Chapter Summaries

Master Xuanku explained that the Luofu Dao Contention was a struggle not only among the factions’ disciples but also against the martial Dao’s imprisoned founder for control of martial providence. After hearing this, Yu Tunzhou cultivated with water-providence Dragon Qi and stirred new life in the world of his Primordial Spirit.

• Master Xuanku joined Yu Tunzhou, Li Jingxuan, and Dingguang for a meal and offered to answer one of Yu Tunzhou’s questions.
• Master Xuanku explained that the martial Dao founder beneath the grotto-heaven used voice transmissions and promises of providence to make disciples fight and kill one another.
• Master Xuanku revealed that disciples could also win martial providence by earning its favor through their temperament, Dao heart, self-transcendence, or innate talent, and that the factions sought to remove the founder’s providence from the grotto-heaven.
• Yu Tunzhou understood that the Luofu Dao Contention involved contending with the founder over the Great Dao, not merely competing against other disciples.
• Yu Tunzhou sniffed the water-providence Dragon Qi and felt it accelerate his cultivation, clarify his Primordial Spirit, and awaken waves in its formerly lifeless ocean.

Yu Tunzhou cultivated with Water Fortune Dragon Qi through the night, advancing from the early Sixth Layer to the Seventh Layer of Qi Ingestion and strengthening his Primordial Spirit. At sunrise, he saw golden streams of Martial Fortune winding through the morning clouds.

• Yu Tunzhou absorbed Water Fortune Dragon Qi until his Spark Instruction briefly exhausted the nearby pure Qi, then moved to the mountaintop to cultivate in the open air.
• As the Dragon Qi nourished his Primordial Spirit, Little Black grew more lively and seemed increasingly intelligent.
• Yu Tunzhou reflected on his ambition to pursue the Dao through martial arts and challenge the peerless expert from a thousand years ago, but told himself to first surpass his peers in town.
• The vortex around Yu Tunzhou expanded to four chi, and he realized his Qi Ingestion cultivation had advanced to the Seventh Layer while his Primordial Spirit perception nearly doubled in range.
• At dawn, Yu Tunzhou saw golden streams of Qi among the clouds and recognized them as Martial Fortune.

Yu Tunzhou reflected on the town’s martial fortune and continued preparing for the coming contest. After Chen Xuanye warned him that several disciples had been ambushed, Yu Tunzhou planned a safer route back to the mountain.

• Yu Tunzhou recalled Old Mo’s words and suspected the town’s households were competing to claim the martial fortune flowing through the grotto-heaven.
• Yu Tunzhou resumed cultivating on the mountain and introduced Liu Qingshi to the two sages, learning about Liu Qingshi’s Sunset Glow Palace lineage.
• Chen Xuanye warned Yu Tunzhou that Liu Qingshi, Zhang Qinghe, and Yue Hongyi had faced attacks, then offered him a jade pendant bearing the Spark Instruction’s True Intention.
• Yu Tunzhou delivered fish to the households and noticed hostility from their disciples, but felt safer while representing Old Mo.
• Xie Linchuan advised Yu Tunzhou to leave late at night, while Yu Tunzhou proposed taking a route from the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple that looped back up the mountain.

Yu Tunzhou told Xie Linchuan that he had rebuilt his Qi Ingestion Method’s True Intention, then asked Zhou Tianchen about cultivation and absorbing water-fortune Profound Qi. When six pursuers waited outside the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, Yu Tunzhou escaped into the Flying Vulture Palace’s abandoned ancestral home, where Jiang Yungu spotted a flutter of clothing disappearing around a corner.

• Yu Tunzhou told Xie Linchuan that he had rebuilt his Spark Instruction’s True Intention and completed his visualization diagram, surprising Xie Linchuan and Zhang Qingtong.
• Yu Tunzhou visited Zhou Tianchen and asked whether he could gather water-fortune Profound Qi after reaching the seventh layer of his Qi Ingestion Method.
• Zhou Tianchen explained that Profound Qi was difficult for ordinary martial artists to gather, then urged Yu Tunzhou to absorb as much water-fortune Qi as he could because Little Black might be a Northern Sea Kun.
• Yu Tunzhou said he would not clash head-on with the six people waiting outside and planned to use his knowledge of the town to reach the river.
• Yu Tunzhou leaped from the temple wall into the Flying Vulture Palace’s abandoned ancestral home, and Jiang Yungu and the others rushed in after him.
• Jiang Yungu searched the abandoned home and saw Yu Tunzhou’s clothing vanish around a corner.

