Chapter Summaries

Lu Zheng gave the monkey king a Bi Luo Fruit, allowing it to take human form as Hou Ping. After welcoming him at Peach Blossom Manor, Shen Ying and Lu Zheng heard his invitation to inspect a cultivation method painted inside his cave.

• Lu Zheng gave the monkey king one Bi Luo Fruit, and it transformed into a short, thin middle-aged man before thanking him.
• The monkey king named himself Hou Ping and went to Peach Blossom Manor to thank Lu Zheng and Shen Ying.
• Shen Ying welcomed Hou Ping as a guest and advised him to learn mortal customs by helping at Peach Blossom Shrine.
• Hou Ping invited Lu Zheng and Shen Ying to his cave to examine patterns on its walls that might be a cultivation method.

Shen Ying and Lu Zheng followed Hou Ping to a hidden valley cave, where they discovered an unnamed cultivation method that Hou Ping had learned by copying its wall carvings. When Hou Ping accidentally uncovered the method’s former owner’s skeleton, they helped him prepare the remains for burial and found a gourd beneath a stone.

• Hou Ping explained that copying figures carved inside a cave had awakened his strength and spiritual intelligence, so Shen Ying and Lu Zheng agreed to inspect it.
• Hou Ping led Shen Ying and Lu Zheng deep into the mountains to a secluded, warm valley and showed them the cave.
• Lu Zheng identified the cave’s carvings and writing as a modest breathing method that could cultivate true qi and nourish the soul, and Shen Ying encouraged Hou Ping to practice it.
• Hou Ping accidentally kicked a supporting rock, collapsing a stone pile and revealing a skeleton that Lu Zheng identified as the method’s former owner.
• Hou Ping kowtowed to the skeleton, then gathered its bones in his garment while Shen Ying and Lu Zheng helped; Lu Zheng moved a stone and uncovered a small gourd.

Lu Zheng discovered a storage gourd in the cave and accepted it after offering to teach Hou Ping a defensive spell and forge him a staff. After burying Hou Ping’s master and settling Hou Ping at the Peach Blossom Shrine, Lu Zheng tested the gourd and found it could store objects but could not trap enemies.

• Lu Zheng used true qi to discover that the gourd held a thousand cubic meters of space and contained instructions for controlling it.
• Hou Ping offered the gourd to Lu Zheng, who promised to teach him the Freezing Cold Curse and forge him a weapon; Hou Ping chose a staff.
• Lu Zheng and Shen Ying helped Hou Ping bury his master’s bones and made a gravestone for the unnamed extraordinary man.
• Lu Zheng arranged for Hou Ping to work at the Peach Blossom Shrine and learn to read, then returned to Peach Blossom Manor with Shen Ying.
• Lu Zheng mastered the gourd’s mnemonic formula, demonstrated storing and retrieving a stone bench, and explained that the gourd could not restrain or seal enemies.

Lu Zheng brought Lin Wan home for the New Year, then traveled with her to visit her family before returning to his life between the two worlds. After giving Hou Ping a custom alloy staff, he received Yuan Jing’s message to gather for a journey to Ji Province, leaving him poised to venture farther from home than ever before.

• Lu Zheng discovered he could carry his car through the gourd and stocked it with ordinary supplies instead of risky crops or machinery.
• Lin Wan agreed to spend the New Year with Lu Zheng’s family and take a domestic trip with him.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan visited both families, and Lu Zheng healed his parents’ hidden ailments with true qi.
• Lu Zheng and Lin Wan climbed Mount Tai, where nothing unusual happened, before returning to their usual routines.
• Lu Zheng gave Hou Ping a heavy custom alloy staff, which Hou Ping eagerly took up after transforming into a demon.
• Yuan Jing told Lu Zheng to meet the group at the north gate the next morning so they could set out for Ji Province.

Daoist Priest Mingzhang brought Lu Zheng to White Cloud Temple for the New Year Dharma Assembly and to register him in the daoist rolls. After Grandmaster Qing Song tested Lu Zheng’s Body Immobilization Spell and praised his cultivation, Priest Mingjing prepared to register him.

• Daoist Priest Mingzhang led Yuan Jing and Lu Zheng up White Cloud Mountain, where Lu Zheng introduced himself to the young Daoists as Outer Sect Layman Yuan Zheng.
• Daoist Priest Mingzhang introduced Lu Zheng to Priest Mingjing and revealed that Lu Zheng had gained over a hundred years of Dao Comprehension and learned the Body Immobilization Spell in a year and a half.
• Grandmaster Qing Song immobilized Lu Zheng and discovered that Lu Zheng could resist the spell slightly.
• Grandmaster Qing Song gave Lu Zheng a crystalline pinecone as a meeting gift and departed by cloud.
• Priest Mingjing praised Lu Zheng and began to register him in the daoist rolls.

