Chapter Summaries

After the grotto-heaven opened and powerful figures surrounded it, Su Yao returned to Golden Ao Mountain and worried about how to face the True Lord’s reincarnation when he entered the world. A surge of Greater Yin Qi then appeared around the mountain, revealing a vision that Zilin recognized as the Greater Yin Pure Lunar Soul Manifest Radiance Hall.

• Su Yao saw powerful figures and the Three Pure Ones gather around the grotto-heaven before he was transported from Longchuan to Golden Ao Mountain.
• Youning departed, Xuan Yan returned to his sect, and Su Yao invited Yang Xiu, Zilin, Mo Li, and Ying Qi into the mountain.
• Su Yao reunited with his disciples, then asked his guests how they would prepare for the True Lord’s reincarnated body to enter the world.
• A cool osmanthus fragrance and a toad’s croaking lulled the people in the hall as Greater Yin Qi spread across Golden Ao Mountain.
• Jade Pure immortal light awakened and protected Su Yao and the others, while the Greater Yin Qi formed a vision of jade rabbits, toads, osmanthus, and immortal palaces.
• Zilin identified the vision as the Greater Yin Pure Lunar Soul Manifest Radiance Hall.

Su Yao and the others identified the ancient Mount Li hall as a powerful Law Treasure, then faced its white-robed wielder as Greater Yin Qi overwhelmed the mountain. Guangli revealed his Five Laws cultivation and rescued the captives, but the white-robed man turned to leave after seeing what Guangli carried.

• Su Yao explained the histories of the three halls and identified the manifested palace as the Mount Li Foothills Hidden Splendor Awaiting Dawn Hall.
• The Greater Yin Qi surged, and the Soul-Losing Radiant Fire Formation failed to harm the hall or its wielder.
• The white-robed figure pulled Xiao Huang, Ren Han, Lu Yuan, and Zichuan from the hall and attacked Su Yao and the others for allowing someone to cultivate Great Yang.
• Su Yao used Daozheng's paper to break the attack, while the white-robed figure threatened the group and held Zichuan in chains.
• Guangli appeared as a Five Laws cultivator, severed the chains with murky yellow Qi, and swept the captives up the mountain.
• Guangli lifted the cloth robe at his waist, and the white-robed man turned to leave after seeing it.

Guangli used the Turbid and Clear Branch to dissolve the white-clad man and repel an assault on the Greater Yin Pure Lunar Soul Manifest Radiance Hall. After the others chose to resume secluded cultivation, Su Yao examined five silver ingots given by the True Lord’s reincarnation and learned they carried a chance-boosting fate, then asked his disciples to report their weights.

• Guangli trapped the white-clad man with Turbid Qi, prevented his suicide, and dissolved his body and Greater Yin Divine Abilities.
• A giant hand broke into the Soul-Losing Radiant Fire Formation to seize the Greater Yin Pure Lunar Soul Manifest Radiance Hall, but a shoulder pole shattered the hand, removed the hall, and restored the formation.
• Guangli ordered Su Yao and the others to remain on Golden Ao Mountain unless they received an immortal decree, then left with the hall.
• Su Yao, Zilin, and Yang Xiu agreed to resume secluded cultivation, while Mo Li and Ying Qi returned to their own cultivation grounds.
• Su Yao checked his unconscious disciples, gathered Liu Yunhe and four others, and examined the silver ingots they had received from the True Lord’s reincarnation.
• Su Yao discovered that the ingots carried the True Lord’s fate and increased their chances of attaining the Purple Mansion by twenty percent, then asked each disciple to report an ingot’s weight.

Su Yao explained that the silver ingots carried the True Lord’s fate, offering his companions a boost toward the Purple Mansion at the cost of binding their paths, and they accepted the risk. A county magistrate then delivered the Crown Prince’s decree restricting Nanzhao’s immortal-temple branch compounds during the imperial mourning, and began to read the late emperor’s edict of self-reproach.

