Chapter Summaries

Yu Tunzhou began studying the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram after reaching the third layer of the Spark Instruction. The diagram’s True Intention drew him into a vision where a Heavenly Peng challenged him, and he bound it with a golden chain inside his Niwan Palace.

• Zhou Tianchen left the mountain after Li Jingxuan said he would stay at the Daoist temple to sort out its fortune, while Yu Tunzhou went to prepare dinner.
• Daoist Shouxin and Li Jingxuan wagered on how many days Yu Tunzhou would need to master the visualization diagram, with three days and six days as their guesses.
• Yu Tunzhou planned to devote more time to cultivation, then mastered the third layer of the Spark Instruction and examined the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram.
• Yu Tunzhou entered Meditative Concentration, and the diagram’s True Intention pulled him into a vision where a Heavenly Peng devoured a white dragon and confronted him.
• Yu Tunzhou discovered his Niwan Palace and used a golden chain to bind the Heavenly Peng’s will.

Zhou Tianchen realized that Yu Tunzhou might have received the Heavenly Peng ancestral visualization diagram, while a mysterious man wandered through town and encountered a sword attack. In his Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, Yu Tunzhou subdued the Heavenly Peng’s True Intention and formed a new inner form, leaving with a fierce ambition beginning to stir.

• Zhou Tianchen found the hidden inheritance tokens, suspected Yu Tunzhou had the missing ancestral diagram, and saw a mysterious figure appear outside the temple before vanishing.
• A wandering man surveyed talented people around town, mocked their abilities, and remained unmoved when sword intent struck at him.
• Daoist Qingzhi drew her sword at Mo, who clung to her leg and begged her not to provoke the man, while Cao Jianjia sensed the town growing strangely noisy.
• Li Jingxuan sensed the fierce Qi spreading from Yu Tunzhou, and the old Daoist priest recalled Yu Tunzhou’s ambition and the strange fist technique.
• Yu Tunzhou faced the Heavenly Peng in his Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, answered its questions, and awakened an ambition beyond merely surviving.
• Yu Tunzhou’s Primordial Spirit took on a new form blending the Heavenly Peng with Supreme Yin, and the Heavenly Peng recognized him before dissolving into a vast sea.

Yu Tunzhou completed the Heavenly Peng visualization and forged his Primordial Spirit Inner Form, finding it had become a vast ocean with a small black fish instead of the giant Peng he had dreamed of. After returning to his hut, he discovered his new Primordial Spirit perception and sensed a human-shaped darkness outside the window, so he pretended not to notice and began cultivating.

• Yu Tunzhou dreamed of becoming a Kunpeng that escaped the four seas and roamed heaven and earth, then woke with his Primordial Spirit Inner Form fully forged.
• Yu Tunzhou explored the ocean within his Primordial Spirit and found a lively black fish, wondering why the giant Peng from his dream was missing.
• Yu Tunzhou recalled the Heavenly Peng True Intention’s questioning and decided to visit the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple to ask about the change and how to nourish his Inner Form.
• Yu Tunzhou returned to his hut and discovered that his Primordial Spirit perception let him see every detail within its limited range.
• Yu Tunzhou sensed a human-shaped darkness spying outside his window, so he kept his eyes closed and began cultivating the Qi Ingestion Method.
• The man outside the hut silently approved of Yu Tunzhou’s attempt to fool himself.

Yu Tunzhou used his newly heightened Primordial Spirit perception to refine his Taijiquan, while Li Jingxuan failed to reproduce the spirit of Yu’s movements. As Yu continued practicing, his internal Qi gathered into a great pill, and he wondered whether his fists had caused the change.

• A man who had watched Yu Tunzhou from outside his hut recalled an old prophecy and regretted that he had finally encountered him.
• After morning Qi Ingestion, Yu Tunzhou decided to practice Taijiquan and used his Primordial Spirit to coordinate his body as he performed Covering Hand and Forearm Punch.
• The old Daoist priest watched Yu’s fluid fistwork, while Li Jingxuan copied most of its form but failed when he tried to impose his own understanding on it.
• Li Jingxuan suspected Yu might someday open a new path, while the old Daoist priest teased him for failing to grasp Yu’s fist intent.
• Yu Tunzhou sensed a black fish swimming in his Primordial Spirit in time with his punches, and noticed his Dantian Qi gathering into a great pill.

Li Jingxuan realized Yu Tunzhou had quickly cultivated the Heavenly Peng visualization diagram, while Zhou Tianchen hurried to check whether the youth had attempted the dangerous ancestral technique. After entering Yu Tunzhou’s Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth, Zhou Tianchen found it contained an astonishing sky and boundless sea.

