Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan explained Dragon Shadow Bookstore’s structure to Tushan Yaya, then declared across Tushan that he had come to court Tushan Honghong for marriage. Tushan Honghong appeared and attacked him, but her fist passed through his body as she moved to shield Tushan Yaya.

• Lu Yuan told Tushan Yaya that Dragon Shadow Bookstore had informants rather than spies, and explained how its forces and information network worked.
• Lu Yuan argued that Tushan Honghong’s feelings for the Little Daoist came from guilt, while Tushan Yaya warned him that he could not succeed in courting her sister.
• Lu Yuan sensed Tushan Honghong nearby, asked Tushan Yaya to bear witness, and publicly announced that he had come to court Miss Tushan Honghong for marriage.
• Tushan Honghong appeared and ordered Lu Yuan to shut up, then punched him when he amplified his apology across Tushan.
• Tushan Honghong’s fist passed through Lu Yuan, and she moved in front of Tushan Yaya to shield her.

Tushan Honghong halted negotiations with Lu Yuan after suspecting he had ties to the Black Foxes, but he refused to leave and demanded both a marriage alliance and information about them. Tushan Honghong returned to Tushan to reconsider, while Tushan Rongrong concluded that Lu Yuan sought a binding pact against the Black Foxes.

• Tushan Honghong questioned Lu Yuan about his connection to the Black Foxes, and he refused to answer directly.
• Tushan Honghong suspended negotiations and ordered Lu Yuan to leave, but he challenged her and insisted on staying.
• Lu Yuan demanded that Tushan Honghong marry him and tell him about the Black Foxes; he gave her three days before the One Qi Dao Alliance went to war with Tushan.
• Tushan Honghong took Tushan Yaya back to Tushan, leaving Lu Yuan to wait and drink.
• Tushan Rongrong questioned Tushan Yaya and concluded that Lu Yuan was neither allied with the Black Foxes nor with Tushan, and that he wanted a marriage alliance as a token of mutual allegiance.

Tushan Rongrong urged Tushan Honghong to consider marrying Lu Yuan to protect Tushan, then took her in disguise to learn what people thought amid spreading rumors. Meanwhile, Tushan Yaya confronted Lu Yuan, who explained his possessive feelings for Honghong and hinted at the world’s damage, before teasing Yaya until she angrily ordered him to look away.

• Tushan Rongrong argued that refusing Lu Yuan could leave Tushan vulnerable to the One Qi Dao Alliance, while Tushan Honghong struggled with her guilt and Tushan Yaya supported her refusal.
• Lu Yuan’s rumors stirred panic in Tushan City, while he secretly contained reports that the One Qi Dao Alliance might attack Tushan.
• Tushan Rongrong chose not to suppress the rumors and persuaded Tushan Honghong to disguise herself so they could hear the public’s opinions.
• Tushan Yaya flew to Lu Yuan and challenged him, then asked whether he truly loved Tushan Honghong; Lu Yuan described his feelings as strong possessiveness and spoke of the world’s damage and Ascension.
• Tushan Yaya took Lu Yuan’s wine away and urged him to persuade Tushan Honghong instead of drinking, but he teased her until she blushed and demanded that he turn around and close his eyes.

Tushan Honghong wrestled with the rumors surrounding her possible marriage to Lu Yuan and decided to meet him despite the political risks. Tushan Rongrong questioned Lu Yuan about his motives and relationships, then prepared to ask her final question.

• At a teahouse, Tushan Honghong and Tushan Rongrong discussed how rumors had made Tushan's alliance with the One Qi Dao Alliance seem inevitable, while Tushan Honghong admitted she could not accept marrying Lu Yuan.
• After overhearing demons argue that Tushan's destruction would end their hopes of reuniting with reincarnated lovers, Tushan Honghong acknowledged Tushan Rongrong was right but decided to visit Lu Yuan.
• On a mountaintop, Lu Yuan drank with Tushan Yaya and resolved to risk his life to prove his sincerity to Tushan Honghong.
• Tushan Rongrong arrived and asked Lu Yuan whether his proposal came from affection or political calculation; he said affection was his primary motive while admitting the political benefits mattered.
• Tushan Rongrong challenged Lu Yuan about having multiple wives despite Tushan's commitment to one partner, and Lu Yuan defended his relationships as sincere before she prepared her final question.

