Recaps

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng explored the ruined Black She Temple, found its planting grounds barren, and discussed the temple’s mysterious collapse and the cultivation world’s severed connection to the Heavenly Dao. They discovered a Core Formation-grade spirit spring in the living quarters, and Shan Heyuan began making room to collect its water in his Dantian Small World.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng entered Black She Temple and identified its primitive symbols as signs of worship of the Primordial Mother Goddess.
• Shan Heyuan found the planting area completely barren, while Shen Duheng sensed Spiritual Power in the living quarters.
• Shen Duheng told Shan Heyuan that Black She Temple’s people had gone mad overnight and explained how the cultivation world had been cut off from the upper realm’s Heavenly Dao.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng buried the remains they found and left behind ruined Spirit Artifacts as Shan Heyuan collected Jade Slips and books.
• Shan Heyuan found a well containing Core Formation-grade spirit spring water and drew several buckets with Shen Duheng’s confirmation.
• Shan Heyuan decided to divert more of the spring water into his Dantian Small World and quickly dug a large pit there.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng discovered a massive Core Formation-grade Spring Crystal beneath the well at Black She Temple and brought most of it into Shan Heyuan’s Dantian Small World. Shen Duheng then recalled an array method for making an artificial Spirit Spring, giving Shan Heyuan a possible way to create flowing water in his small world.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng drained the well and dug through its spirit-soaked mud, uncovering a huge Spring Crystal that fed the water.
• At Shan Heyuan’s request, Shen Duheng left a head-sized piece of Spring Crystal beneath the well and helped remove the rest.
• Shan Heyuan stored the large crystal in Spirit Spring water in his Dantian Small World and admired how its silver light transformed the pool.
• Shen Duheng suggested using an array method he had read about to make an artificial Spirit Spring, and Shan Heyuan asked to see the method.

After returning to Sword Reverence City, Shan Heyuan learned that Dean Huai Liu might become an elder and heard how Sect Master Shen’s failed tribulation had reshaped the academy. As Shen Duheng was away searching for the artificial spirit spring method, Shan Heyuan grew lonely and anxious, then went to tend his ordinary Spirit Plants.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng left Black She Temple after finding no other valuable spirit objects and hurried back to Sword Reverence City.
• Shan Heyuan returned to Sword Reverence Academy, reported in, and made up the classes he had missed.
• Jiang Zhi told Shan Heyuan that Dean Huai Liu might become a Sword Reverence Sect elder and explained that the sect’s demand for wound medicine had once drawn Plant Cultivation Department teachers into its service.
• Shan Heyuan became distracted by Shen Duheng’s promised search for the artificial spirit spring method and struggled to prepare his teaching materials.
• Shan Heyuan took time off, returned to his empty home, felt lonely without Shen Duheng, and went outside to tend his Spirit Plants.

Shan Heyuan studied a Cultivation Method for making an artificial spirit spring, but his attempts in his Dantian Small World repeatedly failed and injured him. After losing thirty-six top-grade water Spirit Stones, he wondered whether he should abandon the plan, while Shen Duheng urged him not to give up.

• Shan Heyuan tended his Spirit Plants and waited beneath a newly lit lamp for Shen Duheng to return.
• Shen Duheng gave Shan Heyuan a Jade Slip containing a Cultivation Method, and Shan Heyuan recognized its runes as related to the Spirit Gathering Formation.
• Shan Heyuan practiced carving the runes for several days, improving his jade talismans, but found he could not accurately reproduce them with Divine Sense in his Dantian Small World.
• Shan Heyuan's first attempt exploded eighteen top-grade water Spirit Stones, destabilized his Dantian Small World, and damaged his meridians, so Shen Duheng gave him medicine.
• Shan Heyuan tried again and lost another eighteen top-grade water Spirit Stones without creating the artificial spirit spring.
• Shan Heyuan proposed giving up before he used all his stones, but Shen Duheng told him not to run away from the challenge.

