Chapter Summaries

On New Year’s Eve, Taiping borrowed charcoal from his Second Uncle and brought it home to warm and feed his ailing grandfather. As they spoke by the stove, his grandfather asked whether he had ever heard of immortals.

• Taiping knocked at Second Uncle’s gate to borrow charcoal because his family had run out.
• Second Uncle gave Taiping charcoal and four white-flour buns, but Second Aunt took two buns for the dog after scolding her husband.
• Taiping carried the charcoal and two remaining buns home, hoping they would help his grandfather recover.
• Taiping lit the stove in the cold earthen house and told his frail grandfather about the charcoal and buns.
• Taiping’s grandfather thanked him for caring for him and asked whether he had ever heard of immortals.

Xu Taiping took a Spirit Bone Pill his grandfather had saved for him, hoping to become an immortal and cure the old man, but his grandfather died that night. Xu Taiping’s name appeared on the Azure Profound Sect’s Spirit Bone Stele, and the sect sent word to bring him to the mountain.

• Xu Taiping told his grandfather he wanted to become an immortal so he could cure his illness.
• Xu Taiping’s grandfather revealed the Spirit Bone Pill and warned that Xu Taiping had only half a year to reach the Qi Transformation Realm before risking expulsion and memory loss.
• Xu Taiping swallowed the pill and promised to keep the soybean and his grandfather’s secret safe.
• Xu Taiping’s grandfather urged him to prove the worth of mortal bones, then died in bed as Xu Taiping mourned.
• The Spirit Bone Stele of the Azure Profound Sect recorded Xu Taiping’s name, and the elder sent a white crane to summon a disciple to escort him to the sect.

On the seventh day of mourning, Xu Taiping’s aunt sold him to the White Household, but disciples from Cloud Cottage Mountain arrived and identified him as the boy they had come to find. Xu Taiping learned that the Cultivation Transmission Jade Slip had recognized him, while the villagers drew back, fearing he had brought trouble.

• Xu Taiping’s aunt persuaded Xu Erniu to send Taiping to serve at White Household Manor in exchange for thirty taels of silver.
• Xu Erniu and his wife dragged Xu Taiping from the Spirit Hall and took him to the village entrance, where he signed a bond of servitude with the White Household.
• A giant white crane carrying two Cloud Cottage Mountain disciples appeared over Green Ox Village as Xu Taiping was being taken away.
• The red-clad disciple asked for Xu Taiping, and her senior brother confirmed that the Cultivation Transmission Jade Slip had reacted to him.
• Xu Erniu asked whether his nephew had done something wrong, and the villagers stepped away from Xu Taiping in fear.

Xu Taiping was chosen to join the Azure Profound Sect, but his uncle and aunt tried to claim him and the sect’s gift despite having sold him to the Bai family. After the sect bought out his indenture and severed his mortal ties, Xu Taiping was invited to leave for the Cloud Lodge and seek his immortal destiny.

• Two Azure Profound Sect disciples announced that Xu Taiping had developed a spirit bone and would join their sect.
• Xu Taiping’s second aunt tried to stop him from leaving, while the Bai family steward revealed that his uncle and aunt had sold him into slavery for thirty taels.
• Xu Taiping confirmed the sale, and the Azure Profound Sect disciples rebuked his relatives and offered the Bai family steward gold to redeem him.
• Xu Erniu and his wife tried to claim the gold, then grappled with the Bai family steward and his servants.
• The young disciple tore up Xu Taiping’s indenture and invited him to follow the sect to the Cloud Lodge.

Xu Taiping accepted Dugu Qingxiao and Zhao Linglong’s invitation to join the Azure Profound Sect and traveled with them into the hidden Cloud Lodge Immortal Mountain. He headed toward Dragon Gate Hall to have his spirit bone tested, while Zhao Linglong began explaining the types and grades of spirit bones.

• Xu Taiping agreed to join the Azure Profound Sect, and Dugu Qingxiao carried him and Zhao Linglong away on an immortal crane.
• Xu Taiping learned that Cloud Cottage Mountain concealed the Seven Peaks of Cloud Lodge, a vast realm hidden behind the sect’s barrier.
• Zhao Linglong and Dugu Qingxiao met Ziyan, who introduced Buyu as a new disciple chosen by the Spirit Bone Stele for the Sixth Peak.
• Dugu Qingxiao said Xu Taiping needed to visit Dragon Gate Hall to determine his spirit bone’s type and grade.
• Zhao Linglong explained the common spirit bone types and the four grades, and Xu Taiping asked why white spirit bones were considered the most useless.

Xu Taiping accompanied Zhao Linglong, Dugu Qingxiao, and Xu Ziyan to Dragon Gate Hall to have his spirit bone tested, while worrying that he might have none. There, Elder Black Dragon began testing the children, and the richly dressed young prince was revealed to have a fire-element golden spirit bone.

