Chapter Summaries

Fang Zelin subdued a female ghost at the Wang residence and arranged for her grievance to be judged by the authorities. Afterward, he learned from Yang Xiang that the old Daoist had mistaken him for an experienced cultivator, and heard how immortal sects train and test their disciples.

• Fang Zelin drew Bearing the Heavens and its sword presence frightened the female ghost into pleading for mercy.
• The female ghost accused the Wang Household of killing her after she became pregnant, while a woman from the household disputed her account.
• Fang Zelin ordered Master Wang to take the person responsible to the government office and had Yang Xiang capture the female ghost in his gourd.
• After they left the Wang residence, the old Daoist questioned Fang Zelin about pretending to be inexperienced, and Fang Zelin explained that he had cultivated alone and knew little about cultivation.
• The old Daoist explained that immortal sects sent disciples into the mortal world for thirty years of tempering, and said he had completed twenty-eight years and did not know whether he would pass.

Fang Zelin discussed the importance of virtue and careful judgment with the old Daoist, then took a female ghost and her unborn child to the City God's temple. After learning the old Daoist could lead him to his sect when his trial ended, Fang Zelin agreed to wait for him at the departure point.

• The old Daoist explained that disciples spent decades undergoing trials to temper their character and described a senior who had mistakenly killed a spirit without investigating its actions.
• Fang Zelin reflected that making the martial hall's swordsmanship public in Anzi County might have been a failing in virtue and resolved to repay the martial hall someday.
• Fang Zelin visited the City God's temple with the old Daoist and handed over the female ghost and her unborn child.
• Fang Zelin learned that the old Daoist could not see the City God because he had not yet entered the Dao.
• The old Daoist explained that trial disciples were not told their sect's location, then offered to take Fang Zelin there when his trial ended, and Fang Zelin agreed.

Fang Zelin traveled into Yuanqing Prefecture and found the roads, grain convoys, and farmland unusually well maintained. He took shelter in a ruined temple and unexpectedly reunited with Jiuchuan, an old friend who had been trying to reach him for over a year.

• Fang Zelin parted ways with the old Daoist and continued toward Yuanqing Prefecture, planning to reconnect after the Daoist finished his trials.
• Fang Zelin entered Yuanqing Prefecture and saw repaired roads, grain convoys, and harvested rice paddies.
• Fang Zelin realized he had run low on silver and traveled too far to reach an inn before nightfall.
• Fang Zelin followed firelight to a ruined temple, where Jiuchuan and his companions discussed scouting Cloud-Linking Mountain and building a city.
• Jiuchuan recognized Fang Zelin, hurried over, and complained that Fang Zelin had disappeared without replying to his messages for over a year.

Fang Zelin met Jiuchuan near Yuanqing Prefecture and learned that Blazing Summer was preparing to build cities in Cloud-Linking Mountain as people made plans for possibly moving into Seeking the Dao. Fang Zelin decided to seek the spirits’ cooperation, while Jiuchuan invited him to meet his wives the next day.

• Fang Zelin joined Jiuchuan and the others by the fire, where Jiuchuan explained that Blazing Summer was clearing land in Cloud-Linking Mountain to build cities.
• Jiuchuan told Fang Zelin that people on Earth suspected they might have to enter Seeking the Dao permanently, and Fang Zelin inferred why Blazing Summer was expanding in Yuanqing Prefecture.
• Fang Zelin proposed building City God and mountain god temples and planned to ask Cloud-Linking Mountain’s spirits for land rather than risk a direct conflict.
• Fang Zelin asked Jiuchuan about people from abroad, but Jiuchuan only knew that they were reportedly in other barbarian lands.
• Jiuchuan told Fang Zelin to meet him the next day, and the others revealed that Jiuchuan had married several wives.

After returning to Yuanqing Prefecture, Fang Zelin visited Jiuchuan’s residence and met his three wives. Jiuchuan welcomed him with food and wine, while explaining how he had saved a few bottles of Passing the Spring Shade.

• Jiuchuan teased Fang Zelin about his looks and advised him to marry a well-bred woman from the Great Jin Dynasty.
• After a quiet night, Fang Zelin and the others set out and returned safely to bustling Yuanqing Prefecture.
• Jiuchuan explained that Blazing Summer had stopped buying grain in some regions to avoid worsening shortages, then bought grain in Jiangnan after its bumper harvest lowered prices.
• Jiuchuan brought Fang Zelin to his residence, where Fang met his three wives, including a third wife who had reached the realm of a first-rate expert.
• Fang Zelin recognized the Passing the Spring Shade Jiuchuan served, and Jiuchuan said he had saved a few bottles brought by his wife’s family.