Lu Yuan faced Tushan Honghong’s deadly test to prove his feelings, while Honghong struggled between her lingering obsession with the dead daoist and her duty to protect Tushan. After warning Lu Yuan of the consequences and bringing him to the ice cavern, Honghong demanded to see his heart, and he answered by taking her hand and kissing her.

• Tushan Rongrong challenged Lu Yuan to prove his feelings through his actions, and he explained that he had prepared for his death and that the world’s movement toward unification would continue without him.
• Tushan Rongrong brought Tushan Yaya to the ice cavern, where Tushan Honghong confided that she could not tell whether her attachment to the dead daoist was love, guilt, or obsession.
• Tushan Honghong concluded that Tushan could not risk war with the One Qi Dao Alliance and invited Lu Yuan into the cavern, while Tushan Rongrong warned him not to regret his choice.
• At the ice coffin, Tushan Honghong told Lu Yuan how the daoist had saved her and how she had killed him, then asked whether Lu Yuan still liked her and whether he accepted the risk to himself and his three wives.
• Lu Yuan took Tushan Honghong’s hand, stepped toward her, and kissed her.

Tushan Honghong tried to save Lu Yuan after shattering his heart, using her own blood vessels to keep his circulation going while his sisters prepared treatment. Lu Yuan woke and explained that his dragon blood was transforming Honghong and that his own strength meant the injury was not fatal, leaving the group to continue treating him with the crisis eased.

• Tushan Honghong used her wrist vessels to replace Lu Yuan's shattered heart and keep blood flowing while Tushan Rongrong treated his heart channels.
• Tushan Rongrong noticed silver markings spreading across Tushan Honghong's neck and showed them to her in a water mirror.
• Lu Yuan woke after Tushan Honghong loosened her bite, stopped feeding her blood, and reassured her that the markings signified bloodline evolution.
• Tushan Rongrong explained the group's plan to repair Lu Yuan's heart, but Lu Yuan stepped back and said they had overlooked the nature of his blood.
• Lu Yuan revealed that he was a Human-Dragon Hybrid whose power involved space, and explained that dragon blood would complete Tushan Honghong's Insulation Claw and that his vitality could withstand a shattered heart.

Lu Yuan explained how he could survive Tushan Honghong’s attack, then helped repair her injuries and eased her pain from absorbing dragon blood. As Honghong entered seclusion, Lu Yuan and the others discussed a card game that could create new commercial opportunities for Tushan.

• Lu Yuan explained that his control over water and metal could stop his bleeding and let him rebuild his heart, and he reassured Tushan Honghong that he had not staged the injury to deceive her.
• Tushan Honghong pulled her hand from Lu Yuan’s chest, and he rebuilt his heart before soothing her dragon-blood pain and carrying her back to Tushan City.
• Tushan Rongrong chose not to expose Honghong’s pretense of sleeping, while Tushan Yaya and Cuiyu Ling arrived and saw Lu Yuan carrying her.
• Tushan Honghong entered seclusion, and Lu Yuan, Tushan Yaya, Tushan Rongrong, and Cuiyu Ling played his new card game outside her room.
• Tushan Rongrong recognized the card game’s commercial potential and considered how Tushan could benefit from producing it as the changing era made economic influence more important.

Tushan Rongrong weighed Tushan’s precarious position and agreed to let Lu Yuan promote his game in the city. Tushan Honghong emerged from seclusion having advanced to Demon Emperor level and mastered space enough to escape confinement, and Lu Yuan began explaining practical spatial techniques.

• Tushan Rongrong considered the danger of Tushan relying on Lu Yuan and concluded that the clan had to handle its relationship with him carefully.
• Lu Yuan asked Tushan Rongrong whether he could promote his game in Tushan, and she agreed, saying it could benefit both sides and ease tensions between humans and demons.
• Lu Yuan sensed Tushan Honghong’s arrival, and she tore open space to emerge before the others.
• Lu Yuan explained that Tushan Honghong had reached Demon Emperor level, had made strong progress in spatial power, and could escape confinement by Aolai Country’s Third Young Master if she reacted in time.
• Lu Yuan offered to teach Tushan Honghong Spatial Teleportation, Spatial Severance, Spatial Barrier, and Storage Space, then explained that a sufficiently developed Storage Space could hold living beings.

