Chapter Summaries

Yu Tunzhou delivered fish through the town as the thirty-year trial began and sought a way to obtain a cultivation method before his time ran out. After refusing to surrender his share to powerful residents, he entered a household where a teacher was explaining the many paths to an immortal foundation.

• Yu Tunzhou cast a divination beneath the eaves and drew the auspicious Qian hexagram as the rain eased.
• Mo Laoliu told Yu Tunzhou that the thirty-year trial had begun and arranged for him to deliver extra fish to the households.
• Yu Tunzhou recalled how he had been pulled into the town three years earlier and learned that he had become one of the trial's potential victims; Mo Laoliu urged him to keep practicing Taijiquan.
• Luo Shiwu refused to take Yu Tunzhou as a disciple, while the noble girl told him not to antagonize Yu Tunzhou because he might help her contact the town guardian.
• Yu Tunzhou delivered fish to the town's households and refused attempts to take his share, citing Mo Laoliu's rules.
• Yu Tunzhou entered a household and heard a teacher explain different cultivation methods and paths to an immortal foundation.

Yu Tunzhou listened as Zhang Qingtong explained cultivation, then faced the despair of being denied a sect and Qi Ingestion Method with renewed resolve. After learning that the town concealed a suppressed master and legendary inheritances, Yu Tunzhou left for his mountain hut, reflecting on the mysterious golden characters he had seen and vowing to reach the world beyond the town.

• Zhang Qingtong let Yu Tunzhou listen to his teachings in exchange for the goodwill of bringing him fish, and introduced Xie Linchuan as his disciple.
• Zhang Qingtong explained Qi Ingestion, meditation, the cultivation realms, and the legendary Dao Sprout Immortal Embryo, while telling Yu Tunzhou that the town's households would not take him in.
• Zhang Qingtong provoked Yu Tunzhou to confront his despair, but Yu Tunzhou answered that he would keep living and endure hardship until his fortune changed.
• Zhang Qingtong revealed that a former unrivaled champion was suppressed beneath the Luofu Grotto-Heaven and had left behind the Book of Changes, the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic, and a supreme fist manual.
• Zhang Qingtong refused Yu Tunzhou's offer of dragon fish in exchange for a Qi Ingestion Method, and Yu Tunzhou left after thanking him.
• As Yu Tunzhou walked toward his mountain hut, he recalled the golden characters he had seen on his first day in town and resolved to see the vast world beyond it.

Yu Tunzhou prepared to trade his dragonfish for a Qi Ingestion method as the town’s immortal seed selection approached. Daoist Priest Shouxin asked him to clean an ancestral residence, while reflecting on Yu’s unusual ambition and the forces gathering around him.

• Yu Tunzhou returned to his mountain home, fed Dingguang lunch, and learned that Master Xuanku expected the town to grow lively as immortal seed selection neared.
• Yu Tunzhou practiced Taijiquan and wondered whether its calming effect could help him enter meditation and sense mysterious Qi.
• Daoist Priest Shouxin praised Yu’s practice, asked whether he considered himself a gentleman, and requested that he clean the northernmost abandoned residence for its former owner.
• Shouxin warned Yu that the town would soon be lively but that force was temporarily forbidden, and Yu left with the dragonfish to seek a Qi Ingestion method.
• After Yu departed, Shouxin reflected on his bet with Xuanku, Yu’s accumulated goodwill, and the thirty-nine Households gathering for what he called another gluttonous feast.

Yu Tunzhou traded his Dragon Fish to Chen Xuanye for the dangerous ancient Spark Instruction, while Xie Linchuan helped him secure a better deal. As Chen Xuanye hurried to consult the mountain masters, a little monk’s words about Great Chu rising and Chen Sheng becoming king left him shaken.

• Yu Tunzhou refused Chen Xuanye’s offer of money for his Dragon Fish and demanded a Qi Ingestion Method, explaining that survival in the town’s contest mattered more than wealth.
• Xie Linchuan offered Yu Tunzhou a Lower Vehicle method for the fish and future shares, prompting Chen Xuanye to counter with the Higher Vehicle Spark Instruction.
• Yu Tunzhou accepted Chen Xuanye’s offer after Xie Linchuan verified the method, agreeing to provide two Dragon Fish each week for a month and asking for his basket back.
• Chen Xuanye revealed that he expected the Spark Instruction’s severe side effects to cripple Yu Tunzhou, then hurried toward the mountain to seek a divination about Northern Chen’s future.
• Chen Xuanye heard a little monk say, “Great Chu rises, Chen Sheng is king,” and staggered in alarm while the monk complained that the fox before him did not sound as his senior brother had claimed.

