Chapter Summaries

Yi Shuyuan forged a sword-hiding technique using ink, wine, and a transformed folding fan, then followed the village widow to a bandit stockade to confront the demon. As the demon’s aura erupted, an ordinary cat saw through Yi Shuyuan’s concealment and meowed, putting him in immediate danger.

• Yi Shuyuan painted a sword onto his folding fan with wine-infused ink, transformed the fan into a wine cup, and swallowed the wine to hide the sword in his belly.
• Yi Shuyuan told Hui Mian that the village widow would seek the demon’s true body that night, and he waited for her to leave.
• Yi Shuyuan followed the widow beyond the village and sensed another lesser demon’s aura along the mountain path.
• Yi Shuyuan tracked the women to a silent bandit stockade surrounded by miasma and hoofprints, suspecting the bandits had been killed.
• An ordinary cat spotted Yi Shuyuan’s concealment and meowed, while the savage demonic aura inside the stockade began to boil.

Yi Shuyuan posed as a wandering hero to draw out the demons at the stockade, then revealed his hidden sword technique to defeat their leader and her two minions. After pursuing and killing the leader’s escaping cat form, he burned away the lingering miasma, though he remained unsure whether the demon was truly dead.

• Yi Shuyuan pretended to be a righteous martial hero, defeated two lesser demons, and drew the beautiful demon out of the Gathering Hall.
• The demon toyed with Yi Shuyuan and pinned him down, but he launched a concealed sword from his mouth and pierced her skull.
• The demon’s gray essence escaped into a black cat, and Yi Shuyuan recalled his fiery sword light to strike the fleeing cat down.
• Yi Shuyuan killed the two lesser demons with his storyteller’s block and found the leader’s charred body in the stockade.
• Yi Shuyuan found the charred cat in the mountain wilds and scattered fiery liquor mist to burn away the miasma.

Yi Shuyuan defeated the cat demon and returned to find the mountain free of miasma, then met the Mountain God and learned the demon had been Xuan Ji, the Nine-Lives Cat Demon. He left with Hui Mian and a basket of fruit, while the Mountain God repeated Yi Daozi’s name and returned underground.

• Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian searched the bandits’ stronghold, found its stored wealth, and took only a handful of silver.
• As Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian walked back through the miasma-free mountain, they met the Mountain God, Lin Tan, who thanked Yi Shuyuan for killing the demon.
• Lin Tan explained that he had been too weak and afraid to confront the demon, then offered Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian a basket of wild fruit.
• Lin Tan identified the demon as Xuan Ji, the Nine-Lives Cat Demon, and said the heavenly gods had hunted her for years.
• Yi Shuyuan accepted the fruit, gave Lin Tan the name Yi Daozi, and departed on a breeze while Hui Mian rode on his shoulder.

Yi Shuyuan reflected on killing the nine-lived demon cat Xuan Ji, then learned that soldiers had sealed off the village before finding the mountain bandits’ stronghold. The soldiers discovered demon corpses and a cellar of treasure and bones, then burned the stronghold and withdrew.

• Yi Shuyuan discussed Xuan Ji’s escaping vital destiny with Hui Mian and said his sword strike had destroyed the demon’s Purple Mansion.
• Villagers discussed eerie cries and thunder from the night before, and the old village head told Yi Shuyuan that two more people had disappeared.
• Soldiers arrived, barred villagers from entering or leaving, and ordered the village head to supply them with food and drink.
• A commandant led ten detachments into the mountains, where they found the bandits’ silent stronghold and discovered three demon corpses.
• Soldiers found a treasury beneath the Gathering Hall filled with riches and bleached bones, then burned the corpses and stronghold before withdrawing from the village.

After leaving the village, Yi Shuyuan secluded himself on a mountain to refine the five elements and face his tribulation. When the five elements inside him began to fail, he let go of resistance and transformed the wine gourd into the Alchemy Furnace, restoring his vital energy as spring returned to his withered body.

