Chapter Summaries

After Nalan Ye's death at Fox Pass, the Nalan Family prepared to raise an army for revenge, while the Chuyun Empire and its allied sects planned to exploit the Gamma Empire's mobilization and invade. Jin Lu'er arrived at the Chuyun court as the parties prepared to discuss the war.

• Nalan Tu refused to bring Nalan Ye's body back from Fox Pass and vowed to watch his father avenge him.
• Nalan Su announced Nalan Jie's order to gather one hundred thousand troops within a month, and Nalan Tu volunteered to join the campaign.
• The Nalan elders began organizing troops, weapons, medicine, supplies, and support from allied families.
• The Chuyun Emperor and the masters of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate and Wu Tian Mansion discussed invading while the Gamma Empire mobilized forces for Anbei City.
• The Chuyun leaders agreed the war could be fought, and Jin Lu'er arrived to discuss the campaign.

Nalan Yanran led Yun Lan Sect disciples and elite 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 clash with a young man claiming the Huang Family would take every medicinal ingredient in the shop.

• Nalan Yanran descended Yun Lan Mountain with over two hundred Yun Lan Sect disciples and was met by Nan Lai, who had orders to escort her north with ten thousand elite cavalry.
• Xiao Yan killed a Crimson Flame Wolf with Eight Extremities Collapse, but found no magic core in its corpse.
• Yao Lao told Xiao Yan to leave the Winged Palace Mountain Range after nearly a month there, and Xiao Yan reached a nearby town the next day.
• Xiao Yan spotted Blood Lotus Essence in an apothecary and asked the clerk to take it out for him.
• A richly dressed young man entered with armed men, claimed the Huang Family wanted every medicinal ingredient in the shop, and ordered Xiao Yan and the others thrown out.

Xiao Yan tried to buy a piece of Blood Lotus Essence, but the shopkeeper refused to sell it because the Huang Family had claimed the medicinal ingredients for its volunteer army. When Xian Yu revealed that Nalan Ye and several generals had died in a Snake-People ambush, Xiao Yan learned that Xiao Ding was among the dead.

• Xiao Yan offered nine gold coins for the piece of Blood Lotus Essence, but the shopkeeper refused to sell it to him because Huang Lu wanted all the medicinal ingredients.
• Huang Lu insisted that the Huang Family would take every ingredient in the shop, and Xiao Yan prepared to use force to get the herb.
• Xian Yu and his mercenary companions offered to join the Huang Family's volunteer army, which was preparing to fight the Snake-People.
• Xian Yu told Xiao Yan that Nalan Ye and more than two thousand others had died in a northern ambush.
• Xiao Yan demanded the names of the dead generals, and Xian Yu named Wang Xin, Li Ke Si, Luo Bu, and Xiao Ding.

Huang Lu brought Xiao Yan to meet Huang Song, who agreed to take him north with the Huang Family army. After a two-month march, Xiao Yan reached Rike City, where Nalan Yanran told him the Xiao Family was stationed elsewhere.

• Huang Lu introduced Xiao Yan to Huang Song as an Alchemist willing to join the campaign against the Snake-People Tribe.
• Xiao Yan grieved over his First Brother’s death and vowed to avenge him, while Yao Lao urged him to travel north with the Huang Family army.
• The Huang Family army joined other forces, reorganized, and marched for two months to Rike City under the Anbei Protectorate.
• Xiao Yan arrived at Rike City with the army and recognized Nalan Yanran among the riders who came out to meet them.
• Nalan Yanran told Xiao Yan that the Xiao Family was stationed at Pingwang Beacon Tower, not Rike City.

After more than two months in hiding, the narrator advanced to Three-Star Dou Shi and confronted Xiao Ding about sacrificing two thousand soldiers to the Snake-People. He defended their deaths as a prelude to the coming war, while Xiao Ding remained furious.

• The narrator used pills and the Vast Thunder Skill to break through to Three-Star Dou Shi.
• The narrator left his cultivation chamber in the God Hall and found Xiao Ding cultivating nearby.
• Xiao Ding accused the narrator of sending two thousand soldiers to die beneath the Snake-People's blades.
• The narrator argued that Gamma Empire faced a great upheaval and that countless soldiers and civilians would die regardless.

Mu Tie assessed the growing Chuyun threat on the Eastern Front, then left the central sector to notify Man Meisi as reinforcements arrived in the south. Man An launched the first attack against Nanwu City, where Anke Molaini prepared to defend the city and summon reinforcements.

