Chapter Summaries

Eight-year-old Lü Yuan earned a recommendation for elementary school after five years of flawless factory labor, but the factory director steered him into borrowing Spirit Stone Vouchers to open a second Spirit Aperture. Back at the children’s home, Lü Yuan dreamed of reaching Golden Core and changing his fate, then fell into a dream of crossing a barren wasteland.

• Factory director assessed Lü Yuan’s work record and offered him a chance to enter elementary school and begin cultivating immortality.
• The director transferred ten thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers to Lü Yuan and urged him to use them for an interest-free loan to open a second Spirit Aperture.
• Lü Yuan gave the director his remaining fifteen thousand vouchers to arrange a legitimate channel for opening the second aperture, and she told him to await his admission notice at home.
• Lü Yuan left the factory, returned to the children’s home, and considered how far he would need to cultivate to escape his lowly place in the corporate world.
• Lü Yuan resolved to pursue Golden Core despite his doubts, fell asleep, and dreamed he was weakly crossing a barren wasteland.

During a famine and war, Lü Yuan lost everyone he knew and nearly starved to death, but he kept choosing compassion over survival. An immortal saved him, and Lü Yuan chose to live and received a book to begin cultivating, with the promise that the immortal would return in three hundred years.

• Lü Yuan buried the young man who had given him his last half-piece of flatbread, then left the refugee procession and gave the remaining bread to a starving child.
• Lü Yuan shared his last food and water with a dying old man, then spared an injured wild dog and tended its wound.
• An immortal found Lü Yuan beneath a dead tree and offered him food, urging him to live and asking why he did not hate those responsible for the famine and war.
• Lü Yuan said he had helped others simply because he wanted to, and the immortal praised his virtue.
• Lü Yuan chose to live, recovered his health, and ate the immortal's meat pie.
• Before leaving, the immortal gave Lü Yuan The Five Luminaries Treatise, Bestowed Upon My Son by the Lord of the Realm and promised to return in three hundred years if Lü Yuan formed a Dao Embryo.

Punk Lü Yuan tried to persuade the immortal book to help him attain the Dao Fetus, but it only responded when ancient cultivator Lü Yuan returned. The two halves compared their circumstances, and punk Lü Yuan continued scheming to claim the book’s help.

• Punk Lü Yuan pleaded with the silent immortal book, arguing that he needed its help more than ancient cultivator Lü Yuan did.
• Ancient cultivator Lü Yuan returned and teased him, prompting the immortal book to shine brightly.
• The two Lü Yuans reflected on their connection and how their different worlds had shaped their personalities.
• Punk Lü Yuan envied ancient cultivator Lü Yuan’s Spirit Root, prophecy, and seventh-grade Embryonic Breathing method.
• Ancient cultivator Lü Yuan revealed he had been joking about a treatise from the immortal, while punk Lü Yuan proposed treating the immortal as his biological father to win the book’s favor.

Punk Lü Yuan persuaded Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan to lend him his Spirit Root, then returned to his cramped bedroom to test it. Unlike Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan, he could sense Spiritual Qi everywhere as soon as he closed his eyes.

• Punk Lü Yuan argued that capitalist cultivation was worth defending and asked Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan to lend him his Spirit Root.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan explained that Punk Lü Yuan had to wait for his permit and use the corporation’s standard fourth-grade method rather than risk cultivating illegally with the seventh-grade method.
• Punk Lü Yuan begged for forgiveness, and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan temporarily lent him his Spirit Root before leaving to sleep.
• Punk Lü Yuan returned to his bedroom, celebrated his new advantage, and began sensing its effects.
• Punk Lü Yuan closed his eyes and sensed Spiritual Qi everywhere, unlike Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan before he practiced a Cultivation Method.

Lü Yuan celebrated his factory recommendation and reflected on how his world’s abundant Spiritual Qi and resources might benefit his ancient counterpart. At breakfast, Lin Qi challenged him, and Lü Yuan stood to face her himself.

• Lü Yuan woke early on paid leave and was congratulated by nursery peers for becoming a factory-recommended student.
• Lü Yuan reasoned that his world’s high Spiritual Qi concentration explained why he sensed Spiritual Qi as soon as he obtained a spirit root.
• Lü Yuan considered sending grain to his ancient counterpart if he could transfer goods between their worlds.
• Lin Qi approached Lü Yuan in the cafeteria, resisted her friend A-Lian’s attempts to pull her away, and challenged him.
• Li Ning, Zheng Zheng, and Ji Nong offered to fight Lin Qi, but Lü Yuan stepped forward and introduced himself as a special-grade third-class worker.

After losing her wealthy family and nearing bankruptcy in her first life, Lin Qi was reborn into poverty and saved thirty thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers for a chance to cultivate. She wagered fifteen thousand against Lü Yuan’s chance to open a Spirit Aperture, and he accepted before she named the contest.

