Chapter Summaries

Jiaze's victories against Wangjiao's ghosts had made him a widely worshipped protector, while Li Ping'an finished his boat and took Old Ox and Cat Immortal shopping. As they shared a meal at sunset, Li Ping'an noticed a strange red glow blotting out the sun.

• Jiaze defeated ghosts across Wangjiao and negotiated with the southern alliance, while Li Ping'an and Old Ox completed the little boat.
• Li Ping'an took Old Ox and Cat Immortal to the market, where Jiaze's believers offered to help him and handed out their teachings.
• Cat Immortal saved most of her money instead of buying food, so Li Ping'an explained it might be useless in another continent.
• Li Ping'an treated Old Ox and Cat Immortal to a restaurant meal as evening fell and Jiaze's believers stayed out on the streets.
• Li Ping'an saw a red glow in the distance that seemed to swallow the setting sun.

Li Ping'an secretly used his flying sword to kill Lady Liu when she threatened Jiaze's believers, then left as the crowd celebrated Jiaze. He explained to Orange Cat that helping people was not always about getting paid in mice or money.

• Lady Liu agreed to confront Jiaze after the Wangjiao ghosts warned that he would destroy them if they did not act.
• Lady Liu and the ghosts descended on Jiaze's believers while the injured Jiaze slept at home.
• Li Ping'an sent his flying sword through the window, and it tore apart Lady Liu's robe and killed her with one strike.
• The remaining ghosts fled as the believers cheered, believing Jiaze had appeared to protect them.
• Li Ping'an left the restaurant with the ox and Orange Cat, and told the cat that helping people was sometimes not about rewards.

Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Orange Cat left Wangjiao and drifted across the Sea of Death while Li Ping'an attempted to refine pills and played his erhu through the fog. Another erhu player answered him, and Li Ping'an met a human skeleton who had forgotten its name.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox set out from Wangjiao with Orange Cat, while Jiaze stayed behind.
• As the boat crossed the Sea of Death, Orange Cat asked Li Ping'an about parting, and he told her that everyone followed their own path.
• After drifting through the fog for more than half a month, Li Ping'an tried refining pills aboard the boat.
• Li Ping'an played his erhu at night and heard another player answer his melody from a nearby boat.
• The other musician met Li Ping'an and revealed that it was a human skeleton with bare white bones that had forgotten its name.

Li Ping'an met the Bone Man, a fellow fragment-group member who had sacrificed his body and freedom in pursuit of longevity, and shared the story of his own life. After they fought, the Bone Man accepted defeat and gave Li Ping'an his Rune Fragment as he died.

• The Bone Man told Li Ping'an how he had searched for Great Dao Runes, used a Secret Art to gain longevity, and become trapped at sea as a skeleton.
• Li Ping'an revealed that he came from another world and recounted the adventures that followed his effortless acquisition of longevity.
• The Bone Man, bitter at the unfairness of their different fates, challenged Li Ping'an to a final fight in pursuit of the Dao.
• Their clash violently disturbed the sea and shook the Dragon Palace, and Li Ping'an won after destroying much of the Bone Man's body.
• The dying Bone Man asked Li Ping'an to burn paper money at his family's graves in Yong Province, then handed him an Armor Plate Rune Fragment and warned that the road to longevity was strewn with corpses.

Li Ping'an bid farewell to Bone Man, then met Ao Yu, the Dragon King of the surrounding waters, who nervously welcomed him after sensing the battle’s power. As Li Ping'an cooked noodles with Orange Cat and Old Ox, a murderous Flood Dragon swept through the sea nearby.

• Bone Man’s body dissipated after Li Ping'an promised to find the place Bone Man had called home in life.
• Li Ping'an explained attachment to Orange Cat, who insisted she was not a child while massaging Old Ox’s belly.
• Ao Yu introduced himself to Li Ping'an and nervously recounted his conduct as Dragon King before Li Ping'an declined his invitation to the Dragon Palace.
• A transformed Flood Dragon charged through the sea, tearing apart creatures in its path.
• Li Ping'an noticed the Flood Dragon while cooking noodles as Orange Cat asked for a big bowl.

Li Ping'an gave the Flood Dragon calligraphy for the Dragon King's birthday, unaware that the Dragon King had already encountered him and feared his power. After the Flood Dragon delivered the gift, he told his uncle that he had ordered Li Ping'an arrested, leaving the Dragon King in shock.

