Chapter Summaries

Ye Qin left Long Ling’s remains and watched the Great Hao Upheaval pass into history as rival regimes divided Great Hao’s territory. In the present, Hu Xiaocao attended Fan Ming’s lecture, where he revealed that newly excavated tombs had uncovered records connecting Great Hao’s fall to the Dragon Kingdom and its surviving princess.

• Long Ling told Ye Qin she would sleep for a long time, and after she closed her eyes, a tiny green snake appeared beside her and shared her long vigil over the bones.
• Sun Yuan investigated Great Hao’s ruined imperial city, saw the immense sword scar left by Ye Qin, and reported his findings to the Wu Yue Emperor.
• Neighboring regimes seized Great Hao’s lands while avoiding its imperial city, and Great Hao’s two-year rule became known as the Great Hao Upheaval.
• Ye Qin returned to Longyuan Mountain, placed the black-and-white jade pendant beside Long Ling’s bones, and said he had come to fulfill their promise.
• At Fan Ming’s public lecture, he told Hu Xiaocao and the students that tomb records described Great Hao’s rise from the Dragon Kingdom and its destruction after the emperor killed the Long Clan royal family, leaving one princess alive.

Fan Ming told Qi Xueqing and Hu Xiaocao about the mysterious Great Hao dynasty and Princess Long Ling, whose restored portrait sparked a massive online following after Qi posted it. As Long Ling’s fame spread, Ye Qin sensed the Dragon Transformation Lightning Tribulation gathering over the mountain and prepared for its arrival.

• Fan Ming presented evidence linking the customs north of West Province to Great Hao and showed the restored portrait of Princess Long Ling, which left the class stunned.
• Hu Xiaocao said Long Ling seemed familiar to her, while Qi Xueqing searched historical records and found conflicting accounts of Great Hao’s destruction.
• Qi Xueqing published his findings online and, with Fan Ming’s approval, shared Long Ling’s portrait; archaeological authorities confirmed the reconstruction, and Long Ling became an internet celebrity.
• As the public discussed Long Ling and blamed Great Hao for her kingdom’s fall, Ye Qin stored Long Ling’s remains and flew to the mountain peak when dark clouds gathered.
• Ye Qin recognized the approaching storm as the Dragon Transformation Lightning Tribulation.

Ye Qin faced the dragon-transformation tribulation on Longyuan Mountain, using talismans and the mountain-protecting formation to shield the mountain while enduring devastating lightning. When he neared death, Long Ling’s remains joined with the Source Bone, helping him understand life and death and allowing flesh to begin growing over the bones.

• Ye Qin made the Siberian Tiger and the other animals place Yellow Talismans around Longyuan Mountain and sent them away from the mountaintop before the tribulation began.
• The villagers saw the storm gathering over Longyuan Mountain, but the village chief and several cultivators could not approach through the overwhelming pressure.
• Ye Qin confronted the tribulation with the Source Bone and Shangqing Temple as lightning battered him, destroying his scales and leaving him gravely wounded.
• As Ye Qin weakened and the Source Bone’s light faded, Long Ling’s remains appeared and helped block the lightning.
• Ye Qin drew strength from his memories of Long Ling and connected her remains to Shangqing Temple and the Source Bone.
• The bones overlapped on Shangqing Temple’s offering platform, restoring the Source Bone’s vitality as a thin layer of flesh began to grow over it.

Ye Qin endured the lightning tribulation, then used its fading power to temper the animals of Longyuan Mountain. After a day and night of transformation, he became the world's first true dragon, and strange omens appeared across the nation.

• Ye Qin rose into the weakening tribulation clouds as the villagers below wondered whether the Mountain God had taken to the sky.
• Ye Qin summoned the animals into the tribulation zone, where the Siberian Tiger and the others faced the lightning and tempered their bodies and resolve.
• Ye Qin protected animals too weak to withstand the bolts, while the rest continued enduring the lightning until the tribulation ended and they received its benefits.
• Ye Qin entered a violet cocoon as his body transformed, while the animals and villagers waited through a day and night beneath the mountain's strange omens.
• Ye Qin emerged with five claws and eighty-one scales, having become a true dragon, as the villagers bowed and celebrated the heavenly rain that nourished them.
• Strange omens appeared across the nation following the birth of the first true dragon.