• Lin Qi recalled how a corporate crisis ruined her first life and drove her to buy a low-cost reincarnation into an uncertain future.
• After reaching her eighth birthday, Lin Qi kept half of her saved thirty thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers and planned to risk the other half for a second Spirit Aperture.
• Lin Qi challenged Lü Yuan, the factory nominee and a formidable body-tempering worker, while clarifying that she did not want to fight him.
• Lin Qi offered fifteen thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers in exchange for Lü Yuan’s chance to open a Spirit Aperture and asked him to sign a contract.
• Lü Yuan accepted the wager without hesitation, even though Lin Qi had not yet said what they would compete in.

Punk Lü Yuan revealed that the Immortal Book had exposed Lin Qi’s past life and plan, making him confident he could win their Spiritual Qi Aptitude bet. He left the chapter scheming with Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan to share the Spirit Root before the test and claim the fifteen thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers.

• Punk Lü Yuan told Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan that the Immortal Book had revealed Lin Qi’s reincarnation, her Secret Method, and her plan to bet on their Spiritual Qi Aptitude.
• Punk Lü Yuan explained that Lin Qi could not exceed 50 without an innate Spirit Root and that his implanted Spirit Root could raise his aptitude before the test.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan warned Punk Lü Yuan that an aptitude above 50 could expose the Spirit Root, and Punk Lü Yuan explained that removing an implanted root made aptitude fall below 50.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan kicked Punk Lü Yuan for speaking disrespectfully, so Punk Lü Yuan apologized and begged him to share the Spirit Root over the next two months.
• Punk Lü Yuan planned to have Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan take the Spirit Root back before the test and looked forward to spending the fifteen thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers.

Punk Lü Yuan proposed using their mindscape to trade goods between their worlds, including purified air from ancient-cultivator Lü Yuan’s world. After punk Lü Yuan offered to provide cheap grain and meat, ancient-cultivator Lü Yuan agreed to rely on him if he needed them.

• Punk Lü Yuan proposed that they trade goods once he gained cultivation, since their ability to transfer items appeared to depend on cultivation.
• Punk Lü Yuan explained that he could sell fresh air to students in his world, while ancient-cultivator Lü Yuan’s world had abundant air suitable for purification.
• Ancient-cultivator Lü Yuan asked what punk Lü Yuan could bring him, but said he did not need anything and urged him to save his money for cultivation.
• Punk Lü Yuan offered to supply large amounts of cheap grain and meat, explaining that food production in his world was abundant.
• Ancient-cultivator Lü Yuan recognized that he might need the food to help people suffering in his world and agreed to count on punk Lü Yuan if necessary.

Lü Yuan cultivated the seventh-grade Southern Dipper Life-Granting and Breath-Nurturing Instruction and reached the first level of Embryonic Breathing, Concealing Brilliance, in a single day. He learned that Southern Dipper Life Breath could guarantee advancement to the Purple Mansion realm, then continued cultivating beneath the tree as it grew lush.

• Lü Yuan set aside questions about the immortal and focused on cultivating so he could survive and explore the ancient cultivation world.
• Lü Yuan refined Spiritual Qi into 108 strands of Southern Dipper Life Breath and entered the first level of Embryonic Breathing, Concealing Brilliance.
• Lü Yuan felt his vitality surge, and the nearby withered tree sprouted green leaves.
• Lü Yuan learned that Southern Dipper Life Breath could guarantee entry into the Purple Mansion realm and that Embryonic Breath's grade limited future cultivation.
• Lü Yuan decided to help his other self raise the grade of his Embryonic Breath and continued cultivating as the tree grew lush with branches and leaves.

Lü Yuan spent his newly borrowed funds on cultivation drugs, Law Technique copyrights, and a secondhand Law Sword as he prepared for the Spiritual Qi aptitude test. He ended the chapter pleased with his purchase and ready to use the sword to practice a newly acquired Technique Method.

• Lü Yuan took out loans totaling five thousand Spirit Stone Vouchers to invest in his cultivation before the test.
• Lü Yuan bought the drugs and first-grade Law Technique copyrights recommended for new students.
• Lü Yuan found a secondhand lower-grade Embryonic Breathing Law Sword on Idle Fish Dao and bargained its price down to 400 Spirit Stone Vouchers.
• Lü Yuan paid for the sword with his remaining loan funds and savings, intending to use it for self-defense and to practice Dipper Handle Turning the Heavens, Guiding Principles and Heavenly Law Sword Instruction.

