Chapter Summaries

After Adam encountered a world suffused with the Dao, he continued traveling while the Human Alliance established the Council as a buffer between humanity’s nations and Adam. The Council explained its purpose to China’s representative, who accepted that China’s seat was necessary for both balanced voting and effective coordination.

• Adam sensed that a world was shaped by the Dao but decided not to send an expendable avatar into it.
• Klon and the others recognized that Mars’s prosperity had been built on the suffering of those who came before them.
• The Human Alliance replaced its permanent members with a Council comprising Klon, Uther, Eugene, Bernard, and a Chinese representative.
• Klon explained that China’s seat gave the Council an odd number of members and prevented tied votes.
• Uther, Bernard, and Eugene told Representative Mu that the Council’s central role was to mediate between humanity’s nations and Adam.
• Representative Mu accepted the Council’s purpose, and Bernard admitted he had been nervous about explaining it correctly.

Adam entered a world beyond the Inner Boundary and found Tushita Palace, where Lord Lao the Supreme had invited him in. Lord Lao welcomed Adam and explained that his arrival was earlier than expected, then left him waiting beside the alchemy furnace.

• Adam left after telling Bernard that the council encouraged people to solve problems themselves.
• Adam entered a world beyond the Inner Boundary and saw stars gather into Tushita Palace.
• A Daoist boy guided Adam through the palace to Lord Lao's rear alchemy chamber.
• Adam greeted Lord Lao the Supreme and sat beside him while Lord Lao tended the furnace.
• Lord Lao said he had expected Adam to arrive several hundred years later and admitted that even he could not foresee everything.

Adam learned that Lord Lao had come to reassure him and encourage him to pursue his original plans for studying the Dao through magic. Lord Lao gave him a token that granted him influence wherever Daoist arts were practiced.

• Adam asked Lord Lao why he had drawn Lord Lao’s attention, but Lord Lao explained that he knew only fragments of the knowledge held by the original Lord Lao.
• Lord Lao reassured Adam that the original Lord Lao did not mean him harm and told him to proceed according to his original intentions.
• Adam asked for a token to carry into other worlds, and Lord Lao told him to take out the Wooden Tablet.
• The Wooden Tablet crumbled, and Lord Lao transformed its glowing characters into a single mysterious character before placing it inside Adam.
• Lord Lao granted Adam the power to call to Heaven and be answered, and to call to Earth and be heard, in any world where Daoist arts were passed down.

Adam received a mysterious Dao character from Lord Lao that connected him to the world’s rules and showed him fleeting visions of profound Daoist arts. Lord Lao then sensed strange entities approaching the Sea of Worlds and redirected them before returning his attention to the Divine Iron.

• Adam realized the Dao character let him connect with the world’s rules and hoped Lord Lao’s promise would grant him aid when needed.
• Lord Lao told Adam that Sun Wukong was still a stone on Flower Fruit Mountain and sent Adam away without giving him Immortal Pills.
• Adam examined the character and saw brief, fading visions of a gateway, the creation of the world, and Lord Lao’s divine arts.
• Lord Lao sensed two black-and-white figures and other strange entities approaching the Sea of Worlds, then sent out a ripple that diverted them.
• Lord Lao returned his gaze to the Divine Iron in the furnace.

Adam abandoned his attempt to understand the Dao and entered a world he recognized as Hua Qiangu, where he hoped divine artifacts could help him study its laws. After identifying the Shu Mountain Sect as the television version’s sect, he decided to visit it.

• Adam gave up trying to comprehend the profound arts beneath the Dao and chose to explore a world farther from the Sea of Worlds’ center.
• Adam discovered that the world was Hua Qiangu, whose primordial chaos differed from the kinds he knew.
• Adam realized that divine artifacts could provide a practical starting point for studying the world’s rules.
• Adam asked whether the great cultivation sect was Shu Mountain or Mao Mountain and learned it was Shu Mountain, identifying the world as the television version.
• Adam decided to visit Shu Mountain and noted that reaching other realms was easy, though not necessarily safe.

Adam arrived at Mount Shu in disguise to study its books and learn about the sect and the world’s cultivation system. After interpreting powerful immortals’ intense emotions as the Red Dust Dao, he devised two embryonic abilities and continued searching for Mount Shu’s cultivation scriptures.

