Chapter Summaries

Lu Qing continued his journey toward the Imperial Capital, using his travels among ordinary people to deepen his cultivation and understanding of the mortal world. He spent the night in an abandoned temple, where five wandering heroes joined him and began talking about their travels and the capital.

• Lu Qing parted from Zuo Liang, who took the young man with cultivation talent away as his disciple, while Liu Jincai awoke and wondered whether he had dreamed what happened.
• Lu Qing traveled near Qinzhou Prefecture and lit a fire in an abandoned temple by using his Divine Sense to make wood produce flame.
• Lu Qing sensed a group of five young men approaching the temple, including a cold ghostly aura among the signs he detected.
• Yan Da led the five wandering heroes into the temple, where they exchanged polite greetings with Lu Qing and set up their own fire.
• Yan Da offered Lu Qing flatbread, and the group warmed to him as they talked about his journey and the Imperial Capital.

Lu Qing spoke with five Yan Sect disciples and realized they were dead men whose memories concealed their deaths at the claws of a Mountain Tiger. He destroyed the tiger demon with scripture, leaving the five to remember their deaths and face their loss.

• Lu Qing learned that the five men belonged to the Yan Sect and were traveling to see the capital.
• The Yan brothers recounted conflicting versions of how they had encountered a Mountain Tiger, while Yan Da sensed something was wrong.
• Lu Qing recited scripture, drawing the tiger demon out of the five men as black qi that took the form of a red-browed, white-furred Mountain Tiger.
• The tiger demon attacked Lu Qing, but he shattered its spirits with scripture and made it vanish.
• The five men remembered being killed and swallowed by the tiger, and their terror and attachment to life gave way to profound loss.

Lu Qing defeated the Tiger Demon and reflected on how Cause and Effect shaped his cultivation. After reciting Clear-Heart True Words to dispel the lingering Killing Intent, he drew birds and beasts to the abandoned temple, then resumed his meditation as the gathering dispersed.

• The five Yan Sect youths thanked Lu Qing for avenging them, and he lifted them from their kneeling position.
• Lu Qing realized that his cultivation within the Void Realm was connected to his cultivation outside it and pondered the principles of his Golden Core art.
• Lu Qing saw that the Tiger Demon had died in the cave and recognized that the fire the youths had seen was an illusion.
• Lu Qing recited Clear-Heart True Words, cleansing the area of resentful Killing Intent and attracting birds and beasts from the surrounding wilderness.
• The birds and beasts bowed or left wild fruits before Lu Qing, then gradually dispersed after he finished reciting.
• Lu Qing left the fruits untouched and returned to his meditation and breathing exercises.

Lu Qing left a mountain temple after meditating and reached World City, where he observed the region’s thriving incense offerings and bustling mortal life. While eating at a roadside stall, he heard a tale about a Snow Demon and suspected it might have been a Snow Spirit.

• Lu Qing meditated through dawn, absorbed the Purple Radiance, and felt his lingering ailments ease.
• Lu Qing traveled from the temple to the outskirts of World City and saw crowds visiting temples and Daoist shrines.
• Lu Qing paid the entry fee and entered World City, then stopped at a roadside stall for Braised Meat Noodles.
• Lu Qing listened to a storyteller recount how a Snow Demon vanished, leaving an icy skeleton whose discoverers later died.
• Lu Qing considered whether the Snow Demon had been a Snow Spirit, a demon associated with nearby heavenly treasures.

In World City, Lu Qing discussed the rumors of a snow demon and the risks of cultivating through a dynasty with Daoist Ma Feng, who was traveling to the capital to try for the title of Celestial Master. Ma Feng departed to answer a summons from his temple, while Lu Qing stayed in World City to continue experiencing the mortal world.

• Lu Qing listened to conflicting rumors about a snow demon near World City and questioned the stories people had attached to it.
• Ma Feng approached Lu Qing after sensing that he might be a fellow cultivator, and the two shared a meal of braised meat noodles.
• Lu Qing told Ma Feng that cultivation within the Dynasty could bring rapid progress but might also breed inner demons.
• Ma Feng said he was going to the capital to try for the title of Celestial Master, though he was unsure whether he could win it or serve in the role.
• Ma Feng asked whether immortals had ever existed, and Lu Qing replied that he had never seen one.
• After a disciple summoned him on behalf of a martial uncle, Ma Feng left, and Lu Qing remained in World City for another day.

