Chapter Summaries

Ren Anran helped Zhang Xuezhou reconsider the threat Donghua posed and encouraged him to keep using the unstable passage between worlds. At the altar, Zhang Xuezhou recognized its white pebble core as the seed of the giant tree he had seen.

• Ren Anran explained that Donghua would need time to change himself or control Kunlun, giving Zhang Xuezhou a window to handle his affairs.
• Zhang Xuezhou regretted his encounter with Ji Wuyan, and Ren Anran joked about the duck currently occupying his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran went to inspect the altar, where sixteen red-skinned Dead Souls supported the passage between worlds.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined a warm, smooth white pebble at the center of the altar and learned that even Li Qi had been unable to damage it.
• Touching the pebble brought back Zhang Xuezhou's memories of the giant tree, and he realized the tree had begun as a seed like the one in his hand.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran connected the giant tree’s seed to the region’s destruction and discussed how Mallard had operated the altar. Zhang Xuezhou then attempted the ritual himself, and his consciousness was suddenly carried away as the Dead Souls began chanting.

• Ren Anran asked whether the giant tree’s seed could still grow, and Zhang Xuezhou explained that its shoot had drained the world and was connected to the Soul-Locking Pillar.
• Zhang Xuezhou recalled Donghua’s words about the power binding the World Tree and wondered how the seed could have restrained him.
• Ren Anran described Mallard’s altar ritual, which involved chanting continuously for more than a hundred hours.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the altar and tried to reproduce Mallard’s ritual while adjusting his emotions and reciting the Dead Souls’ chant.
• Zhang Xuezhou suddenly collapsed, and the red-skinned Dead Souls began chanting as his consciousness was seized and carried away.

Zhang Xuezhou matched Mallard’s emotions during a crossing and heard the duck’s accumulated memories, learning how agonizing it was to be trapped inside a body. After considering his connection to Donghua and the World Tree, Zhang Xuezhou returned to his body when he realized Yi Shuo was treating him with acupuncture.

• Zhang Xuezhou matched Mallard’s mood and heard his desperate inner voice, along with images of his recent experiences trapped in Zhang Xuezhou’s body.
• Zhang Xuezhou sat on the branch chair and considered the World Tree’s binding power, his connection to Donghua, and how their two selves had come to exist.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed that Mallard was waiting to be drawn back into the altar area and considered how the chair might adjust the timing of a crossing.
• Mallard panicked as Yi Shuo treated Zhang Xuezhou’s body with a long silver acupuncture needle.
• Zhang Xuezhou stepped forward, exchanged places with Mallard, and opened his eyes.

Zhang Xuezhou woke after half a month and, with Yi Shuo’s help, recovered enough Law Power to use his Aging Technique and change his appearance. Rong Tianding remained voiceless after Yi Shuo removed his needles, and the chapter ended with Zhang Xuezhou reacting to something Rong Tianding wrote.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke and asked Yi Shuo to remove the needles from him and Rong Tianding.
• Yi Shuo removed 122 needles from Zhang Xuezhou, then left Rong Tianding unable to speak for a while.
• Zhang Xuezhou discovered he could guide a small amount of Law Power and used the Aging Technique to change his face and body.
• Yi Shuo asked whether she could learn the Technique, and Zhang Xuezhou explained that it could only make her look older.
• Rong Tianding gestured to Yi Shuo, who went to Zheng Wukong’s residence, then wrote a message for Zhang Xuezhou that changed his expression.

After returning to Chang'an, Zhang Xuezhou arranged for Hongku to deliver medicinal ingredients to the Alchemy Chamber and headed to court to report to the new emperor and seek pills. At Weiyang Palace, he encountered Chancellor Tian Fen, whose cultivation had astonishingly reached the True Self Realm.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Hongku to work with his cousin to send medicinal ingredients to the Alchemy Chamber before he returned to court.
• Hongku dispersed his Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation, gathered porters for the medicinal ingredients, and left the inn disguised as a foreign merchant.
• Zhang Xuezhou concealed the traces linking him to Kunlun, traveled to the Imperial City District, and entered through Sima Gate without official robes.
• Tian Fen recognized Zhang Xuezhou after the court assembly and greeted him as he stood aside to let the officials pass.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw Tian Fen's Law Power and congratulated him on reaching the True Self Realm, leaving Han Anguo equally puzzled by the chancellor's rise.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Chang'an and assured the new emperor that he would remain there, then recounted what he had learned about the sacred lands and their changing powers. The emperor urged him to seek the empress dowager’s guidance as Zhang continued recovering his Law Power.

