Chapter Summaries

Meng Qingying chose to trust Qin Yi with helping her take the Luck Dragon, and Qin Yi prepared to enter the palace treasury while weighing the danger posed by Great Joy Temple. When he refused the Emperor’s offer to become Da Qian’s Kingdom Teacher, the Emperor grew angry, deepening Qin Yi’s resolve to undermine the dynasty’s luck.

• Meng Qingying told Qin Yi she trusted him more than Great Joy Temple and asked him to help remove the palace treasure blocking her from taking the Luck Dragon.
• Qin Yi considered the risks of entering the treasury and went to Humble Origins, who questioned him about his relationship with the king and offered to begin a friendship.
• Qin Yi returned to the palace and met the Emperor and Lingxu amid the Emperor’s nighttime revelry.
• The Emperor asked Qin Yi about the White-Robed Golden-Ringed Fairy and offered him the position of Da Qian Kingdom Teacher.
• Qin Yi declined the appointment, and the Emperor darkened with anger as he asserted his authority over all land and institutions.

Qin Yi discovered that a painting in Da Qian’s Inner Palace Treasury was suppressing the nation’s luck, then exposed a trap set for him in the innermost chamber. After Lingxu was struck by the treasury’s defenses, Qin Yi confronted the hidden Master Ci Hui.

• Qin Yi told the Emperor that a demonic object in the Inner Palace Treasury was causing the dragon qi anomaly, and noticed the Emperor’s concealed killing intent.
• Lingxu led Qin Yi into the treasury, where Qin Yi secretly sent a yellow mouse ahead and followed him toward the deepest chamber.
• Qin Yi recognized the painting of mountains and rivers as the treasure suppressing Da Qian’s land and living beings, rather than the Founding Sword beside it.
• Qin Yi baited Lingxu into approaching the sword, triggering a formation and a powerful sword strike that wounded him.
• Qin Yi evaded another hidden attack and swung the Wolf Tooth Club at Master Ci Hui, who appeared behind him with a Zen Staff.

Qin Yi and Humble Origins turned the monks’ ambush against them by exploiting the treasury’s defenses, killing all three attackers. With Lingxu trapped unconscious beneath the bell, Qin Yi wondered why he had changed his attitude and resolved to find out.

• Qin Yi revealed that he had seen through Ci Hui and the two monks’ ambush, then attacked one of them.
• The treasury’s protective formation pierced the monk’s foot and blocked Ci Hui and the other monk, allowing Qin Yi to kill the wounded attacker.
• Humble Origins appeared behind Ci Hui and electrocuted him while Qin Yi fought him from the front.
• Humble Origins used his ability to locate and control the treasury’s formations, and Qin Yi killed the last monk with one swing.
• Qin Yi looked at Lingxu trapped beneath the bell and wondered why his attitude had changed.

Qin Yi learned that Lingxu had turned against him because an acquaintance from the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace had predicted his actions and persuaded the Emperor to distrust him. After taking his master’s painting from the treasury, Qin Yi left without killing Lingxu, who gave him a map to a secret passage beneath Hidden Dragon Temple.

• Lingxu woke to find Qin Yi had healed his injuries and killed three Great Joy Temple warrior monks.
• Lingxu explained that he had summoned reinforcements to preserve Da Qian’s dragon qi, but believed Qin Yi intended to undermine it.
• Lingxu said an acquaintance from the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace had predicted Qin Yi’s actions and convinced him and the Emperor that Qin Yi had ulterior motives.
• Qin Yi said he and his master supported a different Da Qian than Lingxu did, then took his master’s painting from the treasury.
• Qin Yi spared Lingxu, and Lingxu gave him a jade slip mapping a secret passage from the treasury to beneath Hidden Dragon Temple.

Qin Yi raced through Hidden Dragon Temple’s secret passages while Meng Qingying tried to claim the freed Luck Dragon, but Guan Ji and a Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace swordsman ambushed her. Meng Qingying escaped beneath the collapsing platform, wounded and with the dragon’s fate unresolved.

