Chapter Summaries

The Earth God learned that the ghosts buried in Maotan Village planned to repay Liao Daqiu’s kindness by fighting the approaching plague ghosts. They asked him to arrange paper battle flags, weapons, and a filling meal, leaving him to prepare the village for the coming calamity.

• The Earth God sensed unrest among the graveyard’s ghosts, then learned that the newly buried armored soldiers wanted to know about the plague ghost.
• Unable to sleep, Liao Daqiu checked on his young son and remembered his eldest son, who had been conscripted nine years earlier and never returned.
• Liao Daqiu saw a crowd of glowing ghosts outside his house, but opened the door after they promised not to harm him or Maotan Village.
• The ghosts warned Liao Daqiu that plague ghosts would soon threaten Maotan Village and said they would fight them to repay his kindness.
• The armored ghost asked Liao Daqiu to find a paper craftsman to make battle flags and weapons, and requested a filling meal if possible.

After Liao Daqiu and the Old Village Chief dreamed that plague ghosts threatened Maotan Village, they persuaded the villagers to prepare offerings and paper weapons for the defending ghosts. The village mobilized to make gruel and order supplies, while the paper craftsman began work and wondered about the farmers’ warning.

• Liao Daqiu woke from a vivid dream in which ghosts from the communal graveyard asked him to find a paper craftsman and prepare offerings against plague ghosts.
• Liao Daqiu’s neighbor Old Zhang dismissed the dream, but the Old Village Chief told Liao Daqiu that the Earth God had warned him of the same danger.
• Liao Daqiu and the Old Village Chief gathered the villagers, who questioned the Earth God with divination blocks and received Sacred Divination each time.
• Liao Daqiu and several farmers traveled to the county town to order paper battle banners and weapons while the Old Village Chief organized gruel meals and sacrificed chickens and ducks.
• The owner of the Funeral Supplies Shop accepted Maotan Village’s order and began making the paper goods, thinking about the farmers’ warning that plague ghosts might appear.

Liao Daqiu and the villagers prepared food, weapons, and a ghost army to defend Maotan Village from the epidemic ghosts. As the ghosts clashed outside the village, Ji Yuan and Chang Yi spotted a strange surge of deathly energy and hurried toward it.

• Liao Daqiu and the villagers bought medicine in the county, then held a large gruel meal at the charitable graveyard for the ghosts and the Earth God.
• The Earth God trained the armored ghosts to fight steadily and trust their comrades while the villagers waited outside the graveyard.
• Liao Daqiu and several villagers collected paper banners and weapons and burned them at the graveyard, while the Earth God infused them with magical power.
• The Earth God sensed a spell being cast in the northwest, and that night he ordered the assembled Ghost Soldiers to attack the approaching epidemic ghosts.
• The battle's sounds disturbed Maotan Village, while Ji Yuan and Chang Yi saw deathly energy ahead and sped toward it.

Ji Yuan and Chang Yi discovered a plague of Plague Ghosts spreading across the Yuanzhao Kingdom and raced to destroy them. Ji Yuan reached Maotan Village, where armed Mass Grave Ghosts were defending it, and wiped out the remaining Plague Ghosts as the Earth God looked on.

• Chang Yi recognized the Plague Ghosts as creatures born from Heaven and Earth Killing Intent and burned them away with rosy light.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi split up to search across the region and eliminate the Plague Ghosts.
• Ji Yuan used his Dharma Eye and Immortal Sword to kill Plague Ghosts across a vast area, including Dahe County.
• Ji Yuan found armed Mass Grave Ghosts fighting Plague Ghosts outside Maotan Village while the Earth God assisted them.
• Ji Yuan swept away the Plague Ghosts with a flash of sword light, and the Earth God looked up to see him standing on a cloud.

Ji Yuan and Chang Yi finished hunting the plague ghosts, then returned to Maotan Village and saved the wounded leader of its mass-grave ghosts. As dawn broke, Ji Yuan learned how the village’s dead had formed a bond under the armored soldier’s guidance.

