Chapter Summaries

Qin Yang rescued Le Qi Yi from the Black Thunder Guards, then took control of a dormant Heavenly Order Guard spy network in Qian Yu Province. Its investigation revealed that Nine Fingers Divine Marquis had destroyed the Azure Lotus Sword Sect and was gravely injured, leaving Qin Yang to wonder whether he had already sabotaged the marquis by accident.

• Qin Yang used Crimson Thunder to kill the Black Thunder Guards attacking Le Qi Yi, and the officials who arrived afterward let the White Jade Boat continue on its way.
• Le Qi Yi explained the Nine Fingers Divine Marquis's influence and his conflict with the Southern Border sects, while Qin Yang chose to stop in Yu City rather than hurry to Nine Mountains Province.
• Qin Yang met Jin San, Chen Pi, and Xu Jiao at a pleasure house, took over the Heavenly Order Guard spies, and ordered them to investigate the Azure Lotus Sword Sect.
• Qin Yang learned that Nine Fingers Divine Marquis was gravely injured by the Vile Tower senior's sacrificial fire and that Li Changge had escaped the destruction of the Azure Lotus Sword Sect.
• Xu Jiao reported that Nine Fingers Divine Marquis had destroyed the sect while searching for something, and Qin Yang realized that his earlier actions might have helped bring the marquis down.

Qin Yang considered which cultivation technique to pursue after Divine Gate while keeping his identity as the intelligence network’s chief concealed in Yu City. At a wine house, he let Bian Su Ren’s pride lead him into drinking poisonous Seventh Grade Five-Flower Brew, and an elder rescued Bian Su Ren before the poison killed him.

• Qin Yang weighed the Northern Dipper Seven Kill Scripture against Old Man Wei’s offer of a technique in the Great Ying Divine Dynasty, then resolved to return to the Thieves' Sect eventually.
• Qin Yang’s clone vanished after gathering intelligence, and Qin Yang used his separate outing with Le Qi Yi to avoid being suspected as the network’s chief.
• Bian Su Ren mocked Le Qi Yi and challenged Qin Yang, who accepted his wine and dismissed Le Qi Yi’s warnings.
• Qin Yang drank the Sixth Grade Five-Flower Brew without trouble and urged Bian Su Ren to bring out Seventh Grade wine, paying the shop assistant in advance.
• Bian Su Ren drank the Seventh Grade Five-Flower Brew and collapsed as its poison ravaged him, while Qin Yang calmly drank at the table.
• An elderly guard rescued Bian Su Ren, and Qin Yang reassured Le Qi Yi that Bian Su Ren had chosen to drink for the sake of his pride.

Qin Yang tried to deny being the Li clan’s Young Master, but Xuan Li Hanxiang insisted that his tokens and the Heart-Devouring Gu proved his status, so he ordered her to keep his identity secret. After a provincial governor summoned Le Qi Yi over allegations linking Nine Fingers Divine Marquis to the previous dynasty, Qin Yang realized the marquis might already be close to ruin.

• Qin Yang drank Five-Flower Brew without harm, then followed the shop assistant to meet Xuan Li Hanxiang, who returned the Heart-Devouring Gu corpse and called him Young Master.
• Hanxiang interpreted Qin Yang’s Heart-Devouring Gu, Black Li Ghost God Token, and Three Lives Ghost Willow branch as proof that he was the Li clan’s Young Master.
• Qin Yang denied being a Li clansman, but Hanxiang remained convinced, so he told her to conceal his identity and pretend she had only invited him for wine.
• Qin Yang gave Le Qi Yi a jar of Five-Flower Brew, and they continued through the streets until a messenger summoned Le Qi Yi to the provincial governor.
• The messenger revealed that a complaint from the Azure Lotus Sword Sect had connected the matter to the previous dynasty, and Qin Yang realized Nine Fingers Divine Marquis could be ruined by the accusation.

Qin Yang protected Le Qi Yi from the Qian Yu Province Governor’s attempt to manipulate him and exposed the governor’s interest in securing the Ru Yang Marquis’s support. At Xu Wencheng’s residence, Qin Yang used the governor’s own offer to claim the Marrow-Sucking Enchantress Tian Tian for Le Qi Yi.

• Qin Yang recognized the wealth displayed in Xu Wencheng’s carriage and saw that a Marrow-Sucking Enchantress was trying to coax Le Qi Yi into revealing information.
• Qin Yang frightened the enchantress by describing how he would cook creatures like her, and she hurriedly withdrew.
• Qin Yang warned Le Qi Yi that the governor might try to bewitch him into agreeing to a political request, and told him not to commit to anything.
• Xu Wencheng warmly greeted Le Qi Yi and tried to establish an intimate connection, but Qin Yang interrupted and introduced himself.
• Qin Yang asked Xu Wencheng to give Le Qi Yi the maidservant he had taken a liking to; when Le Qi Yi named Tian Tian, Xu Wencheng had to honor his offer despite her importance to him.