• Qin Yi used Lingxu’s map to hurry through the secret passages, hoping to find a chance to undermine Great Joy Temple’s forces.
• Meng Qingying subdued the guards at the Star Gazing Platform and began refining the freed Luck Dragon into her puppet.
• Guan Ji attacked Meng Qingying with a Celestial Maiden soul and Buddhist Light, but she countered with prepared treasures and hid in the shadows.
• A white-robed swordsman poisoned Meng Qingying with smoke disguised as sword qi, disrupting her control of the dragon.
• Guan Ji sent an alms bowl after Meng Qingying, who used the dragon to block the attack and collapsed the platform as she fled below, leaving blood behind.

Guan Ji pursued the wounded Meng Qingying into the underground palace beneath the Star Gazing Platform, where she and Qin Yi ambushed him. Their attacks wounded him only slightly, while Meng Qingying’s poison left her weakened as Guan Ji prepared to overpower them.

• Guan Ji chased Meng Qingying underground after explaining that Zheng Yunyi had shown him the right moment to strike: after she obtained the Luck Dragon.
• Meng Qingying used flames and living shadows to slow Guan Ji, then laid a formation before Qin Yi pulled her into hiding.
• Qin Yi and Meng Qingying attacked Guan Ji with the Lingering Bell, the Wolf Tooth Club, Shadow Breath, and Tarsal Bone Maggots.
• Guan Ji blocked their strongest attacks with his alms bowl and Buddhist Light, while the underground palace’s traps failed to seriously hurt him.
• Qin Yi realized that poison had worsened Meng Qingying’s injuries, and Guan Ji declared that he would make her his plaything.

Qin Yi and Meng Qingying fought Guan Ji in the collapsing underground palace, using their hidden trump cards to overcome his overwhelming cultivation. Guan Ji fled after Qin Yi shattered his Golden Elixir, while Qin Yi collapsed from his injuries.

• Qin Yi gave Meng Qingying a poison-curing pill and attacked Guan Ji, but Guan Ji’s Buddhist Light overwhelmed his Gale Qi.
• Guan Ji trapped Qin Yi with a soul art intended to turn him into Buddha’s Slave, while Meng Qingying unleashed Asura Hell, Thousand Dark Souls Extinguished and collapsed from the backlash.
• Qin Yi revealed that Liusu had helped him withstand Guan Ji’s soul attack and unleashed the Demon Slaying Sword.
• Ju Yunxiu’s painting scroll struck Guan Ji’s Buddhist beads off course, forcing him to sacrifice his Golden Elixir to survive the sword’s attack.
• Guan Ji fled through the underground palace roof with his Golden Elixir shattered, and Qin Yi fell into the ruins, too injured to pursue him.

Qin Yi and Meng Qingying lay helpless amid the ruins as Zheng Yunyi tried to seize the Luck Dragon and soldiers closed in. When Meng Qingying explained that Ghost Cry Jade could help her establish the Bridge of Souls, Qin Yi revealed that he had a piece.

• Qin Yi collapsed onto Meng Qingying's lap, and she asked why he had risked his life to save her before offering to protect him with the Luck Dragon.
• Meng Qingying's attempt to summon the dragon was disrupted as she realized Zheng Yunyi was trying to seize control of it.
• Zheng Yunyi used Guan Ji to absorb the backlash from the Luck Dragon, then blocked Meng Qingying's summons with a divinatory symbol.
• Soldiers entered Hidden Dragon Temple, and Meng Qingying, exhausted and poisoned, told Qin Yi she had no strength left to escape.
• Meng Qingying explained that Ghost Cry Jade could enlighten the dragon's True Spirit and establish the Bridge of Souls, and Qin Yi showed her a piece of the jade.

Meng Qingying used the Ghost Cry Jade to restore the Luck Dragon’s soul, forcing Zheng Yunyi to flee as his stolen luck drained away. Qin Yi took the unconscious Meng Qingying to an underground pharmacy to recover, where Liusu urged him to kill her and take her treasures, leaving Qin Yi undecided.