• Ji Yuan told Maotan Village’s Earth God that the nearby plague ghosts were gone, then continued searching the region with his Dharma Eyes.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi assessed the widespread plague and concluded they could not prevent many further deaths or save the collapsing Yuanzhao Kingdom.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi returned to Maotan Village, where the Earth God explained that the mass-grave ghosts had defended the villagers from the plague ghosts.
• Chang Yi used Yin Essence Water Crystal to stabilize the injured armored soldier’s Ghost Body, and the Earth God sent him to rest in a grave.
• The Earth God recounted the mass grave’s history, and Ji Yuan praised the virtues of both the villagers and their ghosts as dawn broke.

After the villagers of Maotan Village dreamed of a battle near the mass grave, Ji Yuan and Chang Yi arrived and confirmed that the ghosts had fought the plague, which had spread across nearly a hundred counties and towns. While visiting Liao Daqiu’s home, Ji Yuan divined that Liao Zhengbao, missing in the army for nine years, was still alive.

• Liao Daqiu, his wife, and many other villagers described dreams of a fierce battle they could not clearly see, and they suspected the Mass Grave Ghost had fought the plague.
• Liao Daqiu and the Old Village Chief led villagers to the mass grave, where they met Ji Yuan and Chang Yi, who said the epidemic had spread across nearly a hundred counties and towns.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi told the villagers that their good deeds had likely warded off disaster, then accepted an invitation to breakfast at Liao Daqiu’s home.
• Ji Yuan said the Local Earth God had told him about Liao Daqiu’s missing son and offered to divine Liao Zhengbao’s fate.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi calculated Liao Zhengbao’s fortune and assured Liao Daqiu and his wife that he was still alive.

Ji Yuan and Chang Yi promised Liao Daqiu and his wife they would find their missing son, Liao Zhengbao, and traveled to the Yuanzhao Kingdom’s southeast border to seek him out. After entering the guarded town, they were escorted to meet Commander Liao.

• Ji Yuan told Liao Daqiu and his wife that Liao Zhengbao was alive, and they begged the two men to bring him home.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi accepted porridge as repayment, then left Maotan Village carrying Liao Zhengbao’s childhood wooden sword.
• The pair flew to a struggling border town, where Ji Yuan sensed an unusual aura and said Liao Zhengbao’s wishes would decide what happened next.
• Soldiers stopped Ji Yuan and Chang Yi, and Ji Yuan used an illusion to make a blank sheet of paper appear to be an official document.
• Military commander Li Qiuyang inspected the document and sent the pair to see Commander Liao after hearing they had a message and family token for Liao Zhengbao.
• Chang Yi observed the town’s wounded, poorly equipped soldiers and lamented their hardship.

Ji Yuan and Chang Yi brought news from home to Liao Zhengbao, including his parents’ wish that he return and the wooden sword they had kept. Liao Zhengbao refused to abandon his fellow soldiers, so Ji Yuan and Chang Yi left with his decision unchanged, though they gave him the Peace Talisman his parents had prayed for.

• A soldier escorted Ji Yuan and Chang Yi to the General's Mansion, where the general complained that supplies and military pay had not reached his troops.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi told the general that a plague had swept across much of the Yuanzhao Kingdom but had been brought under control.
• Liao Zhengbao eagerly asked for news from home, and Ji Yuan gave him his parents’ wooden sword and told him they were well and that he had a six-year-old younger brother.
• Ji Yuan quietly relayed that Liao Zhengbao’s parents hoped he would return home, and Chang Yi offered to help him leave the army.
• Liao Zhengbao refused to desert, saying he could not abandon his fellow soldiers, and asked Ji Yuan and Chang Yi to give the wooden sword to his younger brother.
• Chang Yi gave Liao Zhengbao the Peace Talisman his parents had prayed for, while Ji Yuan said they could be considered to have broken their promise.

