Chapter Summaries

Chen Luo arrived in Le Ya City and sought treasures from Jin Guagua, while Lang Feixian quietly planned to pursue the Poetic Sword Dao with Chen Luo’s help. Princess Pingyang learned that Chen Luo had come to the city and eagerly welcomed the news.

• Chen Luo settled into Yang Qianli’s garden, asked Yang to check on the strange little beggar, and sought Literary Treasures from Jin Guagua.
• Jin Guagua showed Chen Luo the treasure-filled backpack inherited from his mother, a Destiny Toad, and offered to buy the treasures Chen Luo needed.
• Yun Siyao learned that Lang Feixian had recovered his Great Scholar cultivation and heard his plan to use Chen Luo’s opportunity to pursue the Poetic Sword Dao; he asked her to keep it secret until he could surprise Chen Luo.
• Princess Pingyang rejected invitations from Sage descendants seeking her favor with poems and joked that she would become a Widow City Lord rather than accept an arranged marriage.
• Princess Pingyang read Yang Qianli’s invitation and learned that Chen Luo had arrived in Le Ya.

Chen Luo learned that Rou Garden’s rare flowers could strengthen literary treasures and agreed to attend Princess Pingyang’s gathering. As he arrived at the garden, Wang Bugui flew over and greeted him as his big brother.

• Yang Qianli explained that Rou Garden’s flowers required literary brilliance to bloom and that higher-grade flowers could signal great talent and strengthen literary treasures.
• Chen Luo initially refused Princess Pingyang’s invitation, then agreed to attend after learning the flowers’ value and said he would pick some for Yun Siyao.
• The next day, rumors spread through Le Ya City about the scholars and prominent guests expected at Rou Garden.
• Chen Luo rode to the garden in a carriage with Ao Lingling driving, while waiting scholars mocked his unmarked carriage and questioned his status.
• Wang Bugui arrived flying on a giant brush, then recognized Chen Luo and shouted that he had missed his big brother.

Chen Luo reunited with Wang Bugui and met leaders from several Confucian schools before entering the Soft Garden, where the Flower Spirits recognized him as an ancestor. Inside, he glimpsed a field of petrified birds and discovered that a rare flower bloomed when he touched it without reciting poetry.

• Chen Luo reunited with Wang Bugui, who had reached the Master Realm, and greeted Princess Pingyang and the leaders of Caotang Academy, the Poet Hero Family, Yellow Crane Academy, and Tianxin Academy.
• Fang Ji explained that the Fang Family's old grievances with the Bamboo Forest would not be pursued that day, and Chen Luo returned his courtesy.
• Lü Changle opened the Soft Garden and had its Flower Spirits examine the entrants' literary attainment.
• A Flower Spirit recognized the ancestral Flower Spirits within Chen Luo and collapsed; Chen Luo took its Hundred Flowers Token and entered the garden, while a green lotus was bounced away.
• Chen Luo briefly saw countless birds turned to stone, then found that Lang Feixian and the lotus were gone.
• Chen Luo touched a rare flower without composing poetry, and it immediately bloomed, surprising Wang Bugui.

Inside Rou Garden, Chen Luo discovered that he could bloom and pluck flowers below the third grade without writing poems, then faced accusations that he would monopolize the garden. He defended his conduct, humbled Fang Yingjie, and left to pick flowers for Yun Siyao while the gathered students praised him.

• Chen Luo used Literary Qi from the Dream Flower Forest to bloom and pluck an exotic flower, while the students realized the garden’s usual rules might not apply to him.
• Fang Yingjie accused Chen Luo of unfairly competing for the flowers, prompting Ling Jueding, Liu Chenzhou, and Xia Qingchuan to defend Chen Luo.
• Chen Luo rejected Fang Yingjie’s claim that his success violated Heaven’s Dao and clarified that he would not monopolize Rou Garden’s flowers.
• Chen Luo gave Fang Yingjie the flower he had plucked and challenged him to reflect on his words, then coughed blood from the backlash of the Seven Injuries Fist.
• Chen Luo left for the depths of the Flower Field to pick flowers for Yun Siyao as the students wished him prosperity, while Yun Siyao complained that he was using her as an excuse again.

