Chapter Summaries

Lu Daolin escaped the Luofu Grotto-Heaven, reunited with his disciple Daoist Xuanqi, and set out to honor the death of Lu Huaiqing as news of the Martial Ancestor’s return stirred the world. Back in the grotto-heaven, Yu Tunzhou awoke with the Qi of Dao and Virtue and attained the position of a Daoist School True Person.

• Lu Daolin strolled through Cangping County, gave a child Martial Fortune, and learned that Lu Huaiqing had arranged a place of cultivation for him beyond the heavens.
• Daoist Xuanqi arrived, kowtowed to Lu Daolin, and returned to his master’s side after surviving the grotto-heaven and founding the Mending Heaven Pavilion.
• Lu Daolin told Liu Qiandao to warn Yu Tunzhou not to die before attaining the Dharma Aspect, then left with Daoist Xuanqi to attend to Lu Huaiqing’s death.
• News of Lu Daolin’s escape spread across the world, stirring factions and prompting powerful figures to consider the upheaval ahead.
• Yu Tunzhou awoke after several days, stabilized his immortal foundation, and gained the Qi of Dao and Virtue, becoming a Daoist School True Person.
• Yu Tunzhou told Li Jingxuan that he did not regret punching apart his Martial Fortune, despite the loss, because he had wanted to see Master Lu off.

After forging his Immortal Foundation and scattering a dou of Martial Fortune, Yu Tunzhou prepared to leave the grotto-heaven and travel the jianghu with Old Mo. At a farewell gathering, he shared a potentially revolutionary Refining the True method with Xie Linchuan, then ended the night reflecting on what the jianghu meant.

• Li Jingxuan explained that Yu Tunzhou’s punch had returned most of a dou of Martial Fortune to the primordial beginning and strengthened his Qi of Dao and Virtue.
• Yu Tunzhou decided to travel the jianghu, pursue the Dragon and Tiger Ranking, and leave the grotto-heaven with Old Mo, who promised to arrange his travel documents.
• Yu Tunzhou visited his friends and received identity tokens from Zhou Tianchen and Xie Linchuan before arranging a farewell gathering on the mountain.
• Yu Tunzhou taught Xie Linchuan a Refining the True route that added the Shendao Acupoint, and Xie warned him to keep the method secret until they could verify it.
• Yu Tunzhou and his friends shared dinner and wine, exchanged invitations, and Yu described the jianghu as a place of courage, martial prowess, and killing amid the mortal dust.

Xie Linchuan realized that Tunzhou’s Refining the True method came from the town’s guardian, while Yu Tunzhou left the grotto-heaven with Old Mo and entered the jianghu. The gathered households and sects accepted Li Jingxuan’s warning not to pursue Yu, as new rumors and questions about Lu Huaiqing’s legacy spread.

• Xie Linchuan learned from Zhang Qingtong that the Refining the True method’s creator had killed a Supreme Origin Sect elder at the Coming Dragon River, and he wondered whether Tunzhou knew the guardian’s identity.
• Old Mo took Yu Tunzhou out of the grotto-heaven by boat, told him to hide his fist technique and Fist Intent for two months, and carried him above the Coming Dragon River.
• Experts entering the grotto-heaven discovered that Old Mo and Yu Tunzhou had left, then asked Li Jingxuan where Yu had gone and raised concerns about Lu Huaiqing’s death and Northern Chen.
• Li Jingxuan said the Supreme Purity Lineage would vouch for Yu Tunzhou in the matter, and Qingshan agreed that the households and sects would not pursue him on that pretext.
• The Bao Household’s representative asked when Dingguang would descend the mountain, while a monk from the Northern Dark Sea said it would happen after Dingguang dreamed of climbing the mountain to the Great Thunderclap Temple.
• Qingshan wondered who had obtained Lu Huaiqing’s Heavenly Court Fragment and whether Jiang Wenxuan might give the Jiang Household another seat in the Nine Heavens.

After two months of training at Eternal Spring Temple, Yu Tunzhou obtained travel papers and prepared to journey toward the Northern Plains. While meditating with Master Lu’s prayer beads, he was transported to a ruined place, where he found a dead man and took his clothes as footsteps approached.