Lu Qing watched World City's Dragon Parade Festival and sensed how its True Dragon aura drove dark forces from the city. He overheard White-furred Rat Demons planning to find food, then saw a young monk spare them after they pleaded that they were harmless.

• Lu Qing watched the illuminated parade dragon and recognized a trace of a True Dragon's form and spirit in its eyes.
• The parade dragon's appearance sent the dark aura fleeing from the lantern-lit city center.
• A group of White-furred Rats planned to enter nearby homes and pay for food with copper coins they had found.
• Lu Qing overheard the Rat Demons and watched a young monk confront them.
• The young monk spared the Rat Demons after seeing they carried no bloody aura, and Lu Qing sensed another thread of Providence connect.

Lu Qing reflected on the young monk’s promise to the white rat demons, then continued toward the imperial capital of Great Qi. On a hillside, he cultivated by gathering Purple Dawn Clear Qi, forming a thread of Dao Fire and beginning to condense acupoints.

• Lu Qing exchanged a nod with the young monk who had spared the white rat demons and considered how their promise might shape their cultivation.
• Lu Qing watched the Dragon Parade Festival in World City and stayed overnight before continuing his journey toward the imperial capital of Great Qi.
• Lu Qing traveled for several more days, resting in abandoned temples and deserted villages along the way.
• Lu Qing found a hillside suited to gathering the purple qi of heaven and earth and began cultivating on a flat stone.
• Lu Qing gathered Purple Dawn Clear Qi, circulated it through his body, kindled a thread of fire in his dantian, and connected his acupoints.
• Lu Qing completed his breakthrough, cleared his lingering ailments, and contemplated the mysterious cultivation path he had entered.

Lu Qing gained an early insight into a spatial divine power resembling a crude Sleeve Cosmos, then continued toward the Imperial City. Meanwhile, Zuo Liang, Qing Feng, and Ma Feng reunited in World City and set out for the capital, arriving well before Lu Qing.

• After three days of cultivation, Lu Qing realized he had grasped the beginnings of a spatial divine power and tested it by drawing wild birds into his sleeve.
• Lu Qing released the birds, reflected on how far his crude technique was from a true Sleeve Cosmos, and resumed walking.
• Zuo Liang and Qing Feng summoned Yellow Cloud Temple disciples in World City, prompting Ma Feng to rush over and find them roasting a duck.
• Zuo Liang and Ma Feng learned that they had both encountered Lu Qing, and Ma Feng admitted he did not regret missing him.
• Zuo Liang, Qing Feng, and Ma Feng left for the Imperial City, reaching it seven days before Lu Qing arrived.

Practitioners poured into the imperial capital to contend for the Celestial Master position, while Ma Feng stayed determined and Zuo Liang reconsidered after sensing the atmosphere there. Lu Qing noticed black qi gathering over some practitioners and came upon a frail scholar accused of paying for plums with coins for the dead.

• Practitioners gathered in the imperial capital, where the Emperor’s plan to appoint a Celestial Master drew competing visitors and raised concerns about immortality and the imperial treasury.
• Ma Feng told Zuo Liang he still meant to contend for the position, while Zuo Liang warned him about inner demons and the need to handle subordinates.
• Lu Qing observed black qi gathering at some practitioners’ foreheads as he walked through the city with Zuo Liang, Ma Feng, and Qing Feng.
• A plum vendor accused a frail scholar of stealing fruit and paying with coins for the dead, and nearby people joined in condemning him.

Lu Qing investigated the Lin Family Money House after learning its paper money was connected to a deadly gold ingot. He traced the money house’s haunting to a wider chain of murder and treasure seizure, then discovered a link to the Heavenly Masters' Spell Duel Conference and acted to protect innocents.

• Lu Qing paid the young scholar’s debt and learned that he had obtained the strange paper money at the Lin Family Money House.
• The money house clerk told Lu Qing that paper money kept reappearing and that people connected to a gold ingot had died or gone mad.
• Lu Qing saw blood qi linking the gold ingot to the money house’s occupants and realized the incident was part of a chain of murder, corpse burial, and treasure seizure.
• Lu Qing connected the case to a sorcerer’s move and the Heavenly Masters' Spell Duel Conference, which involved the royal family, Daoists, and monks.
• Lu Qing went to a bloodstained road outside the Capital City and spread a white light over it while warning the dead not to harm the innocent.
• Other sorcerers accepted the Lin family's commission to deal with the haunting.

Lu Qing watched as Master Lin led six practitioners to investigate the haunted mountain, where Master Liao Hong and Qingyang arrived and confronted the powerful spirit. In the imperial city, the Crown Prince learned from Xie that he had to seize the throne to protect himself from the dead scholar.

