Chapter Summaries

Chen Du stopped forming Essence Platforms at ten and went up the mountain with Side-Swept Bangs to explore and attempt to ignite his Essence Fire. He rested beneath a wild peach tree, sent his cat to keep watch, and began cultivating, wondering whether he would be the first person to ignite Essence Fire during the resurgence of spiritual energy.

• Chen Du stopped eating spirit fruits after forming ten Essence Platforms and prepared to ignite them.
• Chen Du found Yunzhi using his disposable milk tea cup, explained that it was meant to be thrown away, and gave her a ceramic cup instead.
• Chen Du left Yunzhi to watch the temple and took Side-Swept Bangs up the mountain to look for signs of spiritual plants or concentrated spiritual energy.
• Chen Du climbed easily with his new Essence Platforms, found no unusual gathering of spiritual energy, and rested beneath a flowering wild peach tree.
• Chen Du told Side-Swept Bangs to keep watch, sat cross-legged, and continued trying to ignite his Essence Fire.

Chen Du lit his ten Essence Fires, refined a spiritual fruit into five-elements spiritual energy, and began developing his own cultivation method. As he left South Mountain with Side-Swept Bangs, the cat sensed something unusual below, and a black dot on Chen Du’s Earth Sage seal began jumping wildly.

• Chen Du successfully lit all ten Essence Fires and realized he could sense and refine spiritual energy.
• Chen Du swallowed a spiritual fruit, whose energy his Essence Fires refined into magic power and five-elements spiritual energy.
• Chen Du decided to forge his own path as a cultivator, since no one seemed to have gone ahead of him or could teach him.
• Chen Du found Side-Swept Bangs perched in a bird’s nest and coaxed the cat down with the promise of warm food.
• As Chen Du and Side-Swept Bangs descended South Mountain, the cat sensed something below, the Earth Sage seal’s black dot jumped, and a flock of birds took flight.

Chen Du and Yunzhi investigated a yao’s escape and found an ancient Earth Sage seal and a restricted stone casket. The casket opened to reveal a sword and another jade plaque, leaving Chen Du with an unexplained relic and no clear account of the mountain’s markings.

• Chen Du saw a smoke-like yao flee down the mountain and noticed a black dot vanish from the seal, so he went to investigate with the cat.
• Yunzhi joined Chen Du and examined a pit where the yao had escaped, finding a jade plaque that said an Earth Sage had suppressed a yao for a hundred years.
• Yunzhi uncovered stone fragments and an intact stone casket, but its restriction repelled her; Chen Du touched it safely as a white dot on his seal trembled.
• The cat nudged the tilted casket lid open, revealing decayed cloth, an ancient longsword, and an intact jade plaque bearing another Earth Sage inscription.

Chen Du examined the sealed longsword and worried that the escaped yao might return to the temple, while Yunzhi tried to learn modern customs from instant noodles. When Chen Du restamped the jade tablet with the matching seal, the mountain’s spiritual energy surged into it.

• Chen Du took the longsword from the stone casket and led Yunzhi down the mountain with Senior Xie and the casket.
• Chen Du taught Yunzhi how to prepare instant noodles, and she copied his actions and marveled at their taste.
• Chen Du inspected the longsword, found it ordinary, and wondered whether the escaped yao might seek revenge or expose the temple.
• Chen Du compared the seal with the impression on the jade tablet and stamped it again, drawing the mountain’s wind, starlight, moonlight, and spiritual energy into the tablet.

Chen Du realized the jade tablet was an Earth Sage Seal that could command the mountain’s spiritual qi, but he could not leave the mountain to pursue the escaped demon. Yunzhi volunteered to search for it and persuade it to return, leaving Chen Du to hope her plan worked while he investigated the seal.

• Chen Du recognized the restored jade tablet as an Earth Sage Seal with divine power, but worried he could not find or capture the escaped demon.
• Yunzhi sensed moonlight essence flowing into the temple and concluded the immortal master’s power was extraordinary.
• At breakfast, Yunzhi inferred that Chen Du was troubled by the escaped demon and offered to search for it.
• Yunzhi proposed reasoning with the demon and invoking Chen Du’s name to frighten it before resorting to a fight.
• Chen Du agreed to send Yunzhi to search around the mountain, then turned his attention back to unlocking the seal’s powers.

