Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai and Zhu Mo discovered Jiang Xiaoyue, the Holy Daughter of Azure Lotus Sect, dead and tortured inside Wind and Snow Palace. Lin Bai suspected the killer was the same evil cultivator who had abducted Moon Sect and Star Sect disciples, while Courtesan Yun Ke revealed her formidable strength and demanded the culprit’s identity.

• Courtesan Yun Ke hurried to a side hall after reacting fearfully to Lin Bai’s words, and Lin Bai and Zhu Mo found Jiang Xiaoyue’s corpse there.
• Courtesan Yun Ke mourned Jiang Xiaoyue, whom she called her little sister, while Lin Bai recognized her as the Holy Daughter of Azure Lotus Sect.
• Zhu Mo summoned fifty more Black Dragon Legion martial artists to seal off Wind and Snow Palace as Lin Bai searched the scene for clues.
• Lin Bai connected Jiang Xiaoyue’s murder to the evil cultivator who had abducted disciples of Moon Sect and Star Sect.
• Courtesan Yun Ke demanded to know the suspected killer’s identity, and Lin Bai was shocked to discover that she was a mid-grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm cultivator.

Lin Bai and Zhu Mo questioned Miss Yun Ke about Jiang Xiaoyue’s death and learned her true identity and the reason she had become a courtesan in the Moon Palace. The Ecstasy Young Master remained at large, while the Zhao Xing Office continued its investigation.

• Lin Bai and Zhu Mo found no wounds or blood on Jiang Xiaoyue’s corpse, suggesting she had not died from the Divine Light Swordplay.
• Miss Yun Ke revealed mid-grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm cultivation and recognized Lin Bai’s portrait of the Ecstasy Young Master as a man who had visited Wind and Snow Palace for three days.
• Lin Bai suspected the Ecstasy Young Master and Lanyue were allied and belonged to the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, while Zhu Mo assured Miss Yun Ke that the Zhao Xing Office was investigating.
• Miss Yun Ke told Lin Bai that her real name was Jiang Xiaoyun and that Jiang Xiaoyue was her biological younger sister; she was the daughter of the Azure Lotus Sect’s Sect Master.
• Jiang Xiaoyun explained that she had volunteered to serve as a hostage and slave in the Chu Kingdom for two thousand years after the Zhao Xing Office captured Azure Lotus Sect martial artists who had crossed its borders.
• Zhu Mo confirmed that he had led the capture of the Azure Lotus Sect forces and said he had not known the hostage sent to the imperial capital was now Miss Yun Ke.

Lin Bai and Zhu Mo pieced together how Jiang Xiaoyue was killed and sealed off Moon Palace while searching for Ecstasy Young Master. Their investigation turned to a possible accomplice in Wind and Snow Palace when Wind Night was found missing.

• Miss Yun Ke explained that Jiang Xiaoyue had secretly visited her three days earlier and stayed in Wind and Snow Palace.
• Lin Bai and Zhu Mo deduced that Ecstasy Young Master had followed Jiang Xiaoyue and killed her that evening.
• Zhu Mo ordered the Black Dragon Legion to seal off Moon Palace and search for the killer.
• Lin Bai suspected someone inside Wind and Snow Palace had helped the killer enter, so Miss Yun Ke gathered the palace’s maids.
• Miss Yun Ke noticed that Wind Night, the maid who received guests, was absent from the gathered maids.

Lin Bai and Zhu Mo discovered that Wind Night had fled after helping Ecstasy Young Master kill Jiang Xiaoyue, while the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace spread news of the murder throughout the imperial capital. Azure Lotus Sect elders arrived and found Jiang Xiaoyue’s corpse, leaving the Zhao Xing Office facing a furious sect and a growing crisis.

• Snow Chill told Lin Bai, Zhu Mo, and Miss Yun Ke that Wind Night had left Wind and Snow Palace, claiming Miss Yun Ke had sent her.
• Lin Bai concluded Wind Night’s escape was tied to Jiang Xiaoyue’s murder, and Zhu Mo ordered a search while proposing to suppress the news.
• Lin Bai warned that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would spread the story, just as Azure Lotus Sect elders arrived after hearing rumors of Jiang Xiaoyue’s death.
• Elder Yun explained that he and two other elders had come to find the missing Holy Daughter, then Miss Yun Ke led them to Jiang Xiaoyue’s corpse.
• The Azure Lotus Sect elders flew into a rage, and Zhu Mo acknowledged that the murder had become widely known and would provoke a major upheaval.

