Chapter Summaries

Qin Yang persuaded the Joyous Union Sect to hand over its traitors, then presented their corpses to Han Anming for inspection. In Li Capital, the Emperor Ying praised Qin Yang’s boldness and gave the Great Emperor Princess authority to address military problems uncovered by her troop exercise.

• Qin Yang confirmed that the Joyous Union Sect had handed over its traitors, including Qingtian Jun, and kept the corpses for the Heavenly Order Guard to inspect.
• Han Anming examined the corpses with his silver mirror, found little useful information, and hurried away to report.
• Qin Yang’s troop exercise was publicly described as an inspection, and Luo Liang criticized military shortcomings in court while praising the Great Emperor Princess.
• The Emperor Ying granted the Great Emperor Princess authority to mobilize forces across the Four Regions and resolve the problems uncovered by the exercise.
• The Emperor Ying praised Qin Yang for confronting the Joyous Union Sect, and Wei Xingchao framed his actions as an effort to avenge the Great Emperor Princess.

Qin Yang examined the memories and secrets taken from Qingtian Jun and her followers, uncovering evidence of the former dynasty’s manipulation and a hidden gathering place in Kui Mountain. Meanwhile, Duke Dai decided to lure others toward Qin Yang by leaking that he had taken several hundred Spirit Veins.

• Qin Yang repaired and buried Qingtian Jun and her followers, then examined the light spheres gained from their corpses.
• Qin Yang found Qingtian Jun’s list of contacts and learned that her beloved had died while saving her, after which the former dynasty used an Illusory Heart Mask to manipulate her.
• Qin Yang discovered a follower’s memory connecting Qingtian Jun’s group to Duke Dai’s people at a hidden site in northern Kui Mountain, and planned to ask Wedding Dress for help locating it.
• Duke Dai heard an account of Qin Yang’s actions and concluded that Qin Yang had to be eliminated despite the Great Emperor’s interest in recruiting him.
• Duke Dai received permission to act freely and ordered a covert leak claiming Qin Yang had taken several hundred Spirit Veins from the Secret Vault of Profound Mirror Division.

Rumors spread that Qin Yang had taken several hundred Eighth Grade Spirit Stones from the Former Dynasty’s Secret Vault, making him a target for powers seeking Spirit Veins. Qin Yang recognized the leak as Duke Dai’s move and ordered his intelligence network to amplify the rumors, inviting anyone who wanted the stones to come after them.

• Duke Dai decided that Qin Yang was too dangerous to recruit and that exposing his Eighth Grade Spirit Stones could make others eliminate him.
• A traveler told the Gen Mountain Sect Master that Qin Yang had taken several hundred Spirit Veins, but the Sect Master warned him not to pursue the rumor.
• An Outer Marquis told Han Anming that Qin Yang’s stolen Spirit Veins explained the Former Dynasty’s relentless hostility toward him.
• Rumors about Qin Yang’s Spirit Stones spread from the Southern Border, and Han Anming reported the intelligence after learning the news had already leaked.
• Qin Yang received the rumors and Lao Han’s message, suspected Duke Dai had leaked the secret, and ordered his network to spread the story as widely as possible.

Wei Xingchao tried to manage rumors about Qin Yang’s Spirit Veins, while Qin Yang publicly handed over one hundred of them to a supposed Tian Lei. The deception was exposed afterward, leaving Wei Xingchao furious and Qin Yang’s companions convinced he had been fooled.

• Wei Xingchao ordered his subordinates to spread word that Emperor Ying had praised Qin Yang, then panicked when rumors about the Spirit Veins spread across the world.
• Qin Yang told Wedding Dress that he planned to get rid of the Spirit Veins, and she agreed to let him handle the matter.
• Tian Lei arrived at the patrol procession, where Qin Yang admitted he held five hundred Spirit Veins and offered them all to the Heavenly Order Guard.
• Tian Lei took one hundred Spirit Veins, while Wedding Dress prompted Qin Yang to keep the rest so the Heavenly Order Guard would not appear to seize them unfairly.
• Reports praised Wei Xingchao for making Qin Yang hand over the Spirit Veins, so Wei Xingchao denied sending Tian Lei and ordered an investigation.
• The Heavenly Order Guard revealed that the visitor had been an impostor, and the junior Outer Marquis who had received him feared the consequences while Qin Yang sat unconcerned.