Yu Tunzhou learned that the [Spark Instruction] was a dangerous Higher Vehicle Qi Ingestion art, but his years of eating dragon fish had strengthened his constitution enough to make it viable. When he absorbed the method from a jade pendant, a mysterious golden inscription transformed it and awakened a gaze connected to the Human Emperor; Yu Tunzhou emerged with the method’s new True Intention, centered on striving ceaselessly to grow stronger.

• Xie Linchuan explained the [Spark Instruction]’s risks and said Yu Tunzhou’s dragon-fish-hardened constitution could withstand them, then taught him about meditation and True Intention.
• Yu Tunzhou and Xie Linchuan went to the abandoned Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, where they began cleaning the overgrown residence; Xie Linchuan learned that Master Xuanku would eventually leave town and that Dingguang would remain behind.
• Yu Tunzhou pressed the memory jade pendant to his forehead and received the [Spark Instruction], after which the golden words [All methods are equal; none is higher or lower] reshaped the method in his mind.
• Yu Tunzhou witnessed visions of High Antiquity and the Human Emperor’s struggle to kindle humanity’s fire, while powerful figures across the grotto-heaven and beyond sensed the imperial gaze and an unknown command ordered an investigation.
• The imprint offered Yu Tunzhou the Human Emperor’s True Intention, but when he admitted that he only wanted to survive, it reshaped itself around that desire and revealed that everyone, including the Human Emperor, had begun by wanting to stay alive.
• Yu Tunzhou recovered from the ordeal and found that the transformed [Spark Instruction] carried the True Intention, “As Heaven moves with vigor, so must we strive ceaselessly to grow stronger,” which he had already grasped in full.

Yu Tunzhou used the golden characters to transform the [Spark Instruction], entered stillness, and cultivated his first inner Qi, while Xie Linchuan resolved to create his own branch of Evergreen Mountain’s method. Yu Tunzhou awakened with a faint Qi sense, and Xie Linchuan began forging a new True Intention.

• Yu Tunzhou discovered that the golden characters had raised the [Spark Instruction]’s potential to an apparent eleventh layer, beyond the tenth layer of supreme methods.
• Yu Tunzhou practiced the [Spark Instruction]’s breathing and guidance technique, entered profound stillness, and kindled his first inner Qi in his Dantian.
• Yu Tunzhou emerged at dawn with a faint Qi sense and concluded that he had aptitude for cultivation.
• Xie Linchuan reflected on Yu Tunzhou’s ability to maintain bodily stillness and considered whether to follow the founding master’s intent or establish his own.
• Xie Linchuan chose to forge his own path, establish a new True Intention, and create Evergreen Mountain’s thirty-sixth lineage.

After eating a dragon fish, Yu Tunzhou found his inner Qi had grown and used it to defeat Zhang Qinghe and drive off Cao Jianjia when they tried to seize the fish. Old Mo secured a lesson in Refining the True from the Zhang Household, while Cao Jianjia's Daoist Qingzhi punished her by dismissing her attendants and assigning her chamber-pot and compost duties.

• Yu Tunzhou noticed that eating a dragon fish had strengthened his inner Qi, then descended the mountain and met Zhang Qinghe and Cao Jianjia, who demanded the fish.
• Yu Tunzhou tricked Zhang Qinghe and Cao Jianjia with mud, beat Zhang Qinghe, and forced Cao Jianjia to flee.
• Yu Tunzhou threatened Zhang Qinghe until Zhang Pu intervened, but Old Mo negotiated a settlement in which the Zhang Household agreed to teach Yu Tunzhou Refining the True.
• The golden text in Yu Tunzhou's mind began processing the Method Formula for Refining the True.
• Daoist Qingzhi rebuked Cao Jianjia for fleeing and ordered her to dismiss her attendants, manage her own needs, and use her chamber-pot waste to fertilize vegetables.

Old Mo explained the town’s rules to Yu Tunzhou and advised him on cultivating the Spark Instruction and Refining the True. After Old Mo left, Yu Tunzhou encountered an unfamiliar girl whose reaction to his dragon Qi hinted that she had noticed something unusual about him.

