Recaps

After Qi WuHuo shut out the town’s gentry, he tried to help the wandering spirits and accepted the Earth God’s guidance. As Qi WuHuo recited his first Daoist scripture, the power of his words astonished Elder Tao.

• The local gentry and wealthy households cursed Qi WuHuo for rejecting their gifts, then left when the weather turned cold.
• Elder Tao recognized the yin energy above Qi WuHuo’s home and realized the Evil Cultivator had made the wandering spirits impossible to save through ordinary means.
• Qi WuHuo promised to fulfill the spirits’ last wishes and played the zither to calm the energy Tantai Xuan’s arts had stirred in them.
• The old man told Qi WuHuo that he needed more cultivation to deliver the spirits and offered to teach him a recitation to accompany his zither.
• As Qi WuHuo recited “Supreme Edict,” the town’s vital energy seemed to freeze, and Elder Tao was overwhelmed by the scripture’s power.

Qi WuHuo used a zither and an incantation to deliver the dead souls, then learned from the old man about the dangers of fearing death and was told to “seek, but do not covet.” As the old man vanished, Elder Tao arrived and Qi WuHuo welcomed him inside.

• Qi WuHuo played the zither while reciting the old man's incantation, restoring the dead souls and sending them on to the afterlife at the cost of his strength.
• The old man explained the ranks of Daoist teachings and said the secret method he taught Qi WuHuo belonged to none of them and must never be passed on.
• The old man warned Qi WuHuo that cultivators could become desperate and corrupt when they felt their lifespans dwindling, and told him to seek without coveting.
• The old man vanished after sensing a friend approaching, while Qi WuHuo was too weak to move and opened the door by plucking the zither strings.
• Elder Tao heard the zither and saw the souls delivered, then entered when Qi WuHuo welcomed him as a friend.

Elder Tao mistook Qi WuHuo’s effortless delivery of the dead for the work of a supreme Daoist inheritor, then realized Qi WuHuo had performed it himself. He gave Qi WuHuo the Ming Zhen Dao Alliance token taken from the Evil Cultivator.

• Elder Tao approached Qi WuHuo’s door, believing a supreme Daoist master had commanded the dead to the afterlife without a ritual.
• Elder Tao recognized the qin player as Qi WuHuo and struggled to reconcile him with the power he had sensed.
• Qi WuHuo declined to explain the spell, and Elder Tao assumed his silence confirmed his suspicions about the Supreme One lineage.
• Elder Tao noticed that Qi WuHuo had subdued the Evil Cultivator’s sword case and concluded the youth had extraordinary skill.
• Elder Tao gave Qi WuHuo the Ming Zhen Dao Alliance token, saying it belonged to him because he had killed the Evil Cultivator.

Qi WuHuo received a Ming Zhen Dao Alliance token from Elder Tao and declared he would never seek liberation from the suffering of his past. After Elder Tao defended him to the other Earth Gods, Qi WuHuo activated the Black Iron Sword Box and discovered a book titled Record of Becoming Immortal.

• Elder Tao gave Qi WuHuo the Ming Zhen Dao Alliance token, and Qi WuHuo asked whether he had ever seen people eat one another.
• Elder Tao urged Qi WuHuo to let go of his attachments, but Qi WuHuo said he hoped never to find liberation.
• Elder Tao returned to the other Earth Gods and rebuked Shen Hongxue for calling Qi WuHuo a brat, insisting he was Fellow Daoist Qi.
• Qi WuHuo activated the Black Iron Sword Box and emptied the Evil Cultivator's stored belongings onto the table.
• Qi WuHuo opened a yellowed book among the belongings and read its title: Record of Becoming Immortal.

Qi WuHuo read a cultivation journal that traced its young, confident swordsman owner’s life from early achievements and comic spell-making to heartbreak, repeated failed breakthroughs, and a descent into blood-based cultivation. The final entries revealed that the former swordsman had become an evil cultivator, haunted by his younger self and an ill-omened sword, and still clung to his desire for immortality.

• Qi WuHuo studied the journal’s cultivation methods and read about its writer’s youthful experiments, including the Tofu Pushing Curse and other spells.
• The journal recorded the swordsman’s travels, heroic deeds, Zong Wei’s marriage and death, and his repeated failures to break through.
• After more than a century of failed cultivation, the swordsman began using people’s blood, lifespans, and fates to restore his foundation and prolong his life.
• Qi WuHuo recognized the journal’s owner as the cultivator who had fallen into evil practices.
• The swordsman’s final entry described seeing his youthful reflection in a river, attacking the water, and binding himself and his wailing sword with red cords as he feared death and sought immortality.