Qin Yang accompanied Le Qi Yi to meet Governor Xu Wencheng, who revealed that a dispute over the former dynasty’s Profound Mirror Division involved its Secret Vault. After Xu bribed Qin Yang to secure Ru Yang Marquis’s support, Qin Yang frightened the Marrow-Sucking Enchantress into confessing as they rode home.

• Le Qi Yi let Qin Yang handle Xu Wencheng’s welcome and stayed quiet while Xu arranged for Tian Tian to attend him.
• Qin Yang unnerved Tian Tian throughout the banquet, preventing her from making a move against Le Qi Yi.
• Xu Wencheng explained that the Azure Lotus Sword Sect affair concerned the Profound Mirror Division and its Secret Vault, potentially implicating Southern Border officials.
• Xu Wencheng slipped Qin Yang a storage ring and asked him to convey his allegiance to Ru Yang Marquis, and Qin Yang accepted.
• After the guests left, Xu ordered the Foreign Races in his residence sent to other lords.
• On the carriage ride home, Qin Yang described how he would supposedly prepare Tian Tian as food, and she broke down and offered to confess what she knew.

Qin Yang learned that Xu Wencheng was acting on behalf of Duke Xian of State, then received an ancient inheritance from Old Man Wei that could let him pursue the powerful Cast Dao Court method. He kept the Heaven Stealing Art jade pendant and left open whether he would risk opposing the Great Ying Divine Dynasty to obtain the cultivation method.

• Tian Tian told Qin Yang that Xu Wencheng had sent her to bewitch Le Qi Yi and that Duke Xian of State was backing Xu Wencheng against Minister Tian Marquis.
• Qin Yang ordered Tian Tian to stay with Le Qi Yi and advised him to inform his father about Xu Wencheng's plot.
• Old Man Wei appeared, brought Qin Yang Heart-Corroding Grass, and learned that Qin Yang had already killed the Heart-Devouring Gu.
• Old Man Wei explained that Cast Dao Court required a divine dynasty's national fate and dragon aura, then gave Qin Yang a jade pendant said to contain the Thief Sect's Heaven Stealing Art.
• Qin Yang realized the inheritance might let him steal a divine dynasty's dragon aura and considered pursuing Cast Dao Court, though he postponed deciding how to obtain it.

Qin Yang investigated rumors about the former dynasty’s Profound Mirror Division secret vault and traveled to Chen You Province to ensure the matter could not be covered up. There, disguised as the Daoist Lao Xigu, he rescued Yan Jingchang and joined him on the way to investigate the vault.

• Chen Pi told Qin Yang that the Azure Lotus Sword Sect had discovered clues to the secret vault, and that Minister Tian Marquis had destroyed the sect to find its entrance.
• Qin Yang sent a clone to remain at his residence, then traveled in disguise to Chen You Province, where cultivators had gathered in response to the vault rumors.
• Qin Yang saw Yan Jingchang fighting several opponents and drove them away by threatening them with Destruction Divine Thunder.
• Qin Yang introduced himself to Yan Jingchang as Lao Xigu, a Daoist bound for Five Elements Mountain, and the two agreed to travel together.
• Yan Jingchang explained that his Jadeite Peak came from a dangerous opportunity and that a lost expert had once helped him survive.

Qin Yang uncovered that the Secret Vault map joined together several secret realms and followed its route with Zhang Zhengyi, only to be trapped in a layered illusion. He escaped by destroying the first illusion and then killing the Zhang Zhengyi who formed the illusion's core.

• Qin Yang learned that Yan Jingchang had once helped a lost elder from the Great Ying Divine Dynasty and continued gathering clues while investigating the Secret Vault.
• Qin Yang compared an ancient tomb mural with his map and discovered that the Secret Vault route connected multiple secret realms; he followed the safe passage onward and met Zhang Zhengyi.
• Qin Yang and Zhang Zhengyi entered a secret realm that recreated Qin Yang's home and companions, where Qin Yang realized he was trapped in an illusion and destroyed it with a burst of lightning.
• Qin Yang returned through the mural with Zhang Zhengyi, recognized that the apparent escape had led into a deeper illusion, and identified Zhang Zhengyi as its core.
• Qin Yang twisted Zhang Zhengyi's head off, causing the illusion to dissolve and a beam of white light to appear.

