Chapter Summaries

Lin Bai tried to secure the Southern Border Insect Valley’s cooperation in capturing Xia Jingzhi, while the Crow searched the guesthouse for him. The Crow found evidence of a hidden passage and headed toward it.

• Lin Bai offered to hand Xia Jingzhi over after the Chu Emperor’s Birthday Celebration, but the Southern Border Insect Valley Ancestor explained that Xia Jingzhi might reveal the valley’s secrets if interrogated by the Zhao Xing Office.
• The Southern Border Insect Valley Ancestor proposed that the valley be given half a month to capture Xia Jingzhi and bring him as a witness to the celebration.
• Lin Bai continued negotiating to stall for time while the Crow secretly searched the guesthouse through its poisonous fog and defenses.
• The Crow found no sign of Xia Jingzhi in the visible compound and suspected there was a secret passage.
• The Crow spotted evidence of a hidden passage and flew toward it.

The Crow infiltrated the Southern Border Insect Valley’s guest residence and discovered Xia Jingzhi secretly refining the deadly poison Ghost God's Wail underground. The Crow left without being noticed, while Xia Jingzhi continued his work.

• The Crow used Lin Bai’s Forbidden-Breaking Sword Qi to bypass the lake’s poisonous formations and enter the underground passage.
• The Crow failed to pass through a Void Seal, then used another method to reach a subterranean chamber filled with webs and Ghost-Faced Spiders.
• The Crow recognized Xia Jingzhi as he emerged from a hidden stone door and collected venom from the giant Ghost-Faced Spider.
• Xia Jingzhi returned to his cave and refined the venom with his other poisons, while the Crow realized he was making Ghost God's Wail.
• The Crow silently left the cave without Xia Jingzhi noticing him.

Lin Bai negotiated unsuccessfully with the ancestor of Southern Border Insect Valley over Xia Jingzhi, then left after probing the ancestor about the guesthouse’s poisonous mist. The ancestor ordered a search for signs of intrusion, but Southern Border Insect Valley failed to discover the Crow had entered and returned to Lin Bai.

• Lin Bai and the ancestor of Southern Border Insect Valley remained deadlocked over who would capture Xia Jingzhi and whether the valley’s disciples could move freely in the imperial capital.
• Lin Bai questioned the ancestor about the poisonous mist, and the ancestor explained that it helped cultivate poisonous insects and might produce an Imperial Insect or Emperor Gu.
• Lin Bai departed with the Tianshui Sect members after saying they should reconsider his proposal.
• The ancestor of Southern Border Insect Valley praised Lin Bai’s ability, then told Rong Yunxin to inspect the formations and ask the poisonous creatures whether they had noticed anything unusual.
• Southern Border Insect Valley searched the guesthouse, but no one discovered that the Crow had flown in and returned to Lin Bai’s shoulder.

Lin Bai learned that Xia Jingzhi was hiding in Southern Border Insect Valley’s guildhall and concluded that Xia’s supposed betrayal was a scheme to make him a hidden agent in Chu. He decided to capture Xia Jingzhi before Chu and Southern Border Insect Valley openly broke relations, leaving the wider political crisis to the great powers.

• The raven told Lin Bai that Xia Jingzhi was hiding in Southern Border Insect Valley’s guildhall.
• Lin Bai realized Xia’s presence there could mean Southern Border Insect Valley had planted him in Chu as an agent, risking war between the powers.
• Lin Bai reasoned that Xia had faked his betrayal, entered the Imperial Capital, and gained the Third Prince’s trust by appearing to be rescued from Southern Border Insect Valley.
• After considering the crisis, Lin Bai decided to capture Xia Jingzhi before Chu and Southern Border Insect Valley openly broke relations.
• Lin Bai planned to make Xia reveal the plot involving the God-Devil Calamity Poison and the princes, then leave the wider conflict to Chu and the other peak powers.

Lin Bai learned that Xia Jingzhi was secretly refining a deadly poison beneath Southern Border Insect Valley and weighed how to stop him without provoking a war between Chu and the valley. He left the matter unresolved, troubled by the larger forces shaping events in the imperial capital.