Chen Du discovered that Earth Sage’s seal could channel mountain spiritual energy to carry out written commands, and he used it to move an ancient peach tree to the temple. Yunzhi prepared to search farther afield for the escaped demon while a visitor from the mortal world posted a video about her strange mountain visit.

• Chen Du found that ordinary writing on bluestone, stamped with Earth Sage, could draw on the mountain’s spiritual energy to fulfill commands, though the yellow paper failed.
• Chen Du tested the seal on plants, stones, and the cat, then used it to move the ancient peach tree from the summit to the temple courtyard.
• Yunzhi found the peach tree gone from the summit and discovered it had appeared at the temple; she reported that she had found no trace of the demon.
• Chen Du told Yunzhi she could search the distant mountain villages and advised her to avoid confronting the demon if she found it.
• Two hundred li away in Yidu, the young woman edited and posted a video about her weekend mountain hike, the Daoist temple, and the temple cat chasing a snake.

Boss Liao heard that Lord Linji’s temple had trapped visitors who claimed the deity wanted to eat sheep, and he recommended that the town seek help from the mountain temple. Back at the temple, Chen Du trained his cat and Yunzhi while an approaching vehicle prompted Yunzhi to go answer the door.

• Old Li told Boss Liao and Zhang that people had been trapped inside Lord Linji’s temple after hearing a voice demand sheep.
• Boss Liao praised Xuanshuo’s abilities and showed Old Li and Zhang a Douyin post about the mountain temple.
• Chen Du asked Side-Swept Bangs about cultivating qi and studying spells, then told the cat to keep learning so he could protect him.
• Chen Du brought Senior Xie to watch television with Yunzhi, who continued worrying that the missing yaoguai had escaped her patrols.
• Hearing a vehicle approach, Yunzhi recognized that someone had arrived and went to open the door.

Yunzhi learned that strange events at Linji Temple had begun last month, before the demon escaped from the mountain, and went to investigate the temple that night. Chen Du stayed behind, tested the limits of his mountain seal by creating stone furniture, and noticed Side-Swept Bangs was missing.

• Chen Du questioned the two men about the disturbances at Linji Temple and learned that a door bearing a door-god image kept returning after being removed.
• Chen Du learned that the temple’s elderly resident had fled to town and told the men to return home while Yunzhi investigated that night.
• Yunzhi suggested the temple’s trouble might come from something awakened at the foot of the mountain, and Chen Du warned her that the demon often posed as a door god.
• Yunzhi went down the mountain alone to find Linji Temple, while Chen Du remained unable to leave the mountain.
• Chen Du used a stone talisman to create a table and stools, reflecting on the seal’s powers and limitations.
• Chen Du called for Side-Swept Bangs and realized his cat was missing.

Yunzhi investigated strange happenings at a temple and discovered a powerful demon posing as its door god. Her plan to persuade him to return to the mountain failed when she realized he was unintelligent, and her illusion spell was blocked.

• Senior Xie led Yunzhi to a butcher shop, where the shopkeeper gave him meat, before she continued toward the temple.
• Yunzhi entered Lord Linji’s temple, sensed divine light on the statue, and decided to report her discovery to the Immortal Master.
• A fierce wind trapped Yunzhi inside the temple, and she recognized that the demon was hiding in the doors and demanding goats.
• Yunzhi threatened and tried to persuade the demon to surrender, but he repeatedly insisted that he was a door god.
• Yunzhi realized the demon was unintelligent and used her Like a Dream illusion, but the door declared itself impassable and repelled the spell.

Yunzhi fought a sealed demon inside a dark temple but could neither harm it nor escape, so she returned to Chen Du for help. Chen Du lent her the treasured sword, and Yunzhi went back down the mountain to face the demon while he wondered whether he truly had a way to subdue it.

• Yunzhi used the darkness to evade the demon and wore down its magic, but its tough body and impenetrable doors left her unable to defeat it or escape the temple.
• Yunzhi called on nearby animals for help, then escaped through a roof opening with Senior Xie, who had come to retrieve a cat.
• Yunzhi told Old Li that the temple disturbance was under control and returned to the mountain to ask Chen Du for a weapon.
• Yunzhi explained that the demon was exhausted but too durable for her to hurt, and asked to borrow the treasured sword.
• Chen Du lent Yunzhi the sword, and she went back down the mountain while he wondered whether he had a way to subdue demons and exorcise evil.

