Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai decided to find the Posthumous Child by approaching the Saints of the Three Great Clans, but learned that Li Mo and Sun Miao were still in seclusion while Zhao Xiantu was attending banquets. He asked the Nineteenth Elder for Tianshui Sect’s invitations and was stunned by the thousands he had collected.

• Lin Bai decided to investigate the Sun, Li, and Zhao Families and the imperial clan to find the Posthumous Child, then travel to Phoenix Luck City to meet Old Man Wuchuan.
• Qin Yao reported that Zhao Xiantu had emerged from seclusion after breaking through, while Li Mo and Sun Miao remained secluded; Qiao Mo added that Zhao Xiantu was attending frequent banquets.
• Lin Bai learned that Tianshui Sect had received invitations but that the Nineteenth Elder had postponed them while Lin Bai handled Prince Chen’s affairs.
• Lin Bai asked the Nineteenth Elder to bring the invitations so he could consider attending banquets and was astonished by the several thousand gathered in a pile.

Lin Bai received Chen Yule’s invitation to a banquet for the imperial capital’s prodigies and decided to attend in hopes of finding help with the search for the Posthumous Child. He left the Crow confined in Tianshui Sect’s traveling palace, where the bird remained miserable.

• Lin Bai reviewed the pile of invitations and accepted Chen Yule’s invitation while dismissing the Third Prince’s repeated invitations.
• The Nineteenth Elder explained that Chen Yule had invited Saints from major forces, including Lu Qingjun and Li Yushan, but not Zhao Xiantu.
• Lin Bai decided to ask Chen Yule for help investigating the Posthumous Child and instructed the Nineteenth Elder to bring him invitations from important figures.
• Lin Bai told Qiao Mo and Qin Yao to assist the Zhao Xing Office if possible and arranged for them to attend Chen Yule’s banquet with him in five days.
• Lin Bai returned to his residence and found the Crow dejected after being kept inside the traveling palace for fear that the Zhao Xing Office would identify him as the Great Thief of the Imperial Capital.

Lin Bai offered the crow a Green Jade Fragment in exchange for its help, but neither of them knew how to remove the fragments from Lin Bai’s body. Lin Bai let the crow leave the Tianshui Sect’s imperial residence under strict conditions, and it flew off to investigate the Third Prince and search for the Posthumous Child.

• Lin Bai offered the restless crow a Green Jade Fragment to persuade it to help him.
• The crow could not explain how to remove the Green Jade Fragments, and Lin Bai confirmed he could not control or communicate with them either.
• Lin Bai agreed to let the crow leave the imperial residence if it avoided stealing and causing trouble in the capital.
• Lin Bai asked the crow to watch the Third Prince, investigate the Sun Moon Pavilion’s experts, and search the Zhao, Li, and Sun families or the imperial family’s territory for the Posthumous Child.
• The crow accepted Lin Bai’s terms and flew away to begin its tasks.

Lin Bai attended Chen Yule’s banquet at Star Gazing Pavilion, hoping to enlist Chen Yule’s help in finding his Posthumous Child while using a Green Jade Fragment to prompt the crow’s memories. He met several holy sons at the gathering, where tensions between some guests were already evident.

• Lin Bai decided to use a Green Jade Fragment to stimulate the crow’s memories and ask it to search for his Posthumous Child, while also seeking Chen Yule’s help.
• Five days later, Lin Bai arrived at Chen Yule’s banquet with Qiao Mo, Qin Yao, Fang Yuanshu, and Ye Guyu.
• Chen Yule welcomed Lin Bai warmly and seated him and his companions beside the principal seats.
• Chen Yule introduced Lu Qingjun and Li Yushan, who already knew Lin Bai and appeared angry after exchanging blows.
• Chen Yule began introducing Meng Qinxian, the holy son of Overturning Heavens Sect, to Lin Bai.

Chen Yule hosted a banquet for prodigies from several territories, but rivalries between the guests threatened to turn it into a fight. With Chen Yule asking Lin Bai for help, Lin Bai hinted that he had a plan as the chapter ended.

• Chen Yule introduced Lin Bai to Nie Shang, Tang Beiyao, Yi Heze, Mo Nan, and Li Xuanqiu at the banquet.
• Meng Qinxian toasted the guests, but Nie Shang mocked Overturning Heavens Sect for poisoning its wine, prompting Meng Qinxian to threaten him.
• Li Yushan tried to calm the dispute, but Lu Qingjun insulted him, reigniting the feud between Soaring Dragon Sect and Seven Absolutes City.
• Chen Yule asked Lin Bai to help prevent the guests from fighting, and Lin Bai said he had a plan.

Lin Bai and Chen Yule devised a drum-striking drinking game to keep the rival sects from fighting at the banquet. Chen Yule and Lin Bai sounded the Python Dragon Drum, but Meng Qinxian failed and realized they had tricked him into underestimating its difficulty.

