The Immortal's Obsession

Immortal Obsession is a classical xianxia novel by Gao Gailiang Bao. Running approximately 1.6 million Chinese characters, it was serialized on Zongheng Chinese Network and completed in 2018 in 472 chapters, ending with the chapter "The Fu Tree Hangs in the Heavens." The protagonist, Ye Xiaozhu, is brought to the Shenxiao Sect at the age of seven. After more than a decade of cultivation, his abnormal dantian and limited aptitude leave him stuck for years at the Qi-Crossing Stage, where he is overlooked and belittled by his fellow disciples. Mild-mannered and peaceable by nature, he wants only a quiet life, yet the sect's old grudges and the petty rivalries of his peers repeatedly push him to the wall, until sheer refusal to bow his head drives him onto the path of resistance. The novel's spiritual undercurrent is expressed in the line "Take the vault of heaven as pasture, and the gods and demons of all realms as lambs, grazing them above the nine heavens." It follows the protagonist's cultivation journey as he plants vast fields of immortal herbs, raises spirit beasts, repairs formation arrays, and refines spirit veins: from battling demons in Xiangshui Valley and running the gauntlet of Snake Demon Valley to voyaging through the Pengqiu Archipelago, enduring bitter training in a fallen ravine, wandering the inner sea, and exploring the ruins of ancient cultivators. Step by step, he rises from a lowly rogue cultivator to the pinnacle of the three realms. In the title, "immortal" refers to the great way of longevity, while "obsession" refers to the protagonist's unquenchable fixation and his determination to protect others. Threaded throughout with devices such as the Purple Mansion space and the Fu Tree seed, the book ultimately transforms the protagonist's small private realm into a vast, real world. It is a long-form xianxia work with a clear trajectory and solid pacing.