Chapter Summaries

After Queen Cai Lin’s death, Yue Mei prepared the Snake-People Tribe for war and entered its Land of Inheritance to receive the queen’s baptism. There she met the ancient Ashes Queen, who revealed that the tribe must abandon its inherited secrets and focus on surviving in the Tagor Desert.

• Yue Mei defended Flower Snake from Du Qian Teng’s suspicion and ordered her to investigate the Queen’s Guard for whoever had leaked Cai Lin’s whereabouts.
• Yue Mei called for allied nations to join a war against the Gamma Empire, ordered the tribe to prepare, and warned them to guard against the Da Xia Dynasty.
• Flower Snake led Yue Mei into the Land of Inheritance, where Yue Mei opened a hidden passage with the royal seal and entered alone.
• An ancient woman emerged from a Bronze Coffin and identified herself as Ashes, the first Medusa Queen of this Snake-People branch.
• Yue Mei told Ashes that Cai Lin had died in an ambush while seeking the Azure Lotus Core Flame, and Ashes mourned her death.
• Ashes refused to pass down the tribe’s secrets, urged the queens to lead their people to survive in the Tagor Desert, and began Yue Mei’s inheritance baptism.

After settling the Mo Family dispute, Ye and his companions approached Gama City, where the Nalan Residence had arranged a Triumphant Return Ceremony. As they saw the grand welcome awaiting them, booming war drums suddenly sounded.

• Ye received a letter saying the Mo Family had paid compensation, Mo Cheng had resigned and secluded himself, and the Mo Family head had stepped down.
• Ye promised to compensate Qing Lin, while Xiao Meier remained dissatisfied that Mo Cheng had not been killed.
• The accompanying guards sent up the agreed signal, and Ye spotted Gama City prepared for his Triumphant Return Ceremony.
• Ye and the others saw the soldiers and banners lining the road into Gama City, and Xiao Yu teased Ye and Xiao Meier for being nervous.
• Thunderous war drums suddenly erupted, leaving the group momentarily dazed.

Nalan Ye prepared for a Triumphant Return Ceremony honoring his victory over the Snake-People Tribe Queen, only to learn that Nalan Su had named him the Nalan Family’s Heir Apparent. The chapter ended with Xiao Yu admiring his ceremonial armor as the group gathered outside the tent.

• Nalan Ye’s flying magical beast was frightened by the drums and singing, but its handler coaxed it down while the ceremony continued.
• Nalan Ye entered a tent to bathe and learned that Nalan Su had announced him as the Heir Apparent and planned a formal Capping Ceremony.
• The maidservants dressed Nalan Ye in crimson ceremonial armor and presented him with a treasured sword.
• Xiao Yan felt downcast at the grand ceremony, but Xun Er took his hand and cheered him up.
• Nalan Yiling and Qing Lin praised Nalan Ye’s appearance, and Xiao Yu tapped his armor and complimented it.

Yezi and Xiao Meier joined the Triumphant Return Ceremony in an ornate War Chariot, where they faced representatives of rival families and forces. After Yezi steadied the nervous Xiao Meier, both sides exchanged salutes and sang a poem, leaving the ceremony poised to continue.

• Xiao Meier emerged dressed in luxurious clothes, surprising Yezi, Xiao Yu, Yi Ling, and Xun Er with her beauty.
• Yezi helped Xiao Meier board his four-horse War Chariot, and the procession moved to the front of the four-hundred-man formation.
• Yezi and Xiao Meier stood before the soldiers as they sang during the Triumphant Return Ceremony.
• Seven War Chariots representing the Miteer Family, the Mu Family, and five other forces approached Yezi's chariot.
• Yezi reassured the anxious Xiao Meier and reminded her of the poem they had practiced.
• The two groups exchanged salutes and sang a poem about brotherhood together.

Ye Jun’s triumphal procession entered Gama City amid cheers, then proceeded to the imperial palace to meet Emperor Mo Lin Gama. The chapter ended as an official announced that the emperor was waiting inside.

• Ye Jun’s grand procession approached Gama City, and Nalan soldiers and citizens bowed and cheered for him.
• Ye Jun felt overwhelmed by the crowd’s acclaim and wondered whether powerful Dou Zong and Dou Saints would value such praise.
• Ye Jun exchanged a smile with Ran Lu Gama, commander of the City Defense Army, as the procession passed through the city gate.
• Ye Jun’s procession toured Gama City and then dismounted outside the imperial palace, where an official led the group inside.
• Ye Jun and Xiao Meier admired the palace’s castle-like architecture, and the official announced that Mo Lin Gama was waiting.