After Jiang Xiaoyue’s death in the Wind and Snow Palace, Elder Yun brought the Azure Lotus Sect’s fury to the palace, and the Chu Emperor summoned Lin Bai and Zhu Mo to answer for the deaths of three Holy Sons and Holy Daughters in the imperial capital. The Chu Emperor blamed Zhu Mo and Prince Chen for failing to protect the city, while Prince Chen tried to take responsibility for Zhu Mo.

• News of Jiang Xiaoyue’s death spread through the imperial capital, and the Elder of the Azure Lotus Sect berated Zhu Mo for suggesting that the Zhao Xing Office examine her remains.
• Elder Yun went to the imperial palace, and Eunuch Gui summoned Lin Bai and Zhu Mo alongside Prince Chen and the Third Prince.
• The Chu Emperor rebuked Prince Chen for failing to investigate the deaths and ordered Lin Bai and Zhu Mo into the Golden Hall.
• The Chu Emperor accused Zhu Mo of failing to protect the imperial capital, and Zhu Mo knelt and accepted responsibility.
• Prince Chen knelt and asked the Chu Emperor to punish him instead of Zhu Mo, but the Chu Emperor declared that neither of them could escape blame.

Lin Bai told Chu Emperor that Lanyue had confessed to murdering Zuo Feiyu and Changsun Hongxuan but escaped, then argued that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace used the killings to distract Chu and the Zhao Xing Office from a larger scheme. Chu Emperor heard Lin Bai’s warning, but the true objective behind the plot remained unknown.

• Chu Emperor rebuked Prince Chen, Zhu Mo, and Lin Bai over their failure to capture the culprit, but Lin Bai said they had identified Lanyue and that she had escaped.
• Zhu Mo confirmed that Lanyue had confessed to killing Zuo Feiyu and Changsun Hongxuan, and Chu Emperor sent Prince Chen, the Third Prince, and Zhu Mo outside while keeping Lin Bai in the hall.
• Prince Chen warned Lin Bai to watch his words as he left, and Chu Emperor invited Lin Bai to speak frankly once they were alone.
• Lin Bai explained that Lanyue had waited for them at Weaving Cloud Palace and led them to Jiang Xiaoyue’s remains in Wind and Snow Palace, suggesting she had wanted the murders discovered.
• Lin Bai said Lanyue and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had killed Holy Sons and Holy Daughters to draw Chu’s imperial clan and the Zhao Xing Office into the investigation and distract them from another objective.
• Chu Emperor listened as Lin Bai described the suspected diversion and grew visibly grim.

Lin Bai asked Emperor Chu what the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace wanted in the imperial capital, and learned that its likely target was the Demon Suppression Cave of the White Deer Academy. He left the conversation wanting to know what was inside the cave.

• Lin Bai asked Emperor Chu what the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace was plotting and what it wanted in the imperial capital.
• Emperor Chu explained that the Demon Refining Tower held remnants of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and recounted how the Tianshui Sect had declined after its ancestors plotted to seize territory.
• Lin Bai assured Emperor Chu that the Tianshui Sect would not rebel and pointed out that Zuo Feiyu and Changsun Hongxuan had both died after attending banquets hosted by the Li and Zhao Families.
• Emperor Chu concluded that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace's target in the imperial capital was the Demon Suppression Cave of the White Deer Academy.
• Lin Bai asked Emperor Chu what was inside the Demon Suppression Cave.

Lin Bai learned that the Demon Suppression Cave held thirty-six immortal survivors of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, and Emperor Chu tasked him with investigating the remnants in exchange for lifting the suppression of Tianshui Sect. Emperor Chu prepared to draw the enemy toward White Deer Academy and crush their plans, leaving the capital on the brink of battle.

