Chapter Summaries

Lin Xu insisted on entering the dangerous Spirit Realm Trial despite his mother’s pleas, determined to take control of his fate rather than work for the Jiang Clan. Before he left for school, Liu Zhi gave him a skill book his father had brought back from the Spirit Realm, hoping it would improve his chances.

• Lin Xu offered incense at his father's portrait, and Liu Zhi urged him to accept the Jiang Clan's job instead of joining the Spirit Realm Trial.
• Lin Xu refused, explaining that he had trained for years to seize his one chance at the trial and would not leave his fate in others' hands.
• Liu Zhi warned that fewer than thirty percent of trial participants returned alive and begged Lin Xu not to risk his life.
• Lin Xu gave Liu Zhi a bank card with about five hundred thousand and bowed until she pulled him up and wiped blood from his forehead.
• The next morning, Liu Zhi handed Lin Xu a skill book his father had brought back from the Spirit Realm, and Lin Xu promised he would return.

On the way to his college entrance exam and Spirit Realm trial, Lin Xu was ambushed by thugs sent by Chen Hao to force him into a lifetime contract with the Chen Consortium. Lin Xu killed their leader and vowed to make Chen Hao pay before continuing to the trial with Jiang Wanqing.

• Lin Xu told Jiang Wanqing he planned to become a Free Adventurer and pursue advancement toward Spirit Realm Lord.
• Wang Jie and his thugs blocked Jiang Wanqing's car and ordered Lin Xu to sign a Chen Consortium lifetime contract or be sent to a Spirit Realm mine.
• When Wang Jie threatened Jiang Wanqing, Lin Xu attacked the thugs, killing several and defeating the rest.
• Lin Xu killed Wang Jie despite his warning that Master Hu of the Black Tiger Gang would retaliate.
• Jiang Wanqing realized Chen Hao was using Lin Xu to pressure her and seize the Jiang Clan, but Lin Xu told her he would make Chen Hao pay and headed for the trial.

Lin Xu joined the Spirit Realm Trial alongside Jiang Wanqing and received her Ice Heart Jade Pendant before being transported to the Spirit Realm. He arrived at Xuanwei Monastery in a rare role-assumption trial and discovered that his strong attributes and rare gold talent, Focus, gave him a powerful start.

• Zhang Lei and three classmates signed up for the Spirit Realm Trial before Lin Xu entered the classroom and volunteered, still marked with blood from a recent battle.
• Jiang Wanqing signed up and gave Lin Xu a jade pendant; Lin Xu told Li Fangxu that his enemy's family had yet to be wiped out.
• Li Fangxu took Lin Xu and the other four students to the Night Watchers' headquarters, where they joined the city's trial participants.
• Captain Wei Xiuyuan began the trial, and the runic platform transported Lin Xu into the Spirit Realm.
• Lin Xu arrived at Xuanwei Monastery, realized he had entered a rare role-assumption trial, and checked his character panel, which showed a gold Focus talent.

Lin Xu discovered that the skill book his father left him was a dark gold treasure called Wisdom Art, which raised his intelligence and granted the legendary talent Thought Overclocking. With his confidence renewed, he headed toward the monastery training ground, intent on becoming a true disciple within the month.

• Lin Xu realized that his disciplined habits had awakened the gold talent Focus and considered the reward he could earn by returning to the real world.
• Lin Xu reviewed his task to become a true disciple of Xuanwei Monastery within a month and recognized how difficult the deadline would make it.
• Lin Xu examined his father's skill book and discovered it was the dark gold Wisdom Art, a legendary-grade item that he had the attributes to learn.
• Lin Xu used Wisdom Art, raising his intelligence to 15 and gaining the legendary talent Thought Overclocking.
• Lin Xu's excitement about his newfound potential was tempered by the Ice Heart Jade Pendant, and he set off for the monastery gates.
• Lin Xu watched outer disciples train and judged their martial skills and physical attributes to be unimpressive.

Lin Xu found and learned the gold-grade Bright Lamp Spirit-Kindling Art in Xuanwei Monastery’s scripture repository, then obtained the artifact that supports its cultivation. He discovered its lamp oil consisted of Dharma Coins and glimpsed a promising way to refine them from faith or magic power.

