Recaps

Shan Heyuan showed Wen Chengyi that he had cultivated Foundation Establishment-grade Drunken Ox Grass, qualifying him for the third-grade planter exam. After returning to tend the Spirit Plant gardens and telling Jiu Mingyue about the upcoming exam, Shan learned that Tong Liangji would lead the examiners and that the exam was scheduled for the sixteenth day of the seventh month.

• Shan Heyuan showed Wen Chengyi seeds of Foundation Establishment-grade Drunken Ox Grass he had cultivated, and Wen judged that they would earn him an excellent result on the third-grade planter exam.
• Shan Heyuan said he would register for the exam while passing through town on his way to the Supreme Harmony Sect, and Wen Chengyi arranged for a chief examiner to come to Jingzhishan Town.
• Shan Heyuan tended the Spirit Plant garden with Spring Breeze Turns to Rain, and Qi Yuanbai praised his work and asked when he would make Fertilizer Pills.
• Jiu Mingyue visited Shan Heyuan, received Kuliang Grass as a gift, and learned that Shan planned to take the third-grade planter exam.
• Wen Chengyi sent Shan Heyuan a communication talisman confirming that Tong Liangji would lead the examiners and that the exam would take place on the sixteenth day of the seventh month.

Shan Heyuan completed the third-rank grower exam, impressing the practical examiners by reviving a badly rotted Spirit Plant, then learned the Supreme Harmony Sect might recommend him for a Sword Reverence Academy teaching assistant position. The chapter ended with him sitting in a daze after Shen Duheng returned, leaving his decision about the opportunity unresolved.

• Shan Heyuan took the written exam, struggled with unfamiliar questions, and made his best guesses.
• Shan Heyuan used Gentle Breeze and a spirit liquid to regrow a nearly liquefied diseased plant, earning the proctors' appreciation.
• Shan Heyuan defended his cultivation of Foundation Establishment-grade Drunken Ox Grass seeds, then went home and slept for two days and one night.
• Jiu Mingyue visited Shan Heyuan and offered to seek him a teaching assistant slot at the Sword Reverence Academy if he passed the third-rank grower exam.
• Shen Duheng returned to find Shan Heyuan sitting in a daze at the tea table and asked what he was thinking about.

Shan Heyuan passed the third-grade planter examination and considered the Supreme Harmony Sect’s recommendation to Sword Reverence Academy, while facing the prospect of parting ways with Shen Duheng. He decided to visit the academy and began selling his spirit herbs at a busy Supreme Harmony Sect market.

• Shan Heyuan told Shen Duheng about the recommendation to Sword Reverence Academy, and Shen Duheng said they did not need to stay together as their paths diverged.
• Shan Heyuan passed the third-grade planter examination, and Qi Yuanbai encouraged him to visit Sword Reverence Academy.
• Qi Yuanbai secured Shan Heyuan a stall in the Supreme Harmony Sect’s square so he could sell his spirit herbs before traveling.
• Shan Heyuan brought nearly four thousand spirit herbs to the market, where Qi Yuanbai, Jiu Mingyue, He Mingqing, Zhong Shuran, Zhao Changming, and Li Jiamu helped him sell them.
• A crowd gathered around Shan Heyuan’s stall, drawn by his reputation and the quality and reasonable prices of his spirit herbs.

Shan Heyuan sold all his Spirit Herbs and spent much of his earnings on two space stones, commissioning a matching pair of storage bracelets for himself and Shen Duheng. He kept the gift secret until the bracelets were finished, then presented them to Shen Duheng, who began inspecting them.

