Chapter Summaries

Lin Zhishui mourned the apparent death of his loyal customer Old Master Cheng and prepared to attract new business to his calligraphy shop. Cheng Qiyue arrived following a message left by her ancestor, and Lin Zhishui’s confident words made her suspect he knew more than he appeared to.

• Lin Zhishui practiced wild cursive and recalled how Old Master Cheng had admired his calligraphy and given him a paperweight.
• Lin Zhishui found a poem suggesting Old Master Cheng had died and resolved to upload more calligraphy videos to attract customers.
• Cheng Qiyue followed a brass compass to He Mingxuan, seeking a letter her ancestor had left before ascending.
• Cheng Qiyue entered the shop and noticed Lin Zhishui’s presence had escaped her spiritual awareness, though he seemed to be an ordinary mortal.
• Lin Zhishui told Cheng Qiyue she had found the right place and called their meeting a destined encounter, leaving her intrigued by him.

Cheng Qiyue visited Lin Zhishui seeking a final letter from her ancestor, who had ascended. Misreading the letter and Lin’s calligraphy, she became convinced he was a powerful hidden master, and Lin offered to help her gain her family’s recognition; she was stunned when he showed her his works.

• Lin Zhishui told Cheng Qiyue that her ancestor had left him a letter, and she recognized its handwriting and Dao resonance.
• Cheng Qiyue interpreted the letter and Lin’s farewell calligraphy as signs that he was an enlightened master close to her ancestor’s level.
• Cheng Qiyue explained that she was searching for her ancestor’s hidden treasure, hoping it would improve her standing in the Cheng Family.
• Lin Zhishui offered to help Cheng Qiyue earn recognition from her family and led her behind a screen in his shop.
• Cheng Qiyue saw Lin Zhishui’s calligraphy and paintings and stared at them in shock.

Cheng Qiyue discovered that Lin Zhishui’s calligraphy revealed the Dao and could advance her Taiyin Divine Lord dharma body. She offered 129,600 yuan for the piece he selected, while misunderstanding his ordinary sales price as a profound limit.

• Cheng Qiyue contemplated Lin Zhishui’s calligraphy and sensed its lunar principles, realizing it could help awaken her dharma body.
• Lin Zhishui said the calligraphy was only practice work, and Cheng Qiyue concluded he was an extraordinary master.
• Cheng Qiyue worried Lin Zhishui wanted her as payment, but he clarified that he expected money for the calligraphy.
• Lin Zhishui selected a poem about the moon rising over the sea, which Cheng Qiyue recognized as perfectly suited to her lineage.
• Lin Zhishui named 129,600 yuan as the price of two pieces he had sold Cheng Qiyue’s grandfather, and Cheng Qiyue interpreted the number as a cosmic limit.
• Cheng Qiyue bowed and offered 129,600 yuan for the calligraphy, and Lin Zhishui accepted.

Lin Zhishui inscribed Cheng Qiyue’s calligraphy after receiving her payment and gave her a second piece originally intended for her ancestor, Old Cheng. He told her to keep their dealings secret and place the gift before Old Cheng’s memorial tablet when the time was right, leaving Cheng Qiyue convinced he was hinting at a serious purpose.

• Cheng Qiyue transferred 129,600 yuan to Lin Zhishui, who privately celebrated his new balance.
• Lin Zhishui added Cheng Qiyue’s name and his signature to the calligraphy while she watched its Dao resonance change.
• Lin Zhishui asked Cheng Qiyue to keep the transaction secret, and she agreed.
• Lin Zhishui gave Cheng Qiyue a second calligraphy piece intended for Old Cheng and told her to place it before his memorial tablet at a suitable time.
• Cheng Qiyue interpreted Lin Zhishui’s instructions as a meaningful warning or plan connected to her ancestor’s ascension.

Lin Zhishui returned home and teased his shy roommate and girlfriend, She Xilu, about their online relationship and the possibility of marriage. He reaffirmed that he would not abandon her, and they ended the evening eating together.

• Lin Zhishui went home after closing his calligraphy shop early and found little interest in his Douyin video.
• Lin Zhishui joined the lively fan group chat and teased its owner, She Xilu, after she argued against living together without plans to marry.
• Lin Zhishui cooked dinner and called She Xilu out of the bedroom, then sat close to her and joked about getting married when she turned twenty.
• Lin Zhishui reminded She Xilu that they had dated for nearly three years and lived together for a year, while She Xilu nervously asked him not to hit her.
• Lin Zhishui told She Xilu he would not abandon her because she had saved him when they first met offline, and they ate dinner together.