• Li Jingxuan recognized that Yu Tunzhou had reached Embracing the Origin and Guarding the One, and praised the old Daoist’s judgment of talent.
• Zhou Tianchen arrived and watched Yu Tunzhou practice, wondering at his soft, graceful fist technique and his rapid progress.
• Yu Tunzhou told Zhou Tianchen that he had already cultivated the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram the previous night.
• Zhou Tianchen entered Yu Tunzhou’s Primordial Spirit Heaven and Earth and was stunned by its immense sky and vast sea.
• Yu Tunzhou admired Zhou Tianchen’s majestic Heavenly Peng, leaving Zhou Tianchen speechless.

Zhou Tianchen helped Yu Tunzhou manifest the inner form of his Primordial Spirit, only to discover it was a black Kun Fish rather than the expected Heavenly Peng. Li Jingxuan and the old Daoist priest recognized the fish as a startling sign of the Supreme Yin and a possible path toward the Kunpeng Dharma Aspect.

• Zhou Tianchen explained the five cultivation realms and helped Yu Tunzhou manifest his Primordial Spirit’s inner form.
• A black fish emerged from Yu Tunzhou’s Niwan Palace, leaving Zhou Tianchen astonished that it was not a Heavenly Peng.
• Yu Tunzhou suggested the fish might be a Kun, and Zhou Tianchen connected its dark, icy power to the founding patriarch’s original visualization diagram.
• A breeze circled Yu Tunzhou and the fish, leading Zhou Tianchen to consider that Yu Tunzhou might have perceived a divine Kun Fish form that could one day transform into a Peng.
• Li Jingxuan identified the fish as the Fish of the Supreme Yin and bowed to Yu Tunzhou, while the old Daoist priest was also left stunned.

Zhou Tianchen explored Yu Tunzhou’s Primordial Spirit world and found its vast sky and sea had strengthened his Heavenly Peng divine intent. He warned Yu to conceal his unusual inner aspect, explained his cultivation progress, and urged him to pursue fortune in Luofu Grotto-Heaven, only to learn Yu cultivated the Spark Instruction.

• Zhou Tianchen explored Yu Tunzhou’s Primordial Spirit world and discovered its immense sky and sea had deepened his affinity with the Great Dao.
• Zhou Tianchen warned Yu Tunzhou not to reveal his inner aspect and told him to claim he cultivated the Heavenly Peng Bearing the Azure Diagram if questioned.
• Zhou Tianchen suspected the Founder had empowered Yu Tunzhou’s vast secondary aspect and considered whether a visit to Yu’s Primordial Spirit world could advance his own cultivation.
• Zhou Tianchen explained that Yu Tunzhou had reached Wisdom Born of Concentration and advised him to nurture his Primordial Spirit through Meditative Concentration.
• Zhou Tianchen urged Yu Tunzhou to focus on cultivating his Qi Ingestion Method and exploit the fortune of Luofu Grotto-Heaven, then learned Yu practiced the Spark Instruction.

Yu Tunzhou continued preparing for the first dispersal of fortune while making plans with Dingguang and seeking a fish basket from Chen Xuanye. In Northern Chen, Chen Xuanye learned that his household’s elders wanted him to ally with Yu Tunzhou and use the contest for the Dao to challenge Great Yan’s influence.

• Zhou Tianchen explained Wisdom Born of Concentration to Yu Tunzhou, gave him the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s Qi Ingestion Method, and left without persuading him to abandon the Spark Instruction.
• Yu Tunzhou caught Dingguang when the little monk stumbled, then told him to prepare the fishing rod and promised to look for the missing fox later.
• Yu Tunzhou brought breakfast to Li Jingxuan, then took Dingguang to the river and went into town to retrieve a fish basket from Chen Xuanye.
• Chen Xuanye gave Yu Tunzhou a basket and worried about how far he had progressed in the Spark Instruction.
• Chen Xuanye told Granduncle Xuan that he could prove the Chen Household had not backed Yu Tunzhou by getting rid of him, but Granduncle Xuan urged him to truly ally with Yu Tunzhou.
• Granduncle Xuan asked whether Chen Xuanye would serve Great Yan or use Yu Tunzhou to kill Great Yan’s imperial son-in-law, leaving Chen Xuanye horrified by the prospect of rebellion.

