Chapter Summaries

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox entered Nine Stars Valley for the Ascension Convention and explored its stalls, amazed by the cultivation goods they had never seen before. They learned that the convention would begin in three days and that the Ten Great Immortal Sects would hold five trials, but they left with no spirit stones to buy anything.

• Chen Xun put on the Bandit Mask and led Big Black Ox through the mist into Nine Stars Valley, where they saw cultivators trading with spirit stones and pills.
• Chen Xun asked a young girl about the spirit herbs at her stall, but left after she asked whether he intended to buy them and he admitted he had no spirit stones.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox wandered among the stalls, learning about cultivation goods and hearing that the Ten Great Immortal Sects would hold five trials in the valley center when the convention began in three days.
• They watched an old man flee after cultivators exposed his Qi Boosting Pills as fraudulent, then continued gathering information from nearby cultivators.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox admired magical artifacts and spells but, lacking spirit stones, hurried away from a burly spell seller who suspected Chen Xun of being a bandit.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox witnessed the Ten Great Immortal Sects recruiting disciples at the Ascension Convention and recorded their trials in hopes of selling a guide. After the convention ended and violence erupted outside the valley, they fled toward the mountain range’s outskirts.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox watched the Ten Great Immortal Sects arrive in spectacular fashion and dreamed of joining them as laborers.
• An elder announced that cultivators under forty could enter the sect trials before the valley closed in seven days.
• Chen Xun persuaded Big Black Ox to document the trials and sell their analysis to independent cultivators.
• The convention ended with the major sects recruiting disciples, while many unsuccessful cultivators were left discouraged.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox fled toward the mountain range’s outskirts as brutal battles broke out beyond the valley.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox spent years searching the outskirts of the Ningyun Mountain Range and attending the Ascension Convention, where Chen Xun eventually began selling booklets about the Ten Great Immortal Sects’ recruitment trials. Their first day of sales earned them fifty spirit stones, and they continued peddling their manuals.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox failed to find spiritual herbs, remained at Qi Condensation Stage 3 for another year, and were mocked when they tried to sell a century-old medicinal herb at the Ascension Convention.
• They attended the convention repeatedly, recorded details about the sects, and left the valley at closing time before anyone noticed.
• After five years, Chen Xun and Big Black Ox reached Qi Condensation Stage 4, and Chen Xun became known among wandering cultivators as the Ascension Squatter.
• Chen Xun sold his first booklet to three newcomers for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, celebrating with Big Black Ox.
• A young man insisted on paying two Low-Grade Spirit Stones for a booklet, and Chen Xun agreed after sensing the man's powerful spiritual energy.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox sold fifty booklets that day and ended with fifty-one Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox spent their Spirit Stones on spiritual herbs, spells, and supplies before fleeing the valley to hide in a cave. They calculated that their ability could grow herbs rapidly enough to produce a hundred-year spiritual herb each month, but Chen Xun resolved to sell cautiously and build strength.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox saved a hundred Low-Grade Spirit Stones by selling booklets and agreed to keep their wealth hidden.
• Chen Xun bought three spiritual herbs and Medicine Boxes from a girl, bargaining their price down from twenty Spirit Stones to ten.
• Chen Xun bought a Fireball Spell for two Spirit Stones and, with Big Black Ox, purchased several spellbooks and a bag of Spirit Medicine Seeds.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox hurried out of the valley and concealed themselves in a wild beast's den on the outskirts of the Ningyun Mountain Range.
• Chen Xun calculated that their combined Essence of All Things could accelerate herb growth enough to yield a hundred-year spiritual herb per month.
• Chen Xun planned to grow the three herbs in Medicine Boxes first and sell crops sparingly so they would not attract attention.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox practiced spells, traded spirit herbs for supplies, and bought a pill-refining furnace as they continued cultivating. At the Ascension Convention, Chen Xun decided to stop selling their booklets and rejected an old man's promised fortune, choosing caution over an unknown opportunity.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox practiced their spells in the mountain cave, and Big Black Ox successfully used a fireball to burn a pebble.
• At the next Ascension Convention, Chen Xun traded a hundred-year-old Spirit Gathering Grass for Spirit Stones and bought Medicine Boxes for Big Black Ox.
• Chen Xun bought a low-grade Yellow-rank Pill Refining Furnace from a sect pavilion, while Big Black Ox eagerly admired it.
• Chen Xun told Big Black Ox they would stop selling their popular booklets because they were easy to copy and drew too much attention.
• An old man offered Chen Xun a fortune related to the booklets, but Chen Xun walked away and warned Big Black Ox not to trust easy promises of good fortune.

