Recaps

Nalan Ye argued that the Snake-People Tribe could be persuaded to ally with the Gamma Empire against the Chuyun Empire and volunteered to lead the mission. Nalan Su supported the plan but deferred a final decision until he could consult the Old Clan Leader, leaving Nalan Ye’s dangerous assignment unresolved.

• Nalan Su praised Nalan Ye’s plan and courage, while Nalan Tu objected to sending his son to the Snake-People Tribe.
• Nalan Tu argued that the Snake-People Tribe had no reason to ally with the Gamma Empire, but Nalan Ye countered that it also had old grievances with the Chuyun Empire.
• Nalan Su agreed that Nalan Ye’s plan could succeed, while Nalan Tu urged him to send someone else in his place.
• Nalan Su postponed the decision until he could write to the Old Clan Leader and ordered Nalan Ye and Nalan Tu to keep the plan secret.
• Nalan Ye told Nalan Tu he wanted to protect the family and believed its Heir Apparent should shoulder its responsibilities.

As Xiao Yu, Xiao Meier, and Xiao Xun'er prepared to leave for Canaan Academy, Ye said goodbye to them and learned that the old patriarch had approved his plan. Nalan Su then took Ye to report the plan to His Majesty.

• Xiao Yu, Xiao Meier, and Xiao Xun'er told Ye they were leaving for Canaan Academy, and Xiao Yu reminded him about his promise.
• Ye asked Xiao Meier to stay for his Capping Ceremony and told her he might lead troops against the Snake-People Tribe; she cried and gave him a sachet she had prepared.
• Ye spoke with Xiao Xun'er about Xiao Yan, then gave each girl a gift, including golden battle armor for Xiao Yu, and saw them off toward Great Ridge City.
• After the girls left, Ye was summoned to Nalan Su, who told him the old patriarch had approved his plan.
• Nalan Su took Ye to report the plan to His Majesty.

Nalan Ye presented his plan to the Gama Empire’s leaders and volunteered to carry it out, despite Mo Lin’s worries about the danger. Mo Lin brought Nalan Su, Nalan Ye, and the ministers to meet Jia Xingtian, where Nalan Ye discovered several major powers’ leaders had gathered.

• Nalan Su brought Nalan Ye before Emperor Mo Lin, and Nalan Ye outlined his plan to the assembled ministers.
• Nalan Su presented Nalan Jie’s letter confirming the Nalan Family’s support, and he urged Mo Lin to try the plan because failure would cost the empire nothing.
• Mo Lin worried that Nalan Ye might die on the mission, but Nalan Ye declared he was willing to go and never return if necessary.
• Mo Lin decided to report the matter to Jia Xingtian and invited Nalan Su, Nalan Ye, and the ministers to accompany him.
• Nalan Ye met Jia Xingtian and saw Nalan Yanran, Yun Leng, and Tengshan Mitre gathered in the courtyard.

Nalan Ye presented his detailed strategy to Jia Xingtian, who approved it and ordered Chu Sha She transferred to the Western Region. At Nalan Ye’s capping ceremony, Clan Leader Nalan Su questioned him before the ancestral temple about how an apparently ordinary youth had devised the Azure Lotus Core Flame scheme.

• Mo Lin brought Nalan Ye’s proposal and Nalan Jie’s letter to Jia Xingtian, Yun Leng, and Teng Shan.
• Nalan Ye presented his detailed plan, including transferring Chu Sha She out of the Northern Region and placing the region under the Lion Heart Marshal’s command.
• Jia Xingtian approved the plan and ordered Mo Lin to carry out its measures.
• Two days later, Nalan Ye traveled to the Nalan Ancestral Temple for his capping ceremony, where Nalan Su led him through the opening rites.
• Before entering the temple, Nalan Su challenged Nalan Ye to explain how he had devised the Azure Lotus Core Flame scheme despite having seemed ordinary.

