Chapter 109: Volume One Summary and Timeline

From Chapter 01, where Zhang Fan travels as a tourist, to Chapter 106, where the new Ren Xiao is born, totaling three hundred thousand words, this constitutes a complete volume, and I am fairly satisfied with the story’s Jieduanxing completion.

However, due to the heavy interweaving of timelines, some readers may have found it confusing; today I will clarify the events in proper chronological order.

In truth, from the story’s beginning, when Zhang Fan traveled to Zhenwu Mountain and first encountered cultivation, he achieved soul-out-of-body departure on his very first attempt—unlike talents like Xia Weisheng, who spent forty-nine days to accomplish the same feat; by comparison, the protagonist clearly has an advantage, yet there must be logical coherence behind it.

Those who have read this far should know that before Zhenwu Mountain, Zhang Fan’s soul had once awakened, but later he entered Da Ye Bu Liang and became an ordinary person, forgetting much of his past.

Thus, if this first volume had a theme, it would be called 【Recovery】 or 【Rebirth】—the entire volume revolves around Zhang Fan descending the mountain, entering the cultivation world, gradually discovering his own differences, his father’s differences, and the differences among those around him… dismantling the past, reclaiming his lost self, and uncovering the truth from ten years ago.

Below, I will lay out Zhang Fan’s path of recovery in proper chronological order.

…

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the Great True Man Zhang Daoling received enlightenment from Laozi on He Ming Mountain, was secretly granted the Heavenly Book, and founded the Zhengyi Mengwei Dao, later establishing his sect on Longhu Mountain, initiating the lineage of Daoism.

At the end of the Eastern Han, as the world plunged into chaos, the Wuwei Men rose to power, proclaiming, “Through methods of creation and destruction, seek the Wuwei path to eternal life”; they built temples on mountains and established observatories by rivers, subduing all demons and ghosts, gathering incense offerings from the four seas, sweeping across the Liuhe , and quelling the Dao realm—its influence profoundly affected all Daoist sects.

Two thousand years later, led by the Zhang family of Longhu Mountain and joined by Daoist masters from across the land, nine 【Mountain-Smashing Temple-Destroying】 campaigns were launched to exterminate the Wuwei heretics. Their slogan: Zhengyi Mengwei, the Supreme Lord’s Decree. Upholding the Three Heavens, slaying demons, granting life. Exterminating evil, purifying false energies.

A hundred years ago, the Wuwei Men’s San Shi Dao Ren perfected one of the Nine Inner Elixir Methods—【San Shi Zhao Ming】—and became the number one martial master in the world.

Eighty years ago, the Central Plains suffered calamity, the people endured disaster; Daoist masters from across the land gathered at Longhu Mountain to perform the 【Grand Heaven Ritual】, invoking three thousand six hundred celestial deities to bless humanity—yet it triggered the 【Daoist Great Calamity】. Since then, Daoist masters across the land perished, many lineages vanished, and Longhu Mountain, once among the Ten Great Daoist Sects, closed its gates and remained without incense for eighty years. That year, only one young man escaped death on Longhu Mountain: Chu Chaoran of Zhenwu Mountain, who returned to Zhenwu Mountain with his master’s severed hand and the Zhenwu Jade Tablet, never speaking of what occurred.

Sixty years ago, Chu Chaoran of Zhenwu Mountain entered the 【Pure Yang Wuji】 realm and dueled San Shi Dao Ren atop Mount Dongyue for three days and three nights; only Chu Chaoran descended the mountain. The title of world’s greatest master became a legend, and the Wuwei Men fell silent, vanishing from the world.

Twenty-four years ago, Zhang Lingzong of the Daling Sect perfected one of the Nine Inner Elixir Methods—【Shen Mo Sheng Tai】—and, accompanied by companions Liu Fusheng the Nine-Finger Talisman Demon, Xiong Sanqi the Yin Mountain Ghost King, and Wang Zhenhuang the Northern Star Desert Wanderer, traveled to famed mountains and temples, conquering the seven southeastern provinces with unmatched dominance. That same year, he met Li Linglong, leader of the Wuwei Men’s 【Thirteen Zodiacs】, and they united; the next year, they bore a son named Zhang Fan.

Eleven years ago, Zhang Fan perfected one of the Nine Inner Elixir Methods—【Shen Mo Sheng Tai】; the same year, Li Changgeng, heir of Baihe Guan, perfected one of the Nine Inner Elixir Methods—【Tian Di Duo Yun】.