• Meng Qingying activated the Ghost Cry Jade, giving the Luck Dragon a living soul and causing Zheng Yunyi to lose the luck he had stolen.
• Zheng Yunyi fled, collided with a passing traveler, and fell from his damaged flying sword into a forest, where black bear heads appeared above him.
• Meng Qingying collapsed from overexertion, while the Luck Dragon sheltered Qin Yi and the ruins of the Hidden Dragon Temple from the army and other Daoists.
• Qin Yi carried Meng Qingying into the underground palace pharmacy and sealed the door so they could recover in safety.
• Liusu advised Qin Yi to kill the unconscious Meng Qingying and seize her treasures, but Qin Yi did not answer.

Qin Yi refused to exploit or kill the weakened Meng Qingying and instead restrained her while treating her injuries. After waking and trusting him to help her recover, Meng Qingying was hurt by his warning that their paths might make them enemies again, and she challenged his judgment of how she survived in the Demonic Path Sect.

• Qin Yi rejected Liusu’s suggestion to kill Meng Qingying and chose to restrain her and help her recover instead.
• Meng Qingying woke with her Mana sealed by a Soul Locking Pill and found Qin Yi refining medicine for her injuries.
• Qin Yi gave Meng Qingying a pill to remove the poison and told her she would need to stay with him for three days.
• Meng Qingying teased Qin Yi, but he warned that he suspected her flirting might be bait for him to show lustful intent and give her a reason to kill him.
• Qin Yi said they followed different paths and might become enemies if he saw her slaughter innocents, leaving Meng Qingying to ask how long someone with his kindness could survive in a Demonic Path Sect.

Qin Yi and Meng Qingying argued over the human cost of her demonic cultivation, then acknowledged their debt and made a new bargain. Meng Qingying offered him a breakthrough aid, but it was hidden inside the inner layer of her bodice, leaving Qin Yi with an awkward choice.

• Qin Yi told Meng Qingying that he could not accept her disregard for the townspeople endangered by her corpse refining, while she explained the deadly competition and scarcity that shaped her choices.
• Meng Qingying admitted that after Qin Yi and Minghe ruined her earlier plan, she had tried to turn the Luck Dragon into a puppet as a last resort.
• Qin Yi and Meng Qingying exchanged teasing remarks about Minghe and their attraction, then agreed that they were still on different paths.
• Meng Qingying reminded Qin Yi that she still owed his niece a thread of the Luck Dragon and offered further repayment for his help and the Ghost Cry Jade.
• Meng Qingying offered Qin Yi an item that had helped her break through to Soaring Clouds, but said he would have to remove her seal or search for it inside her bodice.

Qin Yi retrieved Minghe’s Daoist Scarf and learned Meng Qingying had also collected Minghe’s pagoda after the battle with the Ancient Corpse. Meng Qingying traded the pagoda for Qin Yi’s Lingering Bell, while Qin Yi’s teasing and her provocations left their relationship charged and unresolved.

• Qin Yi reached into Meng Qingying’s hidden compartment, then pulled out a silk scarf and learned it was Minghe’s Daoist Scarf.
• Meng Qingying explained that she had picked up Minghe’s Daoist Scarf and another magical treasure after the Ancient Corpse knocked them down.
• Meng Qingying offered Minghe’s Daoist Scarf in exchange for Qin Yi’s Ghost Cry Jade, and Qin Yi realized the scarf could be returned to Minghe.
• Meng Qingying revealed that she also had Minghe’s pagoda and asked Qin Yi to trade his Lingering Bell for it.
• Qin Yi gave Meng Qingying the Lingering Bell, and she examined it while his hand remained in her hidden compartment.

After recovering, Qin Yi and Meng Qingying prepared to part ways as she took the antidote that lifted her seal. Meng Qingying departed on the Star Dragon after secretly giving Li Wuxian a share of its fortune, leaving Qin Yi to wonder whether they would meet again as the same people.