Lu Yuan explained four basic spatial spells to Tushan Honghong and the others, then joined her at the Bitter Love Tree to investigate its connection to the Black Fox. As Tushan Honghong began explaining the tree’s name, Lu Yuan suspected that Tushan’s power over love was tied to how the Black Fox came into being.

• Lu Yuan described Storage Space, Spatial Barrier, Spatial Severance, and Spatial Teleportation, demonstrating Spatial Shuttle with afterimages.
• Tushan Rongrong realized the Zheng Nan Flags in the Southern Kingdom likely carried Spatial Imprints and warned Lu Yuan not to investigate the Bitter Love Tree too deeply or try to change anything.
• Tushan Honghong chose to keep her original fighting style, then invited Lu Yuan to visit the Bitter Love Tree and look for clues about the Black Fox.
• Tushan Yaya and Cuiyu Ling went after Tushan Rongrong while Tushan Honghong reminded Lu Yuan to heed her warning and flew ahead to the tree.
• Beneath the Bitter Love Tree, Tushan Honghong asked Lu Yuan whether he dared attempt the Reincarnation and Continued Fate ritual with her, and he questioned whether his dragon nature violated its rules.
• Tushan Honghong asked why the tree was called the Bitter Love Tree, and Lu Yuan reasoned that Tushan’s ability to control love might explain how the Black Fox formed from emotions and unusual demon power.

Tushan Honghong explained that the Bitter Love Tree had lost its Origin, leaving reincarnated souls unable to retain memories and allowing malicious thoughts to accumulate. Lu Yuan chose to enter the tree’s interior despite the danger, while Tushan Rongrong was overwhelmed by the pain caused by his intrusion.

• Tushan Honghong told Lu Yuan that the Bitter Love Tree’s missing Origin had once purified souls and preserved memories, but her own resentment had contributed to its disappearance.
• Tushan Honghong warned Lu Yuan that entering the Bitter Love Tree would expose his soul to mortal danger, but Lu Yuan insisted on going in.
• Tushan Honghong used her demon power and Heaven and Earth Power to wrap Lu Yuan in a cocoon and connect his soul to the Bitter Love Tree.
• Tushan Honghong steadied herself beneath the tree after the cocoon successfully connected, while the storm over Tushan City subsided.
• Tushan Rongrong sensed Lu Yuan’s crude intrusion into the tree’s deepest layer, suffered intense soul pain, and entered suspended animation as Tushan Yaya and Cuiyu Ling watched.

Lu Yuan entered the Bitter Love Tree’s interior, discovered that Tushan Honghong’s obsession had helped awaken its core, and endured a journey through a deadly high-dimensional space. He recovered the tree’s root and returned with Tushan Rongrong, who revealed that his mysterious helper was his past self before imprinting the root on his forehead.

• Lu Yuan found the Bitter Love Tree’s core had vanished and traced its imbalance to Tushan Honghong mixing her obsession into it.
• Lu Yuan followed his intuition into the dark abyss, endured severe soul damage, and reached a pristine high-dimensional scene.
• A veiled fox woman showed Lu Yuan the Bitter Love Tree’s creation and gave him its root, which she called the last hope.
• Tushan Rongrong appeared and used the root to bring Lu Yuan back to the original dimension.
• Tushan Rongrong said that the one who had been helping Lu Yuan was his past, not his future, then imprinted the tree’s root on his forehead.

Lu Yuan analyzed the mysterious being possessing Tushan Rongrong and realized it was likely a future or past version of her, while the Eye of Fate was reborn and his desire threatened to overwhelm him. The being left the present Tushan Rongrong with a choice: save Lu Yuan through Soul Fusion or leave to seek help from Tushan Honghong, and Tushan Rongrong cursed herself after realizing she had been manipulated by her own other self.

• Lu Yuan reasoned that the mysterious being knew the Eye of Fate and likely came from a higher dimension with no malicious intent, perhaps to influence his Eye of Fate.
• Lu Yuan suspected the being was Tushan Rongrong from the past or future, then realized his thoughts and emotions were being affected as the Nameless Fire and his Fire of Desire intensified.
• The mysterious being explained that Lu Yuan could not escape or recover without Soul Fusion, and said he would not survive long enough to leave the place unaided.
• The being told Tushan Rongrong to choose between escaping to bring Tushan Honghong back or saving Lu Yuan through Soul Fusion, warning her not to regret her decision.
• After the being vanished, Tushan Rongrong cursed herself for being set up by another version of herself.

