Chapter Summaries

Yi Shuyuan’s display of Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation ended the conflict between the Great Toad King and Dragonkind, while Monk Wufa helped the defeated snow python complete its transformation into a flood dragon. As Monk Wufa neared nirvana, the śarīra Yi Shuyuan had once obtained restored him, fulfilling Yi Shuyuan’s promise to Mud Bodhisattva.

• Yi Shuyuan’s divine weapon struck through the realms, frightening Hong Ye, the Great Toad King, and the four flood dragons into stopping their fight.
• Yi Shuyuan withdrew his weapon and left after naming his divine ability Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation, and the Great Toad King and dragons withdrew from the river.
• The Great Toad King returned to Mount Great Autumn and found Yi Shuyuan pretending to have slept through the conflict.
• Monk Wufa spared the snow python’s life, gave it his golden blood, and recited scripture as it completed its transformation into a flood dragon.
• As Monk Wufa’s life faded, a śarīra arrived and its golden light entered his body, restoring him before he could pass into nirvana.

Master Wufa returned to the Great Autumn Temple after ending the snowstorm, and the people learned that a serpent had become a flood dragon and received Deliverance. After Yi Shuyuan and the Great Toad King said farewell, Yi Shuyuan continued south with Hui Mian toward Heavenly Battle Mountain.

• Master Wufa returned to the Great Autumn Temple, where the monks rang the bell and welcomed him back.
• Master Wufa explained that a great serpent had stirred up the snowstorm, become a flood dragon, and received Deliverance; the gold leaf on the Great Buddha statue then shattered when he bowed.
• The Great Autumn Temple and Qilin Army repaired the damage, and the Qilin Army lord named the infant his adopted son and pledged to protect the temple.
• Yi Shuyuan and the Great Toad King visited Master Wufa to thank him and explain that a true kasaya was a Patchwork Robe made from bonds and acts of Deliverance.
• The Great Toad King explained that the Great Buddha statue could no longer bear Master Wufa's bow, then he and Yi Shuyuan departed from the temple.
• Yi Shuyuan parted from the Great Toad King and flew south with Hui Mian toward Heavenly Battle Mountain, where the Mountain-Topping Grass was nearing maturity.

The Mountain-Topping Grass began blooming beneath Leaning Peak before the mountain had fully straightened, and dark clouds gathered over Heavenly Battle Mountain. As a lightning tribulation struck the peak, the Mountain God remained to watch the immortal herb while the others fled.

• The Mountain God and Xiao Yong watched Leaning Peak rise as the Mountain-Topping Grass continued to grow, while Xiao Yong reported that he had warned the neighboring mountains and caves about possible disturbances.
• A tremor shook the range, and the giant serpent guarding the Mountain-Topping Grass found that its flower bud had begun to open.
• The serpent summoned Xiao Yong and the Mountain God, who realized the flower was blooming earlier than expected and that dark clouds were gathering overhead.
• Xiao Yong told the serpent to flee and left himself, while the Mountain God stayed to watch over the Mountain-Topping Grass and await Mr. Yi.
• Lightning struck Leaning Peak and raced down its slopes, setting dried vines ablaze as the Mountain-Topping Grass stretched beneath the storm.

A storm awakened the mature Mountain-Topping Grass, drawing demons to Heavenly Battle Mountain as Xiao Yong and Old Vine defended it. Yi Shuyuan arrived, collected its seed, and summoned his Alchemy Furnace to refine the herb before it withered.

• A herb gatherer survived a storm on a cliff as lightning struck Leaning Peak and the Mountain-Topping Grass began to bloom.
• Xiao Yong recognized the lightning as thunder infusion, and the Mountain-Topping Grass absorbed the storm while its blossom gathered radiance.
• Xiao Yong drove off intruding demons, while Old Vine captured and struck a fox demon that tried to approach the herb.
• Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian arrived after sensing the Mountain-Topping Grass had matured, and Yi Shuyuan brushed aside its lightning to collect a seed.
• Yi Shuyuan warned Old Vine that the herb had to be refined immediately, then summoned his Alchemy Furnace beside Leaning Peak.

