Chapter Summaries

Ye Qingyun explained the Mahayana Dharma to Huikong, persuading him that Buddhist practice meant seeking enlightenment while saving all sentient beings. Huikong abandoned his plans to return to the Western Zen Ancient Temple and gathered fellow monks to tell them he would stay and cultivate elsewhere.

• Huikong described the three trainings and Noble Eightfold Path as the Mahayana Dharma, but Ye Qingyun called them Hinayana teachings and explained the Bodhisattva Path and its vows to save sentient beings.
• Ye Qingyun told Huikong that the Buddha was everywhere and that one could cultivate outside a temple, shaking Huikong's convictions.
• Huikong knelt before Ye Qingyun, declared that he had heard the true Dharma, and asked to follow him.
• Ye Qingyun declined to take Huikong along, but Huikong resolved to stay and cultivate where he was instead of returning to the Western Zen Ancient Temple.
• Huikong gathered several dozen monks and announced that he would no longer return to the temple or the Western Realm, telling them that the Buddha was everywhere.

Ye Qingyun discovered that Guo Xiaoyun could paint with uncanny skill, while Buddhist monks gathered at the foot of Floating Cloud Mountain to follow Ye Qingyun as their Holy Son. The Song father and son arrived to help build temples and learned from Huikong that the monks believed Ye Qingyun was a Buddhist Holy Son.

• Guo Xiaoyun told Ye Qingyun that Gongsun Yue and Bai Suyi had visited, then ate all eight Essence Pills without harm.
• Ye Qingyun found that Guo Xiaoyun already knew how to write and could paint eggs, fruit, and landscapes flawlessly without instruction.
• Huikong led dozens of monks to Floating Cloud Mountain, where they began building temples to guard and follow the Buddhist Holy Son.
• The Song father and son hurried to the mountain with Song Clan martial artists to help build the temples.
• Huikong told Song Xiaotian that the monks had come from the Western Realm because they regarded Ye Qingyun as their Buddhist Holy Son.

Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong became monks, while Ye Qingyun reluctantly named Huikong’s temple Shaolin Temple as Buddhist temples sprang up around Floating Cloud Mountain. The chapter ended with the Heavenly Martial Dynasty learning that an allied army had breached its eastern border.

• Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong asked Huikong to let them become monks, and he tonsured them and gave them the Dharma names Xuhai and Xuzhu.
• Huikong went to Ye Qingyun to ask him to name the temple, and Ye Qingyun told him to call it Shaolin Temple.
• Ye Qingyun saw that more than a dozen temples were being built in a circle around Floating Cloud Mountain, as Huikong and the other Buddhists planned to remain near him.
• A border guard brought an urgent report to Dongfang Su, who announced that the Nebula Dynasty, Purple Sun Dynasty, and Phoenix Dance Dynasty had allied and seized a border pass with an army of one million.

After the Heavenly Martial Dynasty sent He Yun to stop a million-strong invasion, Guyue sought Ye Qingyun’s help, but Ye Qingyun chose to flee rather than fight. He Yun’s forces were routed, and as the allied army surrounded Floating Cloud Mountain, Huikong arrived with monks to protect Ye Qingyun.

• Dongfang Su sent He Yun with four hundred thousand troops to halt the three dynasties’ million-strong allied army in the Eastern Realm.
• Guyue reminded Dongfang Su that Ye Qingyun lived on Floating Cloud Mountain, then hurried there to ask Ye Qingyun to help defend the dynasty.
• Ye Qingyun refused to fight and began packing to leave with Guo Xiaoyun, while Guyue returned empty-handed.
• He Yun’s troops were routed in less than a day, and the allied army advanced toward Floating Cloud Mountain.
• As Ye Qingyun and Guo Xiaoyun prepared to flee, Huikong arrived with monks and said they would fight to protect Ye Qingyun.

Ye Qingyun was trapped on Floating Cloud Mountain as the allied army invaded the Heavenly Martial Dynasty, while Huikong and the monks vowed to defend him. As Martial Emperor Dongfang Su prepared to lead the campaign himself, the monks confronted the army and Huikong summoned the Immovable Wisdom King.

• Ye Qingyun abandoned his plan to leave Floating Cloud Mountain and entrusted his safety to Huikong and the monks.
• After He Yun was defeated, Guyue told Martial Emperor Dongfang Su that Master Ye had refused to help, and Dongfang Su resolved to lead the campaign personally.
• Huikong and the monks assembled at Shaolin Temple to block the million-strong allied army led by Zhao Jingming, Wu Sanjing, and Sun Zhao.
• Huikong demanded that the generals leave Floating Cloud Mountain, explaining that their Buddhist Holy Son was cultivating there, but Zhao Jingming insisted the army needed the mountain as its headquarters.
• When the generals threatened the monks, Huikong and the others revealed their Buddhist power, and Huikong summoned the Immovable Wisdom King.

