Chapter Summaries

Yi Shuyuan cultivated underwater as Longwind Lake reclaimed the flooded fields and the years passed. After a fisherman’s net hauled him aboard, he learned that four years had gone by and departed across the lake, leaving the fishermen with a tale of a water spirit.

• Yi Shuyuan took Hui Mian to the flooded fields, unfurled the Landscape and Realm Painting, and began cultivating while sensing Longwind Lake’s waters.
• As Yi Shuyuan meditated, the flooded fields deepened into the returning lake, fish multiplied, and locals resumed life around Longwind Lake.
• Hui Mian occasionally explored the water and shore while staying close to Yi Shuyuan.
• A fisherman and his sons cast a net over Yi Shuyuan and hauled him aboard with their catch, mistaking him for a water spirit.
• Yi Shuyuan asked the fishermen the year and learned that four years had passed; he then walked through the air and departed.

Yi Shuyuan completed the White Dragon Transformation in Longwind Lake and startled Hui Mian by pretending to be a fearsome dragon before revealing himself. After returning to human form, he went to Lakeview Tower, where he shared a table with a lone diner and ordered every specialty on the menu.

• Yi Shuyuan transformed into a white dragon, cried out over Longwind Lake, and brought down a gentle rain.
• Hui Mian searched the lake for Yi Shuyuan, then mistook the transformed Yi Shuyuan for a dragon that had eaten its master.
• Yi Shuyuan revealed himself to Hui Mian, who celebrated the transformation and rode on his head as he swam past Aquatic Folk.
• Yi Shuyuan returned to human form, discussed needing enchanted robes for future transformations, and headed toward Lakeview Tower without visiting Chu Hang.
• Yi Shuyuan entered the crowded Lakeview Tower, shared a table with a lone diner, and ordered one of every specialty dish.

Yi Shuyuan met Wang Yunchun while dining at a lakeside restaurant and learned that Wang had failed to find a missing girl after accepting her grandfather’s money. When Wang gave the girl’s birth details, Yi recognized them as He Xin’s and offered to help.

• Yi Shuyuan opened the restaurant window during the rain and struck up a conversation with Wang Yunchun about Longwind Lake.
• Yi Shuyuan shared his dishes with Wang and let Hui Mian eat alongside them.
• Wang told Yi that he had accepted money from an old man who begged him to find his missing granddaughter, then discovered the girl was truly gone.
• Wang explained that his search had stalled despite his Thousand-Mile Search technique and that he had come to Longwind Prefecture in despair.
• Yi asked for the girl’s Four Pillars of Destiny and recognized the birth details as He Xin’s.
• Yi offered to help Wang search for He Xin, deciding to act sooner than he had planned.

Yi Shuyuan offered to help Wang Yunchun find He Xin, and the two shared wine before Jiang Lang joined them at Lakeview Tower. After hearing Wang Yunchun’s story, Jiang Lang eagerly agreed to help, leaving the search for the girl as their next step.

• Yi Shuyuan insisted that he would help Wang Yunchun find He Xin, then poured him powerful wine that made him warm and sleepy.
• Wang Yunchun learned that Yi Shuyuan was a traveling storyteller, and the two laughed together over the coincidence of their meeting.
• Jiang Lang arrived, greeted Yi Shuyuan, and sat down to eat with him and Wang Yunchun.
• Jiang Lang asked Yi Shuyuan about a missing white Flood Dragon, but Yi Shuyuan pretended not to know where it had gone.
• Wang Yunchun fell asleep after the wine took effect, and Yi Shuyuan told Jiang Lang about his promise to help find He Xin.
• Jiang Lang praised Wang Yunchun’s loyalty and volunteered to join Yi Shuyuan in helping him.

Yi Shuyuan brought Jiang Lang and Wang Yunchun to the Mo Residence to seek help finding the missing girl, whose location was hidden from divination. He reunited with his young disciple Stoneborn, whose dreams confirmed a connection to the girl, and learned that Stoneborn could not reach her through the veil over heaven's secrets.

