Recaps

Qi WuHuo visited the founder of the Passage Hall to deliver his Teacher’s invitation to return to the sect, but the Daoist chose to remain in the Mortal World. After Qi WuHuo broke the jade slip, the old man declared that Yuyang was no longer his disciple.

• The old man concealed Qi WuHuo as he entered the Passage Hall and listened to its founder teach.
• Qi WuHuo revealed himself to the Daoist and asked him to return to the sect and continue cultivating.
• The Daoist, once known as True Person Yuyang, refused because he wanted to guide disciples and help the emperor defeat the Demon Kingdoms.
• Yuyang returned the jade slip to Qi WuHuo, who left without staying for tea.
• The old man told Qi WuHuo to break the jade slip, then explained that Yuyang would keep his cultivation but lose his ties to his Teacher.
• The jade slip vanished, a leaf fell from the evergreen tree, and the old man said Yuyang was no longer his disciple.

The old man explained that Leaving the Mortal World meant keeping one’s heart beyond worldly attachments, then showed Qi WuHuo the lives of his senior brother and senior sister, whose choices tested his understanding of the Dao. Qi WuHuo accepted the task of approaching Yu Miao and set out with a new resolve to refine his heart.

• The old man told Qi WuHuo that his senior brother had fulfilled his mortal ambitions honorably but had failed to leave the mortal world in his heart, and the True Person began weeping without knowing why.
• The old man introduced Qi WuHuo to Yu Miao, his senior sister, and recounted how she had left the sect to seek a way to keep her beloved reborn across lifetimes.
• Qi WuHuo asked whether he should invite Yu Miao back to cultivation and restore her Daoist title if she wished, and the old man told him to go on.
• Qi WuHuo accepted the old man’s command as Xuanwei and set out to see the others and himself, beginning his heart-refining journey.

Qi WuHuo visited Yu Miao and asked her to return to the sect, but she refused, choosing instead to guide her reincarnated husband toward cultivation and honor the path she had chosen. She gave Qi WuHuo her Primordial Sword Canon before he left, while she remained with her husband, at peace with her decision.

• Qi WuHuo met Yu Miao in her Sea of Flowers and asked her to return to the mountain and resume cultivation.
• Yu Miao explained that she had watched her husband suffer through repeated reincarnations and now intended to guide him onto the cultivation path, even if it took many lifetimes.
• Yu Miao refused to abandon her choice, saying that giving it up to remain in the sect would mean losing her own Dao.
• Yu Miao gave Qi WuHuo her Primordial Sword Canon and told him he could pluck one of her flowers if he returned after she no longer remembered him.
• Qi WuHuo left, and Yu Miao told her husband she had seen her younger self before leading him to view the flowers.

Qi WuHuo visited the Mystic Gate disciples and learned that their different choices were not wrong, then understood that the Great Dao was not the only pursuit that mattered. The old man began teaching him the grades of immortals, ending with the revelation that even Heavenly Immortals followed only a lesser method.

• The old man explained that Dao companions supported each other through cultivation and that people could follow different paths without being right or wrong.
• Qi WuHuo visited the other Mystic Gate disciples, collected their jade slips, and gradually concluded that their varied attachments and choices were not wrong.
• The old man praised Qi WuHuo's understanding and asked what he knew about immortals and their ranks.
• The old man described Corpse-Released Immortals, Human Immortals, and Earthly Immortals, identifying Senior Brother Jade Yang and Senior Sister Yu Miao with those stages.
• The old man explained how cultivators could advance to become deities and Heavenly Immortals, then declared that even the Heavenly Immortal realm was a lesser method.

An old man taught Qi WuHuo the lesser, middle, and highest methods of cultivation, then asked him which path he wished to follow. After Qi WuHuo chose the highest Great Dao, the old man led him to Senior Brother Xuan Zhen’s grave, leaving him with a stark sense of the cost of seeking immortality.