Yu Tunzhou met Liu Zhizhou of Dongting and traded advice for soul-calming incense before sharing a sachet with Old Mo. Old Mo revealed the identity of Dongting’s ruler and the dragon lineages’ role in the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s decline, leaving Yu Tunzhou aware of the responsibility tied to his inheritance and facing new martial training.

• Yu Tunzhou met Liu Zhizhou, accepted two sachets for information, and advised her to change into a dress to get on better with Old Mo.
• Liu Zhizhou realized her concern about dressing as a man had clouded her judgment, then accused Yu Tunzhou of lechery when he asked her to treat him sincerely.
• Yu Tunzhou gave Old Mo a sachet and told him that Li Jingxuan had asked about him.
• Old Mo explained that the Lord of Dongting governed the water fortunes of rivers and lakes, and Yu Tunzhou wondered whether Liu Zhizhou was a dragon girl.
• Old Mo said the mortal dragon lineages had helped suppress the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple and urged Yu Tunzhou to practice other hand-to-hand techniques.

Yu Tunzhou learned that Dragon Fish carried the town’s fortune and that the dead experts of the forty-nine Households formed the grotto-heaven’s Heavenly Dao. When Dingguang was dragged toward the river, Yu Tunzhou entered the water and discovered he could command it through the kun fish in his Primordial Spirit, drawing the attention of a dormant creature beneath the riverbed.

• Old Mo told Yu Tunzhou that the forty-nine Households buried their fallen experts beneath their ancestral homes, whose remaining Primordial Spirits formed the grotto-heaven’s Heavenly Dao.
• Old Mo explained that Dragon Fish had absorbed fortune from a dead being and served as a cultivation resource, then warned Yu Tunzhou that they could drag anglers underwater.
• Yu Tunzhou saw Dingguang’s fishing line pull taut and rushed into the river when Dingguang shouted that he had caught a fish.
• Yu Tunzhou visualized the kun fish in his Primordial Spirit and found that he could move through the water with ease as the Dragon Fish fled from him.
• The Dragon Fish dragging Dingguang fainted at Yu Tunzhou’s approach, and Yu Tunzhou wondered whether the water’s Qi movement was Profound Qi.
• A great creature beneath the riverbed opened its eyes and gazed toward Yu Tunzhou.

Yu Tunzhou discovered that his Primordial Spirit could suppress Dragon Fish and agreed to join Ao Xiyu, Xie Linchuan, and Cao Jianjia in hunting the enormous black Dragon Fish. As the group prepared to draw it out, Xie Linchuan wondered whether Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s fortune had brought the dragon clans together.

• Yu Tunzhou sensed danger in the river, escaped ashore with Dingguang, and saw a huge black Dragon Fish watching them before it vanished.
• Ao Xiyu proposed working with Yu Tunzhou to kill the black Dragon Fish, explaining that she knew its weakness and asking him to bring Xie Linchuan; they agreed to meet the next day.
• Yu Tunzhou discovered that visualizing Little Black made a Dragon Fish in his water vat panic and knock itself unconscious, then served Dingguang spicy fish and calculated that he could reach the eighth layer of Qi Ingestion before the month ended.
• Yu Tunzhou brought Xie Linchuan to meet Ao Xiyu and Cao Jianjia, where they discussed their roles and agreed to see the black Dragon Fish.
• Xie Linchuan recognized Ao Xiyu as a noble lady of the South Sea, and after Yu Tunzhou mentioned meeting another dragon clan member, he wondered whether Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s fortune was drawing them together.

Yu Tunzhou and the others encountered a powerful Dragon Fish and planned to kill it after training and preparing for ten days. Xie Linchuan discovered Yu Tunzhou was cultivating far faster than expected and warned him to conceal his strength, since other contestants might interfere or try to take their share.

• Yu Tunzhou and Xie Linchuan narrowly escaped the Dragon Fish’s charge, and Ao Xiyu identified its formed false dragon scales as a serious obstacle.
• Ao Xiyu proposed that Yu Tunzhou lure the Dragon Fish into a trap, while Cao Jianjia used Fallen Blossoms to strike its vital point, and the group agreed to divide the spoils.
• Ao Xiyu suggested they wait until they reached the sixth layer of Qi Ingestion before attacking, and Xie Linchuan agreed to meet again in ten days.
• Yu Tunzhou learned that many contestants might fail to reach the seventh layer by the end of the month, while Xie Linchuan learned Yu Tunzhou had reached the third layer in a week and was nearing the fourth.
• Xie Linchuan urged Yu Tunzhou to reach the sixth layer and advised him to lure the Dragon Fish without revealing his strength, warning that others might try to steal their share.