• Zhang Pu carried the unconscious Zhang Qinghe away, while Old Mo told Yu Tunzhou that newcomers could compete but could not cause injuries before the shared feast or cross certain lines afterward.
• Old Mo explained that Zhang Pu had likely tried to fleece Yu Tunzhou, and Yu Tunzhou realized the fight had helped him learn the town’s rules.
• Old Mo learned that Yu Tunzhou had reached the entry level of the Spark Instruction and shared cultivation advice, including a warning about a small-scale dispersion of fortune in twenty-eight days.
• Old Mo explained that the newcomers were only candidates hoping to become among their families’ finest, then removed his barrier and confronted people in town.
• Yu Tunzhou crossed the stone bridge and passed an unfamiliar girl; he noticed a possible glimmer of gold in her eyes, while she reacted fiercely to the dragon Qi she sensed from him.

Yu Tunzhou went to clean the old residence after Xie Linchuan spread a rumor that it held hidden treasures, drawing members of eleven households to investigate. He learned that Cao Jianjia had been punished by being sent to farm, while Mister Mo and Jiang Yungu separately considered Yu Tunzhou a potential threat.

• Mister Mo declined to investigate the town guardian, agreed to reassess Yu Tunzhou's fortune, and recognized Yu Tunzhou as he approached town.
• Jiang Yungu watched Yu Tunzhou pass and said he would personally eliminate him if none of the households acted.
• Yu Tunzhou found members of several households searching the old residence, and Xie Linchuan admitted he had spread a treasure rumor to bring people there.
• Yu Tunzhou joined the cleanup and found a copper coin in the pond, while the rumor drew even more household members to the residence.
• Xie Linchuan told Yu Tunzhou that Cao Jianjia's elders had sent her to farm as punishment, prompting him to joke that she should be called the Compost Sword Immortal.

Yu Tunzhou learned about the realm’s great sects and the approaching dispersal of destiny while discussing his unusual cultivation progress with Xie Linchuan. Xie Linchuan decided to stay at Yu’s home that night to observe whether Yu could enter the mysterious meditative state again.

• Yu Tunzhou worried that Cao Jianjia might ambush him after she was assigned to grow vegetables and make compost, and Xie Linchuan acknowledged the damage to her reputation.
• Xie Linchuan explained the great Daoist and Buddhist sects, the Aristocratic Clans, and which groups had sent people to the town.
• Xie Linchuan reminded Yu Tunzhou that the first dispersal of destiny was twenty-eight days away and that participants needed to advance the Qi Ingestion method to its seventh layer.
• Yu Tunzhou told Xie Linchuan about the unusual state he had experienced while cultivating, but said he could not reproduce it that morning.
• Xie Linchuan offered to stay at Yu Tunzhou’s home to observe his cultivation that night and asked what the two senior sages on the mountain were like.

Yu Tunzhou finished clearing the water channel and studied the transformed [Refining the True] method, which described a Qi-circulation route called the Great Spirit Courtyard. He discovered that his alteration had added the Shendao Acupoint to the route, leaving it with fifty acupoints instead of forty-nine.

• Yu Tunzhou reassured Xie Linchuan that the two guardians were kind, and Xie Linchuan hurried back to his own territory.
• Yu Tunzhou opened the sluice gate after clearing the water channel and watched the water flow freely again.
• Yu Tunzhou saw [Refining the True] reveal its first character, “Change,” and secretly read the method’s account of its creator’s attempt to turn internal Qi into Profound Qi.
• Yu Tunzhou learned that the method used a forty-nine-acupoint route called the Great Spirit Courtyard to temper internal Qi through repeated circulation.
• Yu Tunzhou counted the altered route and found fifty acupoints, including the newly added Shendao Acupoint between Zhiyang and Shenting.

Yu Tunzhou learned how difficult Refining the True was and discovered that Xie Linchuan and Daoist Shouxin both warned him not to go out at night. After Yu Tunzhou returned to his room, a mysterious figure descended from the mountain and passed the temple, while Daoist Shouxin contemplated an encounter due in twenty-odd days.

• Yu Tunzhou asked Xie Linchuan about Refining the True and learned that even exceptional cultivators could not complete forty-nine cycles in the Qi Ingestion Realm.
• Xie Linchuan explained that cultivators removed acupoints to reduce the Blood Qi backlash, prompting Yu Tunzhou to wonder why his household's method added the Shendao Acupoint instead.
• Zhang Qingtong refused Xie Linchuan's request to stay on the mountain and warned Yu Tunzhou not to go out at night.
• Yu Tunzhou researched the Shendao Acupoint and the Great Spirit Courtyard route, then discussed Refining the True and the nighttime warning with Daoist Shouxin.
• Daoist Shouxin hinted that someone was being held beneath the grotto-heaven, and Yu Tunzhou hurried back to his room.
• A blurred figure descended from the mountain and drifted past the temple as Daoist Shouxin considered how to handle an encounter twenty-odd days later.

