Chapter Summaries

Chu Liang and Jiang Yue Bai returned to Shushan after parting from the Whale-Riding Immortal, then opened Violet Gold Marquis's storage artifact with Wen Yulong and the Sword Transmission Elder. They discovered a valuable flying vessel and a woman named Soul Dream Maiden aboard it, who claimed Violet Gold Marquis had trapped her there.

• The Whale-Riding Immortal revealed that he had killed Violet Gold Marquis with a flick of his finger, warned Chu Liang to treat Jiang Yue Bai well, and parted ways with him and Jiang Yue Bai.
• Chu Liang and Jiang Yue Bai flew back toward Shushan, and Jiang Yue Bai said her father had told her what he had been doing over the years.
• Chu Liang, Wen Yulong, and the Sword Transmission Elder opened Violet Gold Marquis's storage pendant and found Soul-Restraining Spikes and a jade slip containing Nether King Sect cultivation methods.
• Chu Liang drew an iron token that summoned Violet Gold Marquis's enormous Soul Dream Flying Vessel, made from Primordial Unity Black Gold Iron.
• A scantily dressed woman appeared aboard the vessel, identified herself as Soul Dream Maiden, and said Violet Gold Marquis had trapped her there.

Chu Liang freed Soul Dream Maiden and took possession of Violet Gold Marquis’s flying vessel, then examined the rest of the spoils with Wen Yulong and the Sword Transmission Elder. A letter revealed that Yuan Luxian had invited the demonic sect to join the West Sea faction’s coming assault in Yu Capital City.

• Soul Dream Maiden recounted how Violet Gold Marquis had captured her soul, rebuilt her body, and bound her to his flying vessel, and Chu Liang offered her a place at Shushan with work and freedom to choose her future.
• Chu Liang activated the flying vessel’s formations, discovered its speed, Soul-Suppressing Stone Carvings, and Profound Baleful Yin Thunder, then handed it to Wen Yulong to inspect and modify.
• Wen Yulong and Chu Liang drew a Soul-Harvesting Sickle, the Underworld Heavenly Book, and a demonic sect Dharma Protector token from the spoils, while the Sword Transmission Elder condemned Violet Gold Marquis’s crimes.
• Chu Liang and the others found that nearly a hundred yin souls in Violet Gold Marquis’s bottles and jars had died when his soul-fire bindings vanished with him.
• Chu Liang opened a letter from Yuan Luxian inviting Violet Gold Marquis and the demonic sect to join the West Sea faction in Yu Capital City for a coming assault.

The chapter revealed the Western Sea Demon Sect’s history of resisting the Nether King Sect and raised questions about its plans in Yu Capital City. Back at Shushan, Jiang Yue Bai asked Chu Liang to postpone discussing their romantic feelings until after the Immortal Sect Assembly, leaving their relationship unresolved.

• The chapter explained that the Western Sea Demon Sect, led by Evil Dragon Mountain, had resisted the Nether King Sect Master’s attempt to unite the demon sects.
• A letter revealed that the Western Sea Demon Sect had contacted the Violet Gold Marquis, prompting the Sword Transmission Elder to bring it to High Person Wenyuan.
• Chu Liang gave the Soul-Dream Flying Vessel to Wen Yulong to study its construction before heading to Azure Sky Peak.
• Jiang Yue Bai told Chu Liang that they should set aside romantic matters until after the Immortal Sect Assembly so they could focus on Shushan’s standing.
• Chu Liang accepted Jiang Yue Bai’s request and agreed to wait until after the assembly.

As the Immortal Sect Assembly approached, Chu Liang strengthened the Red Moon House and began refining an earth ganoderma to complete his five-element cultivation. Meanwhile, Feng Zhaoyang prepared the Heavenly King Sect for an intensive training session, insisting that they aim to win the championship.