• Orange Cat hid dried mouse meat in her noodles, and Li Ping'an made her set it aside.
• The Flood Dragon met Li Ping'an at sea and asked him to write birthday calligraphy for his uncle, the Dragon King.
• Li Ping'an wrote a birthday couplet and another piece dictated by the Flood Dragon, then declined his offer to become an adviser.
• The Flood Dragon brought the calligraphy to the Dragon Palace and told the Dragon King that Li Ping'an had written it.
• The Dragon King recognized Li Ping'an from the Flood Dragon's description and was relieved that his nephew had not angered him.
• The Flood Dragon revealed that he had ordered his subordinates to arrest Li Ping'an, making the Dragon King spit out his tea.

Li Ping'an and his companions were released from the undersea prison after the Dragon King reprimanded his nephew, the third young master. At the birthday banquet, the third young master revealed that Li Ping'an's boat had been destroyed, and Li Ping'an and the Dragon King later sat together in an elegant hall.

• The Dragon King arrived with the third young master, apologized to Li Ping'an, and released him and his companions from the dungeon.
• Li Ping'an asked about his boat, and the Dragon King ordered the third young master to find it before leading Li Ping'an to the birthday banquet.
• The Dragon King introduced no one to Li Ping'an, but seated him as an honored guest while the aquatic folk celebrated.
• The third young master told the Dragon King that Li Ping'an's boat had been completely destroyed and that only a plank remained.
• Li Ping'an suggested they discuss the boat later and encouraged the Dragon King to enjoy his birthday celebration.
• After the guests dispersed, Li Ping'an and the Dragon King sat facing each other in an elegant hall.

Li Ping'an trapped the Third Young Master in White Jade Capital after the flood dragon refused to accept responsibility for his arrogance. Li Ping'an left the Dragon King’s palace with the captive flood dragon and planned to reform him by making him study.

• The Dragon King apologized for the Third Young Master’s behavior, and Li Ping'an questioned the young flood dragon about his conduct.
• Li Ping'an offered to capture the Third Young Master in one move, but the young flood dragon rejected the offer and fled when Li Ping'an’s presence frightened him.
• Li Ping'an revealed White Jade Capital, where the Third Young Master was trapped amid heavenly lightning, and promised the Dragon King he would spare and guide him.
• Li Ping'an departed after telling the Dragon King he had promised to visit someone’s homeland and pay respects to their family.
• Three days later, Li Ping'an sailed in a new boat while Orange Cat inspected White Jade Capital, and Li Ping'an told the captive Third Young Master to memorize the books inside.

Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Orange Cat crossed the sea into Yong Province and struggled through its endless snowy mountains. After meeting a white wolf who agreed to guide them, Li Ping'an continued searching for Hezhai Stockade so he could fulfill his promise to burn offerings for a stranger’s late wife and child.

• Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Orange Cat endured deep snow and bitter cold, spending a night in a snow cave and recalling earlier travels.
• The trio resumed their journey and found a flowing river, where they met a humanoid white wolf.
• Li Ping'an gave the white wolf three pills in exchange for directions to a human settlement.
• Li Ping'an told the white wolf he was seeking Hezhai Stockade to honor his promise, though he knew little about the man who had asked him.
• The white wolf protected Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Orange Cat from Demon Ghosts along the way and said the nearest human settlement lay beyond the next mountain.

Li Ping'an reached a remote stockade in Yong Province’s icy wilderness, where he earned the tribespeople’s welcome with unfamiliar goods and learned little about Hezhai Stockade. The next morning, two men blocked his departure, saying the clan chief had ordered them to keep him inside.

• The white wolf escorted Li Ping'an to the outskirts of a human settlement, gave him a bone whistle, and accepted a fourth-rank pill as payment.
• A Tiger Demon and his Demon Soldiers attacked a stockade, but two powerful tribesmen fought him off after a daylong battle.
• Li Ping'an arrived at the stockade with Old Ox and the cat, and the clan chief let him stay in an isolated house after inspecting his unfamiliar belongings.
• Li Ping'an shared candy with the stockade’s children and served unfamiliar foods and sauces at the victory feast, but no one knew where Hezhai Stockade was.
• Li Ping'an offered roast meat and wine to the Third Young Master in the White Jade Capital, and the Third Young Master secretly ate them after Li Ping'an left.
• The next morning, two men told Li Ping'an that the clan chief had ordered them to follow him and prevent him from leaving the stockade.

Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Kitten were captured by a stockade whose Clan Chief said Hezhai Stockade had been destroyed, but Li Ping'an escaped and continued toward its former location to fulfill his promise to Bone Man. Three months later, he and his companions found a snow-covered Great Ape in a valley.

• The Clan Chief told Li Ping'an that Hezhai Stockade had been wiped out and threatened to keep him captive while his people prepared to kill Old Ox.
• Li Ping'an waited through the night, then escaped with Kitten and recovered his belongings, leaving the stockade fearful of his sorcery.
• Li Ping'an explained to Orange Cat that people in this harsh region relied on violence to survive, and Old Ox rejoined them after escaping his captors.
• Li Ping'an, Orange Cat, and Old Ox traveled for three months toward the site of Hezhai Stockade.
• Li Ping'an uncovered a sleeping Great Ape beneath the snow, and the awakened beast noticed him as the surrounding mountains began to collapse.

Li Ping'an and his companions found the buried remains of Hezhai Stockade, and he fulfilled his promise to Bone Man by holding a funeral for its dead. As Cold Night approached, they reached a vast city on the eve of the region’s half-month darkness.

• Li Ping'an endured the great ape’s attacks, then offered it pills until it agreed to guide him to Hezhai Stockade.
• The great ape led Li Ping'an to the stockade’s former site and explained that a blizzard had buried it and its people beneath the snow.
• Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and the little girl played funeral music and scattered paper flowers to honor the dead and fulfill Li Ping'an’s promise to Bone Man.
• The companions continued north as the weather grew colder, and Li Ping'an bundled the cold-stricken cat in a hooded outfit.
• On the eve of Cold Night, Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and the sleeping cat arrived at their first great city in the ice and snow.

Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Orange Cat waited in a long, snowbound line to enter Wind and Snow City, where a Swordmaster was struck down for flying over the city. As the line slowly moved, Li Ping'an cooked hot pot that drew a crowd, and he met a young traveler from Cloud Province who asked how he had reached the city on foot.

• Li Ping'an waited with Old Ox and Orange Cat in the long queue to enter Wind and Snow City, estimating they would wait two days.
• A Swordmaster tried to fly over the queue but was cut down after a voice declared flying prohibited above Wind and Snow City.
• After the first day, the line began moving slowly, and Li Ping'an cooked hot pot with Old Ox and Orange Cat as the waiting travelers gathered around.
• Li Ping'an let a grimy young man eat with them after he said he had run out of Fasting Pills.
• The young man told Li Ping'an he had come from Cloud Province aboard a Flying Boat caravan, and Li Ping'an said he had walked there from Central Province.

Li Ping'an and his companions arrived in Wind and Snow City, where he learned that the Frigid Chill Realm was about to open. After three days of waiting, the realm opened in a violent blizzard, and Li Ping'an and Black Ox slowly approached its storm-shrouded center.

• Li Ping'an paid the city’s entry fees for himself, the ox, and the concealed Orange Cat, then entered Wind and Snow City.
• Gao Ming joined Li Ping'an briefly and explained that cultivators had gathered for the Frigid Chill Realm, which opened once every five hundred years.
• Orange Cat wanted to search the realm for treasure, but Li Ping'an said they could watch without fighting over it.
• Unable to find lodging, Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Kitten slept outside while they waited three days in Wind and Snow City.
• The Frigid Chill Realm opened two hundred li from the city, and countless cultivators flew toward the storm.
• After a long delay, the Blue Robes Man in a bamboo hat and Black Ox approached the storm’s center.

Li Ping'an wandered through the Frigid Chill Realm with Old Ox and Orange Cat, earning supplies by treating injured cultivators. After finding Gao Ming dead beside a river, Li Ping'an and Old Ox buried him, but Kitten then came racing toward them carrying a fruit.