Nationwide supernatural omens appeared at once, including Purple Qi, dragon-shaped clouds, phantom fire, and birds forming a dragon, prompting fierce debate over whether a true dragon had descended. The 749 Bureau connected the omens to a dragon’s earlier tribulation in Kyoto and wondered if a scale found there was truly a dragon scale.

• People across Yunling, Nancheng, Guang Province, and Quanyang witnessed unusual omens, including purple mist, dragon-shaped clouds, vanishing firelight, and birds forming a dragon.
• Netizens shared reports and images of more than a hundred simultaneous omens, sparking arguments over whether they signaled a true dragon’s arrival.
• An Ordinary Scholar compared the events with historical accounts of auspicious signs at the births of emperors, and many netizens debated the theory online.
• Wang Xuehao convened the 749 Bureau to review the nationwide omens, and Yao Ruotong and Xu Tiancheng agreed that their timing seemed too unusual to be coincidence.
• Xu Tiancheng reported that historical records matched the omens, and Wang Xuehao asked whether a scale found at the earlier Kyoto dragon-tribulation site could be a dragon scale.

After transforming into a true dragon, Ye Qin advanced to the Nascent Soul realm and discovered that his Source Bone had become a clone resembling Long Ling. He then sensed a new time fragment inside Zuo Ci's Tomb and used his Nascent Soul to break through the barrier, bringing his hope of fulfilling the Eternal Life Pact closer.

• Ye Qin absorbed Longyuan Mountain's Spiritual Energy, shattered his golden core, and formed a Nascent Soul in the shape of a little green snake.
• Ye Qin discovered that the Source Bone had grown flesh and become a controllable clone resembling Long Ling, while Long Ling's remains and the Shangqing Temple showed signs of vitality.
• Ye Qin speculated that incense offerings and the Shangqing Temple might help him resurrect Long Ling, as he had once made an Eternal Life Pact with Qin Shi Huang.
• Ye Qin sensed a fragment of time stirring inside Zuo Ci's Tomb, but his physical body could not pass through its barrier.
• Ye Qin entered his Nascent Soul and found that he could sense through the barrier, opening a possible path into the time fragment.

Ye Qin returned to Zuo Ci’s Tomb and found Zuo Ci near death after failing to refine the Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir. Ye Qin reunited with him, offered him a path to immortality, and took him into Shangqing Temple, leaving the disciples to find only a message and a lingering medicinal fragrance.

• Ye Qin arrived in the mountain forest where he and Zuo Ci had first met, then saw that Zuo Ci was gravely ill and mourning his failure to refine the Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir.
• Zuo Ci asked his disciples to carry him to the mountain pavilion, where he waited alone for the fellow Daoist he had not seen since their first meeting.
• Ye Qin appeared before Zuo Ci, refined a miraculous pill, and invited him to join the Demon Immortal’s sect and pursue immortality.
• Zuo Ci accepted Ye Qin’s offer and was transformed into white light that entered Shangqing Temple as Ye Qin departed into the sky.
• Zuo Ci’s disciples found his message in the empty pavilion and later spread accounts of his mysterious disappearance and ascension.

Ye Qin returned to Mount Tai to fulfill his pact with Qin Shi Huang, using Shangqing Temple to bring ancient figures closer to immortality. In 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang faced a series of ominous portents and fell gravely ill, while Zhao Gao secretly informed Prince Huhai that their great deed had been accomplished.

• Ye Qin sensed that Zuo Ci was being restored in Shangqing Temple and decided that Qin Shi Huang could also follow him on the path to immortality.
• Ye Qin traveled to Mount Tai and stirred the river of time, returning to 210 BC during Qin Shi Huang's eastern inspection tour.
• Qin Shi Huang followed a falling light to a boulder inscribed with “First Emperor dies, and the land is divided,” then witnessed Mars Halts in Heart in the sky.
• A guard presented Qin Shi Huang with the jade disk he had thrown into Dongting Lake eight years earlier, along with a warning that the Progenitor Dragon would die that year.
• Qin Shi Huang ordered a search for the mysterious old man, collapsed after vomiting blood, and Zhao Gao secretly told a young attendant to inform Prince Huhai that the great deed was accomplished.
• As Qin Shi Huang's illness worsened and rumors of Heaven's displeasure spread, he dismissed his attendants and lamented that he might die before meeting the Demon Immortal again.

