Recaps

As the drought devastated Qingjiang County, the Xu Household protected its crops and property while famine, violence, and the Xu Lineage’s destruction brought grief to the family. A band of armed looters planned an attack on the Xu Household, but their scarred leader grew suspicious of Xu Gan’s advice.

• The Xu Household irrigated its fields and shaded its orchards and medicine plots, allowing its harvests to survive while drought drove villagers to sell their land.
• As famine and attacks spread across Qingjiang County, the Xu Lineage’s residence burned down, and Bai Hua told Bai Jing that the Zeng Household and her second sister were gone.
• Xu Chuan ordered round-the-clock patrols of the Xu Household’s residence, fields, wooded hills, and businesses, with signal cannons to warn of attacks.
• A band of looters discussed striking the Xu Household by staging attacks on several properties and using refugees as cover to reach its main residence.
• The scarred leader asked Xu Gan whether he was deliberately goading him into attacking the Xu Household.

Xu Gan persuaded the bandit gang to target the Xu Household while secretly hoping both sides would be destroyed. After Xu Mingxuan sensed danger and Xu Chuan received an ominous divination, Xu Chuan assigned defenses across the household’s properties and prepared for the attack that night.

• Xu Gan encouraged the Scarred Middle-Aged Man and the gang to plunder the Xu Household, and they agreed to investigate it before attacking.
• Xu Mingxuan reported suspicious strangers and his lingering unease to Xu Chuan, who urged him to trust his instincts.
• Xu Chuan’s divination warned that a houtian peak expert would lead many refugees in an assault during the hour of the pig.
• Xu Chuan assigned guards and family members to defend the Orchard, Medicine Field, Farmland, main gate, and Watchtower, ordering them to kill intruders without mercy.
• Gu Yiping offered to help, and Xu Chuan arranged for them to watch the Orchard and Medicine Field in secret.

The Xu Household’s ambush catches the attackers at Dongxi Village, and Xu Mingwei protects the residence by shooting down the Scarred Middle-Aged Man and his entire force. The other Xu siblings and their guards defeat the raiders at the Orchard, Medicine Field, and Farmland.

• The Scarred Middle-Aged Man split his men into groups to raid the Orchard, Medicine Field, and Farmland while he led the rest toward the Xu Residence.
• Xu Mingyuan and Xu Mingxian fought the raiders at the Orchard, with Xu Mingxian displaying formidable swordsmanship.
• Xu Mingshu and the White Tiger ambushed the Medicine Field raiders, killed Third, and drove the rest into chaos.
• Xu Mingxuan’s guards overwhelmed the attackers at the Farmland with their superior martial strength.
• Xu Mingwei spotted the main force approaching, killed the Scarred Middle-Aged Man with an arrow, then shot down the remaining attackers with more than a hundred and fifty arrows.

Xu Chuan’s household defeated a bandit group and secured supplies while preparing for the worsening drought. The chapter ended with Qingjiang County officials deciding to seek aid from the Commandery Seat and threatening rebellion if ignored.

• Xu Chuan joined his sons at the bandits’ hideout, killed the two surviving bandits, and ordered their supplies taken back to the Xu Household.
• Xu Mingshu returned on White Tiger and borrowed Beast-Taming Wonders, while Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan registered the bandits’ spoils.
• Xu Chuan estimated that the drought might end within a month or two and advised digging wells near Jade-Cold Pool and conserving water.
• Xu Chuan reflected that the Great Wei Dynasty prioritized its foundations and that the Xu Household could rely on its own strength rather than official positions.
• County Magistrate Wu and County Commandant Fang decided to ask neighboring officials to join them in seeking aid from the Commandery Seat, with Fang threatening rebellion if the crisis continued.

As drought-stricken Moon Lake Commandery received immortal officials and rain, Xu Chuan directed the Xu Household to buy distressed land, take in returning farmers, and build a lake to protect its fields. Xu Chuan also planned to pass household leadership to Xu Mingwei and financial management to Xu Mingyuan, while an immortal official was due to arrive in Dongxi Village to summon rain.