Shan Heyuan continued failing to make an artificial spirit spring, so he persuaded Shen Duheng to enter his Dantian Small World and help with the runes. Shen Duheng entered safely and found the space comfortable, leaving them poised to begin their experiment.

• Shan Heyuan failed to make an artificial spirit spring but refined Fertilizer Pills for the Sword Reverence Sect and received more cultivation resources.
• After blowing up another eighteen top-grade Spirit Stones, Shan Heyuan realized his rune talent was poor and asked Shen Duheng to help complete the artificial spirit spring.
• Shen Duheng agreed to enter Shan Heyuan's Dantian Small World, and they prepared protective formations before the attempt.
• Shan Heyuan drew Shen Duheng into his Dantian, where Shen Duheng found abundant Spiritual Power and complete Heavenly Dao rules.

Shen Duheng studied Shan Heyuan’s Golden Core and used the insight to break through to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage. He explained that the breakthrough came from mastering a move in the Sword Reverence Sect’s core sword technique, “Questioning the Sword.”

• Shan Heyuan lowered his Golden Core so Shen Duheng could examine its complete Principles.
• Shen Duheng meditated beneath the Golden Core, and Shan Heyuan provided supreme-grade Spirit Stones as Shen Duheng advanced from the Nascent Soul Early Stage to the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.
• Shan Heyuan felt the force of Shen Duheng’s cultivation and reflected on his past, his losses, and the gulf between cultivators.
• Shen Duheng told Shan Heyuan that the Golden Core’s Principles helped him master the sword move “Seeing the World,” causing his breakthrough.
• Shen Duheng explained that “Seeing the World” belonged to “Questioning the Sword,” the Sword Reverence Sect’s core technique, which had grown from twenty-four forms to fifty-two over generations.

Shen Duheng tried to create an artificial spirit spring in Shan Heyuan’s Dantian Small World, but their first attempt exploded. After adjusting the runes to account for the small world’s denser Spiritual Power, Shen Duheng completed a second array, and its spring water began rising in grade.

• Shen Duheng told Shan Heyuan about the final two moves of the sword technique and agreed to demonstrate his new move later.
• Shen Duheng’s first attempt to build an artificial spirit spring exploded, injuring him and disrupting Shan Heyuan’s Dantian Small World.
• Shen Duheng identified the cause of the failure and explained how the runes needed adjustment for the small world’s Spiritual Power and Heavenly Dao Principles.
• Shan Heyuan restored his Dantian Small World, and Shen Duheng successfully built the adjusted rune array and placed the Spring Crystal inside.
• Shan Heyuan poured water into the springhead, and its grade rose rapidly to Core Formation grade as water Spiritual Power continued to seep in.

Shan Heyuan created an artificial spirit spring that promised to advance his cultivation, then realized he was in love with Shen Duheng. Shen Duheng confessed that he loved Shan Heyuan too, and Shan Heyuan asked for time alone to think.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng watched the artificial spring begin to form, and Shan Heyuan expected it to help him reach the Core Formation Late Stage.
• Shen Duheng reinforced the seals on the Realm Spirit while Shan Heyuan considered returning it to the West Jing Secret Realm once he was strong enough.
• Shan Heyuan accidentally let Shen Duheng fall onto him, then became flustered by their close contact and recognized his feelings for him.
• Shen Duheng caught Shan Heyuan's hand and said they should worry about mutual willingness, then confessed he was in love with him.
• Shan Heyuan admitted he had never considered Shen Duheng's feelings and asked for quiet time, while Shen Duheng left the room smiling.

Shan Heyuan realized Shen Duheng loved him, and the two began their relationship. After celebrating with friends, Shan Heyuan’s artificial spirit spring reached Nascent Soul grade.

• Shan Heyuan happily messaged Shen Duheng after realizing they shared feelings, and Shen Duheng asked him not to call him Brother Shen.
• Shan Heyuan watched Shen Duheng practice swordsmanship, then learned Shen Duheng had grown up without companions because Ji Li feared they might expose his impersonations.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng went out for breakfast together before Shan Heyuan attended classes at Sword Reverence Academy.
• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian teased Shan Heyuan about his relationship with Shen Duheng, and Shan Heyuan admitted they both had feelings for each other.
• Shan Heyuan, Jiang Zhi, and Li Jian went to Cloud Accord Pavilion to celebrate, and less than two days later his artificial spirit spring reached Nascent Soul grade.