• Yu Tunzhou brought his sinews and skin to greater accomplishment and continued tempering his bones at Eternal Spring Temple.
• Qingxuan and Qingwu led Yu Tunzhou to Temple Master Wolong, who gave him travel papers, a mountain travel journal, and silver.
• Yu Tunzhou planned to rest and study the journal before setting out toward the Northern Plains.
• Yu Tunzhou entered a profound meditative state while holding Master Lu’s prayer beads and appeared in a brilliantly adorned hall.
• The golden light and divine figures vanished, revealing palace ruins, and Yu Tunzhou hid from approaching footsteps after taking clothes from a sword-pierced corpse.
• Yu Tunzhou noticed a burned plaque bearing the characters “South” and “Heaven.”

Yu Tunzhou appeared in the Southern Heavenly Gate, a Heavenly Court ruin, and fought alongside the wounded Zuo Qiantao to kill Zhang Tianyang. After learning how the ruins worked, Yu Tunzhou stayed behind as Zuo Qiantao died, while Zuo Qiantao’s Third Uncle identified him as Yu Tunzhou and warned that the Zuo Household could not recruit him.

• Yu Tunzhou found himself naked in the ruins and overheard Zuo Qiantao and Zhang Tianyang discussing Zhou Zhan, whose corpse suddenly revived and attacked him for his clothes.
• Yu Tunzhou killed Zhou Zhan, then joined the wounded Zuo Qiantao against Zhang Tianyang and struck him with his full-strength fist before Zuo Qiantao finished him.
• Yu Tunzhou questioned Zuo Qiantao, who explained that the ruins were in the Sea of Void Turbulence, that visitors usually entered through an Ascension Platform as Primordial Spirits, and that Heavenly Court artifacts could be taken out.
• Zuo Qiantao urged Yu Tunzhou to warn Feng Yanleng that Zhang Tianyang and his allies had conspired with Deng Canglan, and told him that the group ahead had found the High Heaven Treasure Hall plaque.
• Zuo Qiantao died after warning Yu Tunzhou about people carrying Heavenly Court Fragments, and then awoke outside the ruins beside his Third Uncle.
• Zuo Qiantao described Yu Tunzhou to his Third Uncle, who recognized him as the fighter who had challenged the Martial Ancestor and said the Zuo Household could not recruit him ahead of the new rankings.

Yu Tunzhou learned to use the prayer beads’ Ascension Platform to travel between Eternal Spring Temple and the Heavenly Court ruins, then pressed deeper into the ruins to temper his bones in a strange black wind. He encountered An Ruyu, found Feng Yanleng, and finally met a young man surnamed Deng whose identity and intentions remained uncertain.

• Yu Tunzhou heard Master Lu’s message in the prayer beads and learned that the Heavenly Court Fragment could open a gateway to newly emerged ruins.
• Yu Tunzhou returned to Eternal Spring Temple, tested the gateway with a banana leaf, and carried it back into the ruins before heading deeper.
• Yu Tunzhou distrusted An Ruyu after the prayer beads warned him, declined her offer to accompany him, and continued toward the High Heaven Treasure Hall.
• Yu Tunzhou endured the strengthening black wind, which tempered his bones and was absorbed by the Primordial Azure One Qi in his Dantian.
• Yu Tunzhou spotted Feng Yanleng alone among the ruins and then met a young man surnamed Deng, who warned him about the wind calamity before vanishing.

Yu Tunzhou learned that he had been placed first on the Dragon and Tiger Reserve Ranking, then traveled to Pinghu County and discovered that his sudden fame had already spread through the jianghu. He ended the chapter pleased by the news that Jiang Yunshang had challenged him, and decided Jiang Yunshang should first ask Jiang Yungu about him.

