Recaps

After transmigrating, Shen Hui accepted an Old Taoist’s offer of food, shelter, and cultivation at his mountain temple. On the way there, a Water Wraith attacked Shen Hui, and the Old Taoist drove it off before bringing him to the temple as a new disciple.

• Shen Hui used a stolen lighter to roast sweet potatoes in a ruined temple, where an Old Taoist mistook it for a mystical object and invited him to the mountain temple to learn cultivation.
• Shen Hui agreed to go with the Old Taoist and his young disciple, then nearly drowned when a Water Wraith reached out from his reflection and grabbed his throat.
• The Soul-Alarm Bell rang, and the Old Taoist used a Purification Talisman to destroy the Water Wraith and collect its bead.
• The Old Taoist and his disciple brought Shen Hui to their temple, where the Old Taoist asked if he could sweep and carry water, learned his name, and ordered him to begin morning lessons.
• Shen Hui entered the temple as night fell and looked at his gaunt reflection in a courtyard water vat.

Shen Hui settled into the shabby temple quarters and learned that cultivation might be real in this new world. After a nightmare and memories of his former life, he sensed the appointed hour and prepared for his first morning lessons.

• Qing Shi showed Shen Hui his room and explained where to wash and use the latrine.
• Qing Shi brought Shen Hui food, clothes, and shoes, and arranged to wake him for morning lessons.
• Shen Hui ate, changed, and slept on the hard bed, but a dream of being struck by a truck woke him.
• Shen Hui recalled his lonely life and considered the strange signs of cultivation in this world.
• Shen Hui sensed the third quarter of the yin hour, washed in the freezing spring water, and waited in the courtyard for morning lessons.

Shen Hui completed the disciple-acceptance rites at Clear Wind Temple, received the Daoist name Qingxuan, and learned the temple’s three precepts. Ji Chen assigned Li Changxing to teach him qi cultivation and Jingming to teach him literacy, leaving Shen Hui to get acquainted with his new sect family before lessons began the next morning.

• Qing Shi brought Shen Hui to morning scripture recitation, where Shen Hui struggled to follow the unfamiliar text.
• Ji Chen explained that Shen Hui had to formally become a disciple before he could be taught the Dao, and Shen Hui promptly knelt and asked to join the sect.
• Ji Chen named Shen Hui Qingxuan, told him about Clear Wind Temple’s lineage and rules, and accepted Shen Hui’s story about having once stayed at a Buddhist temple.
• Shen Hui promised to follow Ji Chen’s three precepts against unjust killing, abandoning fairness, and coveting wealth or lust.
• Ji Chen assigned Li Changxing to teach Shen Hui qi cultivation and Jingming to teach him reading, writing, and scripture.
• Qingyi and Jinghui welcomed Shen Hui as their new junior brother, and Li Changxing urged him to take his cultivation seriously.

Shen Hui began learning the sect’s Qi Attraction Art from Senior Brother Li Changxing and entered meditation with extraordinary speed. He discovered a parchment-like interface that let him spend Dao Xing to advance his Realm, revealing that he had gained a cultivation cheat.

• At breakfast, Shen Hui observed his senior disciples before Li Changxing stayed behind to teach him the basics of Qi Refining.
• Li Changxing explained meditation and Qi sensing, and Shen Hui entered a deep meditative state almost immediately.
• Shen Hui saw an unfamiliar parchment interface listing his status, Realm, Dao Xing, and other entries, then withdrew from meditation to ask Li Changxing what inner vision should look like.
• Li Changxing described the usual vision of meridians and acupoints, so Shen Hui meditated again and confirmed that his interface was real.
• Shen Hui assigned one Dao Xing point to his Realm, advancing it to 1/10, and watched another point return as he absorbed spiritual Qi.

Shen Hui completed his first meditation session after five shichen, astonishing his fellow disciples and learning that Jingming’s face-reading had revealed signs of his past misfortune and an inexplicable change in his fate. After receiving spirit fruits, he studied the dynasty’s script with Jingming late into the night, and she invited him to continue lessons after breakfast.

• Shen Hui ended his meditation after five shichen, and his fellow disciples praised his remarkable focus and cultivation aptitude.
• Jingming explained that Shen Hui’s face showed a past marked by misfortune and a short life, but also hidden purple qi and signs that his fate had changed.
• Li Changxing led the group to dinner, where Qingyi, Jinghui, and Qing Ding gave Shen Hui wild spirit fruits that nourished his qi.
• Jingming took Shen Hui to her room and taught him basic characters, brushwork, and the meaning behind written forms.
• After Shen Hui studied dozens of characters, Jingming praised his memory and arranged for him to continue lessons after breakfast.

