Book 1 - Jaunts of Youth

Chapter Summaries

1: A garment of green walks openheartedly among precarious peaks

Duan Yu goes to the inter-faction swordplay competition at The Boundless Sword and unwittingly annoys Zuo Zimu, the leader of the eastern faction. Zhong Ling and her Lightning Marten lend Duan Yu a hand in escaping the wrath of The Boundless Sword. Later, Duan Yu gets into trouble by advising Sikong Xuan and his Society of Divine Farmers not to attack The Boundless Sword. Sikong Xuan, who is bitten by the Lightning Marten, holds Zhong Ling hostage and sends Duan Yu off to obtain the antidote for the marten's bite within seven days, failing which the poison that Sikong has forced Duan to ingest would take effect. Full text...

2: A cliff of jade reflects the magnificence of the moon

On the way to Zhong Ling's home, Duan Yu falls into the ravine of the Lake of Swords and uncovers the secret of the Boundless Jade Wall. When he becomes mesmerised by a life-sized White Jade Statue that he found in a cavern at the ravine, he is rewarded with a martial arts manual that contains the 'Mystical Skill of Northern Darkness' and the 'Graceful Steps Upon the Waves'. He eventually arrives at Zhong Ling's home, only to be sent off again by her mother, Gan Baobao, to seek help from his own father, Duan Zhengchun. Full text...

3: A swift horse, a secluded fragrance

At Gan Baobao's suggestion, Duan Yu borrows a horse from her niece, Mu Wanqing, a temperamental young woman who is highly skilled in martial arts. Between them, Duan and Mu succeed in rescuing Zhong Ling after impersonating as the emissaries of the Palace of the Gifted Vulture. Unfortunately, Mu is pursued by a gang from Suzhou, whose employer wants her captured. Mu sends Zhong off, but takes Duan with her after he refuses to leave her in a lurch. Full text...

4: A high precipice, a faraway man

Pursued by the gang from Suzhou, Duan Yu and Mu Wanqing soon become stranded on a cliff. As they consider their next course of action, they are accosted by Yue the Third, a member of the 'Four Great Evils'. When Yue threatens to violate Mu, she responds by revealing her face to Duan, thus fulfilling her vow to marry the first man who sees without a veil. Fortunately, Yue takes a liking to Duan and insists on making him a disciple. When Duan refuses, Yue takes Mu away to another cliff as a hostage. There, on the other cliff, Mu meets the other three members of the 'Four Great Evils'. Full text...

5: A figure finely marked by delicate steps

While Mu Wanqing attempts to escape by pitting Yue the Third, Yun Zhonghe and Ye the Second against one another, Duan Yu is captured by The Boundless Cave. Duan begins learning the 'Mystical Skill of Northern Darkness' and the 'Graceful Steps Upon the Waves' while in captivity. The 'Three Great Evils' are soon chased away by the 'Four Great Bodyguards' and Marquis Gao of Dali. Meanwhile, Duan manages to escape from The Boundless Cave, only to be bitten by the Lightning Marten. Paralysed by the marten's poison, he ends up ingesting a centipede and a Poisonous Bovine Vermillion Toad. Partial full-text translation...

6: Which family does the child come from, whose courtyard is it?

Accompanied by Zhu Danchen, Duan Yu and Mu Wanqing return to Dali City, only to run into Yun Zhonghe. As Zhu, Duan and Mu flee from Yun, they find unexpected assistance at the Taoist Temple of the Hollow Jade, where Duan's mother lives as a priestess. After much persuasion, the priestess -- known as the Sage of the Hollow Jade -- agrees to go to Dali City to avoid the Four Great Evils. Shortly after the group arrives at the city, they are accosted by Yue the Third. Yue demands that Duan Yu become his disciple, only to become Duan's disciple himself when he loses a bet that requires him to defeat Duan within three moves.

7: Without enumerating one's regrets, affection abounds

Mu Wanqing attempts to kill the Sage of the Hollow Jade when she finds out that the latter is actually named Dao Baifeng, only to hit Duan Yu on the chest with her poisoned arrows. Duan survives, but is shocked to hear that Mu is actually his half-sister. As Mu dashes away in a fit of anger and disbelief, Duan is taken hostage by Gan Baobao, Qin Hongmian (Mu's biological mother) and three of the Four Great Evils. Later, Mu and Duan are reunited when Mu is tricked by a Stranger in Black into believing that he (the Stranger) could turn Duan into her husband again. By then, however, both Mu and Duan have fallen victim to a potent aphrodisiac that threatens to ruin their lives.

8: The tiger roars, the dragon bellows

The Emperor Baoding, Duan Zhengchun, Dao Baifeng and their senior officials visit the Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities to seek Duan Yu's release. To their surprise, the Stranger in Black is actually the missing Crown Prince Duan Yanqing who will only release Duan Yu in exchange for the throne of Dali. Baoding then seeks the assistance of the Yellow-Browed Monk from the Temple of Flower Offerings to secure Duan Yu's release from Duan Yanqing. Meanwhile, the Three Dukes of Dali -- Fan Hua, Hua Hegen and Ba Tianshi -- hatch a plan of their own for Duan Yu's rescue.

9: The phoenix exchanges its nest with another fabulous bird

Zhong Wanchou holds a gathering of individuals from the realm of the rivers and lakes to reveal the incestuous relationship that Duan Yu and Mu Wanqing were supposed to have had, only to find Zhong Ling coming out of the stone hut with Duan instead. Their reputation intact, the Duan Family returns home. Later, the Duans are visited by a Guo Yanzhi and two Shaolin monks who inform them that their respective teachers had died under tragic and suspicious circumstances. The Yellow-Browed Monk and Cui Baiquan reveal their close encounters with the pugilist whom they suspect is the murderer of these teachers.

10: Swords of energy intersect intensely in bluish smoke

Duan Yu is captured again, this time by Yue the Third who continues to insist on becoming the former's teacher. When Yue takes Duan to the Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities, they find Yun Zhonghe trying to wrest Zhong Ling and Gan Baobao away from Zhong Wanchou. In his effort to rescue Zhong Ling, Duan finds himself inadvertantly drawing the internal strength of Yun, Yue and a few other pugilists into his body. Consequently, Duan has to be taken to the Temple of the Celestial Dragon by the Emperor Baoding, so that the energy streams in his body can be dealt with. There, Baoding becomes a monk in an effort to protect the temple and keep the scrolls of the Phenomenal Swords of the Six Channels from Jiumozhi. When Kurong destroys the scrolls, Jiumozhi abducts Duan Yu, who has by then learnt the Phenomenal Swords.

Summaries complete.

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