• The old man explained that the highest method involved remaining unstained and transforming being into nonbeing and back, and told Qi WuHuo to keep it secret.
• Qi WuHuo chose to cultivate the supreme, highest Great Dao, and the old man told him that Senior Brother Xuan Zhen had made the same choice.
• The old man led Qi WuHuo to Xuan Zhen’s barren grave, where the sight swept away Qi WuHuo’s doubts, hopes, and pride.
• Standing before Xuan Zhen’s grave, Qi WuHuo reflected on the many ways people suffered and failed to escape attachment, and recalled the Mountain God’s warning that the road to immortality was marked by bones.

Qi WuHuo read the Thirteen Sorrows carved on Senior Brother Xuan Zhen’s grave and learned how Xuan Zhen had faced forty-nine layers of tribulation before falling while seeking the Great Dao. The old man explained why he would not bring Xuan Zhen back, then told Qi WuHuo that all cultivators were his disciples.

• The old man brought Qi WuHuo to Xuan Zhen’s clothes tomb, where Qi WuHuo read the Thirteen Sorrows and recalled the attachments of his other senior siblings.
• The old man explained the Three Disasters, Seven Tribulations, and Eight Difficulties, saying that Xuan Zhen’s pure Dao heart had led him to confront the trials without retreat.
• The old man revealed that Xuan Zhen had broken through forty-nine layers of tribulation but died after refusing to leave his soul behind, and Qi WuHuo read Xuan Zhen’s final three sorrows.
• The old man offered wine at Xuan Zhen’s grave as rain fell, and Qi WuHuo asked whether he could bring his senior brother back.
• The old man compared life and death to impartial justice, said he would not rescue disciples who fell into life and death, and declared that every Daoist cultivator under heaven was his disciple.

Qi WuHuo learned that his teacher belonged to the Supreme One lineage and was told to build his own identity through hardship rather than rely on his master’s influence. After accepting his teacher’s Dharma Precept, he continued alone along the Great Dao.

• The old man explained the lesser, middle, and highest paths of cultivation and urged Qi WuHuo to keep his choice to himself until he had experienced the world.
• The old man revealed that he belonged to the Supreme One lineage and warned Qi WuHuo not to disclose his master or Daoist title after they parted.
• The old man described how Yuyang and Yu Miao had earned their standing through their own actions, then gave Qi WuHuo a jade slip and told him he would have to meet another senior fellow disciple himself.
• The old man and Qi WuHuo walked together through the rain as the old man explained Daoist precepts and asked Qi WuHuo to cultivate the true Dharma and deliver all from hardship.
• Qi WuHuo promised to uphold the precept, and, long after the storm passed, he walked alone along the Great Dao with his own umbrella.

Qi WuHuo traveled through the rain toward Ju Yun Peak, where he spoke with the mountain spirits and told them he was seeking his senior brother Lü Chunyang. He explained that he had come by his Teacher’s command to guide Lü Chunyang back into the Dao.

• The mountain spirits mistook Qi WuHuo for an ordinary passerby until he heard their whispers and asked them for directions.
• Qi WuHuo consulted the Jade Book and continued toward Ju Yun Peak while the spirits accompanied him and asked about immortals.
• Qi WuHuo shared pine nuts with the spirits and considered the people and clues he hoped to find in Central Province Prefecture City.
• Qi WuHuo told the spirits he was looking for his senior brother Lü Chunyang, who had meditated for many years.
• Qi WuHuo said he sought Lü Chunyang by his Teacher’s command, to guide him into the Dao.

Qi WuHuo reached the prefectural city, bypassed its Travel Permit checkpoint, and spent the night in a Land God Temple with several beggars. He practiced the Method of Manifesting Light Circles with the bronze mirror and made contact with the young girl, who was startled when he answered her.

• Qi WuHuo left the mountain spirits and used the Mountain God's seal to travel through the ley lines toward the prefectural city.
• Qi WuHuo used a concealment spell to slip past the city gate soldiers and the Bagua mirror because he had no Travel Permit.
• Unable to stay at an inn after nightfall, Qi WuHuo sheltered in a dilapidated Land God Temple and warmed the beggars with a spell.
• Qi WuHuo opened the wooden box, studied the Method of Manifesting Light Circles on the bronze mirror, and began practicing it.
• The mirror showed the young girl leaning close and calling Qi WuHuo's name, and he answered her, startling her.

