Chapter Summaries

Nong Zhu protected Yue Qianchou from the other Spirit Transformation stage experts, while Yue provoked them into leaving the matter to the younger generation. Afterward, Yue asked Nong Zhu to escort Furong to safety, but Nong Zhu demanded Breath Concealing Pills and Yue countered by bringing up Ziyi’s debt.

• Nong Zhu refused to let Yan Ji and the others touch Yue Qianchou while Yue remained in Dayang City, and the group hesitated to challenge him.
• Shu Xin proposed postponing the dispute until Yue left Dayang City, but Yue taunted the seniors and claimed no cultivator below the Spirit Transformation stage could match him.
• Huo Zongming and the others agreed to leave the matter to the younger generation, and Yan Ji vowed to grant Yue a swift death before departing with the others.
• Yue told Nong Zhu that he could handle the Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators who came after him, then asked Nong Zhu to take Furong to Shuntian Island or the Purple Bamboo Forest.
• Nong Zhu asked Yue for Breath Concealing Pills, and Yue offered a bottle only if Nong Zhu agreed to help; when Nong Zhu balked, Yue demanded that Ziyi return his treasure or pay its value in spirit stones.

Yue Qianchou pressured Nong Zhu to compensate him for the Ruyi Pill Ziyi had taken, but Nong Zhu changed the subject and began explaining the Three Souls and Seven Spirits. The chapter ended with Yue Qianchou questioning Nong Zhu’s claim that stable souls and spirits made people more resistant to illness and poison.

• Yue Qianchou told Nong Zhu that Ziyi had taken his priceless Ruyi Pill and demanded compensation.
• Nong Zhu refused to replace the consumed pill but promised to bring Yue Qianchou’s woman back, then shifted the conversation to Spirit Transformation experts.
• Nong Zhu learned that Yue Qianchou believed his masters had taught him little, and Yue Qianchou concealed the hardship of his self-guided cultivation.
• Nong Zhu explained the Three Souls and Seven Spirits and said Yue Qianchou could perceive only his Life Soul at his current cultivation.
• Nong Zhu described how stable souls and spirits helped people resist illness and poison, and Yue Qianchou asked whether he meant secular martial artists.

Nong Zhu explained how cultivation progressed through the Three Souls and Seven Spirits, from Foundation Establishment to Spirit Transformation and legendary immortal realms. Yue Qianchou was left stunned by the tale of a god whose released souls became ten suns, nine of which Yi shot down.

• Nong Zhu explained that Qi Refining prepared the body for Foundation Establishment, which allowed cultivators to condense their Three Souls and Seven Spirits into a core.
• Nong Zhu described the Nascent Soul as the Life Soul and explained how it matured through Tribulation Transcendence before producing the Heavenly Soul at Spirit Transformation.
• Nong Zhu outlined how the remaining souls and spirits emerged across the stages of Spirit Transformation and later fused back into the Life Soul to enable ascension.
• Nong Zhu said Yue Qianchou’s master could perceive all the souls and spirits and might be close to fusing them, a process said to lead toward the Immortal Realm and Immortal Emperor cultivation.
• Nong Zhu recounted a legend in which a god released all Three Souls and Seven Spirits as ten suns, and Yi shot down nine of them, leaving Yue Qianchou frozen in surprise.

Yue Qianchou recognized Nong Zhu’s tale of a god shooting the suns as the legend of Hou Yi and excitedly pressed him for details about Chang'e and the Moon Palace. After Nong Zhu discovered Yue Qianchou was baiting him with a promised pill, he kicked him into a thorny flowerbed and sealed his dantian, leaving Yue Qianchou to seek his mercy.

