Chapter Summaries

After escaping the mountaintop where he had been trapped for ten years, Ye Qingyun lost his Sainthood System for urinating carelessly and left Damao behind. When a bandit brought Princess Chu Yanyu and her maid Qing'er to the summit, Damao killed him with one paw.

• Ye Qingyun discovered the barrier around the mountain had vanished, but the system severed its bond with him because he relieved himself wherever he pleased.
• Ye Qingyun cursed the system, told Damao to watch the house, and descended the mountain to explore the outside world.
• A brawny man in black brought Chu Yanyu and Qing'er to the summit after capturing them for the Song Clan.
• The man in black set the helpless women down and prepared to assault them, then threatened to eat Damao.
• Damao smashed the man in black's head with one paw, leaving Chu Yanyu and Qing'er stunned.

Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing fled to Ye Qingyun’s home, where Damao killed and devoured their pursuer. Mistaking Ye Qingyun for a powerful expert, Chu Yanyu entered his house, broke through after his ventilation system filled it with Spiritual Qi, and then reacted strangely to the tea he served.

• Damao killed the black-clad leader with a slap and swallowed his corpse before Ye Qingyun returned to the courtyard.
• Chu Yanyu followed Damao’s warning and treated Ye Qingyun as an ordinary young master, while she and Xiaoqing explained that they had been pursued.
• Ye Qingyun invited Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing into his home and activated his fresh-air ventilation system.
• Chu Yanyu sensed the Spiritual Qi pouring through the house and broke through to the next realm.
• Ye Qingyun brewed tea for Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing, and Chu Yanyu’s expression changed as she tasted it.

Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing discovered that Ye Qingyun’s tea and grapes held overwhelming spiritual power, and eating the grapes rapidly advanced their cultivation. Chu Yanyu left convinced Ye Qingyun was a hidden master and gave him a golden token, while Ye Qingyun happily accepted it as valuable gold.

• Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing avoided Ye Qingyun’s tea because it contained too much spiritual energy for them to drink safely.
• Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing devoured Ye Qingyun’s grapes, then Xiaoqing began running as spiritual energy surged through her body.
• Xiaoqing reached the Spirit Opening Realm middle stage, while Chu Yanyu’s cultivation advanced toward great perfection.
• Chu Yanyu thanked Ye Qingyun for the grapes and mistook him for a hidden master, while Ye Qingyun wondered what she meant.
• Chu Yanyu gave Ye Qingyun a golden token, and he accepted it while inviting her to return for more grapes.

After Chu Yanyu and Xiaoqing left, Ye Qingyun explored Floating Cloud Mountain with Damao and took in an injured rabbit that unexpectedly ate meat. Three young cultivators pursuing a rabbit demon found Ye Qingyun holding the docile rabbit and grew wary of his apparent power.

• Chu Yanyu told Xiaoqing she believed Ye Qingyun was an unfathomable expert and left to report their encounter to her father.
• Ye Qingyun explored Floating Cloud Mountain with Damao, who brought back an injured rabbit and licked it until it recovered.
• Ye Qingyun cooked a meat stew and discovered that the rabbit preferred meat to mushrooms.
• Two young men and a young woman arrived on the mountain, following the blood trail of an injured rabbit demon.
• The three recognized the rabbit beside Ye Qingyun as their quarry and were stunned when he picked it up, while Ye Qingyun insisted it was an ordinary rabbit.

Ye Qingyun welcomed three Mystic Sword Sect disciples into his courtyard, where they mistook his ordinary garden plants for rare heavenly treasures and became convinced he was a hidden expert. He offered to let them take some plants, leaving the disciples thrilled by the prospect of bringing the treasures back to their sect.

• Li Chenyuan, Zhao Wangchun, and Xu Jing'er mistook Ye Qingyun's docile rabbit demon for proof that he was a powerful master and introduced themselves as Mystic Sword Sect disciples.
• Ye Qingyun welcomed the three into his courtyard and continued eating his stew while they looked around.
• Zhao Wangchun and Li Chenyuan identified a patch of ordinary grass as azure origin grass, while Xu Jing'er and the others mistook tomatoes for seven-leaf vermilion fruit.
• The three disciples saw a pear tree and believed it was the extinct innate mystic fruit, becoming even more certain Ye Qingyun was an expert.
• Ye Qingyun said he had planted the garden for fun and offered the disciples some plants to take back, delighting them.

Li Chenyuan and his companions visited Ye Qingyun, who generously gave them heavenly treasures and accepted their modest gifts in return. They returned to the Mystic Sword Sect with the treasures, leaving sect master Xu Changfeng astonished as he worried about the upcoming Three-Sect Martial Meet.

