Chapter Summaries

Lü Yuan prepared to enter Mingyang City No. 1 Technical Primary School while resolving to pursue his ambitions, and his ancient counterpart led tens of thousands of displaced people toward a new home at Great Marsh Mountain. As the people agreed to follow him, Han Fei mysteriously forgot why he had been with them and returned to Xinzheng, while Liu Bang watched without concern.

• Lü Yuan began his first day in Ten Directions Bright's Lower City education system, recalling his years of factory work and welcoming the future with the words, "It's just a little wind and frost."
• In the ancient world, Lü Yuan addressed the tens of thousands he had gathered and told them he had found a safe place for them at Great Marsh Mountain.
• Han Fei answered for the crowd, and the displaced people enthusiastically agreed to follow Lü Yuan.
• Han Fei later found himself in Xinzheng, unable to remember what he had intended to do or why he had been elsewhere.
• Liu Bang said it was not yet time and questioned why he was being dragged along while Liu Bang took his child on a trip.

Lü Yuan, Wang Yan, and Lin Qi met before heading to their separate schools, discussing Wang Yan’s rapid cultivation and warning him to hide abilities that crossed the adults’ red lines. They parted at a crossroads, with Wang Yan vowing to catch up to both of them and Lü Yuan accepting the challenge.

• Lü Yuan met Wang Yan and learned he had entered Embryonic Breathing in thirteen days after gaining a fortuitous encounter.
• Lü Yuan warned Wang Yan to conceal the methods and abilities that crossed the adults’ red lines, and Wang Yan said he had a way to cover them up.
• Lin Qi arrived, and the three friends walked and talked together before reaching a crossroads.
• Wang Yan shouted that he would catch up to Lü Yuan and Lin Qi, and Lü Yuan waved without turning around and said he would be waiting.

At Mingyang City No. 1 Technical Primary School’s opening ceremony, students and staff reacted to Lü Yuan’s Top-Grade Pseudo Spirit Root and the prospect that he would receive most of the city’s cultivation resources. The ceremony became a grand welcome for Lü Yuan as he entered the hall.

• Sima Mingli lamented that Lü Yuan’s Top-Grade Pseudo Spirit Root threatened his ambitions despite Sima Mingli having cultivated for three years longer.
• Students with Pseudo Spirit Roots feared Lü Yuan would draw away the resources they needed to advance.
• A factory-recommended student praised Lü Yuan’s arrival, and a fifth-grade Pseudo Spirit Root holder rebuked Sima Mingli’s follower for mocking factory-recommended students.
• A commotion at the hall entrance announced Lü Yuan’s arrival, and students and teachers formed an orderly path for him.
• The dean of students and principal waited to greet Lü Yuan as he entered beside Lin Qi.

At the school assembly, Lü Yuan abandoned his prepared speech and, following an instruction from the Bright Yang Tower, openly mocked the students and challenged them to defeat him for a share of his resources. The Bright Yang Tower promised to visit in three months, leaving Lü Yuan with a deadline to prove himself.

• The principal welcomed Lü Yuan as the freshman representative and first-year head student, while Sima Mingli envied the attention he received.
• Just before Lü Yuan began his prepared speech, the Bright Yang Tower instructed him to be more arrogant, and he immediately changed what he planned to say.
• Lü Yuan insulted the students’ cultivation and talent, declaring that none of them apart from Lin Qi deserved his notice.
• Lü Yuan challenged the students to make him lose an exam or competition within two years, promising to give the winner twice the resources from his share.
• Lü Yuan told the students they could instead become his dogs and beg him for resources, then ended his speech.
• The Bright Yang Tower praised Lü Yuan’s performance and said she would come see him in three months.

After winning his third consecutive monthly exam, Lü Yuan tested Sima Mingli’s strength and easily blocked his full-force attack, then made him his sparring partner. Lü Yuan reflected on his own slower progress compared with Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan before returning home to Lin Qi.

• Sima Mingli attacked Lü Yuan with his strongest Embryonic Breathing Fifth Layer strike and was stunned when Lü Yuan stopped it without budging.
• Lü Yuan named Sima Mingli his sparring partner for the next six months and offered to double his school loan quota if he satisfied him.
• Sima Mingli accepted his role as Lü Yuan’s follower and hoped the increased loan quota would improve his cultivation prospects.
• Lü Yuan reviewed his progress and compared his Embryonic Breathing Third Layer cultivation with Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s near-completion of the Twelfth Layer.
• Lü Yuan returned to apartment 412, where Lin Qi teased him about his exam victories, and he asked her to lick the medicinal sweat on his fingertips.

