Chapter Summaries

Meng Yunqing survived his tribulation and attained the body of a True Dragon, with Fang Zelin’s guidance earning the Dragon King’s gratitude. The Dragon King returned with his son to the dragon palace and announced a grand banquet, leaving the Aquatic Race and Meng Yunqing’s relatives reacting to his sudden achievement.

• Meng Yunqing descended after passing his tribulation, thanked Fang Zelin, and was invited by the Dragon King of the Jing River to a banquet.
• The Dragon King took Meng Yunqing into the Yongding River to recuperate, while Fang Zelin encouraged the deer demon and another demon to cultivate.
• On the way to the dragon palace, the Dragon King told Meng Yunqing to treat Fang Zelin as a benefactor and his senior, and Meng Yunqing asked about learning to summon clouds and bring rain.
• The Dragon King announced a True Dragon banquet in half a month to celebrate Meng Yunqing’s achievement.
• Aquatic Race kings prepared gifts for the banquet, while Meng Yunqing’s elders and peers felt conflicted or pressured by his success.

Fang Zelin learned from the medicine boy that herbs cultivated from seeds had greater medicinal potency than mature herbs replanted from Wangqing Mountain. As spring arrived, Fang Zelin watched fish demons carrying goods through the Yongding River for the Jing River Dragon Lord’s banquet and resolved to make more friends among fellow cultivators.

• Fang Zelin asked the medicine boy whether his regrown ginseng leaves could be picked, then told him to watch the medicinal field while Fang Zelin prepared to visit the Dragon Palace.
• The medicine boy explained that herbs cultivated from a young age with the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique had greater medicinal potency than mature herbs replanted from Wangqing Mountain, so Fang Zelin abandoned the idea of gathering more herbs there.
• As early spring arrived, mist settled over Yingping Peak and the Yongding River, while locals grew used to the river boy rescuing people from the water.
• Fishermen spotted immense shoals of fish in the Yongding River, and Fang Zelin recognized them as fish demons hauling chests for the Jing River Dragon Lord’s banquet.
• Fang Zelin watched a black flood dragon pass through the fish demons and decided to build ties with other cultivators so he could have friends to invite to his hundredth birthday.

Demons gathered near Fallen Phoenix City and plotted to destabilize the Great Jin Dynasty so they could devour its human fortune, celebrating Demon King Wu’s return. Fang Zelin was summoned by the Dragon Lord of the Jing River to attend a banquet, and the fish demons arrived to escort him.

• A demon reported that Grandfather Tree had been killed, apparently after suffering a heavenly tribulation, and warned the others to avoid cultivators near the ends of their lives.
• The demons learned that Demon King Wu had returned to exploit Great Jin’s recovering human fortune and the fortune brought by foreign visitors.
• The demon leader ordered the others to cause locust plagues, floods, droughts, and corruption among officials to push Great Jin toward collapse.
• Fang Zelin noticed Bearing the Heavens could no longer keep up, then used the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique and prepared to cook.
• Fish demons arrived from the Yongding River with a sedan chair and invited Fang Zelin to the Dragon Lord of the Jing River’s banquet.

Fang Zelin traveled by sedan chair toward the Jing River Dragon Palace as aquatic guests gathered to celebrate Meng Yunqing’s success in attaining a True Dragon body. The Dragon Lord kept the method secret from his kin, including Lady Jade River, and prepared to welcome Fang Zelin with Meng Yunqing.

• Fang Zelin boarded the dry, pearl-adorned sedan chair and traveled toward the Jing River Dragon Palace.
• Aquatic Race guests crowded the Dragon Palace, where many dragons discussed how Meng Yunqing had succeeded in his tribulation.
• The Dragon Lord refused to reveal Fang Zelin’s involvement or explain Meng Yunqing’s success, despite his kin’s questions.
• Lady Jade River pleaded with the Dragon Lord to tell her how to attain a True Dragon body, but he urged her and the others to return to their seats.
• After his kin left, the Dragon Lord summoned Meng Yunqing and told him to welcome Fang Zelin, then keep a low profile at the banquet.

Fang Zelin arrived at the Dragon Palace for the Aquatic Race banquet celebrating Meng Yunqing’s transformation into a True Dragon. The Dragon Lord treated him as an honored peer and seated him beside the place of honor, while the other guests wondered who he was.

• Fang Zelin crossed into the strange underwater realm and arrived at the Dragon Palace, where Meng Yunqing and the Dragon Lord greeted him.
• Fang Zelin asked the Dragon Lord to change how he addressed him, and they agreed to treat each other as peers.
• The Dragon Lord led Fang Zelin into the banquet and seated him in the place of honor on his right, puzzling the Aquatic Race guests.
• The Dragon Lord toasted the gathering in celebration of Meng Yunqing attaining the body of a True Dragon, and the guests offered their congratulations.
• Fang Zelin sampled the wine and delicacies and watched the mermaids perform while the banquet grew lively.