• Ye Qingyun let Li Chenyuan, Xu Jing'er, and Zhao Wangchun pick treasures, then gave them extra produce from his courtyard.
• Xu Jing'er and Zhao Wangchun offered the Purple Empyrean Sword and a heavenly moon stone, and Ye Qingyun accepted their gifts.
• Li Chenyuan and his companions left to report their visit to the Mystic Sword Sect.
• Xu Changfeng worried that the recent breakthroughs of Gongsun Yue and Chen Gongwang would leave his sect at a disadvantage in the Three-Sect Martial Meet.
• Li Chenyuan and the others returned without catching the rabbit demon but presented their heavenly treasures, astonishing Xu Changfeng and Shen Qiulan.

After Li Chenyuan and the others reported their visit to Floating Cloud Mountain, Xu Changfeng prepared to use the Azure Origin Grass and planned to visit Ye Qingyun. Meanwhile, a greedy rabbit was driven from Ye Qingyun’s house by its enchanted objects and caught by Damao; when Ye Qingyun returned, his fish fry grew into carp almost instantly, and a huge eye appeared beneath the pond’s surface.

• Li Chenyuan told Xu Changfeng and Shen Qiulan about the mysterious master on Floating Cloud Mountain, and Xu Changfeng rewarded the three disciples with Barrier-Breaking Pills.
• Xu Changfeng took the Azure Origin Grass to refine a pill and resolved to visit Floating Cloud Mountain after the Three-Sect Martial Meet.
• After Ye Qingyun left, the rabbit tried to steal the seven-leaf vermilion fruit, but enchanted objects repeatedly blasted it out of the house until Damao caught it.
• Ye Qingyun returned, noticed the rabbit had gone bald, and released his fish fry into the pond.
• The fish fry rapidly grew into carp, and Ye Qingyun saw a huge eye looking up at him from underwater.
• In a palace a thousand miles away, someone opened their eyes after sensing Dragon Qi soaring in the southwest.

Martial Emperor Dongfang Su sent Guyue to investigate an unusually powerful strand of Dragon Qi near Floating Cloud Mountain. Guyue found a true dragon in Ye Qingyun’s pond and realized the dragon treated the seemingly ordinary Ye Qingyun like its master.

• Dongfang Su sensed Dragon Qi southwest of the capital and ordered his personal guard Guyue to investigate.
• Guyue reached Floating Cloud Mountain, dismissed Ye Qingyun as a mortal, and hurried toward the summit.
• Guyue found Ye Qingyun’s courtyard filled with heavenly materials and earthly treasures, but the bald rabbit yao ordered him to leave its master’s territory.
• Guyue followed the Dragon Qi to the pond and saw a true dragon emerge from the water.
• When Guyue tried to push Ye Qingyun aside, the dragon fixed him with an icy stare and acted docile toward Ye Qingyun.

Guyue discovered a true dragon in Ye Qingyun’s pond but mistook Ye Qingyun for an unfathomable expert whom the dragon obeyed. He reported the dragon and its apparent master to Dongfang Su, who was shocked and eager to investigate.

• Guyue saw a dragon repeatedly emerge from Ye Qingyun’s pond and concluded that Ye Qingyun was a hidden expert.
• Guyue apologized to Ye Qingyun, learned his name, and claimed he had been mistaken about seeing a dragon when the dragon warned him not to reveal it.
• Guyue returned to the imperial palace and told Dongfang Su that a true dragon had appeared on Floating Cloud Mountain.
• Guyue told Dongfang Su that Ye Qingyun was an unfathomable expert who seemed to have raised the dragon, leaving the emperor stunned.

After Xu Changfeng won the Three-Sect Martial Meet, he headed to Floating Cloud Mountain to pay respects to the master who had helped him break through. There he encountered Chu Yanyu and Bai Suyi, and the Martial Emperor arrived as well.

• Dongfang Su was shocked to hear Guyue describe a master on Floating Cloud Mountain who could make a true dragon submit, and decided to visit in half a month.
• Xu Changfeng defeated Gongsun Yue and Chen Gongwang at the Three-Sect Martial Meet, making the Mystic Sword Sect the Heavenly Martial Dynasty’s top-ranked sect for the time being.
• Xu Changfeng summoned Li Chenyuan and two others to escort him to Floating Cloud Mountain to thank the master who had given him heavenly treasures.
• Chu Yanyu brought Xiaoqing and Bai Suyi to Floating Cloud Mountain, where Bai Suyi met Xu Changfeng and learned that he had come to pay respects to the same master.
• A dragon carriage arrived before Xu Changfeng and the others, and its attendants announced the Martial Emperor’s arrival.