• Shan Heyuan sold out of Spirit Herbs in the morning and spent the afternoon browsing stalls.
• Shan Heyuan bought two space stones after Zhao Changming explained they could be made into a matching pair of storage Law Artifacts.
• Shan Heyuan commissioned a pair of men's storage bracelets and asked his friends to keep the purchase secret.
• The artifact refiner completed the bracelets, each with enough space to hold an entire Supreme Harmony Sect square.
• Shan Heyuan presented one bracelet to Shen Duheng and explained that he had bought the pair for them to share.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng left their courtyard and friends behind to travel to Sword Reverence City, where Shan Heyuan was due to join the Sword Reverence Sect. After a smooth journey by Luan carriage, they arrived at the vast city and flew toward its outskirts.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng decided to travel to Sword Reverence City together for Shan Heyuan's December 1 report to the Sword Reverence Sect.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng left their courtyard and found Zhong Shuran, Zhao Changming, Li Jiamu, He Mingqing, Jiu Mingyue, Qi Yuanbai, and Ma Rupei gathered to see them off.
• Zhong Shuran poured a farewell drink, and Shan Heyuan thanked everyone before he and Shen Duheng boarded the Luan carriage.
• Shan Heyuan watched mountains, rivers, and sparse settlements pass below, then fell asleep during the journey.
• Shen Duheng woke Shan Heyuan when they reached Sword Reverence City, and the two tipped the carriage driver before flying toward the city's outskirts.

Shan Heyuan arrived in Sword Reverence City with Shen Duheng and settled into the courtyard assigned to him. He reported to Sword Reverence Academy, where Tong Liangji gave him his identity jade tablet and explained his teaching assistant duties in the Planting Institute.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng entered Sword Reverence City and rode an enlarged orange cat to the courtyard arranged by the Supreme Harmony Sect.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng settled into the empty courtyard, then went out for dinner and explored the neighborhood.
• Shan Heyuan contacted Tong Liangji, who welcomed his arrival and asked him to report to the academy.
• Tong Liangji gave Shan Heyuan an identity jade tablet and took him by sword to the Planting Institute.
• Tong Liangji told Shan Heyuan to oversee the Spirit Plants and answer disciples' questions in Orchid's Bing and Ding class gardens.

After settling into his teaching-assistant job at Sword Reverence Academy, Shan Heyuan woke from a frightening dream about cats and dogs and was comforted by Shen Duheng. The next morning, he reached the Planting Institute and began learning about the classes and his duties managing Spirit Plants.

• Tong Liangji showed Shan Heyuan around the Planting Institute, completed his hiring formalities, and invited him to dinner with the academy staff.
• On his way home, Shan Heyuan summoned a spirit dog in the western district, learned about the cats' and dogs' territories, and rode home through the city.
• Shan Heyuan awoke sweating from a dream about kittens and puppies, and Shen Duheng brought him sweet soup to calm him.
• Shan Heyuan traveled by flying sword to the academy, following the designated route despite his shaky flying skills.
• Shan Heyuan spoke with Jiang Zhi and Li Jian, received materials about their classes, and met the students he would assist.

Shan Heyuan restored the neglected Spirit Plant gardens at Sword Reverence Academy and began clearing the courtyard at home for planting. After Shen Duheng precisely cut down the weeds, Shan Heyuan used an improved soil-turning Spirit Artifact to prepare the soil, leaving the courtyard ready for crops.

• Shan Heyuan inspected the neglected gardens for Classes C and D, then used the Spring Transformation Art to nurse their Spirit Plants back toward health.
• Shan Heyuan settled into his teaching assistant job and began writing to his friends about his new work and colleagues.
• Shan Heyuan started clearing the overgrown courtyard, and Shen Duheng used his spirit sword to cut the weeds precisely at ground level.
• Shan Heyuan demonstrated the academy's soil-turning Spirit Artifact, which sifted and sterilized the courtyard soil using high heat.
• Shan Heyuan finished preparing the soil and checked his potted plants grown from fallen leaves and broken branches.

Shan Heyuan transplanted Spirit Plants and later used the Illusionless Tree to cultivate, with Shen Duheng guarding him. After enduring the surge of Spiritual Power, Shan Heyuan still could not master the next move of the Spring Transformation Art.