• Li Ping'an entered the Frigid Chill Realm at an unhurried pace with Old Ox and Orange Cat, while Gao Ming hurried ahead to pursue his last chance.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox explored the realm, and Li Ping'an treated a wounded cultivator who mistook him for a thief and attacked him.
• Li Ping'an spent several days treating injured cultivators for payment and gathered enough supplies to fill his pots and bowls.
• Li Ping'an found Gao Ming dead beside a river and buried him with Old Ox.
• As Li Ping'an recited a burial prayer, Kitten raced toward them with a fruit in her mouth.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox buried Gao Ming, then Li Ping'an protected Orange Cat during a dispute over a Fire Birth Fruit and watched the cultivators gathering at a canyon in the Frigid Chill Realm. When he left the realm, an ambush gang attacked him, but he scattered them across the ground.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox buried Gao Ming and played music for him.
• Orange Cat returned with a Fire Birth Fruit, and Li Ping'an forced the woman pursuing her to accept a quarter of it.
• Li Ping'an, Old Ox, and Orange Cat rested beside the canyon while cultivators came and went below.
• Li Ping'an left the Frigid Chill Realm ahead of a bloodied cultivator, and a gang ambushed him near the entrance.
• Li Ping'an overturned the attackers, leaving them scattered with their weapons broken.

Li Ping'an searched Wind and Snow City during the cold night and found Gao Ming's caravan companions to report his death. After sharing a meal with Old Guo, Li Ping'an accepted his offer to find him a place to stay.

• Li Ping'an and Black Ox bypassed the district guards and entered the brightly lit city center.
• Li Ping'an told workers from Gao Ming's caravan that Gao Ming had died and asked them to notify his family.
• A worker directed Li Ping'an to Old Guo, who had known Gao Ming well.
• Li Ping'an gave Old Guo Gao Ming's belongings and told him he had buried Gao Ming.
• Old Guo described Gao Ming's difficult life, then offered to find Li Ping'an a place to stay.

Li Ping'an settled into a shabby inn in Wind and Snow City with Old Ox and Orange Cat, then went to buy writing supplies so Orange Cat could learn to write. At the shop, he recognized Jing Yu’s calligraphy and a lyric he himself had composed, leaving the scholar proudly praising the work as peerless.

• Old Guo helped Li Ping'an find a room at a rundown inn, where he moved in with Old Ox and Orange Cat.
• Li Ping'an patched the drafty room with talismans and promised Orange Cat that he would teach her to read and write.
• The innkeeper warned Li Ping'an to stay indoors during the cold night, but Li Ping'an went out to buy paper.
• The Blue Robes Man walked beneath an umbrella as someone attacked him from behind, followed by a thud, a bang, and a pained howl.
• Li Ping'an visited Wenlin Studio and recognized Jing Yu’s calligraphy among the shopkeeper’s displayed works.
• The scholar showed Li Ping'an a lyric credited to Master Zhong, Jing Yu, and Mr. Li, and proudly asked whether it could be called peerless.

Li Ping'an spent a quiet day teaching Kitten to write, then set out to sell his calligraphy after Old Ox warned that they were short on money. On the way, he met two children trying to cross the Fugui Wall, and ended the chapter by giving the younger boy a radiant birthday gift.

• Li Ping'an bought paper and a brush, then taught Kitten to draw and write at home.
• Old Ox complained that food prices had risen, and Li Ping'an decided to sell a poem he had written for meal money.
• Li Ping'an carried Kitten through the snowy street and met two children trying to climb over the Fugui Wall to see the sun.
• The older child explained that he wanted to take his younger brother across the wall for his birthday, and Li Ping'an told them there was no sun beyond it.
• Li Ping'an called the children back and bathed them in golden light as he wished the younger boy a happy birthday.

Li Ping'an brought his calligraphy to Wenlin Studio to exchange it for money, then joined the Confucian Scholar on a hunt for a killer. After the Confucian Scholar captured the madman, Li Ping'an accepted half the bounty as payment for his calligraphy and worried that Old Ox would scold him for staying out late.

• A brief flash of sunlight appeared over Wind and Snow City, and Li Ping'an arrived at Wenlin Studio with Kitten.
• The Confucian Scholar could not pay for Li Ping'an's calligraphy, so he invited Li Ping'an along to earn money by hunting a madman.
• While waiting on Long Street, the Confucian Scholar told Li Ping'an that he admired Li Ping'an and had learned about his life from Jing Yu's writings.
• The madman appeared with a bloodied saber, and the Confucian Scholar used Long Street as a formation to trap and defeat him.
• The Confucian Scholar offered Li Ping'an half the bounty in payment for his calligraphy, while Li Ping'an realized he had forgotten to tell Old Ox where he was going.