Chapter Summaries

Bai Ruxue woke with her memories erased, and Xiao Qing concealed the truth about her past. In Shiqiao Village, finding the Deer God Hairpin stirred grief and longing in Bai Ruxue, who ran from the house still unable to remember the man who gave it to her.

• Xiao Qing hid the Soul Memory Pill and told Bai Ruxue that she had only slept for many years after transforming.
• Bai Ruxue spent days gazing at flowers and herbs before asking Xiao Qing to take her down the mountain.
• Xiao Qing led Bai Ruxue to Shiqiao Village, where Bai Ruxue followed a sense of familiarity to an old farmhouse.
• Bai Ruxue found a wooden Deer God Hairpin and realized she had forgotten the person who gave it to her.
• Bai Ruxue wept and ran out of the room as Xiao Qing called after her.

Bai Ruxue wandered through Shiqiao Village and recovered memories of the scholar she had forgotten. Remembering his name, Xiao Mo, and their promise to marry, she ran down the mountain to find him.

• Bai Ruxue left the courtyard and wandered through Shiqiao Village, visiting the late Village Chief’s courtyard and the graves of Wang Can and Chen Hong.
• At a familiar stone on the mountain, Bai Ruxue recalled fragments of her past with a young scholar, including their childhood meetings and her refusal to cultivate without him.
• At the mountaintop, Bai Ruxue remembered the scholar comforting her and found a ring engraved with Purple Sun Grass and Green Waterfall Flower in a brocade box.
• Bai Ruxue recalled her promise to marry Xiao Mo and repeated his name until her memories came together.
• Bai Ruxue ran down the mountain, remembering how she had promised to wait for Xiao Mo to return.

Bai Ruxue woke after forty-eight years and learned that Xiao Mo was alive and serving in the Imperial Capital, but she could not safely travel to him. Meanwhile, retired Prime Minister Xiao returned to Qingshan County and left the welcoming officials behind to go home to his village.

• Bai Ruxue regained her memories and learned from Xiao Qing that she had slept for forty-eight years.
• Bai Ruxue wanted to find Xiao Mo, but Xiao Qing warned that the Imperial City's dragon qi and cultivators would endanger her, so she agreed to send him a letter instead.
• Xiao Qing left for the Imperial City with Bai Ruxue's letter the next morning.
• Qingshan County Magistrate Qin Xiao and local officials welcomed Prime Minister Xiao when his carriage arrived outside the city.
• Prime Minister Xiao submitted his Household Register but declined the welcome and headed toward his village.

Bai Ruxue waited in Xiao Mo’s courtyard, told village children about the scholar and the white snake, and learned that Xiao Mo had never married. As evening fell, Xiao Mo arrived in the village, and Bai Ruxue saw him at last.

• Bai Ruxue recalled Xiao Qing’s departure, the Soul Memory Pill, and how Xiao Mo had known the sisters’ secret while remaining unmarried.
• Bai Ruxue invited four children who had been peeking at her to eat osmanthus cakes, and explained that she was waiting for someone.
• Bai Ruxue began telling the children the story of a scholar who rescued a little white snake.
• Xiao Mo entered Shiqiao Village in an old blue robe and overheard villagers discussing the white-clad woman at his old home and his long wait for his childhood sweetheart.
• After the children left, Bai Ruxue turned around and saw Xiao Mo, now an old man with snow-white hair.

Bai Ruxue reunited with Xiao Mo after forty-eight years and learned that he had passed the imperial exams and come first. At Tian Xuan Sect, Fuchen explained to Li Sisi that she feared the weight of Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue’s love, then accepted their reunion as fate.

• Bai Ruxue touched Xiao Mo’s face and confirmed he was real, then asked about his meeting with Old Lord Zhang and his exam results.
• Xiao Mo told Bai Ruxue that he had passed the imperial exams in first place and had avoided being taken as a husband.
• Bai Ruxue wept over Xiao Mo’s forty-eight years of waiting, and he comforted her before she welcomed him home as her husband.
• Li Sisi told Fuchen that Xiao Mo had retired and reunited with Bai Ruxue.
• Fuchen told Li Sisi that love could be impossible to let go of and concluded that Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue’s reunion might simply be their fate.

Xiao Qing returned to Shiqiao Village and found Xiao Mo reunited with Bai Ruxue, his childhood sweetheart, though his life was fading. As Bai Ruxue searched for a way to extend his life, Xiao Mo asked Fuchen to help him with something he believed was the last thing he could do for Ruxue.

