Chapter Summaries

Green Plums, Warm Wine, a Touch of Chinese reflected on how Immortal Road’s quiet, everyday scenes and overlooked characters had captivated them, especially Li Xiaomei. They ended by wondering whether Xiao Mei would reappear in later chapters and hoping the author would preserve the novel’s restrained style.

• Green Plums, Warm Wine, a Touch of Chinese recalled first finding Immortal Road after growing tired of spectacle-driven fantasy and becoming absorbed in its prose and quiet episodes.
• They described how small moments, such as Ju Ying feeding chickens and Xing Yan working as a musician, made minor characters vivid and memorable.
• They singled out Li Xiaomei as the character they cared about most, especially the moment when Xing Yan pulled down her sleeve.
• They contrasted Immortal Road’s warm, leisurely style with Jade Dynasty’s sorrowful tone and said they preferred stories about ordinary people.
• They worried that sustaining the restrained style as the protagonist developed would be difficult, but judged from later chapter titles that the author might manage it.
• They said they would wait for the VIP chapters to become freely available and asked whether Li Xiaomei would appear again.

The author looked back on notable online novels, writers, and reader reviews from 2006, especially the fading forum communities around Profanation and Immortal Road. The chapter ended by questioning what lasting value online fiction left after its brief popularity.

• The author recalled Profanation's completion and the fading of its fan forum, then described Misty Rain Jiangnan's writing discipline and success.
• The author recommended reviews of Profanation by Black Belly, Tao Jilang, and others, and briefly criticized Misty Rain's newer book Dusty Fate.
• The author described Immortal Road's slow but popular run and its entry into print, then praised Guan Pingchao's strengths and the novel's distinctive style.
• The author highlighted reviews and creative contributions from readers including Cat's Words, Crab Slippers, and Armored Cavalry.
• The author praised A Witty Discourse on War, Heaven's Might, and Chronicles of Qingxi, and called for more thoughtful reviews of online fiction.

The author reviewed Immortal Road’s characters, style, and shift toward the Immortal Road War, then explained the war’s causes and role in the novel. Ping Chao said the full story framework, including the ending, had already been planned through volume 21.

• The author recalled initially reading Immortal Road casually before becoming invested in its strange developments.
• The author discussed Qiong Rong’s innocence and Ju Ying’s changing life and feelings for a young man.
• The author reflected on the novel’s artistic convictions and its characters, including the Dragon Lady Lingyi and Xi Ying.
• The author described Xueyi becoming a plum-blossom soul and the story formally entering the Immortal Road War.
• Ping Chao explained that ambition and sacrifice caused the war, while the South Sea Battle would trigger the next major stage.
• Ping Chao said the story’s broad framework and ending had already been planned through volume 21.

The author reflected on finding companionship and meaning through Immortal Road, then considered the Peerless Young Master's choices, Xi Ying's loneliness, and the pain of inevitable separation. The chapter ended with the author waiting for a final farewell and wondering how to accept the last cup of wine.

• The author recalled discovering Immortal Road and finding friends who offered guidance, comfort, and inspiration.
• The author rejected becoming an emotionless deity and argued that even saving one suffering person mattered.
• The author considered the Peerless Young Master's temptation by power and admitted they might have made the same choices.
• The author contrasted Lingyi's readiness for luck with Xi Ying's despair, and described Xi Ying's lonely relationship with Xing Yan.
• The author described fearing a final separation and wondered how to drink the last cup of wine offered by the person they would lose.

Guan Pingchao wrote an essay on xianxia literature’s cultural significance, contemporary relevance, and future direction, arguing that strong works should combine classical style, modern ideas, traditional supernatural lore, and both immortal fantasy and chivalry. He ended by explaining his title and apologizing for upcoming travel that would interrupt updates.

• Guan Pingchao apologized for a temporary update break caused by business travel to Akita and Aomori, and announced another planned absence for a conference in Honolulu.
• Guan Pingchao traced xianxia’s roots through Chinese cultural history and described its role in cultural identity, traditional revival, and relief from modern pressures.
• Guan Pingchao argued that good xianxia needed accessible classical prose, contemporary ideas, and deep nourishment from traditional Chinese supernatural culture.
• Guan Pingchao rejected claims that wuxia was declining, cited newer works and writers, and urged writers to improve their craft.
• Guan Pingchao advocated combining immortal fantasy with chivalry and used Sword of the Immortal Asks About Love Dust Along the Immortal Road as an example.
• Guan Pingchao explained that his title referred to leaving a lasting mark through writing, while also admitting that he thought it sounded cool.

