Chapter Summaries

Ji Yuan accompanied Sun Yaya to her family home, where they found a marriage proposal still underway. When the matchmaker described the match as a chance for the Sun family to climb a high branch, Ji Yuan rejected the idea that Sun Yaya would be reaching above her station.

• Ji Yuan agreed to visit the Sun family, and Sun Yaya excitedly told him about her recent years as they walked to her home.
• Sun Yaya found the matchmaker and two men waiting at her house to discuss a marriage proposal, then announced that Ji Yuan had come.
• Sun Fu and the rest of the Sun family eagerly welcomed Ji Yuan and invited him to sit in the seat of honor.
• A man asked Ji Yuan about his position, and Ji Yuan said he was an idle man from the county.
• The matchmaker praised the proposed marriage as a chance for the Sun family to climb a high branch, and Ji Yuan said no one could claim Sun Yaya was reaching above her station.

Ji Yuan’s arrival disrupted the Sun family’s matchmaking visit, and rumors about his past made the suitors reconsider his standing. At dinner, Sun Yaya rejected the proposed marriage and asserted that her family could not decide for her.

• The matchmaker and the two suitors challenged Ji Yuan’s boast about Sun Yaya, but Sun Fu recognized him and redirected the gathering toward conversation.
• More than thirty Sun family members arrived and bowed to Ji Yuan, prompting Sun Fu to send the matchmaking party away.
• The matchmaker and suitors heard local rumors linking Ji Yuan to the fox he had saved and to Yin Wenqu, and decided to investigate further.
• At dinner, Sun Fu asked Ji Yuan whether the Feng family was an unsuitable match, while Sun Yaya said she disliked Feng and left the table.
• Sun Yaya returned with her calligraphy and told Ji Yuan that the Sun family could seek his help, but could not speak for her; Ji Yuan agreed.

Ji Yuan recognized the extraordinary quality of Sun Yaya’s calligraphy and offered her family a choice of futures in return for their generations of Good Karma with him. Sun Fu chose the best future for Yaya, and Ji Yuan left her with instructions to keep practicing and refuse any marriage proposals she did not favor.

• Ji Yuan studied Sun Yaya’s calligraphy and praised it as the work of a master.
• Sun Yaya’s parents speculated that Ji Yuan might arrange a prestigious marriage for her, while the family waited for him to respond.
• Ji Yuan explained that the Sun Family could choose among worldly wealth, power, spiritual merit, godhood, or an immortal path.
• Ji Yuan asked Sun Fu and Sun Yaya to choose, and Sun Fu requested the best future for Yaya.
• Ji Yuan told the family to keep his offer secret, instructed Yaya to continue practicing calligraphy and reject unwanted proposals, then departed.

After Sun Yaya learned that Ji Yuan was an immortal, she began practicing calligraphy at Ju’an Pavilion and discovered that the characters on his scroll could speak. By winter, she could also see Hu Yun, a fox demon who had slipped into the courtyard, leaving him startled that she could perceive him.

• Sun Fu offered incense to his parents and wife, thanking his father for recognizing Sun Yaya’s potential.
• Sun Yaya visited Ju’an Pavilion early the next morning and asked Ji Yuan whether he was really an immortal.
• Ji Yuan showed Sun Yaya the Sword Intent Scroll, and its living Little Characters greeted her and shared embarrassing memories from her childhood.
• Sun Yaya practiced copying the scroll every day through the winter as the Sun family rejected marriage proposals for her.
• On the winter solstice, Hu Yun sneaked into Ju’an Pavilion and realized Sun Yaya could see him when she asked whether he was a demon.

Hu Yun reunited with Ji Yuan at Ju'an Pavilion and showed off his new human transformation, while Sun Yaya earned praise for her calligraphy. Before leaving, Ji Yuan prepared to send Yaya away to study and gave Hu Yun a one-day glimpse of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s cultivation mystery.