Nalan Yan explained his changed temperament to Nalan Su with a story about a dream, then underwent the Nalan Family’s formal three-crown coming-of-age ceremony. The ceremony concluded with Nalan Su declaring him an adult.

• Nalan Yan told Nalan Su that a dream of an extraordinary world had changed him, and Nalan Su accepted the explanation without further questions.
• Nalan Su and Nalan Yan entered the Ancestral Temple, where the Temple Proclamation and preparations for the capping ceremony took place.
• The Mittel Family Head placed the Zibu Crown on Nalan Yan, while the Mu Family Elder assisted with the ceremony.
• Nalan Yan received the PiBian and JueBian crowns in turn, changing into the corresponding garments and displaying them to the guests.
• Nalan Su appeared before Nalan Yan after the ceremony and told him that he was an adult from that day onward.

After his appointment as Commandant, Nalan Yanran led a Nalan Family support force north from Gama City, intending to gather an army along the way. He secretly left the procession with Ling Ying to travel to the Snake-People Tribe and seek an alliance.

• Nalan Yanran reflected on why he had stayed involved in worldly affairs rather than retreating to cultivate in peace.
• Nalan Yanran departed Gama City with 697 Nalan Family retainers and Mo Wang, who had become his Sima.
• Nalan Yanran gave Mo Wang the Commandant's credentials and ordered him to conceal that he had left the procession.
• After the group reached a town seventy li away, Nalan Yanran slipped away at dusk to meet Ling Ying.
• Nalan Yanran told Ling Ying he planned to form an alliance with the Snake-People Tribe, finished eating jerky, and flew north with him.

Ping Yuan and the Heavenly Snake Mansion’s Dou Zong elders debated how to secure their future after learning that a wielder of the jade eye three flower pupils had appeared in the Gamma Empire. Ping Yuan ordered Qing Yue to secretly bring the wielder to the mansion, while the danger of the news spreading remained unresolved.

• Long Xi reported that a young wielder of the jade eye three flower pupils lived in the Gamma Empire’s capital and had controlled a fourth-rank Fire Spirit Snake.
• Ping Yuan revealed that his lifespan was nearly over, leaving the Heavenly Snake Mansion vulnerable to its two rival Dou Sheng forces.
• The elders warned that the wielder could attract disaster, but Ping Yuan insisted the mansion needed a potential successor.
• Long Xi proposed using the Snake-People Tribe to destroy the Gamma Empire, and Ping Yuan condemned him and sent him to the Ten Thousand Snake Valley for ten years.
• Ping Yuan told Qing Yue to secretly bring the wielder of the jade eye three flower pupils to the Heavenly Snake Mansion.

Nalan Ye traveled from Anbei City to the Snake-People Holy City and revealed that Cai Lin’s remnant soul had survived and was under his control. As Cai Lin went to summon Yue Mei, Ling Ying warned Nalan Ye about the Snake-People Tribe’s lingering danger, prompting him to suspect that a calamity from a thousand years earlier had never ended.

• Nalan Jie wished Nalan Ye well before Nalan Ye left Anbei City with Ling Ying.
• Nalan Ye and Ling Ying flew across the Tagor Desert and reached the Snake-People Holy City by the second evening.
• Nalan Ye summoned Cai Lin and explained to Ling Ying that she had survived as a remnant soul and been subdued.
• Nalan Ye ordered Cai Lin to return to the temple and invite Yue Mei to meet him, and Cai Lin departed toward the Holy City.
• Ling Ying cautioned Nalan Ye against getting close to the Snake-People Tribe, and Nalan Ye asked whether its calamity from a thousand years ago still persisted.

Cai Lin returned to the Snake-People Holy City and told Yue Mei how she had become bound to Nalan Ye, then advised her to pursue an alliance with the Chuyun Empire before betraying it to reduce the tribe’s losses. She left with Yue Mei to meet Nalan Ye and revealed that Saint Pupils had appeared in the Gamma Empire.