Lü Yuan discussed Lin Qi and Wang Yan’s prospects and promised them access to the profitable Dark Air Realm after he met the person in the Bright Yang Tower. That night, he was summoned there and prepared to meet Li Yelan, the master of Mingyang City.

• Lin Qi told Lü Yuan that Wang Yan had taken first place in his school’s monthly exam, and Lü Yuan maintained that he had only lent Wang Yan startup capital.
• Lin Qi asked Lü Yuan to raise her commission, but he refused direct support and promised her and Wang Yan a Dark Air Realm supply channel after confirming there was no risk.
• Lin Qi tried to learn how Lü Yuan had obtained the supply channel, but he declined to reveal his methods and teased her instead.
• Lü Yuan went to sleep while waiting for the Bright Yang Tower’s summons, and the Immortal Book blocked an attempt to inspect his memories.
• Lü Yuan was summoned to the Bright Yang Tower and realized he was about to meet its master, Li Yelan.

Lü Yuan went to the summit of the Bright Yang Tower for an audience with Radiant Heavenly Sun, Li Yelan, and wondered why she valued him so highly. He discovered that the many figures working there were her prosthetic bodies, then knelt and paid his respects.

• Lü Yuan waited at the top of the Bright Yang Tower, puzzled that Li Yelan had summoned a low-level cultivator like him for an audience.
• Li Yelan called Lü Yuan over, and he walked through the vast office filled with busy figures.
• Lü Yuan realized that every figure shared Li Yelan's face, though their ages and bodies differed.
• Li Yelan explained that the figures were her prosthetic bodies, and Lü Yuan knelt and paid his respects.

Lü Yuan met Li Yelan, Mingyang City's powerful ruler, and struggled to answer her unexpected questions about whether he liked her appearance or any of her prosthetic bodies. Li Yelan stopped teasing him and gently pinched his cheek, privately reflecting on how different he was from the person she remembered from the future.

• Lü Yuan recalled that Lin Qi could not explain how Fire Virtue's associations worked in Mingyang City, but he trusted the Immortal Book's choice to pursue the cultivation method.
• Lü Yuan tried to kneel before Li Yelan, but she told him not to, and he straightened up obediently.
• Li Yelan asked whether Lü Yuan liked her appearance or any of the prosthetic bodies, leaving him flustered as the bodies turned to watch him.
• Lü Yuan denied disliking the bodies or finding Li Yelan unattractive, but he could not explain why he would not answer directly.
• Li Yelan approached, held his chin, and pressed him for an answer before saying she would stop teasing him and pinching his cheek.
• Li Yelan privately remembered Lü Yuan as someone who had once shown burning passion and courage, qualities he had not yet developed.

Li Yelan recalled the fall of the [Bright Yang] lineage and the future she had glimpsed, in which Lü Yuan became her husband and the lineage’s hope. After their puzzling first encounter at [Bright Yang Tower], she invited him to ask why his pseudo spirit root had earned her attention.

• Li Yelan remembered her great-great-grandfather’s rise and how corporate war rendered the mass-produced “Bright Yang Children” unable to foresee the power of Golden Core and Dao Embryo True Lords.
• Li Yelan recalled losing her family and spending a century alone in the Lower City as the last remnant of the [Bright Yang] Dao lineage.
• A restored extrapolation six months earlier showed Li Yelan that Lü Yuan would become her student, subordinate, husband, and the lineage’s hope unless a Golden Core True Lord interfered.
• Li Yelan admitted to herself that she had missed Lü Yuan and wanted to meet him sooner than the future she had seen allowed.
• Li Yelan asked Lü Yuan why he had come with questions, then offered to explain why his pseudo spirit root had made her receive him.

Li Yelan explained to Lü Yuan why top-grade pseudo spirit roots received special treatment and revealed that his choice of the fire of the Five Virtues made him especially valuable. The chapter ended with her saying Fire Virtue would soon rise within the megacorporation.

• Li Yelan asked Lü Yuan to guess why a top-grade pseudo spirit root guaranteed admission to junior college, then explained that ordinary pseudo spirit roots could almost never transfer to a bachelor's program.
• Li Yelan told Lü Yuan that ordinary pseudo spirit roots could only support the lowest-grade artificial spirit roots, while top-grade ones could cultivate an implanted root from acquired to innate.
• Lü Yuan asked why Li Yelan had made time to see him, despite his being only at Embryonic Breathing.
• Li Yelan told Lü Yuan that his value came from choosing the fire of the Five Virtues and that Fire Virtue would soon rise within the megacorporation.

Li Yelan explained that a coming Fire Virtue Golden Core True Lord would boost Fire Virtue’s influence and create new opportunities throughout the megacorporation. She told Lü Yuan that imitating the True Lord’s image of “struggle” could accelerate his cultivation, leaving him amazed by how much the Immortal Book had anticipated.