Ji Yuan and Chang Yi helped Liao Zhengbao send a letter and his savings to his family in Maotan Village after leaving the borderlands. The Liao family read the letter and realized the two visitors had delivered it impossibly quickly, leaving Old Liao convinced they had encountered immortals.

• Ji Yuan wrote Liao Zhengbao a five-page family letter and returned the Small Wooden Sword to him as a token for his parents.
• Liao Zhengbao gave Ji Yuan and Chang Yi the letter and eighteen taels six zhu of silver, and the general escorted them out of the borderlands.
• The North Gate Military Officer discovered Ji Yuan's travel document was missing and found a blank sheet of high-quality Xuan Paper in its place.
• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi flew northwest and arranged for the yamen runner Du Kun to deliver Liao Zhengbao's letter and silver to his family in Maotan Village.
• Liao Daqiu read the letter aloud to his family and Old Zhang, while Little Liao pointed out that it mentioned the wooden sword given to Ji Yuan that very morning.
• Old Liao realized Ji Yuan and Chang Yi must have been immortals.

Ji Yuan and Chang Yi arranged for the ghosts of Maotan Village to serve the Underworld Bureau, then continued their journey home until Chang Yi received an urgent summons from Immortal Mist Island. Ji Yuan returned to Ning'an County and settled back into Ju'an Pavilion, while Immortal Mist Island prepared to relocate.

• Ji Yuan and Chang Yi heard the armored soldier's story, and the Earth God offered to secure the village ghosts proper work with the Underworld Bureau.
• Ji Yuan gave the armored soldier two dharma coins before he and Chang Yi flew southeast.
• Chang Yi told Ji Yuan that Immortal Mist Island would rebuild its destroyed branch and received a Flying Sword Message summoning him back to the sect.
• Chang Yi revealed that Immortal Mist Island was investigating the Earth Malignancy and Demons and preparing to relocate the island, then parted from Ji Yuan.
• Ji Yuan returned to Ning'an County, ate at Sun Fu's noodle stall, and found the Large Jujube Tree blooming at Ju'an Pavilion.
• Ji Yuan released the little fellows from the Sleeve Sword Intent Scroll and went inside to sleep and cultivate in his dreams.

After an exhausting use of the Heavenly Inclination Sword Momentum, Ji Yuan slept for ten days and dreamed of a more powerful version of the technique, while reflecting on how to advance Universe in the Sleeve. He woke to Hu Yun's return and a gift of gold, then tested his sleeve art and realized it still lacked the power he sought.

• Ji Yuan dreamed of Journey to the West and connected Sun Wukong's encounters with Buddha and Zhenyuanzi to the power of Universe in the Sleeve.
• Ji Yuan recreated the Heavenly Inclination Sword Momentum in his dream, annihilating the Demons and concluding that Universe in the Sleeve needed the momentum of the universe.
• Hu Yun arrived at Ju'an Pavilion after returning from Niu Kui Mountain and gave Ji Yuan two Dog-head Gold Nuggets he had found while digging for a rabbit.
• Ji Yuan accepted Hu Yun's gold and tested Universe in the Sleeve on the bees in the jujube tree, but dismissed the result as little more than wind drawing them toward his sleeve.

Ji Yuan explained his unfinished Universe in the Sleeve to Hu Yun, then began teaching the fox to cut paper figures into a talisman. Hu Yun completed thirty-six figures through days of effort but collapsed asleep, leaving Ji Yuan to carry him to the table.

• Hu Yun described how Ji Yuan's sleeve technique had frightened him, and Ji Yuan explained that it was a rudimentary use of Universe in the Sleeve.
• Ji Yuan resumed deducing the divine ability while Hu Yun waited, brewed tea, and asked to borrow scissors and yellow paper.
• Ji Yuan agreed to teach Hu Yun how to cut paper figures, and Hu Yun eagerly began practicing.
• Ji Yuan guided Hu Yun through the work for three days as the fox cut thirty-six figures without ruining one.
• Ji Yuan praised Hu Yun, then caught him as he grew drowsy and placed the sleeping fox on the table.

