Recaps

The white deer gained insight into cultivation after recalling Fang Zelin’s words and decided to search Wangqing Mountain for spiritual treasures to offer him. Meanwhile, players in Anzi County began cultivating martial arts, and the Underworld Bureau chose to close its cases involving Fang Zelin and the escaped deer demon.

• The white deer recalled Fang Zelin’s teaching, received a night of moonlight, and felt that it had crossed into cultivation.
• The white deer decided to search Wangqing Mountain for spiritual treasures so it could bring gifts to Fang Zelin and hear more of his teachings.
• Players gathered at Anzi County’s training ground to practice a cultivation method from Fang Zelin’s forum post, and some celebrated after sensing Qi Force.
• Martial arts schools earned silver from players buying medicinal decoctions while local residents watched the newcomers with bemusement.
• Zhang Weichu reported the Wangqing Mountain events to Judge Wen, who ordered the cases closed because they involved an immortal’s disciple and the deer demon had escaped.

Fang Zelin returned to the strange mountain and met the old fisherman Zhou, hoping to learn about the place and immortal cultivation. Zhou could offer little guidance, and Fang Zelin left after fishing with him.

• Fang Zelin found himself back at the mountain where he had first learned to cultivate Qi and followed the path to the old fisherman.
• The old fisherman Zhou invited Fang Zelin to sit and fish, but said he did not know where they were or how to teach immortal methods.
• Fang Zelin cast a baitless, straight hook into the water and watched crowds of unusual fish gather around it.
• Fang Zelin briefly hooked a huge black fish, but it slipped free and fell back into the water.
• Fang Zelin asked Zhou about cultivating immortality, received few answers, and left when he grew hungry.

Fang Zelin tended his rapidly growing spirit rice in Seeking the Dao while planning to find other immortal cultivators for guidance. Back on Earth, he worried that he could not cultivate without the mountain or a Qi Refining book, leaving his hopes of progressing there uncertain.

• Fang Zelin decided to seek other immortal cultivators after the spirit rice ripened, since he lacked knowledge of spells and further cultivation.
• Fang Zelin roasted fish, checked the spirit rice, and practiced the Wind-Riding Sword Art to prepare for traveling safely.
• Fang Zelin returned to Earth and wondered why, despite sensing Qi Force, he still could not sense Spiritual Qi.
• Fang Zelin suspected that he needed the mountain or a cultivation method to open the way to immortal cultivation on Earth and resolved to seek guidance in Seeking the Dao.
• Fang Zelin dismissed his housekeeper to keep his cultivation experiments private, then took out the garbage himself and wheeled toward the elevator.

Fang Zelin chatted with Jiuchuan about his progress in martial arts and checked the players’ advances in Seeking the Dao. He returned to Yingping Peak to find his spirit rice nearly ripe, where Zhang Weichu arrived and noticed the crop.

• Fang Zelin made a trash bag land in a bin with a flick of his hand, then ordered fried rice at a food stall.
• Jiuchuan told Fang Zelin that he had made progress with his saber technique and asked whether cultivation might work in the real world.
• Fang Zelin browsed the forum, where he saw that some players had reached the Fifth-Rate Expert level and that his own post had become a popular featured post.
• Fang Zelin returned to Yingping Peak and inspected the spirit rice, which was heavy with grain and close to ripening.
• Zhang Weichu arrived at the paddy and remarked that Fang Zelin’s rice looked almost ripe.

Fang Zelin learned from Zhang Weichu that immortals were difficult to find, then watched a white deer return with a lingzhi as a gift. After Fang Zelin realized the lingzhi had no Spiritual Qi, he considered its value as a medicinal herb, while the deer worried he disliked it.

• Fang Zelin told Zhang Weichu to visit when his spirit rice ripened, and Zhang Weichu agreed.
• Zhang Weichu told Fang Zelin that foreign visitors were practicing martial arts and fighting, while Fang Zelin remained unconcerned.
• Zhang Weichu spotted a white deer approaching across the water, and Fang Zelin recognized the deer he had previously guided.
• The white deer offered Fang Zelin a lingzhi to repay his kindness, and Fang Zelin relaxed when he realized it had not come to reclaim the spirit rice.
• Fang Zelin sensed that the lingzhi contained no Spiritual Qi and considered its value as medicine, while the white deer feared he disliked the gift.