Ancient cultivator Lü Yuan mastered the Sword-Ray in less than a month, which helped stabilize his embryonic breathing and brought him close to the fourth layer. Punk Lü Yuan prepared to have his Spiritual Qi affinity tested and begin cultivation, while wondering whether he could match his counterpart’s talent.

• Punk Lü Yuan complained about ancient cultivator Lü Yuan practicing with a wooden branch, while ancient cultivator Lü Yuan began sword practice beneath the tree in their consciousness space.
• Ancient cultivator Lü Yuan formed a Sword-Ray after less than a month of practice and said it might help him break through to the Embryonic Breathing Fourth Layer within days.
• Punk Lü Yuan praised ancient cultivator Lü Yuan’s sword practice and asked him for insights, but ancient cultivator Lü Yuan said entering the sword Dao depended on talent.
• Punk Lü Yuan compared ancient cultivator Lü Yuan’s progress with Lin Qi’s and asked whether he could cultivate just as quickly after his upcoming affinity test and aperture opening.
• Ancient cultivator Lü Yuan wished punk Lü Yuan luck and promised to look for ways to help if his aptitude proved poor; punk Lü Yuan left and lay awake through the night.

Lü Yuan and the other orphans traveled to a city testing facility to learn their Spiritual Qi aptitude, while he remained confident after secretly arranging to recover his Spirit Root. Wang Yan received a low-grade result, and Lü Yuan wondered whether his ominous prediction had caused it.

• The Thirteenth Children's Home's director sent Lü Yuan and the other eight-year-old orphans to the aptitude testing site, and Lin Qi boarded bus seventeen.
• Lü Yuan boarded bus one, where Wang Yan teased him about his wager with Lin Qi before yielding him a seat.
• On the bus, Lü Yuan challenged Wang Yan to guess his aptitude and warned that Wang Yan might suffer a destined accident.
• At the testing facility, Wang Yan's screen displayed a Spiritual Qi aptitude of 3 points, low grade.
• Lü Yuan saw Wang Yan's result and privately wondered whether his prediction had caused it.

Wang Yan received the lowest Spiritual Qi aptitude score and was mocked, while Lü Yuan considered how to hide the commotion caused by cultivating with a Spirit Root. Seeing an opportunity in Wang Yan’s predicament, Lü Yuan called him over and planned to use their friendship to approach Lin Qi for a concealment method.

• Wang Yan tested with a Spiritual Qi aptitude of 3 and faced ridicule from the other students.
• Wang Yan recalled Lü Yuan’s confidence about the test and their bet, but turned away without asking him about it.
• Lü Yuan called Wang Yan over after deciding that Wang Yan might help him obtain a way to conceal his Spirit Root cultivation.
• Lü Yuan considered how to get a concealment method from Lin Qi without revealing his own secret or losing his starting capital.
• Lü Yuan planned to present himself as Mingyang City's Timely Rain and use Wang Yan as a shield when approaching Lin Qi.

As the aptitude test neared its end, Lü Yuan told Wang Yan he could help him escape his predicament and revealed that he had anticipated the test results. Lin Qi then scored 40 points, the top tier below a Spirit Root, leaving Wang Yan to realize Lü Yuan was about to prove everyone wrong again.

• The remaining factory nominees were tested, with Zhou Daoyu's 35 points the highest score before Lü Yuan and Lin Qi were called.
• Lü Yuan corrected Wang Yan's assumption that he had summoned him, then admitted he had a way to measure Spiritual Qi Aptitude and had known the bet's outcome.
• Lü Yuan asked whether Wang Yan considered them friends and suggested that his own resources and Lin Qi's could help Wang Yan out of his predicament.
• Lin Qi scored 40 points, the top tier below a Spirit Root, prompting the crowd to mock Lü Yuan and speculate that she had known her aptitude beforehand.
• Wang Yan realized Lü Yuan might have arranged the bet to help him and saw Lü Yuan smile as if ready to turn the crowd's ridicule back on them.

Lin Qi recalled her determination to return to the upper city and feared that Lü Yuan might defeat her before she could begin climbing toward it. Lü Yuan’s test result revealed a Spiritual Qi affinity of 49.68 points and a Pseudo Spirit Root, leaving Lin Qi convinced she had encountered an overwhelming rival.

• Lin Qi reflected on her plan to reach the upper city by advancing through the education system and admitted she would use others as stepping stones.
• After Lin Qi achieved a nearly unsurpassable test result, Lü Yuan winked at her, making her worry that he was hiding extraordinary talent.
• Lin Qi waited anxiously as the remaining candidates took their tests, while bystanders speculated that she and Lü Yuan were staging a publicity stunt.
• Lü Yuan stepped onto the testing apparatus as the crowd watched and Lin Qi braced herself for his result.
• The apparatus announced Lü Yuan’s Spiritual Qi affinity as 49.68 points and identified him as having a Pseudo Spirit Root, shocking the venue and dispiriting Lin Qi.

