Chapter Summaries

Li Chengxuan assessed his disciples’ cultivation paths and cautioned Duanmu Ren and Hua Chunning about the dangers of pride and carelessness. He gave Liu Zhijian a gift for his fishing rod and warned Hua Chunning not to repeat her ancestor Zhuohua’s fate or let romance distract her from cultivation.

• Jiang Xiaoyu panicked when Duanmu Ren’s spirit pet marked her, and Liu Zhijian explained that the mark would keep her from getting lost.
• Li Chengxuan assessed Liu Zhijian’s heart-hooking method and advised Hua Chunning to learn defensive and lethal spells suited to her Dao imagery.
• Li Chengxuan warned Duanmu Ren that others could exploit his tracking mark and urged him not to become arrogant; Duanmu Ren accepted the rebuke.
• Li Chengxuan gave Liu Zhijian white sinew to use as fishing line for the black wooden staff he had received earlier.
• Li Chengxuan warned Hua Chunning that peach blossoms signified a short life and urged her not to let romantic love distract her from cultivation.

Li Chengxuan bestowed treasures and teachings on his disciples, whose conduct improved after his rebuke. As spring arrived, he let Liu Zhijian descend the mountain to visit Little Dragon Mountain and warned him about the dangers of dragonkind’s territory; soon afterward, another disciple sought permission to leave for training.

• Li Chengxuan gave Hua Chunning an Azure Yang Peach Ascension Talisman, Duanmu Ren a twin-snake seal, Jiang Xiaoyu a pendant containing Kan Water Essence, and Hu Yueqiu the Moon Palace Sword Canon.
• The disciples grew more diligent, while Hu Yueqiu struggled to understand the profound sword canon without guidance.
• At the Awakening of Insects, Liu Zhijian asked Li Chengxuan for permission to travel east to Little Dragon Mountain, admitting he wanted to see its spiritual fish and hone his fishing.
• Li Chengxuan warned Liu Zhijian not to travel farther east into dragonkind’s territory and told him never to fall into the water, lest his imagery and Fate be harmed.
• A few days later, another person came to Li Chengxuan seeking permission to descend the mountain for training.

Hua Chunning received Li Chengxuan’s permission to descend Supreme Mystery Mountain and travel east to the Azure Cloud Market, where she hoped to advance her cultivation. After arriving amid a grand reception, she recognized someone in the crowd and asked if it was her cousin Yuhe.

• Hua Chunning told Li Chengxuan that the Spring Qi of Awakening of Insects had stirred her heart, and he allowed her to descend the mountain for a destined opportunity.
• Hua Chunning set out for the Azure Cloud Market with attendants and guards from the Hua Household.
• On the journey, Hua Chunning learned that Chu Yi had brought order to the Huang Kingdom and implemented policies praised by its people.
• Hua Chunning arrived at the Azure Cloud Market, where Market Master Lin Muyang and a crowd of cultivators and spirit farmers welcomed her.
• Hua Chunning surveyed the crowd, spotted someone, and asked, “Is that you, Cousin Yuhe?!”

Hua Chunning toured the Azure Cloud Market, reunited with her cousin Hua Yuhe, and met Xue Yong of Rosy Clouds Resting Mountain. Over tea, Lin Muyang explained that the New Method’s Spirit Root system had triggered a devastating war in the Central Continent, then asked what had caused it.

• Hua Chunning recognized Hua Yuhe, who acknowledged their kinship but remained wary of returning to the status of a dependent relative.
• Lin Muyang showed Hua Chunning the Azure Cloud Market and explained that its New Method body-refining cultivators could advance only to the Qi Refining Third Layer.
• Hua Chunning met Xue Yong at the Flying Immortal Pavilion and treated him with respect, prompting Lin Muyang to realize she was skilled at handling people.
• Lin Muyang told Hua Chunning and Xue Yong that Spirit Roots were determined before birth and that this feature of the New Method had sparked a war across the Central Continent.
• Lin Muyang said the war ended only after a Spirit Transformation cultivator intervened and the immortal dynasties adopted the Middle Ages’ [Human Emperor] system, then asked what had caused the conflict.