• Yu Tunzhou warned Feng Yanleng that Zuo Qiantao and Zhang Tianyang had killed each other and that Zhang Tianyang had joined forces with Deng Canglan, then continued into the black wind.
• Zhang Tianyang learned that Feng Yanleng had risen to fifth on the Human Ranking and that Yu Tunzhou had taken first place on the reserve ranking; he angrily objected to the ranking's praise of Yu Tunzhou.
• Mo Shougui admitted he had ranked Yu Tunzhou first partly because Lu Huaiqing had asked the Star Palace to give Yu Tunzhou a better ranking title.
• Yu Tunzhou traveled to Pinghu County, where a gate guard told him about a curfew, an investigation into the Yuhe Zhang Household, and an Incense-Smelling Cult villain in the city.
• At a tavern, Yu Tunzhou heard patrons discuss his fame and Jiang Yunshang's challenge, and concluded that Jiang Yunshang should ask Jiang Yungu about him first.

Yu Tunzhou studied the rankings, assessed his growing Form Refinement strength, and arrived in Pinghu County, where the Gold-Wielding Guard was investigating rumors about the Human Emperor's tomb. Feng Xu recognized Yu Tunzhou as Lu Huaiqing's chosen inheritor and asked whether he knew of the Human Emperor's inheritance.

• Yu Tunzhou read the Dragon and Tiger, Earth, and Heaven Rankings, noting the formidable experts ahead of him and Old Mo's return to sixth place.
• Yu Tunzhou reflected on reaching greater accomplishment in his sinews, bones, and skin and practiced circulating his Qi and Blood through Taijiquan.
• In Pinghu County, Magistrate Zhang and his records officer worried as the Zhang Household and the Gold-Wielding Guard sought information about martial artists entering the city.
• A Gold-Wielding Guard commander learned Yu Tunzhou was in town and ordered his men not to make an enemy of him while they watched for martial artists from Northern Chen.
• Feng Xu visited Yu Tunzhou at the inn, identified himself as Lu Huaiqing's former colleague, and asked whether Yu Tunzhou had heard of the Human Emperor's inheritance.

Feng Xu told Yu Tunzhou that a likely genuine Human Emperor tomb would appear in the Northern Plains and gave him a Gold-Wielding Guard token, while Yu examined the Divine Abilities he had developed from Primordial Azure One Qi. On his journey north, Yu uncovered an Incense-Smelling Cult scheme, fought its expert Zhang Yan, and reunited with Zhang Qinghe in Jade River Commandery.

• Feng Xu explained the Human Emperor's false tombs and the Incense-Smelling Cult's connection to them, then gave Yu Tunzhou a Gold-Wielding Guard token and asked him to watch for the likely tomb in the Northern Plains.
• Yu Tunzhou reflected on his Swallow the Sun and Refine the Moon and Yin-Yang Domain Divine Abilities before continuing north the next day.
• Yu joined Li Wu and several jianghu men who claimed to be confronting an adulterer, but he quickly knocked out the supposed lover and discovered the group had been lured into a trap with poisonous Immortal Incense.
• Yu resisted the incense, questioned Zhang Yi, and faced an Incense-Smelling Cult fighter who tried to recruit him before attacking him with powerful claw techniques.
• Yu used Taiji Domain to withstand Zhang Yan's assault and redirected the force when the domain broke, injuring Zhang Yan, who fled after a middle-aged man struck him from afar.
• Yu met Zhang Qinghe, and Zhang Qinghe's Second Uncle identified the escaped fighter as Zhang Yan, a rising Incense-Smelling Cult expert on the main Dragon and Tiger Ranking.

Yu Tunzhou returned to the Zhang Household’s residence after injuring Zhang Yan and learned what had happened in the grotto-heaven and what Old Mo had done. Hearing that Old Mo had revealed the Taiji path, Yu Tunzhou gained insight and transformed his fist intent, naming his new punch Ten-Thousand-Ren High Mountain.

• Yu Tunzhou told Zhang Zhengci and Zhang Qinghe how he had fought Zhang Yan with his Divine Ability, and Zhang Zhengci ordered the unconscious people questioned while Zhang Qinghe invited Yu to join the Northern Plains Autumn Hunt.
• Zhang Yan escaped to Wang Fujing’s secret chamber, reported his fight with Yu Tunzhou, and agreed to suspend the cult’s plans until the Holy Maiden arrived.
• Zhang Qinghe told Yu Tunzhou that several competitors had forged Immortal Foundations in the grotto-heaven, the Martial Ancestor had slain Northern Chen’s ruler, and Old Mo had fought the Heaven Ranking’s top experts to reveal the Taiji path.
• Yu Tunzhou heard that Old Mo’s Taiji inheritance had drawn the attention of powerful martial artists and gained insight into his own fist technique.
• Yu Tunzhou’s fist intent surged as Zhang Zhengci recognized its transformation into Taiji, and Yu named his new punch Ten-Thousand-Ren High Mountain.

