Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yu, a transmigrator in the world of A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality, broke through to the tenth level of Qi Refining after years of cultivation in the Giant Sword Sect. He suddenly suffered a mysterious head pain and passed out, then woke and began checking whether the episode had changed his body.

• Xiao Yu reached the tenth level of Qi Refining and celebrated his breakthrough in his stone house on Ox Ridge.
• Xiao Yu recalled his past life, his three spiritual roots, and his plan to find the Heaven-Controlling Bottle at the Seven Mysteries Sect.
• Xiao Yu searched between Divine Hand Valley and Redwater Peak but failed to find the Heaven-Controlling Bottle, then saw young Han Li in Five Li Ravine.
• Xiao Yu joined the Giant Sword Sect and spent four years cultivating until he reached the tenth level of Qi Refining.
• Xiao Yu suffered excruciating head pain as his magical power surged, collapsed unconscious, and later woke to inspect himself for changes.

Xiao Yu discovered a mysterious space inside his sea of consciousness and tested its abilities. He left the space knowing he could enter and exit freely, store objects there, and use its strange book to produce a modified Fire Cloud Art formula, though the book did not respond a second time.

• Xiao Yu found a flickering speck of light in his sea of consciousness and entered a small space by touching it.
• Xiao Yu discovered a jade-like book and a purple gourd in the space, then confirmed he could travel in and out while bringing objects with him.
• Xiao Yu tested the space’s boundaries and found they were impassable, then felt the book’s touch clear his mind.
• Xiao Yu circulated the Fire Origin Art while touching the book, causing it to reveal a slightly altered Fire Cloud Art formula.
• Xiao Yu failed to make the book respond again with cultivation arts or spirit stones.
• Xiao Yu compared incense burning inside and outside the space and found that time passed at the same rate.

Xiao Yu discovered that the mysterious book could create stronger and weaker versions of cultivation arts, then unlocked the purple gourd’s ability to absorb sunlight and produce liquid that rapidly aged plants. After seeing the liquid kill two rabbits and mature ginseng, he rejoiced over the gourd’s potential to aid his cultivation.

• Xiao Yu compared two extrapolated Fire Cloud Arts with the original and found that the enhanced version refined the most magical power without causing discomfort.
• Xiao Yu exposed the purple gourd to sunlight for five days, and its lid finally opened to reveal a purple droplet.
• Xiao Yu mixed the droplet with water and gave some to two rabbits, which grew swollen and exploded.
• Xiao Yu poured most of the purple liquid over a ginseng plant, which grew from a few years old to nearly a hundred years old overnight.
• Xiao Yu concluded that the purple gourd was an enhanced version of the Heaven-Controlling Bottle and celebrated its promise for his cultivation.

Xiao Yu planned to strengthen himself for the Scarlet Trials and sought an odd job that would let him move to a secluded place and earn spirit stones. At the Thousand Mechanism Hall, he accepted a post tending a medicinal garden on Hundred Herbs Mountain.

• Xiao Yu decided to prepare for the Scarlet Trials in three years by improving his cultivation and combat power.
• Xiao Yu flew to the Thousand Mechanism Hall to find a flexible planting job and earn spirit stones.
• Xiao Yu gave Senior Brother Fang a spirit stone, and Fang brought him several bundles of job listings.
• Xiao Yu chose the job tending a Hundred Herbs Mountain medicinal garden, which paid four to five spirit stones per month.
• Senior Brother Fang explained that the previous caretaker had left to attempt Foundation Establishment, and Xiao Yu accepted the post.

Xiao Yu took over Herb Garden Bing Seven, learned about its spirit herbs and inspection schedule, and realized it was an ideal place to use the Heaven-Controlling Bottle. Over the next three months he accelerated medicinal herbs, studied pill formulas, and finally prepared several bottles of pills for the mortal martial world.

• Xiao Yu arrived at Hundred Herbs Mountain, entered Herb Garden Bing Seven, and received a tour of its spirit herbs from Wang Yuan.
• Wang Yuan handed Xiao Yu the restriction token and explained that a steward inspected the garden every three months and a Foundation Establishment cultivator collected herbs every six months.
• After Wang Yuan left, Xiao Yu celebrated the garden's suitability for growing herbs and studied formulas for the Yellow Dragon Pill, Great Restoration Pill, and Golden Marrow Pill.
• Xiao Yu used the little gourd to accelerate medicinal herbs and spent three months learning the garden's work and preparing ingredients.
• After the steward's inspection, Xiao Yu began refining pills; despite many failed attempts, he made more than twenty bottles of pills and then fell asleep.

