Chapter Summaries

Yue Ling hired Ma Liang and Chu Xinghe to escort her to the capital of the Great Liang Kingdom, believing they were impersonators whose resemblance to famous cultivators might deter her enemies. Chu Xinghe endured her dismissive treatment and unequal payments, while Ma Liang enjoyed his frustration and agreed to cover their travel meals.

• Yue Ling rejected Chu Xinghe's claim to his real identity, while Ma Liang pretended to be a Fifth Rank cultivator.
• Yue Ling explained that she needed an escort to the capital of the Great Liang Kingdom and warned that powerful enemies might attack along the way.
• Yue Ling gambled that Ma Liang's appearance would frighten her pursuers after her previous escorts had died or fled.
• Yue Ling paid Ma Liang 295 spirit stones and Chu Xinghe five, then promised them respective arrival bonuses of 5,000 and three spirit stones.
• Yue Ling ordered a meal at the Tuyang Inn but asked Chu Xinghe to return three spirit stones when she realized she could not pay.
• Ma Liang paid the bill and offered to cover food and drink for the journey, earning Yue Ling's gratitude and further frustrating Chu Xinghe.

Yue Ling, Chu Xinghe, and Ma Liang traveled north to Hundred Herbs City, where Meng Er and Black Sha tried to poison them with wine. The trio drank the wine without harm, and Yue Ling found it nourishing, leaving their pursuers baffled.

• Chu Xinghe learned that impersonating Ma Liang required more talent than impersonating him as the trio left Tuyang Town for the capital.
• Black Sha's men tracked the trio with a crystal ball, mistook the real Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang for impersonators, and pursued them north.
• Yue Ling brought Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang to Hundred Herbs City to rest, then booked two superior rooms and one inferior room to conserve resources.
• Black Sha reminded Meng Er that the cult leader had helped him become head of the Meng Lineage, and Meng Er ordered a waiter to deliver poisoned wine to Yue Ling's table.
• Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang drank the wine, and Yue Ling followed; none of them collapsed, and Yue Ling said the wine made her feel full of vigor.
• Meng Er and Black Sha waited for the poison to take effect, but Yue Ling called the wine nourishing, leaving both men stunned.

Meng Er repeatedly tried to poison Yue Ling and her companions, but they mistook his poisoned wine for an extraordinarily powerful tonic. The chapter ended with Chu Xinghe suggesting that the restaurant serve the medicine without mixing it with wine.

• Yue Ling praised the first pot of medicinal wine for restoring her energy and ordered another pot, while Meng Er and Black Sha wondered why their poison had not harmed anyone.
• Meng Er blamed a possible mutation in his poison and dismissed Black Sha’s suspicion that the man posing as Ma Liang might be the real Ma Liang.
• Meng Er added two poison pills to another pot, but Yue Ling, Ma Liang, and Chu Xinghe drank it and Yue Ling said it was even more nourishing.
• Black Sha accused Meng Er of secretly helping Yue Ling, while Meng Er insisted he was an expert at poisoning people and prepared a pot filled with all the poisons he carried.
• The waiter delivered the thick, undrinkable mixture as medicinal wine, and Chu Xinghe suggested that Meng Er simply serve the medicine without wine.

Yue Ling, Chu Xinghe, and Ma Liang drank Meng Er’s poisoned tonic and mistook its effects for a cultivation breakthrough, while Meng Er died after tasting his own mixture. Black Sha fled and was blamed for the death, leaving both the Meng Lineage and his superiors convinced he had killed Meng Er.

• Yue Ling, Chu Xinghe, and Ma Liang ate the thick tonic, and Yue Ling broke through from the Subordinate Second Rank to the Third Rank.
• Meng Er mistook the tonic’s effect for a breakthrough pill, prepared another batch with the same poisons, and died after eating it.
• The waiter accused Black Sha of murdering Meng Er, so Black Sha fled while the Meng Lineage sealed off the restaurant.
• Meng Er’s attendant identified Black Sha as the killer, and Meng San reported the accusation to their superiors.
• Meng San vowed to avenge Meng Er, while Black Sha’s superiors accused him of killing Meng Er and dismissed his claim that Meng Er had poisoned himself.