Ye Qin let Qin Shi Huang witness Zhao Gao and Li Si’s betrayal and Huhai’s brutal rule after his death, helping the emperor accept that Qin’s fall could not be prevented. Qin Shi Huang chose to follow Ye Qin and attain an alternative form of immortality, taking his place beside Zuo Ci in the Daoist temple.

• Ye Qin refused to preserve Qin Shi Huang’s life or prolong Qin, but used a soul technique to let him observe what happened after death.
• Qin Shi Huang died after suffering from illness and grief, while Zhao Gao concealed his death and summoned Li Si.
• Qin Shi Huang watched Zhao Gao and Li Si alter his edict to enthrone Huhai and force Fusu to take his own life.
• Huhai seized the throne, indulged in pleasure, and handed political power to Zhao Gao as Qin Shi Huang’s spirit watched helplessly.
• Qin Shi Huang realized the course of history could not be changed and chose eternal life with Ye Qin over trying to preserve Qin.
• Ye Qin brought Qin Shi Huang’s spirit to the Daoist temple on Mount Tai, where he sat beside Zuo Ci.

Qin Shi Huang mysteriously vanished from his tomb and appeared to ascend into a Daoist temple at Mount Tai, where a jade bi from his burial was found. Huhai and Zhao Gao tried to hide the events, but rumors spread, Huhai's fear and brutality grew, and rebellions began across the realm.

• Commoners in Jibei Commandery saw Qin Shi Huang ascend into a miraculous Daoist temple at Mount Tai, followed by an unknown green figure, and found a blood-patterned jade bi after the vision disappeared.
• Huhai learned that Qin Shi Huang's remains had vanished from the imperial mausoleum and ordered Zhao Gao to conceal the news and search for them.
• The jade bi from Mount Tai reached Huhai, and Zhao Gao recognized it as the unique object buried with Qin Shi Huang; Huhai fainted and later became convinced that his father had returned to punish him.
• Huhai's fear and sleeplessness worsened, and he killed an attendant before ordering Qin Shi Huang's burial to proceed with an especially lavish ceremony.
• Rumors about the missing remains, Mount Tai's apparition, and Huhai's altered imperial edict spread; Huhai killed many people, but rebellions soon erupted across the realm.

A ripple from the river of time stirred strange events at Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum: locals heard phantom armies and shared a dream of Qin Shi Huang, while the Terracotta Army figures turned and broke as if kneeling. As the incident spread online, the 749 Bureau learned of the case, though Wang Xuehao said another team would handle it.

• Ye Qin observed the divine statues inside Shangqing Temple, unaware that the river of time had affected Mount Li Qin Emperor's Mausoleum.
• A museum staff member heard the sounds of an army within the mausoleum, and nearby residents later shared the same dream of Qin Shi Huang.
• Staff discovered that the Terracotta Army figures had turned toward the mausoleum and broken into a kneeling position, but surveillance showed no clear culprit.
• The police investigated the damage without finding evidence, while residents and netizens spread accounts of the strange noises and shared dream.
• At the 749 Bureau, Xu Tiancheng and Yao Ruotong reviewed mysterious incidents, and Wang Xuehao told them the Mount Li case would be handled by another team.

Ye Qin returned to the wilderness temple and brought the dying Zhi Dun to Shangqing Temple so he could witness Buddhism in later ages. Zhi Dun’s disciples saw supernatural signs at his death and believed he had achieved Buddhahood, while the truth remained a mystery to the outside world.