Qi WuHuo burned the Record of Becoming Immortal’s account of its former owner’s madness and laid the rusted sword to rest, then continued studying under the old man and the mountain spirits. More than a month later, thunder announced the Mountain God’s imminent breakthrough, and he called Qi WuHuo to join him.

• Qi WuHuo examined the furnace, ingredients, and coins he had received, then stored them before inspecting the rusted sword.
• Qi WuHuo used a fire spell to ignite damp branches and burned the book’s account of madness along with the sword, vowing not to follow the former cultivator’s path.
• Qi WuHuo asked the old man whether he could learn spells from the Record of Becoming Immortal, and the old man said his lineage could use methods from any school without restriction.
• Qi WuHuo studied Daoist arts with the mountain spirits and made progress over the following month.
• Elder Tao sensed the Mountain God beginning a breakthrough as thunder shook the world, and the Mountain God called Qi WuHuo to join him.

Qi WuHuo witnessed the Fierce Tiger Mountain God complete his breakthrough and learned how essence, qi, and spirit returned to the One. After sharing their stories over spiritual wine, the Mountain God left to travel the world and pursue cultivation.

• The Fierce Tiger Mountain God summoned Qi WuHuo to his mountaintop after breaking through, and Qi WuHuo congratulated him.
• The Mountain God explained the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and showed Qi WuHuo how essence, qi, and spirit merged into one.
• The Mountain God and Qi WuHuo drank spiritual liquid, and the Mountain God told the story of his life as a tiger who became a cultivator.
• The Mountain God said he would leave to travel the world, offered Qi WuHuo the Mountain God's seal, and departed beneath the moon.
• Qi WuHuo played the qin as the Mountain God promised to become a Great Sage and vanished into the clouds.

Qi WuHuo took control of the Mountain God Talisman Seal and experienced the mountain through the divine station’s vast perception and power. He found the Mountain God’s home and inheritance, then returned to the gathered spirits as the new Mountain God.

• Qi WuHuo activated the Mountain God Talisman Seal, connected his Primordial Spirit to the mountain, and learned he could command its earth veins, wind, and clouds.
• Qi WuHuo used the earth-splitting art to reach the Mountain God’s former home, where he found a Bronze Cauldron, cultivation notes, and a letter.
• Qi WuHuo read the Mountain God’s instructions to cultivate the Earthly Origin Body Refining Heart Art and eventually leave the cauldron for his successor.
• Qi WuHuo stored the letter and cauldron, promised to meet the Mountain God again, and traveled back across the mountain through its earth veins.
• Elder Tao reassured the Guardian Divine Generals that the Mountain God had chosen a successor, then pointed out Qi WuHuo arriving.

Qi WuHuo took up the Mountain God’s position at He Lian Mountain, met its Divine Generals, and returned to town by foot. At home, the old man told him he would soon leave and offered him a final question as a parting gift.

• Elder Tao introduced Wu Luning and Kang Linchang to Qi WuHuo as the Guardian Divine Generals of He Lian Mountain.
• Qi WuHuo declined to use earth traversal, asked the Generals to attend his upcoming Dao lesson, and walked down the mountain.
• Elder Tao praised Qi WuHuo for remembering the difference between the Dao and supernatural techniques.
• On his way home, Qi WuHuo gathered firewood, received meat from Uncle Zhang, and heard that townspeople were keeping their distance because of rumors.
• Qi WuHuo brought winter fruits and meat home, and the old man said their time together had run its course and invited him to answer one last question.

Qi WuHuo wrote a couplet for the departing old man, who rewarded him with a precious life-extending elixir. When Qi WuHuo tried a second couplet from a passage he remembered, its immortal aura astonished the old man.

• Qi WuHuo prepared a generous meal before listening as the old man said he was leaving and asked him to write a couplet for a new Daoist temple.
• Qi WuHuo wrote a couplet inspired by his dreams, and the old man praised it and offered him fifty pills of a life-extending elixir.
• Qi WuHuo hesitated to accept the gift and offered to write another couplet he had once heard in a dream.
• Qi WuHuo wrote about the White Jade Capital and immortals, and the old man's amusement vanished as he realized he had misjudged him.

Qi WuHuo impressed the old man with a couplet written from the old man’s own perspective, earning an invitation to accompany him to meet someone in three days. The old man withheld both the Longevity Elixir and the Daoist scripture, offering Qi WuHuo an opportunity instead.

