Chapter Summaries

Xi Yue became uncontrollably drunk, revealed her Qianyuan foundation, and collapsed while Qin Yi and Liusu guarded her through the night. Watching them together convinced Xi Yue that Qin Yi and Liusu were true companions, and she decided to protect their bond from anyone who might threaten it.

• Xi Yue detached her Yang Spirit while drunk, but her uncontrolled body summoned snow, hail, thunder, and lightning as she ordered Qin Yi to sing.
• An old monk recognized Xi Yue's power and sent the approaching divine beings away, while Qin Yi tried to manage her drunken advances.
• Xi Yue collapsed, and Qin Yi and Liusu sat beside her body through the night and watched the sunrise together.
• Xi Yue reflected on Qin Yi's hidden cultivation, Taotie, and his unusual bond with Liusu, then resolved to keep others from targeting Liusu.

After Xi Yue left Qin Yi and Liusu, Qin Yi faced Yu Shang, who still regarded him as her future husband despite their unresolved relationship. Far away, Xi Yue confronted an old monk about the coming Kunlun Void and the changing Great Wilderness, while Jade True Person revealed a long-delayed plan involving the Netherworld.

• Xi Yue teased Qin Yi and Liusu before leaving, and Liusu warned that Qin Yi would likely have to deal with her again.
• Qin Yi descended to Yu Shang, who admitted she had waited all night because she believed he would accept her promise or kill her.
• Yu Shang said Qin Yi would be her husband if he had inherited Dragon Might, then called them enemies until their relationship was confirmed.
• Liusu suggested tying Yu Shang up and doing it again, and Yu Shang accepted the idea as Qin Yi reeled in disbelief.
• Xi Yue told the old monk that she would take responsibility for Heartless God's death and refused his offer to stay and discuss cooperation over Kunlun Void.
• The old monk said Kunlun Void would arrive in half a year, while Jade True Person warned that those who abandoned their original purpose or served others would face her wrath.

Qin Yi restrained Yu Shang and persuaded her to guide him and Liusu toward the Winged Human Race’s territory. As they crossed the enormous continent, they spotted the legendary Xun Tree, leaving Liusu astonished that it truly existed.

• Qin Yi stopped Liusu from attacking Yu Shang, questioned her about the Winged Human Race, and got her to agree to lead them there.
• Qin Yi bound Yu Shang’s hands and took her sapphire hairband before following her through the air with Liusu.
• Liusu explained that the Winged Human Race’s rigid loyalty could make them dependable allies, and Qin Yi considered bringing Ye Ling to meet them.
• Qin Yi, Liusu, and Yu Shang flew west for several days across a vast continent, passing strange cities and peoples without reaching the sea.
• Qin Yi and his companions saw a gigantic sideways-growing tree, and Liusu identified it as the Xun Tree.

Qin Yi accompanied Yu Shang to Xunmu, hoping to seek the Winged Human Race’s help and learn about the dragon blood. Their conversation eased their distrust, but when they reached the tree, Yu Shang’s restraints fell away and the Winged Humans greeted her as their Saintess.

• Qin Yi and Yu Shang walked toward Xunmu while discussing his origins and his ties to Myriad Images of the Universe and the Netherworld.
• Yu Shang said she wanted to believe Qin Yi was sincere, and he explained that he sought the Winged Human Race’s help to reach Jianmu.
• Yu Shang admitted she had suppressed her anger to negotiate with Heartless God, and Qin Yi warned her to be more wary of others’ malice.
• Qin Yi and Yu Shang arrived at Xunmu, where the Buddhist beads binding her suddenly fell away.
• Winged Humans surrounded them and bowed to Yu Shang, greeting her as their Saintess.

Qin Yi followed Yu Shang into Xun Wood City and learned that she was a powerful leader of the Winged Human Race. At the Ancestral Altar, the High Priest examined Qin Yi’s Dragon Might and asked him to place a drop of blood in a jade bowl to determine its origin.

• Qin Yi worried that Yu Shang would have him seized, but followed her after returning her fallen forehead ornament.
• Yu Shang led Qin Yi through Xun Wood City, where its inhabitants bowed to her, and explained that the High Priest could judge whether his Dragon Might came from inheritance or dragon slaying.
• Yu Shang brought Qin Yi to the Ancestral Altar, where the High Priest observed that he possessed dragon blood without the usual effects on his bloodline or cultivation.
• The High Priest gave Qin Yi a jade bowl and told him to drip a drop of blood into it, and Qin Yi extended his finger as the hall fell silent.

