Chapter Summaries

Jiang Yi studied Yu Shenxiu’s Fire Virtue Law Nature through the Heavenly Book and examined the six Fire Virtue Dao Fruits for a path of his own. He concluded that Heavenly Fire was his best chance to attain, through the Yang Virtue of Lesser Yang and the Yin Virtue of Lady Mysterious Maiden.

• Jiang Yi used Supplicating the Heavenly Book to study Yu Shenxiu’s Covered Lamp Fire and considered seeking Five Virtues Dao Fruits without following Yu Shenxiu’s Dao Path.
• After about a month of study, Jiang Yi reviewed the six Fire Virtue Dao Fruits and ruled out Covered Lamp Fire, Thunderclap Fire, Furnace Fire, Mountain Foot Fire, and Mountaintop Fire as unavailable or too difficult to pursue.
• Jiang Yi asked the Heavenly Book to identify the Fire Virtue Dao Fruit best suited to his cultivation, and it pointed him toward Heavenly Fire.
• The Heavenly Book revealed that Heavenly Fire included both the Sun’s Yang Virtue and Taiyin’s Yin Virtue.
• Jiang Yi decided that Lesser Yang could provide Yang Virtue and Lady Mysterious Maiden could share Yin Virtue, making Heavenly Fire the Dao Fruit he was most likely to pluck.

Jiang Yi completed the five profound mysteries of [Heavenly Fire] and claimed [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven] as his Position Artifact. Twenty years later, Li Conglong’s household had prospered, and the Broken Bronze Mirror stirred during his seventieth birthday celebration.

• Jiang Yi finished comprehending the five profound mysteries and reached the threshold of [Heavenly Fire].
• Jiang Yi drew [Yang Qi Taixiang Heaven] into his Origin Gate and secured Yu True Lord’s legacy.
• Jiang Yi looked out over Green Ram Mountain and learned that the Li Household had risen after the Xu Household’s destruction.
• Li Conglong warned Li Conglin about their rivals and urged him to win the favor of the Hall of Ten Thousand Forms’ immortal master.
• Li Conglong entered the ancestral hall to honor his father and elder brother, and the Broken Bronze Mirror began to glow.
• Li Conglong welcomed the mirror’s senior, who remarked that he had been attentive for twenty years.

Jiang Yi gave the Li Household the Five Phases Aperture Refining Art, hoping to use them to expand his influence and advance his [Heavenly Fire] Dao Fruit. Li Conglong shared the art with Li Conglin, and Jiang Yi discovered that Li Conglin had exceptional cultivation talent.

• Jiang Yi judged Li Conglong unlikely to reach Foundation Establishment and decided to build the Li Household into a power across Green Ram Mountain and the surrounding region.
• Jiang Yi deduced the Five Phases Aperture Refining Art and sent it through the damaged mirror to Li Conglong.
• Li Conglong memorized the art, realized its value, and concluded that the mirror intended it for the Li Household.
• After the birthday banquet, Li Conglong secretly shared the art with Li Conglin and urged him to cultivate it in seclusion.
• Several months later, Jiang Yi saw that Li Conglin's cultivation talent far exceeded Li Conglong's and considered him key to the Li Household's future expansion.

Jiang Yi visited Profound Mystery True Person’s [Foundation Establishment Realm] and learned how a Dao Child of the [Great Yan Dynasty] earned [Heavenly Fire] through a lifetime of world-shaping achievements. After investigating the dynasty’s history, Jiang Yi began to grasp [Fire Virtue]’s true nature, then sensed a celebration at the Li family.

• Jiang Yi visited Profound Mystery True Person and watched the cats of the [Cat Kingdom] defeat a mouse rebellion.
• Jiang Yi asked how to obtain [Heavenly Fire], and Profound Mystery True Person recounted how a Dao Child reincarnated, founded the [Great Yan Dynasty], and earned the Dao Fruit through his achievements.
• Jiang Yi questioned whether the Dao Child had acted alone, and Profound Mystery True Person revealed that three True Lords and twelve True Persons had prepared and supported him.
• Jiang Yi consulted the Heavenly Book about the [Great Yan Dynasty] and realized that [Fire Virtue]’s essence lay in shining, not merely burning.
• Jiang Yi sensed that something had happened at Green Ram Mountain and saw the Li family celebrating the birth of Li Conglong’s son.

At Li Conglong’s seventieth-birthday celebration for his newborn son, Luo Weiyuan announced that the Luo Household had produced a gifted child chosen by the Hall of Ten Thousand Forms, sharpening the rivalry between the households. Li Conglong left the feast and prayed before the Broken Bronze Mirror and his ancestors to protect his son and preserve the Li bloodline.

• Li Conglong celebrated the birth of his son as guests brought gifts and congratulations to the Li ancestral residence.
• Luo Weiyuan arrived with gifts and announced that twelve-year-old Luo Tianyang had a spiritual aperture and would soon enter the Hall of Ten Thousand Forms.
• Li Conglong congratulated Luo Weiyuan, then answered his veiled taunts by saying his son’s future depended on fortuitous encounters.
• Li Conglong left the feast, took his infant son to the ancestral hall, and prayed to the ancestors and the immortal master for the child’s protection.

Jiang Yi gave the newborn Li Changming a fire destiny and named him Changming, prompting the ancestral mirror to foretell that he would establish a Dao Foundation. Fifteen years later, Li Conglong died, and Li Conglin took Changming to pay respects to the Li Household’s true root.

• Jiang Yi recognized the newborn as a child with Fire Destiny, bestowed a flame upon him, and named him Changming.
• The ancestral mirror declared that Changming would establish his Dao Foundation, and Li Conglong pledged the Li Household’s loyalty to Jiang Yi.
• Fifteen years later, dying Li Conglong named Li Conglin as household head and mourned that Caiwei had not come to see him.
• Li Conglong died; the courtyard’s old scholar tree withered, then sprouted fresh buds two days later.
• Li Conglin told Changming that the Li Household’s roots mattered more than its branches and led him to pay respects to its true root.

Li Changming reached the Fourth Level of Qi Refining and received Essence-Nourishing Pills from Li Conglin, who urged him to advance before the Hall of Ten Thousand Forms’ Ascension Ceremony. When elders from the third branch complained about Changming’s conduct and the resources he received, Li Conglin defended his support for him and arranged to send those elders to garrison Iron Horse Pass if the sect demanded clan members.

• Li Changming cultivated at sunrise, broke through to the Fourth Level of Qi Refining, and wondered about the Li Household’s origins.
• Li Conglin gave Li Changming three Essence-Nourishing Pills and encouraged him to reach the Fifth Level before the Ascension Ceremony in two years.
• Li Pingde and two elders from the third branch accused Li Changming of disrespect and complained that Li Conglin favored him over his own sons.
• Li Conglin defended his investment in Li Changming and suggested that Li Pingde leave clan affairs to enjoy time with his family.
• Li Conglin ordered his aide to send the third-branch elders to garrison Iron Horse Pass if the Hall of Ten Thousand Forms called for clan members.