Chapter Summaries

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.

After months of forging and cultivation on Ten Thousand Blades Peak, Fang Zelin completed a lightning-infused treasured sword that could fly and seemed connected to his mind. He survived its trial against the thunderclouds, then left to seek immortals, while the red panda chose to stay behind.

• Fang Zelin finished forging a small treasured sword that held lightning and responded to his thoughts.
• The sword flew into the thunderclouds to fight the lightning, but Fang Zelin called it back when it was overwhelmed.
• Lightning struck Fang Zelin after he grabbed the sword, and he used the Wind-Riding Sword Art to redirect the bolts away from himself.
• After the thunderclouds dispersed, Fang Zelin wrapped the sword in an outer robe and asked the red panda to come seek immortals with him.
• The red panda turned back toward the mountain, so Fang Zelin let it stay and departed alone.

Fang Zelin returned to Yueyang City, then logged out to Earth and discovered winter had arrived. There, Chu Xike found him and invited him to eat, and her friend arrived, teasing her about being on a date.

• Fang Zelin booked a room in a crowded Yueyang City inn, cleaned up, and asked his treasured sword to kill anyone who tried to sneak in.
• Fang Zelin returned to Earth, took out the rubbish in his wheelchair, and noticed that snow had begun to fall.
• Chu Xike recognized Fang Zelin outside the residential complex, pushed his wheelchair, and invited him to eat with her.
• Chu Xike ordered food at a restaurant, then asked Fang Zelin if her friend could join them, and he agreed.
• Chu Xike's petite friend arrived, looked Fang Zelin over, and teased Chu Xike for being on a date with him.

At a restaurant, Chu Xike and Qiao Shanzi discussed their progress in real-world martial arts and the Martial World Rankings while Fang Zelin listened and searched for information. Fang Zelin said a berry in Seeking the Dao had healed his legs in the game, though he still could not stand in reality, and the three settled in to share their meal.

• Qiao Shanzi showed Chu Xike her newly attained martial arts strength by cutting a restaurant glass with Qi Force, and Chu Xike revealed she had reached that level half a month earlier.
• Fang Zelin looked up the Martial World Rankings and learned that the top-ranked practitioner had reached the level of a third-rate expert.
• Chu Xike stopped Qiao Shanzi from questioning Fang Zelin about his in-game strength and offered to help him find Severance and Mending Salve.
• Fang Zelin told the women that a berry in Seeking the Dao had healed his legs in the game, though he still could not stand in the real world.
• Fang Zelin searched for news about Seeking the Dao abroad but found none, and the server brought out the dishes while refusing payment for the broken glass.

Fang Zelin finished a meal with Chu Xike and Qiao Shanzi, then returned to Seeking the Dao and chose Sunset Cliff as his next destination in search of an immortal abode. As he traveled from Yueyang City toward the sea, he noticed many armed travelers heading the same way.

• Qiao Shanzi asked Fang Zelin about his encounters with spirits, and he said one had nearly killed him.
• Chu Xike paid for the meal and agreed that Fang Zelin could treat her next time; afterward, she scolded Qiao Shanzi for prying into his private life.
• Fang Zelin returned to Seeking the Dao, found his silver and room undisturbed, and set out after checking the frost-covered rooftops.
• Fang Zelin ruled out Yunmeng Marsh and chose Sunset Cliff as a place to investigate for signs of an immortal abode.
• Fang Zelin left Yueyang City toward the sea and noticed groups of imposing, armed travelers heading in the same direction.

Players gathered near Yueyang City to investigate the disappearances and deaths in Zhao Family Village, where many suspected a spirit was responsible. Fang Zelin discovered that alluring women were leading the players into a deep pool disguised by pink mist, and the first men were about to step into it.

• A traveler learned that the county magistrate had offered a bounty for investigating the missing people and constables in Zhao Family Village, while many players came hoping to see a spirit.
• Fang Zelin heard the players discussing the suspected spirit and decided to follow them to the village.
• The players found piles of bones near the village entrance, and Fang Zelin recognized the remains of children and constables among them.
• Several beautiful women claimed to know where the evil spirit was and persuaded the players to follow them toward the nearby mountains.
• Fang Zelin saw through the pink mist and realized the supposed mountains were a deep pool as the men at the front stepped toward it.