Fang Zelin explored Yuanqing Prefecture before heading into Cloud-Linking Mountain, where a mysterious, contained fire had been burning for some time. As he entered, a wild bear and an enormous python set out to find humans who might help Grandfather Tree extinguish the fires in exchange for territory.

• Fang Zelin promised Jiuchuan a taste of his Clear as Empty wine once it was ready, then left after Jiuchuan became tipsy.
• Fang Zelin toured Yuanqing Prefecture and headed toward Cloud-Linking Mountain with Bearing the Heavens.
• A passerby warned Fang Zelin about a strange fire burning in a limited area deep in the mountain.
• A wild bear and an enormous python discussed how humans might help Grandfather Tree put out the mountain fires in return for a patch of territory.
• The wild bear and the enormous python waited at the mountain path and spotted Fang Zelin walking in alone.

Fang Zelin met two demons who led him through a mountain fire to their Grandfather Tree, which promised him land for a city and other rewards if he extinguished the blaze. After learning that visitors from another country had already made progress fighting it, Fang Zelin stepped up to try putting it out himself.

• A wild bear told Fang Zelin that Grandfather Tree would grant him territory if he helped extinguish the fire.
• The wild bear and a giant python led Fang Zelin through the forest toward the blaze, where the fire burned the demons but did not affect him.
• Grandfather Tree offered land, protection, and other benefits, including help with cultivating immortality, in exchange for extinguishing the fire.
• Grandfather Tree explained that the blaze was connected to a tribulation the Demon Race faced when its cultivation matured, and said earlier visitors had made progress fighting it.
• Fang Zelin approached a burning tree and reached out to put out the flames, while Grandfather Tree warned him to bring more people.

Fang Zelin exposed the tree demon’s buried victims and refused to help it, provoking its attack. He and Bearing the Heavens prepared a powerful sword strike, ending with an enormous blade phantom forming overhead.

• Fang Zelin pushed over the burning tree and found countless bones, including children’s skulls, tangled in its roots.
• The tree demon attacked Fang Zelin with a root, but he cut it apart with his treasured sword and kicked the severed piece into the fire.
• Fang Zelin called on Bearing the Heavens to help him strike the tree demon, while the black bear and giant python fled.
• Fang Zelin poured his Spiritual Power into the Bearing the Heavens Sword as the tree demon raised a vast net of roots to block him.
• Bearing the Heavens lifted Fang Zelin into the air, and an enormous blade phantom appeared, darkening heaven and earth.

Fang Zelin used the Bearing the Heavens Sword to sever the tree demon’s roots and open a ravine through which heavenly fire could reach it. The Yuanqing City God and his underworld officials arrived and began pulling up the weakened demon’s roots.

• The Yuanqing City God sensed Fang Zelin’s sword force and ordered the underworld officials to go after the tree demon.
• Fang Zelin saw that the tree demon had endured the heavenly fire by using the bones and wronged souls buried beneath it, and rejected its defense of devouring people.
• Fang Zelin brought down a powerful sword strike that cut through the tree demon’s root net and carved a deep ravine into the earth.
• The strike left Fang Zelin drained and unsteady, and he struggled to remain standing as he watched the flames.
• The Yuanqing City God and Judge Wen arrived with the underworld officials, who pulled the tree demon’s severed roots from the ground while the heavenly fire burned them.

Fang Zelin and the City God’s forces destroyed the thousand-year-old tree demon after the City God used a Soul-Bewildering Formation to keep approaching mortals away. With the wronged souls being taken to the City God Temple, Fang Zelin left, hoping to learn the formation for Yingping Peak.

• Judge Wen asked why Fang Zelin had not struck again, and the City God surmised that he had left the tree demon for them to finish off.
• The City God ordered an underworld official to set up a Soul-Bewildering Formation, trapping approaching martial artists in the mist and preventing them from reaching the demon.
• Fang Zelin recovered while the City God and the underworld officials uprooted the tree demon and burned it to ashes with heavenly fire.
• Fang Zelin saw the countless bones buried beneath the ground, and the City God explained that the demon had planned to trick Yuanqing Prefecture’s people into helping it survive and replenish its vitality.
• The City God prepared to take the tree demon’s wronged souls to the Underworld Bureau, while Fang Zelin decided he would ask to learn the Soul-Bewildering Formation and then departed through the mist.

