Chapter Summaries

After leaving Bright Moon Pavilion, Lin Bai’s story about Nine Underworlds Demon Palace fooled the Zhao Xing Office on the surface, but Zhu Mo deduced that Lin Bai had obtained the sought-after sword. Prince Chen struggled with the conflict between his friendship with Lin Bai and the interests of Chu and Tianshui Sect, then learned that Lin Bai had come to see him.

• Lin Bai thanked Zhu Mo for his warning and left Bright Moon Pavilion with Lady Yuewu.
• Zhu Mo ordered the Zhao Xing Office to search for clues, then reported to Prince Chen that he suspected Lin Bai had obtained the sword.
• Zhu Mo reasoned that Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had no reason to target Lin Bai unless the sword was involved, convincing Prince Chen of his suspicion.
• Prince Chen weighed his friendship with Lin Bai against the political interests at stake and struggled to decide what to do.
• A steward announced that Lin Bai had arrived, and Prince Chen told him to wait in the side hall while he prepared to meet him.

After securing the sword that served as a key to a Nine Underworlds Demon Palace treasure, Lin Bai decided he had to negotiate with the Chu imperial family rather than risk facing them alone. He told Prince Chen that the sword was in his hands, leaving room for an agreement over the treasure.

• Lin Bai assured Lady Yuewu that the Twenty-First Prince would return safely, and she warned she would expose his possession of the sword if the prince did not appear within half a month.
• Lin Bai and the crow discussed the missing map and agreed that cooperating with the imperial family was safer than trying to claim the treasure alone.
• Lin Bai proposed giving twenty percent of the treasure to the crow, twenty percent to the Tianshui Sect, and twenty percent to the imperial family, with the remainder for himself.
• Lin Bai went to Prince Chen's Residence, where Prince Chen confirmed rumors that the Twenty-First Prince had a key to the treasure.
• Lin Bai told Prince Chen that the sword was in his hands, and Prince Chen recognized that Lin Bai's disclosure left room for negotiation.

Lin Bai proposed that the Imperial Family cooperate with him, the Tianshui Sect, and a friend to divide the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace treasure, arguing that the arrangement would not threaten Chu. After Lin Bai left, Prince Chen and Zhu Mo reflected on the strength of Chu’s young elites and the dangers surrounding the upcoming birthday celebration and transfer of power.

• Lin Bai proposed that the Imperial Family receive twenty percent of the treasure, alongside twenty percent each for his friend and the Tianshui Sect, while he kept forty percent.
• Lin Bai explained that the distribution would prevent the Tianshui Sect from threatening Chu, and Prince Chen agreed to take the proposal to Chu Emperor.
• Prince Chen asked what Lin Bai would do if Chu Emperor refused, but Lin Bai avoided answering and urged him to report the offer.
• Prince Chen sent Lin Bai away and discussed with Zhu Mo how formidable Chu’s young Holy Sons and Holy Daughters were.
• Prince Chen warned that the coming birthday celebration and transfer of power could plunge Chu’s Eastern Region into chaos if mishandled.

Emperor Chu weighed Lin Bai’s proposal to share the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s treasures and decided that Chu should cooperate rather than attack Tianshui Sect. As Lin Bai arrived at the Golden Hall, Emperor Chu also resolved to give Sacred Lotus Palace one final chance over its attempt to seize the key.

• Prince Chen relayed Lin Bai’s offer and his prediction that Emperor Chu would accept, preventing Chu from having a justifiable reason to destroy Tianshui Sect.
• Emperor Chu summoned Lin Bai and ordered Prince Chen to focus on the birthday celebration and finding the missing Twenty-First Prince.
• Emperor Chu and the hidden officials debated whether to attack Tianshui Sect, but agreed to let it survive and recover for now.
• Emperor Chu decided to give Sacred Lotus Palace one final chance, despite its concealment of the Twenty-First Prince’s key.
• Eunuch Gui announced Lin Bai’s arrival, and Emperor Chu invited him into the Golden Hall.