• Zhao Linglong reassured Xu Taiping that Spirit Bone Stele disciples usually had at least a profound spirit bone and that even those with white spirit bones could undergo three years of assessment.
• Dugu Qingxiao, Zhao Linglong, and Xu Ziyan brought Xu Taiping and Lin Buyu to Dragon Gate Hall to meet Elder Black Dragon.
• Xu Taiping learned that Elder Black Dragon was a spirit flood dragon and saw Jin Hezhi arrive with a young prince from the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom.
• Elder Black Dragon ordered the children to be tested and produced a Dragon Pearl.
• The young prince pressed his hand to the Dragon Pearl, which revealed his fire-element golden spirit bone, and Jin Hezhi laughed in triumph.

Xu Taiping’s spirit bone test revealed a White Bone, leaving him ineligible to join the Seven Peaks and mocked by Jin Hezhi. He chose to stay below the mountain as an Unregistered Disciple and train for three years, with Linglong taking him to register and find work.

• Lin Buyu’s test revealed a Golden Spirit Bone-grade Thunder Variant Bone, delighting Ziyan and the others.
• Xu Taiping’s test turned the dragon pearl bone-white, and Elder Black Dragon confirmed he had a White Bone.
• Jin Hezhi mocked Xu Taiping and left with Ye Xuan, while Ziyan departed with Lin Buyu.
• Elder Black Dragon offered Xu Taiping the choice of staying below the mountain for three years or leaving, and Xu Taiping chose to stay.
• Qingxiao assured Xu Taiping he could join the Seventh Peak if he passed the Seven Peaks Selection, while Linglong warned him the selection would be difficult.
• Linglong received permission to escort Xu Taiping below the mountain and explained that outer disciples earned Merit Coins by tending courtyards and fields.

Xu Taiping registered as an outer sect disciple and received a neglected medicine garden at Green Bamboo Abode, where Zhao Linglong left him to begin his cultivation alone. After she departed, he planted the Soybean Seed his grandfather had given him, hoping it would bring him fortune.

• Zhao Linglong secured Xu Taiping a position tending the medicine garden at Green Bamboo Abode by asking Pavilion Master Liu for a favor.
• Pavilion Master Liu dismissed a report of an evil presence at Green Bamboo Abode and sent Xu Taiping there anyway.
• Zhao Linglong gave Xu Taiping a bone flute and thirty Merit Coins before leaving him at Green Bamboo Abode.
• Xu Taiping inspected the overgrown medicine garden and planted the Soybean Seed his grandfather had left him.

Xu Taiping planted the soybean seed his grandfather had given him, and it grew into a mature plant in moments. Chu Lingyue, a remnant soul dwelling in the bean, revealed its secrets and asked him to leave two pods for her; Xu Taiping agreed, and she told him to open one pod.

• Xu Taiping watched the soybean seed sprout, flower, and bear three translucent pods in moments.
• Chu Lingyue appeared from the plant and explained that she was a remnant soul who had survived inside the bean for six hundred years.
• Xu Taiping agreed to take only one pod in exchange for Chu Lingyue’s secrets and a medicinal formula to help someone with a mortal bone cultivate.
• Chu Lingyue explained that the bean, called the Earth Treasury Fruit, absorbed an immortal mountain’s spiritual energy to nurture unique treasures.
• Chu Lingyue pointed to the pods and told Xu Taiping to pick one and open it.

Xu Taiping harvested spirit crystals from the Earth Treasury Fruit and learned how they could aid cultivation and improve the fruit’s treasures. Fairy Lingyue explained that he would need true fire to burn the withered plant for its next seed, and Xu Taiping resolved to earn or refine some.

• Xu Taiping opened a pod and found spirit crystals, which Fairy Lingyue said could help him cultivate and would grow more powerful if the Earth Treasury Fruit were planted somewhere rich in spiritual energy.
• At Fairy Lingyue’s request, Xu Taiping gave her the spirit crystals from the other two pods, strengthening her phantom form.
• Fairy Lingyue explained that the Earth Treasury Fruit withered after its harvest and needed to be burned with rootless fire to produce a seed in its ashes.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping that he could obtain true fire from a talisman, refine it himself later, or exchange Medicine Garden merit rewards for it.
• Xu Taiping promised to cultivate diligently and tend his Medicine Garden so he could obtain true fire for Seed Burning.

Fairy Lingyue gave Xu Taiping the Marrow-Washing Bone-Cleansing Soup recipe and enhanced his Medicine Garden before withdrawing to recover. After Xu Taiping went inside, she discovered a Tiger Wraith spying on the courtyard and decided to make it forget what it had seen, leaving the Tiger Demon as a future trial for Xu Taiping.