• Jiang Lang admitted he had no silver to pay for their meal, so Yi Shuyuan settled the bill at Lakeview Tower.
• Yi Shuyuan, Jiang Lang, and the sleeping Wang Yunchun traveled by cloud to Mingzhou City and went to the Mo Residence.
• Stoneborn joyfully reunited with Yi Shuyuan after several years apart.
• Yi Shuyuan introduced Wang Yunchun as a man searching for a missing person and asked the Mo family to summon Zhong Bin.
• Stoneborn told Yi Shuyuan that he had dreamed of a crying little girl and could not locate her because someone was veiling heaven's secrets.
• Yi Shuyuan told Stoneborn that the girl was very important because Stoneborn would not be who he was without her.

Qi Zhongbin joined Yi Shuyuan and Stoneborn at the Mo Residence to use their shared dream-sensing method and find the girl Stoneborn had dreamed about. They escaped a dangerous dream together, and Yi Shuyuan confirmed that a supernatural force had taken the girl.

• Hui Mian summoned Qi Zhongbin from the Lady Temple to the Mo Residence, where he reunited with Yi Shuyuan and met the Dragon King of Longwind Lake.
• Yi Shuyuan lent Qi Zhongbin his magical power so Qi Zhongbin could use his divination method with Stoneborn.
• Qi Zhongbin and Stoneborn entered a shared dream in which Stoneborn followed a kidnapped girl through strange places to a locked building.
• Stoneborn tried to rescue the girl but was attacked by a beam of light, and Yi Shuyuan entered the dream to help him escape.
• Yi Shuyuan pulled Qi Zhongbin and Stoneborn from the dream and said he had seen the girl and that no mortal had taken her.

Jiang Lang traced the formation’s lingering cinnabar dust to Crescent Cove, leading Yi Shuyuan and his companions there by cloud. Stoneborn recognized the place from his dream and guided them to the Spirit Pearl Pavilion, where the person they sought might be held.

• Jiang Lang dispersed Qi Zhongbin’s formation and shaped its drifting cinnabar dust into a mist dragon that tracked the trail.
• Yi Shuyuan, Jiang Lang, Qi Zhongbin, Stoneborn, and Wang Yunchun followed the dragon through the sky while Master Mo watched them depart.
• Jiang Lang identified the destination as Crescent Cove near Taiyin Mountain and warned that Taiyin Palace might be involved.
• Stoneborn led Yi Shuyuan’s party through Crescent Cove to a tall compound called the Spirit Pearl Pavilion.

Yi Shuyuan sensed danger at the Spirit Pearl Pavilion and sent his companions into the Mountain and River State Map before entering with Jiang Lang. The Pavilion’s grand gathering appeared to be a paradise, but Yi Shuyuan’s perception revealed it was filled with foul smoke and miasma.

• Yi Shuyuan saw the Spirit Pearl Pavilion briefly appear rotten and infested, then sent Qi Zhongbin, Wang Yunchun, Stoneborn, and Hui Mian into the Mountain and River State Map for safety.
• Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang knocked at the gate, and an old woman initially refused them entry until Jiang Lang identified himself as the Dragon King of Longwind Lake.
• The Pavilion master welcomed Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang and led them through a doorway that opened onto a vast mountain sanctuary.
• Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang joined a crowded congratulatory gathering where the Pavilion master introduced Jiang Lang as the Dragon King of Longwind Lake.
• Yi Shuyuan sensed that the Pavilion’s apparent immortal atmosphere concealed foul smoke and miasma.

At the Spirit Pearl Pavilion banquet, Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang sought information about the missing girl from Pavilion Master Sikong, who acted suspiciously and tried to probe Yi Shuyuan with an ocular spell. A disturbance shook the pavilion’s formation, and Sikong steadied the spirit pearl while deciding to wait longer before acting.

• Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang attended Sikong Zhe’s banquet, where guests celebrated the pavilion’s completion and Jiang Lang’s return as Dragon King of Longwind Lake.
• Jiang Lang and Yi Shuyuan asked Sikong to help find the missing girl from Willow Province, but Sikong asked whether they had also searched the Taiyin Palace and gave only a vague promise to help.
• Jiang Lang identified the pavilion’s ward layout and suggested its imbalance revealed a flaw, while he and Yi Shuyuan suspected the guests were hiding their true nature.
• Sikong used an ocular spell to probe Yi Shuyuan, but Yi Shuyuan saw Sikong’s true form as a decaying old wolf, forcing Sikong to look away in pain.
• A thunderous disturbance shook the hall, and Sikong told the guests the new formation was unstable before flying up to calm the trembling spirit pearl.
• Sikong stabilized the formation and said an accomplished expert was present, so they would have to wait longer despite the more than three hundred years that had passed.

Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang rescued Du Xiaolin from the Pearl Pavilion Courtyard and discovered that she had been marked and infested with strange hairs linked to other abducted girls. After restoring her hearing and speech, they encountered Taiyin Palace cultivators who identified her as a spirit child, while Jiang Lang revealed that he knew about the Taiyin Rebirth Method and provoked a confrontation.

• Sikong Zhe showed Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang the deaf and mute Du Xiaolin, and Yi Shuyuan took her away after disguising the mark on her forehead.
• On the way from Crescent Cove, Yi Shuyuan found wormlike strands of hair rooted in Du Xiaolin's scalp, used a paper figure and his Folding Fan to remove them, and restored her hearing and speech.
• Du Xiaolin told Yi Shuyuan that six other girls had been held with her, and Yi Shuyuan sent the paper figure carrying the strands onward while they waited by a lake.
• Yi Shuyuan summoned Hui Mian from the Landscape and State Map, and Hui Mian recognized Du Xiaolin as He Xin before giving her food.
• Five women from Taiyin Palace arrived by boat and demanded to know why their spirit child was with Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang.
• Jiang Lang explained their rescue and identified the Taiyin Rebirth Method, then repelled an attack with dragon qi as the women reacted with alarm.

Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang helped Taiyin Palace recover Du Xiaolin and learned that the Spirit Pearl Pavilion had targeted the palace’s reincarnated ruler. Yi Shuyuan revealed that the pavilion’s master was a wolf demon, prompting the women to suspect the Northern Mang Wolf Clan, while their party waited as Taiyin Palace investigated.

• Ning Chen read the agreement, confirmed Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang’s account, and introduced herself and the other Taiyin Palace courtyard heads.
• Yi Shuyuan released Qi Zhongbin, Stoneborn, and Du Xiaolin from the Mountain and River State Map, and Stoneborn quickly befriended Du Xiaolin.
• On the journey to Taiyin Mountain, Ning Chen explained Taiyin Palace’s reincarnation method and revealed that its palace master had reincarnated.
• Yi Shuyuan said the master of Spirit Pearl Pavilion was a wolf demon, and the Taiyin Palace cultivators identified the likely connection to the Northern Mang Wolf Clan.
• At Taiyin Palace, the group discussed the imprisoned Northern Mang Demon King and waited while the palace’s senior cultivators gathered; Stoneborn and Qi Zhongbin considered asking Yi Shuyuan to take Du Xiaolin as a disciple.

Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang accompanied Shi Wei and the Taiyin Palace cultivators to Demon-Suppressing Peak, where Beiming Old Demon and his forces had been imprisoned for over three hundred years. Yi Shuyuan revealed the Mountain and River State Map, and after seeing its vast, living world, he proposed using it to trap the Beiming demons.

• Shi Wei thanked Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang for their help and warned them that calamity would strike the Taiyin Palace during the coming lunar eclipse.
• Yi Shuyuan left his disciples in the safety of the Taiyin formation and followed Shi Wei, Jiang Lang, Ning Chen, and other Taiyin Palace cultivators to Demon-Suppressing Peak.
• Shi Wei explained that the peak held Beiming Old Demon, his three thousand demon soldiers, and over a hundred retainers, and warned that Beiming Old Demon must not escape.
• Yi Shuyuan proposed using the Mountain and River State Map to protect the more than ten thousand mortals in Crescent Cove and help resolve the crisis.
• Yi Shuyuan led Jiang Lang and the Taiyin Palace cultivators into the map, where they discovered its vast, living landscape; Shi Wei recognized it as an otherworldly grotto-heaven.
• Yi Shuyuan suggested using the Mountain and River State Map and Illusion Arts to lay a trap for the Beiming demons.

Yi Shuyuan and the Taiyin Palace cultivators used the Mountain and River State Map to merge its painted world with the surrounding mountains and prepare for an upheaval. After Sikong Zhe shattered the formations and Demon-Suppressing Peak collapsed, Yi Shuyuan used Heavenly Gang Transformation: Overturn Mountains and Rivers to make himself and the others vanish from Beiming's attack.