Lü Yuan’s Pseudo Spirit Root score astonished Mingyang City, drawing the attention of powerful figures and prompting people close to him to send him money. After the city master ordered everyone not to disturb Lü Yuan, he approached Lin Qi and invited her to his rented room that night.

• Lü Yuan scored 49.68 on the aptitude test, earning a Pseudo Spirit Root result that shocked the crowd and testing staff.
• The city master commanded Mingyang City’s powerful figures not to disturb Lü Yuan, and they obeyed.
• Lü Yuan received 20,000 Spirit Stone Vouchers from the factory director and 10,000 from the orphanage director.
• Lü Yuan reasoned that a megacorporation’s local subsidiary had taken an interest in him and felt more confident about gaining resources and dealing with Lin Qi.
• Lü Yuan walked over to Lin Qi and told her the address of his rented room, inviting her to come that night.

Lü Yuan prepared for Lin Qi’s visit while considering why the company’s leaders treated him so deferentially and why his unusually high Pseudo Spirit Root score mattered. When Lin Qi arrived, she bluntly asked whether he had brought her to his apartment because he wanted to sleep with her, leaving Lü Yuan startled and scrambling to deny it.

• Lü Yuan cooked dinner in his rental apartment and reflected on his investment potential, his 49.68 Spiritual Qi Aptitude score, and the company leaders’ unusual deference.
• Lü Yuan reasoned that someone influential at the subsidiary likely valued him, and trusted the Immortal Book to protect him from any powerful cultivator who might target him.
• Lin Qi arrived at Lü Yuan’s apartment and asked why he had not demanded the money that morning and had instead invited her over at night.
• Lü Yuan invited Lin Qi inside to eat and discuss their contract, but she asked whether he wanted to have sex with her.
• Lü Yuan emphatically denied it, while Lin Qi challenged him that his choice of time and place made her suspicion understandable.

Lin Qi learned that Lü Yuan had uncovered inconsistencies in her story and suspected she had gained an ancient cultivator's inheritance. She agreed to trade her methods for his secret and mutual protection, and Lü Yuan revealed that he had killed someone.

• Lin Qi went to Lü Yuan's home prepared to refuse his demand, but learned he wanted to discuss something else.
• Lü Yuan explained that he had investigated Lin Qi's money and questioned how she had predicted her improved aptitude, then accused her of having a fortuitous encounter.
• Lü Yuan asked Lin Qi to give him methods for improving Spiritual Qi Aptitude and concealing the improvement, saying he wanted them for Wang Yan.
• Lin Qi refused unless Lü Yuan shared a secret of his own, or she could stay by his side and support him.
• Lü Yuan accepted Lin Qi's condition and confessed that he had killed someone.

Lü Yuan told Lin Qi that he had killed Li Jinglian during the Eight-Hour Workday Cult riot three years earlier, after they found a cultist’s corpse and 2,000 Spirit Stone Vouchers. Lin Qi realized Li Jinglian had tried to kill Lü Yuan for the vouchers, making his act a counter-kill.

• Lin Qi was surprised that Lü Yuan had killed someone, and he teased her before offering to explain what had happened.
• Lü Yuan reasoned that Lin Qi was his friend under their agreement and said she had little reason to betray him.
• Lin Qi guessed that Lü Yuan’s killing had happened three years earlier, during the Eight-Hour Workday Cult riot, when surveillance had failed.
• Lü Yuan named Li Jinglian as the person he killed and recalled how they had become friends at the orphanage.
• Lü Yuan explained that he had considered sharing the 2,000 Spirit Stone Vouchers they found on a cultist’s corpse with Li Jinglian.
• Lin Qi concluded that Li Jinglian had tried to kill Lü Yuan for the vouchers, so he had killed her in self-defense.

Lin Qi gave Lü Yuan two Secret Methods, and the two agreed to move past their earlier conflict and become friends. Lü Yuan then struck her hard enough to knock her to one knee, and Lin Qi asked to sleep in his bed as compensation.

• Lin Qi explained that she put profit first because the world had forced her to, and Lü Yuan said Wang Yan had been nearby when his past betrayal occurred.
• Lin Qi wrote down two Secret Methods: one that raised low Spiritual Qi Aptitude and one that concealed cultivation status.
• Lü Yuan privately admitted he trusted no one completely and viewed friendship as conditional on self-interest.
• Lü Yuan invited Lin Qi to stay overnight, and she questioned whether he was trying to share a bed with her.
• Lin Qi asked to put their past bet behind them, and Lü Yuan embraced her before striking her in the stomach and knocking her to one knee.
• Lin Qi accepted his reason for hitting her and asked to sleep in his bed as compensation.