Chapter Summaries

Ao Ding used Hell-derived spells to cook in the Seven Spirits Sect Kitchen Garden and defeated five Outer Court disciples who challenged him. After watching him, Old Daoist Sun arranged to take Ao Ding away from the sect, then approached him and recognized that his left eye could see.

• Ao Ding prepared rabbits, stripped feathers from Red 𫜁 Birds, and ground soybeans with spells derived from the Northern Yin Hell Diagram.
• Five Outer Court disciples challenged Ao Ding, demanding he submit to their wishes if he lost, but he trapped them in an Oil Cauldron Hell illusion and set their clothes alight.
• Old Daoist Sun watched Ao Ding with Deputy Sect Master Wu, then offered three Mystic Gang Pills in exchange for taking Ao Ding with him.
• After finishing his kitchen work, Ao Ding sat down to eat, and Old Daoist Sun approached him and asked whether his left eye could see.

Ao Ding accepted Sun Chen’s offer to leave the Seven Spirits Sect and guard him through reincarnation, after securing an oath on Sun Chen’s Great Dao True Nature. Wang Weilong emerged from seclusion to discover that Ao Ding had already left, realizing the boy he had planned to cultivate as the sect’s future had been traded away for three pills.

• Sun Chen offered to teach Ao Ding for a month and share his legacy in exchange for protection during reincarnation, revealing that a Demon Court enemy’s relatives might target them.
• Ao Ding used his Great Dao True Nature eye to inspect Sun Chen, confirmed he was dying, and agreed to leave after Sun Chen swore an oath upon his true nature.
• Mistress Wang recognized Sun Chen, helped Ao Ding pack, and gave him the Northern Yin Hell Diagram and a wooden staff before he departed with Sun Chen.
• Sun Chen and Ao Ding left the Seven Spirits Sect, and Sun Chen hurried away when he sensed Sect Master Wang Weilong emerging from seclusion.
• Wang Weilong learned that Deputy Sect Master Wu had let Sun Chen take Ao Ding for three Mystic Gang Pills, then revealed Ao Ding was a Heavenly Eye Immortal Pupil and the sect’s hoped-for future.

Wang Weilong learned that Ao Ding had left with Sun Chen and realized the boy could be in danger after Sun Chen’s death, but he could no longer track them. Sun Chen taught Ao Ding the Golden Light Breathing Technique, helped him break through his cultivation bottleneck, and led him toward a strange passage beneath a burial mound.

• Wang Weilong confronted Wang He and Wang Daniangzi over Ao Ding’s departure, then went to seek Luo Qiushui as a possible way to locate him.
• Sun Chen meditated while Ao Ding observed his cultivation, then explained innate true qi and helped Ao Ding break through the bottleneck that had kept him at the connection realm.
• Sun Chen taught Ao Ding the Golden Light Breathing Technique and sealed the scripture and his insights into Ao Ding’s Niwan Palace.
• Ao Ding converted his cultivated true essence into golden light true qi, and Sun Chen promised to take him to the Country of Xuanjia to restore his body and nourish his spiritual eye.
• Sun Chen led Ao Ding into a graveyard and opened a passage beneath a burial mound; Ao Ding hesitated at its entrance, frightened by the eerie surroundings.

Ao Ding traveled through the Yellow Springs with Sun Chen, overcame his fear enough to break through to the Qi-Seeding Upper Realm, and began to feel a genuine longing for the Dao. After they returned to the yang world, Wang Weilong told Yin Chimei that Ao Ding had completed Foundation Establishment in only ten hours.

• Sun Chen brought Ao Ding to Madam Chi Mei’s yin residence in the Yellow Springs, where Ao Ding saw its terrifying true form through his left eye and refused the tea and dates.
• While circulating the Golden Light Method in fear, Ao Ding broke through to the Qi-Seeding Upper Realm, then left with Sun Chen in a ghost-guarded bridal sedan.
• Ao Ding watched the hells along the yin road without closing his eyes, and Sun Chen explained the Northern Yin lineage’s Eighteen Naraka Method before they returned to the yang world.
• After reaching safety, Ao Ding asked Sun Chen about the yin residence and gathered qi in the morning sunlight, while Sun Chen reconsidered the role of Ao Ding’s left eye in his cultivation.
• Wang Weilong visited Yin Chimei seeking Sun Chen and Ao Ding, then explained that Ao Ding was the Seven Spirits Sect’s greatest treasure.
• Yin Chimei learned that Ao Ding had completed Foundation Establishment in ten hours and was shocked by his extraordinary progress.