Xiao Yu entered the Scripture Pavilion to search for the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe and found three useful pill recipes among its texts. He left the second floor with plans to duplicate the recipes and gather their ingredients, including the rare materials found in the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land.

• Xiao Yu arrived at the Scripture Pavilion, where a Foundation Establishment cultivator checked his identity token and escorted him through a teleportation array.
• The pavilion's gray-haired attendant charged Xiao Yu one spirit stone per hour, but Xiao Yu offered three spirit stones and was allowed to consult texts on the second floor.
• Xiao Yu searched the pill shelves and found a recipe for the Spirit-Restoring Pill, whose ingredients he believed he could obtain and cultivate with his Purple Gourd.
• Xiao Yu discovered the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe and saw that its three primary ingredients grew in the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land, where he intended to search during the upcoming Blood Trial.
• Xiao Yu also found the Beauty-Nourishing Pill recipe and decided to take it along with the other two for duplication.

Xiao Yu copied four jade slips, including a complete guide to beginner talismans, and learned from the old man about the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land and its dangers. Though warned that entering would mean certain death at his current cultivation level, Xiao Yu resolved to seek the ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills there.

• Xiao Yu chose a talisman-making guide and three pill-related jade slips, then spent his entire fortune of forty Spirit Stones to have them copied.
• The old man warned Xiao Yu that the Beauty-Nourishing Pill and Foundation Establishment Pill formulas were difficult to use because their ingredients were scarce.
• The old man explained how ancient cultivators created secret realms to preserve medicinal herbs and how the Blood-Colored Forbidden Land came under the control of Yue Kingdom's seven sects.
• Xiao Yu learned that the forbidden land would open again in less than three years and that only Qi Refining disciples could enter.
• The old man warned Xiao Yu about demonic beasts and deadly fights among sect disciples, but Xiao Yu resolved to enter for the Foundation Establishment Pill ingredients before leaving the scripture library.

After a year of cultivation, Xiao Yu reached the eleventh level of Qi Refining and discovered that the Heavenly Book could optimize spells again, producing a much stronger Fire Serpent Art. He left the medicine garden to obtain talisman-making supplies and turn the enhanced spells into a source of fighting strength.

• Xiao Yu tested the enhanced Fire Serpent Art and blasted a deep, charred pit into the ground.
• Xiao Yu recalled that a year of pill-assisted cultivation had advanced him to the eleventh level of Qi Refining, while purple liquid had matured herbs for pills and sale.
• Xiao Yu found that the Heavenly Book had recovered and used it to optimize the Fire Serpent Art, receiving strong and weakened versions of the spell.
• Xiao Yu confirmed that the stronger spell dealt more damage but consumed more magical power and took no less time to cast, making talismans his preferred way to use it in combat.
• Xiao Yu gathered his things, secured the medicine garden, and flew toward the sect to pursue talisman-making supplies.

Xiao Yu left the Giant Sword Sect to visit his parents and stopped at the market to trade an old medicinal herb for talisman-making supplies. After completing the deal at the Spirit Talisman Pavilion, he left with talismans, a brush, blank paper, cinnabar, and 230 spirit stones owed to him.

• Xiao Yu obtained a permit to leave the Giant Sword Sect and set out to visit his parents.
• After flying for three days, Xiao Yu reached the market and entered the Spirit Talisman Pavilion.
• Xiao Yu asked the attendant about talisman-making supplies and requested a private meeting with the shopkeeper.
• Shopkeeper Du identified Xiao Yu's firecloud ginseng as an 800-year-old specimen and offered 1,000 spirit stones for it.
• Xiao Yu exchanged the ginseng for a talisman brush, seven high-grade talismans, blank talisman paper, and cinnabar, with Shopkeeper Du owing him 230 spirit stones.

Xiao Yu disguised himself and shopped in the marketplace, then negotiated with Lan Yue at the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to trade two rare Firecloud Ginseng roots for magical tools and an alchemy furnace. He left with the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords, the Spirit Turtle Shield, the Scarlet Cloud Sword Talisman Treasure, and the Silver Thread Cauldron, along with one hundred spirit stones.

• Xiao Yu rented a superior room at the Leisurely Cloud Inn and used a disguise to conceal his appearance and Giant Sword Sect connections.
• Xiao Yu bought storage boxes and talisman-making supplies at the Hundred Crafts Tower, planning to keep rarely used items in his mysterious space.
• Xiao Yu visited the Myriad Treasures Pavilion and met its Foundation Establishment Stage shopkeeper, Lan Yue.
• Lan Yue showed Xiao Yu several fine magical tools, and Xiao Yu chose the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords, the Spirit Turtle Shield, and the Scarlet Cloud Sword Talisman Treasure.
• Xiao Yu traded a thousand-year-aged Firecloud Ginseng and an eight-hundred-year-old Firecloud Ginseng for the three chosen treasures and the Silver Thread Cauldron, receiving one hundred spirit stones back.