Dongfang Su, Xu Changfeng, Chu Yanyu, and their companions visited Ye Qingyun, each believing him to be an extraordinary expert, and found him making hot pot. As everyone gathered to eat, Bai Suyi sensed that the dish might heal her hidden injury.

• Dongfang Su, Xu Changfeng, and Chu Yanyu realized they had all come to visit the same mountain expert and went to Ye Qingyun's courtyard together.
• Ye Qingyun welcomed the visitors and learned that Xu Changfeng was a sect master and Dongfang Su was the Martial Emperor.
• Xu Changfeng recognized the bald rabbit as the beast that had killed Mystic Sword Sect disciples, but chose to wait before acting.
• Ye Qingyun invited everyone to share his hot pot, which none of the guests had heard of before.
• Bai Suyi sensed the hot pot's fragrance stirring warmth in her body and beginning to heal her hidden injury.

Ye Qingyun served hot pot to Bai Suyi, Xu Changfeng, Dongfang Su, and the others, who found that it was delicious and improved their bodies. After the meal, Li Chenyuan suddenly broke through to the next realm.

• Bai Suyi and the others noticed that merely smelling Ye Qingyun's hot pot eased lingering injuries, improved blood and Qi flow, and stirred signs of cultivation progress.
• Ye Qingyun urged everyone to eat, and Chu Yanyu, Xu Jing'er, Li Chenyuan, and Zhao Wangchun tried the spicy hot pot and praised its flavor.
• Xu Changfeng reluctantly tasted a vegetable leaf, endured its intense spiciness, and learned from Ye Qingyun that the vegetables had absorbed most of the heat.
• Dongfang Su tried the hot pot and declared it an unsurpassed delicacy, while Bai Suyi declined to eat because she disliked sharing a pot.
• After everyone finished the meal, Li Chenyuan felt a fire-like surge in his belly and broke through to the next realm.

After sharing hot pot at Ye Qingyun’s home, several guests broke through in cultivation or attained sudden enlightenment, and they credited him with the effects. Bai Suyi regretted refusing the meal and, with Chu Yanyu’s help, began to ask Ye Qingyun for a favor.

• Li Chenyuan, Zhao Wangchun, Xu Jing'er, Chu Yanyu, and Guyue each advanced in cultivation after eating the hot pot, while Xu Changfeng and Dongfang Su attained sudden enlightenment.
• Xu Changfeng and Dongfang Su thanked Ye Qingyun for his gift, and the others joined them in bowing; Ye Qingyun insisted the ingredients were ordinary.
• Bai Suyi regretted refusing to eat and asked Ye Qingyun for some, but he offered to invite her next time and Xu Jing'er and Li Chenyuan criticized her for pestering him.
• Chu Yanyu explained that Bai Suyi had a favor to ask, and Ye Qingyun invited her to say what it was.

Ye Qingyun treated Bai Suyi’s lingering cold injury with fire cupping, a method he had learned from the system but never tried before. After removing the cups, he found silvery-white poisonous insects inside them, leaving Chu Yanyu and Xu Jing’er stunned.

• Bai Suyi told Ye Qingyun that an unknown creature had bitten her as a child, leaving cold Qi and poisonous insects in her body that caused yearly pain.
• Ye Qingyun agreed to try treating Bai Suyi and brought her inside to perform fire cupping, asking her to expose her back.
• Bai Suyi undressed and lay facedown while Chu Yanyu and Xu Jing’er watched Ye Qingyun attach eight heated bamboo cups to her back.
• After an hour, Ye Qingyun removed the cups and found silvery-white insect corpses inside them.

Ye Qingyun helped Bai Suyi draw poisonous insects from her body and learned that the Song Clan was threatening Chu Yanyu’s family. He arranged for Xu Changfeng and Dongfang Su to intervene, then went down the mountain the next day and disturbed a storyteller at a teahouse.

• Ye Qingyun treated Bai Suyi with cupping, drawing tiny white insects from her body, and said she should return for another session in half a month.
• Chu Yanyu told Ye Qingyun that the Song Clan was trying to seize Prince Pingxi’s fief and the Chu Clan’s heirloom, and asked him for help.
• Ye Qingyun directed Chu Yanyu and Bai Suyi to seek help from Xu Changfeng and Dongfang Su, who agreed to confront the Supreme Hao Gate and Chancellor Cao Huayuan about the Song Clan.
• After the visitors left, Ye Qingyun decided to go down the mountain, and the next day he took Damao and the rabbit to a market teahouse.
• Ye Qingyun laughed at the storyteller’s tale as stale, drawing angry looks from the storyteller and the teahouse patrons.