• Emperor Chu told Lin Bai that the Demon Suppression Cave held thirty-six immortal Demonic Martial Soul holders from the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Emperor Chu tasked Lin Bai with investigating the murders of Zuo Feiyu, Changsun Hongxuan, and Jiang Xiaoyue, as well as the remnants' plans, promising to lift the suppression of Tianshui Sect if he succeeded.
• After Lin Bai left, Emperor Chu ordered King Chai Ning, Jing An King, and Bei Yun King to bring troops to the outskirts of the imperial capital within ten days.
• Emperor Chu sent a figure in the shadows to White Deer Academy with the Purple Dragon Legion to support Xiao Cangsheng.
• Emperor Chu decided to divert attention toward the three Saint Sons' deaths to lure the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace remnants into acting at White Deer Academy.

Prince Chen and the Third Prince clashed over the succession and the investigation into the demonic cultivators before Emperor Chu summoned Prince Chen. Lin Bai rejected the Third Prince’s offer to court Tianshui Sect and blamed him for the sect’s losses, leaving the Third Prince with growing murderous intent toward Lin Bai.

• The Third Prince offered to help Prince Chen handle the deaths of three Holy Sons and Holy Daughters, but Prince Chen refused and accused him of eliminating rival princes.
• Prince Chen warned the Third Prince that he would never let him rule securely, then entered the Golden Palace after Emperor Chu summoned him.
• The Third Prince invited Lin Bai to bring Tianshui Sect over to his side, but Lin Bai refused and said the sect would someday demand an accounting for its losses in the Water Mirror Sea.
• The Third Prince recalled Lin Bai’s rise and his role in Tianshui Sect’s victory over Heaven and Earth Gate, then watched him leave with murderous intent.

Prince Chen told Lin Bai that the Chu Emperor had ordered a citywide search for Lanyue, the Demoness, and Lin Bai realized the order was meant to lure the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace into revealing its plans. Prince Chen suspected the Demon Suppression Cave was the real target and revealed that more than a thousand unregistered Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artists had entered the Imperial City, implying a powerful insider was helping them.

• Prince Chen told Lin Bai that the Chu Emperor had given the Zhao Xing Office ten days to find Lanyue, the Demoness, with support from the Imperial City Garrison.
• Lin Bai concluded that the Chu Emperor was using the search to draw the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace out of hiding.
• Prince Chen told Lin Bai that the Demon Palace was likely targeting the White Deer Academy's Demon Suppression Cave rather than the Saint Son.
• Prince Chen explained that his former subordinates had helped him discover more than a thousand unidentified Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artists in the Imperial City.
• Lin Bai and Prince Chen concluded that a highly influential insider was helping those martial artists evade the Zhao Xing Office's records.

Prince Chen mobilized the Zhao Xing Office and Imperial City Garrison to search for Lanyue while secretly relying on Chu Emperor’s plan to draw the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace remnants to the Demon Suppression Cave. Lin Bai warned Lu Qingjun that Lanyue’s use of Seven Absolutes City’s Divine Light Swordplay could bring the Big Dipper Sect and Guiyi Sect against them, and Lu Qingjun resolved to capture her; he suspected she was his Clan Uncle Lu Shulin’s daughter.

• Prince Chen told Lin Bai that Chu Emperor planned to lure the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace remnants to the Demon Suppression Cave and ordered the Zhao Xing Office and Imperial City Garrison to search for Lanyue.
• Prince Chen assigned search areas across the Imperial City, and the Zhao Xing Office and garrison began patrolling and posting portraits of Lanyue and her accomplices.
• Lin Bai told the Tianshui Sect members that Lanyue, the Courtesan of Weaving Cloud Palace, was the culprit behind Zuo Feiyu and Changsun Hongxuan’s murders.
• Lin Bai informed Lu Qingjun that Lanyue’s real name was Lu Chuqing and that her use of Divine Light Swordplay could implicate Seven Absolutes City in the killings.
• Lu Qingjun sent elders to request Chu Emperor’s permission to capture Lanyue, and Chu Emperor allowed only Lu Qingjun to assist the search.
• Lu Qingjun suspected Lanyue was Lu Shulin’s daughter and vowed to purge her to protect Seven Absolutes City.

Lin Bai identified Lanyue, the Demoness, and the Taiyi martial artists as likely remnants of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, while the Holy Sons sought permission to join the hunt. Meanwhile, the remnants gathered in a hidden courtyard and prepared their next operation, with the Ecstasy Young Master ready to lead it.