After leaving the Market with newly acquired artifacts, Xiao Yu was ambushed by two independent cultivators who had tracked him from the Spirit Talisman Pavilion. He killed the black-bearded man with his top-grade artifacts after the woman fled, then escaped in a different direction.

• Xiao Yu refined and practiced with the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords and Spirit Turtle Shield, then gathered missing Foundation Establishment Pill ingredient seeds at the Market.
• Two independent cultivators who had noticed Xiao Yu at the Spirit Talisman Pavilion followed him out of the Market, hoping to rob him.
• Xiao Yu detected the pair in a forest and fought them with Firecloud Talismans, the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords, and the Spirit Turtle Shield.
• The alluring woman fled when her hairpin failed to penetrate Xiao Yu's shield, leaving the black-bearded man to face him alone.
• Xiao Yu shattered the man's shield and killed him with the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords, collected his storage pouch, burned the remains, and fled.

After surviving a fight with a poor rogue cultivator, Xiao Yu returned to the sect and devoted himself to learning talisman making. Two years passed as he practiced drawing Fireball Talismans and prepared to expand his skills.

• Xiao Yu recovered in a secluded cave, found little of value in the black-bearded man's storage pouch, and returned to the sect instead of visiting home.
• Xiao Yu studied the Complete Guide to Making Beginner Talismans and decided to focus on Fireball, Fire Serpent, and eventually Firecloud Talismans.
• Xiao Yu practiced talisman patterns with ordinary ink and paper while accelerating the growth of Seven-Star Grass and producing talisman paper.
• After more than five hundred failed attempts, Xiao Yu successfully drew and tested a Fireball Talisman.
• Xiao Yu gradually made more Fireball Talismans, continued practicing despite his losses, and spent two years cultivating and making talismans.

After two years of cultivation and practice, Xiao Yu had reached the peak of the twelfth level and amassed a powerful stock of talismans, but mortal medicines could no longer advance his cultivation. Having investigated the Heavenly Book’s abilities and cooldowns, he left the medicine garden and flew toward the sect.

• Xiao Yu reached the peak of the twelfth level, but Yellow Dragon Pills and other mortal medicines no longer helped him advance.
• Xiao Yu improved his talisman-making, producing hundreds of Fireball Talismans, nearly a thousand Fire Serpent Talismans, and a little over twenty enhanced Firecloud Talismans.
• Xiao Yu continued guarding No. 7 Medicine Garden and used the Purple Gourd to prepare the required spiritual herb quotas.
• Xiao Yu determined that the Heavenly Book could deduce cultivation methods and spells, but not pill formulas or talisman techniques, and that Spirit Stones could somewhat shorten its cooldown.
• Xiao Yu cleared the hut, left No. 7 Medicine Garden, and flew toward the sect.

Xiao Yu registered for the Blood Trial despite Uncle Zhao’s warnings, then headed to Morning Glow Peak to prepare Spirit-Restoring Pills. On the way, he watched Yan Kuan defeat Li Cheng and recognized him as a figure from the original text.

• Xiao Yu registered for the Blood Trial, which was set to begin in half a month, after explaining that he wanted to seek herbs for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Xiao Yu left Emerging Clouds Peak and flew toward Morning Glow Peak to refine Spirit-Restoring Pills for the dangerous trial.
• Xiao Yu stopped to watch barefooted Yan Kuan fight Li Cheng, learning that Yan was known as the Martial Fool for seeking out sparring matches.
• Yan Kuan overcame Li Cheng’s weapons with his sword technique, forced him to concede, and recalled his giant sword without striking him.
• Xiao Yu recognized Yan Kuan as the barefooted fighter from the original text and suspected Yan already possessed the silver page.

Xiao Yu rented an upper-grade Earthfire Room and learned to use its earthfire to refine Spirit-Restoring Pills. After several failures, he made three batches for his coming trip to the Forbidden Grounds and left with his remaining rent returned.

• Xiao Yu rented Earthfire Room twenty for ten days after learning about the different grades and prices of the rooms.
• Xiao Yu activated the earthfire and used the Silver Thread Cauldron to begin refining Spirit-Restoring Pills.
• Xiao Yu failed repeatedly over three days, consuming more than half of his spirit medicines before his first successful batch.
• Xiao Yu meditated to restore his magical power, then successfully refined two more batches over the following eight days.
• Xiao Yu collected the pills in three jade bottles, returned the room token, and received three Spirit Stones in change.