• Hu Yun met Sun Yaya in the courtyard, praised her calligraphy, and greeted Ji Yuan after learning he had returned.
• Hu Yun transformed into a young man, and Ji Yuan praised his illusion skills while warning that his demon qi and aura could still expose him.
• Ji Yuan praised Sun Yaya for writing the full Roaming Dragon Chant with focus, then told her to pack and leave to study books.
• Ji Yuan showed Hu Yun a silver-white hair from an Eight-tailed Fox Demon and said he could use it to help Hu Yun glimpse the path of fox demons.
• After Sun Yaya left, Ji Yuan used the fox hair and the Method of Heaven and Earth Transformation to let Hu Yun experience a day and night of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox’s mystery.

Hu Yun completed her period of Stillness and Stability, while Sun Yaya prepared to leave home with Ji Yuan to begin her cultivation journey. Ji Yuan took her by cloud to Cloud Mountain in Bingzhou, and she excitedly asked about learning to fly.

• Sun Yaya told her family that Ji Yuan might take her away in two days, and they tried to hide their sadness by encouraging her.
• Hu Yun woke on the afternoon of the second day, thanked Ji Yuan for his guidance, and gave him a jade brush rest before leaving to consolidate her cultivation in the mountains.
• Ji Yuan arrived at the Sun Family home early on the third day and reassured them that Sun Yaya's absence would not be permanent.
• Sun Yaya said farewell to her family, and Ji Yuan lifted them into the sky on a white cloud.
• As they flew over Niu Kui Mountain, Sun Yaya eagerly asked whether she could learn the Flight Technique and where they were going; Ji Yuan told her they were bound for Cloud Mountain in Bingzhou.

Ji Yuan brought Sun Yaya to Cloud Mountain Temple, where she met its growing community and learned how it had gained four young disciples. After discussing the temple’s powerful scriptures with Qin Zizhou, Ji Yuan agreed that its Daoists needed to develop without depending too much on outside help.

• Sun Yaya asked Ji Yuan about immortals and Cloud Mountain Temple as they flew toward Bingzhou.
• Qin Zizhou greeted Ji Yuan and Sun Yaya at Misty Peak and explained how Daoist Qing Song had recruited one child and taken in three more who had lost their families.
• Ji Yuan and Sun Yaya met Qi Wen, Daoist Qing Song, four children, and two gray martens at Cloud Mountain Temple.
• Sun Yaya settled in with the temple’s children and learned that Ji Yuan was honored there as the Great Master.
• Qin Zizhou told Ji Yuan that Cloud Mountain Temple’s foundation was already deep enough and that its teachers should avoid making the Daoists overly reliant on them.

Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou watched Cloud Mountain Temple perform a ceremony to invite the Heaven and Earth Marvelous Method, allowing its disciples to read the upper volume. All seven disciples succeeded, fulfilling Daoist Qing Song’s prediction of seven master-disciple fates.

• Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou discussed the world’s recent events and watched preparations for Cloud Mountain Temple’s ceremony from Misty Peak.
• Daoist Qing Song led Sun Yaya, Qi Wen, the other disciples, and two gray martens in paying respects to Heaven, Earth, the stars, Ji Yuan, and Qin Zizhou.
• The Star Banner drew down celestial star power, and the upper volume of the Heaven and Earth Marvelous Method descended onto the meditation cushion.
• Sun Yaya read the book for half an hour before Daoist Qing Song woke her, and Qi Wen and the other disciples took turns reading it as well.
• Ji Yuan and Qin Zizhou noted that all seven disciples had succeeded, and Qin Zizhou recalled Daoist Qing Song’s prediction that he would have seven master-disciple fates.

As Cloud Mountain Temple’s disciples began cultivating the Heaven and Earth Marvelous Method, Ji Yuan later heard that Yin Zhaoxian was gravely ill, though his own calculation showed Yin was safe. Ji Yuan left the mountain, planning to visit Yan Province to fulfill his promise to retrieve Bai Ruo when her twenty-six-year term ended.