Lin Bai negotiated with Emperor Chu over the treasure key and agreed to help rescue the Twenty-First Prince. He planned to use himself as bait to draw out the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, while Emperor Chu’s advisers debated whether Lin Bai would become an imperial ally or a threat.

• Emperor Chu confirmed that the Twenty-First Prince had not known the sword’s significance until the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace imprisoned him, and that he had left a painting as a clue before being taken away.
• Emperor Chu demanded thirty percent of the treasure and Lin Bai’s help rescuing the Twenty-First Prince, and Lin Bai accepted both conditions.
• Emperor Chu explained that the sword’s numerical marking would identify the corresponding treasure map, and Lin Bai agreed to report the marking to Prince Chen.
• Lin Bai said he would use himself as bait because the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace would come after the key, and Emperor Chu offered the Golden Hall as a safe refuge.
• After Lin Bai left, Emperor Chu’s advisers debated whether to win him over or eliminate him, and Emperor Chu chose to wait and see.

Lin Bai examined the treasure key and identified it as Sword Six, learning that he needed to find the matching Map Six to reach the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s sixth treasure. He told Prince Chen and the Tianshui Sect about the key and his agreement to share the treasures with the imperial family, leaving the sect unhappy but aware that cooperation might prevent disaster.

• Lin Bai identified the ancient seal-script character “six” on the Crow’s sword and named it Sword Six, then decided to search for Map Six with help from the imperial family and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Lin Bai told Prince Chen about his agreement with Emperor Chu and Sword Six, and Prince Chen agreed to help find Map Six.
• Lin Bai gathered Ancestor Pan Qing, Bai Yifei, Qiao Mo, and the other Tianshui Sect members and announced that he had obtained the treasure key.
• Lin Bai revealed that the imperial family already knew about the key and explained his agreement to share the treasures with them.
• The Tianshui Sect members disliked sharing the treasures, but they understood that refusing to cooperate could put the sect at risk of annihilation.

Lin Bai finalized the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace treasure distribution with the Tianshui Sect and arranged to keep the key’s discovery secret. The Flying Sword Devil Sect’s Holy Son, Luo Qiu, visited Lin Bai, tested his sword intent, and announced that he would free Luo Yu from Deer Terrace Palace.

• Lin Bai agreed that he would receive thirty percent of the treasure, the imperial family thirty percent, the Tianshui Sect twenty percent, and his friends twenty percent, with his unclaimed share going to the sect.
• Ancestor Pan Qing and the others agreed to search for the treasure map while pretending they were still looking for the treasure key.
• Luo Qiu visited Lin Bai at the Tianshui Sect’s traveling palace and said he had come to meet the Chu Kingdom’s leading young sword cultivator.
• Lin Bai and Luo Qiu clashed sword intents, destroying the side hall, before Luo Qiu withdrew his intent and proposed sparring in the Hunting Realm.
• Luo Qiu told Lin Bai that the Flying Sword Devil Sect would retrieve Luo Yu from Deer Terrace Palace, and Lin Bai agreed that his flying sword could return afterward.

After Luo Qiu rescued Luo Yu, Lin Bai was lured from Tianshui Sect’s traveling palace to a remote inn by a false report that Qiao Mo and Qin Yao were in danger. There he discovered Dao Child Yao Qian of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace waiting for him, and the chapter ended as the two faced each other.

• Lin Bai told Ancestor Pan Qing that Luo Qiu had come to rescue Luo Yu and challenge him in the Hunting World, and Pan Qing warned him to be careful.
• A maid reported that Qiao Mo and Qin Yao had clashed with local ruffians at Dragon Smoke Inn, so Lin Bai went with the inn’s attendant to investigate.
• The attendant led Lin Bai through the imperial capital’s slums to Dragon Smoke Inn, where Lin Bai found no customers and no sign of Qiao Mo or Qin Yao.
• Dao Child Yao Qian descended from the stairs and revealed that Qiao Mo and Qin Yao were not there, exposing the report as a scheme to lure Lin Bai in.
• Yao Qian claimed he did not want to fight Lin Bai again, while Lin Bai remained wary of the Dao Child’s strength and hidden methods.