• Fairy Lingyue passed Xu Taiping the Marrow-Washing Bone-Cleansing Soup recipe and warned him that using it without a companion decoction would cause severe pain.
• Fairy Lingyue placed three beads around the Medicine Garden to form a Lesser Three Talents Spirit-Gathering Array that would triple its yield for a year.
• Xu Taiping offered Fairy Lingyue four Spirit Crystals, and she accepted them as a loan that he would repay with interest.
• Fairy Lingyue told Xu Taiping to bury the withered bean stalk and said she would need a month or two to recover inside the Earth Treasury Fruit.
• Fairy Lingyue spotted a Tiger Wraith spying over the courtyard wall and struck it down.
• Fairy Lingyue decided to use a Soul-Bewildering Spell on the Tiger Wraith and leave the Tiger Demon for Xu Taiping to face after he advanced in cultivation.

Xu Taiping settled into Green Bamboo Abode, studied the teachings stored in his jade slip, and used the Bronze Mirror to attend his first scripture lecture. He arrived in time for Elder Ziyang’s lecture on the Remnant Sunset Scripture to begin.

• Fairy Lingyue used a rune to erase the Tiger Wraith’s memory and sent him away, hoping Xu Taiping would eventually understand her intentions.
• Xu Taiping tended the Medicine Garden and discovered that Green Bamboo Abode’s water vat never emptied and its rice vat produced rice in exchange for a Merit Coin.
• Xu Taiping spent nearly three days reading the jade slip, which contained the Remnant Sunset Scripture, a guide to the Mystic Mirror, and the Azure Profound Sect Code.
• Xu Taiping prepared to attend Elder Ziyang’s monthly scripture lecture and planned to use the Bronze Mirror to choose seeds afterward.
• Xu Taiping activated the Bronze Mirror with water, flower petals, and a Merit Coin, and its spirit announced that Elder Ziyang’s lecture would begin shortly.

Xu Taiping attended Purple Sun Dao Lord’s lecture on cultivation and the Remnant Sunset Scripture, gaining a clearer understanding of both. Afterward, Purple Sun Dao Lord considered taking him as a disciple but gave up upon learning Xu Taiping had only a white bone.

• The mirror spirit told Purple Sun Dao Lord that 396 disciples were attending, and he allowed the lecture to proceed with no more admissions.
• Purple Sun Dao Lord explained cultivation practice and the five realms, while Xu Taiping learned that Gate Opening was the lowest realm and Mystic Understanding could bring the title of True Lord.
• Purple Sun Dao Lord explained the Remnant Sunset Scripture, and Xu Taiping followed the lesson easily as many other disciples struggled to understand it.
• After the lecture, Purple Sun Dao Lord asked Profound Mirror about Xu Taiping and learned that he had been rejected from the Seventh Peak because he had only a white bone.
• Purple Sun Dao Lord lamented that Xu Taiping’s talent for understanding cultivation methods was wasted, and Profound Mirror warned him not to mention Su Chan because the sect master would be displeased.

After struggling to cultivate with his white bone aptitude, Xu Taiping bought medicinal ingredients and nine-leaf perilla seeds, then prepared Fairy Lingyue’s Bone-Washing Marrow-Cleansing Soup. The chapter left him enduring the scalding medicinal bath to complete his first treatment.

• True Lord Ziyang canceled his scripture lecture and went into seclusion for three years.
• Xu Taiping failed to draw in spiritual energy while practicing the Remnant Sunset Scripture and decided to rely on Fairy Lingyue’s prescription.
• Xu Taiping bought the prescription’s ingredients and enough nine-leaf perilla seeds to plant three mu three times, calculating how the harvest would cover his sect dues.
• A gray crane delivered Xu Taiping’s purchases, and he carefully prepared the Bone-Washing Marrow-Cleansing Soup according to the prescription.
• Xu Taiping climbed into the steaming soup and stayed despite the intense heat because leaving early would reduce its effects.

Xu Taiping endured seven days of agony in the Bone-Washing Marrow-Cleansing Soup, completing the treatment despite his exhaustion and despair. After he woke to find the soup black with expelled impurities, he began cultivating with the Setting Sun Glow Art, while Fairy Lingyue left to refine Spirit Crystals.

• Xu Taiping activated the medicinal soup with the Setting Sun Glow Art and endured two hours of intense pain, remembering his grandfather’s charge to make their family proud.
• Over the next six days, Xu Taiping repeatedly endured the soup’s pain and planted nine-leaf white perilla across all three mu of medicinal fields.
• On the seventh day, Xu Taiping entered the tub despite his weakened state and endured the worsening agony until he lost consciousness.
• Fairy Lingyue sensed spiritual energy gathering around the courtyard, saw that Xu Taiping’s bone-washing and marrow-cleansing had succeeded, and left to refine Spirit Crystals.
• The next morning, Xu Taiping woke to find the soup black with impurities, washed himself at the well, and began circulating the Qi Refining method of the Setting Sun Glow Art.