• During three days of recovery, Qin Yi advanced to the seventh level of Muscle Tendon Change, while Meng Qingying regained her strength and bonded with the Luck Dragon.
• Qin Yi used his clairvoyant chip to check the ruins and accidentally saw Meng Qingying exposed, prompting an awkward exchange before they agreed to leave.
• Meng Qingying explained that she sought power to avoid remaining an ant to stronger beings, while Qin Yi considered the consequences of their opposing paths.
• Qin Yi gave Meng Qingying the pill that lifted the Soul Locking Pill's seal, and she swallowed it.
• Meng Qingying rode the Star Dragon away and sent a wisp of its fortune into Li Wuxian at Xianning Palace, saying she and Qin Yi were even.

After the Luck Dragon carried the Witch away and Dragon Abyss City fell into chaos, Lingxu secured the Emperor’s protection for Xianning while Qin Yi prepared to leave her in the palace. Qin Yi gave Li Wuxian a jade pendant containing cultivation methods and left her with a hint about her future as a hidden dragon.

• The Emperor raged over the deaths of his two favored concubines, while Lingxu concealed that he had killed them to weaken Great Joy Temple.
• Lingxu urged the Emperor to kill Xianning, but the Emperor instead decreed that she be treated as his own daughter and protected from mistreatment.
• Lingxu and Qin Yi agreed that Xianning represented the Da Qian Kingdom they both wanted to preserve, and Qin Yi warned Lingxu to keep her safe.
• Qin Yi entered Xianning Palace unseen and offered Li Wuxian the choice to return to the mountain with him, but she asked him to stay.
• Qin Yi gave Li Wuxian a jade pendant containing cultivation methods and protection, then told her that Dragon Abyss City’s name might point to her as a hidden dragon.

Qin Yi bid farewell to Humble Origins and reflected on whether good deeds bring lasting fortune before returning toward the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace. Liusu warned that the Palace tolerated the Scheming Sect for a reason and suggested Qin Yi could give it an enemy of its own.

• Qin Yi found Humble Origins burying treasure stolen from the Emperor's vault and said goodbye without helping him take the Founding Sword.
• Humble Origins explained his belief that good deeds bring long-term blessings and warned that Meng Qingying's Luck Dragon puppet could strengthen her greatly.
• Qin Yi's doubts about his path faded as he flew toward the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace and discussed different Daos with Liusu.
• Liusu explained that the Palace Master's indulgence of the Scheming Sect served a purpose and that Qin Yi could not simply remove it.
• Liusu suggested creating an enemy for the Scheming Sect, prompting Qin Yi to question what the Wolf Tooth Club had done in the past.

After returning to the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace, Qin Yi learned that his novel had quashed rumors about him and Ju Yunxiu, then rushed to reunite with her. Ju Yunxiu resisted his advances but ultimately let him embrace her, leaving their relationship more openly intimate.

• Qin Yi entered the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace and heard from the immortal crane and white deer that his novel had turned him into the sect’s most discussed figure and silenced rumors about Ju Yunxiu.
• Qin Yi decided that public support could help Ju Yunxiu overcome her doubts about their relationship and flew toward Qinqi Peak.
• Ju Yunxiu used her pressure to repeatedly slam Qin Yi down the mountainside, but he climbed to the summit after Qing Cha advised him to hide.
• Qin Yi embraced Ju Yunxiu from behind and told her he had missed her, while she let the mana gathered in her hand disperse.
• Qin Yi said he would rather be beaten to death than live without Ju Yunxiu, and she blushed before throwing him into the Lotus Pond.

Qin Yi and Ju Yunxiu reconciled after he explained that fear of losing her had driven him to pursue her, though she told him to prove his love through giving rather than possessiveness. After hearing how he completed his mission by helping the people represented in the painting instead of the Da Qian Emperor, Ju Yunxiu learned the intimate details of his journey and kicked him out of her room.

