Chapter Summaries

Qin Yi used flute attacks to overwhelm Zhou Yuncheng and draw out the hidden monk from Great Joy Temple. When the monk attacked at close range, Qin Yi revealed his own strength as a Martial Cultivation practitioner and struck back with a Wolf Tooth Club.

• Qin Yi broke Zhou Yuncheng’s Divinatory Symbol and battered him with the Music Sect piece “Raging Sea Shocking Waves.”
• A monk from Great Joy Temple attacked Qin Yi from behind with Copper Bowls, and Qin Yi used “Heaven Collapse” to smash the monk’s Taiji phantom and damage Zhou Yuncheng’s tortoiseshell.
• Qin Yi revealed that he had been waiting for the monk, while the monk tried to recruit him by offering to help him win Ju Yunxiu.
• Qin Yi challenged Zhou Yuncheng over his collusion with Great Joy Temple, but Zhou Yuncheng denied responsibility and claimed he would help Qin Yi.
• The monk secretly slashed at Qin Yi as he put away his flute, but Qin Yi blocked the Copper Bowls with a Wolf Tooth Club and revealed his formidable physical strength.

Qin Yi fought Ci Ming and Zhou Yuncheng in the Earth Spirit Secret Realm, revealing overwhelming martial skill and a range of spells. When a ghostly face emerged from his Wolf Tooth Club and devoured Ci Ming’s Spirit Body, Qin Yi discovered it could strike him back, leaving its nature unclear.

• Ci Ming’s investigation of Hongfa Temple led him to target Qin Yi, after Zheng Yunyi secretly invited him to attack and hid him in the Earth Spirit Secret Realm.
• Qin Yi’s Wolf Tooth Club techniques overwhelmed Ci Ming’s martial attacks, and he cracked one of Ci Ming’s Copper Bowls.
• Ci Ming unleashed a powerful Spirit Body that Qin Yi could not hit directly, while Zhou Yuncheng attacked him with a Divinatory Symbol diagram.
• Qin Yi used his jade ring to block the Spirit Body and a flame array to drive Zhou Yuncheng away, then knocked Ci Ming into Zhou Yuncheng.
• A white-mist ghost face emerged from Qin Yi’s Wolf Tooth Club and swallowed the Spirit Body, then hit Qin Yi with a misty club of its own.
• Qin Yi angrily attacked Ci Ming and Zhou Yuncheng as the ghostly face’s identity remained unexplained.

After Zhou Yuncheng and Ci Ming were rescued, Qin Yi recounted the Immortal Palace Dao Debate to Liusu, who helped him discover a valuable substance beneath the Heavenly Fragrance Fruit tree. Elsewhere, Heavenly Mystery Child and Zheng Yunyi learned how badly Qin Yi had defeated their men and realized they knew far too little about him.

• Zhou Yuncheng crushed his sect jade, and a Huiyang expert carried him and Ci Ming away from Qin Yi.
• Liusu woke, teased Qin Yi, and listened as he explained the Dao Debate and his fight with the monk and Zhou Yuncheng.
• Qin Yi showed Liusu the recorded evidence of an insider admitting Great Joy Temple into the secret realm and Zhou Yuncheng attacking him from behind.
• Liusu directed Qin Yi to dig beneath the Heavenly Fragrance Fruit tree, where he found Azure Earth with uses in artifact-making, poison, and medicine.
• Liusu urged Qin Yi to explore the Immortal Blessed Land for more treasures and then hid inside his Wolf Tooth Club.
• Heavenly Mystery Child and Zheng Yunyi heard Ci Ming describe Qin Yi's strength and wondered how a seventeen-year-old had become so formidable.

Zheng Yunyi killed Ci Ming and discussed how the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace would handle the fallout, while Heavenly Mystery Child urged him to focus on the sect’s larger goals. Inside the Earth Spirit Secret Realm, Qin Yi continued searching for Heavenly Fragrance Fruits, then rushed to help Yin Yizhong and another contestant fight a Zhi and Ghost Cry Vine.