• Yue Qianchou became dazed after hearing Nong Zhu describe a god who shot the suns, then asked whether the god’s wife was Chang'e.
• Yue Qianchou offered Nong Zhu a Seven Orifices Exquisite Pill to tell him legends about the god Yi and his wife, whom he jokingly called Always Hungry.
• Yue Qianchou tested Nong Zhu with questions about the Moon Palace, its animal, and its tree until Nong Zhu realized he was being played.
• Nong Zhu kicked Yue Qianchou into the flowerbed and sealed his dantian, forcing Zhang Peng and Furong to help remove the thorns.
• Yue Qianchou returned to Nong Zhu and awkwardly praised the moonlight, while Nong Zhu mocked him by offering to send him to the Moon Palace.

Yue Qianchou bargained with Nong Zhu to restore his dantian and misdirected him about where to collect the Seven Orifices Exquisite Pills. After Nong Zhu passed on his master's guidance about balancing the Fire Art and Water Art, Yue Qianchou began drawing the life from the flowers, leaving Nong Zhu stunned.

• Yue Qianchou offered Nong Zhu two Seven Orifices Exquisite Pills in exchange for undoing the seal on his dantian, and Nong Zhu restored his True Essence.
• Yue Qianchou said the pills were with Fairy Qionghua and gave Nong Zhu a password for retrieving them, but Nong Zhu told him to collect them himself later.
• Yue Qianchou asked Nong Zhu what he knew about Yi the divine archer, and Nong Zhu recounted a brief legend he had heard from the former Punishment Envoy.
• Nong Zhu relayed Yue Qianchou's master's guidance that the Fire Art and Water Art must be used together in balance, with fire released and water gathered.
• Yue Qianchou raised his palm toward a flower bed and began making its saplings and flowers rapidly wither, astonishing Nong Zhu.

Yue Qianchou discovered that the Water Art could drain the water from plants, then learned that cultivators from across the nations were gathering in Dayang City to challenge him. As the prince-consort contest approached, Zhao Chenxiang burned Chu Xiong’s portrait and vowed to avenge him before taking her own life.

• Yue Qianchou used the Water Art to drain the water from the courtyard’s flowers and tree, leaving them withered, and credited Bi Changchun’s message with helping him understand the technique.
• Nong Zhu refused to let Yue Qianchou test the newly understood art on him and withdrew to avoid the risk of losing his youthful appearance.
• Yin Wufeng returned to the Great Yang Kingdom, and preparations resumed for the prince-consort contest as cultivators gathered in Dayang City to challenge Yue Qianchou’s boast.
• Yue Qianchou regretted the chain of events that had exposed his identity and planned to leave Dayang City once Nong Zhu took Furong away.
• Zhao Chenxiang burned Chu Xiong’s portrait and told her sisters she would avenge him before taking her own life.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Emperor Zhao Heng dismisses his daughters' reports about the martial arts competition for a consort without reaction.
• He learns about Zhang Peng's execution and expresses admiration and envy for Shi Wenguang.
• The old eunuch reveals that they should wait for the war between cultivation worlds to end before dealing with Shi Wenguang.
• The imperial study falls silent.

Character Developments

• Emperor Zhao Heng shows no emotion and dismisses his daughters' reports, indicating his cold and calculating nature.
• The old eunuch displays his loyalty and knowledge of cultivation world matters, suggesting he's more than just a eunuch.

Significant Themes

• Power dynamics and political intrigue within the imperial court.
• The impact of the war between cultivation worlds on the secular world.

Character Interactions

• Emperor Zhao Heng and the old eunuch discuss strategies and plans, showing their close relationship and mutual trust.
• The two daughters show deference to their father, highlighting the power imbalance in their relationship.

Yue Qianchou provoked the gathered cultivators after Ding Wei challenged his claim to be the strongest below Spirit Transformation, then turned their demands for a fight into a wager. He ended by urging the challengers to borrow the required Spirit Stones from host Mi Rushan.