• The new commandant took the bandits’ bodies and bones as proof of victory while Yi Shuyuan waited for the soldiers to leave the village.
• Yi Shuyuan thanked the villagers, left silver for his hosts, and set out with Hui Mian toward the mountains.
• Yi Shuyuan cultivated on a summit, using the wine gourd to resonate with the Alchemy Furnace as he worked to refine the five elements.
• On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yi Shuyuan’s tribulation began, and his vital energy drained away as the five elements in his Inner Scenery dried up.
• Hui Mian rushed to Yi Shuyuan but was thrown from the summit by a burst of gray light.
• Yi Shuyuan stopped resisting, declared that the departing energies of the five elements passed on and the arriving energies took their course, and transformed the gourd into the Alchemy Furnace as vital energy gathered around him.

After surviving the Beginning of Spring tribulation, Yi Shuyuan became a True Person and rescued Hui Mian, who had been sheltered by a local Land God. Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian continued their journey into Tea Province, where Yi Shuyuan sensed that Wawa should have been reborn.

• Yi Shuyuan recovered from the tribulation, became a True Person, and flew into the valley to search for Hui Mian.
• Yi Shuyuan found Hui Mian in the care of a local Land God, removed the tribulation’s aura, and revived the little marten.
• Yi Shuyuan thanked the Land God and advised him to cultivate on the mountaintop, though the Land God hesitated to leave his shrine.
• As Yi Shuyuan traveled with Hui Mian, he explained his understanding of the stages of immortal cultivation and discovered that his wine gourd had become a treasure.
• Yi Shuyuan and Hui Mian crossed into Tea Province, where Yi Shuyuan sensed that Wawa should have been reborn.

Yi Shuyuan explained that Wawa’s reincarnation timing was unusual, while the Mo household discovered Madam Mo was pregnant and celebrated her vow at Lady Shuntian’s temple. The temple keeper’s auspicious fortune stick broke after the family left, unsettling her as the story ended.

• Hui Mian asked whether she and Yi Shuyuan could stop traveling, and Yi Shuyuan explained that Wawa might enter a womb or be born at different times.
• Madam Mo fainted at dinner, and a physician discovered that she was two or three months pregnant.
• Master Mo celebrated the pregnancy and gave the physician a generous silver ingot.
• Madam Mo and Master Mo visited the Shuntian Lady Temple to fulfill her vow and pray for the child’s safe birth.
• The fortune-stick cylinder spilled its sticks twice, and the temple keeper persuaded the Mo household that one stick promised an auspicious future for the child.
• After the Mo household left, the temple keeper found that the auspicious stick had broken and hurried outside in alarm.

The Mo family sought an interpretation of Madam Mo’s auspicious fortune and visited an unfashionable fortune-teller recommended by the temple keeper. After sensing an ominous, mysterious aura around Madam Mo, the old man declared her unborn child extraordinary and vowed to protect him, hoping to make him his disciple.

• The temple keeper directed the Mo family to a solitary fortune-teller, and Cailian persuaded them to visit him after seeing him and the temple keeper glare at each other.
• The old man interpreted Madam Mo’s fortune as auspicious, then used a talisman to examine both parents and sensed an obscure aura surrounding her.
• After hearing that Madam Mo was three months pregnant and had drawn the fortune only after the cylinder broke, the old man hurried into the temple to investigate.
• The old man returned with a scratch and told the Mo family that their child had an unfathomable destiny, with wind and thunder following him, and that calamities might threaten his birth.
• The old man offered to protect the child and asked the Mo family to let him become the child’s master in the future.

The old fortune-teller warned the Mo family that their unborn child faced danger and promised to prepare protections, while Yi Shuyuan arrived in Mingzhou City and recognized the child’s mother. The old man gathered his treasured ritual tools and set out, as Yi Shuyuan felt confident he could help ensure Wawa’s birth went safely.