Shan Heyuan reached Late Core Formation and began refining high-grade Fertilizer Pills with Shen Duheng guarding him. After the first batch yielded only thirty-five pills, Shan Heyuan adjusted his technique for the second batch and refined with greater skill.

• Jiang Zhi and Li Jian teased Shan Heyuan about his rapid cultivation, and Shan Heyuan let them spread the rumor that he and Shen Duheng had practiced Dual Cultivation.
• Shan Heyuan decided to auction his Fertilizer Pills for supreme-grade Spirit Stones and rented a Nascent Soul-grade pill room from the Sword Reverence Sect.
• Shen Duheng stood guard while Shan Heyuan used Pu Core Fire and Nascent Soul-grade spirit spring water to refine his first batch.
• The spirit fire evaporated more than half of the pill liquid, but Shan Heyuan salvaged the rest and produced thirty-five Fertilizer Pills.
• Shan Heyuan reflected on the process and began a second batch with a more relaxed technique, unaware that he had developed his own masterful method.

Shan Heyuan finished refining Fertilizer Pills and held an impromptu auction in Sword Reverence City, where his pills sold for a large profit. After settling the auction payments, he prepared to go to work.

• Shan Heyuan refined two successful batches of Fertilizer Pills, producing 138 pills, and left the pill-refining chamber with Shen Duheng.
• Cultivators crowded around Shan Heyuan to ask about buying his pills and offering seeds, so he arranged an auction with the Jade Capital Auction House.
• Appraisers judged the Fertilizer Pills to be superior Late Core Formation pills containing the breath of Breathing Earth and useful for Spirit Plants below the Spirit Transformation level.
• Cultivators bid on twelve lots of ten pills, and the final lot sold for thirty-three Top-Grade Spirit Stones, bringing Shan Heyuan 249 Top-Grade Spirit Stones in total.
• Shan Heyuan paid the auction house its commission and the appraisers their fees, then planned to go to work after daybreak.

Shan Heyuan met Bi Jinying, steward to Lord South Star Ji Chunqiu, who asked him to travel to Floating Boat City and tend a failing farm of Clear Source Grass. Shan Heyuan hesitated because of his teaching duties and the farm’s size, but Lord South Star’s offer of seventy-two varieties of Nascent Soul-grade seeds tempted him.

• Bi Jinying introduced himself as Lord South Star Ji Chunqiu’s steward and invited Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng to discuss a favor at the Star-Picking Pavilion.
• Bi Jinying asked Shan Heyuan to tend a large Clear Source Grass farm in Floating Boat City after local growers failed to improve it.
• Shan Heyuan examined the farm’s records and images, found widespread problems with the plants and soil, and said the farm would be difficult to restore.
• Bi Jinying offered Lord South Star’s Nascent Soul-grade flying boat to take Shan Heyuan to the city in two hours.
• Bi Jinying offered seventy-two varieties of Nascent Soul-grade seeds as payment if Shan Heyuan raised the Clear Source Grass to average quality, and Shan Heyuan was tempted by the list.

Shan Heyuan traveled with Shen Duheng to Lord South Star’s farm to inspect its Clear Source Grass and consider taking on the job. He identified how poor seed sourcing, late planting, rushed transplanting, pests, and insufficient soil preparation had damaged the crop.

• Shan Heyuan agreed to visit Lord South Star’s farm after Bi Jinying mentioned that his master knew Dean Guo, and he arranged three days of leave.
• Shan Heyuan traded his remaining Fertilizer Pills to fellow instructors before setting off with Shen Duheng the next morning.
• On the flying boat, Shen Duheng told Shan Heyuan that Lord South Star was backed by the Deng Household and advised him not to offend him.
• At the farm, Shan Heyuan admired the setting and told Shen Duheng he would like to retire somewhere similar with him.
• Shan Heyuan examined the Clear Source Grass and identified its poor roots and shoots as signs of planting problems.
• Bi Jinying explained that seeds from Ze Province had arrived late and the seedlings had been rushed into the field; Shan Heyuan diagnosed weak seedlings, disease, yellow bugs, and inadequate soil preparation and fertilizer.

