Chapter Summaries

Uncle Jiu examined Lin Yan’s system gift and judged its pill powerful enough to help Lin Yan enter the Refining Essence into Qi realm. After questioning the system’s intentions, Uncle Jiu allowed Lin Yan to take one pill and began guiding him through cultivation.

• Lin Yan told Uncle Jiu that a system had returned and given him a jade bottle containing three pills.
• Uncle Jiu examined a pill and identified it as an extraordinarily pure, immortal-grade medicine that could help Lin Yan refine his first wisp of true qi.
• Uncle Jiu explained the stages of Daoist cultivation and judged that Lin Yan’s body was ready for Foundation Establishment.
• The system told Lin Yan that it meant to help him grow, and Uncle Jiu decided to let him take a pill while he watched over him.
• Lin Yan swallowed a pill, and Uncle Jiu instructed him to sit cross-legged and guide its warm energy toward his dantian.

Lin Yan broke through to Refining Essence into Qi after taking a medicinal pill, then stayed behind to guard the coffin while Uncle Jiu went to find a burial site. That night, Qiusheng met Dong Xiaoyu in an abandoned residence and, enchanted by her, walked away with her.

• Lin Yan refined a thread of true qi overnight, and Uncle Jiu praised his solid foundation while remaining wary of the system.
• Qiusheng and Wencai envied Lin Yan’s breakthrough, and Uncle Jiu instructed them to buy supplies while Lin Yan guarded the coffin.
• Lin Yan checked the coffin’s ink-line grid, found it intact, and returned to cultivating beneath the jujube tree.
• After buying supplies, Qiusheng went back for rouge and powder and heard a woman crying in an abandoned residence.
• Qiusheng met Dong Xiaoyu, believed her story about being lost, and offered to escort her to an inn.
• Dong Xiaoyu leaned against Qiusheng and beguiled him as they left, while he failed to notice they cast no shadows and his evil-repelling talisman grew warm.

Lin Yan rescued Qiusheng from Dong Xiaoyu, whose attack was destroyed the moment she touched him. Back at the Public Mortuary, Lin Yan and Qiusheng credited his survival to a protective talisman, while Lin Yan remained unsure what had happened.

• Lin Yan followed an emergency mission to an alley and found Qiusheng with Dong Xiaoyu.
• Dong Xiaoyu revealed her ghostly form and lunged at Lin Yan after he tried to pull Qiusheng away.
• Dong Xiaoyu disintegrated when her claws touched Lin Yan, leaving only ash that soon vanished.
• Lin Yan helped Qiusheng up, and Qiusheng thanked him and guessed Master’s protective talisman had driven off the ghost.
• Qiusheng and Lin Yan returned to the Public Mortuary, where Qiusheng recounted the incident to Wencai.
• The system told Lin Yan that his righteous energy had made Dong Xiaoyu disperse, but Lin Yan doubted the explanation.

After helping Uncle Jiu rebury the Ren Family coffin, Lin Yan followed the system’s instruction to place his blood above its head. Taoist Simu later visited and explained why cultivation had become so difficult in the Age of Dharma’s End, leaving Lin Yan wondering whether the immortal path was truly cut off.

• Lin Yan secretly dripped a drop of blood onto the soil above the coffin’s head before Uncle Jiu finished burying it.
• The Ren Family grave relocation went smoothly, and the family thanked Uncle Jiu and left.
• Lin Yan continued cultivating at the Public Mortuary and began drawing simple talismans, though with little success.
• Taoist Simu arrived with a string of Walking Corpses, gave Lin Yan Qi-Nourishing Pills, and praised him as a promising disciple.
• Simu told Lin Yan that the Severing of Heaven and Earth, filled divine positions, and Liu Bowen’s cutting of the Dragon Veins had made cultivation increasingly difficult.
• Lin Yan wondered whether the immortal path was truly severed and questioned what his memories and system meant.

