Chapter Summaries

Fei Nian and the Fei Clan elders fought Dragon’s group in the ruined government office, but Luo Qingqing killed Fei Nian after rejecting his claim that he had helped save her. Dragon, Li, and Chi escaped as guards closed in, and Luo Qingqing carried away a small bronze object from the battlefield.

• Fei Nian and the two Fei Clan elders unleashed a firestorm against Dragon’s group, but the enemy’s Kan Technique created an illusion that let Flying Swords kill Fei Junzhi.
• Luo Qingqing attacked Fei Nian, who tried to spare himself by saying he had saved her and revealed Luo Yufei’s plan.
• Luo Qingqing killed Fei Nian, declaring that he had helped the Bureau of Military Affairs slaughter innocents and overturn Shenzhou’s order.
• Fei Nian crushed a magical artifact from Seven Stars, and black mist swallowed him and the nearby debris, leaving a deep pit.
• Li urged Luo Qingqing to retreat as guards approached, and Luo Qingqing picked up a small bronze object from the pit.
• Dragon took Luo Qingqing, Li, and Chi into the sky and escaped before the guards could organize a counterattack.

After the raid on the Prefectural Governor’s Office, Xia Fan and Ning Wanjun learned that Fei Nian had escaped using a power resembling an Abyss Ghost. Yan Qing denied that the Bureau of Military Affairs studied Evil Spirits, but agreed to investigate Fei Nian after hearing that Li had been injured.

• Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun that Li’s burns were minor and explained that the raid had destroyed much of the Bureau of Military Affairs’ intelligence hub, though Fei Nian had escaped.
• Luo Qingqing showed Ning Wanjun the bronze pellet and described Fei Nian’s Abyss Ghost-like escape, prompting Xia Fan to question whether the Bureau studied Evil Spirits.
• A guard reported that Yan Qing had returned to Anshen City, so Xia Fan, Ning Wanjun, and Luo Qingqing contacted her by telegram.
• Yan Qing rejected the claim that the Bureau of Military Affairs used Evil Spirit Arts and explained that the Seven Stars sought to prevent another Yong Dynasty catastrophe.
• After Luo Qingqing told Yan Qing that Li had been hurt by Fei Nian, Yan Qing agreed to investigate him and ended the call, leaving Xia Fan responsible for the price of calling on Azure Blade.

Xia Fan cared for the injured Li, who insisted she needed to keep taking risks to improve and stand alongside her companions. Outside Anshen City, Wei Wushuang oversaw Jinxia’s first public seafood distribution, where a well-dressed young woman challenged the promise that nobody would go hungry.

• Xia Fan fed Li porridge and told her that Yan Qing knew about her injuries, and Li suspected Luo Qingqing had drawn Yan Qing toward investigating Fei Nian.
• Li argued that Yao grew stronger through dangerous battles and promised not to charge into fights without confidence, though she privately apologized to Xia Fan for worrying him.
• Wei Wushuang supervised Jinxia’s first seafood distribution outside Anshen City, using fixed prices and organized lanes to serve the crowds.
• Wei Wushuang announced that the market would remain open and later add vegetables and fruit, while refusing grain merchants’ attempts to influence prices.
• A well-dressed young woman asked Wei Wushuang how people without money could obtain relief grain if no one was supposed to go hungry.

Wei Wushuang explained Jinxia City’s famine relief plan, which let people without money earn food by building roads. Yu Linglong went to the labor camp herself, while Shadow followed and questioned her motives.

• A woman challenged Wei Wushuang about Jinxia City’s promise of free food, and he explained that the poor could exchange road work for meals and receive relief porridge.
• Wei Wushuang recalled Xia Fan’s plan to combine famine relief with road construction and widen the roads across Shenzhou.
• The woman said she had no money and was going to the camp, introduced herself only as Yu, and refused to give her given name.
• Wei Wushuang sent a guard to follow the suspicious woman as she headed toward the camp.
• Shadow told Yu Linglong that she had attracted suspicion, but Yu Linglong said she genuinely wanted to see whether the labor camp was as remarkable as Wei Wushuang had described.

Yu Linglong encountered Yan Qing while working as a laborer in Anshen City, and the two discussed whether Jinxia City could advance the Bureau of Military Affairs’ goals. Yan Qing described Jinxia’s victories and the rapid rise in Qi Sense Users among its children, leaving Yu Linglong stunned.