Huikong and the monks defended the Buddhist Holy Son at Floating Cloud Mountain against Zhao Jingming and the million-strong army, but spell-breaking arrows and sheer numbers pushed them toward defeat. A true dragon appeared in the storm clouds and obliterated over ten thousand soldiers, leaving the army stunned.

• Zhao Jingming ordered volleys of ordinary and spell-breaking arrows against Huikong and the monks, then sent his cavalry to attack.
• Huikong and the monks fought back against the army, but their numbers and Spiritual Qi dwindled as they suffered injuries.
• Huikong used the Buddhist Lion's Roar to rescue a wounded monk, leaving himself nearly drained of Spiritual Qi.
• Dark clouds gathered over the battlefield, and a true dragon appeared among them.
• The true dragon unleashed a powerful blast that erased a vast stretch of ground and killed over ten thousand soldiers.

A true dragon blasted the allied army of the three dynasties, killing a hundred thousand soldiers and sending the rest fleeing. The Heavenly Martial Dynasty celebrated the victory as Dongfang Su prepared to thank Ye Qingyun, while Ye Qingyun and Guo Xiaoyun hid beneath a bed, fearing the troops had reached their house.

• A true dragon unleashed two blasts of dragon flame, killing a hundred thousand soldiers and causing the allied army to flee in panic.
• Huikong and the monks concluded that the dragon belonged to Ye Qingyun and began tending to their injuries so they could thank him.
• Victory reports reached the imperial court, and the messenger explained that the dragon had routed the allied army at Floating Cloud Mountain.
• Dongfang Su ordered troops to restore the Eastern Realm's defenses and decided to visit Floating Cloud Mountain with Guyue and precious gifts.
• Ye Qingyun and Guo Xiaoyun hid beneath a bed, trembling as footsteps sounded outside their courtyard.

Ye Qingyun and Guo Xiaoyun emerged after Huikong and the monks defeated the enemy, while the monks mistakenly believed Ye Qingyun had saved them through his profound cultivation. Martial Emperor Dongfang Su arrived at Floating Cloud Mountain and met Guo Xiaoyun, leaving the new disciple stunned by the emperor’s presence.

• Huikong and the injured monks knelt before Ye Qingyun to thank him, but he believed they had saved his life by driving off the enemy.
• Huikong and the monks decided not to correct Ye Qingyun and praised his supposed choice to cultivate as a mortal.
• Song Xiaotian and Song Chenglong explained that they had joined the Buddhist order, and Ye Qingyun joked that Song Chenglong’s Dharma name, Xuzhu, had great prospects.
• Dongfang Su and Guyue flew to Floating Cloud Mountain after seeing huge craters and temples, and suspected Ye Qingyun was the Buddhist Holy Son.
• Ye Qingyun introduced his disciple Guo Xiaoyun to Dongfang Su, leaving Guo Xiaoyun shocked to meet the Martial Emperor.

Ye Qingyun accepted Dongfang Su’s gifts and gave the Heaven-Plundering Sword and soft armor to Guo Xiaoyun. News that a true dragon had defeated the three dynasties’ allied army spread, prompting martial arts experts to head for the Heavenly Martial Dynasty to meet Ye Qingyun.

• Dongfang Su and Guyue visited Ye Qingyun, who accepted their gifts of a sword and soft armor.
• Ye Qingyun learned that Guo Xiaoyun liked the treasures and gave both to his disciple.
• Ye Qingyun told Dongfang Su that Huikong and the monks had driven back the attacking army, and asked that they be rewarded.
• Dongfang Su returned to the capital and sent rewards to Huikong and the other monks, who accepted them because Ye Qingyun had requested it.
• Reports of the allied army’s defeat spread through the three great dynasties, revealing that a true dragon had routed it.
• Rumors about Ye Qingyun and his true dragon reached the martial arts circles, whose powerful figures set out for the Heavenly Martial Dynasty to meet him.

Experts from the three great dynasties headed for Floating Cloud Mountain after their allied army was defeated, prompting Dongfang Su and the three great sects to mobilize in support of Ye Qingyun. As Ye Qingyun casually played the guqin, the arriving experts stopped in midair to watch him.

• Guyue told Dongfang Su that nine top experts and more than twenty others from the three great dynasties were heading for Floating Cloud Mountain, and Dongfang Su ordered the three great sects to go support Ye Qingyun.
• Xu Changfeng and the leaders of the Nine Spirits Sect and Supreme Hao Gate mobilized their people and set out for Floating Cloud Mountain.
• Xiao Shi told Shen Tianhua that Ye Qingyun's true dragon had annihilated a hundred thousand enemy soldiers, and Shen Tianhua decided to go confront the approaching experts.
• Ye Qingyun brought out his guqin, tuned it, and began playing for Guo Xiaoyun.
• The experts from the three great dynasties and the three great sects arrived overhead, heard Ye Qingyun's music, and stopped to look down at him.