Chapter Summaries

At Water Mirror Manor’s banquet, Si Jingyu defused Jiazhuan Pavilion’s demand, but Fragrant Tea Manor then used a two-year-old killing to pressure the Si Clan. Si Jingyu refused to surrender anyone without proof that Senior Tea King had personally ordered it, leaving Lu Ling forced to consult his elder or produce a token.

• Si Jingyu agreed to investigate Jiazhuan Pavilion’s claims with its representatives taking the lead, and Zhou Zhao accepted the promise and returned to his seat.
• Lu Ling interrupted the banquet on behalf of Fragrant Tea Manor and demanded that Water Mirror Manor hand over the person responsible for a Lu Lineage member’s death two years earlier.
• The Si Clan protested that the old fight had injured eleven of its members as well, while Nan Botu packed up his remaining food and moved away from the brewing confrontation.
• Si Jingyu asked whether Senior Tea King wanted the culprit handed over and rejected Lu Ling’s ambiguous answer as insufficient authority.
• Si Jingyu told Lu Ling to obtain Senior Tea King’s order or token before she would surrender anyone.

At Water Mirror Manor’s funeral banquet, Si Jingyu outmaneuvered the families seeking to exploit the Si Clan’s weakened position, but Guan Chong of the Heavenly Go Sect challenged the manor to a martial contest. Si Shuiyun volunteered to fight him, and Si Jingyu waited to learn whether Guan Chong would accept her maid as his opponent.

• Lu Ling realized Si Jingyu had trapped him into retreating without invoking the Tea King, then became captivated by her.
• Si Jingyu invited the guests to state their grievances together, but no one dared step forward and risk the Si Clan’s retaliation.
• Guan Chong of the Heavenly Go Sect challenged Water Mirror Manor’s Water Moon Precious Mirror with his Innate Twelve Coils.
• Si Jingyu accepted Guan Chong’s challenge, and Si Shuiyun volunteered to fight in her place.
• Si Jingyu questioned Guan Chong with her gaze, waiting to see whether he would accept Si Shuiyun as his opponent.

Si Shuiyun fought Guan Chong in a ten-move match, but he revealed a higher level of Internal Cultivation and techniques that countered her attacks. She managed to stop his advance with the Water Moon Precious Mirror’s dance-like techniques, yet Guan Chong remained locked close to her.

• Si Shuiyun and Guan Chong began their match after agreeing that he would concede if he could not defeat her within ten moves.
• Si Shuiyun opened with Stars Fall and Moon Sinks, but Guan Chong dodged using a movement technique that resembled Spirit Crab Scuttles Sideways.
• Si Shuiyun launched Water Moon Mirror Shatters, and Guan Chong used Innate Reverse Silk Reeling to neutralize most of its force.
• Guan Chong advanced with Golden Snake Coils Around the Willow and tried to bind Si Shuiyun with his coiling techniques.
• Si Shuiyun used Sacrificial Dance to Pray for Rain to keep Guan Chong from advancing, but she could not shake him off.

Guan Chong defeated Si Shuiyun in exactly ten moves, exposing his deep familiarity with the Water Moon Precious Mirror and provoking the Si Clan to send another fighter. A blonde girl wanted to accept his challenge, but her mother stopped her, leaving the clan enraged and Guan Chong still taunting them.

• Si Jingyu realized Guan Chong anticipated Si Shuiyun’s movements because he knew the Water Moon Precious Mirror exceptionally well, and she sent a maid to the ancestral residence.
• Guan Chong used Si Shuiyun’s force against her and threw her from the arena on the tenth move, winning the contest.
• Si Shuiyun returned injured and apologized to Si Jingyu, while Guan Chong challenged the Si Clan to send another woman to fight him.
• A blonde girl tried to accept Guan Chong’s challenge, but her mother ordered her to stay seated and revealed she hoped the clan’s crisis would help her reclaim the clan leader’s position.
• Guan Chong mocked the Si Clan for lacking courage, prompting its members to demand permission from Si Jingyu to fight.

Si Jingyu exposed Guan Chong as a former Si Clan member who had returned to free the clan’s men, but his own account showed that he intended to take only the baby boys. As Si Jingyu prepared to fight him, Si Ming claimed to be her younger brother and entered the arena, revealing a powerful technique.

• Si Jingyu used the genealogy to identify Guan Chong as Si Zhong, a former Si Clan member who had secretly learned the Water Moon Precious Mirror and fled confinement.
• Guan Chong admitted he wanted to free the Si Clan’s men, but said he would take only the baby boys after Si Jun rejected his offer to leave.
• Si Jingyu challenged Guan Chong’s motives and prepared to fight, while Si Shuiyun warned that his Innate Twelve Coils could counter the Water Moon Precious Mirror.
• Si Ming stepped into the arena, claimed to be Si Jingyu’s younger brother, and demonstrated Stars Fall and Moon Sinks.