• Yan Qing learned that Yu Linglong was suspected of being a Bureau of Military Affairs agent and went to investigate after hearing she was doing an extraordinary amount of digging.
• Yu Linglong received Grain Vouchers for her labor and admired how carefully Jinxia City had organized services and supplies for ordinary people.
• Shadow warned Yu Linglong about Yan Qing, who approached her and asked whether she had come to execute her; Yu Linglong denied it and thanked Yan Qing for her earlier warning in the dungeon.
• Yu Linglong questioned whether Yan Qing had abandoned the Bureau of Military Affairs’ aims by working with Jinxia City, and Yan Qing said she had not pledged loyalty to the Third Princess.
• Yan Qing told Yu Linglong that Jinxia City had defeated the Western Pole Kingdom’s fleet and that more than two hundred children under ten there were Qi Sense Users, stunning Yu Linglong.

Yu Linglong visited Yan Qing to learn about Jinxia City’s method for awakening Qi Sense Users and investigate Fei Nian’s use of forbidden arts. Yan Qing revealed that the Second Prince was not the Tianshu Envoy and identified the true envoy as He’er.

• Yan Qing told Yu Linglong that Xia Fan believed everyone might be able to awaken as a Qi Sense User, and urged her to see Jinxia City for herself.
• Yan Qing asked Yu Linglong not to report the news casually and to investigate whether Fei Nian had used an Evil Spirit Art or colluded with the An Clan.
• Yan Qing revealed that the Second Prince was not the Tianshu Envoy, a secret known only to five core members of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Yu Linglong visited Yan Qing’s residence, where they discussed Xia Fan and ate fish shipped from Jinxia City.
• Yan Qing told Yu Linglong that she had met the true Tianshu Envoy before: He’er.

Yan Qing explained why Ning Qianshi protected He'er and revealed the conflict over the Tianshu Envoy’s inheritance. She urged Yu Linglong to investigate Fei Nian’s suspected use of Evil Spirit techniques, leaving Yu Linglong agreeing to look into the Fei Clan.

• Yan Qing told Yu Linglong that He'er carried the Tianshu Envoy’s soul and that Ning Qianshi had protected them after the Envoy was gravely injured.
• Yan Qing explained that the Seven Stars could have stripped the Tianshu Envoy of her Immortal Arts and transferred them to Qian, but that would have killed her, so Ning Qianshi and others opposed the inheritance.
• Yu Linglong and Shadow considered why the Tianquan Envoy resented the arrangement and why Xu State had not used the Enthronement Ceremony to force Ning Qianshi to change his mind.
• Yan Qing warned that Fei Nian’s suspected Evil Spirit Art could undermine trust in Shangyuan and urged Yu Linglong to investigate the An Clan and Black Gate Cult.
• Yu Linglong agreed to ask trusted friends in the Capital Region to investigate the Fei Clan, while noting that Fei Nian’s technique might instead be a Kun Technique.

Fei Nian escaped to a distant Bronze Ruin using the Copper Pellet, then returned to Huiyang City and killed Fei Junzhi to conceal the escape secret art. He left with another Copper Pellet and a troubling vision, while the Gravedigger vanished into darkness.

• Fei Nian awoke in a bronze coffin inside a Bronze Ruin more than ninety li from Huiyang City, and the Gravedigger explained that the Copper Pellet had transported him there and healed his wound.
• Fei Nian suffered a vision of black walls, a cracked sky, and a tiny patch of land, then accepted another Copper Pellet from the Gravedigger and left the Ruin.
• After Fei Nian departed, darkness overtook the cavern, and the Gravedigger's form collapsed into an empty robe.
• Fei Nian returned to Huiyang City and learned from Fei Junzhi that the attack had crippled the intelligence agency and blocked secure communications with Shenzhou.
• Fei Nian strangled Fei Junzhi after realizing that he had noticed the anomaly caused by the Copper Pellet's escape art.

Li’s days of hunting for trouble in Jinxia City ended when a mysterious plea drew her to a warehouse. There, she found no captive but a man who had arranged the meeting and addressed her as the Lord Spirit Fox.

• Jinxia City’s abundant fish supplies and public support had left the General Affairs Bureau with no reported spy cases for a week.
• Li realized that she and the other Yao could walk openly through the city without facing hostility, largely because Chi’s fame had helped change public attitudes.
• A little girl delivered Li a note asking her to save someone in a warehouse at the southwest corner of the construction district.
• Li suspected the message was a trap, but decided to investigate while Tsi Qing and Shanhui waited outside.
• Li entered the warehouse and found an unbound man, who bowed and greeted her as the Lord Spirit Fox.