Lu Zheng was entered into White Cloud Temple’s daoist registry and received its core cultivation method from Perfected Person Mingyu. He then donated thirty fine swords to the temple, earning praise and Light of Luck.

• Daoist Priest Mingzhang guided Lu Zheng through registration at White Cloud Temple and explained that his rapid cultivation and mastery of the Body Immobilization Spell had drawn the temple’s attention.
• Perfected Person Mingyu personally taught Lu Zheng the Innate Cloud Transformation Qi Method True Scripture.
• Daoist Priest Mingzhang sent Yuan Jing with Lu Zheng to deliver his gifts to Daoist Priest Mingguang, who handled the temple’s logistics.
• Lu Zheng released thirty Cloud Pattern Swords from his storage gourd, astonishing Daoist Priest Mingguang with the number and quality of the weapons.
• Daoist Priest Mingguang praised Lu Zheng, promised to report the donation to the abbot, and earned Lu Zheng more than one hundred and eighty wisps of the Light of Luck.

Lu Zheng exchanged Cloud Pattern Swords and wine at White Cloud Temple, earning Light of Luck and learning several spells from the grateful Daoists. He and Yuan Jing remained at the temple as the New Year ritual approached.

• Lu Zheng gave Daoist Priest Mingguang thirty Cloud Pattern Swords and stored two hundred jars of wine in the temple cellar.
• Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing spent several days at White Cloud Temple, visiting friends, exchanging pointers, and traveling to the prefectural capital of Ji Province.
• The temple’s senior Daoists warmly welcomed Lu Zheng and taught him Invisibility Technique, Dream Ingress Technique, Puppet Technique, and Spirit Attachment Spell in exchange for more wine.
• Lu Zheng visited the Back Mountain and observed several ancient ancestors, gaining a little insight from their bearing.
• White Cloud Temple finished preparing for its New Year ritual, and the Daoists kept vigil through the night.

Lu Zheng attended White Cloud Temple’s New Year Dharma Assembly before parting from Daoist Priest Mingzhang and Yuan Jing to travel alone toward Jinhua Sect. After returning briefly to the modern world and improving several techniques, he continued down a forest path and came upon a caravan near a ruined temple.

• Lu Zheng joined the Yuan Generation daoists at White Cloud Temple’s New Year Dharma Assembly, which concluded without mishap.
• Lu Zheng and Yuan Jing spent the next few days at White Cloud Temple before Daoist Priest Mingzhang led them toward the border between Sanjiang Province and Yinan Road.
• Lu Zheng parted from Daoist Priest Mingzhang and Yuan Jing and set out alone for Jinhua Sect in Huizhou Prefecture to return the Nine Heavens Golden Palace Cavern True Transformation Divine Method.
• Lu Zheng traversed to the modern world, returned Lin Wan’s call, and spoke with his mother before going back to the ancient world.
• Lu Zheng used eight strands of Light of Luck to improve his strength and several spells, then continued along a forest path.
• Lu Zheng came upon a small caravan stopped beside the road and spotted a dilapidated temple in the woods.

Lu Zheng accepted Du Yuru’s invitation to share lunch at a ruined temple and told the traveling family about Yizhou Prefecture, where they planned to settle. After the meal, Du Furen and her daughter went to look at a mural inside the temple.

• Du Yuru invited Lu Zheng to eat with his family and convoy at a ruined roadside temple, and Lu Zheng accepted.
• Lu Zheng introduced himself as a traveler from Tonglin County in Yizhou Prefecture, bound for Huizhou Prefecture.
• Du Yuru learned that Lu Zheng was traveling more than a thousand li on foot and suspected he was an Extraordinary.
• Du Furen asked Lu Zheng about Yizhou Prefecture because her family planned to settle there, and Lu Zheng described what he knew of the region.
• After lunch, Du Furen and her daughter walked around the temple and stopped before its mural.

Du Furen and Du Guniang were ensnared by a mysterious mural that drew their souls inside. Lu Zheng investigated the mural and used the Spirit Attachment Spell to enter it, leaving the outcome of his attempt to rescue them unresolved.

• Du Furen and Du Guniang admired the mural until they became motionless, their souls drawn into it.
• Du Yuru and the guards realized something was wrong, and the lead guard tried to slash the mural.
• Lu Zheng stopped the lead guard and warned that damaging the mural could harm the women’s souls.
• Lu Zheng examined the mural, discovered its powerful soul energy, and saw outlines of Du Furen and Du Guniang appear within it.
• Lu Zheng cast the Spirit Attachment Spell and sent a spiritual projection carrying his true qi into the mural.