Chen Xun confronted the Liao Family after a seed seller cheated him, then avoided their retaliation and spent a year studying pill refining. He began his first attempt at making Heavy Feather Pills, but ruined the first batch and recorded what he learned.

• Chen Xun accused a seed seller of shortchanging him, and the Liao Family threatened him after he defeated their round-faced fighter.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox escaped Nine Stars Valley, returned to their mountain cave, and decided to avoid the Ascension Convention while they grew stronger.
• Chen Xun studied pill refining and spent a year accumulating spirit herbs as the Liao Family waited for him in vain.
• Chen Xun began refining Heavy Feather Pills with Big Black Ox watching, but the first set of ingredients became wasted medicinal liquid.
• Chen Xun recorded the details of his failed attempt in a blank booklet.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox finally succeeded at refining Heavy Feather Pills, broke through to the sixth level of Qi Refinement, and spent years cultivating in their mountain cave. When Chen Xun later resumed pill refining, the furnace exploded, leaving him unharmed but with a bald patch, and he chased Big Black Ox in a rage.

• After months of failed attempts, Chen Xun refined a batch of Heavy Feather Pills, and he and Big Black Ox ate them to break through to the fifth level of Qi Refinement.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox stabilized their realms, cultivated spiritual herbs, and eventually reached the sixth level of Qi Refinement while the Ox-Leading Bandit disappeared and the Liao Family abandoned its search.
• Chen Xun studied the Compendium of Spiritual Herbs as Big Black Ox tended their mature plants, and they continued living peacefully in their mountain cave.
• After increasing the Essence of All Things, Chen Xun began refining pills again and successfully operated the furnace for more than half a year.
• The Pill Refining Furnace exploded, covering Chen Xun in soot and blowing a bald patch into his hair.
• Chen Xun realized his hair was gone, put on the Bandit Mask, and chased Big Black Ox through the cave.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox spent a snowy day washing clothes before meeting refugees fleeing the turmoil in the Qian Kingdom. As they headed back to their cave, they found the refugees dead in the snow, including a woman and the little girl they had just met.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox used up their remaining pills and went to a stream to fetch water and wash clothes.
• A group of refugees told Chen Xun they had fled Dan Song City after rebellion and banditry spread through the Qian Kingdom, and he gave them directions to Pan Ning City.
• After the refugees left, Chen Xun told Big Black Ox stories about the history of war in his previous life.
• On their way back to the cave, Chen Xun and Big Black Ox smelled blood and found bodies scattered beneath the snow.
• Chen Xun turned over the corpses and recognized the woman who had protected the little girl among the dead.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox killed mountain bandits who had massacred refugees, then returned to cultivating as the world outside grew more unstable. After reaching Qi Condensation Stage 7, Chen Xun set out alone for the Ascension Convention to trade spirit herbs, leaving Big Black Ox behind.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox found murdered refugees and rushed after the mountain bandits who had attacked them.
• Chen Xun killed the bandit leader, Big Black Ox trampled the bandits, and Chen Xun burned their corpses with the Fireball Spell.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox resumed cultivating, reached Qi Condensation Stage 7, used up their Heavy Feather Pills, and raised the Essence of All Things to 20.
• As refugees continued to suffer, Chen Xun and Big Black Ox quietly shared smoked dried meat with some, while keeping their distance from the turmoil.
• Chen Xun left Big Black Ox behind and headed to the Ascension Convention with four hundred-year spirit herbs to trade.
• Chen Xun reached Nine Stars Valley, noticed the increased number of rogue cultivators, and entered a small sect's pavilion with a mournful expression.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox stocked up on supplies and spent a year preparing in their mountain cave before using the Immortality System to add a point to mana. The increase seemed ineffective at first, but their Fireball Spells later became dangerously powerful, leaving them facing a wildfire.