Lin Zhishui planned to buy She Xilu a new hearing aid and encouraged her to see a therapist, while reflecting on how they met and began living together. She Xilu said her recent dreams featured a well gushing black liquid.

• Lin Zhishui told She Xilu not to go to bed early because he planned to take her to buy a high-end hearing aid.
• She Xilu worried about the cost and apologized for being a burden, but Lin Zhishui reassured her that he could afford it.
• Lin Zhishui recalled meeting She Xilu after she secretly watched him at their meeting place, then rescued him when he fell from a mountain path.
• Lin Zhishui suggested taking She Xilu to a therapist because of her recurring nightmares, but she resisted and said they had been getting better.
• Lin Zhishui asked She Xilu what she had dreamed about lately, and she described a well gushing black liquid.

Lin Zhishui took She Xilu to get hearing aids, then brought her to meet his customer Han Suxin at her psychology clinic. After observing the couple, Han Suxin suspected that Lin Zhishui might be an ordinary mortal rather than the hidden cultivator she had assumed.

• Lin Zhishui teased She Xilu about her dream and persuaded her to let him kiss her cheek.
• Lin Zhishui spent about forty-two thousand on hearing aids for She Xilu, who later took them off because she missed how closely he had to speak to her.
• Lin Zhishui took She Xilu to Han Suxin's psychology clinic at the Good Fortune Building and asked Han Suxin for help.
• Han Suxin observed She Xilu and judged her to be a mortal who was deeply dependent on Lin Zhishui.
• Han Suxin reconsidered her earlier assumptions and suspected that Lin Zhishui was also a mortal who had acquired his remarkable calligraphy by chance.

Lin Zhishui brought She Xilu to Han Suxin for help with her nightmares, and Han Suxin entered She Xilu’s dream to investigate. There she discovered the legendary Demonic Well of Origin and wondered whether She Xilu had come from the upper realm, before a black-scaled snake emerged from the well.

• Lin Zhishui asked Han Suxin to help She Xilu with her recurring nightmares.
• Han Suxin led She Xilu into a counseling room, put her to sleep with her Dao resonance, and became more convinced that Lin Zhishui was mortal.
• Han Suxin manifested her Dharma body and used its Constellations Enter Dreams ability to enter She Xilu’s dream.
• Han Suxin found a three-foot-high octagonal well in the dream and recognized it as the legendary Demonic Well of Origin.
• Han Suxin wondered whether She Xilu was a reincarnated immortal or god from the upper realm, as a black-scaled snake emerged from the well.

Han Suxin entered She Xilu’s dream and discovered that She Xilu was a reincarnated, two-headed black-scaled python whose Primordial Spirit injured her and expelled her. Han Suxin emerged convinced that Lin Zhishui knew the truth and had sent her into the dream, while Lin mistook her warnings for psychological advice and still thought of She Xilu as a timid little animal.

• Han Suxin saw a two-headed black-scaled python swallow a mysterious drop from the sky before it drove her out of She Xilu’s dream and slightly injured her soul.
• Han Suxin recognized She Xilu as a powerful being whose Primordial Spirit was awakening and concluded that her nightmares were memories of her past life.
• Han Suxin suspected Lin Zhishui had repeatedly entered She Xilu’s dream and sent her in to investigate, then emerged and confirmed She Xilu was still asleep.
• Lin Zhishui apologized for She Xilu hurting Han Suxin and offered to write her a character at his shop as compensation.
• Han Suxin told Lin Zhishui that She Xilu was isolating her true self and might reveal it only as she grew, while Lin claimed he had tried to enter her inner world and called her a pitiful, helpless little animal.

Han Suxin mistook Lin Zhishui for an immortal survivor of antiquity and imagined his relationship with She Xilu as a love spanning ages. After She Xilu woke from her session, Lin Zhishui took her home, while she remained confused about what had happened.

• Han Suxin inferred from Lin Zhishui's words about She Xilu that he was an ancient immortal and became increasingly respectful toward him.
• Lin Zhishui offered Han Suxin calligraphy to thank her, and she eagerly accepted a single character instead of a full piece.
• Han Suxin told Lin Zhishui that She Xilu had said, "Stop bothering me," in her dream, and he decided to take things slowly.
• She Xilu woke from the counseling session, and Lin Zhishui reassured her that he already understood her condition.
• Lin Zhishui took She Xilu home, teasing her as his little snake while she wondered why he thought she had been naughty.