Shan Heyuan examined the failing Clear Source Grass and recommended replacing the crop, but Bi Jinying asked him to find a way to save it. When Shi Mian arrived with his own treatment plan, Shan Heyuan challenged him to a trial on separate plots of land.

• Shan Heyuan judged the Clear Source Grass's soil too poor and advised Bi Jinying to sell the crop and replant, but agreed to spend a day seeking a way to save it.
• Shan Heyuan spotted the renowned planting master Shi Mian at a neighboring guest house and hurried to inspect the fields again with Shen Duheng.
• Shi Mian arrived with a crowd, examined the grass, and proposed mixing spiritual liquid; one of his disciples laughed when Shan Heyuan suggested a similar approach.
• After the supervisor favored Shi Mian's team, Bi Jinying proposed giving both masters separate plots to test their methods.
• Shan Heyuan accepted and offered to begin with a fifty-mu plot, promising to withdraw if his skills proved insufficient.

Shan Heyuan began treating the Clear Source Grass while competing with the experienced Shi Mian, but learned that Shi Mian’s team had achieved even faster growth by using their own Spiritual Power to make spirit liquid. Shan Heyuan struggled to find a way to catch up without exhausting himself or revealing the Breathing Earth’s presence.

• Shi Mian and Shan Heyuan each took fifty mu of poorly growing Clear Source Grass to tend, and Shan Heyuan worried about the contest’s effect on his reputation.
• Shan Heyuan extended his leave to ten days and began treating his field with spirit liquid and Spring Breeze Turns to Rain, producing striking growth in a single day.
• Bi Jinying showed Shan Heyuan an image stone revealing that Shi Mian’s team had used their own Spiritual Power to irrigate their field, bringing its grass up to the growth of ninety-year-old plants.
• Shan Heyuan realized he could not match Shi Mian’s method with his own strength and could not safely rely on the Breathing Earth’s presence.
• Shan Heyuan tossed and turned that night, fearing that Shi Mian would beat him if the contest continued this way.

Shan Heyuan struggled to find a way to outperform Shi Mian in cultivating Clear Source Grass, but Shen Duheng comforted him and kissed him, leaving him elated. The next morning, they checked the grass and decided to visit Shi Mian’s fields to see how he was doing things.

• Shan Heyuan considered refining Fertilizer Pills, using spiritual spring water, and revisiting the Spring Transformation Art, but found no suitable way to improve his results.
• Shen Duheng joined Shan Heyuan in his cabin, where Shan Heyuan worried that copying Shi Mian’s flood-irrigation method would cost too much and work poorly.
• Shen Duheng kissed Shan Heyuan and told him to sleep, while both men secretly struggled to stay composed beside each other.
• At dawn, Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng checked the Clear Source Grass and saw that yesterday’s spiritual-liquid rain had helped it grow.
• Shen Duheng suggested visiting Shi Mian’s fields, and Shan Heyuan agreed to observe his rival’s methods and learn from them.

Shan Heyuan studied Shi Mian’s thriving Clear Source Grass and realized he needed a different approach to the cultivation contest. He discovered that using Gentle Breeze to remove old leaves and regulate the plants’ Spiritual Power produced excellent new growth, then exhausted himself applying the technique across the field while Shen Duheng and Bi Jinying watched.

• Shan Heyuan visited Shi Mian’s plot, praised his careful work, and discussed cultivation with him before returning to his own field.
• After two days, Shan Heyuan saw Shi Mian’s team remove old leaves and admired how much better their Clear Source Grass looked.
• Shan Heyuan remembered reviving a rotting Spirit Plant by removing damaged parts, then used Gentle Breeze to strip old leaves and stimulate new shoots on his Clear Source Grass.
• Seeing the plump new growth and signs of improved quality, Shan Heyuan began regulating more plants with Gentle Breeze, eventually affecting several at once.
• Shen Duheng and Bi Jinying stayed nearby as Shan Heyuan tirelessly worked through the field, with Bi Jinying worrying about his intense use of Spiritual Power.

