Chapter Summaries

Yi Xuan persuaded Young Master Li to fund his grenade business by promising him a large share of the profits and handling production while Li Jingming managed sales. With Li Jingming’s investment and protection, Yi Xuan planned to expand production and research more inventions.

• Young Master Li became excited by Yi Xuan’s claim that grenade sales could earn ten thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones a day.
• Yi Xuan convinced Young Master Li to invest in expanding production and sell the grenades through his own channels.
• Yi Xuan offered to take only five percent of the profits, and Young Master Li agreed to invest two hundred thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones.
• The next morning, Young Master Li’s lackey delivered twenty Mid-Grade Spirit Stones and said Li Jingming would provide more money if needed.
• After the lackey left, Yi Xuan saw Li Jingming’s funding and influence as protection for his business and a way to pursue further research.

Yi Xuan taught Liang Shi to assemble grenades and told him he wanted him to become independent rather than rely on him. He then went to the Scripture Pavilion to research Rootless People and investigate his unusually rapid cultivation, leaving the Supreme Elder guarding the entrance.

• Yi Xuan ignored Liang Shi for a month, prompting Liang Shi to visit and ask why he had been pushed away.
• Yi Xuan explained that he wanted Liang Shi to stop depending on him and trained him to assemble a grenade.
• Yi Xuan revealed that he had reached Qi Refining, Eighty-Sixth Layer after only five cultivation sessions in two months.
• Yi Xuan went to the Scripture Pavilion to look for more information about Rootless People.
• The Supreme Elder recognized Yi Xuan's excuse for visiting and let him slip into the Scripture Pavilion.

Yi Xuan searched the Scripture Repository for information about Rootless Persons and discovered that a predecessor had created a Cultivation Method called the Spirit Refining Instruction. The Supreme Elder confirmed that the method could let Rootless Persons cultivate, but warned Yi Xuan not to get his hopes up and told him where to find it.

• Yi Xuan searched the repository’s records for two days but found no other Rootless Person besides the predecessor he already knew about.
• Yi Xuan reread the predecessor’s Jade Slip and noticed a passage describing the Spirit Refining Instruction, a Cultivation Method created for Rootless Persons.
• Yi Xuan hurried to the Supreme Elder and asked whether the Spirit Refining Instruction could really let Rootless Persons cultivate.
• The Supreme Elder confirmed that it could, but warned Yi Xuan not to expect much and directed him to a book in the northeast corner of the repository’s first floor.

Yi Xuan learned that the Spirit Refining Instruction strengthened Divine Sense through visualization and mental hammering, rather than increasing cultivation. When he tried the method, the first blow jolted him out of his inner vision, and the Supreme Elder laughed, leaving Yi Xuan to discover why nobody had succeeded.

• Yi Xuan read the Spirit Refining Instruction and learned how a Rootless Person had developed it to cultivate Divine Sense after failing to advance through ordinary cultivation.
• Yi Xuan questioned the method’s safety because damaging Divine Sense could have severe consequences.
• The Supreme Elder told Yi Xuan that people discovered the method every year, but none had ever successfully cultivated it.
• Yi Xuan visualized a block of iron and a hammer, then struck the block with the hammer.
• The blow exploded in Yi Xuan’s head and forced him out of inner vision, while the Supreme Elder laughed.

Yi Xuan took the Spirit Refining Instruction home, determined to follow the example of the sect senior who had mastered it through sheer willpower. After discovering Liang Shi’s talent for assembling grenades, Yi Xuan returned to his workshop and hit on the idea of using a 3D printer to expand production beyond grenades.

• The Supreme Elder told Yi Xuan that a sect senior had cultivated the Spirit Refining Instruction until his Divine Sense matched that of a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, and guessed the senior had succeeded through willpower.
• Yi Xuan borrowed the Spirit Refining Instruction and returned to his courtyard, where Liang Shi had spent two days practicing with grenade parts.
• Liang Shi assembled a grenade accurately in under nine minutes, surpassing Yi Xuan’s own assembly speed.
• Yi Xuan told Liang Shi to come each morning to assemble grenades, then restarted his artifact-refining cauldrons and updated No. 01.
• After worrying that grenade production would occupy all his workshop capacity, Yi Xuan thought of making a 3D printer.

Yi Xuan had No. 01 design a metal 3D printer, but discovered that its heating system could only process Mysterious Iron and weaker materials. He shelved the design and decided to ask the grand elder for advice.

