Chapter Summaries

Yi Shuyuan used his Heavenly Demon Power to help Du Xiaolin recover memories of her past life as He Xin, then guided her to her former family. Du Xiaolin entered a dream beside He Xin’s mother, while Yi Shuyuan recognized a little boy and two flower buds in the cabin.

• Du Xiaolin asked Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Zhuer about her past life, and Yi Shuyuan began recounting He Xin’s case.
• Yi Shuyuan used his power to immerse Du Xiaolin in a vision of the courtroom, where she recalled being the daughter of a bamboo weaver in Luo County.
• Du Xiaolin traveled with Yi Shuyuan, Hui Mian, and Jiang Zhuer to Du Family Village, saw Du Fang living happily with his family, and placed a protective spell on their home.
• The group flew to the riverboat carrying He Xin’s relatives, and Yi Shuyuan taught Du Xiaolin how to enter a dream.
• Du Xiaolin embraced He Xin’s sleeping mother and entered her dream, while Yi Shuyuan noticed a little boy beside two flower buds floating in a clay basin.

Yi Shuyuan discovered that the purple lotus buds were on a passing boat and learned that Du Xiaolin had helped He Xin reunite with her mother in a dream. He left Du Xiaolin to protect the boat’s passengers, then returned to West River Village, where Yi Baokang pretended he had not been complaining about him leaving.

• Yi Shuyuan recognized the lotus buds’ extraordinary nature and restored one to the earthenware basin.
• Du Xiaolin entered He Xin’s mother’s dream, comforted her, and revealed that she was doing well before waking her with a cry.
• Du Xiaolin chose to remain with the boat and protect its passengers as they traveled toward Wu Prefecture.
• Yi Shuyuan told Jiang Zhuer that the buds were aboard the boat, and she said Lady Yao E would decide how to handle the accidental discovery.
• Yi Shuyuan returned to West River Village and found Yi Baokang complaining that he had left; Yi Baokang immediately acted as if he had never said so.

Yi Shuyuan explained the spirit lotus’s difficult fate, then Hui Mian repeated his words to Jiang Zhuer and drew winter thunder by revealing its secrets. At Luo County’s harbor, Du Xiaolin met the boy who had plucked the lotus buds and left with one after he gave it to her.

• Yi Shuyuan told Hui Mian that the spirit lotus was extraordinary and that only one blossom might survive its tribulations.
• Yi Shuyuan stayed in West River Village to help his household prepare for the New Year, while Hui Mian left to follow the He Household’s boat.
• Jiang Zhuer and Hui Mian followed the boat to Luo County, where Hui Mian warned her not to try restoring the plucked lotus buds, and thunder rolled across the winter sky.
• At a dockside breakfast stall, a richly dressed man asked the He Household to sell him the two buds, but the boy refused.
• Du Xiaolin arrived and asked for a bud; the boy gave her one because she felt like family to him.

Du Xiaolin asked the Land God about the He Household’s fortunes after He Xin’s death, then discovered that the man from the docks had hidden a written silk in the statue and was pursuing the He family’s clay pot. The man entered the He Household’s courtyard to negotiate, while Du Xiaolin watched from the temple.

• Du Xiaolin visited her former home and then offered pastries to the Land God in exchange for information about the He Household.
• The Land God explained that compensation after He Xin’s death had helped the family pay debts, arrange a marriage, and renovate their home.
• Du Xiaolin noticed the dockside man’s suddenly ominous fate as he entered the temple and secretly concealed a bundle in the Land God statue.
• After the Land God withdrew, Du Xiaolin removed the bundle and found a small piece of silk covered in names.
• The man followed the He Household to their courtyard and offered ten taels of silver for the little boy’s clay pot, prompting the family to invite him inside.

Yan Ri'an bought a winter lotus from the He Household and their boat, then secretly entrusted A Hui with a message about a hidden object in the old Land God Temple. He left by boat after giving the lotus to Du Xiaolin.