• Yi Shuyuan guided Jiang Lang and the Taiyin Palace cultivators in channeling their Five Elements essence through the Folding Fan, transforming the Mountain and River State Map and spreading its world across the surrounding region.
• The group waited as a lunar eclipse gathered over Taiyin Mountain, while Sikong Zhe and his guests activated the Spirit Pearl Pavilion's formation and drew portions of the six girls' souls into the spirit pearl.
• Sikong Zhe broke the pavilion's formation and sent the spirit pearl toward Taiyin Mountain, where it shattered Demon-Suppressing Peak and released the Beiming Old Demon.
• Yi Shuyuan realized the spirit pearl's attack had not released the demonic host and, as Beiming struck the summit, used Heavenly Gang Transformation: Overturn Mountains and Rivers to make his group disappear.

Beiming and the demons were trapped inside Yi Shuyuan’s Mountain and River State Map, where the Taiyin Palace and their allies split them apart with storms and floods. Jiang Lang battled Beiming underwater and was caught in the demon’s jaws, but Yi Shuyuan struck Beiming with lightning and prepared to fight with his transformed sword.

• Beiming reunited with Sikong Zhe and led the demons toward Crescent Cove, but they realized the landscape was strange and could not find their way out.
• Yi Shuyuan revealed that the demons were trapped in the Mountain and River State Map, then entered the painting with the Taiyin Palace cultivators to defeat them in groups.
• A violent storm and flood scattered the demons, and Jiang Lang lured Beiming underwater despite Sikong Zhe’s warning.
• Beiming transformed into a giant wolf and overpowered Jiang Lang, biting into the Flood Dragon until Yi Shuyuan struck him with heavenly lightning.
• Yi Shuyuan drew the White-Sheathed Long Sword and prepared to unleash the strengthened Sword of Floating Light against Beiming.

Yi Shuyuan and Shi Wei fought Beiming after he mistook Shi Wei for the Taiyin Immortal, and Yi Shuyuan’s sword strikes helped Beiming break free of his frenzied state. As Beiming challenged Yi Shuyuan, Yi Shuyuan transformed into a woman holding a pipa and began to play.

• Beiming charged at Shi Wei, who provoked him while Yi Shuyuan pursued and wounded him with two sword strikes.
• Beiming unleashed a burst of demonic power, then emerged as an injured man, thanked Yi Shuyuan for helping him break free, and challenged him to a duel.
• Beiming attacked Yi Shuyuan with his claws and a blade, but Yi Shuyuan parried with his sword, scabbard, and Ritual Ruler before retreating.
• Beiming praised Yi Shuyuan and prepared to fight again, while Yi Shuyuan transformed into a graceful woman and plucked the strings of a pipa.

Yi Shuyuan transformed into Mili and used the String-Sound Sword Art, culminating in “Ambush from Ten Sides,” to kill the Northern Mang Demon King, Beiming. After celebrating the victory with Hui Mian and Shi Wei, Yi Shuyuan set out with Shi Wei to finish off the remaining demons in the Mountain and River State Map.

• Yi Shuyuan transformed into Mili, whose pipa music and sword intent overwhelmed Beiming with attacks from every direction.
• Beiming lost his resolve and tried to flee, but Yi Shuyuan’s final sword strike severed his head and killed him.
• Hui Mian celebrated with Yi Shuyuan, while Shi Wei approached him, stunned by his victory.
• Sikong Zhe rushed toward Beiming’s corpse, and Jiang Lang seized the disoriented wolf demon nearby.
• Yi Shuyuan drank wine to restore his strength, formed a longsword from flowing light and water, and left with Shi Wei to purge the remaining demons.

Yi Shuyuan and the Taiyin Palace cultivators defeated Beiming and purged the demons from the Mountain and River State Map, then rescued the girls held at the Spirit Pearl Pavilion. After returning to Taiyin Palace, Yi Shuyuan disguised himself as a female immortal and told Qi Zhongbin and the others that he and Beiming had perished together.