• Xiao Qing returned to Shiqiao Village and found Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue together in the courtyard.
• Xiao Qing learned that Xiao Mo had come home days earlier and saw how carefully Bai Ruxue cared for his frail body.
• Xiao Mo received visitors until he announced that he would no longer meet guests, while the village recalled the old story of Bai Ruxue leaving to cultivate.
• Bai Ruxue secretly visited Tian Xuan Sect's Scripture Library each night and brought Xiao Mo rare herbs and spiritual beast meat.
• Xiao Mo learned from Fuchen that Bai Ruxue was searching for a way to extend his life, and he thanked Fuchen for letting her enter the library.
• Xiao Mo confirmed that he had thought through his plan and asked Fuchen to help him, calling it the last thing he could do for Ruxue.

Xiao Mo gave Bai Ruxue and Xiao Qing a carefully planned River Journey Map, urging Bai Ruxue to undergo Dragon Transformation despite her fear of leaving him. After Bai Ruxue fled to Tian Xuan Sect’s Scripture Library, she discovered a reference to Dragon Thunder Liquid that could prolong a mortal’s life.

• Xiao Mo presented Bai Ruxue and Xiao Qing with a River Journey Map designed to reduce resistance, flooding, and karmic burden along Bai Ruxue’s route to the North Sea.
• Bai Ruxue refused to make her river journey because she feared Xiao Mo would die while she was away, then flew to Tian Xuan Sect.
• Xiao Mo told Xiao Qing he knew Bai Ruxue had been searching the Scripture Library for a way to prolong his life and asked Xiao Qing to look after her sister.
• Bai Ruxue searched the Scripture Library in desperation and found an old book describing Dragon Thunder Liquid as a substance that could prolong a mortal’s life.

Bai Ruxue learned that Dragon Thunder Liquid might extend Xiao Mo’s life and decided to attempt a river crossing and tribulation to obtain it. Xiao Mo warned her against tying herself to his short life, but Bai Ruxue declared that he was the one grain of sand she wanted in her vast sea.

• Bai Ruxue read that surviving the Nine Dragon Profound Thunder Tribulation could bring Dragon Thunder Liquid, which might extend an ordinary person’s life by fifty years.
• Bai Ruxue visited Li Sisi to ask about the liquid, and Li Sisi relayed Elder Fuchen’s message that it existed but its effects were uncertain.
• Elder Fuchen told Li Sisi that Dragon Thunder Liquid both did and did not exist.
• Bai Ruxue returned to Shiqiao Village and told Xiao Mo she had decided to attempt the river crossing and tribulation.
• Bai Ruxue explained that she wanted Dragon Thunder Liquid to prolong Xiao Mo’s life, while Xiao Mo urged her not to bind herself to his limited lifespan.
• Bai Ruxue told Xiao Mo that he was the one grain of sand she wanted in all the vast sea.

As Xiao Mo’s health worsened, he and Bai Ruxue prepared for her journey to brave the river on the auspicious third day of the third month. During the season’s final snowfall, Xiao Mo took Bai Ruxue for one last walk around Xueqing Lake and asked whether they had grown old together.

• Bai Ruxue prepared to brave the river for Dragon Thunder Liquid, while Xiao Mo taught her and Xiao Qing about the dangers and obstacles along the way.
• Elder Fuchen calculated that the third day of the third month would be the best date for Bai Ruxue to brave the river.
• As winter passed, Xiao Mo’s health declined, and he began coughing, worrying Bai Ruxue.
• After a heavy snowfall on the twenty-eighth day of the first month, Xiao Mo persuaded Bai Ruxue to walk with him to Xueqing Lake.
• Xiao Mo led Bai Ruxue around the lake five times, then asked whether the two of them had grown old together.

Bai Ruxue left to travel upriver and undergo Dragon Transformation, while Xiao Mo prepared for his own departure. He arranged for Fuchen to care for Xiao Qing and asked to be buried on She Mountain if his body remained there.

• Bai Ruxue said goodbye to Xiao Mo and Xiao Qing, then flew away toward Ganyue Lake for her tribulation.
• Xiao Qing took greater care of Xiao Mo after her sister left, while he quietly waited in the courtyard.
• Xiao Mo secretly put Xiao Qing into a deep sleep so she could not stop what he planned to do.
• Fuchen arrived, and Xiao Mo asked her to look after Xiao Qing before explaining that he could handle what came next himself.
• Xiao Mo told Fuchen where to bury him on She Mountain if his body was still there.

Xiao Mo said farewell to Shiqiao Village and visited his old friends and students before preparing the counties around Ruxue’s route for her river journey. He reached a village near Ganyue Lake as Ruxue transformed into a giant serpent and entered the water.

