Chapter Summaries

Fang Zelin entered the highly realistic game Seeking the Dao and discovered that he could walk inside it despite his disability. After reaching the foot of his starting mountain, he found a raging river blocking his way and had no clear means to cross.

• Jiuchuan urged Fang Zelin to play Seeking the Dao and warned him that dying in the game would lock him out for half a month.
• Fang Zelin put on his newly delivered virtual reality helmet and appeared on a mountain peak, where he felt the breeze and sensation in his feet.
• Remembering reports of dangerous wilderness starting locations, Fang Zelin cautiously descended the mountain with a branch.
• At the foot of the mountain, Fang Zelin found a turbulent river blocking his path and realized he could not swim across.
• Fang Zelin considered making a raft but saw that the nearby trees were too large to cut down without tools.

Fang Zelin tried to cross the Yongding River, but the boat sank and he rescued a child instead of the boatman. Stranded on the riverbank with little strength and no food, he learned that help might not arrive soon.

• Fang Zelin hailed a boatman, but the boatman tried to flee and the current drove his boat into a reef, leaving it sinking.
• Fang Zelin swam out on a tree trunk to help the person in the water and pulled a child aboard, while the boatman disappeared beneath the river.
• Fang Zelin struggled back to shore and revived the child, who thanked him after waking.
• Fang Zelin learned that the child had only been riding on the boat and that the river was the treacherous Yongding River.
• Fang Zelin asked whether anyone would come looking for them, and the child explained that the boatman lived alone on his boat, so help might be delayed.

Fang Zelin gathered wood and boat planks to build a raft while stranded with He Chenyi, and found a water-damaged book called the Comprehensive Mirror of Treasured Splendor. As night approached and hunger set in, Fang Zelin logged off to rest, leaving his character without protection.

• Fang Zelin began collecting branches and recovered drifting planks from the sunken boat to improve his chances of crossing the river.
• Fang Zelin found a chest of unreadable books and discovered one legible volume wrapped in oilcloth, the Comprehensive Mirror of Treasured Splendor, which described regional customs and landscapes.
• Fang Zelin learned the boy's name was He Chenyi, and the two gathered wood together while Fang Zelin asked him about the area.
• Fang Zelin searched for a way to catch fish but found no safe place along the rushing river, while He Chenyi said he was not hungry because he had eaten earlier.
• Fang Zelin lay down and logged off, leaving his character dormant without protective measures.

Fang Zelin learned that the game faithfully reproduced players’ real-world bodies, making his own healthy avatar seem like evidence that the game might be a real world. He returned to the island to seek a way out and met the scholar Zhang Weichu, who was secretly a water ghost expected to take Fang Zelin as his replacement.

• A water ghost scholar told He Chenyi that Fang Zelin’s interest in his book made him hesitate to claim Fang Zelin as a replacement, though He Chenyi reminded him that he could not leave the water without one.
• Jiuchuan told Fang Zelin that players entered the game with faithful replicas of their real bodies, but Fang Zelin realized that his avatar had working legs despite his disabled body.
• Fang Zelin studied information about the game and suspected it might be a real world, then hurried back into the game to test whether he could leave the island and learn martial arts.
• Fang Zelin met the soaked scholar Zhang Weichu, who claimed he had fallen into the water and been rescued by the child He Chenyi.
• Fang Zelin invited Zhang Weichu to help build a raft, and He Chenyi warned Zhang Weichu that Fang Zelin was due to fall into the water the next day as his replacement.
• Zhang Weichu overcame his hesitation and went to help Fang Zelin gather wood.

Fang Zelin crossed a river on a crude raft with Zhang Weichu and He Chenyi, then realized both companions might be supernatural beings planning to make him their substitute. He tried to explain that his words condemned their actions, but the chapter left their intentions unresolved.

• Fang Zelin, Zhang Weichu, and He Chenyi boarded their homemade raft and started across the river.
• Zhang Weichu told Fang Zelin that drowned people became water ghosts’ substitutes, and asked whether a ghost was wrong to seek a replacement.
• Fang Zelin noticed Zhang Weichu’s clothes and hair were still dripping, and suspected he was a water ghost trying to drown him.
• He Chenyi described a river child who had begun feeding on humans, and Fang Zelin realized both companions might be hungry for him.
• When Fang Zelin said that heaven and earth destroyed those who did not look out for themselves, Zhang Weichu and He Chenyi took it as approval of their plans.
• Fang Zelin clarified that he meant heaven’s laws would not tolerate people without virtue or good conduct.

