Chapter Summaries

Ye Qingyun got lost in the wilderness, and Damao summoned a bear demon to carry him home. Meanwhile, Xiao Shi reached Heaven-Controlling Valley to become the secluded master's disciple, where the master was shocked by a painting Ye Qingyun had made.

• Ye Qingyun followed Damao through the wilderness until Damao summoned a bear demon to carry him.
• The bear demon carried Ye Qingyun while Damao led the way, and the wolf demon watched them leave.
• Xiao Shi arrived at Heaven-Controlling Valley with Uncle Jiu and waited hours for the white-haired master to wake.
• The white-haired master accepted Xiao Shi as his disciple after praising her aptitude.
• Xiao Shi accidentally presented Ye Qingyun's painting, and the master declared that it contained a supreme Great Dao.

The white-haired old man became convinced that Ye Qingyun was a hidden master after seeing his painting and hearing about the demonic beasts, so he hurried to visit him. Back at Floating Cloud Mountain, Ye Qingyun caught a young beggar trying to take pears and offered him food, leaving the boy stunned and uncertain.

• The white-haired old man praised Ye Qingyun’s painting as containing the Great Dao and dismissed Xiao Shi’s claim that its painter was a mortal.
• Xiao Shi and Uncle Jiu recalled how demonic beasts had been suppressed during their journey and told the white-haired old man about Ye Qingyun.
• The white-haired old man took the painting and rushed with Xiao Shi and Uncle Jiu toward Floating Cloud Mountain to meet Ye Qingyun.
• Ye Qingyun returned home, ate, slept until noon, and caught a little beggar trying to pick pears from his tree.
• The little beggar said his parents were dead and that people called him little bastard, and Ye Qingyun gave him pears and rice while telling him not to steal again.

Mo Tianshu and Xiao Shi searched for Ye Qingyun and followed a lead to Floating Cloud Mountain, where they encountered Damao and witnessed an azure dragon soar into the clouds. Mo Tianshu became convinced Ye Qingyun was a hidden expert served by powerful beings.

• Mo Tianshu and Xiao Shi searched the market for seven days before Xiao Shi remembered Ye Qingyun knew Old Huang, the teahouse storyteller.
• At the teahouse, Xiao Shi learned Ye Qingyun seemed to live on Floating Cloud Mountain, and Mo Tianshu recalled its once-dangerous restrictions.
• On the mountain, Xiao Shi recognized Damao, and Mo Tianshu identified him as a Demon King and bowed respectfully.
• Damao warned them not to expose his master's identity or disturb Ye Qingyun, and Mo Tianshu agreed.
• As Mo Tianshu and Xiao Shi continued up the mountain, an azure dragon soared from the summit, leaving Mo Tianshu stunned.

Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi reached Ye Qingyun’s courtyard and waited through his long afternoon nap, interpreting his waking poem and ordinary belongings as profound treasures. Ye Qingyun welcomed them inside, while Shen Tianhua praised his painting and Ye Qingyun modestly dismissed it.

• Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi saw a true dragon disappear into the clouds as they climbed the mountain toward Ye Qingyun’s home.
• At the courtyard, Shen Tianhua recognized its plants as rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, and the rabbit told them not to disturb its sleeping master.
• After four hours, Ye Qingyun woke and recited a poem that Shen Tianhua praised as a glimpse of the Great Dao.
• Ye Qingyun met Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi, recognized Xiao Shi, and invited them inside after they explained that his story and painting had drawn Shen Tianhua’s interest.
• Shen Tianhua marveled at the treasures in Ye Qingyun’s house, then praised his painting, which Ye Qingyun called ordinary.

Ye Qingyun showed Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi a lotus painting whose poem triggered Shen Tianhua’s breakthrough and renewed vitality. Shen Tianhua exchanged an ancient mystic stone for the painting, and Ye Qingyun invited them to share a meal.

• Ye Qingyun showed Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi his painting of a blooming lotus pond.
• Shen Tianhua read the poem on the painting and broke through, renewing his vitality and extending his lifespan.
• Ye Qingyun gave the painting to Shen Tianhua, who bowed to him in gratitude.
• Shen Tianhua offered Ye Qingyun an ancient mystic stone in exchange, and Ye Qingyun accepted it casually.
• Ye Qingyun invited Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi to share a meal, and Shen Tianhua gladly accepted.

Ye Qingyun served Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi a meal that introduced them to unfamiliar dishes and rice piled in large bowls. Xiao Shi attained enlightenment and broke through while eating, and Shen Tianhua then asked Ye Qingyun for a large basin so he could eat from it too.