Lin Zhishui washed his ink-stained brush in the basin Sword Immortal Lu had given him, unaware that Han Suxin recognized it as a supreme treasure. The chapter left Han watching him pour its spiritual-energy-rich ink water around the shop’s pine tree.

• Lin Zhishui found ink on his beloved brush again and set up outside to wash it in the basin Lu had given him.
• Han Suxin arrived early to collect the calligraphy Lin Zhishui had promised her and waited as he washed his brush.
• Han Suxin recognized the basin’s yin-yang design as the Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin, one of the Infinite Heaven lineage’s ten supreme treasures.
• Lin Zhishui said the basin had come from a cold but considerate customer surnamed Lu, confirming Han Suxin’s suspicion that Sword Immortal Lu had given it to him.
• Lin Zhishui poured the basin’s inky water around the pine tree, while Han Suxin recognized it as spiritual liquid.

Lin Zhishui wrote Han Suxin the character “Steadfast,” which she took as guidance for her cultivation, then left her minding the shop while he went home to help She Xilu with the electricity meter. The chapter ended with Han Suxin alone among the shop’s calligraphy and paintings as Lin Zhishui hurried away.

• Han Suxin ground ink for Lin Zhishui, who advised her to steady herself and wrote her the character “Steadfast.”
• Han Suxin sensed Dao Resonance in the calligraphy and bowed to Lin Zhishui in gratitude.
• Lin Zhishui asked about Han Suxin’s injury, then ordered breakfast for them both.
• She Xilu called to say the electricity meter had run out of credit, so Lin Zhishui left to help her.
• Lin Zhishui asked Han Suxin to watch the shop and save him a portion of breakfast, and she agreed.

Han Suxin discovered that Lin Zhishui’s “Steadfast” calligraphy healed her soul and strengthened her cultivation, then sensed an ominous visitor approaching the shop. Cheng Buxiu traced the Cheng Family’s missing Azure Sun Ruler to He Mingxuan, where Han Suxin prepared to defend the shop.

• Han Suxin found that the “Steadfast” calligraphy had rapidly healed her injured soul and recognized its protective effects.
• Han Suxin noticed the paperweight trembling, divined that an ominous cultivator was approaching, and readied herself to protect Lin Zhishui’s shop.
• Cheng Buxiu followed clues connected to his daughter Cheng Qiyue and the ancestor’s missing Azure Sun Ruler to He Mingxuan.
• Cheng Buxiu used the ancestor’s blood and an imitation ruler to detect the genuine Azure Sun Ruler nearby.
• Cheng Buxiu confirmed that the genuine Azure Sun Ruler was inside or near He Mingxuan.

Han Suxin fought Cheng Buxiu when he tried to seize the Bluestone Paperweight, which she suspected was the Azure Sun Ruler. The Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin drained his replica and dispelled the concealment barrier, leaving a delivery worker able to see the magic and putting them at risk of attracting Outer Demons.

• Han Suxin sensed that Cheng Buxiu had prepared to fight and watched the shop entrance while maintaining secrecy from mortals.
• Cheng Buxiu emerged from a shadow and reached for the Bluestone Paperweight, but Han Suxin struck his shadowy hand with her Dharma Body.
• Cheng Buxiu released an Azure Sun Ruler Replica, and Han Suxin prepared to protect the shop from its growing power.
• The Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin absorbed the replica’s spiritual power, leaving it powerless and dispelling the silencing and illusion restrictions.
• Han Suxin warned Cheng Buxiu that the shop and its treasures belonged to an accomplished senior, then noticed a delivery worker at the entrance asking whether the effects were special effects.

Han Suxin and Cheng Buxiu were trapped in an Outer-Demon Domain after Cheng Buxiu’s attack knocked out a deliveryman, and a Zheng descended to kill them. Senior Lin’s calligraphy and shop treasures destroyed the demon, leaving Cheng Buxiu to resolve to seek Senior Lin’s forgiveness.

• Cheng Buxiu’s Spirit-Erasing Needle knocked out the deliveryman, and the area changed into a spectral green Outer-Demon Domain.
• A Zheng appeared in the alley, and Cheng Buxiu and Han Suxin realized they were unlikely to survive its attack.
• Han Suxin’s calligraphy sheet released Senior Lin’s Steadfast character, pinning the Zheng in place as the Azure Sun Ruler pulverized its body.
• The Two Principles Magic-Gathering Basin absorbed and destroyed the Zheng’s primordial spirit, ending the domain and restoring the surroundings.
• The deliveryman woke with no memory of the incident and hurried off to replace the spilled breakfast.
• Han Suxin told Cheng Buxiu that Senior Lin owned the Azure Sun Ruler and advised him to confess; Cheng Buxiu decided to seek Senior Lin’s forgiveness and ask that his family be spared.

