Small Courtyard

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Small Courtyard (小院)
Type	Courtyard, farmstead, and Dao sanctuary 1 113
Location	A valley at the foothills of Buzhou Mountain, in the Primordial Wilderness 1 69 199
Master / Resident	Chen An; later passages also name the inhabitant Lin Xuan 1 196 199 230
Protected Area	The “Absolute Safe Zone,” confirmed to extend ten meters beyond the courtyard walls 2 19
Role	Chen An’s home and food-production base; later a sacred destination for beings seeking the Dao 30 113
Status	Sealed by Hongjun within a time-frozen barrier; three wild radish seedlings continue growing in the sealed land outside the courtyard 230
First Appearance	Chen An discovers and enters the abandoned courtyard 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Absolute Safe Zone	2	Its invisible boundary protects Chen An from external attacks and Demonic Beasts.
Spiritually enhanced crop growth	25	Seeds from Chen An’s original world sprout into rapidly growing, crystalline-green vegetables nourished by Primordial life energy.
Harmonized courtyard	26	Chen An’s reading makes the courtyard more coordinated and tranquil; the barrier filters and weakens the murderous aura outside.
Merit-imbued sanctuary	99	Eighty percent of Nuwa’s received merit is directed to the courtyard. Radishes develop “Immortal” seals, cabbages acquire star-related golden veins, and the willow produces golden Dao-patterned dewdrops.
Golden Lotus Rain transformation	110	A giant translucent, glazed-bowl barrier encloses the courtyard while Golden Lotus Rain accelerates the vegetables’ growth and gives them magical properties.
Sacred land of pilgrimage	113	The Glazed Light Membrane displays law runes; radish leaves mirror the pilgrims, and a clay jar absorbs and purifies their faith.
Golden-light soil transformation	135	Tilling releases pale golden light, turning the ground into shimmering fertile earth and transforming newly planted seeds, spores, wildflowers, and a Sour Jujube Branch.
Fermentation-linked formations	147	Spirit Grain fermentation activates pottery Chaos Patterns and an “Endless Life” array in the well water. A Chaos Talisman Seal forms beneath the wine jar.
Heavenly Dao inscription	157	After Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi’s visit, the Heavenly Dao imprints the courtyard with “Sage of the Small Courtyard.”
Fully integrated Dao Resonance	188	Its formerly outward-surging Chaos Dao Charm withdraws into its structures and objects. Gifted talismans blend with the fence and walls, including a miniature “Balance Barrier.”

Location & Layout

Feature	Description
Valley surroundings	Chen An’s first survey identifies a giant python ahead of the gate, a dangerous insect nest to the right, and comparatively less-threatening woodland to the left 3.
Main house	A sturdy stone building with mud-filled joints and a tamped-earth floor. Its damaged roof initially has several openings, the largest about half a meter across 4 6.
Thatched shed	Four crooked posts support an open-sided roof. Chen An clears it for firewood storage, tool storage, and a simple stone workbench 4 6.
Vegetable garden	Initially an overgrown plot of roughly thirty square meters, with dark, loose, humus-rich soil 6.
Well	An ancient well in a courtyard corner, initially partly covered by a stone slab. Its clear, sweet water supplies drinking water and irrigation 1 4 6.
Walls and gate	Initially moss-covered rough stone walls and a half-rotted wooden door. Later descriptions feature a wicker gate secured by three iron bolts and a living willow fence 1 131 199.
Work areas	By his first-month review, Chen An has divided the Safe Zone into Planting, Hunting, and Processing Areas 30.
Later array layout	Nine vegetable rows follow the Nine Palaces formation, while three rough stove stones align with Heaven, Earth, and Man 199.

Appearance

• Initially dilapidated: Cracked, mossy walls, decaying wood, dusty interiors, and an overgrown garden make the courtyard resemble an abandoned countryside home 1.
• Ancient markings: Faint carvings cover some wall stones. Chen An also finds three ancient symbols arranged in an irregular triangle on the main house’s outer wall 4 6.
• Silver protection: The early Safe Zone barrier appears as a faintly silver, water-like membrane surrounding the courtyard 37 69.
• Sacred vegetation: Later radish leaves carry silver frost and “Immortal” seals, while cabbages and willow branches bear golden patterns 99 113.
• After sealing: The grounds become withered and charred, with a broken stump and three green wild radish seedlings outside the courtyard contrasting with the surrounding stillness 230.

Background / History

Discovery and Restoration

Chen An finds the courtyard abandoned in the valley and enters it seeking shelter, tools, and food. Its stone house is largely empty, and its former occupants are unknown. Weathered carvings suggest an older history, but he cannot decipher them 1 4 6.