Black Sha regrouped his subordinates to attack Yue Ling, Ma Liang, and Chu Xinghe as they left Hundred Herbs City. Their ambush struck Meng Er’s funeral procession instead, and the Meng Lineage accused Black Sha of killing their patriarch.

• Black Sha convinced himself Meng Er had staged his own death to frame him, then promised his lord he would complete the mission to kill the targets.
• Black Sha ordered his subordinates to ambush the targets outside the restaurant the next morning, while Ma Liang sent a ghost to guard Yue Ling’s room.
• Yue Ling slept peacefully, then left the restaurant with Ma Liang and Chu Xinghe at dawn to head for the north gate.
• Yue Ling spotted armed figures in the morning mist and tried to flee, but Chu Xinghe said they might not be enemies.
• A saber attack veered away from the trio and split Meng Er’s coffin and corpse as the Meng Lineage carried them in a funeral procession.
• A member of the Meng Lineage accused Black Sha of killing their patriarch, and the funeral procession erupted into chaos.

Yue Ling watched Black Sha’s stray saber strike split Meng Er’s coffin and body during the Meng Lineage funeral, sparking a bloody battle. Black Sha escaped, but the Meng Lineage suffered heavy losses and vowed to hunt him down, while Yue Ling wondered if this was what the jianghu was really like.

• Black Sha’s saber light veered off course and struck Meng Er’s coffin, splitting it and his body in two.
• A worker recognized Black Sha, and Meng San led the furious Meng Lineage in attacking him and his men.
• Black Sha’s henchmen were killed as the outnumbered Meng Lineage fought with overwhelming force.
• Black Sha carved his way through the attackers and escaped, and Meng San ordered the Meng Lineage to hunt him and placed a bounty on his head.
• The Meng Lineage gathered the dead for burial, and Yue Ling watched the bloodied funeral procession leave while questioning the cruelty of the jianghu.

Black Sha survived the Meng Lineage’s attack and was ordered by his lord to complete his mission or face the sect leader’s punishment. Meanwhile, Yue Ling and her companions reached Tuyang Town, where Chu Xinghe impersonators critiqued the group’s Ma Liang and Chu Xinghe disguises.

• Black Sha’s lord accused him of betraying them after receiving a memory crystal showing Black Sha slashing Meng Er’s coffin and corpse.
• Black Sha promised to personally kill his targets, avoided summoning subordinates because the Meng Lineage had placed a bounty on him, and began healing.
• Yue Ling concluded that the assassins had stopped pursuing them because Ma Liang’s convincing disguise scared them off.
• Two Chu Xinghe impersonators praised Ma Liang’s appearance and answer about his home, then criticized Chu Xinghe’s appearance, manner, and outfit.
• Yue Ling and Ma Liang agreed with the impersonators’ advice while Chu Xinghe suppressed Thunder Shadow.

Chu Xinghe, Ma Liang, and Yue Ling arrived in Gathering Fire City during the Chu Xinghe Impersonation Competition and found the city packed with people impersonating them and others. As Chu Xinghe searched for an inn, Black Sha appeared at the city gate and challenged him, drawing the attention of more than two hundred Chu Xinghe impersonators.

• Chu Xinghe and his companions entered Gathering Fire City, where Chu Xinghe impersonators criticized and tidied his appearance, then warned him he had no chance in the auditions.
• Ma Liang declined offers to partner with other Chu Xinghe impersonators, and the group saw impersonators of Ma Liang, Zheng Yu, Hua Xichen, Tantai Jing, and even the Beast God.
• The three searched for an inn, but every place they tried was full; Yue Ling said she would stay with Ma Liang because she doubted Chu Xinghe could protect her.
• Chu Xinghe continued searching alone near the city gate, where another impersonator asked where he had found work for five spirit stones.
• Black Sha arrived at the gate and vowed to kill Chu Xinghe, prompting more than two hundred Chu Xinghe impersonators to turn toward him.

