Chapter Summaries

Duanmu Ren traveled to the Supreme Mystery Sub-Courtyard to advise Hu Yueqiu on cultivating the Mystic Thunder Sword Dao. He subtly distorted some of his guidance to make Hu Yueqiu less likely to kill him if they ever became enemies, and Hu Yueqiu ended by asking how to recognize an evil devil.

• Duanmu Ren delivered the capital's Mid-Autumn Festival gala invitation, but Hu Yueqiu declined so they could gather the autumn seasonal signs.
• Hu Yueqiu relayed Li Chengxuan's guidance and said the sect master had told them to seek Duanmu Ren's advice.
• Duanmu Ren explained how Greater Yin, Fu Water, and Mystic Thunder related to Hu Yueqiu's cultivation and urged them to avoid unnecessary involvement in worldly disputes.
• Duanmu Ren secretly skewed his explanation of Mystic Thunder to discourage Hu Yueqiu from rushing to slay devils.
• Hu Yueqiu asked Duanmu Ren how they were supposed to distinguish an evil devil from someone who was not one.

Duanmu Ren discussed the difficulty of distinguishing right from wrong with Hu Yueqiu, then urged Li Jiabao to see himself as someone who could choose his own life rather than remain passive. On his way to the provincial capital, he learned his posting had been settled, while his godfather hinted that he needed medicine.

• Duanmu Ren admitted to Hu Yueqiu that he did not know how to distinguish right from wrong and good from evil, and she said she would think about it herself.
• Duanmu Ren visited Li Jiabao, who lamented that Hu Yueqiu had declined the Mid-Autumn Festival gala invitation and recalled Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical's rise and collapse.
• Duanmu Ren told Li Jiabao that most people were like dust, but that Li Jiabao had the chance to become a person and choose what kind of person he wanted to be.
• Li Jiabao watched tourists stir dust into the sunlight as Duanmu Ren urged him not to waste his precious life.
• Duanmu Ren's godfather called to say his provincial-level posting had been settled and asked whether Duanmu Ren had any medicine left.

Hua Yueqiu studied Fu Water Dao and completed all nine autumn periods before Li Chengxuan brought them back to the cultivation world to enter the Dao through Qi Ingestion. As Hua Yueqiu prepared to seek a fitting place at Mirror Moon Lake, their Manifestation suddenly diminished.

• Hua Yueqiu studied Fu Water scriptures and realized that the sect leader had told them to seek stillness and deepen their wisdom.
• Chachazi posted a denunciation accusing Hua Yueqiu of disrespecting traditional culture with historically inaccurate hanfu, drawing calls for Hua Yueqiu to apologize and leave the community.
• Li Jiabao refused a county investigation into the sword at the Supreme Mystery Sub-Courtyard, then wondered whether he could live like a human being.
• Hua Yueqiu gathered the final Frost Descent periods as Hua Chunning appeared at the Supreme Mystery Sub-Courtyard, prompting online excitement about the NPC crossover.
• Li Chengxuan brought Hua Yueqiu to the Patriarch's Hall and said Mirror Moon Lake was the only suitable place for them to enter the Dao through Qi Ingestion.
• Hua Yueqiu's Manifestation suddenly diminished as they prepared to respond to Li Chengxuan.

Hu Yueqiu left Supreme Mystery Mountain after her diminishing Manifestation made entering the Dao seem uncertain, then traveled south and used her sword to punish cultivators who preyed on mortals. As she continued toward Mirror Moon Lake, she revisited her past and reunited with her dying schoolteacher, who died content after teaching her properly at last.

• Hu Yueqiu chose to leave Supreme Mystery Mountain and seek another chance to walk the immortal path, and the sect members gave her tokens, medicine, and Dao insights before she departed.
• Hu Yueqiu visited Gathering Worthies Mountain, learned that Xue Yang had purged its corrupt inhabitants, and continued south as her Manifestation steadily diminished.
• Hu Yueqiu crossed paths with Daoist Lei and killed the evil cultivators occupying the Zhao Kingdom’s palace, while Daoist Lei stopped the fleeing lame steward; she left a warning on the city wall before recovering at an inn.
• Hu Yueqiu visited Ten Thousand Swords Manor, refused Ximen Feixue’s invitation to return to the martial world, and secretly left after suspecting his Immortal-Seeking Society might target her cultivation method.
• Hu Yueqiu visited her dying former schoolteacher, studied with him for a month, and watched him die content after declaring that he had a clear conscience.