• Lin Xu entered the scripture repository and searched its disordered shelves for a valuable cultivation art.
• Lin Xu found the gold-grade Bright Lamp Spirit-Kindling Art, learned its basic part, and discovered it could directly open the spirit aperture using a spirit lamp.
• Lin Xu went to the artifact refinement pavilion and received a Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp to cultivate the art.
• Lin Xu spilled out the lamp oil and found it transformed into Dharma Coins, which could restore magic power and be refined from faith or magic power.

Lin Xu used the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art to open his Divine Aperture, form mana, and complete the Soul Leaving the Body stage of cultivation. While testing his newly freed soul, he repelled a ghostly attack with the Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp.

• Lin Xu meditated with the lit bronze lamp and directed his consciousness toward its light, enduring the pain by activating Thought Overclocking.
• Lin Xu discovered the shifting Divine Aperture and opened it, drawing Spiritual Qi into his body and forming mana.
• Lin Xu guided his new mana to strengthen his consciousness and temper his soul until it left his body.
• Lin Xu examined his floating soul and realized he could return to his body by thought, using it as an anchor.
• A black smoky ghost attacked Lin Xu's soul, but Lin Xu summoned the Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp and burned it away.

Lin Xu mastered the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art’s basic chapter and discovered that Thought Overclocking greatly accelerated his cultivation and skill learning. He began planning his next steps, but noticed that the Dao-Rhyme Bright Lamp was consuming lamp oil quickly and considered obtaining ritual money and soul-nourishing incense.

• Lin Xu cleared the black smoke from his vision and realized he had mastered the Spirit Eye Technique.
• Lin Xu’s soul grew more solid as his spiritual power transformed, and his spirit fire formed a lotus in resonance with the Dao-Rhyme Bright Lamp.
• Lin Xu used Transcendent Wisdom to draw in nearby spiritual essence, tripling the lamp flame’s spirit-gathering effect and raising his Spirit attribute by one point.
• Lin Xu checked his personal panel and confirmed that he had mastered the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art’s basic chapter, gaining a 300% cultivation efficiency bonus.
• Lin Xu planned to use Thought Overclocking to master more skills and improve his cultivation, then saw that three drops of lamp oil had been consumed and thought of ritual money and soul-nourishing incense.

Lin Xu discovered that Xuanwei Monastery’s Green Soul Rice could nourish his soul and resolved to build a foothold in the sect by earning resources. At the Merit Hall, he chose a task to refine Dharma Coins and produced one hundred from a single bottle of incense offerings in half an incense stick’s time.

• Lin Xu inspected the menial servant Zhang San and learned that Green Soul Rice restored and nourished soul power.
• Lin Xu considered seizing Xuanwei Monastery as a foothold in the Spirit Realm, then focused on earning resources.
• Lin Xu accepted a Merit Hall task to refine Dharma Coins and collected a bottle of incense offerings.
• Lin Xu used the Bright Light Lamp and his spiritual sense to refine the incense offerings into Dharma Coins.
• Lin Xu produced one hundred Dharma Coins in half an incense stick’s time, far exceeding the task’s basic target.

Lin Xu exhausted the week's incense-offering quests and went to the Yin Locust Forest to capture spirits for merit and refine them into resources. After securing a valuable wandering soul, he ventured deeper into the forest and discovered that the Yin Locust trees were spirit wood that produced Yin Dew.

• Lin Xu learned that the incense-offering quests would not be available again for three days and accepted a quest to capture wandering souls in the Yin Locust Forest.
• Lin Xu used the Soul-Guiding Bell and Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp to attract and refine three remnant souls into lamp oil worth Dharma Coins.
• Lin Xu captured a level-one wandering soul and placed it in the Soul-Nourishing Talisman to complete the quest.
• Lin Xu chose to explore deeper into the forest despite the danger and spotted a Yin Locust tree with a panel identifying it as Azure fine spirit wood that produced Yin Dew.

Lin Xu used Yin Dew and the Bright Light Lamp to temper his soul, then ventured deeper into the Yin Locust Forest to refine wandering souls and strengthen the lamp. He continued through the forest, using its spirits as fuel while gradually refining his artifact.

• Lin Xu collected a drop of Yin Dew from a Yin Locust Tree and used it with the Bright Light Lamp to temper his soul body.
• Lin Xu's perception improved, and he decided to treat the Yin Locust Forest as a source of cultivation resources.
• Lin Xu entered the deeper forest, where dense Yin Qi created illusions and wandering souls gathered around the trees.
• Lin Xu captured a wandering soul with the Bright Light Lamp and refined it into lamp oil.
• Lin Xu used Thought Overclocking to refine the lamp with his spiritual light, feeding it more wandering souls as he walked.