Yi Shuyuan arrived at Heavenly Battle Mountain and began refining an Immortal Elixir from Mountain-Topping Grass and five supplementary ingredients. As the ingredients transformed inside the Heaven-Turning Furnace, he discovered that the refinement had entered an unprecedented intent-born pill realm.

• Xiao Yong sensed that Mr. Yi had arrived, ended his standoff with the demon cultivators, and returned to Leaning Peak.
• Yi Shuyuan gave Hui Mian the newly refined Cloud Register Brush, which Hui Mian joyfully tested in flight.
• Yi Shuyuan placed Mountain-Topping Grass and five supplementary ingredients in the Heaven-Turning Furnace, then began the refinement as Old Vine, Xiao Yong, and Hui Mian watched from a distance.
• Spiritual energy and starlight gathered into the furnace while Yi Shuyuan transformed the ingredients into qi in the order of metal, water, wood, fire, and earth.
• The ingredients formed a vast world within Yi Shuyuan's realm of intent, and he realized he had entered an intent-born pill realm.

A fox demon and several herb gatherers entered the depths of Heavenly Battle Mountain while Yi Shuyuan refined an Immortal Elixir, but the Mountain and River State Map merged with his intent-born pill realm and confused those who sought Leaning Peak. Their strange encounters grew into a legend that spread as far as Great Yong.

• The fox realized Yi Daozi was refining an Immortal Elixir on Heavenly Battle Mountain and tried to approach Leaning Peak, but became lost within the mountain’s illusory realm.
• Two herb gatherers searched for Leaning Peak, saw starlight streaming into the mountains, and left after failing to find it; the fox escaped hidden in their basket.
• Yi Shuyuan understood that the fox and herb gatherers had entered his intent-born pill realm and had already stood within what they sought.
• The fox later lured demon cultivators into the mountain, while the herb gatherer’s stories drew other visitors and the Local Government, but none found Leaning Peak.
• Stories about Heavenly Battle Mountain spread across neighboring regions and became a legend of an Immortal refining pills there.

After five years of refining, Yi Shuyuan faced a devastating lightning tribulation as the pills formed in the Alchemy Furnace. He survived and completed the pills, but when he opened the furnace, a radiant streak shot into the Heavenly Realm and shook both heaven and earth.

• The Four Direction Venerable Gods guarded Heavenly Battle Mountain as monsters and gods gathered outside, hoping for a pill escape.
• Yi Shuyuan emerged from meditation and formed the Alchemy Cauldron Unity Seal, drawing spiritual energy and storm clouds toward Leaning Peak.
• A fierce five-element lightning tribulation struck the Heaven-Turning Furnace and the Mountain-Topping Grass, forcing Yi Shuyuan to meet the bolts in his white crane form.
• Yi Shuyuan split a blood-red bolt with his sword, then used the Three-Pointed, Two-Edged Blade to force the furnace lid shut as the pills formed.
• Yi Shuyuan opened the furnace, and a radiant streak burst into the Heavenly Realm, shaking Heavenly Battle Mountain and the heavens.

Yi Shuyuan completed the Heavenly Battle Pills, but three pills escaped the furnace and raced across the lower realm. One was captured in the Heaven and Earth Gourd, while another vanished after Zhu Li failed to stop it, prompting Yi Shuyuan and others to give chase as the Heavenly Emperor learned that a pill had escaped.

• Three golden pills burst from Yi Shuyuan’s furnace, and one dragged him into a mountain peak before he seized it and named it the Heavenly Battle Pill.
• The other two pills fled in different directions as the Heaven-Turning Furnace and Heaven and Earth Gourd pursued them.
• Hui Mian, Xiao Yong, and the Eastern Spirit Venerable God drove one escaping pill into the Heaven and Earth Gourd and returned it to Yi Shuyuan.
• Zhu Li failed to stop the southern pill, which struck Jade Startle aside and disappeared as demons and other beings joined the chase.
• Yi Shuyuan learned that the southern pill had escaped and hurried after it with Xiao Yong and the Eastern Spirit Venerable God following.
• The Heavenly Emperor received word that Yi Daozi’s pills had formed and that one had escaped.

