Chapter Summaries

Fang Zelin realized that an unusually bright moonlight signaled a demon’s cultivation, and an old man appeared, revealing his connection to the Wondrous Blossom and Chu Lixiu. The old man exposed the misfortunes behind Yan Hong'an’s hatred of immortals, leaving Yan Hong'an shaken by the revelation.

• Fang Zelin noticed the moonlight was unusually bright and warned the others that something was amiss.
• An old man appeared and said he had given Chu Lixiu the Wondrous Blossom, regretting that Chu had written about it and exposed his cultivation place.
• Yan Hong'an challenged the old man, accusing immortals of ignoring injustice and helping no one.
• The old man told Yan Hong'an that his wife had died in childbirth and that he had lost a child, startling him with knowledge of his past.
• Yan Hong'an recalled how his physician father-in-law died rushing home for the wedding, followed by his first wife’s death in childbirth, which had fueled his resentment of immortals.

Yan Hong'an challenged the tree spirit over why he did not save everyone, and the spirit explained his motives and defended cultivators who protected the Human Race. The tree spirit gave Wu Biling a Wondrous Blossom to cure her father, then announced he would leave after that day.

• Yan Hong'an accused the tree spirit of refusing to help people despite his great abilities, and the spirit revealed that he was a demon who saved people to accumulate Yin Merit.
• Yan Hong'an suggested the spirit helped people to impress immortals, and the spirit admitted he hoped to avoid their punishment and receive their guidance.
• The tree spirit told Yan Hong'an that cultivators had risked their lives to protect the Human Race, but Yan Hong'an rejected the claim.
• Wu Biling asked for help saving her gravely ill father, and the tree spirit gave her a Wondrous Blossom that would cure him.
• The tree spirit told Wu Biling to keep the gift secret and announced he would leave after that day, prompting her to ask whether the crowds had disturbed his peace.

The tree demon revealed that members of the Demon Race were preparing to join forces against cultivators, while Fang Zelin learned nothing about the strange black cloud he was tracking. Before leaving Pine Mountain, Fang Zelin noticed Wu Biling’s servants coveting her Wondrous Blossom and secretly placed a protective talisman in her waterskin.

• The tree demon said he planned to leave because demons had invited him to join an attack on cultivators and he feared being forced into the conflict.
• Fang Zelin questioned the tree demon about the demons and a strange black cloud, but the tree demon knew nothing about its origin.
• Wu Biling rejoiced over obtaining a Wondrous Blossom, while her servants grew greedy and the tree demon refused to give them blossoms.
• Fang Zelin noticed the servants’ covetous looks and secretly inscribed a talismanic incantation into Wu Biling’s waterskin.
• Fang Zelin bid farewell and disappeared down the mountain before Wu Biling could warn him about the dangers of descending at night.

Wu Biling and her maid descended the mountain with the Wondrous Blossom, while Yan Hong'an watched the tree demon depart and reconsidered his beliefs about the immortals. At a rundown hut, Wu Biling's household guards surrounded the women and demanded the blossom, leaving them threatened and outnumbered.

• Wu Biling and her maid worried that Fang Zelin might be plotting against them, then decided to descend the mountain and rest near the city until daybreak.
• The tree demon grew impatient with Yan Hong'an, declared that finding the immortals was no longer his concern, and vanished.
• Wu Biling gave her household guards instructions and led the group down the mountain, unaware that the guards behind her planned to steal the Wondrous Blossom.
• At a rundown hut, the lead guard demanded that Wu Biling hand over the Wondrous Blossom as the other guards surrounded her and her maid with drawn sabers.
• Wu Biling offered the guards fertile fields and a house if they abandoned their plan, but the lead guard refused and continued to approach.

Wu Biling and her maid escaped the household guards after a golden talisman hidden in their water skin put the guards to sleep, and they realized Fang Zelin had likely protected them. Fang Zelin reached Zhenke and a mountain god, shared news of a plot against cultivators, and left Zhenke gravely concerned for Northern Liang.

