Chapter Summaries

As the war between the Great Han Dynasty and Xiong State spread, Zhang Xuezhou returned to Chang'an City wary of the Demon-Revealing Mirror. He found that Mei Gao had arranged his funeral after believing him dead, while his wife was in the Imperial Medical Bureau and the New Emperor had gone to choose his burial site.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran passed mourners in the Imperial City District as they made their way toward his residence.
• Zhang Xuezhou carried the Yin-Yang Two-Qi Bottle through the funeral crowd and saw mourning lanterns and a large gathering at his residence.
• Zhang Xuezhou entered the funeral hall and discovered that Mei Gao had arranged a funeral for him during the three days he was believed dead.
• Mei Gao told Zhang Xuezhou that his wife had fallen ill from grief and that Lady Chen had sent her to the Imperial Medical Bureau.
• Mei Gao told Zhang Xuezhou that the New Emperor had gone to Mao Mausoleum to choose a burial site for him.

After returning alive from the Demon-Revealing Mirror, Zhang Xuezhou dismantled his funeral and rushed to find Yi Shuo, only to discover that she was gravely ill. He reunited with her in Old Tree Alley and explained that he had survived, while a white dog appeared and called out to Shuo Immortal.

• Zhang Xuezhou opened his coffin, found his damaged belongings, and ordered Mei Gao to remove the mourning hall.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that Yi Shuo had been taken from the Imperial Medical Hall to Old Tree Alley for treatment.
• Zhang Xuezhou arrived at Old Tree Alley and found Yi Shuo lying ill while Zheng Wukong tried to persuade her to accept Dongfang Jia.
• Zhang Xuezhou reunited with Yi Shuo, reassured her that he was alive, and surprised Chunyu Tiying, Zheng Wukong, Zou Bugui, and Wei Shao'er.
• A white dog jumped out from beside the wall and told Shuo Immortal that it had been waiting for her.

Zhang Xuezhou returned from death and rushed to Mao Mausoleum, where he reassured the New Emperor that he was alive. He told the emperor that Tian Fen had died and urged him to finish the tomb so the chancellor could be buried there.

• Xiaotian arrived to accuse Zhang Xuezhou of making Yang Jian pass out with Nine Treasures Wine, while Zhang helped the starving Yi Shuo recover.
• Zhang Xuezhou left to visit Yang Jian and flew to Mao Mausoleum to speak with the New Emperor.
• The New Emperor ordered Zhufu Yan to recruit more workers and fill in the mountain to complete his tomb.
• Zhang Xuezhou proved his identity by recalling their past conversation about the Life Technique and Death Technique, and the New Emperor rejoiced at his return.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the New Emperor that Marquis of Wu'an Tian Fen had died and urged him to complete the tomb for Tian Fen's burial.

Zhang Xuezhou told the New Emperor that Zhu Jiuyin had been captured, that they had recovered living souls, and that a potent medicine for cultivating the Prajna Heart Sutra might remain with his friend. The New Emperor set out with Zhang Xuezhou to investigate, while Zhufu Yan decided to seek an appointment outside Chang'an City.

• Zhang Xuezhou told the New Emperor that Zhu Jiuyin had been captured and that Xiong State had lost two of its three great holy lands, prompting the New Emperor to consider using the conflict as cavalry training.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he and his companions had secured four bottles containing just over a thousand living souls, and the New Emperor decided to keep them from falling into enemy hands.
• Zhang Xuezhou said a friend had brought medicinal wine for cultivating the Prajna Heart Sutra but had drunk most of it, so the New Emperor urged him to visit and offered to go along.
• Zhang Xuezhou pointed out that Dong Zhongshu should have known he was alive, and the New Emperor grew angry that Dong Zhongshu had not warned him before his funeral arrangements.
• The New Emperor and Zhang Xuezhou rode off together, while Zhufu Yan gave up following them and decided to look for an official post beyond Chang'an City.

Zhang Xuezhou and the New Emperor followed Xiaotian through the ruins of Xianyang City to find Yang Jian. They found Yang Jian severely intoxicated by an excessive amount of Nine Treasures Wine, and Holy Mother Wudang's limited supply of Hundred Flowers Brew had not fully sobered him.