Black Sha pursued Yue Ling and her companions to Gathering Fire City, where he mistook one of the many Chu Xinghe impersonators for his target. His insult about the impersonators not looking like Chu Xinghe provoked them into driving him out of the city.

• Black Sha decided to hunt Yue Ling and her companions alone before reporting his suspicions about the Meng Lineage to his lord.
• Black Sha caught up with the trio in Gathering Fire City and spotted Chu Xinghe near the gate.
• Black Sha shouted a challenge at Chu Xinghe, drawing more than two hundred Chu Xinghe impersonators to the scene.
• Black Sha explained that the impersonators did not look like the Chu Xinghe he sought, and they attacked him in fury.
• Black Sha fled Gathering Fire City under the impersonators' barrage, while they vowed to fight him someday.

Black Sha convinced his lord that his disastrous actions in Gathering Fire City had been an accident, and the lord assigned Night Owl to support his hunt for Yue Ling. Meanwhile, Yue Ling, Chu Xinghe, and Ma Liang settled into the Gathering Fire Sect’s outer area, where Chu Xinghe was rejected from the impersonation competition because the registrars and contestants thought he looked too unlike himself.

• Black Sha assured his lord that he had not defected and that he had deliberately held back from attacking the Chu Xinghe impersonators; the lord believed him and sent Night Owl to assist him.
• Ma Liang obtained three superior rooms at the Gathering Fire Tower by sneaking into the Gathering Fire Sect and forging their registration information.
• Yue Ling brought Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang to a Chu Xinghe Impersonation Competition registration point and urged Chu Xinghe to enter.
• The older woman at the registration point returned Chu Xinghe’s spirit stone, saying he had no chance, and the other contestants joined her in discouraging him.
• Chu Xinghe insisted on registering, but the assembled contestants argued that accepting his fee would be ripping him off.

Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang were mistaken for poor impersonators at the competition, while Yue Ling wondered why her pursuers had stopped attacking. Night Owl arrived to help Black Sha hunt her, convinced she was traveling with fake Ma Liang and Chu Xinghe, unaware that they were the real people.

• Chu Xinghe was barred from entering the Chu Xinghe Impersonation Competition because the veteran contestants thought he looked too unlike Chu Xinghe, and Ma Liang was mocked for resembling a donkey.
• Chu Xinghe, Ma Liang, and Yue Ling spent the day in Gathering Fire City before returning to Gathering Fire Tower, while Yue Ling wondered why the attacks on her had ceased.
• Night Owl teleported to a courtyard outside Gathering Fire City, where Black Sha welcomed him and warned him that Yue Ling was difficult to kill.
• Night Owl recalled that the cult leader had ordered him to eliminate Black Sha after the mission, since Black Sha had repeatedly failed and recklessly provoked the Chu Xinghe impersonators.
• Night Owl dismissed Black Sha's account and concluded that Yue Ling had hired fake Ma Liang and Chu Xinghe impersonators, believing the real pair would never work for her few hundred spirit stones.

Night Owl and Black Sha planned to locate Yue Ling in Gathering Fire Tower and kill her without alerting its Ninth Rank sect master, Zhao Qi. Black Sha’s idea let Night Owl send a concealed ghost envoy inside with a Haotian Mirror Sub-Mirror livestream, and it began searching the tower for Yue Ling.

• Night Owl criticized Black Sha for causing trouble and learned that Yue Ling was staying somewhere in Gathering Fire Tower.
• Night Owl ruled out forcing his way into the tower because Zhao Qi and its other guests could make the mission dangerous.
• Black Sha suggested that Night Owl’s less detectable ghost envoy carry a Haotian Mirror Sub-Mirror to livestream its search.
• Night Owl sent the concealed ghost envoy into Gathering Fire Tower while keeping another ghost envoy ready to attack once Yue Ling’s location was found.