• Shan Heyuan planted Foundation Establishment-grade Spirit Plants in his courtyard and nourished them with spirit liquid.
• Shan Heyuan slipped on the frosty ground, recovered his balance, and laughed with Shen Duheng, who watched from a window.
• Shan Heyuan restored and planted the wilted Flying Swan Grass, then struggled to choose another Spirit Plant to use.
• Shen Duheng suggested the Illusionless Tree, and Shan Heyuan decided to put it in his Dantian while Shen stood guard.
• The Illusionless Tree released dense Spiritual Qi through Shan Heyuan, who cultivated until the energy settled and spread through the courtyard's Spirit Plants.
• Shan Heyuan told Shen Duheng he could not find a way to practice Return a Plum for a Peach.

Shan Heyuan struggled to understand the Spring Transformation Art and then learned that two disciples had been poisoned while investigating the Dead Realm. Huai Liu distributed Verdant Dwelling Grass seeds to the Planting Institute staff, hoping they could grow the antidote ingredient and save the disciples.

• Shan Heyuan set aside his attempt to decipher the Spring Transformation Art, and Shen Duheng promised to look for a clearer copy.
• Cats and dogs gathered in Shan Heyuan's courtyard to bask in its abundant Spiritual Qi, while Shan Heyuan's cultivation neared the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
• Shan Heyuan saw two poisoned disciples being carried to the director's office and learned from Jiang Zhi that Huai Liu was an expert in poisons.
• Huai Liu summoned the Planting Institute staff and explained that two disciples poisoned while investigating the Dead Realm needed Verdant Dwelling Grass for an antidote.
• Huai Liu gave the staff seeds and asked them to grow Verdant Dwelling Grass to save the disciples whose lives were hanging by a thread.

Shan Heyuan received Verdant Dwelling Grass seeds and planting notes from the academy, then planted two seeds at home while the academy offered a reward for growing medicinal-quality grass. The next day, his colleagues gathered to compare their efforts, but none of their seeds had sprouted yet.

• Dean Huai Liu asked skilled growers to cultivate Verdant Dwelling Grass, distributed Grandmaster Jiulu's notes, and offered fifty contribution points for a medicinal-quality plant.
• At a meeting of the Orchid cohort, Tong Liangji praised Shan Heyuan's gardening and urged him to try growing the grass.
• Shan Heyuan returned to his quiet home, soaked one seed in spiritual liquid, planted another in the courtyard, and kept the third in reserve.
• The next day, Shan Heyuan tended the academy's gardens and went to the office, where Jiang Zhi asked how his seeds were growing.
• Jiang Zhi, Shan Heyuan, and the other teachers compared their planting methods, and Li Jian reported that neither of his seeds had sprouted.

Shan Heyuan saved a dying Verdant Dwelling Grass by placing it in his Dantian beside the Illusionless Tree, where it began to grow. He transplanted the still-weak grass in his courtyard and went to work, hoping to cultivate it further for the two unconscious disciples.

• The instructors and assistants admitted that none of them had managed to grow the Verdant Dwelling Grass, while Shan Heyuan learned the two disciples remained alive but unconscious.
• Shan Heyuan found his Verdant Dwelling Grass nearly dead, with moldy, rotting endosperm, and opened its seed coat to tend the fragile cotyledons.
• When the sprout continued to wither in the cold, Shan Heyuan put it in his Dantian, where the Illusionless Tree's Spiritual Power revived it.
• The Verdant Dwelling Grass grew leaves and roots beside the Illusionless Tree, but Shan Heyuan removed it when it neared its limit and transplanted it in his courtyard.
• After Jiang Zhi's communication talisman warned him about the academy inspection, Shan Heyuan hurried to work and successfully avoided trouble.

After learning that the Sword Reverence Sect was investigating Verdant Dwelling Grass, Shan Heyuan worried that Shen Duheng might belong to its powerful Shen Household. Shen Duheng returned safely, and Shan Heyuan grew two plants before bringing them to Dean Huai Liu to help save two disciples.

• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian told Shan Heyuan that Sword Reverence Sect disciples were visiting the academy and that the sect leader, Shen, belonged to the Shen Household.
• Shan Heyuan worried that Shen Duheng might be connected to the Shen Household and wondered whether he would have to flee if Shen Duheng sought revenge against it.
• Shen Duheng returned to the courtyard and cared for the drunken Shan Heyuan, who asked where he had gone and whether he was hurt.
• Shan Heyuan raised two Verdant Dwelling Grass plants and guarded them with wards and help from the cats and dogs in the alley.
• Huai Liu asked Shan Heyuan to provide the plants quickly because two lives were at stake, and Shan Heyuan fetched them from home as teachers gathered outside the dean's office.

Shan Heyuan successfully grew Verdant Dwelling Grass, allowing the academy to make an antidote that saved two poisoned disciples. After receiving eighty contribution points and hearing others discuss his limitations, he met the grateful disciples, who offered him two Core Formation-grade seeds.

• Shan Heyuan presented two thriving Verdant Dwelling Grass plants to Huai Liu, who said they could be used to save the poisoned disciples.
• Shan Heyuan told the instructors that he had opened the rotting seed and tended it with spiritual liquid and Spiritual Power while practicing the Spring Transformation Art.
• The academy announced that the antidote had worked, and Shan Heyuan received eighty contribution points from the academy, Huai Liu, and the Orchid cohort.
• Shan Heyuan overheard instructors in the Plum cohort discussing his Root Bone and abilities, then returned to his business without reacting to their remarks.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian advised Shan Heyuan to save his contribution points and consider the exchange catalog and treasure books.
• Hu Gu and Yan Liang thanked Shan Heyuan for saving their lives and offered him Core Formation-grade Earth Origin Grass and Corpse Insect Grass seeds, but Shan Heyuan hesitated to accept them.

Shan Heyuan received two Core Formation-grade seeds and discussed how to grow them safely with Shen Duheng, who promised to obtain high-grade spirit soil. During the new year holiday, they won the soil at an auction, and Shan Heyuan invited Jiang Zhi and Li Jian to visit his home and see it.

• Shan Heyuan accepted Earth Origin Grass and Corpse Insect Grass seeds from the disciples whose lives the Verdant Dwelling Grass had saved.
• Shen Duheng recognized the seeds and agreed to keep them safe while Shan Heyuan prepared to grow them.
• Shen Duheng promised to obtain high-grade spirit soil, prompting Jiang Zhi and Li Jian to ask where they could see it.
• Shan Heyuan learned about the academy's new year holiday and spent it with Shen Duheng exploring Sword Reverence City and its surroundings.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng won high-grade spirit soil at an auction during the holiday.
• Shan Heyuan invited Jiang Zhi and Li Jian to visit his home and meet Shen Duheng.

Jiang Zhi and Li Jian visited Shan Heyuan’s courtyard, where they admired his thriving Spirit Plants and examined the high-grade Spirit Soil he had bought. They prepared to help him replace the courtyard soil, while the identity of the unusual Lightning-Struck Wood Sprout remained unknown.

• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian accepted Shan Heyuan’s invitation and visited his courtyard, bringing spirit wine and pastries as New Year gifts.
• Shen Duheng greeted the visitors, then returned to his room so the three growers could talk freely.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian praised Shan Heyuan’s winter Spirit Plants, and Shan Heyuan explained that Spirit Stones, spirit liquid, Fertilizer Pills, and daily Spiritual Power had helped them thrive.
• Jiang Zhi asked about the Lightning-Struck Wood Sprout, but Shan Heyuan said neither he nor Shen Duheng knew what kind of Spirit Plant it was.
• Shan Heyuan showed Jiang Zhi and Li Jian the high-grade Spirit Soil, and Li Jian identified it as likely coming from Pingyin City.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian examined the soil and prepared to help Shan Heyuan replace it in the courtyard.

Shan Heyuan replaced the courtyard’s soil and installed talisman formations to create a high-grade Spirit Plant garden, then realized why the plants in his Dantian kept withering. He ended the chapter proposing to put soil and water in his Dantian, though he had not yet explained how.