Lin Yan learned corpse-driving basics from Taoist Simu and met Taoist Qianhe, who was transporting a dangerous prince’s corpse in a Copper-Horned Golden Coffin. After the Imperial Zombie emerged during a thunderstorm, Lin Yan rushed to rescue Qianhe, with Simu and Master Yixiu following.

• Uncle Jiu sent Lin Yan to learn corpse driving from Simu, and Master Yixiu remarked that Lin Yan seemed to have Buddhist affinity.
• Lin Yan studied corpse-driving techniques while Master Yixiu shared Buddhist stories with him.
• Qianhe arrived with a prince’s corpse in a Copper-Horned Golden Coffin, and Simu supplied glutinous rice while Master Yixiu advised removing the canopy cloth to let the coffin catch the setting sun.
• Qianhe refused Simu’s offer to stay overnight and led his party into the forest, where a heavy storm later broke out.
• The system warned Lin Yan that the Imperial Zombie had emerged and assigned him to rescue Qianhe and eliminate it using the Thunder Department’s power.
• Lin Yan rushed into the rainy night, and Simu and Master Yixiu followed to help.

Lin Yan summoned the Thunder Department’s power through an incantation, and Wen Zhong sent heavenly lightning that destroyed the Imperial Zombie. The survivors left the forest while Simu and Master Yixiu wondered about Lin Yan’s mysterious origins.

• Lin Yan reached the clearing and saw the Imperial Zombie attacking Taoist Qianhe and the Qing soldiers.
• Lin Yan recited an incantation, and Wen Zhong recognized him as his martial uncle and sent a restrained bolt of thunder.
• The heavenly lightning vaporized the Imperial Zombie as Simu and Master Yixiu arrived and witnessed the strike.
• Simu questioned Lin Yan, who claimed he had found the incantation in an old book at the Public Mortuary.
• Qianhe thanked Lin Yan, and Master Yixiu led the survivors away from the bloodied forest.

After Lin Yan survived the battle with the zombie, his reward pushed him into Qi Refining to Godhood, where his Yin Spirit formed. His companions suspected he might be an ancient powerhouse reincarnated, and Simu gave him the Secret Manual of Corpse Driving before they parted.

• Lin Yan received his mission reward, cultivated through a surge of true qi, and formed his Yin Spirit.
• Simu, Yixiu, and Qianhe examined Lin Yan and were astonished by his breakthrough and the strength of his new aura.
• Over the following days, Lin Yan practiced sending out his fragile Yin Spirit, and Yixiu advised him on nourishing and tempering it.
• Simu privately suggested Lin Yan might be an ancient Great Power reincarnated, and Yixiu agreed that his karmic ties seemed extraordinary.
• Simu gave Lin Yan the Secret Manual of Corpse Driving and urged him to carry on Maoshan’s corpse-driving lineage.

After returning to Ren Family Town with his Yin Spirit formed, Lin Yan learned Daoist arts from Uncle Jiu and surpassed him in skill within a year. Uncle Jiu decided to take Lin Yan to Maoshan’s ancestral court, and Lin Yan agreed to go as his disciple.

• Lin Yan returned to the Public Mortuary, and Uncle Jiu discovered that he had reached Qi Refining to Godhood and formed his Yin Spirit.
• Uncle Jiu believed the Grandmaster had guided Lin Yan and began teaching him every Daoist art he knew.
• Lin Yan mastered talismans, arrays, incantations, and seals so quickly that his skills surpassed Uncle Jiu’s within a year.
• Uncle Jiu brought Lin Yan to handle supernatural troubles around Ren Family Town, and Lin Yan’s reputation as Daoist Little Lin spread.
• Uncle Jiu asked Lin Yan to return with him to Maoshan’s ancestral court, and Lin Yan accepted.

Uncle Jiu and Lin Yan traveled south from Ren Family Town toward Maoshan, stopping at a remote inn where they met a mysterious beggar. The beggar introduced himself as Cloud Daoist, claiming to come from Yuxu Palace on Kunlun Mountain, leaving Uncle Jiu uncertain but wary of his true nature.