Two foxes found the escaped Immortal Elixir hiding in a boulder, but their attempt to divide it awakened the pill and led the red fox to swallow it. The red fox collapsed in agony, and after the gray fox tried to draw the pill out, a blood-stained streak of golden light flew away, leaving both foxes motionless.

• The gray fox abandoned the pursuit and led the red fox to a boulder where she suspected the Immortal Elixir had hidden.
• The gray fox carefully used a stick to retrieve the sleeping golden pill, and the red fox took it and insisted they should eat it.
• The gray fox tried to split the pill with her sword, but the strike awakened it and sent it flying.
• The red fox swallowed the escaping Immortal Elixir and collapsed as her body burned.
• The gray fox tried to suck the pill out of the red fox, but a blood-stained golden streak shot away and both foxes fell motionless.

Yi Shuyuan found the injured Fox Demons Su Guyan and Su Hongxuan after they failed to swallow the Heavenly Battle Pill, treated their fire poison, and let them go after taking their blood essence. He divined that the pill had flown southeast, but decided not to pursue it.

• Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian discovered Su Guyan and Su Hongxuan injured beside a boulder, with the Immortal Elixir already gone.
• Yi Shuyuan used his Dragon Pearl to cool the Fox Demons and relieve their fire poison, waking Su Guyan first.
• Su Guyan thanked Yi Shuyuan and returned her sword; Hui Mian exposed Su Hongxuan pretending to remain unconscious.
• Su Guyan recounted how the sisters had encountered the pill, and Yi Shuyuan took a drop of blood essence from each before departing.
• Yi Shuyuan divined that the Heavenly Battle Pill had flown southeast, but told Hui Mian to let it go.

Yi Shuyuan reassured the Four Spirit Generals after one Heavenly Battle Pill escaped, then thanked his protectors and set out to fulfill his promise to Spirit Carp Madam and Lu Yuwei. He arrived at Heavenly Origin Pool with a flock of white cranes, where Xia Linglan and Lu Yuwei recognized him.

• Yi Shuyuan told the Four Spirit Generals he did not blame them for the escaped pill and explained that they had chased its dispersing pill qi.
• The Four Spirit Generals departed, and Yi Shuyuan gave Starwoven Pills to Xiao Yong and the Mountain God before leaving Heavenly Battle Mountain.
• Yi Shuyuan traveled to Heavenly Origin Pool to meet Spirit Carp Madam and Lu Yuwei, accompanied by Hui Mian.
• A flock of Red-Crowned White Cranes recognized Yi Shuyuan and formed a descending path that he followed toward the pool.
• Xia Linglan and Lu Yuwei sensed Yi Shuyuan's arrival and hurried outside, where Lu Yuwei identified him as Immortal Venerable Yi Daozi.

Yi Shuyuan attempted to revive Lu Yuwei’s long-dead father, Lu Junshan, by gathering the traces of his scattered soul within the sealed courtyard. As Lu Junshan began to stir, the Netherworld’s records changed to order his soul summoned despite his death more than two hundred years earlier.

• Xia Linglan brought Yi Shuyuan and Lu Yuwei to their former home, where she revealed the hidden courtyard and visited the Land God.
• Xia Linglan and Lu Yuwei found Lu Junshan’s preserved body, and Yi Shuyuan gathered their tears and prepared his method using the Heavenly Battle Pill.
• Yi Shuyuan’s wine and the Heavenly Battle Pill stirred Lu Junshan’s body as he drew together the traces of his soul contained in the courtyard.
• A copy of the Book of Life and Death changed Lu Junshan’s record and ordered the Underworld Official to summon his soul without delay.

Yi Shuyuan restored Lu Junshan’s scattered soul, but warned that Lu Junshan could not remain alive in the mortal world. The Underworld Office took him away for reincarnation, while Yi Shuyuan explained that his spiritual awareness would need to recover slowly.