• Yan Ri'an paid the He Household ten taels for the lotus and another ten taels for the boat, promising A Hui extra money if the boy could tell him where he had found the flower.
• Yan Ri'an privately told A Hui that an important object was hidden in the Land God statue's hand and instructed him to give it to the officials if Yan did not return within six months.
• Yan Ri'an bought provisions and prepared to leave in the He family's boat.
• Du Xiaolin confronted Yan Ri'an as he stood aboard the boat, and he tossed her the lotus before pushing off from shore.

Du Xiaolin let a lotus picker escape after warning him not to risk his life, while Pei Changtian returned to Wu Prefecture to investigate a restaurant. Xiao Yuzhi reunited with Yang Pingzhong and showed that his martial arts had grown strong, leaving Yang impressed.

• Du Xiaolin thanked the man rowing away for the lotus and warned him not to get himself killed picking flowers, prompting him to sail upstream toward Moon Province to evade danger.
• Pei Changtian arrived in Wu Prefecture, took a seat at the Homecoming Inn, and watched its staff and patrons for suspects.
• Xiao Yuzhi reunited with Yang Pingzhong at a noodle stall and learned that Yang had heard about the Old Instructor's death.
• Yang Pingzhong invited Xiao Yuzhi to help with his group's work and asked whether he had considered government service, but Xiao said he did not want to stay in one office.
• Yang Pingzhong tested Xiao Yuzhi's balance with a sideways shove, but Xiao did not move and invited him to use more strength.

Pei Changtian confronted Tong Jinwang at the Homecoming Inn and revealed that Southern Yan’s spy network was destabilized after the White Feather Way’s destruction. Tong Jinwang accepted that Pei Changtian could speak for the Imperial Court, and Pei demanded a pledge of allegiance that would require Tong’s help against his sect’s leaders and guests.

• Tong Jinwang recognized Pei Changtian and tried to recruit him for the Golden Jade Gate, but Pei refused to betray his country and swiftly restrained him.
• Pei Changtian interrogated Tong Jinwang about Southern Yan’s agents in Wu Prefecture and learned that five had visited the Golden Jade Gate to replace its former leader.
• Pei Changtian explained that the White Feather Way and its State Preceptor had been destroyed, leaving Southern Yan’s spy network in turmoil, and urged Tong to work for him.
• Pei Changtian showed Tong an Imperial Gift gold plaque, and Tong revealed that the former man at the helm was Liao Wenzhi, the State Preceptor’s grand-disciple, while the White Feather Way had relied on Han Shiyong’s pills.
• Pei Changtian demanded Tong’s pledge of allegiance and told him to provide the heads of his sect master and the honored guests, promising to help him.

Tong Jinwang turned against Golden Jade Gate sect master Jin Qirong and exposed him and his guests as Southern Yan spies, sparking a battle at Golden Jade Manor. As Pei Changtian and the officials pursued the fleeing spies, Xiao Yuzhi cut both down with one stroke and was startled by how easily he had defeated them.

• Tong Jinwang told Jin Qirong that Pei Changtian had returned and persuaded him to host the Skywhale Gang survivors, while learning that the Southern Yan envoy had brought no rewards.
• Pei Changtian arrived at Golden Jade Manor with Yan Zhang, trusting Tong Jinwang despite the danger, as Yang Pingzhong and Xiao Yuzhi waited with officials and Skywhale Gang members outside.
• Tong Jinwang stabbed Jin Qirong and accused him of serving Southern Yan, while Pei Changtian and Yan Zhang fought the sect master and the spies.
• Pei Changtian killed Jin Qirong, and two spies fled as the officials and Skywhale Gang forces rushed into the manor.
• Xiao Yuzhi caught the fleeing spies and severed one man's left leg and the other's right leg with a single stroke, then wondered why their martial arts had been so poor.

Xiao Yuzhi and the Heaven-Bearing Prefecture officers captured two Southern Yan agents at Golden Jade Manor and learned they had been sent to kill Yan Bo. As Yan Bo fled toward Moon Province, a skilled swordsman ambushed him on the river, and he swam toward a mysterious lotus he had seen underwater.