Yu Tunzhou entered Meditative Concentration through steady practice and used it to complete the first cycle of the Great Spirit Courtyard, discovering that the Shendao Acupoint eased his Blood Qi backlash and nourished his Primordial Spirit. He continued practicing until he reached the second layer of Spark Instruction.

• Yu Tunzhou failed to enter Meditative Concentration at first, but remained calm and continued practicing the Qi Ingestion Method until he entered it naturally.
• Yu Tunzhou reflected that Meditative Concentration came from peeling away distractions and returning to his true self.
• Yu Tunzhou circulated internal Qi through the Great Spirit Courtyard, endured a severe Blood Qi backlash, and diverted his Qi through the Shendao Acupoint before it reached the Shenting.
• Yu Tunzhou completed the first cycle and realized that the Shendao Acupoint steadied his Qi and seemed to nourish his Primordial Spirit.
• Yu Tunzhou practiced Qi Ingestion until daylight and advanced to the second layer of Spark Instruction.

Yu Tunzhou finished cleaning the old residence with Xie Linchuan and warned him against trespassing in other families’ ancestral homes. Cao Jianjia arrived seeking advice about composting, then agreed to help Yu Tunzhou burn the courtyard weeds as he waited to see whom she would bring.

• Yu Tunzhou continued cultivating and helping clean the old residence, where he and Xie Linchuan were the only workers left by the fifth day.
• Yu Tunzhou warned Xie Linchuan not to search other abandoned residences, and Xie Linchuan later reported that trespassers had been punished by their elders.
• Yu Tunzhou planned to burn the weeds while using the residence’s water channels to contain the flames, and Cao Jianjia arrived asking him how to compost fertilizer.
• Yu Tunzhou explained that he had cultivated Senior Qingzhi’s garden, prompting Cao Jianjia to blame him for her gardening troubles.
• Cao Jianjia agreed to help supervise the fires in exchange for Yu Tunzhou’s composting advice, then left to fetch another helper.
• Xie Linchuan asked Yu Tunzhou about his work and relationships in town, and Yu Tunzhou guessed that Cao Jianjia had gone to find Zhang Qinghe.

Yu Tunzhou taught Cao Jianjia how to burn weeds and use plant ash, manure, and pond silt to fertilize her garden, then urged her to understand the lesson her martial aunt intended. Cao Jianjia was left pondering his words, while Daoist Qingzhi watched from afar and expected her to cultivate a pure sword heart.

• Cao Jianjia brought Zhang Qinghe to the courtyard, and Xie Linchuan greeted his old acquaintance before Yu Tunzhou explained how to divide the weeds into sections and burn them safely.
• Cao Jianjia cut the firebreaks, Yu Tunzhou lit the weeds, and all four guarded the edges before turning the resulting plant ash into the soil.
• Yu Tunzhou explained how to make fertilizer from plant ash, diluted manure, and pond silt, and Cao Jianjia ordered Zhang Qinghe to collect some ash.
• Yu Tunzhou told Cao Jianjia that her martial aunt wanted her to learn respect for the soil and suggested she seek a heart like a blue lotus; Cao Jianjia stood in a daze as Xie Linchuan and Zhang Qinghe watched.
• Daoist Qingzhi observed Cao Jianjia from her residence and hoped she would heed Yu Tunzhou's advice and form a pure sword heart.

Yu Tunzhou and the others finished cleaning the old residence, and a mysterious wind delivered a faded door painting to him as the residence seemed to awaken. Providence descended on those who had helped, while a reckless youth from Purple Yang Mountain was blamed for trespassing and losing his standing in the contest for immortal providence.

• Yu Tunzhou and the others uncovered the missing wooden gate, propped it at the entrance, and completed their cleaning of the old residence.
• Cao Jianjia asked why Yu Tunzhou had organized the work, then asked about the Zen poem that had calmed her Dao heart; Zhang Qinghe warned Yu Tunzhou that their conflict was not over.
• After Xie Linchuan left, Yu Tunzhou tidied the main house, and a gentle wind carried a faded door painting to him as he prepared to leave.
• Yu Tunzhou bowed to the old residence, and a strand of providence settled upon him as the residence fell silent again.
• People stationed around town sensed providence gathering, and more than a dozen strands flowed toward those who had helped clean the residence, with the thickest going to Evergreen Mountain's residence.
• A middle-aged man scolded a youth from Purple Yang Mountain for trespassing and explained that more than half of the cleaners had received the old residence's providence.