• Xu Mingwei visited the Wu Household and confirmed that Xu Yuan’s betrothal ceremony would be canceled.
• Yang Zhao proposed sending memorials for immortal officials to summon rain and oversee county officials, and Commandery Governor Chang ordered new conscription rules.
• Immortal officials brought some rain relief to the drought-stricken counties, and refugees returned to villages devastated by famine.
• Xu Chuan ordered Xu Mingyuan to spend a hundred thousand taels buying fields and wooded hills, and told him he would eventually manage the Xu Household’s finances while Xu Mingwei became household head.
• Xu Mingyuan gained County Magistrate Wu’s approval for the land purchases, while Xu Mingwei organized more than a thousand workers to dig a lake for the Xu Household’s fields.
• Xu Chuan’s divination revealed that an immortal official would arrive in Dongxi Village during the hour of the dragon to summon rain.

Immortal Official Xiao Changyuan visited the Xu Household and explained why cultivators served Great Wei despite their pursuit of the Great Dao. He then showed Xu Chuan his rain-calling spell by replenishing a dry pond in Dongxi Village.

• Xiao Changyuan questioned Sun Fugui about the Xu Household's lake excavation and learned that the household fed more than a thousand laborers during the drought.
• Sun Fugui brought Xiao Changyuan to meet Xu Chuan, who welcomed him and confirmed that he was an Immortal Official from Dragon River Commandery.
• Xiao Changyuan explained that cultivators generally obeyed Great Wei in exchange for its protection and resources, while rogue cultivators answered mainly to profit.
• Xu Chuan explained that he had ordered the lake dug as protection against future droughts, and Xiao Changyuan agreed that its size would provide a substantial reserve.
• Xu Chuan asked to watch Xiao Changyuan cast a spell, and Xiao Changyuan summoned rain that began filling a dry pond in Dongxi Village.

Xu Chuan bought a Testing Crystal from Xiao Changyuan and revealed to Xu Mingyuan that the Xu Household could enter immortal cultivation through martial training. When the county imposed compulsory military service amid the continuing drought, Xu Mingxuan and other Xu Household members enlisted, and the conscripts gathered to leave for the border with Great Liang.

• Xiao Changyuan explained cultivation aptitude and martial-to-immortal conversion, then sold Xu Chuan a Testing Crystal for a hundred thousand taels.
• Xu Chuan instructed Xu Mingwei to test the Xu Household’s members and revealed the crystal’s secret to him; Xu Mingwei then told Xu Mingyuan about their path into immortal cultivation.
• County officials issued a strict conscription decree, requiring households with two males over thirteen to send one to serve, and Xu Chuan ordered his family not to desert.
• Xu Mingxuan, Li Zhi, Chen Daniu, Bai Hui, and other Xu Household members enlisted after the recruitment officials arrived in Dongxi Village.
• After the Year Sacrifice, the conscripts assembled outside Qingjiang County’s southern gate as their families gathered to see them off on their journey to the border with Great Liang.

Xu Mingxuan left with the army as his family urged him to stay safe, while the Xu Household prepared to grow stronger in his absence. After ten days of rain ended the drought, Xu Chuan expanded the household’s farming and businesses, developed a powerful Xiantian medicinal cuisine, and looked ahead to Xu Mingyuan’s wedding and the family’s rising influence.

• Xu Mingxuan said farewell to the Xu Household and marched away with the army, leaving Xu Chuan to urge the family to become stronger before his return.
• The small lake in Dongxi Village was completed, and heavy rain began at the Wei Hour on the second day of the second month, continuing for ten days.
• Xu Chuan prepared drainage channels to protect the household’s farmland, then had Xu Mingwei gather white cloth for greenhouse cultivation as the Xu Household expanded its farming and hired workers selectively.
• Commerce in Qingjiang County recovered, the Xu Household’s shops thrived, and Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingxian trained at home in hopes of reaching Xiantian before Xu Mingxuan returned.
• Xu Chuan completed the Five Elements Returning to Origin medicinal cuisine, which could nearly triple cultivation speed when used with the Xiantian Five Elements Creation Art.
• Xu Chuan discussed the expensive medicinal cuisine and Xu Mingyuan’s upcoming wedding with Xu Mingwei, while saying he expected Qingjiang to belong to the Xu Household in five years.

Four years after the Xu Household’s wedding, Xu Mingshu defeated Wu Youdao when he challenged her, deepening the Wu Household’s fear of the Xu family’s growing strength. The Xu Household expanded across neighboring counties and developed powerful guards and medicinal cuisine that accelerated its members’ cultivation.