• Tian Fen showed off his cultivation to Zhang Xuezhou, while Han Anguo warned him that the new emperor was in a poor mood.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered Weiyang Palace and found the new emperor waiting in the rear garden, only to learn that the emperor had expected someone else.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the emperor that his Law Power had not recovered, but promised to stay in Chang'an City and carry out his duties.
• Zhang Xuezhou described the changes among the sacred lands that he had witnessed while seeking treatment from Buddha Son Shigong.
• The new emperor regretted Zhang Xuezhou’s risky gamble to remove his poison and advised him to seek the empress dowager’s cultivation guidance.

Zhang Xuezhou advised the new emperor about cultivation and recounted the shifting powers of the Three Realms, raising the possibility that the court’s expansion into the Western Yi regions could provoke the Kunlun Heavenly Court. The new emperor sought someone to slow the campaign, but Zhang Xuezhou could not leave Chang'an, so he settled on assigning Sima Xiangru instead.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained the Sole Self Realm to the new emperor and urged him to hold fast to his convictions.
• Zhang Xuezhou described the powers he had encountered, and the new emperor realized the court’s Western Yi campaign might provoke the Kunlun Heavenly Court.
• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou how to prevent a future conflict, but Zhang Xuezhou said he knew nothing about military affairs.
• The new emperor considered sending Zhang Xuezhou to Bashu to slow Tang Meng’s campaign, but Zhang Xuezhou could not leave Chang'an because he relied on the Demon-Revealing Mirror for protection.
• The new emperor remembered that Sima Xiangru was still idle in Chang'an and decided to put him to work.

Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Sima Xiangru to travel to Bashu by offering a way to improve his eyesight, then proposed exchanging Fortune Pills with Xiong State. The new emperor approved the trade in principle and considered how Great Han could use it to secure resources and strengthen its cultivators.

• The new emperor summoned Sima Xiangru, and Zhang Xuezhou persuaded him to go to Bashu by explaining how ice lenses could improve his eyesight.
• Sima Xiangru accepted the assignment and left Weiyang Palace with the new emperor’s secret official document.
• The new emperor questioned Zhang Xuezhou about his plans, so Zhang Xuezhou reported the proposed exchange of pills for materials with Xiong State.
• The new emperor agreed that the trade could replenish Great Han’s scarce materials, but warned that the pills could strengthen Yedie River Holy Land’s cultivators.
• Zhang Xuezhou argued that Qi and Blood Fortune Pills would suit Great Han’s trade partners poorly, and said Hongku would accept the arrangement because he needed resources.
• The new emperor considered coordinating the pill supply to benefit Great Han’s cultivators and reduce dependence on scarce high-grade pills.

Hongku met the Marquis of Pingyang, Zhang Xuezhou’s powerful backer, to arrange a Fortune Pill trade. The Marquis wagered 280 pills on Zhang Xuezhou’s estimate of the yield, and brought out boxes of pills as the stakes.

• Hongku arrived at Shanglin Park with ingredients for Fortune Pills and met the Marquis of Pingyang, who offered support for trading medicinal ingredients.
• The Marquis criticized Hongku for bringing too few ingredients, while Zhang Xuezhou inspected them and estimated a sixty percent success rate.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed that the Marquis provide pills in advance so Hongku could exchange them for more ingredients before the refining was finished.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the Marquis wagered whether the yield would exceed 280 pills, with Zhang agreeing to refine pills for three extra years if he lost.
• The Marquis had fourteen red sandalwood boxes brought in, and Zhang opened one to reveal twenty Qi and Blood Fortune Pills.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor discussed the high-quality medicinal ingredients traded from Xiong State, the threat it posed, and Zhang’s pill-making. Zhang left the emperor surprised and pleased by announcing that he planned to marry the medical officer Yi Shuo.

• The new emperor praised the medicinal ingredients from Xiong State and vowed that the Great Han Dynasty would eventually drive Xiong State out.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he could not guarantee success refining Fortune Pills and agreed to let other Alchemists handle the new ingredients.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked the new emperor for money as a reward because he was preparing to marry.
• The new emperor congratulated Zhang Xuezhou, then learned that he planned to marry Yi Shuo, a medical officer skilled in acupuncture.

After returning to Chang'an, Zhang Xuezhou named his son Dongfang Jia and discussed marriage, cultivation, and building a circle of allies. He began considering how to train young cultivators, then Huo Qubing arrived and asked Zhang Xuezhou to teach him.

• Zhang Xuezhou returned to his official residence and named A Qiao's son Dongfang Jia.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Rong Tianding he would marry Yi Shuo, then adjust his marriages and divorces according to his cultivation needs.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered recruiting talented young cultivators and agreed to teach Dongfang Jia what he could, with help from the court if needed.
• Huo Qubing arrived at Zhang Xuezhou's residence and asked him to practice on him, and Zhang Xuezhou marveled at the boy's advanced cultivation.