Chen Du learned from the cat how Yunzhi had defeated a giant spider monster with the treasured sword and brought it back to the temple. After the spider broke the temple gate and begged for mercy, Chen Du decided it could not be released, and the damage gave him an idea for what to do with it.

• Chen Du questioned the cat about its trip down the mountain and heard how it had watched Yunzhi and the monster.
• Yunzhi returned to the temple, used the treasured sword to injure the giant spider, and shrank it with an illusion before bringing it to Chen Du.
• Chen Du told Yunzhi to keep the spider sealed, but it broke free of her hand and smashed into the temple gate.
• Chen Du used the jade plaque to frighten the spider into begging for mercy, then considered keeping it suppressed and using the broken gate to strengthen the temple.

Chen Du bound the spider demon to the Taoist temple's gate as its Door God, then praised Yunzhi for handling the danger without letting outsiders see the fight. The next morning, local men investigated the damaged earth god temple, and Chen Du finished setting rules for the new guardian before visitors arrived.

• Chen Du sealed the spider demon into the Taoist temple's gate, wrote the reason for its binding on the jade tablet, and named it Door God.
• Chen Du summoned his treasured sword back, asked Yunzhi about her second trip down the mountain, and praised her for keeping the fight inside the temple.
• Yunzhi considered asking Chen Du for spells, while Side-Swept Bangs avoided revealing more about the Taoist's abilities.
• Old Li and the middle-aged man surnamed Zhang found the earth god temple's gate missing and its interior damaged, then decided to ask the Taoist temple about it.
• Chen Du instructed Door God not to harm or frighten people and to keep demons and ghosts from entering the Taoist temple, promising it food if it behaved.

Chen Du settled the aftermath of the mountain’s supernatural incident, tested his spiritual sword, and continued developing his temple’s powers. Yunzhi worried about the new Door God but felt reassured when Chen Du gave her money, a new hen to buy, and lessons on riding his electric tricycle.

• Chen Du told the local officials that Yunzhi had handled the incident and asked them not to spread the story; Zhang offered to seek cultural-relic funding for temple repairs.
• Chen Du trained the Door God to follow his rules, then tested his treasured sword and found it could cut paper without touching it.
• Yunzhi worried that the Door God surpassed her in cultivation and made plans to improve her modern knowledge and catch up.
• Senior Xie changed the television channel, startling Yunzhi with images of a web-swinging figure and a hammer-wielding figure summoning lightning.
• Chen Du gave Yunzhi money to buy food and another laying hen, then offered to teach her to ride his electric tricycle, reassuring her that she had a place at the temple.

Chen Du taught Yunzhi to ride an electric trike and sent her down the mountain to town, where she struggled through the crowds, overheard people praising the Taoist temple, and went to buy laying hens. The chapter ended with Yunzhi asking the chickens which one laid the most eggs.

• Chen Du taught Yunzhi the trike’s controls, and she learned to ride it around the courtyard.
• Chen Du explained the trike’s features and road rules, gave Yunzhi money for clothes, and sent her to town.
• Yunzhi slowly pushed the trike through the crowded market and bought bones for the fellow Daoists who had helped her.
• Yunzhi overheard townspeople discussing the temple’s recent success and stopped to listen to more gossip.
• Yunzhi went to a chicken coop and asked the hens which one laid eggs most often and best.

Chen Du cultivated beneath the Three-Pearl Tree and learned to use fire- and water-element spiritual qi while the temple grew busier with visitors. After Yunzhi mentioned a restriction in the study and bowed to someone or something inside, Chen Du suspected a hidden spirit and entered the room with his cat and treasured sword to investigate.

• Chen Du cultivated beneath the Three-Pearl Tree, bringing his total to eleven Essence Platforms and practicing breath techniques that could ignite paper, extinguish fire, and create mist or dew.
• Two middle-aged men brought offerings and helped Chen Du apply for funds to repair a historical relic as more pilgrims and young visitors came to the temple.
• Yunzhi bowed to the study and said a restriction kept her from entering, leading Chen Du to realize she might have been addressing something inside.
• Chen Du recalled that Yunzhi had avoided the study before and worried a hidden spirit might know about his diary and cultivation research.
• After sending Yunzhi down the mountain for food, Chen Du summoned his treasured sword and cat, then entered the study to investigate.

Chen Du confronted a tiny book spirit hiding in the study and learned that it had secretly watched him deceive Yunzhi. Shu Yidu pleaded for his life and offered his knowledge of the Daoist temple and the books he had eaten.

