Chapter Summaries

The Old Daoist met a deathly gaunt elder near the imperial capital and learned that the war between the Northern Region and Guo Jin involved powerful factions and outsiders beyond the visible conflict. They discussed the Innate Dao Sect’s interest in a promising young man and whether he should be kept out of the war, while the elder warned that other old monsters could not be stopped.

• Lin Bai remembered the Crow’s warning about the Innate Dao Sect and stayed alert through the night.
• The Old Daoist headed toward the imperial capital, where a gaunt old man emerged and challenged him to examine the familiar faces there.
• The gaunt old man said Guo Jin had insisted on war with the Northern Region and denied that the Chu Kingdom had started the conflict.
• The two elders discussed how the war involved Lin Bai’s old monsters, the Southern Region, ancient sects, and outsiders, with some seeking blood nourishment to prolong their lives.
• The Old Daoist said the Innate Dao Sect wanted to accept the promising young man, but the gaunt old man warned that keeping him sheltered would leave him unprepared and that other old monsters could not be stopped.

Lin Bai met an Old Daoist fortune-teller at a tavern and asked him to divine his fate. After reading the proprietress’s tragic life, the Old Daoist prepared to tell Lin Bai what awaited him.

• Lin Bai noticed the Old Daoist near the city wall and agreed to hear his fortune.
• The Old Daoist drank at the tavern and told Lin Bai that the proprietress had lost her family and was destined to live alone.
• The proprietress warned Lin Bai that the Old Daoist had failed to pay for the wine he drank the previous day.
• The Old Daoist asked Lin Bai to drop a blood onto his Eight Trigrams mirror and claimed he could calculate everything.

Lin Bai set out with Luo Daoguo and the Black Tortoise Battalion to reinforce the One Night Divine Sect, receiving Dragon Blood Treasure Armor from Chu Tinghan. The fleet planned to travel to White Stone City and cross the border on foot rather than risk teleporting into an unknown situation.

• At dawn, Chu Zimo found Lin Bai drinking at the city gates and paid his tavern bill before they went to the cloud boats.
• Luo Daoguo told Lin Bai that the Black Tortoise Battalion had just over five hundred veteran soldiers aboard its fleet.
• Luo Daoguo gave Lin Bai the Dragon Blood Treasure Armor, which could withstand attacks from martial artists below the Primal Chaos Dao Fruit Realm.
• Luo Daoguo explained that the fleet would travel to White Stone City, the Chu Kingdom border city nearest the One Night Divine Sect, and avoid teleporting directly into its territory.
• The cloud boats departed for the border, a journey expected to take half a month.

Yang Zong, Guan Yuan, and the Azure Lotus Sect planned to investigate the war in the One Night Divine Sect’s territory before Chu Tinghan and Princess Chenxian’s forces arrived. They intended to visit Chu Zimo first to learn whether he would support the One Night Divine Sect or remain neutral.

• Chu Zimo showed Lin Bai a map and explained that their cloud boat would cross the Dragon Mountain Range to reach the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory.
• Yang Zong and the Azure Lotus Sect discussed gathering intelligence on the war and whether the Four Gloom Demon Palace and Northern Region martial artists were aiding Phoenix Valley and Pure Lin Bai.
• Yang Zong noted that Chu Zimo was still watching from the sidelines and had not been mentioned in the One Night Divine Sect’s request for aid.
• Guan Yuan agreed that they should visit Chu Zimo to learn his stance, and Guan Yuan asked Guan Yuanxing for his thoughts on the situation.

The sect master and Li Yongnian brought Yong'en into Lin Bai City, claiming to represent the Saint Treasure Commerce Guild and planning to rest and investigate the conflict in the Seven Nights Divine Sect's territory. They left the cloud boat behind and disguised hundreds of martial artists as merchants, while Chu Zimo invited them to discuss cooperation.