Nalan Ye met Emperor Mo Lin and Princess Yao Ye, then learned from an Eastern Front dispatch that Snake-People had been spotted in the Chuyun Empire. He warned that the Snake-People might ally with Chuyun against the Gamma Empire and urged preparations for war.

• Nalan Ye entered the imperial hall and greeted Emperor Mo Lin, who introduced him to Princess Yao Ye as the Empire's hero.
• Yao Ye praised Nalan Ye for killing the Medusa Queen, while he modestly denied being a hero.
• Mo Lin showed Nalan Ye General Jianwei's dispatch reporting that spies had found traces of Snake-People in the Chuyun Empire.
• Nalan Ye suggested the Snake-People might be seeking an alliance with Chuyun, since Medusa's death had left their tribe weakened.
• Nalan Ye proposed sending envoys to Chuyun and the Seventeen Nations Pact signatories, while gathering supplies, forming troops, and strengthening city defenses for war.

After a lavish banquet at the Nalan Residence, the narrator got drunk and dreamed of his former life, where he encountered a seemingly real Medusa in a classroom. Medusa began investigating the unfamiliar place and its books while the narrator realized he might not be dreaming.

• The narrator invited Yao Ye to the Nalan Residence, where a banquet with a thousand tables celebrated his return and new status.
• After getting drunk, the narrator fell asleep and dreamed of places from his former life and a classroom where Medusa appeared as a teacher.
• Medusa came to life, asked where she was, and questioned the narrator about the unfamiliar surroundings.
• The narrator panicked when Medusa's gaze felt real, and he fled across the classroom, demanding to know who she was.
• Medusa examined textbooks whose contents reflected the narrator's memories and remarked that the books contained writing she could not understand.

Nalan Ye found himself trapped in a strange dream with Medusa, who revealed she intended to erase his soul and take his body. After Medusa inferred that he had lived in another world, he claimed his Nalan Family had discovered a Small World left by a Dou Saint, and she pressed him for its treasures.

• Nalan Ye recognized Medusa and panicked when she transformed into her snake-tailed form inside the classroom.
• Medusa explained that she had planned to erase Nalan Ye's soul and seize his body but had become curious about him and the dream.
• Medusa noticed the classroom came from Nalan Ye's memories and questioned whether he was an outsider who had taken over the real Nalan Ye.
• Nalan Ye denied being an outsider and claimed his family had found a Dou Saint's Small World where he had spent time.
• Medusa demanded to know whether Nalan Ye had found cultivation methods, techniques, or treasures in the Small World.
• Medusa tried to bewitch Nalan Ye into describing the Small World.

The protagonist became trapped in a soul battle with Medusa, where both repeatedly revived in a dreamlike version of his former world. After his modern weapons failed to stop her, he revived again in a classroom and prepared to risk a new strategy.

• Medusa tried to draw the protagonist into revealing the Small World, but he resisted her soul attack and slashed her neck.
• The protagonist proposed a deal, but Medusa attacked and killed him with her sword.
• He revived in a schoolyard, summoned Gatling Bodhisattva, and shot Medusa into starlight before she returned behind a tower shield and killed him with a javelin.
• The protagonist revived again, summoned a Type 99A tank, and was killed when Medusa's javelins pierced its armor and his body.
• He revived for a third time in a dim classroom and decided he had to gamble on a different approach.

Nalan Jie created a massive metal sphere in Medusa’s dream world and used it to threaten her into surrendering. He reasoned that breaking the world might let him escape and seek help, but as they faced off, he searched for another way to make Medusa yield.

• Nalan Jie hid inside a sealed Metal Fortress and created a small metal sphere by recalling the principles of a nuclear bomb.
• Medusa attacked the fortress, but Nalan Jie expanded the sphere with soul power and stopped her when she sensed its threat.
• Medusa warned that using the sphere might exhaust Nalan Jie’s soul power and offered to spare him if he let her imprint his soul.
• Nalan Jie refused and demanded that Medusa accept his imprint instead, arguing that outside help would kill her.
• As neither backed down, Nalan Jie wondered whether the sphere could break the dream world and began considering how to tempt Medusa into surrendering.