• Daoist Qing Song guided Sun Yaya and the other Cloud Mountain Temple disciples as they began cultivating under the Star Banner, while Ji Yuan’s artistic conception enveloped Misty Peak.
• Over the following year, the disciples cultivated through the seasons and Cloud Mountain Temple expanded its buildings with help from the Cloud Mountain Mountain God.
• Qi Wen told Ji Yuan that Yin Zhaoxian had collapsed after political struggles and that Lord Kang had asked whether Daoist Qing Song could help.
• Ji Yuan sensed that Yin Zhaoxian was unharmed, agreed to visit the capital eventually, and left Cloud Mountain Temple the next day.
• Ji Yuan traveled to Yan Province to find Zhang Rui and honor his promise to retrieve Bai Ruo as her twenty-six-year term in the Underworld Bureau neared its end.

Ji Yuan arrived in Changyang Prefecture City to seek out Wang Li, while Zhang Rui visited Wang Li in prison and brought him a meal. The chapter ended with the jail chief recalling an order that Wang Li must remain imprisoned even though his sentence was nearly over.

• Ji Yuan entered Changyang Prefecture City after deciding to visit Wang Li before seeking Zhang Rui.
• Zhang Rui collected a food box and went to the prison, where she found Wang Li entertaining the jailers and nearby prisoners with a story.
• Zhang Rui shared a meal with Wang Li and urged him to escape, but he insisted on serving out his sentence and keeping his name.
• After Zhang Rui left, Wang Li lay in his cell feeling disappointed, while the jail chief remembered a note ordering that Wang Li must not leave prison.

Ji Yuan met Zhang Rui and learned why Wang Li had been imprisoned, then sent Little Paper Crane to watch over him. The jailers’ plan to make Wang Li die of a supposed illness began when Little Paper Crane stopped him from drinking poisoned wine.

• The jail chief weighed the risks and rewards of arranging Wang Li’s death while the jailers gathered to hear Wang Li tell a story.
• Ji Yuan met Zhang Rui, who explained how a fellow storyteller stole Wang Li’s manuscript and drew the Xiao family’s attention to him, leading to his imprisonment.
• Ji Yuan told Zhang Rui they would wait until Wang Li was released before receiving Sister Bai, while Little Paper Crane flew to the prison.
• Little Paper Crane watched Wang Li and the jailers, then struck a wine pot from Wang Li’s hand before he could drink from it.
• A jailer reported the broken wine pot to the jail chief, who learned that Wang Li had likely not noticed the attempt.
• The jailers planned to keep dosing Wang Li with laxatives in his food and medicine until he died of a supposed illness.

Ji Yuan and Zhang Rui visited Wang Li in Changyang Prefecture Prison after learning that the Xiao family threatened his life and someone had tried to give him dangerous wine. Ji Yuan offered to take Wang Li away, but Wang Li insisted on staying so he would not harm the Yin Family’s position, leaving Ji Yuan to intervene in their argument.

• Zhang Rui worried that Wang Li faced danger from the Xiao family, and Ji Yuan assured her they could rescue him if necessary.
• Ji Yuan and Zhang Rui went to the prison, where the Little Paper Crane showed them the shattered wine pot it had knocked away from Wang Li.
• Zhang Rui woke Wang Li, and Ji Yuan warned him that he was in danger and should leave with them.
• Wang Li learned that the wine might have been dangerous, but refused to escape because he feared his flight would hurt the Yin Family while Yin Zhaoxian was critically ill.
• Wang Li argued that even a small person should have backbone, then retreated when Zhang Rui moved toward him; Ji Yuan pointed out that they had forgotten he was there.

Ji Yuan stayed in Wang Li’s prison cell and discovered that Wang Li’s dreams formed a vivid Book World, which showed a desperate flight and an infant swept into the Chunmu River. As Ji Yuan studied the dream, Wang Li grew bolder around him, while the jailer mistook their unseen conversations for madness.