• Chen Yule brought Lin Bai, Qiao Mo, and Qin Yao into his deer carriage, where Meng Qinxian and the others questioned Lin Bai about the hunt.
• Lin Bai told the group that Lanyue, the Demoness, and the Taiyi martial artists were likely remnants of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Meng Qinxian, Yi Heze, Nie Shang, and Chen Yule agreed to ask their elders to seek the Chu Emperor's permission to help hunt the remnants.
• Lin Bai went to the Zhao Xing Office to await news from the citywide search.
• More than twenty Taiyi martial artists, including Lanyue, the Demoness, and the Ecstasy Young Master, gathered in a hidden courtyard and discussed Chu's mounting pressure.
• The elders told the Ecstasy Young Master he was crucial to their next operation, and he said he had made preparations and was awaiting their order.

Ecstasy Young Master persuaded Princess Wanyu to obtain tokens for White Deer Academy, while Lin Bai decided to take the Crow out and asked about the academy’s Demon Suppression Cave. The Crow revealed little about its occupants as the chapter explained the feared Demonic Martial Souls and the war fought to eradicate them.

• Ecstasy Young Master asked Princess Wanyu to help him enter White Deer Academy, and she promised to get several tokens for him in two days.
• Lin Bai offered to let the Crow out after keeping him confined in the Tianshui Sect’s traveling palace for months.
• Lin Bai asked the Crow about the thirty-six Immortal and Undying Ones in White Deer Academy’s Demon Suppression Cave, and the Crow recalled seeing a few dried corpses.
• The chapter described Immortal, Undying, and World-Destroyer Demonic Martial Souls and recounted how the Demon Realm and Spirit Realm joined forces in the Demon-Slaying War.

Lin Bai learned that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s destruction was driven by the struggle over Green Jade Fragments, while its imprisoned undying survivors endured a hundred thousand years of torment. The crow reassured him that White Deer Academy’s formation could repel an assault, but the fragments’ true purpose remained unknown.

• The crow explained that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had gathered martial artists with Demonic Martial Souls and that survivors were imprisoned across the Devil Realm after its destruction.
• The crow told Lin Bai that thirty-six undying beings in White Deer Academy’s Demon Suppression Cave had been refined for a hundred thousand years, and Lin Bai feared what they might do if freed.
• The crow described White Deer Academy’s Universe Reversal Righteous Qi Formation and said it would suppress attackers from the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace who lacked passage tokens.
• The crow revealed that the Chu royal family, the Chen Family, Tianshui Sect, and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had all sought Green Jade Fragments, which had helped cause the palace’s destruction.
• Lin Bai reflected that he possessed four Green Jade Fragments but knew little about them, and the crow warned him that a bigger truth lay beneath the surface.

Lin Bai and the Zhao Xing Office discovered Lanyue, the Demoness, in the Western City and were ordered to capture her within three days. Zhu Mo suspected she had deliberately revealed herself to distract them from a larger plot, but Lin Bai urged the group to focus on the capture.

• The Crow flew to the Demon Suppression Cave after Lin Bai warned that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace's remnants planned to attack it.
• After five days of fruitless searches for Lanyue, the Demoness, Prince Chen summoned Lin Bai and Lu Qingjun to the Zhao Xing Office.
• Zhu Mo reported that agents had spotted Lanyue in the Western City after the Zhao Xing Office and garrison forces uncovered clues among thousands of suspected strongholds.
• Prince Chen put Zhu Mo and Lin Bai in charge of capturing Lanyue within three days, and Zhu Mo sent forces to seal off the Western City streets where she had appeared.
• Zhu Mo told Lin Bai he suspected Lanyue had revealed herself as a decoy for a larger scheme, but Lin Bai agreed with Prince Chen that capturing her came first.

The Zhao Xing Office and the garrison sealed off Aqi District and launched a raid to find Lanyue, the Demoness, while Lin Bai and the others watched. Lanyue’s allies revealed that her appearance was bait and prepared a larger operation with White Deer Academy to rescue the Sacred Ancestors.

• Zhu Mo led Lin Bai, Lu Qingjun, the Zhao Xing Office, and the garrison to Aqi District, where Lin Bai and the others watched from a tavern roof.
• The Zhao Xing Office raised a barrier around Aqi District as tens of thousands of garrison soldiers entered and searched for Lanyue, the Demoness.
• Martial artists resisted and fled, but the garrison quickly subdued those who fought back and took control of the district.
• Lanyue’s allies watched the raid from the shadows and said she had deliberately revealed her traces to lure the Zhao Xing Office there.
• Lanyue’s allies decided to intensify the disturbance and sent word to White Deer Academy to prepare for their operation.
• Outside White Deer Academy, thousands of black-robed Nine Underworlds Demon Palace martial artists received orders to begin an attempt to rescue the Sacred Ancestors.