• Su Yao explained how the silver ingots could aid the five cultivators but bind their true spirits and make seeking metal impossible unless they switched to Proclaiming Earth.
• Zhang Ziyan, Liu Yunhe, Zhu Xuejie, Han Ziyi, and Li Siyi accepted the limitations, and Su Yao urged them to keep the matter private and contemplate their gains.
• County Magistrate Zheng arrived at Qixia Temple, and Su Yao welcomed him to the Embracing Rosy Clouds Hall with Liu Yunhe and the others.
• County Magistrate Zheng announced the Crown Prince’s decree forbidding Nanzhao’s immortal-temple branch compounds from accepting disciples for fifty years and prohibiting celebrations for a hundred years.
• Su Yao agreed to comply, and County Magistrate Zheng offered to arrange a merit archway after the mourning period before announcing the late emperor’s edict of self-reproach.

County Magistrate Zheng read the late emperor’s edict of self-reproach to Su Yao and the Three Pure Ones, condemning the immortal sects and announcing the restoration of Taizong’s temple name. Su Yao and his companions suspected the crown prince’s faction was using the edict to claim power, and the chapter left them considering the dangers surrounding the succession.

• County Magistrate Zheng read the late emperor’s three confessed sins, including indulgence of the immortals, leniency toward officials, and changing Chengzu’s temple name back to Taizong.
• Su Yao dismissed Zheng, while Zilin and Yang Xiu condemned the edict as an insult to the Three Pure Ones and a political pretext for the regency.
• After Zheng departed, Su Yao summoned Yang Zhao and Li Xu, and Zilin questioned whether the dying Renzong had truly issued the edict himself.
• Zilin recalled that the Five Qi Essence-Suppressing Curtain had been in Jiankang during Renzong’s final days, and Su Yao suspected the artifact’s presence was connected to the succession crisis.
• Su Yao urged the group to endure the political upheaval and recited verses about the impermanence of dynasties; Zilin reflected that many powers were watching the imperial throne.

Su Yao reassessed Yang Zhao and Li Xu’s place in Qixia and arranged for them to replace their cultivation method. He announced that he would seek the Purple Mansion at Golden Ao Mountain and ordered Li Siyi to fetch breakthrough supplies for him and the others, leaving Zilin and Yang Xiu questioning whether the mountain was safe enough.

• Su Yao told Yang Zhao and Li Xu that they would receive a more complete fourth-grade cultivation method from Qixia Temple, and the two eagerly thanked him.
• Su Yao ordered Li Siyi to take Zhengji beyond the mountain and ask an envoy to fetch cultivation texts, pills, and materials for the disciples’ and cultivators’ Purple Mansion breakthroughs.
• Zilin gave Li Siyi a token for obtaining supplies from Mount Lao, while Yang Xiu provided a golden bell to request supplies from Golden Court for himself and his protectors.
• Su Yao announced that he intended to seek the Purple Mansion at Golden Ao Mountain and sent the others to prepare and reassure their disciples.
• Yang Xiu asked whether Su Yao truly intended to break through there, as he and Zilin worried that an attack or disruption of the earth veins could endanger them during seclusion.

Su Yao urged Zilin and Yang Xiu to seize the rare chance to attempt a breakthrough to the Purple Mansion amid the turmoil surrounding the fallen Witchcraft Dao grotto-heaven. Zilin and Yang Xiu agreed to stand with him, and Yang Xiu began explaining why his decision came from the Golden Court’s teachings about calamities and tribulations.

• Su Yao argued that the three sect masters’ attention and lingering consciousnesses in their treasures made this a uniquely safe time to attempt the Purple Mansion breakthrough.
• Su Yao warned that Proclaiming Earth True Lord’s reincarnation and the wooden box’s decree could bring war and upheaval across Nanzhao and the surrounding territories.
• Su Yao reasoned that their elders might not know the whole picture and urged Zilin and Yang Xiu to forge ahead themselves.
• Zilin agreed to stand with Su Yao in seeking the Purple Mansion.
• Yang Xiu also agreed, then began describing how the Golden Court’s founding master studied calamities and left behind a Book of Inquiring into Tribulations.

Yang Xiu persuaded Su Yao and Zilin to face the tribulation and seek the Purple Mansion on Golden Ao Mountain, and the three pledged to proceed together. Their resolve was interrupted when Li Siyi reported that the envoy had completed his task and prepared replacement cultivation methods.