Sun Chen brought Ao Ding to the Jiaxia Kingdom, where Ao Ding discovered through his left eye that its beautiful inhabitants were actually enormous ants. The queen announced a contest to find a husband for her daughter, leaving Ao Ding surrounded by thousands of ants alongside Sun Chen and eight other human men.

• Sun Chen told Ao Ding that his ten-hour Foundation Establishment was exceptional but warned him not to boast or become complacent.
• Wang Weilong and Yin Chimei tried to use Ao Ding's belongings to divine his location, but Sun Chen disrupted their divination from afar.
• Sun Chen led Ao Ding through the Xuanjia Immortal Tree into the underground Mystic Jia Kingdom.
• Female soldiers explained that they were in the Jiaxia Kingdom, where women held public roles and men served as the queen's lovers.
• The queen offered her daughter's hand to whoever killed a monstrous bird, and Ao Ding saw that the queen, princesses, soldiers, and citizens were giant ants disguised as beautiful women.

Ao Ding and Sun Chen arrived in the Jiaxia Kingdom, where Beauty Ants hosted them and recruited them to face a demon bird. Ao Ding grew suspicious when the officials led the brave men to a chilling platform, fearing the invitation was a trap.

• Ao Ding saw the kingdom's officials as giant ants through his left eye, while Sun Chen identified them as Beauty Ants and explained that they sought the Mysterious Jia Spiritual Treasury's Innate Divine Spring for Ao Ding.
• The officials housed Ao Ding, Sun Chen, and the other brave men in the former mansion of He Wenchang's ancestor, the Golden Sword Prince Consort.
• Sun Chen met Lu Xiu, a young wandering swordsman who wanted to seek immortality and agreed to join the effort against the demon bird but refused to marry the princess.
• Ao Ding used his Meal-Painting Art to conjure breakfast for himself, Sun Chen, and Lu Xiu, avoiding the food prepared by the Beauty Ants.
• The officials offered the brave men ten taels of gold if they chose to withdraw, then led them to a cold, bare platform outside the city.
• Ao Ding suspected the demon-bird quest was a pretext to place the men on the platform as sacrifices.

Ao Ding and the others confronted the Golden-Peng Pheasant, and Ao Ding discovered that his chicken-targeting curse could counter it. After the Jiaxia Kingdom agreed to their requests, Ao Ding arranged to put the terms in writing before they hunted the bird the next day.

• The Golden-Peng Pheasant attacked the warriors on the platform, but Ao Ding used his Chicken Feather-Shedding Curse to strip its feathers and drive it back.
• Sun Chen explained that the bird preyed on ants and bees, and he repelled it before leading the group back to discuss their plans.
• Ao Ding asked the Jiaxia Kingdom to settle the group's marriage, payment, longevity medicine, and Innate Divine Spring requests before they defeated the bird.
• The eldest princess sought approval from the sovereign, then agreed to their requests and asked when they would eliminate the demon.
• Ao Ding said they would act the next day and insisted that their agreement be put in writing.

Ao Ding prepared enchanted weapons for his companions to defeat the Golden-Peng Pheasant, then discovered that the Jiaxia Kingdom was a tiny Dharma Realm beneath the Xuanjia Immortal Tree. Sun Chen explained that the tree’s Dharma Realm suppressed other species and prevented them from harming humans.

• The eldest princess signed the cursed agreement, and Ao Ding divided the gold among the woodcutter, fisherman, and farmer before receiving Cloud Immortal White Fruit.
• Ao Ding enchanted the group’s weapons with the Chicken Feather-Shedding Curse, while Sun Chen repaired their gear and placed protective talismans on them.
• After recovering his magical power with the white fruit, Ao Ding joined his companions on the square platform, where their enchanted weapons stripped the Golden-Peng Pheasant of its feathers.
• Sun Chen pointed out the Xuanjia Immortal Tree, and Ao Ding recognized it and emerged from the Jiaxia Kingdom’s Dharma Realm beneath the tree.
• Ao Ding caught the tiny, plucked Golden-Peng Pheasant, and Sun Chen explained how the tree’s Dharma Realm kept the beauty ants and other species from threatening humans.

