Chapter Summaries

Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo confirmed that their surroundings were more than a simple illusion and investigated the contradictions surrounding Sound Valley. They found evidence that Golden Crow Cry existed in two forms, leaving the cause of the strange events unresolved.

• Xiao Yan kissed Hun Ruoruo, who counted that he had lasted three breaths longer than during their previous kiss.
• Hun Ruoruo used her Pure Water Physique to confirm that the Sound Valley around them was not an ordinary illusion, and Xiao Yan explained that he had suspected something was wrong through intuition.
• Xiao Yan reasoned that either the First Elder had lied about Golden Crow Cry or nobody had lied, and concluded that they needed to investigate the artifact itself.
• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo entered Que Yin Hall, where Hun Ruoruo explained the hall's qin-and-se arrangement and its story about Mo protecting An.
• Hun Ruoruo dripped her blood onto the mural of the Divine Birds, awakened its Golden Crow images, and concluded that Golden Crow Cry truly had two.

Hun Ruoruo and Xiao Yan awakened the Golden Crow Cry, and touching it let Hun Ruoruo speak with her mother, An Suying. An Suying told her that Xiao Yan was her father and that their troubles belonged to the adults, leaving Hun Ruoruo struggling to understand her mother's feelings.

• Hun Ruoruo reasoned that Sound Valley was not an illusion and wondered why her mother had not appeared despite the commotion.
• Hun Ruoruo and Xiao Yan both spilled their blood on the mural, awakening the Golden Crow Cry in the form of bronze cymbals.
• Hun Ruoruo touched the cymbals and collapsed into Xiao Yan's arms as time appeared to stop.
• An Suying spoke to Hun Ruoruo through the cymbals, teasing her about once wanting to see her father.
• Hun Ruoruo asked why An Suying defended the man who had hurt her, and An Suying said their conflict should not burden their daughter because Xiao Yan was her father.

Hun Ruoruo learned that An Suying had once loved Hun Tiandi and was told to judge him for herself, while An Suying revealed that Sound Valley held three marks for her to uncover. An Suying's phantom returned to Golden Crow Cry, but she continued teasing Ruoruo about a handsome young man.

• An Suying told Hun Ruoruo that her marriage to Hun Tiandi had failed despite her once loving him, and urged Ruoruo to judge him for herself.
• Hun Ruoruo begged An Suying not to leave, saying she missed her mother and wanted to escape Sound Valley with her.
• An Suying recalled their childhood treasure-hunting game and revealed that she had left three marks in Sound Valley, including Golden Crow Cry.
• An Suying's phantom dissolved into Golden Crow Cry, leaving Hun Ruoruo to question whether she could reconsider her view of Hun Tiandi.
• An Suying suddenly spoke through Golden Crow Cry again and teased Hun Ruoruo about the handsome young man, making Ruoruo demand that she leave.

After An Suying vanished, Hun Ruoruo recovered and told Xiao Yan that they needed to find three treasures bearing her Soul Mark to uncover Sound Valley’s secret and escape. They identified the Valley Lord’s inherited secret treasure as their next target, leaving Xiao Yan to realize they would have to break into Hun Ruoruo’s mother’s room.

• An Suying left, and the Golden Crow regained its vitality as Hun Ruoruo woke in Xiao Yan’s arms.
• Hun Ruoruo kissed Xiao Yan, asked him to carry her home, and then told him that the Golden Crow Cry was one of three treasures bearing her mother’s Soul Mark.
• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo reasoned that the remaining treasures would likely be Sound Valley’s ancestral ritual artifacts.
• Hun Ruoruo identified the Valley Lord’s inherited secret treasure as another target, and Xiao Yan realized it was kept in her mother’s room.

Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo lured the Man in the Bamboo Hat to their room and discovered that he was Mo Yi, a man Xiao Yan had believed was dead. Xiao Yan wondered how Mo Yi had returned and what purpose Ruoruo's Mother’s test served.

• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo waited for someone to respond to the news they had spread while Xiao Yan concealed himself with his improved Soul Force.
• The Man in the Bamboo Hat came looking for Xiao Yan and nervously explained that he had kept the bedframe incident secret.
• Hun Ruoruo distracted the Man in the Bamboo Hat, and Xiao Yan knocked him unconscious with a punch.
• Xiao Yan removed the man's bamboo hat and recognized him as Mo Yi, the Sound Valley captive he had believed dead.
• Xiao Yan recalled that the chief disciple he had seen must have been Protector Ying and questioned the purpose of Ruoruo's Mother's test.