Si Ming posed as Si Jingyu’s younger brother and challenged Guan Chong, arguing that Guan Chong’s campaign against the Si Clan could not succeed against the powerful clans backing him. After Si Ming set a ten-move limit, Guan Chong opened the fight with a concealed technique drawn from the Water Moon Precious Mirror.

• Guan Chong questioned how Si Ming had learned the Si Clan’s Water Moon Precious Mirror, and Si Ming claimed his status as the clan head’s son gave him privileges.
• Si Shuiyun and Si Jingyu suspected Si Ming was a Mohist Knight Guard impostor, while Si Jingyue was reminded of her missing son by his resemblance to Si Jingyu.
• Si Ming pointed out that Guan Chong’s supporters belonged to the privileged class he claimed to oppose, leaving Guan Chong unable to answer.
• Si Ming explained that the prominent clans would not allow Guan Chong to disrupt their shared rules, then declared he would defeat him within ten moves.
• Guan Chong attacked Si Ming with Innate Tiger-Form Coil before turning it into Wind-Chasing Shuttle, a concealed move based on the Water Moon Precious Mirror.

Si Ming fought Guan Chong while pretending to use the Si Clan’s martial arts, then activated the Divine Sight Illusory Observation Art to end the match with overwhelming strength. Guan Chong sensed the danger Si Ming posed as Si Ming prepared to attack.

• Si Ming deflected Guan Chong’s Wind-Chasing Shuttle with Primordial Chaos Extreme Thunder Movement, which Guan Chong mistook for Countercurrent Divine Gang.
• Guan Chong used the Innate Twelve Coils against Si Ming, who concealed his true techniques and fought with the Ethereal Cloud and Mist Palm and the Spirit-Sacrificing Rain-Praying Yi Dance.
• Si Ming adapted to the dance, gained the upper hand, and recovered after Guan Chong tried to throw him out of the arena.
• Si Ming admitted he would cheat, explained that the Divine Sight Illusory Observation Art tripled his strength, and activated it.
• Guan Chong sensed Si Ming’s sudden, dangerous power as Si Ming prepared to finish the fight.

After Si Ming defeated Guan Chong, Si Jingyu ordered that he be saved, and the Si Clan’s banquet began. At the feast, Si Huamu accused Si Jingyu of violating clan rules by secretly passing the Water Moon Precious Mirror to Si Ming.

• Guan Chong unleashed his Innate Great Silk Coiling, but Si Ming shattered it with a powerful strike and left Guan Chong gravely injured.
• Si Jingyu ordered her clanspeople to carry Guan Chong away and try to save him, saying a living person was more valuable than a dead one.
• Si Ming deflected questions about his identity by claiming he had been kept hidden, and Si Jingyu showed the crowd the clan genealogy to confirm he was her brother.
• Si Jingyu declared the banquet open after the gathered families raised no further objections.
• At the banquet, Si Huamu called on the elders to punish Si Jingyu and Si Ming for secretly transmitting and learning the Water Moon Precious Mirror.
• Si Shuiyun complained that Si Ming had left the clan to deal with the consequences of his admission.

Si Jingyu defended Si Ming after he admitted using the Si Clan’s martial arts, arguing that his strength could protect Water Mirror Manor from future threats. She proposed amending the clan rules to let men cultivate Water Moon Precious Mirror and challenged the idea that ancestral rules could never change.

• Si Jingyu told Si Shuiyun that Si Ming’s candid, rule-breaking nature made him distinctive, while Si Shuiyun warned her to be careful about becoming interested in him.
• Si Huamu argued that Si Ming should be punished for violating clan rules despite saving Water Mirror Manor, while his supporters insisted his merit should offset his fault.
• Si Jingyu asked why the clan had faced danger, how strong Si Ming was, and how they would treat an outsider of equal strength, leading the council to recognize his value as a protector.
• Si Huamu warned that sparing Si Ming would encourage other men to seek permission to cultivate Water Moon Precious Mirror, and Si Jingyu proposed allowing men of the clan to practice it.
• Si Huamu accused Si Jingyu of changing tradition for personal reasons, and Si Jingyu replied that successive generations had amended clan rules before and that living rules should serve the Lineage.

Si Jingyu maneuvered the Si Clan into agreeing to let its men cultivate the Water Moon Precious Mirror, removing a vulnerability while preserving the clan’s women-favoring customs. Si Ming saw through her strategy and left the men of the clan to decide for themselves whether to take up martial arts.