• The old man gave Madam Mo talismans and warned Master Mo and Madam Mo to keep the pregnant woman safe, promising to prepare further protections.
• Master Mo took Madam Mo home, and she felt the child move as their sedan chair passed Yi Shuyuan.
• Yi Shuyuan confirmed to Hui Mian that the woman was Wawa’s mother and said her birth might not go smoothly.
• The old man returned to his cottage, gathered his Seven-Star Sword and ritual supplies, and left for the Mo household.

Qi Zhongbin moved into the Mo estate to protect Madam Mo’s unborn child, and Madam Mo dreamed that the child asked her to find his master and have him accept the child as a disciple. The next morning, Madam Mo began experiencing pregnancy symptoms as the fetal aura within her spread.

• After hearing how the fortune teller had frightened Madam Mo, Old Madam Mo agreed to let Qi Zhongbin stay at the estate under household rules.
• Qi Zhongbin secretly used blood and his Seven-Star Sword to animate paper figures and sent them to watch over the rear courtyard.
• Madam Mo dreamed that a snake-like figure spoke as her unborn son, warned that he was losing his memories, and asked her to find his master.
• Madam Mo told Master Mo about the dream and urged him not to send Qi Zhongbin away.
• The next morning, Madam Mo ate breakfast, became nauseated, and vomited as her pregnancy symptoms began.

A gifted storyteller drew crowds on Qingyuan Street, and Madam Mo asked to hear him, prompting Master Mo to promise a private performance at the residence. That night, a paper figure attacked the Mo Residence, and Qi Zhongbin destroyed it but warned that an evil creature had begun targeting them.

• A servant returning with sour plums told Madam Mo and the Mo family about the extraordinary storyteller on Qingyuan Street.
• Madam Mo asked to hear the storyteller, and Master Mo promised to invite him to perform at the Mo Residence.
• After sunset, an eerie aura emerged from the cesspit where the Mo Household’s night soil had been taken.
• A paper figure appeared in the Mo Residence’s rear courtyard, and Qi Zhongbin rushed out with his Seven-Star Sword to confront it.
• Qi Zhongbin cut the paper figure in half and scattered the smaller paper cutouts, then told the household an evil creature had only sent a probe.

Qi Zhongbin sought the temple keeper’s help identifying the paper figure, and she predicted the spirit behind it would appear in two days. Meanwhile, Master Mo invited the storyteller Yi Shuyuan to visit the Mo Residence that same evening, setting up a possible encounter with the threat.

• Qi Zhongbin brought the paper figure to the Shuntian Lady Temple, where the temple keeper agreed to examine it for the Mo family’s sake.
• The temple keeper could not identify the figure, but concluded that a powerful spirit had stolen it and would reveal its core power on an ill-omened night in two days.
• The temple keeper advised Qi Zhongbin to protect the Mo Residence with sacred images and people with strong yang energy, then trace the spirit after it appeared.
• Master Mo visited the Qingyuan Teahouse and invited Yi Shuyuan to tell stories at the Mo Residence.
• Yi Shuyuan accepted and arranged to visit on the evening two days later.

Qi Zhongbin prepared a four-direction formation at the Mo Residence while Granny Yu arrived to help defend the family from a fiend. The fiend attacked with illusions and paper soldiers, but Yi Shuyuan intervened, drew it into his Gourd, and brought the residence back under the moonlight.

• Qi Zhongbin found an incense shop whose paper figures matched those from the night before, then placed Four Direction Venerable Gods at the Mo Residence's corners and connected them with incense ash.
• Granny Yu came to help Qi Zhongbin protect the Mo family, and Master Mo canceled Yi Shuyuan's storytelling rather than risk involving him.
• The fiend used rain and illusions to test the formation, then attacked Qi Zhongbin in the rear courtyard with paper soldiers and a red-clad paper figure.
• Granny Yu noticed the fiend's illusion in the front hall but stayed with Madam Mo and the household as Qi Zhongbin fought in the rear courtyard.
• Yi Shuyuan arrived at the Mo Residence, used his Gourd to draw in the fiend and dark clouds, and walked inside as the yin energy melted away.