• Xu Mingyuan’s wedding to Wu Rushan went ahead, while Xu Mingshu beat a wealthy young man who tried to claim her and Bai Jing rejected Madam Zhu’s proposal to marry her son to Xu Mingshu.
• Wu Youdao challenged Xu Mingshu during a marriage proposal visit and was carried home injured, prompting the Wu Household Head to fear the Xu Household’s strength and seek an alliance against it.
• The Xu Household resisted the Five Great Aristocratic Clans’ attempts to damage its fields and businesses, then expanded into five neighboring county seats and amassed wealth rapidly.
• Xu Mingyuan and Wu Rushan had a daughter, Xu Dejing, and Xu Mingwei and Yang Ronghua had a son, Xu Dewen.
• By the fourth year, Xu Mingxian had reached the Houtian peak, while Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingyuan approached it through the Xu Household’s training resources.
• Xu Chuan developed three medicinal cuisines for different cultivation levels, enabling Xu Household descendants to advance faster through the Houtian stage.

Xu Chuan completed the Xiantian Five Elements Creation Art, forged his spiritual root, and discovered that he had mixed spiritual root aptitude. As he considered how to build the Xu Household’s future, he recognized the scarcity of spiritual energy in Qingjiang County and the potential of demon beasts.

• Xu Mingwei and Yang Ronghua accepted that the Yang Household would not pass its Inherited Martial Art to Xu Dezhao, and agreed he would cultivate the Little Dragon Elephant Art after building a foundation.
• Xu Chuan’s Black Iron Fruit-fed white tiger transformed into an early Qi Refining demon beast and grew more powerful and intelligent.
• Xu Chuan completed the Xiantian Five Elements Creation Art and tested his newly formed spiritual root, discovering mixed spiritual root aptitude.
• Xu Chuan sensed the scarcity of local spiritual energy and considered having Shitou capture variant beast cubs for Xueji to tame and raise into demon beasts.

In his fourth year at the Great Wei border camp, Xu Mingxuan mined Blackiron Essence Ore, thought of his family, and spoke with his soldiers about life back home. His mining ended with his pick striking what appeared to be Mystic Iron essence stone.

• Xu Mingxuan reflected on his family and the Xu Household while gazing at the moon.
• On his day off, Xu Mingxuan drank and chatted with his soldiers, who teased him about never having been with a woman.
• Xu Mingxuan explained that his strict family and focus on martial arts had kept him from such experiences.
• After returning to his tent, Xu Mingxuan meditated and tried to sense the power of heaven and earth.
• During mining near the nearly hollowed-out Twin Camel Peak, Xu Mingxuan struck a hard object and recognized it as Mystic Iron essence stone.

Xu Mingxuan discovered blackiron essence mother and earned First-Class Merit, while Xu Chuan revealed pills that could speed up martial artists’ cultivation. The chapter ended with Xu Mingxian realizing the pills and the Xu household’s medicinal cuisines could quickly produce Houtian Peak Martial Artists.

• Xu Mingxuan found a piece of blackiron essence mother while mining and brought it to Commandant Ge Xuanhong.
• Ge Xuanhong explained the ore’s value, then presented it to the commander, who approved First-Class Merit for Xu Mingxuan.
• Ge Xuanhong invited Xu Mingxuan to become one of his Personal Guards, and the soldiers’ excavation uncovered a considerable amount of blackiron essence stone.
• Xu Chuan sent Xu Mingshu to find five loyal martial artists of different ages, and she rode the White Tiger down the mountain.
• Xu Chuan gave Xu Mingxian Aperture-Opening Pills and explained how they could accelerate cultivation alongside the household’s Three Secret Medicinal Cuisines.

Xu Mingxian broke through to Xiantian and learned that he had mixed spiritual root aptitude, while the Xu Household continued pursuing cultivation methods and supporting its members. The chapter ended with Xu Mingyuan agreeing to seek the Qi-Inducing Pill formula from the Immortal Officials.