The narrator claimed to Medusa that he came from another world and had once been the powerful Keyboard Emperor, then tried to persuade her to follow him. After sensing the power within his Big Iron Ball, Medusa considered his claims, and he promised to help the Snake-People Tribe reclaim its ancestral homeland.

• The narrator told Medusa that the classroom scene was from his homeland and that he had come from beyond the Dou Qi Continent.
• Medusa suspected he was an Extraterrestrial Demon and questioned how he had crossed the starry sky and why he had come.
• The narrator claimed he had been the Keyboard Emperor and promised Medusa he would rise to rule the Dou Qi Continent again.
• Medusa doubted his promises, so the narrator presented the Big Iron Ball as proof of his power and knowledge.
• Medusa sensed immense power inside the Big Iron Ball and asked what she would gain by following him.
• The narrator promised to help the Snake-People Tribe defeat its ancient enemies, return to its ancestral homeland, and become his guard clan.

Ye Er defeated Medusa in a soul battle by bluffing with the Big Iron Ball, then bound her remnant soul and returned to the Nalan Residence. The next day, he confirmed Medusa could hear and observe him, and his mother confronted him about bringing home a little fiancée.

• Ye Er persuaded Medusa to submit, branded her Soul Origin with his Soul Imprint, and ended the Soul Battle in victory.
• Medusa dispelled her Dou Technique, sending Ye Er back to his room in the Nalan Residence, where he decided to keep pretending to be an otherworldly expert.
• The next morning, Ye Er called for Medusa and confirmed she remained in his mind and could hear him and see his surroundings.
• Ye Er ate with Sun Er, who told him she had reached the seventh stage of Dou Qi and could no longer buy Foundation Establishment Liquid.
• Ye Er's mother arrived and asked whether he had brought his little fiancée home.

Nalan Ye stopped Nalan Family members from provoking Xiao Yan by invoking Qing Lin’s status as a Guest Elder and sending them to be punished. After apologizing to Xiao Yan, Nalan Ye asked Xiao Meier to meet his parents over dinner that night.

• Nalan Family youths mocked Xiao Yan and the Xiao Family at their guest courtyard, and Xiao Yan prepared to fight their leader.
• Nalan Ye intervened, threatened the youths with punishment, and identified Qing Lin as the Nalan Family’s newly recruited Guest Elder.
• The youths left to face the Punishment Elder, and Nalan Ye apologized to Xiao Yan for their behavior.
• Xiao Yan thanked Nalan Ye for preventing a fight, while Xiao Yu dismissed his praise of her.
• Nalan Ye invited Xiao Meier to dinner with his parents that night.

Xiao Meier and the narrator agreed to postpone their wedding until after she graduated from Canaan Academy, while Xiao Yan insisted on facing Nalan Yanran. Nalan Yanran arrived with news that Snake-People experts had been spotted in the Chuyun Empire, and the Great Elder had gone to the imperial palace to address the threat.

• The narrator told Xiao Meier that he had rejected his mother's proposal to marry before she went to Canaan Academy, and they agreed to wait until after her studies.
• The narrator noticed Xun Er envying Xiao Meier's engagement as the household gathered in the hall.
• A maid announced Nalan Yanran's arrival, and Xiao Yan insisted she be allowed inside rather than letting the narrator speak with her privately.
• The narrator welcomed Nalan Yanran and gave her Yun Yun's scroll, which she had come to retrieve.
• Nalan Yanran told the narrator that Snake-People experts had been spotted within the Chuyun Empire and that Yun Leng had gone to the palace to discuss the military report.

Ye introduced Nalan Yanran to the Xiao Family, where Xiao Yan challenged her to a battle over their broken engagement. The two faced off in the courtyard, and Xiao Yan opened the match with Fire Palm.

• Nalan Yanran entered the hall with Ye and greeted Xiao Yan, Xiao Xun'er, Xiao Yu, Xiao Meier, and Qing Lin.
• Xiao Yan challenged Nalan Yanran to a battle, and she said he was no match for her before he left the hall to fight outside.
• Ye urged Nalan Yanran to accept Xiao Yan's challenge and told her that Xiao Yan still hated her.
• Xiao Meier showed distress over the conflict between the Xiao and Nalan families, and Ye comforted her before leading her and Qing Lin outside.
• Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran faced each other in the courtyard, and Xiao Yan attacked with his Fire Palm technique.