Shen Hui used spirit fruits and meditation to advance from Not Yet Entered the Dao to Qi Induction, then learned about cultivation realms and his fellow disciples’ ages and progress. He kept the mysterious Parchment Interface secret while Jingming quietly noticed his hesitation.

• Shen Hui found a quilt outside his hut, meditated, and used spirit fruits to raise his Realm progress to 10/10.
• Shen Hui broke through to Qi Induction and accumulated five Dao Xing points before dawn.
• Shen Hui attended morning lessons at Chengxin Studio and found the Pure and Tranquil Scripture easier to understand.
• At breakfast, Jinghui, Qingyi, and Li Changxing explained the cultivation realms and described Master Ji Chen’s cultivation and the disciples’ progress.
• Shen Hui learned that Li Changxing was eighty-six, Jinghui was twenty-eight, and Qing Shi had only recently entered Qi Refining, but he hid his rapid breakthrough.
• Jingming noticed Shen Hui’s hesitation and regarded him thoughtfully without questioning him.

Shen Hui admitted to Jingming that he had entered the Dao, then discovered his daily Dao Xing limit had risen to ten and calculated that he could reach Foundation Establishment in under three years. While exploring Clear Wind Temple, he met Jinghui and Qingyi tending sickly Spirit Nourishing Grass and considered what might be wrong with the plants.

• Jingming asked Shen Hui if he had entered the Dao, and he admitted that he had.
• Shen Hui told Jingming that envy and discouragement were human, and she advised him not to become impatient on the path of cultivation.
• Shen Hui checked the Parchment Interface and found that he could now earn ten Dao Xing points a day, estimating that he could reach Foundation Establishment in less than three years.
• Shen Hui explored Clear Wind Temple, examined a scorched peach tree, and made a casual request for peace and good fortune before the Three Pure Ones statues.
• Shen Hui found Jinghui and Qingyi examining their unhealthy Spirit Nourishing Grass plants, and Qingyi explained that they had brought the plants from Ten Thousand Springs Valley.

Shen Hui used the Parchment Interface to master First Record of Hundred Herbs and advised Qingyi and Jinghui on how to revive their drooping Spirit Nourishing Grass. The three went to the Back Mountain Hot Spring to try the treatment, where they encountered a tiger with spiritual awareness that retreated after Qingyi spoke.

• Shen Hui spent 10 Dao Xing points to master First Record of Hundred Herbs and used its knowledge to explain why the Spirit Nourishing Grass was wilting in its pot.
• Shen Hui suggested cracking the pot or transplanting a weak plant near the hot spring, and Qingyi agreed to test the idea.
• Shen Hui, Qingyi, and Jinghui headed to the Back Mountain Hot Spring with the wilted herb and gardening tools.
• A huge tiger appeared across the pool and prepared to attack, but Qingyi's words made it hesitate and retreat into the mist.
• Shen Hui asked whether the tiger was a demon, and Qingyi explained that it had gained a little spiritual awareness while Jinghui confidently claimed she could defeat it.

Shen Hui soaked in a misty hot spring, where the returning giant tiger cornered him before Jinghui killed it with the Gengjin Sword Sha. After Qingyi disposed of the carcass, Jinghui explained that Shen Hui could learn the art once he had entered the Dao, and the group prepared to leave with the Spirit Nourishing Grass safe.

• Jinghui left to search the woods for ripe persimmons while Shen Hui and Qingyi planted the Spirit Nourishing Grass beside the pool and Qingyi protected it with a stone barrier.
• At Qingyi’s suggestion, Shen Hui entered the hot spring, cultivated briefly, and dove underwater to investigate the warm-water source, but found only a narrow crack in the rocks.
• After surfacing and swimming toward shore through the thick fog, Shen Hui encountered the giant tiger, and Jinghui arrived and split it in two with the Gengjin Sword Sha.
• Jinghui noticed Shen Hui was nearly undressed, and he dressed before thanking her and asking about the sword art; she said he could study it after entering the Dao and building a solid foundation.
• Qingyi burned the tiger’s remains and cautioned Jinghui against using the Gengjin Sword Sha to show off, then Jinghui returned from the woods with persimmons and gave Shen Hui two.

After Shen Hui spent his accumulated Dao Xing to advance his cultivation, he entered the Dao and began studying Clear Wind Temple’s arts. He received a copy of the Lesser Five Elements Art and discovered a faint resonance with fire, leaving him poised to explore the Control Fire Chapter.