Lin Muyang explained how the New Method’s unrestricted recruitment led to infant trafficking, a catastrophic war, and strict laws in the Central Continent. He then asked Xue Yong and Hua Chunning to allow the Azure Cloud Sect to hold an Immortal Ascension Ceremony in the Southern Edge Continent, and revealed that its newborns could now have Spirit Roots because the person who had prevented it was gone.

• Xue Yong and Hua Chunning reasoned that the New Method’s low cultivation threshold threatened the survival of small and medium-sized sects by letting great sects recruit widely.
• Lin Muyang recounted how cultivators stole and sold spirit infants, how an infant with a natural Dao seed sparked a war, and how a reclusive [Spirit Transformation] cultivator ended the conflict by establishing an immortal dynasty and banning infant trafficking.
• Lin Muyang admitted that the Azure Cloud Sect had also considered taking a Heaven Spirit Root infant, but a rival sect killed its Golden Core patriarch, prompting the Azure Cloud Sect to move to the Southern Edge Continent.
• Lin Muyang asked Xue Yong and Hua Chunning to let the Azure Cloud Sect hold an Immortal Ascension Ceremony and promised to send Ancient Method prospects to their sects.
• Xue Yong questioned how the Southern Edge Continent could produce Spirit Roots, and Lin Muyang said the people had been prevented from having them by someone who was now gone.

Hua Chunning and Xue Yong agreed to report Lin Muyang’s news about the Exalted One’s fall to their sects. Hua Chunning then visited her cousin Hua Yuhe and Du Qingquan in Azure Cloud Market, where she learned Du Qingquan secretly sold powerful talismans at the black market.

• Lin Muyang told Hua Chunning and Xue Yong that his sect had confirmed the Exalted One had truly fallen.
• Xue Yong and Hua Chunning decided to report the news to Rosy Clouds Resting Mountain and Supreme Mystery Mountain.
• Hua Chunning visited Du Qingquan’s talisman shop and heard how he and Hua Yuhe had struggled to establish themselves in Azure Cloud Market.
• Hua Yuhe welcomed Hua Chunning and described her work and prospects in the market.
• Hua Yuhe revealed that Du Qingquan hid his skill and sold his powerful talismans at the black market outside the market.

Hua Chunning told Hua Yuhe and Du Qingquan that the Southern Edge Continent’s upheaval was reviving the Old Method and might give Du a chance to cultivate through his [Clear Water] inheritance. After discovering Hua Yuhe was pregnant, Hua Chunning left Du asking how their child could cultivate the ancient method.

• Du Qingquan told Hua Chunning that Lin Muyang likely controlled the black market and shared more information about the market.
• Hua Chunning explained that the Old Method’s Dao lineages were recovering, and said Du Qingquan’s [Clear Water] inheritance might benefit from the upheaval.
• Hua Chunning judged that Hua Yuhe was unlikely to cultivate but could not rule out Du Qingquan entering the Dao.
• Hua Chunning used the spring breeze art to cleanse Hua Yuhe’s body and sensed that she was pregnant.
• Du Qingquan asked whether their future child could accumulate [Manifestations] and [Fate] to cultivate the ancient method, and Hua Chunning began to answer.

Hua Chunning advised Du Qingquan and Hua Yuhe on naming and raising their unborn child, while Hua Yuhe resolved to use her childhood friendship with Hua Chunning to seek help for the child’s cultivation. Later, Du Qingquan survived an ambush by Bandit Cultivators, and their leader and Daoist Mu planned to target Hua Chunning when she returned to Supreme Mystery Mountain.

• Hua Chunning explained how names could shape a person's nature and suggested naming Du Qingquan and Hua Yuhe's future child Dew or Pool.
• Hua Yuhe told Du Qingquan she intended to preserve her bond with Hua Chunning so she could ask for help for their child, and vowed that the child would cultivate immortality.
• Du Qingquan sold talismans to Daoist Mu at the black market, refused payment in an Azure Primordial Pill, and bought some incomplete Daoist scriptures.
• After discovering the scriptures had been tampered with and sensing an ambush, Du Qingquan attacked the pursuing Bandit Cultivators with talismans and burned several of them to ash.
• Daoist Mu and the Bandit Cultivator leader agreed to ambush Hua Chunning on her return to Supreme Mystery Mountain, with the leader revealing that she had caused the death of his close elder.