Hu Yueqiu returned to Mirror Moon Lake, confronted the family who had abused her, and discovered that her lost Manifestations had become part of her memories. By recalling her life, she restored her seasonal Manifestations and completed her [Fu Water] cultivation as thunder stirred over the lake.

• Hu Yueqiu recognized the village headman's youngest son, who led her to her parents' new home.
• Hu Yueqiu's mother, father, and younger brother approached her fearfully, and she left them without taking revenge.
• Hu Yueqiu studied Duanmu Ren's treatise and considered whether [Female Water] or [Greater Yin] had concealed her depleted Manifestation.
• Hu Yueqiu recalled her life beneath the autumn moon and realized her lost Manifestations had become part of her.
• Hu Yueqiu restored eight seasonal Manifestations from her memories, then received [Mystic Marsh Submerged Thunder Qi] and completed the final season of [Fu Water].
• Hu Yueqiu swung her sword as thunder sounded, and Mirror Moon Lake filled with water.

After Hu Yueqiu entered the Dao through Qi Ingestion, Li Chengxuan received a powerful surge of Dao resonance and Heavenly Dao favor, gaining the ability to travel between worlds from anywhere under Supreme Mystery Mountain's jurisdiction. He prepared to attempt Foundation Establishment, and after Hu Yueqiu returned, he welcomed him as a Supreme Mystery True Disciple and asked him to recount his breakthrough.

• Hu Yueqiu entered the Dao through Qi Ingestion, granting Li Chengxuan Dao resonance containing Fu Water, Sword Dao, and Mystic Thunder, along with the Heavenly Dao's favor and expanded Two Worlds Pearl abilities.
• Li Chengxuan studied Foundation Establishment and resolved to be the first cultivator since the revival of the Old Method's fortunes to attempt the perilous breakthrough.
• Hu Yueqiu returned to Supreme Mystery Mountain in winter after slaying evil along the way, and the sect gathered to welcome him.
• Li Chengxuan promoted Hu Yueqiu from Registered Disciple to Supreme Mystery True Disciple and named him his disciple.
• Li Chengxuan dismissed the others, kept Hu Yueqiu behind, and asked him to describe how he had entered the Dao.

Li Chengxuan recorded Hu Yueqiu’s rise as a sword immortal, then managed affairs on Supreme Mystery Mountain as his disciples pursued their own paths. When Hu Yueqiu reported visitors seeking permission for Chu Qiao to join the Azure Cloud Sect and news of an unusual child, Li Chengxuan felt an unexplained stirring and wondered whether the child marked his opportunity for Foundation Establishment.

• Li Chengxuan embellished Hu Yueqiu’s life story in the Miscellaneous Records of Supreme Mystery’s Secret History and titled the account An Account of the Autumn Moon Sword Immortal’s Entry into the Palace of Three Mountains and Nine Phenological Periods.
• Hu Yueqiu took over the Hall of General Affairs, while Liu Zhijian set out for Mirror Moon Lake to try his newly upgraded fishing gear.
• Hu Yueqiu told Li Chengxuan that Chu Yi, emperor of Huang Kingdom, sought permission for his daughter Chu Qiao, a Wood Element Heaven Spirit Root, to cultivate at the Azure Cloud Sect; Li Chengxuan approved.
• Hu Yueqiu reported that a talisman cultivator surnamed Du and a woman of the Hua family had an unusual son and wanted Hua Chunning to examine him.
• Li Chengxuan felt an unexplained stirring upon hearing about the child and wondered whether it was the fortuitous opportunity for Foundation Establishment described in ancient Dao scriptures.

Li Chengxuan visited Du Qingquan and Hua Yuhe to examine their green-eyed newborn, whom he recognized as a possible child of Clear Water’s destiny. He reassured Du Qingquan that the child’s unusual birth could bring great fortune, but Du Qingquan feared powerful cultivators might seize him, and Li Chengxuan’s thoughtful silence left him alarmed.

• Li Chengxuan used the alias Li Shan and showed Du Qingquan his Yi Wood Law Technique to establish his connection to Hua Chunning.
• Du Qingquan explained that his newborn son had strange features, and Li Chengxuan followed him to meet Hua Yuhe and the infant.
• The green-eyed boy grabbed Li Chengxuan’s finger and began gnawing on it, so Li Chengxuan transformed it into a bitter vine and made the child cry.
• Li Chengxuan called the infant a likely child of Clear Water’s destiny and said the resurgence of the Old Method’s fortune could bring him great prospects.
• Du Qingquan voiced his fear that his poor family could not protect the child from powerful cultivators, and he worried that Li Chengxuan might be considering taking the boy.

