Chapter Summaries

Fang Qing cultivated the Purple Haze Skill he had fished up and built ties with Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling in Yangzhou. After the two youths reported rising unrest and rebel activity, Fang Qing suspected that Shi Long was nearing his end.

• Fang Qing read the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, then cultivated the Purple Haze Skill at sunrise and absorbed the fleeting primordial qi and Misty Purple Qi.
• Fang Qing recalled that he had fished up the Purple Haze Skill a month earlier and the coordinates to the Great Tang world half a month earlier, then prepared for the changes ahead.
• Fang Qing ate at Old Feng's stall and welcomed Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, whom he had helped and befriended since arriving in Yangzhou.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling told Fang Qing that foreign soldiers had gathered around Yangzhou and that Li Zitong had grown powerful by absorbing another rebel force.
• Xu Ziling wondered whether the soldiers planned to attack Shi Long, and Fang Qing concluded that Shi Long's fate was near.

Fang Qing waited in Yangzhou for Shi Long’s clash with Yu Wenhua Ji, then had Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling take the Longevity Art from Shi Long’s scholar friend. After the boys memorized two diagrams and left with silver, Fang Qing returned to his own world, still avoiding Yu Wenhua Ji.

• Fang Qing waited near Yangzhou’s south gate, expecting Shi Long to lose the Longevity Art to an old scholar after a clash with Yu Wenhua Ji.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling lifted the Longevity Art from Shi Long’s friend as he passed through the gate.
• Fang Qing inspected the manual and recognized its Oracle Bone Script and Seven Diagrams as the treasure he had sought.
• Fang Qing told Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling to memorize the sixth and seventh diagrams, then gave them fifty taels of silver to leave Yangzhou.
• Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling departed, and Fang Qing vanished to return to his own world.

After obtaining the Longevity Art in the Great Tang World, Fang Qing returned to the Shrouding Heavens Realm and attended his university class reunion, where his changed bearing surprised his classmates. He met Ye Fan again before the reunion moved into a private room, with the Mount Tai trip still ahead.

• Fang Qing reflected on how the Longevity Art gave him a stronger start in the Shrouding Heavens Realm than the Purple Haze Skill.
• Wang Ziwen organized a class reunion at Sea Moon City, and Fang Qing agreed to attend because the classmates would later travel to Mount Tai.
• Fang Qing drove to Sea Moon City, where Wang Ziwen noticed his changed appearance and asked about his recent life.
• Ye Fan arrived, and both he and Wang Ziwen remarked on Fang Qing's unusual, Daoist bearing.
• Wang Ziwen led Fang Qing and Ye Fan to the fifth-floor private room, where Fang Qing saw his other classmates.

At a class reunion, Fang Qing calmly explained that he spent his time reading and drinking tea, then discussed the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon and the possibility of becoming a Sage with Ye Fan. After the reunion's eating, drinking, and singing, the classmates prepared to visit Mount Tai.

• Fang Qing met his old classmates and told Liu Yunzhi and another classmate that he stayed home reading and drinking tea because he was not interested in money.
• Wang Ziwen praised Fang Qing as a recluse, and the classmates shifted to lively talk about their bosses and other topics.
• Ye Fan asked Fang Qing about his reading, and Fang Qing discussed the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, health practices, and its four kinds of people.
• Fang Qing suggested that they could try to become Sages in the present era.
• The classmates ate, drank, sang, and reunited with former loves before deciding to go to Mount Tai the next day.

Fang Qing climbed Mount Tai with his classmates, impressed Ye Fan with his knowledge of the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon, and became friends with him. At Jade Emperor Peak, the group admired the scenery until several black dots rushed toward the mountain.

• Fang Qing climbed Mount Tai with his classmates and reflected on the mountain's history and the Mount Tai Sect's sword technique.
• The classmates noticed Fang Qing's stamina and presence, while Li Xiaoman and Kaid watched him with curiosity.
• Fang Qing discussed the Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon with Ye Fan, and the two came to regard each other as kindred spirits and friends.
• The group reached Jade Emperor Peak and admired the view while recalling poems praising Mount Tai.
• Several black dots appeared on the horizon and hurtled toward Mount Tai.

Fang Qing and his classmates were swept into the Bronze Coffin when Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin landed on Mount Tai and opened an interstellar passage. Inside the sealed coffin, Fang Qing calmed the terrified passengers, who began naming themselves.

• Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin crashed onto Mount Tai, and Fang Qing brought Ye Fan out of danger.
• Li Xiaoman spotted a half-buried jade tablet on a Five-Colored Altar, and the altar activated as a student fell.
• An immense suction force trapped everyone while a Bagua Diagram and Taiji Diagram opened a passage through the void.
• The Bronze Coffin sucked Fang Qing and his classmates inside, then sealed shut and began its journey through the universe.
• Fang Qing urged everyone to use their phones for light and state their names, and the group began counting themselves, ending with Pang Bo identifying himself as number thirty.

Fang Qing calmed the students inside the Bronze Coffin and suggested that Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin might be taking them to another world where immortality was possible. After the coffin landed, the group emerged into a barren, deathly landscape, and Fang Qing spotted distant lights and led them toward them.

• Pang Bo explained that he had missed the reunion but rushed to Mount Tai afterward and was swept into the Bronze Coffin.
• Fang Qing led the students in examining the coffin’s carvings and discussing whether Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin might take them to another world.
• The Bronze Coffin shook violently, then light entered as it apparently landed.
• The students left the coffin and found themselves in a desolate red-brown land instead of Mount Tai.
• Fang Qing climbed a boulder, spotted distant white lights, and told the group to walk toward them.

Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo reached an ancient Buddhist ruin and collected artifacts, while Fang Qing’s Bronze Fishing Rod produced a Bodhi Seed. Their classmates arrived and found treasures of their own, and Ye Fan and Pang Bo held back from searching further.

• Fang Qing led Ye Fan and Pang Bo toward the light, and Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, and the other classmates followed later.
• Fang Qing’s Bronze Fishing Rod reeled in a patterned Bodhi Seed, while Ye Fan dug up another beneath the Bodhi Tree.
• Fang Qing took the Bronze Lamp, Ye Fan claimed a Bodhi Seed, and Pang Bo removed the Bronze Plaque from the Ancient Temple.
• Fang Qing found six golden Prayer Beads, Pang Bo uncovered half a Vajra Pestle, and Ye Fan kicked out an Alms Bowl.
• Wang Ziwen, Zhou Yi, Kaid, and other classmates found Buddhist artifacts, while Ye Fan and Pang Bo stopped searching and Fang Qing said they should leave.

After the Ancient Temple collapsed, Fang Qing led the students back to the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin and organized them to defend against the Crocodile Ancestor’s lesser crocodiles. They held the creatures back without casualties, but a tremendous roar from the temple ruins suggested the Crocodile Ancestor was about to break free.

• Fang Qing led the group away as the Ancient Temple shook, its Buddhist treasures blazed with power, and the temple and ancient tree collapsed.
• Fang Qing, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, Wang Ziwen, and Zhou Yi returned to the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin with their treasures, and Fang Qing burned a beast that ambushed them.
• Fang Qing ordered students with Buddhist Treasures to form an outer circle while the unarmed students sheltered inside.
• Pang Bo’s Vajra Pestle unleashed lightning, Wang Ziwen’s Damaged Bell emitted golden light, and the students used their treasures to kill the attacking lesser crocodiles.
• Fang Qing and the others maintained their defenses without losing anyone, until a roar from the ruined temple signaled that the Crocodile Ancestor was nearing release.

Fang Qing and his classmates slaughtered Divine Crocodiles to power Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin while the Crocodile Ancestor approached. They escaped aboard the Giant Bronze Coffin, though Fang Qing remained wary of the dangers ahead.

• Fang Qing coordinated the classmates' defense as they killed Lesser Divine Crocodiles, and his Bodhi Seed strengthened his spirit with the Six-Syllable Mantra.
• The Crocodile Ancestor appeared near the Five-Colored Altar, but Fang Qing urged everyone to keep fighting and helped destroy more Divine Crocodiles.
• The blood sacrifice opened the Starry Sky Ancient Road, and the Crocodile Ancestor's attempt to seize the altar was stopped by a mysterious force and the dragons' Dragon Qi.
• Fang Qing led the classmates back into the Bronze Coffin as the Crocodile Ancestor tried to grab it, but the coffin injured its hand.
• The Giant Bronze Coffin closed and rose with the nine dragon corpses, carrying Fang Qing and the others beyond the Crocodile Ancestor's reach.

After the Bronze Coffin survived the perilous encounter with the divine crocodiles, Fang Qing cultivated with his Bodhi Seed and heard the Three-Generations Bronze Coffin’s Great Dao Words. The coffin reached the Big Dipper and opened onto a lush world that Fang Qing recognized as a forbidden region.