Tushan Rongrong concluded that her future self had arranged for her to attempt Soul Fusion with Lu Yuan, and she began the forbidden technique despite its risks. As Rongrong’s body fell into suspended death, Cuiyu Ling rushed her to the Bitter Love Tree, where Tushan Honghong found that both Rongrong and Lu Yuan had vanished inside it.

• Tushan Rongrong reasoned that her future self was guiding her toward Soul Fusion, then lay across Lu Yuan and began the incomplete, dangerous incantation.
• Tushan Yaya panicked when Rongrong fell into suspended death, and Cuiyu Ling carried her toward the Bitter Love Tree after suspecting that Rongrong’s soul was in trouble.
• Cuiyu Ling feared that Lu Yuan’s death and the strange event over Tushan would fuel public accusations, then asked Tushan Honghong whether she had killed him.
• Tushan Honghong explained that Lu Yuan’s soul was inside the red-and-white cocoon, and she discovered that Rongrong had entered the Bitter Love Tree as well.
• Tushan Honghong could find neither Lu Yuan nor Rongrong inside or outside the tree, so she used her cultivation to force her way into its depths.

At the deepest part of the Bitter Love Tree, Lu Yuan and Tushan Rongrong returned to their bodies after she helped him understand the difference between love and guilt. Tushan Honghong confronted them over their feelings, and the chapter ended with her demanding to know why Rongrong had made her choice.

• Tushan Honghong challenged Lu Yuan to explain what had happened, then ordered him to talk outside.
• Lu Yuan asked Tushan Rongrong whether she wanted him to take responsibility, and she said she was willing but hoped for a solution that considered her sister’s feelings.
• Tushan Rongrong explained that Lu Yuan had to let go of his possessiveness and distinguish love from guilt, then revealed that she had chosen him without regret.
• Lu Yuan thanked Tushan Rongrong, and the two returned to their bodies inside the cocoon beneath the Bitter Love Tree.
• Tushan Honghong confronted Tushan Rongrong while Cuiyu Ling and Tushan Yaya watched, and she angrily ordered Lu Yuan to stay inside the cocoon and listen.
• Tushan Honghong asked Tushan Rongrong why she had made her choice.

Tushan Rongrong explained that her future self had brought her to Lu Yuan, where she fused the Bitter Love Tree’s Origin with the eye on his forehead. Lu Yuan revealed that their Soul Fusion raised Rongrong’s soul to the Demon Emperor level and brought him to Half-Step Ascension, leaving him poised to break free of the world’s restraints.

• Tushan Rongrong told Tushan Honghong that her future self had controlled her and brought her to Lu Yuan, then fused the Bitter Love Tree’s Origin into the eye on his forehead.
• Tushan Honghong questioned how Lu Yuan had survived the Origin’s corrupting effects and kept his own consciousness.
• Lu Yuan explained that he and Tushan Rongrong had performed Soul Fusion to save him, and that it had raised Rongrong’s soul strength to the Demon Emperor level.
• Lu Yuan said the Bitter Love Tree’s seed had granted him more than ninety-five percent of his benefits and brought him to Half-Step Ascension.
• Lu Yuan explained that Half-Step Ascension meant he was beginning to break free of this world’s restraints, while full Ascension meant leaving for a broader world.

Tushan Honghong chose to continue her relationship with Lu Yuan despite her anger, then asked to speak privately with Tushan Rongrong. Afterward, Lu Yuan received North Mountain’s request for peace talks and assigned Yuan Mao to handle them, making the negotiations her graduation assessment.

• Tushan Honghong warned Lu Yuan that she would let his actions pass this time, then accepted his embrace and asked to speak privately with Tushan Rongrong.
• Lu Yuan agreed to leave the sisters alone, and Tushan Yaya and Cuiyu Ling departed with him from beneath the Bitter Love Tree.
• At the border between Tushan and human territory, a Dragon Shadow Bookstore Backbone delivered Shi Kuan of North Mountain’s letter proposing peace talks with Demon Emperor Lu Yuan.
• Tushan Yaya recognized the letter as a sign that North Mountain was seeking peace and excitedly imagined traveling throughout the world once it was unified.
• Lu Yuan chose Godly Fire Mountain Manor as the negotiation site and ordered the Backbone to have Yuan Mao set the date and conduct the talks as her graduation assessment.