Fang Zelin used an appeal to virtue to change Zhang Weichu’s mind and shake the kappa from his greed, though he still fell into the river. After Zhang Weichu rescued him and gave him ten taels of silver, Fang Zelin continued toward Anzi County, hoping to find immortal cultivation.

• Fang Zelin’s words reminded Zhang Weichu of the sages’ teachings and made the kappa fear losing the heavens’ favor.
• Zhang Weichu overturned the raft, then lifted Fang Zelin from the river and carried him to shore.
• Zhang Weichu gave Fang Zelin ten taels of silver and said he would no longer seek a substitute, choosing instead to fulfill his duties as a river ghost.
• The kappa noticed a change in Zhang Weichu and decided to keep watching him.
• Fang Zelin reached the county town, resolved to seek immortal cultivation, and bought three steamed buns.

Fang Zelin settled into an inn in Anzi County and began looking for immortal mountains or Daoist temples. An attendant could offer no confirmed traces of immortals, only rumors of spirits and monsters.

• Fang Zelin saw players dressed as starving refugees lining up for porridge, then went to find lodging.
• Fang Zelin checked into a superior room at There Is an Inn and observed Anzi County’s busy streets and varied styles of clothing.
• Fang Zelin called an attendant and asked whether there were immortal mountains or Daoist temples nearby.
• The attendant said immortals were only the subject of legends, but repeated rumors about a flood dragon in Yunmeng Marsh and a life-giving ginseng in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Fang Zelin planned to learn martial arts while investigating how to cultivate immortality in the game world. After chatting with Jiuchuan about buying him healing plaster, Fang Zelin searched the forum for information about immortal cultivation but found nothing.

• Fang Zelin decided to familiarize himself with the game world, then seek martial arts training and ask around about immortal cultivation.
• After Fang Zelin left the game, Jiuchuan messaged him about medicinal plaster that could heal severed limbs inside the game.
• Fang Zelin avoided telling Jiuchuan that he was not disabled in the game and tried to dissuade him from spending money on plaster.
• Jiuchuan promised to save up for the plaster and imagined that he and Fang Zelin would adventure together as the Black and White Twin Baleful Intents.
• Fang Zelin agreed to tell Jiuchuan later that he had found plaster and healed his legs, then searched the forum for immortal cultivation information but found none.

Fang Zelin learned how Great Jin viewed the arriving foreign visitors and heard that the imperial cabinet planned to help them find work. He remained unconvinced that their modern technology or claims about cultivation could reveal the traces of immortals he sought.

• Fang Zelin browsed the forums, found no useful advice, and returned to the game after eating in the real world.
• Fang Zelin went downstairs at the inn and ordered several dishes as more penniless foreign visitors gathered there.
• Fang Zelin asked the waiter how locals viewed the visitors, and the waiter said Great Jin's emperor had foreseen their arrival in a dream and abolished travel permits.
• The waiter told Fang Zelin that some visitors claimed their world had flying iron birds and ways to communicate over long distances, but Fang Zelin dismissed these as unrelated to immortals.
• The waiter said the imperial cabinet was asking local gentry, officials, and prominent families to offer the visitors work so they could earn a living.

Fang Zelin found no hidden secrets in the book he had recovered, so he decided to seek out a martial hall and begin practicing martial arts. After learning that rapid progress required costly medicine and that the hall taught several disciplines rooted in Internal Force, he considered which path to pursue.

• Fang Zelin examined the book about Great Jin’s customs and governance but found nothing about martial training or immortals, and decided to visit martial halls the next day.
• Fang Zelin entered a reputable martial hall and asked about its best-known arts, how long training took, and whether any method could be mastered quickly.
• A martial artist told Fang Zelin that progress required perseverance, though ginseng and medicinal decoctions could speed training at considerable expense.
• Fang Zelin decided to spend what little money he had and asked about the hall’s swordsmanship, kicking art, and external conditioning, learning that they all depended on Internal Force.