Yu Tunzhou brought a weathered painting from the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple to Evergreen Mountain, where Zhang Qingtong recognized it as a partial visualization diagram. Zhang Qingtong explained that understanding it before the end of the month might help Yu Tunzhou overcome his lack of fortune.

• Daoist Qingzhi noted that Cao Jianjia had gained a small share of fortune and wondered why Yu Tunzhou had received none.
• Daoist Buzheng sensed a subtle connection between the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple and Yu Tunzhou, and decided to investigate in person.
• Yu Tunzhou showed Xie Linchuan the painting that had been carried to him, and Xie Linchuan suspected it depicted the Heavenly Peng.
• Zhang Qingtong examined the painting and identified it as a visualization diagram with its True Intention inheritance almost entirely dissipated.
• Zhang Qingtong told Yu Tunzhou that comprehending the diagram before the end of the month might solve his lack of fortune.

Yu Tunzhou explained his method of entering meditation to Xie Linchuan, who gained confidence in restoring the Qi Ingestion Method’s True Intention. As Yu Tunzhou hurried home, he avoided Daoist Non-Contention’s fortune-telling stall and saw a girl catch a dragonfish with her finger.

• Yu Tunzhou told Xie Linchuan that focusing on what he could do helped him see his true self and enter meditation.
• Zhang Qingtong warned Yu Tunzhou that the Luofu Dao Contention would pit him against many opponents and urged him to study the visualization diagram before its remaining True Intention faded.
• Xie Linchuan resolved to restore the Qi Ingestion Method’s True Intention, and Zhang Qingtong told him he had received the greatest share of the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s fortune.
• Daoist Non-Contention tried to lure Yu Tunzhou to his fortune-telling stall, but Yu Tunzhou hurried past, suspecting the Daoist might be connected to the being suppressed beneath the grotto-heaven.
• Yu Tunzhou saw a girl catch a dragonfish by letting it bite her finger, then kill it with a stone and carry it away.

Daoist Shouxin brought Li Jingxuan and Zhou Tianchen together at the temple, where Li Jingxuan was set to take over guarding it in a month. Yu Tunzhou’s discovery of a Heavenly Peng ancestral spirit and wooden sword left Daoist Shouxin asking why the spirit had chosen him alone.

• Daoist Shouxin told Li Jingxuan he could take over the temple in a month, while Zhou Tianchen revealed that his senior brother Daoist Fuyao had gone to the Northern Dark Continent to seek the Dao.
• Yu Tunzhou entered the temple, and Zhou Tianchen accused him of carrying the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s Dao intent after Yu had helped clean its ancestral residence.
• A wooden sword fell from the roof, and Zhou Tianchen recognized the Heavenly Peng True Intention and knelt before Yu Tunzhou to honor his lineage’s patriarchs.
• Daoist Shouxin claimed the ancestral spirit had chosen Yu Tunzhou, while Yu quietly pocketed the wooden sword as his performance fee.
• Daoist Shouxin asked Yu why the ancestral spirits had chosen him alone among twenty-three people, and Yu guessed that it was because he was exceptionally gifted.

Yu Tunzhou declined to join the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, choosing instead to accept its ancestral spirit’s support while remaining on the mountain. Daoist Shouxin made Li Jingxuan his junior brother, leaving Zhou Tianchen stunned as Yu prepared to look after him.

• The ancestral spirit of the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple chose Yu Tunzhou as a bearer of part of the temple’s destiny, and Daoist Shouxin offered him the choice of joining the temple or accepting its support without joining.
• Yu Tunzhou declined to join the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, and Zhou Tianchen accepted that the painting Yu had received belonged to him and thanked him for cleaning the temple.
• Zhou Tianchen learned that Yu Tunzhou had entered Meditative Concentration Through Stillness without cultivating a visualization method and offered to help him if needed.
• Daoist Shouxin introduced Li Jingxuan as Yu Tunzhou’s junior brother and asked Yu to look after him on the mountain.
• Yu Tunzhou asked Li Jingxuan about his appetite, and Li said Yu could prepare his meals according to his own portions, prompting Daoist Shouxin to arrange for more Dragon Fish.