Xu Taiping used a soybean spirit crystal to cultivate faster and spent three months strengthening his body while tending his herb field. After sending his first harvest to be sold, he headed to Sheep Deer Mountain to check his traps and hunt for food.

• Xu Taiping began practicing the Setting Sun Glow Breathing Method and refined his first strand of true qi, then used a soybean spirit crystal to speed up his cultivation.
• Xu Taiping cultivated diligently for three months, improving his senses, strength, and speed as his true qi neared the dew condensation stage.
• Xu Taiping harvested over three hundred jin of perilla roots and stems and over sixty jin of seeds, then asked the White-Headed Eagle to sell them at Hundred Herbs Hall.
• Xu Taiping prepared his old bow, arrows, and hunting knife, hoping to buy a martial technique with the proceeds and considering replacing his worn weapons.
• Xu Taiping went to Sheep Deer Mountain to check his traps and hunt, wary of the wild boars roaming there.

Xu Taiping was ambushed by a Demon Wolf on Sheep Deer Mountain and killed it by turning his own trap against it, though he nearly lost control of his True Qi. As he dragged the corpse home, the Tiger Wraith appeared and planned to lure him out of the courtyard himself.

• Xu Taiping approached his trap after hearing a sheep bleat, but a Demon Wolf ambushed him and chased him through the woods.
• Xu Taiping evaded the Demon Wolf, shot it with an arrow, and led it toward a concealed swinging wooden spike.
• Xu Taiping struck the Demon Wolf’s wounded chest with True Qi, killing it, but his arms swelled and his True Qi ran wild until he calmed it with the Setting Sun Glow Art.
• Xu Taiping decided to ask the Bronze Mirror about the Demon Wolf and dragged its corpse back, resolving to buy a Martial Art and avoid hunting there for a while.
• The Tiger Wraith emerged after Xu Taiping left and decided to lure him out of his courtyard to obtain his heart and liver for the Great King.

Xu Taiping received Merit Coins from selling his wares and the Demon Wolf, then chose martial arts to improve his self-defense. He bought Green Ox Fist and Piercing Willow Arrow, reflecting that the archery technique might have helped him kill the Demon Wolf more easily.

• The White-Headed Eagle paid Xu Taiping ninety-four Merit Coins for his goods and warned him to avoid Sheep Deer Mountain after hearing about the Demon Wolf.
• Xu Taiping sold the Demon Wolf's corpse to the White-Headed Eagle for twenty Merit Coins, and learned that the sect leader had named him White Rainbow.
• Xu Taiping consulted the Bronze Mirror and browsed the martial arts and weapons available from the West Wind Pavilion.
• Xu Taiping bought Green Ox Fist for thirty Merit Coins and Piercing Willow Arrow for ten.

Xu Taiping broke through to the Frost Transformation Stage and received the weapons and martial arts he had purchased. After five days of training, he mastered the basics of the Green Ox Fist, then heard a wolf howl from Sheep Deer Mountain and rushed to investigate.

• Xu Taiping broke through from the Dew Condensation Stage to the Frost Transformation Stage during cultivation.
• White Rainbow delivered Xu Taiping's weapons and warned him not to grow complacent after hearing of his breakthrough.
• White Rainbow said he would accompany an elder of the Fourth Peak out of the mountains for several months.
• Five days later, Xu Taiping used the Green Ox Fist's two ultimate moves to smash a person-height rock, but exhausted his true qi.
• Xu Taiping heard a wolf howl from Sheep Deer Mountain and leaped onto the roof to investigate.

Xu Taiping rescued Liu Qingmei from demon wolves with his Piercing Willow Arrow and heard her claim to be an outer sect disciple seeking shelter. Although her Mystic Spirit Mirror eased his suspicion, he noticed her shoes were too clean to match her story and remained wary.

• Xu Taiping spotted three demon wolves chasing an injured woman toward the Green Bamboo Abode.
• Xu Taiping shot the nearest demon wolf through the forehead, frightening the other two into fleeing.
• The woman reached the courtyard and introduced herself as Liu Qingmei, an outer sect registered disciple of the Azure Profound Sect, asking to stay the night.
• Liu Qingmei showed Xu Taiping a Mystic Spirit Mirror, and he initially began to agree to let her stay.
• Xu Taiping noticed Liu Qingmei's embroidered shoes were unusually clean and suspected her account was false, but she continued pleading to rest at his home.