• Shen Hui assigned 111 Dao Xing points to his realm, experienced a cleansing of his body, and noticed his sharper senses and changed appearance.
• At dinner, Shen Hui’s senior brothers and sisters recognized that he had entered the Dao, and Jinghui’s minced meat for him was revealed as a gesture of care.
• Old Taoist Ji Chen confirmed Shen Hui’s progress, explained the temple’s arts, and advised him to choose a suitable art while protecting his foundation.
• Shen Hui asked to examine the Lesser Five Elements Art, and Old Taoist Ji Chen gave him a copied Silk Scroll to study.
• Shen Hui tested his affinity for each element and felt his Qi faintly resonate with fire when he read the Control Fire Chapter.

Shen Hui studied the Control Fire Chapter and struggled to cultivate its Heartfire, then learned from Qing Shi how to tend a stove and realized his own emotions and desires could serve as firewood. By confronting memories from his life, Shen Hui ignited his inner flame and achieved Minor Five Elements Art: Fire Control (Beginner).

• Shen Hui read the Control Fire Chapter, but the interface required 100 Dao Xing points to learn it, and he chose to try cultivating it himself.
• After failing to kindle Heartfire, Shen Hui asked Qingyi and Jingming for advice, but their cultivation paths differed from his own.
• Ji Chen told Shen Hui to study how firewood burned, so Shen Hui joined Qing Shi in the kitchen and learned how to build and control a stove fire.
• Watching the flames, Shen Hui recalled the joys, anger, grief, fear, love, hatred, and desires from his life and realized they could fuel the fire within him.
• Shen Hui spoke of fire rising wherever the heart stirred, causing the stove flames to surge as he achieved Minor Five Elements Art: Fire Control (Beginner).

Shen Hui discovered his Heartfire art, cooked a meal that challenged Jingming’s views on desire, and learned that he would likely travel down the mountain next spring. After a Crimson Imp attacked him and tried to devour his Heartfire, he used a Heart Lamp to subdue it, though he believed his wounds were fatal.

• Shen Hui awakened his Heartfire, accidentally burned Qing Shi’s porridge, and cooked mushrooms with meat and wild greens for the disciples.
• Jingming criticized the group’s enjoyment of food, but Shen Hui argued that cultivation required restraint rather than rejecting human nature, and Jingming tasted the meal.
• Jingming wrote down her reflections on seeking the Dao through ordinary life, then heard a civet cat suggest that Shen Hui should be dealt with.
• Shen Hui learned that he might accompany Master down the mountain next spring and considered the Ghost Fiend and Heart Lamp methods of the Minor Five Elements Art: Fire Control.
• A Crimson Imp attacked Shen Hui, entered his body, and tried to swallow his Heartfire, but Shen Hui visualized a Heart Lamp and trapped the demon in its wick.

After yakshas found Shen Hui gravely wounded, he recited an incantation and summoned a Fire Ghost that consumed them, while his injury mysteriously vanished. Seeing his Master and the Five Senior Brothers and Sisters staring at him in horror, Shen Hui realized the mushrooms had been poisonous.

• Several yakshas entered the kitchen and lifted Shen Hui into the leading Red-Haired Yaksha’s grasp.
• The Red-Haired Yaksha squeezed a writhing bug into Shen Hui’s mouth, and its liquid restored his strength.
• Shen Hui recited an incantation and summoned a Fire Ghost, which swallowed the yakshas.
• Shen Hui discovered that his chest wound and the damage to his robe had vanished.
• Shen Hui saw his scorched Master and the unharmed Five Senior Brothers and Sisters, then realized the mushrooms had been poisonous.

Shen Hui woke with the Parchment Interface confirming he had achieved minor accomplishment in Two-Realm True Fire, though he could not tell what had happened during his mushroom-induced hallucinations. Jingming explained that he had accidentally set Master’s hair and beard on fire, and Master was waiting for him while sharpening a knife.

• Shen Hui checked his body and his interface, which listed Two-Realm True Fire at Minor Accomplishment.
• Jingming told Shen Hui that poisonous mushrooms had caused hallucinations and that she and Master had rescued the disciples with Talisman Wine.
• Jingming recounted how the other disciples had behaved while hallucinating, then said Shen Hui had been found muttering on the kitchen floor.
• Jingming said Shen Hui had recited an incantation and started a fire that badly singed Master’s beard, eyebrows, and hair.
• Jingming told Shen Hui that Master wanted to see him and had been sharpening a knife in his room.

