Path of the Dao: Immortal Destiny

Dao Xing Xian Yuan (The Daoist's Journey and Immortal Destiny) is a modern cultivation-themed web novel by Fengxi Fanniao, comprising roughly 560,000 Chinese characters across ten volumes. Each volume title is drawn from phrases in the Daodejing, such as "The Multitude Is Bustling," "Heaven and Earth Endure," "Only by Not Contending," "Only the Dao Is Followed," "The Common Folk Are Shrewd," "Rarely Speaking, Thus Natural," "Silent and Empty," "The Great Dao Is Very Level," "Cultivate It in the Self," and "Renounce Sageliness, Discard Wisdom." The story begins when the protagonist, Yu Wei, after graduating from high school, is sent to the countryside as an educated youth. By chance he obtains a secret method of immortal cultivation and embarks on the path of cultivation: he learns that he possesses a pure fire constitution, becomes the heir of the Tianxia Sect, and acquires the wondrous stone Ruyi Ju, which can transform at will. His footsteps then extend from Earth to numerous planets where immortals and demons coexist, drawing him into conflicts among the nine great sects, the struggle between immortals and demons, and major events such as the Daoist Assembly, while his cultivation realm advances step by step from ordinary mortal to higher levels. Along the way he befriends fellow travelers such as Xuanzhen, Xiyun, and Dingshu. According to circulating compiled editions, the book concludes with a sweeping expanse of time: the group spends long years roaming through space and collecting seeds, and ultimately chooses to live in seclusion in a nameless star system. Yu Wei returns with his Daoist companion Dingshu to his native Earth, while his companions each find their own destinations. The narrative proceeds at a steady pace, focusing on the intertwining of cultivation practice and everyday life, and stands as a relatively representative work in the early vein of modern cultivation fiction.