The protective boundary gives him a foothold in the wilderness. He repairs tools, cleans the house and shed, establishes storage and work areas, and turns the neglected garden into planting ridges. He then sows bok choy, lettuce, mixed salad greens, and small radishes brought from his original world 2 4 6 13 14. By the end of his first month, the courtyard supports crops, pottery, preserved food, improved shelter, and recorded environmental observations 30.

Ji Meng and the Demon Court

The courtyard becomes a refuge for the wounded black hound Chen An names Little Black, who is actually Demon Commander Ji Meng. Chen An offers him care and companionship, unaware of his identity 33 37 38.

Ji Meng interprets Chen An’s survival advice and gardening as profound Dao instruction. After recovering and gaining insight, he reports the courtyard’s condensed spiritual energy and extraordinary formation to Di Jun. The report leads Di Jun to classify information about its master as top secret and order reforms based on “Unity is strength” 42 46. Kunpeng subsequently sends Nine Infant to investigate, but the courtyard’s barrier nullifies the beast’s attacks 49.

Recognition as a Sacred Land

Nuwa and Fuxi observe the courtyard from afar, finding Chaos Dao Charm beneath its ordinary appearance. Fuxi’s deductions collapse against its defenses, while Nuwa’s Red Embroidered Ball warns her against fathoming its mysteries 69 70 71.

The Three Pure Ones later enter and encounter spiritual energy purer than that of Kunlun’s ancestral grounds or Purple Cloud Palace. Their investigations fail, and Yuanshi’s probing damages his Jade Ruyi 80. They recognize the courtyard master as a Sage and issue decrees commanding major powers to revere him 91.

Nuwa traces the origin of her Primordial Dao fruit to the courtyard and directs most of her merit toward it. Its ensuing transformations draw pilgrims from immortal mountains, the North Sea, the Western teachings, and other regions 99 113. Reverence also brings exploitation: cultivators steal radishes and well water, fight over refuse, and treat Chen An’s dishwater as precious, making his home feel increasingly oppressive 116.

Sanctuary Amid the Calamity

After confronting Di Jun and Di Jiang, Chen An retreats through the wicker gate. Inside, the garden’s vegetables and a spiritually charged meal relieve his fear and exhaustion; the meal also dissolves an immense karmic cause of the Immeasurable Calamity without his knowledge 126 131.

He continues furnishing and expanding the courtyard, receives extraordinary gifts, and eventually accepts its supernatural properties as resources he can use for survival 133 134 135 139 140. Visits from Hongyun, Zhenyuanzi, and Houtu further connect the courtyard to the Primordial World’s major figures 157 170. Despite a period of relative peace, Hongjun identifies its “Harmony” Dao charm as capable of influencing critical points in Primordial destiny 176 196.

Hongjun’s Observation and Sealing

Hongjun’s examination reveals that the seemingly ordinary farmstead is a naturally formed, flawless great array. He also identifies an anomalous spiritual light within Chen An, placing the courtyard and its inhabitant at the center of the Immeasurable Calamity’s changing course 199.

The courtyard remains undisturbed before Kunpeng’s demon wind and killing intent, with “Avoidance” patterns and Chaos talisman seals active around its vegetation and gate 209. Hongjun later seals it using the power of Unification with the Dao, imposing silence and frozen time. Nevertheless, three wild radish seedlings sprout in the sealed ground outside, while the inhabitant remains unharmed 230.

Abilities & Properties

Absolute Safe Zone

• Protects Chen An from external attacks and the dangerous beasts surrounding his home 2.
• Extends ten meters beyond the courtyard walls, allowing him to plan work and traps beyond the physical enclosure 19.
• Nullifies Nine Infant’s attacks and later inflicts severe backlash when the beast probes the barrier again 49 136.
• Its Glazed Light Membrane isolates external noise and disturbance, with tiny law runes appearing within it 113.
• Does not prevent every outward transmission: cooking aromas escape through the barrier, and Chen An’s voice reaches the pilgrims outside 17 113.

Anti-Divination and Concealment

• Dissolves Fuxi’s Innate Eight Trigrams deductions and resists his Heavenly Net Bound Form, leaving him unable to measure its secrets 69 71.
• Absorbs the Three Pure Ones’ investigative powers; Yuanshi’s attempt cracks his Jade Ruyi and causes minor injuries 80.
• Defeats Di Jun and Taiyi’s combined investigation, damaging divination tools and suppressing the Chaos Bell 93.
• Causes Hongjun’s Tortoise Shell and lotus platform to crack, dims the Jade Disc of Creation, and leaves Chen An’s causality hidden in primordial chaos 130.
• The willow fence can obscure deductions within a hundred li—distinct from the Safe Zone’s ten-meter extension 19 138.
• Naturally formed “Avoidance” seals erase or deflect Heavenly Secret investigations 199.