• Yi Shuyuan returned Lu Junshan’s soul to his body and told Xia Linglan and Lu Yuwei that he could not fully revive him or keep him alive for long.
• The Underworld Office discovered that Lu Junshan’s name had reappeared in its records and sent its officials to investigate.
• The Civil and Martial Judges reached the courtyard, where the Land God tried to delay them until Xia Linglan invited them inside.
• Yi Shuyuan explained that he had restored Lu Junshan’s soul, and the officials recognized him as Yi Daozi and bowed to him.
• The City God, Si Binghe, confirmed that Lu Junshan could reincarnate, and the Day Patrol Gods used a Soul-Hooking Rope to take his confused soul to the Underworld.
• Hui Mian asked whether Lu Junshan would be born witless, and Yi Shuyuan said his spiritual awareness would have to recover slowly.

Yi Shuyuan left the Heavenly Origin Pool after Xia Linglan recounted how she met and married Lu Junshan, then secluded himself on a mountain to recover. When he awoke, Hui Mian told him he had been appointed one of the Four Imperial Emperors, and Yi Shuyuan continued toward Great Yong’s Capital City and Longwind Lake.

• Xia Linglan hosted Yi Shuyuan beside the Heavenly Origin Pool and told him how she met Lu Junshan and unexpectedly became his wife.
• Yi Shuyuan left the Water Palace the next day, accepting that he needed to recover elsewhere, while Xia Linglan and Lu Yuwei saw him off.
• Yi Shuyuan decided he could now refine the Spirit Pearl Xia Linglan had given him, and Hui Mian declined to use it because he feared his cultivation was advancing too quickly.
• Yi Shuyuan secluded himself on a mountain and recovered as time seemed to pass rapidly around him.
• Hui Mian told Yi Shuyuan that he had been appointed one of the Four Imperial Emperors and had accepted the decree on his behalf.
• Yi Shuyuan secretly visited his nephew in Yuanjiang County and attended a lesson at Moon Province Academy before heading toward Great Yong’s Capital City and Longwind Lake.

Yi Shuyuan reunited with Jiang Lang beside Longwind Lake and told him about reviving Madam Xia’s husband and refining the Heavenly Battle Pills. They discussed the escaped pill and the battle at Mount Great Autumn, where Jiang Lang’s guess about the Great Toad King’s motives startled Hui Mian.

• Yi Shuyuan strolled beside Longwind Lake with Hui Mian and described the lake’s scenery to a group of foreign visitors before leaving to meet Jiang Lang.
• Jiang Lang questioned Yi Shuyuan about reviving Madam Xia’s husband, and Yi Shuyuan explained that the man’s soul had returned only briefly before a Soul-Reaping Messenger took it away.
• Yi Shuyuan showed Jiang Lang a Heavenly Battle Pill and said he had completed three, while one had escaped and was being sought by many.
• Jiang Lang asked about the battle at Mount Great Autumn, and Hui Mian identified the Great Toad King’s divine ability as Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation.
• Jiang Lang speculated that a peerless beauty at Great Autumn Temple had won the Great Toad King’s devotion, causing Hui Mian to choke on his wine.

Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang reunited with Gongsun Yin in Heaven-Bearing Prefecture, where Gongsun explained how he had ended Yang Bencai’s lingering hopes concerning Zheng Ying. They entered Great Yong’s palace and found Zhang Liangxi preparing to retire, leaving Yi Shuyuan and his companions at the old eunuch’s courtyard.

• Yi Shuyuan spotted the elderly Yang Bencai watching a courtesan’s carriage and observed him meeting Gongsun Yin at a restaurant.
• Gongsun Yin greeted Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang, explained that his Heart Aperture Shared-Fate Art was nearly complete, and said he had come on Zheng Ying’s behalf to close an old bond with Yang Bencai.
• Gongsun Yin told Yi Shuyuan, Jiang Lang, and Hui Mian that he had ended Yang Bencai’s hopes by claiming to be Zheng Ying’s son and telling him she had died.
• The emperor granted Zhang Liangxi’s request to retire, ordering a generous allowance and an official-style escort for his journey home.
• Yi Shuyuan, Gongsun Yin, and Jiang Lang arrived at Zhang Liangxi’s courtyard, where Gongsun identified the old eunuch.

Zhang Liangxi retired from the palace and traveled toward the South Gate, where Tan Yuanshang hosted a farewell feast. That night Zhang dreamed the Former Emperor urged him to pursue the Immortal Dao and meet Yi Shuyuan, leaving him uncertain whether the encounter had truly happened.