• The old man withdrew the Longevity Elixir and offered Qi WuHuo a powerful Daoist scripture, but said he wanted a couplet with greater boldness and written from his own perspective.
• The old man used a drop of tea to show Qi WuHuo a Daoist temple’s grand couplet, and Qi WuHuo briefly controlled the scene with his Primordial Spirit before the vision shattered.
• Qi WuHuo admitted he was a little afraid of heights, and the old man laughed before challenging him to write a more carefree, composed couplet.
• Qi WuHuo wrote, “Immortal's Mansion of Eternal Life” and “Daoist's Household Sharing Heaven's Longevity,” which delighted the old man.
• The old man put away the scripture, promised to remember Qi WuHuo’s name, and invited him to accompany him to meet someone in three days as an opportunity.

Cui Yuanzhen arrived at the Daoist sect with Su Yue'er and her cousin after passing its Heart Refining trial, while the other two had failed. At Heaven Pillar Peak, an ancient Daoist revealed that he had been jolted from meditation by a vision of a youth discussing the Dao beneath a plum tree.

• Cui Yuanzhen, Su Yue'er, and her cousin reached the mountain gate, where an old Daoist welcomed them and opened the hidden path into the sect.
• The old Daoist explained that Cui Yuanzhen had passed the Heart Refining trial, while Su Yue'er and her cousin had failed its illusions of wealth and indulgence.
• Cui Yuanzhen asked about Heaven Pillar Peak and learned that it had no lineage, only an ordinary temple and a Daoist who had meditated there for a thousand years.
• The True Person who led Cui Yuanzhen's lineage abruptly left after hearing a jade chime, and many other True Persons flew to Heaven Pillar Peak.
• The ancient Daoist examined a poem on white paper and told the gathered True Persons that he had seen a youth discussing the Dao with an old man beneath a plum tree.

A Daoist in seclusion dreamed of Qi WuHuo and asked the sect to watch for him, while Cui Yuanzhen and Su Yue'er encountered the poem inspired by that dream. Qi WuHuo prepared to lecture in the mountains before traveling with the old man, who gave him a pill-refining method and warned him not to tarnish his name.

• The secluded Daoist told the sect's True Persons that he had dreamed of a young man discussing the Dao beneath a plum tree and asked them to look for him.
• The sect's leader declined to use divination to search, saying that the Dao depended on affinity, while Cui Yuanzhen became the Head True Person's disciple.
• Cui Yuanzhen admired the new poem on the mountain gate, and a fellow disciple explained that the founding master had seen it in a dream.
• Su Yue'er decided she would tell Qi WuHuo about the poem when she returned home.
• Qi WuHuo told the old man he planned to lecture in the mountains before accompanying him to meet an old friend.
• The old man gave Qi WuHuo a pill-refining method and told him not to tarnish his name.

Qi WuHuo attended a gathering of nearby Mountain Gods and Earth Deities, where he demonstrated his ability to learn an Earth Deity technique after seeing it once. He took his place as He Lian Mountain’s Mountain God and began to expound the Dao.

• Qi WuHuo arrived at the mountain platform and was greeted by the assembled Mountain Gods and Earth Deities as He Lian Mountain’s new Mountain God.
• Fourth Lady of Chengdu Mountain teased Qi WuHuo and tried to embrace him, but he used her tunneling technique to slip past her.
• Qi WuHuo explained that he had learned the technique by observing it once, leaving Fourth Lady and the other Mountain Gods impressed.
• Qi WuHuo invited Fourth Lady to sit and used the technique himself as he walked to the place where the Fierce Tiger Mountain God had lectured.
• Qi WuHuo set down the Black Iron Sword Box, faced the gathering, and announced that he would expound the Dao, asking everyone to listen in silence.

Qi WuHuo taught the mountain gods and spirit beasts the stages and grades of cultivation, earning their respect by explaining the paths to Primordial Prenatal Qi. As he began refining pills, he improvised a method using the sun and moon, and the furnace burst open, shocking the old man watching him.

• Qi WuHuo began his lecture by explaining Foundation Establishment, the Thirteen Levels of Ascending the Tower, and the realm of Primordial Prenatal Qi.
• Qi WuHuo described the lower-, middle-, and upper-grade methods of entering the Dao, and the mountain gods recognized how their own cultivation paths had fallen short.
• Elder Tao and the mountain gods bowed to Qi WuHuo and thanked him for showing them the direction of the Great Dao.
• Qi WuHuo prepared to refine a furnace of pills and recalled the old man's General Principle as he watched the sun and moon.
• Qi WuHuo drew in the radiance of the sun and moon, tapped the furnace three times, and caused it to burst open.
• The old man saw the explosion and coughed in shock, wondering who had taught Qi WuHuo that method.