• Lin Bai confirmed that the Crow had secretly marked Xia Jingzhi, but hesitated to raid the Southern Border Insect Valley guesthouse because doing so could spark conflict with Chu.
• The Crow revealed that Xia Jingzhi was refining Ghost God's Wail, a contagious poison capable of wiping out an entire city.
• Lin Bai realized the Southern Border Insect Valley delegation had likely supplied the materials for Xia Jingzhi's poison and wondered whether they meant to destroy the imperial capital.
• Lin Bai considered consulting Prince Chen and Chao Yushi, then reflected on how little control he had over the powerful players in Chu.

After half a month of seclusion, Lin Bai went to Prince Chen’s residence and learned that seven Flourishing Power delegations had arrived in the Imperial Capital, including the Devil Puppet Sect. He sent the Tianshui Sect disciples away to speak privately with Prince Chen, who asked what important matter Lin Bai wanted to discuss.

• Lin Bai left the Tianshui Sect’s traveling palace and told Qiao Mo he was going to see His Highness Prince Chen.
• Lin Bai asked Qiao Mo to gather Bai Yifei, Zhou Xinjin, Li Juenian, Qin Yao, Fang Yuanshu, Ye Guyu, Yi Zien, and the other disciples to accompany him.
• At Prince Chen’s residence, Zhou Wang told Lin Bai that seven Flourishing Power delegations had arrived, with the Devil Puppet Sect arriving that day.
• Lin Bai recalled the Devil Puppet Sect’s destruction of the Asura Sect and learned that all four Flourishing Powers of the Southern Region had arrived in the Imperial Capital.
• Lin Bai sent the Tianshui Sect disciples to tour the residence, and Prince Chen raised an array formation before asking Lin Bai what he needed to tell him privately.

Lin Bai told Prince Chen that Xia Jingzhi was hiding beneath the Southern Border Insect Valley's guildhall while refining the Nation-Slaying Grade poison Ghost God's Wail. They concluded that Xia Jingzhi's apparent betrayal was a trap and planned to capture him after he left the guildhall, avoiding an open conflict between the Chu Kingdom and the Southern Border Insect Valley.

• Lin Bai told Prince Chen that Xia Jingzhi was hiding in the Southern Border Insect Valley's guildhall, and Prince Chen realized Xia Jingzhi's supposed betrayal might be a trap.
• Lin Bai revealed that Xia Jingzhi was refining Ghost God's Wail, a Nation-Slaying Grade poison among the Southern Border Insect Valley's King Poisons.
• Prince Chen decided the matter exceeded their authority and proposed bringing Lin Bai to the palace, but Lin Bai warned that they had no evidence to convince the emperor.
• Prince Chen proposed surrounding the guildhall with Zhao Xing Office experts, but Lin Bai argued that capturing Xia Jingzhi there would expose the Valley's involvement and risk war.
• Lin Bai proposed waiting for Xia Jingzhi to leave the guildhall before the Zhao Xing Office captured him, and Prince Chen agreed.

Lin Bai and Prince Chen agreed to capture Xia Jingzhi after he left the Southern Border Insect Valley’s guild hall, while keeping the valley’s covert plans hidden. Prince Chen then reported Lin Bai’s findings to the Chu Emperor, revealing that Xia Jingzhi had stolen the formula for the poison used to kill the First and Second Princes.

• Prince Chen gave Lin Bai the Heavenly Guard Battalion’s royal token and placed the battalion under his command to capture Xia Jingzhi alive.
• Prince Chen explained that the mighty powers fought over scarce resources, but did not reveal what the Southern Border Insect Valley sought in Chu.
• Lin Bai left Prince Chen’s Residence with the Tianshui Sect disciples and headed for Prince Hong Estate.
• Prince Chen went to the palace and told the Chu Emperor that Lin Bai had connected the First and Second Princes’ deaths to the God-Devil Calamity Poison.
• Prince Chen revealed that Xia Jingzhi had stolen the God-Devil Calamity Poison’s formula when he betrayed the Southern Border Insect Valley a thousand years earlier.

Prince Chen warned the Chu Emperor that Xia Jingzhi was hiding in the Southern Border Insect Valley's guildhall and refining the nation-slaying poison Ghost God's Wail, possibly as part of a plot to interfere in the Chu Kingdom. The Chu Emperor accepted Prince Chen's warning but condemned Lin Bai for waiting to report until he captured Xia Jingzhi.