• Lin Bai whispered an idea to Chen Yule, who ordered five hundred jars of Dragon Blood Wine brought to the banquet.
• Chen Yule introduced the Python Dragon Drum and explained that the Holy Sons would take turns striking it, drinking a penalty cup whenever they failed to sound it.
• The assembled Holy Sons agreed to play, and Chen Yule sounded the drum first.
• Lin Bai struck the drum with just enough force to sound it while conserving his strength.
• Meng Qinxian tried to sound the drum, failed, and realized Chen Yule and Lin Bai had made it seem easier than it was.

The guests took turns striking the Python Dragon Drum during the first round, with Meng Qinxian failing and Yi Heze and Nie Shang using excessive force. As Mo Nan prepared to take her turn, Lin Bai and Chen Yule discussed her Nine Heavens Starry Robe, while Chen Yun grew suspicious of their laughter.

• Meng Qinxian failed to sound the Python Dragon Drum, drank a cup of potent Dragon Blood Wine, and warned Yi Heze to seize his turn.
• Yi Heze sounded the drum with excessive force, and Nie Shang did the same after mocking Meng Qinxian for his failure.
• Lu Qingjun sounded the drum with less force than Yi Heze and Nie Shang but more than Lin Bai and Chen Yule.
• Lin Bai and Chen Yule identified Mo Nan's robe as the Star Sect's Nine Heavens Starry Robe, a powerful defensive Grand Yi Divine Weapon, and joked about its effect on a future husband.
• Chen Yun questioned Chen Yule about his laughter with Lin Bai, but Chen Yule said they had only been chatting.

At Chen Yule’s banquet, Mo Nan and Li Xuanqiu traded insults over their sects’ feud before Lu Qingjun redirected everyone to the Python Dragon Drum game. The contest continued into its sixth round, with Yi Heze, Nie Shang, and Li Yushan already struggling to conserve spiritual power.

• Lin Bai and Chen Yule’s laughter annoyed Mo Nan, who accused Lin Bai of lying when he offered an excuse.
• Li Xuanqiu described the Starmoon Twin Sects’ divination skills, and Mo Nan countered by warning Lin Bai and Chen Yule about the Water Moon Sword Sect’s dangerous dual-cultivation practices.
• Mo Nan called Li Xuanqiu a vixen, and Li Xuanqiu responded with murderous intent before Lu Qingjun redirected the gathering to Li Yushan’s turn at the drum.
• Li Yushan sounded the Python Dragon Drum, and the guests began a game of repeated rounds in which anyone who failed to sound it had to drink a penalty cup.
• The contest reached its sixth round, and Yi Heze, Nie Shang, and Li Yushan showed signs of running low on spiritual power.

The drumming game reached its ninth round, and Yi Heze, Nie Shang, and Li Yushan ran low on spiritual power. Nie Shang failed and drank the punishment wine, while Li Yushan gave up after Lu Qingjun mocked him, leaving their rivalry simmering.

• Yi Heze used his remaining spiritual power to sound the Python Dragon Drum, while Nie Shang and Li Yushan hoped he would fail first.
• Nie Shang failed to sound the drum, and Meng Qinxian mocked him until Chen Yule calmed them both down.
• Nie Shang accepted the punishment and drank a cup of Dragon Blood Wine, which burned fiercely as he swallowed it.
• Lu Qingjun and Mo Nan sounded the drum in succession, but Li Yushan admitted defeat because his spiritual power was exhausted.
• Lu Qingjun mocked Li Yushan, who reacted with anger and killing intent because their sects were longtime enemies.

Chen Yule’s Python Dragon Drum drinking game continued as the contestants fell one by one, while Chen Yule, Lin Bai, and Lu Qingjun remained able to sound the drum. By the fifteenth round, the others were heavily drunk and the three-way stalemate still held.

• Li Yushan and Li Xuanqiu failed to sound the drum and drank penalty wine, while Mo Nan blurted out an insult at Li Xuanqiu before awkwardly recovering.
• Tang Beiyao also failed and drank penalty wine, ending the ninth round with four contestants eliminated.
• Chen Yule, Lin Bai, and Meng Qinxian sounded the drum in the tenth round, while Yi Heze and others drank penalty wine.
• Chen Yule, Lin Bai, Meng Qinxian, Lu Qingjun, and Mo Nan lasted through the eleventh round, but Meng Qinxian and Mo Nan failed in the twelfth.
• Chen Yule, Lin Bai, and Lu Qingjun kept sounding the drum through the fifteenth round as the others drank nearly a jar of Dragon Blood Wine and Yi Heze slurred at them.

The drum-beating drinking game continued as Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun proved able to endure round after round. With no winner yet, the other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters kept receiving penalty drinks, and Meng Qinxian forced Yi Heze to finish a cup of Dragon Blood Wine.