Lin Bai met Dao Child Yao Qian at Dragon Smoke Inn, where Yao Qian demanded the sword in exchange for a reward and the Twenty-First Prince’s release. Lin Bai refused, using the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s need for the Sixth Treasure and his protection in the imperial capital to rebuff Yao Qian’s threats.

• Dao Child Yao Qian assured Lin Bai that no one else was in the inn and that the tea was safe, then asked him to hand over the sword.
• Lin Bai asked about the Twenty-First Prince, but dismissed Yao Qian’s offer to trade the prince’s freedom for the sword and claimed he hoped the prince would be killed.
• Dao Child Yao Qian offered to pay Lin Bai, then warned that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had enough strength to threaten the Chu Empire and Tianshui Sect.
• Lin Bai said the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace could not kill him without losing its chance to find the Sixth Treasure, and that his status protected him in the imperial capital.
• Lin Bai accused Dao Child Yao Qian of relying on bluster and said many people wanted the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace exposed; Yao Qian denied placing an ambush outside the inn.

Lin Bai rejected Dao Child Yao Qian’s attempt to reclaim the treasure key and secretly followed him to the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s stronghold, Flower Fairy Garden. There, a woman called Goddess revealed that Lin Bai had tracked them, leaving Yao Qian and the waiter horrified.

• Lin Bai told Dao Child Yao Qian to return with a representative who had the authority to negotiate for the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, then left the Dragon Smoke Inn.
• Dao Child Yao Qian dismissed the gathered experts, explaining that killing Lin Bai would cause turmoil and would not let them remove the treasure key from the imperial capital.
• Lin Bai summoned the Crow and followed Dao Child Yao Qian and the waiter as they changed disguises and entered a luxurious estate.
• Lin Bai identified the estate as Flower Fairy Garden, broke through its formation, and entered with the Crow.
• Dao Child Yao Qian and the waiter greeted a woman they called Goddess and reported that Lin Bai had resisted their pressure.
• Goddess warned them that someone had followed them to Flower Fairy Garden, and both men were horrified.

Lin Bai tracked Dao Child Yao Qian and Chu Qin to Flower Fairy Garden, where they met a powerful Nine Underworlds Demon Palace figure known as the Goddess. He confronted them about the group’s plots and the treasure key, while the Goddess sought to negotiate.

• The Goddess warned Yao Qian and Chu Qin that Lin Bai had followed them and urged them to withdraw, saying the three of them could not withstand him.
• The Goddess revealed that Lin Bai was already approaching Flower Fairy Garden, and Yao Qian and Chu Qin questioned whether they should join forces to capture him.
• Lin Bai used the Devouring Heaven Dao Method and Void Evasion Art to bypass Flower Fairy Garden’s defenses and find the group in its sea of flowers.
• Lin Bai identified Chu Qin as a Dao Child of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and tried to see through the Goddess’s concealment with his Asura Dharma Eyes.
• The Goddess asked whether the matter could be settled peacefully and demanded the treasure key, while Lin Bai asked whether she had orchestrated several attacks and the prince’s abduction.

Lin Bai confronted the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace group in Flower Fairy Garden, defeating Dao Child Chu Qin and badly injuring Dao Child Yao Qian. Yao Qian fled and took the Goddess and two other women hostage, leaving Lin Bai face-to-face with Li Guxian and He Qiyun.

• Dao Child Chu Qin and Dao Child Yao Qian attacked Lin Bai while the Goddess retreated, but Lin Bai used his weapons to defeat Chu Qin and pin him to the ground with a flying sword.
• Lin Bai pursued the Goddess, but Yao Qian struck at him with the Great Underworld Hand.
• Lin Bai used the Mount Tai Sword and Overlord Sky Halberd to shatter Yao Qian's defenses and injure him, forcing him to flee Flower Fairy Garden.
• Yao Qian reached a carriage, where the Goddess told him to take her hostage so she could help him escape.
• Yao Qian seized the Goddess and another woman in the carriage, then threatened Lin Bai and demanded that he spare his life.
• Lin Bai recognized the two hostages as Li Guxian and He Qiyun.