Qi WuHuo refined Qi Nourishing Elixirs and received gifts from the Mountain Gods, including Elder Tao’s Jade Book, before leaving the mountain. On his way down, he met townspeople carrying a statue uphill to build a temple to the Mountain God, and continued home as they called out their reverence.

• Qi WuHuo refined Qi Nourishing Elixirs, realizing that the alchemical method could also be a path of cultivation.
• The Mountain Gods presented Qi WuHuo with treasures, and Elder Tao gave him a Jade Book that could summon nearby Mountain Gods and Earthly Deities for aid.
• Qi WuHuo left the gathering after reaffirming plans for yearly alchemy sessions and Dao discussions every three years.
• Qi WuHuo visited Huang Jing, replanted the gifted spirit herbs around the mountain, and wished the mountain a happy New Year.
• On the way down, Qi WuHuo met townspeople carrying a Mountain God statue uphill to build a temple, then continued downhill as they called out their reverence.

Qi WuHuo explained how he had gained insight into alchemy and the cultivation of nature and life, earning the old man's praise and promise to let him watch him make pills one day. The next morning, Qi WuHuo left his home and the New Year bustle behind to accompany the old man on a journey to visit a friend.

• Qi WuHuo told the old man that he had drawn on the General Principle of alchemy and observations of the sun and moon to make pills and contemplate the unity of Heaven and Earth with the human body.
• The old man praised Qi WuHuo's insight, warned him against pride and impatience, and promised that he could watch him make pills after achieving greatness.
• On the morning of their departure, Qi WuHuo packed his records, Jade Book, waist token, zither, and sword, then left his home with the old man.
• Qi WuHuo and the old man walked through the lively town as people prepared for the New Year, unseen by the townsfolk.
• Qi WuHuo took one last look at the town and followed the old man onto the main road to visit a friend.

Qi WuHuo left town with the old man and crossed a vast river aboard a ship the old man fashioned from a twig. They reached an island, where the old man introduced Qi WuHuo to a man and a yellow ox, saying he had recorded the boy’s name.

• Su Yue'er recognized Qi WuHuo's likeness in the Mountain God statue and returned to his empty home, where she murmured his name.
• The old man led Qi WuHuo to a river so vast that Qi WuHuo first mistook it for the sea.
• The old man transformed a thin twig into a magnificent ship and told Qi WuHuo that the feat was the art of refining tools.
• Qi WuHuo meditated aboard the ship as it crossed the rough water toward an island.
• The old man introduced Qi WuHuo to a man and a yellow ox, then said he had recorded Qi WuHuo's name.

Qi WuHuo visited a vast farmstead with the old man and explored it with the host’s daughter, who told him about her parents and showed him the Nine Canals. After Qi WuHuo imagined that the waterway was a river of stars in heaven, he relaxed beside it and wondered why the sky had no stars.

• Qi WuHuo greeted the tall man and the yellow ox before the old man joined the host for a meal.
• The old man sent Qi WuHuo to explore the farmstead, where he noticed the spiritual rice, irrigation pond, and stele marked “Nine Canals.”
• The host’s daughter introduced herself, showed Qi WuHuo around, and told him how her parents had been separated and could meet only once a year.
• The host’s daughter invited Qi WuHuo to soak his feet in the Nine Canals, and Qi WuHuo described it as washing his feet in the Heavenly River.
• The host’s daughter delighted in Qi WuHuo’s explanation, and the two rested by the stream as he wondered why there were no stars in the sky.

Qi WuHuo watched the sunset over the river with Yun Qin, danced with his sword on the golden water, and returned to the residence with Old Yellow Ox. There, the old Daoist directly asked Qi WuHuo to take him as his teacher.

• Yun Qin pulled Qi WuHuo across the Nine Canals and onto the great river to show him her favorite sunset view.
• Qi WuHuo danced with his sword on the water while Yun Qin watched and Old Yellow Ox waited nearby.
• Old Yellow Ox carried Qi WuHuo and Yun Qin back to the bank and led them home for dinner.
• Qi WuHuo entered the room and found the old Daoist waiting at its head.
• The old Daoist asked Qi WuHuo whether he was willing to take him as his teacher.

Qi WuHuo formally entered the Daoist Sect as the old man’s disciple and shared a nourishing feast that revealed the lasting damage from his childhood hardships. The chapter ended as his master prepared to perform the transmission rite and present him with sect robes and a jade register.

