Chapter Summaries

Zhao Cheng entered a projected version of his past, where he discovered that his former companions had never existed and suspected the avalanche had targeted him. After leaving the mountain, he traveled by train through the ordinary world, reflecting on how mortal life shaped the desire to transcend it.

• Zhao Cheng projected an imprint into a world anchored to the day of his avalanche and revived his buried body.
• Zhao Cheng searched for his climbing companions but found that they had never existed in the projected world's history.
• Zhao Cheng returned to the inn, checked out, and suspected the avalanche had been arranged to kill him alone.
• Zhao Cheng booked a train ticket and traveled through the familiar world as an ordinary person.
• Zhao Cheng reflected that immersion in ordinary life could nurture a longing to transcend it.

Zhao Cheng traveled from the mountains toward his hometown, reflecting on his former ordinary life and the purpose of returning to his world of origin. During the train ride, he traded playful messages with Wang Yun, who joked about the popular animated series based on his legend.

• Zhao Cheng took a coach bus to the city and boarded an eight-hour train journey, recalling his old life and considering his search for the secret of his transmigration and Panel.
• Zhao Cheng told his parents he had survived the avalanche, while friends and his childhood friend contacted him after seeing the news.
• Wang Yun sent Zhao Cheng a stream of messages asking about the avalanche and teasing him for not replying quickly.
• Zhao Cheng joked with Wang Yun about rebelling against Heaven and their roles in the story of Seize the Dragon.
• Wang Yun joked that she wished she could transmigrate into Seize the Dragon and take the Zhao Family's childhood betrothal.

After returning from the snowfield, Zhao Cheng traveled home and reflected on the distance between himself and Wang Yun, who dismissed her sudden feelings as a passing bout of sentimentality. He then went to an old gathering place and greeted Brother Xun, who barely recognized him.

• Zhao Cheng told Wang Yun that fate could be held onto only if it had existed in the first place, then got off the train.
• Wang Yun felt suddenly distant from Zhao Cheng but concluded they were friends with different goals, then asked which school he belonged to.
• Zhao Cheng replied that his master was Yellow Heaven Daoist and went home to see his parents.
• Zhao Cheng walked through the city to a street-side eatery, recalling his younger self's feelings about romance.
• Zhao Cheng greeted Brother Xun, who stared at him in surprise and seemed unsure whether he recognized him.

Zhao Cheng reunited with his old classmate Lu Xun, who introduced his fiancée and revealed that he had invited Zhao Cheng’s former crush to the welcome dinner. The story ended with Lu Xun waiting for Zhao Cheng’s reaction to the surprise.

• Zhao Cheng recalled Lu Xun’s childhood bullying, school gaming competition, and loyalty to his friends.
• Zhao Cheng remembered Lu Xun’s heartbreak over a beauty who left him for a wealthy man, after which Lu Xun accepted a family-arranged blind date and joined the family business.
• Lu Xun recognized Zhao Cheng, joked about his changed appearance and bearing, and introduced his fiancée, Xu An'an.
• Lu Xun revealed that he had invited several old classmates to welcome Zhao Cheng, then admitted he had especially called Zhao Cheng’s former crush, who was still single.

Zhao Cheng reminisced about his unrequited high-school crush on the generous, dashing Eldest Miss and reflected on how his past and present selves had shaped him. He told Lu Xun that his family had secretly arranged his marriage, leaving Lu Xun stunned and Gao Shou lamenting that Zhao Cheng had found a girlfriend first.

• Zhao Cheng recalled how he had spent high school as the Eldest Miss's devoted lackey, while Lu Xun tried to advise him and their classmates waited in vain for a confession.
• Zhao Cheng reflected on how his experiences before reincarnation had made him bolder and more decisive, and how his past self remained part of who he was.
• Zhao Cheng joked to Lu Xun that his family had secretly arranged his marriage and exchanged their birth dates and eight characters.
• Lu Xun was stunned by Zhao Cheng's claim, while Gao Shou arrived and complained that Zhao Cheng had found a girlfriend despite their old pact to stay single.

Zhao Cheng reunited with Lu Xun and Gao Shou, and their joking about his mysterious fiancée drew in Han Jinyue and Xiao Qi. Lu Xun then brought up a rumor about entering the world of Seize the Dragon as a game, while Han Jinyue privately knew it was real and had entered it herself.