• Xiao Yuzhi wounded the two Southern Yan agents, and Yang Pingzhong’s officers arrested them at Golden Jade Manor.
• Under interrogation, the agents revealed that they had been sent to eliminate Han Shiyong’s granddisciple, Yan Bo, who was hiding under the name Yan Ri'an.
• Pei Changtian and Yang Pingzhong concluded that someone other than the agents must be pursuing Yan Bo.
• Yan Bo chose the dangerous mountain route back to Great Yan and set out by boat toward Moon Province.
• A group of attackers ambushed Yan Bo on the river, and a swordsman broke his oar and sank his boat.
• Yan Bo escaped into the freezing water and swam from the swordsman, spotting lotus leaves and recalling the little girl’s warning not to pick lotus flowers.

Yan Bo tried to reach the purple lotus while fleeing his pursuers, but a furious water yaksha swept all four men away and took the unconscious Yan Bo and two martial artists to the E River Water Palace. After Jiang Zhuer noticed Yan Bo’s blood affecting the lotus, she ordered his body preserved and his soul bound, leaving him as one of the living dead.

• Yan Bo dodged a saber strike and swam toward the submerged lotus, while the saber wielder and two martial artists pursued him.
• A water yaksha erupted from the river, attacked the four men, and drove the saber wielder to escape to the bank.
• The yaksha carried unconscious Yan Bo and the two martial artists to the E River Water Palace.
• Jiang Zhuer saw that Yan Bo’s blood had touched the purple lotus and ordered the two martial artists returned to the surface at dawn.
• Jiang Zhuer ordered Yan Bo’s body preserved on the Ice Bed and his soul bound, keeping him among the living dead.

Du Xiaolin learned that Yan Bo had died and acted on a letter tied to his fate, while officials investigated the spies and the emperor considered corruption and talent selection. The E River Water God returned, spared Yan Bo by appointing him to guard the Spirit Lotus Root, and set out with her attendants to visit Yi Daozi.

• Du Xiaolin heard that Yan Bo had died, took a letter from the Land God statue, and the next morning two survivors were pulled from the E River and later taken away by Ministry of Justice officers.
• Yang Pingzhong, Pei Changtian, and their companions searched White Feather Daoist's North-Facing Garden and found evidence that Yan Bo had written a letter before disappearing into the river.
• The Great Yong Emperor reflected on corruption in Wu Prefecture and concluded that the court needed to improve how it selected officials.
• Lady Yao E returned to the E River Water Palace, learned about Yi Daozi and the lotus theft, and offered Yan Bo a spirit post guarding the Spirit Lotus Root until it bloomed.
• Lady Yao E ordered Jiang Zhuer and the Yaksha to accompany her to visit Yi Daozi, while Hui Mian frightened the E River's aquatic folk away from the West River.

Yi Shuyuan met with Water God Yao E to discuss the extraordinary purple lotus and learned that Yan Bo’s master and junior brother had survived. As New Year’s Eve approached, Hui Mian invited Du Xiaolin to celebrate with the Yi Household and flew her toward West River Village.

• Yao E apologized for the Yaksha’s offense, and Yi Shuyuan told the Yaksha to apologize to the Kaiyang Aquatic Folk.
• Yi Shuyuan explained the purple lotus’s extraordinary nature to Yao E, Jiang Zhuer, and Yan Bo, and Yao E confirmed that Du Xiaolin held its two plucked buds.
• Yi Shuyuan told Yan Bo that Han Shiyong had died but that Yan Bo’s master and junior brother had escaped and could live out their lives in peace.
• Hui Mian found Du Xiaolin outside the He Household and invited her to spend the New Year with the Yi Household.
• Hui Mian carried Du Xiaolin into the sky toward Moon Province as the Land God wondered about his wind magic.

Yi Shuyuan brought Du Xiaolin to spend the New Year with his family, where she experienced their warmth and gained insight from his reflections on a past life. On New Year's morning, Stoneborn arrived to greet Yi Shuyuan and unexpectedly reunited with Du Xiaolin.