Mu Youhong explained how guilt over exposing a Cat Yao had led him to help Yao and seek Li’s aid. He revealed that Yao in Ganzhou were in danger from another group of Yao.

• Mu Youhong told Li that he had helped evacuate Jinxia residents during the Sea Bandits’ attack and had secretly investigated Yao for years.
• He recounted how his childhood warning exposed a Cat Yao, leading to her execution, and said he had spent years trying to make amends.
• Tsi Qing revealed herself from her hiding place, and Li invited Shanhui to join them.
• Mu Youhong explained that a scholar in Ganzhou had sent word through his merchant caravan, asking Jinxia to rescue local Yao.
• Li asked who threatened the Yao, and Mu Youhong said their pursuers were another group of Yao.

After reviewing Mu Youhong’s records, Xia Fan agreed to send Li to investigate a demon village in Ganzhou and help its residents escape if they wished. Meanwhile, Fu Zhuzhi, still unable to get help for his abducted wife Xue'er, set out to rescue her himself.

• Xia Fan checked Mu Youhong’s travel records and concluded that his account of searching for demons was largely true.
• Li told Xia Fan that Mu Youhong’s demon wife had been taken from their home, apparently by demons from a village that forbade its residents from leaving.
• Li asked to go to Ganzhou and free any demons who wanted to escape, and Xia Fan agreed to arrange companions and told her to keep in touch.
• Li embraced Xia Fan as thanks, then hurried out of the room.
• After seven days without news of Xue'er or the merchant caravan, Fu Zhuzhi left his home to rescue his wife himself.

Fu Zhuzhi traveled into the mountains to search for his missing wife, Xue'er, but began to doubt whether his assumptions about her abduction were correct. After his hired guides tried to murder him, a fox-eared Yao appeared and claimed she knew where his wife was.

• Fu Zhuzhi rested with Zhang the Hunter and Zhao the Hunter, who told him there were no villages in the mountains and described the dangers there.
• Fu Zhuzhi questioned whether a Yao had really taken Xue'er, since he had no proof of her story or the abduction.
• Zhang the Hunter and Zhao the Hunter turned on Fu Zhuzhi, intending to rob and kill him, and had taken away his shoes to stop him escaping.
• A cold wind swept through the woods, and the hunters froze as their weapons fell from their hands.
• A fox-eared Yao woman emerged and told Fu Zhuzhi she knew where his wife was, then invited him to follow her.

Li and her companions tracked Fu Zhuzhi from his home toward the southern mountains after discovering that a wild Yao had taken his wife. Meanwhile, Fu Zhuzhi reached Yuetai Villa with Fox Girl, who said he needed the master's permission to see Xue'er.

• Li and her companions found no one at Scholar's residence and broke in to investigate.
• Shanhui tracked the scent of a wild Yao from the house toward the southern mountains, where the group realized Fu Zhuzhi had gone looking for his wife.
• Fu Zhuzhi crossed the mountains with Fox Girl and found Yuetai Villa, a hidden settlement where people and Yao lived together.
• Fox Girl brought Fu Zhuzhi to her residence, told him Xue'er had once lived there, and went to ask the villa's master for permission to let him see his wife.

Fu Zhuzhi waited at Yuetai Villa for his confined wife, Xue'er, while Youlan hosted him and revealed that Xue'er was a Rabbit Demon. Youlan tried to ensnare him in an illusion, but he broke free and found himself among a crowd of silent people.

• Youlan told Fu Zhuzhi that Xue'er remained confined for four or five days, and he decided to wait at the Villa.
• Youlan fed Fu Zhuzhi, introduced herself as a Fox Demon, and revealed that Xue'er was a Rabbit Demon.
• Youlan removed Fu Zhuzhi's wet shoes and socks, then began seducing him as he grew drowsy and relaxed.
• Fu Zhuzhi realized he had come to Yuetai Villa for Xue'er and pushed Youlan away.
• The illusion vanished, revealing Fu Zhuzhi in a tree hollow surrounded by more than a hundred people, and Youlan angrily asked why he had not stayed in the dream.

Youlan revealed that Xue'er had been killed and served to Fu Zhuzhi, then had him imprisoned for her cultivation. Elsewhere, Li and her companions tracked a group into the mountains, where Li's Mind Nature Technique exposed a hidden Horned Owl.