Qi WuHuo learned to send messages through the mirror but exhausted his cultivation, then left the Land God Temple after helping the beggars and offering incense. The chapter ended with Qiong Yu waking from a nightmare in a passing carriage.

• Qi WuHuo used the mirror to send Qiong Yu a message about his journey and a simplified way to communicate, then meditated when she did not reply.
• Qi WuHuo cleaned the Land God Temple, treated an unconscious beggar by giving the group coins for steamed buns, and offered three sticks of incense to the Land God.
• Qi WuHuo left the temple before the beggars returned with food and walked through the city eating a bun.
• Qiong Yu woke in a carriage from a nightmare, and the boy beside her asked whether she had dreamed it again.

Qi WuHuo consulted Knows Nothing of Everything about the Jinzhou calamity and the Ming Zhen Dao Alliance, then learned how to reach the alliance’s local branch. After leaving, he considered how to fulfill a promise to tell a dying woman that her daughter would not return.

• Qi WuHuo found Knows Nothing of Everything among the fortune-tellers and asked what had happened yesterday, but the man refused to answer.
• Qi WuHuo asked about the Jinzhou calamity, and Knows Nothing of Everything’s reaction revealed that it was not merely a natural disaster.
• Qi WuHuo asked how to find the Ming Zhen Dao Alliance, and the man told him to view the full moon through his token over water and follow the road that appeared.
• A proud, fish-scented man arrived and challenged Knows Nothing of Everything to predict the next day’s winter rain in eastern Central Prefecture City.
• Qi WuHuo reviewed the written final wishes of Tantai Xuan’s victims and decided to tell the gravely ill mother that her daughter had been unfilial and would not see her again.

Qi WuHuo found the missing girl’s blind, gravely ill mother in Shuili Village and stayed to help her recover, honoring his promise. While writing New Year blessings, he learned that a year had passed and realized he may have meditated on the river for that entire time, triggering a sudden change in his vital energy.

• Qi WuHuo noticed the Chao Feng statue above the city gate seemed to watch him before he traveled to Shuili Village.
• Old Brother Zhou guided Qi WuHuo to Zheng Xiu’s home, where the girl’s mother eagerly asked whether he had news of her missing daughter.
• Qi WuHuo told the mother he had news, then treated her depleted vitality and promised to stay until she recovered.
• Qi WuHuo and Old Brother Zhou cleaned the house and prepared New Year couplets and a Kitchen God blessing.
• Old Brother Zhou pointed out that Qi WuHuo had written the previous year’s date, revealing that it was already the fifth year of Jingyun.
• Qi WuHuo realized he might have meditated on the river for a year, and his vital energy surged as his Obstacle of Knowledge and Perception shattered.

Qi WuHuo realized he had meditated for a full year and struggled to control the torrent of Primordial Qi released within him. Meanwhile, an old Earth God near death saw his statue shatter, and three pure sticks of incense drifted toward the gathered deities.

• Qi WuHuo remembered that Teacher had obscured his sense of time and that he had meditated on the river for an entire year.
• Qi WuHuo rushed into a woodshed and used his powerful Primordial Spirit to control and absorb the surging Primordial Qi.
• The statue in a Land God Temple shattered while beggars and ruffians argued over meat buns, leaving its three sticks of incense burning untouched.
• Ling Miao Gong told the gathered deities that the old Earth God had been corrupted by impure incense offerings and would soon die.
• The old Earth God's statue shattered, and three pure sticks of incense drifted down from beyond the heavens toward the deities.

The Earth God was dying after absorbing incense filled with the desires of worshippers, until three sticks of pure gratitude restored his vital essence and gave him at least three more months to live. Ling Miao Gong and the other deities tried to identify the young Daoist who offered them, and Ling Miao Gong began divining his origins.

