Chapter Summaries

After dying in a hospital, the narrator was reborn as a White Snake in the Hundred Thousand Mountains and spent twenty years learning to survive. As she waited out a storm in her den, she missed a tiger being struck down by lightning on a nearby peak.

• The narrator died surrounded by his grieving family, wishing he would not be human in another life.
• He was reborn as a White Snake and survived for twenty years by hunting and following strict survival rules.
• White Snake sheltered from a sudden downpour, unaware of the extraordinary sight outside.
• A wounded tiger roared defiantly atop a mountain peak before a powerful lightning bolt struck and killed it.

White Snake ate a potent herb, grew to five meters after shedding, and encountered a human for the first time when she rescued a drowning herbalist. She left him on the shore with food, while the herbalist was left to recover in the mountains.

• White Snake followed a strange fragrance to a spiritual-energy-rich herb, ate it, and passed out.
• After waking and shedding her skin, White Snake grew to five meters and returned to hunting.
• A herbalist fell from a cliff into a pool, and White Snake swam out to rescue him.
• White Snake recognized the herbalist as an ancient human, then left him on shore.
• White Snake returned with a mountain pheasant for the stranded herbalist, who kowtowed to her.

White Snake cultivated by breathing in mountain mist while the herb gatherer prospered from his garden and repeated visits to her territory. When three strangers entered the garden, she rushed down the mountain to confront them.

• The herb gatherer repeatedly visited White Snake to thank her, and she let him gather herbs in her territory while refusing his food.
• White Snake began practicing Breath Control at dawn, drawing mist into her body to strengthen her spiritual energy.
• The herb gatherer cultivated a thriving herb garden, and jealous mountain folk plotted to follow him and seize his gains.
• White Snake detected three unfamiliar humans in the herb garden and charged down the mountain to drive them away.

White Snake killed a villager who attacked the herb gatherer, then watched ants consume the corpse. As the years passed, she grew larger and stronger, claimed the surrounding forest as her territory, and became the subject of frightening rumors among nearby villagers.

• White Snake arrived at the herb garden and saw three villagers beating the herb gatherer over the medicinal plants.
• When the lean villager struck the herb gatherer with a machete, White Snake bit his neck and killed him, while the other two villagers fled.
• White Snake dragged the corpse to a giant ant nest and watched the ants consume it; afterward, the herb gatherer grew increasingly afraid and eventually stopped speaking to her.
• After the herbs ripened, the herb gatherer left, and White Snake returned to her solitary routine of cultivating, basking, and hunting less often.
• Over the following years, White Snake grew to five meters long, drove other predators away from her territory, and the honey badger that had fought her fled.
• Nearby villagers spread tales that a gigantic white snake spirit lived in the mountains and could swallow clouds, exhale mist, or transform into a dragon.

Ten years after meeting the herbalist, White Snake saw him again and listened as he described his hardship and loss. Years of cultivation later, swarms of male snakes began pursuing her, so she traveled to the forest’s edge to observe a poor village, where her presence seemed to unsettle the animals.

• White Snake reunited with the aged herbalist, who told her about his wife’s death, his family’s poverty, and his longing for a grandson.
• After the herbalist left, White Snake feared death and began practicing Breath Control at the mountain pool where she had found spiritual medicine.
• Several years later, large snakes repeatedly pursued White Snake, disrupting her rest and cultivation, and she fled to escape them.
• White Snake followed the herbalist’s trail toward the mountains’ edge and reached a small village of poor households and fields.
• A villager reported that rats had fled the village and that its chickens, ducks, and dogs had been behaving strangely.

The White Snake saved Yun'er from an Old Wolf and stayed near the village after the girl befriended her. When winter came, Yun'er told the Snake she was hungry because the clan chief had taken her household’s grain, and the White Snake slipped into the forest.

• The White Snake constricted and killed Old Wolf before he could attack Yun'er.
• Yun'er asked whether the White Snake was the Snake Immortal, learned she understood speech, and stroked her scales.
• The White Snake stayed near the village, befriending Yun'er and driving poisonous creatures away from the forest.
• Yun'er told the White Snake that her family expected her to do housework and that her younger brother received the better food and clothes.
• After returning from the mountains in winter, the White Snake found Yun'er thin and hungry because the clan chief had taken her household’s grain.
• The White Snake slipped into the forest after hearing Yun'er's account.