Qin Yang escaped a deadly illusion realm, gained the Eye of Illusory Breaking, and lured explorers toward its hidden entrance. When the Minister Tian Marquis Heir arrived with his forces, Qin Yang warned them that the realm was dangerous, but a squad entered and failed to return.

• Qin Yang discovered that the apparently safe secret realm was an illusion that had trapped countless people, then burned and gathered their remains.
• Qin Yang found a violet skeleton beneath the bones, gained the Eye of Illusory Breaking from it, and buried the remains and ashes.
• Qin Yang planted a sign directing people toward the mural and spread word about the connected secret realms until the Minister Tian Marquis Heir arrived with Bian Su Ren and his troops.
• Qin Yang posed as Lao Xigu, a Daoist skilled at finding secret realm gates, and helped Bian Su Ren locate the hidden Illusion Secret Realm entrance.
• Qin Yang warned the troops not to enter, but a Black Thunder Guard led a squad inside; after none returned for a day, the Heir ordered another squad sent and asked for Qin Yang.

Qin Yang guided Bian Su Wu’s party through dangerous secret realms, repeatedly identifying safer routes while the Black Thunder Guards suffered heavy losses. As they neared the Secret Vault of Profound Mirror Division, Qin Yang suspected Bian Su Wu was secretly eliminating rivals and prepared to use the next secret realm to turn the tables.

• Bian Su Wu asked Qin Yang for guidance, and Qin Yang recommended the Poison Swamp Secret Realm over the unstable Volcano Cluster route.
• In the Poison Swamp, Qin Yang identified the safer third path, while Black Thunder Guards sent through the first path were poisoned by Sleep Bugs and fell into eternal slumber.
• Qin Yang guided the group through a heavy-earth secret realm and then across invisible platforms in the void, though several treasure hunters fell to their deaths.
• After seven secret realms and many unexplained deaths, Qin Yang concluded that Bian Su Wu was secretly eliminating people whose factions were not aligned with the Minister Tian Marquis.
• With only two secret realms left before the vault, Qin Yang decided the next realm would be his best chance to attempt a one-wave clear.

Qin Yang led Bian Su Wu and the others through a deadly void maze, then tricked them into taking a false secret-realm gate while he found the right route to the treasury. Bian Su Wu survived the Void Storm and confronted Qin Yang in a fragment of the Ancient Underworld, where Qin Yang defeated him and destroyed his escape attempt.

• Qin Yang cultivated the Eye of Illusory Breaking, opened his Divine Sea, and advanced to the Spirit Platform Realm before finding the third secret realm gate.
• Qin Yang guided the group through the shifting void maze, where treasure hunters and Bian Su Ren vanished after failing to cross safely.
• Bian Su Wu left Qin Yang behind at the apparent exit, but Qin Yang waited for the platforms to shift and chose the correct gate while Bian Su Wu's group entered a deadly void.
• Bian Su Wu survived the Void Storm with the Myriad Laws As You Wish and followed Qin Yang into a fragment of the Ancient Underworld.
• Qin Yang and Bian Su Wu fought, and Qin Yang overwhelmed him with the Twelve Demon Swords and the Radiant Sun Treasure Bell.
• Bian Su Wu died after his Myriad Laws As You Wish failed to save him, and Qin Yang used a skill on his skull.

Qin Yang killed Bian Su Wu, acquired White Tiger Killing Intent, and fed the power of Myriad Laws As You Wish to Ugly Chicken before suppressing the newly born Demon Head in his Sea Eye. As Qin Yang flew toward a strange location, Minister Tian Marquis learned that Bian Su Wu and Bian Su Ren were dead and wondered what the secret treasury contained.

• Qin Yang used Corpse Touching to destroy Bian Su Wu's escaping soul and collected White Tiger Killing Intent and the refined power of Myriad Laws As You Wish.
• Qin Yang gave the golden phantom dragon to Ugly Chicken, who swallowed it and gained golden light.
• Qin Yang suppressed the unruly Demon Head in his Sea Eye, where the Demon Hand, Buddha Bone Golden Body, Blood Lama, and Sea Eye Demon Stone subdued it.
• Qin Yang buried Bian Su Wu, set warning restrictions at the secret realm gate, and flew toward a place he had noticed earlier.
• A cultivator reported to Minister Tian Marquis that Bian Su Wu and Bian Su Ren's soul lamps had gone out and the soul lamp guidance method had failed.
• Minister Tian Marquis wondered who could have killed Bian Su Wu despite his Myriad Laws As You Wish and what the Profound Mirror Division had hidden in the secret treasury.