• Yi Shuyuan and Shi Wei used Beiming’s severed head to frighten the demons, then led the Taiyin Palace cultivators in hunting them down.
• After several days of fighting, Jiang Lang killed the last demon, and Yi Shuyuan and the others left the Mountain and River State Map.
• The group searched the Spirit Pearl Pavilion, captured the mountain imps, and rescued the unconscious girls before returning to Taiyin Palace.
• Yi Shuyuan changed into Taiyin Palace robes and instructed Jiang Lang and Hui Mian to keep quiet about his plan.
• Yi Shuyuan told Qi Zhongbin, Stoneborn, Du Xiaolin, and Wang Yunchun that he and Beiming had died together, leaving them stunned.

Yi Shuyuan revealed that he had survived his battle with the Northern Mang Demon King, reunited with his disciples, and examined Du Xiaolin after her fainting spell. As he considered how to craft enchanted clothing, he learned more about Jiang Lang’s robe and realized his spiritual pearl could alter auras.

• Yi Shuyuan revealed himself to Stoneborn, Du Xiaolin, Qi Zhongbin, and Wang Yunchun after they believed he had perished, and reassured them that he was safe.
• Yi Shuyuan examined Du Xiaolin and found no physical problem, suspecting her fainting had occurred during the lunar eclipse and telling her she was simply sensitive.
• Hui Mian recounted Yi Shuyuan’s battle with the Northern Mang Demon King while the group listened and recovered at the immortal pavilion.
• Jiang Lang reminded Yi Shuyuan that he supposedly owed him for hitting him in Longwind Prefecture, but Yi Shuyuan denied the debt by claiming he was Mili, not Yi Shuyuan.
• Yi Shuyuan asked Jiang Lang about his Scale-Feather Robe and learned it had been formed from his shed skin.
• Yi Shuyuan examined the spiritual pearl and realized it might be able to alter auras, as well as conceal demonic energy and obscure heaven’s secrets.

Yi Shuyuan revealed that Du Xiaolin carried the Taiyin Immortal’s primal spirit, and Shi Wei invited her to remain at the Taiyin Palace after she visited her family. The group brought Du Xiaolin to Shallow Province, where she reunited with her grandfather’s ghost and fulfilled his wish to meet her.

• Shi Wei told Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang that Sikong Zhe had confirmed the spirit pearl’s strike carried her junior sister’s remaining soul, and Yi Shuyuan explained that the Taiyin Immortal’s primal spirit remained within Du Xiaolin.
• Yi Shuyuan showed Shi Wei the red mark between Du Xiaolin’s brows, and Shi Wei confirmed the child carried her junior sister’s soul aura before asking that Du Xiaolin stay at the Taiyin Palace.
• Yi Shuyuan insisted that Du Xiaolin first visit her grandfather, so the group accompanied her and her parents to Shallow Province, where Wang Yunchun told his friends he had found the girl.
• Wang Yunchun confronted Old Nine over the poor burial of Zhou Shi’an’s father, then returned the old man’s keepsake hairpin to Du Xiaolin through Zhou Shi’an.
• Du Xiaolin recognized her grandfather’s ghost at the grave and reached out to grasp his arm, making him visible and startling Zhou Shi’an, his wife, and Wang Yunchun.

Old Man Zhou reunited with Du Xiaolin before the Netherworld Officials escorted him away, and Wang Yunchun’s good deed restored his reputation and earned him the post of Shallow Province Chief Constable. Yi Shuyuan’s group departed after Du Xiaolin left with Shi Wei for the Taiyin Palace, promising to meet again.

• Old Man Zhou reunited with Du Xiaolin, thanked Wang Yunchun for finding her, and kowtowed with her before the Netherworld Officials arrived.
• The Netherworld Officials took Old Man Zhou away after he said farewell to Du Xiaolin and Zhou Shi'an.
• Zhou Shi'an and his wife repaired Old Man Zhou’s grave, while Wang Yunchun’s deed spread through Shallow Province City and led to his appointment as Chief Constable.
• At the Five-Li Pavilion, Shi Wei took Du Xiaolin and her parents to the Taiyin Palace, and Du Xiaolin and Stoneborn called their goodbyes.
• Yi Shuyuan comforted Stoneborn, then led his group into the sky after Wang Yunchun wished them farewell.