• The Chu Emperor realized Lin Bai had uncovered clues linking Xia Jingzhi to the deaths of the First Prince and Second Prince, but doubted the report without evidence.
• Prince Chen told the Chu Emperor that Lin Bai had traced Xia Jingzhi to the Southern Border Insect Valley's guildhall and suspected his supposed betrayal and the Demon Realm Kill Order were staged.
• Prince Chen reported that Wolf Marquis Lin Bai's informant had found Xia Jingzhi refining Ghost God's Wail, prompting alarm among the Chu Emperor's hidden strategists.
• The Chu Emperor feared the Southern Border Insect Valley was preparing for war and asked when Lin Bai planned to report the matter.
• Prince Chen said Lin Bai intended to report after capturing Xia Jingzhi, and the Chu Emperor angrily rebuked Lin Bai for delaying while praising Prince Chen's steadiness.

Prince Chen revealed Lin Bai’s plan to capture Xia Jingzhi outside the Southern Border Insect Valley’s residence, and the Chu Emperor weighed the danger of the valley’s secret interference in Chu Kingdom. The Chu Emperor decided to prepare the Zhao Xing Office’s forces and secretly investigate Xia Jingzhi’s ties to the Southern Border Insect Valley and the Third Prince.

• Prince Chen told the Chu Emperor that Xia Jingzhi was secretly working with the Southern Border Insect Valley and that Lin Bai planned to lure him outside the valley’s residence before capturing him.
• After Prince Chen left, the Chu Emperor and the voices in the Golden Palace discussed the deaths of the First Prince and Second Prince, Xia Jingzhi’s allegiance, and his refinement of Ghost God's Wail.
• The Chu Emperor questioned Prince Chen’s credibility, and the voices argued that Prince Chen and Lin Bai had good reason to report what they knew.
• The Chu Emperor rejected openly surrounding the Southern Border Insect Valley’s residence and chose instead to prepare the Blood Dragon Legion and have the Zhao Xing Office monitor and investigate Xia Jingzhi, the valley, and the Third Prince.

Lin Bai told Fallen Immortal and Chao Yushi that he had found Xia Jingzhi hiding in Southern Border Insect Valley’s Imperial Capital guildhall, possibly as part of a thousand-year scheme to infiltrate Chu’s imperial family. Chao Yushi warned that Prince Chen had likely already informed the Chu Emperor about the deadly poison Ghost God’s Wail, leaving the plan at risk of alerting Southern Border Insect Valley.

• Lin Bai met Fallen Immortal and Chao Yushi at Prince Hong Estate and revealed that he had found Xia Jingzhi in Southern Border Insect Valley’s guildhall.
• Lin Bai suspected that Xia Jingzhi’s supposed betrayal and the demonic-world kill order had been staged to make him a trusted confidant of Chu’s imperial family.
• Lin Bai shared his deductions with Chao Yushi, who agreed that Xia Jingzhi could be a hidden pawn but could not say what Southern Border Insect Valley wanted from Chu.
• Lin Bai said he and Prince Chen planned to lure Xia Jingzhi out of the guildhall and capture him without disturbing the balance between Chu and Southern Border Insect Valley.
• Chao Yushi predicted that Prince Chen had gone to inform the Chu Emperor about Xia Jingzhi and Ghost God’s Wail, despite Lin Bai asking him not to report it without evidence.
• Lin Bai worried that informing the Chu Emperor would alert Southern Border Insect Valley, and Chao Yushi replied that plans could not keep pace with change.

Lin Bai and Chao Yushi finalized a plan to lure Xia Jingzhi out of the Southern Border Insect Valley residence so Lin Bai could capture him before the Chu Emperor's Birthday Celebration. As Lin Bai prepared to gather allies, he worried that Leng Xingguang had still not arrived in the imperial capital.

• Lin Bai explained that Xia Jingzhi was hidden beneath the lake in Southern Border Insect Valley's residence, refining Ghost God's Wail, and Chao Yushi concluded they would need to lure him out.
• Chao Yushi said he would devise a way to draw Xia Jingzhi away, while Lin Bai agreed to prepare his forces and warned that they needed to act before the Chu Emperor's Birthday Celebration.
• Lin Bai assessed the troops and allies he could mobilize, including Tianshui Sect, the Heavenly Guard Battalion, the Chen Family, and Sacred Lotus Palace.
• Lin Bai left Prince Hong Estate and asked Qiao Mo and Qin Yao to invite Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun to meet him at Immortal Abode Restaurant the next day.
• Lin Bai wondered why Leng Xingguang had not come to the imperial capital as promised and feared something might have happened to him.