Qin Yi's blood test left the Winged Humans unsure whether he was friend or enemy, so Yu Shang placed him under courteous house arrest. She then revealed that she knew he needed her help to reach the center of the sea and asked how he wanted her to treat him.

• Qin Yi's blood activated the dragon carving in the jade bowl, showing both affinity and hostility that baffled the Winged Humans.
• Yu Shang ordered Qin Yi placed under courteous house arrest while the High Priest took his blood for further appraisal.
• The Winged Human girls escorted Qin Yi to a secluded guest courtyard, where he learned they treasured their hidden first down.
• Yu Shang sent the girls away and told Qin Yi that he wanted to stay because he needed her help reaching the center of the sea.
• Yu Shang confronted Qin Yi about his request and approached him with a rope in hand.

Yu Shang tried to repay Qin Yi for his earlier treatment by restraining and tormenting him, but their struggle was interrupted when the High Priest declared Qin Yi an honored guest because of his Dragon and Phoenix Auspicious Blood. Qin Yi pinned Yu Shang with a rope, only for her unexpected response to leave their confrontation unresolved.

• Yu Shang bound Qin Yi and tried to imitate the ways he had previously tormented her, gradually discovering that kissing him made him react.
• Yu Shang bit Qin Yi near his shoulder, and Liusu secretly freed his hands so he could throw her off.
• Qin Yi and Yu Shang resumed grappling until they broke the bed and a Winged Human girl announced the High Priest's decree honoring Qin Yi for his Dragon and Phoenix Auspicious Blood.
• Qin Yi pinned Yu Shang and threatened to punish her with the rope, but Yu Shang gave a suggestive reply that made him react.

Yu Shang insisted that Qin Yi become her husband because of the First Down, though she knew he would resent her, and ordered him kept under house arrest. As Qin Yi waited for her clan’s leaders to arrive, Xi Yue divined that he would eventually marry Yu Shang, while moving farther from Minghe.

• Yu Shang accepted the First Down bond as a marriage commitment, but Qin Yi warned that he already had wives and could not casually join her clan under its Matrilineal Marriage System.
• Yu Shang admitted that she would have to seize Qin Yi as her husband or kill him or herself, and she ordered her attendants to continue his house arrest.
• Liusu told Qin Yi to wait two days for the Clan Leader and High Priest, who might negotiate because of his Dragon and Phoenix Auspicious Blood.
• Xi Yue cast a divination for Qin Yi and saw that, despite danger and complications, he would eventually marry Yu Shang and drift farther from Minghe.

Qin Yi questioned Yu Lan about the Winged Human Race and Xun Wood City while confined to his room, learning that the Winged Humans were newcomers among more than a hundred races. Yu Shang then confronted him over his questions about marriage and asked whether he had decided how to deal with her.

• Qin Yi gave up trying to leave when the Winged Human girls knelt to stop him, and he discussed his restlessness with Liusu.
• Qin Yi called Yu Lan inside and asked about the Winged Humans, their strength, and why they had come to Xun Wood City.
• Yu Lan explained that she and the others had arrived with the newly appointed Saintess only two or three months earlier, and that Xun Wood City was home to over a hundred races.
• Yu Lan said the Winged Humans reproduced through Drinking Mother Spring and described their feather-down trial for choosing husbands.
• Qin Yi gave Yu Lan candy as a reward, and she left happily.
• Yu Shang entered and challenged Qin Yi about questioning her guards on marriage and asked if he had finished considering how to deal with her.

Qin Yi tested Yu Shang’s attraction to him and then challenged her pride and the featherfolk’s marriage customs. Yu Shang admitted she still wanted him even if she had to guard him, while Qin Yi set out to make her reconsider what kind of husband she wanted.

• Qin Yi pulled Yu Shang close and kissed her, arguing that her lack of resistance showed she had accepted him; she fled in embarrassment.
• Yu Shang returned twice, and each time she left Qin Yi’s room flustered while the guards and Liusu speculated about what was happening.
• That night, Qin Yi asked Yu Shang why she would force him to abandon his wives when she despised people who started relationships and then left.
• Yu Shang insisted she would watch over Qin Yi and said gaining him as a husband would still be worth it, even if he became a prisoner she guarded.
• Qin Yi explained that the featherfolk’s marriage rule arose from their present sense of superiority and contrasted Yu Shang’s pride with Chenghuang and Soaring Serpent’s humility.

Qin Yi showed Yu Shang that Chenghuang and Soaring Serpent were alive and explained how his ties to them shaped his choices. He told Yu Shang he would not abandon her after forming a bond with her, and she accepted his offer to begin their relationship anew.