• Zheng Yunyi killed Ci Ming and proposed claiming that he had executed an infiltrator, while Heavenly Mystery Child judged the scheme flawed.
• Heavenly Mystery Child sent Xi Xiangzi to Great Joy Temple and tasked Zheng Yunyi with managing the conflict between the sects.
• Heavenly Mystery Child learned that Zheng Yunyi wanted the painting from the Zither, Chess, Calligraphy, Painting Sect’s tomb and suggested letting them retrieve it first.
• Qin Yi continued following the map for Heavenly Fragrance Fruits and collected useful branches as Liusu pointed out resources along the way.
• Qin Yi saw Yin Yizhong and another contestant fighting a Zhi and Ghost Cry Vine, then charged over to help them.

Qin Yi rescued Yin Yizhong and Mo Wuzi from a Zhi and the Ghost Cry Vine, then helped them destroy the vine’s roots. After learning Zhou Yuncheng had lured the Zhi to attack him and endanger the others, the three set out to confront the people responsible.

• Qin Yi watched Mo Wuzi’s iron birds entangle the Ghost Cry Vine’s tendrils while Yin Yizhong trapped a Zhi with his wine jar.
• The Zhi broke free and wounded Yin Yizhong, but Qin Yi struck its tail with his Wolf Tooth Club and drove it away.
• Qin Yi used his flute to blast apart the Ghost Cry Vine’s upper tendrils, then joined Yin Yizhong and Mo Wuzi in destroying its roots with a wine gourd and cannon.
• Yin Yizhong explained that a Zhi had chased him into the Ghost Cry Vine’s territory after he went looking for a Heavenly Fragrance Fruit.
• Qin Yi revealed that he had knocked the Zhi unconscious and said it had been targeting him, leading Mo Wuzi and Yin Yizhong to suspect Zhou Yuncheng had set the attack up.
• Mo Wuzi and Yin Yizhong abandoned the fruit hunt and left to confront the people from Medicine, Divination, Schemes, Calculations.

Qin Yi uncovered the Ghost Cry Stone Bed and jade before returning to Competition Peak, where Heavenly Mystery Child killed Zhou Yuncheng to end the investigation into the scheme against him. The Dao Debate resumed with Qin Yi taking first place, and the Palace Master summoned him for an additional reward while Ju Yunxiu asked him to return to Main Peak afterward.

• Qin Yi followed Liusu’s advice, dug up the Ghost Cry Stone Bed and Ghost Cry Jade, and stored them in his ring.
• Qin Yi returned to Competition Peak and saw Yin Yizhong and Mo Wuzi beating Zhou Yuncheng while Heavenly Mystery Child accused him of conspiring with Great Joy Temple monks.
• Heavenly Mystery Child killed Zhou Yuncheng in public, and Ju Yunxiu agreed to let the matter end and resume the Dao Debate.
• Qin Yi, Yin Yizhong, and Mo Wuzi tallied their Heavenly Fragrance Fruits, but Yin Yizhong proposed that Qin Yi take first, Mo Wuzi second, and he take third.
• The Palace Master accepted the contestants’ rankings, gave each a reward, and summoned Qin Yi to the main hall for another reward.
• Ju Yunxiu told Qin Yi to return to Main Peak after meeting the Palace Master so they could talk.

Qin Yi met the unseen Palace Master and learned that Heavenly Mystery Child had secretly saved Zhou Yuncheng while using the incident to test and reward his disciples. The Palace Master appointed Qin Yi Immortal Palace Surveillance Envoy, leaving him with authority to investigate wrongdoing throughout the Immortal Palace.

• Qin Yi passed through the Immortal Palace’s administrative halls and overheard officials discussing sect business, resource allotments, and Minghe’s need for Star Phosphorus Meteorite Iron.
• Qin Yi entered the Palace Master’s hall and spoke with the hidden Palace Master, who explained that he deliberately let factions scheme against each other to keep the Immortal Palace’s disciples cautious.
• The Palace Master revealed that Zhou Yuncheng had survived using a substitute-death technique and that Heavenly Mystery Child had arranged the event to encourage his disciples to take on future schemes.
• Qin Yi argued that Heavenly Mystery Child had crossed the Immortal Palace’s bottom line, and the Palace Master praised his reasoning but refused to explain how he would respond.
• The Palace Master told Qin Yi that Heavenly Mystery Child could not personally harm him because of a wager agreement, then appointed him Immortal Palace Surveillance Envoy to investigate misconduct.