Lin Bai gathered Tianshui Sect and allied forces to prepare to capture Xia Jingzhi before the Chu Emperor's Birthday Celebration. The next day, he hosted Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun to seek their support, though only Chen Yule had arrived so far.

• Lin Bai worried that Leng Xingguang had not reached the imperial capital and planned to ask Wind and Snow Villa about him.
• Lin Bai learned that the Tianshui Sect's Sect Master and experts would arrive within three to five days, then told Ancestor Pan Qing about his plan to capture Xia Jingzhi.
• Lin Bai explained that Tianshui Sect, Prince Hong Estate, Prince Chen's Heavenly Guard Battalion, the Chen Family, and Sacred Lotus Palace would join the effort, while warning that the Third Prince's forces might intervene.
• Lin Bai kept the plan secret and prepared to finalize its details after Chao Yushi found a way to lure Xia Jingzhi out of Southern Border Insect Valley.
• Lin Bai hosted a banquet at Immortal Abode Restaurant, where Chen Yule arrived with Chen Yun and Chen Family disciples and spoke with Lin Bai about his cultivation.

Lin Bai summoned Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun to reveal that he had found Xia Jingzhi, whom he believed had used the God-Devil Calamity Poison to kill the First and Second Princes. He asked the Chen Family and Sacred Lotus Palace to help capture Xia Jingzhi, warning that the conflict could draw in major powers across Chu and the Southern Border.

• Chen Yule told Lin Bai that he had broken through to the mid-grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm after receiving cultivation resources from his family.
• Lin Bai hosted Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun at a private banquet, then dismissed their companions and secured the room before revealing his discovery.
• Lin Bai said he was at least eighty percent certain Xia Jingzhi had used the God-Devil Calamity Poison to assassinate the First and Second Princes.
• Chen Yun learned that the princes' deaths might be tied to Xia Jingzhi and angrily confronted Chen Yule for keeping the matter from her.
• Lin Bai asked the Chen Family and Sacred Lotus Palace to help capture Xia Jingzhi, warning that the Five Great Families, Seven Sects, and Southern Border Insect Valley might become involved.
• Chen Yun demanded proof before the Chen Family intervened, and Lin Bai replied that capturing Xia Jingzhi would reveal the truth.

Lin Bai asked Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun to consider helping him capture Xia Jingzhi, whom he suspected of involvement in the First and Second Princes’ deaths, while keeping his plan secret. After they left to consult their elders, Lin Bai met with Heavenly Guard Battalion martial artists assembled for his operation.

• Lin Bai told Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun that he would proceed with his plan whether or not their family and sect joined, and they promised to keep the matter secret.
• Chen Yule and Huang Qingyun left the banquet to discuss Lin Bai’s proposal with their ancestors, while Lin Bai explained to Bai Yifei why they needed to weigh their families’ and sect’s interests.
• Lin Bai shook off the watchers following him and went to a secluded courtyard, where Meng Hua welcomed him and confirmed the assembled martial artists had arrived.
• More than fifty Heavenly Guard Battalion martial artists, all at least mid-grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm, greeted Lin Bai; Old Li introduced the five renowned fighters of the Haizhou Kong Family.

Lin Bai gathered the Heavenly Guard Battalion’s experts and told them to prepare for war, while keeping his true plans hidden. The Third Prince learned of the gathering and mistook it for preparations to force entry into the palace, confident that his Sun Moon Pavilion was ready.

• Old Li introduced Lin Bai to the Heavenly Guard Battalion’s martial artists, who largely came from small families, sects, and alliances across the Imperial Authority Eighteen Provinces.
• Lin Bai recognized that the succession struggle was a contest involving the forces throughout the provinces and warned that Prince Chen’s supporters could face severe reprisals if the Third Prince won.
• Lin Bai ordered the gathered experts to remain in the imperial capital and prepare for war, deliberately encouraging any spies to believe Prince Chen might raise an army after the Chu Emperor’s Birthday Celebration.
• A spy reported the Heavenly Guard Battalion’s gathering to Old Huo, who told the Third Prince that Lin Bai appeared to be preparing for war.
• The Third Prince assumed Prince Chen planned to force his way into the palace and learned from Old Huo that almost all Sun Moon Pavilion experts had returned.