The Great Marsh Dragon King tried to use Xiao Qin to learn about Fang Zelin, but the young dragon instead approached him hoping to trade a drink for mortal-world toys. Fang Zelin had no toys to give her, but invited her to sit beside him as the Dragon Lord left to attend to other guests.

• When the demons questioned Meng Yunqing about Fang Zelin, he only said that Fang Zelin was Uncle Fang.
• The Great Marsh Dragon King coaxed Xiao Qin into approaching Fang Zelin by promising she might get mortal-world treats in return for a gift.
• Xiao Qin gave Fang Zelin a small porcelain bottle of sweet drink and asked him for toys such as a pellet drum, shadow puppets, or little sugar figurines.
• Fang Zelin said he had no toys with him, and Xiao Qin began to leave disappointed.
• Fang Zelin called Xiao Qin back and invited her to sit beside him, while the Dragon Lord went to attend to other friends.

An overseas demon named Chen Shanyao arrived at the Jing River Dragon Palace and urged the Dragon Race to help plunder Great Jin’s fortune. The Dragon Lord rejected him, but Chen Shanyao’s claims stirred the gathered dragons, and Fang Zelin told Xiao Qin they were nonsense.

• Xiao Qin poked Bearing the Heavens and asked whether it was alive, and Fang Zelin explained its spirituality.
• A shrimp soldier announced that an enormous overseas envoy had come to congratulate the second prince on attaining a True Dragon body.
• The Dragon Lord and his guests went outside, where Chen Shanyao introduced himself as a king from the East Sea and said he had come to Great Jin seeking a share of its fortune.
• Chen Shanyao suggested that Great Jin would soon fall and urged the Dragon Race to flood it and seize the Human Race’s fortune so they could attain more True Dragon bodies.
• The Dragon Lord condemned the proposal and ordered Chen Shanyao to leave, but Chen Shanyao’s argument stirred the gathered dragons.
• Xiao Qin asked whether her elders lacked True Dragon bodies because of their rivers, and Fang Zelin said Chen Shanyao was talking nonsense.

Fang Zelin stopped Chen Shanyao from persuading the Dragon Race to seize Great Jin’s fortune, then revealed his power by helping Xiao Qin approach the body of a True Dragon. Terrified, Chen Shanyao fled toward the East Sea.

• Fang Zelin warned Xiao Qin that Chen Shanyao was a bad person and reminded the Dragon Race that easy cultivation in the East Sea would have left Chen Shanyao no reason to covet Great Jin’s fortune.
• Chen Shanyao challenged Fang Zelin, who identified himself as a cultivator and warned that anyone who meddled with Human Race fortune would have difficulty leaving Great Jin.
• Chen Shanyao argued that demons would take Great Jin’s fortune whether or not he acted, but Fang Zelin condemned seizing it as cutting off the Human Race’s path.
• Fang Zelin touched Xiao Qin between the brows, causing her to transform into a dragon as True Dragon Qi appeared and her scales shone.
• Chen Shanyao fled several hundred li, then decided to return directly to the East Sea.

Xiao Qin received Fang Zelin’s guidance and showed the potential to become a True Dragon, while the other dragons realized their earlier behavior had cost them a chance to seek his help. After learning that demons and monsters would grow more active as Great Jin declined, Fang Zelin left the dragon palace to strengthen his cultivation.

• Xiao Qin transformed into a dragon, and Meng Yunqing and the other dragons realized she could eventually become a True Dragon.
• The dragons discovered Chen Shanyao had fled, and Fang Zelin decided to let him go as long as he stopped targeting the Human Race’s fortune.
• The Dragon King told the dragons Fang Zelin would not guide them because their earlier behavior showed their Dao did not accord with his.
• Fang Zelin decided to return and cultivate so he could face the demons and monsters expected to appear as Great Jin declined.
• Xiao Qin asked Fang Zelin to take her to the human world, and he told her she could visit when she was older before leaving in a seahorse-drawn sedan chair.

Fang Zelin returned to Yingping Peak, cultivated, and spent the passing season tending his fields before hearing that the Great Jin emperor was gravely ill. When a red star appeared in the sky, he and Zhang Weichu recognized it as Mars Guards the Heart and feared the dynasty’s end was near.