Hun Ruoruo discovered that Soul Hall's artifacts matched Sound Valley's, raising questions about how Soul Hall gained its power and whether Sound Valley's secrets were involved. As she and Xiao Yan resolved to follow her Mother's plan to learn the truth, Hun Ruoruo revealed that her Mother liked Xiao Yan, leaving him overwhelmed with joy.

• Hun Ruoruo compared a Sound Valley bamboo hat with a Soul Hall Soul Robe and realized their materials were exactly the same.
• Hun Ruoruo feared Sound Valley's secrets had helped Soul Hall dominate Central Continent, but Xiao Yan's concern for her brought her back from her thoughts.
• Xiao Yan reasoned that An Suying must be stronger than a Half-Saint because she could create a real world or restore someone who had died.
• Hun Ruoruo concluded that they would have to follow her Mother's plan to uncover the truth, while Xiao Yan said Mo Yi would sleep for a day.
• Hun Ruoruo teased Xiao Yan about his private behavior and accidentally revealed that her Mother had urged her to take the initiative.
• Hun Ruoruo told Xiao Yan that her Mother thought he was very good and liked him, and Xiao Yan froze with excitement.

Xiao Yan learned more about Sound Valley’s secret treasure and Protector Ying, while he and Hun Ruoruo realized that the world seemed to erase anything that deviated from its expected course. They left under cover of night to steal something, with Hun Ruoruo finding comfort in their playful closeness.

• Mo Yi told Xiao Yan that the Golden Crow Cry had caused the Enforcement Team to increase its patrols and revealed that Sound Valley’s craftsmen specialized in soul artifacts.
• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo discussed Protector Ying’s hidden motives and how to approach the ancestral ritual artifact without being detected.
• Hun Ruoruo pointed out that people seemed to overlook disruptions around them, leading Xiao Yan to suspect that their perceptions were being altered.
• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo waited until night, then left his room disguised beneath his black robe to sneak off and steal something.

Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo secretly entered the Sound Valley Lord’s hall, hoping to find the ritual treasure and speak with Hun Ruoruo’s mother. Hun Ruoruo triggered an ancient book and saw an image of Hun Tiandi addressing someone, revealing what appeared to be a conversation between him and her mother.

• Xiao Yan warned Hun Ruoruo that Protector Ying’s powerful Soul Force could detect them, but she used the Soul Robe to sneak past him while he napped.
• Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo slipped into the Valley Lord’s room, where Hun Ruoruo went inside alone while Xiao Yan kept watch.
• Hun Ruoruo found no sign of her mother and searched the room for a ritual artifact.
• When Hun Ruoruo touched an ancient book, violet-black light formed a curtain showing Hun Tiandi, who invited her to take a closer look.
• Hun Ruoruo realized the image showed a conversation between Hun Tiandi and her mother.

Hun Ruoruo watched Hun Tiandi and An Suying interact as they discussed her pregnancy, while Hun Tiandi revealed that Nihility Devouring Flame might control Soul Clan members through Dou Di bloodlines. The chapter ended with An Suying fearing that their unborn child could be affected.

• Hun Ruoruo reflected on her painful childhood and her complicated feelings toward Hun Tiandi as she watched him speak gently with An Suying.
• An Suying complained that the baby’s kicking was keeping her from sleeping, and Hun Tiandi joked with her about their child.
• Hun Tiandi tried to examine the baby with his Soul Force, but An Suying blocked him and insisted he should love their child regardless of its sex.
• Hun Tiandi said that something was unusual about Nihility and revealed that Nihility Devouring Flame might control Soul Clan members through Dou Di bloodlines.
• An Suying shielded her belly and worried that their unborn child might be affected, while Hun Tiandi sat in tense silence.

Hun Tiandi and An Suying discussed the danger posed by Nihility Devouring Flame and the Tunling Clan, then raised their daughter Ruoruo in secrecy. When Hun Tiandi gave Ruoruo his own cultivation method, An Suying recoiled at its effects; the chapter ended with her confronting a changed Hun Tiandi, who insisted that Ruoruo’s cultivation method could not be changed.

• Hun Tiandi told An Suying that the ancient Tunling Clan could devour and transfer other clans’ Bloodline Power, and admitted that Nihility Devouring Flame had acted on his orders.
• Hun Tiandi promised to keep Ruoruo hidden until she came of age, while An Suying warned him against risking their child for the Soul Clan’s plans.
• Years later, Hun Tiandi gave Ruoruo the Heaven-tier High Grade Emperor Soul Art, and An Suying realized it was the cultivation method that made him lose his emotions.
• Hun Tiandi watched An Suying and Ruoruo from inside their home and noted that Ruoruo’s aura did not seem to share his origin.
• An Suying entered the room, saw Hun Tiandi in black robes, and nervously asked why he was there; he told her Ruoruo’s cultivation method could not be changed.