• Ji Yuan entered Wang Li’s cell and spent the night observing an unfamiliar white light around the sleeping storyteller.
• Ji Yuan gently connected his artistic conception to Wang Li’s dream and witnessed Liu Shengyan and others die while protecting a woman and an infant from pursuers.
• Ji Yuan watched the woman leap into the Chunmu River, where an Old Turtle rescued the infant, and realized Wang Li’s dream was a Book World.
• Ji Yuan began using the Four Treasures of the Study to write and deduce while Wang Li ate drugged meals that Ji Yuan purified.
• Wang Li became increasingly comfortable chatting with Ji Yuan, and the jailer concluded that Wang Li had gone mad.

Ji Yuan completed his piece, “Dream Roaming,” while Wang Li remained imprisoned, and the jailers released several prisoners only to find themselves trapped in a terrifying illusion. Half a month later, Ji Yuan and Wang Li left Changyang Prefecture Prison and met Zhang Rui outside.

• Wang Li watched Ji Yuan write and continued to worry that his enemies might try to kill him before his release.
• Ji Yuan finished “Dream Roaming” and credited Wang Li with helping bring the piece into being.
• The jail chief and a jailer told Wang Li his sentence was over and escorted him out with several other prisoners.
• The jailers cried that the prisoners had escaped and attacked one another, but Wang Li and the other prisoners remained locked in their cells.
• Half a month later, Ji Yuan and Wang Li were escorted out of Changyang Prefecture Prison, where Zhang Rui was waiting for them.

After leaving Changyang Prefecture with Wang Li and Zhang Rui, Ji Yuan met Ying Feng and Ying Ruoli on the Tongtian River and heard about the Dragon Lords’ search for the source of the Dragon Corpse Worms. Ji Yuan brought them to the Water Mansion to test a clue, where a voice announced that it was Xiezhi.

• Zhang Rui asked Wang Li how he had been mistreated in prison, and Wang Li described a plot to stage a prison break and kill him.
• Ji Yuan, Zhang Rui, and Wang Li sailed toward Jingji Prefecture, where River Patrol Yakshas recognized Ji Yuan and alerted the Dragon Son and Daughter.
• Ying Feng and Ying Ruoli invited Ji Yuan aboard their boat, while Zhang Rui and Wang Li shared a lavish meal on their own vessel.
• Ying Ruoli told Ji Yuan that the Dragon Lords had found a strange monster’s divine-light trace inside a Dragon Corpse Worm but could not identify its origin.
• Ji Yuan followed Ying Feng and Ying Ruoli to the Water Mansion and used another method to investigate the creature, prompting a voice to call itself Xiezhi.

Ji Yuan tested the Xiezhi Scroll in the Water Mansion and learned that its power reacted violently to a strange beast connected to the Dragon Corpse Worm. After parting from the Dragon Son and Dragon Daughter, he hurried to Jingji Prefecture’s Ghost Gate Pass with Zhang Rui and Wang Li to reach Zhou Niansheng’s ghost before its time ran out.

• Ji Yuan poured his pure magical power into the Xiezhi Scroll, which formed a black-smoke-wreathed claw and attacked Ying Ruoli when she recreated the monster’s image.
• Ji Yuan identified Xiezhi as an Ancient Divine Beast and suspected the monster in the images might be a Hou connected to the Dragon Corpse Worm.
• A day later, Ji Yuan said farewell to Ying Feng and Ying Ruoli at the wharf, then took Zhang Rui and Wang Li toward the Jingji Prefecture Underworld Bureau.
• Ji Yuan led his companions through the Ghost Gate Pass, where the Civil Judge and Judge Wu greeted him and explained that the City God had arranged for officials to await his arrival.
• Ji Yuan asked the Judges to take him to the ghost city before he paid his respects to the City God.

