Chapter Summaries

After avenging Xiao Mo, Jiang Qingyi built Myriad Sword Sect and spent fifteen years trying to revive him, until Chen Yun brought her his clothes and a letter from Xia Chan. Xiao Mo’s spirit departed the Book of a Hundred Lives after comforting Jiang Qingyi, leaving her grieving beneath a shooting star.

• Jiang Qingyi destroyed Xiao Royal Mansion, killed Xiao Jing, and reached the Jade Uncut realm after taking her revenge.
• Jiang Qingyi burned Dragon Spring Sword Sect, spared those who followed her, and renamed the sect Myriad Sword Sect.
• Over the next fifteen years, Jiang Qingyi searched for a way to revive Xiao Mo and learned that he had sacrificed his Root Bone and lifespan to help her cultivate.
• Chen Yun came to take Xiao Mo’s clothes for a Clothes Tomb, and she gave Jiang Qingyi a letter Xia Chan had written fifteen years earlier.
• Jiang Qingyi read Xiao Mo’s letter urging her to live happily, while Xiao Mo touched her hair and told her he was gone before leaving the Book of a Hundred Lives.
• Jiang Qingyi searched the mountaintop for Xiao Mo, then crouched beneath a shooting star and said she missed him.

After settling his first life, Xiao Mo received the Chaos Human Emperor Bone, Grass Character Sword Intent, and Breath Concealing Art. He entered a second life as an ordinary village boy tasked with passing the imperial examinations and helping an injured White Snake become a dragon, then set out to find her.

• Xiao Mo endured the Book of a Hundred Lives' side effects and received rewards for his first life, including the Chaos Human Emperor Bone, Grass Character Sword Intent, and Breath Concealing Art.
• After feeling the Human Emperor Bone remove his karmic restraints, Xiao Mo began his second life using his real name.
• The Book assigned the eleven-year-old orphan Xiao Mo tasks to become a respected court official and help an injured White Snake evolve into a dragon across two lifetimes.
• Xiao Mo took his gathering tools and headed up the mountain to find the White Snake.

Xiao Mo rescued an injured spiritual white snake, fed her, and named her Bai Ruxue. The story then shifted to Yan Ruxue, who agreed to her father's plan for her to enter the palace and become Empress, before revealing golden slit pupils.

• The injured White Snake hid from Xiao Mo, but her wound caused her to collapse when she lunged at him.
• Xiao Mo carried the unconscious snake home, treated her wound, and gave her a mouse to eat after she awoke.
• Xiao Mo asked to name the snake and called her Bai Ruxue.
• Yan Zhen told his daughter Yan Ruxue that she had been selected to enter the palace and that he expected her to become Empress.
• Yan Ruxue agreed to follow Yan Zhen's arrangements, then watched him leave as her eyes changed into golden slit pupils.

After Xiao Mo cared for her injuries, Little White Snake returned to She Mountain and told Little Qing she planned to cultivate so she could repay him. Xiao Mo decided to study, and Wang Can agreed to let him listen to lessons at the village schoolhouse.

• Xiao Mo cared for Little White Snake until her wounds healed, and she said goodbye before leaving for the mountains.
• Little White Snake returned to her cave, reunited with Little Qing, and told her that Xiao Mo had named her Bai Ruxue.
• Little Qing insisted humans were bad, but Little White Snake defended Xiao Mo and resolved to cultivate until she could transform and repay him.
• Xiao Mo asked Wang Can to teach him, and Wang Can invited him to listen from outside the village schoolhouse starting the next day.

Over three years, Xiao Mo studied while tending cattle and gathering herbs, and the Little White Snake learned to take human form. When they met again on the mountain, she introduced herself as Bai Ruxue, and Xiao Mo let her ride Big Black Ox and answered her many questions before they parted.

• Xiao Mo spent three years studying with books the Village Chief lent him while tending cattle and gathering herbs.
• Xiao Mo encountered the Little White Snake, who had transformed into a girl and called herself Bai Ruxue.
• Bai Ruxue denied being a snake, and Xiao Mo pretended not to notice her tail.
• Xiao Mo let Bai Ruxue ride Big Black Ox, and she secretly tucked silver into his pocket.
• Bai Ruxue asked Xiao Mo about reading and scholarly honors until he headed down the mountain at evening, and they went their separate ways.