Qin Yi returned from his Inspector duties and visited Ju Yunxiu, where they discussed the Palace Lord’s warning to Scheming Sect and teased one another. The evening ended with Qin Yi playing a suggestive flute tune for Ju Yunxiu, while Liusu listened from inside the club.

• Qin Yi fled the Immortal Palace after its disciples reacted to him warily, and Liusu explained that his Inspector role could be ignored when convenient.
• Qin Yi and Liusu discussed the Palace Lord, Scheming Sect, and Liusu’s strength as they traveled back to Ju Yunxiu’s Main Peak.
• Qin Yi arrived at Ju Yunxiu’s room, where he flattered her after she questioned whether he had doubted her during Zhou Yuncheng’s apparent death.
• Ju Yunxiu explained that the Palace Lord had appointed Qin Yi Inspector to warn Heavenly Mystery Child and restrain Scheming Sect.
• Ju Yunxiu sent Qing Cha away instead of singing, and Qin Yi played a flirtatious tune on the Yunxiu Flute for her.

Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu shared an intimate musical moment before examining the Red Rock Boulder Painting he had won. Ju Yunxiu explained its trial realm and warned him to wait until he reached the Soaring Cloud Realm before visiting her master's tomb, while the Jade Pendant from the Palace Lord left them puzzled.

• Ju Yunxiu listened as Qin Yi played the flute, and their music conveyed a subtle understanding and attraction between them.
• Ju Yunxiu teased Qin Yi, then asked him to show her the painting he had received as a prize.
• Ju Yunxiu identified the Red Rock Boulder Painting as part of the same set as two other paintings and explained that its trial realm let Qin Yi battle a mountain sprite.
• Ju Yunxiu realized one painting was still missing and told Qin Yi he could seek the painting in her master's tomb, but only after reaching the Soaring Cloud Realm.
• Qin Yi showed Ju Yunxiu the Jade Pendant from the Palace Lord, and they wondered why it had been shaped like a chicken feather.

After reflecting on his growing attachment to the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace and his uncertain feelings for Ju Yunxiu, Qin Yi discussed relationships and loyalty with Liusu. Liusu then told him to carry a fragment of the mysterious door into the painting’s trial illusion, where it could help him break through the Muscle Tendon Change Stage.

• Qin Yi considered how Ju Yunxiu and his fellow disciples had made the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace feel like home, even though he still expected to leave and pursue the Dao elsewhere.
• Qin Yi told Liusu that he was uncertain about his growing closeness with Ju Yunxiu because he already had Li Qingjun, and Liusu challenged his assumptions about having multiple partners.
• Qin Yi and Liusu joked about which of them was the other's cat, then promised that neither would abandon the other.
• Qin Yi explained that he sought the paintings because he suspected they were connected to the mysterious door and wanted to learn more about it.
• Liusu advised Qin Yi to bring a fragment of the door into the painting's trial illusion, saying that carrying it while cultivating could make his Muscle Tendon Change Stage breakthrough remarkably easy.

Qin Yi entered the Red Rock Mountain Goblin Painting to train under the pressure of its realm and test the mysterious fragment’s effect on his body. After the mountain goblin nearly defeated him, Qin Yi used the Slow spell to disrupt its movement and prepared to continue fighting.

• Qin Yi retrieved a hidden roster and the box containing the fragment from the Cave Dwelling’s core restriction, then entered the painting realm using Ju Yunxiu’s method.
• Qin Yi felt the fragment’s energy enter his body and begin reshaping his muscles, tendons, and meridians while the realm’s pressure tempered him.
• A mountain goblin ambushed Qin Yi, deflected his Wolf Tooth Club, and struck him hard enough to nearly knock him out of the realm.
• The fragment’s energy restored and altered Qin Yi’s injured meridians, but the mountain goblin continued to outpace him in close combat.
• Qin Yi cast Slow to disrupt the mountain goblin’s movement, spat blood, and raised his club to keep fighting.