After accidentally setting a powerful fire that scorched the Old Taoist’s beard, eyebrows, and hair, Shen Hui expected punishment but found his Master calmly grooming the damage. The Old Taoist accepted the mishap as Shen Hui’s destiny, promised him formal Taoist clothes and shoes, and asked him to cook dinner.

• Shen Hui nervously went to the Old Taoist’s meditation room after seeing his Master sharpen a blade.
• Shen Hui found the Old Taoist using scissors, a razor, and tweezers to fix his badly singed hair and facial hair.
• The Old Taoist asked Shen Hui how he had cultivated the fire, and Shen Hui admitted he did not know how it happened.
• The Old Taoist decided not to punish Shen Hui and said his burned beard and eyebrows would grow back through the Wood Nurturing Technique.
• The Old Taoist told Shen Hui to keep cultivating and promised to get him a daoluo robe and Cloud Shoes next spring.
• The Old Taoist asked Shen Hui to make something good for dinner, and Shen Hui agreed.

Shen Hui went with Qing Shi and Jinghui to gather ingredients for dinner, where Jinghui explained the rules cultivators followed toward intelligent demons. They returned to the temple, and Shen Hui began preparing a rabbit dinner with the wild vegetables and eggs they had collected.

• Shen Hui finished cultivating and asked Qing Shi to help him gather safe wild ingredients in the back mountain.
• Jinghui joined Shen Hui and Qing Shi, and promised to ask Third Senior Brother to lend Shen Hui some books.
• Jinghui caught a rabbit and killed a snake that had tried to bite her, prompting Qing Shi to question why she killed it.
• Jinghui explained that cultivators spared demons that did not harm people and treated intelligent beings as one of their own.
• Shen Hui, Qing Shi, and Jinghui returned to the temple, where Shen Hui started cooking rabbit, wild vegetables, and egg-drop soup.

Shen Hui borrowed books from Qingyi and shared a poem and story that left Qingyi reflecting on study and power. Back in his room, Shen Hui practiced shaping and strengthening his flames, then began reading a book about the geography of the Nine Provinces.

• The Old Taoist praised Shen Hui’s remark that ordinary life could be a great medicine and announced that he would give up fasting.
• Shen Hui asked Qingyi for books on geography and customs, and Jingming questioned his interest in miscellaneous reading.
• Shen Hui recited a poem encouraging study and told Qingyi a story about Lang Yuzhu, Yan Ruyu, and a corrupt magistrate.
• Shen Hui explained that studying could give the bullied another way to fight back, leaving Qingyi deep in thought.
• Shen Hui practiced using fire magic for light and attacks, tested strengthening it with his emotions, and read about the Nine Provinces.

After testing his fire arts, Shen Hui decided to begin studying the Wood Nurturing Technique and asked to visit the Back Mountain Hot Spring. His master allowed him to go, but refused Jinghui permission to join him to look for a Spirit Cat.

• Shen Hui used ordinary fire control and the Fierce Ghost to burn a wooden post and melt stones, then judged his fire arts strong enough to face mountain spirits and monsters below Foundation Establishment.
• Shen Hui chose to study the Wood Nurturing Technique and considered cultivating at the spiritually rich hot spring.
• At dinner, Shen Hui asked the Old Taoist to let him skip morning practice so he could visit the Back Mountain Hot Spring, and the Old Taoist agreed.
• Qingyi told Shen Hui that he and Jinghui had moved the Spirit Nourishing Grass beside the hot spring, where it was growing well.
• Jinghui offered to accompany Shen Hui to look for a Spirit Cat, but the Old Taoist forbade her from going because she neglected her cultivation.

Shen Hui used the Parchment Interface to learn the Wood Nurturing Technique, gaining the ability to summon a gentle breeze and discovering its potential to preserve life and wield thunder. He then walked through the snowy mountains, observed the wildlife, gathered hawthorn berries, and arrived at the hot spring, where he noticed thirteen healthy Spirit Nourishing Grass plants.

• After failing to sense Wood Qi on his own, Shen Hui spent 100 Dao Xing points to learn the Wood Nurturing Technique at Beginner level.
• Shen Hui read the technique's effects, learned that Minor Mastery required 1,000 Dao Xing points, and tested its wind ability on the courtyard's old locust tree.
• Shen Hui walked through the snow-covered mountains, watched the sunrise and wildlife, and shared a pine nut with a squirrel.
• Shen Hui found a wild hawthorn tree and gathered nearly half of its berries.
• Shen Hui reached the hot spring, counted thirteen healthy Spirit Nourishing Grass plants, and got into the water.

Shen Hui discovered that a man-eating wolf demon was threatening villagers near Cat Ridge and volunteered to deal with it. The Old Taoist agreed to let him go the next day with Jingming, who knew the way.