• Master Lin led six masters up the mountain to inspect where the dead man had appeared, as the weather abruptly turned ominous.
• Master Liao Hong and Qingyang warned the group that a dangerous evil was about to emerge and accused Master Lin of committing many evils.
• A piercing cry overwhelmed the masters and pinned Master Lin to the ground as he insisted he had not murdered anyone or taken the treasure.
• The Crown Prince awoke from a nightmare and demanded that Xie explain why the dead scholar had not been dealt with.
• Xie told the Crown Prince that the scholar’s spirit could soon break through his seal and urged him to ascend the throne to gain the Son of Heaven Aura.

Lu Qing used a leaf from an old tree to interrupt Dharma Master Liao Hong and Daoist Qingyang as they fought a vengeful spirit, exposing Master Lin’s crimes and the Crown Prince’s role in a scheme tied to the Celestial Master Assembly. He left the spirit to seek its revenge and returned the leaf to the tree, while the monks and Daoist hurried toward the Capital City to stop a possible plot against the Son of Heaven.

• The Crown Prince of Great Qi decided that his father needed to die, while Lu Qing noticed bloodiness gathering in the imperial palace’s Providence.
• Lu Qing heard the old tree’s spirit and empowered one of its leaves before sending it toward the battle on the mountain path.
• The leaf stopped Dharma Master Liao Hong and Daoist Qingyang’s attacks, and its light made Master Lin confess his crimes and his connection to the Crown Prince and a Celestial Master.
• Master Lin revealed that a scholar had been killed to create a corpse of resentment, prompting Daoist Qingyang and the others to rush toward the Capital City.
• Lu Qing retrieved the leaf after the group departed and returned it to the old tree to nurture.

At the Celestial Master Assembly, Qingyang and other sorcerers prepared to expose the Crown Prince’s human-elixir crimes, while Lu Qing watched from a distance. The Crown Prince was struck by terrifying black flames, the assembly descended into chaos, and Xie fled.

• The Crown Prince attended the Celestial Master Assembly with Xie, planning to use the gathering to seize the throne and claim its dragon aura.
• Qingyang, Lehong, and other sorcerers gathered allies after discovering the Crown Prince’s blood pool, buried bones, and human-elixir operation.
• Lu Qing arrived on a high platform but left the dynasty’s affairs for its own people to resolve.
• The Emperor and Empress watched a magical contest as the sorcerers performed for the assembly.
• A black shadow appeared above the Crown Prince, and black-red flames began burning from his body as he clawed at his throat.
• Xie vanished as the Crown Prince collapsed, while guards, sorcerers, and spectators panicked and the assembly fell into chaos.

Lu Qing watched Qingyang kill Xie and accepted a book from the final Resentful Corpse before it dispersed. The Black Bead revealed insights into the Human Path, while Xie’s Record of Cultivation left Lu Qing reflecting on the dangers of the cultivation road.

• Xie returned to the place where Qingyang was waiting and died, protesting that an evil spirit had defeated him with outside help.
• The final wisp of the Resentful Corpse bowed to Lu Qing and offered him Xie’s Record of Cultivation.
• Lu Qing accepted the book, and the Resentful Corpse dissipated as the dark clouds over the imperial city scattered.
• Lu Qing caught the Black Bead and saw the varied lives and human hearts contained within the Resentful Corpse, gaining new insight into the Human Path.
• Lu Qing read Xie’s account of beginning immortal cultivation and fearing death, then closed the book and reflected on the tribulations along the path of cultivation.

Lu Qing completed his journey through the Treasure Bead world, returned briefly to the Lu Residence, and left after gaining insight into its heaven and earth. Back on Spirit Leaf Island, he broke through to the Second Golden Core Stage and began to suspect that many Golden Core cultivators had become incomplete False Golden Cores to avoid the remaining Tribulations.

• Lu Qing traveled across the Mortal Realm for months, observing its people and landscapes before returning to the Lu Residence.
• Lu Qing told Father Lu that he was still on the road, drank tea with his parents, and departed as the Treasure Bead world's power neared its limit.
• Back on Spirit Leaf Island, Lu Qing broke through to the Second Golden Core Stage as his Inner World separated into heaven and earth.
• Lu Qing realized that advancing through Golden Core minor stages increased lifespan, so a Golden Core's lifespan was not necessarily limited to three thousand years.
• Lu Qing examined memories of the Phoenix-Tail Ancestor and other cultivators and concluded that many had become incomplete False Golden Cores by avoiding the remaining Tribulations.