Chen Luo entered Rou Garden’s Hundred Flower Trial and answered the Crabapple Theme with a poem that bloomed a Rank Three flower, whose Literary Rhyme raised it to Rank Two. As the flower vanished and another bud appeared before him, Ye Shuyi reacted in shock.

• Ling Jueding escorted Chen Luo to Rou Garden’s Hundred Flower Valley, where Wang Bugui joined him and explained how to recognize flowers of Rank Three and above.
• Wang Bugui told Chen Luo that Rank Three and higher flowers posed questions, and admitted that his Ascetic Poetry School approach made answering them difficult.
• Chen Luo entered a flower domain and received the Crabapple Theme, then wrote a poem about budding crabapple flowers.
• The poem made the crabapple bloom at Rank Three, and a butterfly from the Dream Flower Forest raised its Literary Rhyme to Rank Two, producing a Flower Spirit.
• The crabapple stem burned away and another flower bud appeared before Chen Luo, while Ye Shuyi stood in shock.

Chen Luo’s poem revealed the tragic love between Lu Weiyang and Princess Qingyue, earning him a First Rank exotic flower whose fragrance spread across Le Ya City. As Chen Luo prepared to bloom another flower, the Birdstone Statues came alive and turned toward him with apparent anticipation.

• Chen Luo touched a flower bud and saw Lu Weiyang standing outside the City Lord’s Mansion, while Lu Changle explained Lu Weiyang’s past with Princess Qingyue.
• Chen Luo composed a poem about regret and lost love, and Ye Shuyi asked Lu Changle to establish a memorial tablet for Lu Weiyang.
• Chen Luo’s poem raised the flower to First Rank, sending its fragrance throughout the Rou Garden and Le Ya City.
• Ling Jueding, Liu Chenzhou, Xia Qingchuan, and Wang Bugui joined Chen Luo, who set out with them to explore the garden further.
• Chen Luo plucked the First Rank flower, another flower appeared, and the Birdstone Statues turned their moving eyes toward him.

Chen Luo answered the Flower Field’s Xiangshan Crosses the Sea challenge with a Saintly Path poem, causing a wondrous flower to bloom with Subtle Fragrance that benefited the students. As his Literary Rhyme entered the flower, it caught fire and began burning the Flower Domain, forcing Ling Jueding to warn Chen Luo to retreat.

• Chen Luo touched another flower embryo and saw the illusion of Mr. Xiangshan crossing the sea after fusing his heart with the Heavenly Dao.
• Chen Luo wrote a poem about keeping his heart unmoved amid peril, and Mr. Xiangshan’s azure light drew the poem into the flower.
• Great Scholars identified Chen Luo’s poem as a Saintly Path Poem that centered on the heart and described a profound realm.
• The flower bloomed with Subtle Fragrance that nourished the students’ spirit souls, and they bowed to Chen Luo before meditating.
• A Seven-Colored Butterfly entered the flower, but flames erupted and spread from its petals across the Flower Domain.
• Ling Jueding warned Chen Luo that the fire was no ordinary flame and told him to retreat.

Chen Luo awakened the Gentle Garden’s hidden bird spirits with the True Phoenix Blood Lotus, and they defeated the Gu Master who attacked the students. After Chen Luo collapsed into a dream, the garden’s flowers bloomed and birds circled the Phoenix Illusion.

• A phoenix shadow emerged from the burning exotic flower, but the flames revealed a rooster that Chen Luo seized; it transformed into the True Phoenix Blood Lotus.
• A disguised Gu Master attacked Chen Luo and the students, while Yun Siyao prepared to break the Gentle Garden’s formation from outside.
• Chen Luo used the Blood Lotus to summon its Phoenix Illusion, whose cry awakened Birdstone Statues and the exotic flowers linked to them.
• Countless bird phantoms overwhelmed the Gu Master’s insect cloud, and Ling Jueding led the students in attacking the fallen Gu Master.
• Chen Luo collapsed into a dream as the Gentle Garden’s flowers bloomed and birds circled the Phoenix Illusion.

Chen Luo discovered that the True Phoenix Blood Lotus had formed a flaming longbow powered by an extraterrestrial bloodline. Meanwhile, a Second Rank King Gu devoured its Gu Master and began swallowing the birds and the Soft Garden, leaving everyone outside preparing to break the formation just as Chen Luo awakened.