• Gao Shou teased Zhao Cheng about his arranged fiancée, and Lu Xun connected her Julu County origins to the Yellow Turban Rebellion.
• Lu Xun explained why he would prefer a low-ranking local bailiff’s post to a title if Zhao Cheng became emperor.
• Han Jinyue arrived with Xiao Qi and felt unsettled when she learned Zhao Cheng had a fiancée.
• Gao Shou showed Xiao Qi a screenshot of Zhang Huang'er as Zhao Cheng’s supposed fiancée.
• Lu Xun described a rumor that people could enter Seize the Dragon as a game and bring supernatural abilities back to reality.
• Han Jinyue recognized the rumor as true because she had entered the game and taken the place of one of Zhang Huang'er's personal maids.

Han Jinyue’s experience in the game and the state’s investigation of Seize the Dragon’s author revealed how the game’s rules and supernatural methods differed from reality. Zhao Cheng concluded that the game was an extraordinary projection of a vast origin spacetime, one of many possible worldlines.

• Han Jinyue recalled how her status as a maid raised by her mistress gave her early access to Dao arts, while other players struggled to survive as beggars or refugees.
• Players pieced together that people with high status could not be replaced, and debated whether this rule came from destiny or parallel worlds.
• The state examined Seize the Dragon’s author and tested his later stories, but found no evidence that he possessed supernatural abilities.
• People in the real world tried to cultivate methods from the game, but could not borrow qi from others and gained no help from the projected world.
• Zhao Cheng viewed Seize the Dragon as an extraordinary projection of origin spacetime and considered how other worldlines might take different paths.

Zhao Cheng’s deductions explained how the Seize the Dragon World would absorb the modern world and what dangers awaited its people. Gao Shou and Lu Xun discussed how players might exploit foreknowledge, while Han Jinyue recognized that failed players had already proven Lu Xun right.

• Zhao Cheng reasoned that the Seize the Dragon Game was only a shadow of the Seize the Dragon World and would disappear when the worlds merged.
• Zhao Cheng deduced that the land would protect and transform people during the merger, while those with little affinity for it might arrive at the dangerous boundary between the void and the land.
• Gao Shou joked that players could use foreknowledge to seize advantages, and Lu Xun challenged his plans to earn money through storytelling and inventions.
• Lu Xun argued that gangs, local magnates, and officials would exploit or kill transmigrators who tried to profit from modern knowledge, and that joining the army or advising rulers offered little hope.
• Han Jinyue recognized Lu Xun’s deductions as accurate because players who had tried similar schemes had been swallowed up by the people in power.

Han Jinyue pursued a path to power in Seize the Dragon by entering the Dao and rising through Zhang Huang'er's forces rather than recruiting players immediately. She believed the Yellow Heaven Army's coming defeat would give her a fresh opportunity to gain influence and perhaps establish herself independently.

• Players with dwindling resolve considered joining state organizations, which offered high salaries, housing, cars, and strategic support.
• Han Jinyue resisted those offers because her wealthy upbringing had left her ambitious and unconcerned with securing money.
• As Zhang Huang'er's maid, Han Jinyue chose to enter the Dao instead of gathering players as her supporters.
• Entering the Dao would free Han Jinyue from servant status and make her a Commandant able to lead troops.
• Han Jinyue expected Zhang Huang'er to rise as a general after the Yellow Heaven Army's coming defeat, creating opportunities for her own advancement.

Zhao Cheng discussed the difficulty of changing history and joked that his companions could secure rewards by treating him to meals. When Zhang Yuxin asked what Han Jinyue should receive for all the meals she had mooched off him, Zhao Cheng left everyone stunned with his answer.

• Han Jinyue fantasized about someday turning against the Great General of Yingtian and claiming territory for herself.
• Gao Shou asked Zhao Cheng what he thought of Brother Xun's argument, and Zhao Cheng agreed that changing history was difficult before boasting that he would unify the realm.
• Zhao Cheng suggested his companions treat him to more meals in exchange for becoming princes, prompting Zhang Yuxin to tease him about Han Jinyue's many free meals.
• Zhang Yuxin asked what Han Jinyue should become, while Lu Xun secretly urged Zhao Cheng to offer himself in marriage.
• Zhao Cheng paused dramatically and told Zhang Yuxin, "I can only grant you death," leaving everyone dumbfounded.

Han Jinyue received Zhao Cheng’s long-delayed safety pendant and reached the Dao after a strange dream, while Lu Xun and Gao Shou awoke as players transmigrated into the Seize the Dragon world. In the Chain Mountains, Zhao Cheng studied the connections among the three worlds, discovered that the game’s mysterious power was linked to the Dao Venerable, and changed his Hyper-Dimensional Body.