• Xu Hongqiu and Chu Liang discussed Red Moon House’s success and agreed Attendant Yi could keep it running while they went into seclusion.
• Chu Liang fed Little Tuntun a drumstick and sent an earth ganoderma to the Five Elements Puppet to open its Wutu Earth secret store.
• Feng Zhaoyang defeated three Heavenly King Sect disciples in a sparring match and criticized their weakness.
• Feng Zhaoyang announced that the Heavenly King Sect would train in the King-General Star Disk’s secret realm until every disciple broke through to the fifth realm and awakened a Dharma Body.
• Feng Zhaoyang declared that the Heavenly King Sect had only one goal at the Immortal Sect Assembly: winning the championship.

Penglai's chief disciple Yang Shenlong arrived to join the azure dragon and the others, while Shushan prepared Chu Liang, Jiang Yuebai, Xu Ziyang, and Ling Ao for special training ahead of the Immortal Sect Assembly. The chapter ended with the four entering Wen Yuan High Person's Primordial Secret Realm for a trial against four veteran disciples.

• Qi Lin'er teased Xi Miaoxian and complained about Yang Shenlong before Yang Shenlong arrived with the Five Peaks Slaves.
• Yang Shenlong apologized to Elder Azure Dragon for his delay, and the dragon swept the group beneath the jade-green waters.
• Ling Ao defeated the other candidates in Shushan's selection and secured the fourth place on the Immortal Sect Assembly team alongside Chu Liang, Jiang Yuebai, and Xu Ziyang.
• The Discipline Elder introduced four former assembly contestants, all now at the peak of the sixth realm, as the team's training opponents.
• The Discipline Elder explained that the four Shushan disciples would enter Wen Yuan High Person's Primordial Secret Realm, where the former contestants would hunt them and the trial would succeed if even one escaped.

Chu Liang and his fellow disciples faced the previous-generation disciples in High Person Wenyuan’s mystic-realm trial, where shifting islands, dangerous sea beasts, and a guarded exit tested their resourcefulness. Chu Liang captured a senior disciple and arranged an exchange that helped Jiang Yue Bai escape, leaving the former-generation disciples convinced that Shushan would flourish.

• High Person Wenyuan watched the trial begin as Empress Feng and Wang Xuanling argued over whether the current disciples could succeed.
• Chu Liang discovered that the sea around the autumn island was filled with ferocious beasts, while Ling Ao and Xu Ziyang were pursued by stronger previous-generation disciples.
• Jiang Yuebo evaded a previous-generation senior sister with illusions, and a shift in the mystic realm brought her pursuer together with Chu Liang on the snowy island.
• Chu Liang used poisoned spider silk, the Demon-Binding Rope, and a staged plea for help to capture the senior brother who had fought Xu Ziyang.
• Chu Liang negotiated a captive exchange and gathered the disciples, while Jiang Yue Bai crossed the sea in disguise as an external incarnation and drew the beasts away with her immortal spirit blood.
• Jiang Yue Bai escaped through the pillar of light, and the former-generation disciples praised the younger generation and declared that Shushan would flourish.

Chu Liang and the Shushan Sect arrived at Diqiu for the Immortal Sect Tournament, where the group joked about Chu Liang’s exaggerated reputation as the Divine Whip Hero. The palace attendant revealed that Shushan had been assigned an imperial traveling palace, leaving them surprised by their unusually grand lodging.

• A teahouse storyteller and its listeners traded rumors about the tournament and Chu Liang’s miraculous divine whip.
• Inside the carriage, Chu Liang’s companions teased him about the Divine Whip Hero stories as the group traveled to Diqiu.
• Chu Liang and the others learned that Shushan could skip the Four Seas Selection and would compete later at Diqiu, where the Hundred Sects Contest would be held.
• At the mountain residences, Feng Chaoyang greeted the Shushan group and boasted that the Heavenly King Sect had secured the area’s only courtyard.
• Lao Fangrong told Wang Xuanling that Shushan’s lodging had been arranged elsewhere, then pointed out an imperial traveling palace.

Chu Liang and the Shushan delegation settled in the imperial palace because the emperor had decreed that his sworn younger brother be housed there. During a visit, Chen Xuanlu warned them of strange incidents in Yu Capital and revealed that a corpse found in Jade Dragon Pond looked exactly like the current Martial Empress.