Fang Zelin left Cloud-Linking Mountain and recovered his Spiritual Power at an inn while Bearing the Heavens absorbed most of the Spiritual Qi. After the mist cleared, the people on the mountain found buried remains and a massive fresh trench, and suspected an immortal had slain a demon there.

• Fang Zelin promised Bearing the Heavens more Spiritual Qi so it could recover and grow strong enough to carry him in flight.
• Fang Zelin returned to Yuanqing Prefecture and cultivated at an inn, letting Bearing the Heavens absorb most of the Spiritual Qi until its glow returned.
• The mist on Cloud-Linking Mountain dispersed, and the people there found scorched earth covered with exposed bones and the buried bodies of missing companions.
• The people formed groups of three and discovered a fresh trench dozens of meters deep that had cleaved the scorched earth in two.
• The onlookers connected the trench, the buried dead, and the strange mist to the phantom sword and speculated that an immortal had slain a demon.

Fang Zelin learned from the Yuanqing City God why the ancient tree demon had gone unchecked and asked for the Soul-Bewildering Formation. He then discovered that Bearing the Heavens had stored the Spiritual Qi it absorbed and released it to amplify their sword strike, leaving him eager to cultivate more.

• The Yuanqing City God thanked Fang Zelin for killing the tree demon and explained that it had survived since before the Great Han Dynasty, growing powerful amid centuries of demonic chaos.
• Fang Zelin asked why the City God had not stopped the demon sooner, and the City God described the wars and devastation caused by demons and devils across successive dynasties.
• The Yuanqing City God agreed to send Fang Zelin the Soul-Bewildering Formation before taking his leave.
• Fang Zelin questioned Bearing the Heavens about the extraordinary power of their strike and learned it had stored Spiritual Qi in its blade and released it all at once.
• Fang Zelin realized he could have Bearing the Heavens absorb more Spiritual Qi during cultivation to make their future sword strikes even stronger.

Fang Zelin visited Jiuchuan after dealing with the demon on Cloud-Linking Mountain, where he heard that people believed an immortal had slain it. After saying his business was finished, Fang Zelin left, and Jiuchuan wondered whether they had become people of different worlds.

• Fang Zelin praised Bearing the Heavens for learning to absorb more Spiritual Qi and went to visit Jiuchuan.
• Jiuchuan and his wives discussed reports that an immortal had split a sea of flames on Cloud-Linking Mountain and slain a demon buried among countless bones.
• Fang Zelin told Jiuchuan that the sword strike did not prove an immortal had appeared and might have become exaggerated through rumor.
• Fang Zelin said he had found the person he sought in Jiangxing Prefecture and would soon return home; Jiuchuan invited him to visit again.
• After Fang Zelin left, Jiuchuan watched him go and reflected that they seemed to have become people of different worlds.

Fang Zelin returned to Anzi County and Yingping Peak, where he apologized for passing on the Wind-Riding Sword Art, settled in to cultivate, and formed a mist barrier around the peak. As he prepared to stay in seclusion for two years, he discovered a ginseng spirit in the medicinal garden.

• Fang Zelin apologized to the martial arts school's master for teaching the Wind-Riding Sword Art to someone else, and the master explained that the art was not restricted.
• Fang Zelin left a peace-and-warding spell in the school's main hall before returning to Yingping Peak with medicinal herb seeds.
• Fang Zelin cleaned his cabin, tended the spirit rice, and planted ginseng and other herbs before planning to cultivate in seclusion for two years.
• Fang Zelin cast the Soul-Bewildering Formation, surrounding Yingping Peak with mist that allowed boats to pass but prevented them from reaching the peak.
• Fang Zelin sensed a powerful presence in the medicinal garden and recognized the small leafy figure that appeared as a ginseng spirit.

Fang Zelin took in the ginseng spirit, which promised to tend his medicinal fields in exchange for spiritual rain. After the spirit and Bearing the Heavens settled their dispute over who was boss, Fang Zelin opened his newly brewed wine and decided to save it for guests and a tasting in Jiuchuan.

• The ginseng spirit asked Fang Zelin to let it stay so it could cultivate near him and receive his spiritual rain.
• Fang Zelin agreed to let the ginseng spirit tend the medicinal fields, warning it to hide from outsiders.
• The ginseng spirit tried to make Bearing the Heavens call it Boss, but surrendered when the sword released its pressure.
• The ginseng spirit began tidying the medicinal garden while Bearing the Heavens returned to Fang Zelin's side.
• Fang Zelin opened his wine jar, admired the fragrant Clear as Empty, then sealed it to share with guests and take some to Jiuchuan.