• Fang Zelin returned to Yingping Peak, sent the Aquatic Race shrimp soldiers away, and cultivated with Bearing the Heavens.
• Fang Zelin played Go with the old Daoist on Seeking Dao Mountain and lost from a nearly hopeless position.
• As early summer arrived, Fang Zelin harvested his spirit rice, brewed some into wine, and stored the rest.
• Zhang Weichu told Fang Zelin that the emperor’s health was failing, officials were being exiled, and hardship was driving people toward Yuanqing Prefecture.
• Fang Zelin and Zhang Weichu saw a fiery red star on the horizon and identified it as Mars Guards the Heart, an omen that could be used to inflame bloodshed.

The second prince investigated the Zhou Household’s role in the proposal to send the princes out of the capital as the emperor’s health worsened and court intrigue intensified. At Jade Void Mountain, Yunyi brought her disciple to meet Qingyun and Qingcheng, who learned that the young woman had passed the Heart-Questioning Trial but had not yet entered Seeking Dao Mountain.

• The second prince questioned a subordinate about the Imperial Astronomical Bureau’s warning and ordered him to investigate whether the Zhou Household was colluding with any prince.
• The emperor’s worsening health fueled his suspicion of those bringing him food, and his executions happened to target eunuchs who had passed messages to the third prince.
• Qingyun told Qingcheng that his divinations had failed to reveal what the Mars Guards the Heart omen portended.
• Yunyi arrived at Jade Void Mountain with her disciple and asked Qingyun and Qingcheng to help the young woman enter Seeking Dao Mountain.
• Yunyi explained that her disciple had entered the Heart-Questioning Trial, surprising Qingyun and Qingcheng.

Yunyi and Zhenke visited Qingyun and Qingcheng on Jade Void Mountain, where they learned that a powerful True Person Daomiao had guided Qingyun into Seeking Dao Mountain but could not be found. With Great Jin’s allotted fortune reduced to about two years by the Mars omen, Yunyi prepared Zhenke for the coming calamity and discussed the demons and fiends with her senior brothers.

• Qingyun and Qingcheng praised Zhenke for passing the Heart-Questioning Trial, then welcomed Yunyi and Zhenke to Jade Void Mountain.
• Qingyun told Yunyi that True Person Daomiao had guided him into Seeking Dao Mountain, but he did not know where the cultivator had gone.
• Zhenke worried that Yunyi would perish in Great Jin’s coming tribulation, and Yunyi urged her to cultivate so she could protect ordinary people from demons.
• Qingyun estimated that Great Jin had only about two years of allotted fortune remaining because Mars hung high overhead.
• Yunyi sent Zhenke to rest, then asked Qingyun and Qingcheng about the celestial omen and the demons and fiends appearing across the land.

Fang Zelin tended his spirit plants, then followed music on the Yongding River to meet the hidden master aboard a pleasure boat. He gave her fragments of a piece he remembered, and she agreed to stay until she completed it.

• Fang Zelin watered the herb field with the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique and teased the herb boy about giving him ginseng essence.
• Fang Zelin ate spirit rice and went to the Yongding River to quiet his mind and temper his heart.
• Fang Zelin heard a melody from a pleasure boat and crossed the river to ask to meet the musician.
• Fang Zelin told the woman behind the screen that he remembered fragments of a piece and wrote them down for her.
• The woman agreed to complete the piece and stay until it was finished, and Fang Zelin left happily.

Fang Zelin gave Shang Lewei an incomplete score, and she began working to finish the unusual piece while her maid Xiao Xiao wondered about the handsome musician. Later, Meng Yunqing and Xiao Qin visited Fang Zelin for a meal, and Xiao Qin offered him a conch shell as thanks.

• Shang Lewei studied Fang Zelin's incomplete score and decided to stay on the boat for a few days to finish it.
• Fang Zelin returned to the riverbank, spread his awareness over the water, and cultivated while listening to Shang Lewei practice the piece.
• Xiao Xiao teased Shang Lewei about Fang Zelin's looks, but Shang Lewei denied that immortals existed and returned to refining the music.
• Meng Yunqing and Xiao Qin arrived to visit Fang Zelin, and Meng Yunqing asked to eat his rice again.
• Xiao Qin offered Fang Zelin a conch shell as a treasure in return for his past kindness, and Fang Zelin asked what it did.

Fang Zelin welcomed Shang Lewei to play the piece Falling into the Mortal World for his guests. After her performance, he offered her Clear as Empty, and she experienced the wine’s extraordinary effects.