• The New Emperor assured Zhang Xuezhou that he had sealed the Demon-Revealing Mirror and asked whether others could learn Zhang Xuezhou's demon-powered flying technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the New Emperor followed Xiaotian through Chang'an and into the ruins of Xianyang City.
• Xiaotian led them to a grass hut, where Holy Mother Wudang appeared and said she had asked Pilan for Hundred Flowers Brew to detoxify Yang Jian.
• Holy Mother Wudang warned Yang Jian not to swallow things recklessly, then vanished into the ground.
• Xiaotian tried to rouse Yang Jian, who was still confused and unsteady after overdosing on Nine Treasures Wine.

Zhang Xuezhou shared the Prajna Heart Sutra with Yang Jian, who used its Sanskrit characters as bodily diagrams while cultivating. As Zhang Xuezhou followed the same contortions, Xiaotian suspected he had achieved Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood.

• Yang Jian became drunk on Zhang Xuezhou's Nine Treasures Wine and asked him to teach the method behind it.
• Zhang Xuezhou showed Yang Jian the Prajna Heart Sutra, explaining that its seventh level had a flaw, and Yang Jian began cultivating it.
• The New Emperor watched Yang Jian's contorted postures and learned that the Sanskrit characters also depicted movements for cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou followed Yang Jian's postures, and a bright light appeared behind his head as his cultivation became smoother.
• Xiaotian concluded that Zhang Xuezhou's body might have achieved Fleshly Body Entering Sainthood.

After drinking an enormous amount of Nine Treasures Wine, Yang Jian struggled with its effects and the Prajna Heart Sutra’s sect-binding restrictions. The New Emperor asked Yang Jian to explain the sutra, while Yang Jian gained new respect for Zhang Xuezhou’s unusual cultivation.

• Yang Jian rapidly advanced in the Prajna Heart Sutra after drinking more than five hundred jin of Nine Treasures Wine, but the accumulated effects left him groggy and unable to expel the wine.
• Yang Jian and Xiaotian discussed how Jieyin and Zhunti used the Prajna Heart Sutra to bind cultivators to the Western Sect, and Yang Jian worried that attempting to bypass their control could bring terrible consequences.
• The New Emperor realized that advancing in the Prajna Heart Sutra could mean effectively joining the Western Sect, but he still needed the technique and asked Yang Jian to explain it.
• Zhang Xuezhou admitted that he had cultivated the sutra haphazardly and could not properly explain its written text, so Yang Jian agreed to share what he knew.
• Xiaotian suggested that Zhang Xuezhou might also have mastered the Eight-Nine Mystical Art through haphazard cultivation, prompting Yang Jian to admire his ability and consider a lasting friendship.

Liu Che and Yang Jian successfully cultivated the Prajna Heart Sutra despite imperfect instruction and conditions, then discussed Yang Jian’s plan to visit the Western Sect. Yang Jian left to investigate, while Liu Che and Zhang Xuezhou considered the wine’s benefits and the risks of pursuing higher cultivation.

• Liu Che introduced himself by his real name, and Yang Jian revealed his name after seeing Liu Che cultivate the Prajna Heart Sutra.
• Yang Jian said he would visit the Western Sect to seek an opportunity to advance his cultivation, and Zhang Xuezhou asked him to send word if the sect leaders lifted cultivation restrictions.
• Yang Jian agreed to relay any opportunity and flew west with Xiaotian after Zhang Xuezhou asked him to find medicinal ingredients for a pill formula.
• Liu Che learned that Zhang Xuezhou wanted Yang Jian to search for ingredients from the Shanglin Park secret grounds and judged the pill’s prospects poor.
• Liu Che demonstrated his improved control of East Qie and considered advancing the Prajna Heart Sutra, even contemplating using Great Han’s expansion to pressure the Western Sect.