• Xiao Mo visited the graves of the Village Chief and Aunt Chen, said goodbye to Shen Lili and Hong Hui, and left Shiqiao Village.
• Xiao Mo visited Wang Ying and her family, tested Zhang Xuemo, and gave him a small gift of literary fortune.
• Xiao Mo instructed Liu Sanyue to close Siming Lake to fishing, keep people away, and relocate nearby residents for five days.
• Xiao Mo directed his students across several counties to evacuate people and prepare defenses along Ruxue’s route.
• Xiao Mo arrived near Ganyue Lake as Ruxue transformed into a white giant serpent and swam into the lake, while thunderclouds gathered overhead.

As Bai Ruxue began her perilous journey down the river toward the sea, cultivators prepared to hunt her for the treasure of her bloodline and core. Fuchen revealed that Xiao Mo had spent forty-eight years preparing for this moment, and an old man in a green robe confronted a group of Rogue Cultivators approaching Ganyue Lake.

• A storm gathered over Ganyue Lake, and the Village Chief told Huai Tree Village residents that a snake was beginning its journey down the river.
• True Man Ye and the Moon God Sect elders learned of the tribulation and planned to let Rogue Cultivators weaken the snake before claiming its transformed Dragon Core.
• Li Sisi asked whether Bai Ruxue could complete her journey safely, and Fuchen explained the dangers and Xiao Mo's forty-eight years of preparation for her.
• An old man vanished from the entrance of Huai Tree Village as cultivators converged on Ganyue Lake to hunt the snake.
• An old man in a green robe stepped in front of twenty Rogue Cultivators nearing the lake.

Xiao Mo fought off Rogue Cultivators who tried to hunt Bai Ruxue, spending much of his accumulated fortune of the land to protect her. As Bai Ruxue continued downstream toward the North Sea, she overcame her fear of the Dragon Slaying Sword and approached the bridge, where the sword attacked her.

• Guo Xiudan and the Rogue Cultivators refused Xiao Mo's request to let Bai Ruxue pass and attacked him.
• Xiao Mo used the Ink Dragon formed from the fortune of the land to defeat the Rogue Cultivators, killing Guo Xiudan last.
• Xiao Mo coughed blood after exhausting much of his fortune of the land and wondered whether he had enough left.
• Bai Ruxue swam out of Ganyue Lake toward Siming Lake, intent on reaching the North Sea and obtaining the Dragon Thunder Liquid.
• Bai Ruxue resisted the Dragon Slaying Sword's warning presence, approached the arched bridge, and the sword broke free to slash at her.

Bai Ruxue crossed the first trials of her tribulation and entered Chun Song River, where Wei Yuan and Gai Sanqiu tried to stop her. Xiao Mo intervened, knocked the two gods down, and defended his actions.

• Bai Ruxue escaped the Dragon Slaying Sword beneath the bridge, crossed Siming Lake, and began undergoing Ancestral Return.
• Wei Yuan prepared to fight Bai Ruxue, while the storm he raised caused Chun Song River to flood and worried the people of Chun Song Town.
• The Chun Song County magistrate and two thousand soldiers stood guard at Chun Song Weir as Bai Ruxue appeared in the river.
• Gai Sanqiu and Wei Yuan manifested and charged at Bai Ruxue with a Dragon Slaying Sword and Dragon Binding Lock.
• Xiao Mo appeared as an Ink-colored Long Dragon, slammed the two gods to the ground, and answered Gai Sanqiu's accusation by asking, “What's wrong with that?”

Xiao Mo protected Bai Ruxue as she crossed the Chun Song River to undergo Dragon Transformation, despite the River God and Mountain God opposing her. After learning of Xiao Mo’s actions, the Lord of Qi ordered three of Xiao Mo’s former pupils to pursue the White Snake, intending to let them see their dying mentor.

• Xiao Mo blocked Gai Sanqiu’s attacks and urged Bai Ruxue to keep swimming across the river.
• Bai Ruxue overcame the River God’s water dragons, and Gai Sanqiu eventually let her go.
• Wei Yuan sent a memorial reporting Xiao Mo’s actions to the Lord of Qi.
• The Lord of Qi ordered Wang Wei, Xu Shan Gao, and Zhuge Qing to hunt down the White Snake, intending for them to see Xiao Mo before his death.

Xiao Mo spent his accumulated fortune to help Bai Ruxue continue her journey, despite warnings that doing so could destroy his soul. As Bai Ruxue battled the Luo River’s Water God and three prefects, an old man appeared and stopped their seals from crushing her.