Lu Zheng entered the Painted Wall World and found Du Furen and Du YueYao at the Heavenly Palace, where the Divine King tried to trick them into drinking wine containing a spiritual Curse Seal. After Lu Zheng exposed the trap, the Divine King attacked him with the power of the Immortal Realm.

• Lu Zheng explored the Painted Wall World, discovered he could use spells there, and headed toward the Heavenly Palace to find Du Furen and Du YueYao.
• Lu Zheng learned that Du Furen and Du YueYao had been brought before the Divine King and followed two women into the palace grounds.
• The Divine King welcomed Du Furen and Du YueYao and offered them wine, while secretly placing a spiritual Curse Seal in their cups.
• Lu Zheng knocked the cups away, revealed himself, and warned the women not to drink the wine.
• The Divine King condemned Lu Zheng and unleashed a force that seized his body.

Lu Zheng discovered that his spells became extraordinarily powerful inside the mural world and defeated Yu Gensheng, the world’s self-proclaimed God King. Yu Gensheng then revealed how the mural world was created and how he came to rule it.

• Lu Zheng broke free of the God King’s restraints and found that his spells had gained immense strength in the mural world.
• Lu Zheng defeated the God King’s cloud attacks and scattered the divine wind, then drove back the soldiers and immortals who charged him.
• The God King introduced himself as Yu Gensheng and admitted he had used methods to bring the mural world’s inhabitants under his rule.
• Yu Gensheng explained that his master, an unorthodox cultivator, had created the mural world with incense and faith, but was killed by the Demon Suppression Division before his plans were complete.
• Yu Gensheng said he had brought his master’s remaining believers into the mural world and proclaimed himself God King, where time passed ten times faster than in the outside world.

Lu Zheng learned that Yu Gensheng’s mural world was weakening and sealed it after rescuing Du Furen and Du YueYao. He left the mural temporarily secured so he could notify the Yang Province Demon Suppression Division.

• Yu Gensheng explained that his Bewildering Spell had made the mural’s inhabitants worship him and that the world would collapse without more Incense Luck.
• Lu Zheng learned Yu Gensheng could not teach him how to refine the mural world, then took Du Furen and Du YueYao out of it.
• Du Furen and Du YueYao awoke in the temple and thanked Lu Zheng for saving them from the mural.
• The Jade Seal absorbed forty-eight wisps of Light of Luck when Du Yuru thanked Lu Zheng.
• Lu Zheng used the Cloud Sealing Spell to seal the mural temporarily, then prepared to notify the Yang Province Demon Suppression Division.

Lu Zheng reached Jinhua Sect and returned its lost cultivation method, which he had recovered from the traitorous Rong Cong. After Jinhua Sect’s elders thanked him and asked about his cultivation, Lu Zheng explained that he hoped to find methods for his family.

• Lu Zheng said he planned to remain in Huizhou Prefecture for about ten more days before returning to Tonglin County, then continued his journey to Jinhua Sect.
• Lu Zheng introduced himself at Jinhua Sect and explained that he had come to return the sect’s Nine Heavens Golden Tower Cavern Truth Transformation Divine Method.
• Priest Rong Song escorted Lu Zheng to Priest Kun Yuan and the other elders, who recognized the divine statue containing the method.
• Lu Zheng recounted how he had obtained the statue and described the middle-aged priest; Priest Kun Yuan identified him as Rong Cong, a Jinhua Sect disciple who had stolen it.
• Lu Zheng handed the statue to Priest Kun Yuan, and Priest Kun Ang asked about his master and why he had not joined White Cloud Temple’s direct lineage.
• Lu Zheng explained his family responsibilities and his wish to find cultivation methods for his family.

Lu Zheng stayed at Jinhua Mountain as Rong Song showed him around, then repeatedly defeated the sect’s Daoists at chess and gained several dozen strands of Light of Luck. After three days of challenges, Rong Song warned that Lu Zheng’s life might be in danger if he did not leave soon.

• Daoist priest Kun Yuan invited Lu Zheng to stay at Jinhua Mountain, and Rong Song took him to see the scenery.
• Rong Feng challenged Lu Zheng to chess, but Lu Zheng won decisively while eating pine nuts.
• Rong Feng returned the next day and lost three games in a row, drawing the attention of Jinhua Sect’s chess enthusiasts.
• Lu Zheng defeated the skilled Daoists of the Rong generation over three days and gained several dozen strands of Light of Luck.
• Rong Song warned Lu Zheng that staying at Jinhua Mountain much longer could put his life in danger.