• The dying Earth God relived the selfish desires of people who had prayed to him and lost his sense of self.
• Ju Yun Ling Miao Gong explained that the Earth God’s vital essence was collapsing under the tangled desires carried by incense and left him for dead.
• Three sticks of incense infused with pure gratitude entered the Earth God and suppressed the chaotic desires, restoring his breathing.
• Ling Miao Gong examined the Earth God and declared that he could live at least three more months, while the incense’s sender was revealed only by a voice thanking the Earth God for lodging.
• The deities searched for the young Daoist but found only the incense burner, and [Chao Feng] and [Jiao Tu] refused to answer their questions.
• Ling Miao Gong apologized for the intrusion and began using geomancy to divine the young Daoist’s roots and origins.

Qi WuHuo stabilized his cultivation, reached [Complete Three Talents], and studied Senior Disciple Sister Yu Miao’s [Primordial Sword Canon]. His first sword strike cut through Ling Miao Gong’s divination, leaving the earth deities shaken.

• Qi WuHuo emerged from the woodshed after a night of meditation and realized his qi and essence had reached [Complete Three Talents].
• Qi WuHuo read Yu Miao’s [Primordial Sword Canon] and considered her ambition to establish the Way of the Sword and prove the Primordial Dao.
• Sensing someone watching him, Qi WuHuo followed a sword form from the canon and struck with a branch, saying, “Sever.”
• Ling Miao Gong’s divination through the ley line was cut apart by Qi WuHuo’s sword strike, which severed his topknot and shattered the incense burner.

Qi WuHuo settled into a village house while treating Lian Shulan and learned that the previous night’s rain had been far heavier than he had experienced. He set out to ask the fortune teller about the past year, just as Yun Qin’s reply arrived through the bronze mirror.

• Qi WuHuo gave the village children his branch, then heard Old Mr. Zhou remark that the rain had seemed unusually light.
• Qi WuHuo helped the villagers carry supplies and joined them for breakfast before saying Lian Shulan needed rest, acupuncture, and medicine.
• Old Mr. Zhou offered Qi WuHuo an empty guest house, learned his name, and gave him books to read.
• Old Mr. Zhou discovered the woodshed and firewood had been drenched by torrential rain and realized Qi WuHuo’s robe should not have stayed dry there.
• Qi WuHuo decided to ask the fortune teller what had happened last year, and the bronze mirror began to glow as Yun Qin’s reply arrived.

Qi WuHuo interpreted the copper mirror’s reply, studied Yu Miao’s Primordial Sword Scripture on his way to Central Province, and asked the fortune teller what had happened last year. The fortune teller revealed that Qi WuHuo himself had been the guest star that crossed the Ox Mansion for one day.

• Qi WuHuo saw the copper mirror display the character “Good” and concluded that the girl liked osmanthus cakes.
• Qi WuHuo walked toward Central Province while practicing the Primordial Sword Scripture’s methods for cultivating his spirit, qi, and essence.
• At the city gate, Chao Feng and Jiao Tu recognized Qi WuHuo and pretended not to notice him.
• Qi WuHuo visited Knows Nothing of Everything and asked what had happened last year.
• The fortune teller said a guest star had trespassed upon the Ox Mansion for one day and revealed that the guest star was Qi WuHuo.

Qi WuHuo learned that he had meditated for a year above the Celestial River and reached Complete Three Talents after eating an exceptionally rare Yellow Sprout. After leaving the fortune teller, he visited the crowded market and sensed the same dampness and strange water smell on the pastries he bought.

• Qi WuHuo realized his year of meditation had taken place in the heavens above the Celestial River, where the sun and moon made cultivation far faster.
• The fortune teller explained that Qi WuHuo had eaten a large amount of Yellow Sprout, an extravagant Immortal's Grain that replenished his damaged foundation.
• Qi WuHuo asked whether the fortune teller knew Uncle Yun, and the fortune teller complained that Yun had given Qi WuHuo Yellow Sprout but never shared any with him.
• The fortune teller said that the guest who had asked him to calculate the day's rainfall had gotten it wrong, though Qi WuHuo could not understand the full meaning.
• Qi WuHuo went to the Market Ward, bought two portions of osmanthus cakes, and sensed dampness and a rank water smell on them.