Ten years ago, Zhang Lingzong reopened Longhu Mountain’s gates, entered within, retrieved the Three Lifetimes Coffin—linked to the 【Daoist Great Calamity】 eighty years prior—and ignited the greed of both the Wuwei Men and all Daoist sects, sparking chaos and a great battle beneath Longhu Mountain.

That night, Zhang Fan and Li Changgeng clashed for the first time; the latter was mortally wounded. Zhang Fan entered the 【Da Ye Bu Liang】 calamity; at the brink of destruction, he used the 【Fen Shen Da Fa】 to split his soul into three: the Fierce Spirit hidden in Yin, the Evil Spirit entering the Dao, the Good Spirit returning to the dantian. Only the Good Spirit remained—Zhang Fan’s soul fell into stillness, his cultivation regressed, his past memories vanished, and he became an ordinary man. That night, Li Linglong, leader of the 【Thirteen Zodiacs】, died; in Zhang Fan’s later memories, his mother Li Linglong perished in a car accident ten years ago. Zhang Lingzong used a Heaven-Stealing technique to conceal the 【Ben Ming Yuan Chen】 of father and son, faked their deaths, and hid within Yujing City, working as a laborer on construction sites. Liu Fusheng the Nine-Finger Talisman Demon became a security guard at Hongfu Huayuan, secretly protecting them.

That year, Zhang Fan graduated from university; heartbroken after breaking up with his girlfriend, his friend Li Yishan took him on a tourist trip to Zhenwu Mountain to worship and find solace. (The story’s beginning)

The ancestral master of Zhenwu Mountain once said: “Zhenwu’s Dao has been passed down seventy-three generations; because of Fan, the calamity arises, and future generations shall participate.” Zhenwu Mountain had reached its seventy-third generation; by fate, Zhang Fan encountered Daoist cultivation methods, his soul awakened, and he met the girl Jiang Lai, who helped him evade calamities multiple times, fused the Zhenwu Jade Tablet, awakened the Three Pure Fires, and reentered the cultivation world.

Returning to Yujing City, Zhang Fan joined Ye Bu Liang, met companions such as the Zhenwu outcast Bai Buran, the Maoshan disciple Jiang Hu, the Shensha heir Wen He, and Yu Fu, thereby unveiling the hidden Daoist underworld within the secular city. Through repeated confrontations with the 【Thirteen Zodiacs】—the Longya Incident at Taoyuan Square (Hai Zhu Wang Tao), the Shenjia Xuanjian Baolu Incident (Wu Ma Wu Qilu), the Shensha Sect lineage Incident (You Ji Jin Mangri)—Zhang Fan gradually neared the truth of ten years ago, slowly regained his strength, and recovered his most crucial memories.

Until the Thirteen Zodiacs gathered as one and the new Ren Xiao was born—this volume is complete.

This volume of three hundred thousand words planted many plot holes, but most have been filled; though some remain…

Such as the origins of Zhang Fan and his father, the past and background of his mother Li Linglong, the truth behind the Daoist Great Calamity, Jiang Lai’s secret, the Nine Inner Elixir Methods, San Shi Dao Ren, Zhang Fan’s Evil Spirit, Zhang Fan’s relationship with Li Changgeng, and more.

These plot holes will be gradually resolved in future main storylines; please remain patient.

Finally, I will address some of the most debated questions.

First, some speculated Jiang Lai is a spirit of an artifact—this… there should be no such thing as an artifact spirit in this novel, so Jiang Lai is not an artifact spirit.

Second, Zhang Fan practiced the 【Fen Shen Da Fa】, but he did not practice 【San Shi Zhao Ming】; in other words, 【Fen Shen Da Fa】 is merely the foundational skill of 【San Shi Zhao Ming】. Each of the Nine Inner Elixir Methods is extremely difficult to cultivate, and according to current lore, no one can master two or more simultaneously.

This is why, in each generation, only one person—or even none—can master a Nine Inner Elixir Method.

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The Nine Inner Elixir Methods currently revealed are 【San Shi Zhao Ming】, 【Shen Mo Sheng Tai】, 【Tian Di Duo Yun】, and 【Wu Xing Cuo Wang】 (mentioned only, no practitioner has appeared yet); five others will appear later.

Lastly, Li Yishan… never mind, I won’t speak of Li Yishan.

Now, let me organize my thoughts for the next plot arc.

Thank you all for your support!!

(End of Chapter)