Ji Yuan left Hu Yun to rest after three days of diligent cultivation, then visited Sun's Noodle Stall and learned that Sun Yaya had stopped attending school because her classmates bullied her. He persuaded her to return by promising to teach her calligraphy and reading at Ju'an Pavilion, and she agreed.

• Ji Yuan saw Hu Yun sleeping after his three days of studying and told the Little Characters not to wake him.
• Ji Yuan met Brother Qian, an old acquaintance, and heard that the Jujube Flower Fragrance had returned to Tianniu Quarter.
• At Sun's Noodle Stall, Ji Yuan noticed Sun Yaya was not at school and asked her why.
• Sun Yaya told Ji Yuan that classmates mocked and bullied her, and that the other girls had begun avoiding her after she stood up for them.
• Ji Yuan encouraged Sun Yaya to return to school and promised to teach her calligraphy and reading at Ju'an Pavilion; she accepted.
• Ji Yuan shared lamb offal with two young men who had given up their seats, and he joked with them as they asked his age.

Hu Yun successfully created and tested a ghostly version of the Strongmen Talisman while Sun Yaya grew close to Ji Yuan and became a star pupil. Ji Yuan received Yin Qing’s letter announcing his engagement to Princess Changping, and Sun Yaya unexpectedly spotted Hu Yun.

• Hu Yun combined his talismans and summoned a swift gray-black figure infused with his Ghostly Method.
• Sun Yaya spent over half a year studying calligraphy with Ji Yuan and became a star pupil at the academy.
• A county runner delivered Ji Yuan a sealed letter from Yin Qing, who announced his engagement to Princess Changping and invited Ji Yuan to his wedding.
• Sun Yaya heard a voice in the courtyard and finally saw Hu Yun sitting beside the stone table.

Ji Yuan learned from Yin Qing’s letter that Yin Qing and Princess Changping would visit Ju'an Pavilion, while Sun Yaya briefly saw Hu Yun and showed signs of growing spiritual awareness. Yin Qing and Princess Changping traveled toward Ning'an County, where their conspicuous entourage drew the attention of the locals.

• Sun Yaya mistook Hu Yun for a dog, and Hu Yun tested how her attention affected her ability to see him.
• Ji Yuan explained that Sun Yaya’s growing spirituality let her see unusual things, then told Hu Yun that Yin Qing and Princess Changping would visit Ning'an County soon.
• Hu Yun left for Niu Kui Mountain to prepare for Yin Qing’s arrival, while Ji Yuan inferred from the letter that Yin Qing deeply trusted Princess Changping.
• Yin Qing and Princess Changping visited his former academy and the riverside in Chunhui Prefecture, where she glimpsed a huge fish beneath the willow tree.
• Yin Qing and Princess Changping traveled through Old Birch Mountain and entered Ning'an County with a large entourage, attracting attention as they headed toward Tianniu Quarter.

Yin Qing brought Princess Changping to Ju'an Pavilion to visit Ji Yuan, where they shared the elder’s traditional sugar tea and met Sun Yaya. After Sun Yaya left, Ji Yuan quietly moved the two guards aside and remarked on Yang Ping’s royal composure.

• Yin Qing led Princess Changping through Tianniu Quarter, greeted Sun Fu at his noodle stall, and asked after Ji Yuan.
• Yin Qing, Princess Changping, and two guard captains entered Ju'an Pavilion, where Ji Yuan and Sun Yaya welcomed them.
• Ji Yuan served Yin Qing and Princess Changping sugar tea, which Yang Ping found exceptionally sweet and refreshing.
• Yang Ping admired the writing on the table, and Sun Yaya revealed it was her work before Ji Yuan sent her home.
• Ji Yuan caused the two guards to move to the courtyard walls, then praised Yang Ping for remaining composed.