Yu Tunzhou lured Jiang Yungu and the others through the alleys, then used surprise attacks to knock them unconscious one by one. He found the last pursuer blocking the alley and seemed confused when the man taunted him for running.

• Xie Linchuan and Cao Jianjia learned Jiang Yungu had attacked Zhang Qinghe and set out by a southern route, while Zhang Qingtong chose not to call them back.
• Jiang Yungu chased Yu Tunzhou through the alleys, but Yu Tunzhou used his Primordial Spirit perception and a broken brick to knock him unconscious.
• Yu Tunzhou struck down a young woman who stopped to check on Jiang Yungu, then charged into another pursuer and knocked him into a wall.
• Yu Tunzhou lured the thick-browed youth after him and knocked him unconscious, then threw a brick at Xi Luoyi when she arrived.
• Yu Tunzhou found the last pursuer blocking the alley, who called for reinforcements and mocked him for no longer running; Yu Tunzhou asked, "Run? Me?"

Yu Tunzhou defeated Xue Huaiyi and broke the legs of the unconscious youths, deciding that he had to fight to protect what he wanted. In the town, an old man warned Qin Shaoyou to take Yu Tunzhou seriously, and Qin agreed.

• Zhou Tianchen and Zhang Qingtong watched Yu Tunzhou's victory with approval.
• Xue Huaiyi realized Yu Tunzhou had defeated Jiang Yungu, but his fear and confusion left him open to attack.
• Yu Tunzhou dodged Xue Huaiyi's punch and slammed his head against a wall, knocking him unconscious.
• Yu Tunzhou broke Xue Huaiyi's legs, then set out to do the same to the other five youths so none could claim unfair treatment.
• An old man praised Yu Tunzhou's tactics and warned Tanhua Qin Shaoyou to take him seriously.
• Qin Shaoyou laughed and said he would never look down on his fellow countryman Yu Tunzhou.

Yu Tunzhou defeated the group that ambushed him, including Jiang Yungu and Yan Xiaoxiao, and Cao Jianjia and Xie Linchuan found him afterward. Chen Xuanye learned of Yu Tunzhou’s victory and planned to lure him into a trap.

• Cao Jianjia and Xie Linchuan rushed north after hearing the screams, expecting to find Yu Tunzhou in danger.
• Yu Tunzhou met them unharmed and said he had defeated everyone who had tried to stop him.
• Yu Tunzhou led Cao Jianjia and Xie Linchuan to the unconscious Jiang Yungu and Yan Xiaoxiao, whose legs he had crippled.
• Xie Linchuan warned Yu Tunzhou not to make too many enemies during the contest, and Cao Jianjia broke one of Jiang Yungu’s arms.
• Chen Xuanye learned Yu Tunzhou had defeated Jiang Yungu and decided to wait for him to come looking for him and fall into a trap.

Yu Tunzhou encountered Mo Shougui, who warned him that powerful factions could force him out of the grotto-heaven and urged him to accept an offer of protection work. Yu Tunzhou refused, and his defiant declaration awakened the divine intent of a Kunpeng within him.

• Yu Tunzhou sensed savage impulses rising from Little Black in his Primordial Spirit, then watched them subside before meeting Mo Shougui at a crossroads.
• Mo Shougui tried to recruit Yu Tunzhou to protect someone’s disciples and warned that the town’s powers might expel him from the grotto-heaven.
• Yu Tunzhou refused to join the town’s disputes and reminded Mo Shougui that he had broken twelve legs to deter his enemies.
• Mo Shougui warned that the two resident sages were about to leave and questioned how Yu Tunzhou would survive beyond the town.
• Yu Tunzhou declared, “Heaven and earth are no greater than my eyes,” and the savage impulse vanished as the divine intent of a Kunpeng awakened within him.
• Zhou Tianchen noticed the founding patriarch’s spirit raging through the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, while a man in the deepest part of town recognized the Kunpeng’s cry and recalled an old exchange about heaven and earth.

Mo Shougui sensed a change in the world’s martial fortune and questioned whether the divination’s great peak might be someone other than the martial ancestor. Back at the mountain, Yu Tunzhou discovered that Little Black could absorb water-fortune Qi dynamics, then used the Heavenly Peng Essence-Devouring Instruction to adapt a cultivation method for him.