• Zhao Cheng gave Han Jinyue the safety pendant he had bought when they graduated, bringing their old connection to an end.
• Han Jinyue dreamed of the past and future, then awoke having entered the Dao, with tears on her pillow.
• Lu Xun woke in the body of a prestigious Lu Clan descendant and discovered an attribute panel for the Seize the Dragon game.
• Gao Shou woke in the body of a renowned wandering hero who had returned to recruit troops against the Yellow Heaven Army.
• Zhao Cheng examined how the Seize the Dragon world, the game world, and the Initial World influenced one another as time passed.
• Zhao Cheng formed a multidimensional Yi symbol, realized the game’s power was connected to the Dao Venerable, and saw his Hyper-Dimensional Body evolve while his true body concealed itself further.

Feng Shi and the young men of Greenwood Stronghold were drawn to the legends of the Heaven-Answering General and the chance to enlist in the Heaven-Answering Army. As Feng Shi reached the stronghold, he was eager to leave the mountains and seek a future beyond them.

• Feng Shi saw the firelight from Greenwood Stronghold and hurried on despite his exhaustion.
• The chapter described Greenwood Stronghold’s decline, its dwindling population, and the lack of wives for its young men.
• Stories of the Heaven-Answering General and the world beyond the mountains spread through the Hundred Villages of Linked Mountains, inspiring young men to consider enlistment.
• Feng Shi recalled his hunting skills and the lessons a Daoist priest had taught him, and believed he could distinguish himself in the army.
• Feng Shi’s confidence grew from stories of the Heaven-Answering General’s divine deeds, including the abundance of game and the bountiful harvests.

Zhao Cheng used abundant sweet potato harvests and winter provisions to persuade mountain stockades to worship Yellow Heaven and accept his rule. Feng Shi arrived at the Heaven-Answering Army, where new recruits began lessons that taught them to follow General Heaven-Answering.

• The Heaven-Answering Army harvested sweet potatoes yielding three thousand jin per mu and gave each new recruit three hundred jin to take home for winter.
• News spread that stockades worshipping Yellow Heaven could receive Heavenly Dew through emissaries chosen from their own people, and faith in Heaven-Answering General's Heavenly Mandate grew.
• Feng Shi and his group entered the orderly military camp, where Feng Shi saw signs of the army's fire-baleful qi.
• At dawn, new recruits ate hot sweet potatoes and attended a lesson led by a Daoist officer instead of beginning physical training.
• Feng Shi named General Heaven-Answering as the leader who could bring victory, and the other recruits soon shouted the same answer.

Feng Shi and the other mountain recruits endured their first day of obedience and coordination drills before Daoist officers eased them into camp life through personal conversations. The officers recorded observations about the recruits, and their reports reached Zhao Cheng as he built a system to strengthen the army's loyalty.

• Feng Shi and the new recruits completed a grueling day of drills, with the Heaven-Answering Army's rules allowing recruits to reconsider enlistment during their first ten days.
• A Daoist officer visited Feng Shi's cabin, asked about the recruits' well-being, and guided them into discussing their families and reasons for joining.
• Feng Shi spoke enthusiastically about his admiration for the Great General, while other recruits described hunger and hardship in their mountain homes.
• Daoist officers across the camp recorded each recruit's traits and noted Feng Shi's repeated praise of the Great General.
• The reports were delivered to Zhao Cheng, whose system aimed to build the recruits' loyalty and cohesion over time.

Zhao Cheng strengthened his control of the Heaven-Answering Army while considering the challenges of its future growth. At Three Waters Stronghold, Sun Chu planned to take over Zhao Cheng’s forces, unaware that Lin Yi had arrived to recruit soldiers.

• Zhao Cheng reviewed army records and handled reports as his Golden Lotus Dao Seed gathered power from strongholds that acknowledged the Way of Yellow Heaven.
• Zhao Cheng reflected on the army’s shortage of logistics personnel and how Blue Star players might have helped if they had entered the Seize the Dragon World.
• At Three Waters Stronghold, Sun Chu dismissed the stories about Zhao Cheng and decided to use his higher rank to seize control of the army.
• Lin Yi led a party to Three Waters Stronghold to recruit soldiers, volunteering for the work to earn Zhao Cheng’s trust.

Lin Yi brought fifty armored soldiers and food to Three Waters Stronghold, while considering Zhao Cheng’s plans to unite the mountain settlements and his own possible role in guarding Linked Mountains. The wary residents gradually lowered their guard, though they still did not fully trust the newcomers.