• Qin Yi showed Yu Shang the Chenghuang and Soaring Serpent traces on his Myriad Demons Magic Robe and explained that they had silently protected him.
• Qin Yi told Yu Shang that Cheng Cheng might have reached the Demon Emperor Realm and that Soaring Serpent had awakened at the Transformation Stage.
• Qin Yi revealed that he had cultivated for only thirteen years, leaving Yu Shang stunned by his strength and youth.
• Qin Yi assured Yu Shang that he could leave but stayed because he did not want to abandon someone he had become entangled with.
• Qin Yi kissed Yu Shang and proposed that they begin again without their past conflicts or constraints, and Yu Shang softly agreed.

Yu Shang and Qin Yi spent the night together, and Yu Shang performed the private rite of a Winged Human wife for him. After learning that three clans had proposed marriage to Yu Shang, Qin Yi formally proposed to the Winged Human Race, leaving the pair together while the Saintess’s attendants worried about her duties.

• Yu Shang slept in Qin Yi’s arms and began to understand the Winged Humans’ hopes for a true bond between husband and wife.
• Yu Shang bowed to Qin Yi and called him her husband, explaining that a true husband was served as heaven, though the clan had not recognized their relationship.
• Yu Shang told Qin Yi that three clans had proposed marriage to her and that she had repeatedly visited him because she wanted him to give her some indication of his feelings.
• Qin Yi proposed to the Winged Human Race, seeking to wed Yu Shang, and she welcomed the proposal.
• Qin Yi and Yu Shang kissed and stayed together for breakfast while the Winged Human girls worried that the Saintess was neglecting her duties.

Yu Shang explained why Qin Yi’s dragon and phoenix intent had made him an honored guest among the Winged Humans, while Qin Yi explored Xun Wood City with Yu Lan. The outing ended when one of the hat-wearing, wingless strangers approached Qin Yi and asked if Yu Lan was his wife.

• Yu Shang learned that the High Priest would arrive to meet Qin Yi and considered how his unusual bloodline might affect her marriage proposal.
• Qin Yi left his room for the first time in three days and toured Xun Wood City with Yu Lan.
• Qin Yi asked Yu Lan about a group of hat-wearing people, but she admitted she did not know who the wingless members were.
• Yu Lan ran off to buy candy after Qin Yi gave her a spirit stone.
• A wingless man wearing a broad hat approached Qin Yi and asked if he was Yu Lan’s husband.

Qin Yi and Yu Lan encountered Gu Shuanglin, who tested whether Qin Yi could be recruited by pretending to admire Winged Human women and their live-in husbands. The High Priest came to assess Qin Yi as a marriage candidate, but found him bickering with Yu Lan over a lollipop.

• Qin Yi introduced himself to Gu Shuanglin as Qi Wu, and Gu Shuanglin offered a Huiyang-grade magical treasure for advice on Winged Human ladies.
• Qin Yi and Yu Lan acted out a master-and-servant dynamic before leaving, and Gu Shuanglin concluded Qin Yi might be tempted into helping him.
• Gu Shuanglin discussed recruiting Qin Yi with a winged Ubagabi Bird, while Liusu and Qin Yi privately mocked their apparent shoe-licking.
• Yu Shang told the High Priest that the Divine Land Human Race had registered Qin Yi, an honored guest bearing auspicious dragon and phoenix signs, as a marriage candidate.
• The High Priest visited Qin Yi's courtyard and saw him trying to take Yu Lan's lollipop, then questioned whether he was old enough to discuss marriage.

Qin Yi gained the High Priest’s permission to enter the marriage competition for Yu Shang, despite being told he had little chance, and learned the trials would include winning Yu Shang’s favor. After hearing of a Winged Human taboo involving tasselled crowns, he suspected it was connected to Great Staff Grandpa.

• Qin Yi met the High Priest, who questioned him about his dragon and phoenix blood and warned him that his standing gave him little chance in the marriage competition.
• The High Priest allowed Qin Yi to participate after he insisted he wanted to marry Yu Shang for her sake, then abruptly asked whether he knew the origin of his phoenix blood.
• Yu Shang returned to Qin Yi and explained that she wanted their marriage to receive her race’s recognition and blessing.
• Yu Shang told Qin Yi that the competitors were the Double Eyed Bird, Uwabami Bird, and Ghost Chariot, and that the trials would test their races, their personal abilities, and their ability to win her favor.
• Yu Shang revealed that Winged Humans disliked crowns with many tassels, and Qin Yi grabbed Little Ghost, suspecting the taboo stemmed from Great Staff Grandpa.

Qin Yi waited for Gu Shuanglin to approach him, then joined him for drinks and heard the Uwabami Bird’s plan to influence the Winged Human Saintess. He accepted Gu Shuanglin’s treasure and gave him deliberately false advice about Yu Shang’s tastes.