• Cai Lin entered the Holy City and watched its people before finding Yue Mei cultivating in the God Hall.
• Yue Mei recognized Cai Lin, offered her the crown, and urged her to resume ruling, but Cai Lin refused because she was only a remnant soul under Nalan Ye’s control.
• Cai Lin told Yue Mei what had happened with Nalan Ye and explained that he might be a powerful expert, so the Snake-People should not attack him.
• Cai Lin proposed allying with the Chuyun Empire and then launching a surprise attack, and Yue Mei accepted the plan despite its damage to the tribe’s credibility.
• Cai Lin headed out with Yue Mei to meet Nalan Ye and told her that Saint Pupils had appeared in the Gamma Empire.

Nalan Ye learned that the Snake-People Tribe had powerful enemies and arranged with Yue Mei for the tribe to ambush and kill him and his troops at Fox Pass as part of a plan. After Yue Mei left, Cai Lin chose to stay by Nalan Ye’s side.

• Ling Ying told Nalan Ye that the Snake-People Tribe’s enemies remained powerful, though internal divisions among them had allowed the tribe to survive.
• Cai Lin arrived with Yue Mei, whose appearance had changed to resemble Cai Lin’s.
• Yue Mei accepted Nalan Ye’s plan to send a thousand Snake-People to provoke his troops outside Fox Pass, then ambush and kill him and two thousand men on the fifth day of the next month.
• Yue Mei invited Nalan Ye to the God Hall for the night, but he declined and said he wanted to admire Tagor’s night sky.
• Nalan Ye asked Cai Lin whether she would stay with him or remain with the tribe, and Cai Lin chose to serve by his side.

Nalan Ye returned to his army and learned that Nalan Xu had withheld troops and supplies because he felt slighted by Nalan Ye’s absence. After discovering the misunderstanding, Nalan Ye arranged to meet him in Wulan City and rested before going.

• Nalan Ye and Ling Ying reached Mo Wang’s unit, and Nalan Ye secretly returned to the camp as the army’s Commandant and Nalan Family’s Heir Apparent.
• Nalan Fugui told Nalan Ye that Nalan Xu had refused to provide soldiers and supplies for the army.
• Nalan Fugui explained that Nalan Xu felt insulted because Nalan Ye had sent Sima Mo Wang to negotiate instead of meeting him personally.
• Nalan Ye ordered someone to notify Nalan Xu that he would enter the city soon, then asked for hot water so he could bathe.
• Nalan Ye teased Ling Ying about finding him young girls, and Ling Ying angrily rebuked him.

Ye led his army to Fox Pass, where he reunited with Xiao Ding and Xiao Li before asking Xiao Ding to become his Short Blade Captain. Nalan Xu challenged Xiao Ding over the position, leaving Ye to make his request.

• Ye’s army reached Fox Pass, and Ye sent Nalan Xu ahead with the military credentials to arrange entry.
• Ye arrived at Fox Pass and greeted Xiao Ding and Xiao Li, who had come to see him before taking up their new posts.
• Ye introduced his cousin Nalan Xu to Xiao Ding and Xiao Li as his brothers-in-law.
• Nalan Xu challenged Xiao Ding, asking why Ye had chosen him instead of Nalan Xu as Short Blade Captain.
• Ye asked Xiao Ding whether he would become his Short Blade Captain.

Nalan Ye settled into Fox Pass amid tension with its border-army officers, then saw Xiao Li off to Suspended Spring City. He learned that Xue Lan led the remaining Desert Iron Mercenary Group and assigned Luo Bu to carry his command banner.