Lu Qing reflected on his year of cultivation in the Treasure Bead, which had lasted only as long as a cup of tea outside, and continued cultivating on Spirit Leaf Island. After learning the Nine Heavens would open in October, he prepared to go there with White Crane Boy, while news of his Golden Core achievement left his fellow disciples and Heavenly Prodigies reeling.

• Lu Qing noticed that only a quarter of an hour had passed outside during his nearly year-long seclusion, and considered the dimmed Treasure Bead and his unfinished Divine Ability.
• White Crane Boy told Lu Qing that his advancement to the Purple Mansion Realm let him remain in the Nine Heavens and that he could travel between both places.
• Lu Qing learned through his token that the Nine Heavens would open in October and invited White Crane Boy to accompany him.
• White Crane Boy agreed to go with Lu Qing and planned to gather the food he had stashed across distant lands.
• Lu Qing informed people he knew that he would be changing places to cultivate, and disciples reacted with shock to his rapid rise to Golden Core and his move to the Inner Sect.

Gu Xuantian and other prodigies learned that Lu Qing was their contemporary and wondered at his rapid rise. Meanwhile, Lu Qing prepared to leave Spirit Leaf Island for the Inner Sect, planning to move his Spirit Plants into the Long Feather Trial Micro-Realm.

• Gu Xuantian told the gathered prodigies that Lu Qing had entered the academy in the same year as them, surprising Wan Feiyu and the others.
• The prodigies discussed Lu Qing’s rise and whether he shared their special fortune, while acknowledging that the Dao Path was long.
• Lu Qing inspected his belongings and Spirit Fields as he prepared to leave Spirit Leaf Island for the Inner Sect.
• Lu Qing decided to transplant his Spirit Plants into the Long Feather Trial Micro-Realm and considered where to place the Profound Cloud Blood Dragon.
• Lu Qing chose a spot on the north side of the mountain and prepared to move the Spirit Plant without damaging its Spiritual Resonance.

Lu Qing left Spirit Leaf Island with White Crane Boy, who guided him toward the inner sect and gave him tea seeds and a sound-transmission talisman. They passed the crowded mountain gate assembly, then continued toward their separate destinations.

• Lu Qing retrieved the formations from Spirit Leaf Island, left its stele in place, and departed aboard his flying vessel.
• White Crane Boy joined Lu Qing as his guide and gave him three tea seeds and a sound-transmission talisman so they could stay in touch.
• Lu Qing and White Crane Boy discussed their plans to visit their respective masters and ancestors.
• White Crane Boy pointed out the mountain gate assembly, where crowds gathered to seek admission to the Profound Heaven Dao Academy.
• Lu Qing and White Crane Boy flew past the assembly, leaving the bustle behind as they neared their destination.

Lu Qing reached the entrance to the Nine Heavens and studied a jade slip White Crane Boy gave him, learning about the realm and its major powers. White Crane Boy entered through the sealed gate, leaving Lu Qing outside with instructions to use his token.

• Lu Qing examined the cliffs, raging winds, iron-chain bridge, and sealed bronze gate leading into the Nine Heavens.
• White Crane Boy gave Lu Qing a map and a jade slip describing the Nine Heavens, its cultivation realms, and its nine great Immortal Sects.
• Lu Qing studied the information and committed the map's locations to memory, recognizing how far the Nine Heavens surpassed the Profound Heaven Domain.
• White Crane Boy told Lu Qing to present his token at the gate and said Lu Qing could contact him with a transmission talisman.
• White Crane Boy answered a summons from the ancestor, then flew through the gate as it rippled with spiritual light.

Lu Qing crossed the Nine Heavens on his Flying Boat and reached an ancient bronze gate that he recognized as a cross-realm teleportation formation. As elders watched and discussed his prospects, Song Wen praised Lu Qing but left his future in the Inner Sect to fate.

• Lu Qing identified the ancient bronze gate as a cross-realm teleportation formation and prepared his Flying Boat to cross the mountain’s violent gales.
• Lu Qing guided the Flying Boat through the gales and entered the Nine Heavens through the gate.
• Elders at the Mountain Gate Assembly noticed Lu Qing and considered his cultivation, talent, and place in the coming great age.
• Zhou Yaoming stopped the elders from discussing matters beyond their control and urged them not to interfere too much with the disciples’ paths.
• Song Wen praised Lu Qing and said that his future in the Inner Sect should be left to fate.