Fang Zelin invited the white deer to share the spirit rice it had given him, and the deer left revering him even more. On Earth, people began successfully cultivating Qi Force from Quest for the Dao, and Ye Liuling’s video demonstrating it went viral.

• Fang Zelin invited the white deer to taste the spirit rice when it ripened, and the deer was astonished by the plants’ rich Spiritual Qi.
• The white deer thanked Fang Zelin, bowed, and left, while Zhang Weichu and the kappa watched with greater awe.
• Fang Zelin urged the spirit rice plants to produce enough for everyone to share.
• A man on Earth discovered that he could cultivate Qi Force outside the game, and practitioners in other cities began testing the method in secret.
• Ye Liuling posted a video claiming Qi Force could be mastered on Earth and shattered a marble table with a palm strike, sending the video onto trending searches.

Blazing Summer officially endorsed a video showing Qi Force in the real world, causing a surge of players in Quest for the Dao and prompting concern among officials about the time remaining. Fang Zelin discussed the news with Jiuchuan, but remained unable to sense Spiritual Qi and hoped to find a place where he could cultivate and heal his leg.

• Blazing Summer reposted Ye Liuling’s video with the message, “When the young are strong, the nation is strong,” leading many people to believe Qi Force could be learned in reality.
• Players flocked to Quest for the Dao, and people who had mastered Qi Force began demonstrating it to friends.
• Officials discussed how quickly the public had learned Qi Force and said they needed to establish a foothold in the game before time ran out.
• Jiuchuan told Fang Zelin he had been practicing Qi Force in secret, and Fang Zelin admitted he had been practicing too.
• Jiuchuan challenged Fang Zelin to see who could cultivate Qi Force first, but Fang Zelin remained focused on finding Spiritual Qi so he could cultivate and heal his leg.

Fang Zelin harvested and cooked his ripe spirit rice, sharing it with He Chenyi, Zhang Weichu, and the white deer. As they discovered its extraordinary taste and benefits, a mysterious young man arrived and asked for a serving.

• Fang Zelin harvested the ripe spirit rice at the foot of Yingping Peak.
• He Chenyi, Zhang Weichu, and the white deer arrived as Fang Zelin cooked the rice.
• Zhang Weichu discovered he could eat the spirit rice, while He Chenyi and the white deer enjoyed it and gained Spiritual Qi.
• Fang Zelin and the others praised the rice’s remarkable flavor.
• A richly dressed young man appeared without crossing by boat and asked Fang Zelin for a bowl.

Fang Zelin shared spirit rice with a young man in a jade crown, then explained why Zhang Weichu became an underworld official while the resentful water ghost did not. After arranging for He Chenyi to tend the spirit grain, Fang Zelin prepared to wander in search of cultivators and knowledge, and asked the young man who he was.

• Fang Zelin gave a bowl of spirit rice to the young man in a jade crown, who praised its taste as the group ate.
• A resentful water ghost came ashore and demanded to know why Zhang Weichu had become an underworld official after one month of saving people while he had failed after three months.
• Fang Zelin explained that Zhang Weichu had done good without seeking reward, while the water ghost had acted to become an underworld official, leaving the ghost stunned by the difference.
• After the group finished the spirit rice, Fang Zelin asked He Chenyi to tend the spirit grain and said he was going to wander the world to seek cultivators and learn about cultivation.
• The white deer asked where Fang Zelin was going, and Fang Zelin said he would wander the four corners of the world before asking the young man in the jade crown about his identity.

Fang Zelin accepted a ride on the white deer and traveled downstream toward Hualing City, where he encountered a confrontation between the Wild Wolf Gang and unaffiliated players. The gang surrounded him and demanded his deer, while the white deer restrained its anger in Fang Zelin’s presence.

• Fang Zelin declined to claim the title of immortal, said farewell to the people by the river, and accepted the white deer’s offer to carry him downstream.
• Fang Zelin rode toward Hualing City while people on the riverbank watched him depart with awe.
• Outside Hualing City, the Wild Wolf Gang faced off against unaffiliated players over the gang’s attempts to claim every spot in the city.
• The Wild Wolf Gang leader considered attacking the players, but the sound of hooves drew everyone’s attention to Fang Zelin approaching on the white deer.
• A gang member urged the leader to take the deer for its supposed medicinal blood, and the gang surrounded Fang Zelin and offered him one tael of silver for it.
• The white deer grew furious at the demand but held back from attacking because Fang Zelin was present.