Li Chengxuan helped Du Qingquan and Hua Yuhe conceal their green-eyed child’s overflowing Manifestation by lending them a jade pure vase, then learned that the black-market bandits were tied to Supreme Mystery Mountain. The revelation left him bewildered about the mountain’s connection to the bandits.

• Li Chengxuan described ways to hide or suppress the child’s green eyes, then explained that a Law Artifact could contain the excess Manifestation until the child began cultivating.
• Du Qingquan and Hua Yuhe brought the child to Li Chengxuan, and the jade pure vase absorbed the excess Manifestation until the child’s eyes looked ordinary.
• Li Chengxuan refined the vase, made it small enough to wear around the child’s neck, and lent it to Du Qingquan in exchange for help finding Daoist scriptures and antiques.
• Du Qingquan suggested searching the black market and warned that Bandit Cultivators threatened visitors, but said Li Chengxuan would be safe because of his ties to Supreme Mystery Mountain.
• Du Qingquan told Li Chengxuan that Supreme Mystery Mountain kept the Bandit Cultivators and that their current leader was a True Disciple of the mountain, leaving Li Chengxuan bewildered.

Li Chengxuan joined Du Qingquan at a gathering in Azure Cloud Market, then visited the black market to search for Daoist scriptures and antiques. After buying several dubious books, he stopped at a final stall when its owner called him over with a claim of rare finds.

• Li Chengxuan learned that market rumors falsely linked Duanmu Ren and Supreme Mystery Mountain to the Bandit Cultivators, then set the matter aside.
• Du Qingquan introduced Li Chengxuan to local craftspeople, who warmed to him after learning he had savings but no particular trade skill.
• Du Qingquan warned Li Chengxuan that a Bandit Cultivators informant had attended the gathering and delayed their black-market visit for three days.
• Du Qingquan and Li Chengxuan entered the black market, where Du Qingquan set up a stall to sell talismans.
• Li Chengxuan bought fortune-telling books and a Thunder Method scripture for two Spirit Stones, then stopped at a stallholder's call about rare finds.

Li Chengxuan bought antiquities from a stall owner who had explored the Dragon-Rearing Secret Realm, then gained fame in Azure Cloud Market by restoring and explaining Daoist scriptures. His advice prompted Du Qingquan to seek Clear Water Daoist scriptures for Qingchi, and Du Qingquan later arranged to introduce Li Chengxuan to Pang Dafu, the shopkeeper of the Mountain and Sea Chamber of Commerce.

• Li Chengxuan bought a piece of dead wood and an old roof tile from a stall owner, who claimed they came from the Dragon-Rearing Secret Realm and described a mortal child discovered by the Dong Household patriarch.
• Li Chengxuan returned to the market with Du Qingquan, assessed his purchases, and decided the dead wood might serve as a fishing float for Liu Zhijian.
• Li Chengxuan began repairing, trading, and explaining Daoist scriptures at Du Qingquan's shop, earning a reputation as a scripture lecturer after cultivators made breakthroughs from his explanations.
• Du Qingquan asked Li Chengxuan whether reading Daoist scriptures mattered, then resolved to find Clear Water Daoist scriptures for Qingchi.
• Du Qingquan arranged a banquet to introduce Li Chengxuan to Pang Dafu, the shopkeeper of the Mountain and Sea Chamber of Commerce.

Li Chengxuan met Pang Dafu and learned about his business, [Wealth Qi] lineage, and the trouble that had brought him to seek help. Pang Dafu asked Li Chengxuan to examine his daughter, who had received a strange opportunity in a dream.

• Pang Dafu praised Du Qingquan’s business sense and explained how he had profited by selling talisman materials instead of competing in the crowded talisman market.
• Du Qingquan and Pang Dafu discussed the Mountain and Sea Chamber of Commerce’s trade between Azure Cloud Market and Little Dragon Mountain Market, where talismans and Law Artifacts were in greater demand.
• Li Chengxuan recognized that Pang Dafu cultivated [Wealth Qi], and Pang Dafu revealed his lineage’s claimed descent from Wu Geng.
• Pang Dafu told Li Chengxuan that his daughter had dreamed of meeting an immortal and receiving a fortuitous opportunity, after which increasingly strange things happened.
• Pang Dafu asked Li Chengxuan to examine his daughter and promised a generous reward whether or not Li could resolve the matter.

Li Chengxuan identified Pang Dafu’s daughter’s affliction as excess Female Water Manifestation and proposed washing her in the White Dragon River to disperse it. As they prepared to travel to Danzhou, Li Chengxuan realized the journey might connect his Foundation Establishment opportunity to Female Water and Clear Water, and that Danzhou’s history involved a Du-surnamed Clear Water devil.