After the New Emperor’s upheaval and the aftermath of Zhang Xuezhou’s apparent death, Zhang Xuezhou gathered those close to him and settled tensions at his residence. He arranged for Ren Anran to learn the Great Han language and hoped to send her to the Imperial Academy, while the household returned to a steadier routine.

• Zhang Xuezhou reassured his companions that Rong Tianding could learn about his resurrection from the Yin creatures at Mount Tai.
• Ren Anran sympathized with Yi Shuo’s devotion to Zhang Xuezhou, while Wei Shao'er suspected that he had brought home another woman.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered giving Ren Anran a legal background and snapped at Wei Shao'er when she criticized him.
• Zhang Xuezhou tried to send Wei Shao'er home, but she pleaded to stay at his residence and he let her remain.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Wei Shao'er to teach Ren Anran, and he planned to seek a place for Ren Anran at the Imperial Academy Institution.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw the troubles surrounding his death subside as Ren Anran and Zhu Jiuyin settled safely at the residence.

At Tian Fen's funeral, Chancellor Xue Ze sought Zhang Xuezhou's guidance on the New Emperor's Inner Court and secured his cooperation. Zhang Xuezhou used Xue Ze's authority to arrange for his wife and son to study at the Imperial Academy Institution, while Xue Ze worried about surviving the dangers of the chancellorship.

• Zhang Xuezhou attended Tian Fen's funeral, where Xue Ze showed him a shard of the Immortal-Slaying Flying Knife and explained that Tian Fen had died after having his skull opened.
• Xue Ze asked Zhang Xuezhou for insight into the New Emperor's Inner Court, admitted he feared being out of step with its decisions, and denied that he was trying to form a faction.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Xue Ze to arrange for his wife and son to study at the Imperial Academy Institution, and Xue Ze agreed and sent Fan Kun to handle the arrangements.
• Xue Ze praised the school's expansion plans but remained anxious about his new position and resolved to ask the Empress Dowager whether he could enter the Sole Self Realm.

After arranging Ren Anran’s credentials and Dongfang Jia’s early admission to the Imperial Academy Institution, Zhang Xuezhou discussed the New Emperor’s plans and the Nine Spirits Primal Sage with Ren Anran. He urged Yi Shuo to learn from Ren Anran and predicted that Huo Qubing’s progress could help Wei Shao’er reach the True Self Realm, leaving Ren Anran eager to meet the young genius.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the New Emperor’s appointment of Xue Ze could stabilize the court and free the emperor to focus on the Xiong State and the Nine Spirits Primal Sage.
• Zhang Xuezhou described the Nine Spirits Primal Sage’s half-step domain, poisonous bite, and powerful roar to Ren Anran.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Yi Shuo to spend time talking with Ren Anran and said her opportunity to reach the Sole Self Realm was connected to Ren Anran.
• Yi Shuo agreed to resign from the Palace of Eternal Faith and follow Zhang Xuezhou’s guidance.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Wei Shao’er that Huo Qubing reaching the Sole Self Realm could help her stabilize her own realm and pursue the True Self Realm.
• Ren Anran said she wanted to meet Huo Qubing.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Ren Anran to the Imperial Academy Institution, where they watched Huo Qubing defeat Li Gan with a dirty trick. Huo Qubing offered to teach Ren Anran Great Han’s language in exchange for payment, hoping Zhang Xuezhou would help him escape his exhausting studies.

• Zhang Xuezhou accompanied Ren Anran to the Imperial Academy Institution and showed her Huo Qubing competing in an adult-class battle exercise against Li Gan.
• Huo Qubing used Water of Eternity to give Li Gan and several others stomach trouble, then mocked Li Gan as the contest ended.
• Huo Qubing asked Zhang Xuezhou how he had fought, and Zhang Xuezhou suggested Li Gan could retaliate by smearing the trick back onto Huo Qubing.
• Huo Qubing complimented Ren Anran, but she understood only after Zhang Xuezhou translated his words.
• Huo Qubing offered to take Ren Anran around and teach her Great Han’s language quickly if Zhang Xuezhou paid him, hoping to escape his punishing studies.