The Third Prince and Chu Emperor learned that Lin Bai had summoned the Heaven Guard Battalion, but Chu Emperor focused on preventing Xia Jingzhi from leaving the imperial capital. Lin Bai gathered Tianshui Sect’s forces and awaited the Chen Family and Sacred Lotus Palace’s decisions; a month before the Emperor’s birthday, Chao Yushi invited him to Prince Hong Estate, suggesting the plan against Xia Jingzhi was ready.

• The Third Prince mistook Lin Bai’s summons of the Heaven Guard Battalion for preparations by Prince Chen to raise troops and force his way into the palace, and called Sun Moon Pavilion experts back to the capital.
• Chu Emperor ordered his hidden agent to monitor the situation and ensure Xia Jingzhi could not escape, while declining to interfere in the succession struggle.
• Lin Bai assessed the forces gathered in the capital, including the Heaven Guard Battalion and Tianshui Sect, and waited for the Chen Family and Sacred Lotus Palace to join the plan against Xia Jingzhi.
• A month before Chu Emperor’s Birthday Celebration, Prince Hong Estate invited Lin Bai to a banquet, and he set out with Bai Yifei, Zhou Xinjin, Qiao Mo, Qin Yao, and the others.

Chao Yushi explained Prince Hong Estate’s plan to lure Xia Jingzhi out by offering the deadly Soul-less Spirit Bloom, which Southern Border Insect Valley seemed eager to obtain. He revealed that their agent in the Third Prince’s Sun Moon Pavilion was Tu Yue, one of its Five Heroes, and left Lin Bai to reckon with this new information.

• Lin Bai met Chao Yushi and Fallen Immortal at Prince Hong Estate and asked whether they had arranged a way to draw out Xia Jingzhi.
• Chao Yushi said his agents had learned that Southern Border Insect Valley was urgently seeking the deadly Soul-less Spirit Bloom, which they suspected was used to refine Ghost God's Wail.
• Chao Yushi proposed using the bloom to arrange a transaction and insist that Xia Jingzhi attend in person, with an ambush prepared at the meeting place.
• Lin Bai questioned how they could ensure Xia Jingzhi would come, since other members of Southern Border Insect Valley might handle the purchase.
• Chao Yushi revealed that Prince Hong Estate’s hidden agent in the Third Prince’s Sun Moon Pavilion was Tu Yue, one of the Five Heroes.

Chao Yushi explained the powerful figures of the Sun Moon Pavilion and revealed that Tu Yue, one of its Five Heroes, was Prince Hong Estate’s longtime hidden agent. Lin Bai agreed to use Tu Yue to lure Xia Jingzhi into an ambush, and Chao Yushi prepared to propose a location.

• Chao Yushi told Lin Bai that Chu’s young talents were known as One Buddha, One Pill, One Law, and Two Sword Gods, with Lin Bai among the Sword Gods.
• Chao Yushi revealed that Tu Yue, a Superior-Grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artist ranked among the Sun Moon Pavilion’s Five Heroes, had been placed there as Prince Hong Estate’s hidden agent.
• Fallen Immortal assured Lin Bai that he trusted Prince Hong Estate’s people, easing Lin Bai’s doubts about Tu Yue’s loyalty.
• Lin Bai accepted Chao Yushi’s plan to use the sale of a Soul-less Spirit Bloom to lure Xia Jingzhi into a meeting arranged by Tu Yue.
• Chao Yushi said they would use the next two or three days to select an ambush site and asked Lin Bai to approve his proposed location.

Lin Bai and Chao Yushi agreed to lure Xia Jingzhi to Star Plucking Mountain and ambush him there. Lin Bai arranged for Tianshui Sect to send forty Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm martial artists, while Zhang Bailiu and Chu Xi would remain in the Imperial Capital to provide support.

• Chao Yushi named Star Plucking Mountain as the meeting place for the ambush, and Lin Bai agreed to inspect it and trust his judgment.
• Lin Bai and Chao Yushi agreed that Prince Hong Estate would lure Xia Jingzhi out while Lin Bai arranged the ambush.
• Lin Bai told Tianshui Sect's leaders that the operation required martial artists with at least Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm cultivation.
• Pan Qing volunteered to lead forty Tianshui Sect martial artists to Star Plucking Mountain, while Zhang Bailiu and Chu Xi stayed in the Imperial Capital ready to help.