Path of the Dharma Form

Path of the Dharma Form is a xianxia cultivation novel by the web author Fan Dongliu. It began serialization on Qidian in 2009 and concluded on October 31, 2011, running over 1,400 chapters and roughly 4.56 million Chinese characters. The protagonist, Zhang Fan, is of mediocre talent, but having lived a second life he enjoys an edge in experience and temperament. Aided by the legacy left by his great-grandfather and ancient artifacts such as a bronze cauldron, he is admitted to the Dharma Form Sect, foremost of the three great sects of Qinzhou. The Dharma Form Sect takes its name from the dharma form: after disciples pay homage to the sect's treasure, the Diagram of the Stars of the Zhou Heaven, each condenses a dharma form of his own, which serves as the foundation of his cultivation. Zhang Fan's dharma form is mistaken by the sect for the commonplace three-legged fire crow, when in truth it is the rare form of the Demon Emperor, the Great Sun Golden Crow. He therefore keeps a low profile, secretly practicing ancient divine powers such as the Great Five Elements Breaking Prohibition Art and raising fire crows possessed of the Golden Crow bloodline, verifying his own path step by step along the road of the ancient Demon Emperor. The work uses the stages of qi refining, foundation building, golden core, nascent soul, and spirit transformation as its ladder of cultivation, weaving the struggle between orthodox and heterodox sects, contests among prodigies, and exploration of small worlds into a long narrative. Zhang Fan grows from a despised outer-sect youth into a brilliant disciple who dominates the great war between good and evil. After the sect closes its gates, he travels alone through overseas lands, the Central Plains, and the underworld, and finally returns to the sect as a powerful cultivator and patriarch, setting out to uncover the demon clan and ancient secrets hidden behind the sect's dharma forms. The book blends the Daoist cultivation system with classical mythological elements from the Classic of Mountains and Seas and Investiture of the Gods.