• Yi Shuyuan brought Du Xiaolin to the Yi Household, where Li and Zhao welcomed her as family after hearing about her lonely past.
• Yi Baokang mistakenly thought Du Xiaolin might have been kept by Yi Shuyuan and offered to buy her freedom, but Yi Shuyuan corrected him.
• Du Xiaolin celebrated New Year's Eve with the Yi family, then listened as Yi Shuyuan described cherishing the felt experience of a life lived in a dream, stirring her Fate of Former Lives.
• Du Xiaolin eagerly set off firecrackers with Yi A Bao and the family.
• Stoneborn arrived at the Yi Household on New Year's morning and reunited with Du Xiaolin, while Yi Shuyuan waited in bed for him to knock.

Yi Shuyuan spent the New Year with Stoneborn and Du Xiaolin before General Crab came to explain that Zhuo Qing’s immortal silk had attracted the Heavenly Realm’s attention. General Crab sought Yi Shuyuan’s help because the Celestial Weaving Bureau had learned of the silk and its makers.

• Stoneborn told Du Xiaolin that Senior Gray was Great God Yunlai, though she doubted his claim, and Yi Shuyuan invited them to breakfast with the Yi Household.
• Du Xiaolin took Stoneborn to visit her grave and the He Household, while Yi Shuyuan later chatted with Yan Bo beside the West River.
• Xie Qing arrived to visit Yi Shuyuan, and Yan Bo recognized him as the Kaiyang Water God before returning to the Purple Mud Pool.
• Xie Qing explained that Zhuo Qing’s Dao-infused silk had stretched into the sky as glowing rosy clouds, exposing Fishmulberry Village to a heavenly god.
• Xie Qing told Yi Shuyuan that the Celestial Weaving Bureau had learned of Zhuo Qing’s immortal silk and that its divine officials wanted it.

Yi Shuyuan agreed to speak with Zhuo Qing about the Heavenly Weaving Bureau’s interest in her Immortal Silk as the Heavenly Realm considered a possible Starwoven Dharma Assembly. He traveled to Fishmulberry Village with Stoneborn and Du Xiaolin, arriving just as Zhuo Qing refined silkworm silk with the dawnlight.

• General Crab explained that the Heavenly Weaving Bureau wanted to exchange knowledge with Zhuo Qing and that the Heavenly Emperor had asked about her Immortal Silk; Yi Shuyuan agreed to speak with her.
• Yi Shuyuan returned home and invited Stoneborn and Du Xiaolin to visit Fishmulberry Village for the New Year.
• At dawn, Yi Yong'an gave Yi Shuyuan a large dried fish to take as a gift, and Yi Shuyuan departed with Stoneborn and Du Xiaolin on his Dharma Cloud.
• As they neared Fishmulberry Village, Yi Shuyuan told Stoneborn and Du Xiaolin to watch Zhuo Qing refine silk with the dawnlight.
• Zhuo Qing drew rosy dawnlight into translucent silkworm silk, played its resonant strands, and wound the refined, glowing silk onto spindles before noticing Yi Shuyuan at her courtyard gate.

Yi Shuyuan visited Zhuo Qing with Stoneborn and Du Xiaolin, discussed the Heavenly Realm’s interest in her immortal silk, and gave her a magical Golden Shuttle that could transform into a sword. Zhuo Qing turned it into a hair ornament, while Hui Mian silently hoped Yi Shuyuan had a gift for him too.

• Yi Shuyuan, Stoneborn, and Du Xiaolin visited Zhuo Qing, and Du Xiaolin was struck by Zhuo Qing’s resemblance to the Sword Immortal lady.
• Zhuo Qing welcomed Du Xiaolin and offered to weave her a new outfit from rosy thread.
• Yi Shuyuan told Zhuo Qing that the Heavenly Realm’s Celestial Weaving Bureau wanted her immortal silk, and Zhuo Qing agreed to help because he had come.
• Yi Shuyuan presented Zhuo Qing with a Golden Shuttle and demonstrated how it transformed into a sword with a powerful, invisible strike.
• Zhuo Qing accepted the Golden Shuttle, reshaped it into a dangling hair ornament, and left Hui Mian wondering whether Yi Shuyuan had brought him a gift.

Hui Mian learned that it would shape the spirit of its own divine brush while Yi Shuyuan refined its form, and General Crab brought a Red Sash to the Celestial Weaving Palace, where the weavers examined it for three days. That night, Du Xiaolin explained to Zhuo Qing that she remained herself despite being the reincarnated Taiyin Immortal.