Ao Ding and Lu Xiu cultivated in the Nine-Element Divine Spring, where Ao Ding’s magical power surged and he taught Lu Xiu about cultivation stages and the Dao qi seed. By morning, Ao Ding had reached the ultimate stage of Seed Qi and asked Sun Chen to help him break through into Mystic Gang beneath the Xuanjia Tree.

• Ao Ding soaked in the divine spring, used his left eye to inspect the Xuanjia Dharma Realm, and discovered it was a Golden Court Sect residence built to protect the Nine-Element Divine Spring.
• Sun Chen drew and drank Nine-Element True Water, then warned Ao Ding to focus on restoring himself and not stare at people with his True Person’s eye.
• Lu Xiu entered the initial stage of Seed Qi by cultivating the Nine-Aperture Exquisite One-Qi Art, and Ao Ding explained the four stages of cultivation and the importance of an open true aperture.
• The eldest princess approached the bathing pool naked and offered to help the young men bathe, but Ao Ding drove her away with the divine power of his left eye.
• By morning, Ao Ding reached the ultimate stage of Seed Qi and told Sun Chen and Lu Xiu that he had realized how to break through and needed to work through Mystic Gang beneath the Xuanjia Tree.

Ao Ding hung upside down above a pool to observe his reflection and uncovered the truth of his transmigration and the spiritual treasure fused with his left eye. He used a secret art to burn and rebirth himself, while Sun Chen explained the immortal sects and cultivation paths to Lu Xiu; the chapter ended with Ao Ding entering the mystic gang realm through heavenly fire.

• Ao Ding asked Lu Xiu to hang him upside down from the Xuanjia Immortal Tree, and Sun Chen created a pool beneath it for him to study his reflection.
• Ao Ding saw memories of his arrival in this world and realized he had transmigrated in his own body, which had been destroyed and reshaped into a child’s body.
• Ao Ding discovered that his left eye contained the true nature of an unborn spiritual treasure fused with his own, and he used a secret art and his essence blood to ignite himself.
• Sun Chen explained the six immortal sects, their methods of accepting disciples, and the ranks of Daoist lineages to Lu Xiu.
• Lu Xiu and Sun Chen saw Ao Ding engulfed in flames, and Sun Chen recognized that Ao Ding had entered the mystic gang realm by burning his way into the Dao.

Ao Ding refined his Dao qi in a blazing fire and sensed the vital energy tides until he drew the True Heaven Golden Gang into his qi seed. After his limbs and organs regrew, he emerged from the flames having succeeded in the Mystic Gang Realm.

• The queen bee and the ruler of the Jiaxia Kingdom watched Ao Ding’s fire stir vast tides of vital energy and explained that he was refining his Dao qi toward an innate Dao body.
• Sun Chen opened Lu Xiu’s vision to the vital energy tides and taught him how Mystic Gang purification restored youth and longevity.
• Ao Ding endured the flames while searching the tides for Dao qi suited to him, then summoned a golden vessel-like Gang qi from the heavens.
• Ao Ding’s qi seed absorbed the True Heaven Golden Gang, and his burned-away body gradually regrew.
• A drop of Ninefold Essence Divine Water entered Ao Ding’s left eye, the flames went out, and Ao Ding jumped down to tell Sun Chen and Lu Xiu that he had succeeded.

After breaking through, Ao Ding struggled to control his new power and gained a spirit staff from the Xuanjia Immortal Tree. He and his companions attended the Jiaxia weddings, then prepared to travel with Lin Bai to visit his ill father and send Lu Xiu to the Heavenly Stone Sect.

• Ao Ding accidentally released golden light as he adjusted to his new realm, and Sun Chen warned him that uncontrolled power could harm living creatures.
• Ao Ding summoned a branch from the Xuanjia Immortal Tree and named it the Xuanjia Spirit Staff.
• Ao Ding, Sun Chen, and Lu Xiu traveled to Jiaxia Kingdom, where Ao Ding congratulated He Wenchang and the other bridegrooms at their weddings.
• Ao Ding discussed the taboo against human-demon offspring with Lu Xiu and proposed several ways it might be circumvented.
• Sun Chen arranged to visit Lin Bai's home and send Lu Xiu to the Heavenly Stone Sect, then began teaching Ao Ding the Thousand-Li Marsh Spirit Spell to summon a Qingji.

Lu Xiu failed to summon marsh spirits, while Ao Ding mastered the spell and helped Sun Chen hire Qingji to carry them toward Lingcheng County. As the procession traveled, Ao Ding learned about the spirits’ competing trades and asked whether any nearby spirits delivered food or goods.