• Adam reached Mount Shu and entered its Scripture Pavilion without hindrance.
• Adam read that the Mount Shu Sect had been founded by the Grand Pure Daoist and learned about the world’s cultivation realms and immortal ranks.
• Adam considered whether the powerful figures’ intense emotions reflected a Red Dust Dao and declared that he had understood Lord Lao’s teaching.
• Adam released blank masks to record people’s emotions, intending to refine them into Ten Thousand Realms of Mortal Dust and develop Heaven of Others’ Joy.
• Lord Lao observed Adam’s insight from the Eight Scenery Palace as Adam went to the second floor to seek cultivation scriptures.

Adam studied the Shu Mountain Introductory Cultivation Method and reaffirmed that he valued preserving his identity more than growing stronger. His runes then revealed the Tai Shang Eighty-One Transformations, a divine ability that let him cultivate his body and soul while keeping his true spiritual root unchanged, leaving him to wonder whether a Celestial Venerable was watching him.

• Adam found that the Shu Mountain Introductory Cultivation Method trained Magical Power while leaving the body and soul to improve naturally.
• Adam recalled anchoring his three-dimensional existence to preserve the self he had been in his second life, and chose to pursue the path he wanted rather than prioritize strength.
• As Adam studied how Magical Power accumulated, his runes showed him a series of changing scenes featuring Great Divine Ability Users.
• Adam realized the scenes demonstrated the Tai Shang Eighty-One Transformations, whose principle was transformation without changing the true spiritual root.
• Adam understood that the divine ability would let him cultivate his body and soul without losing what he wanted to preserve, then wondered if a Celestial Venerable was watching.

Adam learned the Blessing of Immeasurable Celestial Worthies from Lord Lao and gathered Shu Mountain cultivation texts, then decided to found a pleasure-house sect in the immortal cultivation world. He left with a plan to adapt his Sixteen Celestial Dance into cultivation techniques.

• Adam received the six-word mantra Blessing of Immeasurable Celestial Worthies and planned to study it alongside the Tai Shang Eighty-One Transformations.
• Adam copied Shu Mountain Sect’s cultivation scriptures and the Six Realms Compendium, then stole the Sky-Tethering Chain from a great hall.
• Adam left Shu Mountain, ate venison sold as donkey-meat flatbread, and rejected several inns before conjuring a comfortable suite in a nearby forest.
• Adam considered opening a Heaven on Earth to gather emotions but worried that running a pleasure house would make socializing awkward.
• Adam consulted Eugene and the others, and Uther showed him information about Zui Hua Yin, a pleasure house that was also a sect.
• Adam decided to found a sect and use the Sixteen Celestial Dance he had once created as the basis for its cultivation techniques.

Adam named his planned sect the Flower Wandering Sect and examined what its cultivation method and visualization object should be. He began developing the Flower Card around flowers’ beauty and fragrance, leaving the sect’s foundation to be shaped by those ideas.

• Adam rejected several sect names and settled on the Flower Wandering Sect.
• Adam analyzed Shu Mountain and Chang Liu Mountain cultivation methods, comparing their visualization objects and limits.
• Adam tried Shu Mountain’s visualization method and considered what image could anchor his own sect.
• Adam explored the Flower Card’s connection to flowers, first deriving reproduction before deciding it did not fit his vision for the sect.
• Adam linked flowers’ beauty and fragrance to the Sixteen Celestial Dance and recalled cultivation techniques from the Scent Sect.

Adam developed the principles behind Flower Wandering, the Flower Wandering Sect’s cultivation art, and considered how to give the sect independent means to refine fragrances and cultivate music. He left the art still in development, with new insights on cultivation and life to compile for the disciples.

• Adam combined the Scent Sect’s teachings on fragrance with the image of a jade flower to shape Flower Wandering’s cultivation principles.
• Adam decided the sect needed the Bu Yuan Cauldron to refine sacred fragrances and considered taking it from Xia Zixun, who had joined the Seven Killings.
• Adam considered acquiring the Illusory Thought Bell from Tai Bai Mountain and the Flowing Light Zither from Chang Liu Mountain for the sect’s musical cultivation.
• Adam reflected that Flower Wandering should strengthen practitioners themselves rather than make them dependent on others’ favor.
• Adam gained inspiration and rapidly compiled Flower Wandering while revising insights on cultivation and life for the sect’s disciples.

Adam encountered Yun Ya, a fate-entangled thief, while traveling toward Chang Liu and invited her to join his planned Flower Wandering Sect. Yun Ya feared his offer concealed a sinister purpose, leaving her uncertain whether to accept.

