Chapter Summaries

Ling Qing revealed that Xu Xian, Bai Suzhen, and a Buddhist Arhat were bound by a debt from a past life, forcing Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen to confront the tribulation of their relationship. He left the choice of how to face it to them, and they agreed to visit him at Three Pure Ones Temple for guidance.

• Ling Qing explained that Xu Xian had saved a White Snake seventeen hundred years earlier and enlightened the herb gatherer, and both beings now had to repay their debts before attaining the Dao.
• Ling Qing’s revelation triggered Xu Xian’s divine sight, making Bai Suzhen appear as a giant snake; he panicked and fell, and Bai Suzhen tried to leave in grief.
• Ling Qing stopped Bai Suzhen from fleeing and explained that she was the White Snake, whose gratitude and accumulated tribulations had become entangled with love for Xu Xian.
• Ling Qing urged Xu Xian to judge supernatural beings for himself and told both of them that they must choose how to face their tribulation without being forced by others.
• After Ling Qing departed, Xiaoqing eased the awkwardness, and Xu Xian suggested that they visit Ling Qing at Three Pure Ones Temple to ask for guidance; Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing agreed.

Ling Qing explained the foundations of cultivation and the paths open to demons, helping Xiaoqing and Bai Suzhen understand what their practice lacked. Bai Suzhen realized her Dao was rooted in life-giving water, awakening Heavenly One True Water, which then interacted with Xu Xian’s golden and silver radiance.

• Xu Xian, Bai Suzhen, and Xiaoqing listened to Ling Qing’s morning recitations, each gaining different insights.
• Ling Qing answered their questions about cultivation and explained the three paths demons could follow: cultivating their bodies, becoming demon gods, or seeking immortality.
• Xiaoqing chose to follow Bai Suzhen’s path as a demon immortal, and Ling Qing taught her methods for refining qi.
• Bai Suzhen recognized that nurturing life through water was the Dao she had cultivated and manifested Heavenly One True Water.
• Xu Xian’s golden and silver radiance responded to the water, transforming as a thread of divine light returned to Bai Suzhen’s Heavenly One True Water.

Liu Taizhen discovered Ling Qing’s profound cultivation and asked to learn from him, while Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian finished cultivating together. Ling Qing refused to take Taizhen as a disciple but agreed to discuss the Dao with him.

• Liu Taizhen saw Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian radiating mysterious light as they cultivated before Ling Qing and realized Ling Qing was the true master.
• Clear Wind told Liu Taizhen that Ling Qing was teaching the Dao, and Ling Qing invited him into the hall.
• Liu Taizhen paid his respects to Ling Qing and met Bai Suzhen, Xiaoqing, and Xu Xian.
• Liu Taizhen asked Ling Qing to accept him as a disciple, but Ling Qing refused because they had no master-disciple affinity.
• Ling Qing agreed to answer Liu Taizhen’s cultivation questions and began teaching him about talismans and Taoist Ritual Ceremony methods.

Ling Qing discussed the Dao with Bai Suzhen and sought to strengthen his treasures by using her Tianyi True Water. After choosing the Primordial Unity Banner, he began nurturing its water sprite bug, hoping to make it the banner’s true spirit and advance the banner into a Dharma treasure.

• Ling Qing learned from Bai Suzhen’s insights into water and gained a deeper understanding of summoning wind and rain and Mastery of the Five Thunders.
• Ling Qing reviewed the incarnations and treasures he had left behind and considered which magical implement to advance with Heavenly One True Water.
• Ling Qing chose the Primordial Unity Banner because its primal qi and elemental abilities suited his growing mastery of thunder, wind, rain, and the Five Elements.
• Bai Suzhen lent Ling Qing a drop of Tianyi True Water, and he compensated her with medicinal pills, spiritual fruits, and Three Lights Divine Water.
• Ling Qing merged the drop with the banner’s water sprite bug and planned to use Spirit Dragon's Power to spread its spiritual radiance through the Origin Sprite Bug.

Ling Qing completed the Primordial Unity Banner and learned that Liu Taizhen had gone to subdue a demon at Zhou Manor. After Liu Taizhen was knocked unconscious, Ling Qing arrived and revived him, learning that the demon was Huang Shunu of Five Cloud Mountain.

• Ling Qing used Heavenly One True Water and elemental spirit bugs to complete the Primordial Unity Banner, forming an innate primal breath around it.
• Liu Taizhen accepted Squire Zhou's request to subdue a demon and pawned temple furnishings to redeem his Daoist clothes and equipment.
• A demonic aura descended on Zhou Manor, and golden Buddhist light suppressed it; Ling Qing recognized Daoji's presence and went to investigate.
• Ling Qing entered Zhou Manor, found Liu Taizhen unconscious in the rear courtyard, and cleared the demonic aura from his body.
• Liu Taizhen told Ling Qing that the demon was Huang Shunu, a yellow immortal from Five Cloud Mountain who had knocked him unconscious with demonic aura.

