirit Vein Fragment.
• Lin Xiao felt a strong desire to cultivate the Original Essence Heart Sutra and began practicing it in the main hall.

Lin Xiao became absorbed in cultivating the Original Essence Heart Sutra, while his friends and Lin Yun watched over him. After cultivating through the night, he reached the Qi Refinement Seventh Layer and wondered whether his rapid progress came from the sutra or from his lack of cultivation experience.

• Lin Xiao cultivated the Original Essence Heart Sutra so intently that he lost track of time, and his friends decided not to disturb him.
• Yang Jinshu offered to bring food, while Qin Jianghe went to tell Lin Dayou and Lin Yun that Lin Xiao was still on the mountain.
• Lin Yun reassured Lin Dayou about the sect's defensive barrier, then brought bedding up the mountain and stayed beside Lin Xiao overnight.
• Lin Yun fell asleep beside Lin Xiao, who continued cultivating until dawn and then covered Lin Yun with his quilt.
• Lin Xiao received a notification that he had advanced to the Qi Refinement Seventh Layer and considered why his cultivation had increased so quickly.

Lin Xiao prepared copies of the Original Essence Heart Sutra for the Lingxian Sect and visited his grandfather to ask for furniture for the sect. His grandfather agreed to make more shelves, beds, and tables if Lin Xiao supplied suitable wood.

• Lin Xiao learned that his idle cultivation function cultivated at roughly the speed of someone with Outstanding aptitude and decided to cultivate regularly himself.
• Lin Xiao copied the Original Essence Heart Sutra twenty times without simplifying it for the sect members.
• Lin Xiao went to his family's old house and asked Old Master Lin for a bookshelf to hold the sect's books.
• Old Master Lin sent Lin Lei to fetch a small bookshelf and agreed to make more furniture if Lin Xiao brought him good, dry wood.
• Lin Ying greeted Lin Xiao and asked him to bring her roast wild rabbit again.

Lin Xiao brought Lin Ying to the sect and set up a shelf of cultivation manuals in the cultivation room. The sect members began reading the manuals and choosing which ones suited them.

• Lin Dashan asked Lin Xiao to take Lin Ying up the mountain to cultivate, and Lin Xiao agreed.
• Lin Xiao discovered he had grown taller before returning to the sect with Lin Ying and a bookshelf.
• Lin Yun welcomed Lin Xiao and met Lin Ying after worrying about Lin Xiao’s absence.
• Lin Xiao placed the sect’s cultivation manuals and copied Law Techniques on the bookshelf in the cultivation room.
• Lin Xiao introduced the grade A, grade B, and grade S manuals, including the Original Essence Heart Sutra he had created.
• The sect members gathered to read the manuals and asked Lin Xiao, the teaching elder, and Yang Jinshu about unfamiliar characters.

Lin Xiao opened the Green Field Mystic Realm entrance and learned that the Qi Refining-only realm would soon be accessible. He decided to prepare himself and Sun Yigao to enter within ten days, leaving them time to explore before the season ended.

• Lin Xiao welcomed Lin Ying into Lingxian Sect, completing the mission to recruit ten sect members and receiving Spirit Stones and a Green Field Mystic Realm Entrance Connection Point.
• Lin Xiao placed the moss-covered connection point outside the cultivation room and fitted the Green Field Secret Realm key into it, prompting the system to explain the realm’s entry restrictions and seasonal window.
• Lin Xiao realized he had about a month to enter the realm before his cultivation would likely exceed the Qi Refining Stage.
• The system announced that Sun Yigao had advanced to the Third Layer of Qi Refining, and Lin Xiao decided to help him cultivate so they could enter the realm together.
• Lin Xiao resolved to give himself and Sun Yigao ten days to prepare, while keeping the plan from Sun Yigao so it would not affect his cultivation.

Lin Xiao put aside his cultivation to join his family in observing Qingming and visiting his mother’s grave. At the burial mountain, he sensed something strange nearby and told Lin Yun he suspected a danger that might have arrived recently or been hidden from him before he began cultivating.

• Lin Xiao helped Sun Yigao study the Original Essence Heart Sutra while Lin Ying turned to learning from Lin Yun.
• Lin Yun reminded Lin Xiao that the family was going down the mountain for Qingming, and Lin Xiao left cultivation to go with him and Lin Ying.
• The Lin family gathered offerings and tools, then traveled to their graves on a burial mountain southwest of the village.
• At the family graves, Lin Xiao sensed something unusual and warned Lin Yun that something bad might be nearby.
• Lin Xiao told Lin Yun the strange presence might have come recently or might have been there all along, beyond his senses before he cultivated.

Lin Xiao remained uneasy about the strange presence near Grave Mountain, but could not find its source before the Lin family returned home after honoring their ancestors. After Qingming, he devoted himself to cultivating and assisting Sun Yigao, leaving Sun Yigao confused by his sudden attentiveness.

• Lin Xiao and Lin Yun agreed to watch Grave Mountain more closely after Lin Xiao sensed something strange there.
• The Lin family cleared and repaired the graves, then paid respects to their ancestors and Lin Dayou's wife, Chunxiu.
• Lin Xiao searched around the graves for the source of the strange feeling but found nothing before the family headed home at sunset.
• The Lin family shared a festive meal at the old house, and Lin Dayou's spirits lifted enough to whack Lin Xiao's leg with a chopstick.
• After Qingming, Lin Xiao cultivated alongside Sun Yigao every day and urged him to study spells, leaving Sun Yigao uneasy about his sect master's unusual attention.

Lin Xiao prepared for the secret realm by creating Law Techniques and cultivating alongside the sect, while explaining the realm and its risks to the members. He and Sun Yigao planned to enter in two days, and Lin Xiao warned everyone to watch over the village while they were away.

• Lin Xiao spent eight days creating Law Techniques and cultivating as Lingxian Sect members made progress, with Yang Jinshu, Liu Shengsheng, and Lin Ying reaching Qi Refining First Layer.
• Sun Yigao advanced to Qi Refinement Seventh Layer, while Lin Xiao reached Qi Refining Eighth Layer and neared the Ninth Layer.
• Lin Xiao told the sect that he and Sun Yigao would enter the secret realm first to explore it and gather supplies for the sect.
• Lin Xiao explained that they could use single-use keys from the Key to the Secret Realm to return if they encountered danger.
• Lin Xiao said they would enter in two days and asked the sect members to stay vigilant and watch the village while he and Sun Yigao were away.