Fang Zelin killed the Wild Wolf Gang leader and reached Hualing City to exchange lingzhi for silver. Meanwhile, the Dragon King recognized the spirit rice his son had brought home and realized it came from a cultivator.

• Fang Zelin caught the Wild Wolf Gang leader's saber between his fingers and killed him with a swift strike, leaving the onlookers vomiting.
• Fang Zelin rode to the outskirts of Hualing City, where the elk warned that it could not go closer because of the City God.
• Fang Zelin entered Hualing City and headed for an apothecary to sell the lingzhi the elk had given him.
• The dragon prince showed the Dragon King several grains of spirit rice he had saved after mooching a bowl of rice from someone.
• The Dragon King recognized the rich Spiritual Qi in the grains and lamented that his son had failed to understand their significance.

The Dragon King told the dragon prince that Fang Zelin was his lost chance to become a True Dragon and sent him to find the cultivator before the prince’s Dragon Tribulation. Meanwhile, Fang Zelin headed for Yunmeng Marsh, unaware that the Wild Wolf Gang had put a bounty on him and was soon overwhelmed by players seeking justice.

• The Dragon King explained that Fang Zelin’s words had helped a water ghost gain a position in the Underworld Bureau and that the dragon prince had missed a fortuitous opportunity.
• The Dragon King urged the dragon prince to find Fang Zelin, who might still help him receive heaven-and-earth investiture and become a True Dragon.
• Fang Zelin heard another account of a fallen dragon at Yunmeng Marsh, changed into a robe and boots, and set off to investigate.
• After Fang Zelin killed the Wild Wolf Gang leader in the game, the leader offered one hundred thousand Blazing Summer Currency for Fang Zelin’s death.
• Unaffiliated players in Hualing City publicized the Wild Wolf Gang’s behavior, drawing in wandering heroes who attacked the gang until it ceased to exist.

Fang Zelin joined a group of players escorting a scholar toward the capital and spent the night with them in the wilderness. Around the campfire, the players debated whether the white-deer rider who killed the Wild Wolf Gang leader might be a player, and the discussion left them reconsidering how strong such a player could be.

• Fang Zelin accepted a burly player's invitation to travel with the group after learning the wilderness was dangerous at night.
• The group stopped beside a large boulder, where the burly man prepared a camp and set up warnings despite another player's objections to bringing Fang Zelin along.
• Around the campfire, the players discussed an expert who had killed the Wild Wolf Gang leader in Hualing City in a single encounter.
• A female player argued that the white-deer rider could be a player, noting that someone had shared the Wind-Riding Sword Art on the forums three months earlier.
• The players reconsidered the rider's possible strength after hearing the female player's argument.

Fang Zelin overheard players discussing wealthy groups investing in Seeking the Dao and recruiting candidates for the imperial examinations, strengthening his suspicion that the world was real. As he prepared to cultivate at the camp, several beautiful women appeared in the wilderness, and he suspected they might be monsters.

• Players discussed rich families funding gaming studios, gathering resources, and recruiting people to take the imperial examinations in Seeking the Dao.
• A provincial graduate remarked that foreign visitors’ mathematical knowledge could help them in the examinations, while the players acknowledged how difficult it was to pass.
• Fang Zelin considered that Blazing Summer’s higher-ups might know more about the world and resolved to cultivate carefully, hoping its Immortal Methods could heal his disability.
• Fang Zelin sensed something approaching and watched several beautifully dressed women emerge by the campfire.
• The nearby players reached for their weapons, then froze at the sight of the women, while Fang Zelin suspected their arrival in the wilderness was a trap.

Fang Zelin exposed a group of women as suspicious after noticing their pink mist and catching their leader in a lie. He attacked the leader, but the chapter ended before anyone saw what the stone did.