• Nalan Ye hosted a strained banquet with Fox Pass's officers, who resented taking orders from local troops and from him.
• Xiao Li left for Suspended Spring City after saying farewell to Xiao Ding, and Nalan Ye asked him to look after Mei Er and the others.
• Xiao Ding explained that the Desert Iron Mercenary Group had split among Fox Pass, the City Defense Army, and mercenary work, with Xue Lan as its current leader.
• Luo Bu told Nalan Ye that 180 former Sand Mercenary Group members had enlisted and asked for a position among the short blade troops.
• Nalan Ye made Luo Bu the Banner Holder and ordered him to keep the great command banner standing even if he died.

The heir apparent led troops out of Fox Pass to confront a Snake-People force despite Duwei Lin's warnings that it was likely bait. As the armies advanced toward each other, the battle began, with its defeat and destruction already sealed back in Gama City.

• The heir apparent heard the horns announcing a Snake-People attack and went to the north wall despite Duwei Lin's warning to stay inside.
• After scouts reported just over a thousand Snake-People, the heir apparent ordered two thousand troops to leave the pass and attack.
• Duwei Lin warned that the Snake-People were likely bait, but the heir apparent declared he would lead the battle himself.
• The heir apparent ordered Nalan Fugui and Mo Wang to remain in the city, then led the Local Army and Xiao Ding's Mercenaries outside Fox Pass.
• The heir apparent drew his Long Sword and ordered the troops to advance as the Snake-People formed up for battle.

Lin Yi struggled to protect Fox Pass as Nalan Ye pursued the fleeing Snake-People into a trap and the garrison was pinned down by a second enemy army. The Snake-People returned Nalan Ye’s banner as proof of his death, then withdrew before Lin Yi could retaliate.

• Lin Yi ordered Nalan Ye to withdraw, but the pursuing human army continued north despite the warning.
• Mo Wang stalled while Lin Yi prepared troops, and Nalan Bo stopped Nalan Xu from riding out without orders.
• A second Snake-People force of at least five thousand appeared northeast of Fox Pass, keeping Lin Yi from reinforcing Nalan Ye.
• Lin Yi sent more than a hundred light cavalrymen to scout, but the Snake-People killed them all and prevented them from reaching the enemy’s rear.
• Several Snake-People returned carrying Nalan Ye’s tattered banner, and Nalan Xu mourned his death as Lin Yi ordered the garrison to march out.
• The Snake-People withdrew from Fox Pass, leaving Nalan Ye’s banner behind.

After Nalan Ye died at Fox Pass, the Nalan Family vowed revenge and began assembling a massive army. Meanwhile, the Chuyun Empire and its allied sects saw an opportunity to invade the weakened Gamma Empire, and summoned Snake-People envoy Jin Lu’er to discuss the war.

• Nalan Tu insisted that Nalan Ye be buried at Fox Pass and vowed to avenge his son.
• Nalan Su announced Nalan Jie’s order to muster one hundred thousand troops within a month, and the elders agreed to mobilize the Nalan Family’s forces and allies.
• Nalan Tu asked to join the army marching north, and Nalan Su approved.
• The Chuyun emperor and the leaders of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate and Wu Tian Mansion discussed the Gamma Empire’s troop deployments and decided the war was worth fighting.
• Jin Lu’er arrived as the Snake-People Tribe’s envoy and greeted the Chuyun emperor and the two sect leaders.

Nalan Yanran led Yun Lan Sect disciples and armored cavalry north as the Gamma Empire prepared for war, while Xiao Yan finished training in the Winged Palace Mountain Range and found Blood Lotus Essence in a town apothecary. The chapter left Xiao Yan facing a confrontation when a youth from the Huang Family claimed every ingredient in the shop.

• Nalan Yanran set out for the northern frontier with over two hundred Yun Lan Sect disciples and ten thousand armored cavalry, escorted by Nan Lai and the Oak Tree Knight Order.
• Xiao Yan killed a Crimson Flame Wolf with Eight Extremities Collapse, but found no magic core in its corpse.
• Xiao Yan left the Winged Palace Mountain Range and reached a nearby town whose atmosphere seemed unusual.
• Xiao Yan spotted Blood Lotus Essence in an apothecary and asked the shop assistant to take it out for him.
• A brocade-robed youth arrived with armed men, ordered the shop owner summoned, and claimed all the medicinal ingredients for the Huang Family.