• Xiao Mo apologized to Gai Sanqiu and Wei Yuan for helping Bai Ruxue, then vowed to use what remained of his fortune to aid her.
• Meng Qianqian attacked Bai Ruxue with water blades and soldiers, but Bai Ruxue grew four dragon claws, broke free, and charged downriver.
• Meng Qianqian tried to bind Bai Ruxue with water chains, but Bai Ruxue blasted them apart with white lightning.
• Wang Wei, Zhuge Qing, and Xu Shan Gao attacked Bai Ruxue with their prefectural seals, but an old man summoned pear trees to hold the seals aloft.
• Wang Wei, Zhuge Qing, and Xu Shan Gao recognized the old man as their teacher.

Xiao Mo protected Bai Ruxue from his disciples as she crossed the Luo River and entered the Yun Ya River. He rejoined her for the final stretch toward the sea, where she would face her tribulation, and promised to stay by her side.

• Xiao Mo confronted Zhuge Qing, Xu Shan Gao, and Wang Wei, who attacked Bai Ruxue while carrying out their duty to stop her.
• Xiao Mo disabled Wang Wei and caught Xu Shan Gao's arrow, then let Bai Ruxue continue toward the Yun Ya River despite being wounded.
• Meng Qianqian and the three prefectural governors chose not to pursue Bai Ruxue, and Wang Wei wondered why Xiao Mo cared so much about the white boa.
• Bai Ruxue entered the Yun Ya River and hurried toward the sea, hoping to survive the Nine Dragon Profound Thunder Tribulation and obtain Dragon Thunder Liquid to prolong Xiao Mo's life.
• Xiao Mo caught up with Bai Ruxue, said he had arranged help with the Beihai Prefecture prefect, and refused to leave her during the last stretch.

Xiao Mo fought off the Moon God Sect and a host of other cultivators trying to stop Bai Ruxue from reaching the sea. As Ruxue neared the river mouth, Xiao Mo stood battered but resolute against more than a hundred opponents.

• Bai Ruxue continued through the Yun Ya River as her body transformed, while Xiao Mo reassured her that the journey was going smoothly.
• Xiao Mo intercepted True Man Ye and five Moon God Sect elders, borrowed Li Sisi's sword, and killed them when they attacked.
• More than a hundred cultivators gathered to strike Bai Ruxue as she neared the sea, and Xiao Mo created twenty clones and an Ink-colored Long Dragon to hold them back.
• Bai Ruxue urged Xiao Mo to leave, then plunged into the Yun Ya River and swam toward the sea while he continued fighting.
• With his fortune of the realm dwindling and his clothes torn, Xiao Mo faced the Cangyang Sect's leader and challenged the cultivators to test whether he could stop them.

Bai Ruxue fought her way to the North Sea and began her tribulation while Xiao Mo battled the cultivators trying to kill them. As she faced the deadly Nine Dragon Profound Thunder Tribulation, she charged at its final thunder dragon, determined to return to Xiao Mo.

• The sect cultivators attacked Xiao Mo as Bai Ruxue hurried toward the sea, and she blasted through a Dragon-Catching Net and killed the Star Sect elder blocking her path.
• Bai Ruxue plunged into the North Sea, where her tribulation began, while the cultivators agreed to surround her with Formations and attack after she finished.
• As Bai Ruxue endured successive lightning bolts, Xiao Mo used Confucian Magic and his Ink-colored Long Dragon to attack the cultivators setting up the Formations.
• The seventh and eighth bolts struck together and blasted Bai Ruxue into the sea, but she sprang back toward the heavens.
• A thunder dragon formed from lightning and lunged at Bai Ruxue, who charged at it while thinking of Xiao Mo.

After Bai Ruxue survived her tribulation, sect cultivators attacked her for the Dragon Thunder Liquid, and Xiao Mo rescued her from their trap. As they fled toward the Myriad Monster Country, Xiao Mo's body faded away, and his final words left Bai Ruxue alone with the loss of her world.

• Bai Ruxue recovered from her tribulation and gathered the Dragon Thunder Liquid, but cultivators attacked her to seize it.
• The Yanyang Sect leader wounded Bai Ruxue, and the Fashan Sect leader trapped her with a Formation; Bai Ruxue swallowed the Dragon Thunder Liquid to protect it.
• Xiao Mo blocked a giant axe blow, freed Bai Ruxue from the chains, and escaped with her on her back.
• As Bai Ruxue flew south toward the Myriad Monster Country, Xiao Mo concealed that his fatal wounds were making his body disappear.
• Bai Ruxue spoke of their future together while Xiao Mo urged her to care for herself and keep going after he was gone.
• Xiao Mo vanished, and Bai Ruxue continued flying beneath the sky in silence.