• A woman claimed that bandits had killed her servants and offered a hundred taels of silver for an escort to Yueyang City.
• Fang Zelin noticed pink mist coming from the women and saw that it was affecting Wu Yong and the others.
• Fang Zelin asked about the KFC tavern in Yueyang City, and the woman’s answer convinced him that she was not human.
• Fang Zelin pointed out that the women’s tidy clothes and hair contradicted their story, prompting Wu Yong and the others to grow wary.
• The woman feigned distress and sent the pink mist surging toward the group, but Fang Zelin dispersed it and hurled a spirit-infused stone at her.
• Wu Yong tried to stop Fang Zelin, but the stone struck the woman as everyone watched in shock.

Fang Zelin exposed a group of skeleton demons and drove them away with a stone, saving Wu Yong and the other players. After they thanked him and asked about his Dao cultivation, he decided not to cultivate carelessly in the wilderness again.

• Fang Zelin struck a woman with a stone, revealing that she was a skeleton demon beneath her black mist.
• The skeleton demons realized their illusions and bewitching arts did not work on Fang Zelin, then fled in fear.
• Wu Yong and the other players recognized the danger they had escaped and asked Fang Zelin about his abilities.
• Fang Zelin told them he had only learned a few skills, and Wu Yong thanked him before returning to discuss keeping watch.
• Fang Zelin decided to avoid cultivating casually in the wilderness in the future.

Fang Zelin traveled toward Yunmeng Marsh in Wu Yong’s carriage, declined an invitation to join the party, and discussed whether supernatural abilities could be used in the real world. The group reached a hillside overlooking Yueyang City, leaving Fang Zelin reflecting on the familiar place names from his ancient Huaxia.

• Wu Yong offered Fang Zelin a ride to Yunmeng Marsh, and Fang Zelin accepted.
• Wu Yong introduced his party and invited Fang Zelin to join, but Fang Zelin declined.
• Wu Yong asked whether Fang Zelin had encountered spirits and whether supernatural abilities could work in the real world; Fang Zelin said he had tried cultivating for over three months without success.
• The party traveled for half a day and reached a hillside overlooking Yueyang City.
• Fang Zelin gazed at Yueyang City and reflected that its name and Yunmeng Marsh belonged to the ancient Huaxia he had come from.

Fang Zelin answered Zhang Yong and his companions’ mockery of Blazing Summer by carving a poem about Yunmeng Marsh into a rock. After spotting what he believed was a dragon connected to his search, he left the group to pursue it alone.

• Zhang Yong met the son of Yueyang City's county magistrate outside the city and explained that he was traveling to the capital for the examinations.
• Zhou Ling and Wu Yong admired Yunmeng Marsh’s scenery, and Wu Yong recited a crude verse that drew scorn from Zhang Yong and his companions.
• After hearing the group judge Blazing Summer by the verse, Fang Zelin borrowed Wu Yong’s saber and carved a poem about the lake and its waves into a rock, signing it “Blazing Summer.”
• Zhang Yong and his companions admired the poem, and Zhang Yong admitted that Blazing Summer had someone capable.
• Fang Zelin spotted what seemed to be a dragon’s shadow and left the group to follow it alone.

Fang Zelin visited the Great Marsh Dragon King Temple seeking immortal affinity, but learned that even the Dragon Kings struggled to find it. After Fang Zelin left, the dragons discussed a powerful man who might help them become true dragons and agreed to search for him.

• Fang Zelin entered the Great Marsh Dragon King Temple and saw the Great Marsh Dragon King speaking with another Dragon King beside the statue.
• Fang Zelin overheard the Great Marsh Dragon King lament that he had failed his lightning tribulation and needed immortal affinity to try again.
• The Dragon Kings discussed rumors of immortal abodes in famed rivers and great marshes, which Fang Zelin considered before leaving the temple.
• After Fang Zelin left, the Dragon King told the Great Marsh Dragon King about a man who had helped a water ghost attain the ghost Dao with a single sentence.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King agreed to help find the man, while the visiting Dragon King set out to search other territories for him.

Fang Zelin went out to eat and searched the Seeking the Dao forum for information about immortal cultivators and unusual places, but found none. He ended up reading many reports of spirits and monsters tricking players and feared they would spread the word that Blazing Summer visitors were easy to fool.