• Ding Wei rallied the cultivators against Yue Qianchou, and Yue dismissed his boast as a casual remark before apologizing to the crowd.
• The cultivators continued cursing Yue, while Nong Zhu silenced them and said he and Wen Rui would not interfere in the juniors' affairs.
• Ding Wei challenged Yue to fight, but Yue initially refused and let the crowd call him a coward.
• Yue offered one million high-grade Spirit Stones to anyone who defeated or killed him, requiring challengers to stake an equal amount.
• When Ding Wei said he had not brought enough Spirit Stones, Yue suggested that Mi Rushan lend the challengers the money.

Yue Qianchou forced Ding Wei to borrow one million high-grade Spirit Stones before they could fight, and Wen Rui agreed to hold both men’s stakes. Their duel began with Yue Qianchou overwhelming Ding Wei’s eight flying daggers with hundreds of azure swords.

• Yue Qianchou challenged the crowd to stake one million high-grade Spirit Stones and asked Mi Rushan to prevent anyone without the money from fighting him.
• Ding Wei borrowed one million high-grade Spirit Stones from Mi Rushan and agreed to the wager.
• Yue Qianchou refused to entrust his stake to Nong Zhu, so Wen Rui held both men’s storage bags.
• Ding Wei began the duel by splitting his blue flying dagger into eight blades and attacking Yue Qianchou from all sides.
• Yue Qianchou countered the eight blades and surrounded Ding Wei with hundreds of azure flying swords.

Yue Qianchou killed Ding Wei in a sword fight, then challenged the assembled cultivators to wager money and face him. Three early Tribulation stage cultivators accepted, and Mi Rushan moved their fight away from the Great Yang Kingdom's imperial palace.

• Yue Qianchou offered to spare Ding Wei if he admitted he was trash, knelt, and begged for mercy, but Ding Wei attacked instead.
• Yue Qianchou subdued Ding Wei's eight blue knives and ground him to powder with his flying swords, then claimed the Spirit Stones he had wagered.
• Yue Qianchou taunted the crowd and offered to fight everyone together if they put up enough money.
• Yan Feng, Wu Yankai, and Yuan Tonghai each wagered one million high-grade Spirit Stones and accepted Yue Qianchou's challenge.
• Mi Rushan halted the fight and led the challengers away from the imperial palace; Yue Qianchou told Furong to follow Nong Zhu.

Yue Qianchou faced Yan Feng, Wu Yankai, and Yuan Tonghai in a public three-on-one fight while thousands of cultivators watched. After his precious blades proved powerful but difficult to use against stronger opponents, Yue Qianchou lured the three into range and unleashed more than a thousand flying swords, leaving them fleeing in panic.

• Cultivators from Dayang City followed the imperial palace group to a remote clearing and cursed Yue Qianchou over the events that had brought the fight about.
• Yue Qianchou and his three opponents placed their storage pouches aside, then revealed their weapons as the crowd recognized his two legendary broadswords.
• Yue Qianchou broke Yan Feng's whip and Wu Yankai's flying sword with his blades, but Yuan Tonghai's returning arrows struck hard enough to send him skidding.
• As Yan Feng, Wu Yankai, and Yuan Tonghai attacked together, Yue Qianchou put away his broadswords and flew upward to draw them after him.
• Yue Qianchou dove back toward the three and released more than a thousand flying swords, forcing them to split up and flee.

Yue Qianchou killed three early Tribulation stage cultivators and challenged anyone who could pay to fight him. Fifty-eight opponents pooled Spirit Stones for a challenge, but forty-seven withdrew, leaving eleven to face him as he flew into the sky to begin.

• Yue Qianchou killed three early Tribulation stage cultivators with his flying swords and took their storage pouches.
• Yue Qianchou invited anyone who could pay to challenge him and urged Mi Rushan to lend money to those who could not.
• Fifty-eight people agreed to challenge Yue Qianchou and asked Mi Rushan to lend them fifty million high-grade Spirit Stones.
• Mi Rushan lent the group a little over three million Spirit Stones, and the fifty-eight pooled their funds for the fight.
• Forty-seven people withdrew, leaving eleven challengers; Nong Zhu warned Yue Qianchou that six were early Tribulation stage cultivators.
• Yue Qianchou checked the challengers' payment, set his own one million Spirit Stones beside it, and flew high into the sky to begin.