Qin Yang staged a donation of fake Spirit Veins to draw in powerful claimants, and Ye Xuan took two hundred of them to Zhao Wang in exchange for treasures. Zhao Wang discovered most of the stones were fakes and ordered Ye Xuan hunted down, while Qin Yang moved on still hoping Zhou Wang would send someone.

• Qin Yang reasoned that Emperor Ying’s praise was a warning to him and Wedding Garment, then prepared a staged offer of Spirit Veins to lure interested parties into the open.
• Ye Xuan defied the Gen Mountain Sect’s orders, pledged allegiance to Zhao Wang, and traveled to Qin Yang with Zhao Wang’s token.
• Qin Yang handed Ye Xuan two hundred real Spirit Veins and two hundred convincing fakes, and Ye Xuan left for his meeting with Zhao Wang.
• Ye Xuan exchanged the Spirit Veins for pills and lifespan-extending treasures, but Zhao Wang’s people discovered that half the stones were only Third Grade Spirit Stones.
• Zhao Wang ordered his people to pursue Ye Xuan and recover the real Spirit Veins, while Qin Yang’s camp moved on without hearing from Zhou Wang.

Qin Yang gave away all five hundred spirit veins while exposing and punishing a supposed borrower, as the princes’ struggle over the Mount Kui sacrifice intensified. After learning Zhou Wang had gathered spirit veins from Qin Yang’s listed contacts, Qin Yang suspected a Former Dynasty plot and gave Zhao Wang intelligence linking Zhou Wang’s supporter to the Former Dynasty.

• Zhao Wang and Ye Xuan blamed each other for the missing spirit veins as the Gen Mountain Sect disowned Ye Xuan and the rumors spread.
• Deputy General white water claimed to serve Zhou Wang and asked Qin Yang for spirit veins, but Qin Yang struck him and handed him over to the Heavenly Order Guard as a suspected swindler.
• Qin Yang gave away his remaining spirit veins to people on Qingtian Jun’s list, and those people later supplied them to Zhou Wang.
• Zhou Wang contributed two hundred spirit veins to the imperial treasury and gained support to represent the Emperor Ying at Mount Kui, leaving Zhao Wang at a disadvantage.
• Qin Yang wondered whether Zhou Wang’s rise was connected to the Former Dynasty, spread rumors about its scheme, and sent Zhao Wang intelligence about Zhou Wang’s alleged ties to the Former Dynasty.
• Zhao Wang read the intelligence and concluded that a Western Region Garrison Marquis who had given spirit veins to Zhou Wang belonged to the Former Dynasty.

Zhao Wang exposed the Western Region Garrison Marquis’s allegiance to the former dynasty and used the evidence to implicate Zhou Wang’s supporters, prompting Emperor Ying to order an investigation. Qin Yang’s hidden clues helped Heavenly Order Guard and Wedding Dress arrest the suspects, while Zhao Wang and Zhou Wang’s struggle continued at court.

• Zhao Wang traced the Western Region Garrison Marquis’s ties to the former dynasty and gathered accusations implicating many of Zhou Wang’s supporters.
• Zhao Wang presented the evidence to Emperor Ying, who summoned Wei Xingchao and began to suspect a broader conspiracy.
• Qin Yang quietly provided leads that helped Heavenly Order Guard expand its investigation into Zhou Wang’s supporters and former-dynasty rebels.
• Ye Xuan killed a lead in the investigation, revealing that he had been protected by Zhou Wang.
• Wedding Dress mobilized troops to support Heavenly Order Guard, and the arrests and executions were completed within seven days.
• Qin Yang crossed the names off his Little Notebook and settled back to watch Zhao Wang and Zhou Wang’s court struggle.