• Zhao Heng urged Mu Tie to redirect troops to the Eastern Front, but Mu Tie told him to hold the central sector while he left to notify Man Meisi of the reinforcements.
• After inferring that Mu Tie planned to target Shangchen City and its supply route, Zhao Heng realized the potential impact of burning the city.
• The General Zhennan Residence received forty thousand reinforcements, bringing its force to ninety thousand soldiers.
• Man An led sixty thousand troops to attack Nanwu City, leaving thirty thousand behind to guard the position.
• Anke Molaini ordered beacon smoke lit, messengers sent for reinforcements, and Nanwu City's gates sealed.

While bathing in the Snake-People Holy City, the narrator received a report from Anbei City about Mu Tie’s raid on Chuyun forces. Yue Mei warned that the delay could expose the secret behind the Snake-People Empire’s standoff with Gamma, but the Chuyun forces still had supplies stored elsewhere.

• The narrator soaked in the bath and touched a young snake-person girl’s tail, making her glare at him.
• Yue Mei arrived, dismissed the two girls, and gave the narrator a scroll 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 Chuyun supplies.
• Yue Mei explained that the Snake-People Tribe had faced Gamma’s army at the border for nearly three months while Chuyun’s envoys urged it to attack south.
• The narrator noted that Chuyun had stored supplies in other cities, so the loss at Shangchen City had not greatly affected its operations.

After the Chuyun Empire committed its forces to the war against Gamma, Nalan Ye confronted its envoy in the Snake-People God Hall and revealed the alliance between Gamma and the Snake-People Tribe. He offered the envoy safety in exchange for surrender, but the envoy attacked him instead.

• The Chuyun Empire launched a full-scale assault on Gamma, and its forces grew to around seven hundred thousand as Gamma lost another city.
• Nalan Ye learned that the Chuyun army had received its final reinforcements and decided his plan could begin.
• The Chuyun Envoy questioned Yue Mei about the Snake-People Tribe’s delay in attacking Gamma, and Yue Mei blamed unfinished siege engines.
• Nalan Ye entered the hall and revealed himself; the envoy realized the Snake-People Tribe had secretly allied with Gamma and that the war was a deception.
• Nalan Ye offered the envoy and his family safety if he surrendered, but the envoy pretended to accept before attacking Nalan Ye with his Banner Staff.

After Chen Qi refused to surrender, Yue Mei had Flower Snake execute him, and the Snake-People prepared to move their army toward the Chuyun border. Nalan Heir Apparent then persuaded the remaining Chuyun delegation to submit, with Wu Yan emerging to offer his obedience.

• Ling Ying stopped Chen Qi from striking Nalan Heir Apparent, and Chen Qi refused to surrender despite being offered forgiveness.
• Yue Mei ordered Flower Snake to kill Chen Qi, who died after three moves.
• Nalan Heir Apparent urged Yue Mei to move the Snake-People army from the Gamma border to the Chuyun border.
• Yue Mei sent Flower Snake with Nalan Heir Apparent to approach the Chuyun delegation in the eastern courtyard.
• Nalan Heir Apparent offered the delegation safety and rewards for surrender, and Wu Yan emerged to accept his commands.

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 overwhelmed the defenders with superior numbers and experts, Lin Qu finally entered the battle himself.

• Yan Ci taunted Lin Qu with the severed head of a commander, while I assured Wu Yan that he would be spared if Lin Qu refused to surrender.
• Lin Qu rejected Yan Ci's demand and urged the defenders to fight to the death, so Yan Ci ordered the siege to begin.
• Snake-People siege troops cleared Anyuan City's outer defenses under heavy fire, suffering two thousand dead and wounded before rotating in fresh troops.
• I watched the Snake-People execute a flawless troop handover and concluded that Yan Ci was not the army's true commander.
• Twenty thousand Snake-People attacked the walls with ladders and siege towers, while their powerful fighters slaughtered defenders and opened paths for more soldiers.
• Lin Qu leaped into the fight and drove his spear at a Snake-People Dou Ling.

Lin Qu and the defenders of Anyuan City repelled repeated Snake-People assaults before facing a fresh, rested army in a decisive attack. As Lin Qu and Yan Ci began their duel, the narrator and Ling Ying watched the brutal battle and reflected on how little it mattered to the wider world.