Qin Yang used the Celestial Inspection Treasure Mirror to navigate the Profound Mirror Division’s hidden route toward the secret treasury, where he found a road of scorched bones and was attacked by an unusually stubborn beast. He left the beast alive and biting his heel as he continued onward.

• After enduring a twelve-hour Yin Lightning storm, Qin Yang recognized the Celestial Inspection Treasure Mirror as a Profound Mirror Division treasure and used it to reveal a path through the concealed terrain.
• Qin Yang crossed the hidden region, discovered a passage littered with the scorched bones of experts, and gathered and buried their remains.
• A charred beast emerged after Qin Yang stepped on its head and relentlessly bit his right foot, growing stronger whenever he struck it.
• Qin Yang tried to distract the beast with his boot, the Blood Transformation Demon Blade, and Drunken Life, Dreamlike Death, but none stopped its pursuit.
• During another Yin Lightning storm, Qin Yang finally let the exhausted beast bite his heel, then continued toward the secret treasury with it attached.

Qin Yang escaped the bizarre monster, found the Profound Mirror Division’s ruined temple, and took several treasures after its stone statue offered them to him. He left with a suspicious imperial decree contract and the great seal, while the awakened monster continued roaming the Black Forest Sea and Qin Yang returned to Chen You Province to gather news.

• After enduring another Seven Days Lightning strike, Qin Yang distracted the monster with soup and wine, escaped, and reached the ruined temple marked on his map.
• Qin Yang found several hundred Spirit Veins, a great seal, the Book of Myriad Techniques, and a golden decree, but initially refused to take the last three treasures.
• The stone statue explained the treasures and urged Qin Yang to write his name on the decree; after he refused to sign, it told him to take the items, and Qin Yang carried them away through a secret realm gate.
• Qin Yang discovered that the decree had become a contract binding him and his descendants, then wondered who the statue was and decided to deliver a grand gift to Minister Tian Marquis.
• The stone statue and snake discussed needing Qin Yang, then became stone again when the juvenile monster entered; afterward, the statue wondered who had awakened it.
• Qin Yang changed identities and returned to Chen You Province to contact his subordinates, while the monster bit off a cultivator’s arm and continued along the coast.

Qin Yang returned to Qian Yu Province and recruited Ru Yang Marquis to help spread evidence that Minister Tian Marquis Heir had murdered powerful families’ sons in the secret realm. As the families began confirming the deaths, Qin Yang settled in to read and cultivate while the scandal started to take shape.

• Qin Yang returned to Qian Yu Province, emerged from seclusion, and met with Ru Yang Marquis, who recognized his breakthrough to the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Qin Yang urged Ru Yang Marquis to use Xu Wencheng and Duke Xian of State to spread news that Minister Tian Marquis Heir had killed the sons of powerful officials and nobles in the secret realm.
• Qin Yang said the victims’ families could verify the killings through remnants of their sons’ souls and revealed that Minister Tian Marquis Heir had used an imperial-bestowed Myriad Laws As You Wish.
• Xu Wencheng sent Qin Yang a grand gift, then passed the news to Duke Xian of State in hopes of gaining his attention.
• A Chu Family elder confirmed through a soul lamp that the family’s heir had been killed with Myriad Laws As You Wish.
• Chen Zuo Province Governor learned from his son’s remnant soul that Bian Zi Tao had killed him, and mourned his death.

The Chen Zuo Province Governor defected to Duke Xian of State after confirming that Minister Tian Marquis had concealed the truth about his son's death, while Qin Yang used the affair to strengthen his resolve to build an intelligence network. In the Secret Vault realm, General Huang's group found the ruined temple, where the Emperor's Dharma Body destroyed their force and sent Wen Liang Gong back with a warning for Great Ying's Emperor.

• The Chen Zuo Province Governor joined Duke Xian of State's camp and began exposing Minister Tian Marquis's secrets after learning that his son had been killed by the Minister Tian Marquis Heir.
• Qin Yang learned of the defection from the Ru Yang Marquis, received more gifts from Xu Wencheng, and decided to develop his own intelligence network.
• Three months later, General Huang and Wen Liang Gong led a second expedition into the secret realm and used the Teng Snake Compass to reach the ruined temple.
• The Emperor's Dharma Body crushed the Teng Snake and destroyed General Huang, the Black Thunder Guards, and their companions with their own lightning attack.
• Wen Liang Gong identified the figure as the Emperor's Dharma Body of the Great Yin Divine Dynasty and was spared to carry a warning to Great Ying's Emperor.

