Chapter Summaries

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi sealed Mount Luofu to investigate Zhang Xin’s connection to Zhu Ming Cave, then traced unexplained traps to the grotto-heaven. When they entered, a remnant of the Human Emperor Sword struck them with the force of a world cluster.

• Zhang Xin, Liu Dewang, and Ouyang Dongsheng persuaded the old Daoist to lead their group deeper into Mount Luofu.
• Shen Shuibi sealed Mount Luofu and awakened its spiritual herbs and magic treasures to draw the group into trials and expose Zhang Xin’s purpose.
• Li Qi used True Knowledge to trace the traps’ power to Zhu Ming Cave, and he and Shen Shuibi left Old Ma outside as they entered the grotto-heaven.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi reinforced their defenses against a colossal Sword Qi aftershock that carved a canyon across the land.
• Li Qi recognized the attack as a remnant of the Human Emperor Sword, and hundreds of millions of remnants filled their view.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi crossed the devastated Zhu Ming Cave-Heaven, avoiding the Human Emperor Sword’s lingering sword intent as they searched for a resonance with the outside world. They reached a concealed mountain where Shen Shuibi recognized Granny Lan’s aura, but found only a mysterious orchid beside miniature trial mechanisms.

• Li Qi identified the danger as a sword scar left by the Human Emperor Sword, and Shen Shuibi used silver needles to suppress her injuries according to his directions.
• Li Qi sensed that the sword scar had devastated Zhu Ming Cave-Heaven and learned that more than ten thousand unpredictable waves of sword intent remained.
• Shen Shuibi directed Li Qi toward fluctuations about thirty thousand li to the south, and he learned to pilot the Ghost Chariot while she regulated her qi.
• Li Qi brought the Ghost Chariot to a hidden Immortal Mountain, where Shen Shuibi recognized the protective aura as Granny Lan’s.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi entered the mountain and found miniature versions of the trials and mechanisms used in the Daoists’ fortuitous encounter, with a living but seemingly not truly alive orchid beside them.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi discovered that Granny Lan had died after leaving Mount Luofu’s inheritance behind as a trial for a successor. While Li Qi handled matters outside, Shen Shuibi watched the contestants turn on one another and rebuilt the maze to preserve the selection, then prepared to return to Wushen Mountain with Li Qi.

• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi found Granny Lan’s lifeless orchid body and realized she had created the maze to select an inheritor for Mount Luofu.
• Shen Shuibi stayed by the maze while Li Qi went outside with Old Ma to search for materials and spirit herbs.
• The contestants formed factions and fought over treasures, killing more of their own than the trials did; Ouyang Dongsheng and Liu Dewang’s sides fought over Seventh-Rank magic treasures.
• The old Daoist hid and worked on a puzzle, while Zhang Xin avoided the treasure scramble and searched for the true inheritance.
• Shen Shuibi reflected that the Sun Moon True Lead Cauldron’s Dao Path had been severed, then resolved that Mount Luofu’s legacy could still continue through a successor.
• Shen Shuibi reinforced and expanded the maze, planned an automatic pill-refining system with Li Qi’s help, and left an account of Granny Lan for the eventual winner before Li Qi returned and they prepared to go to Wushen Mountain.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi returned from Mount Luofu toward Wushen Mountain, where they expected to join the coming war over the Sun Moon True Lead Cauldron. Facing the possibility of death, they agreed to have a child and chose to nurture one through their Dao resonance.

• Li Qi refined an automatic pill-production machine for Shen Shuibi, and they left Mount Luofu carrying an orchid for Granny Mei.
• As Old Ma carried them toward Liesu, Shen Shuibi told Li Qi that Granny Lan had left something valuable and reflected on the importance of inheritance.
• Shen Shuibi suggested having a child because she and Li Qi would soon have to join the war over the Sun Moon True Lead Cauldron.
• Li Qi considered the danger of the war and agreed to have a child with Shen Shuibi.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi chose to nurture their child through Dao resonance rather than manifest one directly.