Yue Qianchou used water techniques to form a vast cloud that he could control, turning it into a battlefield where he could sense and evade every attack. He killed the eleven pursuers with black fire and flying swords, leaving their bodies to fall beside the three earlier corpses.

• Yue Qianchou scattered Smoke Talismans to confuse the eleven pursuers, but the high-altitude wind quickly dispersed the smoke.
• Yue Qianchou gathered water mist into a stable cloud nearly a thousand meters wide and sensed everything within it.
• The eleven cultivators tried to disperse the cloud and attacked Yue Qianchou's shifting voice, but he evaded their weapons and taunted them.
• When the eleven extended their divine senses into the cloud, Yue Qianchou sent several hundred flying swords to destroy their senses with black fire.
• Yue Qianchou riddled the eleven cultivators with flying swords, took their storage bags, and watched their corpses fall to the ground.

Yue Qianchou challenged the crowd after killing fourteen opponents, then faced Chu Dingfang, a late Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivator. He survived Chu Dingfang’s sudden attack with his blue fire and counterattacked with the Great Black Saber, leaving Chu Dingfang reeling as the fight continued.

• Yue Qianchou returned from the sky, collected two storage bags, and challenged anyone who still refused to accept his strength.
• Chu Dingfang confronted Yue Qianchou and challenged him to a fight after learning he claimed to be the strongest below the Spirit Transformation stage.
• Chu Dingfang vanished and attacked, but Yue Qianchou leaped clear and unleashed a vast wave of blue fire.
• Yue Qianchou rode out of the flames and struck Chu Dingfang’s protective aura with the Great Black Saber, splitting it apart.
• Yue Qianchou pursued the shaken Chu Dingfang and hacked at him repeatedly while blue fire and flying swords swept across the battlefield.

Yue Qianchou and Chu Dingfang continued their duel, but an elder secretly helped Chu Dingfang break free of Yue Qianchou’s fire. After Chu Dingfang scattered the flames and Yue Qianchou reclaimed them, the fight vanished into a cloud of dust and mist, where Chu Dingfang spotted the Great Black Saber and was tempted to investigate it.

• A black-robed elder secretly jolted Chu Dingfang out of his daze, allowing him to escape Yue Qianchou’s saber shadows.
• Yue Qianchou retreated into the blue-flame sea, and Chu Dingfang cleaved the flames apart with his Japanese saber.
• Yue Qianchou sent the separated fire dragons after Chu Dingfang, but Chu Dingfang drew them into the sky with a powerful wind.
• Yue Qianchou reclaimed the blue fire and sent more than a thousand flying swords blindly through the dust cloud as he rose into the sky.
• Chu Dingfang searched through the thickening mist, saw the Great Black Saber floating nearby, and cautiously extended his divine sense toward it.

Yue Qianchou lured Chu Dingfang into touching an exploding Great Black Saber, then used his Star Absorbing Great Method to drain him into a withered corpse. After Yue Qianchou challenged the crowd, two late Tribulation Transcendence elders began planning to attack him together.

• Yue Qianchou exploded the Great Black Saber when Chu Dingfang’s divine sense touched it, overwhelming him with black fire and agony.
• Yue Qianchou seized Chu Dingfang’s storage pouch, used his Star Absorbing Great Method on him, and left him shriveled into a skeleton.
• Chu Dingfang’s remains landed in the arena and shattered before the spectators, while Nong Zhu recognized Yue Qianchou’s technique and feared its power.
• Wen Rui asked Nong Zhu about Yue Qianchou’s origins, and Nong Zhu warned him that Yue Qianchou had powerful backing.
• Yue Qianchou descended and challenged anyone who still refused to accept him, while Nong Zhu reflected on the powerful enemies he had made.
• The black-robed elder urged the purple-robed elder to join him in killing Yue Qianchou, and the purple-robed elder hesitated over the disgrace of attacking him together.