Yun'er’s family and village received food from the White Snake, but the strange gifts drew the attention of greedy outsiders. After Yun'er warned the snake that a hunting party had come to capture her, the White Snake lured the pursuers deeper into the mountains to take revenge.

• The White Snake gave Yun'er’s starving family a wild boar and later delivered more game to the village.
• When villagers questioned Yun'er about finding a wolf, she confessed that the White Snake had been bringing her the animals, and the snake revealed herself to comfort her.
• The villagers began honoring the White Snake as the Snake Immortal, while she continued bringing them game through the cold season.
• A town clan chief arrived with hunters and Household servants to capture the White Snake, whipping villagers who begged him to spare her.
• Yun'er ran to the Back Mountain to warn the White Snake, who fled into the mountains as the hunting party began searching for her.
• The White Snake led the pursuing hunters and dogs away from her nest, leaving a strong scent to draw them toward a different forest.

White Snake drove a hunting party from the Hundred Thousand Mountains using a swarm of ants, then spent nine years cultivating before returning to see Yun'er. Yun'er reunited with her and revealed that she was marrying as a concubine because she feared poverty, asking White Snake to see her off.

• White Snake lured the clan chief's party into the ant nests, and the ants devoured most of the hunters while she dragged the chief back to the survivors.
• Fewer than ten people escaped the mountains, and the villagers grew more fearful and reverent of White Snake.
• White Snake returned to the secluded valley and cultivated beneath the ancient tree until nine years had passed and she had grown to six meters long.
• White Snake went to the village and reunited with Yun'er, who had grown into a young woman.
• Yun'er told White Snake that she would marry Steward Guo as a concubine to escape hunger, despite loving Brother Wang, and asked White Snake to see her off.

The White Snake watched Yun'er leave her mountain village to become Steward Guo’s concubine, then learned a year later that the household had beaten her nearly to death. After Yun'er died, the White Snake and Brother Wang avenged her by killing the powerful members of the Guo Family household.

• Yun'er left her parents and Brother Wang to live as Steward Guo’s concubine, while the White Snake followed her to the estate.
• A year later, Brother Wang begged the White Snake to save Yun'er, who had returned to the village with fatal injuries.
• Yun'er died after asking to lie on the White Snake and watch the clouds, and Brother Wang explained that Steward Guo’s household had abused her and beaten her for refusing to be traded.
• The White Snake led Brother Wang toward town to avenge Yun'er, and he agreed to go with her.
• The White Snake killed the Guo Family landlord compound’s steward and other high-ranking members, then Brother Wang told Yun'er at her grave that her revenge was complete.

After years of solitary cultivation, the White Snake fought the Grey Wolf that repeatedly preyed on her and killed him by dragging him into a deep pool. Badly wounded, she drank his blood for nourishment, then lost consciousness as her body drifted downstream.

• The White Snake spent more than ten years cultivating in the mountains, growing to eight meters long and improving her ability to absorb mist.
• A Grey Wolf with Spiritual Intelligence repeatedly provoked the White Snake, hoping to eat her and grow stronger.
• The White Snake lured the Grey Wolf close, bit him with her venomous fangs, and fought him beside a cliff and deep pool.
• The White Snake dragged the Grey Wolf underwater and held him there until he died.
• Too wounded to swallow the Grey Wolf, the White Snake drank his blood, then lost consciousness and drifted downstream.

White Snake recovered after an old woman mistook her for a dragon and unknowingly gave her Sealing and Affirmation. She repaid the old woman by driving bandits away from her home, but refused to risk herself by confronting the raiders elsewhere in the village.

• An old woman found White Snake unconscious in a stream, called her a dragon, and carried her ashore, unknowingly granting her Sealing and Affirmation.
• White Snake recovered over several days, thanked the old woman, and settled in the nearby woods to repay her kindness when needed.
• After half a year, war and repeated conscription left the village vulnerable, and bandits raided it, setting houses on fire.
• White Snake drove off the bandits who approached the old woman's home and killed several of them.
• The old woman begged White Snake to save the village, but White Snake stayed by her gate rather than confront the bandits across the village.