• Youlan told Fu Zhuzhi that Xue'er had died after being captured and that he had eaten her remains.
• Fu Zhuzhi attacked Youlan, but she tripped him and explained that Xue'er's execution was meant to deter others from escaping.
• The Village Master arrived and ordered his Yao to lock Fu Zhuzhi in a cage, while Youlan planned to use him to advance her technique.
• Li, Shanhui, Tsi Qing, and Kong Xuanzi followed a scent through the mountains and suspected that a nearby village was monitoring them.
• Li unleashed her Mind Nature Technique, and the group caught a hidden Horned Owl that surrendered.

Li and her companions captured Wu Lie, an owl demon who said Yuetai Villa sheltered demons and that Lady Youlan had brought the humans there. As Wu Lie led them through the mountains, they realized the isolated demons might never hear about Jinxia City, and they reached the Villa at dawn.

• Li captured Wu Lie and questioned him about the human Scholar, learning that Lady Youlan had taken the humans to Yuetai Villa.
• Wu Lie explained that the Villa had grown from a refuge established by a Tiger Demon and now housed nearly two hundred people, including around thirty demons.
• Wu Lie warned that the Villa's master had a violent temper and demanded obedience from those who stayed there.
• Wu Lie had never heard of Jinxia City, prompting Li and her companions to realize that many remote demons remained cut off from news of the outside world.
• Li and her companions followed Wu Lie to the entrance of Yuetai Villa at dawn.

Li confronted Youlan at Yuetai Villa while searching for the Scholar and his wife, and stopped Youlan from punishing Wu Lie. Youlan then turned Wu Lie against Li and attacked her in Giant Fox form.

• Youlan learned that Li, a Fox Demon, had arrived at Yuetai Villa seeking the Scholar and his wife, and summoned her to Yangxin Hall.
• Li explained that she had followed the Scholar's scent to the Villa, but Youlan pinned Wu Lie and tried to stab his hand for breaking the rules.
• Li stopped Youlan, resisted her Heart-Bewitching Technique, and threatened her with a dagger until Youlan agreed to bring the Scholar and his wife.
• Youlan invoked Wu Lie's little sister, causing him to attack Li, but Li knocked him and his dagger to the floor with her tail.
• Youlan transformed into a Giant Fox and brought her claw down toward Li and Wu Lie.

Li discovered that Yuetai Villa was imprisoning and abusing demons who had sought sanctuary, then defeated Youlan and learned that the Scholar had also been imprisoned. As Li prepared to take Youlan back to Jinxia for judgment, Qiongqi returned to the valley.

• Li blocked Youlan’s attack to protect Wu Lie, who revealed that Youlan had executed the Scholar’s wife and warned Li about the Villa’s master.
• Li confronted Youlan and fought off the gathered demons with Copper Wire Pendants and lightning, then struck Youlan from a tree and broke her ribs.
• Shanhui, Tsi Qing, and the others arrived with the imprisoned Scholar, and Fu Zhuzhi begged Li to avenge Xue’er.
• Li told Youlan she would take her back to Jinxia for judgment, but Youlan announced that Qiongqi had returned as animals fled the valley.

Li confronted Qiongqi at Yuetai Villa and urged its residents to leave for Jinxia City, but Qiongqi refused and attacked. As the battle erupted, Li was badly struck by his Innate Technique, while another tiger ambushed Youlan.

• Qiongqi demanded that Li stay behind in exchange for the scholar, but Li refused and offered to take anyone willing to leave to Jinxia City.
• Tsi Qing attacked Qiongqi, broke his iron staff with her steel sword, and held back his transformed tiger tail.
• Qiongqi summoned more than a hundred tigers, while Kong Xuanzi, Shanhui, and Wu Lie tried to protect the Villa's residents.
• Li used her technique and Thunderclaps against Qiongqi, but he resisted her illusion and trapped her feet with his Dui Technique before knocking her into a tree.
• A tiger crept up behind Youlan and bit down, shattering bone and flesh.

Li used a technique combining the Kan and Zhen Techniques to defeat and kill Qiongqi, ending his attack on Yuetai Villa. Afterward, her tail split into two, with one brown tuft and one white tuft.

• Li confronted Qiongqi over his betrayal and defended the residents of Yuetai Villa.
• Li combined the Kan Technique and Zhen Technique to move with electric speed and overpower Qiongqi.
• Li wounded Qiongqi for his crimes and shattered his skull with a final palm strike.
• The surviving tigers fled, while Scholar mourned Xue'er beside Qiongqi's corpse.
• Li felt a warm current pass through her body, howled, and watched her tail split into two tufts.