Night Owl sent a ghost emissary through Gathering Fire Tower to find Yue Ling, while Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang secretly restrained the ghosts guarding them. The emissary entered a teleportation array and appeared before Zhao Qi and Wan Fang as they were embracing, with the Haotian Mirror Sub-Mirror broadcasting them live.

• Night Owl searched the first three floors of Gathering Fire Tower but found neither Yue Ling nor the fake Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang.
• Night Owl found Chu Xinghe asleep, dismissed Black Sha’s suggestion to kill him, and left after people outside nearly exposed the ghost emissary.
• Chu Xinghe revealed that Ma Liang had noticed the ghost and asked him to suppress Evil Repeller so Ma Liang could surprise their pursuers.
• Night Owl mistook Ma Liang for an impostor, searched his room, and then sent the ghost emissary through a door he believed led to Yue Ling.
• The ghost emissary passed through a teleportation array and appeared in Zhao Qi and Wan Fang’s room, where Zhao Qi spotted it broadcasting them live.

Night Owl’s ghost emissary accidentally livestreamed Zhao Qi and Wan Fang in their bedroom, provoking the Gathering Fire Sect couple’s fury. Night Owl and Black Sha escaped by blood escape, while Zhao Qi identified Black Sha and threatened the Moon Shadow Cult unless it handed over the ghost cultivator and the object he carried.

• Night Owl sent a ghost emissary into Zhao Qi and Wan Fang’s bedroom, where it exposed their intimate moment on a live broadcast.
• Night Owl had the emissary apologize and flee, but Zhao Qi destroyed the door and failed to catch it before it escaped through a teleportation array.
• Night Owl recalled his emissaries and fled with Black Sha using the Blood Escape Art as Zhao Qi ordered the Gathering Fire Sect to hunt ghost cultivators throughout Gathering Fire City.
• Gathering Fire Sect disciples found traces of Black Sha at his abandoned courtyard, and Zhao Qi identified him as a member of the Moon Shadow Cult.
• Zhao Qi demanded that the Moon Shadow Cult’s leader hand over Black Sha and the object he carried, threatening endless retaliation otherwise.

The Gathering Fire Sect searched the Gathering Fire Tower after a disturbance, while Yue Ling wondered why her pursuers had disappeared. Ma Liang revealed how he had tricked the ghost emissary into Zhao Qi’s room, and Black Sha’s lord mistook the disaster for Night Owl switching sides.

• The Gathering Fire Sect searched the Gathering Fire Tower but found nothing, while the innkeeper dismissed suspicious register entries as the sect master's business.
• Yue Ling returned to her room after the inspection and wondered why the assassins pursuing her had vanished.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that he had lured the ghost emissary into Zhao Qi’s room and recorded Zhao Qi and his wife; Chu Xinghe punched him for it.
• Black Sha and Night Owl escaped to Huiming Mountain, bewildered by the events in Gathering Fire City.
• Black Sha received a communication from his lord, who asked Night Owl whether he had switched sides.

Night Owl’s lord learned that Night Owl’s ghost servant accidentally discovered Zhao Qi and his wife, then livestreamed and recorded them with a Haotian Mirror Sub-Mirror. Black Sha admitted the livestream idea had been his, and Night Owl was left to recover and wait while his lord promised to report the incident to the cult master.

• Night Owl’s lord demanded an explanation for the Gathering Fire Sect’s challenge and Zhao Qi’s demand that Night Owl return what he had taken.
• Black Sha explained that Night Owl’s ghost servant entered Zhao Qi’s room while Zhao Qi and his wife were together, and escaped because they were caught off guard.
• Black Sha revealed that the ghost servant had carried a Haotian Mirror Sub-Mirror and livestreamed the encounter, which also left a recording.
• Black Sha admitted that the livestream plan had been his idea, enraging his lord, who regretted defending him and wanted Night Owl to kill him.
• Night Owl’s lord said he would report the incident to the cult master and hold Zhao Qi off, then asked Night Owl to send him the recording.
• After the communication ended, Night Owl tended to his injuries and told Black Sha to wait, privately swearing never to follow his advice again.