• Lin Qu wounded Dou Ling and helped drive the Snake-People from Anyuan City's walls, but successive armies continued the siege and exhausted the defenders.
• A rested force of thirty thousand Snake-People advanced on the city with siege weapons while Yan Ci led two thousand elite troops beneath his banner.
• Lin Qu rallied the Chuyun soldiers to fight to the death as Yan Ci challenged him, and the two Dou Wangs clashed in the sky.
• The narrator asked Ling Ying to assess the duel and the battle, and Ling Ying compared the fighting to ants struggling over a nest.
• The narrator considered how the war would be forgotten beyond the neighboring lands and recalled a sculpture made from the tunnels and corpses of an ant colony.

After the Snake-People Tribe captured Anyuan City and the other northern passes, Yue Mei’s commanders identified Yushui City as the key to advancing south along the Yushui River. The chapter ended with an urgent report that Yan Leng’s force had been wiped out at Tiantu City.

• Yan Ci killed Lin Qu, and the Snake-People army captured Anyuan City after days of street fighting.
• The Snake-People Tribe occupied the northern border passes and gathered four hundred thousand troops along the Chuyun Empire’s frontier.
• Yue Mei’s commander explained that Yushui City controlled the route south along the Yushui River and had to be captured.
• An urgent report announced that the more than eight thousand troops under Yan Leng had been completely wiped out while attacking Tiantu City.

After the Snake-People army was wiped out by the Toxic Sect, Nalan Ye recognized the sect’s name and planned to visit its master, his old friend Little Fairy Doctor. The dispute also showed Yue Mei’s growing authority, leaving Nalan Ye wondering whether Cai Lin could reclaim the Snake-People Tribe if she returned to life.

• A report revealed that the Toxic Sect had poisoned and killed more than eight thousand Snake-People soldiers who attacked Tiantu City.
• Nalan Ye recognized the Toxic Sect’s name and told Yue Mei that its master might be an old friend he had met two years earlier.
• Yan Ci demanded permission to avenge the fallen soldiers, but Nalan Ye warned that the sect master was a poison-attributed Dou Emperor and that the Snake-People lacked the strength to defeat them easily.
• Yan Ci threatened Nalan Ye over his role in the former queen’s death, but Ling Ying protected him and Yue Mei ordered Yan Ci to stand down.
• Nalan Ye said he would go to Tiantu City to try to persuade the sect master not to become his enemy, then wondered whether Cai Lin could rule again if she returned to life.

Xiao Yan learned that Xiao Ding and Nalan Ye were alive, but Nalan Yanran persuaded him to stay involved in the war to protect the Xiao Family. Meanwhile, Qing Yue prepared a girl resembling Qing Lin for a secret plan in Gama City.

• Nalan Yanran told Xiao Yan that Xiao Ding and Nalan Ye were alive and that Xiao Ding remained in Snake-People Holy City to earn military merit.
• Xiao Yan decided to go find Xiao Ding, but Nalan Yanran reminded him that the Chuyun Empire still threatened the Gamma Empire and the Xiao Family.
• Xiao Yan turned back and asked Yao Lao how he had failed to realize Xiao Ding had faked his death.
• Lu Man returned to Qing Yue with an unconscious girl resembling Qing Lin, and Qing Yue ordered her to be dressed exactly like Qing Lin.
• A burly man appeared and told Lu Man that the master's plan could finally begin.

Qing Yue and Long Xi staged a battle in Gama City to cover Heavenly Snake Mansion’s abduction of Qing Lin and make her presumed dead. After the pair destroyed Nalan Residence, they fled the city, leaving its citizens to evacuate amid widespread destruction.

• Qing Yue met the disguised Long Xi in his calligraphy shop, and they clashed, killing the shop’s customers and destroying the lane.
• Tengshan Mitre and Jia Xingtian recognized that two Dou Zong experts were fighting and began tearing down sections of the city wall to help evacuate Gama City.
• Lu Man and Bai Ya switched the real Qing Lin for a fake at Nalan Residence and carried the unconscious girl out of the city.
• Qing Yue and Long Xi fought over Nalan Residence, destroying it and making the fake Qing Lin appear to have died in the battle.
• Long Xi fled and Qing Yue pursued him, leaving Gama City in ruins.

Nalan Ye and Ling Ying reached Tiantu City, where Nalan Ye reunited with Little Fairy Doctor, now the Poison Sect Master. He tried to persuade her to stop fighting the Snake-People, and their conversation ended with him explaining why he had never become an alchemist.