• Yi Xuan gave No. 01 3D-printing knowledge, and it absorbed the information in fifteen minutes before designing a printer to his specifications.
• No. 01 independently cross-checked the design against Yi Xuan’s database, prompting Yi Xuan to question its decision and inspect its highest-priority command.
• No. 01 explained that the Raging Fire Formation could not melt materials with higher melting points than Mysterious Iron.
• Yi Xuan shelved the printer design and went to bed, planning to ask the grand elder for advice the next day.

Yi Xuan visited Fatty Lin after being invited and learned that the man had a young son he had only recently discovered. When Fatty Lin raised the subject of Yi Xuan’s grenades, Yi Xuan warned him away and revealed he was partnering with Li Jingming.

• Yi Xuan found Liang Shi assembling grenades and praised him before following Lin Er to Fatty Lin’s residence.
• Yi Xuan met Fatty Lin’s young son and gave him an Iron Man figurine.
• Fatty Lin explained that the boy was his son from a past encounter and that the child had recently lost his mother.
• Fatty Lin asked Yi Xuan about the grenades, and Yi Xuan warned him not to get involved in the business.
• Yi Xuan told Fatty Lin that Li Jingming was his grenade-business partner and asked who was in charge of the Azure Cloud Sect.

Yi Xuan realized Spirit Fire could provide the heat needed for his 3D printer and learned that an auction in the capital would offer one in two months. He planned to travel there with Fatty Lin after spending the next month preparing.

• Yi Xuan told Fatty Lin that Li Jingming was the powerful heir behind the grenade business, and Fatty Lin declined to join the business but asked to meet Li Jingming.
• At dinner, Yi Xuan explained that the Raging Fire Formation could not provide enough heat for a treasure he was making.
• Fatty Lin suggested Spirit Fire, prompting Yi Xuan to recall its high temperature and uses in refining pills and artifacts.
• Fatty Lin revealed that a capital auction would offer an ordinary Spirit Fire as a final lot in two months.
• Yi Xuan told Fatty Lin not to disturb him for a month and said he would travel to the capital with him afterward.

Yi Xuan spent a month in seclusion modifying firearms, discovering that Spirit Stone bullets could threaten Foundation Establishment cultivators. He suspended the grenade business and went to meet Fatty Lin before their planned trip to the capital.

• Yi Xuan resumed his firearms research to prepare for leaving Azure Cloud Sect territory with Fatty Lin.
• Yi Xuan replaced a bullet’s gunpowder with a Spirit Stone fragment and inscribed an array, but the pistol exploded when he fired it.
• Yi Xuan rebuilt the pistol with mysterious iron and fired a Spirit Stone bullet, which punched through a wooden rack and nearly a meter into the wall.
• Yi Xuan inscribed arrays on the pistol to reduce its recoil and continued developing firearms in seclusion for a month.
• Yi Xuan told Liang Shi to suspend grenade production and notify Young Master Li’s household that he would be away for three months, then left to find Fatty Lin.

Yi Xuan traveled with Fatty Lin in a lavish carriage that attracted a bandit attack, only for the group to discover that the bandits had a powerful Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator. As Fatty Lin feared for their lives and considered paying a ransom, Yi Xuan went out to bargain with the bandits.

• Yi Xuan arrived at Fatty Lin's residence and was stunned by the luxurious carriage Fatty Lin had prepared for their journey.
• Yi Xuan enjoyed Fatty Lin's wine and roast lamb as the caravan traveled, then heard that riders were pursuing them and might be bandits.
• Fatty Lin ordered Attendant Shen to capture the bandits, and the martial artists began fighting outside the carriage.
• Attendant Shen returned covered in blood and warned Fatty Lin that the bandits included a Foundation Establishment Late Stage immortal master.
• Fatty Lin decided to ask the bandits to name a price, while Yi Xuan went outside to see if he could bargain for a cheaper ransom.

Yi Xuan and Fatty Lin faced a bandit leader who demanded Fatty Lin's air conditioner and attacked after Fatty Lin refused to hand it over. Yi Xuan's pistol and rifle could not penetrate the cultivator's True Essence shield, so he brought out a Gatling gun and aimed it at the man.