• Chen Luo used the blood lotus’s soul shedding to summon the Hundred Birds Paying Homage to the Phoenix, which formed a flaming longbow that the Spirit of the Secret Realm said drew power from an extraterrestrial bloodline.
• Ling Jueding and Liu Chenzhou attacked the Gu Master, but a King Gu emerged from his abdomen, killed him, and advanced to the Second Rank.
• The hand Gu swallowed many of the birds and grew large enough to threaten the entire Soft Garden, absorbing the Confucian disciples’ attacks.
• Outside the Soft Garden, Yun Siyao prepared to break the formation while the others readied themselves to rescue the trapped disciples.
• Lu Changle announced that Marquis Wu had awakened, and everyone turned to look toward Chen Luo.

Chen Luo killed the second-grade King Gu in Rou Garden with the True Phoenix Bow, then shared the garden’s remaining flowers with the survivors. After everyone returned, he gave the Saint-grade Nirvana Blood Lotus to Yun Siyao, leaving the assembled scholars astonished.

• Chen Luo used a flaming arrow from the True Phoenix Bow to burn the hand Gu to ashes, freeing the swallowed birds, but the effort left him injured.
• The Great Scholars praised Chen Luo, while Fang Ji accepted responsibility for Tianxin Academy’s discourtesy and said Wenchang Pavilion would decide the punishment.
• Ling Jueding, Liu Chenzhou, Xia Qingchuan, and the other survivors thanked Chen Luo, who offered each person three flowers from Rou Garden.
• Lu Changle announced the end of the flower appreciation, and Chen Luo was the last person transported out of Rou Garden.
• Chen Luo showed the Nirvana Blood Lotus to the gathered scholars, then gave the Saint-grade flower to Yun Siyao.

Chen Luo gave the True Phoenix Blood Lotus to Yun Siyao, then learned it could strengthen her Ancestral Dragon bloodline. Yun Siyao revealed that the Qilin Emperor’s true foundation was the True Phoenix from Beyond the Heavens.

• Chen Luo gave Yun Siyao the True Phoenix Blood Lotus, and she accepted it after he insisted it was meant for her.
• Ye Shuyi thanked Chen Luo, the Soft Garden closed safely, and news of Chen Luo’s deeds spread across Great Xuan.
• Chen Luo asked Ao Lingling to exchange two lesser flowers for Great Scholar’s Literary Treasures at their normal value.
• Yun Siyao returned the Blood Lotus so Chen Luo could reclaim it, but he persuaded her to keep it and refine it.
• Yun Siyao discovered the flower’s beyond-heaven bloodline power and said it would greatly benefit her Ancestral Dragon bloodline.
• Yun Siyao told Chen Luo that the Qilin Emperor’s true foundation was the True Phoenix from Beyond the Heavens.

Yun Siyao told Chen Luo how Emperor Lin was a True Phoenix who had helped unite the human, Dragon, and flying-creature clans against the barbarians, and warned him about the Blood Lotus’s potential to become her backup body. After Yun Siyao went to refine the lotus, Chen Luo and Lang Feixian were invited to a banquet, but their carriage encountered a disturbing scene in a Le Ya City alley.

• Yun Siyao explained that Emperor Lin had hatched from a phoenix egg, taken human form, and traded the Ancestral Dragon’s secret methods for the Dragon Race’s help against Beneath Barbarian Heaven.
• Yun Siyao said Emperor Lin had used the Nirvana Art to win over flying-creature clans and planned to destroy Beneath Barbarian Heaven before the Tianshu Incident ended her campaign.
• Yun Siyao warned that Emperor Lin’s soul-shedding might let her seize whoever absorbed the True Phoenix Blood Lotus, but said the spell had lost its effect because Emperor Lin had passed away.
• Lang Feixian arrived with an invitation from the City Lord’s Mansion, and Yun Siyao left to refine the Blood Lotus while Chen Luo and Lang Feixian set out by carriage.
• The carriage stopped in an alley where dozens of self-mutilated people vanished when Lang Feixian sent Sword Qi, leaving a little beggar child who stared at Chen Luo and said he was hungry.