Zhao Wang secured the chance to worship at Mount Kui after Zhou Wang was confined over Spirit Vein offerings from former-dynasty traitors, though the Emperor Ying did not formally favor him as heir. At Mount Kui, Duke Dai revealed that he had engineered the events and tried to persuade Zhao Wang to cooperate with Great Yin, leaving Zhao Wang considering the offer.

• Censors denounced Zhou Wang over the traitors who had offered him Spirit Veins, and the Emperor Ying ordered him confined pending an investigation.
• Zhao Wang publicly defended Zhou Wang, then received the opportunity to worship at Mount Kui, while Zhou Wang told his retainers to remain calm and keep a low profile.
• Qin Yang left a clone in the Northern Border and secretly headed for Mount Kui, expecting either Zhao Wang or Zhou Wang to encounter trouble there.
• Duke Dai entered Zhao Wang's sealed tent in disguise and claimed his people had helped expose Zhou Wang and secure Zhao Wang's opportunity.
• Duke Dai swore that Great Yin sought restoration elsewhere rather than taking Great Ying's territory and offered to support Zhao Wang, who began to consider hearing him out.

Zhao Wang signed an alliance with Duke Dai, while Duke Dai and the Void Scripture inheritor suspected the Thief Sect had exposed their agents. Qin Yang visited Ying Bai in Mount Kui and arranged for her to establish her public status as its Mountain Ghost before Great Ying’s upcoming sacrificial ceremony.

• Zhao Wang drafted favorable alliance terms, and Duke Dai signed them before Zhao Wang sealed the pact as well.
• Duke Dai met the Void Scripture inheritor, reported that their hidden agents had been exposed, and blamed the Thief Sect.
• Qin Yang traveled through Mount Kui with Bai Shao and met Ying Bai at her cave estate.
• Qin Yang asked Ying Bai to cooperate with his plans and appear before the world as Mount Kui’s Mountain Ghost.
• Ying Bai agreed to act as she saw fit during Great Ying’s Mount Kui sacrificial ceremony, and Qin Yang returned to the Bride’s great camp.

Zhao Wang’s ceremony at Kui Mountain was disrupted when the Mountain Ghost Ying Bai revealed her overwhelming power, forcing Great Ying to seek reconciliation through Jiayi and Qin Yang. After Jiayi helped establish relations with Mount Kui, Emperor Ying rewarded Qin Yang with an official post.

• Zhao Wang completed the sacrificial ceremony, but the White Ape King arrived and warned that a Mountain Ghost had claimed much of Kui Mountain.
• Ying Bai subdued the White Ape King, expelled Zhao Wang and his party, and left Zhao Wang fearing the consequences of offending her.
• Emperor Ying sent Jiayi to negotiate with Ying Bai, while Qin Yang organized the construction of eighteen hundred Mountain Ghost Goddess Temples.
• Jiayi returned from Mount Kui, and Great Ying completed a ceremony establishing relations with Mount Kui.
• Emperor Ying appointed Qin Yang Vice Minister of Rites to oversee sacrifices and rituals, surprising Qin Yang as he traveled back on a flying vessel.

After returning to Li Capital, Qin Yang took up a largely ceremonial post overseeing sacrificial rites and discovered that his bookworm had transformed after devouring his scriptures. The bookworm began consuming an inherited jade pendant and the Book of Myriad Techniques, while Qin Yang’s attempt to collect his official seal stalled amid court faction maneuvering.