Xing Yan and his companions investigated the strange customs of the Li Stockade while searching for the Water Spirit. After learning of Su Afu’s dead wife, Shui Ruo, Xing Yan suspected her name held a clue, as the villagers secretly gathered at midnight and sent a cloud of dark red dust toward the southeastern mountains.

• Xing Yan resisted the aphrodisiac incense, tea, and seductive song in Snow-Suitable Hall, then decided to investigate the strange wedding-night events without alarming whoever was behind them.
• The next morning, Xing Yan, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong visited Elder Su Li’s courtyard, where his grandson Su Afu asked Xing Yan to write a spirit tablet for his late wife, Shui Ruo.
• Xing Yan wrote Shui Ruo’s name on the tablet and returned to Snow-Suitable Hall without seeing Elder Su Li.
• That night, Xing Yan connected the meaning of “Ruo” in Shui Ruo’s name to the Dragon Lord’s clue about finding the Water Spirit, but wondered how the Highest Clarity Water Spirit could have died.
• At midnight, the villagers silently prayed toward the southeastern mountains, and dark red dust gathered into a fiery cloud that drifted in that direction.
• After the villagers returned indoors, a blue-green ghost flame rushed toward the village through the night.

Xing Yan captured two ghosts pursuing Lan Cheng and learned that Chief Su Li had condemned a water-summoning woman as a disaster-bringer and was suppressing her in the mountains. After discovering signs of Su Li’s hidden power, Xing Yan visited him the next day, where the chief revealed his hostility and attacked him with an enchanted pickaxe.

• Xing Yan trapped Ding Jia and Yi Cang, then heard Lan Cheng explain that he had been murdered in the Li Stockade and sought justice.
• Ding Jia and Yi Cang told Xing Yan that Chief Su Li had ordered a woman bound in the southeastern mountains and subjected to repeated prayers intended to destroy her soul.
• Xing Yan and Xueyi approached Su Li’s courtyard at night but turned back after Xing Yan sensed its vigilant, spiritually powerful plants.
• Xing Yan brought Lan Cheng, Ding Jia, and Yi Cang into his Siyou Ghost Ring, then returned to Su Li’s home the next day with Qiong Tong and Xueyi.
• Su Li asked Xing Yan to enter his room alone, where Xing Yan questioned him about the Daoist energy on his fly whisk.
• Su Li reached for a shining pickaxe and swung it at Xing Yan from behind.

Xing Yan defeated the disguised Su Li, but the wood spirit Tiao Han escaped and led him to the captive Water Spirit, Su Shui Ruo. Tiao Han enthralled Su Shui Ruo to make her fight, while Xueyi began transforming to confront her and Xing Yan charged the wood spirit.

• Xing Yan blocked Su Li’s ambush, defeated him, and pursued the green spirit that escaped from his corpse.
• Xing Yan identified the fugitive as Tiao Han, Lord Wood Spirit, and learned that he had captured Senior Shui Ruo.
• Tiao Han fled across the mountains and unleashed waves of pine needles and cypress branches, while Qiong Rong used her Vermilion Bird blades to burn them away.
• Xing Yan and Xueyi reached the white-stone terrace and found Su Shui Ruo bound there, but Tiao Han used green magic to enthrall her.
• Su Shui Ruo attacked Xing Yan and Xueyi with ice spikes and a supernatural blizzard, and Xueyi began a transformation as Xing Yan charged Tiao Han.

Kou Xueyi battled the water spirit while Xing Yan pursued Diao Han and Qiong Rong drove the mountain fiends from their lair. Diao Han lured Xing Yan into an illusion, but Xing Yan saw through the trap and cut off the old tree spirit’s head.