Xiao Yan and Nalan Yanran fought, and he briefly gained an advantage with his Mystic Heavy Ruler before her superior cultivation and sword techniques overwhelmed him. The chapter left Xiao Yan injured and sprawled in a flower bed while Nalan Yanran stood unharmed, looking toward his fallen ruler.

• Xiao Yan praised Nalan Yanran’s swordsmanship after she deflected his opening attack with a precise strike.
• Xiao Yan used Yao Lao’s ruler techniques to press down on Nalan Yanran’s sword, but she forced his Mystic Heavy Ruler away with her battle qi.
• Nalan Yanran used Wind Spirit Transformation Sword to send three sword lights at Xiao Yan, forcing him to evade.
• Nalan Yanran revealed a fourth sword light as her true attack, and Xiao Yan tried to counter it with Eight Extremities Collapse.
• Nalan Yanran’s sword light blasted Xiao Yan into a pavilion pillar and flower bed, while she remained standing with her sword in hand.

Xiao Yan continued fighting Nalan Yanran despite his injuries, hoping to turn the duel around with Eight Extremities Collapse. Nalan Yanran outmaneuvered his attack and struck him again, leaving him battered as she waited for him to recover.

• Xun Er rushed to Xiao Yan's side after Nalan Yanran defeated him, but Xiao Yan told her to stay back and insisted he had not lost.
• Xiao Yan ignored the narrator's warning and charged at Nalan Yanran with Eight Extremities Collapse.
• Xiao Yan dodged two Wind Spirit Transformation Sword attacks and closed in on Nalan Yanran.
• Nalan Yanran feinted with her sword and secretly launched Thousand Wind Qi at Xiao Yan.
• Xiao Yan blocked the three sword qi with the Mystic Heavy Ruler, but their force made him stumble and spit blood.

After losing to Nalan Yanran, Xiao Yan challenged her to fight again in three years, and Xun'er encouraged him to train at Canaan Academy. The narrator left the courtyard with Xiao Meier, Xiao Yu, and Qing Lin to explore Gama City, where they stopped at Chen Jin's rouge and powder shop.

• Xiao Yan admitted defeat, then challenged Nalan Yanran to a rematch in three years after he trained at Canaan Academy, and she accepted.
• Xun'er comforted Xiao Yan and restored his confidence, and he vowed to defeat Nalan Yanran.
• The narrator took Xiao Meier, Xiao Yu, and Qing Lin into Gama City's busy streets, where Xiao Yu enjoyed the performances and shopping.
• The group entered Chen Jin's, a famous rouge and powder shop, and Xiao Yu teased the narrator for bringing the girls there.

At Chen Jin's, Nalan Ye teased Xiao Yu about preferring weapons to rouge, then offered to request armor and weapons for her from the Nalan Family Treasury. Xiao Yu's hopes faded when he admitted the Weapon Crafting Elder would have to approve the gifts, and Meier asked what they had been discussing.

• Xiao Yu rejected the cosmetics at Chen Jin's and demanded that Nalan Ye buy her armor and other weapons at the Mitre Auction House.
• Nalan Ye refused to spend a fortune on magic core armor, and Xiao Yu became dejected as she reflected on the limited equipment she had.
• Feeling sorry for Xiao Yu, Nalan Ye offered to give her Tier 3 magic core gear from the Nalan Family Treasury as a guest gift.
• Xiao Yu eagerly asked Nalan Ye to tell his father, but he explained that the Weapon Crafting Elder controlled the weapons and would need to agree.
• Meier asked Nalan Ye and Xiao Yu what they had been talking about so happily.

Ye Gege took Xiao Meier, Xiao Yu, and Qing Lin shopping for supplies and gifts, preparing Meier for the dangers of Canaan Academy. After they returned to the Nalan Residence, he nervously told Meier to get ready for an ordinary dinner with his mother.

• Xiao Meier bought rouge and powder, while Xiao Yu warned that Canaan Academy was dangerous and Meier should prepare armor, weapons, and pills.
• Ye Gege promised Xiao Yu a set of stylish armor and took the group to the Mitre Auction House to buy supplies for the sisters.
• The group ate lunch and shopped for jewelry and clothes before returning to the Nalan Residence in the evening.
• At a fork in the path, Ye Gege told Xiao Meier to bathe and change before a maidservant escorted her to dinner, and he advised her not to use their new purchases.
• Embarrassed, Ye Gege hurried back to his courtyard as Xiao Yu stifled her laughter.