Yi Shuyuan arrived at the Mo residence after the rain and sinister aura had vanished, and the household persuaded him to stay and tell a story. Afterward, Qi Zhongbin and Yu Fuying thanked him for secretly saving them from the creature’s Illusion Magic, though Yi Shuyuan denied being a master.

• Qi Zhongbin realized the paper figures had been illusions and saw that the rain and sinister aura had disappeared.
• Yi Shuyuan entered the Mo residence, where Yu Fuying sensed his powerful pure energy and recognized him as an extraordinary master.
• Master Mo tried to send Yi Shuyuan away, but Madam Mo and Qi Zhongbin persuaded him to stay and tell a story.
• Yi Shuyuan told a tale to the gathered Mo household, whose members discussed it eagerly after it ended.
• Qi Zhongbin and Yu Fuying thanked Yi Shuyuan for his intervention, while he denied their assumption that he was a master.

Yi Shuyuan destroyed the rain-borne yin entity at the Mo Residence, leaving Qi Zhongbin and Granny Yu to suspect he was an extraordinary immortal cultivator. He settled into life in Mingzhou City and sang at the flower-lantern festival, while an unseen observer watched him leave Lotus Wind Bridge.

• Yi Shuyuan told Qi Zhongbin and Granny Yu that he had refined the yin entity away, then examined one of Qi Zhongbin’s Shadow-Cutting Paper Soldiers and asked how the technique worked.
• Qi Zhongbin and Granny Yu reflected on Yi Shuyuan’s effortless power and unusual manner, and wondered why an expert like him had come to Mingzhou City and visited the Mo Residence.
• Yi Shuyuan accepted Master Mo’s payment for his storytelling and asked Hui Mian how many immortal cultivators it had encountered; Hui Mian urged him to take Wawa as a disciple, but Yi Shuyuan dismissed the idea of treating Wawa like merchandise.
• As days passed, Yi Shuyuan became a familiar figure in Mingzhou City, and admirers began calling his storytelling at Qingyuan Pavilion the Sixteenth Wonder of Tea Province.
• On the second day of the eighth month, Yi Shuyuan watched flower lanterns drift beneath Lotus Wind Bridge and sang “Flowing Light, Dancing Shadows,” moving Hui Mian with the song.
• An unknown person in a building beside Lotus Wind Bridge admired Yi Shuyuan as he left.

Yi Shuyuan discovered a new transformation in his Dao of command by drawing fireflies into a dance that reflected his emotions, then named the song “Dancing Lights.” As a storm ushered in Madam Mo’s difficult labor, she gave birth to a child made of black stone, while fireflies gathered over the Mo Residence.

• Yi Shuyuan guided fireflies with his fan and wind, realized he could merge his emotions with the transformations of nature, and named the song “Dancing Lights.”
• As Madam Mo neared the end of her pregnancy, a storm broke out and she went into labor after lightning struck a courtyard tree.
• Master Mo and Qi Zhongbin waited anxiously as the labor continued through the day and night, and the frightened midwife returned to the birthing room.
• Madam Mo gave birth to a human-shaped black stone child, and Cailian caught it when a maid screamed and dropped it.
• Master Mo and Qi Zhongbin entered the room and saw the strange child, while fireflies gathered above the Mo Residence after the rain stopped.

Yi Shuyuan used the fireflies and the gathered will of Mingzhou’s residents to shield Madam Mo’s premature labor, then used yin-yang transformation breath to turn the stone-like infant into a living boy. After the Mo family celebrated the birth, Yi Shuyuan asked Qi Zhongbin whether he still had the resolve to pursue the immortal path.