Xiao Yan tried to buy a piece of Blood Lotus Essence, but the Huang Family's recruitment for a campaign against the Snake-People led him to learn that Nalan Ye had died in battle. The chapter ended with Xian Yu naming Xiao Ding among the dead generals, leaving Xiao Yan shaken.

• Xiao Yan tried to buy the Blood Lotus Essence, which the shopkeeper had mistaken for Yellow Lotus Essence, but Huang Lu insisted that the Huang Family was buying every medicinal ingredient in the shop.
• The shopkeeper refused to sell to Xiao Yan, and Xiao Yan prepared to fight Huang Lu's guard until Xian Yu and several mercenaries stepped in to join the Huang Family's Volunteer Army.
• Xian Yu explained that the Huang Family was gathering supplies for an allied army marching north to avenge Nalan Ye, who had reportedly died in a Snake-People ambush.
• Xiao Yan grabbed Xian Yu and demanded to know how Nalan Ye could have died, then asked which generals had been killed.
• Xian Yu listed Wang Xin, Li Ke Si, Luo Bu, and Xiao Ding, leaving Xiao Yan trembling at the news.

After learning that his eldest brother had died fighting the Snake-People Tribe, Xiao Yan joined the Huang Family army heading north to seek revenge. At Rike City, Nalan Yanran told him that the Xiao Family was stationed elsewhere and that he had come to the wrong place.

• Huang Lu returned to the Huang Family estate with Xiao Yan, an Alchemist, and Huang Song welcomed him and agreed to take him north.
• Xiao Yan grieved for his eldest brother and vowed to avenge him, while Yao Lao warned him against attacking the Snake-People Tribe alone and offered to help strengthen the army.
• The Huang Family army set out five days later, joined other forces on the road, and reorganized into a force of more than eight thousand troops.
• After two months of travel, the army reached Rike City, where Xiao Yan saw Nalan Yanran riding out to meet them.
• Nalan Yanran told Xiao Yan that the Xiao Family was garrisoned at Pingwang Beacon Tower and that he had arrived at the wrong place.

After spending more than two months recovering in the Snake-People Holy City, the narrator advanced to Three-Star Dou Shi. He then confronted Xiao Ding over the two thousand soldiers sacrificed in his plan and insisted that far greater losses were inevitable in the coming war.

• The narrator swallowed a cultivation pill and used the Vast Thunder Skill to break through to Three-Star Dou Shi.
• The narrator left his meditation chamber in the God Hall and found Xiao Ding cultivating nearby.
• Xiao Ding accused the narrator of sending two thousand soldiers to their deaths at the Snake-People's hands.
• The narrator told Xiao Ding that the Gamma Empire faced upheaval and that their deaths were only the beginning of a much larger war.
• The narrator predicted millions of soldier deaths and even more civilian deaths across the Gamma Empire, the Chuyun Empire, and the Snake-People Tribe.

Mu Tie left Zhao Heng in charge of the central line and headed south to inform Man Meisi that reinforcements had arrived. With the southern front strengthened, Man An led an attack on Nanwu City, where Prince Anke Molaini called for reinforcements and prepared the city for battle.

• Mu Tie told Zhao Heng to hold the central line while he went to inform Man Meisi about the empire's reinforcements.
• Zhao Heng studied Mu Tie's marks on the map and realized Shangchen City could be targeted to destroy the Cloudrise Empire's supply stores.
• Forty thousand reinforcements arrived at the General Zhennan Residence, raising its forces to ninety thousand.
• Man An left thirty thousand soldiers to defend and led sixty thousand troops to attack the Cloudrise Empire's southern front.
• Anke Molaini saw the approaching Gama Army at Nanwu City and ordered the beacon lit, reinforcements requested, and the gates sealed.