• Pang Dafu brought Li Chengxuan and Du Qingquan to see his daughter, who repeatedly gave birth to water instead of a child.
• Li Chengxuan recognized that Pang Dafu’s daughter had excess Female Water Manifestation, which would consume her memories and Essence Blood until she became an infant.
• Li Chengxuan advised Pang Dafu to take his daughter to Mirror Moon Lake or wash her in the White Dragon River, and Pang chose the river because he planned to visit Danzhou.
• Li Chengxuan warned that a Foundation Establishment cultivator might have arranged the daughter’s dream encounter, but Pang still decided to proceed, and Du Qingquan volunteered to accompany them.
• After returning to prepare for the trip, Li Chengxuan recalled that Danzhou’s former springs had been buried after a devil calamity and that the slain Clear Water devil had borne the surname Du.

Li Chengxuan and the Mountain and Sea Chamber of Commerce traveled toward Danzhou while Rogue Cultivators rushed to Mirror Moon Lake over rumors of a secret realm. At Danzhou, Li Chengxuan helped Pang Dafu’s daughter recover in the White Dragon River, and Pang Dafu then told Du Qingquan that the city had once been a blessed land of spiritual vitality.

• Du Qingquan learned that Rogue Cultivators were heading to Mirror Moon Lake because they believed Liu Zhijian would shake loose another secret realm.
• Pang Dahai filled Li Chengxuan’s carriage with paying Rogue Cultivators, who argued over Supreme Mystery Mountain’s reputation during the journey.
• The caravan reached Danzhou City, where Du Qingquan found that nobody recognized him as its former city lord.
• Pang Dafu took Li Chengxuan and Du Qingquan to the White Dragon River, where his daughter recovered her senses after entering the water.
• Du Qingquan met Pang Dafu in the city lord’s garden, and Pang Dafu said Danzhou had once been a blessed land like Rejuvenation Valley.

Du Qingquan met Pang Dafu, who revealed that the Du Clan’s decline came after cultivators stole the [Clear Water] lineage’s Manifestation and buried Danzhou’s spiritual springs. Pang Dafu then claimed he had found the fallen ancestor’s site and connected the buried springs to his daughter’s [Female Water] Manifestation.

• Du Qingquan recalled how he had pursued cultivation, reached the Qi Refining Third Layer, and hoped Danzhou might hold a secret realm that could help his son Du Qingchi.
• Du Qingquan questioned Pang Dafu about his knowledge of Danzhou, and Pang Dafu explained that he had learned local customs through his travels as a businessman.
• Pang Dafu told Du Qingquan that the Du Clan had once controlled the [Clear Water] lineage and transformed Danzhou into a blessed land.
• Pang Dafu claimed that cultivators from three great Dao lineages had murdered the last [Clear Water] Foundation Establishment cultivator, taken the lineage’s Manifestation and spiritual objects, and buried Danzhou’s spiritual springs.
• Pang Dafu said he knew where the Du ancestor had fallen and suggested the site might contain spiritual objects and clues to opening a secret realm.
• Du Qingquan realized that the buried springs had transformed into [Female Water], and Pang Dafu confirmed that this was the source of his daughter’s Manifestation.

Pang Dafu recruited Du Qingquan and Li Chengxuan to search for the site where Du Qingquan’s ancestor fell and a [Foundation Establishment] opportunity was hidden. They located a [Yi Wood] formation in the city lord’s rear garden, where the search began.

• Du Qingquan suspected Pang Dafu’s motives but agreed to cooperate and suggested inviting Li Chengxuan.
• Pang Dafu and Du Qingquan told Li Chengxuan that Du Qingquan’s ancestor had been killed by cultivators from Supreme Mystery Mountain, Rejuvenation Valley, and the Hua Household.
• Pang Dafu explained that his daughter could sense the [Female Water] Manifestation, Li Chengxuan could break the [Yi Wood] formation, and Du Qingquan could use his bloodline or a [Clear Water] token to find the site.
• Du Qingquan revealed his Du Household’s [Foundation Establishment] talisman and asked for a strand of [Clear Water] Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi and the talisman inheritance in exchange for helping.
• The Pang Household’s young lady sensed the strongest [Female Water] Manifestation at a flower bed in the city lord’s rear garden, and Li Chengxuan’s [Yi Wood] Law Power revealed a formation there.