Lin Bai rescued Li Guxian and He Qiyun from Dao Child Yao Qian, who revealed where the Twenty-First Prince was being held before escaping. After learning the prince's location, Lin Bai was warned that destroying Grand Princess Qingyue's residence could bring serious trouble.

• Dao Child Yao Qian held Li Guxian and He Qiyun hostage, and Lin Bai agreed to let him escape in exchange for the Twenty-First Prince's whereabouts.
• Dao Child Yao Qian sent the two women toward Lin Bai and vanished after he caught them.
• Li Guxian explained that she and He Qiyun had come to visit Grand Princess Qingyue at her secondary residence, Flower Fairy Garden.
• Li Guxian told Lin Bai that the Twenty-First Prince was at 98 Nine-Tail Alley, Heavenly Fragrance District, East City.
• Zhu Mo arrived with Zhao Xing Office martial artists and warned Lin Bai that Grand Princess Qingyue was ruthless and would not overlook the destruction of her residence.

Lin Bai captured Daoist Chu Qin and handed him over to Zhu Mo for interrogation at the Zhao Xing Office's Inferno. Following information from the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, Lin Bai and Zhu Mo found the Twenty-First Prince’s hideout at No. 98 in Nine-Tail Alley, where they were shocked by the woman who emerged.

• Lin Bai brought the captured Daoist Chu Qin to Zhu Mo, who sealed him and sent him to the Zhao Xing Office's Inferno.
• Lin Bai asked Zhu Mo to bring Zhao Xing Office martial artists with him, then led them to Tianxiang Street District.
• Lin Bai told Zhu Mo that the Twenty-First Prince was in Nine-Tail Alley, and Zhu Mo ordered his men to locate the alley and avoid acting without orders.
• Zhao Xing Office martial artists surrounded No. 98 in Nine-Tail Alley while Lin Bai and Zhu Mo approached the entrance.
• A heavily obese, heavily made-up woman came out of No. 98, leaving Lin Bai and Zhu Mo horrified and wondering why the Twenty-First Prince was staying there.

Lin Bai and Zhu Mo searched Rouge Alley for the missing Twenty-First Prince and learned he had been kept in a room by a fat woman. They opened the door and found him bound naked to a bed, his mouth gagged and his eyes full of terror.

• Lin Bai and Zhu Mo confronted the fat woman, and Zhu Mo revealed his Zhao Xing Office Commander token.
• The fat woman told Lin Bai and Zhu Mo that a friend had brought an unconscious man to her and ordered her to keep him for half a month.
• Lin Bai and Zhu Mo searched the residence with their divine senses and followed the fat woman to a locked room.
• Lin Bai blasted open the door after he and Zhu Mo hesitated over who should enter first.
• Lin Bai and Zhu Mo found the naked Twenty-First Prince tied to a bed with a gag in his mouth.

Lin Bai and Zhu Mo rescued the Twenty-First Prince, who had been held captive by a fat woman, and Zhu Mo killed her to keep the royal scandal secret. The Twenty-First Prince learned that Lin Bai had found him through the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and was shocked by Lin Bai’s methods.

• Lin Bai and Zhu Mo found the bound Twenty-First Prince, and Lin Bai freed him and gave him robes.
• The Twenty-First Prince ordered Zhu Mo to kill the fat woman, and Zhu Mo struck her dead to conceal the scandal.
• Lin Bai left the residence, while Zhu Mo promised to keep the incident out of the Zhao Xing Office’s archives and report it to Prince Chen and the Chu Emperor.
• The Twenty-First Prince asked who had brought him robes and learned that the man was Lin Bai, the Sword-Bearer Envoy, Tianshui Sect Holy Son, and Wolf Marquis.
• The Twenty-First Prince berated Zhu Mo for failing to follow clues he had left, and Zhu Mo explained that Lin Bai had found him through a captured Nine Underworlds Demon Palace Daoist.

After rescuing the Twenty-First Prince, Lin Bai worried that Li Guxian might be a Nine Underworlds Demon Palace operative whose position in the imperial family and influence in Ke Province could serve a larger scheme. He decided to avoid investigating and focus on helping Prince Chen ascend the throne so he could search for his family in the Tianquan Great World.