Ji Yuan revealed his cultivation to Yang Ping, blessed her marriage to Yin Qing, and later watched the couple wed before returning to his quiet life in Ning'an County. Nearly three years later, Ju Yuanzi appeared at Ju'an Pavilion and told Ji Yuan it was time to depart.

• Yin Qing introduced Yang Ping to Ji Yuan, who explained that cultivators were not truly immortals and assured her that the Yin Family's success did not come solely from his help.
• Ji Yuan wrote a blessing on Yin Qing and Yang Ping's wedding invitation, and Yang Ping accepted that he should decide whether the Emperor learned of him.
• Yin Qing took Yang Ping to Niu Kui Mountain, where Hu Yun revealed his fox form and demonstrated his demon arts and Shadow Specters.
• A year later, Ji Yuan and Hu Yun attended Yin Qing and Yang Ping's wedding in the capital, and Ji Yuan returned to Ning'an County after three days.
• After nearly three quiet years, Ju Yuanzi visited Ju'an Pavilion and told Ji Yuan that the time to depart had arrived.

Ji Yuan prepared to leave Ning'an County on a long journey, telling Sun Yaya to take her writing supplies home and wait for his return. Sun Yaya rushed back to bid him farewell, while Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi departed toward distant lands with a mysterious fiery fruit left for her.

• Ju Yuanzi visited Ji Yuan and offered to take Sun Yaya as a disciple, but Ji Yuan declined and explained that he was only teaching her calligraphy.
• Ji Yuan told Sun Yaya to pack all her writing supplies and said he was leaving on a long journey, so she would not need to visit Ju'an Pavilion the next day.
• Sun Yaya told Sun Fu what Ji Yuan had said, and Sun Fu realized Ji Yuan might be gone for years.
• Sun Yaya hurried back to Ju'an Pavilion, found it locked and silent, and called out that she would practice calligraphy until Ji Yuan returned.
• A fiery fruit descended into Sun Yaya's hands as Ji Yuan sensed her from afar and formed a Chess Piece Shadow belonging to her.
• Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi rode clouds away from Ning'an County toward distant lands.

Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi traveled to Moon Deer Mountain to board a Realm Ferry at Summit Ferry. After finding the hidden ferry site, they agreed to lead six travelers who had been searching the mountain for three days.

• Ju Yuanzi explained that Yuhuai Mountain planned to meet at Summit Ferry, where they would board a Realm Ferry, and Ji Yuan agreed to follow the plan.
• Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi flew to Moon Deer Mountain, descended at its foot, and walked into the mountains out of respect for the Moon Deer Sect.
• Two woodcutters warned them about dangerous paths and beasts, but Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi continued deeper into the mountain.
• Ji Yuan saw the hidden peaks of Summit Ferry through its formations, and the two waited when six people called out to them.
• The travelers bowed to Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi as Immortal Masters and asked for help reaching Summit Ferry, and Ji Yuan agreed to lead them.

Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi guided descendants of the Yan and Zong families to Summit Ferry, then explored its busy cultivation market with the Yuhuai Mountain group. The arrival of the Lofty Brow Sect’s enormous Sky Swallowing Beast revealed the famed realm ferry they would take toward Hengzhou.

• Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi escorted the Yan and Zong descendants through the mountains and learned that their ancestor had summoned them to Summit Ferry to choose candidates for the Immortal Path.
• The group reached Summit Ferry, where Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi parted from the six descendants and continued to the market on the inner peak.
• Ji Yuan and Ju Yuanzi explored the bustling market and met Wei Yuansheng, Qiu Feng, Yang Ming, and the other Yuhuai Mountain cultivators.
• Ju Yuanzi proposed taking Profound Heart Manor’s realm-crossing flying vessel, and Ji Yuan agreed.
• A gigantic Sky Swallowing Beast of the Lofty Brow Sect appeared above Summit Ferry, and Ju Yuanzi identified it as a renowned realm ferry.