• Shan Heyuan, Jiang Zhi, and Li Jian dug up the courtyard’s Spirit Plants and removed its topsoil.
• The three laid 1,349 jade talismans and formation cores, powered the formations with Spirit Stones, and spread high-grade spirit soil across the courtyard.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian helped Shan Heyuan replant the Spirit Plants, and he gave them each a bag of high-grade spirit soil before taking them out for drinks.
• Shan Heyuan hurried home and told Shen Duheng that his Dantian lacked the soil and water needed to keep Spirit Plants alive.
• Shan Heyuan suggested that finding a way to put soil and water in his Dantian might stop the plants from withering, and Shen Duheng asked if he had an idea.

Shan Heyuan kept searching for spirit soil to help preserve the Illusionless Tree in his Dantian while handling his teaching assistant duties. During the annual Spirit Plant inventory, he discovered that Gold-Spotted Spirit Orchids would be grown this year and went to the library to study them.

• Shan Heyuan continued searching for spirit soil, and Jiang Zhi found him absorbed in reading Jade Slips.
• Jiang Zhi told Shan Heyuan that the teaching assistants needed to inventory the Spirit Plants for the new teaching year.
• Shan Heyuan joined Tong Liangji and the other assistants to count the plants, then noticed the Qi Refining First Stage moss on the list.
• Teng Ying explained that the moss was used to protect delicate Gold-Spotted Spirit Orchids and recommended books about spirit orchids.
• After finishing the inventory, Shan Heyuan went to the library and borrowed books to learn how to grow Gold-Spotted Spirit Orchids.

Shan Heyuan discovered that moss could absorb spirit mist and retain water, leading him to suspect it could replace Spirit Soil as a growing medium. Excited by the possibility, he rushed to an orchid shop in Sword Reverence City to inspect its varieties.

• Shan Heyuan studied Spirit Orchid growing media and became particularly interested in moss's water-retention ability.
• He grew a sample of moss, recorded its weight and moisture over the day, and found it had water to release again the next morning.
• Shan Heyuan concluded that the moss might replace Spirit Soil and hurried out, telling Jiang Zhi to ask for leave on his behalf.
• He traveled to the flower and bird market in Sword Reverence City and asked an orchid shopkeeper to show him every kind of moss.
• The shopkeeper said the shop carried seventy-three varieties, some costing more than a thousand Spirit Stones, and Shan Heyuan asked to see them all.

Shan Heyuan tested seventy-three kinds of moss in his Dantian, finding that five could support the Illusionless Tree only briefly. Jiang Zhi suggested refining the moss before using it, and Tong Liangji’s advice led Shan Heyuan to consider whether growing a Spirit Plant could itself be a form of refinement; he returned home to find Shen Duheng back.

• Shan Heyuan bought seventy-three kinds of moss, grew them, and tested them one by one in his Dantian.
• Shan Heyuan found that five mosses could support the Illusionless Tree for only three to five extra days, and he spent a sleepless night experimenting.
• Shan Heyuan went to work exhausted, where Jiang Zhi asked why he had taken leave and heard about his moss experiments.
• Jiang Zhi pointed out that substitute materials usually had to be refined, inspiring Shan Heyuan to wonder whether the moss needed refining while alive.
• Tong Liangji suggested that growing a Spirit Plant could be a kind of refinement, and Shan Heyuan returned home to find Shen Duheng there.

Shan Heyuan struggled to make moss nourish the Illusionless Tree in his Dantian and remained stuck on a difficult part of the Spring Transformation Art. After his students urged him to seek insight beyond the academy, he considered taking time away, and Jiang Zhi asked whether their advice had persuaded him.

• Shan Heyuan explained to Shen Duheng that moss in his Dantian could not release enough water and nutrients for the Illusionless Tree, and Shen Duheng linked the problem to Shan Heyuan's unfinished 'Return a Plum for a Peach' technique.
• Shen Duheng suggested that forming a resonance through 'Return a Plum for a Peach' might help Shan Heyuan control the moss, but Shan Heyuan remained discouraged by his cultivation bottleneck.
• Several Class D disciples told Shan Heyuan that growers often switched from the Spring Transformation Art and advised him to seek guidance, go into seclusion, or retrace Xin Xie's path.
• The disciples urged Shan Heyuan not to wait until summer break to pursue an insight, and he said he would consider their suggestions after arranging his duties.
• Jiang Zhi approached Shan Heyuan after class and asked whether the disciples' advice had tempted him to act.