• Mo Shougui cast a divination and saw the same reading of ten thousand peaks bowing to a great peak, but wondered whether its subject was someone other than the martial ancestor.
• Yu Tunzhou returned to the mountain after his victory over Jiang Yungu and learned from Dingguang that Master would leave at the beginning of next month, when Martial Uncle Xuanzang would take over.
• Yu Tunzhou went to the river to cultivate and discovered that Little Black was absorbing water-fortune Qi dynamics and producing water-fortune beads.
• Yu Tunzhou took out the Heavenly Peng Essence-Devouring Instruction and asked the golden text to adapt it for Little Black’s constitution and cultivation.
• The golden text began rewriting the instruction and wrapped around Little Black while Yu Tunzhou told him to bear with it.

Little Black awakened the ancient Kun Fish bloodline and helped Yu Tunzhou break through to the eighth layer as he vowed to reach the ninth within seven days. Meanwhile, Lu Huaiqing returned to Luofu Grotto-Heaven, where the Jiang clan elder learned that he had died and angrily demanded to know who would guard the Northern Frontier.

• Little Black's awakened bloodline let her devour nearby water-fortune Profound Qi, produce sixteen beads, and help Yu Tunzhou break through to the eighth layer.
• Yu Tunzhou fed Little Black ten water-fortune beads and resolved to reach at least the ninth layer within seven days.
• Old Mo met the scholar-like newcomer, who revealed himself as Lu Huaiqing and announced his return after ninety years.
• The Jiang clan elder questioned Jiang Yungu about his defeat, and Jiang Yungu recognized that Yu Tunzhou had overcome him by suppressing his Primordial Spirit perception.
• Lu Huaiqing appeared before Jiang Yungu and the Jiang clan elder, who realized he had died and cried out that the Northern Frontier needed him.

Lu Huaiqing returned to the Jiang Household as a remnant Yin Spirit and revealed the truth behind his supposed betrayal, while news of his sacrifice and victories in the Northern Frontier reached the Grotto-Heaven. As Emperor Jingde took the throne and the era changed to Tianshun, Yu Tunzhou broke through two heavenly passes in seven days, rising above the others.

• Lu Huaiqing told the Jiang clan elder that Jiang Wenxuan had reached Half-Step Dharma Aspect and was holding the Northern Dark Sea in his place.
• The elder affirmed that he still did not regret taking Lu Huaiqing in, while Jiang Yungu learned that Lu had named him and began questioning his beliefs about the past.
• Lu Huaiqing told Mo Shougui that he had sacrificed his body and Yang Spirit in the Northern Sea battle and denied having influence over Yu Tunzhou.
• Reports arrived that Lu Huaiqing had led the Northern Frontier forces to victory and that Daoist Fuyao had defeated a Dharma Aspect opponent after breaking through to Half-Step Dharma Aspect.
• Emperor Yan died, and Emperor Jingde ascended the throne, beginning the Tianshun era.
• Yu Tunzhou used the Grotto-Heaven's water fortune to break through the ninth and tenth heavenly passes in seven days.

Yu Tunzhou reached the tenth layer of the Spark Instruction by absorbing Water Fortune Profound Qi with Little Black’s help, but held off further breakthroughs until his meridians grew stronger. He planned to ask Senior Brother Zhou about the next day’s contest for fortune, while Chen Xuanye wondered why Yu Tunzhou had not visited him.

• Yu Tunzhou broke through to the tenth layer, gained the ability to project Inner Qi, and decided to strengthen his meridians before advancing further.
• Yu Tunzhou observed that Little Black had grown and suspected hostile Qi from the earlier street battle had given it the ability to devour Water Fortune Profound Qi.
• Yu Tunzhou saw the fortune concentrated in the Dragon Fish, then left the river to ask Senior Brother Zhou about the upcoming contest for fortune.
• Yu Tunzhou reflected that even a muddy track could become a great road when no smooth path was available, then continued up the mountain.
• Chen Xuanye reached the seventh layer with the help of extra Dragon Fish but remained short of the eighth, and wondered why Yu Tunzhou had not visited before the contest.

Yu Tunzhou bypassed the Chen Household to visit Zhou Tianchen at the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple, where he congratulated him on the temple’s prospects. He revealed that he had reached the ninth layer of the Qi Ingestion Method, leaving Zhou Tianchen stunned.