• Xiao Qin gave Fang Zelin a sound-recording conch, and he accepted it and promised her extra spirit rice.
• Fang Zelin heard Falling into the Mortal World from a pleasure boat and agreed to Meng Yunqing’s suggestion to invite its musician over.
• Meng Yunqing brought Shang Lewei to Fang Zelin’s retreat, where she recognized him as the person who had provided the score.
• Shang Lewei played Falling into the Mortal World for Fang Zelin, Meng Yunqing, and Xiao Qin.
• Fang Zelin praised Shang Lewei and offered her Clear as Empty, whose first sip made her feel as though she had entered an immortal realm.

Shang Lewei woke aboard her pleasure boat believing her encounter with Fang Zelin had been a dream, but a pearl on her wrist proved it had happened. After she sailed away from Yingping Peak, Fang Zelin returned to tending his crops and promised Xiao Qin a jar of Clear as Empty when she became a True Dragon.

• Shang Lewei woke on the pleasure boat and learned from Xiao Xiao that she supposedly had never left it, but found a pearl on her wrist and realized her meeting with Fang Zelin had been real.
• Shang Lewei told Xiao Xiao they could leave and said she had already played her piece for the young gentleman.
• Xiao Qin pointed out that Shang Lewei's pleasure boat had sailed away from the Soul-Bewildering Formation, and Fang Zelin let it go, noting that Meng Yunqing had given her a pearl to ward off evil and illness.
• Fang Zelin explained to Meng Yunqing how his Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique differed from the Dragon Race's spell and continued tending his spirit rice.
• Fang Zelin caught Xiao Qin trying to sneak Clear as Empty and promised her a jar when she attained the body of a True Dragon.

Fang Zelin experimented with shaping Yongding River water into weapons and used a technique from the Comprehensive Regulations of the Underworld Bureau to enchant a chain against evil. He realized the chain could hold more incantations and set out to strengthen it further.

• Fang Zelin teased the medicine boy for wilting in the heat, then reminded him that he had failed to learn from the Immortal Master's teachings.
• Fang Zelin formed a sword from river water and split a rock, while Bearing the Heavens grew jealous of the new weapon.
• Fang Zelin transformed the water sword into a chain and found that it was more powerful than the other weapons he tried.
• Fang Zelin consulted the Comprehensive Regulations of the Underworld Bureau and cast the Slay Evil and Suppress Baleful Intent Incantation into one link of the chain.
• Fang Zelin realized the chain could hold more incantations and thought that adding them would greatly increase its power.

Fang Zelin stored Slay Evil and Suppress Baleful Intent Incantation seal-script characters in his wine gourd, giving himself another way to face enemies. The next day, he contemplated the river in the rain and explained his approach to cultivation, though the tiger and deer yao still could not understand it.

• Fang Zelin realized he could preserve incantations in the Spiritual Qi-rich Clear as Empty wine, then filled the gourd with seal-script characters until his Spiritual Power ran out.
• The tiger and deer yao watched Fang Zelin store the incantations and feared how unfathomable he had become.
• Fang Zelin cooked dinner, then replenished his Spiritual Power through cultivation while supplying Bearing the Heavens first.
• After waking the next morning, Fang Zelin summoned spiritual rain for the herb boy and later sat beside the river as a downpour began.
• The herb boy said Fang Zelin was cultivating by watching the river, while the tiger and deer yao moved closer to observe.
• Fang Zelin told the yao that contemplating the workings of heaven and earth was cultivation and urged them to put more heart into it, but they still could not grasp the practice.

Fang Zelin agreed to investigate Zhang Family Village after Zhang Weichu reported that a man from there had lost one ethereal soul and one corporeal soul and carried a trace of Yao Qi. He reached the village and encountered an elderly man who urged him to leave before dark.

• Zhang Weichu told Fang Zelin that a man from Zhang Family Village had fled disaster with signs of a possible demon encounter and asked him to investigate.
• Fang Zelin agreed to help and rode the giant tiger toward the village, telling it to hide while he went inside.
• Fang Zelin found the village run-down, with many fields overgrown, and asked an elderly man why the villagers were not tending them.
• The elderly man warned Fang Zelin to leave before dark and continued toward the village.

Fang Zelin stayed in Zhang Family Village to repair Old Zhang’s hut and discovered the villagers were arguing over sending someone to face a danger tied to their missing children. Old Zhang volunteered to go in Fang Zelin’s place as the villagers followed him out of the ancestral hall.

• Fang Zelin helped Old Zhang into his hut and repaired its roof despite the old man urging him to leave before nightfall.
• Fang Zelin noticed that nearly everyone in Zhang Family Village was elderly and that there were no children around.
• After the villagers gathered in the ancestral hall, Fang Zelin followed them and overheard their argument about sending an outsider to help bring their children back.
• Old Zhang offered to go himself, saying he had no family and believed the villagers would soon choose him anyway.
• The villagers accepted Old Zhang’s offer, and he walked toward the door with them following.