Li Chengxuan, Pang Dafu, and Du Qingquan uncovered the Du Household’s underground palace and witnessed a vision revealing that Du Qingquan’s ancestor had become a demon and been slain by High Person Shouyu. After Li Chengxuan’s ties to Supreme Mystery Mountain were exposed, Pang Dafu declared that he had come to answer the Mortal World Tribulation and oppose him.

• Li Chengxuan broke the Yi Wood formation, revealing the underground palace, and Du Qingquan entered first to investigate.
• Pang Dafu and Li Chengxuan followed Du Qingquan inside, and the pool displayed a vision of the Du ancestor’s death.
• Du Qingquan recognized his ancestor, Songfu, in the vision, while Pang Dafu explained that Songfu had slaughtered mortals to refine Blood Qi before High Person Shouyu killed him.
• Pang Dafu identified the peach-blossom cultivator as Hua Household’s Zhuohua and revealed that the elderly sword cultivator was Supreme Mystery Mountain’s High Person Shouyu.
• Li Chengxuan revealed his connection to Supreme Mystery Mountain, and Pang Dafu said he had come to answer the Mortal World Tribulation and block Li’s path.

Pang Dafu tried to make Li Chengxuan succumb to demonic corruption by revealing the schemes behind his entry into the Dao and trapping him in Clear Pool Reflecting Images. Li Chengxuan remained unmoved, and Pang Dafu drew a Five Emperors Copper Coin Sword to attack him.

• Du Qingquan discovered that Clear Pool Reflecting Images had sealed the underground palace and feared Pang Dafu meant for them to kill him as the demon.
• Pang Dafu urged Du Qingquan and his daughter to join him in killing Li Chengxuan, promising them the demon sect’s fortune and the Heavenly Dao’s favor.
• Li Chengxuan rejected Pang Dafu’s accusations of demonic deeds and realized Pang Dafu was trying to provoke him into succumbing to turbid Qi.
• Pang Dafu revealed that he had helped arrange Li Chengxuan’s entry into the Dao and that Li’s master, senior brother, and senior sister had left Supreme Mystery Mountain aboard his master’s flying boat.
• Li Chengxuan said Pang Dafu’s plot likely served the sea-dwelling dragonkind, but Pang Dafu stopped talking and produced a Five Emperors Copper Coin Sword.

Li Chengxuan defeated Pang Dafu and learned that the Azure Origin Cloud Script Divine Talisman lineage was about to end. Realizing the last talisman might be his Foundation Establishment opportunity, he promised Du Qingquan that he would preserve the lineage.

• Pang Dafu attacked Li Chengxuan with the Five Emperors Copper Coin Sword, but Li Chengxuan blocked it and dispelled the golden seal’s effects.
• Pang Dafu used a life-buying coin to distract Li Chengxuan and tried to escape, but Li Chengxuan suppressed him with the Name and Nature Method and Lesser Spirit Shocking Incantation.
• Du Qingquan struck Pang Dafu with the azure talisman, while the Pang Household’s young lady absorbed the Clear Water and Pang Dafu’s Manifestation into the earth.
• Li Chengxuan beheaded Pang Dafu with his golden bamboo sword and burned his body and soul with High Shaman black fire.
• The Pang Household’s young lady departed after saying she had completed her tribulation and settled old karma.
• Du Qingquan lamented the loss of his household’s inherited Azure Origin Cloud Script Divine Talisman, and Li Chengxuan realized he held the world’s last one and promised to preserve its lineage.

Li Chengxuan traced the last Azure Origin Cloud Script Divine Talisman into the past and recorded what he could of the lost Dharma lineage. He then pushed his search further, reaching a scene at Heavenly Lake where Du Qing declared he would attain the Dao.

• Li Chengxuan used the Azure Origin Cloud Script Divine Talisman to trace its history through Clear Pool, witnessing High Person Songfu's failed attempt to draw a talisman and his turn toward an ancient Dao scripture.
• Li Chengxuan entered a Clear Water secret realm and watched a nameless Purple Mansion cultivator teach Cloud Seal Script to the Du Clan's cultivators.
• As the cultivators vanished from the secret realm, the Purple Mansion cultivator left three azure talismans for future Foundation Establishment descendants and lamented that the Dharma lineage had been severed.
• Li Chengxuan recorded the Purple Mansion cultivator's teachings in Miscellaneous Records of Supreme Mystery's Secret History, then continued tracing the lineage despite the cost to heaven's favor.
• Li Chengxuan saw a gathering at Heavenly Lake among snowy mountains, where Du Qing appeared and announced that he would attain the Dao.