• Yang Xiu cited Patriarch Daoxing's teachings and argued that the three should enter the tribulation rather than avoid it.
• Su Yao agreed with Yang Xiu, recalling the dangers they had already faced and the support promised by the immortal casket.
• Zilin declared her resolve in a poem, and Su Yao answered with a lyric about tribulation and returning.
• Li Siyi interrupted the gathering to tell Su Yao that the envoy had visited Qixia Mountain, Mount Lao, and the Golden Court.
• Li Siyi said the envoy had anticipated Yang Zhao and the others changing cultivation methods and had given her methods of the same Qi to deliver.

Su Yao received Qixia’s Cultivation Method and pills for Yang Zhao, Li Xu, Lin Shuang, and Xu Qingluo, then explained why disciples must cultivate Daoist scriptures and methods together. He decided to let Zichuan choose whether to remove his High Witch Golden Nature or remain free of Qixia’s discipline.

• Li Siyi gave Su Yao the Vermilion Flame Condensed Truth Canon and four Crimson Brightness Bone-Swapping Pills, and reported that the envoy would return within ten days with supplies.
• Su Yao ordered Li Siyi to summon Yun, Ziyi, Xuejie, and Ziyan, while Yang Xiu asked her to summon his people as well.
• Zilin realized Su Yao had delayed teaching the four disciples a Cultivation Method so he could formally bind them to Qixia when the time was right.
• Yang Xiu explained the historical divide between Mysterious Gate disciples, who cultivated scriptures and methods separately, and Daoist Gate disciples, who cultivated them together.
• Su Yao instructed that Daozheng be offered the choice to remove his High Witch Golden Nature or keep it; if he refused, he could go his own way.
• Yang Xiu and Zilin accepted Su Yao’s decision, with Yang Xiu noting that Zichuan could not be forced to follow Qixia’s path.

Su Yao assigned Golden Ao Mountain’s people duties to prepare for his upcoming seclusion with Zilin and Yang Xiu to seek the Purple Mansion realm. After everyone left, he explained to Zilin and Yang Xiu his past dealings with the Lake God of Cibi Lake and the secret realm they might open together.

• Su Yao gave Liu Yunhe the cultivation manual and pills for four disciples to change their cultivation methods, and assigned others to watch Golden Ao Mountain and inventory supplies at White Sand Mountain.
• Su Yao sent Lu Daoyuan to Cibi Lake to negotiate with its lake god about opening a secret realm, and tasked Jing Xuanpu and Gong Shouzhuo with helping patrol the mountain.
• Zilin suggested informing Xuan Yan, Mo Li and Ying Qi before Su Yao, Zilin and Yang Xiu entered seclusion, and Su Yao assigned the patrol group to contact them.
• Su Yao announced that he, Zilin and Yang Xiu would enter seclusion after the envoy returned, leaving Liu Yunhe in charge of the mountain’s affairs and instructing everyone to seal the gates if they could not handle a situation.
• After the others left, Su Yao told Zilin and Yang Xiu that he had destroyed the Lu Household, made a twenty-year decree against its cultivators, and later agreed to consider the lake god’s request to open a secret realm.

After three years of seclusion, Su Yao mastered all nine Secret Methods and perfected his Immortal Foundation, then prepared to seek the Purple Mansion. With Yang Xiu and Zilin still in seclusion and troubling news emerging from the empire, he entered a protected meditation chamber to begin his breakthrough.

• Su Yao, Zilin, and Yang Xiu agreed to clarify the matter of the secret realm with the Lake God of Cibi Lake after seeking the Purple Mansion, and to take their tradition's decree to the Dragon Palace of the South Sea if he refused.
• Three years after entering seclusion, Su Yao emerged having mastered his final Secret Method and elevated his Immortal Foundation to Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer.
• Su Yao learned from Liu Yunhe that the Lake God had made no move, the miners had settled near Longchuan, and the crown prince had still not returned to Jiankang to ascend the throne.
• When Yang Xiu and Zilin remained in seclusion more than three months later, Su Yao prepared to seek the Purple Mansion and set the Nine Heavens Auspicious Cloud Banner to protect his meditation chamber.
• Su Yao closed his eyes in the chamber and began his attempt to break through to the Purple Mansion.

Su Yao prepared to break through to the Purple Mansion after studying how the Immortal, Confucian, and Buddhist schools approached the realm. With five Rosy Clouds Rising Yang Pills sustaining his ascent, his Immortal Foundation reached the twentieth level of the twenty-four-story tower, but his body was nearing its limit.