Fang Zelin paid to study swordsmanship and Qi Force, then experienced his first guided flow of Qi Force after drinking a medicinal decoction. Meanwhile, water ghost Zhang Weichu saved a fisherman from drowning, angering another water ghost who feared Zhang would prevent them both from finding substitutes and reincarnating.

• Fang Zelin paid five taels for half a year of martial arts lessons and chose to study sword techniques and Qi Force.
• Fang Zelin heard players discussing newly unlocked quests and their plans to earn money through labor, but he left without joining them.
• The next day, Fang Zelin trained at the martial arts school, drank a medicinal decoction, and let the instructor guide Qi Force through his body.
• Zhang Weichu carried a fisherman safely out of the Yongding River, then vanished into a whirlpool.
• Another water ghost confronted Zhang Weichu for saving people and worried he would keep them both trapped at the river bottom.

Zhang Weichu received a decree from the City God of Anzi County, granting him entry into the Underworld Bureau after his virtuous deeds earned Yin Merit. He credited Fang Zelin for showing him the way and left intending to thank him, while another water ghost decided to follow his example.

• A water ghost warned Zhang Weichu not to interfere when he tried to claim a replacement, and Zhang Weichu hesitated over whether saving such a victim was right.
• The river boy arrived and offered Zhang Weichu a decree allowing him to serve under the Civil Judge and receive incense offerings.
• The river boy explained that Zhang Weichu had accumulated Yin Merit by saving people from drowning.
• Zhang Weichu credited Fang Zelin with guiding him, and the river boy speculated that Fang Zelin might be an immortal's disciple.
• Zhang Weichu accepted the decree and departed, while the other water ghost hurried off, hoping to earn the same reward by saving people.

Fang Zelin mastered Qi Force in the martial arts world and returned to reality to test whether he could sense it there. After nearly half a month of trying, he briefly sensed a strand of Qi Force, but it vanished when the auntie called him to lunch.

• Fang Zelin showed faint signs of Qi Force during training, and his fellow martial artists praised his quick progress.
• A senior brother warned Fang Zelin that his foundations were unstable, and Fang Zelin accepted the advice before returning to reality.
• Fang Zelin practiced martial arts at home and continued trying to sense Qi Force without medicinal decoctions.
• The auntie's knock disrupted Fang Zelin's concentration, and he briefly sensed a strand of Qi Force inside his body.
• The auntie called Fang Zelin to lunch, and the Qi Force he had sensed vanished.

Fang Zelin confirmed he could sense Qi Force, then traveled to the other world and obtained a Qi refinement manual from Zhang Weichu. After studying it, he saw a towering mountain, while the Civil Judge explained that reading the manual alone could not begin the path of cultivating immortality.

• Fang Zelin sensed Qi Force for an instant and realized his martial arts practice could work across both worlds.
• Fang Zelin entered the other world, where Zhang Weichu thanked him for his guidance and offered to bring him a Qi refinement manual.
• Zhang Weichu delivered the manual, and Fang Zelin spent the day studying it at the inn.
• After finishing the book, Fang Zelin saw a towering mountain surrounded by mist, cranes, and colorful clouds.
• The Civil Judge told Zhang Weichu that reading a Qi refinement manual alone was not enough to cultivate immortality.

Fang Zelin received a Daoist initiation in a mysterious mountain vision and awakened to Qi cultivation, which swiftly improved his swordsmanship. At the martial arts school, his senior brothers invited him to join a hunt for a deadly beast on Wangqing Mountain, and the bounty caught his interest.

• Fang Zelin met an old fisherman in a mountain vision, who declared that he had the makings of a Daoist and sent a drop of water into his brow.
• Fang Zelin returned to the inn, understood the Qi cultivation book, and cultivated through the night as Spiritual Qi flowed into his body.
• Fang Zelin went to the martial arts school and found that his Wind-Riding Sword had improved dramatically after cultivating Qi.
• Fang Zelin's senior brothers told him that a wild beast on Wangqing Mountain had killed more than thirty people and that the county magistrate had offered thirty taels of silver for its capture.
• Fang Zelin's senior brothers suggested taking him along to hunt the beast the next day, and he welcomed the chance to earn silver.