Yu Tunzhou returned to the mountain after assessing his peers and decided to focus on cultivation and develop a decisive combat technique. Meanwhile, Li Jingxuan arrived as the Daoist School’s representative, and the chapter ended with Yu Tunzhou shaping a powerful whole-body strike inspired by Taijiquan and the great fish.

• Yu Tunzhou recognized that his peers were less formidable than he had feared, then delivered Dragon Fish to the town and refused Chen Xuanye’s unexpectedly warm invitation.
• The faction representatives challenged Old Mo after Yu Tunzhou carried three Dragon Fish back up the mountain, but Old Mo denied responsibility.
• Yu Tunzhou saw Li Jingxuan leave to visit the factions, then began practicing boxing and resolved to cultivate and master a practical combat move.
• Li Jingxuan introduced himself to the faction representatives as the Supreme Purity Lineage’s new stationed representative, prompting Liu Zhizhou and Luo Shiwu to discuss his status as an immortal seed.
• Yu Tunzhou studied whole-body force and planned a powerful, Qi-infused Taijiquan lean that could decide a fight in one blow.

Yu Tunzhou refined his Taiji Mountain-Leaning Strike by training his Inner Qi and studying how force shifted between motion and stillness. After watching a leaf turn naturally in a creek, he mastered a smoother version of the strike and resolved to break through to the sixth level before an event four days away.

• Yu Tunzhou trained for five days, breaking through two levels of Spark Instruction and practicing his Mountain-Leaning Strike against trees.
• Dingguang tried to fend off wild chickens raiding the vegetable garden, but fled when the hens overwhelmed him.
• Yu Tunzhou unleashed a powerful strike that nearly toppled a tree, frightening the chickens into fleeing, where a tiny white creature killed their leader.
• Yu Tunzhou reflected on the strike's weakness and wondered how to make its force flow smoothly between attack and recovery.
• While washing bowls by a creek, Yu Tunzhou watched a leaf turn with the current, found the missing principle, and mastered the improved strike.
• Yu Tunzhou decided to devote himself to reaching the sixth level before four days had passed.

Yu Tunzhou broke through to the sixth layer of the Spark Instruction and pushed his Refining the True cycles to twelve, leaving him with minor internal injuries. That night, he joined Ao Xiyu and Xie Linchuan’s plan to lure the Dragon Fish into a trap, but the beast stopped short of the shallows.

• Yu Tunzhou broke through to the sixth layer of the Spark Instruction and endured twelve Refining the True cycles, though the effort damaged his meridians and caused internal shock.
• Ao Xiyu told Yu Tunzhou, Xie Linchuan, and Cao Jianjia that she and Xie Linchuan would prepare a trap at an abandoned stone bridge upstream.
• Yu Tunzhou met Ao Xiyu and Xie Linchuan at the river that night and learned they planned to restrain the Dragon Fish with an imitation Dragon-Capturing Net while Cao Jianjia struck its vital point.
• Ao Xiyu explained that her impure dragon bloodline could not intimidate the Dragon Fish, whose creator had possessed a superior bloodline.
• Yu Tunzhou entered the shallows and used Little Black to draw the river’s water fortune and Qi toward himself.
• Ao Xiyu spotted the Dragon Fish approaching, but it stopped ten meters from the shallows and refused to come closer.

Yu Tunzhou and his allies killed the giant Dragon Fish, but four rival martial artists arrived to claim the spoils. As both sides prepared to fight, Yu Tunzhou surprised them by crippling Ji Pan, leaving three opponents standing.

• Ao Xiyu, Xie Linchuan, and Cao Jianjia trapped the giant Dragon Fish in a net while Yu Tunzhou dodged its charge, and Cao Jianjia killed it with a strike to its vital point.
• Zhang Buyu, Yue Hongyi, Chang Jian, and Ji Pan appeared and proposed dividing the fish’s spoils, while Ao Xiyu and Cao Jianjia revealed that Liu Qingshi and Zhang Qinghe had joined their side.
• Yue Hongyi assessed the group’s injuries and argued that her four companions could defeat them, prompting both sides to prepare for a fight.
• Xie Linchuan shouted a warning that drew Zhang Buyu and Chang Jian’s attention, giving Yu Tunzhou the opening to attack Ji Pan with a Taiji Iron Mountain Lean.
• Yu Tunzhou shattered Ji Pan’s arms and knocked him unconscious, then told Xie Linchuan that only three opponents remained.