Li Qi returned to Wushen Mountain with Shen Shuibi and Old Ma after sending letters to Chang'an, then brought Shen Shuibi to meet his teacher, Zhu Fengdan. Their visit began with Zhu Fengdan snatching the orchid Shen Shuibi had brought as a gift.

• Li Qi hired a messenger in Liesu to deliver three letters and a Mustard Seed Bag to Chang'an, including instructions for Mount Luofu's people to withdraw and for him and Liu Shenzhi to part ways.
• Li Qi, Shen Shuibi, and Old Ma activated Liesu and arrived at Wushen Mountain, where Li Qi reflected on the Shaman Path's pursuit of harmony with the world.
• Li Qi explained Zhu Fengdan's eccentric habits to Shen Shuibi as they rode Old Ma for two days to the Great Shaman's barren cave abode.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi entered Zhu Fengdan's neglected hall, where rare treasures lay scattered among the ruins.
• Zhu Fengdan welcomed them and magically snatched the orchid from Shen Shuibi, making her eyes turn red.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi visited Zhu Fengdan, who apologized for their earlier misunderstanding and welcomed them. Zhu Fengdan praised Shen Shuibi but warned Li Qi that his borrowed cultivation and fear of choosing the wrong path had turned caution into cowardice, then urged him to decide how to move forward.

• Zhu Fengdan apologized to Shen Shuibi for their earlier encounter, and she accepted his apology and explained that she had come to pay respects as Li Qi's wife.
• Zhu Fengdan praised Shen Shuibi's character and cultivation, then told Li Qi that he had not yet found a Dao of his own.
• Zhu Fengdan explained that Li Qi's unusual Dao resonance let him learn others' cultivation quickly, but his sixth-rank progress relied largely on borrowed paths.
• Zhu Fengdan warned Li Qi that fear of damaging his Dao had made him mistake cowardice for caution and asked what he planned to do next.
• Zhu Fengdan invited Shen Shuibi to eat while Li Qi sat thinking, then suggested she might be the one person who could stir his turtle-like temperament.

Zhu Fengdan explained that Li Qi’s fear came from facing powerful beings before he could build confidence, then assigned him to the staff camp and Shen Shuibi to the war’s most dangerous front line. After revealing the demonic void within his Dharma manifestation to force Li Qi to confront his fear, Zhu Fengdan left the couple to decide whether to join the war, and Shen Shuibi urged Li Qi not to flee.

• Zhu Fengdan told Li Qi that his caution stemmed from repeatedly encountering enemies far stronger than himself and said he would place the couple in the war zone under his command.
• Zhu Fengdan assigned Li Qi to serve as a staff officer and Shen Shuibi to fight on the hardest front line, while Shen Shuibi accepted the duty and Li Qi objected.
• Zhu Fengdan revealed his stellar Dharma manifestation, and Li Qi saw the terrifying demonic void where the Four Symbols should have been.
• Zhu Fengdan explained that Shen Shuibi could steady her mind while Li Qi’s intelligence and fear made him waver, then left with the unconscious Old Ma.
• Li Qi suggested that he and Shen Shuibi avoid the war, but Shen Shuibi reminded him of his earlier resolve and said they had a duty to Mount Luofu; Li Qi remained uncertain.

Li Qi applied for and received a cave manor on Wushen Mountain, hoping to find a way to protect Shen Shuibi as they faced the coming battle. After opening the manor, he was visited by the mountain god Niu Huang, who offered him a gift and received an invitation to celebrate.

• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi discussed Zhu Fengdan’s plan to place Shen Shuibi at the front of the battle, and Li Qi regretted that fear had kept him from showing courage.
• Li Qi decided to seek another way to protect Shen Shuibi and suggested that they establish a home in a cave manor.
• Shen Shuibi began preparing furnishings while Li Qi applied to the Ancestor Temple for a cave manor and received its address and key.
• Li Qi opened the assigned manor, a Sixth-Rank mountain estate with three grotto-heavens, and sent Shen Shuibi a message about it.
• Niu Huang, the mountain god of Xuanjing Mountain, visited Li Qi and offered an outer-realm world as a gift; Li Qi declined it and invited the mountain’s people and spirits to celebrate.

Li Qi toured Xuanjing Mountain with Niu Huang, whose long service earned him an official enfeoffment edict from the Ancestor's Mansion. Li Qi returned to his estate reflecting on the Shaman Path's view of life, while the mountain's creatures continued their own work.

• Niu Huang asked Li Qi for an edict, then carried him down the mountain to show him its inhabitants and their affairs.
• Li Qi disappeared from Niu Huang's back, but Niu Huang continued his promised tour, helping the mountain's weasels, turtle, villagers, stone, tree, and ghost.
• A courier from the Ancestor's Mansion delivered Niu Huang an edict officially appointing him Mountain God, and Li Qi revealed that he had been present all along.
• Li Qi returned to his cave estate and considered the differences among the Divine, Shaman, Martial, and Demon Paths, as well as the living world of Wushen Mountain.
• Li Qi asked a rat what it would do after eating, and the rat said it would carry the fruit far away and defecate it to sow the seeds.

Li Qi rested after deepening his understanding of the Shaman Path, then woke beside Shen Shuibi as they prepared to settle on Xuanjing Mountain. They arranged a banquet to celebrate their new home and invited their relatives, friends, and the local spirits.

• Li Qi watched a mouse return to its hole and saw an old ninth-rank mouse teaching baby mice, then reflected on how sprites strengthened the Heaven and Earth Great Source.
• Li Qi slept to recover from enfeoffing a seventh-rank Orthodox God and to balance the yin and yang within his body.
• Li Qi woke beside Shen Shuibi, who had finished arranging their new home and prepared furniture, food, wine, and invitations for their move-in celebration.
• Shen Shuibi said they might live in the new home for centuries and have a child, leaving Li Qi flustered as he changed the subject to inviting their relatives and friends.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi prepared an extravagant banquet, and Li Qi sent invitations to Bo Yue, Liu Shenzhi, and Niu Huang.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi held their housewarming feast, where guests from Mount Luofu and Wushen Mountain gathered. Yang Ning worried about an approaching war, Granny Mei offered Li Qi a rare moment of ordinary kindness, and the lively banquet continued as Li Qi reunited with his friends.

• Yang Ning pulled Li Qi aside and warned him that war would begin within a thousand years, but he reassured her and she left without finishing her threat.
• Granny Mei discussed Li Qi's rapid cultivation and the debts it would bring, then told him to rest during what might be the calmest stretch of his life.
• Spirits, villagers, demons, and Mount Luofu's young skylarks filled the feast with laughter, while Li Qi welcomed guests alongside Shen Shuibi.
• Bo Yue, Yan Ke, and Zhong Minglou arrived, and Bo Yue asked how Li Qi had reached sixth rank.
• Zhong Minglou coughed and made his friends wait, only to explain that his throat had been itchy.

Li Qi hosted his housewarming banquet, received Liu Shenzhi’s parting letter, and learned that a war would begin in a thousand years. After reflecting on advice from Mi Xin, he set himself a long-term plan to find a way to keep Shen Shuibi off the front lines; once the guests had departed, he and Shen Shuibi closed the door to their new home.

• Li Qi read Liu Shenzhi’s letter and put the living Witchcraft Silkworm into dormancy in his Mustard Seed Bag.
• Zhong Minglou suddenly fell, struck his head, and resisted Li Qi’s healing spell with Dao resonance before writing “Peace” and fleeing.
• Zhu Fengdan named Old Ma Ma Ji and told Li Qi that war would begin in a thousand years, with Li Qi expected near the front after several centuries.
• Li Qi recalled Mi Xin’s advice to break immense tasks into smaller ones and decided to spend four hundred and fifty years seeking a way to replace Shen Shuibi on the battlefield.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi saw off the guests, accepted Niu Huang’s cleanup, and closed the door to their new cave dwelling together.