• Su Yao reviewed how the Immortal, Confucian, and Buddhist schools each named and achieved the realm beyond Foundation Establishment.
• After another month of cultivation, Su Yao decided he was ready to attempt the Purple Mansion breakthrough.
• Su Yao took five Five Rosy Clouds Rising Yang Pills and sent his Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer Immortal Foundation up the twenty-four-story tower.
• After eight months, Su Yao's Immortal Foundation reached the twentieth level, and the pills replenished his nearly exhausted Law Power.
• Su Yao's Dao body approached its limit under the immense weight of his Immortal Foundation and Law Power.

Su Yao drove his Immortal Foundation through the Great Gate and onto the spiritual platform as his Dao body began to crumble. He used the Purple Canopy Morning Rosy Clouds Marrow to transform the Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer, but the chapter ended before his breakthrough was complete.

• Su Yao endured the strain of raising his Immortal Foundation as his Dao body cracked and his Law Power dwindled.
• Su Yao guided the Immortal Foundation through the Great Gate, where he saw the Prism had arrived ahead of him and illuminated the darkness with rainbow-colored light.
• Su Yao reached the spiritual platform, but the Prism occupied its center and allowed his Immortal Foundation to settle only on a small foothold beside it.
• Su Yao used the Purple Canopy Morning Rosy Clouds Marrow to wrap and transform the Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer as he recited its scriptures.

Su Yao endured the Tribulation of Heaven and Earth Submergence as his Immortal Foundation robe transformed into a profound black feather robe. He then experienced a life in Qinghe as a cloth merchant, husband, and father, and the chapter ended when an opera stirred memories he could not explain.

• Su Yao chanted a formula that caused the faded feather robe to shed its old form and grow profound black feathers threaded with rosy light.
• The Tribulation of Heaven and Earth Submergence engulfed Rising Yang Mansion, and the grayness eventually receded as Su Yao regained his senses.
• Su Yao relived his parents’ story: Su Shouzhuo left the Su Household to marry opera actress Gu Lanyin, and they raised Su Yao apart from the clan.
• Su Yao married Gu Wanniang, and they had a son and a daughter while he worked at the family cloth shop.
• At a temple fair, Su Yao heard an opera melody that stirred memories of performing onstage with others, and his daughter asked why he was crying.

Su Yao broke free of an illusion in which he had spent sixty years living as a cloth shop owner with Gu Wanniang and their family. He remembered his pursuit of the Dao and Zilin, passed Boundless Illusion, and advanced toward the Purple Mansion realm.

• Su Yao grew old in Qinghe Commandery City with Gu Wanniang, their children, and grandchildren, while an unexplained emptiness remained in his heart.
• As Su Yao neared the end of his imagined life, the Prism and the scriptures awakened his memories of being Qixia Daozi and breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm.
• Su Yao realized that his attachment to the Dao and the rosy light had kept him from sinking completely into the illusion, and he recognized the light as connected to Zilin's unfinished words.
• Gu Wanniang called Su Yao back to the cooling tea, but he refused to turn around and recited a farewell poem to the mortal life he had imagined.
• Gu Wanniang withdrew her hand and vanished with the illusion as the Prism and scriptures restored Su Yao's consciousness.
• Rosy light blazed in the Rising Yang Mansion, and Su Yao passed Boundless Illusion.

Su Yao’s breakthrough sent ten thousand rays of rosy light over Golden Ao Mountain, and the signs suggested he had succeeded in reaching the Purple Mansion. As the people of Qixia Temple celebrated, observers in the Great Void debated whether his cultivation had collapsed or he had completed the breakthrough.

• A man in Lingxiao Hall used the Haotian Pagoda to send a woman down toward the South Sea while the Heavenly Court’s dispute flared outside.
• After the sea of blood withdrew from Qixia Temple, True Lord Xicheng reproached Gui Hong for leaving Qixia Mountain before his injuries had healed.
• True Lord Xicheng revealed that Su Yao had achieved something remarkable, and Gui Hong realized he was now the highest authority on the Rainbow Clouds Dao Path.
• Qingyang heard bells ring from the Purple Empyrean Golden Palace, and several joyful figures gathered at the Founders’ Hall.
• Ten thousand rays of rosy light enveloped Golden Ao Mountain as figures in the Great Void argued over whether Su Yao had succeeded in his breakthrough.