• Li Yelan described how the coming Golden Core True Lord would strengthen Fire Virtue and lead to a new Upper City and branch company.
• Lü Yuan reasoned that Fire Virtue cultivators would gain more jobs and promotion opportunities, making his own lineage and Spirit Root valuable.
• Lü Yuan wondered why Li Yelan had such high hopes for him despite his apparent cultivation speed.
• Li Yelan revealed that imitating a True Lord’s lineage intent could rapidly increase cultivation speed and said the coming True Lord’s essential image was “struggle.”
• Li Yelan told Lü Yuan that winning contests throughout his schooling could greatly improve his chances of entering an Upper City branch company, then lied about why she had sought him out.
• Lü Yuan privately marveled at how far the Immortal Book had seen ahead.

Punk Lü Yuan recounted his strange encounter with Li Yelan to Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan, who doubted that a Purple Mansion Great True Person had treated him so familiarly. After they stopped bickering, Punk Lü Yuan proposed three explanations for her behavior and ended with the name “Tiansuzi.”

• Punk Lü Yuan told Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan about his encounter with Li Yelan and the Immortal Book’s guidance.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan questioned whether Li Yelan had really teased Punk Lü Yuan, and they tussled over his doubts about Punk Lü Yuan’s charm.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan urged Punk Lü Yuan to seriously consider why Li Yelan had acted so unusually.
• Punk Lü Yuan suggested that Li Yelan might be related to him by blood, connected to his biological parents, or linked to Tiansuzi.

Punk Lü Yuan speculated that Li Yelan had foreseen a future in which she fell in love with him, explaining her unusual attention and the Immortal Book’s behavior. Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan accepted the possibility and revealed he was nearing Great Marsh Mountain and might enter Qi Refinement soon.

• Punk Lü Yuan argued that Li Yelan could see the future and that her strange behavior suggested she had become deeply involved with him in a foreseen future.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan questioned why Li Yelan would value Punk Lü Yuan so highly in that future, given his limited standing and lack of Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s help.
• Punk Lü Yuan said he would have pursued Li Yelan and that she had fallen in love with him in the deduction.
• Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan accepted the theory, suggested Punk Lü Yuan gather more evidence, and went back to cultivating.
• Punk Lü Yuan asked about Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan’s situation, and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan said he was near Great Marsh Mountain at the First Realm of Embryonic Breathing and might enter Qi Refinement the next day.

At Great Marsh Mountain, Lü Yuan prepared to enter Qi Refinement as the sun and moon shone together. He began his breakthrough using the Great Yin Moonlight and Sun Purple Qi Liu Bang had provided.

• Lü Yuan waited on the mountain summit for the dawn moment Liu Bang had recommended for his breakthrough.
• Lü Yuan considered which cultivation lineage the Immortal Book might recommend after he entered Qi Refinement.
• Lü Yuan recalled that Liu Bang had advised him to use Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and had prepared two strands for him.
• As the sun and moon shone together, Lü Yuan summoned Fusang, which had grown into a high-grade Qi Refinement Law Artifact.
• Lü Yuan guided the Great Yin Moonlight and Sun Purple Qi into his Qi sea and began his breakthrough.

Lü Yuan smoothly broke through to Qi Refinement by drawing on both Great Yin Moonlight and Sun Purple Qi, completing the first stage of his cultivation. His simultaneous resonance with Great Yin and Sun stirred forces across the world, drawing the attention of King Zheng of Qin and causing a girl in the Lü clan to faint.

• Lü Yuan absorbed Great Yin Moonlight and Sun Purple Qi, which expanded his Qi sea and stabilized his Embryonic Breath without pain.
• Lü Yuan refined portions of both spiritual energies as he crossed into Qi Refinement.
• King Zheng of Qin sensed the Second Sun stir and wondered whether Liu Bang had acted through his Residual Position.
• A nine-year-old girl in the Lü clan suddenly fainted, while a companion star beside the moon glimmered in response to the sun.

After Lü Yuan’s breakthrough to Qi Refinement stirred [Red Emperor] and [Wangshu], powerful figures across the world reacted to the celestial disturbance. Lü Yuan was left puzzling over the technique bestowed by the Immortal Book, which turned out to be [Northern Dipper].

• Lü Zhi awoke with memories of her past life and suspected Liu Ji had secretly arranged something involving her and [Wangshu].
• Dao lineage True Lords, Buddhist figures, and other powers noticed the strange behavior of the “Second Sun,” while the First Manifest Under Heaven and Fourth Devil Ancestor responded in their own ways.
• On Great Marsh Mountain, the King of Chen agreed to shelter Liu Bang’s Han State disaster victims because they were human and still alive.
• Liu Bang realized Lü Yuan had stirred [Red Emperor] and [Wangshu] without help from either parent and considered how valuable his son might become.
• After breaking through to Qi Refinement, Lü Yuan found that the Immortal Book had bestowed a [Northern Dipper] technique and wondered why.