• Yong'en entered the Seven Nights Divine Sect's territory, where people speculated about the purpose of Prince Liang's Estate's cloud boat.
• The sect master and Li Yongnian decided to leave Yong'en outside Lin Bai City and enter in disguise to investigate.
• The sect master claimed that Yong'en belonged to the Saint Treasure Commerce Guild and had come to trade spirit pills, medicines, and Divine Weapons.
• Lin Bai City's guards questioned the group, then issued them entry talismans valid for three days and let Yong'en pass through the formation.
• Several hundred martial artists changed into merchants' robes, and Chu Zimo invited the sect master and the others to a meal to discuss cooperation.

Lin Bai and Li Yongnian visited Yong'en City with Chu Zimo and the Black Tortoise Battalion, while Li Family martial artists secretly watched them through formation restrictions. The Li Family investigated their cover as Saint Treasure Commerce Guild merchants, and the chapter left the two sides still testing one another.

• Lin Bai told Chu Zimo to lodge the Black Tortoise Battalion nearby and keep the soldiers from acting on their own while they visited the Li Family of Yong'en City.
• Chu Zimo arranged for the soldiers to explore Yong'en City in small groups, and Li Yongnian noticed that their vigilance and conduct were unusual for ordinary guards.
• Chu Zimo brought Lin Bai and Li Yongnian to a Li Family restaurant, where maids served them food and wine while probing them for information.
• Lin Bai and Li Yongnian played the part of carefree merchants, and Lin Bai embraced a beauty to make the watchers lower their guard.
• Shi Leiyu used the Mystic Eye Technique to discover formation restrictions in the pavilion and realized the Li Family was monitoring the pair.
• A Li Family elder asked about the visitors, and a middle-aged man reported that the Saint Treasure Commerce Guild was known in southwestern Chu and traded in spiritual pills and miraculous medicines.

The Li family debated how to respond to the civil war within One Night Divine Sect as Yangzong and Gui You probed their intentions. After Li Yongnian identified their supposedly ordinary guards as Chu Kingdom's military, the Li Family Head decided to meet them and determine their mission.

• Yangzong and Gui You questioned the Li Family Head about why the Li family had not taken a side in the civil war.
• Li Yongnian explained that the guards had the trained, ruthless manner of military veterans or assassins, and said they were from Chu Kingdom's military.
• The Li Family Head and the Li clan members discussed the dangers of supporting either One Night Divine Sect or Phoenix Valley and Pure Li Yong.
• Chu Zimo urged the Li Family Head to decide where the family stood, warning that the war would eventually reach Yong'en City.
• The Li Family Head chose to meet Yangzong and Gui You, while the Li family lost track of the military guards.

Lin Bai learned that the Li Family had refused the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s call because the sect had lost authority and the conflict’s outcome was uncertain. The Li Family Head chose to stay neutral, leaving Lin Bai to weigh the limits of the Chu Kingdom’s support for the embattled sects.

• Lin Bai asked why the Li Family had not answered the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s call, and the Li Family Head admitted that the sect could no longer command the territory’s lineages.
• The Li Family Head explained that the One Night Divine Sect’s territory was divided by internal conflict, and that the Li Family feared choosing the wrong side.
• The Li Family Head said the Overturning Heavens Sect and Worship Heaven Sect had answered the call because they faced danger from the Northern Domain and the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace, and because their leaders had ties to Prince Qin.
• The Chu Zimo Lord argued that the Chu Kingdom’s territory would unite against an outside enemy, but said its forces might be unable to help the One Night Divine Sect without external aid.
• The Li Family Head declared that the Li Family would stay out of the war and hope to survive it, while Lin Bai fell silent.

Lin Bai and Chu Zimo rested in Yong'en City while the Li Family weighed whether to trust Chu. Meanwhile, the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace forced Yong'en to surrender its soul blood and spy on Chu, and Lin Bai and Chu Zimo left the city five days later.

• Lin Bai told the Li Family Head that Chu would execute anyone who invaded its territory, but the Li Family Head remained uncertain and offered Lin Bai and Chu Zimo lodging in Yong'en City.
• Chu Zimo told Lin Bai that merchants claiming to be Chu disciples had arrived in Lin Bai City, and they suspected the visitors were scouts from Chu's military.
• Qu Boqiu and Dao Child Azure Lotus Sect confronted Yong'en's clansmen, demanded their soul blood, and threatened to destroy them if they refused to submit to the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace.
• The Yong'en Family Head surrendered his soul blood, and Azure Lotus Sect ordered the city to monitor movements from Chu.
• Lin Bai and Chu Zimo rested in Yong'en City for several days, then boarded a cloudship and departed.