• Qin Yang returned to Desperate Estate, accepted his appointment as Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, and found that the Golden Pig’s seals had weakened while Blackie remained asleep.
• Qin Yang learned that the bookworm had devoured the scriptures in his study, then fed it Old Man Wei’s jade pendant and watched it consume the pendant’s contents.
• Qin Yang placed the bookworm on the sealed Book of Myriad Techniques, and it disappeared into the Golden Book as he put the book away.
• Qin Yang went to the Ministry of Personnel to collect his official seal, but the Left Vice Minister said only the absent Minister of Personnel could issue it.
• The Minister of Revenue approached Zou Hongshen to discuss funding the Mountain Ghost Goddess Temple, and the Minister of Personnel mistakenly took their departure together as evidence that Zhao Wang had acted first.
• The Minister of Personnel hurried to the Zhou Wang Residence, while his messenger arrived too late to deliver a message at the Ministry of Personnel.

Xu Nansheng tried to repair his offense against Qin Yang, but political schemes later cost him his position and his grandson. As Zhao Wang neared the Crown Prince position, Duke Dai revealed that he had deliberately broken their covenant, leaving Zhao Wang furious and Duke Dai bearing its punishment.

• Xu Nansheng chased Qin Yang down, apologized for making him wait, and personally helped him complete his Ministry of Rites appointment formalities.
• Zhao Wang’s faction used the slaughter committed by Xu Nansheng’s grandson to attack Xu, leaving Zhou Wang without his last major support while Zhao Wang gained ground toward the Crown Prince position.
• Qin Yang discussed the uncertain political situation with Wedding Dress and decided they should keep a low profile while they gathered more information.
• Xu Nansheng visited his grandson in the Ministry of Justice Heavenly Prison, learned he had become irreversibly demonic, and killed him before asking Shen Xingluo to preserve the body.
• Duke Dai disclosed that he had always intended to break his Fairness Covenant with Zhao Wang and sent Wei Xingchao evidence of their agreement.
• The covenant’s backlash struck Duke Dai with a Fairness Beast hat marked “Petty man,” forcing him to sacrifice cultivation, while Zhao Wang realized he had been tricked and raged helplessly.

Duke Dai’s plot brought Zhao Wang down, and the Emperor Ying imprisoned him after condemning his foolish bid for the Crown Prince’s position. As Qin Yang sent Jiajia to Mount Kui to investigate the former dynasty, Zhou Wang was struck by an Illusory Heart Mask that began twisting his will, leaving him in danger unless its parent mask was found and destroyed.

• Duke Dai delivered evidence of Zhao Wang’s alliance to the Emperor Ying, who summoned Zhao Wang and imprisoned him in Death Row after hearing his confession.
• Qin Yang learned that Zhao Wang had fallen and reasoned that Duke Dai would either eliminate Zhou Wang or be allied with him.
• Qin Yang asked Jiajia to visit Mount Kui, seek help from the Mountain Ghost, and locate Duke Dai’s residence; Jiajia agreed to leave Li Capital.
• The Emperor Ying authorized Jiajia’s journey as Zhou Wang appeared poised to become Crown Prince, but Zhou Wang soon collapsed during court while a mask twisted his consciousness.
• Wei Xingchao identified the mask as a child mask of the Illusory Heart Mask and warned that Zhou Wang could only be saved by finding and destroying its parent mask.

After Zhou Wang was confined for his suspected connection to the former dynasty, Qin Yang visited him to test whether the Illusory Heart Mask had twisted his will. Zhou Wang made contradictory confessions, and Qin Yang left the truth to a soul expert summoned through the Ghost God Token; the chapter ended before the expert gave his assessment.

• The Emperor Ying ordered an investigation into the Illusory Heart Mask and had Zhou Wang confined while the Heavenly Order Guard pursued Duke Dai.
• Qin Yang discussed Zhou Wang's case with Shen Xingluo and arranged to visit him with Han Anming's permission.
• Qin Yang baited Zhou Wang with a false claim about the former dynasty's hideout in Kui Mountain, and Zhou Wang's response suggested he knew the location.
• Zhou Wang confessed that he had long colluded with the former dynasty, then insisted his confession was false and challenged Qin Yang to distinguish truth from lies.
• Qin Yang revealed that he had sought an expert's assessment of Zhou Wang's soul and asked the figure projected from the Ghost God Token whether Zhou Wang's will had been twisted.