• Attendant Shen offered the bandits money or goods, and Fatty Lin used Yi Xuan's megaphone to communicate with their leader.
• The bandit leader demanded an air conditioner, but Fatty Lin offered only the one in his carriage and promised to send more later.
• The bandit leader broke Fatty Lin's martial artists' formation with a sword strike and charged at Fatty Lin.
• Yi Xuan stopped the charge with a pistol shot, then fired a rifle at the bandit leader, but neither weapon could penetrate his shield.
• The bandit leader threatened Fatty Lin and moved rapidly around the group, so Yi Xuan aimed a Gatling gun at him and asked whether he had ever seen one spit blue fire.

Yi Xuan used his cultivation-world Gatling gun to kill a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator and wipe out the bandits threatening Fatty Lin’s group. After the group reached the capital, Yi Xuan learned that immortal masters and a protective formation had made the city’s immense scale possible.

• Yi Xuan agreed to give the air conditioner to the opposing cultivator, then used his Gatling gun to kill him when it locked onto its target.
• Attendant Shen prepared to lead the group against the remaining bandits, but Yi Xuan stopped him and swept them down with the Gatling gun.
• Yi Xuan inspected the gun’s overheated Mysterious Iron barrels and realized he needed to find stronger materials.
• The group found little of value among the bandits’ belongings and continued their journey without further trouble.
• Less than ten days later, Yi Xuan and Fatty Lin arrived at the capital, where Fatty Lin explained that immortal masters and a protective formation had helped build the city.

Yi Xuan toured the capital with Fatty Lin and visited the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, where he learned about a Golden Flame Spirit Fire listed for auction. He left without making a bid, and Fatty Lin warned Shopkeeper Tong not to manipulate the auction price because Yi Xuan intended to obtain the flame.

• Fatty Lin took Yi Xuan to the Treasure Gathering Pavilion, the largest auction house in the Western Jiang Kingdom.
• Fatty Lin introduced Yi Xuan to Shopkeeper Tong, and Yi Xuan identified himself as a disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect.
• Yi Xuan examined the auction list and asked Shopkeeper Tong about the Golden Flame Spirit Fire.
• Yi Xuan left the pavilion, and Fatty Lin told Shopkeeper Tong that Yi Xuan had come to bid on the flame and warned him not to drive up its price.

Yi Xuan and Fatty Lin finished their scheme to secure a spiritual fire cheaply and went to explore the capital’s porcelain shops. There, Yi Xuan reunited with Shi Zhenghao and learned the real reason behind his senior brother’s supposed defection, while Shi Zhenghao remained free of the sect.

• Yi Xuan and Fatty Lin revealed that they had staged a good-cop, bad-cop act to keep Shopkeeper Tong from raising the spiritual fire’s auction price.
• Fatty Lin took Yi Xuan to a street of porcelain shops, where they discussed the capital’s Ru ware.
• Yi Xuan recognized Shi Zhenghao, who was boasting to a woman that he would become the Azure Cloud Sect’s master, and exposed his past; the woman slapped him and left.
• Yi Xuan told Shi Zhenghao that their master had gone into seclusion and shared what their master had said before leaving.
• Shi Zhenghao explained that he had deliberately used the law enforcement elder’s trap as an excuse to escape becoming sect master and leave the Azure Cloud Sect.

Yi Xuan reunited with his expelled senior brother Shi Zhenghao, who led Fatty Lin to a pleasure boat after claiming it was a place to admire Ru ware. Fatty Lin discovered it was a brothel, learned Shi Zhenghao’s identity, and worried about the consequences before Yi Xuan reassured him.

• Fatty Lin met Shi Zhenghao and mistook him for a secluded, powerful Azure Cloud Sect disciple after Yi Xuan praised his strength.
• Shi Zhenghao said he would rather visit a brothel than look at Ru ware, and Fatty Lin followed him to a pleasure boat, believing it displayed porcelain.
• Fatty Lin realized the boat was a brothel after seeing Shi Zhenghao with drinking girls, and Shi Zhenghao confirmed he had brought him there for a brothel visit.
• Yi Xuan told Fatty Lin that Shi Zhenghao had been expelled from the Azure Cloud Sect more than ten years earlier, and Fatty Lin recognized his notorious name.
• Shi Zhenghao left Fatty Lin with the bill, while Yi Xuan reassured him the sect would not punish him for coming along.
• Fatty Lin relaxed and drank wine from another table before Yi Xuan told him their own drinks had not arrived.