Dong Zhongshu visited Zhang Xuezhou and warned him that Houtu had returned, basing his claim on an ancient account and a vision of a divine kingdom inside a giant snake. Zhang Xuezhou doubted Dong Zhongshu’s history, but remembered that the cultivators called “Bai” and “Hei” might be connected to the figures Dong Zhongshu described.

• Dong Zhongshu confronted Zhang Xuezhou over rumors that he had taken another wife and divorced Yi Shuo, but Zhang denied the rumors.
• Zhang Xuezhou blamed Dong Zhongshu for the misfortune that followed his use of the Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven Technique, and Dong Zhongshu described the being they had drawn in.
• Dong Zhongshu showed Zhang Xuezhou a silk painting of a woman presiding over a giant snake and a vast kingdom of cultivators.
• Dong Zhongshu identified the woman as Houtu and claimed she had fought Sovereign Heaven, returned to the Three Realms, and would bring catastrophe to humanity.
• Zhang Xuezhou questioned Dong Zhongshu’s account but recalled “Bai” and “Hei,” whose unusual abilities might fit the cultivators Dong Zhongshu mentioned.

Zhang Xuezhou and the New Emperor flew to Mount Fengdu to search for the keeper of the Red Empyrean Sword. They found Emperor Jing, now a Flying Jiangshi, carrying the drawn sword beside their shuttle.

• The New Emperor worried about Dong Zhongshu’s warning of another demon tide and asked Zhang Xuezhou where the Red Empyrean Sword was.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Emperor Jing had the sword and suggested searching Mount Luofu, Mount Taozhi, or Mount Fengdu for him and Shi Wudao.
• The New Emperor chose Mount Fengdu, and Zhang Xuezhou piloted the Heaven-Riding Shuttle southwest from Chang'an City.
• After a long flight, Zhang Xuezhou greeted a white-haired Flying Jiangshi flying beside them with the Red Empyrean Sword hanging from him.
• The New Emperor recognized the Red Empyrean Sword and noticed that it was now straight and unsheathed.

Zhang Xuezhou and the New Emperor found a secret realm on Mount Fengdu after following a random direction, where they discovered a Yellow Springs river and were attacked by a Ghost Yin Vine. The New Emperor struck at the vine’s main root, but Shi Wudao feared the sword attack would kill him again.

• Zhang Xuezhou met Shi Wudao and Emperor Jing on their way to search Mount Fengdu after they had found no secret realms on Mount Luofu or Mount Taozhi.
• At the New Emperor’s random suggestion, Zhang Xuezhou found a secret realm and led the group inside, where they saw graves, jiangshi, little ghosts, and a Yellow Springs river.
• Ghost Yin Vines wrapped around Zhang Xuezhou, and Shi Wudao called for help cutting down the vines’ main root.
• Zhang Xuezhou illuminated the area, revealing Shi Wudao and Emperor Jing bound by the vines and the root nearby.
• The New Emperor sent his longsword at the root, prompting Shi Wudao to scream that the attack would kill him again, while Emperor Jing recognized the Vertical and Horizontal Sword Technique.

Zhang Xuezhou and the New Emperor watched Emperor Jing and Shi Wudao attempt to imprint their life and death onto the Reincarnation Stone, but the attempt failed and Emperor Jing was drawn inside. After the New Emperor's sword was shattered by the stone, Zhang Xuezhou reached into it and found himself able to pass his hand through.

• The New Emperor questioned Zhang Xuezhou about the Flying Jiangshi's occupants and realized Emperor Jing had not acknowledged him as his father.
• Emperor Jing and Shi Wudao used the Flying Jiangshi to try to transfer Shi Wudao's Life and Death Token imprint to the Reincarnation Stone.
• The Reincarnation Stone froze the Flying Jiangshi, and the transfer failed; Emperor Jing cut Shi Wudao loose and was pulled into the stone.
• After learning Emperor Jing was inside, the New Emperor attacked the Reincarnation Stone, but it extinguished his technique and shattered his sword.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed a familiar force within the stone and plunged his right hand into it.