Lin Bai, Chu Zimo, and their allies reviewed the stalemate between the sect alliances and decided to seek Chu Tingxue’s position before the Chu Kingdom’s armies arrived. Lin Bai and Azure Lotus Sect traveled toward Chu Tingxue’s territory, where the chapter left them preparing to learn whether she would remain neutral or enter the war.

• Chu Zimo reported that the allied forces of Seven Nights Divine Sect, Overturning Heavens Sect, and Worship Heaven Sect were locked in a stalemate with Pure Yang Sect and Phoenix Valley, whose mysterious reinforcements had strengthened their resistance.
• Lin Bai explained that Prince Liang’s vanguard had already set out and that the armies of Prince Liang’s Estate and Prince Hong Estate would need to pass through Chu Tingxue’s territory to enter the conflict.
• Chu Zimo warned Lin Bai to be wary of Chu Tingxue, whose territory had become a refuge for lineages fleeing the war.
• Lin Bai and Azure Lotus Sect entered a secret chamber and activated a transmission formation to contact Prince Qin and Princess Chenxian.
• Lin Bai told Prince Qin and Princess Chenxian that he and Chu Zimo were in Chu Tingxue’s territory and were heading to meet her.
• Prince Qin suspected that Lin Bai might try to harm Chu Tinghan.

Chu Zimo warned that the Azure Lotus Sect’s unexplained inaction might conceal a trap for the Chu army, rooted in its old hatred of Chu Tingxue. She feared the sect had sided with the Four Gloom Demon Palace and the Northern Region and was waiting to ambush the army as it crossed its territory.

• Chu Tingxue suspected the Azure Lotus Sect would act against Prince Qin despite the Chu army’s mission to aid the Seven Nights Divine Sect.
• Chu Zimo argued that the Azure Lotus Sect might be waiting for its enemies to weaken one another, but feared it had instead joined forces with the Four Gloom Demon Palace and the Northern Region.
• Chu Zimo pointed out that the Chu army had faced no opposition on its way into the One Night Divine Sect’s territory, which she found suspicious.
• Chu Zimo recalled the Azure Lotus Sect’s history of conflict with the Chu state, including its failed invasion and the humiliation of its Holy Maiden in the imperial capital.
• Chu Zimo warned that the Azure Lotus Sect might be waiting to attack the Chu army, which would have to cross its territory to reach the One Night Divine Sect.

Lin Bai and Chu Tingxue debated whether the Azure Lotus Sect was waiting to choose sides, while Chu Tinghan and the others urged caution before visiting it. Before they could settle the matter, unknown experts attacked Lin Bai’s cloud boat, and the group prepared for battle.

• Chu Tingxue suggested that the Azure Lotus Sect might be waiting for the Chu state's army, and Lin Bai agreed it could be an uncertain factor.
• Chu Tinghan, Fallen Immortal, and Black Tortoise Battalion warned Lin Bai and Chu Zimo to consider the risks of going to the Azure Lotus Sect, but Chu Tingxue insisted the visit was necessary.
• The group discussed having Lin Bai lead Prince Qin to camp near the Azure Lotus Sect while Chu Tingxue went there alone to determine its stance.
• A soldier reported that unknown experts were attacking Lin Bai, and the Sound Transmission Formation between the groups began to fail.
• The Cloud Boat and the Azure Lotus Sect went to Lin Bai’s deck, saw its defensive formation withstand the attackers’ bombardment, and ordered Prince Qin to prepare for battle.

Lin Bai and Yu Xiaotian confronted a force from the Four Gloom Demon Palace that blocked their cloud boat. The enemy leader revealed himself as Daozi Taiyi Dao, and Lin Bai ordered Yu Xiaotian to capture him alive.