• Kou Xueyi awakened her Ice Plum Battle Armor and fought the water spirit, turning aside her waves and ice blades.
• Xing Yan chased Diao Han into the mountains as the old tree spirit fled and tried to slow him with summoned trees and logs.
• Qiong Rong and her two Vermilion Bird firebirds routed the mountain fiends and tree monsters, burning through Diao Han’s lair and exposing piles of bones.
• After Kou Xueyi told Qiong Rong to help Xing Yan, the girl flew toward the valley where he had pursued Diao Han.
• Diao Han trapped Xing Yan in a Poison Thorn Illusion Array, but Xing Yan appeared beside him and decapitated him with his sword.

Xing Yan and Qiong Rong defeated Diao Han, freed Su Shui Ruo from his spell, and met the python demon She Tai, who explained how Diao Han had persecuted him over the sword terror grass. Xing Yan gave the herb to Lan Cheng to help him cultivate as a ghost immortal, and Lan Cheng accepted the new name Caihe before returning to the Ghost Ring.

• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong tricked Diao Han with an illusion, killed him, and Xing Yan absorbed the tree demon's remaining green spirit while sparing his roots.
• Xing Yan collected a still-living flowering herb from Diao Han's Poison Thorn Illusion Array, then reunited with Kou Xueyi and the unconscious Su Shui Ruo, whose controlling spell had ended with Diao Han's death.
• Qiong Rong challenged the python demon She Tai, but Xing Yan calmed him and learned that Diao Han had driven him from his home while seeking the sword terror grass.
• She Tai gave Xing Yan a spirit ganoderma in thanks, and Xing Yan taught him cultivation essentials before confirming that the herb was the sword terror grass.
• Xing Yan gave the herb to Lan Cheng, where it revived and formed a flower basket; Ding Jia and Yi Cang chose to stay with Lan Cheng and help protect him.
• Xing Yan renamed Lan Cheng Caihe, and Caihe bowed before returning to the Siyou Ghost Ring with Ding Jia and Yi Cang.

Xing Yan and his companions returned to Emerald Li Village, where Su Shui Ruo reunited with Su Afu and explained how watching Xing Yan had inspired her to leave the mountain and meet her husband. As the village celebrated their freedom, Xing Yan reassured Xueyi that he would not dismiss her, and ended the night by inviting her and Qiong Rong to meet his parents for the New Year.

• Qiong Rong discovered that her jacket had been torn, and Xing Yan comforted her as they returned to Fire Li Village.
• The villagers knelt before Xing Yan to beg forgiveness, while Su Shui Ruo reunited with Su Afu and told Xing Yan she had left the mountain after watching him and his companions.
• Xing Yan forgave the villagers, declined most of their gifts, and suggested a bonfire feast that became the Fire Li tribe’s annual Torch Festival.
• Su Shui Ruo said she would speak with Xing Yan the next day about returning to Mount Luofu, and Xing Yan resolved not to force her to leave her husband.
• At the Snow-Suitable Hall, Xing Yan reassured Xueyi that he did not consider her a servant or intend to send her away; Xueyi then asked him to refine her after her death.
• Xing Yan told Xueyi and Qiong Rong that he would take them home to celebrate the New Year and meet his parents.

Su Shui Ruo gave her Heart of Water to Kou Xueyi and asked her to bring snow to Emerald Li Village, then departed with her husband. After Xueyi fulfilled the request, Xing Yan, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong continued toward Raozhou City, nearing Xing Yan’s hometown for their first visit to his parents.

• Su Shui Ruo explained that she would remain in the mortal realm with her husband and entrusted her Heart of Water to Kou Xueyi for the Highest Clarity formation.
• Su Shui Ruo asked Kou Xueyi to summon snow in Emerald Li Village so its people could be freed from their curse, and Xueyi agreed.
• Su Shui Ruo and her husband left the village, saying they would name their unborn child Nianyan or Qiongxue in honor of Xing Yan and his companions.
• At Xing Yan’s signal, Kou Xueyi summoned snow over Emerald Li Village, and the villagers bowed and praised her.
• Xing Yan, Kou Xueyi, and Qiong Rong set out for Xing Yan’s hometown, buying and eating local sweets along the way before reaching the outskirts of Raozhou City.

Xing Yan returned to Raozhou City with Xueyi and Qiong Tong, reunited with his parents at Horseshoe Mountain, and introduced his companions to his family and village. The family’s homecoming was interrupted when Jingyun arrived with an invitation from True Person Qinghe to meet at Reflection Cliff.