• Yi Shuyuan recognized Zhang Liangxi as a former trusted attendant of Emperor Yongming, and Gongsun Yin confirmed that the Purple Star Lord had approved Zhang's Heart Aperture Shared-Fate Art.
• Zhang Liangxi left the palace with a single carriage after receiving permission to retire.
• Tan Yuanshang met Zhang Liangxi outside the city and hosted him a farewell meal, while Yi Shuyuan, Jiang Lang, Gongsun Yin, and Hui Mian shared food nearby.
• After the feast, Zhang Liangxi dreamed that the Former Emperor told him to seek the Immortal Dao and go to a rock where Yi Shuyuan and others awaited him.
• Zhang Liangxi woke and saw the rock and three figures from his dream, but by morning they were gone, leaving him wondering whether it had all been a dream.

Zhang Liangxi’s memories returned as he fought off highwaymen and continued toward Spirit Platform Square-Inch Mountain, while Gongsun Yin’s Demonic Tribulation began to transform him. Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang entered the Heavenly Demon Illusion Realm to reach Zhang Liangxi, arriving on a familiar road outside Heaven-Bearing Prefecture.

• Zhang Liangxi struggled to recall his dream and destination as masked highwaymen stopped his carriage.
• Zhang Liangxi remembered he was headed to Spirit Platform Square-Inch Mountain, killed four attackers, and learned a palace Foreign Affairs Eunuch had arranged the ambush.
• Yi Shuyuan, Jiang Lang, and Hui Mian discovered that Zhang Liangxi was turning into something like dead wood as Gongsun Yin’s Demonic Tribulation manifested.
• Yi Shuyuan concluded Zhang Liangxi was bearing the Demonic Tribulation and entered its illusion realm with Jiang Lang using the Heavenly Gang Transformation.
• Jiang Lang and Yi Shuyuan arrived on an official road outside Heaven-Bearing Prefecture, where Jiang Lang found he could not ride the wind.

Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang caught up with Zhang Liangxi in the Demon Realm, where he set out for Spirit Platform Square-Inch Mountain despite an imperial summons to return to the palace. After a fox spirit tried to deceive them, Netherworld Officials appeared before dawn and bound all three, declaring that their time had come.

• Yi Shuyuan and Jiang Lang followed Zhang Liangxi’s route and found him camped beside the road, where they learned he wanted to seek Spirit Platform Square-Inch Mountain, Slanting Moon Three-Star Cave.
• An imperial envoy ordered Zhang Liangxi back to the capital as Chief Eunuch of the Imperial Household, but Zhang Liangxi refused the summons.
• A woman approached the camp at night and tried to seduce Zhang Liangxi, but Jiang Lang exposed her as a fox spirit, which escaped after releasing a foul stench.
• Before dawn, Netherworld Officials chained Jiang Lang, Yi Shuyuan, and Zhang Liangxi and ordered them taken away, despite Jiang Lang protesting that he was still in his prime.

Yi Shuyuan, Jiang Lang, and Zhang Liangxi faced judgment in the Underworld, suffered punishment, and were sent into reincarnation. Yi Shuyuan awakened more than twenty years into his new life as a mad young Daoist, while Jiang Lang’s final plea urged Zhang Liangxi to remember Spirit Platform Square-Inch Mountain and Slanting Moon Three-Star Cave.

• The Soul-Reaping Messenger brought Zhang Liangxi, Yi Shuyuan, and Jiang Lang to the Underworld Office, where the City God judged them.
• The City God offered Zhang Liangxi a chance to return to life if he served his hometown, but condemned him to reincarnation when he hesitated; he also ordered Jiang Lang and Yi Shuyuan punished and reincarnated.
• Netherworld Officials tortured the three ghosts and later led them along the Yellow Springs Road toward the light of reincarnation.
• Jiang Lang tried to wake Zhang Liangxi and shouted that he must remember Spirit Platform Square-Inch Mountain and Slanting Moon Three-Star Cave before both entered reincarnation.
• Yi Shuyuan was reborn as a Daoist and, after more than twenty years of madness, awakened in the rain and followed a young Daoist boy under the temple eaves.