Yu Tunzhou’s surprise attack defeated Ji Pan, shifting the balance in the struggle over the giant Dragon Fish. Zhang Buyu agreed to join Xie Linchuan’s group, then helped trap Chang Jian as Yu Tunzhou prepared to attack him.

• Yu Tunzhou knocked Ji Pan unconscious with a surprise attack, breaking both his arms and stunning the others.
• Zhang Buyu and Yue Hongyi recognized Yu Tunzhou as a serious threat, while Xie Linchuan urged them to retreat.
• Chang Jian warned Zhang Buyu that Xie Linchuan’s group could not be allowed to monopolize the Dragon Fish, and Zhang Buyu demanded a share or threatened to expose them in town.
• After consulting Ao Xiyu and the others, Xie Linchuan accepted Zhang Buyu and Yue Hongyi into the group because the Dragon Fish was too large for them to consume alone.
• Yu Tunzhou prepared a second attack as Zhang Buyu and Yue Hongyi blocked Chang Jian’s escape, and Zhang Buyu declared that one fewer ally was better than one more.

Yu Tunzhou outmaneuvered Chang Jian and defeated him with a second strike, then joined the others in negotiating how to divide the Dragon Fish. After Yue Hongyi and Zhang Buyu left with their share, Ao Xiyu revealed that the fish’s false dragon scales held its true value.

• Chang Jian dodged Yu Tunzhou’s first charge and tried to counterattack, but Yu Tunzhou used a second Taiji Iron Mountain Lean to knock him unconscious.
• Yue Hongyi realized Yu Tunzhou had baited Chang Jian into the counterattack, while the others reconsidered their assumptions about his hidden strength.
• Xie Linchuan proposed dividing the Dragon Fish, and Ao Xiyu and Yue Hongyi arranged for Old Mo to guarantee that Zhang Buyu and Yue Hongyi would not alert others on their way back to town.
• Old Mo took Chang Jian and Ji Pan away and warned everyone not to kill during the struggle for the Dao.
• Ao Xiyu gave Yue Hongyi and Zhang Buyu a large piece of Dragon Fish, then revealed that its false dragon scales—not its meat—contained its most precious fortune.

Ao Xiyu extracted Water Fortune Dragon Qi from the giant Dragon Fish scales and explained how to use and trade it. As Yu Tunzhou guided the group up the mountain with the remaining fish, they asked about the Daoist temple and learned that Junior Brother Li had visited.

• Ao Xiyu extracted the Water Fortune Dragon Qi from the giant Dragon Fish scales and divided it among the group, including a share for Liu Qingshi.
• Ao Xiyu warned everyone to use the Qi sparingly and said they could barter away what they could not refine.
• The group borrowed Cao Jianjia's sword to cut up the Dragon Fish meat, and Yu Tunzhou took the remainder rather than let it go to waste.
• Yu Tunzhou led the others up the mountain with portions of the fish, while Liu Qingshi arranged to visit the two seniors there with his help.
• Ao Xiyu asked whether anyone else had visited the Daoist temple, and Yu Tunzhou said Junior Brother Li had come by.
• Liu Qingshi urged Yu Tunzhou to show Junior Brother Li more respect, while Xie Linchuan reflected on Yu Tunzhou's refusal to curry favor with powerful people.

Yu Tunzhou brought Dragon Fish meat to Li Jingxuan, while Zhang Buyu learned that he had missed its most valuable part and was reprimanded for assuming his knowledge was complete. As the town's households considered emerging alliances, the old monk ended the night wondering why the Buddha had chosen the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic to carry the Buddhist School through the Great Dharma-Ending Tribulation.

• Yu Tunzhou brought Dragon Fish meat to Li Jingxuan and said the group would no longer have to worry about meals.
• Zhang Buyu learned that Chang Jian and another man had lost their places at the end-of-month communal feast after a town guardian broke the rules.
• Zhang Buyu realized that Ao Xiyu had removed the Dragon Fish's valuable false scales, and his martial uncle told him to stand in the courtyard and reflect on his overconfidence.
• The town's guardians watched the battle's consequences and considered whether the Xie Household, the South Sea, Evergreen Mountain, and the Nanhua Sect would form an alliance.
• Yu Tunzhou told Dingguang that Zhang Buyu had found their weakness: Yu Tunzhou was not yet strong enough.
• The old monk reflected on the young man's renewed vigor, then wondered why the Buddha had chosen the Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic to carry the Buddhist School through the Great Dharma-Ending Tribulation.