• Uncle Jiu and Lin Yan left Ren Family Town on foot for Maoshan, leaving Qiusheng and Wencai to watch the house.
• During their journey, Uncle Jiu taught Lin Yan about feng shui, jianghu taboos, and sensing spirits and monsters.
• At a mountain inn, Lin Yan gave food and hot water to a beggar who the waiter said had appeared around the area for years without aging or suffering.
• The beggar joined Lin Yan and said he wandered the world, while Lin Yan sensed no demonic, ghostly, or cultivator aura from him.
• Uncle Jiu offered the beggar silver and asked about his background, and the beggar called himself Cloud Daoist of Yuxu Palace on Kunlun Mountain.

Cloud Daoist gave Lin Yan a mysterious Yuqing Immortal Method before vanishing, leaving Uncle Jiu wary of the stranger and the book’s origins. After traveling for more than a dozen days, Uncle Jiu and Lin Yan reached Maoshan’s ancestral court, where Uncle Jiu went to meet Eldest Senior Brother Shi Jian.

• Cloud Daoist seized Lin Yan’s wrist, recognized him, and gave him the Yuqing Immortal Method before disappearing with a silver dollar.
• Uncle Jiu warned Lin Yan to hide the booklet, and the two examined their strange encounter in private.
• Lin Yan found that the booklet’s qi-gathering method worked smoothly with his own true qi and Yin Spirit.
• Uncle Jiu and Lin Yan reached Maoshan’s ancestral court and were welcomed at the gate by Daoist Mingchen.
• Uncle Jiu introduced Lin Yan to the Maoshan Daoists, then entered Shouyi Hall to meet Shi Jian.

Uncle Jiu brought Lin Yan to Maoshan to pay respects to Shi Jian and report an important matter. After testing Lin Yan’s cultivation and resolve, Shi Jian gave him a core Maoshan heart transmission, glimpsing parts of his memories but not his deepest secrets.

• Uncle Jiu introduced Lin Yan to Shi Jian and explained that he had brought his new disciple to return to the lineage and report an important matter.
• Shi Jian examined Lin Yan’s cultivation and was astonished by the young disciple’s solid foundation and newly formed Yin Spirit.
• Lin Yan affirmed that he would spend his life fighting evil and protecting the people, even if it cost him his life.
• Shi Jian offered Lin Yan Maoshan’s secret heart transmission, and Lin Yan accepted it.
• Shi Jian passed on his Yin Spirit insights and saw Lin Yan’s loyalty and memories, while Lin Yan’s system and deepest secrets remained hidden.

Shi Jian passed Lin Yan Maoshan’s lightning arts and core scriptures, then left him to cultivate at the ancestral court. After five years of training, Lin Yan joined the resistance against the Japanese invaders and became known for using Daoist arts to defeat enemy forces and onmyoji, remaining active until the war was won.

• Shi Jian taught Lin Yan the Supreme Clarity Lightning Magic and gave him a sect deputy token and a copy of the Supreme Clarity Great Cavern Scripture.
• Shi Jian introduced Lin Yan to Maoshan elders, whose guidance helped him advance, and he remained at the ancestral court to cultivate while Uncle Jiu returned to Ren Family Town.
• Lin Yan trained at Maoshan for five years, mastering his cultivation and lightning arts as war spread across China.
• Lin Yan joined an anti-Japanese resistance unit in Jiangnan and used his Yin Spirit, lightning magic, talismans, and defensive arrays to aid his comrades.
• When Japanese onmyoji trapped Lin Yan’s squad in a Yin Ghost Soul-Devouring Array, he summoned lightning to destroy the array, kill the onmyoji, save the squad, and secure vital intelligence.
• Lin Yan became known as Daoist Little Lin, evaded Japanese attempts to capture him, and continued fighting on the resistance front until the war was won.