Yue Qianchou faced Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu, two late Tribulation Transcendence stage cultivators who attacked him together. After they injured him and nearly finished him, his stored green fire erupted into a vast inferno that forced them to flee and filled the skies above the arena.

• Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu entered the arena together, intending to kill Yue Qianchou and divide his treasures.
• Guan Zhongkai pursued Yue Qianchou through the air while Yu Landu attacked with a ball of light, injuring him and knocking him from his flying sword.
• Yue Qianchou roared and released all the green fire stored in his body, making Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu flee for their lives.
• The green flames melted Guan Zhongkai's flying sword and merged with Yue Qianchou's scattered green flying swords as the inferno spread across the sky.
• Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu escaped more than ten miles away while the flames covered the skies around the arena and alarmed Dayang City.

Yue Qianchou trapped more than three thousand spectators inside a shrinking ring of azure flames and demanded that Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu come out to fight. When Guan Zhongkai refused to care about the spectators’ lives, Yue Qianchou urged them to curse the two men until they came out, and Xin Lao San began shouting insults.

• Yue Qianchou emerged above the sea of azure fire and repeatedly challenged Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu, who stayed away rather than risk entering the flames.
• The trapped spectators begged Nong Zhu and Wen Rui for help, but Nong Zhu said outsiders could not interfere in the duel and then appealed to Yue Qianchou to let them leave.
• Yue Qianchou sealed the area with a cap of azure flames and told the spectators that Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu had to come out or everyone would die.
• Guan Zhongkai dismissed the spectators’ lives as irrelevant, so Yue Qianchou told the crowd that Guan Zhongkai had chosen their deaths.
• Several dozen Tribulation Transcendence experts tried to escape through the flames, found the barrier sealed, and returned as the fire slowly contracted.
• Yue Qianchou ordered the spectators to curse Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu, and Xin Lao San began threatening Guan Zhongkai to make him fight.

Yue Qianchou used Xin Lao San’s threats and the closing sea of fire to turn the trapped crowd against Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu, while the two men hesitated to intervene. When Mi Ruhai and Mi Ruquan arrived and learned that their eldest brother was trapped inside, Mi Ruhai stopped his brother from rushing in, fearing Yue Qianchou might kill everyone.

• Xin Lao San cursed Guan Zhongkai and threatened him with the consequences of letting the captives die, making Guan Zhongkai fear Lingfang Valley’s influence.
• Yue Qianchou urged the captives to curse Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu, warning that the fire barrier was closing; more than two thousand people joined in.
• Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu endured the crowd’s curses as Yue Qianchou replenished his strength and considered how to make them pay.
• Mi Ruhai and Mi Ruquan arrived, and Guan Zhongkai explained that Mi Rushan and thousands of others were trapped inside the sea of fire.
• Mi Ruquan prepared to rush in to save Mi Rushan, but Mi Ruhai stopped him, warning that provoking Yue Qianchou could cost all the captives their lives.

Guan Zhongkai and Yu Landu admitted defeat, and Yue Qianchou ended the threat of the azure flames before extinguishing the fires across the mountains. The survivors returned to the Great Yang imperial palace, where Xin Lao San followed Yue Qianchou.

• Mi Ruhai pressured Guan Zhongkai to settle the confrontation, and Guan Zhongkai declared that he admitted defeat.
• Yue Qianchou rejected Guan Zhongkai’s first vague declaration, but Guan Zhongkai then plainly admitted defeat and fled; Yu Landu followed suit.
• Yue Qianchou withdrew the azure flames and absorbed the spreading mountain fires, then collected storage pouches while the crowd kept its distance.
• Xin Lao San approached Yue Qianchou and invited him for drinks, while Mi Rushan urged everyone to stop fighting in the Great Yang Kingdom.
• Mi Rushan and his brothers led their group back to the Great Yang imperial palace, and Xin Lao San followed Yue Qianchou there.