• Granduncle Xuan told Chen Xuanye to take the initiative and visit Yu Tunzhou, then sensed Yu Tunzhou approaching before he reached the Chen Household.
• Yu Tunzhou passed the Chen Household and went to the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple to deliver congratulations from the old Daoist priest and Master Xuanku.
• Zhou Tianchen explained that his senior brother had reached Half-Step Dharma Aspect and defeated a Dharma Aspect expert, bringing renewed hope to the temple.
• Yu Tunzhou told Zhou Tianchen that he had cultivated the Qi Ingestion Method to the ninth layer.
• Zhou Tianchen stared in disbelief after realizing Yu Tunzhou had reached the ninth layer in about a month.

Yu Tunzhou learned how Profound Qi and a martial artist’s own nature shaped an Immortal Foundation, then prepared for the coming struggle for Martial Fortune. Meanwhile, Zhang Buyu questioned whether obstructing other cultivators could truly be his Great Dao.

• Zhou Tianchen explained that Immortal Foundations reflected a martial artist’s pursuits and could grant heaven-bestowed Divine Abilities, and he urged Yu Tunzhou to cultivate the Heavenly Peng Daoist Temple’s Devour Primordial Instruction.
• Yu Tunzhou told Zhou Tianchen that the Devour Primordial Instruction suited his Kun Fish Primordial Spirit, then learned that disciples could attack one another during the struggle for Martial Fortune.
• Yu Tunzhou decided to seek a secluded place on the mountain for the struggle, and Xie Linchuan thought his caution underestimated how much others feared him.
• Yue Hongyi proposed taking Xie Linchuan and Cao Jianjia out of the running before they could seize the initiative.
• Zhang Buyu recalled his martial uncle challenging his efforts to block others’ cultivation paths and said that the Great Dao should not be like that.

Yu Tunzhou hid in the mountains to await Martial Fortune, while Lu Huaiqing recognized the youth’s stubborn hope as a gamble against Heaven. When Martial Fortune descended, Yu Tunzhou and Little Black swallowed nearly all of it in one surge, leaving the town’s martial artists furious and searching for the culprit.

• Yu Tunzhou returned to the mountain, then went into the woods to find a hiding place before Martial Fortune descended.
• Zhang Buyu and Yue Hongyi visited Yu Tunzhou’s hut, where Dingguang told them Yu Tunzhou was away and revealed himself as the next Buddhist son of Vajra Chan Temple.
• Lu Huaiqing visited the summit pavilion, read Yu Tunzhou’s carved verse, and concluded that the youth’s wary persistence had won his bet against Heaven.
• As Martial Fortune descended, Yu Tunzhou activated the [Spark Instruction] while Little Black drove the Devour Primordial Instruction, and together they swept away the grotto-heaven’s Martial Fortune.
• Little Black grew round after swallowing the fortune, while Yu Tunzhou lamented that he had only gotten one bite before the Martial Fortune was gone.
• The town’s martial artists accused one another of cheating and ordered a search of the grotto-heaven, while Yu Tunzhou tried to convince himself they could not mean him.

Yu Tunzhou swallowed all the Martial Fortune, alarming the factions’ guardians and reviving fears of an earlier struggle over the Dao that ended in disaster. The factions failed to gather enough support to expel him, then turned their suspicions on Northern Chen while Old Mo concealed his role in stirring up the quarrel.

• Yu Tunzhou swallowed the Martial Fortune in a single gulp, and Xie Linchuan suspected he was responsible for its disappearance.
• The guardians learned that Yu Tunzhou was missing and feared he had been chosen by the person who had manipulated a previous struggle over the Dao.
• Several guardians proposed expelling Yu Tunzhou, but the Northern Dark Sea factions and Evergreen Mountain withheld support, leaving the proposal short of the required votes.
• Old Mo said Yu Tunzhou had received no support from that person and directed the guardians to ask the two figures on the mountain.
• The guardians accused Northern Chen of giving Yu Tunzhou a Qi Ingestion Method capable of swallowing the Martial Fortune, and the Chen elder denied the charge.
• Old Mo hid his part in starting the dispute and watched the guardians turn their anger toward Northern Chen.