The White Snake fled from a group of cultivators and returned to her valley, where a woman and her two disciples found her. The woman offered to take her to the mountain as a Guardian Demon Beast, and the White Snake agreed before being swept into her sleeve.

• The White Snake escaped into the mountains after sensing that flying cultivators had killed the bandits.
• The woman explained to Mu'er and Ling'er that the White Snake had killed evil thieves rather than innocent villagers.
• The White Snake returned to her valley and encountered the woman and her two disciples beneath the ancient Ginkgo Tree.
• The woman recognized the White Snake's high Spiritual Intelligence and offered to take her up the mountain as a Guardian Demon Beast.
• The White Snake accepted the offer, and the woman drew her into her sleeve, causing her to faint.

White Snake settled into her new role guarding a hall at Chunyang Palace under Yu Rong, where she began cultivating and adjusted to a safe life among the disciples. After finding food in the palace kitchen, she returned to rest and saw through Xu Ling’s trick when the girl impersonated Yu Rong.

• Yu Rong brought White Snake to Chunyang Palace and assigned her to live in a secluded hall and patrol the nearby mountaintop shrines.
• White Snake secretly listened as Yu Rong taught Yang Mu and Xu Ling, then began cultivating and exploring the palace grounds.
• After three days, White Snake followed her jade pendant and the smell of food to the kitchen, where the cook fed her a basin of meat and bones.
• White Snake returned to the hall and slept on a boulder beside the cliff, deciding not to hunt the palace’s Immortal Cranes.
• Xu Ling used an Illusion Technique to impersonate Yu Rong and scold White Snake, but White Snake recognized her by her scent and appearance.

The White Snake learned how to exploit Lingxu Palace’s discarded pills and medicinal waste, rapidly improving her cultivation. After returning to Qingxu Palace and digesting the tonics, she began shedding her skin, alarming Xu Ling, while Yu Rong found that she was still alive and more vigorous than before.

• The White Snake explored Chunyang Palace and decided to diligently guard her place at Qingxu Palace while seeking ways to cultivate faster.
• She began visiting Lingxu Palace, where disciples let her eat Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs because they were otherwise waste.
• Over nearly a month, the White Snake consumed discarded pills and medicinal waste, greatly increasing her cultivation.
• After eating more pills and a box of Medicinal Dregs, the White Snake returned to Qingxu Palace and spent a day digesting them by an ancient pine.
• Xu Ling noticed the White Snake had become dull and pale, and she ran to tell Yu Rong that Big White was dying.
• Yu Rong examined the White Snake and found her life force intact and even stronger than before.

The White Snake shed her skin after eating a basin of Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs, then grew to nine meters long. She began secretly learning cultivation at Taiji Plaza and Zuowang Peak, returning to Qingxu Palace to digest what she had learned.

• Yu Rong learned that the White Snake had eaten nearly a basin of Failed Pills and Medicinal Dregs from Lingxu Palace.
• The White Snake rubbed against an ancient pine until she shed her old skin, then slept and awoke nine meters long.
• The White Snake settled into a routine of practicing Breath Control, eating at the dining hall, scavenging food at Lingxu Palace, and guarding Qingxu Palace.
• The White Snake visited Taiji Plaza and secretly learned sword techniques while Chu Zhe taught the disciples.
• The White Snake listened to an elder teach Dao at Zuowang Peak and tried to memorize the cultivation scriptures.
• The White Snake returned to Qingxu Palace at dusk and coiled around a pillar beside the hall doors.

Xu Ling took White Snake to Back Mountain, where she encountered Chu Zhe and then Lian Tianxing, whose hostility toward the snake revealed the rivalries and danger within Chunyang Palace. Xu Ling and White Snake returned to Qingxu Palace after Lian Tianxing threatened White Snake.