Qin Yang investigated Zhou Wang’s twisted will, sent the Illusory Heart Mask to Black Li for study, and suspected the former dynasty was arranging events to save Zhou Wang. After Wedding Robes exposed the former dynasty’s hideout in Kui Mountain with the Mountain Ghost’s help, Qin Yang told Zhou Wang that Great Ying could now intervene, and Zhou Wang insisted he knew nothing.

• Qin Yang asked Ge Tower to examine Zhou Wang, and Ge Tower found that Zhou Wang’s soul remained intact even though his mind and will were being twisted.
• Qin Yang sent the Illusory Heart Mask to Black Li with the Second Sword Lord and reasoned that Zhou Wang’s apparent downfall might be part of a plot to have the mask destroyed and save him.
• After Wedding Robes reported finding the former dynasty’s hideout in Kui Mountain, Qin Yang told her to act as though she knew nothing and to seek the Mountain Ghost’s help if events called for it.
• Wedding Robes killed four artificially produced Dao Palace cultivators near Kui Mountain, then used their attack as grounds to ask the Mountain Ghost to help locate the former dynasty’s hideout.
• The Mountain Ghost allowed Great Ying to send experts into Kui Mountain to destroy the hideout and rescue Zhou Wang, and Qin Yang concluded that Zhou Wang and Duke Dai had staged the scheme.
• Qin Yang visited Zhou Wang and criticized Duke Dai’s crude plan, while Zhou Wang smiled wildly and insisted that he had done and knew nothing.

Great Ying’s investigation uncovered widespread Illusory Heart Mask control, including Minister Yun Ruomu, and its experts marched on Kui Mountain. Duke Dai escaped a lethal teleportation trap and hid near Li Capital while the inheritor of the Void Scripture and Meng Yi prepared to leave.

• A brainwashed Dao Palace cultivator attacked Great Ying’s assembled experts, and the ensuing purge exposed dozens of people controlled by the Illusory Heart Mask, including Yun Ruomu.
• Great Ying’s experts set out for Kui Mountain to seize the Illusory Heart Mask’s parent mask, while Cheng Zhi prayed at the Mountain Ghost Goddess Temple before preparing to leave.
• Cheng Zhi and the inheritor of the Void Scripture activated a great void teleportation formation, and Cheng Zhi handed the parent mask to the inheritor before departing.
• Duke Dai broke free from the teleportation formation after its pressure threatened to kill him, then returned to Great Ying territory and hid near Li Capital.
• The inheritor of the Void Scripture revealed that he had reinforced the formation with eighty-eight thousand layers of restrictions, and Meng Yi emerged to leave with him.

The Void Scripture's inheritor sacrificed himself to battle the Divine Dynasty's forces, then tore open sealed space and vanished, seemingly choosing death in the void. Duke Dai confronted Qin Yang outside Desperate Estate, where Qin Yang stayed inside and the Puppet Master attacked Duke Dai with the Black Jade Divine Gate.

• The Void Scripture's inheritor urged Meng Yi to live on and avoid seeking out Zhang Wei and Qin Yang, and Meng Yi left after repeating their forebears' wish to pass the flame onward.
• The Void Scripture's inheritor faced Wei Xingchao, the Imperial Guard Commander, Prince Anxi, the Suppressing Mountain Great King, and their forces, killing many with hidden techniques.
• After three hours of fighting, the Void Scripture's inheritor tore open the sealed space and disappeared into the void, while Wei Xingchao concluded that he would die there.
• Duke Dai approached Desperate Estate and called for Qin Yang, but Qin Yang watched him through surveillance and refused to come outside.
• The Puppet Master emerged beneath Duke Dai and swung the Black Jade Divine Gate into his forehead.