Hua Chunning toured Rejuvenation Valley with Lin Muyang, observing the Azure Cloud Sect’s medicine garden and protective spirit-tree formation before meeting sect leader Qiao Yunzhong and the sect’s elders and disciples. As Hua Chunning assessed the sect’s divided Qiao and Lin factions, a young disciple challenged Hua Chunning to demonstrate the Old Method.

• Lin Muyang reassured Hua Chunning that the Azure Cloud Sect and the Hua Household had no cause for enmity, and Hua Chunning chose not to visit the collateral relatives.
• Lin Muyang showed Hua Chunning the medicine garden and explained how the Lesser Five Phases Spirit Gathering Formation drew Spiritual Qi from an underground Spirit Vein.
• Lin Muyang brought Hua Chunning past the site of the Hua Household’s ancestral hall and described the Lin Household’s spirit-tree formation.
• Hua Chunning entered the hall, greeted Qiao Yunzhong and the assembled elders and True Disciples, and sensed the distinct presence of the Qiao and Lin factions.
• A young disciple asked Hua Chunning to demonstrate the Old Method for the Azure Cloud Sect.

Hua Chunning accepted a challenge from Lin Xiansheng, a Lin Household disciple of the Azure Cloud Sect, to demonstrate the New Method in a friendly spar. As Lin Xiansheng’s giant wooden sword came down, Hua Chunning vanished amid a storm of peach blossoms.

• An Azure Cloud Sect disciple provoked Hua Chunning into a spar, and Sect Master Qiao Yunzhong agreed to let them fight while warning them not to cause serious harm.
• Lin Muyang explained that the challenger, Lin Xiansheng, belonged to his household and apologized for the dispute; Hua Chunning reassured him that he held no resentment.
• At the technique demonstration platform, Lin Xiansheng introduced himself and attacked with azure sword techniques, while Hua Chunning blocked and dodged with a peach blossom branch.
• Lin Xiansheng closed in and enlarged his wooden sword into a giant blade, but his strike hit only peach blossoms as Hua Chunning disappeared.

Hua Chunning defeated Lin Xiansheng in a sparring match by using illusion, fragrance, and Sha-tainting techniques, then overcame his desperate counterattack with her peach branch. Afterward, Qiao Yunbai warmly spoke with her about her senior brother and Little Dragon Mountain, while she wondered whether he had caught any spirit fish.

• Hua Chunning used peach-blossom illusions and bewildering fragrances to disorient Lin Xiansheng, then tainted him with Sha.
• Qiao Yunzhong called an end to the match, but Lin Xiansheng wounded himself to regain clarity and charged at Hua Chunning.
• Hua Chunning blocked Lin Xiansheng's giant wooden sword with her peach branch and struck his shoulder, defeating him.
• Lin Muyang and the Lin Household elders hurried Lin Xiansheng away for treatment, while Qiao Yunbai praised Hua Chunning and asked after Liu Zhijian.
• Qiao Yunbai discussed his ties to Little Dragon Mountain with Hua Chunning, who wondered whether her senior brother had caught any spirit fish.

Dong Linyuan explained why the Azure Cloud Sect had intervened in a secret affair, then discussed the struggle for power and survival with Liu Zhijian. Liu Zhijian insisted he wanted no position or worldly rewards and only wished to protect his loved ones and fish, prompting Dong Linyuan to invite him to see his spiritual fish.

• Dong Linyuan welcomed Liu Zhijian to Little Dragon Mountain and told him the Azure Cloud Sect had sought a ten-year restriction on healing and life-prolonging wood-attribute spiritual objects at Rosy Clouds Resting Mountain.
• Liu Zhijian realized the Azure Cloud Sect was being used as a pawn to protect its gravely injured Foundation Establishment cultivator, Lin, and lamented that its people could not set aside their infighting.
• Dong Linyuan argued that cultivators had to struggle and warned Liu Zhijian that his future role as Supreme Mystery Mountain's senior disciple could bring conflict with his junior sister.
• Liu Zhijian said he did not want to become sect master and cared only about protecting his life, family, and ability to fish; he explained that he avoided competition whenever possible.
• Dong Linyuan admired Liu Zhijian's noncompetitive disposition and invited him to see the ferocious spiritual fish he raised, and Liu Zhijian eagerly accepted.