Shan Heyuan advanced tens of mu of Clear Source Grass to Core Formation grade, leaving him exhausted and triggering his Nascent Soul Tribulation. Shen Duheng provoked the sluggish tribulation clouds into gathering force, then carried Shan Heyuan away from the farm to face the tribulation in the wilderness.

• Shan Heyuan used Gentle Breeze across the Clear Source Grass fields, absorbing and circulating vast amounts of Spiritual Power as his Dantian Small World and its Spirit Plants grew stronger.
• The Clear Source Grass resonated with Shan Heyuan and advanced to Core Formation grade across tens of mu of fields while tribulation clouds gathered overhead.
• After Shan Heyuan finished tending all fifty mu, Shen Duheng caught him as he collapsed from exhaustion and carried him toward the large wooden house.
• Shan Heyuan sensed that his Nascent Soul Tribulation was near but incomplete, so Shen Duheng struck at the tribulation clouds to draw down stronger lightning.
• Shen Duheng's attacks enraged the clouds into covering the sky, and he carried Shan Heyuan away on his sword to undergo Tribulation Transcendence in the wilderness.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng went deep into the mountains to face Shan Heyuan’s Nascent Soul Tribulation, while people on the farm hid underground from the terrifying lightning. Shan Heyuan discovered that embracing Shen Duheng let him absorb the lightning and break through his bottleneck, then began drawing the current into his Dantian Small World.

• Bi Jinying ordered everyone at the farm to dig a tunnel and take shelter from the Tribulation Lightning.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng reached a mountaintop, where Shen Duheng’s sword strikes drew lightning that hit him but left Shan Heyuan unharmed.
• Shan Heyuan embraced Shen Duheng and conducted the lightning into himself, triggering a change in his cultivation and easing his bottleneck.
• Shen Duheng struck again while holding Shan Heyuan, and repeated bolts of lightning and Sword Intent refined Shan Heyuan’s body as a Nascent Soul began to form inside his Golden Core.
• Shan Heyuan opened his Dantian Small World and drew the conducted lightning inside, making his body tense as Shen Duheng watched him with concern.

Shan Heyuan absorbed the Tribulation Lightning into his Dantian and advanced to the Nascent Soul Realm. Because the extraordinary tribulation exposed him and the realm spirit, Shen Duheng fled with him, leaving Sword Reverence City behind.

• Shan Heyuan drew the Tribulation Lightning into his Dantian Small World, creating a pillar of lightning that darkened the sky.
• Shan Heyuan's Golden Core transformed into a Nascent Soul, and the tribulation cloud dispersed.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng realized their unusual advancement and the realm spirit's presence had exposed them to the major sects.
• Shen Duheng put the realm spirit to sleep, and Shan Heyuan stored her on a peak in his Dantian Small World, away from the lake of lightning.
• Shen Duheng removed their tracking array and used a flying boat to take Shan Heyuan northeast, away from Sword Reverence City.

Shen Duheng and Shan Heyuan fled to Haixi Province under false identities and settled in Youcheng City. Shan Heyuan showed Shen Duheng the transformed Dantian Small World, where they discovered that the Illusionless Tree and the lightning-struck wood sprout had fused into one plant.