• Xu Chuan told Xu Mingxian to distribute Aperture-Opening Pills to five trusted household members and test them for adverse effects before using more.
• After more than ten days, Xu Mingxian broke through to Xiantian, becoming the Xu Household's third Xiantian expert.
• Xu Chuan revealed the Xiantian Five Elements Creation Art and tested Xu Mingxian's aptitude, finding that he had mixed spiritual roots that could be purified through cultivation.
• Xu Mingxian collected Five Elements Returning to Origin medicinal cuisine from Xu Mingwei, who learned that his younger brother had broken through.
• Xu Mingwei discussed the Immortal Officials' prices for cultivation methods with Xu Mingyuan and urged him to continue seeking them out.
• Xu Mingyuan said he would try to obtain the Qi-Inducing Pill formula from the Immortal Officials.

Xu Mingyuan bought the wood-attribute Everlasting Spring Art from Xiao Changyuan and brought it to Xu Chuan, who saw it as a foundation for the Xu Household’s cultivation future. Xu Chuan cautioned against expanding too quickly, while Xu Mingyuan began considering a foothold in Moonlake Commandery City.

• Xu Mingyuan visited Xiao Changyuan and paid one hundred thousand taels for the Everlasting Spring Art.
• Xu Mingyuan asked about Qi-Inducing Pill formulas, but Xiao Changyuan had none and offered to sell him pills instead.
• Xu Mingyuan brought the cultivation art to Xu Chuan, who said its wood attribute complemented his Shennong's Hundred Herbs.
• Xu Chuan said he could try to develop a Qi-Inducing Pill formula and advised Xu Mingyuan to amass wealth cautiously until the Xu Household had enough martial strength.
• Xu Mingyuan decided to train more martial artists and considered using the Yang Household connection to establish a foothold in Moonlake Commandery City.

Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan received Xu Chuan’s permission to travel to the Commandery Seat with their plans to visit the Yang Household and establish a business foothold. Xu Chuan remained concerned about the challenges awaiting them in the powerful city.

• Yang Ronghua told Xu Mingwei that her family had invited them to bring Zhao'er and Wen'er to the Commandery Seat, and he agreed to ask Xu Chuan to oversee the household while they were away.
• Xu Mingyuan asked Xu Mingwei to let him travel along so he could begin establishing a business presence in the Commandery Seat.
• Xu Mingshu asked to join them, but Xu Chuan told her to wait until she reached xiantian, while Xu Mingyuan described the strength of the Commandery Seat’s lineages.
• Xu Chuan approved Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan’s trip and warned them to be careful in the dangerous Commandery Seat.
• After the brothers left to prepare, Yunnu asked Xu Chuan about his misgivings, and he said it would be difficult to make their way among the city’s great martial and immortal lineages.

Xu Mingwei and his family reached Moon Lake Commandery City and reunited with the Yang Household. Yang Zhao said he would discuss Zhao'er's matter with the lineage, leaving Wen Jing resentful over his defense of the Xu Household's former head.

• Xu Chuan told Xu Mingxian that a lineage might abandon individuals to protect its interests, while reassuring him that his suspicions about the Yang Household were only speculation.
• Xu Mingwei's party arrived at Moon Lake Commandery City, where Steward Yang welcomed them and led them to the Yang Residence.
• Yang Shichang, Madam Yang, and Wen Jing greeted Yang Ronghua and her family, and Yang Zhao later joined them to meet his grandchildren.
• Yang Zhao praised the Xu Household's former head and reprimanded Wen Jing when she dismissed him as old and ordinary.
• Yang Zhao said he would discuss Zhao'er's matter with the lineage, and Wen Jing complained to her husband that his rebuke had chilled her heart.

Xu Mingwei’s family visited the Yang Household in the Commandery Seat, where Xu Dezhao and Xu Dewen were tested and found to have exceptionally pure Yang bloodlines. The household head offered to teach them the Yang Household’s Inherited Martial Art and asked that they stay in the Commandery Seat.

• Yang Shichang took Xu Mingyuan, Xu Mingwei, and their family around the Commandery Seat, where they unexpectedly met Chang Haowen at a restaurant.
• Chang Haowen repeatedly sought out Xu Mingyuan over the next two days, but Xu Mingyuan avoided committing to an alliance with the Chang Household.
• Yang Zhao and his companions brought Xu Mingwei’s family to the Yang Ancestral Residence, where the household head and elders received them.
• The Yang elders tested Xu Dezhao’s bloodline and found it pure, then tested Xu Dewen’s and found it even purer.
• The head of the Yang Household offered both boys instruction in the Yang Household’s Inherited Martial Art and asked Xu Mingwei to let them stay in the Commandery Seat.