• Lin Bai left Tianxiang Street District after ensuring the Twenty-First Prince was protected by Zhu Mo and Zhao Xing Office experts.
• The Crow questioned Lin Bai about Li Guxian and He Qiyun appearing just as Lin Bai was about to capture Dao Child Yao Qian.
• Lin Bai explained that Li Guxian was Princess Leping, the daughter of the Chu Emperor's daughter, and could command the support of most of Ke Province's forces.
• Lin Bai feared that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace might have sacrificed the Blood God Sect to place Li Guxian inside the imperial family as part of a broader plan.
• Lin Bai stopped speculating about Li Guxian and resolved to stay out of Chu's power struggles while waiting for Prince Chen to ascend the throne.

Lin Bai decided to withdraw from the conflict between Chu and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace after recognizing that Chu could defend itself without him. He told Prince Chen he wanted to discuss the aftermath of the Flower Fairy Garden incident and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s leaders.

• Lin Bai worried that withdrawing from Chu’s affairs would be ungrateful, but the Crow reminded him that Chu was an ancient power capable of standing against the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• Lin Bai resolved to inform Prince Chen that he would no longer involve himself in Chu’s affairs and hoped to help Prince Chen secure the throne before traveling to the Tianquan Great World.
• Lin Bai visited Prince Chen’s Residence, where Prince Chen praised him for rescuing the Twenty-First Prince and offered to request a reward.
• Lin Bai explained that the rescue had damaged Flower Fairy Garden, Grand Princess Qingyue’s residence, and Prince Chen said he expected his aunt would not pursue the matter too seriously.
• Lin Bai told Prince Chen that Dao Child Chu Qin had been handed to the Zhao Xing Office, while Dao Child Yao Qian and a mysterious woman claiming to be a Goddess had escaped.
• Prince Chen explained that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had nine divine halls, each led by a chief disciple called a Goddess, and that such a figure was comparable to an Imperial Son.

Prince Chen explained how the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s hierarchy inspired the Devil Realm Eastern Region’s Thousand Provinces System and described the Demon Palace’s former power. Lin Bai concluded that the Goddess he had encountered was Princess Leping, Li Guxian, leaving Prince Chen shocked.

• Prince Chen explained that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace organized territory through minor and grand branch helms, a structure that inspired the Thousand Provinces System used by the Eastern Region’s major powers.
• Prince Chen described the Nine Great Palaces and the Demon Palace’s ruling hierarchy, noting that Grand Luo Dao Fruit Realm cultivation had once been the minimum threshold for joining a palace.
• Lin Bai asked whether the Goddess he had encountered belonged to one of the Nine Great Palaces, and Prince Chen agreed that she likely did and that her presence suggested a major scheme in the imperial capital.
• Prince Chen asked Lin Bai about the Goddess’s identity, and Lin Bai named Princess Leping, Li Guxian.
• Prince Chen stared at Lin Bai in disbelief after hearing his identification.

Lin Bai told Prince Chen he suspected Li Guxian and He Qiyun of being agents of the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, and urged him to question Grand Princess Qingyue. Prince Chen vowed to investigate, while he and Zhou Wang discussed Lin Bai’s plan to reach the Tianquan Great World and the ancient powers who might stop him.

• Lin Bai explained why Li Guxian and He Qiyun’s sudden appearance at Flower Fairy Garden seemed suspicious and suggested Prince Chen ask Grand Princess Qingyue whether she had invited them.
• Prince Chen agreed that even an invitation from Grand Princess Qingyue would not fully clear the two women, and vowed to investigate them and his aunt.
• Lin Bai reminded Prince Chen that he wanted help reaching the Tianquan Great World and protection for the Tianshui Sect if Prince Chen ascended the throne.
• Prince Chen thanked Lin Bai and watched him leave before discussing his abilities with Zhou Wang.
• Prince Chen told Zhou Wang that other Demon Realm powers would interfere with Lin Bai’s journey, and Zhou Wang wondered whether he meant the ancient powers.