• The classmates thanked Fang Qing for guiding them through the attack, and he told them to rest while remaining alert.
• Fang Qing used his Bodhi Seed to hear the Great Dao Words and obtained several hundred mysterious ancient characters.
• Ye Fan also heard the Dao sound through his Bodhi Seed as the Bronze Coffin approached the Big Dipper.
• The Bronze Coffin shook, stabilized, and toppled onto the ground as its lid shifted aside.
• The classmates disembarked into a lush, flower-scented world, while Fang Qing thought that the apparent pure land was actually a forbidden region.

Fang Qing, Pang Bo, and Ye Fan explored the strange, silent mountaintop and found the Nine Marvels Undying Medicine. After eating its fruit, Fang Qing refined some of its power with the Purple Haze Skill and greatly increased his strength.

• Fang Qing and the others found themselves atop a mountain peak surrounded by nine mountains and a vast abyss.
• Zhang Ziling spotted a broken stele, and Ye Fan read its remaining words as “Ancient Desolation Forbidden.”
• Fang Qing urged the students to stay cautious without panicking, while Pang Bo and Ye Fan took him to search for food.
• Fang Qing, Pang Bo, and Ye Fan found fragrant red fruits growing beside a spring and ate them despite the risk.
• Fang Qing recognized the fruit as part of the Nine Marvels Undying Medicine and used the Purple Haze Skill to refine its essence, rapidly increasing his strength.

Fang Qing used the Bodhi Seed to comprehend the Longevity Art while the group spent the night in the forest, and the Divine Fruits’ energy helped him reach the innate realm. By dawn, his senses, strength, and speed had greatly improved as the students continued their journey out of the forbidden zone.

• Fang Qing refined a Divine Fruit’s essence into Misty Purple Qi, stunning Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
• Fang Qing divided the remaining Divine Fruits among himself, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and Liu Yiyi, then stored one fruit in the Fishing Rod.
• The students chose a route through the mountains, gathered wild fruits, and camped in the forest when night fell.
• Fang Qing used the Bodhi Seed to comprehend the Longevity Art, circulating qi through his body and refining the Divine Fruits’ essence into true qi.
• At dawn, Fang Qing found that his senses, strength, and speed had surged, and he judged that he had reached the innate realm.

After Fang Qing and his classmates escaped the Ancient Desolation Forbidden Zone, its power stripped decades from most of their lives while the Divine Fruits protected Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo. As the aged survivors demanded answers, a woman arrived in a streak of multicolored light.

• Fang Qing led the group out of the Ancient Desolation Forbidden Zone after reaching the Innate Realm through a night of cultivation.
• The group found the warning carved into a cliff and then suffered agonizing pain as the Forbidden Zone's power attacked them.
• Fang Qing remained conscious and saw that the Desolation Force reduced lifespans, while the Divine Fruits protected him, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo.
• Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and Fang Qing awoke younger, while Liu Yiyi had aged about twenty years and the other students had aged over forty.
• Zhou Yi, Wang Ziwen, Lin Jia, Li Xiaoman, and Liu Yunzhi reacted in despair and demanded to know why they had grown old.
• Ye Fan suggested the Divine Fruits had protected the three of them, and a woman arrived in a streak of multicolored light.

Fang Qing and the other students were rescued by Weiwei after emerging from the Ancient Desolation Forbidden Zone, where they had lost decades of life but gained activated Bitter Seas and the ability to cultivate. After arriving in town, Fang Qing offered for the group to join the elders’ sects, and they welcomed his proposal.

• Weiwei questioned Fang Qing and the others about the Forbidden Zone and the scarlet fruit, then explained that they had lost years of life but gained the potential to cultivate.
• Weiwei used rainbow light to carry the group to a small town, where several elders questioned them about their origins and how they had entered the Forbidden Zone.
• Fang Qing told the elders that the group had climbed a Giant Mountain in the west and been transported to this world.
• The elders recognized Fang Qing and the others as promising cultivation candidates, and Fang Qing offered for them to join the elders’ sects.
• The elders gladly accepted Fang Qing’s offer.

Fang Qing and the other students joined Lingxu Grotto-Heaven, whose elders hurried them to the sect and explained the vast world and their new home. Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo settled in thatched cottages, where Fang Qing prepared to resume cultivating.