Yu Tunzhou entered Form Refinement Lesser Accomplishment, discovered a mysterious fragment in the Pinghu County yamen that the [Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic] deciphered into an incomplete method, and learned from Zhang Zhengci about Divine Abilities. When the Incense-Smelling Cult's Holy Maiden An Ruyu attacked, Yu Tunzhou and Zhang Qinghe fled, but An Ruyu intercepted them and recognized Yu Tunzhou as Young Hero Guo.

• Yu Tunzhou unified his Blood Qi with his self-created [Ten-Thousand-Ren High Mountain] fist technique and reached Form Refinement Lesser Accomplishment.
• Following a resonance linked to the [Spark Instruction], Yu Tunzhou found a fragment hidden in the county yamen dungeon; it entered his Dantian, and the [Muscle-Tendon Changing Classic] deciphered an incomplete method from its ancient writing.
• An Ruyu arrived at the Wang Household, ordered Zhang Yan to help her search the yamen for the Law Seals fragment, and told Wang Fujing to withdraw to the cult's headquarters.
• Zhang Zhengci gave Yu Tunzhou medicines and demonstrated his Surging Waves Absorbing Rivers Divine Ability, explaining how practitioners could touch the principles of heaven and earth.
• After An Ruyu attacked the county yamen, Zhang Zhengci ordered Yu Tunzhou to take Zhang Qinghe away, and the two fled toward nearby counties for help.
• An Ruyu appeared in Yu Tunzhou and Zhang Qinghe's path and greeted him as Young Hero Guo.

Yu Tunzhou escaped An Ruyu by diving into the Three Passages River, but she continued pursuing him as he fled downstream. A week later, still on the run, he encountered Zhou Zheng and Zuo Qianyun in a ruined river god temple, where An Ruyu soon appeared again.

• Zhang Qinghe fled to the county government office while Yu Tunzhou distracted An Ruyu with a Gold-Wielding Token and escaped into the river.
• An Ruyu used the Azure Clouds Mountain-Subduing Seal to trap Yu Tunzhou underwater, but a dragon toad emerged and turned its anger on her, allowing him to slip away.
• Zhang Zhengci and Wei Xian found traces of An Ruyu's Divine Ability by the river, while Zhang Yan fled and the Zhang Household and Feng Xu later searched for Yu Tunzhou without finding him.
• Yu Tunzhou spent seven days evading An Ruyu along the Coming Dragon River, using his Buddhist beads to warn him of her approach and honing his Form Refinement.
• Yu Tunzhou met Zhou Zheng and Zuo Qianyun at a ruined river god temple and left before An Ruyu arrived; she then appeared and told them she was pursuing the man she called Young Hero Guo.

Yu Tunzhou refined his Taiji Domain while fleeing through the Coming Dragon River, then accepted an invitation to Lord Hibernating Dragon’s water manor, where the demon king planned to use him to challenge the East Sea’s influence. Lord Hibernating Dragon remained wary of Yu Tunzhou’s mysterious presence and wondered whether he was connected to a demon saint.

• Yu Tunzhou boarded the Drunken River Moon, learned that Divine Monk Jiese had gone downstream, and asked Jiang Sanniang to send Zhang Qinghe word of his route.
• Yu Tunzhou used the river’s currents to deepen his understanding of fist techniques and achieved a true Taiji Domain that could divert most of an opponent’s force.
• Qinglin and a shrimp soldier invited Yu Tunzhou to Lord Hibernating Dragon’s banquet, where Divine Monk Jiese and representatives from riverside households would also attend.
• Lord Hibernating Dragon told the Tortoise Chancellor that he had invited Yu Tunzhou to use his presence to warn the East Sea Dragon Palace’s guests.
• Lord Hibernating Dragon worried that Yu Tunzhou might be a demon-saint descendant and decided to observe the East Sea guests’ reaction to him.