The garrison and Zhao Xing Office cornered Lanyue, the Demoness, in Aqi District, where Lu Qingjun confronted her over Seven Absolutes City's fate. Just as Lu Qingjun's sword threatened to kill her, an unknown figure intervened, and Lu Qingjun recognized the newcomer as his uncle.

• The garrison and Zhao Xing Office searched Aqi District and sealed its escape routes as Lin Bai and Lu Qingjun watched.
• An explosion revealed Lanyue, the Demoness, trying to break through the barrier, but it sent her tumbling back.
• Lu Qingjun confronted Lanyue and accused her of using Seven Absolutes City's secret swordplay to kill the Holy Sons of Guiyi Sect and Big Dipper Sect.
• Lanyue attacked Lu Qingjun with Divine Light Swordplay, but he caught her blade between two fingers.
• Lu Qingjun unleashed his own Divine Light attack, but a sword radiance from below blocked it and forced him to retreat.
• Lu Qingjun recognized the intervening swordsman as his uncle.

Lin Bai and the others watched Lu Qingjun battle Lanyue, the Demoness, until Lu Shulin intervened and revealed himself as Seven Absolutes City's former Saint Son. Lu Shulin offered to surrender, but when Lu Qingjun insisted on capturing Lanyue, the Demoness, he drew his sword to fight his nephew.

• Lin Bai and the others watched Lu Qingjun and Lanyue, the Demoness, clash inside the sealed Aqi District.
• Lu Shulin emerged from the darkness and struck Lu Qingjun, halting his attack on Lanyue, the Demoness.
• Lin Bai identified Lu Shulin as Seven Absolutes City's former Saint Son, and Zhu Mo realized Lin Bai had kept information about Seven Absolutes City from him.
• Lu Qingjun condemned Lu Shulin as a traitor, while Lu Shulin offered to surrender and accept punishment.
• Lu Qingjun insisted on capturing Lanyue, the Demoness, and Lu Shulin drew his sword to defend her; the two began a fierce battle in the sky.

Lin Bai confronted Lanyue after the barrier around Aqi District shattered and she tried to flee. He guessed that her group’s target was the Demon Suppression Cave beneath White Deer Academy, then attacked her as she fought back with the Divine Light Swordplay.

• Lin Bai told Zhu Mo that Lu Shulin was unlikely to kill Lu Qingjun and ordered him to close the net around Lanyue, the Demoness, and Lu Shulin.
• The formation barrier around Aqi District suddenly cracked and shattered, exposing the battle to the Imperial Capital.
• Lanyue escaped into the night, but Lin Bai caught up with her using the Sword Control Art and blocked her path.
• Lanyue revealed that she had been waiting for Lin Bai and hinted that her group’s plan would be clear after dawn.
• Lin Bai identified White Deer Academy’s Demon Suppression Cave as the group’s target, causing Lanyue’s smile to freeze.
• Lin Bai attacked with four flying swords, and Lanyue countered with the Divine Light Swordplay, but his swords shattered her sword rainbow.

Lin Bai wounded Lanyue, the Demoness, but she revealed an ambush in the Aqi District and set the Twelve Asuras against him. Lin Bai fought off their opening attacks as the remaining Asuras joined the battle.

• Lin Bai used the Heaven's Will Four Symbols Sword Formation to wound Lanyue, the Demoness, and send her flying.
• Lanyue revealed that more than a hundred Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm cultivators were waiting in the Aqi District to attack Lin Bai's companions.
• Lanyue summoned twelve experts from the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, the Twelve Asuras, and explained that they shared one mind through a secret art.
• Six Asuras attacked Lin Bai with fist, palm, sword, saber, spear, and body-refinement techniques, but he countered them with his sword intent, flying swords, Asura Dharma Eyes, and Five Elements Dao Body.
• The other Asuras joined the fight, and Lin Bai dodged a poisoned arrow before facing an Asura who summoned lightning.