• The 749 Bureau discussed strange recent events, including trouble at the imperial mausoleum, and suspected a greater secret behind them.
• Ye Qin reached the wilderness temple and used his Nascent Soul to connect with Zhi Dun, who was nearing the end of his life.
• Zhi Dun recalled Ye Qin’s past guidance and agreed to follow him to learn how Buddhism developed in later ages.
• Ye Qin brought Zhi Dun’s spirit to Shangqing Temple, where Zuo Ci and others saw him appear as a radiant monk.
• Zhi Dun’s disciples witnessed his spirit rise toward a celestial temple with a Buddha and white cranes, then found that he had died peacefully beneath the ancient tree.
• Reports of Zhi Dun’s supernatural passing spread, prompting public arguments over whether he had entered nirvana or whether the story had been fabricated.

Strange manifestations occurred at temples founded by Zhi Dun, drawing public attention and speculation about a mysterious power. After reviewing the ages and gathering statues of his old acquaintances at Shangqing Temple, Ye Qin announced that the ancients should descend into the world and cultivate.

• A scripture chanted by an unseen presence at Qiguang Temple, and the Heart Sutra was found open on its offering table.
• Shakyamuni’s statue at Cijing Temple blinked and radiated multicolored light, drawing crowds after the incident spread.
• Hikers lost on West Mountain followed a mysterious monk to Yuanchán Temple and recognized him in a portrait of its founder, Zhi Dun, who had died a thousand years earlier.
• Netizens noticed that every temple experiencing strange phenomena had been founded by Zhi Dun, and the sites filled with visitors and appointment requests.
• Ye Qin reviewed fragments of the past, gathered statues of ancient acquaintances at Shangqing Temple, and declared that the ancients should descend into the world and cultivate.

Ye Qin returned to Longyuan Mountain and began his third Sermon, teaching the gathered animals for a year. When their cultivation reached its limit and tribulation clouds appeared, he sent them away to face their lightning tribulations separately across Great Xia.

• Ye Qin returned to Longyuan Mountain, reunited with the Siberian Tiger and the other animals, and decided to devote his time to their cultivation.
• Ye Qin gathered the mountain creatures and began his third Sermon, while auspicious signs and merit surrounded him and the animals listened.
• After a year of preaching, the animals had changed greatly, and lightning tribulation clouds gathered over Longyuan Mountain.
• Ye Qin told the Siberian Tiger, the tortoise, the yellow weasel, the goshawk, the fox, and the other animals to leave the mountain and face their tribulations separately.
• The animals scattered toward the Famous Mountains and Rivers throughout Great Xia as Ye Qin stayed behind to await their return.

The animals Ye Qin had guided from Longyuan Mountain underwent tribulations at different sacred mountains across Daxia, transforming and producing supernatural signs witnessed by nearby residents. Their journeys continued as reports of a White Tiger, a Vermilion Bird, a qilin, and fish leaping at Heavenly Lake spread.

• The Siberian Tiger endured its tribulation on Qingcheng Mountain, awakened an ancient bloodline, and emerged amid a White Tiger apparition witnessed by local residents.
• The Scarlet Firetail Finch faced its tribulation on Mount Hua and transformed within a fiery cocoon as red light blazed across the sky.
• A sika deer underwent its tribulation at Three Pure Ones Mountain while a landslide trapped tourists, and a qilin-shaped cloud appeared after the storm cleared.
• Thunder struck the snowy Changbai Mountain Range, and fish at Heavenly Lake repeatedly leaped from the water like carp attempting to cross the Dragon Gate.

Great demons across Daxia underwent tribulation at famous mountains, causing strange phenomena that alarmed the public and prompted the 749 Bureau to investigate. After finding animal traces and mutated fur at Qingcheng Mountain, Bureau Chief Chen Zhijun ordered a second investigation of Longyuan Mountain to determine whether it was connected.

• The Great Turtle reached Shennongjia to undergo tribulation, leaving ancient patterns that resembled a gigantic turtle shell.
• Strange phenomena appeared across Daxia as great demons underwent tribulation, sparking widespread online debate about divine beasts and Spiritual Energy.
• Wang Xuehao's team investigated Qingcheng Mountain and found a devastated summit, enormous claw marks, and strange yellow-brown fur.
• At an emergency meeting, Wang Xuehao reported that traces from multiple sites appeared animal-related and contained mutated DNA that the bureau could not identify.
• Chen Zhijun ordered the 749 Bureau to investigate the incidents thoroughly and conduct a second investigation of Longyuan Mountain.