Chu Xinghe, Ma Liang, and Yue Ling traveled north from Gathering Fire City toward Huiming Mountain, where Yue Ling suggested they attend the Huiming Sect’s wedding celebration. They continued toward the sect while joking about Chu Xinghe’s identity, Ma Liang’s admirers, and the cost of hiring Chu Xinghe.

• Night Owl waited on Huiming Mountain, planning to ambush Yue Ling, while Black Sha misunderstood his intentions.
• Chu Xinghe, Ma Liang, and Yue Ling left Gathering Fire City after Chu Xinghe was rejected at another registration point.
• Yue Ling revealed her face and praised Ma Liang as her ideal, leaving Ma Liang pleased and Chu Xinghe speechless.
• Yue Ling explained that the Huiming Sect was Great Liang Kingdom’s leading sect and that its master’s son was about to marry the Falling Wind Sect master’s daughter.
• Ma Liang told Chu Xinghe that his policy of sending lavish gifts to subordinate sects had earned their gratitude and increased their tributes.
• Yue Ling proposed attending the Huiming Sect’s free banquet, then joked that she had paid five spirit stones to hire Chu Xinghe as they traveled toward Huiming Mountain.

Night Owl and Black Sha followed Yue Ling to the Huiming Sect and planned to assassinate her while she felt safe among the guests. Ma Liang smuggled the trio into the honored guests’ accommodations with stolen invitations, and they declined the evening activities in favor of the feast.

• Night Owl and Black Sha waited at Huiming Mountain for Yue Ling, then followed her trio toward the Huiming Sect when they changed course to visit it.
• Night Owl decided they should attack Yue Ling inside the sect, reasoning that she would lower her guard, and he and Black Sha disguised themselves and slipped in.
• At the mountain gate, Ma Liang claimed the trio had invitations and explained that he had entered through the latrine and taken unused invitations to prevent waste.
• The Huiming Sect disciple accepted the honored-guest invitations and escorted Yue Ling, Chu Xinghe, and Ma Liang to luxurious guest rooms.
• When a disciple described the evening activities and asked how they wished to attend, all three said they had come mainly for the feast.

Chu Xinghe and Ma Liang avoided the Huiming Sect’s evening activities to keep their identities hidden, while Night Owl and Black Sha sneaked in to assassinate Yue Ling. Night Owl’s Ghost Envoy entered room nine and found Zhao Qi embracing and kissing his wife, Wan Fang, instead of Yue Ling.

• Chu Xinghe refused to attend the activities, and Ma Liang took Yue Ling to watch the feast while keeping their identities concealed.
• Night Owl and Black Sha infiltrated the Huiming Sect and learned that Yue Ling was staying in room nine.
• Night Owl ignored Black Sha’s advice to send an investigative Ghost Envoy and dispatched his Ghost Envoy to kill Yue Ling.
• The Ghost Envoy entered room nine and found Zhao Qi and Wan Fang together on the bed, leaving Night Owl, the Ghost Envoy, and the couple frozen in shock.

Zhao Qi and Wan Fang attended a wedding at the Huiming Sect, where Zhao Qi tried to spare his wife the bad memories of their room number. Their room swap led Night Owl’s ghost envoy to interrupt them again, and Zhao Qi and Wan Fang destroyed it as Night Owl and Black Sha fled Huiming Mountain.

• Zhao Qi brought Wan Fang to the Huiming Sect wedding, where other sect leaders sympathized with them over the Moon Shadow Cult’s supposed ambush.
• Wan Fang refused to enter room eight, so Zhao Qi asked the guest in room nine, Yue Ling, to exchange rooms with them.
• Zhao Qi and Wan Fang settled into room nine and resumed trying to conceive a second child.
• Night Owl’s ghost envoy entered the room to attack, then froze when it recognized Zhao Qi and Wan Fang.
• Zhao Qi and Wan Fang destroyed the ghost envoy with a furious joint attack, while Night Owl and Black Sha escaped in a blood flight.