• When the clan members turned against Si Huamu’s demand to punish Si Ming, Si Jingyu suggested hearing his opinion, and Si Ming warned that he would resist any attempt to arrest him.
• In the peach orchard, Si Ming accused Si Jingyu of arranging the dispute to win support for changing the clan rule, and Si Jingyu admitted it was her plan.
• Si Jingyu explained that abolishing the restriction would remove a danger the clan’s rivals could exploit and let men choose whether to practice martial arts.
• Si Ming understood that without compulsory training, few men would likely become martial arts experts and challenge the clan’s established order.
• Si Ming declined to take on the role of advocate for the Si Clan’s men and reflected on how Si Jingyu’s schemes differed from Yu Shuying’s.

Si Jingyu asked Si Ming to help lure out the enemy threatening Water Mirror Manor, and he agreed before learning the plan involved impersonating her at Emperor Peak Luofu Academy. After he refused the disguise, he accepted a role protecting her cousin Si Huaruo, whose mother had challenged him.

• Si Jingyu explained that a wounded Spirit Transformation Grandmaster might attack Water Mirror Manor to avenge an old grudge, and Si Ming volunteered to serve as bait.
• Si Jingyu proposed that Si Ming disguise himself as her and attend Emperor Peak Luofu Academy, but he refused.
• Si Jingyu offered Si Ming the Water Moon Precious Mirror in exchange for taking her place, but he still declined.
• Si Jingyu asked Si Ming to enter the academy as a bodyguard instead, explaining that she would stay home and he would protect Si Huaruo.
• Si Shuiyun explained that Si Huaruo was a gifted student and the daughter of Si Huamu, who had challenged Si Ming earlier, while Si Jingyu insisted her cousin deserved protection.

Si Ming accepted Si Jingyu’s offer to protect the Si Clan and began practicing the Water Moon Precious Mirror, discovering that its dance-based techniques would be embarrassing to use in combat. He found a Qi-circulation method that suited his powerful body and could help him preserve his True Qi.

• Si Jingyu gave Si Ming the Water Moon Precious Mirror, and he agreed to disguise himself as her briefly when needed to bait enemies.
• Si Jingyu used a peach blossom and a staged reaction to make it appear that Si Ming had done something improper, then left while Si Shuiyun chased after her.
• Si Ming practiced the Water Moon Precious Mirror’s body-tempering method in private and reflected on the Shaman School’s history and decline.
• Si Ming found the Nine Songs God-Sealing Art, which kept True Qi circulating within the body, and realized his strong body could withstand its backlash.

Si Ming accepted Si Huamu’s invitation to Moon Spring Island, where he was lured through a misty formation to a hot spring and found a naked blonde girl. The chapter then retold the Cowherd and Weaver Girl legend as a coercive tale of voyeurism and forced marriage.

• Si Ming mastered the Nine Songs God-Sealing Art and accepted Si Huamu’s invitation to a banquet on Moon Spring Island.
• A maid greeted Si Ming at the island and led him to an empty banquet, then left to find Si Huamu and the others.
• Si Ming followed cries for help into the woods, where fog confused his sense of direction.
• The mist cleared to reveal a hot spring, where a naked blonde girl emerged and mistook Si Ming for Xiaoqin.
• The narrator described the Cowherd as a voyeur who stole a fairy’s clothes and coerced her into marriage, then compared the story to a woman forced to live in the mountains.

Si Ming secured a chance to accompany Si Huaruo by turning the hot-spring confrontation into a public accusation, while Si Huamu used it to demand that he guard her. Si Ming and Si Huaruo then traveled by boat toward Emperor Peak Luofu Academy through the Nation of Beauty, a water-rich country with a weak military and little strategic importance.

• Si Ming and Si Huaruo fought with techniques from the Water Moon Precious Mirror until she recognized him as Si Jingyu’s younger brother.
• When people arrived, Si Ming shouted that he had been molested, then offered to take responsibility for peeping at Si Huaruo.
• Si Huamu used the incident to require Si Ming to protect Si Huaruo, following a suggestion from an insider controlled by Si Jingyu.
• Two days later, Si Huaruo agreed to travel with Si Ming rather than oppose her mother’s plan outright.
• Si Ming and Si Huaruo traveled by boat toward Emperor Peak Luofu Academy through the Nation of Beauty, whose waterways made boats its most convenient means of transport.

Si Ming accompanied Si Huaruo to Emperor Peak Luofu Academy and discovered its demanding academic culture. Si Huaruo revealed that she aimed to compete in drama, while her polished public smile contrasted with the guarded manner she showed him.