• Qin Yi comforted Ju Yunxiu after their fight, and she admitted that she had been angry because his book had exposed his desire to be with her.
• Qin Yi explained that an Absurd Dream had made him fear Ju Yunxiu would choose another Dao Companion, and she warned him that possessiveness alone did not prove love.
• Ju Yunxiu kissed Qin Yi and allowed him to kiss her, but told him not to go any further until he could show he was willing to give for her.
• Qin Yi showed Ju Yunxiu the painting and explained that he had chosen to protect the people represented in it rather than the Da Qian Emperor; she counted the mission as completed.
• Ju Yunxiu asked Qin Yi about his encounters with a spear-wielding woman, a Chenghuang, and a Witch from Myriad Phenomena Asura Sect, then kicked him out of her room.

Qin Yi returned to the Ten Thousand Dao Immortal Palace and discussed how to shift responsibility for Guan Ji’s death onto Zheng Yunyi and draw Great Joy Temple’s attention toward the Scheming Sect. He left the Enforcement Hall after urging its Hall Master to commend Zheng Yunyi and warn Great Joy Temple against retaliation.

• Qin Yi returned to his Cave Dwelling, where Liusu teased him about fawning over his Senior Sister and warned him to prioritize cultivation.
• Qin Yi and Liusu agreed that Zheng Yunyi should share responsibility for Guan Ji’s death, which could also distract Great Joy Temple from events in Great Qian.
• Qin Yi proposed that Meng Qingying might retaliate against Zheng Yunyi, creating pressure on the Scheming Sect from multiple enemies.
• Qin Yi visited Hall Master Yan at the Enforcement Hall and praised Zheng Yunyi for killing Guan Ji while resisting a stronger foe.
• Qin Yi urged Hall Master Yan to help warn Great Joy Temple that the Immortal Palace would defend Zheng Yunyi, whom it should commend as a model disciple.

Zheng Yunyi returned to the Immortal Palace and discovered that Qin Yi had turned his failed scheme into a public commendation that exposed him to Great Joy Temple. Meanwhile, Qin Yi finished writing Zheng Yunyi’s exemplary deeds and shared a kiss with Ju Yunxiu.

• Zheng Yunyi learned that his fellow disciples believed he had heroically saved Qin Yi, while Xi Xiangzi questioned him about the underground palace and Guan Ji’s death.
• Enforcement Hall announced Zheng Yunyi’s award and planned a three-day parade, along with a warning ultimatum to Great Joy Temple.
• Zheng Yunyi realized the Immortal Palace had publicly named him before Great Joy Temple could identify him and fainted in rage.
• Qin Yi wrote Zheng Yunyi’s exemplary deeds as Ju Yunxiu questioned him about the women in his life and teased him over their kiss.
• Ju Yunxiu offered Qin Yi a kiss as a reward, and Qin Yi kissed her.

After returning from his expedition, Qin Yi inventoried his spoils and focused on improving his cultivation while the Scheming Sect was distracted. Liusu taught him to extract the Formless Realm’s concealment power and merge it into his spellcraft, and the chapter ended with her effortlessly catching him when he tried to sneak up on her.

• Qin Yi left Qinqi Peak after teasing Ju Yunxiu and resolved to spend the peaceful interval cultivating.
• Qin Yi inventoried his spoils, prioritizing Guan Ji’s prayer beads, keeping the alms bowl, and setting aside Minghe’s Buddhist pagoda and Daoist Scarf to return to her.
• Liusu explained how to combine the Formless Realm’s concealment effect with Qin Yi’s own spell and taught him the Spirit Seizing Transformation Method.
• Qin Yi extracted the kasaya’s power and merged it into a concealment spell that hid his cultivation even from Soaring Cloud cultivators.
• Qin Yi layered an invisibility technique over the new spell and tried to sneak up on Liusu, but she appeared atop his head and laughed at his attempt.