• Adam sensed one of his masks in a marketplace and found it attached to Yun Ya, who stole a few coins from a money pouch and returned it.
• Adam noticed traces of fate's influence on Yun Ya and wondered whether she might later join Chang Liu and become Hua Qiangu's classmate.
• Adam swept Yun Ya onto his cloud, and she pleaded for mercy before realizing he wore no sect Gong item.
• Adam offered Yun Ya gold and invited her to cultivate with his sect, calling her a fine candidate for cultivation.
• Yun Ya trembled as she suspected Adam might be a dangerous cultivator who would use her as material or a cultivation furnace.

Adam recruited Yun Ya into his newly founded Flower Wandering Sect, then took her to Chang Liu Mountain and stole its Flowing Light Zither. He taught Yun Ya the sect’s cultivation method and rules, and finally told her his title was Lihen.

• Yun Ya accepted Adam’s invitation to join the Flower Wandering Sect and became his disciple.
• Adam took Yun Ya to Chang Liu Mountain, where he stole the Flowing Light Zither and left a counterfeit in its place.
• Adam used Chang Liu Mountain’s records to continue developing Flower Wandering and passed its pre-ascension cultivation method to Yun Ya.
• Adam explained the sect’s three prohibitions and told Yun Ya that she would travel with him until the sect established its mountain gate.
• Yun Ya asked Adam for his title, and he said it was Lihen.

Adam organized the Flower Wandering Sect by recruiting arts instructors and establishing a mirage tower where young disciples would learn about human emotions while cultivating. He left the instructors in charge of lessons, with rules for their treatment of the children and for teaching them about intimacy only when they came of age.

• Adam recruited Courtesans and Bawds to teach the Flower Wandering Sect's young disciples arts and social skills.
• Yun Ya questioned whether the sect was becoming a pleasure house, and Adam explained that its disciples would study human emotions without surrendering themselves to patrons.
• Adam presented the mirage tower as the sect's gate, where disciples would serve as attendants and cultivate by observing people and their emotions.
• Adam instructed the teachers not to sell the disciples' bodies or use overly harsh methods, and allowed them to punish disobedient students sparingly.
• Bawd Guan asked about teaching bedchamber arts, and Adam said the children should learn basic distinctions early and receive fuller instruction after reaching adulthood.

Adam brought Xia Zixun to the Flower Wandering Sect, where she reflected on her past fixation on Bai Zihua and resolved to start a new life. She announced that Xia Zixun would no longer exist in the world and prepared to choose a new name.

• Adam decided to stop waiting to master the Tai Shang Eighty-One Transformations and went to bring Xia Zixun and the Bu Yuan Cauldron to his sect.
• Adam returned to the Flower Wandering Sect with Xia Zixun, surprising Yun Ya and the other disciples.
• Yun Ya teased Adam about stealing Xia Zixun's heart, and Adam assigned her a mountain of homework for her careless remarks.
• Xia Zixun reflected on how her obsession with Bai Zihua had eclipsed her identity and thanked Adam for helping her see her past differently.
• Xia Zixun declared that there would be no more Xia Zixun in the world and said she would change her name to begin anew.

Adam named Xia Zixun Ji Yue after helping her overcome her inner demons, while the Flower Wandering Sect's founding ceremony aboard the Mirage Tower drew attention across the Six Realms. Sha Qianmo decided to attend after receiving an invitation, leaving Shan Chunqiu to seek one of his own.

• Adam asked his brothers for help naming Xia Zixun and settled on Ji Yue, a name she welcomed.
• The Mirage Tower sailed the Four Seas to distribute invitations for the Flower Wandering Sect's founding ceremony, and crowds gathered near the East Sea as the event approached.
• A tavern patron showed off a fake invitation, while a scholar described the genuine invitations and their poetry slips.
• Shan Chunqiu recognized the scholar's story as a possible lead and ordered someone to follow him to his friend.
• Sha Qianmo admired his invitation and said he would attend the banquet, then forbade Shan Chunqiu from secretly following him.
• Shan Chunqiu decided he would need to obtain another invitation to reach the Mirage Tower.

Shan Chunqiu secured an invitation to the Flower Wandering Sect’s founding ceremony without harming the scholars, while Immortal Ji Yue reunited with Tanfan Shangxian at the Mirage Tower. As the ceremony approached, Ji Yue left to prepare and told Tanfan to return to his seat.