Qin Yang advanced to the Spirit Platform Realm, concealed his true cultivation, and became entangled in the fallout over Minister Tian Marquis's secret techniques and the Great Yin Imperial Jade Seal. He manipulated the delivery of Minister Tian Marquis's punishment decree, leaving Bian Zi Tao to choose the Northern Border posting without realizing Qin Yang had altered the paperwork.

• Qin Yang formed eighty-one Spirit Platform steps upward and one downward, then pretended to Xu Wencheng that he had only a single step; after the rumor spread, Xu Wencheng delivered him a Dragon Blood Coral to make amends.
• The Ru Yang Marquis told Qin Yang that Minister Tian Marquis faced punishment over the lost Imperial Jade Seal, and Qin Yang revealed that Minister Tian Marquis had cultivated the forbidden Three Bodies Treasure Technique.
• The Great Ying Divine Dynasty confirmed Minister Tian Marquis's cultivation of the Three Bodies Treasure Technique and let him choose between losing his military authority and guarding the Northern Border.
• Qin Yang intercepted the decree-bearing White Jade Boats, swapped the Northern Border decree for a contract, and used his song to erase the couriers' memories of the encounter.
• Bian Zi Tao received the altered decree and, believing it reflected the Emperor's intent, wrote his name on it and accepted the Northern Border posting.

Qin Yang returned to cultivation and discovered that his Spirit Platform path to the Blood Sea remained a single unusually large level. Meanwhile, Minister Tian Marquis was exposed as a suspected remnant of the previous dynasty when the Ministry of War’s White Tiger rejected him, and the Great Emperor ordered a realm-wide search for forbidden cultivation.

• Qin Yang returned to Qian Yu Province and found that his Spirit Platform had one broad, sturdy level leading to the Blood Sea despite half a month of cultivation.
• Qin Yang showed Xu Wencheng his unusual Spirit Platform, but Xu Wencheng assumed Qin Yang was hiding his despair and hurried away.
• Minister Tian Marquis traveled to Li Capital and went to the Ministry of War to exchange his military token for the Northern Border Tiger Seal.
• White Tiger True Lord detected a Great Yin Divine Dynasty serpent inside Minister Tian Marquis, struck him down, and prompted the Minister of War to order his arrest as Bian Zi Tao.
• Duke Xian of State argued that Minister Tian Marquis was a counterfeit incarnation and urged the Great Emperor to distrust his claims of innocence.
• The Great Emperor ordered the Ministry of Rites and Heavenly Order Guard to examine officials and their descendants for forbidden arts, with execution for anyone found guilty.

Minister Tian Marquis died after three months of burning lamp and boiling oil punishment, while Qin Yang stayed hidden and kept the Imperial Jade Seal. At a banquet, Xu Wencheng unexpectedly urged Qin Yang to join his provincial governor’s residence and pursue a civil career.

• Duke Xian of State visited Minister Tian Marquis in prison, pressed him to reveal his incarnation and the Imperial Jade Seal, and said the Great Emperor had ordered investigations into everyone cultivating forbidden arts.
• Minister Tian Marquis realized he would die because the court could not trust his ties to the former dynasty, while he never suspected Qin Yang had helped frame him.
• Qin Yang learned that Minister Tian Marquis had been imprisoned and resolved to stay low while continuing to build his intelligence network.
• After three months of burning lamp and boiling oil punishment, Minister Tian Marquis died without revealing the Imperial Jade Seal’s location or admitting he had another incarnation.
• Xu Wencheng invited Le Qi Yi and Qin Yang to a banquet, then encouraged Qin Yang to join his provincial governor’s residence and pursue a civil official’s career.

Xu Wencheng urged Qin Yang to enter the Great Ying Divine Dynasty and warned him about visiting officials, but Qin Yang went outside Yu City to see an exotic beast and had his foot bitten. Afterward, Han Anming seized Qin Yang for questioning about the Thieves' Sect, and Qin Yang denied knowing the answers while challenging Han Anming's methods.

• Xu Wencheng explained his suspicions about Qin Yang's connection to Minister Tian Marquis's downfall, then gave Qin Yang a token and warned him about officials arriving in Yu City.
• Qin Yang and Le Qi Yi left the city to see an exotic beast, which turned out to be the beast that had pursued Qin Yang; it bit through his right foot before continuing after other cultivators.
• Han Anming stopped Qin Yang at the Ru Yang Marquis Residence and took him to the Yu City prison for questioning, while Chu Sanhuan separately asked about a dead Outer Marquis and accepted Qin Yang's answers.
• Han Anming questioned Qin Yang about a Wordless One from the Netherworld Auction and the Thieves' Sect Residence; Qin Yang answered that he did not know, then challenged Han Anming's interrogation.