Chapter Summaries

Aaron considered how to avoid the increasingly harsh corvée labor and decided that fleeing to the mountains might be his best option. After Zhou Erniu saw him alive following a fall from Eagle Sorrow Cliff, he and Madam Zhou suspected Aaron had supernatural protection and resolved to help him.

• Aaron returned to his poor home and weighed the dangers of corvée labor against the few ways he might evade it.
• Aaron rejected the examination system, hiding under a wealthy household, exploiting official loopholes, and buying religious ordination, then considered selling his land and fleeing to the mountains.
• Aaron told Zhou Erniu that a branch had caught him during his fall from Eagle Sorrow Cliff.
• Zhou Erniu told Madam Zhou that Aaron must have encountered ghosts or gods, and she urged him to help Aaron in hopes he would accomplish something great.
• After dinner, Aaron suddenly sensed that something was happening.

Aaron discovered that Fate points came from influencing people and used Alchemy to heal Mrs. Zhou, beginning to build a reputation for supernatural medicine. Rumors spread through the village that Fang La had encountered an immortal, while village head Fan Tong continued plotting to take the Fang family's land.

• Aaron unlocked his character template, learned that Fate reflected influence, and spent points on divination and Alchemy.
• Aaron used Alchemy to heal his injuries with a hardened bun and received two Fate points after Zhou Erniu brought him rabbit meat.
• Aaron visited the Zhou household, treated Mrs. Zhou with talisman water, and offered to help other sick villagers.
• Zhou Erniu told villagers that Fang La had encountered ghosts and gods, and rumors spread that an immortal had taught him talisman arts.
• Fan Tong dismissed his wife's worries and explained that he wanted Fang La to retain ownership while the Fan family took the right to use his land.

Aaron used Alchemy to make a jujube tree blossom and gave Second Aunt You a specially refined jujube, claiming it would cure her illness. She took it home for her sick son, You Kuan, hoping it would help his tuberculosis.

• Aaron found he had gained only 10 Fortune Points and used the last of his rice while planning how to earn more fortune.
• Second Aunt You visited Aaron, and he used Alchemy to make the jujube tree bear crimson fruit before refining one jujube for her.
• Aaron gave Second Aunt You the jujube as medicine, and the villagers gathered around the miraculous tree while he returned indoors.
• Second Aunt You hurried home to her son You Kuan, who had tuberculosis, and coaxed him to eat the jujube without telling him it was meant as medicine.

You Kuan ate a Fire Jujube and temporarily eased his consumption, while Fan Tong decided to make peace with Fang La after seeing the miraculous tree. That night, Third Dog sneaked into Fang La’s courtyard to steal jujubes, where Aaron watched and prepared to deal with him.

• You Kuan ate a Fire Jujube, felt his breathing improve, and learned that Second Aunt You had saved it for herself before giving it to him.
• You Kuan knelt before Second Aunt You and wept with her after she refused to seek another jujube, urging him to study and earn her an honorary title.
• Fan Tong saw the Fire Jujube tree and decided that his family should befriend Fang La rather than make an enemy of him.
• Fan Tong planned to apologize to Fang La and introduce him to the Gu Family so Provincial Graduate Gu could help with the corvée labor.
• Third Dog climbed into Fang La’s courtyard at night and began stealing Fire Jujubes, while Aaron watched him from a window.

Aaron used a cursed jujube to punish Three Dog for stealing, then treated his pain and made him work off the stolen fruit. Gu Yue brought one of Aaron’s jujubes home for his ailing father, but Provincial Graduate Gu warned him that the Dragon Court and the imperial system outweighed the power of cultivation.

• Aaron secretly infused a jujube with the Spirit of Crimson, and Three Dog developed painful growths after eating it.
• Three Dog knelt before Aaron and confessed to stealing thirty-seven jujubes; Aaron blamed his dark intentions and used the punishment to frighten the villagers.
• Aaron eased Three Dog’s pain with talisman water and ordered him to till the family fields for thirty-seven days before receiving further treatment.
• Gu Yue arrived with Fan Tong, watched Aaron treat Three Dog, and gave Aaron gifts before asking him to examine his sick father.
• Aaron declined to treat Gu Yue’s father directly but gave Gu Yue a fire jujube, explaining that it might only relieve a terminal illness and replenish vital energy.
• Gu Yue returned to Gu Family Manor and offered the jujube to Provincial Graduate Gu, who warned him that cultivation was limited and the Dragon Court was the world’s greatest power.

Gu Yue persuaded Scholar Gu to try Aaron’s Fire Date, and Scholar Gu recovered enough to visit Aaron and ask about Jiao pears. Aaron accepted Fan Tong’s apology and farmland, then hinted that Jiao pears combined with Fire Dates could treat sores and ulcers.