After spending two years perfecting his body, Li Qi prepared to travel with Shen Shuibi to Penglai, where the Demon Prince planned to challenge ten geniuses, beginning with the Little Heavenly Master. They set off aboard Ma Ji, beginning their journey through the Gale Layer.

• Li Qi spent two years repairing his body and refining the little world within it until his fleshly body reached the Golden Core realm.
• Shen Shuibi prepared to spend five years building up her strength and energy before becoming pregnant with a child carrying both parents’ bloodlines and Dao veins.
• Li Qi accepted the Demon Prince’s invitation to Penglai to witness him challenge ten geniuses, including the Little Heavenly Master.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi packed their supplies and called for Ma Ji, who outlined their route to Penglai through Baiyue, Golden Platform, and Huliang.
• Ma Ji carried Li Qi and Shen Shuibi into the Gale Layer, and they began their journey to Penglai.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi traveled through Liesu and Baiyue to the Daoist school's northeastern islands, where Li Qi reflected on the Hidden World Faction's pursuit of unfettered freedom. They reached Huliang, a dazzling Daoist market, and the chapter left Li Qi marveling at the scale of its real wonders.

• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi traveled through Liesu, obtained entry permits at Baiyue, and crossed the Human Path by Earth Flow Chariot and Golden Platform.
• As they flew over the northeastern islands, Li Qi asked Shen Shuibi why so few mortals lived there, and she admitted she had never visited Penglai or had contact with it.
• Li Qi learned that Huliang was a rare Daoist market and transportation hub among the Three Islands.
• Li Qi, Shen Shuibi, and Old Ma arrived at Huliang and saw its mountains, floating peaks, temples, and bustling Daoist cultivators.
• Li Qi exclaimed over Huliang's extravagant spectacle and realized that its wonders were all real.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi entered what they thought was Huliang, only to discover that its city and inhabitants were part of a painting. After they emerged into the painter’s thatched hut, an old Daoist explained that he had placed the scroll near Huliang to turn away the crowds gathering to watch Demon Prince fight the Little Heavenly Master.

• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi landed at Huliang and flew into its ornate city, where they found that the houses were empty and the passersby were lifelike but soulless puppets.
• Shen Shuibi guided Li Qi and Old Ma away from the city as the scenery shrank around them, revealing that they had been inside a painting.
• Li Qi discovered that the painted city depicted Huliang and that Old Ma had lost his ability to transform inside the old Daoist’s thatched hut.
• Shen Shuibi identified the scene as the work of a master painter, and an old Daoist arrived and confirmed that the group had accidentally entered his painting.
• Li Qi introduced himself and Shen Shuibi, and the old Daoist explained that he had put the scroll near Huliang to block people arriving to watch Demon Prince fight the Little Heavenly Master.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi left Lu Jian’s thatched hut and explored Huliang, where Li Qi learned how the Daoist Sect’s Immortal Path worked. After observing its users, he reconsidered what it meant to cultivate oneself alone and departed on the path with Shen Shuibi and Old Ma.

• Lu Jian explained that he limited entry to Huliang and invited Li Qi and Shen Shuibi to travel with him after they crossed his barrier.
• Li Qi saw Huliang’s crowded island and learned from Lu Jian that a True Immortal had built its self-service Immortal Path, which users maintained themselves.
• Lu Jian lost interest and left; Shen Shuibi rebuked Li Qi for doubting her devotion, then turned into a rabbit and ignored him.
• Li Qi watched travelers use and maintain the Immortal Path, and concluded that Daoist cultivators’ self-reliance could sustain a peaceful society.
• Li Qi reflected on cultivating truth, then activated the Immortal Path.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi arrived at Penglai, where Demon Prince welcomed them and discussed the demonic path’s reputation and the obstacles on their Dao Paths. Demon Prince advised Li Qi to temporarily obscure his True Knowledge Dao Charm to learn courage, and offered to do it himself once he reached the sixth rank.

• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi traveled from Huliang to Penglai and entered the island together.
• Demon Prince met them on the shore, and Li Qi discussed why the demonic path was despised with him.
• Li Qi suggested that Demon Prince’s lack of yin energy might itself be a source of aid rather than only an obstacle.
• Demon Prince advised Li Qi to experience blindness by removing or obscuring his True Knowledge Dao Charm.
• Shen Shuibi questioned whether a Five Aggregates Demon could be trusted to obscure Li Qi’s Dao Rhyme, so Demon Prince offered to do it himself after reaching the sixth rank.

Li Qi and Shen Shuibi explored Penglai, where Shen Shuibi gained an insight that strengthened her Dao, then went to watch the Demon Prince challenge the Little Heavenly Master. Before the battle began, Zhang Zong visited Li Qi to ask how he had defeated the Demon Prince, and Li Qi explained that he had broken through during their fight.

• Li Qi and the Demon Prince agreed that the Demon Prince would challenge one opponent each year, beginning with the Little Heavenly Master.
• Shen Shuibi spent six days exploring Penglai with Li Qi, then meditated for six more days and emerged with a stronger capacity to contain her cultivation.
• Li Qi and Shen Shuibi headed to the crowded battlefield with Old Ma, where spectators and Human Path reporters were gathering for the fight.
• The Little Heavenly Master, Zhang Zong, visited Li Qi and asked how Li Qi had defeated the Demon Prince.
• Li Qi told Zhang Zong that he had won but had been stronger during the fight because he broke through to sixth rank, and Zhang Zong offered to brew tea.

Li Qi shared tea and a discussion of cultivation with Zhang Zong, easing his worries about the future before watching Zhang Zong fight the Demon Prince. Zhang Zong’s lightning nearly killed the Demon Prince, but the Demon Prince’s will kept him from dying, leaving the battle’s outcome uncertain.

• Li Qi drank Zhang Zong’s expertly brewed Penglai tea and discussed how tea-making united water, fire, and lightning methods.
• Li Qi reflected on the long years ahead, felt his anxiety ease, and held Shen Shuibi’s hand as they watched the battle begin.
• Zhang Zong unleashed all eighty thousand kinds of divine lightning against the Demon Prince, gaining the upper hand with Supreme Yang Lightning.
• Zhang Zong struck with Heaven’s Wrath: Five Thunders Strike, and everyone—including Li Qi—thought the Demon Prince had died.
• The Demon Prince resisted death through sheer will, preventing the underworld officials from taking him and leaving Zhang Zong stunned.

The Little Heavenly Master lost to the Demon Prince after a third-rank Daoist shattered the Demon Prince’s will and both sides’ elders ended the fight. Li Qi and Shen Shuibi traveled to Song Kingdom, where they learned the Wave-Pushing Gang had dispersed after Uncle Liu’s death, and Li Qi went to perform a farewell ritual at his grave.

• The Demon Prince resisted death through sheer will, but a third-rank Daoist crushed his resolve with a glance before a demonic-path titan restored him, ending the fight with the Little Heavenly Master defeated.
• The Daoist and demonic factions argued over their elders’ interventions, while Li Qi and Shen Shuibi left and traveled through Huliang, the Human Path, and Baiyue toward Song Kingdom.
• Li Qi arrived at the Wave-Pushing Gang’s former residence and used divination to learn that the gang had dispersed after Uncle Liu died and its members fought over Carp Flowing Intent.
• Li Qi flew to Uncle Liu’s grave to hold a ritual and help him receive a good rebirth.