Fang Zelin cultivated, tended his garden, and entered a profound state while listening to the stream before welcoming two familiar demons. As the tiger and deer demons sought his guidance, Meng Yunqing of the Jing River arrived and was shocked by Fang Zelin's Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique.

• Fang Zelin cultivated until Bearing the Heavens Sword finished absorbing its daily share of Spiritual Qi, then ate and watered his medicinal garden.
• Fang Zelin listened to the stream and entered a meditative state, awakening around midday with a butterfly on his shoulder.
• The tiger demon and deer demon visited with medicinal herbs, and Fang Zelin told the ginseng child to plant them.
• The ginseng child revealed he had become Fang Zelin's medicine attendant, making the two demons jealous, and Fang Zelin promised to guide them when the opportunity arose.
• Meng Yunqing emerged from the Yongding River, introduced himself as being from the Jing River, and stared in shock at Fang Zelin's rain technique.

Fang Zelin guided Meng Yunqing, the second prince of the Jing River Dragon Palace, toward insight into how the Dragon Race might attain a True Dragon’s body. Meng Yunqing remained absorbed in contemplation while Fang Zelin returned to reading.

• Meng Yunqing told Fang Zelin that he had settled nearby while searching for him on his royal father’s behalf.
• Meng Yunqing asked Fang Zelin to guide him toward becoming a True Dragon, and Fang Zelin stopped him from kneeling.
• Fang Zelin asked why the Dragon Race, as head of the Aquatic Race, built its palaces beneath rivers rather than above the heavens.
• Fang Zelin explained how streams and rivers flowed into the Jing River and said that rivers and seas became kings of the valleys by taking the lower place.
• Meng Yunqing began contemplating Fang Zelin’s words, while Fang Zelin told the two yao not to disturb him and resumed reading.

Fang Zelin visited Seeking Dao Mountain again, where an old Daoist invited him to play Go and implied he would return. Back at his cabin, Fang Zelin agreed to water the spirit rice twice a day to encourage more harvests.

• Fang Zelin arrived at Seeking Dao Mountain, where the old men recognized him as a frequent visitor.
• The old fisherman sent Fang Zelin to join an old Daoist, who had just called a Go game with a boy a draw.
• Fang Zelin played Go against the old Daoist, found his black stones increasingly surrounded, and left when he sensed he had to return.
• Fang Zelin woke in his wooden cabin and learned from the medicine boy that the spirit rice had grown sturdier and produced new seedlings.
• Fang Zelin agreed to cast the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique each morning and evening, then used it to water the plants.

Fang Zelin shared his Clear as Empty wine with Zhang Weichu and He Chenyi, who praised its extraordinary flavor, and Zhang later delivered a bottle to Judge Wen. As Meng Yunqing continued meditating beneath the snow, Fang Zelin agreed to celebrate the approaching New Year and planned to buy supplies in Anzi County.

• Fang Zelin welcomed Zhang Weichu and He Chenyi, who noticed Meng Yunqing meditating nearby.
• Fang Zelin served the two visitors Clear as Empty, and they admired the wine’s fragrance, taste, and ability to reflect the sky in its cups.
• Fang Zelin gave Zhang Weichu a small bottle of Clear as Empty for Judge Wen.
• Judge Wen tasted the wine and praised it, but the City God arrived and tried to snatch the bottle.
• The herb boy worried about snow covering Meng Yunqing, but Fang Zelin assured him the dragon was fine and told him to keep sweeping.
• Fang Zelin agreed to celebrate the New Year and said he would go to Anzi County to buy supplies.

Fang Zelin celebrated New Year's Eve on Yingping Peak while Meng Yunqing remained motionless by the stream. On the Lantern Festival, Meng Yunqing passed Heaven's tribulation and gained the body of a True Dragon, and the Dragon King of the Jing River invited Fang Zelin to a banquet at the Dragon Palace.

• Fang Zelin decorated Yingping Peak for the New Year, celebrated with the tiger demon and deer demon, and left Meng Yunqing undisturbed.
• On the Lantern Festival, Meng Yunqing transformed into a dragon and rose into the sky to seek Heaven's investiture.
• Meng Yunqing endured lightning and heavenly fire, then drew up the waters of a hundred rivers and passed the tribulation.
• The Dragon King of the Jing River thanked Fang Zelin for guiding Meng Yunqing and invited him to the Dragon Palace's True Dragon banquet.
• Fang Zelin accepted the invitation, curious to visit the Dragon Palace.