Lin Xu cultivated while moving through the Yin Locust Forest, using the Bright Light Lamp and Yin Dew to strengthen himself. After Yin Soldiers surrounded him, he escaped their encirclement but was attacked by an elite Yin Soldier Squad Leader.

• Lin Xu refined wandering souls and Yin Dew as he traveled cautiously through the Yin Locust Forest.
• A level 2 Yin Soldier detected Lin Xu, and he used the Bright Light Lamp to slow it and retreat.
• Lin Xu discovered more Yin Soldiers forming an encirclement and used the lamp’s wide-area effect and a Light Body Talisman to escape through a gap.
• An elite Yin Soldier Squad Leader ambushed Lin Xu as he fled, and he narrowly dodged its spear before using the lamp to suppress it.

Lin Xu subdued an elite Yin soldier squad leader and used it to command five more Yin soldiers while cultivating through the night. After returning to Xuanwei Monastery and collecting his rewards, he entered seclusion to continue advancing the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art.

• Lin Xu used the Soul-Guiding Bell and Dao Rhyme Bright Light Lamp to refine the Yin soldier squad leader into a guardian spirit.
• The squad leader intimidated five nearby Yin soldiers into submission, and Lin Xu ordered them to sweep the path ahead.
• Lin Xu refined wandering souls and cultivated through the night, easing the strain on his sea of consciousness as the lamp's grade rose to cyan, fine.
• Lin Xu returned to Xuanwei Monastery, turned in his task at the Merit Hall, and exchanged his rewards for cultivation resources.
• Lin Xu entered his quiet room and resumed cultivating the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art.

After reaching level 2 through a long cultivation session, Lin Xu received an urgent order to report to the Demon Subduing Hall. He accepted a patrol mission at Peach Tree Village, gathered supplies and spells, then detoured toward the Yin Locust Forest with a Soul-Nourishing Pagoda.

• Lin Xu completed the foundational chapter of the Bright Lamp Spirit Kindling Art at grandmaster level and advanced to level 2, increasing his Spirit and maximum mana.
• Zhang San delivered a sect decree ordering every disciple to assemble at the Demon Subduing Hall, and Lin Xu went there with the bronze command token.
• Lin Xu reviewed missions concerning Peach Tree Village and accepted a one-day patrol of its borders rather than the more dangerous scouting mission or week-long guard duty.
• Lin Xu exchanged merit points and dharma coins for spells and cultivation resources, then bought a Soul-Nourishing Pagoda for his protector spirits.
• Lin Xu detoured toward the Yin Locust Forest instead of heading directly to Peach Tree Village.

Lin Xu collected five Yin soldiers and set out for Peach Tree Village under the protection of his dwindling Source Fire. Along the way, he found an outer disciple fighting bandits and recognized a suspected real-world adventurer among them.

• Lin Xu summoned five Yin soldiers from the Yin Locust Forest and stored them in the Soul-Nourishing Pagoda.
• Lin Xu traveled toward Peach Tree Village and saw Source Fire Protection dispelling the Soul-Devouring Mist around him.
• Lin Xu heard a fight and spotted an Xuanwei Monastery outer disciple surrounded by bandits, but turned away at first.
• Lin Xu recognized Fortune and Prosperity sneakers on one bandit and returned to investigate.
• Lin Xu reached the battlefield, examined the outer disciple Wang Xiaowu, and identified the suspected adventurer Liu Jiayao among the bandits.

Lin Xu used the spirit lamp to subdue Liu Jiayao, a real-world adventurer whose memories had been erased, and made him a follower by implanting false memories of loyalty. As they headed toward Peach Tree Village, a pack of gray wolves surrounded them and attacked.

• Lin Xu recognized Liu Jiayao as a real-world adventurer who had lost his memories to the Spirit Realm fog, then used the spirit lamp to make the bandits kneel and Liu Jiayao submit.
• Lin Xu ordered Liu Jiayao to kill the bandits, absorbing the faint Source Fire Fragments released from their bodies.
• Lin Xu found no traces of Liu Jiayao's past consciousness, implanted false memories of loyalty, and confirmed that Liu Jiayao had become his follower.
• Lin Xu and Liu Jiayao set off for Peach Tree Village, but a pack of five gray wolves emerged from the fog and lunged at them after Lin Xu used the spirit lamp.