• Ye Qingyun chased Xiao Shi out of the kitchen after she proved unable to help him cook.
• Ye Qingyun served red-braised pork, stinky tofu, stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, and large bowls of rice to Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi.
• Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi tried the dishes and eagerly ate more rice after discovering how delicious the food was.
• Xiao Shi attained enlightenment and broke through from the middle stage to the late stage of the Origin Gathering Realm during the meal.
• Shen Tianhua asked Ye Qingyun for a large basin, claiming that he always ate from one.

Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi ate excessively at Ye Qingyun’s home, and Shen Tianhua gained a hundred years of lifespan without breaking through. After they left Floating Cloud Mountain, they met Bai Suyi as she was heading toward the mountain.

• Ye Qingyun served Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi a large meal, and both ate until they were uncomfortably full.
• After finishing the last mouthful of rice, Shen Tianhua felt new vitality and realized his lifespan had increased by a hundred years.
• Ye Qingyun gave Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi digestive tablets and warned them not to overeat, which Shen Tianhua interpreted as a lesson against haste.
• Shen Tianhua refused Xiao Shi’s suggestion to visit Ye Qingyun regularly, saying they should not disturb the secluded expert.
• As Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi prepared to leave, they encountered Bai Suyi, who asked whether they had come down from Floating Cloud Mountain.

Bai Suyi returned to Floating Cloud Mountain for another fire-cupping treatment from Ye Qingyun, while Shen Tianhua and Xiao Shi left after spotting a true dragon in the storm clouds. Ye Qingyun removed fewer worms than before, but Bai Suyi suddenly vomited blood and collapsed unconscious.

• Bai Suyi arrived to visit Ye Qingyun, and Shen Tianhua considered taking her as a disciple before Xiao Shi provoked her over her master and sect.
• Xiao Shi revealed her Origin Gathering cultivation as she and Bai Suyi prepared to fight, but a storm and a true dragon appeared in the clouds.
• Shen Tianhua recognized the dragon and hurriedly took Xiao Shi away; the clouds cleared, and Bai Suyi went to Ye Qingyun's courtyard alone.
• Bai Suyi told Ye Qingyun that the previous fire-cupping treatment had helped, and he began another treatment while they were alone together.
• Ye Qingyun removed the cups and found fewer tiny white worms, but Bai Suyi suddenly spat blood, collapsed, and lost consciousness.

Ye Qingyun treated Bai Suyi after her body turned ice-cold, and antibiotics helped her recover. After Bai Suyi left to investigate evil cultivators who abducted children, an eerie black figure appeared near Floating Cloud Mountain’s marketplace.

• Bai Suyi suddenly lost consciousness as her body grew dangerously cold, and Ye Qingyun warmed her with heating, hot-water bottles, and quilts.
• Ye Qingyun suspected the poisonous insects inside Bai Suyi were multiplying, so he gave her an antibiotic from his medicine chest.
• Bai Suyi regained warmth and woke up, then thanked Ye Qingyun after he explained that he had saved her life.
• Bai Suyi said she had to meet fellow disciples investigating evil cultivators who abducted children, and Ye Qingyun cautioned her to be careful as she left the mountain.
• An eerie black figure appeared in the marketplace near Floating Cloud Mountain and welcomed the chance to strike there.

Ye Qingyun named the little beggar Guo Xiaoyun after accepting a bun as repayment for stolen pears. As he headed back to Floating Cloud Mountain, men from the Song Clan abducted him, believing he was a reclusive expert.

• Ye Qingyun learned that children from three families had gone missing and suspected the evil cultivators targeting children were responsible.
• The little beggar gave Ye Qingyun a bun he had bought with money from selling medicinal herbs, promising to repay him for twenty stolen pears.
• Ye Qingyun gave the little beggar the name Guo Xiaoyun, and the boy happily rejoined his fellow beggars.
• A mounted party led by a black-armored man surrounded Ye Qingyun and tied him up, while Damao calmly headed back up the mountain with the rabbit.
• The black-armored man said they belonged to the Song Clan and had come to capture the supposed reclusive expert on Floating Cloud Mountain.

Ye Qingyun was kidnapped by the Song Clan, who mistook him for the reclusive master behind Chi Yanyu’s recent victories. He denied his identity and tried to leave, but Song Chenglong attacked him, and an invisible force stopped the fatal strike just before it landed.