• Yi Heze, Nie Shang, Li Yushan, Li Xuanqiu, Mo Nan, and Tang Beiyao became increasingly drunk as the game continued.
• Chen Yule challenged Lin Bai and Lu Qingjun to keep playing, and the three of them survived through the eighteenth round without a winner.
• Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun entered the nineteenth round, each relying on unusual reserves or cultivation to keep going.
• The other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters complained that they could not drink any more, but the rules required them to keep taking penalty wine until the game ended.
• Meng Qinxian recruited Nie Shang and Li Yushan to hold Yi Heze down while Li Yushan poured a full cup of Dragon Blood Wine into his mouth.
• Chen Yule protested, but Meng Qinxian insisted that everyone should enjoy their rare chance to indulge themselves away from their families and sects.

At a banquet, Lin Bai and the other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters indulged in Dragon Blood Wine and continued their drum-striking game. Lin Bai claimed he could keep striking the Python Dragon Drum, and the others wagered jars of wine that he could not strike it ten times in one breath.

• Yi Heze stood up and drank another bowl, then helped Meng Qinxian force Nie Shang to take his penalty drink.
• Mo Nan and Li Xuanqiu each drank a bowl of Dragon Blood Wine, while Li Xuanqiu urged Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and Lu Qingjun to finish the game soon.
• After the game reached its twenty-third round, Lu Qingjun said he could not continue and asked how many more times Lin Bai and Chen Yule could strike the drum.
• Chen Yule said he could manage five more strikes, while Lin Bai claimed he could keep striking it.
• Chen Yule wagered a jar of Dragon Blood Wine that Lin Bai could not strike the drum ten times in one breath, and Meng Qinxian recruited more people to bet.
• Mo Nan entered Li Xuanqiu into the wager despite her protests, and Tang Beiyao also agreed to bet; Chen Yule assured Lin Bai that Star Gazing Pavilion could host everyone if they drank themselves unconscious.

Lin Bai won the banquet’s drumming game by striking the Python Dragon Drum ten times, forcing the other Holy Sons and Holy Daughters to drink jars of Dragon Blood Wine. The guests continued drinking and speaking freely, while Tang Beiyao became so drunk that her companions struggled to take her away.

• Lin Bai struck the Python Dragon Drum ten times, winning the game as the guests counted each blow.
• Yi Heze, Meng Qinxian, Nie Shang, Li Xuanqiu, and the other losers drank a jar of Dragon Blood Wine each.
• Tang Beiyao collapsed after drinking, then woke and insisted that she could keep drinking when the Water Moon Sword Sect disciples tried to take her to rest.
• Chen Yule accepted responsibility for the banquet and invited everyone to keep drinking with him and Lin Bai.
• The Holy Sons and Holy Daughters drank Dragon Blood Wine together and began openly discussing things they usually kept to themselves.

At Chen Yule’s banquet, Meng Qinxian and Nie Shang discussed the feud between Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect and secretly agreed to investigate an ancestor’s death. Lin Bai also observed the strained ties among other sects and heard Mo Nan explain that cultivation arts were not good or evil; only the human heart was.

• Meng Qinxian pressed Nie Shang to drink, then argued that Overturning Heavens Sect had not poisoned Worship Heaven Sect’s ancestor and that someone was provoking their feud.
• Nie Shang admitted he also doubted Overturning Heavens Sect was responsible, and he and Meng Qinxian agreed to investigate the death in secret after returning to the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory.
• Lin Bai recalled Nie Shang’s earlier warning about Overturning Heavens Sect’s wine and understood the source of the two sects’ conflict.
• Lu Qingjun and Li Yushan remained silent despite drinking, while Mo Nan and Li Xuanqiu spoke after getting drunk.
• Mo Nan apologized to Li Xuanqiu and said cultivation arts had no distinction between good and evil, only the human heart did; Lin Bai agreed with her.

After Chen Yule’s three-day banquet ended, Lin Bai asked him to arrange a discreet way to question the Saint Sons of the Zhao, Li, and Sun families for Prince Chen. The banquet’s guests then began returning to Star Gazing Pavilion in secret after Meng Qinxian urgently summoned Lin Bai, Chen Yule, and several others.

• The Water Moon Sword Sect elder found Tang Beiyao drunk at Star Gazing Pavilion and took her away, after which Chen Yule ended the three-day banquet.
• Lin Bai sent Qiao Mo, Qin Yao, and the Tianshui Sect disciples back while he stayed to speak with Chen Yule.
• Lin Bai asked Chen Yule to help him secretly force information from the Saint Sons of the Zhao, Li, and Sun families, and Chen Yule agreed on the condition that Lin Bai not kill them.
• Lin Bai and Chen Yule received urgent Voice Transmission Tokens from Meng Qinxian, who told them to conceal their auras and meet at Star Gazing Pavilion.
• Meng Qinxian, Nie Shang, Lu Qingjun, and Yi Heze entered Star Gazing Pavilion over the wall, and Lu Qingjun asked Meng Qinxian why he had summoned them back.