Hun Ruoruo witnessed the truth behind her childhood trauma: An Suying had opposed Hun Tiandi’s cultivation method for their daughter and fought to protect her. Realizing her mother had defeated Hun Tiandi, Ruoruo reconsidered the past without letting hatred cloud her judgment.

• Hun Tiandi insisted that Hun Ruoruo’s cultivation method could not be changed, while An Suying argued it would strip their daughter of her emotions.
• An Suying accused Hun Tiandi of neglecting their daughter and declared she would leave him to protect her.
• An Suying confronted Hun Tiandi about the damage Xiao Xuan had done to his soul and questioned whether he could stay rational when truly threatened.
• Hun Tiandi pinned An Suying down and demanded that she heal his injuries, but she struck at him and shattered the Soul Force curtain.
• Hun Ruoruo watched the scene, understood her mother had fought against Hun Tiandi’s method, and concluded that An Suying had won.

Hun Ruoruo learned that Hun Tiandi’s flaw, caused by Xiao Xuan’s self-destruction, had made her birth possible and that her father truly cared for her. After An Suying told her she had the right to choose for herself, Hun Ruoruo broke free of the Golden Crow Markings and ascended toward the heavens.

• Hun Ruoruo struggled with the truth about her father and feared that accepting it would mean standing against An Suying.
• An Suying appeared, embraced Hun Ruoruo, and admitted she had sought help to reach her.
• Hun Ruoruo demanded to know why Hun Tiandi had never explained the past and whether he was forcing An Suying.
• An Suying explained that Xiao Xuan’s self-destruction had cracked Hun Tiandi’s divine soul and restored some of his emotions.
• An Suying told Hun Ruoruo that this flaw had brought about her birth and that she could make her own choice.
• The Golden Crow Markings vanished from Hun Ruoruo, and a stairway formed as she rose into the heavens.

Hun Ruoruo learned that An Suying had recreated Sound Valley and its people by sacrificing her own soul, then awakened to find Xiao Yan beside her. An Suying left Hun Ruoruo a choice and gave Xiao Yan a secret technique that embarrassed her when she read it.

• Hun Ruoruo sensed that Sound Valley and its people carried An Suying’s aura, and An Suying explained that her ultimate Fragrance technique had used her soul to preserve their Soul Imprints.
• An Suying gave Hun Ruoruo the Sacred Spirit Soul and told her to choose what she believed was right, calling Sound Valley a dream that existed because of her.
• Hun Ruoruo woke in her room with an ancient zither on her and learned that An Suying had instructed Xiao Yan to bring it to her.
• Xiao Yan told Hun Ruoruo that An Suying had given him a secret technique, and Hun Ruoruo blushed and angrily refused to practice it with him.
• The ancient zither hummed and revealed a line of writing about two hearts pledging themselves and playing together.

Hun Ruoruo and Xiao Yan left the main hall after discussing Sound Valley’s contradictory marriage rules, then caught An Wan flirting with Protector Ying. Back in their room, Hun Ruoruo considered making a move on Xiao Yan but reconsidered when the heavy guqin jolted her, while Starfall Pavilion watched Ice River Valley withdraw its troops.

• Xiao Yan questioned why Sound Valley’s unmarried Valley Masters kept a guqin associated with men, and Hun Ruoruo agreed to discuss the contradiction back in their room.
• Hun Ruoruo and Xiao Yan encountered An Wan and Protector Ying outside the hall and overheard An Wan demand that Ying remove his mask and tease him about their relationship.
• Hun Ruoruo hurried Xiao Yan away, then wondered whether she should take their relationship further now that she had found a home in Sound Valley.
• Xiao Yan struggled to put the heavy guqin down, startling Hun Ruoruo and making her abandon her plan to get close to him without first using the medicine her master had mentioned.
• At Starfall Pavilion, the gathered figures watched the last ships enter a black hole and realized Ice River Valley had withdrawn its troops.

After Ice River Valley withdrew, Starfall Pavilion’s survivors mourned their dead and treated the wounded while Old Man Yao worried about Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan. Meanwhile, Venerable Qinghai spotted a pillar of light in the desert and rushed toward it, suspecting the two young men had activated Sound Valley’s secret treasure.

• The surviving Starfall Pavilion disciples learned that many poisoned, gravely wounded comrades had chosen to die, and Old Man Yao’s killing intent toward Ice River Valley grew.
• Venerable Feng explained that Ice River had planned to slaughter them using his Calamity Poison Body, while Xiao Yi Xian had gone to purge the cold poison from the wounded.
• Heavenly Fire Venerable said he could use Ice River Valley’s retreat to fuse his physical body and soul and recover his strength.
• Old Man Yao hoped Xiao Yi Xian and Xiao Yan would not repeat their earlier mistakes as he waited for them to return.
• Venerable Qinghai saw a pillar of light beyond the yellow sands, suspected the two young men had triggered Sound Valley’s secret treasure, and set out to find them.