• Gu Yue urged Scholar Gu to eat the Fire Date, but Scholar Gu rejected it and drove his son from the room before later staring thoughtfully at the fruit.
• Fan Tong apologized to Aaron for placing him on the corvée register and gave him five mu of irrigated farmland and other gifts.
• Gu Yue brought the recovered Scholar Gu to Aaron’s home, where Scholar Gu thanked Aaron for the Fire Date.
• Scholar Gu asked Aaron about Jiao pears, and Aaron said they treated sores and ulcers, especially when combined with Fire Dates.
• Scholar Gu was shocked by Aaron’s claim about the Jiao pears.

Aaron used the Fire Jujube and Interlocking Pear to gain favor with Scholar Gu and secure a Taoist certificate, while his growing Fate points unlocked Beast Taming. He learned that a white tiger was threatening the village and received the certificate under the Taoist name Void Spirit Master.

• Aaron claimed that promoting Interlocking Pear and Fire Jujube could bring misfortune, then divined that Fan Tong would soon suffer a minor misfortune.
• Scholar Gu told Gu Yue that the Fire Jujube was real and that was enough, while Gu Yue wondered if Aaron had hinted they should bring Fan Tong bad luck.
• Aaron gained more than 100 Fate points, unlocked Beast Taming, and considered finding a fierce beast to protect him.
• Sixth Brother Wu visited Aaron with a wound and a muntjac, and the Fire Jujube quickly healed him; Wu reported that a white tiger had appeared in the mountains and injured the village head.
• Scholar Gu brought Aaron a blank Taoist certificate, and Aaron accepted it under the name Void Spirit Master.

Aaron entered Jiangzhou Prefecture City using his Daoist certificate and bought fine Daoist robes while considering how to expand his fate points. Meanwhile, Daoist Azure Pine told Daoist Azure Cloud that the realm was nearing upheaval and that the Five Heavens Sect was seeking a hidden dragon to support.

• Aaron presented his Daoist certificate at Jiangzhou Prefecture City's gate and entered without a travel permit.
• Daoist Azure Pine told Daoist Azure Cloud that he had seen a young man with the fate of a rebel king, but said such a man might serve only as a pathfinder for a true king.
• Daoist Azure Pine and Daoist Azure Cloud discussed the declining Great Song, the sects contending for the dragon, and the Exalted Bright Way's efforts to preserve the court's fortune.
• Daoist Azure Pine kept secret that he had already discovered a hidden dragon and privately regretted that the rebel king had left before he could be used to clear the way.
• Aaron bought three sets of black-and-white Daoist robes and, after considering how to investigate the city's faith, decided he needed to find a living signboard.

Aaron saw the Emperor’s proclamation summoning accomplished Daoists to the capital and decided to seek an imperial title to gain destiny. Daoist Registrar Sun Hua rejected his request and threatened to remove him from the Daoist register, leaving Aaron to consider traveling at his own expense and suspect Sun Hua meant the threat.

• Aaron read the proclamation at the Jiangzhou Prefecture yamen and decided that an imperial title could rapidly increase his destiny points.
• Aaron visited the Daoists' Registry Office and learned that Daoist Registrar Sun Hua was in charge of recommending Daoists.
• Aaron asked Sun Hua to recommend him for the Thousand Autumn Banquet, but Sun Hua dismissed him and threatened to strike him from the Daoist register.
• Aaron left planning to make his own way to the capital and divined that Sun Hua’s threat carried a sign of minor misfortune.

Aaron searched the forest for a spirit beast and followed his goshawk east, where he found constables pursuing Poison Dragon and a white tiger. As the constables moved to capture them, Aaron’s gathered beasts charged in a small beast tide.

• Aaron tamed a spotted leopard as a backup mount, then followed the goshawk’s signal east.
• Constables led by a newly promoted patrol inspector cornered Poison Dragon, the last inheritor of Candle Dragon Way.
• A massive white tiger attacked a constable, and the patrol inspector ordered his men to capture it while continuing to pursue Poison Dragon.
• The constables surrounded the white tiger and pressed Poison Dragon, but Aaron’s gathered wild beasts surged toward them.

Aaron learned that the local cultivation system punished Daoists who harmed officials, but his spiritual arts caused him no backlash. After blinding Sun Hua with an eagle attack, he left the Daoist authorities to wonder whether the injury had been an accident or magic.