Fang Zelin encountered the three skeleton spirits again and tried to stop them from luring bewitched players into a pool. After his sword destroyed one spirit’s illusionary attack, he charged at another, leaving the fight unresolved.

• Fang Zelin blocked the players from approaching the pool and recognized the women as skeleton spirits he had fought months earlier.
• The skeleton spirits said they had grown stronger by absorbing Yang Qi and blood, while the bewitched players ignored Fang Zelin’s warning.
• Fang Zelin used spiritual power to disperse the pink mist, but the leading skeleton spirit sent an illusionary venomous snake at him.
• Fang Zelin drew his sword and cut the snake in two as the three skeleton spirits launched their attacks.
• Two skeleton spirits vanished, and the remaining one prepared to coordinate with them before Fang Zelin’s sword magic broke through and he charged at her.

Fang Zelin killed three skeleton spirits that had slaughtered Zhao Family Village, with the Earth God’s help to expose and bind the last one. The Earth God then took Fang Zelin aside to explain why he had let the demons run rampant, while nearby players recovered from the spirits’ mind-controlling Law Technique.

• Fang Zelin slew two skeleton spirits, and the surviving third sister fled underground after swearing revenge.
• Fang Zelin called for Zhao Family Village’s Earth God, who drove the hidden skeleton spirit out of the ground and bound her.
• Fang Zelin cut down the final skeleton spirit and asked the Earth God why he had allowed the demons to massacre the village.
• The Earth God asked Fang Zelin to speak privately and vanished with him.
• The players regained control of themselves and discussed how the skeleton spirits had made them lose consciousness and how easily Fang Zelin had slain the demons.

After Fang Zelin helped the Land God defeat the three skeleton spirits, the Land God revealed that a corpse lay beneath the village pool. Fang Zelin buried its remains and received the Treatise on Supreme Resonance, a genuine Daoist cultivation technique, which he planned to test on his treasured sword.

• The Land God thanked Fang Zelin for killing the three skeleton spirits and explained how they had destroyed his statue and terrorized Zhao Family Village.
• Fang Zelin asked the Land God where he could find immortal abodes, but the Land God knew only of Dao-cultivation-related things beneath the village pool.
• The Land God brought forth the skeleton of a Daoist-robed corpse, and Fang Zelin carried it away and buried it.
• Golden light rose from the grave, and Fang Zelin used his Spiritual Power to touch it and receive the Treatise on Supreme Resonance.
• Fang Zelin read the cultivation technique and decided to try it on his treasured sword.

After Fang Zelin left the village, the Great Marsh Dragon King discovered that a red panda had gained intelligence and refined its transverse bone from spending months near Fang. The red panda revealed that Fang had invited it to come along, but it had refused, leaving the Dragon King furious that it had passed up an immortal opportunity.

• Fang Zelin finished the grave mound, erected a gravestone, and left to study the Treatise on the Supreme One's Response.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King encountered a red panda and questioned it after noticing its unusual Spiritual Power and refined transverse bone.
• The red panda explained that it had gained intelligence and learned to speak after spending months near Fang Zelin.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King realized the red panda had been near the profound True Person his older cousin had told him to watch for and asked where Fang had gone.
• The red panda said Fang had invited it to come along, but it had declined because it preferred its freedom.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King erupted in anger, then left after deciding the newly intelligent red panda could not understand the opportunity it had refused.

Fang Zelin practiced Supreme Sensitivity in the Seeking the Dao World, then returned to Earth to eat and witnessed the two worlds briefly appearing to merge. After Blazing Summer announced that Great Jin was real, Fang Zelin realized he might now be able to enter the Seeking the Dao World in his physical body.

• Fang Zelin used Supreme Sensitivity to connect with his treasured sword and absorb Spiritual Qi, then ate spirit rice when hunger struck.
• Fang Zelin returned to Earth, cooked instant noodles, and watched the evening traffic as people hurried home to enter the Seeking the Dao World.
• Fang Zelin and people across Earth saw a Golden Crow-like sun and the Great Jin world appear in the sky before the vision faded.
• Blazing Summer announced that Great Jin was real and said people would eventually be able to travel there directly.
• Fang Zelin touched his helmet, sensed his other self and its dense Spiritual Power, and realized he could enter the Seeking the Dao World in his physical body.