After the demons returned from surviving their tribulations, Ye Qin told them to consolidate their cultivation before he arranged for them to enter the wider world. He entered seclusion while Source Bone, appearing as Long Ling, taught the demons, and a month later uninvited guests arrived beneath Longyuan Mountain.

• The Siberian Tiger and Scarlet Firetail Finch returned to Longyuan Mountain, argued, and fought as the other demons gathered and joined the melee.
• Ye Qin praised the demons for surviving their tribulations, warned them to keep cultivating, and told them he would arrange for them to see the wider world.
• Ye Qin infused Source Bone with soul power and sent her to teach the demons while he entered seclusion.
• Source Bone, appearing as Long Ling, taught the demons about the Way and gave them recitation and dictation tests.
• After a month of settling into their new lives, the demons awaited Ye Qin's return, while a group of uninvited guests arrived beneath Longyuan Mountain.

Key Plot Points and Events

• A professional research team from the Kyoto General Research Institute arrives at Longyuan Mountain to investigate the anomalous events.
• They enter the mountain despite the villagers' warnings about the Mountain God.
• The team encounters strange, mutated plants and experiences unusual phenomena like malfunctioning instruments and an eerily silent forest.
• They follow the sound of a wind chime and discover a lush, cultivated area with wooden houses, where they find a tiger and a wolf chopping vegetables and speaking human language.

Character Developments

• Professor Song Ze, the team leader, is initially skeptical of the villagers' beliefs but becomes increasingly unsettled by the strange occurrences in the mountain.
• The team members are initially excited about the possibility of new discoveries but become frightened and disbelieving when they encounter the talking animals.

Significant Themes

• The clash between science and superstition/folklore, as the team's scientific mindset is challenged by the mysterious and seemingly supernatural events.
• The respect for nature and different cultures, as Professor Song Ze advises his team to be respectful of the villagers' beliefs and the environment.

Character Interactions

• The team members interact with each other, discussing their findings and expressing their thoughts and fears.
• The team's initial interactions with the villagers are portrayed, showing the villagers' attempts to dissuade the team from entering the mountain.
• The team's encounter with the talking animals is the most significant interaction, leaving them shocked, disbelieving, and frightened.

Professor Song Ze and his expedition encountered humanlike demons throughout Longyuan Mountain and prepared to flee. They then spotted a woman in white among the demons at a wooden house, and Professor Song Ze began to recognize something that made him turn pale.

• A giant Siberian Tiger startled Professor Song Ze and two expedition members, who fled after seeing it speak and cook.
• Professor Song Ze reunited with the expedition and warned them that they had encountered a tiger demon and a wolf demon.
• The team used a telescope and saw a Great Black Bear farming, an Old Turtle fishing, and other animals behaving like people.
• The researchers decided to retreat, fearing the demons, but spotted a woman in white at the wooden house among the animals.
• The team failed to call for help, while Professor Song Ze stared at the woman and grew pale as if he had realized something.

Professor Song Ze's research team encountered demons and a human-form great demon on Longyuan Mountain, then escaped and reported their discovery to the 749 Bureau. Wang Xuehao and his colleagues took the warning seriously as Professor Song Ze prepared to return to the capital and report to the chief.

• Professor Song Ze realized that the woman in white was likely a great demon in human form, and the Siberian Tiger's pressure sent the research team fleeing into the forest.
• The woman in white told the demons to leave the frightened researchers alone, while the Siberian Tiger and fox bickered over the burned soup.
• Professor Song Ze and the team escaped Longyuan Mountain and drove away before stopping to rest on the highway.
• Wang Xuehao and Xu Tiancheng reviewed reports of strange events and unsolved murders linked to Longyuan Mountain at the 749 Bureau.
• Professor Song Ze told Wang Xuehao by video call that the team had seen demons, warning that the mountain was dangerous and that the government should keep it sealed.
• Wang Xuehao and the others were shaken by the report, and Professor Song Ze said the team would return to the capital to report to the chief.