Bai Ruxue repaid Xiao Mo by planting herbs for him and asked him to teach her to read, hoping to learn how to repay the kindness of saving her life. Meanwhile, Yan Ruxue prepared to enter the palace and told Xiao Chun that the answer to repaying a lifesaver was to pledge herself to them.

• Bai Ruxue returned to her cave and told Xiao Qing she planned to keep giving Xiao Mo silver until she had repaid his kindness, though she did not know what repayment would mean.
• Xiao Mo saved the silver Bai Ruxue had slipped into his pocket and went up She Mountain to gather herbs to sell for writing supplies.
• Bai Ruxue led Xiao Mo to a patch of Purple Sun Grass and Green Waterfall Flowers she had planted overnight, then offered him silver to teach her to read.
• Yan Ruxue continued reading while Xiao Chun told her that the Empress Dowager's female attendant had come to teach her palace etiquette.
• Yan Ruxue left the courtyard with a book balanced on her head and told Xiao Chun that a person should repay a lifesaver by pledging herself to them.

Bai Ruxue spent the seasons meeting Xiao Mo in the mountains while he taught her to read and she helped him gather herbs and pay for his studies. When Xiao Mo left to prepare for the Imperial Examination for Children, Bai Ruxue promised to wait for him until early spring.

• Bai Ruxue met Xiao Mo on his mountain visits, learned to read from him, and gathered herbs and silver to support his studies.
• During summer, Xiao Mo gave Bai Ruxue an umbrella to shield her from the heat as they rode Big Black Ox through the mountains.
• In late autumn, Bai Ruxue waited at their usual meeting place until Xiao Mo arrived near dusk.
• Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue that he had registered for the Imperial Examination for Children and would stop visiting while he prepared over winter.
• Bai Ruxue hooked pinkies with Xiao Mo and promised to wait for his return in early spring.

Xiao Mo studied through the winter while Xiao Bai and Xiao Qing prepared to hibernate, and Xiao Bai wondered whether Xiao Mo still remembered her. When spring came, Xiao Mo traveled to Qingshan County to take the Child Examination, unsure whether he could ever fulfill the Book of a Hundred Lives' task of becoming an official.

• Xiao Mo studied daily through the winter and accepted meals brought by Wang Ying, telling her that someone was waiting for him on the mountain.
• Xiao Bai urged Xiao Qing to sleep, then knocked her unconscious so she could hibernate while Xiao Bai shed her skin.
• Xiao Bai fell asleep alone beside Xiao Qing, wondering whether Xiao Mo had forgotten her and how he would react when they met again.
• When spring arrived, Xiao Mo said goodbye to the Village Chief and his family, accepted travel money, and left for Qingshan County.
• Xiao Mo took the Child Examination and worried that he might spend his whole life taking exams without becoming an official.

Xiao Mo passed the first two rounds of the Imperial Examination for Children and stayed in Qingshan County to prepare for the third. After Bai Ruxue waited for him on the mountain for twenty-six days, he returned and found her grown into a young woman, but she pretended not to know him.

• Xiao Mo passed the first two examination rounds and decided to remain in Qingshan County for the third.
• Bai Ruxue shed her skin, grew taller, and waited on the mountain path for Xiao Mo to return.
• Bai Ruxue waited for twenty-six days, growing lonely and crying as Xiao Mo failed to appear.
• Xiao Mo returned on the twenty-seventh day after county banquets delayed him and hurried up the mountain to find Bai Ruxue.
• Bai Ruxue recognized Xiao Mo but pouted and told him she was not Bai Ruxue and did not know him.

Xiao Mo reunited with Bai Ruxue, apologized for his long absence with a carved hairpin, and told her he would have less time to visit as he pursued his studies. Bai Ruxue ran off in tears, accusing him of breaking his promise.

• Bai Ruxue pretended not to know Xiao Mo until he offered her a carved Deer God Hairpin, and she eagerly accepted it and forgave him.
• Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue he had passed the Talented Scholar examination, and she learned his next examination would be in three years.
• Bai Ruxue showed Xiao Mo the Purple Sun Grass and Green Waterfall Flowers she had planted for him.
• Xiao Mo explained that he would travel to seek teachers and could not visit the mountain as often.
• Bai Ruxue cried, called Xiao Mo a liar for breaking his promise to spend time with her, and ran away.

After Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue he would be leaving to study and would rarely visit She Mountain, Bai Ruxue decided to go with him. She joined him at the flower patch and asked him not to send her away.