• Song Tao brought Ye Qingyun to the Song Residence, where Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong questioned him.
• Song Xiaotian explained that the Supreme Hao Gate and Prime Minister Cao Huayuan had abandoned the Song Clan after learning that a reclusive master had helped Chi Yanyu.
• Song Xiaotian realized Song Tao had brought back an ordinary-looking man, but Song Tao showed them a portrait that matched Ye Qingyun.
• Ye Qingyun claimed he was Ouyang Feng, a herb gatherer, and denied being Ye Qingyun so he could leave.
• Song Chenglong attacked Ye Qingyun from behind, but an invisible ripple stopped his palm three inches from Ye Qingyun’s back.

Ye Qingyun was accused of injuring Song Chenglong and faced the Song Clan, though the gray rabbit secretly defended him and his unseen power defeated their attackers. Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong knelt and begged forgiveness, and Ye Qingyun's words were accompanied by a Buddha phantom that left Song Xiaotian proclaiming Buddhist truth.

• Song Chenglong was thrown backward and lost a front tooth after the gray rabbit secretly protected Ye Qingyun.
• Song Xiaotian accused Ye Qingyun of hurting his son and ordered the Song Clan martial artists to seize him.
• The gray rabbit secretly beat the Song Clan martial artists as they attacked, leaving Ye Qingyun unharmed.
• Song Xiaotian attacked Ye Qingyun, but his palm collapsed and the recoil hurled him through a wall.
• Song Xiaotian slapped Song Chenglong, then both father and son knelt and begged Ye Qingyun to forgive them.
• Ye Qingyun told them that recognizing and correcting their faults could earn forgiveness, and a Buddha phantom appeared as Song Xiaotian declared it Buddhist truth.

Ye Qingyun taught Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra, unaware that a phantom Buddha behind him had revealed his Buddhist power. His recitation sent Buddhist light across the Heavenly Martial Dynasty and prompted monks in the Western Realm to search for the newly appeared Buddhist Holy Son, while the Song father and son declared they had attained enlightenment.

• Ye Qingyun mistook Song Xiaotian's devotion for Buddhist belief and urged the Song father and son to repent of their past misdeeds.
• The phantom Buddha's light revealed the father and son's evil deeds to them, and they admitted their guilt and promised to do good.
• Ye Qingyun taught the Song father and son the Prajnaparamita Heart Sutra and told them to recite it three times each day.
• The phantom Buddha blazed with light as Ye Qingyun recited the sutra, drawing attention from across the Heavenly Martial Dynasty and the Western Realm.
• A senior monk in the Western Chan Temple identified the source as the Buddhist Holy Son and dispatched monks to the Southern Wilderness.
• After hearing the sutra, Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong declared in unison that they had attained enlightenment.

After Ye Qingyun sent the Song father and son away with instructions to recite the Heart Sutra and do good deeds, they began performing misguided acts that frightened the people around them. The chapter ended when a young beggar told Ye Qingyun that Guo Xiaoyun had been kidnapped and taken east by someone in black.

• Ye Qingyun returned to Floating Cloud Mountain as the Song father and son respectfully escorted him, then they built a shrine featuring a golden statue with his face.
• The Song father and son began doing good deeds, but Song Chenglong carried an old woman back across a river she had already crossed.
• Song Xiaotian filled in a village well to keep children from falling into it, leaving the villagers furious.
• The Song father and son noticed people fleeing from them and decided they needed to step up their efforts.
• A young beggar told Ye Qingyun that someone in black had taken Guo Xiaoyun the previous night and headed east.

Ye Qingyun followed Damao to a valley where Guo Xiaoyun and many other children had been captured for an evil ritual. He killed twelve black-clad cultivators with a sniper rifle, but the skeletal leader caught his next bullet, leaving Ye Qingyun to confront him with two pistols.

• Ye Qingyun armed himself with weapons and armor, then went east with Damao to search for Guo Xiaoyun.
• Damao led Ye Qingyun to a valley filled with unconscious children and black-clad cultivators channeling gray Qi into a skeletal man.
• Ye Qingyun found Guo Xiaoyun alive near the valley entrance and used a suppressed sniper rifle to kill all twelve cultivators.
• The skeletal man noticed his disciples were dead, searched for the attacker, and caught Ye Qingyun's bullet in his hand.
• Ye Qingyun stepped into the valley with two pistols and accused the skeletal man of practicing evil arts and harming children.

Ye Qingyun bluffed the strange man by claiming to be the legendary Dugu Qiubai, then shot him when he was distracted. The wounded man begged for mercy, but rescuers led by an imposing old man arrived in the valley with Bai Suyi among them.