Liu Zhijian visited the Dong Household’s underground fishery, where a powerful spirit fish snapped his line. Dong Linyuan then warned him that the peaceful [Old Man by the Stream] Immortal Foundation might not suit the approaching turmoil and revealed a more formidable option, [Turbid Current Calamity].

• Dong Linyuan explained how the Dong Household shared profits from its spirit fish business to maintain goodwill and survive as a fallen clan.
• Dong Linyuan showed Liu Zhijian the underground river, and Liu Zhijian tried fishing with bait Hua Chunning had given him.
• A powerful spirit fish took Liu Zhijian’s bait and snapped his line before he could reel it in.
• Dong Linyuan asked Liu Zhijian about his planned [Old Man by the Stream] Immortal Foundation and warned that it was difficult to complete and unsuited to combat.
• Dong Linyuan described [Ancient Kan Water] and revealed the powerful Immortal Foundation called [Turbid Current Calamity].

Dong Linyuan explained the origins and risks of Ancient and Present Kan Water, then gave Liu Zhijian a copy of the Turbid Current Calamity cultivation method. While Liu Zhijian continued to fish instead of cultivating, Dong Linyuan learned that General Black and the dragon king were trying to make his Kan Water turbid and that the king wanted to meet him.

• Dong Linyuan warned Liu Zhijian to avoid Rosy Clouds Resting Mountain and explained how the Kan Water Fruition changed from Ancient Kan Water to Present Kan Water.
• Liu Zhijian refused the Turbid Current Calamity method because he had survived a devastating flood, but accepted the Jade Slip after Dong Linyuan urged him to preserve it for his sect.
• Liu Zhijian spent his days fishing at the Dong Household pond, helping its fish farmers and avoiding the underground river.
• General Black asked whether Liu Zhijian had cultivated the method, and Dong Linyuan admitted he had not.
• General Black gave Dong Linyuan flood dragon sinews to replace Liu Zhijian's fishing line and told him to bring Liu Zhijian back to the underground river.
• General Black said the dragon king wanted to meet the senior disciple of Supreme Mystery Mountain.

Dong Linyuan asked Liu Zhijian to join the Dong Household’s younger members in gathering Qi at the White Dragon River, where he could witness the Kan-Confluence Transformation. Liu Zhijian considered the invitation as the chapter ended.

• General Black told Dong Linyuan to arrange for a person from Supreme Mystery Mountain to meet the king, then left through the underground river when Dong Linyuan questioned him about the sea.
• Liu Zhijian befriended Dong Yu, a collateral-branch fish farmer, and learned about the Dong Household’s differences between its principal and collateral branches.
• Dong Yu told Liu Zhijian that he had seen two dragons fighting over the sea and joked about catching them in a net.
• Dong Fengming reprimanded Dong Yu and brought Liu Zhijian to meet Dong Linyuan, while advising Liu Zhijian to associate with people of his own station.
• Dong Linyuan invited Liu Zhijian to join the younger members of the household for Qi Gathering at the rising White Dragon River and explained that he could see the Kan-Confluence Transformation.

At Little Dragon Mountain, Dong Linyuan explained the limits of [Kan Water] and [Wu Earth] cultivation to Liu Zhijian and offered him flood dragon sinews, only to discover Liu already possessed mysterious sinews that seemed to unsettle his ancestral Law Artifact. A dragon approached from the South Sea, disrupting Dong Linyuan’s plan, while Liu watched its arrival without fear.

• Dong Linyuan showed Liu Zhijian where the White Dragon River met the South Sea and explained how [Kan Water] cultivators could intercalate into [Confluence Water].
• Dong Linyuan described how his clan’s younger members built a dike to earn the merit required to enter the [Wu Earth] Dao lineage.
• Dong Linyuan offered Liu Zhijian refined flood dragon sinews, but Liu declined and revealed that he already had a suitable bundle of his own.
• Dong Linyuan’s ancestral chain Law Artifact reacted to Liu’s sinews, leading him to suspect they were dragon sinews rather than flood dragon sinews.
• A dragon’s roar and an approaching tide forced Dong Linyuan to recall the people gathering Qi, disrupting his plan to provoke the dragon prince through a staged incident.
• Liu Zhijian watched a white dragon approach through the waves and wondered whether he might someday fish for one.