• Bai Ruxue ran back to her cave in tears after arguing with Xiao Mo, while Xiao Qing admired her newly acquired human form.
• Xiao Qing learned that Xiao Mo was leaving to study and tried to comfort Bai Ruxue, who decided to follow him down the mountain.
• Bai Ruxue rushed to the flower patch and found Xiao Mo still there, embarrassed about what she had said before.
• Bai Ruxue told Xiao Mo she wanted to go with him, and he agreed after asking whether her family would object.
• Bai Ruxue gave Xiao Mo a silvery-white snake scale and asked him to place it beneath her pillow if he ever wanted her to leave.

Xiao Mo met with Empress Dowager Yan, who proposed that Yan Ruxue enter the palace and become Empress before other consorts were selected. He agreed outwardly and planned to use a secluded palace altar as cover for practicing swordsmanship.

• Wei Xun told Xiao Mo that Empress Dowager Yan had invited him to dine, and Xiao Mo ordered a secluded altar prepared as cover for practicing the Grass Character Sword Art.
• Xiao Mo visited Empress Dowager Yan at Lingxin Palace and praised Yan Shan'ao's ability to govern, despite knowing the court was corrupt.
• Empress Dowager Yan proposed bringing Yan Ruxue into the palace first and making her Empress, with the Myriad Sword Sect's visiting elders attending the enthronement ceremony.
• Xiao Mo agreed to Empress Dowager Yan's plan while hiding his resentment at being controlled by the Yan Clan.

Xiao Mo welcomed Bai Ruxue into his home after she left She Mountain, where her attempt to cook lunch ended with the kitchen catching fire. Meanwhile, Yan Ruxue reunited with Xiao Qing, who urged her to abandon her centuries-long attachment to Xiao Mo, but Yan Ruxue refused.

• Bai Ruxue said goodbye to Xiao Qing and descended She Mountain carrying a chicken and a rabbit to cook for Xiao Mo.
• Xiao Mo met Bai Ruxue on the mountain path, and they walked together into Shiqiao Village as he introduced her as the orphaned daughter of a friend of his late father.
• Xiao Mo settled Bai Ruxue in a cleaned-up hut beside his courtyard, and she went to cook for him.
• Bai Ruxue ran out of the kitchen covered in soot and told Xiao Mo that it was on fire.
• At the Minister of Rites' residence, Yan Ruxue cooked for Xiao Qing, who confronted her about remaining attached to Xiao Mo despite his mortal lifespan and past words.
• Yan Ruxue told Xiao Qing that she could let go of anything except him.

Bai Ruxue learned to cook and care for Xiao Mo while he studied, then left to hibernate and returned transformed into a python spirit. Two years later, she asked Xiao Mo to marry her, and he agreed to marry her if she still wanted it once she understood what romantic love meant.

• After Bai Ruxue's disastrous first attempt at cooking, Xiao Mo made dinner, and Aunt Chen began teaching her to cook; three months later, she finally prepared a meal Xiao Mo praised.
• Bai Ruxue learned to cook, wash clothes, and support Xiao Mo as he studied, traveling with him and helping pay for his books and lessons.
• When Bai Ruxue's skin became covered in scales, she left Xiao Mo a letter claiming her younger sister was sick and went to the mountain to hibernate.
• In spring, Bai Ruxue awoke transformed into a python and returned to Xiao Mo, who was startled by how much her human appearance had changed.
• Two years later, Bai Ruxue asked Xiao Mo when he would marry her, and he said he would if she still wanted to marry him once she understood her feelings.

Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue traveled to the Jiangnan prefectural capital for the Provincial Examination, where Bai Ruxue explored the city while Xiao Mo prepared. The chapter ended as Xiao Mo entered the examination compound and explained that the snake scale he wore was a protective talisman his wife had given him.

• Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue said farewell to the Village Chief and Aunt Chen before setting out for the prefectural capital.
• Aunt Chen warned Bai Ruxue to wear a veil and stay beside Xiao Mo in the city.
• After six days, Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue arrived in Jiangnan, settled at an inn, and toured the busy streets.
• Bai Ruxue tried sugar-coated hawthorn, asked about a brothel, and told Xiao Mo to come to her if he wanted relations between men and women.
• Xiao Mo studied for several days, then reminded Bai Ruxue to stay put during the three-day Provincial Examination and entered the examination compound.
• When a clerk noticed the snake scale on his chest during the search, Xiao Mo called it a protective talisman his wife had given him.