After returning from the War of Resistance, Lin Yan reunited with his aging master Uncle Jiu and stayed by his side until his death. Lin Yan then became Maoshan’s sect leader, led a decades-long campaign against supernatural threats, and helped establish a ban on spirits after the nation’s founding, while continuing to guard Maoshan and the land.

• Lin Yan returned to Ren Family Town, reunited with Qiusheng and Wencai, and found Uncle Jiu gravely weakened by age.
• Lin Yan learned that Shi Jian had died during a failed breakthrough, leaving Maoshan divided over its next sect leader.
• Uncle Jiu died after entrusting Lin Yan with caring for Ren Family Town and helping preserve Maoshan; Lin Yan arranged his funeral and later returned to the mountain.
• With support from several elders, Lin Yan became Maoshan’s sect leader and called on its disciples to fight demons and protect the people.
• Lin Yan allied with other Daoist sects to lead a decades-long Demon-Sweeping campaign across the land.
• After the nation was founded, Lin Yan and a government department established the rule that becoming a spirit was forbidden, and Lin Yan continued guarding Maoshan and its inheritance.

Zhou Qing interrupted Long Aotian and Blood Bell Immortal as they pursued the wounded Liu Qingqing through his villa district. He killed both attackers in seconds and left Liu Qingqing with the treasure map they had sought.

• Zhou Qing sensed three cultivators approaching his villa district and went downstairs to confront them.
• Liu Qingqing fled Long Aotian and Blood Bell Immortal with a treasure map after escaping the Mystic Yin Sect, whose master and disciples they had killed.
• Long Aotian and Blood Bell Immortal attacked Zhou Qing after he objected to their trespassing.
• Zhou Qing effortlessly countered their combined attack, pierced Long Aotian through the chest, and killed Blood Bell Immortal with an invisible force.

Zhou Qing killed Liu Qingqing, claimed the treasure map to Kunlun, and left the scene, unaware that Long Aotian had revived as the former Immortal Emperor Aotian. Long Aotian decided to follow Zhou Qing to Kunlun and seize his Yuqing Immortal Method.

• Zhou Qing took Liu Qingqing's life and collected the belongings of her and the other dead cultivators.
• Zhou Qing studied the map, deduced that Kunlun lay northwest, and burned the corpses before leaving.
• Long Aotian re-formed from the ashes, revealing that the former Immortal Emperor Aotian had taken over his body.
• Long Aotian recognized Zhou Qing's Yuqing inheritance and the map's importance, then followed him to pursue the Kunlun ruins and steal his cultivation method.

Zhou Qing assembled a discreet team and arranged transportation for an expedition to the northwest, offering his allies pills and a copy of the Kunlun map. Meanwhile, Immortal Emperor Aotian recovered to the early stage of Qi Refining to Godhood, abandoned his plan to seize Zhou Qing’s body after sensing terrifying karmic consequences, and chose to approach him through Li Guohua.

• Zhou Qing called Li Guohua and arranged a secret flight and ordinary-looking alpine supplies for five people in three days.
• Zhou Qing recruited Zhao Tiezhu, Sun Bu’er, and Hu Sangu for the northwest expedition, promising pills and a copy of the map in exchange for secrecy.
• Zhou Qing reviewed the team’s roles and judged them capable of exploring a dangerous unknown ruin.
• Immortal Emperor Aotian restored his body and cultivation to the early stage of Qi Refining to Godhood but worried about the poor spiritual energy and his dwindling immortal origin.
• Immortal Emperor Aotian sensed terrifying karma when he considered taking over Zhou Qing’s body, then decided to earn Zhou Qing’s trust instead.
• Immortal Emperor Aotian identified Li Guohua as Zhou Qing’s connection in the mortal world and vanished from his hotel suite to approach him.

Zhou Qing assembled a team at Tenglong Private Airport to travel northwest in search of Kunlun’s hidden mysteries, and accepted the suspicious Long Xuan as an additional companion. Long Xuan secretly contacted the Bureau of Civil Investigation to gain official backing and planned to use Zhou Qing to uncover the Kunlun map and his secrets.