Yu Tunzhou attended Lord Hibernating Dragon’s banquet, where Ao Qingxiao challenged him and failed to move him after three attacks. Yu Tunzhou made Ao Qingxiao his attendant, while the guests recognized him as a powerful rising talent and Ao Lie realized he had inherited the Kunpeng Divine Intent.

• Qinglin escorted Yu Tunzhou into the Coming Dragon Water Prefecture, where he met Divine Monk Jiese and exchanged greetings with him.
• Ao Lie instructed Ao Qingxiao to challenge Jiese, then ordered him to kill Yu Tunzhou after sensing the Kunpeng Divine Intent in him.
• Yu Tunzhou asked Jiese to help him capture An Ruyu, and Jiese agreed to assist after the banquet.
• Ao Qingxiao challenged Yu Tunzhou to a martial exchange, and Yu Tunzhou wagered that Ao Qingxiao would become his attendant if he could not make him leave his seat in three moves.
• Yu Tunzhou used his Taiji Domain and Kunpeng Divine Intent to stop Ao Qingxiao’s three attacks without leaving his seat, and Ao Qingxiao collapsed from the backlash of his bloodline secret art.
• Lord Hibernating Dragon praised Yu Tunzhou as Great Hero Mo’s inheritor, and the guests recognized him as the top-ranked name on the Dragon and Tiger Ranking’s Reserve Ranking.

Yu Tunzhou’s wager with Ao Qingxiao escalated when An Ruyu appeared, tore out Ao Qingxiao’s dragon sinew, and announced the Incense-Smelling Cult’s coming reckoning with the East Sea Dragon Palace. Ao Lie later ambushed Yu Tunzhou and Dharma Master Jiese, but An Ruyu intervened, and a figure in azure robes arrived to confront Ao Lie.

• Yu Tunzhou accepted praise for withstanding Ao Qingxiao’s three attacks, while Ao Lie tried to buy his grandson’s release with the location of a Kunpeng burial ground.
• An Ruyu appeared at the banquet, pulled out Ao Qingxiao’s dragon sinew, and offered it to Yu Tunzhou before warning Ao Lie that the Incense-Smelling Cult would settle an old score with the East Sea Dragon Palace.
• Ao Lie took Ao Qingxiao away after Lord Hibernating Dragon urged him to leave, while An Ruyu stayed behind and pressed wine on Yu Tunzhou.
• Yu Tunzhou and Dharma Master Jiese left the Water Prefecture, but Ao Lie ambushed them downstream and attacked Yu Tunzhou despite Jiese’s resistance.
• An Ruyu struck Ao Lie with a jade-green seal and stood between him and Yu Tunzhou, then said a governor would intervene; a figure in azure robes arrived and reversed Ao Lie’s control over the river.

Old Mo told Feng Yanleng and a woman in white how Xie Xie had saved him, taught him Turtle Fist, and inspired his rise, before he learned that she had died. His hope of reopening samsara led him to protect Yu Tunzhou and find a path forward, and he set off to fight Ji while Feng Yanleng and the woman in white went looking for Yu Tunzhou.

• Old Mo recalled how Xie Xie rescued the young Little Mo, helped his injured father, and taught him Turtle Fist before leaving to fight an Evil Dao expert.
• Little Mo learned Xie Xie had died saving a city, and after losing to Kou Ziling he sought a way to reopen samsara so he could meet her again.
• Old Mo explained that he had once considered killing or expelling Yu Tunzhou but instead protected him, and that the youth had shown him a road toward his goal.
• A challenger’s saber Qi reached the boat, and Old Mo dispersed it before recognizing the call to fight from a distant mountaintop.
• Old Mo leaped away to battle Ji, while Feng Yanleng and the woman in white separately set out to find Yu Tunzhou.

Lord Hibernating Dragon defeated Ao Lie on the Coming Dragon River and drove him back toward the East Sea, while Yu Tunzhou learned more about the gaps between himself and the Dragon and Tiger Ranking’s leading experts. Yu Tunzhou planned to visit the Danyang Qian Household for Master Lu’s wager, and news of Ao Lie’s attack drew the Supreme Purity Lineage into the dispute.