Ye Qingyun challenged the old storyteller, Old Huang, and captivated the teahouse with the opening of The Legend of the Condor Heroes. He stopped on a cliffhanger, leaving the guests clamoring for more as the teahouse proprietor asked him to continue.

• Ye Qingyun called Old Huang's tale of the Azure Sword Wandering Hero stale and accepted his challenge to tell a better story.
• Ye Qingyun introduced The Legend of the Condor Heroes and began recounting its setting in the Southern Song and the tragedy involving Yang Tiexin and Guo Xiaotian's families.
• The patrons became engrossed as Ye Qingyun told of the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan and Qiu Chuji agreeing to search for the descendants of the Guo and Yang families.
• Ye Qingyun stopped after revealing that the Seven Freaks had found a child in the North of the Desert, prompting the guests to demand the next installment.
• Old Huang admitted that Ye Qingyun's story had humbled him, and the teahouse proprietor bowed and asked Ye Qingyun to continue.

Ye Qingyun captivated a teahouse audience with The Legend of the Condor Heroes, then promised to pass the story to Old Huang so he could continue telling it. After leaving the teahouse, Ye Qingyun was stopped by a nobleman who wanted him to finish the story at once, and he recognized that the nobleman was a woman disguised as a man.

• The teahouse manager invited Ye Qingyun to become a regular storyteller, but Ye Qingyun declined and apologized to Old Huang for outshining him.
• Old Huang asked who wrote The Legend of the Condor Heroes, and Ye Qingyun credited it to a deceased sage-like author surnamed Jin.
• Ye Qingyun told more of the story to a packed teahouse and crowd outside, stopping at a cliffhanger as evening fell.
• Ye Qingyun told the audience he would not return the next day but would give Old Huang the full story to continue telling.
• Ye Qingyun left with Damao and the rabbit, then met a young nobleman and four servants who demanded that he finish the story immediately.
• Ye Qingyun recognized the nobleman as a woman disguised as a man, and she was surprised he had noticed.

Ye Qingyun was forced into a carriage by a young woman disguised as a man who wanted him to continue telling The Legend of the Condor Heroes. As he struggled to stay awake and considered escaping, the carriage encountered a demonic beast.

• The young gentleman and her four servants surrounded Ye Qingyun and made him accompany them, allowing Damao to come along after Ye Qingyun insisted.
• Inside the carriage, Ye Qingyun learned nothing about their destination and resumed telling The Legend of the Condor Heroes after the young gentleman threatened him.
• The young gentleman listened intently as Ye Qingyun told how Guo Jing met Hong Qigong and learned the Eighteen Dragon-Subduing Palms.
• As night wore on, Ye Qingyun pleaded to rest, and the young gentleman allowed him to sleep while warning him not to move.
• The middle-aged driver announced that they seemed to have encountered a demonic beast.

Ye Qingyun’s carriage was attacked by two powerful demonic beasts, and the coachman fought to protect the young lady. Damao’s overwhelming presence immobilized the beasts, leaving them defeated and terrified by the hidden Demon King.

• The coachman identified the party as members of the Northern River Xiao Lineage, but the bear demon and wolf demon advanced anyway.
• The coachman fought the two middle core formation realm beasts while Ye Qingyun feared for his life and the young lady urged him to flee.
• As the coachman charged to hold the beasts back, Damao’s pressure froze them in place.
• The coachman struck the helpless beasts and sent them flying, believing he had become far more powerful.
• The bear demon and wolf demon remained pinned down by Damao’s pressure and realized a Demon King was nearby.

After the coachman drove off two demonic beasts, Xiao Shi let Ye Qingyun leave after he wrote and illustrated The Legend of the Condor Heroes for her. Ye Qingyun was finally free, but found himself lost in unfamiliar surroundings.

• Damao's oppressive might suppressed the wolf demon and bear demon, allowing the coachman to beat them until they fled.
• The coachman and Xiao Shi wondered if Ye Qingyun had secretly protected them, but Xiao Shi dismissed the idea because she believed he was an ordinary mortal.
• Ye Qingyun told Xiao Shi his name and offered to write down The Legend of the Condor Heroes in exchange for his release.
• Ye Qingyun spent the night writing a shortened version of the story, then painted an illustration that left Xiao Shi captivated.
• Xiao Shi stopped the carriage and let Ye Qingyun go, and he walked away with the rabbit while Damao followed.
• Ye Qingyun realized he had no idea where he was.