• Ye Qingyun claimed to be Dugu Qiubai and invented stories about guiding Xu Changfeng and defeating Martial Emperor Dongfang Su.
• Ye Qingyun invoked Shen Tianhua, whose name frightened the strange man into believing Ye Qingyun was an even greater expert.
• Ye Qingyun shot the strange man twice, causing gray Qi to leak from the bullet wounds.
• The strange man fell and begged Ye Qingyun to spare him, but Ye Qingyun refused because of the children he had killed.
• An old man and a group of young men and women entered the valley, announcing that they had found the abducted children; Bai Suyi was with them.

Ye Qingyun rescued Guo Xiaoyun and subdued Old Freak Evil Heaven, whom Gongsun Yue killed after arriving with Bai Suyi. Gongsun Yue claimed the credit while dismissing Ye Qingyun, but Bai Suyi warned him that both Xu Changfeng and the Martial Emperor had paid Ye Qingyun their respects.

• Ye Qingyun told Bai Suyi and Gongsun Yue that he had subdued Old Freak Evil Heaven.
• Old Freak Evil Heaven mocked Gongsun Yue and asked Ye Qingyun to kill him, but Gongsun Yue struck him dead.
• Ye Qingyun woke Guo Xiaoyun and took him away, leaving the other children to the Nine Spirits Sect.
• Gongsun Yue invited Ye Qingyun to share the credit, but Ye Qingyun declined and left with Guo Xiaoyun.
• Gongsun Yue planned to claim sole credit, and Bai Suyi confronted him before revealing that Xu Changfeng and the Martial Emperor had visited Ye Qingyun.

Ye Qingyun returned to Floating Cloud Mountain with Guo Xiaoyun while the martial world celebrated Gongsun Yue for killing Old Freak Evil Heaven. As monks from the Western Realm arrived seeking the Buddhist Holy Son, Ye Qingyun offered to take Guo Xiaoyun as his disciple.

• Gongsun Yue regretted mistreating Ye Qingyun, while Bai Suyi explained that she had tried to warn him with signals.
• Ye Qingyun brought Guo Xiaoyun home, fed him porridge, hid his gear, and fell asleep beside him.
• The Nine Spirits Sect returned the rescued children, and Gongsun Yue gained widespread fame for killing Old Freak Evil Heaven.
• Xu Changfeng questioned how Gongsun Yue had defeated Old Freak Evil Heaven, while Chen Gongwang ordered his disciples to watch the troublesome Song Clan.
• Dozens of monks entered the Heavenly Martial Dynasty to seek the Buddhist Holy Son, who was believed to be southwest.
• Ye Qingyun found Guo Xiaoyun tending the courtyard and offered to take him as his disciple and teach him skills.

Ye Qingyun accepted Guo Xiaoyun as his disciple, gave him a hundred-tael red envelope, and offered to send him to a cultivation sect, but Guo chose to stay with his master. Meanwhile, Gongsun Yue and Bai Suyi visited Ye Qingyun’s home and, finding him away, presented his new disciple with a gift.

• Ye Qingyun accepted Guo Xiaoyun as his disciple and gave him a hundred taels in a red envelope.
• Guo Xiaoyun asked Ye Qingyun to teach him cultivation, but chose to remain with him instead of going to a cultivation sect.
• Gongsun Yue brought Bai Suyi to Floating Cloud Mountain to visit Ye Qingyun and repair their relationship with him.
• Bai Suyi and Gongsun Yue found Guo Xiaoyun working in the courtyard and learned that Ye Qingyun was away buying things.
• Gongsun Yue gave Guo Xiaoyun a jade bottle of Essence Profound Pills as a first-meeting gift.

Guo Xiaoyun and Bai Suyi received Gongsun Yue at Floating Cloud Mountain and astonished him by casually drinking spiritual liquid, but Ye Qingyun did not return. As Guo Xiaoyun went down the mountain to search for his master, Ye Qingyun was still being pestered by Huikong, who insisted he was the Buddhist Holy Son.

• Gongsun Yue and Bai Suyi visited Guo Xiaoyun and gave him pills, then discovered the tea he served was spiritual liquid.
• Guo Xiaoyun gulped down two cups of spiritual liquid, and Gongsun Yue mistook him for a peerless genius with a special constitution.
• Gongsun Yue drank three cups of tea and found his Spiritual Qi had become thirty percent more substantial, while Bai Suyi managed only a small sip.
• When Ye Qingyun failed to return by late afternoon, Guo Xiaoyun sent Gongsun Yue and Bai Suyi away, then headed down the mountain with Damao to look for him.
• Ye Qingyun angrily rejected Huikong's claim that he was the Buddhist Holy Son, then challenged Huikong to explain what Mahayana Dharma was.