Yu Tunzhou absorbed the Martial Fortune and began transforming his Inner Qi Seed as the other contestants learned they had all been tasked with killing him. He ended the chapter sensing a new “Spirit” within himself.

• Lu Huaiqing learned that Qin Shaoyou had been offered Martial Fortune for killing Yu Tunzhou, then warned that Yu was now beyond the others in the grotto-heaven.
• Xie Linchuan, Ao Xiyu, Cao Jianjia, and the other contestants discovered that they had all received Yu Tunzhou as their target.
• Yue Hongyi and Zhang Buyu concluded that Yu Tunzhou had absorbed the Martial Fortune, while Zhang argued that Chen Xuanye appeared unaware of what had happened.
• A Jiang Household elder told Jiang Yungu that Ji Pan, Chang Jian, and he were among the contest’s greatest winners, but Jiang did not understand why.
• Yu Tunzhou refined the Martial Fortune, which strengthened his Inner Qi Seed and widened and reinforced his meridians.
• Yu Tunzhou entered Taijiquan’s starting stance and sensed a new “Spirit” within himself.

Yu Tunzhou used his Martial Fortune to make a major breakthrough in his fist art and Qi cultivation, while its protection awakened a Daoist book called Change in his mind. He returned to the temple to meet Lu Huaiqing and the visiting monk Xuanku, whose exchange ended with Xuanku declaring that his Buddha saved only those with an affinity.

• The old Daoist handed the temple duties to Li Jingxuan, then decided to remain and guard the place because he worried about its neighbors.
• Yu Tunzhou practiced Taijiquan through the night, refining his fist intent as the Martial Fortune around him was absorbed by the golden characters in his mind, which transformed into a Daoist book titled Change.
• Yu Tunzhou discovered that his fist art had advanced beyond ordinary martial combat and that he had raised Refining the True to thirty-six cycles.
• Dingguang told Yu Tunzhou that his master wanted to see him and was receiving guests who had come to beg for alms.
• Lu Huaiqing asked Master Xuanku whether a clay or wooden Buddha could truly be a god, and Xuanku revealed the statue was made of real gold before saying his Buddha saved only those without an affinity.

Lu Huaiqing sought Master Xuanku’s help defending the Northern Dark Sea, then revealed his connection to Yu Tunzhou and offered him a chance to study martial arts. The chapter ended with Yu Tunzhou facing Lu Huaiqing’s outstretched fist and the challenge he was asked to take up.

• Lu Huaiqing persuaded Master Xuanku to consider helping the Northern Dark Sea, while Xuanku questioned Lu Huaiqing about the cost of his actions and his legacy.
• Master Xuanku told Yu Tunzhou that Lu Huaiqing was the cowherd who had entered the Luofu Grotto-Heaven ninety years earlier and given him a betting slip predicting his survival and rise as an Immortal Seed.
• Xuanku offered to take Yu Tunzhou out of the grotto-heaven, but Yu Tunzhou refused, and Xuanku explained that Lu Huaiqing had helped the fourteen Northern Dark Sea households abstain from the vote to expel him.
• Xuanku said he would take Yu Tunzhou to the Vajra Chan Temple and ordain him, and Yu Tunzhou made clear he still had other options.
• Lu Huaiqing asked Yu Tunzhou to study martial arts with him and challenge someone in his place, showing him a fist filled with a powerful martial spirit.

Lu Huaiqing discovered that Yu Tunzhou possessed a mysterious Fist Intent and decided to teach him the Martial Dao before asking him to challenge someone. After learning that the town had been promised Martial Fortune for killing him, Yu Tunzhou returned to the temple and found that the golden text in his mind had vanished, leaving an ancient Daoist book titled [Changes].

• Lu Huaiqing tested Yu Tunzhou's newborn Fist Intent and found that it silently swallowed his probe before counterattacking.
• Yu Tunzhou agreed to learn the Martial Dao from Lu Huaiqing, who warned him that people in town had been promised Martial Fortune for killing him.
• Yu Tunzhou called the offer blatant suppression, and Lu Huaiqing told Master Xuanku he would teach Yu Tunzhou the Martial Dao without making him into another Lu Huaiqing.
• Yu Tunzhou ate a Dragon Fish to ease his sudden, intense hunger and promised Dingguang he would bring back a little fox for company.
• Yu Tunzhou noticed that the golden text in his mind had disappeared, leaving only an ancient Daoist book marked [Changes].