A white dragon son threatened Dong Linyuan and Liu Zhijian at Little Dragon Mountain, but Liu Zhijian remained confident that the dragon would not dare come ashore. The dragon instead used a white jade vase to drive Confluence Water inland, forcing Liu Zhijian to defend his Kan Water Manifestation from encroachment.

• Dong Linyuan urged Liu Zhijian to seek shelter from the approaching white dragon, but Liu Zhijian insisted it would not dare come ashore.
• Dong Linyuan mistook Liu Zhijian's confidence for a plan to slay the dragon and feared the Dong Household would suffer the consequences.
• Dong Linyuan and Liu Zhijian noticed the white dragon stayed over the sea, wary of the sword talisman Liu Zhijian had used to kill a flood dragon.
• Liu Zhijian waved at the white dragon, provoking it to roar and retreat farther from shore.
• The white dragon produced a white jade vase and sent seawater surging inland, pushing Confluence Water into Liu Zhijian's Kan Water Manifestation.
• Liu Zhijian realized the dragon was trying to seize his Manifestation and resolved not to retreat.

Dong Chengshi watched a Supreme Mystery Mountain cultivator use the White Dragon River to hold back a South Sea dragon son’s assault, then break through during the battle. When the dragon son began forcing the seawater over Dong Chengshi’s dike, the cultivator cast a fishing line into the river, and the heavens and earth at the river mouth collapsed.

• Dong Chengshi feared the dragon son’s waves would destroy his dike and ruin his [Wu Earth] cultivation.
• The Supreme Mystery Mountain cultivator drew on the White Dragon River to resist the dragon son’s Law Artifact and broke through during the struggle.
• The dragon son abandoned his Law Artifact and drove seawater inland with his body, pushing the advancing water toward the dike.
• As the seawater neared the dike, the Supreme Mystery Mountain cultivator calmly cast a fishing line into the White Dragon River and pulled hard.
• A mountain-sized phantom fisherman appeared behind the cultivator, and the heavens and earth where the river met the sea collapsed.

Liu Zhijian helped hold back the sea at the White Dragon River and accidentally brought the Dong Household’s Dragon-Rearing Secret Realm into the present world. After giving its Ancient Zhi River spirit back to Dong Fengming, he left Little Dragon Mountain for Supreme Mystery Mountain.

• Liu Zhijian used his fishing rod to reach the hidden [Kan Water] beneath the White Dragon River and pulled the Dragon-Rearing Secret Realm into the present world.
• Dong Chengshi thanked Liu Zhijian for helping hold the dike and revealed that he had broken through to the Middle Stage of Qi Refining.
• Dong Linyuan explained that the fallen secret realm belonged to the Dong Household, and Liu Zhijian agreed that they could search it.
• Liu Zhijian crossed the White Dragon River on foot and received the crimson spirit of the Ancient Zhi River, which he recognized as the [Turbid Current Calamity].
• Liu Zhijian returned the Ancient Zhi River spirit to Dong Fengming and set off for Supreme Mystery Mountain.

Jiang Xiaoyu missed her absent master and tried to find out when he would return, while Duanmu Ren advanced plans on Earth involving Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical and a relief program for impoverished former miners. The chapter ended with a bureau deputy recognizing that Duanmu Ren appeared to be steering public support toward a dubious health-supplement company.

• Jiang Xiaoyu asked her cloud friends to find her master, then pretended to take the wrong path toward the Founding Master Hall with Hu Yueqiu.
• Jiang Xiaoyu and Hu Yueqiu encountered Duanmu Ren, who hurried to the Founding Master Hall before returning to Earth.
• Duanmu Ren told Li Jiabao to proceed with Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical's crude production of Isatis Root Lung-Clearing Oral Solution.
• Duanmu Ren instructed Civil Affairs Bureau officials to draft a pilot relief plan for former miners who had fallen into poverty because of illness, starting in Stone Ridge County.
• Duanmu Ren gave the officials Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical's information as a possible supplier, and the deputy suspected the proposal was an effort to funnel support to a sham company.