• Xu Ling persuaded White Snake to accompany her to Back Mountain with the promise of a Peiyuan Pill, and White Snake climbed a pear tree to fetch her a fruit.
• Xu Ling became flustered when Chu Zhe arrived, and she chatted with him while White Snake watched from the tree.
• Chu Zhe met his tense rival, Lian Tianxing, in the bamboo grove, and the two exchanged pointed remarks about their upcoming sect tournament match.
• Lian Tianxing confronted Xu Ling and White Snake, insulted White Snake, and warned that she could become a snakeskin sword sheath; Xu Ling explained that he was a powerful Law Enforcement Hall administrator who hated demons.
• Xu Ling and White Snake lost interest in playing and returned early to Qingxu Palace.

White Snake’s clash with Lian Tianxing wrecked the dining hall, drawing Qi Yun’s intervention and punishment for them both. After Xu Ling brought her back to Qingxu Palace, Yu Rong punished White Snake by making her hold a candle like a candlestick.

• Lian Tianxing entered the dining hall in a foul mood and attacked White Snake after finding her in the kitchen.
• White Snake crashed through the kitchen into the dining hall, then rampaged through the disciples while Lian Tianxing pursued her with his sword.
• Qi Yun arrived, ordered everyone to stop, and sentenced Lian Tianxing to three months of reflection at Repentance Cliff.
• Qi Yun ordered Xu Ling to take White Snake back and barred her from the dining hall for three months.
• Xu Ling gave White Snake a Healing Pill, and White Snake returned to Qingxu Palace before Yu Rong punished her by making her hold a candle on her head.

Five years after White Snake began hibernating, Yu Rong recognized that her growing unease came from an impending Demon Beast Tribulation. White Snake left Mount Hua with Yang Mu, Xu Ling, and a large group of companions to face it away from the sect.

• White Snake woke on the second day of the second month, ate Failed Pills and medicinal dregs, and returned to hibernating as her fear of the heavens grew.
• Yu Rong told White Snake she was nearing a Demon Beast Tribulation and warned her to prepare for it away from the sect rather than hide.
• Xu Ling and Yang Mu worried about White Snake, but Yu Rong explained that demons had to endure tribulations with their own bodies to build a proper foundation.
• Yu Rong assigned Xu Ling and Yang Mu to accompany White Snake and protect her from interference during the tribulation.
• Xu Ling gathered more than a dozen female cultivators and their followers, and White Snake left Mount Hua carrying a gourd of pills and healing medicines.

White Snake prepared to face her heavenly tribulation beneath Mount Hua while Yang Mu protected her from cultivators seeking to capture her. After the would-be hunters plotted to attack Chunyang Palace disciples for their manuals, White Snake awoke as the tribulation neared and resolved to fight without fear.

• Xu Ling and the other Chunyang Palace disciples waited near the hill as White Snake remained motionless beneath the gathering storm clouds.
• Zheng Yong approached the disciples to claim White Snake, but Yang Mu declared that she belonged to Chunyang Palace and drove him away.
• Zheng Yong reported back to Senior Brother Lin, who planned to attack Chunyang Palace’s inner sect true disciples and steal their cultivation manuals.
• Senior Brother Lin and his companions secretly headed back toward the hill while a Chunyang Palace senior disciple left the mountain gate after noticing activity below.
• After three days, White Snake awoke as the tribulation approached and prepared to confront it despite the danger.

The White Snake faced a violent Form Transformation Tribulation while Yu Rong learned from Li Xiangyan that the ordeal was tied to the snake’s fate and fortune. The tribulation continued to batter the White Snake, who chose to endure it without healing pills and awakened her wild ferocity.

• Yu Rong asked Li Xiangyan why the White Snake’s Form Transformation Tribulation had become unusually violent, and he told her it was the snake’s opportunity, fate, and fortune.
• A Chunyang Palace disciple killed Zheng Yong, Senior Brother Lin, and their companions after catching them watching the group from the forest.
• The White Snake’s tribulation began, and successive lightning strikes scorched her scales and left her badly wounded.
• Yang Mu explained to Xu Ling that enduring a tribulation without external aid could improve a demon’s aptitude, while demons cultivated slowly but accumulated great power.
• The White Snake refused to use her Healing Pills, raised her head after the barrage, and glared at the heavens with her awakened ferocity.