• Shan Chunqiu obtained a real invitation from two scholars, released them, and paid them the promised chest of gold.
• Shan Chunqiu and his group prepared to board the Mirage Tower for the Flower Wandering Sect’s founding ceremony.
• Immortal Ji Yue toured the crowded Mirage Tower with Tanfan Shangxian, who expressed joy at her return to immortality despite her lack of romantic feelings for him.
• Immortal Ji Yue saw that most guests had taken their seats and told Tanfan Shangxian to return to his seat while she prepared for the ceremony.

As the Flower Wandering Sect prepared for its founding ceremony, Immortal Ji Yue and Adam discussed the sect’s unfinished leadership, its plans for recruiting, and the controversy surrounding its public image. The ceremony began with bells and music as the Twenty-Four Flower Messengers appeared behind a golden veil.

• Immortal Ji Yue left Tanfan Shangxian and went to the third-floor meeting room to prepare for the ceremony.
• Adam explained the Flower Wandering Sect’s leadership structure and planned to recruit Guest Elders and disciples after its reputation spread.
• Immortal Ji Yue worried that the sect’s performances, her past, and Adam’s invitation to Demon Lord Sha Qianmo could provoke criticism.
• Adam defended the sect’s cultivation practices, and Immortal Ji Yue calmed herself by visualizing a heavenly flower.
• Immortal Ji Yue rang the Mirage Tower’s bells, silencing the guests as music began and twenty-four silhouettes appeared behind a golden veil.

The Flower Wandering Sect opened its banquet with the Twenty-Four Flower Messengers performing a provocative flying apsara dance, while their fragrance eased the guests’ prejudices. Adam explained the sect’s cultivation path and announced plans to recruit disciples and Guest Elders, catching Sha Qianmo’s interest.

• The Twenty-Four Flower Messengers performed a flying apsara dance that startled, delighted, and offended guests, while Tú Mí flirted with Ni Mantian by marking her brow with lipstick.
• The dance’s fragrant breeze softened the guests’ resentment, and Bai Zihua meditated instead of watching the performance.
• Adam addressed the guests, describing the Flower Wandering Sect’s cultivation principles and explaining its choice of Mirage Tower as its residence.
• Adam announced that the Flower Wandering Sect would soon accept disciples and recruit independent cultivators as Guest Elders, and Sha Qianmo considered joining because the sect’s path suited him.

Adam began the banquet with a magical dish-ordering display that impressed the gathered Immortals, while Immortal Ji Yue’s return and the Flower Wandering Sect’s strength sparked widespread discussion. As music and dancing launched the feast, Adam expected the sect to soon thrive without his supervision, leaving him free to pursue his own cultivation.

• Adam showed the guests how to order dishes by tossing named paper slips into the pool, where fish carried them away and lotus buds surfaced with the meals inside.
• The Immortals marveled at Adam’s elaborate technique, discussed Immortal Ji Yue’s return from demonic obstruction, and recognized the Flower Wandering Sect as a rising first-rate sect.
• Bai Zihua tested the pool’s mysterious depths and found a braised pork knuckle in his lotus bud, while Sheng Xiaomo struggled to hide his amusement.
• Sha Qianmo considered joining the Flower Wandering Sect as a Guest Elder by approving his own membership.
• Adam signaled the banquet’s start as colorful fish filled the waterways, celestial music played, and the Flower Messengers performed.
• Adam concluded that the sect would soon prosper without his oversight and planned to focus on cultivation and the scattered masks.

The Flower Wandering Sect’s Mirage Tower prospered after its opening, drawing cultivators with its entertainment, marketplace, and cultivation rooms. Adam received applications from Sha Qianmo and Tanfan Shangxian to become Guest Elders, then wondered why Wugou Shangxian had also written.

• The Flower Wandering Sect opened the Mirage Tower’s upper floors and marketplace, attracting mortals, Immortals, and cultivators seeking entertainment, goods, and cultivation rooms.
• Adam reflected that the founding ceremony had gone smoothly and that Sha Qianmo had attended without causing trouble.
• Adam found a letter in which Sha Qianmo applied to become a Guest Elder and suspected the Demon Lord was interested in the cultivation rooms and incense.
• Adam read Tanfan Shangxian’s application and reasoned that Fanjing Mountain had agreed because opposing him would bring little benefit and risk offense.
• Adam noticed a third letter from Wugou Shangxian and wondered what had prompted the application.