Spiritual Nourishment and Healing

• Supplies unusually pure, condensed spiritual energy that Ji Meng credits with healing his wounds 46.
• Nourishes crops with Primordial life energy, merit, and Dao Resonance 25 99 110.
• Cabbage fragrance clears Chen An’s breathing, while moisture from silver-frosted radish leaves enters his skin as a soothing warmth 131.
• Willow roots guide the underground Four Primordial Elements into docile flows that nourish the vegetable plot, despite their capacity to tear apart Golden Immortals 199.

Dao Formations and Resonance

• Everyday tasks—including reading, gardening, fermentation, and chess—can activate or express Dao principles within the courtyard 26 42 147 199.
• Hidden laws and Dao Resonance pour into Chen An’s clay figure after he speaks the word “soul,” prompting Nuwa to guide a soul toward it 101.
• The stove, garden rows, vines, and willow roots collectively form a flawless natural array 199.
• Its “Harmony” Dao charm can deflect Heavenly Secret trajectories and influence major turning points in Primordial destiny 196.

Response to Pilgrimage

• Radish-leaf ice mirrors display the crowds prostrating outside 113.
• Willow dewdrops spread into golden patterns on the ground rather than soaking into it 113.
• A clay jar forms a “Sentient Wishing Power” mist seal and uses its remaining well water to absorb and purify incoming faith 113.
• Pilgrims voluntarily stop about a thousand zhang away; this is described as a boundary of reverence, not the measured Safe Zone limit 19 113.

Notable Fixtures & Items

• Living willow fence — Bears golden patterns, participates in concealment, and responds to visitors and distant probing 138 170 199.
• Coarse pottery vessels — Initially practical homemade containers; later develop Chaos Patterns, faith-purifying effects, and fermentation-related seals 30 113 147.
• Pinewood recliner — Built by Chen An from old pine trunks washed down near the courtyard wall; later described as Merit Golden Thread Pine Wood 133 141.
• Gifts from the Three Pure Ones and Nuwa — Include a jade bottle of pills, a jade talisman, sharp talisman paper, and a ball of gold thread, which Chen An repurposes for ordinary household uses 134.
• Sword Qi talismans — Placed over wall cracks; their initially sharp silver edges eventually soften into vine-like patterns integrated with the stonework 140 188.
• Willow-leaf jade talismans — Chime around the fence and eaves; their “Maintain Order” inscriptions combine with willow patterns into a miniature Balance Barrier 140 188.
• Stone chessboard — A crude board whose chess moves can manifest miniature images of the Primordial World’s mountains and rivers 199.

Associated Characters

• Chen An — Restores the courtyard, lives from its resources, and initially mistakes many of its supernatural effects for ordinary or inexplicable household phenomena 30 113 187.
• Ji Meng / Little Black — Recovers there and interprets its master’s everyday actions as Dao instruction 37 38 42 46.
• Nuwa — Identifies it as the source of her sainthood opportunity and directs merit toward it 99.
• Fuxi — Investigates from afar but cannot penetrate its defenses through divination 69 71.
• The Three Pure Ones — Visit, recognize its master as a Sage, and contribute treasures that become integrated into its defenses 80 91 134 188.
• Di Jun and Taiyi — Fail to divine its secrets; Di Jun establishes restrictions and later requires Demon Race visitors within ten thousand li to offer tribute and prostrate 93 138.
• Hongyun and Zhenyuanzi — Their visit precedes the Heavenly Dao’s “Sage of the Small Courtyard” inscription 157.
• Houtu — Respectfully seeks an audience; the barrier and willow fence acknowledge her while maintaining their distance 170.
• Hongjun — Studies the courtyard as a variable in Primordial destiny and ultimately seals it 130 196 199 230.

Trivia

• The identity of the courtyard’s original builder or previous owner remains unresolved; Chen An’s early evidence consists of abandoned structures and worn carvings 1 4 6.
• Later passages alternate between Chen An and Lin Xuan for the inhabitant: Hongjun’s assessment uses Lin Xuan, the subsequent courtyard observation uses Chen An, and the sealing chapter again uses Lin Xuan 196 199 230.
• Despite its extraordinary spiritual environment, Chen An’s deliberate attempts at cultivation fail to produce a sense of qi 140 141.