• More than three hundred black-robed martial artists blocked Lin Bai and Chu Zimo's cloud boat while another cloud boat watched from behind.
• Daozi Taiyi Dao asked whether Lin Bai and Chu Zimo were troops from the Chu Kingdom and threatened to kill them regardless of their answer.
• Yu Xiaotian taunted Taiyi Dao and questioned him about the Four Gloom Demon Palace's presence in Azure Lotus Sect territory.
• Taiyi Dao revealed that he was the Daozi of the Four Gloom Demon Palace and realized that Yu Xiaotian had been sounding him out.
• Lin Bai told Yu Xiaotian to try to capture Taiyi Dao alive, and Yu Xiaotian prepared to attack.

Chu Zimo revealed formidable strength by fighting alongside a powerful flood dragon, and Yu Xiaotian captured the Four Gloom Demon Palace’s Dao Child Black Tortoise Battalion. After the battle, Yunzhou ordered the Zhao Xing Office to identify three captured elders, while the group regrouped with Lin Bai.

• Chu Zimo summoned a flood dragon with lower-grade Great Purity Dao Fruit Realm strength and rode it to pursue Dao Child Black Tortoise Battalion.
• Yu Xiaotian fought Dao Child Black Tortoise Battalion, pierced him with his spear, and sealed him alive before bringing him back to Lin Bai.
• The Taiyi Dao soldiers reported that the Four Gloom Demon Palace warriors had been killed and that three Prince Qin Dao Fruit Realm warriors had been kept prisoner.
• Yunzhou ordered the Zhao Xing Office to copy the three prisoners’ faces and investigate their identities within the One Night Divine Sect’s territory.
• Yu Xiaotian returned and dropped the half-dead Dao Child Che Meifan before Lin Bai.

The Nine Underworlds Demon Palace’s Holy Lord throne reacted again and directed its followers toward the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory. Lin Bai concluded that the Demon Palace had a way to block his Soul Search Secret Art and entered the Azure Lotus Sect with Chu Zimo, while the Black Tortoise Battalion stood by to rescue them.

• The Holy Lord’s throne revived and pointed the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace toward the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory, prompting orders to investigate unusual events and special martial artists there.
• Lin Bai realized that a restriction erased memories related to the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace and suspected a member of the Heaven Swallowing Race had created it to counter the Soul Search Secret Art.
• Lin Bai asked Chu Zimo whether the Sound Transmission Formation was ready so they could alert Chu Tinghan and the Immortal-Sinking Princess before entering the Azure Lotus Sect.
• Chu Zimo insisted on accompanying Lin Bai into the Azure Lotus Sect, while the Black Tortoise Battalion remained on the cloud boat ready to rush in if summoned.
• Lin Bai and Chu Zimo left the cloud boat and headed for the Azure Lotus Sect’s mountain gate.

Lin Bai and Chu Zimo visited the Azure Lotus Sect and were admitted to meet its Sect Master. Inside the mountain gate, they saw that the sect had gathered its forces as the civil war in the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s territory threatened to spread.

• Lin Bai and Chu Zimo flew to the Azure Lotus Sect’s ninety-nine peaks, and Chu Zimo identified them as the sect’s heart.
• An old man and several hundred martial artists blocked Lin Bai and Chu Zimo at the mountain gate, then let them enter after Lin Bai introduced himself and Chu Zimo.
• The old man guided Lin Bai and Chu Zimo through the defensive formation and agreed to arrange a meeting with the Sect Master.
• Chu Zimo observed that the Azure Lotus Sect had recalled its disciples and was preparing for war, and Lin Bai agreed that the sect could not avoid the conflict.
• Lin Bai surveyed the sect’s crowded grounds and considered the scale of its outer, inner, and Three Wonders Disciples.

Lin Bai and Chu Zimo arrived at the Azure Lotus Sect, where disciples recognized their identities and reacted with hostility. When a disciple attacked Azure Lotus, Lin Bai revealed his Supreme Avatar and the sect’s elder apologized, leaving the Azure Lotus Sect under pressure.