Xu Mingyuan negotiated with the Yang Household over whether Xu Dewen or Xu Dezhao would stay in the Commandery Seat for martial training, then proposed a contest between Xu Mingwei and Yang Shidao to settle the matter. The two fighters faced off as the chapter ended.

• Patriarch Yang offered to train the Xu children in the Commandery Seat and insisted that one remain with the Yang Household.
• Xu Mingyuan rejected the demand that both children stay and proposed that Xu Dezhao remain instead, but Patriarch Yang preferred Xu Dewen.
• Xu Mingyuan suggested waiting several years before taking Dewen, citing his young age and the need to stay with his mother.
• Xu Mingyuan proposed a contest between Xu Mingwei and a Yang Household martial artist, with a close Xu victory allowing the families to discuss the matter again in six years.
• Patriarch Yang accepted the contest and summoned Yang Shidao, while Xu Mingyuan advised Xu Mingwei to conceal his strength and win narrowly.
• Xu Mingwei and Yang Shidao took their positions and faced each other.

Xu Mingwei defeated Yang Shidao in a martial contest, ending the Yang Household’s attempt to pressure the Xu Household into an agreement. The Yang Household then proposed a marriage alliance with Xu Xueji, but the Xu brothers stalled the proposal by insisting their father must decide and asking for six more years.

• Xu Mingwei revealed his late Xiantian cultivation and fought Yang Shidao to a standstill before breaking his crimson palm imprint and pinning him.
• The Yang Household head stopped Yang Shidao from continuing and acknowledged his defeat, while Yang Zhao asked to honor their earlier agreement to revisit matters in six years.
• The Yang Household head accepted Yang Zhao’s plea and agreed to let Xu Mingwei and the others leave, then proposed a marriage alliance between Yang Shidao and Xu Xueji.
• Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan said their father had authority over their sister’s marriage, and Yang Zhao confirmed Xu Xueji was not yet fifteen.
• The Yang Household head suggested waiting until Xu Xueji turned sixteen, but Xu Mingyuan asked for another six years before she would be ready, angering the head.

Xu Mingyuan negotiated a six-year delay in the marriage dispute, and Xu Mingwei won a second contest against Yang Shigang. Yang Wenfeng honored the agreement and sent a gift after the Xu party departed, hoping to preserve relations between the households.

• Xu Mingyuan persuaded the Yang patriarch to defer the marriage question for six years, then accepted a contest between Xu Mingwei and a fighter of his generation.
• Yang Shigang attacked Xu Mingwei with a Crimson Palm Print, but Xu Mingwei shattered it with one punch and won.
• Yang Wenfeng arrived, confirmed the Yang Household would honor the six-year agreement, and ordered his son to reflect on his conduct.
• Yang Wenfeng explained to the Grand Elder that the Yang Household should seek an alliance with the Xu Household rather than forcefully recruit its members.
• Yang Wenfeng sent Yang Shihui to deliver a wooden box to the Xu Household before its visitors left.

Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan returned from the Commandery Seat with the Yang Household’s martial arts manuals after a tense clash and an unexpected gift. Xu Chuan heard their account and asked how the Xu Household should deal with the Yang Household, leaving the brothers’ differing views unresolved.

• Yang Shihui delivered two martial arts manuals from his grandfather as Xu Mingwei and the others departed the Commandery Seat.
• Xu Chuan used [Daily Divination] and learned that Xu Mingwei’s family and Xu Mingyuan would return safely with the Yang Household’s martial arts.
• Xu Chuan welcomed the returning family, then summoned Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan to his study to hear what had happened.
• Xu Mingwei said the Xu Household should repay the Yang Household’s wrongs if they came for its children, while Xu Mingyuan advised keeping peace until the Xu Household grew stronger.
• Xu Chuan suggested Xu Mingyuan was trying to guess his own thoughts.

Xu Chuan explained why the Xu Household should avoid a feud with the Yang Household, and Xu Mingwei accepted the lesson while choosing to pursue Immortal-Martial Dual Cultivation. After the brothers returned, Xu Mingshu revealed that Little White had become a Demon Beast, and Xu Mingwei told her to keep the growing tiger near the Jade-Cold Pool.