• Qi WuHuo accepted the old man’s offer and called him Teacher.
• Uncle Yun prepared a feast of spiritual foods, and Qi WuHuo ate more than a dozen bowls as the food replenished his body.
• Uncle Yun used a divine art to examine Qi WuHuo and saw the famine, violence, and suffering he had endured as a child.
• After the meal, three attendants presented Qi WuHuo with a robe, crown, sash, shoes, and jade register.
• The old man said he would perform the transmission rite now that Qi WuHuo had entered the sect.

The old man formally transmitted the Dao to Qi WuHuo, guiding him through the orthodox rites of entering a lineage. He gave Qi WuHuo the Daoist title Profound Subtlety and invoked the Myriad Spirits Supervision and Five Emperors as witnesses, leaving the man and old ox stunned.

• The old ox explained that the transmission lacked a Supervising Master and Recommending Master because no one could fill those roles for the senior.
• After bathing, Qi WuHuo offered incense and wrote the Jade Book under the old man's guidance.
• The man changed into magnificent robes and served as Transmission Master, removing Qi WuHuo's worldly clothes and dressing him in Daoist shoes and a Water Cloud Robe.
• The old man secured Qi WuHuo's hair with a Daoist hairpin, gave him a jade slip, and admitted him into his lineage as Profound Subtlety.
• The old man declared that the Myriad Spirits Supervision and Five Emperors would witness the transmission, shocking the man and the old ox.

The Jade Tablet in the Xuan Du Purple Mansion revealed the Daoist title Xuanwei, and the dashing Daoist recognized its bearer as a disciple accepted in name by his Teacher. He wondered whether Xuanwei could complete the arduous cultivation and merit requirements to reach the Purple Mansion, leaving the disciple's arrival uncertain.

• The Daoist boys discovered a new name appearing on the Jade Tablet, and the dashing Daoist watched it form as Xuanwei.
• The dashing Daoist explained that Xuanwei would have to cultivate to Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown and Five Qi Facing the Origin and complete three thousand merits to enter the Purple Mansion.
• A crowd came to congratulate the Purple Mansion on the new disciple, and the dashing Daoist demanded gifts before collecting their treasures and shutting the gate.
• The crowd discussed how few nominal disciples had ever reached the Purple Mansion and decided to prepare gifts in case Xuanwei succeeded.
• The dashing Daoist imagined the honorific Xuanwei could receive if he arrived, then wondered whether he would meet the same fate as past disciples who never made it.

Qi WuHuo became the old man's disciple and prepared to return home, where he planned to cultivate and pursue his unfinished obligations. Before they parted, he and the young girl exchanged gifts and promised to keep in touch; the old man then took him to meet his senior brothers.

• The old man gave Qi WuHuo a jade slip bearing his Daoist title, Xuanwei, and formally accepted him as a disciple.
• The old man announced that he and Qi WuHuo would leave that night, and Qi WuHuo explained to the young girl that he planned to return home and cultivate.
• The young girl gave Qi WuHuo a box containing a mirror and the Method of Manifesting Light Circles so they could communicate across the distance.
• Qi WuHuo gave the young girl the short sword he had sharpened himself, and she promised to show him her sword techniques when they met again.
• The man told Qi WuHuo he could ask for Knows Nothing of Everything in Central Province Prefecture City to learn how to find the place.
• As the old man and Qi WuHuo departed by boat, the old man said he would take Qi WuHuo to meet his senior brothers.

Qi WuHuo endured a painful meditation that repaired the cracks in his foundation, then followed his Teacher to meet the senior disciple known as Daoist True Person Yi. His Teacher told him to invite the Venerable Celestial Master to leave with them or surrender the Daoist title Jade Yang, and Qi WuHuo went forward to deliver the message.

• Qi WuHuo meditated under the moonlight as two streams of qi filled him, mending the damage to his foundation despite the pain.
• Qi WuHuo briefly entered a tranquil state amid purple clouds, then fell into the river when his Teacher called him; afterward, he kept the tree branch he had sat upon.
• Qi WuHuo followed his Teacher toward the capital as he learned that the first senior brother was the Venerable Celestial Master, Daoist True Person Yi.
• Qi WuHuo and his Teacher reached the senior brother's hall, where scholars, cultivators, officials, and commoners gathered to hear teachings on Primordial Prenatal Qi.
• Qi WuHuo's Teacher told him to ask Daoist True Person Yi to travel with them in search of the Dao, warning that otherwise he would take back Yi's Daoist title Jade Yang.