Zhang Xuezhou discovered that Huo Qubing had reached the Body Control Realm despite his undeveloped body, then learned that Huo Qubing was studying at the court’s newly established Imperial Academy. He considered how Huo Qubing’s exceptional memory might help him pass the Academy’s examinations and prove useful later.

• Zhang Xuezhou examined Huo Qubing’s meridians and realized that he had advanced to the Body Control Realm in just over half a year.
• Huo Qubing complained that Wei Qing had forbidden him to cultivate and that the Imperial Academy’s studies were making him miserable.
• Huo Qubing told Zhang Xuezhou that his mother had paid a fortune to secure his place at the Imperial Academy, where Erudites of the Five Classics taught Confucian classics.
• Zhang Xuezhou advised Huo Qubing to pass the Erudites’ examinations to graduate sooner and asked whether he could use his unusual memory to learn the classics.
• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on Huo Qubing’s ability to remember things and wondered whether developing his mental capabilities might give him a special visual ability.

Zhang Xuezhou taught Huo Qubing the Mental Strengthening Chapter and urged him to master it before seeking further instruction. He then asked Huo Qubing to get a wedding gift from Wei Shao'er, while Huo Qubing confided that others at the Imperial Academy looked down on him.

• Huo Qubing complained that Zhang Xuezhou's explanation of the Mental Strengthening Chapter was dull, but agreed to keep learning after Zhang threatened to stop teaching him.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized that the method required taking in a great deal of knowledge quickly, not merely sitting patiently in meditation, and resolved to recruit only a few promising students.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Huo Qubing to return after experiencing the method's benefits and promised to teach him more if he could master it.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Huo Qubing to have Wei Shao'er prepare a monetary gift for his upcoming wedding, believing the Life-Creating Fortune Pill could secure her support.
• Huo Qubing wondered if Zhang Xuezhou had once been involved with his mother, and Zhang dismissed the idea before Huo Qubing revealed that Imperial Academy students called him a bastard.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Huo Qubing to fight back against those who insulted him, while Huo Qubing said his uncle and mother had warned him not to cause trouble.

Zhang Xuezhou visited Grand Princess Dou for the first time, invited her to his wedding, and gave her a golden bowl to make amends for his earlier discourtesy. Their relationship warmed, though Zhang Xuezhou left his investigation of her household for another time.

• Zhang Xuezhou visited Grand Princess Dou at the Princess of Guantao's Household and waited while she watched a dance.
• Grand Princess Dou praised Sima Xiangru's verses, and Zhang Xuezhou invited her to his wedding, saying he would recite them there.
• Grand Princess Dou questioned how quickly Zhang Xuezhou was marrying, and he explained that sincere feelings were reason enough.
• Zhang Xuezhou apologized for neglecting to visit and presented Grand Princess Dou with a golden bowl from the Immortal Court.
• Grand Princess Dou admired the bowl's changing patterns and promised to give Zhang Xuezhou a wedding gift in return; he left without probing her household or asking for help.

Zhang Xuezhou held a small wedding banquet, attended by the new emperor, Wei Shao'er, Huo Qubing, and Grand Princess Dou, who came to hear him recite Sima Xiangru's The Phoenix Seeks His Mate. The new emperor reflected on how easily Zhang Xuezhou had drawn Grand Princess Dou into a close relationship.

• Zhang Xuezhou welcomed the new emperor, who brought lavish wedding gifts from himself and the empress.
• Wei Shao'er and Chen Zhang arrived with eight thousand strings of cash, while Huo Qubing accompanied Wei Shao'er and offered Zhang Xuezhou congratulations.
• The new emperor explained that Wei Shao'er had spent five thousand strings supporting the Imperial Academy residence for Bing'er.
• Huo Qubing sat at a children's table Zhang Xuezhou had prepared for him.
• Grand Princess Dou arrived with a young man and musicians, saying she had come to hear Zhang Xuezhou recite Sima Xiangru's The Phoenix Seeks His Mate.
• The new emperor compared Zhang Xuezhou's easy approach to befriending Grand Princess Dou with Han Yan's more difficult efforts.

Zhang Xuezhou’s wedding banquet continued without Yi Shuo, who was delayed at the Palace of Eternal Faith, so he entertained the guests by introducing Dong Yan’s Huang-Lao Way illusion. Yi Shuo finally arrived in her medical officer’s uniform, asking whether Zhang Xuezhou had called her there to get married.