Lin Zhishui decided to keep his secluded shop and build its reputation among traditional-culture enthusiasts. He learned that a grim visitor had come and left after Han Suxin showed him Lin’s treasures, and the man planned to return to apologize.

• Lin Zhishui reasoned that his customers belonged to a shared traditional-culture circle and decided his remote shop’s mysterious atmosphere helped its appeal.
• A delivery rider told Lin Zhishui that a man and a woman were waiting at the shop and that the man looked like a debt collector.
• Lin Zhishui worried the visitor was a relative of Cheng Qiyue, who had bought his calligraphy for over a hundred thousand yuan.
• Han Suxin told Lin Zhishui that the visitor had abandoned his mistaken intentions after hearing about Lin’s abilities and seeing his treasures.
• Lin Zhishui modestly described himself as an ordinary shop owner, while Han Suxin admired him as a transcendent sage.

Lin Zhishui spoke with Han Suxin after the Cheng Family cultivator left, while she mistook his preparations and casual advice for an elaborate plan. After Han Suxin departed, Lin Zhishui washed his brush and poured the green-tinged ink water around the shop’s pine tree, whose bark shifted into the shape of a human face.

• Lin Zhishui thanked Han Suxin for watching the shop, and she credited the treasures he had left behind with keeping the Cheng Family cultivator in check.
• Han Suxin interpreted Lin Zhishui’s preparations and philosophical remarks as signs of his foresight and pledged to do her utmost to help him.
• Han Suxin told Lin Zhishui that the Cheng Family cultivator planned to return the next day to apologize, and Lin Zhishui thanked her for resolving the matter.
• Han Suxin declined food and left the shop, while Lin Zhishui noticed that the Bluestone Paperweight had been cleaned.
• Lin Zhishui washed his brush in a gray iron basin and poured the green-tinged ink water around the pine tree.
• The ink water vanished into the soil, and the pine tree’s cracked bark shifted until it resembled a human face.

Cheng Buxiu revealed to Cheng Qiyue that he had offended Senior Lin and planned to beg forgiveness, while refusing to involve her or the Cheng Family. After Cheng Qiyue suggested an apology gift suited to Senior Lin’s modest tastes, Cheng Buxiu remembered a possible offering.

• Cheng Buxiu spoke gently with Cheng Qiyue about her cultivation and admitted he wanted to embrace her, making her fear something had happened to him.
• Cheng Buxiu told Cheng Qiyue that he had offended Senior Lin and intended to seek forgiveness the next day without implicating her or the Cheng Family.
• Cheng Qiyue argued that Senior Lin seemed approachable and offered to accompany her father, but Cheng Buxiu refused.
• Cheng Qiyue suggested that Cheng Buxiu choose a plain-looking gift with ingenious qualities, and he remembered a treasure that might suit Senior Lin.

Yan Shanshui defeated a Miemeng Bird and landed outside Lin Zhishui’s shop, where he unexpectedly saw her. She asked whether he had witnessed her arrival, worried that a mortal had discovered Cultivators.

• Yan Shanshui used magic-powered raindrops to destroy the Miemeng Bird and scatter its primordial spirit, leaving its remnant soul to vanish on the ground.
• Yan Shanshui slowed her fall with raindrops and descended into a secluded alley, pleased that she could claim three hundred major merits.
• Yan Shanshui noticed Lin Zhishui inside the shop and panicked that a mortal had seen her, fearing that the discovery could trigger an Outer Demon’s descent.
• Yan Shanshui asked Lin Zhishui whether he had seen anything, and he reassured her that he had not.

Yan Shanshui took shelter from the rain in Lin Zhishui’s calligraphy shop while hiding that she had fallen from the sky and planning to erase the security footage. Lin Zhishui left to meet She Xilu, leaving Yan Shanshui alone to delete the recording.

• Yan Shanshui noticed the shop’s surveillance camera and persuaded Lin Zhishui to let her wait inside until the rain stopped.
• Yan Shanshui decided not to use the Spirit-Erasing Needle on Lin Zhishui and planned to erase the footage after he left.
• Lin Zhishui teased Yan Shanshui about acting young and guessed that she had argued with an elder in her family.
• She Xilu called Lin Zhishui because she could not find the shop, so he told her to wait at the bus stop by the crossroads.
• Lin Zhishui left the shop, and Yan Shanshui prepared to delete the surveillance footage.