• Xing Yan visited the Rice Fragrance House, reassured Manager Liu that he held no grudge, and accepted a banquet sent to his parents’ home.
• Xing Yan passed the Eastern City Gate and led Xueyi and Qiong Tong along the improved road toward Horseshoe Mountain.
• Xing Yan surprised his mother at the free-tea shelter, and she called Old Zhang to welcome their returned son.
• Xueyi and Qiong Tong greeted Xing Yan’s parents with gifts, and the family returned home together.
• The villagers visited with gifts, while Qiong Tong welcomed the local children and shared sweets with them.
• Jingyun arrived and invited Xing Yan to meet True Person Qinghe at Reflection Cliff.

Xing Yan reunited with Qinghe at Reflection Cliff, learned how the old Daoist had helped his family and supported the poor through businesses and charity, and pressed him to explain his hidden past. Qinghe revealed that Xing Yan’s two texts on Refining Spirit into Void were the Three Purities Order’s ancient Way of Heaven and Nature, leaving Xing Yan stunned by the secret behind the Tao Te Ching.

• Jingyun led Xing Yan to Reflection Cliff, where Qinghe greeted him and teased him about bringing home two women.
• Xing Yan thanked Qinghe for protecting his parents’ farmland from a bully, and Qinghe recalled defeating the bully’s thugs with his enlarged straw sandals.
• Qinghe showed Xing Yan the poets and Bookworm Li earning money at Reflection Cliff, and Xing Yan suggested expanding the retreat’s porridge kitchens to nearby counties.
• Xing Yan questioned why Qinghe had been driven from Mount Luofu and asked him to explain the profound texts on Refining Spirit into Void.
• Qinghe revealed that the texts were the founder of the Three Purities Order’s Way of Heaven and Nature, capable of revealing the principles of heaven and earth and granting longevity.

Qinghe revealed how he burned the Highest Clarity Bamboo Slips at Sect Master Lingxu’s request and why he chose Xing Yan to inherit the Refining Spirit into Void Treatise. After Xing Yan demonstrated its power and taught Qinghe through experience rather than words, they set off for his home, where two girls waited.

• Qinghe told Xing Yan that the Highest Clarity Bamboo Slips contained a hidden line instructing readers to burn them, and explained that Sect Master Lingxu had asked him to do so.
• Xing Yan worked out that Lingxu had staged Qinghe’s punishment to conceal their plan, and Qinghe praised him for understanding.
• Qinghe explained that Xing Yan’s spiritual potency and encounter at Horseshoe Mountain had led him to pass on the Refining Spirit into Void Treatise.
• Xing Yan bowed in gratitude, and Qinghe asked him to teach the treatise; Xing Yan then swept Qinghe into a powerful current of spiritual energy.
• Xing Yan told Qinghe that the Dao could not be fully conveyed in words, and Qinghe savored the spiritual energy before agreeing to go drink with him.
• Qinghe sang as they walked home beneath the moon, and Xing Yan saw two girls waiting for him at the doorway.

Xing Yan reunited with old friends and acquaintances in Raozhou, reflected on Qinghe’s teachings, and settled into a peaceful life with Xueyi and Qiong Rong. As the year ended, snow covered the city, and Xing Yan hoped the coming year would go well.

• Xing Yan shared a meal with Qinghe, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi, and Qinghe identified Xing Yan’s lingzhi as a rare four- or five-hundred-year-old treasure that could prolong his parents’ lives.
• Xing Yan escorted the drunken Qinghe and his wine home, then reflected on the wisdom behind the Three Purities Patriarch’s instructions to seek the Dao beyond inherited relics.
• Xing Yan visited Master Ji and Flower Moon House, where he reunited with old companions, learned Nangong Wuyang had become a guard, and played music with the musicians.
• Xing Yan learned that his mother had given Xueyi and Qiong Rong silver for new clothes, and Prefect Tao visited with gifts after being advised to cultivate ties with the Zhang family.
• Qiong Rong asked Xing Yan to help count the seven partners she thought he needed, then found a flower to bring home to Xueyi.
• Xing Yan helped his family sort peanuts for planting, resolved to avoid dangerous assignments when possible, and watched winter snow fall over Raozhou as the year ended.