• Grand Princess Dou asked Zhang Xuezhou where the beauty he longed for was, but the bride had not arrived, and the new emperor sent an imperial guard to find Yi Shuo.
• Zhang Xuezhou praised the handsome Dong Yan, and Grand Princess Dou explained that he was an accomplished disciple of the Huang-Lao Way.
• Dong Yan performed a Daoist art that made silk release butterflies, lifted him into the air, and transformed a butterfly into a leaf.
• The new emperor praised Dong Yan’s composure and discussed his potential with Grand Princess Dou while the guests waited.
• Yi Shuo hurried into the residence in her Palace of Eternal Faith medical officer’s uniform and asked Zhang Xuezhou if he had called her to get married.

Zhang Xuezhou and Yi Shuo married before the emperor, and Yi Shuo felt content with their bond and the care she could give him. Grand Princess Dou invited Yi Shuo to examine the empress, whose inability to conceive threatened the Dou Household’s plans for the succession.

• Zhang Xuezhou recited “The Phoenix Seeks His Mate” at his wedding to Yi Shuo, who said she would answer in her own way.
• Yi Shuo reflected on the independence she expected from marriage and her admiration for Zhang Xuezhou’s composure despite his illness and limited cultivation.
• The new emperor praised Zhang Xuezhou and Yi Shuo as a well-matched couple, and welcomed Yi Shuo’s role in caring for Zhang Xuezhou.
• Grand Princess Dou invited Yi Shuo to the Pepper Chamber Hall to examine the empress and determine whether she could conceive.
• Grand Princess Dou hoped that Yi Shuo could help the empress bear an heir and preserve the Dou Household’s influence.

After Zhang Xuezhou’s wedding banquet, he offered Wei Shao'er medicine for her affliction in exchange for her guarding him and for Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying to uncover the secrets of two pills. The doctors identified the pills as products of the Immortal Court, and Zheng Wukong eagerly agreed to investigate their origins despite the danger.

• Zhang Xuezhou used his wedding gifts to fund supplies for Yang Mausoleum Town and told A Qiao and the others to make up any shortfall.
• Wei Shao'er hoped Zhang Xuezhou would give her medicine, and Chen Zhang pleaded for help because she could no longer afford her daily tonics.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered Wei Shao'er remedies in return for guarding him, while asking Chunyu Tiying and Old Zheng to investigate the Life-Extending Golden Elixir and Life-Creating Fortune Pill.
• Wei Shao'er accepted the arrangement, and Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying examined the pills and identified them.
• Zheng Wukong realized Zhang Xuezhou had obtained pills from the Immortal Court and insisted that they trace their ingredients and refining methods.

Zhang Xuezhou gave the Life-Creating Fortune Pills to the group and urged Zheng Wukong and the others to prioritize deciphering their formula, hoping the pills would help him advance the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique. As the pills began curing Wei Shao'er, Chunyu Tiying, and Zheng Wukong, Yi Shuo realized Zhang Xuezhou was involved in several high-level contests at once.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding discussed how combining their cultivation techniques could help them survive fatal injuries and return from death.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Zheng Wukong twelve Life-Creating Fortune Pills to study and said he would provide more Life-Extending Elixirs after the formula was traced.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zheng Wukong to focus on the Life-Creating Fortune Pill formula before studying Cynomorium or the Life-Extending Elixir.
• Wei Shao'er took a Life-Creating Fortune Pill, began passing foul gas, and hurried outside as the pill eased her illness.
• Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong also took pills and went to the privy, while Zhang Xuezhou warned Chen Zhang to check on Huo Qubing.
• Yi Shuo told Zhang Xuezhou she felt she had entered another level of the world and sensed he was involved in several contests among the upper echelons.

Zhang Xuezhou explained to Yi Shuo how he built connections with powerful people, then rushed outside when Rong Tianding found several people unconscious from the Life-Creating Fortune Pill’s foul stench. Dong Yan was among the victims, and Zhang Xuezhou realized he had already received Grand Princess Dou’s golden bowl.

• Zhang Xuezhou told Yi Shuo that people could build relationships upward through intermediaries by offering others mutual benefits.
• Rong Tianding called Zhang Xuezhou outside, where they found Dou Shisan, Dou Shisi, and Dong Yan unconscious from the stench.
• Yi Shuo treated the three men, who vomited and recovered, while Zhang Xuezhou reassured them that the gas caused no lasting harm.
• Sima Tan’s roaming Yang Corporeal Soul complained that Zhang Xuezhou had revealed his embarrassing exposure to the stench.
• Zhang Xuezhou noticed Grand Princess Dou’s golden bowl in Dong Yan’s sleeve pouch and inferred that Dong Yan held a higher position in her Huang-Lao Way cultivation system than he had expected.