• Shen Hui roasted wild chicken eggs in a hot spring, cultivated until he gained eleven points of energy, and decided to return to the pool the next day.
• Shen Hui found an old man stranded in the snow and helped him carry firewood down the mountain toward Li Family Village.
• The old man told Shen Hui that a vicious wolf near Cat Ridge had eaten several people, pushed rocks at travelers, and been seen walking upright.
• Shen Hui reported the wolf to the Old Taoist, who explained that it was nearing its transformation into a demon.
• Shen Hui volunteered to slay the wolf, and the Old Taoist told him to take Jingming along the next day.

Shen Hui and Jingming reached Li Family Village to investigate the Wolf Demon, and Shen Hui learned that it attacked people on a ridge above the village. After calming a quarrel among the villagers, he prepared to investigate the beast’s territory.

• Shen Hui told Jingming he planned to use himself as bait to draw out the Wolf Demon, and Jingming offered to use an aura-sighting art to track it.
• Shen Hui and Jingming arrived at Li Family Village, where frightened villagers crowded around them after recognizing their Clear Wind Temple robes.
• A gray-haired elder lamented the deaths and the damage to the village’s reputation, then argued with Lai Zitou about his grandson.
• Shen Hui stopped the quarrel and asked the villagers about the Wolf Demon’s attacks.
• A villager said the Wolf Demon appeared on the ridge and attacked anyone who took its trail, and Shen Hui looked toward the twin peaks beyond the village.

The Wolf Demon recalled how moonlight cultivation and eating people had made it clever and powerful, then hid from villagers who came up the mountain to avenge their dead. It escaped their search and lay low until nightfall, uncertain what to do next.

• The Wolf Demon remembered how it had been crippled, driven from its pack, and gradually cultivated by lying on a moonlit rock.
• After watching a tiger eat people and grow stronger, the Wolf Demon ate an infant and discovered that human flesh sharpened its mind and changed its body.
• The Wolf Demon began preying on woodcutters, learned to walk and speak like a human, and came to think of itself as a demon.
• A large group of villagers carrying weapons and banging a gong climbed the mountain to hunt the Wolf Demon and avenge their dead.
• The Wolf Demon recognized the threat, fled deeper into the woods, and hid beneath bushes until the villagers passed and night fell.

The Wolf Demon waited out the villagers, learned to breathe Black Wind, and grew hungry for human flesh. When it attacked a passing man with a rolling rock, he split the boulder with a line of fire and killed the demon, leaving its head at his feet.

• The Wolf Demon hid until the villagers left, then resolved to wait them out and take revenge on them when they were old and dead.
• The Wolf Demon learned to breathe Black Wind and blinded a wild boar, but stayed away from the village for fear of the crowds.
• When a fair-skinned man came up the mountain, the Wolf Demon decided to crush him with a rock and blind him if he escaped.
• The Wolf Demon pushed a boulder down the slope, but the man split it in two with a line of fire.
• The Wolf Demon began burning from within, and the man sent another line of fire that cut off its head.

Shen Hui killed the Wolf Demon with his Heartfire, then explained to Jingming that the art had burned away his emotions and left him speaking with unusual bluntness. They returned toward the temple as he reflected that both the parts burned away and the parts left behind might be the real him.

• Shen Hui crushed the Wolf Demon's charred head and left its corpse on the hillside.
• Jingming asked whether they should tell Li Family Village, but Shen Hui said the villagers would find the body themselves.
• Shen Hui described Jingming's Yin Fire and Third Junior Brother's Civil and Martial Fire as inferior to his own technique.
• Jingming challenged Shen Hui about his changed manner, and he explained that the Heart Lamp had burned away his seven emotions and six desires.
• As they walked through the snow toward the temple, Shen Hui considered whether the burned-away or remaining parts of himself were the real him.

After killing a Wolf Demon, Shen Hui sought out the Aura Observation Art to help him find demons and mastered it after one night of practice. He left his master astonished by his talent, though using the art for too long made him dizzy.

• Shen Hui saw that killing the Wolf Demon had raised his Dao Xing to 327 and decided to learn a way to locate demons before spending his points.
• Shen Hui asked the Old Taoist for the Aura Observation Art and retrieved its Silk Scroll from an old chest.
• Shen Hui practiced the art, saw auras around himself and the objects in his room, then became dizzy after trying to look into the distance.
• Shen Hui returned the next morning and told the Old Taoist he had mastered the art in one night.
• The Old Taoist was stunned by Shen Hui's quick success, heard about his dizziness, and sent him away.