• A stampede of wild beasts killed the patrol inspector and his constables while sparing Poison Dragon and the white tiger; Aaron emerged and tamed the tiger.
• Poison Dragon explained that the Candle Dragon Way had been destroyed after its part in Prince of Hening’s treason case, and warned Aaron that harming officials brought backlash.
• Aaron’s divination showed that sparing Poison Dragon was auspicious, so the two Daoists parted; Poison Dragon vowed to use a dragon acupoint against the Great Pine Dynasty.
• Aaron named the white tiger Little Jade, reasoned that his spirituality was immune to the local backlash, and returned to Jiangzhou Prefecture City to attack Sun Hua.
• An eagle blinded Sun Hua outside the prefectural yamen, and Aaron confirmed that he suffered no backlash from the attack.
• At Spring Breeze Tower, Azure Cloud and Azure Pine learned Sun Hua would miss their banquet; Azure Pine concluded that Sun Hua’s blindness would end his career as Daozheng.

Aaron rode Little Jade, a white tiger, through Lu Prefecture Market and gained the townspeople’s awe, boosting his fortune points. He told Gu Yue he planned to travel alone to the capital for the Son of Heaven’s Feast of a Thousand Autumns, then departed on the tiger.

• Cheng Er and the townspeople mistook Aaron riding Little Jade for an immortal and gathered around him in awe.
• Aaron reassured the crowd that Little Jade had been tamed, then ordered the tavern keeper to feed her vegetables.
• The townspeople recognized Aaron as Fang La, and Aaron saw their admiration increase his fortune points.
• Gu Yue arrived, and Aaron told him he intended to travel alone to the capital and asked him to watch over matters at home.
• Aaron paid for his meal, mounted Little Jade, and rode out of town as the nearby livestock cowered in fright.

Aaron reached Goldstone City and crossed Black Tortoise Lake by boat with Little Jade, planning to continue toward the capital. After some young nobles learned he had left, Lin Le led them in pursuit, while a young boat girl watched the white tiger from the cabin.

• Aaron surveyed Goldstone City from outside and decided that building his own system would mean rebelling, so he chose to seek fate points by infiltrating the court instead.
• Aaron rode Little Jade to the docks, where an old boatmaster agreed to ferry them across Black Tortoise Lake without charge.
• Little Jade leaped aboard and obeyed Aaron, while the boatmaster warned him that his wife and daughter were in the cabin.
• After Aaron's boat departed, Lin Le and the other nobles arrived, learned he was heading for the capital, and rented boats to follow him.
• As the boat crossed the lake, Aaron joked with the skipper about water bandits, and a young boat girl timidly watched Little Jade.

Aaron glimpsed the dormant dragon qi beneath Black Tortoise Lake and continued north toward the capital, unaware that Exalted Bright Way had noticed the disturbance. The blind old Daoist confirmed the dragon vein remained intact and revealed his sect's plan to use it to prolong Great Song's survival, while warning that the effort might bring a great tribulation.

• Aaron used spiritual vision at Purple Azure Mountain and saw a dragon turtle representing Goldstone Kingly Aura beneath Black Tortoise Lake.
• The blind old Daoist sensed the dragon qi's disturbance, ordered Exalted Bright Way to investigate, and sent an urgent message to the sect.
• Aaron gave Boss Wu a Fire Jujube, then crossed the water on foot and rode Little Jade north.
• Lin Le exchanged ten mu of land and a village house for the Fire Jujube, while Boss Wu thanked Aaron for helping his family leave the water.
• Aaron divined that his connection to Black Tortoise Lake's dragon qi brought both Great Misfortune and Great Auspice, then continued toward the capital.
• The blind old Daoist confirmed the dragon vein was still dormant and explained Exalted Bright Way's plan to use it to sustain Great Song, warning the Daoists that defying Heaven could invite a great tribulation.

Aaron traveled north through a drought-stricken, increasingly lawless region and stopped at a roadside inn with Little Jade. There, he recognized Song Gongbao and his companions as rebel leaders seeking amnesty, then used his spiritual vision to glimpse their ominous fates.

• Aaron rode Little Jade into the northern territories and judged that Great Pine’s unrest could erupt into chaos within ten years.
• Aaron arrived at a roadside inn, frightened its patrons with Little Jade, and ordered food for himself and meat for the tiger.
• Song Gongbao introduced himself, offered to pay Aaron’s expenses, and restrained a companion who threatened to kill Little Jade.
• Aaron overheard that Song Gongbao and his men were rebels seeking imperial amnesty, and opened his spiritual vision to examine them.
• Aaron saw that Song Gongbao possessed powerful fortune and influence over his followers, while the black-faced companion seemed destined to be a valiant general.