• Nalan Ye reflected on the eight thousand Snake-People skeletons outside Tiantu City before continuing toward the city with Ling Ying.
• Nalan Ye asked the guards to tell Little Fairy Doctor about the materials worth thirteen thousand gold coins he had bought for her.
• Little Fairy Doctor recognized Nalan Ye on the city wall, questioned how he had survived, and ordered the gates opened.
• Nalan Ye met Little Fairy Doctor in the City Lord's Mansion and confirmed that the Gamma Empire had allied with the Snake-People.
• Nalan Ye urged Little Fairy Doctor to stop fighting, then admitted he was angry that she had left with his belongings and never became his alchemy assistant.
• Little Fairy Doctor asked whether Nalan Ye had become an Alchemist, and he explained that his lightning and wood attributes did not meet the requirements.

With Chuyun caught between the Gamma Empire and the Snake-People Tribe, Anke Lai Ni killed his brothers and proposed founding the Morning Dawn Empire. He sought an alliance with the Snake-People Tribe that would trade Chuyun’s territory for its neutrality in a war against Gamma.

• Man Meisi ordered Chuyun’s seven hundred thousand troops to retreat home after learning that the Snake-People Tribe had betrayed Chuyun and invaded.
• Anke Lai Ni’s brothers, Aqi Er and Bei Te, dismissed his concerns about the crisis and mocked his earlier military failure.
• Anke invited Aqi Er and Bei Te to a gathering, poisoned their wine, and killed them along with their trusted generals.
• Anke summoned Xie Shan and Wu Ya and asked whether Chuyun could survive a combined attack by the Snake-People Tribe and Gamma.
• Anke proposed founding the Morning Dawn Empire with Chuyun’s troops, the Ten Thousand Scorpion Gate, and Wu Tian Mansion, and offering Chuyun’s lands to the Snake-People Tribe in exchange for its neutrality toward Gamma.

An Ke persuaded Xie Shan and Wu Ya to help him seize the Gamma Empire, but the two sect masters secretly decided to kill him and install Man Meisi as emperor. As the Chuyun army launched a desperate assault, the two sects' experts clashed with Yun Yun, Hai Bodong, and the Gamma Empire's other defenders.

• An Ke won Xie Shan and Wu Ya's support for an alliance with the Snake-People Tribe and a campaign to conquer the Gamma Empire.
• After leaving An Ke, Xie Shan and Wu Ya agreed that he was too dangerous to let live and considered Man Meisi as a replacement emperor.
• Xie Shan and Wu Ya purged generals loyal to the Chuyun Emperor while An Ke spread rumors to frighten the Gama Army.
• The Chuyun army attacked Mu Tie's defenses relentlessly, then sent a rested force of one hundred thousand soldiers into battle.
• Xie Shan and Wu Ya led their sects' experts against Yun Yun, Hai Bodong, and the Gamma Empire's other fighters, beginning a major battle.

Nalan Ye and Little Fairy Doctor discussed her past, the war, and what might end it, until a carrier pigeon brought news of a disaster in Gama City. The letter said Qing Lin had died after two Dou Zong experts’ battle devastated the city.

• Little Fairy Doctor told Nalan Ye that she had founded the Poison Sect for self-defense and described how she cultivated in the Monster Mountain Range before traveling to the Chuyun Empire.
• Nalan Ye reminded Little Fairy Doctor that her compassion for others had remained unchanged, and they discussed the causes of war and whether it could ever be stopped.
• A junior officer brought in a carrier pigeon, and Nalan Ye recognized it as one of his family’s and read the letter it carried.
• The letter reported that two Dou Zong experts had fought in Gama City, leaving several streets destroyed and tens of thousands dead or injured.
• Nalan Ye learned that Qing Lin had died and wondered whether his actions had changed her fate.

Nalan Ye learned that Qing Lin had died and that the Gama army had suffered a catastrophic defeat, threatening his family and disrupting his plans for the war. He persuaded Little Fairy Doctor to help and left with her and Ling Ying for Anyuan City.

• Nalan Ye reassured Little Fairy Doctor that his family had suffered limited losses, then read that two Dou Zongs with Central State origins were suspected of killing Qing Lin.
• Nalan Ye received news that Mu Tie's four hundred thousand soldiers had been routed by Chuyun's seven hundred thousand troops, forcing Mu Tie to form a new defensive line.
• Nalan Ye told Little Fairy Doctor that Gama City and his family were in danger, and she agreed to help him.
• Nalan Ye, Little Fairy Doctor, and Ling Ying left Tiantu City and flew north toward Anyuan City.
• Little Fairy Doctor revealed that she had recently reached One-Star Dou Emperor, while Nalan Ye was a Three-Star Dou Shi.