Zhang Xuezhou traveled through the Reincarnation Stone into the Void Heaven Hall, where its snake-tailed inhabitants mistook him for Hongjun and then for a Great Emperor. He went along with their assumption and entered the palace, trying to learn where he had arrived and how to get back.

• Zhang Xuezhou entered the Reincarnation Stone and was pulled through the void to a palace surrounded by darkness.
• Four beings with human bodies and snake tails panicked when Zhang Xuezhou formed a human body, so he shaped his legs into a snake tail using the Great Wilderness Creation Scripture.
• Fu Yi emerged in red scale armor and challenged Hongjun, while Zhang Xuezhou realized the inhabitants feared Hongjun and had mistaken him for their enemy.
• Twelve divine lords appeared and claimed they had driven Hongjun away, then noticed Zhang Xuezhou among them and identified him as a Great Emperor from the lower realm.
• The divine lords escorted Zhang Xuezhou toward the palace, and he recalled Dong Zhongshu's painting of the divine kingdom and his unofficial history.

Zhang Xuezhou entered the Void Heaven Hall and encountered Houtu through a jade disc, where she ordered him to stop Donghua from achieving Dimensional Ascension. After Houtu recalled the hall’s divine guards and gave Zhang Xuezhou an object to use against Donghua, he could not work out how to control the hall and noticed a mysterious serpent-tailed man inside.

• Zhang Xuezhou entered the Void Heaven Hall and uncovered a jade disc that revealed a gigantic red python.
• The python recognized Zhang Xuezhou as the White Emperor’s Subspecies and learned that Bai was trapped, Donghua had become emperor, and Donghua had reached Half-Step Dimensional Ascension.
• The python, revealed as Houtu, ordered Zhang Xuezhou to disrupt Donghua’s gathered Principles and prevent his Dimensional Ascension.
• Houtu recalled the twelve divine lords and four royal guards, gave Zhang Xuezhou an object to use against Donghua, and said the Void Heaven Hall would follow him back to the Three Realms.
• After Houtu’s image vanished, Zhang Xuezhou failed to discover how to control the jade disc or transport the hall.
• Zhang Xuezhou heard hissing and saw a mysterious man with a human body and serpent’s tail moving through the palace.

Zhang Xuezhou met Hongjun in the Void Heaven Hall and learned that Donghua threatened to ascend to a higher dimension. Hongjun told him to find the Investiture of the Gods Document to stop Donghua, but the Hall’s contraction crushed Zhang Xuezhou’s incarnation and cast him back out.

• Hongjun recognized Zhang Xuezhou and asked what he had told Houtu that led her to give him control of the Void Heaven Hall.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Hongjun that Donghua had taken over Divine Emperor Haotian’s body, imprisoned Bai, and was close to ascending to a higher dimension.
• Hongjun decided Donghua had to be stopped and warned Zhang Xuezhou that using the Void Heaven Hall carelessly could expose him to Houtu and get him killed.
• Hongjun told Zhang Xuezhou to find the Investiture of the Gods Document, which could prevent Donghua from ascending, then vanished.
• The Void Heaven Hall contracted into a box and crushed Zhang Xuezhou’s Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation before the Reincarnation Stone spat out a blurry figure.

Zhang Xuezhou returned from the Reincarnation Stone with warnings about Houtu and found Emperor Jing’s spirit beside it. After Zhang Xuezhou and the New Emperor left the secret land, Emperor Jing’s spirit regained his old appearance but admitted that the Reincarnation Stone had swept away nearly all his memories.

• Zhang Xuezhou told the New Emperor that he had encountered Houtu, who could only send cultivators under her command to invade the Three Realms.
• The New Emperor questioned whether Emperor Jing’s silent Yin Soul was still his father, but Emperor Jing showed no sign of recognizing him.
• Zhang Xuezhou refused to refine Emperor Jing’s spirit and advised the New Emperor to let it grow naturally rather than turn it into a Yin puppet.
• The New Emperor and Zhang Xuezhou left the secret land when a rooster crowed and a spatial shadow appeared.
• After they departed, Emperor Jing’s spirit grew solid and revealed to Shi Wudao that the Reincarnation Stone had erased almost all his memories.