The narrator received a report from Anbei City while bathing in the Snake-People Holy City and learned that Mu Tie had attacked the Cloudrise Empire’s supply lines. Yue Mei warned that the Snake-People’s prolonged standoff with the Gamma Empire risked exposing their true intentions, while the report indicated the enemy’s advance had not been greatly delayed.

• The narrator stroked a Snake-People girl’s tail in the bath, angering her and her companion.
• Yue Mei arrived, dismissed the girls, and gave the narrator a letter from Anbei City.
• The narrator read that Mu Tie had attacked Nanwu City with sixty thousand men and raided Shangchen City with ten thousand elite cavalry, burning military supplies.
• Yue Mei warned that the Snake-People and Gamma Empire armies had faced off for nearly three months and that further delay could make the Chuyun Empire suspect their plans.
• The narrator explained that the Cloudrise Empire had supplies stored in other cities, so the raid had not greatly affected its army’s movements.

After the Chuyun Empire committed its forces to the war against Gamma, Nalan Ye revealed the Snake-People Tribe’s alliance with Gamma to the Chuyun envoy and offered him a chance to surrender. The envoy instead attacked Nalan Ye, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Nalan Ye learned that the Chuyun Empire had sent its final reinforcements and committed about seven hundred thousand troops to the Gamma front.
• Nalan Ye went to meet Yue Mei and overheard the Chuyun envoy demanding that the Snake-People Tribe begin its promised invasion.
• Nalan Ye entered the hall and revealed himself to the envoy, who recognized him and realized the Snake-People Tribe had secretly allied with Gamma.
• Nalan Ye warned the envoy that Chuyun had left its homeland undefended and offered him and his family protection if he surrendered.
• The envoy feigned gratitude, then unleashed his Dou Qi and swung his Banner Staff at Nalan Ye.

Chen Qi refused to surrender to the Nalan Heir Apparent and was killed by Flower Snake, prompting the Snake-People to prepare for war against the Chuyun Empire. The Nalan Heir Apparent then tried to persuade the remaining Chuyun delegation to defect, and Wu Yan agreed to obey him.

• Chen Qi attacked the Nalan Heir Apparent with a Banner Staff, but Ling Ying intervened and drove him back.
• Chen Qi refused to betray his sovereign, so Yue Mei ordered Flower Snake to kill him.
• The Nalan Heir Apparent warned that Chen Qi's loyalty showed the Chuyun Empire might have many formidable fighters, while Yue Mei prepared to move Snake-People troops to the border with the Cloudrise Empire.
• The Nalan Heir Apparent went with Flower Snake to the Chuyun delegation's residence and offered its members safety, wealth, and glory if they surrendered.
• Wu Yan emerged from the residence, apologized for serving a tyrannical ruler, and agreed to obey the Nalan Heir Apparent.

The Snake-People army began its siege of Anyuan City after Yan Ci demanded Lin Qu’s surrender, and Lin Qu refused. As the assault escalated, the defenders struggled against the Snake-People’s disciplined troop rotations and superior numbers of powerful fighters, forcing Lin Qu to enter the battle.

• Yan Ci taunted Lin Qu with the severed head of Anyuan’s commandant, while I reassured Wu Yan that he would be spared if Lin Qu refused to surrender.
• Lin Qu rejected Yan Ci’s demand and rallied Anyuan’s defenders to hold the city, prompting Yan Ci to order an attack.
• The first ten thousand Snake-People troops cleared Anyuan’s outer defenses over two hours, suffering two thousand dead and wounded before another twenty thousand replaced them.
• The Snake-People attacked the walls with log ladders and siege towers while Yan Ci waited below, and their experts overwhelmed sections of the defenders.
• Lin Qu saw that the Snake-People had more powerful fighters than Anyuan could counter and leaped into battle, thrusting at a Snake-People Dou Ling.