Fang Zelin learned that a beast had been attacking people on Wangqing Mountain and prepared to join the hunt, while players mistook the bounty notice for a game quest. The City God ordered an investigation, and Fang Zelin returned to the real world without telling Jiuchuan that martial arts could be practiced there.

• Senior Brother Pang told Fang Zelin that three senior brothers would join the hunt for the beast on Wangqing Mountain the next day.
• Fang Zelin saw a notice warning people away from Wangqing Mountain and offering thirty taels of silver to whoever killed the beast.
• A group of players discussed the bounty as though it were a game quest, and several decided to hunt the beast for the reward.
• The City God ordered underworld officials to investigate Wangqing Mountain after hearing that many common people had died there.
• Fang Zelin received Jiuchuan's message about saving one tael of silver and offered to give him a few taels, but kept his discovery about practicing martial arts in the real world secret.

Fang Zelin dismissed Jiuchuan’s plan to travel, browsed a forum post about brothels, and tried unsuccessfully to cultivate spiritual power in the real world. The next day, he joined Senior Brother Pang and two others to go hunting in the mountains, borrowing a sword for the trip.

• Jiuchuan told Fang Zelin to wait until he had learned martial arts before they met to take quests and seek cultivation methods, while Fang Zelin worried about the dangers of traveling through the wilderness.
• Fang Zelin read a forum post about players visiting brothels, then dismissed it and returned his attention to cultivating immortality.
• Fang Zelin cultivated all day but sensed no spiritual power, though he briefly detected Qi Force.
• The next morning, Fang Zelin went to the martial arts school for the planned mountain hunt, and Senior Brother Pang lent him a sword.
• Two people came out of the school and told Senior Brother Pang they were ready to leave.

Fang Zelin and his three senior brothers climbed Wangqing Mountain to investigate the beast that had killed more than thirty people, while crowds of people also headed into the mountain. As Zhang Weichu and another underworld official set out to warn them away, a bloodstained milu deer rose nearby with a vicious look in its eyes.

• Fang Zelin and his three senior brothers reached Wangqing Mountain and found crowds of people heading up to hunt the beast.
• Senior Brother Pang led the group around the crowd and into the forest using Qi Force and lightness skills.
• Senior Brother Pang studied the reports and guided the group toward a valley where bodies had been found.
• Zhang Weichu and another underworld official searched the mountain for the beast but found no trace of it.
• Zhang Weichu and the underworld official sensed the crowd climbing the mountain and went to warn them to leave.
• A bloodstained milu deer rose nearby as the underworld officials departed.

Fang Zelin searched Wangqing Mountain for the beast that had injured more than thirty people and reunited with Zhang Weichu, who had become an underworld official. Zhang Weichu recognized Fang Zelin as an immortal’s disciple and left the hunt to him, believing the demon would stay hidden while they remained nearby.

• Fang Zelin searched Wangqing Mountain with other teams but found no trace of the beast.
• Zhang Weichu urged players to leave the mountain, but they refused because they wanted the reward.
• Zhang Weichu greeted Fang Zelin and learned that he had comprehended the Qi Refining book and begun cultivation.
• Zhang Weichu told his colleague that Fang Zelin was an immortal’s disciple who had helped him become an underworld deity, and the colleague proposed assisting Fang Zelin.
• Zhang Weichu refused to stay, reasoning that the demon would not appear while they were nearby and that they might interfere with Fang Zelin’s hunt.

The deer demon escaped the Underworld officials and was discovered by a group of bounty hunters in the mountain woods. After defeating the hunters and Senior Brother Pang, it hesitated to kill them, fearing Fang Zelin might be an immortal’s disciple who had come for it.

• Zhang Weichu and his colleague concluded the deer demon had gone into hiding and left the area, and the deer soon slipped away from Fang Zelin.
• A group of players searching the mountain spotted the deer’s bloodstained antlers and mistook it for the bounty target.
• The deer demon knocked down the hunters with a gust of demonic wind, then defeated the people who rushed to help them.
• Senior Brother Pang attacked the deer but was thrown back, and he warned the others that it had become a demon.
• The deer recalled the Underworld official’s words about Fang Zelin and hesitated to kill the people, fearing it would bring about its own doom.