• Chen Xun sold hundred-year spirit herbs, bought Spirit Medicine Seeds and a better pill refining furnace, then returned to the mountain cave with Big Black Ox.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox organized their supplies and cultivated spirit herbs while unrest spread through the Qian Kingdom and the Ningyun Mountain Range.
• When the Immortality System allowed them to add points, Chen Xun and Big Black Ox put a point into mana but noticed no immediate change in their Qi Condensation Stage 7 cultivation.
• Two months later, Chen Xun and Big Black Ox accidentally burned their clothes while using the Fireball Spell to dry them.
• Big Black Ox demonstrated its spell by launching a huge fireball that ignited branches and leaves, and Chen Xun shouted for it to put out the fire.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox mastered mana and spent five years growing stronger amid Qian Kingdom’s turmoil. As they headed deeper into the Ningyun Mountain Range, they met a woman Chen Xun had encountered nearly ten years earlier, exchanged farewells, and continued toward their separate futures.

• Chen Xun realized mana strengthened spells while reducing their cost, and he and Big Black Ox practiced controlling it as Chen Xun’s pill refining improved.
• Five years passed as war and upheaval spread through Qian Kingdom, and Chen Xun and Big Black Ox killed a band of Mountain Bandits on their way through the mountains.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox reflected on the suffering they had witnessed, noted their transformed spells and pills, and reached the tenth level of the Qi Condensation Stage.
• On a mountain path, Chen Xun recognized a young married woman he had met nearly ten years earlier; she said she was leaving cultivation to return home for an arranged marriage.
• Chen Xun and the woman exchanged well-wishes and went their separate ways, with Chen Xun looking back at her before continuing onward.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox entered the Nine Stars Valley challenge, where Chen Xun demonstrated unusual combat skill but left after Purple Cloud Sect found his aptitude lacking. Yin Jun of Five Elements Sect then invited Chen Xun to join and began explaining the sect’s interest in spirit herbs for Foundation Establishment Pills.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox arrived at Purple Cloud Sect’s challenge, and Chen Xun swiftly disabled all ten puppet beasts while carrying Big Black Ox.
• The aptitude test revealed that Chen Xun was twenty years old with a Five Elements Mixed Spirit Root, so he left without attempting further challenges.
• Yin Jun, a Five Elements Sect disciple, approached Chen Xun and invited him to join his sect.
• Chen Xun questioned Yin Jun about proving his identity, the terms of joining, and whether Big Black Ox could come with him.
• Yin Jun showed Chen Xun his sect token and began explaining Five Elements Sect’s interest in spirit herbs for Foundation Establishment Pills.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox joined the Five Elements Sect and left Nine Stars Valley after paying their respects at the graves of Sun Kaile, Ning Si, and Ning Si’s wife. As they departed, they confronted the Liao Family, who had been hunting for the hooded man.

• Yin Jun explained the Five Elements Sect’s duties and contribution rules, and Chen Xun agreed to join after Big Black Ox revealed he had reached the second level of Qi Condensation.
• Chen Xun received a Dao Child Token and left with Big Black Ox, planning to travel away from Nine Stars Valley.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox cleared weeds and offered incense at Sun Kaile’s grave, then bowed farewell at Ning Si’s and his wife’s graves.
• The Liao Family attacked rogue cultivators outside Nine Stars Valley and recognized the hooded man they had been seeking.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox appeared on high ground beneath the full moon, and Chen Xun challenged the Liao Family.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox defeated the Liao Family members who had ambushed them, then boarded the Five Elements Sect’s flying boat with the other independent cultivators. As they left Nine Stars Valley and their old home behind, they set out toward Zhiyang Province and a new life.

• Chen Xun revealed his Qi Condensation Tenth Layer cultivation and subdued the round-faced Liao Family brute while Big Black Ox trapped the family in flames.
• Chen Xun recovered half a bag of spirit herb seeds, then killed the Liao Family members who had harbored killing intent toward him and Big Black Ox.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox arrived at Nine Stars Valley and met Outer Sect Elder Ao Gu before boarding the Five Elements Sect’s flying boat.
• The flying boat took off, and Chen Xun and Big Black Ox watched Nine Stars Valley, Pan Ning City, the Ningyun Mountain Range, and Sun Lao’s mountain peak recede from view.
• The flying boat changed course toward Zhiyang Province of the Qian Kingdom as Chen Xun and Big Black Ox looked ahead to their journey.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox traveled with the rogue cultivators to the Five Elements Sect, where Ji Kun tried to recruit Chen Xun into the Outer Sect Elder Hall. After a month in flight, they arrived at the sect’s hidden home in the Jade Bamboo Mountain Range.