• Si Ming and Si Huaruo arrived at Emperor Peak Luofu Academy, where a guard registered Si Ming and made him wear a locator.
• Si Huaruo explained that students were preparing for the new Nine Arts Phoenix Fledglings selections, and she named drama as her goal.
• Si Huaruo greeted students warmly with an impeccable smile, then dropped it once she and Si Ming were alone.
• Si Ming reflected on Si Huaruo's childhood ostracism because of her golden hair and wondered why she showed him her unguarded side.
• Si Huaruo put her smile back on and knocked on the door of a large auditorium.

Si Ming accompanied Si Huaruo to drama club practice, where he met her friends and revealed that he was Si Jingyu’s full-blooded younger brother. After rehearsal ended without incident, Zhu Xuanhuai wanted to investigate a rumored ghost at the old school grounds, while Nan Yang warned that it could jeopardize the upcoming Nine Arts Phoenix Fledgling selection.

• Si Huaruo reunited warmly with Zhu Xuanhuai, Dong Qian, Nan Yang, and the other drama club members and joined their rehearsal.
• Si Ming observed the club’s dynamics and learned that Si Huaruo was its acclaimed leading actress.
• Zhu Xuanhuai approached Si Ming and suggested he might act in the club’s play, while another girl looked down on him.
• Si Ming revealed that Si Jingyu was his full-blooded older sister, silencing the girl’s contempt and changing the other students’ attitude toward him.
• The drama club finished practice without anything unexpected happening, and Nan Yang argued with Zhu Xuanhuai about investigating rumors of a ghost at the old school grounds.

After Zhu Xuanhuai vanished inside the old campus, Si Huaruo urged the drama club to leave the rescue to professionals, then secretly set out to save her that night. Si Ming uncovered her plan and joined her as they headed toward the danger.

• Dong Qian told the drama club that Zhu Xuanhuai and her guard had vanished after entering the old campus, and the school's searchers had also gone missing.
• Si Huaruo calmed the club members, sent them home, and warned them not to attempt a rescue themselves.
• That night, Si Huaruo disguised herself and headed for the old campus, but Si Ming intercepted her.
• Si Huaruo admitted she feared Zhu Xuanhuai could not survive until a Spirit Transformation Grandmaster arrived, and Si Ming agreed to accompany her.

Si Ming and Si Huaruo entered the old school building to rescue Zhu Xuanhuai, learning that a Ghostly Monster was likely responsible and that the school planned to seal off the area. They found a suspicious classroom, became trapped inside, and encountered a terrifying little girl outside its fourth-floor window.

• Si Huaruo explained that a Ghostly Monster, an illusion-wielding Anomaly from the Hide-and-Seek Forest, was likely behind the incident and that the great Lineages usually concealed such events.
• Si Ming realized the school would probably leave the old campus sealed until the Anomaly disappeared, while the Zhu Lineage might abandon its attempt to save Zhu Xuanhuai.
• Si Huaruo used Shaman Steps to pass the guards unnoticed, and Si Ming followed her into the old campus with Carefree Wandering.
• Si Huaruo tracked Zhu Xuanhuai's lingering presence to a classroom and warned Si Ming that the Ghostly Monster might be inside.
• The classroom door shut unexpectedly, and Si Ming and Si Huaruo saw a little girl repeatedly jumping outside a fourth-floor window until her face appeared.

Si Ming relentlessly battered the regenerating ghost girl after she frightened him, while Si Huaruo watched in disbelief. The girl fled, but Si Ming caught up and launched another attack, leaving their fight unresolved.

• Si Ming smashed the ghost girl's head and repeatedly battered her as she regenerated, demanding that she stop laughing and speak properly.
• The ghost girl escaped his grasp by cutting off her own leg and fled through the classroom window.
• Si Ming leaped after her, dodged her black spheres with Dunjia Heavenly Movement, and used the Divine Sight Illusory Observation Art to increase his speed.
• Si Ming caught the girl, struck her down, dragged her along the ground, and hurled her into the air.
• Si Ming pursued the airborne girl and attacked with the Ethereal Cloud and Mist Palm, unleashing Clouds Disperse, Flowing Rosy Clouds Burst Forth.

Si Huaruo battled a nearly complete Yin God while Si Ming remained trapped inside a sludge stele. Si Ming broke free, smashed the girl again, and chased her as she fled.

• Si Ming struck the girl with Blazing Sun True Qi, but she turned into black sludge and sealed him inside a stone stele.
• Si Huaruo summoned Water Yong and Ward, then used Lingering Lotus Breaking the Waves against the girl.
• Si Huaruo summoned the Si Clan's Frost Talisman and froze the girl in an ice pillar, but the girl broke free and destroyed the clan god.
• The girl's foul Qi grazed Si Huaruo and began corroding her soul as the girl approached her.
• Si Ming burst out of the stele, seized the girl, and smashed her into a pulp.
• The girl recovered and fled, but Si Ming caught up to her before she had flown ten meters.