Lu Yuan brought the Black Fox Girl before Tushan Honghong and explained that she and Honghong were connected through the Bitter Love Tree’s Origin. After the Black Fox Girl sensed an inexplicable reverence for Lu Yuan, she asked what had happened to him, leaving him to explain.

• Lu Yuan considered how to prepare Yuan Mao to inherit his legacy, then sent a Dragon Shadow Bookstore Backbone away on an errand.
• Tushan Honghong joined Lu Yuan and Tushan Yaya, and Lu Yuan asked whether she could return the Bitter Love Tree’s missing Origin to its proper place.
• Lu Yuan explained that the Origin had gained consciousness as another Tushan Honghong, then asked Honghong whether she trusted him completely.
• Lu Yuan pulled the Black Fox Girl from her safe house, and Tushan Honghong instinctively attacked before Lu Yuan explained their connection.
• The Black Fox Girl argued with Tushan Yaya, then asked why Lu Yuan had brought her there.
• The Black Fox Girl sensed an unexplained reverence for Lu Yuan and asked what had happened to him.

Lu Yuan asked the Little Black Fox to become the new Black Fox Lady and promised to help her defeat the current Black Fox Lady. He secured her agreement to return to the Bitter Love Tree as its core, while Tushan Honghong vowed that Tushan would protect her; the chapter left Lu Yuan preparing to confront the current Black Fox Lady.

• Lu Yuan explained that his origin had fused with the Bitter Love Tree’s origin, which caused the Little Black Fox to sense a connection to him.
• Lu Yuan asked the Little Black Fox whether she wanted to become the new Black Fox Lady, and she enthusiastically agreed.
• Lu Yuan told the Little Black Fox to prepare to seize authority, promising that he would make the current Black Fox Lady unable to resist.
• Lu Yuan required the Little Black Fox to return to the Bitter Love Tree as its core after becoming the new Black Fox Lady, and she accepted his terms.
• Tushan Honghong promised that Tushan would protect the Little Black Fox and honor the agreement even if Honghong ceased to be Tushan’s master.

Lu Yuan and Tushan Honghong planned to marry after the world’s unification, using their wedding to strengthen peace between humans and demons. As One Qi Dao Alliance representatives negotiated North Mountain’s submission with Shi Kuan, he accepted most demands but insisted on retaining a measure of status and respect.

• The Black Fox Girl agreed to join forces with Tushan Honghong against the Black Fox Lady, beginning a true alliance between Tushan and the Black Foxes.
• Lu Yuan and Tushan Honghong decided to hold their wedding after the world was unified, hoping it would calm demons and establish equality between humans and demons.
• Dongfang Huaizhu and Yue Ti Xia discussed the North Mountain negotiations as One Qi Dao Alliance families pressed their advantage and backed Yuan Mao.
• Shi Kuan accepted demands to dismantle North Mountain’s forces, submit to the One Qi Dao Alliance in name, and allow humans and demons equal treatment, but he refused to let North Mountain lose all authority.
• Shi Kuan continued to seek recognition from Lu Yuan, believing that North Mountain deserved the same respect other Demon Countries had received.

During the peace talks between the One Qi Dao Alliance and Beishan, Yuan Mao challenged Shi Kuan to a fight, then arranged for both Demon Emperors to receive thirty percent of Heaven and Earth Power. The chapter ended as matching pressures erupted around them, signaling that the duel was about to begin.

• Yuan Mao rejected the family heads’ quiet advice to yield on Shi Kuan’s demand and challenged him to exchange pointers.
• Chicken Lord of Beishan warned that fighting on human territory would give Yuan Mao an unfair advantage through Heaven and Earth Power.
• Shi Kuan proposed moving any fight to Beishan, and the negotiators realized Yuan Mao’s apparent provocation had not trapped him.
• Yuan Mao asked Yue Ti Xia and Dongfang Huaizhu to grant each combatant thirty percent of Heaven and Earth Power.
• Dongfang Huaizhu and Yue Ti Xia agreed, and immense pressures erupted around Yuan Mao and Shi Kuan in an even contest.