Aaron watched as Zhang Zifeng confronted Mo Qingzheng, the former censor who had impeached Zhang Zifeng’s father, Zhang Ye, the Military Governor of Yunzhong. Zhang Zifeng revealed that he had used Daoist arts to engineer their meeting and seek revenge, while Mo Qingzheng defended his decision to accuse Zhang Ye.

• Aaron sensed a carriage approaching and saw Zhang Zifeng, a sickly young cultivator, arrive at the inn with a battle-scarred veteran.
• Zhang Zifeng studied a paper effigy bearing his birth details, while Aaron divined that he was only a passerby and stayed to watch.
• Mo Qingzheng arrived with his servant, and Zhang Zifeng recognized him as the former censor who had accused Zhang Ye of treason.
• Zhang Zifeng recounted how the Zhang family had been executed and the Red Tiger Army destroyed, then accused Mo Qingzheng of causing their downfall.
• Zhang Zifeng admitted that he had used Daoist arts, altered feng shui, and a nightmare curse to weaken Mo Qingzheng’s fortune and arrange their meeting.
• Mo Qingzheng acknowledged that he had impeached Zhang Ye, insisting he had acted for the court and people, and warned that Zhang Zifeng’s revenge would further stain his father’s reputation.

Zhang Zifeng survived the backlash from Mo Qingzheng’s death after Aaron gave him a Fire Jujube, and Aaron’s fortune points surged. Aaron then entered the capital on Little Jade to attend the Thousand Autumn Banquet, drawing a crowd’s attention.

• Uncle Kun killed Mo Qingzheng for Zhang Zifeng, but Zhang Zifeng suffered severe backlash and collapsed.
• Song Gongbao examined Zhang Zifeng and believed he was near death, while Aaron offered a Fire Jujube to extend his life.
• Uncle Kun fed Zhang Zifeng the crushed jujube, reviving him and suppressing the backlash temporarily; Zhang Zifeng realized he had missed a chance to meet Aaron.
• Aaron noticed his fortune points had risen to 1022 and wondered whether saving Zhang Zifeng or gaining his gratitude had caused the increase.
• Aaron rode Little Jade into the capital, showed his Daoist credential at the gate, and entered to attend the Thousand Autumn Banquet.

Aaron arrived in the capital, rented a courtyard near Great Vajra Temple, and explored its busy streets. He joined a long queue at Scholar Gu’s recommended roast pork shop, where a scalper offered to sell him an earlier place in line.

• Aaron rode Little Jade through the capital and observed its crowds, markets, and widespread use of paper currency.
• Aaron rented a small courtyard from Master Huide near Great Vajra Temple and paid ten taels to book it for two months.
• Master Huide told a young monk that Aaron’s ambitions might bring him into conflict with Daoist lineages, which could benefit Great Vajra Temple.
• Aaron cleaned and furnished the courtyard, then went out in the evening to find dinner.
• Aaron joined the roast pork shop’s queue, received tally number 372, and was approached by a man offering to sell him an earlier number.

Aaron visited Great Vajra Temple’s barbecue stall and met the monk who ran it. Later, the temple’s senior monks discussed the approaching Thousand Autumn Banquet and considered backing Aaron or other potential rulers as Great Song weakened.

• Aaron ate barbecue at the stall and learned that the monk’s craft depended on carefully raised Golden Cloud Fragrant Pigs and years of practice.
• The barbecue monk joined Great Vajra Temple’s senior monks for a meeting about preparing a gift for the Emperor’s Thousand Autumn Banquet.
• The monks discussed Aaron’s arrival, and the barbecue monk advised befriending and supporting him if he could challenge the Exalted Bright Way.
• Monk Wushan argued that the Brahman Gate should look beyond the current ruler and place its hopes in the next true dragon or other hidden dragons.

Aaron sought official approval to attend the Thousand Autumn Banquet, but Exalted Bright Way and Tong Jing moved to block him after Fire Cloud Master sensed his hidden-dragon destiny. Learning that the emperor favored a famous courtesan, Aaron followed a promising divination to Alum Tower, where Wang Shishi was renowned.

• Aaron visited the Daoist Affairs Office and paid Five Bright Master while requesting a recommendation for the Thousand Autumn Banquet.
• Fire Cloud Master warned Five Bright Master that Aaron bore great fortune and arranged to have Tong Jing oppose him.
• Aaron found the Daoist Affairs Office refusing to receive him, then divined a great misfortune paired with minor fortune.
• Great Vajra Temple sent Aaron information about Fire Cloud Master and Tong Jing, along with a lead involving the emperor's interest in a famous courtesan.
• After divining great auspiciousness, Aaron went to Alum Tower, where the celebrated Wang Shishi was courtesan.