Meng Qinxian tried to persuade Lin Bai and the other Holy Sons to visit Bright Moon Pavilion, a famous pleasure house in Chu's Imperial Capital. As the others hesitated, Chen Yule suggested it might help Lin Bai meet the Holy Sons of the Zhao Family, Li Family, and Sun Family.

• Meng Qinxian announced that he wanted to visit Bright Moon Pavilion, and Lin Bai explained that it was a place for drinking flower wine.
• Yi Heze and Lu Qingjun refused to go because they feared their sects and family would disapprove, while Nie Shang stayed silent.
• Meng Qinxian urged them to go just to broaden their horizons, and Yi Heze, Nie Shang, and Lu Qingjun began to waver.
• Chen Yule suggested that Bright Moon Pavilion might be a good place for Lin Bai to meet the Holy Sons of the Zhao Family, Li Family, and Sun Family.

Chen Yule led Lin Bai and their companions to Bright Moon Pavilion, using a planned swordsmanship meeting as an excuse to keep their outing secret from their elders. They arrived at the pleasure district, where Meng Qinxian eagerly admired the scene.

• Chen Yule told Lin Bai that Bright Moon Pavilion might give them a chance to find leverage over Zhao Xiantu and Li Mo.
• Meng Qinxian persuaded the others to join the outing, and they messaged their sect elders with an excuse about attending a feast.
• Chen Yule told Chen Yun he was going to exchange swordsmanship pointers with Lin Bai, then left Star Gazing Pavilion.
• Chen Yule, Lin Bai, Meng Qinxian, Yi Heze, Lu Qingjun, and Nie Shang traveled by carriage to Bright Moon Pavilion.
• The group arrived at Bright Moon Pavilion, and Meng Qinxian called it paradise in the Demon Realm as he gazed at the women and lively district.

Chen Yule led Lin Bai and their companions through Bright Moon Pavilion toward its exclusive island destination, the Moon Palace. As their pleasure boat sailed down Bright Moon Sky River, they learned that the Moon Palace admitted only wealthy or influential guests.

• A woman invited Lin Bai and the others into her establishment, but Chen Yule called it vulgar and offered to take them to the Moon Palace instead.
• Chen Yule explained that the Moon Palace stood on an island and that they would need to take a pleasure boat because using his family’s boat would alert the elders.
• Lin Bai and the others boarded an ordinary pleasure boat and set sail across Bright Moon Sky River, whose origins were tied to a battle between Great Mystic Art Users over a Courtesan.
• A mature woman approached the group and offered to accompany them, but Chen Yule declined and mentioned their reserved private room at the Moon Palace.
• Chen Yule explained that the Moon Palace only received distinguished guests and required wealth or influence to enter.

Chen Yule explained the Moon Palace’s ranks and revealed that its Courtesan, Fallen Immortal, was a Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artist imprisoned there after the Star Dou Sect was destroyed a thousand years ago. Lin Bai and the others arrived at the Moon Palace, where an attendant welcomed them.

• Meng Qinxian teased Chen Yule about secretly visiting the Bright Moon Pavilion with Lin Bai and the Holy Daughter of the Tianshui Sect.
• Chen Yule described the Moon Palace’s courtesans and said Fallen Immortal was its current Courtesan and a Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artist.
• Lin Bai guessed that Fallen Immortal remained in the Moon Palace because she faced a difficulty, and Chen Yule confirmed she could not leave because of Chu’s laws.
• Chen Yule revealed that Fallen Immortal had been the Holy Daughter of the Star Dou Sect, which the Zhao Xing Office destroyed a thousand years earlier for colluding with the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Lin Bai and the others reached the Moon Palace, where the attendant Qiong Yi welcomed them.

Lin Bai and his companions entered the Moon Palace, where Chen Yule explained its rules and dangers before choosing the Wind and Snow Palace’s Hundred Tales Banquet. The group was led toward the banquet and learned they had to prepare a vivid story and pay five hundred immortal jades to enter.

• Qiong Yi welcomed the visitors and announced which Courtesans were receiving guests that night.
• Chen Yule explained that the Courtesans sold their art, warned the group not to cause trouble, and recounted how a Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm expert had killed a Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm offender.
• After hearing the flower cards, Chen Yule chose Yun Ke’s Hundred Tales Banquet at the Wind and Snow Palace for the group.
• A maid told Lin Bai and the others they needed to bring a strange, thrilling story and make it sound true.
• The maid announced that entry to the Wind and Snow Palace cost five hundred immortal jades, shocking the group.