• As Wu Biling prepared to hand over the Wondrous Blossom, a golden talisman emerged from the maid's water skin and put the household guards to sleep.
• Wu Biling and her maid fled, then concluded Fang Zelin had used the water skin to protect them after drinking from it earlier.
• Fang Zelin left Pine Mountain and flew with Bearing the Heavens to find Zhenke.
• Zhenke told Fang Zelin that the demon behind the black cloud seemed to be an outsider and that nearby demons had been gathering furtively.
• Fang Zelin told Zhenke that cultivators had been murdered and that demons were plotting against Northern Liang's cultivators.
• Zhenke realized the plot could threaten all Northern Liang cultivators and feared many might die.

Fang Zelin and Zhenke prepared to notify Dinggui Mountain about a deceased fellow cultivator, while Fang Zelin continued pursuing the Demon Race. Before they left, he advised a mountain god whose cultivation had stalled, then explained to Zhenke why cultivators generally did not face the same obstacle.

• Fang Zelin asked Zhenke to notify Dinggui Mountain while he continued following the Demon Race.
• The mountain god asked Fang Zelin and Zhenke for advice because his cultivation had not advanced in a thousand years.
• Fang Zelin learned the mountain god felt lost in a bewildering miasma and told him his Dao Heart was troubled, advising him to cultivate his heart.
• Fang Zelin and Zhenke departed, and Fang Zelin told her cultivators generally avoided the bewildering miasma because their Dao Hearts were firm from thirty years of tempering in the mortal world.

Fang Zelin sent Zhenke to Dinggui Mountain with the bodies of two fellow Daoists while he set out to hunt the spirit behind the scheme. The spirit's ruler learned that Great Qian had sent only two cultivators to Northern Liang and planned to wait until Northern Liang's cultivators fell before drawing Great Qian into the conflict.

• Fang Zelin told Zhenke that the Historical Records of the Immortal Sects contained useful cultivation accounts, and she resolved to read its miscellaneous chapters.
• Fang Zelin gave Zhenke the preserved bodies of the two fellow Daoists and sent her toward Dinggui Mountain.
• Fang Zelin prepared to track down the spirit, confident that Bearing the Heavens could slay it, and decided to rest for the night first.
• A subordinate reported to the figure in the cave that the tree spirit on Pine Mountain had fled, and the figure excused the failure.
• The subordinate said Great Qian had sent only two cultivators to Northern Liang, based on a divination using an iron turtle shell.
• The figure decided to wait for Northern Liang's cultivators to fall before Great Qian would be forced to act.

Zhenke visited Dinggui Mountain and reported the deaths of Chunyun and Danyan, along with evidence that yao spirits were plotting against Northern Liang’s cultivators. Daoist Priest Fuqing thanked her and asked her to stay so she could brief the other cultivators.

• Zhenke arrived at Dinggui Mountain and asked to meet an elder about an important matter.
• Dinggui Mountain cultivators led Zhenke to the main hall, where she met Daoist Priest Fuqing.
• Zhenke placed the bodies of Chunyun and Danyan before Fuqing, and the disciples carried them away in grief.
• Zhenke explained that Chunyun and Danyan had died near Zhen'an Pass and described the investigation that linked their deaths to a yao spirits’ plot against Northern Liang.
• Fuqing thanked Zhenke and her absent companion, then invited Zhenke to stay and tell the other cultivators what she had learned.

Fang Zelin learned that a severe drought had devastated several Northern Liang prefectures and questioned the local land god about it as he continued investigating the yao's plot. A villager mistook her baby's happy reaction to the unseen immortal for something frightening and slapped him, leaving Fang Zelin to witness the child's unforeseen calamity.

• Daoist Master Fuqing arranged a gathering of fellow Daoists to discuss the yao's plot, and Zhenke agreed to stay and meet cultivators from Rising Tide Valley.
• Fang Zelin noticed that his route was bringing him close to Dinggui Mountain, but he found no dense Yao Qi or signs of many yao along the way.
• Fang Zelin helped an old man haul his ox cart and learned that last year's drought had ruined crops across several Northern Liang prefectures and left many people hungry.
• After taking the cart to the village, Fang Zelin summoned the land god and asked about the drought.
• A woman saw her baby smiling and waving toward the apparently empty Land God Temple, panicked, and slapped him; Fang Zelin witnessed the child begin to cry.

After thanking the Earth God, Fang Zelin continued investigating whether a yao had caused the drought and stopped for the night in a dilapidated mountain temple. His spirit rice drew a wary band of merchants inside, and its growing fragrance caught their attention.