Ling Qing arranged for Liu Taizhen to recapture Huang Shunü and restore the Daoist sect’s reputation after Ji Dian’s Skanda statue had subdued her. Liu Taizhen trapped the demon and struck with a Demon Slashing Talisman, but a golden light intervened just before the blow landed.

• Liu Taizhen thanked Ling Qing for saving him, and Ling Qing explained that Ji Dian’s Skanda statue had subdued Granny Huang.
• Ling Qing told Liu Taizhen to prepare the ritual altar so they could capture Huang Shunü again, and Liu drew three talismans using his heart’s blood.
• Ling Qing released the demon from the statue and summoned Emperor Miaoxiang to fight the Skanda statue as Huang Shunü fled as black wind.
• Liu Taizhen and Zhou Manor’s servants formed a Bagua formation and used talismans to trap Huang Shunü and force her to take human form.
• Liu Taizhen overcame his fear and struck Huang Shunü with a Demon Slashing Sword Qi, but a golden light fell from the sky and blocked the attack.

Ling Qing trapped Daoji in the Five Dragons Suppress Heaven Formation while trying to seize Huang Shunu, but Daoji subdued the formation’s dragons and offered to owe Ling Qing another favor. Ling Qing demanded that Daoji protect someone through a tribulation, then unleashed a hidden dragon that Daoji absorbed into his Arhat Sarira.

• Daoji appeared at Zhou Manor and asked Ling Qing to spare Huang Shunu, claiming she had only tried to help Young Master Zhou.
• Ling Qing formed the Five Dragons Suppress Heaven Formation and challenged Daoji to subdue it.
• Daoji manifested a giant Arhat Dharma form, subdued the Yellow Dragon at the formation’s center, and offered Ling Qing another favor in exchange for Huang Shunu.
• Ling Qing asked Daoji to protect someone through their tribulation, but Daoji said he could not promise to do so.
• Daoji seized the formation’s four other dragons and claimed victory, but Ling Qing sent another colossal Primordial Spirit Dragon at him.
• Daoji absorbed the incoming dragon into his Arhat Sarira, and Ling Qing declared that his plan had succeeded.

Ling Qing defeated Daoji by trapping six dragons within him, forcing him to abandon his chance to ascend and leaving him bound by the formation. Daoji accepted his defeat and followed Ling Qing to the Three Pure Ones Temple, agreeing to answer to his commands.

• Ling Qing used the Six Dragon Ascension Grand Array to make Daoji’s Dragon-Subduing power trigger the Buddhist light of reception and begin pulling him toward the Western Heaven.
• Daoji avoided ascension by dispersing his Dharma power into the array, but Ling Qing turned the six empowered dragons into tattoos that sank into Daoji’s body.
• Ling Qing restored the Primordial Unity Banner and ended the chaotic realm, while Daoji healed the damaged Skanda statue with a Mud Pellet.
• Daoji asked Ling Qing to release Huang Shunu, giving up his claim to the great stele tower, and Huang Shunu departed after Daoji warned her not to fall into his hands again.
• Ling Qing left Zhou Manor for the Three Pure Ones Temple, and Daoji followed, explaining that the six dragons bound to him were beyond his control and accepting Ling Qing’s commands.

Ling Qing returned to Three Pure Ones Temple with Daoji, received the silver Zhou Manor offered, and introduced Bai Suzhen to Daoji. Daoji gave Bai Suzhen a treasured strand of prayer beads to call on for protection, and his cryptic words left her pondering her fate.

• Ling Qing and Daoji reached Three Pure Ones Temple, where Daoji slept while Ling Qing meditated until morning.
• Taoist Liu brought five thousand taels of silver from Zhou Manor, and Ling Qing kept it as temple funds while giving Liu ten taels to redeem the temple's belongings.
• Xu Xian left for work, and Ling Qing asked Bai Suzhen to stay so he could introduce her to someone who might help her.
• Daoji awoke at the smell of wine and meat, and Ling Qing introduced him to Bai Suzhen and asked him to protect her from whoever had brought her into her tribulation.
• Daoji gave Bai Suzhen his Seven Treasures prayer beads and said that treasure hidden in the mire could undo the flaw upon white jade, leaving Bai Suzhen thoughtful.

Ling Qing prepared Bai Suzhen, Xiaoqing, Liu Taizhen, and the temple disciples for his departure, then left Hangzhou to gain perspective on the tribulation. The chapter ended with monks at Hidden Spirit Temple, Jinshan Temple, and Putuo Mountain looking toward Lin'an City.

• Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing used the spells Ling Qing had taught them to restore White Manor, while Ling Qing decided not to interfere further in Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian's connection.
• After morning lessons, Ling Qing announced he would travel immediately and gave Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian Lovesickness Beans.
• Ling Qing gave Xiaoqing a green snake talisman artifact and a method to separate her demonic nature, then handed Liu Taizhen a Talisman Primer.
• Ling Qing advised Clear Wind, Bright Moon, Golden Dawn, and White Cloud on cultivation and gave each a booklet of daily lesson scriptures.
• Ling Qing left the Three Pure Ones Temple, surveyed Lin'an and nearby places tied to future events, and vanished into a streak of light.
• Monks at Hidden Spirit Temple, Jinshan Temple, and Putuo Mountain turned their gazes toward Lin'an City.

Ling Qing arrived at Marvel Treasure Mountain and tracked down its wary, two-thousand-year-old Ginseng King. After trapping the Ginseng King in his grotto, he faced the spirit’s fears that Ling Qing intended to eat him.

• Ling Qing arrived at Marvel Treasure Mountain and spotted the Purple Aura Dragon King Ginseng hiding in the mountain.
• The Ginseng King watched Ling Qing fish and decided to stay hidden until the cultivator left.
• Ling Qing entered the mountain through the rock and found the Ginseng King’s true body in its grotto.
• The Ginseng King transformed and tried to flee, but Ling Qing’s restrictions repeatedly stopped him.
• The Ginseng King broke down crying, and Ling Qing gave him a jade bottle to catch his tears.

Ling Qing persuaded the Ginseng King to test a recipe for thousand-year-old ginseng soup by using one of his own roots. After the elaborate preparation, Ling Qing found that the broth strengthened his magical power and helped refine his primordial spirit, but it did not make anyone an immortal.

• Ling Qing showed the Ginseng King the soup recipe and convinced him to test it on one of his own roots.
• The Ginseng King tried to escape Ling Qing but was thrown back by a barrier, then reluctantly agreed to prepare the soup himself.
• The Ginseng King steamed the root nine times and aired it nine times, then cooked it with mountain delicacies and wild game through the recipe's long stages of heating.
• After the broth was ready, Ling Qing tasted it and found that it increased his magical power and aided the refinement of his primordial spirit.
• Ling Qing confirmed that the recipe's promise of becoming an immortal on the spot was false.

Ling Qing refined the Ginseng King through repeated steaming, helping him discover a cultivation method that could form an immortal embryo. The Ginseng King began secluded cultivation, then learned from Ling Qing that becoming an immortal also required cultivating virtue and accumulating merit.

• Ling Qing steamed the Ginseng King for nine days and nights, refining his body into an immortal embryo and purifying the vapor that nourished Marvel Treasure Mountain’s plants and beasts.
• The Ginseng King understood the method and comprehended the Water-Fire Spirit Refinement Art, a cultivation technique for plant spirits.
• The Ginseng King returned to the mountain’s heart to cultivate while Ling Qing chanted scriptures and taught the mountain’s awakened creatures.
• The Ginseng King asked Ling Qing why forming an immortal embryo had not made him an immortal, and Ling Qing explained that he lacked the Dao and virtue.
• Ling Qing taught the Ginseng King and the other listening creatures how to accumulate merit and cultivate virtue.

Xiaoqing discovered that Xu Xian had delayed proposing to Bai Suzhen because his family could not afford the betrothal gifts. She stole silver from wealthy households to help arrange the wedding, then returned to White Manor with the good news.

• Bai Suzhen worried that Xu Xian had changed his mind, so Xiaoqing went to ask Xu Jiaorong why he had delayed proposing.
• Xu Jiaorong admitted that Xu Xian's family lacked money for the wedding gifts and feared their offerings would be too meager.
• Xiaoqing realized she and Bai Suzhen had no money either, then asked the five ghosts how to obtain a large sum quickly.
• Bai Cai suggested taking silver from wealthy households, and Xiaoqing used the Five-Ghost Transportation technique to have the ghosts bring back a thousand taels.
• Xu Jiaorong accepted only one hundred taels, and Xiaoqing returned to White Manor to tell Bai Suzhen the good news.

After Xiaoqing’s theft of treasury silver led to Xu Xian’s exile in Zhenjiang, Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing followed him there and arranged his release from the prison camp. Xu Xian opened a pharmacy in their new home, and the couple resumed their harmonious life together.

• Xu Xian confessed to taking the treasury silver and accepted responsibility so Li Gongfu would not be punished, then he was sentenced to exile in Zhenjiang.
• Bai Suzhen and Xiaoqing decided to follow Xu Xian, gathered gold and silver from a mountain, and rented a home with a storefront in Zhenjiang.
• When Xu Xian arrived, Xiaoqing explained that they had paid a county office clerk to stand surety for him, securing his release from the prison camp.
• Xu Xian opened Peace Preservation Hall and treated patients by day while he and Bai Suzhen cultivated together morning and evening.