Yi Xuan watched Grandmaster Yun dance on the pleasure boat and learned that her Eighth-Grade Spirit Root had attracted many sects, but she had challenged their authority with questions about whether cultivators were human or immortal. Her questions left Yi Xuan reflecting on what immortals really were.

• Fatty Lin told Yi Xuan that he had sworn off women out of consideration for the boy and the boy’s mother, but Grandmaster Yun’s appearance soon captivated him.
• Grandmaster Yun performed a dance and revealed her face, leaving the boat’s guests enthralled while Yi Xuan watched without reacting.
• Two guests fought over Grandmaster Yun, and the boat’s crew threw them overboard.
• A scholarly young man told Yi Xuan that Grandmaster Yun, whose name was Yun Shulan, had an Eighth-Grade Spirit Root and had rejected sects that came to recruit her.
• The young man recounted Yun Shulan’s questions about whether cultivators were human or immortal and why they stood above mortals or interfered in mortal affairs, prompting Yi Xuan to reflect.

Yi Xuan was invited to Grandmaster Yun’s private chamber for a solo dance after the pleasure boat’s manager clarified that her invitation was not being auctioned for Spirit Stones. When Yun Shulan misunderstood his casual response as an insult to ordinary people, Yi Xuan tried to explain that he was different from other cultivators and revealed that he was a Rootless Person.

• A maid announced that Grandmaster Yun wished to invite a guest to watch her perform a solo dance, and the guests began bidding Spirit Stones.
• The boat’s manager explained that Grandmaster Yun had never exchanged a dance for Spirit Stones and let the maid finish her message.
• The maid invited Yi Xuan into Grandmaster Yun’s private chamber, and Fatty Lin pushed him forward as the guests protested.
• Yun Shulan asked Yi Xuan what piece he wanted, and he named “Gokuraku Jodo” before telling her to perform whatever she liked.
• Yun Shulan accused cultivators of seeing ordinary people as ants, and Yi Xuan told her he was a Rootless Person.

Yi Xuan explained to Yun Shulan what it meant to be a Rootless Person and learned that her objection was to cultivators who looked down on ordinary people. He promised he might one day help ordinary people gain the power to demand respect, and told her to find him if she heard rumors about him in the capital.

• Yun Shulan mistook Yi Xuan's Rootless constitution for castration, and he clarified that it meant he had no Spirit Root.
• Yi Xuan told Yun Shulan about Rootless Persons and said he had accepted his condition a month after learning of it.
• Yun Shulan revealed that she was a Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivator and explained that she resented cultivators who treated ordinary people as inferior.
• Yi Xuan told Yun Shulan that ordinary people would earn cultivators' respect if they gained the ability to threaten them.
• Yi Xuan left, telling Yun Shulan to seek him out if she heard rumors about him in the capital and reminding her that she owed him a solo dance.

After returning to his courtyard with Golden Flame refined, Yi Xuan found that No. 01 had finished processing its information and started a full self-check. He tested Liang Shi’s Spirit Root and offered to take him as a disciple, but clarified that Liang Shi would not join the sect.

• Yi Xuan returned to his courtyard with Golden Flame and found that Liang Shi had kept the place tidy during his absence.
• Yi Xuan learned that No. 01 had finished entering the information and ordered it to begin an eight-hour comprehensive self-check.
• Yi Xuan took Liang Shi to the Spirit Root testing site, where the elder identified Liang Shi’s Spirit Root as Fourth-Grade.
• Yi Xuan told Liang Shi he wanted to take him as his disciple, and Liang Shi accepted by kneeling and kowtowing.
• Yi Xuan told Liang Shi that, despite becoming his disciple, he would not be a disciple of the sect, and Liang Shi agreed.

Yi Xuan had Liang Shi assemble a 3D printer after training him with No. 01, while Yi Xuan prepared materials for a robot. Liang Shi completed the printer in four hours, and Yi Xuan began tuning it.

• Yi Xuan assigned No. 01 to teach Liang Shi modern science and gave him a cultivation method to study.
• Yi Xuan made a new artifact-refining cauldron and spent more than ten days processing the 3D printer's components.
• Yi Xuan handed Liang Shi the blueprints and told him to assemble the printer under No. 01's supervision.
• Yi Xuan bought materials for a robot from Fatty Lin's shop while Liang Shi assembled the printer.
• No. 01 reported that Liang Shi had finished the printer in four hours, and Yi Xuan praised him before tuning the machine.