• Fang Qing said he wanted to join the elders' sect, and the elders accepted all thirty students into Lingxu Grotto-Heaven before quickly taking them away.
• The elders explained the sect's ties to a Holy Land and described the regions of the world as they flew with Fang Qing, Ye Fan, Pang Bo, and the other students.
• The group arrived at Lingxu Grotto-Heaven, where Pang Bo asked whether they could catch and eat one of the intelligent Immortal Cranes.
• The elders led the students into the sect's immortal paradise and separated Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo from the others for accommodations.
• An old man left Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo at three thatched cottages, and Pang Bo claimed one while Ye Fan reflected on their safe arrival.
• Fang Qing sat cross-legged as if preparing to circulate his mysterious technique, and Pang Bo asked whether he had to work so hard.

Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo began training at Lingxu Grotto-Heaven, where Elder Wu Qingfeng taught them the foundations of cultivation. He gave them the opening chapter of the Dao Scripture and said he would guide them for three months before they listened to the Mysterious Methods at Lingxu Cliff.

• Fang Qing cultivated the Longevity Art while Ye Fan and Pang Bo tried to train their bodies.
• Elder Wu Qingfeng arrived and tested the three with questions about the sky and the dust within it.
• Fang Qing described how a flower and a grain of sand could each contain a world, impressing Wu Qingfeng and leaving Pang Bo feeling slow.
• Wu Qingfeng explained the Wheel of Life, the Bitter Sea, and the stages cultivators had to cross to reach the Other Shore.
• Wu Qingfeng said he would guide the three for three months, then gave Fang Qing teachings from the opening chapter of the Dao Scripture.

At Lingxu Grotto-Heaven, Fang Qing comprehended the Dao Scripture with astonishing speed and sensed his Wheel of Life. He used his existing cultivation to break through into the Bitter Sea realm just three days after beginning his path in this world.

• Wu Qingfeng tested Fang Qing's understanding of the Dao Scripture and was shocked that he had mastered its basic principles in less than half a day.
• Wu Qingfeng devoted most of his attention to Fang Qing, guiding him through later passages while Ye Fan and Pang Bo continued studying the earlier ones.
• Fang Qing comprehended the entire Dao Scripture in two days and began trying to sense his Wheel of Life.
• Fang Qing combined the Scripture's sensing method with his Inner Vision and quickly found his Wheel of Life.
• Fang Qing circulated the true qi he had cultivated and struck at the Bitter Sea, successfully entering the Bitter Sea realm.

Fang Qing reached the Bitter Sea Realm in a day, astonishing Elder Wu Qingfeng, who gave him special protection and five bottles of Hundred Herb Liquid. As Fang Qing rapidly expanded his Bitter Sea, Ye Fan and Pang Bo continued studying the Dao Scripture together.

• Wu Qingfeng sensed Fang Qing’s newly opened Bitter Sea and praised his talent, then told Fang Qing, Ye Fan, and Pang Bo to keep the achievement secret.
• Wu Qingfeng brought Fang Qing five bottles of Hundred Herb Liquid and stayed to protect him while instructing him to cultivate steadily.
• Pang Bo lamented that he had not finished reading the Dao Scripture, while Ye Fan encouraged him to study and discuss it together.
• Fang Qing refined a full bottle of Hundred Herb Liquid, felt his Bitter Sea expand, and found that he could take more.

Fang Qing advanced his cultivation by consuming Hundred Herb Liquid while Pang Bo and Ye Fan studied the Dao Scripture. After Ye Fan began cultivating, Elder Wu Qingfeng discovered that his Ancient Desolate Sacred Body could not open its Bitter Sea, leaving Ye Fan to seek a way forward on his own.

• Fang Qing recited the Dao Scripture backward flawlessly, astonishing Pang Bo and Ye Fan as they studied beside him.
• Fang Qing, Pang Bo, and Ye Fan gazed at the unfamiliar stars and moon before returning to cultivation the next day.
• After eleven days, Elder Wu Qingfeng gave Fang Qing five bottles of Hundred Herb Liquid and confirmed that Fang Qing was absorbing it well.
• Elder Wu Qingfeng examined Ye Fan and found that his Ancient Desolate Sacred Body's Bitter Sea could not be opened, despite his efforts.
• Pang Bo pleaded with Elder Wu Qingfeng to keep helping Ye Fan, but Wu Qingfeng said Ye Fan would have to rely on himself and went to search the records.
• Fang Qing comforted Ye Fan, who thanked him and remained composed.