Lu Zheng played a daylong Go match with Peng Yu Zhenren and won by half a point, earning two valuable cultivation methods. The next day, he left Jinhua Sect with Rong Song’s promise to visit him.

• Rong Song led Lu Zheng to meet Peng Yu Zhenren, who challenged him to a game of Go.
• Lu Zheng and Peng Yu Zhenren played through the day, and Lu Zheng won by half a point.
• Peng Yu Zhenren gave Lu Zheng the Taiyuan Xuan Book to share with his family and taught him the Golden Citadel Imperial Dharma Evolution Mysterious Secret for his own cultivation.
• Peng Yu Zhenren asked Rong Song to escort Lu Zheng down the mountain the next day and then contemplate their game in seclusion.
• Rong Song and Lu Zheng exchanged farewells at the mountain gate, and Lu Zheng descended the mountain with his gains.

Lu Zheng reunited with Yan Hongxia in Jueshui County and agreed to help her pursue two Southern Borderlands sect disciples who had been killing people. After the pair fled south, Lu Zheng and Yan Hongxia chased them until a manor appeared ahead in the darkening forest.

• Lu Zheng met Yan Hongxia at a roadside eatery, where she identified a man from the Flower Between Clouds Sect and a woman from the Goddess Sect across the street.
• Yan Hongxia told Lu Zheng she had pursued the pair after catching them harvesting yin and draining yang and asked him to help her kill them.
• The pair tested Lu Zheng with a curse spell before leaving the city, but he quickly broke the illusion and followed Yan Hongxia after them.
• Lu Zheng and Yan Hongxia chased the pair along the official road, trading probing attacks as their pursuers tried to escape south.
• Lu Zheng gradually gained the advantage over the fleeing pair, and the group approached a manor as evening fell.

Lu Zheng entered Profound Nether Manor after the others and was separated from Yan Hongxia in a formation that suppressed his qi. He used a clay double to draw the ghosts’ attention while he followed underground, and the double was captured and taken to the Great King’s rear courtyard.

• Lu Zheng entered the manor and found that Yan Hongxia and the other pair had vanished into a fog-filled, distorted courtyard.
• He recognized that a formation was weakening his qi and decided he could not break through it directly.
• Lu Zheng made a clay double with his appearance and hid underground while controlling it to move through the manor.
• The ghosts gradually suppressed the double’s power, bound it with chains, and sealed its cultivation.
• The ghosts revealed that the Great King planned to drain the four intruders of their Yang Energy, then took the captured double to a secluded courtyard.

Lu Zheng, Yan Hongxia, and two Southern Frontier cultivators were captured in a Ghost King's estate, where its master revealed that their arrival had delayed his cultivation. The Ghost King rejected the captives' attempts to bargain and began draining the man from the Flower Between Clouds Sect.

• The clay Lu Zheng and the injured Southern Frontier man and woman waited in the front hall as prisoners, and the woman hinted that the Ghost King might spare her.
• Ghosts brought Yan Hongxia into the hall, where she and Lu Zheng recognized each other and discussed why their captors had kept them alive.
• The Ghost King appeared holding a Bronze Mirror that showed the front hall, and Lu Zheng realized it had been watching them.
• Lu Zheng asked the Ghost King to let them leave, but the Ghost King explained that they had disrupted his cultivation and delayed his success by three months.
• The Southern Frontier pair offered the Great Jing captives as food and proposed helping the Ghost King, while the woman questioned whether Yan Hongxia's Sword Pellet was truly sealed.
• The Ghost King seized the man from the Flower Between Clouds Sect and began draining his Yang Energy, saying he had been the first to enter the estate.

Lu Zheng and the others attacked the Ghost King, but his Treasure Mirror overwhelmed them until the earthen puppet Lu Zheng seized it and passed it to Yan Hongxia. Lu Zheng then rescued her with his Storage Gourd and escaped the Ghost Manor underground, while the Jade Seal absorbed 122 strands of Light of Luck.

• The Ghost King used the Treasure Mirror to suppress the attacks of Lu Zheng, Yan Hongxia, the woman, and the man, then drained nearly half the man's Yang Energy as he broke free.
• The Ghost King targeted the earthen puppet Lu Zheng, who charged him, touched the Treasure Mirror, and briefly severed its connection to the Ghost King.
• The earthen puppet Lu Zheng tossed the Treasure Mirror to Yan Hongxia at the entrance, and the real Lu Zheng appeared beside her and used his Storage Gourd to take her away.
• Lu Zheng used the Earthwalk Technique to escape the bewildering formation and travel southeast, while 122 strands of Light of Luck flowed into the Jade Seal.
• Lu Zheng released Yan Hongxia in a dense forest two li from the manor, which was no longer visible.