• Shen Duheng disguised himself and Shan Heyuan, arranged false identities, and took him through a black-market teleportation array to Haixi Province.
• Shen Duheng and Shan Heyuan settled in Youcheng City under a cover story and suppressed their cultivation to the Foundation Establishment Realm.
• After the lightning in Shan Heyuan's Dantian Small World was absorbed, Shan Heyuan used his Nascent Soul to bring Shen Duheng inside and show him its mountains, lakes, plains, and farmland.
• Shen Duheng and Shan Heyuan inspected the lake that still held silvery-white lightning currents and then went to check on the Illusionless Tree and lightning-struck wood sprout.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng discovered the two Spirit Plants had grown into one.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng found that the Lightning-Struck Wood Sprout had merged with the Illusionless Tree and the broken sword had repaired itself, then Shan Heyuan began learning swordsmanship from Shen Duheng. As they hid from warrants and cultivated Shan Heyuan’s Dantian Small World, the Illusionless Tree grew into a towering tree that reminded him of the legendary Heaven-Supporting Tree.

• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng dug up the broken sword and found it repaired into a vermilion spirit sword bearing Shan Heyuan’s presence.
• Shan Heyuan accepted the sword and asked Shen Duheng to teach him swordsmanship, then began learning the fifty-two forms of “Questioning the Dao.”
• Shan Heyuan named the sword “Little Sword” and showed unexpected talent for the technique, while he and Shen Duheng assumed he might have learned it before.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng learned that the Sword Reverence Sect and Spirit Jade Palace had issued warrants accusing them of kidnapping the Realm Spirit, so Shan Heyuan concealed his Spiritual Power patterns and blocked his friends’ patterns.
• Shan Heyuan cultivated plants in his Dantian Small World, where the land grew lush and the spirit spring revived as dew appeared.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng watched the Illusionless Tree grow over five meters tall, and Shan Heyuan thought of the legendary Heaven-Supporting Tree.

Shan Heyuan struggled to grow the Thousand Powder Grass seed Shen Duheng needed for a cultivation-boosting pill, despite seeking advice and trying many methods. A grower friend offered to connect him with Master Kucheng, a renowned cultivation expert, leaving the problem unresolved.

• Shan Heyuan realized that his Dantian Small World contained the wood, water, and fire elements, though he and Shen Duheng had no time to seek the remaining elements.
• Shen Duheng gave Shan Heyuan a Thousand Powder Grass seed, explaining that he needed the herb to make a pill and restore his cultivation to the Middle Spirit Transformation Stage.
• Shan Heyuan failed to germinate the seed with metal-attribute Spirit Stones and sought advice at Youcheng Academy, but neither his attempts nor other growers’ suggestions worked.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng discussed whether his Metal Spirit Root or life-bound wood-attribute sword was preventing the seed from growing, but found no solution.
• A grower friend offered to introduce Shan Heyuan to Master Kucheng, a renowned grower, so he could ask for advice.

Shan Heyuan met Master Kucheng to seek advice on growing Thousand Powder Grass and received suggestions and the coordinates of a knowledgeable spirit plant. After Shan Heyuan told Shen Duheng that Master Kucheng recommended Dual Cultivation, Shen Duheng proposed that they marry.

• Shan Heyuan met Master Kucheng, who suggested Dual Cultivation as a way to help Shan grow Thousand Powder Grass.
• Master Kucheng shared his Spiritual Power pattern and the coordinates of a great banyan tree with a Metal Spirit Root who might advise Shan.
• Master Kucheng said he could not read Shan's past or future because of the dense Golden Light of Merit around him.
• Shan Heyuan returned home and told Shen Duheng about the Dual Cultivation suggestion.
• Shen Duheng asked Shan Heyuan to marry him and form a closer bond.

Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng married in Youcheng City and spent their wedding night together. The next morning, Shen Duheng checked on Shan Heyuan and asked whether his Metal Spirit Root had improved.

• Shen Duheng proposed to Shan Heyuan with a pair of rings he had made, and Shan Heyuan accepted.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng held a small wedding banquet in Youcheng City, attended by their friends, Zhuo Zheng, Master Kucheng, and Gong Lie.
• Master Kucheng privately urged Shan Heyuan to open their wedding gift at home, where he found a large bag of ointment.
• Shan Heyuan and Shen Duheng spent their wedding night together, using the ointment Master Kucheng had given them.
• The next morning, Shen Duheng checked Shan Heyuan for a fever and asked if his Metal Spirit Root had improved.