After celebrating the New Year with his family, Xing Yan returned to Shangqing Palace, reported his journey, and helped restore the Water Pole Four Symbols Spirit-Gathering Formation. He settled into a quiet spring on Thousand Birds Cliff, but a mysterious bank of purple clouds arrived with the sound of jeweled pendants.

• Xing Yan celebrated the New Year with his parents, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong before returning to Mount Luofu.
• Xing Yan told Sect Master Lingxu and the elders about his travels, and Ling Ting Zi learned that his disciple Lan Cheng had died and become Lan Caihe.
• Ling Xu instructed Lan Caihe in spiritual cultivation, and Xueyi returned the Heart of Water to the formation at Shangqing Palace.
• At the welcome feast, the elders told Xing Yan that Hua Piaochen had fallen in love with Qiong Rong and was wasting away from lovesickness.
• Xing Yan spent a peaceful spring on Thousand Birds Cliff while Qiong Rong watched a pair of swallows raise their chicks.
• After rain cleared one evening, a bank of purple clouds crossed the sky as jeweled pendants rang within it.

Yinghuo visited Xing Yan at Thousand Birds Cliff, where they shared wine, discussed her feud with Lingyi, and played a game before she departed. Later, Dragon Lingzi invited Xing Yan to the South Sea again, revealing that Princess Lingyi was already there.

• Yinghuo arrived with her Golden-Mane Snow-Stripe Tiger, and Xing Yan welcomed her after confirming she had come alone.
• Yinghuo explained that the white tiger was formed from the essence of metal in the Devil Domain, while Qiong Rong befriended it.
• Yinghuo told Xing Yan that her quarrel with Lingyi began with petty insults, and he persuaded her that Lingyi was not so hateful.
• Yinghuo teased Xing Yan after he recited a poem, then cheated at a board game by letting her tiger scramble the pieces.
• Yinghuo left after asking Xing Yan to abduct her again, and Dragon Lingzi later invited him to the South Sea on the Water Marquis's behalf.
• Dragon Lingzi told Xing Yan that Princess Lingyi was visiting the South Sea palace.

Xing Yan visited the South Sea Dragon Palace, where Meng Zhang tested his intentions toward the Four Rivers Princess and then plotted to put him in danger without attacking him openly. Meanwhile, Xi Ying found a fallen Sea-Soul Flower petal had turned crimson and wondered whether it foretold happiness.

• Xing Yan traveled with Dragon Lingzi to Jade Abyss Palace and feasted with Meng Zhang, who kept Lingyi away from the gathering.
• Meng Zhang showed Xing Yan his lightning whip, and Xing Yan told him he should ask the Four Rivers Dragon Lady whether she returned his feelings.
• Xing Yan pretended to be drunk and disappointed when Meng Zhang claimed Lingyi had gone home, then was carried off to a side bedroom.
• After Xing Yan left, Dragon Lingzi warned Meng Zhang that Xing Yan had likely seen through the danger and might not return; Meng Zhang admitted he wanted the rival gone but rejected harming Xing Yan's parents.
• Meng Zhang told Dragon Lingzi to guard the Jade Mushroom Garden and its giant yang flowers, then left to patrol the sea and inspect the floating cities.
• Xi Ying noticed that a fallen Sea-Soul Flower petal had turned crimson and wondered whether it meant happiness was coming.

Xi Ying hesitated to stop the fever-crazed Xing Yan when he attacked her beneath the Jade Blossom Tree, and a storm engulfed Blue Moon Lake. Xing Yan later woke in a fisherman's hut with no memory of what happened and headed home, unaware of the crimson change spreading through the South Sea.

• Xi Ying welcomed Xing Yan when his frantic flight brought him back to Blue Moon Lake, but his feverish state soon overwhelmed him.
• Xing Yan attacked Xi Ying, and she hesitated to unleash her storm power against him; a violent storm rose over the lake as they fell into the water.
• Two clam maidens dismissed the storm as Xi Ying practicing her spells, while crimson threads began spreading through the South Sea.
• Xing Yan woke three days later in Yu Laoliu's hut on the Yu River, unable to remember how he had ended up there.
• Yu Laoliu nursed Xing Yan back to strength, refused his payment, and gave him two shell necklaces for the young women at home.
• Xing Yan left for Double Bird Cliff on Mount Luofu, unaware that an extraordinary storm was rising beneath the South Sea.