• Lord Hibernating Dragon used the Coming Dragon River’s water fortune to overcome Ao Lie’s thunder and wound him, then pursued him until both vanished from the river.
• An Ruyu asked Yu Tunzhou whether he preferred red or white, then departed after saying she looked forward to testing his fist art at their next meeting.
• Dharma Master Jiese explained that Yu Tunzhou lagged behind top Dragon and Tiger Ranking experts in physical cultivation, though his powerful fist intent and defensive Divine Ability gave him advantages.
• Yu Tunzhou recalled Master Lu’s wager with the Danyang Qian Household and decided to visit them on his way north, while resolving to settle his grievance with An Ruyu.
• News spread that Ao Lie had attacked Yu Tunzhou and the others, and the Supreme Purity Lineage was the first to intervene.

Feng Xu reported the East Sea crisis, while the old prince revealed his interest in Yu Tunzhou and dismissed the danger as a lesson the dragons deserved. Daoist Shouxin sent Daoist Yunsong to punish Ao Lie for attacking Yu, and Yunsong’s sword strike shattered the Dragon Palace’s protection before the Incense-Smelling Cult’s assault ended with the palace devastated and Ao Ming missing.

• Feng Xu brought an urgent report that the Incense-Smelling Cult had surrounded the East Sea Dragon Palace, and the old prince said Yu Tunzhou had created the fist art attributed to Great Hero Mo.
• Zhang Qinghe learned that Yu Tunzhou had survived the water banquet and was traveling with Jiese, while the Zhang Household discussed the conflict over the Dragon Gate.
• Daoist Shouxin ordered Daoist Yunsong to support Yu Tunzhou after Ao Lie attacked him, and the Supreme Purity leader agreed that their protection would apply when the strong bullied the weak.
• Daoist Yunsong reached the besieged East Sea Dragon Palace, broke through its formations, and killed Ao Lie with the Immortal-Ending sword.
• The Incense-Smelling Cult later withdrew after a deal, the East Sea Dragon Palace suffered heavy losses, and Ao Ming disappeared.

Yu Tunzhou questioned the traditional order of Form Refinement and attempted to nourish his organs while opening his orifices. He succeeded in opening his left eye aperture and parted from Dharma Master Jiese, intent on developing a new path for the Martial Dao.

• Dharma Master Jiese explained the Incense-Smelling Demoness’s Void Mother inheritance and described how the five organs and seven orifices were traditionally cultivated in sequence.
• Yu Tunzhou proposed nourishing the five organs while partially opening the seven orifices, relying on his Primordial Spirit cultivation through Refining the True.
• Yu Tunzhou paid a storyteller to publicize that he was traveling to collect Hero Lu’s wager from the Danyang Qian Household, hoping to deter the household from using underhanded tricks.
• Outside the city, Yu Tunzhou completed nourishing his liver and used his Primordial Spirit and Qi and Blood to open his left eye aperture.
• Yu Tunzhou told Dharma Master Jiese that his right eye aperture should open within days, then parted from him and continued north along a mountain path.

Xie Linchuan chose to cultivate both Evergreen Mountain’s ancient and modern methods, then learned that Yu Tunzhou was heading to Danyang to redeem his token. At Danyang, Daoist Yunsong delivered Ao Lie’s dragon pearl to Yu, who met Qian Jinqing and made the Qian Household agree to pay the taverns and teahouses he had hired to spread news of his arrival.

• Xie Linchuan told Daoist Changqing he wanted to cultivate both the ancient and modern methods, and Changqing allowed him to receive the inheritance.
• A young Daoist attendant brought Xie Linchuan news that Yu Tunzhou planned to visit the Danyang Qian Household, and Xie Linchuan reflected on the impact of Yu’s Refining the True method.
• After reaching Danyang Commandery, Yu Tunzhou met Daoist Yunsong, who gave him Ao Lie’s dragon pearl on Daoist Shouxin’s orders.
• Qian Jinqing welcomed Yu Tunzhou outside the city and agreed that the Danyang Qian Household would settle his wager with Yu.
• Yu Tunzhou told Qian Jinqing that the Qian Household also needed to pay the bills from thirty-seven teahouses and taverns where he had arranged for storytellers to spread news of his arrival.