Shan Heyuan arranged a month of leave to retrace Senior Xin Xie's path and seek a breakthrough in the Spring Transformation Art. He and Shen Duheng set out into the mountains, where their journey began with a successful day of gathering but no breakthrough yet.

• Jiang Zhi offered to help care for Shan Heyuan's Spirit Plants while he took time off, and Shan Heyuan asked him to keep the plan private.
• Shan Heyuan asked Shen Duheng to accompany him for a month, explaining that he wanted to retrace Senior Xin Xie's path to overcome his bottleneck.
• Huai Liu approved Shan Heyuan's leave and explained that the cultivators he knew who practiced the same method were unavailable.
• Shan Heyuan prepared his courtyard and supplies, then set out with Shen Duheng and the Lightning-Struck Wood Sprout.
• The pair traveled through the mountains and camped beside a pool after gathering Spirit Plants and game; Shen Duheng asked if anything had inspired Shan Heyuan.

Shan Heyuan proposed that Return a Plum for a Peach was meant to be practiced on fierce, self-aware Spirit Plants, and Shen Duheng agreed to help him test the idea. The next day, Shen Duheng found a Qi Refining Seventh Stage Ghost Bud Grass for Shan Heyuan to practice on.

• Shan Heyuan reasoned that Return a Plum for a Peach might work better on demon-like Spirit Plants with meridians, and Shen Duheng agreed to help him test it.
• Shan Heyuan asked Shen Duheng to suppress a fierce Spirit Plant while he practiced, and Shen Duheng readily agreed.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng shared a meal and reminisced about their earlier cultivation days on Xinglan Mountain before camping overnight.
• The next morning, Shan Heyuan asked to start with a Qi Refining Realm demon plant, and Shen Duheng searched the mountain with his powerful Divine Sense.
• Shen Duheng found a patch of fierce Ghost Bud Grass and asked Shan Heyuan whether a Qi Refining Seventh Stage plant would be suitable.

Shan Heyuan mastered Return a Plum for a Peach by subduing demonic plants with help from Shen Duheng, then decided to use the technique to prepare moss for the Illusionless Tree in his Dantian. The pair returned home, where Shan Heyuan selected his low-grade Golden Silk Dense Moss for the next step.

• Shen Duheng suppressed the Ghost Bud Grass with his Sword Intent while Shan Heyuan practiced Return a Plum for a Peach and brought the plant under his control.
• Shan Heyuan tested his control by making the Ghost Bud Grass lift him and walk, then took a small rooted piece before releasing it.
• Shan Heyuan subdued a Foundation Establishment Early Stage Galangal Red, took a branch, and felt he had moved closer to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage.
• Shan Heyuan chose moss as the growing medium for the Illusionless Tree, and he and Shen Duheng returned home so he could attempt to tame a demonic variety.
• Shan Heyuan chose his Qi Refining Third Stage Golden Silk Dense Moss for the next step.

Shan Heyuan cultivated and tamed Golden Silk Dense Moss, then decided to place it in his Dantian despite the risks. After a long effort to control the moss and Illusionless Tree inside him, he began trying to arrange them together.

• Shan Heyuan prepared Fertilizer Pills and other materials, then cultivated Golden Silk Dense Moss to the Foundation Establishment Early Stage and tamed it with Return a Plum for a Peach.
• Shan Heyuan realized the moss might release spirit liquid inside his Dantian to help the Illusionless Tree grow, but worried that a conscious Spirit Plant could mutate and harm him.
• Shan Heyuan weighed the risks and benefits, abandoned his written notes, and chose to put the Golden Silk Dense Moss in his Dantian.
• Shan Heyuan drew the moss into his Dantian, where it settled beside the Illusionless Tree on the cramped foundation platform.
• Shan Heyuan repeatedly circulated Return a Plum for a Peach until the moss began to grow, then struggled to guide both plants into a better arrangement.