Su Yao emerged from nine years of seclusion after successfully breaking through to the Purple Mansion, prompting celebration on Golden Ao Mountain. He examined his new Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer Divine Ability while the spiritual essence from his breakthrough continued to gather.

• Observers on Golden Ao Mountain debated whether Su Yao had succeeded, while Liu Yunhe and the others worried over the unusual rosy light.
• Su Yao spoke to his companions, told them to prepare a celebration, and remained in seclusion to complete his transformation into a Law body.
• Su Yao broke through to the Purple Mansion, and the Fruition Position bestowed spiritual essence that accelerated his transformation.
• Su Yao manifested Rosy Cloud Feather Wanderer and considered its abilities and the Rainbow Clouds path's cultivation methods.
• Su Yao looked around his cave abode and found that everything but the formation based on the Nine Heavens Auspicious Cloud Banner had been shattered.

After breaking through to the Purple Mansion realm, Su Yao emerged from seclusion and confronted cultivators who had mocked him in the Great Void. He exchanged greetings with Nanzhao’s officials and local powers, then attacked Liu Mingyuan after the education commissioner insulted the assembled guests; Liu Mingyuan summoned his official seal to retaliate.

• Su Yao examined the Nine Heavens Auspicious Cloud Banner, left his cave abode, and announced his breakthrough across Golden Ao Mountain and the Great Void.
• Su Yao appeared before the gathered Purple Mansion cultivators and challenged those who had cursed him.
• Yang Xuanye congratulated Su Yao and asked him to protect Nanzhao, while Su Yao declined Meng Shixi’s offer of two mountains on the ruler’s behalf.
• The Cibi Lake God briefly congratulated Su Yao, and Kuiwu of the Zhao Household of Red Rock introduced himself.
• Liu Mingyuan called the gathered guests fawning flatterers, so Su Yao attacked him with the banner’s rainbow light.
• Liu Mingyuan identified himself as Nanzhao’s education commissioner, defended himself with Vast Righteousness Qi, and raised his official seal against Su Yao.

Su Yao ended his confrontation with Liu Mingyuan and learned more about the Purple Mansion powers near Golden Ao Mountain. After the guests departed, he confronted two injured cultivators hiding in the Great Void, who claimed they had studied under the mountain god of Cang Mountain.

• Yang Xuanye restrained Liu Mingyuan from throwing his seal, and Su Yao warned Liu that another insult would bring out his Sword Intent.
• Liu Mingyuan left, and Su Yao dismissed the remaining guests after thanking them for their congratulations.
• Yang Nan named the three nearby Purple Mansion powers that had supported the education inspector and identified True Person Xuanping as the one who had insulted Su Yao.
• Su Yao told Yang Nan that those who entered Qixia Temple would no longer be outsiders, and Yang Nan departed.
• Su Yao called out two hidden figures, Ni Polu and Li Chaoxue, who said they had studied under the mountain god of Cang Mountain and were injured.
• Su Yao questioned their concealed origins and warned that the Great Void was a dangerous place to recover from their wounds.

Ni Polu and Li Chaoxue warned Su Yao that True Person Kuiwu had deceived them and was connected to the Lake God of Cibi Lake, then declined his offer to recuperate on Golden Ao Mountain. Su Yao later welcomed Ox-Head and Horse-Face, offered them spirit tea and Night Mulberries at his upcoming Dharma Banquet, and they accepted the invitation.

• Ni Polu told Su Yao that True Person Kuiwu had harmed him and Li Chaoxue and had a murky relationship with the Lake God of Cibi Lake.
• Su Yao invited the injured pair to rest on Golden Ao Mountain, but Li Chaoxue declined because they did not want to become entangled.
• Li Chaoxue and Ni Polu discussed how the fighting between great ones in Longchuan had kept her from returning home and destroyed Ni Polu’s cave abode.
• Su Yao called out to the hidden Ox-Head and Horse-Face, who explained that they had come for a routine underworld inspection.
• Su Yao gave Horse-Face a jar of spirit tea and invited the two emissaries to his Purple Mansion Dharma Banquet, promising them Night Mulberries; they accepted.