Xiao Mo completed the Provincial Examination, answering the final policy question on curbing the fiefdoms with the Edict of Spreading Grace. During grading, his solution caught the attention of several examiners and chief examiner Zhang Qianzhi, who uncovered Xiao Mo’s name and found him interesting.

• Xiao Mo reviewed the three examination sessions and wrote “Edict of Spreading Grace” as his answer on curbing Qi Kingdom’s fiefdoms.
• After the exam ended, Xiao Mo reunited with Bai Ruxue, and they went home together.
• Yang Zifang and five other officials reviewed Xiao Mo’s paper and agreed that it passed, but they singled out his final answer for further review.
• Yang Zifang brought Xiao Mo’s paper to chief examiner Zhang Qianzhi, who read it and removed its name cover.
• Zhang Qianzhi saw that the candidate was Xiao Mo and remarked that he was interesting.

After returning from the Provincial Examination, Xiao Mo discussed his answer to the question about curbing the feudal princes with the Village Chief. Magistrate Sun arrived with a festive procession to announce that Xiao Mo had placed first in Jiangnan Province, then offered his sixteen-year-old daughter Yue'er’s hand in marriage.

• Xiao Mo explained that he had answered the policy question with the Edict of Spreading Grace.
• Hu Hansan rushed to tell the Village Chief that Magistrate Sun had arrived in Shiqiao Village.
• Magistrate Sun greeted Xiao Mo and revealed that he had placed first in the Provincial Examination.
• Magistrate Sun praised Xiao Mo’s hardships and offered to arrange an engagement between him and Yue'er.

After Bai Ruxue learned that Xiao Mo had become the provincial exam's Jieyuan, she heard that the county magistrate wanted him to marry his daughter and grew anxious. Xiao Mo reassured her that he would not marry the magistrate's daughter, and the chapter ended with Bai Ruxue admitting she did not want him to.

• Bai Ruxue returned to the village and learned that Xiao Mo had passed the provincial exam as Jieyuan.
• Widow Wang told Bai Ruxue that the county magistrate wanted Xiao Mo to marry his daughter.
• Bai Ruxue saw Xiao Mo speaking with the county magistrate and worried that he had accepted the marriage proposal.
• Bai Ruxue's worries distracted her, causing her to ruin dishes and chores throughout the day.
• Xiao Mo asked Bai Ruxue what was troubling her, and she confessed that she did not want him to marry the magistrate's daughter.
• Xiao Mo called Bai Ruxue silly and promised he would not marry her.

Xiao Mo declined Magistrate Sun’s proposal to marry his daughter and learned that Elder Zhang Qianzhi had nominated him as Jieyuan. After Fuchen of the Tian Xuan Sect invited Bai Ruxue to cultivate, Xiao Mo urged her to go, leaving her shaken by his words.

• Xiao Mo visited Magistrate Sun and politely declined the offer to marry his daughter, then learned about Elder Zhang Qianzhi’s support and received advice about visiting him in the capital.
• Bai Ruxue cooked chicken soup while waiting for Xiao Mo and met Fuchen, an elder of the Tian Xuan Sect, who invited her to cultivate because of her talent and immortal fate.
• Bai Ruxue refused Fuchen’s invitation because she wanted to look after Xiao Mo, and Fuchen said he would return in two days.
• After Xiao Mo came home, Bai Ruxue told him about the invitation and said she had refused it.
• Xiao Mo asked Bai Ruxue whether she would go if she did not need to look after him, then told her that she should go to the Tian Xuan Sect.

Xiao Mo urged Bai Ruxue to cultivate at Tian Xuan Sect, but she refused to leave him. After reading her diary and finding her on She Mountain, Xiao Mo reassured her, and she told him she did not want an immortal path without him.

• Bai Ruxue stormed out after Xiao Mo suggested she go to Tian Xuan Sect, and Xiao Mo wondered whether he was holding her back.
• Xiao Mo read Bai Ruxue's diary and remembered her promise to leave if he placed her snake scale under her pillow.
• Bai Ruxue sat on She Mountain, angrily declaring she would not see Xiao Mo for three days before he appeared and caught her as she tried to run away.
• Xiao Mo wiped Bai Ruxue's tears and asked whether she truly refused to go to Tian Xuan Sect if he could not accompany her.
• Bai Ruxue said that becoming an immortal would mean nothing without Xiao Mo and that she would not walk that path without him.