Lin Xu arrived at Peach Tree Village for a monastery mission, discovered the village’s valuable spirit resources, and tested a way to improve Liu Jiayao’s cultivation. He found a useful blue-grade art at the village shop and asked its price.

• Lin Xu used an illusion to make five gray wolves kill one another, then collected a wolf pelt after the guard killed the wounded pack leader.
• Lin Xu reached Peach Tree Village and discovered that its ancient peach tree held valuable resources, including blue-quality spirit peach wood, but concealed his interest.
• Lin Xu checked into the ancestral hall and used the spirit lamp to raise Liu Jiayao’s Basic Meditation Method from beginner to expert.
• Lin Xu explored the village and found a blue-grade Paper-Cutting Soldier Creation Art book at Zhao's Shop.
• Lin Xu asked the shopkeeper the price of the book, and the shopkeeper named fifty magic coins.

Lin Xu learned the Paper-Cutting Soldier Creation Art and refined a stronger paper scout, then used the Water and Fire Soldier Refining Curse to strengthen the Yin Soldier Corporal. With his Dharma Coins running low and village access limited, he decided to cultivate in seclusion.

• Lin Xu bought the Paper-Cutting Soldier Creation Art and used Thought Overclocking to learn it.
• Lin Xu made a white paper figure and sent it to scout the village and nearby forest.
• Lin Xu used what the paper figure observed to create a cyan paper figure with greater strength and scouting abilities.
• Lin Xu learned the Water and Fire Soldier Refining Curse and used it to refine the Yin Soldier Corporal, raising his level and attributes.
• Lin Xu noted that the spell cost more than a dozen Dharma Coins and chose to cultivate in seclusion.

Lin Xu led a patrol beyond Peach Tree Village, where his yin soldiers protected the group from a skeletal jackal and he encountered a courtyard that tried to bewitch him. After freeing himself from its influence and retreating, he reached a burial ground where vengeful souls emerged to attack.

• Lin Xu took Liu Jiayao and five militiamen from Peach Tree Village to patrol the wilderness, protected by five yin soldiers.
• A skeletal jackal lunged at the group, and the yin soldiers intercepted and killed it.
• Lin Xu spotted a bizarre courtyard in the mist and ordered the group to retreat, but the courtyard appeared ahead again when he changed routes.
• Lin Xu illuminated his spiritual platform with the Bright Light Lamp, burned away a hidden force draining his soul, and made the courtyard disappear.
• Lin Xu led the group around the area and approached a burial ground, where vengeful souls emerged from the graves.

Lin Xu and his allies fought an elite wronged soul at the mass grave, and Lin Xu captured and refined it with his spirit lamp. He left with the purified spirit under his control.

• Lin Xu used his spirit lamp to refine more than a dozen wronged souls before an elite wronged soul emerged from the mass grave.
• The elite wronged soul attacked Lin Xu with illusions and resentment Qi, while the Yin soldier corporal and Liu Jiayao helped defend him and his men.
• The elite wronged soul killed one Yin soldier, but Lin Xu and the Yin soldier corporal wounded it with fire and a spear.
• Lin Xu pulled the weakened elite wronged soul into his spirit lamp and used Water and Fire Refinement and Deliverance to purify and restore it.
• Lin Xu summoned the purified spirit, sensed a faint mental connection to it, and told his group to leave.

Lin Xu led his patrol through the dangerous Spirit Realm, using paper figures to scout and collecting armor and Dharma Coins from a treasure chest. When the scouts revealed a strange flow of spiritual potency around a hill, Lin Xu suspected he had found a Spirit Vein and hurried toward it.

• Lin Xu used paper figures to guide his group around dangers as they reached an outpost and continued patrolling.
• Lin Xu and the patrol fought off demon wolves and corpse monsters while crossing the wasteland.
• Lin Xu opened a wooden treasure chest, found fine scale armor and 232 Dharma Coins, and gave the armor to a guard.
• Lin Xu spotted unusual bands of light and rising spiritual potency around a hill, then suspected the area contained a Spirit Vein.
• Lin Xu directed the patrol toward the suspected Spirit Vein, hoping to claim its source of Spiritual Qi.