• Qin Yi and Liusu discussed the Winged Humans’ ancestors and the lingering souls that survived through formation power or other special means.
• Qin Yi waited in Xun Wood City until Gu Shuanglin found him, and the two pretended to meet by chance before going to a pavilion in Flying Bird Forest.
• Gu Shuanglin claimed the Uwabami Birds could magnify someone’s existing affection and offered Qin Yi a clan treasure in exchange for information about the Winged Humans.
• Qin Yi accepted the bird-egg-shaped treasure and told Gu Shuanglin that Yu Shang secretly liked elaborate, tassel-covered crowns.
• Gu Shuanglin believed Qin Yi’s claim and thanked him for the advice.

Qin Yi learned that the Uwabami Bird egg could enslave its user’s emotions, then received two lovebird plumes meant to encourage affection. Two days later, he watched the marriage contest for Yu Shang begin, with Gu Shuanglin among the contestants.

• Qin Yi rejected the Uwabami Bird egg’s coercive influence, and the Lovebird God confirmed that prolonged use would make its bearer see the giver as a master.
• The Lovebird God gave Qin Yi an azure and a red plume that could help a couple open their hearts, and Liusu laughed at his awkward reaction.
• Doggie urged Qin Yi to pursue more women, and Qin Yi punched him back into the ring.
• Two days later, the formal contest for Yu Shang’s hand began in the Winged Human holy hall, where the Double Eyed Bird Race, Uwabami Bird Tribe, and Ghost Carriage Race competed.
• Qin Yi watched from a corner as Gu Shuanglin spotted him among the Uwabami Bird Tribe and grinned at him.

Qin Yi watched the three clans compete for Yu Shang’s favor as their leaders clashed and displayed gifts representing their races. The first round began with Xiang Ming offering a phoenix-linked treasure and Li Jiuyou presenting an Other Shore Flower, leaving Qin Yi alarmed by its apparent source.

• Xiang Ming challenged the late-arriving contestants and pressed Yu Shang to announce the competition rules, while Gu Shuanglin defended the Uwabami Birds’ participation.
• Li Jiuyou mocked Xiang Ming’s arrogance, and Xiang Ming challenged him before holding back to avoid causing a scene.
• The High Priest announced that each race would demonstrate its advantages, and Xiang Ming went first by presenting Yu Shang with a Rosy Cloud Cape woven with phoenix and Double Eyed Bird feathers.
• Li Jiuyou dismissed the cape and offered Yu Shang an Other Shore Flower, prompting Qin Yi to wonder whether the Ghost Carriage Race had its own supply or another source.

Li Jiuyou and Gu Shuanglin presented extravagant betrothal gifts, while Qin Yi suspected Gu Shuanglin planned to seize control of the Winged Human Race. Xiang Ming won the three-way spar, but Yu Shang requested another contest to learn more about the suitors.

• Li Jiuyou offered Yu Shang an Other Shore Flower petal, and the High Priest accepted the gift on behalf of the Winged Humans.
• Gu Shuanglin presented a list of Ubagabi Bird Tribe assets in Xun Wood City, amounting to about half the tribe's holdings, and Qin Yi suspected he intended to take over the Winged Human Race.
• The High Priest opened the Sacred Hall's Cloud Realm for a three-way spar, and Xiang Ming defeated Gu Shuanglin and Li Jiuyou.
• Qin Yi suspected Gu Shuanglin and Li Jiuyou had held back to avoid seeming too powerful as potential husbands marrying into the Winged Human family.
• The High Priest asked Yu Shang to choose a suitor, and Yu Shang requested that they display their talents and interests in another contest.

Xiang Ming, Li Jiuyou, and Gu Shuanglin each presented their strengths to Yu Shang, but Gu Shuanglin’s elaborate Phoenix Crown enraged the Winged Humans and ruined his advantage. The High Priest then invited the fourth suitor, Qin Yi, to show what he could offer.

• Xiang Ming struggled to impress Yu Shang, offering his Righteous Qi and ability to sing and dance.
• Li Jiuyou presented Yu Shang with a handmade feather comb and promised to groom her feathers, winning admiration from the Winged Human girls.
• Gu Shuanglin promised to serve Yu Shang as a queen and revealed an ornate Phoenix Crown he had made for her.
• Yu Shang and the Winged Humans reacted with disgust to the crown, condemning its gaudiness and their taboo against crowns.
• The High Priest invited the fourth suitor to present his strengths, and Qin Yi stepped forward as Gu Shuanglin realized he was a rival.