• Fang Zelin encountered Chu Xike in the elevator, where she started to suggest Seeking the Dao game work might suit him before stopping herself.
• Fang Zelin went to a restaurant, ordered food, and checked the forum while he waited.
• Fang Zelin saw that his earlier post had raised his forum level to seven and become a pinned must-read thread for new players.
• Fang Zelin searched forum posts for immortal abodes and cultivators but found no reports that answered his questions.
• Fang Zelin read dozens of accounts of spirits and monsters deceiving players and worried the creatures would call Blazing Summer visitors fools easily duped.

Fang Zelin searched the forum for clues about immortal cultivation, then set out from Yueyang City to investigate Ten Thousand Blades Peak. He began carving footholds into its sheer cliffs and returned to the city at night, leaving his climb far from complete.

• Fang Zelin read an old forum post about Wu Yong and others meeting a skeleton spirit, but found no useful information about cultivating immortality.
• Fang Zelin learned that Jiuchuan had started a gaming studio and canceled his plan to visit while he focused on building his character and establishing a faction.
• Fang Zelin traveled from Yueyang City to Ten Thousand Blades Peak, whose sheer cliffs had kept anyone from reaching its summit.
• Fang Zelin used his billhook to carve footholds into the mountain and climbed several meters over the course of the day.
• Fang Zelin returned to Yueyang City at sunset because he feared encountering a spirit monster after dark.

Fang Zelin continued carving footholds up Ten Thousand Blades Peak, taking shelter from a thunderstorm in a cave. A red panda and a giant python ran into the cave, and Fang Zelin frightened the python away by demonstrating his chopping knife’s power.

• Fang Zelin reached two-fifths of the way up Ten Thousand Blades Peak after more than half a month of carving footholds.
• When a thunderstorm swept over the peak, Fang Zelin threw his chopping knife down the cliff, descended safely, and took shelter in a cave.
• A red panda fled into the cave, followed by a bucket-thick python that turned its attention toward Fang Zelin.
• Fang Zelin infused his chopping knife with spiritual power and split a rock in two, causing the python to retreat.
• The red panda relaxed beside Fang Zelin, who wondered whether it had spiritual awareness and might repay him as in the scripts he had read.

Fang Zelin continued carving footholds into Ten Thousand Blades Peak and made progress toward its summit. A red panda waited for him with berries, and after eating them, he found they were delicious but had no apparent spiritual effects.

• After a storm passed, Fang Zelin climbed Ten Thousand Blades Peak and carved footholds into the cliff until sunset.
• Fang Zelin returned to Yueyang City, bathed, and pondered the moon before going back to Earth for the night.
• The next morning, Fang Zelin returned to the Seeking the Dao World and resumed carving footholds on the peak.
• The red panda watched Fang Zelin climb and later waited below with berries.
• After descending, Fang Zelin accepted and ate the berries, found them tasty, and sensed no Spiritual Power or change in his Qi Force.

Fang Zelin reached the summit of Ten Thousand Blades Peak after nearly two months of climbing, but found it apparently empty. Investigating a scorched patch, he broke his woodcutting blade and uncovered two small pieces of iron.

• Fang Zelin spent the night in a cave with the red panda, ate its berries, and cultivated while Spiritual Qi gathered around him.
• Fang Zelin awoke with increased Spiritual Power, briefly returned to Earth for food, and then went back to the Seeking the Dao World.
• Fang Zelin carved the final footholds into the cliff and leapt onto the summit of Ten Thousand Blades Peak.
• Fang Zelin searched the bare summit and found only a slightly scorched patch in its center.
• Fang Zelin dug into the scorched ground, snapped his woodcutting blade against something buried there, and unearthed two small pieces of iron.

Fang Zelin discovered that the unusual iron ore absorbed lightning and Spiritual Qi, then used lightning and a hammer to forge the two pieces together. After a month, he suddenly understood how to continue shaping the ore.

• Fang Zelin found that lightning bolts turned toward the iron ore and heated it until it glowed red.
• Fang Zelin took the ore to a Yueyang City smithy, where the blacksmith could not melt it even after an hour in the furnace.
• Fang Zelin took the blacksmith's hammer as compensation and returned to Ten Thousand Blades Peak with supplies.
• Fang Zelin repeatedly used lightning to heat the ore and hammered the two pieces together, while the ore absorbed Spiritual Qi as he cultivated.
• A month later, Fang Zelin sensed the ore and suddenly understood how to forge it next.