Ling Qing encountered Fahai, a young monk who captured a spider spirit and then attacked Ling Qing after mistaking Duan Chenxian for a demon. Ling Qing repelled Fahai’s kasaya, but Fahai’s Great Luo Golden Bowl shattered Ling Qing’s Primordial One Qi Grand Grappling hand, revealing itself as a Buddhist spiritual treasure.

• Ling Qing gave Duan Chenxian the Azure Wood Spirit Transformation Art to help him conceal his origins, and they met Fahai and a young monk on the mountain road.
• The young monk exposed an old monk as a spider spirit and captured it in his Great Luo Golden Bowl.
• Fahai identified Duan Chenxian as a demon and attacked him, while Duan Chenxian escaped using his practiced escape arts.
• Ling Qing blocked Fahai’s attack and destroyed the force of his kasaya with the Wanhua Whisk’s Dust Silk.
• Fahai hurled his Great Luo Golden Bowl at Ling Qing, and it shattered Ling Qing’s Primordial One Qi Grand Grappling hand.

Ling Qing fought Fahai, whose golden bowl was a spirit treasure, and escaped after Fahai’s divine thunder killed the spider demon. Suspecting Fahai was hiding his true cultivation, Ling Qing returned to confront him.

• Ling Qing blocked Fahai’s golden bowl with Five Elements Divine Thunder and escaped, but the thunder killed the spider demon inside the bowl.
• Fahai found Buddhist prayer beads on a broken branch and briefly wondered whether he had killed someone who had once received the Buddha’s blessing.
• Fahai failed to track Ling Qing, but detected Duan Chenxian’s Ginseng King aura and prepared to pursue him.
• Ling Qing returned after questioning why Fahai had supposedly cultivated for only twenty years and remained in the Human Immortal Realm.
• Ling Qing suspected that Fahai was concealing something about his identity or cultivation.

Ling Qing battled Fahai and discovered that his golden dragon and Purple-Gold Alms Bowl gave him the strength of two Earth Immortals. Ling Qing trapped Fahai within his Nine Palaces formation and separated him from both protectors, leaving Fahai facing a new forest realm.

• Ling Qing clashed with Fahai, using his Great Seizing Hand and Five Elements Divine Thunder against Fahai's Buddhist light and Purple-Gold Alms Bowl.
• Fahai unleashed the golden dragon coiled around his body, which Ling Qing recognized as Daoji's dragon; Ling Qing used nine Azure Palace gates to withstand its attack.
• Ling Qing spread azure mist and arranged the Nine Palaces formation, placing magical treasures and divine figures in its vacant palaces.
• Fahai fell into the Li Palace, where Emperor Miaoyuan attacked him with a sea of flames and drew away the Purple-Gold Alms Bowl.
• Fahai entered the Kan Palace, where Emperor Miaoxiang's ocean realm drew away his golden dragon, leaving Fahai to face an endless forest.

Fahai was separated from his golden alms bowl and golden dragon, then trapped in the Zhen Palace’s endless forest by Wondrous Existence Emperor Lord. Ling Qing watched as Emperor Miaoyuan and Emperor Miaoxiang each used their palaces to hold off Fahai’s treasures, and prepared to intervene.

• Emperor Miaoyuan merged the Li and Kun Palaces and used the Primordial Unity Banner to trap Fahai’s golden alms bowl in a storm of earth, water, fire, and wind.
• Emperor Miaoxiang merged the Gen and Kan Palaces and joined beasts, dragons, and the Spirit-Commanding Whip to entangle Fahai’s golden dragon.
• Wondrous Existence Emperor Lord merged the Xun and Zhen Palaces and used the Myriad Treasure Wondrous Tree to keep Fahai lost in a regenerating forest.
• Fahai burned through the forest with Buddhist light and Vajra Flames, but remained disoriented and unable to reach Wondrous Existence Emperor Lord.
• Ling Qing saw Fahai’s predicament and prepared to make his move.

Ling Qing defeated and subdued the enraged Fahai, only to discover that the monk was one of two Fahais: a mortal-world body separated from his true self. The body left Ling Qing with an unexplained karmic debt and vanished, leaving him to decide what would become of it.

• Ling Qing combined the Dui Palace and Qian Palace formations to form a sword of light that pierced Fahai.
• Fahai transformed into a giant turtle, and Ling Qing used the Nine Palaces Formation to subdue him and force him back into human form.
• Fahai awoke calm and explained that he had separated his worldly obsession into this body while his true self pursued Buddhist truth.
• Fahai said Ling Qing was tied to an unresolved karmic debt, touched Ling Qing's brow, and departed in a flash of golden light.
• Ling Qing called after Fahai, but the remaining body collapsed unconscious.