Xiao Yu and the other disciples prepared to enter the Forbidden Grounds as Sect Master Chu briefed them and distributed magical artifacts. After Grandmaster Wang arrived, he took the group aboard an enormous flying sword and set off for the Forbidden Grounds.

• Sect Master Chu warned the disciples to be careful in the Forbidden Grounds and promised rewards for bringing back spirit herbs.
• Xiao Yu reviewed his powerful magical artifacts, talismans, and Talisman Treasure while assessing the other disciples’ cultivation levels.
• Sect Master Chu gave each disciple a mid-grade spirit stone and let them choose a high-grade magical artifact from restricted wooden boxes.
• Grandmaster Wang arrived and placed the Foundation Establishment cultivators and disciples under pressure with his aura.
• Grandmaster Wang enlarged a flying sword, brought the group aboard, and flew toward the Forbidden Grounds.

Xiao Yu and the Giant Sword Sect arrived at the Blood Trial gathering, where he witnessed the sect leaders’ wager and heard Grandmaster Wang explain the brutal history and power politics of Yue Kingdom’s cultivation world. The remaining sects arrived as the gathered disciples prepared for the Forbidden Grounds.

• Xiao Yu was briefly captivated by Fairy Nishang’s charm technique until Grandmaster Wang snapped him and the other disciples out of it.
• Grandmaster Wang greeted Li Huayuan, Fuyunzi, and Fairy Nishang, and Xiao Yu learned that the Golden Core cultivators had been assigned to escort their sects’ disciples.
• Fuyunzi wagered high-grade intermediate talismans against Li Huayuan’s iron essence, betting on which sect would have more survivors and more valuable spirit herbs.
• Grandmaster Wang told the disciples that cultivators followed the rule that the strong devoured the weak, then recounted how Yue Kingdom’s seven great sects had destroyed the orthodox and unorthodox powers of an earlier era.
• Disciples from Spirit Beast Mountain, Blade Transforming Dock, and Heavenly Gate Fort arrived at the gathering.

Xiao Yu entered the Forbidden Grounds, was teleported to a remote area, and fought a Venomous Crocodile to claim seven-leaf grass. After securing the herb and the beast’s corpse, he headed north.

• Fuyunzi and the other six Golden Core cultivators forced open the Wind Blade Array, and the disciples flew through the passage into the Forbidden Grounds.
• Xiao Yu was teleported away from the entrance and found himself alone beside a dark forest and barren ground.
• Xiao Yu spotted seven-leaf grass growing at the edge of the Black Mud Swamp and approached it behind the protection of the Spirit Turtle Shield.
• A Venomous Crocodile ambushed Xiao Yu, but he killed it with the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords after evading its venom.
• Xiao Yu gathered the seven-leaf grass, stored the crocodile’s corpse, and headed north.

Xiao Yu watched Wang Yu and Zhang Da fight, then killed Wang Yu after the Heavenly Thunder Pearl destroyed Zhang Da. He looted Wang Yu’s storage pouch and fled, ending with a map and spirit herbs in his possession.

• Xiao Yu hid on a hill as Zhang Da attacked Wang Yu, who was already badly injured.
• Wang Yu used a Heavenly Thunder Pearl to kill Zhang Da, but Xiao Yu waited until Wang Yu let down his guard and beheaded him with the Radiant Mother-and-Son Swords.
• Xiao Yu took Wang Yu’s storage pouch, burned both corpses, and fled the area before anyone could investigate.
• Xiao Yu inspected the pouch and found Spirit Stones, spirit herbs, cultivation jade slips, a pill formula, and a map of the Forbidden Grounds.
• Xiao Yu left his shelter in a hollow tree and set off again.

Xiao Yu discovered a Purple mist vine by a pool, but sensed an ambush and hid when he returned to the valley. A Spirit Beast Mountain cultivator killed a woman who came for the herb, then used a spirit butterfly to expose that he had spotted Xiao Yu.

• Xiao Yu found a Purple mist vine beside a pool, sensed something was wrong, and left the valley without taking it.
• Xiao Yu returned under concealment and hid in the grass when he sensed someone approaching.
• A beautiful woman entered the valley and was struck in the shoulder by the triangular-eyed cultivator's Shadowless Needle.
• The triangular-eyed cultivator attacked the woman with an axe artifact and Silver-Winged Bees, killing her and collecting her belongings.
• The triangular-eyed cultivator revealed a gray butterfly had detected Xiao Yu and called on him to come out.