Qin Yi fought the mountain demon in the Trial Space, broke through to Muscle Tendon Change Fourth Layer, and developed his own movement technique with insights from the door fragment and Liusu. After fifteen days of daily challenges, the painted realm recognized him as its master, but the monkey immediately grew stronger and knocked him out again.

• Qin Yi battled the mountain demon until he broke through to Muscle Tendon Change Fourth Layer, but the trial sent him out when he reached his limit.
• Liusu explained that the door fragment was connected to the origin of the world, and Qin Yi discussed how his battle had helped him gain insight into movement techniques.
• Qin Yi gathered herbs for restorative medicinal baths and began recovering while consolidating his newly strengthened meridians.
• Over half a month of daily challenges, Qin Yi combined his insights and Liusu's guidance into a personal movement technique he named Wind Thunder Movement.
• The painted realm recognized Qin Yi as its master, but the mountain demon became faster, attacked him, and knocked him out of the trial again.

Ju Yunxiu struggled with her growing longing for Qin Yi and her fear that rumors about their relationship would stain her reputation, so she resolved to let their feelings fade. When Qin Yi visited with wine, she set that resolve aside and invited him to taste Absurd Dream together.

• Ju Yunxiu realized that missing Qin Yi had disrupted her focus and considered either confessing her feelings or avoiding him until they faded.
• Ju Yunxiu overheard disciples gossiping that she and Qin Yi were effectively master and disciple, and worried that future writers would spread their story.
• Ju Yunxiu decided that seeing Qin Yi less would be best, but Qin Yi soon arrived after cultivating and visiting Yin Yizhong for wine.
• Qin Yi gave Ju Yunxiu a gourd of Absurd Dream, and she explained that its visions of lifetimes could offer cultivators insight.
• Ju Yunxiu rewarded Qin Yi with a Never-Emptying gourd of Poetry Wine Drifting, then invited him to taste Absurd Dream with her.

Qin Yi shared Absurd Dream wine with Ju Yunxiu, whose effects drew out their subconscious desires and pulled Qin Yi into increasingly vivid dreams. As he sank into a dream inspired by their memories, he resolved to follow his desire and reach for Ju Yunxiu.

• Qing Cha brought wine to Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu, and Ju Yunxiu noticed Qin Yi's martial cultivation had advanced.
• Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu drank Absurd Dream wine, and Qin Yi briefly dreamed of painting with Ju Yunxiu in the modern world.
• Qin Yi realized the wine revealed desires and could trap drinkers who failed to awaken.
• After drinking a third cup, Qin Yi dreamed of scenes resembling The Return of the Condor Heroes and the Jade Maiden Heart Sutra.
• Qin Yi questioned whether he should act on his feelings for Ju Yunxiu and reached out to pull her closer.

After a shared dream wine left Ju Yunxiu and Qin Yi caught in an awkward embrace, Ju Yunxiu sent him on a mission to Da Qian. Qin Yi realized she was wrestling with the reality of their master-disciple relationship and admitted to himself that he wanted to stay in her life.

• Ju Yunxiu woke from an intimate dream and, when Qin Yi pulled her into his arms while asleep, returned his embrace before he abruptly flopped back onto the stone table.
• Ju Yunxiu scolded Qin Yi, struck him awake, and retreated inside, while Qing Cha refused to throw him down the mountain.
• Ju Yunxiu advised Qin Yi to leave the Immortal Palace once his martial cultivation reached the fifth or sixth level of Tendon Transformation and assigned him a mission in Da Qian.
• Ju Yunxiu explained that Da Qian had requested help with trouble and that Qin Yi could investigate a painting connected to her Master's old friend.
• Qing Cha told Qin Yi that Ju Yunxiu's heart was troubled by the reality of their master-disciple relationship, and Qin Yi resolved to face his feelings and move into her life.

Qin Yi explained that he sought strength to control his fate, not immortality at any cost, then decided to confess his feelings to Ju Yunxiu by giving her a carefully adapted book. After days of work, he finished The Return of the Condor Heroes, while Liusu joked that the eagle in the story resembled their bond.