Ji Yuan and the Judges reached Zhou Manor, where Bai Ruo was preparing a wedding for her dying husband, Zhou Niansheng, to make up for their unfulfilled marriage in life. After Bai Ruo asked Ji Yuan to witness the ceremony, he agreed, and Zhang Rui helped her prepare.

• Ji Yuan and the Judges entered the ghost city, where Judge Wu reassured Wang Li and Zhang Rui about the Yin Cha and Ji Yuan introduced them to the group.
• At Zhou Manor, Ji Yuan saw funeral-white decorations marked with double happiness and learned Zhou Niansheng had only a little yin energy left.
• Zhou Niansheng told Bai Ruo he wanted to make up for never properly marrying her, and Bai Ruo left the room to collect wedding supplies.
• A Little Paper Crane led Bai Ruo to the gate, where she found Ji Yuan and asked him to witness her and Zhou Niansheng's wedding.
• Ji Yuan agreed to attend the wedding, and Zhang Rui picked up the rouge and powder and offered to help Bai Ruo dress.

Ji Yuan and the Judges helped Bai Ruo and Zhou Niansheng hold their wedding in the underworld before Zhou Niansheng’s soul departed. After Bai Ruo thanked Ji Yuan and transformed into a White Deer, he rode away with her as the ghost city watched.

• Judge Wen used the Judge’s Brush to strengthen Zhou Niansheng enough to take part in the wedding, while Bai Ruo and Zhou Niansheng dressed for the ceremony.
• Wang Li led the wedding rites as Zhou Niansheng and Bai Ruo bowed to Heaven and Earth, the elders, and each other.
• As Zhou Niansheng’s soul separated from his Ghost Body, he told Bai Ruo not to forget him, and Ji Yuan sent one of her tears after Zhou Niansheng’s Heaven Soul.
• Bai Ruo thanked Ji Yuan, transformed into a White Deer, and let him ride on her back.
• The Judges led Ji Yuan, Bai Ruo, Zhang Rui, Wang Li, and the Little Paper Crane out through the ghost city as the gathered ghosts watched.

Ji Yuan escorted Bai Ruo out of the underworld and helped her reunite with her fleshly body at the Land God Temple. After declaring “White Deer Fate” finished, he departed, leaving Bai Ruo, Wang Li, and Zhang Rui behind.

• Ji Yuan rode Bai Ruo through the underworld as the Judges led them past patrolling Yin Cha and toward the Underworld Bureau.
• Ji Yuan asked the Judges about the roads leading away from the ghost city, and they explained that they could lead to other ghost cities after upheavals in the Underworld Bureau.
• Ji Yuan met the City God, then crossed the Yin-Yang Boundary with Wang Li, Zhang Rui, and Bai Ruo and headed to the Land God Temple.
• The Earth God revealed Bai Ruo’s fleshly body, and Bai Ruo merged with it and regained her complete form.
• Ji Yuan told Bai Ruo to cultivate well, declared “White Deer Fate” finished, and left; Bai Ruo called their encounter a rare karmic opportunity.

Ji Yuan tested his newly completed Dream Wandering ability and discovered that its intent could nearly draw the Green Vine Sword before the attempt exhausted him. He slept through the night and rain outside Yin Manor, then accepted a local couple’s invitation to warm himself after they found him at daybreak.

• Ji Yuan reached Yin Manor, sensed its radiant righteous Qi, and chose to sleep beneath the eaves of a nearby house until dawn.
• Ji Yuan used Dream Wandering for the first time with ease and passed unseen by two Night Roaming Deities.
• Ji Yuan tried to draw the Green Vine Sword through his wandering intent, but the intent dispersed before the blade left its sheath.
• Ji Yuan woke in the rain after a household couple found him asleep and invited him inside for warmth and rice porridge.
• Ji Yuan accepted the couple’s hospitality and wished them good Fortune for their kindness.