• Fang Zelin thanked the Earth God for his information and left to continue investigating the possible cause of the drought.
• Fang Zelin found a dilapidated temple in the mountain forest, cleaned it, and lit a fire to cook spirit rice.
• The fragrance from Fang Zelin’s cooking attracted a group of merchants, who cautiously entered the temple and set up camp.
• Fang Zelin’s spirit rice finished cooking, and the merchants paused over their dry rations as its fragrance grew stronger.

Fang Zelin ate spirit rice in a ruined temple while a group of travelers feared he was a demon. After the travelers fled at dawn, Fang Zelin extinguished their campfire and prepared to continue his journey.

• Fang Zelin ate his spirit rice as Old Wu warned the travelers that the strange young man might be a demon.
• A rabbit with a little spiritual intelligence crept over and ate the leftover rice while Fang Zelin watched without intervening.
• The travelers kept watch through the night, then hurried away at dawn, afraid of the ruined temple and Fang Zelin.
• Fang Zelin extinguished the abandoned campfire with water magic, washed up, and considered which way to travel next.

Fang Zelin picked up the white rabbit that had followed him for spirit rice and carried her to a roadside station, where frightened merchants mistook his arrival for a pursuit. After someone offered to buy the rabbit for meat, Fang Zelin refused and suspected she had awakened a little spiritual intelligence; he planned to let her go later.

• Fang Zelin left spirit rice for the white rabbit, but pheasants ate most of it, so she followed him in hopes of getting more.
• Fang Zelin caught the rabbit and carried her in his arms despite her biting his palm and struggling.
• Fang Zelin reached a roadside station where the merchants from the previous night were resting, and they fled after wrongly suspecting he had chased them there.
• Fang Zelin rested without ordering food because he had little silver, then continued on his way with the rabbit.
• Fang Zelin refused a person's offer to buy the rabbit for meat and concluded that she seemed to have awakened a little spiritual intelligence.

Uncle Wu’s caravan sought shelter at a remote inn while fleeing Fang Zelin, only to enter a place filled with fox spirits. Fang Zelin followed a surge of Yao Qi to the inn with his struggling white rabbit, and the fox spirits set their sights on him and the rabbit.

• Uncle Wu dismissed the possibility that Fang Zelin was harmless and led his men toward a crowded inn to escape him.
• A beautiful woman welcomed Uncle Wu’s caravan, and the fox women served the men wine and food until they grew hazy-eyed.
• Fang Zelin sensed thick Yao Qi near the inn and headed there with the white rabbit in his arms.
• The white rabbit struggled as they approached, sensing danger, while a fox spirit eyed Fang Zelin and considered keeping him as prey.
• Fang Zelin recognized that the inn was full of fox spirits, and the frightened rabbit burrowed into his arms.

Fang Zelin entered an inn run by fox spirits, where traveling merchants believed he was a demon pursuing them. The fox spirits became captivated by his looks and one of them went to approach him.

• Fang Zelin entered the inn after telling the woman outside that he was a wandering Rogue Person.
• A traveling merchant saw Fang Zelin and became frightened, causing the group to grow clearer-headed despite the fox spirits’ spell.
• The merchants warned the fox spirits that Fang Zelin was a demon who had followed them for a day and a night.
• The fox spirits dismissed the warning and admired Fang Zelin, while Old Wu urged them not to trust his handsome appearance.
• One fox spirit said she would take Fang Zelin for herself and rose to approach him.

Fang Zelin confronted the fox spirits in a temple after the traveling merchants mistook him for a yao. He revealed the den’s true appearance and freed the captives, while the fox spirits realized he was an immortal cultivator.

• The traveling merchants suspected Fang Zelin was a yao after hearing him understand their whispers, and a fox spirit invited him to stay and help lure wealthy young women to the den.
• Fang Zelin denied being a yao, said he had come to investigate the yao Qi and stop the killings, and asked the fox spirits to let the other people leave.
• Fang Zelin opened his wine gourd, and golden lesser-seal characters transformed the room, exposing human remains and the fox spirits’ monstrous forms.
• The golden light bound the fox spirits, and Fang Zelin ordered the traveling merchants and other captives to flee.
• The frightened captives scrambled out of the den while the fox spirits recognized Fang Zelin as an immortal cultivator.