• Liusu teased Qin Yi about his feelings for Ju Yunxiu and revealed that she and Qing Cha already knew he had gotten handsy with her.
• Qin Yi told Liusu that he wanted strength to control his fate and rejected immortality that required indifference to everything else.
• Qin Yi planned to give Ju Yunxiu The Return of the Condor Heroes as an open declaration of his feelings before leaving on the mission.
• Qin Yi spent several days revising the story to fit the setting and finished the manuscript.
• Liusu compared Yang Guo's eagle to its long companionship with Qin Yi, and Qin Yi called Liusu a Sand Sculpture.

After making major changes to The Return of the Condor Heroes, Qin Yi gave copies to Gongshu Lu and Yin Yizhong while trying to win their support. He entered seclusion to make his final martial arts breakthrough, unaware that the book was about to become a sensation.

• Qin Yi finished a heavily altered version of The Return of the Condor Heroes, and his original changes slightly advanced his cultivation.
• Qin Yi visited Gongshu Lu, discussed the Artisan Sect and Ju Yunxiu, and gave him a copy of the book.
• Gongshu Lu and Mo Wuzi read Qin Yi's book and decided to print a thousand copies for Eating, Drinking, Whoring, Gambling Town.
• Qin Yi had also given a copy to Yin Yizhong, who wondered how Ju Yunxiu would react when she saw it.
• Qin Yi returned to his Cave Dwelling and entered seclusion for his final martial arts breakthrough, unaware that the book would stir up a craze.

The Immortal Palace embraced Qin Yi’s The Return of the Condor Heroes and treated it as a defense of his relationship with Ju Yunxiu, while Ju Yunxiu understood it as his open declaration of love. After learning Qin Yi had left, she worried for his safety and sent the Spirit of the Book to warn Great Joy Temple not to target him.

• Cultivators across the Immortal Palace read The Return of the Condor Heroes, praised its story, and largely accepted Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu’s relationship.
• Disciples debated the novel’s characters and speculated that Qin Yi had written it to prepare Ju Yunxiu for women who might enter his life.
• Ju Yunxiu heard Qing Cha complain that disciples had called her Granny Sun, and she explained that their interpretations of the novel were mostly fanciful.
• Ju Yunxiu realized Qin Yi had used the novel to make his romantic intentions clear, and learned he had left after saying he would apologize when he returned.
• Ju Yunxiu sent the Spirit of the Book to Great Joy Temple with a warning that she would kill any of its lewd monks who bullied Qin Yi.

Qin Yi traveled to Da Qian as an envoy, reflecting on the country’s cultivators and his uncertain feelings about returning to Southern Li. As Dragon Abyss City came into view, he prepared to visit the Hidden Dragon Temple and learn what trouble Da Qian faced.

• Qin Yi considered how his status and strength had changed since he first planned to visit Da Qian, while recognizing that the kingdom had formidable cultivators of its own.
• Liusu asked Qin Yi whether he planned to return to Southern Li after Da Qian’s affairs were settled, and Qin Yi admitted he feared having nothing left to say to someone there.
• Liusu encouraged Qin Yi to treat a reunion as courting someone anew, then warned him not to underestimate Da Qian’s problem.
• Qin Yi and Liusu discussed how the mission could temper him and joked about whether he might be seduced by a Da Qian princess.
• Qin Yi arrived at the borders of Da Qian and spotted Dragon Abyss City’s Hidden Dragon Temple, his first destination.

Qin Yi arrived at Hidden Dragon Temple and met its Temple Master, Lingxu, who explained the temple’s worldly approach to cultivation. After Qin Yi refused the offer of Daoist Nuns, Lingxu agreed that they could discuss the temple’s request for aid.

• Qin Yi reached Hidden Dragon Temple’s Star Gazing Platform, where its Daoists described ominous signs in the stars and Great Qian’s dragon aura.
• Lingxu introduced himself as the Temple Master and brought Qin Yi through the temple’s lavish guest quarters.
• Qin Yi and Lingxu discussed the temple’s use of worldly power and luxuries as part of its path of cultivation.
• Lingxu offered Qin Yi several Daoist Nuns, but Qin Yi declined and said he had not come for them.
• Lingxu dismissed the Daoist Nuns and said they truly had matters to discuss, noting that recent guests had not refused the offer.