Chen Luo and Lang Feixian were trapped in the Buddhist Sect’s Six Paths Barrier and faced a Hungry Ghost Path fiend. After the Dao Soldier Bean Commanders failed to stop its evolution to Second Rank, Lang Feixian fused with Chen Luo’s martial path to unleash the Poem Sword Ten Thousand Miles.

• The Green Lotus warned Chen Luo that they had entered the Six Paths Barrier, and Lang Feixian explained the history of the Six Paths Masters.
• Chen Luo sent Red Bean Bean, Green Bean Bean, and Yellow Bean Bean to fight the Hungry Ghost Path fiend.
• The Bean Commanders struck the fiend with talisman arts and the Five Thunders Orthodox Law, but it survived and evolved to Second Rank.
• Lang Feixian asked to borrow Chen Luo’s martial path, then sent the Green Lotus into Chen Luo’s Sea of Divine Soul and charged the fiend.

Lang Feixian merged his Poetic Sword Dao into Chen Luo’s Martial Dao and defeated the Hungry Ghost Path assassin. Afterward, Yun Siyao and Lang Feixian traced a hint of righteous Qi on the corpse to the long-dead Sage of East Commandery, implicating the Cui clan in the attack.

• Lang Feixian merged the Poetic Sword Dao into Chen Luo’s six-thousand-li Martial Dao, creating a sword path that could help bear the pressure of advancing to nine thousand li.
• Lang Feixian used his Poetic Sword Dao to destroy the Hungry Ghost Path ghost, while Chen Luo protected the coachman from its howl.
• Yun Siyao arrived, checked that Chen Luo was safe, and later moved into the neighboring room while Lang Feixian shared Chen Luo’s room for protection.
• Ye Shuyi learned of the ambush and arranged an apology gift for Chen Luo after Lu Changle reported that Master Ao sought Great Scholar’s Literary Treasures.
• Yun Siyao found faint righteous Qi on the ghost’s corpse, and Lang Feixian identified it as belonging to the Sage of East Commandery, leading them to suspect the Cui clan was connected to the Hungry Ghost Path.

At Yinggui Gate, Xu Santing welcomed a caravan bringing 218 rescued captives back to Tianbo City and noticed a woman named Li Yu Jia. Meanwhile, Chen Luo extracted Primordial Chaos Qi from ten Great Scholar's Literary Treasures, succeeded five times, and entered the Dream Flower Forest to summon a story with all five streams at once.

• Xu Santing opened Yinggui Gate as returning merchants brought rescued people into Tianbo City.
• A caravan worker gave Xu Santing a Myriad Love Fruit and reported that he had brought back 218 people from the Barbarian Plains.
• Xu Santing noticed a hooded woman among the rescued captives and learned that her name was Li Yu Jia.
• Ao Lingling gave Chen Luo ten Great Scholar's Literary Treasures for extracting Primordial Chaos Qi.
• Chen Luo failed his first five extractions, then succeeded with the remaining five while Jin Guagua cheered him on.
• Chen Luo absorbed the five streams of Primordial Chaos Qi and entered the Dream Flower Forest, intending to summon a story with them all at once.

Chen Luo wrote the first five chapters of Legend of the Eight Immortals, and the book’s appearance caused the Investiture of the Gods to manifest in his divine soul. Its emergence stirred the Primordial Sea and revealed Daoist and Confucian strongholds, while Yu Jia noticed familiar Sky-Treading Barbarian Steeds outside Dongcang City.

• Chen Luo chose a sparrow from the Dream Flower Forest and identified the book as Legend of the Eight Immortals.
• Chen Luo wrote the first five chapters, changing references to the Heavenly Court and Laozi when the world’s rules prevented him from writing them.
• After Chen Luo finished the fifth chapter, his brush exploded and eight treasure phantoms entered his divine soul as the Investiture of the Gods appeared.
• The Investiture of the Gods’ emergence stirred the Primordial Sea, revealed Daoist Cave Heaven Blessed Lands and the Dao Palace, and brought the Confucian Saint Hall into view.
• Chen Luo wondered what the new divine immortal book meant and speculated that completing Legend of the Eight Immortals could yield its eight treasures.
• Yu Jia saw Sky-Treading Barbarian Steeds outside Dongcang City and wondered why they looked familiar.