• The palace attendant explained that Chu Liang could stay in the imperial palace by the emperor’s decree, and the Shushan delegation moved in.
• Chen Xuanlu, the Profound Heart Sect’s sect master and a former Shushan disciple, visited Wang Xuanling with three young disciples.
• Chen Xuanlu warned Wang Xuanling that strange incidents had been occurring around Yu Capital before the Immortal Sect Assembly.
• Chen Xuanlu recounted how he investigated bloody water in Jade Dragon Pond and found a coffin bleeding inside an underwater cavern.
• Chen Xuanlu said the woman inside the coffin looked exactly like the current Martial Empress.

Chen Xuanlu told the Shushan group how rumors about Empress Wu’s supposed murder had spread through Yu Capital after a coffin was found in Jade Dragon Pond. The conversation shifted when the injured Liu Yunzheng arrived, and the chapter ended with someone offering a jade box of healing medicine.

• Chen Xuanlu recounted how a coffin containing a corpse resembling Empress Wu had been found in Jade Dragon Pond, taken by the Supervisory State Office, and burned in a mysterious fire.
• Chen Xuanlu explained that a strange dream about a drowned woman had spread through Yu Capital, fueling rumors that Empress Wu had been replaced after the scandals surrounding her and the Wu family.
• Liu Yunzheng arrived with badly damaged meridians and admitted that Qi Lin’er had struck him after Liu tried to eject him from the Hundred Flowers House.
• Chen Xuanlu told Liu Yunzheng that he would need expensive spiritual medicine to recover in time for the Immortal Sect Assembly match.
• Someone beside Liu Yunzheng offered a jade box, saying they had the medicine.

Chu Liang gave Liu Yunzheng a healing elixir and joined his companions for dinner at the Finest Chef Under Heaven. There they learned that Chef Xue’s famed knife had been stolen, and Chu Liang recognized a familiar scent at the scene.

• Chu Liang offered Liu Yunzheng a precious healing elixir, and Chen Xuanlu accepted it after Wang Xuanling urged him to take the help.
• Wang Xuanling left Chu Liang and the others to dine, and Chu Liang teased Jiang Yuebai about her list of restaurants before she punched him.
• Chu Liang took Jiang Yuebai, Xu Ziyang, and Ling Ao to the Finest Chef Under Heaven, but they found it closed.
• Lesser Seal Chen arrived with agents from the Regent’s Office and brought Chu Liang and his companions inside to investigate Chef Xue’s stolen First-Rate Famous Blade.
• Chef Xue explained that the knife had vanished from its guarded case overnight, and Chu Liang noticed a familiar scent nearby.

After the first-rank famed knife vanished, Chu Liang followed a distinctive fragrance from the case to Yunshang at Hundred Flowers House. He learned Zhao Tietou of the Sword-Forging Sect had visited her the previous night, leaving him with a lead in the knife investigation.

• Chu Liang left the famed chefs' premises after Officer Chen asked him to keep the knife's disappearance quiet, then dined with Jiang Yuebo, Ling Ao, and Xu Ziyang at the Imperial City Tavern.
• Chu Liang arranged extra dishes to take back for Martial Uncle Wang and then separated from the others to question Liu Yunzheng.
• Liu Yunzheng identified the distinctive fragrance as Yunshang's scented powder, which she obtained from Xiren Workshop across the street from Hundred Flowers House.
• Chu Liang visited Yunshang and paid her to reveal that she had seventeen lovers in total.
• Yunshang told Chu Liang that Zhao Tietou of the Sword-Forging Sect was the only person who visited her the previous night.

After Xu Hongqiu caught Chu Liang leaving a brothel, he explained that he had gone there to investigate the theft of a famous knife, and Jiang Yuebai agreed to accompany him to the Forging Sword Sect. They infiltrated the sect’s main forge and prepared to discover whether its master was remaking the stolen weapon.

• Xu Hongqiu reunited with Jiang Yuebai and took her to buy scented powder, where they encountered Chu Liang leaving the Hundred Flowers Tower.
• Chu Liang told Jiang Yuebai that he had visited the brothel to investigate the missing first-rank famous knife, and she agreed to inspect the Forging Sword Sect with him.
• Chu Liang explained that Zhao Tietou trained in both the Forging Sword Sect and the stealth-focused Shadowy Shade Sect, and reasoned that the stolen knife would likely be reforged by Zhang Balian.
• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai secretly entered the Forging Sword Sect and overheard its disciples say that Zhang Balian was forging a divine weapon for the Thirteenth Prince.
• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai knocked out the two guards and entered Zhang Balian’s sword forge.

Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai infiltrated the Sword Forging Sect to steal a famed blade, and Chu Liang set off a furnace explosion that launched it into the sky. As they pursued the blade, a passing group from Copper Demon Ridge discovered their Second-in-Command had vanished.

• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai watched Zhang Balian and Zhao Tietou prepare to reforge the famed blade, then Chu Liang devised a plan to create a diversion.
• Chu Liang used an illusion to distract Zhang Balian and Zhao Tietou before throwing Phoenix Spirit Fire Seeds into the furnace.
• The fire seeds triggered a massive explosion that blasted Zhang Balian and Zhao Tietou into the lake and sent the famed blade flying skyward.
• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai pursued the blade while the Sword Forging Sect members rushed to inspect the damage.
• A group led by Copper Demon Ridge's Second-in-Command flew toward Yu Capital City, but after the explosion, the red-haired Third-in-Command and the lackeys realized their leader had disappeared.

Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai killed a Copper Demon Ridge cultivator while recovering the First-Grade Famous Blade, then returned to Yudu City and examined his demonic cultivation materials. The Four Seas Grand Selection began the next day, where Chu Liang saw a hostile Fuyou Kingdom youth after the Mysterious Heart Sect suffered a crushing defeat.

• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai found the First-Grade Famous Blade embedded in a dead Copper Demon Ridge cultivator's face, searched his belongings, and took his storage ring.
• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai returned to Emperor Hill, where Ling Ao identified the cultivator's strange beast organs as materials for Copper Demon Ridge's Indestructible Copper Demon Body.
• Wang Xuanling praised Chu Liang's handling of the incident and reminded him to be careful, while Jiang Yuebai and Chu Liang wondered why he seemed unusually gentle.
• The Four Seas Grand Selection began, and Shushan's arrival drew cheers from the spectators.
• Wang Xuanling's group found the Mysterious Heart Sect after it had already lost its opening match to Fuyou Kingdom.
• Chu Liang met the gaze of a saber-carrying Fuyou Kingdom youth, who made a throat-slitting gesture at him.

Chu Liang learned that his master, Empress Feng, had left enemies among powerful cultivators, including Han Lingshuang of Fuyou Kingdom. He watched Xia Shu defeat a renowned Daoist before she turned a hostile gaze on him, leaving him wondering how many more grudges awaited him.

• Wang Xuanling told Chu Liang that Han Lingshuang resented Empress Feng for beating her at an Immortal Sect Assembly years earlier.
• Wang Xuanling warned Chu Liang that many powerful figures had old grudges against his master and might target him.
• Chen Xuanlu described how Fuyou Kingdom's team had swiftly defeated the Xuanxin Sect contestants with their unusual abilities.
• Xia Shu defeated a Hanyun Temple disciple with her Kaiyan Mystic Iron Sword and Samadhi Divine Fire.
• Xia Shu spotted Chu Liang in the crowd and glared at him, while Chu Liang wondered whether his name brought him bad luck.

The Thirteenth Prince used Samadhi Divine Fire to defeat Hanyun Temple’s second fighter, securing the imperial clan’s victory. After the first day of the Immortal Sect Assembly, Chu Liang returned Xue Yipin’s treasured blade and asked him to keep his involvement secret.

• The Thirteenth Prince burned and defeated Hanyun Temple’s fighter with Samadhi Divine Fire, then treated his injuries and offered healing medicine.
• Hanyun Temple declined to fight a third match, leaving the imperial clan victorious.
• Ling Ao remarked on the power of Samadhi Divine Fire, and Chu Liang again felt sympathy for Wang Xuanling.
• After the first day of matches ended, Chu Liang learned that the Regent’s Office had blamed the Sword Forging Sect explosion and theft on two unidentified bandits.
• Chu Liang secretly visited the World's Finest Chef and returned Xue Yipin’s treasured blade.
• Xue Yipin offered Chu Liang free meals and a banquet, and agreed not to reveal who recovered the blade.

Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai enjoyed a banquet at Famous Chefs Under Heaven, where Chu Liang used his status as the Imperial Younger Brother to silence a palace eunuch. Back at the imperial residence, Chu Liang received the Second Prince’s invitation to a banquet for disciples of the immortal sects.

• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai passed a storyteller spreading lurid rumors about the Sword Forging Sect robbery and arrived at Famous Chefs Under Heaven for a meal.
• Eunuch Tao confronted Xue Yipin’s disciple for serving Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai after refusing the Second Prince’s banquet request.
• Chu Liang introduced himself as the Imperial Younger Brother, and Eunuch Tao panicked, apologized, and fled.
• Chu Liang and Jiang Yuebai finished their meal and returned to the imperial residence, where a palace messenger delivered the Second Prince’s invitation to a banquet at the Immortal-Gazing Tower the following evening.

Chu Liang watched Sun Moon Tower lose to the Hanging Sword Kingdom at the Immortal Sect Assembly, then attended the Second Prince’s banquet, where a mysterious jade pendant reacted to Shen Qingyan. Shen Qingyan sat beside Chu Liang, leaving the Second Prince’s carefully arranged seat of honor empty.

• Chu Liang agreed to attend the Second Prince’s banquet and met Elder Yin and the four adopted sons of Broad Heaven and Earth at the arena.
• Sun Moon Tower’s Yin Guang and Yin Kuo lost to the Hanging Sword Kingdom’s disciples, whose swordsmanship and Breaking Clouds Dao resonance impressed Chu Liang.
• Chu Liang attended the Second Prince’s banquet at Wangxian Tower and realized the prince had mainly invited guests to court Shen Qingyan.
• Chu Liang’s half jade pendant bearing the character Shen heated up and glowed as Shen Qingyan arrived with Xue Lingxue.
• Shen Qingyan and Xue Lingxue sat beside Chu Liang, leaving the Second Prince’s seat of honor conspicuously empty.

At the Second Prince’s matchmaking banquet, Shen Qingyan and Xue Lingxue sat with Chu Liang, leaving the host isolated as the other guests tried to praise him and the prince. Chu Liang left to escape the awkward gathering, and Shen Qingyan soon followed, leaving the Second Prince’s plans in ruins.

• Shen Qingyan sat beside Chu Liang after the jade pendant she wore reacted to his half pendant, and Chu Liang suspected she might be the surviving Shen family infant.
• Xu Fangling and Zhang Chen arrived, followed by Feng Lei, and the guests’ seating left the Second Prince alone opposite Chu Liang and three women.
• Xu Fangling and Zhang Chen tried to steer the conversation toward the Second Prince’s achievements, but the guests repeatedly brought up Chu Liang’s accomplishments and Xue Lingxue gave him letters of thanks from women he had rescued.
• Chu Liang abruptly left the banquet, claiming his First Seat Martial Uncle had summoned him.
• Shen Qingyan announced that she felt unwell and left after Chu Liang, leaving the Second Prince dismayed.

Chu Liang helped Shen Qingyan recover the truth about her origins after a shadowy thief stole her reunited jade pendant, then watched the Earthfire Sect defeat the Regent's Office in a major upset at the Four Seas Selection. The Regent's Office was eliminated in the first round as the final day of the selection began.

• A concealed attacker stole Shen Qingyan's reunited jade pendant, and Chu Liang pursued the thief with her beyond Yu Capital.
• Shen Qingyan attacked the fleeing shadow with her flute, but it escaped wounded; afterward Chu Liang told her what he had witnessed in the Shen family's abandoned garden.
• The Second Prince lamented that Chu Liang had stolen the spotlight from his meeting with Shen Qingyan and ordered an attendant to have a gossiping old man beaten.
• At the Four Seas Selection, an Earthfire Sect disciple fought a Regent's Office disciple in the deciding match between their teams.
• The Earthfire Sect disciple overwhelmed his opponent, eliminating the Regent's Office in the first round.