Duke Dai fought the Puppet Master while Qin Yang remained inside Desperate Estate, until the dying Wei Chengshi delivered the Void Scripture and his lifetime of knowledge to Qin Yang. Qin Yang realized Duke Dai was trying to die in a way that would clear Zhou Wang of suspicion, but Duke Dai then threatened to expose Qin Yang as the Dao Sect’s new transmitter of the Dao.

• Duke Dai’s Fatal Protection was destroyed when the Puppet Master struck him with the Black Jade Divine Gate, but Qin Yang stayed inside Desperate Estate rather than risk confronting him.
• The dying inheritor of the Void Scripture appeared at Desperate Estate, warned Qin Yang that Duke Dai was part of a conspiracy, and let Qin Yang deliver him into the skill without resisting.
• Qin Yang received the complete Void Scripture, the Three Lives Body method, information about the Dao Sect, and a message from Old Man Wei telling him not to cultivate the Three Bodies Technique and to flee through Hu Liang if necessary.
• Qin Yang realized Duke Dai was deliberately seeking death to erase suspicion from Zhou Wang, and Old Man Wei’s final warning made him understand why Duke Dai must not be killed.
• Duke Dai admitted that Wei Chengshi had been the Dao Sect’s transmitter of the Dao and deduced that Qin Yang had taken his place, then challenged Qin Yang to choose between killing him and letting him expose Qin Yang.

Qin Yang had the Puppet Master kill Duke Dai, then revealed that he had seen through Duke Dai’s trap and was not afraid of his secret getting out. After using Corpse Touching to obtain a Dharma Idol method and an image of Bai Residence, Qin Yang waited at Desperate Estate as officials arrived, wary that Zhou Wang would use the exposed secret to strengthen his own position.

• Qin Yang ordered the Puppet Master to kill Duke Dai, who unleashed the techniques in his Dharma Idol book but could not stop the Puppet Master from smashing through them.
• Duke Dai’s book shattered, his cultivation collapsed, and his life force faded as Qin Yang approached and explained that he had recognized the trap: Duke Dai had meant both to die by Qin Yang’s hand and to expose Qin Yang’s identity.
• Qin Yang used his skill on Duke Dai’s body and obtained a method for condensing a Dharma Idol and an image of Bai Residence.
• Qin Yang contaminated the scene with Black Balls, returned to Desperate Estate, and reasoned that Zhou Wang would likely exploit the secret while presenting himself as a loyal victim of false accusations.
• Several streaks of escaping light descended as officials finally arrived near Desperate Estate.

Qin Yang uncovered how Old Man Wei used the Three Lives Body to become Wei Yanluo and Wei Xukong, then pieced together why Wei Xukong returned the Illusory Heart Mask to Great Ying. The mask left Emperor Ying facing a dangerous choice, so Qin Yang headed to the Zhou Wang Residence to speak with Zhou Wang.

• Qin Yang told Xu Zhengqiang that Duke Dai had been killed by the Puppet Master after Duke Dai and Wei Xukong turned against each other.
• Qin Yang examined the Three Lives Body and realized Old Man Wei may have used it to become Wei Yanluo and then Wei Xukong, while entrusting the Dao Sect to him.
• Jiayi reported that Wei Xukong had killed twenty Dao Palace cultivators and wounded or killed Great Ying experts before escaping, and that the Illusory Heart Mask's mother mask had been recovered.
• Ge Lou explained that the Illusory Heart Mask imposed a fixed will, leading Qin Yang to realize Zhou Wang could be feigning the mask's effects.
• Xu Zhengqiang revealed that Emperor Ying had taken charge of the mother mask, and Qin Yang concluded Wei Xukong had forced Emperor Ying into a perilous dilemma.
• Qin Yang went to the Zhou Wang Residence to discuss Duke Dai's scheme with Zhou Wang.