• Azure Lotus Sect disciples whispered about Lin Bai and Chu Zimo as they entered, then recognized Lin Bai as Chu’s Qin Prince and Chu Zimo as the Young Lord of Prince Liang’s Estate.
• The disciples recalled Prince Liang’s Estate’s defeat of the Azure Lotus Sect and the sect’s humiliating agreement to send its Holy Maiden to Bright Moon Pavilion.
• Azure Lotus appeared before the sect, prompting cries of recognition and astonishment at his ordinary appearance.
• An Azure Lotus Sect disciple attacked Azure Lotus with an azure sword, but Lin Bai’s Supreme Avatar knocked it aside.
• Azure Lotus stared down the attacker, who collapsed in fear, while an elder apologized to Yi Haopiao and Lin Bai.

Lin Bai and Chu Zimo visited Prince Qin’s residence to learn its position in the Seven Nights Divine Sect’s civil war, but were told that its Sect Master and Yun Zhou had both gone into seclusion. The Grand Elder promised not to hinder Chu’s army, while the Sect Master chose to stay for two days and continued probing the sect’s intentions.

• The Grand Elder greeted Lin Bai and Chu Zimo and said Prince Qin’s Sect Master was in seclusion and could not meet them.
• Chu Zimo asked why Prince Qin’s residence had recalled its disciples if it intended to stay out of the war, and the Grand Elder said it wanted to protect itself.
• The Grand Elder agreed to give Chu’s army jade tokens and promised it could pass through Prince Qin’s territory without obstruction.
• The Sect Master asked to meet Yun Zhou, but the Grand Elder said she had also gone into seclusion and had regained her status as a Holy Maiden.
• The Sect Master noted that Prince Qin’s residence appeared untouched by the fighting, then asked to stay there for two days.

Lin Bai and Chu Zimo discovered that the Azure Lotus Sect had tightened its surveillance and confinement around them. A Taiyi Dao elder secretly possessed a disciple to warn them that the Four Gloom Demon Palace had taken control of the Taiyi Dao and prepared an ambush for the Chu army in the Dragon Mountain Range.

• Lin Bai and Chu Zimo noticed that the Azure Lotus Sect had added guards, formations, and restrictions around Welcoming Immortal Peak.
• A possessed Taiyi Dao disciple told Lin Bai, Chu Zimo, and the Sect Master that the Four Gloom Demon Palace had infiltrated the Taiyi Dao and placed its Sect Master, Yun Ke, and loyal elders under house arrest or killed them.
• The Taiyi Dao elder explained that the Four Gloom Demon Palace had supplied secret treasures and helped prepare concealed formations deep beneath the Dragon Mountain Range.
• The elder warned that the Taiyi Dao and its subordinate forces had assembled a large allied army to ambush the Chu army in the Dragon Mountain Range.
• The elder urged Lin Bai, Chu Zimo, and the Young Lord to leave the Taiyi Dao and warn the Chu army.

A possessed Azure Lotus Sect disciple revealed that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had imprisoned the sect’s Sect Master and Holy Daughter beneath Prince Qin’s Estate’s main peak and warned of an ambush in the Dragon Mountain Range. Shi Chen and the Sect Master decided to act on the warning, while the Sect Master left to verify the prison’s location and Azure Lotus Sect prepared to return to Chu Nation’s army.

• The possessed disciple told Lin Bai and Chu Zimo that the Azure Lotus Sect’s Sect Master and Lady Yun Ke were imprisoned in an Underground Palace beneath Prince Qin’s Estate’s main peak.
• The disciple warned that the Nine Underworlds Demon Palace had infiltrated major sects and that Prince Qin’s Estate’s forces were gathered, then ended the possession as Prince Qin’s elders approached.
• After the search around their pavilion ended, Shi Chen concluded the warning might be true and told Azure Lotus Sect to leave that night and alert his elder sister and Princess Chenxian.
• Shi Chen instructed the army to send the Scout Battalion through the Dragon Mountain Range before entering Prince Qin’s Estate’s territory.
• The Sect Master set out to verify the Underground Palace, while Azure Lotus Sect insisted on accompanying Shi Chen.