Qi WuHuo met a scarred old cultivator in a teahouse, received guidance about strengthening his foundation, and found insight into his cultivation through the old man's story about bringing rain. After leaving, Qi WuHuo read the girl's message that the spell was hard and replied that he would teach her when he returned.

• Qi WuHuo followed a familiar moist aura to a teahouse, where an old man invited him to share tea after helping reunite a lost child with her mother.
• The old man praised Qi WuHuo's cultivation and advised him to strengthen his foundation before cultivating divine abilities or condensing Primordial Prenatal Qi.
• The old man described his reluctance to leave the place where he had spent most of his life, and Qi WuHuo suggested that a hometown was made of memories.
• Qi WuHuo learned that the old man's forehead had been burned when he brought rain to drought-stricken Jinzhou, and the story helped Qi WuHuo gain insight into the circulation of energy.
• Qi WuHuo placed a chess piece on the move that solved the Miao game and left the teahouse to buy a meat bun.
• Qi WuHuo received the mirror's message, [Hard], and replied that his cultivation had advanced and he would teach the girl the spell when he returned.

Yun Qin struggled to learn Qi WuHuo’s message spell while Old Yellow Ox urged her to cultivate her spiritual nature and went to investigate activity at the Thunder Mansion. During a lesson with Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying, Yun Qin learned that the Dragon-Patterned Ancient Mirror she had given Qi WuHuo was a treasured wedding gift to her parents.

• Yun Qin complained that Qi WuHuo’s spell was difficult, and Old Yellow Ox advised her to strengthen her cultivation and spiritual nature.
• Old Yellow Ox noticed unusual activity among the immortals of the Divine Firmament Jade Purity Thunder Mansion and left after Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying arrived to teach Yun Qin.
• Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying explained the scripture and encouraged Yun Qin to cultivate patiently rather than strain herself.
• Yun Qin showed her Teacher the message spell, and Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying praised it as a wondrous art, mistakenly believing Yun Qin had created it herself.
• Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying revealed that the Dragon-Patterned Ancient Mirror had been bestowed as a wedding gift to Yun Qin’s parents and asked whether Yun Qin had kept it safe.

Yun Qin worried that her gift to Qi WuHuo might have been too precious, while Qi WuHuo spoke with the spirits of the [Chao Feng] and [Jiao Tu] statues above Central Province Prefecture City. The statues warned him that the City Gods were searching for him, and he left beneath the sunset.

• Yun Qin told Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying that the mirror was with her, and her Teacher praised the [Method of Manifesting Light Circles] as Yun Qin worried about explaining its origins.
• Qi WuHuo returned toward the city gate and overheard [Chao Feng] and [Jiao Tu] arguing about which one had been frightened of him.
• Qi WuHuo asked the statues why they feared him, and they explained that his pure spiritual aura made them think he was a True Person's disciple.
• [Chao Feng] and [Jiao Tu] described how a Great True Person had carved them using Origin Qi, then encouraged Qi WuHuo to complete his trial and earn recognition from his Teacher.
• The statues warned Qi WuHuo that the City Gods were looking for him, and [Chao Feng] recalled that an old man was seeking a sunset scene from a painting as Qi WuHuo walked away beneath the rosy light.

Qi WuHuo visited Ju Yun Peak, shared gifts with the mountain spirits, and returned to Water Cloud Village to care for a sick woman and settle in. That night, Yun Qin contacted him through the mirror and revealed that her Teacher had mistaken his incantation for a Divine Ability she created, ending with her saying Uncle Niu had found a way to handle it.

• Qi WuHuo practiced the Primordial Sword Canon on his way to Ju Yun Peak and tried to combine its footwork with the local deity's Earth Evasion Technique.
• The mountain spirits welcomed Qi WuHuo, exchanged osmanthus cakes and treasured gifts with him, and Old Pine Tree Elder promised to seek help from Ling Miao Gong in finding Lü Chunyang.
• Old Pine Tree Elder gave Qi WuHuo a spiritual pine needle for acupuncture and treatment before Qi WuHuo returned to Water Cloud Village.
• Qi WuHuo guided the young girl's mother's qi, promised to gather herbs for her recovery, and later ate dinner alone and studied the Mountain God's Cultivation notes.
• Qi WuHuo used the mirror to contact Yun Qin, who told him that her Teacher had mistaken his incantation for a Divine Ability she created and that Uncle Niu had suggested a solution.