• Lu Xiu failed to summon a marsh spirit, so Sun Chen advised him to focus on alchemy, while Ao Ding successfully summoned a Qingji.
• Sun Chen offered the Qingji a pill to gather others and transport the group, and twelve Qingji arrived with a carriage and ceremonial procession.
• Ao Ding used the Shared-Knowledge Spirit Voice Spell to understand the Qingji, who promised to take the group to White Mountain Commandery in half a day.
• The Qingji served the travelers fruit and juice as their carriage raced toward White Mountain Commandery.
• Ao Ding learned that spirits divided trades among themselves and that competing with other lineages could lead to fights.
• Ao Ding asked whether spirits nearby ran food-delivery or goods-delivery businesses.

Ao Ding recognized that Lin Rulong was not suffering from an illness but was destined to become a wine ghost immortal through Corpse Liberation. Sun Chen offered to use the Lin family’s ancestral wine pot to help Lin Rulong, asking for a copy of the secret brewing spell in return.

• Ao Ding proposed that the Qingji expand into courier, delivery, and escort work, and the old Qingji decided to raise the idea with the other stewards.
• The Qingji delivered Lin Bai and his companions to Lingcheng, where Lin Bai learned that his father, Lin Rulong, could no longer swallow medicine and was expected to die soon.
• Ao Ding used his left eye to see flourishing fortune over the Lin residence, then recognized that Lin Rulong’s apparent illness was preparation for Corpse Liberation into Immortality.
• Sun Chen explained that Lin Rulong would become a wine ghost immortal after death and warned Ao Ding and Lu Xiu that ghost immortals followed an illusory path.
• Lin Bai retrieved the ancestral clay wine pot that an old ape had given the family’s ancestor, and Sun Chen offered to make it Lin Rulong’s new home in exchange for a copy of the family’s secret spell.

Sun Chen arranged a fallback cultivation path for Ao Ding, then took him and Lu Xiu to the Azure Pool Immortal Market and helped Ao Ding stabilize his cultivation. He planned to teach both youths spells and guide them toward their future sects.

• Lin Bai agreed to Sun Chen's arrangement, and Ao Ding copied the Three Heavens Great Grotto True Seal, gaining fortune through the Hundred-Curse Fortune-Gathering Secret Rite.
• Sun Chen refined Lin Bai's Dark Sweet Wine Flask so Lin Bai's father could become a Wine Immortal, then left the Lin residence with Ao Ding and Lu Xiu.
• Sun Chen led the youths to Pure Mystery Studio and used its painting entrance to take them into the Azure Pool Immortal Market.
• Ao Ding read the true cloud-seal script in a drop of sweet rain and stabilized his cultivation in the connection realm.
• Sun Chen promised to teach Ao Ding several spells and planned to guide Lu Xiu toward the Heavenly Stone Sect, urging both youths to help fellow practitioners.

Ao Ding and Sun Chen toured Azure Pool Immortal Market, where Sun Chen explained the history of human-demon relations and the three tribulations of artifact consecration. They bought three years of golden buds to sustain Ao Ding’s cultivation vigil, and the shopkeeper agreed to guide them through their remaining purchases.

• Ao Ding and Sun Chen explored the spirit market, and Sun Chen explained why humans and demon spirits lived together peacefully under the immortal sects’ governance.
• Ao Ding chose to keep vigil for Sun Chen for three years after his Liberation by Violence, so Sun Chen planned supplies for the Profound Gang Upper Realm.
• At an alchemy shop, Sun Chen taught Ao Ding about spiritual-item grades and the three tribulations that magical artifacts underwent on their path to becoming Dharma Treasures.
• Ao Ding sampled Blue Heavens Jade Dew, a Jade True Golden Bud, and a Five-Colored Exquisite Insect, then chose the golden buds because they suited his True Heaven Golden Gang and cost less.
• Ao Ding and Sun Chen paid three Qiongyun Firmament Pills for three years of golden buds and medicinal extras, and the shopkeeper offered to accompany them as they continued shopping.

Shopkeeper Xin settled Ao Ding and Sun Chen’s purchases with the Qingji Society, which paid their bill and returned three Sky Pills. Sun Chen taught Ao Ding the Guangfa Sect’s Wondrous Formula of Vast Dharma’s Spiritual Mirror and Profound Comprehension, then hurried him toward a brewing crisis in Ling City: a geomancer’s revenge against the Wang Household that might become a massacre.