• Chen Du drew his sword and threatened the unseen presence in the study while Side-Swept Bangs searched with him.
• Shu Yidu emerged from a bookshelf and asked Chen Du to keep the cat away from him.
• Shu Yidu explained that he had eaten an immortal's books during the Ming dynasty, gained a spirit's form, and been sealed on the back mountain.
• Shu Yidu said he had escaped a month earlier, hidden in the study, and witnessed Chen Du's encounter with Yunzhi without revealing himself.
• Chen Du accused Shu Yidu of knowing his secret and reading his diary, but Shu Yidu denied reading it and offered to be useful.
• Shu Yidu said he knew things about the Daoist temple and had several classics in his mind after eating its pages.

Chen Du discovered that the tiny bookworm Shu Yidu could read sealed knowledge by eating books, then found evidence that he had been punished for stealing books long ago. Chen Du kept Shu Yidu confined to the study as a translator and cultivation adviser, leaving him unable to meet Yunzhi.

• Chen Du questioned Shu Yidu about the temple and learned he could absorb a book’s meaning by eating its written pages.
• Chen Du tested Shu Yidu with Yang Xiong’s Model Sayings and placed talisman seals on him to prevent him from leaving or using magic.
• Chen Du excavated two stone boxes and a jade plaque behind the study, confirming Shu Yidu had been suppressed for stealing books.
• Shu Yidu ate part of Model Sayings and revealed that it contained the Greater Earth Evasion spell.
• Chen Du offered Shu Yidu food and protection in exchange for translating classics, but kept him confined to the study so he could not meet Yunzhi.

Chen Du learned about the ancient temple’s origins, cultivation practices, and the history of spiritual qi from the little figure, then considered creating a modern cultivation ranking system. Meanwhile, Yunzhi returned from shopping, and a girl on a train found a video about an extraordinary Daoist temple on a mountain.

• Chen Du opened a stone box containing a bell and jade tablet, and the little figure explained that the bell had gained the power to calm the mind after spending time with an immortal.
• The little figure admitted that it had attained physical form by eating the immortal’s journal and had been punished for eating it again.
• The little figure described ancient cultivation practices and explained that cultivation ranks emerged later as Daoists exchanged ideas; it suggested Chen Du could establish ranks for the modern era.
• Chen Du questioned the little figure about spiritual qi’s cycles and its concentration at the temple, but the little figure could only offer guesses.
• Yunzhi returned from shopping, and Chen Du heard her sound the horn.
• A girl scrolling Douyin on a train found a video describing an extraordinary Daoist temple on a mountain.

A nearly broke girl decided to visit Earth Sage Temple after watching a video about its clever cat and reading comments praising the temple. There, Chen Du received the translation of Greater Earth Evasion and considered how to test the spell, while Yunzhi spoke with visitors and the girl asked to stay overnight.

• The girl watched a video of a cat chasing a snake at Earth Sage Temple, dismissed the comments as planted at first, then decided to visit despite her dwindling savings.
• The little fellow gave Chen Du the translated Greater Earth Evasion spell and told him that one passage denying the existence of immortals had no hidden meaning.
• Chen Du wondered why that passage was unchanged and decided to have Yunzhi test the spell before he practiced it himself.
• Yunzhi told an elderly couple that the temple offered a free first night and inexpensive meals, while noticing the girl listening nearby.
• The elderly couple decided to stay, and the girl also politely asked Yunzhi for a room.

Chen Du rewarded Yunzhi with a cultivation technique after she taught Xie the Night Tour of the Palace, while a young guest’s unusual interest in the temple’s treasure tree prompted him to have the cat watch her. The cat reported that she had done nothing suspicious, though he was irritated by how much she wanted to pet Xie.

• Yunzhi told Chen Du that the Door God had obeyed the rules, and Chen Du promised to buy him a cheap chicken to restore his strength.
• Yunzhi reported that an elderly couple and a young girl from Yidu were staying at the temple, and she noted the girl’s unusual interest in the treasure tree.
• Chen Du learned that Yunzhi had taught Xie the Night Tour of the Palace and gave her the Greater Earth Evasion technique in return.
• The young girl sensed spiritual energy around the treasure tree and spent the day petting Xie, while Chen Du asked the cat to keep watch on her.
• The cat followed the girl throughout the day and later told Chen Du that she liked the tree and Xie but had done nothing else unusual.