Venerable Qinghai escaped the Yellow Sand Formation but was drawn into Soul Hall’s reception barrier, while Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo exchanged Soul Imprints on a jade pendant. The chapter ended with An Wan teasing Hun Ruoruo about watching her techniques.

• Venerable Qinghai mistook a Heaven Realm soul fluctuation for a treasure awakening and escaped the Yellow Sand Formation toward the steel gate.
• The clouds dragged Venerable Qinghai through the gate, and the Soul Token fell back to the ground as a strange fluctuation gathered on it.
• Xiao Yan asked Hun Ruoruo how her master and the others were doing, and she showed him a Phoenix Marrow Spirit Jade pendant that could carry Soul Imprints.
• Hun Ruoruo offered Xiao Yan the pendant’s third mark, and he placed his Soul Imprint on it before she put the pendant back around her neck.
• Hun Ruoruo left Mo Yan’s room in a bad mood, and An Wan teased her about secretly watching her techniques the day before.

An Wan encouraged Hun Ruoruo to spend time with Xiao Yan, then gave him money to buy her new shoes. Xiao Yan accepted her help and learned that Shadow was occupied receiving a guest.

• An Wan teased Hun Ruoruo about knowing Xiao Yan well and urged her to take a stroll with him.
• Hun Ruoruo admitted she understood An Wan's advice and thanked her, though she disliked the suggestion of coaxing Xiao Yan with charm.
• An Wan pulled Xiao Yan into an alley and pointed out that Hun Ruoruo's shoes were old.
• An Wan gave Xiao Yan a pouch of money, and he sincerely thanked her as his Senior Sister.
• Xiao Yan asked why Shadow was not patrolling, and An Wan said Shadow was receiving a guest.

Hun Ruoruo leaned on Xiao Yan and explained how the three marks on her jade pendant kept her loved ones equal, then went shopping with him in Sound Valley. As she headed home and reflected on following her heart, Xiao Yan appeared above her on a colorful Divine Bird.

• Hun Ruoruo held Xiao Yan's arm while the crowd quietly made way for them and blocked the Enforcement Team.
• Hun Ruoruo showed Xiao Yan the jade pendant's three marks and explained how their arrangement put Master, Mother, and him first in turn.
• Hun Ruoruo invited Xiao Yan to shop, and they walked together through the neighborhood streets.
• Hun Ruoruo enjoyed snacks and small treats, then wondered whether she had been mean to shake Xiao Yan off while shopping.
• Hun Ruoruo saw Xiao Yan waving to her from atop a colorful Divine Bird in the sky.

Xiao Yan and Hun Ruoruo watched the sunset above Sound Valley as she realized An Suying had recreated the valley to let her choose between An and the Soul Clan bloodline. Xiao Yan affirmed that the people of Sound Valley and their feelings had been real, and the pair shared a tender moment as they flew onward.

• Xiao Yan took Hun Ruoruo to watch the afterglow over Sound Valley, where she reflected on the valley's predetermined fate and its dead inhabitants.
• Hun Ruoruo concluded that An Suying had recreated Sound Valley to let her choose between An and the Soul Clan bloodline without her mother's existence influencing her.
• Hun Ruoruo questioned why An Suying had spent her soul reviving the dead, and Xiao Yan said the feelings they had shown were real.
• Xiao Yan took Hun Ruoruo's hand and told her that the people of Sound Valley had truly regarded her as their Little Princess.
• Hun Ruoruo teased Xiao Yan about his knight's salute, then lifted him toward her and told him that a prince must not lower his head.

Xiao Yan helped Hun Ruoruo put on the red high heels he had bought her, but the moment turned awkward when he teased and touched her foot. After An Wan explained Sound Valley’s gift tradition, Hun Ruoruo recognized her ring as identical to the one Protector Ying had recovered from his own body before dying.

• Xiao Yan gave Hun Ruoruo red high heels, and she asked him to help change her shoes.
• Xiao Yan touched Hun Ruoruo’s foot and teased her about her Pure Water Dou Qi, making her collapse in embarrassment and anger.
• Li Yue, Sound Valley’s formation spirit, revealed that she could speak and bickered with Xiao Yan.
• An Wan explained that Sound Valley’s tradition was for a girl to keep a gift from her beloved for life, then showed Hun Ruoruo the Storage Ring her Senior Brother had given her.
• Hun Ruoruo recognized An Wan’s ring as identical to the ring Protector Ying had dug from his lower abdomen before he died.