Old Yellow Ox helped Qi WuHuo cover up how he obtained the Art of Clairvoyance and Manifestation by crafting an ancient-looking jade slip that credited Qi WuHuo as its creator. As his cultivation could no longer sustain their connection, Yun Qin planned to search the Shangqing Scripture Repository for a Mystic Altar Method so Qi WuHuo could send her the osmanthus cakes.

• Old Yellow Ox praised Qi WuHuo's cultivation and reassured him that the Dragon-Patterned Ancient Mirror would not put him in danger, advising him to smash it if necessary.
• Old Yellow Ox carved Qi WuHuo's incantation onto Kunlun White Jade and used a magical substance to make the slip appear thousands of years old.
• Old Yellow Ox had Qi WuHuo record that he created the method at age fifteen, then titled the slip The Chapter of Wuhuo Daojun's Marvelous Dharma and Profound Scripture.
• Old Yellow Ox left to watch the commotion at the Divine Firmament Jade Purity Thunder Mansion, while Qi WuHuo explained his incantation to Yun Qin.
• Qi WuHuo offered Yun Qin the osmanthus cakes, but their distance kept him from sending them; Yun Qin decided to search the Shangqing Scripture Repository for a Mystic Altar Method to teach him.

Qi WuHuo ended his conversation with Yun Qin after learning that she would seek out an original Mystic Altar Technique text for him, then slept from the strain of sustaining their connection. Yun Qin found the text at the Shangqing Library, where Qingyang Miaodao Celestial Lord explained the origins of Daoist script and revealed that the true original was written in Primordial Scarlet Script, prompting her to ask whether it could be taught to others.

• Yun Qin told Qi WuHuo she would find an original Mystic Altar Technique text and contact him after speaking with her Teacher.
• Yun Qin amused Qi WuHuo with a story about a disciple whose sweet offerings upset his sect's founding master, and Qi WuHuo ended their mirror connection when his magic power ran low.
• Qi WuHuo put away the bronze mirror, resolved to return it to Yun Qin and Uncle Yun, and fell into a deep sleep after the technique left him drained.
• Yun Qin visited the Shangqing Library and asked Qingyang Miaodao Celestial Lord for texts on the Mystic Altar Method, specifically its original text.
• Qingyang Miaodao Celestial Lord explained that the Daoist Lord created the Primordial Scarlet Script and that the text Yun Qin held was only a simplified version of the true original.
• Yun Qin asked Qingyang Miaodao Celestial Lord whether the Primordial Scarlet Script could be taught to other people.

Yun Qin studied Cloud Seal Script under Azure Sun Marvelous Dao Celestial Lord and received instruction in a Primordial Scarlet Script character. Qi WuHuo noticed the predicted rain had not fallen and considered contacting Yun Qin about the Mystic Altar Technique, while the chapter ended with the Celestial Lord revealing the character’s name: Edict.

• Azure Sun Marvelous Dao Celestial Lord tested Yun Qin’s Cloud Seal Script and promised to teach her a Primordial Scarlet Script character if she studied.
• Qi WuHuo woke, practiced his cultivation, and caught a bird in his palm before Old Mr. Zhou arrived.
• Qi WuHuo learned from Old Mr. Zhou that no rain had fallen and decided to contact Yun Qin before asking the fortune teller about his prediction.
• Yun Qin studied Cloud Seal Script for three hours, learned one Primordial Scarlet Script character and its derivatives, and then left the Shangqing Library.
• Azure Sun Marvelous Dao Celestial Lord told Primordial Lady Danhua Fuying that Yun Qin had ordinary script talent and revealed that he had taught her the first Primordial Scarlet Script character, Edict.