At Morning Awakening Teahouses across the capital, listeners celebrated the release of Chen Luo’s long work Legend of the Eight Immortals, only to be left on a cliffhanger after its first chapter. Meanwhile, Chen Luo prepared to leave Le Ya City, but delayed his departure until Yun Siyao returned, just as the bloodied Xia Qingchuan raced toward the city.

• A Master began telling Marquis Wu’s new long work, Legend of the Eight Immortals, and stopped after the filial son swallowed the Dragon Pearl and transformed into a dragon.
• Chen Luo recovered from the Seven Injuries Fist backlash, found Lang Feixian asleep in the carriage, and learned that Yun Siyao had gone to bid farewell to Princess Pingyang.
• Chen Luo told Yang Qianli to rent out his courtyard and use the proceeds to help the poor in Le Ya City.
• Ao Lingling reminded Chen Luo that Yun Siyao had forbidden them to leave until she returned, so Chen Luo invited Yang Qianli to tea instead.
• Xia Qingchuan arrived near Le Ya City covered in blood and clinging to a spell-formed yellow crane.

Chen Luo's party rescued Xia Qingchuan from two pursuers, but the men exploded and Zhong Kui discovered they had no souls. After Xia Qingchuan described a deadly incident at Floating Clouds Academy, Lang Feixian set off to investigate while Chen Luo continued toward Qingning City.

• Yun Siyao explained the Qingning Cui Clan's ancient history and warned Chen Luo not to underestimate its power.
• Chen Luo recognized Xia Qingchuan fleeing two black-clothed men and sent Ao Lingling to rescue her.
• Xia Qingchuan trapped the pursuers with Crane Dance, but strange marks appeared on their brows and they exploded before Ao Lingling could capture them.
• Zhong Kui reported that the two pursuers had no souls, and Xia Qingchuan explained that people at Floating Clouds Academy had changed temperament and attacked her group.
• Ao Lingling suggested sending word to Le Ya City, but Lang Feixian woke and volunteered to investigate Floating Cloud City while Chen Luo continued south.

Chen Luo, Lang Feixian, and Yun Siyao reached Floating Clouds City and learned that a Devil Lord’s Demonic Intent had corrupted academy students and damaged a seal. As Lang Feixian and Yun Siyao helped repair it, Chen Luo spotted a horrifying figure through his vision, leaving the danger unresolved.

• Chen Luo agreed to accompany Lang Feixian to Floating Clouds City, and the group sent a message requesting reinforcements.
• Lang Feixian explained that the attackers’ souls had vanished without spiritual light, suggesting an expert had controlled and destroyed them.
• The group reached Floating Clouds City and learned that a corrupted disciple had damaged a Collapsing Realm seal containing a Devil Lord’s Demonic Intent.
• Lang Feixian and Yun Siyao went to help reinforce the failing seal while Chen Luo investigated the battlefield and found that many dead students also lacked spiritual light.
• Chen Luo saw a handless, footless, eyeless figure that brought the words “Human-Pig” to mind before his vision returned to normal.

Chen Luo discovered a mysterious cloud hidden beneath Floating Clouds Academy just as a spatial trap teleported the city’s Great Scholars away and the Collapsing Realm began to emerge. With the academy’s defenses in crisis, its students launched the Floating Clouds Cover Sun Formation, risking their lives to seal the route into the realm.

• Chen Luo followed a sparrow into a hidden chamber beneath a well, where he found a cloud-shaped inscription that entered his Sea of Divine Soul before he sent it into the Yin Yang Boundary.
• A spatial formation teleported Ao Lingling away, then removed every Great Scholar from Floating Clouds Academy as the seal on the Collapsing Realm broke open.
• Chen Luo recognized the crisis as a trap connected to Lu Youzi’s earlier visit and hurried to the academy square.
• Xia Qingchuan explained that the students were forming the Floating Clouds Cover Sun Formation to conceal the markers leading through the Collapsing Realm.
• A Floating Clouds student declared that the students would take the Great Scholars’ place and charged toward the crack in the sky, his Righteous Qi turning ethereal.