• Zhou Qing met Zhao Tiezhu, Sun Bu'er, and Hu Sangu at the airport before Li Guohua introduced Long Xuan, a powerful cultivator whose presence and sudden appearance made Zhou Qing wary.
• Long Xuan claimed he had learned cultivation from incomplete inheritances and offered to help with Zhou Qing’s expedition, while Zhou Qing accepted him despite suspecting his motives.
• Zhou Qing and Long Xuan shook hands, and Long Xuan resolved to gain Zhou Qing’s trust, uncover his secrets, and use him to find Kunlun.
• The group boarded the plane and flew northwest, with the other companions becoming cautious around Long Xuan.
• Before boarding, Long Xuan used the plane’s satellite phone to contact the Bureau of Civil Investigation and offered information about an ancient map, intending to gain status and observe Zhou Qing.

Zhou Qing agreed to let the Bureau of Civil Investigation support the Kunlun exploration while keeping himself out of the core operation. After the team departed, he confronted Long Aotian, who revealed himself as an Immortal Emperor and described the wider worlds beyond their own.

• Chen Ke offered Zhou Qing cooperation, resources, and support for the Kunlun exploration in exchange for priority research rights.
• Zhou Qing agreed to cooperate but refused to join the core expedition, and Chen Ke led Zhao Tiezhu, Sun Bu'er, Hu Sangu, and a team of Bureau members toward the map's destination.
• Long Aotian stayed behind with Zhou Qing, and Zhou Qing accused him of being connected to the Long Aotian he had killed at Jade Garden.
• Long Aotian revealed that he was Immortal Emperor Aotian and that the dead cultivator's body had briefly housed a wisp of his divided spirit.
• Immortal Emperor Aotian said Zhou Qing possessed something he needed, then described their world as a remnant of the shattered Prehistoric World and claimed that reaching other worlds required refining a Yang Spirit.

Zhou Qing learned that Immortal Emperor Aotian could teach him to advance toward Refining God to Void in exchange for viewing the Yuqing Immortal Method. After Aotian demonstrated his power by reversing time, they exchanged the method for a Spirit Tempering Art, leaving Zhou Qing wondering who had given him the authentic inheritance.

• Immortal Emperor Aotian explained the Yang Spirit and offered to help Zhou Qing approach Refining God to Void if he could inspect the Yuqing Immortal Method.
• When Zhou Qing refused, Aotian froze motion around them and rewound time by five minutes, convincing Zhou Qing of his immense power.
• Zhou Qing demanded the Spirit Tempering Art first, and Aotian sent the technique into his consciousness.
• After verifying the art, Zhou Qing let Aotian inspect the Yuqing Immortal Method, which Aotian identified as an incomplete orthodox inheritance.
• Zhou Qing said an old beggar had given him the method, and he teased Long Aotian about his name before Aotian warned him not to provoke an Immortal Emperor.

Zhou Qing and Long Aotian followed the Bureau of Civil Investigation team through a spatial rift into a Kunlun secret realm. They found a lush, spiritually rich forest and spotted an old stone path leading deeper into it.

• Zhou Qing and Long Aotian waited through the night as they considered the Yuqing Immortal Method and the mysteries surrounding Zhou Qing's fate.
• A team member received word that Chen Ke's exploration party had found an anomalous energy field near the coordinates, suspected to be Kunlun's entrance.
• Zhou Qing and Long Aotian examined the distortion and identified it as a passage to a grotto-heaven fragment or demiplane.
• Zhou Qing and Long Aotian entered the passage, followed by Chen Ke, Zhao Tiezhu, Sun Bu'er, Hu Sangu, and the Bureau of Civil Investigation team.
• The group emerged in a forest with spiritual energy far denser than Earth's, where Sun Bu'er sensed unusual feng shui and Hu Sangu reported an ancient presence.
• A team member spotted a bluestone path winding into the forest.