Liu Bang explained that he had led the refugees through the Dharma Realm to avoid settlements and unwanted attention, then found Lü Yuan troubled after his breakthrough to Qi Refinement. Lü Yuan revealed that the Immortal Book had given him a seventh-grade Northern Dipper Cultivation Method, leaving Liu Bang bewildered.

• Liu Bang had guided the refugees through the Dharma Realm for three months and brought them back near Great Marsh Mountain, where they would soon settle.
• Liu Bang found Lü Yuan pondering on a mountaintop after breaking through to Qi Refinement and asked what troubled him.
• Lü Yuan considered how to explain the source of his new Cultivation Method, then decided to tell Liu Bang the truth.
• Lü Yuan said the blessings from the person who had saved him included a Northern Dipper Cultivation Method that appeared after his breakthrough.
• Liu Bang, who had expected Lü Yuan to discuss the Southern Dipper, was left confused by the Northern Dipper revelation.

Lü Yuan told Liu Bang that the great figure’s favor was a seventh-grade Northern Dipper Immortal Method, prompting Liu Bang to fear the lineage’s dangers and urge him to cultivate the Sun instead. After learning the method cultivated Turning the Dipper Handle, Liu Bang reconsidered and left to verify it at Great Marsh Mountain, while Lü Yuan decided he would cultivate it if Liu Bang confirmed it was safe.

• Lü Yuan revealed that the favor was a Northern Dipper Cultivation Method, and Liu Bang reacted with alarm at the declining lineage and its risks.
• Liu Bang angrily warned Lü Yuan not to cultivate the Northern Dipper and told him to follow the Sun lineage instead.
• Lü Yuan said the method was seventh grade, but Liu Bang still urged him to avoid the Northern Dipper until he learned its Immortal Foundation and Divine Ability.
• Lü Yuan named Turning the Dipper Handle, causing Liu Bang to soften and say that this particular Immortal Method might be acceptable.
• Liu Bang left to verify the method with someone at Great Marsh Mountain and told Lü Yuan to wait before cultivating it.
• Lü Yuan reviewed the Immortal Method and decided he would cultivate the Northern Dipper if Liu Bang confirmed there was no problem.

Lü Yuan studied the seventh-grade Immortal Method, “Riding the Emperor's Chariot to Observe the Celestial Order of the Northern Pole,” and discovered how its Northern Dipper Righteous Qi could advance his Sword Dao with each cultivation breakthrough. The method’s Immortal Foundation could also reproduce another foundation’s wonders and create a provisional slot, leaving Lü Yuan able to envision reaching the Purple Mansion with two Divine Abilities and cultivating six in total.

• Lü Yuan struggled to understand the preface’s unfamiliar names and wondered whether Liu Bang had left before telling him the method’s name.
• Lü Yuan learned that Northern Dipper Righteous Qi could raise his Sword Dao realm once at each breakthrough, potentially advancing it from Sword Essence to Sword Intent at Foundation Establishment.
• Lü Yuan read that the “Turning the Dipper Handle” Immortal Foundation could reproduce the wonders of another Dao lineage’s Immortal Foundation if its master controlled it well.
• Lü Yuan discovered that “Turning the Dipper Handle” could create a provisional Immortal Foundation slot, allowing its master to cultivate two Immortal Foundations at Foundation Establishment.
• Lü Yuan realized that combining “Turning the Dipper Handle” with Southern Dipper Life Breath could let him advance to the Purple Mansion with two Divine Abilities and cultivate six Divine Abilities in all.

Lü Yuan learned more about the power of the Northern Dipper Immortal Method and wondered whether Liu Bang had gone to meet the legendary Two Gods of Marsh and Xun. In Swan Heaven, Liu Bang revealed that a phenomenon had been caused by his child and asked the two ancient gods for help investigating ancient records.

• Lü Yuan marveled at the Northern Dipper Immortal Method but decided to wait for Liu Bang at Great Marsh Mountain before cultivating its immortal foundation.
• Lü Yuan suspected that Liu Bang had gone to consult the Two Gods of Marsh and Xun.
• Liu Bang met the two True Lords in Swan Heaven, where they questioned why he had come and what he had done during the earlier phenomenon.
• Liu Bang said the phenomenon had appeared because of his child and that he needed records in the Rise and Fall Pavilion of the Purple Forbidden Enclosure.
• Liu Bang asked one of the Two Gods of Marsh and Xun to look after his child while the other accompanied him to the pavilion.