Fang Zelin questioned the fox spirits about demons plotting against Northern Liang’s cultivators and discovered they had captured thirty children to trade for protection. He rescued the children and killed the fox spirits, then asked the Night Wandering Gods of Anling to identify the children and return them home.

• Fang Zelin questioned the fox spirits, and their leader admitted that a Demon Race visitor had asked her to join a plot against cultivators.
• The leader revealed that she had promised to provide a hundred children and had captured thirty, so Fang Zelin found them unharmed in a cellar.
• Fang Zelin bound the fox spirits, led the children out of the woods, and annihilated the demons with golden light.
• Fang Zelin summoned the Night Wandering Gods of Anling and asked them to identify the children and send them home.

Fang Zelin rescued the abducted children and waited at the fox spirits’ den for whoever was behind the offerings to arrive. Meanwhile, Zhenke met cultivators from Northern Liang, whose reaction to her having sought the Dao five times left her surprised.

• Fang Zelin handed the rescued children to two Night Wandering Gods, who took them away through the fog.
• Fang Zelin returned to the fox spirits’ houses and waited, hoping to catch the yaoguai’s agents coming to collect the children.
• The traveling merchants and others who had fled the wooden house watched Fang Zelin and realized he had defeated the fox spirits.
• Yunzi and other Northern Liang cultivators arrived at Dinggui Mountain and greeted Zhenke, a cultivator from Jade Willow Mountain.
• Yunzi asked how many times Zhenke had entered Seeking Dao Mountain, and Zhenke answered that she had done so five times in a little over forty years.
• Yunzi froze when Zhenke described her five attempts at seeking the Dao as something to be ashamed of.

Zhenke told the cultivators of Northern Liang that a yao had targeted their people and brutally humiliated two dead cultivators, though its identity and abilities remained unknown. Daoist Fuqing urged everyone to recall their disciples from the mountain as they considered how to respond.

• Yunzi marveled that Zhenke had sought the Dao five times, while Zhenke modestly credited her progress to Senior Fang’s guidance.
• Yunzi led the cultivators into Dinggui Mountain’s hall, where Fuqing served them the mountain’s prized tea.
• Zhenke found the tea pleasant but underwhelming compared with Senior Fang’s wines, though she praised it when asked.
• Zhenke recounted her search from Great Qian and explained that an unknown yao seemed intent on targeting Northern Liang cultivators after tormenting two dead cultivators.
• Daoist Fuqing warned that the yao might be powerful and urged the others to recall disciples who had gone down the mountain.

Northern Liang’s Daoists discussed the demon plotting against their cultivators and the threat to the Human Race Karmic Fortune. Zhenke revealed that Fang Zelin had secured Heaven’s blessing for Great Qian, extending its reign to a thousand years, leaving the Daoists eager to learn how he did it.

• Daoist Fuqing ordered divination, group investigations, and checks on the Northern Liang imperial capital while disciples returned to the mountain.
• Guangchengzi described how exploitation and disasters caused mortal dynasties to fall and new rulers to begin the cycle again.
• Guangchengzi said his observations and divination showed that Great Qian’s imperial star was bright and its reign would last a thousand years.
• Zhenke explained that Fang Zelin had prayed to Heaven for blessings, leading Heaven to bless Great Qian’s emperor and extend the dynasty’s reign.

Zhenke told the Northern Liang cultivators about Fang Zelin’s extraordinary cultivation, his success at praying for blessings, and his wine-scented spell battles. The cultivators became eager to meet him and asked Zhenke to introduce them.

• The cultivators discussed how difficult it was to pray for blessings, and Yunzi and Daoist Fuqing admired Fang Zelin for making heaven hear his prayers.
• Zhenke praised Fang Zelin as Great Qian’s top cultivator, describing his unfathomable cultivation and his ability to guide others into Seeking Dao Mountain.
• Zhenke clarified that she could only speak for Fang Zelin’s standing in Great Qian, but the cultivators remained impressed and said they wanted to meet him.
• Zhenke described Fang Zelin’s gentle manner, fine wine, and habit of carrying his wine gourd and drinking after spell battles.
• Yunzi and the other cultivators asked Zhenke to introduce them to Fang Zelin while he was in Northern Liang.