• Yi Shuyuan told Hui Mian that its faith-inspired brush already existed in Yunlai's image and that Hui Mian would refine the treasure's spirit itself.
• Hui Mian's divine light flickered as it realized the brush was tied to the faithful's beliefs, then it asked Zhuo Qing for dried fish and chicken.
• General Crab carried a ten-foot Red Sash to the Celestial Weaving Palace, where its divine weavers examined its rosy-light-like silk and left him waiting for three days.
• White Robe encouraged General Crab to stay composed and reminded him that the Heavenly Emperor valued him.
• Du Xiaolin told Zhuo Qing that she was the Taiyin Immortal but would remain Du Xiaolin, her true self, even if she recovered her past memories.

Two weaving maidens from the Celestial Weaving Bureau invited Zhuo Qing to the Heavenly Palace to help prepare magical garments for the approaching Starwoven Gathering. Zhuo Qing accepted the Heavenly Immortal Edict and agreed to go with Yi Shuyuan and the others, while the gathering’s success could establish the Demon-Subduing Sacred Venerable as the first of the Four Imperial Emperors.

• General Crab brought two weaving maidens from the Celestial Weaving Bureau to Fishmulberry Village to meet Zhuo Qing.
• The weaving maidens presented Zhuo Qing with a Heavenly Immortal Edict and explained that they wanted her Immortal Silk and help preparing garments for the Starwoven Gathering.
• Zhuo Qing accepted the edict and agreed to visit the Heavenly Palace, after Yi Shuyuan and the others said they wanted to accompany her.
• Hui Mian suggested visiting the Manifest Holiness True Lord's Demon-Subduing Palace, and Yi Shuyuan agreed to go there as well.
• The chapter explained that a successful Starwoven Dharma Assembly could strengthen the Heavenly Court enough for the Demon-Subduing Sacred Venerable to become the first of its Four Imperial Emperors.

Zhuo Qing and her companions traveled to the Celestial Weaving Palace, where Yi Shuyuan watched the weaving maidens wash immortal silk in the Celestial River. He sent his divine presence north to the Demon-Subduing Palace, where he met Lu Xin and learned the Heavenly Emperor had supplied the palace with over ten thousand Heavenly Steeds.

• Zhuo Qing agreed to travel with the weaving maidens to the Celestial Weaving Palace, and her group set out from Fishmulberry Village.
• Zhuo Qing, Yi Shuyuan, and the others arrived at the palace and were welcomed by its weaving maidens, who showed them the Celestial Weaving Palace's halls.
• On the third day, Yi Shuyuan watched hundreds of weaving maidens wash a single endless length of immortal silk in the Celestial River.
• Yi Shuyuan sent his divine presence north along the river and reached the Demon-Subduing Palace, where Heavenly Soldiers welcomed the Manifest Holiness True Lord.
• Yi Shuyuan met Lu Xin at the Demon-Subduing Hall and learned that the Heavenly Emperor had granted the palace over ten thousand Heavenly Steeds.

Yi Shuyuan inspected the Demon-Subduing Palace, kept its eight hundred heavenly soldiers in his service, and began planning how to staff the palace. As his companions arrived, Hui Mian reached Yunlai Hall in divine form and welcomed Yi Shuyuan alongside Lu Xin.

• Yi Shuyuan told Lu Xin that the eight hundred heavenly soldiers could remain in the Demon-Subduing Palace if they wished, and inspected the gifts stored in the Demon-Subduing Hall.
• Yi Shuyuan instructed Lu Xin to recruit suitable divine officials, soldiers, and generals, and told him to prepare to welcome Mr. Yi.
• Yi Shuyuan and his companions traveled toward the Demon-Subduing Palace while Zhuo Qing and the others set out to tour it.
• Great God Yunlai manifested in Yunlai Hall, and Lu Xin hurried to greet him.
• Hui Mian's divine sense reached Yunlai Hall, where he greeted Lu Xin and released the hundred ghosts from the Hundred Ghosts Picture.
• Yi Shuyuan arrived at the Demon-Subduing Palace and was welcomed by Hui Mian and Lu Xin.