• Lin Yi brought fifty armored soldiers carrying sweet potatoes to Three Waters Stronghold to provide supplies and demonstrate the Heaven-Answering Army’s strength.
• Lin Yi considered the mountain settlements’ population problems and Zhao Cheng’s plan to merge them into larger strongholds.
• Lin Yi planned to volunteer to guard Linked Mountains if the Heaven-Answering Army captured Wu City and the situation later stabilized.
• The people of Three Waters Stronghold confronted Lin Yi’s group with farm tools, fearing the armored soldiers’ strength.
• Lin Yi stopped his soldiers while the mountain folk who had guided them spoke with the residents, who eventually lowered their guard somewhat.

Lin Yi recruited soldiers at Three Waters Stronghold before killing Sun Chu, who claimed to be General Feiyun of the Yellow Heaven Army. After Lin Yi returned to Zhao Cheng’s camp and confessed to forging an order, Zhao Cheng praised him and rewarded him, while Wang Shouzheng grew more discouraged.

• Lin Yi recruited thirteen mountain folk at Three Waters Stronghold and promised that craftsmen would later teach trades there.
• Sun Chu claimed to be Flying Cloud General and demanded that Lin Yi and his soldiers kneel.
• Lin Yi invoked a fabricated secret decree from Zhao Cheng, and the armored soldiers killed Sun Chu and his guards.
• Lin Yi returned to camp, confessed to Zhao Cheng that he had killed Sun Chu and forged the order, and asked for punishment.
• Zhao Cheng declared Lin Yi’s actions meritorious, awarded him Heaven-Answering Robes, and granted him great merit.
• Wang Shouzheng doubted that Sun Chu had been an impostor but stayed silent and abandoned his schemes.

Wang Lun learned that Lin Yi’s reward signaled an approaching attack on Wu City and reflected on the events he remembered from the Seize the Dragon anime. He recalled Lin Yi’s eventual disgrace in the Chain Mountains Case and the possible dangers of Zhao Cheng’s Daoist kingdom, while remaining safely on the master craftsman path.

• Wang Lun recognized Lin Yi’s beheading of Flying Cloud as a turning point that could affect the Heaven-Answering Army’s assault on Wu City.
• Wang Lun recalled that he had joined the game as a mountain dweller in the Chain Mountains and chosen the safer master craftsman path over soldiering.
• Wang Lun remembered how the Chain Mountains nobles later embezzled dike-repair funds, leading to a flood and a court investigation.
• Wang Lun recalled that Lin Yi was executed after the Chain Mountains Case and regretted helping Zhao Cheng conquer the land.
• Wang Lun considered forum theories that establishing a Daoist kingdom over the earthly realm and the Void carried inherent dangers.

Wang Lun considered how to earn merit by helping Zhao Cheng, while Xuanzhenzi and his companions approached the Heaven-Answering Army and faced the backlash of its formidable military qi. Zhao Cheng’s troop inspection impressed players and alarmed a Wu Qi spy, while Han Jinyue watched a recording and compared the Great General with Zhao Cheng in reality.

• Wang Lun planned to offer Zhao Cheng advanced knowledge so he could gain merit and become a Grandmaster.
• Xuanzhenzi, Fan Qingmeng, and her junior disciple reached the Chain Mountains and Xuanzhenzi inferred that the Yellow Heaven Daoist had bet on Zhao Cheng to preserve the Yellow Heaven Dao.
• Xuanzhenzi’s divination talisman burst, and the Heaven-Answering Army’s qi suppressed Fan Qingmeng’s magical power.
• Zhao Cheng inspected his troops, whose roaring salute awed Wang Lun and convinced a spy sent by Wu Qi to report the army’s strength.
• A player’s recording of the troop inspection became popular on the game forums, and Han Jinyue watched it and reconsidered the Great General’s match with Zhang Huang'er.
• Han Jinyue thought Zhao Cheng in the recording resembled Zhao Cheng in reality, then dismissed the idea and decided not to contact him.

After entering the Dao, Han Jinyue settled into her new residence and began tempering her Dao Seed while studying the Yellow Heaven Great Method. She learned how inherited Dharma Realms could refine a Daoist’s Dao Seed and dharma power, leaving her at the start of that process.

• Han Jinyue left her room and reflected on how entering the Dao had freed her from servant status and made her a Yellow Heaven Army squad leader.
• Han Jinyue considered the strict hierarchy governing servants and accepted that she could only act within her limited means.
• Han Jinyue tempered her Dao Seed and recited the Yellow Heaven Great Method to strengthen her perception of the Yellow Heaven Dharma Realm.
• Han Jinyue learned that inherited Dharma Realms could enlighten Daoists and improve their Dao Seeds and dharma power beyond what unaffiliated cultivators could typically achieve.
• Han Jinyue reviewed the grades of Dao Seeds and learned that talent and comprehension determined the quality attained through enlightenment.