• Xu Mingyuan explained to Xu Mingwei that the Yang Household's apology and show of strength meant the Xu Household should avoid provoking a deadly feud.
• Xu Mingwei admitted his mistake, kept his position as household head, and resolved to cultivate the Grandmaster Chapter of the Xiantian Dragon Elephant Art before turning to the Immortal Way.
• Xu Chuan agreed to develop medicinal cuisine for grandmasters and told Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan to conceal the Yang Household details from the rest of the family.
• Xu Mingshu surprised the returning brothers and showed them that Little White had become a Demon Beast.
• Xu Mingwei praised Little White's growth but instructed Xu Mingshu to keep the tiger near the Jade-Cold Pool because the household residence was becoming too small.

Xu Chuan began Xu Dezhao’s martial training and granted him the [Qi-Blood Furnace] fate talent, while the Xu Household expanded its influence and Xu Chuan developed an improved Qi-Inducing Pill. The chapter ended with several Xu family members and guards advancing in cultivation and the Guard Team’s families settling in Dongxi Village.

• Xu Chuan arranged for Xu Mingxian to guide Xu Dezhao into the Martial Way and secretly decided to bestow [Qi-Blood Furnace] upon him.
• Xu Mingyuan partnered with the Chang Household to establish Xu businesses in the Commandery Seat and gather intelligence, giving them half of the profits.
• Xu Chuan studied Qi-Inducing Pills, developed a stronger and cheaper formula, and began supplying the Xu Household’s Xiantian Martial Artists while selling some pills for profit.
• Xu Mingwei reached xiantian perfection, and Xu Mingshu and Xu Mingyuan later broke through to xiantian with the help of Qi-Inducing Pills.
• Dozens of the Xu Household’s guards became First-Class Martial Artists, seven or eight reached houtian peak, and their families moved to Dongxi Village.

Xu Chuan purified his spiritual roots and converted his xiantian true qi into magic power, finally beginning Qi Refining cultivation. After reuniting with his family at a feast, he supported Xu Xueji’s choice of husband, insisting that any match would need to marry into the Xu family.

• At the border, Xu Mingxuan received Qi-Inducing Pills from home and decided to use one to pursue a breakthrough to Xiantian.
• While cultivating at Jade-Cold Pool, Xu Chuan felt his spiritual roots purify and began converting his true qi into magic power, while Xu Mingxian guarded his seclusion.
• After five days, Xu Chuan completed the irreversible conversion and reached the peak of the fifth layer of Qi Refining.
• Xu Chuan came out of seclusion, thanked Xu Mingxian for guarding him, and went down the mountain with his family.
• At the family feast, Xu Mingshu praised Xu Dezhao’s martial talent, and the family teased Xu Mingyuan and Xu Xueji about marriage and children.
• Xu Chuan said Xu Xueji could choose someone she liked, but her future husband would have to marry into the Xu family.

The Xu Household expanded its martial halls and began cultivating two children with immortal aptitude while quietly gathering strength. Xu Mingxuan learned that he could return home the following spring, and Xu Chuan discovered that the infant Xu Deling possessed a true spiritual root and rare Innate Spirit Eyes.

• Xu Mingwei and Xu Mingyuan opened Dragon Elephant Martial Halls in four neighboring counties, where the Xu Household found Wu Tao and Shen Qingyi and brought them to Dongxi Village to train under Xu Chuan.
• Xu Chuan renamed the children Wu Tao and Shen Qingyi, assigned Xu Dezhao to teach them to read, and learned that Wu Tao had a false spiritual root while Shen Qingyi had a mixed spiritual root.
• At the Great Wei border during the Year Sacrifice, Ge Xuanhong told Xu Mingxuan that the soldiers could return home in glory by late spring the following year, leaving Xu Mingxuan too excited to sleep.
• At the Xu Household’s reunion meal, Xu Chuan tested Xu Mingwei’s infant daughter Xu Deling and discovered her true spiritual root and Red eagle spirit eyes.
• Xu Chuan urged Xu Mingwei to have more children so that some could follow the Martial Way, while Xu Deling and Xu Dezhao pursued immortal cultivation.