• Fireflies gathered above the Mo Residence as Yi Shuyuan borrowed the lamplight and intent of Mingzhou’s residents to form a protective canopy against the heavenly tribulation.
• Yi Shuyuan descended into the Mo Residence and sent the yin-yang transformation breath from his gourd into Madam Mo’s stone-like infant.
• Yi Shuyuan used his folding fan to drive the breath into the infant, and the osmanthus trees blossomed as cracks spread across the infant’s body.
• The infant cried as a healthy boy, and Yi Shuyuan reassured Master Mo and Madam Mo that their son was genuine flesh and blood.
• Yi Shuyuan left the birthing room with Qi Zhongbin and asked whether the old man still had the resolve to pursue the immortal path.

Yi Shuyuan saved Madam Mo and her newborn son, then asked Qi Zhongbin whether he still wished to pursue the Immortal Dao. After leaving the Mo Residence, Yi Shuyuan took Qi Zhongbin to greet Mingzhou’s City God and Land God before returning to his rented house, while the city’s ghosts and gods wondered who he was.

• Yi Shuyuan's question left Qi Zhongbin in tears, and the two returned to the room where Master Mo and the household thanked them for saving the child.
• Yi Shuyuan greeted the newborn Wawa, and Old Madam Mo arrived to see her grandson and reward the midwives and servants.
• At midnight, Yi Shuyuan led Qi Zhongbin out of the Mo Residence and carried him through the air toward the City God Temple.
• Yi Shuyuan gave Qi Zhongbin the spiritual energy to see Jian Chong, the City God of Mingzhou, and apologized for the night's disturbance.
• Yi Shuyuan and Qi Zhongbin exchanged greetings with the Land God and Lady Shuntian, then returned to Yi Shuyuan's rented house as the city's ghosts and gods wondered who Yi Shuyuan was.

Yi Shuyuan accepted Qi Zhongbin as a nominal disciple and gave him the Mountain and River Immortal Furnace Diagram to study while he went into seclusion. As Yi Shuyuan slept and contemplated the Mo Household child's birth as a crucial transformation in his Dao, Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian left to find food.

• Hui Mian advised Qi Zhongbin to seek Yi Shuyuan as his master, and Yi Shuyuan confirmed Hui Mian's claims about his past were true.
• Yi Shuyuan offered to teach Qi Zhongbin the immortal Dao as a nominal disciple, and Qi Zhongbin accepted after bowing nine times.
• Yi Shuyuan told Qi Zhongbin to look after his senior brother at the Mo Residence and gave him the Mountain and River Immortal Furnace Diagram before entering seclusion.
• Qi Zhongbin could not discern the mysteries in the painting, so Hui Mian stored it away and invited him to find something to eat.
• Yi Shuyuan slept while contemplating how the Mo Household child's birth had completed a Heavenly Gang Transformation and advanced his understanding of the Dao.

After Yi Shuyuan stopped appearing at Qingyuan Teahouse, Huan Yulang, a heavenly god of the Fire Department, sought him out through Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian. Huan Yulang explained that he had come to learn about Yi Shuyuan and establish friendly ties, and Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian were left impressed by their master's reputation in the Celestial Court.

• Customers complained to the proprietor of Qingyuan Teahouse that Yi Shuyuan had not returned to tell stories, and the proprietor admitted he did not know where Yi lived.
• As Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian passed the teahouse, Huan Yulang called to them and asked where Yi Daozi was.
• Huan Yulang introduced himself and said he had come under orders to visit Yi Daozi, prompting Qi Zhongbin to recognize him as a heavenly god of the Fire Department.
• Huan Yulang followed Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian to a quieter spot and explained that Lady Shuntian had told the Celestial Court about Yi Shuyuan's remarkable control over fire.
• Huan Yulang said he hoped to learn more about Yi Shuyuan and maintain friendly ties with him, while Qi Zhongbin and Hui Mian marveled at their master's standing.