• Shopkeeper Xin sold Ao Ding and Sun Chen materials, then accepted crimson cloud blossoms from a Qingji steward to settle their bill and returned three Sky Pills to them.
• Sun Chen recognized that Ao Ding could use his Three-Qi Heavenly Crystal Stone to make a monocle and taught him the Guangfa Sect’s Wondrous Formula of Vast Dharma’s Spiritual Mirror and Profound Comprehension.
• Sun Chen gave Ao Ding the Pure Tenuity Sect’s Heavenly Heart Artifact Refining Art and arranged to make him a parting gift while they rested at the inn.
• Sun Chen explained that the Wang Household had risen with a geomancer’s help but failed to repay the fortune they borrowed from him.
• Sun Chen sensed that the geomancer’s revenge might involve slaughtering Ling City, seized Ao Ding, and took him out to test his combat skills.

Ao Ding defeated Old Daoist Qi, who had been preparing to spread plague in Ling City, and Sun Chen learned that the man sought revenge on the Wang Household over a broken fortune-borrowing agreement. Sun Chen taught Ao Ding lessons about cultivation and human nature, then ordered him to clean up before they went to settle the old grievance.

• Ao Ding attacked Old Daoist Qi with the Great Golden Light Spell, scattered his baleful qi, and sealed the ghosts in the pit while Sun Chen bound him.
• Sun Chen discovered Old Daoist Qi's plague-spreading artifacts and learned that he blamed the Wang Household for turning against him when he returned to collect the fortune he had lent them.
• Old Daoist Qi explained that he had escaped the Wang Household's attack and inherited the Plague-Dispelling Dao's lineage, abandoning feng shui cultivation for plague arts.
• Sun Chen warned Ao Ding against borrowing too much fortune or trusting descendants to honor their ancestors' agreements, and Ao Ding took Old Daoist Qi's fate as a cautionary lesson.
• Sun Chen told Ao Ding to clean up the battlefield before they went to the Wang Household to resolve Old Daoist Qi's grievance.

Sun Chen taught Ao Ding how to pursue justice without harming innocents, sent Old Daoist Qi to Heavenly Prison for judgment, and arranged future introductions and safeguards for Ao Ding and Lu Xiu. After Lu Xiu departed for the Heavenly Stone Sect with the Qingji, Sun Chen took Ao Ding toward his tomb by flying on a streak of golden light.

• Sun Chen released Old Daoist Qi to reclaim the feng shui treasures he had given the Wang family, warning Ao Ding that revenge must not involve innocents.
• Old Daoist Qi damaged the Wang family's ancestral graves, then Sun Chen opened the Ghost Gate and sent him to Heavenly Prison with a self-written complaint and a letter urging the Wang descendants to do good.
• Sun Chen explained Heavenly Prison's role, gave Ao Ding letters of introduction to Guangfa Sect elders, and taught him the dangerous Yin-Falling Curse as a last-resort safeguard.
• Sun Chen had Ao Ding clean the battlefield outside the city, then continued planning his instruction and future connections.
• The next morning, Sun Chen sent Lu Xiu toward the Heavenly Stone Sect with the Qingji, giving him letters and a backup route to the Jade Cauldron Sect.
• Sun Chen told Ao Ding they were heading to his tomb and carried him away through the sky in a golden dragon-like streak.

Sun Chen carried Ao Ding across the Central Wilds to his hidden Immortal Tomb at Qianling Mountain, where he prepared him for the coming Liberation by Violence. He left Ao Ding with books and began teaching him the House-Building Technique as he waited for the next full moon.

• Sun Chen flew Ao Ding on a golden dragon and explained the Mighty Heaven Golden Dragon Divine Ability while Ao Ding admired the view.
• Yin Chimei and Wang Weilong reached the Xuanjia Immortal Tree, learned that Sun Chen had already left, and decided to search for him in Lingcheng County.
• Sun Chen gave Ao Ding a real-time map of the ten continents and explained the vast distances and locations of the four sects’ ancestral seats.
• Sun Chen brought Ao Ding to Qianling Mountain, an isolated Dharma Realm Spirit Land, and said his enemy would attack during the next full moon when he underwent Liberation by Violence.
• Ao Ding built a crooked hut beside Sun Chen’s tomb residence, and Sun Chen assigned him books and began teaching him the House-Building Technique.