• Ao Gu reminded the rogue cultivators that they would have to obey the Sect Rules and contribute to the Five Elements Sect.
• Ji Kun introduced himself to Chen Xun and Big Black Ox, then explained that the sect had over fifty thousand cultivators.
• Ji Kun recommended that Chen Xun join the Outer Sect Elder Hall for its missions, rewards, and combat experience.
• Chen Xun said he would consider Ji Kun’s offer but decided not to make a choice before reaching the sect.
• After a month of travel, Chen Xun and the others arrived above the Five Elements Sect’s mountain range.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox arrived at the Five Elements Sect and received their new disciple supplies before exploring the Sect Main Hall. After Le Feng brought them inside and explained the sect’s available posts, Chen Xun eagerly chose the unpopular medicinal garden work.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox landed at the Five Elements Sect, collected sect clothes and tokens, and changed into their green robes.
• Ji Kun led Chen Xun and Big Black Ox toward the Sect Main Hall and encouraged Chen Xun to consider what he had told him.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox admired the hall’s architecture until Law Enforcement Hall disciple Le Feng pulled them inside to explain the sect’s posts.
• After learning that medicinal garden work was unpopular and demanding, Chen Xun excitedly volunteered to grow spirit herbs.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox settled into their new role managing a secluded herb garden in the Five Elements Sect. After meeting the lonely cultivator who had tended it for ten years, they explored the garden, learned its rules, and planned their new home.

• Chen Xun accepted Le Feng’s talisman and obtained permission from the sect elder to manage a herb garden.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox followed the jade pendant to a secluded valley and opened a gap in its protective formation.
• They found the garden’s former caretaker, who happily left after ten years of isolation, and explored the herb fields and cottage he had left behind.
• Chen Xun studied the herb-growing instructions and sect rules while Big Black Ox played in the waterfall.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox decided to open mountain caves for themselves and discussed exchanging contribution points for a sword and visiting the mountain only when necessary.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox settled into Medicine Valley, opened a cave abode, and cultivated spirit herbs while learning the Water Spirit Art. More than half a year later, both had reached its second level and continued working toward their plans.

• Chen Xun laid out a plan to cultivate spirit herbs, earn sect contributions, obtain a flying sword, and avoid the dangerous Southern Dipper Mountain Secret Realm.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox began opening a cave abode and practicing the Water Spirit Art, while Chen Xun chipped the Mountain-Splitting Axe against the cliff.
• Chen Xun finished the cave abode, furnished it with Big Black Ox, and reflected on Ji Kun's claims about distant cultivation civilizations.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox went hunting in the mountains and spent more than half a year cultivating spirit herbs and practicing the Water Spirit Art.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox completed the second level of the Water Spirit Art and returned to work in their medicine fields wearing straw hats.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox submitted their first year’s full medicinal herb quota and received 200 contribution points, which they immediately spent on cultivation items. After learning about the Sect Competition and its rewards, Chen Xun considered competing to earn more points.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox submitted their full medicinal herb quota, and the old man awarded Chen Xun 200 contribution points.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox spent all 200 points on an immortal sword, a Pill Refining Furnace, and the Bigu Pill formula.
• Chen Xun vowed to farm for hundreds of years to empty the Contribution Hall, and he and Big Black Ox hurried back toward Medicine Valley.
• Chen Xun asked several disciples about the Sect Competition and learned its contribution-point rewards and that around thirty thousand disciples usually participated.
• Chen Xun reflected on the competition’s unequal resources and considered entering for the 500 points awarded to the top five hundred.

Chen Xun and Big Black Ox watched the Five Elements Sect's annual Sect Competition begin, observing the disciples and their varied techniques. They saw Eldest Senior Brother Bai Shi win his opening match, while Chen Xun became interested in learning a movement technique.

• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox reached the competition grounds and chose to observe instead of registering.
• Three days later, the Sect Competition began, and Sect Master You Yuanhua announced the event before the Foundation Establishment Elders started the matches.
• Bai Shi faced a Qi Condensation Eighth Layer disciple who used several talismans to challenge him.
• Bai Shi evaded the disciple's attacks and won after the Giant Strength Talisman's effect wore off.
• Chen Xun and Big Black Ox watched Bai Shi's movement techniques, and Chen Xun decided he wanted to learn one.