Chapter Summaries

Jiang Caiyan questioned Zhao Wanqing about Lin Heng, but Zhao Wanqing defended him and explained her own views on love. Jiang Caiyan decided to test whether Lin Heng was as righteous as Zhao Wanqing believed, while Lin Heng learned that Zhao Wanqing was missing and began investigating.

• Jiang Caiyan asked Zhao Wanqing about Lin Heng, and Zhao Wanqing insisted he was an upright person who did not look down on ordinary mortals.
• Zhao Wanqing guessed that Jiang Caiyan might be someone Lin Heng had wronged, but Jiang Caiyan denied it and told her Lin Heng had many dao companions.
• Zhao Wanqing said she knew about Lin Heng's other dao companions and would accept them if he treated everyone equally.
• Jiang Caiyan called Lin Heng a lecherous hypocrite and proposed a bet to test Zhao Wanqing's faith in him.
• Jiang Caiyan took out the Immortal Binding Rope, while the Zhao Mansion erupted into an uproar the next morning over Zhao Wanqing's disappearance.
• Lin Heng learned from Steward Liu that Zhao Wanqing had not returned and that two men in black had died, then decided to go to the Justice Bureau to investigate.

Lin Heng investigated Zhao Wanqing’s disappearance and learned that her kidnappers wanted him to come alone to a South City inn. He agreed to the demand while planning for the others to wait outside, as Jiang Caiyan used Zhao Wanqing to test whether Lin Heng valued her enough to risk his life.

• Lin Heng and Liu Feng examined two Prosperous River men killed by impossibly fine cuts, then left the Justice Bureau without learning who had taken Zhao Wanqing.
• Lin Heng considered whether the Yi Pavilion or another enemy connected to his past was behind Zhao Wanqing’s disappearance.
• A proclamation shot into the Zhao Mansion revealed that Zhao Wanqing was safe and demanded that Lin Heng come alone, bound, to a South City inn.
• Lin Heng promised Xin Shao he would bring Zhao Wanqing back and argued that the others should wait outside rather than risk provoking her kidnapper.
• At the inn, Jiang Caiyan told the bound Zhao Wanqing that she planned to kill Lin Heng later and was using the demand to test his feelings for her.

Lin Heng came to the Heavenly Course Inn to rescue Zhao Wanqing, only to discover that Jiang Caiyan had staged the kidnapping. After Jiang Caiyan demanded that someone bleed, Lin Heng stabbed himself rather than harm either woman, and Zhao Wanqing revealed that Jiang Caiyan had saved her from two men in black.

• Lin Heng arrived at the inn, where Jiang Caiyan held Zhao Wanqing at knifepoint and revealed herself as the kidnapper.
• Jiang Caiyan offered Lin Heng a choice: stab Zhao Wanqing, stab Jiang Caiyan, or stab himself.
• Lin Heng stabbed himself and declared that he would not point a knife at his own woman, so Jiang Caiyan left.
• Lin Heng freed Zhao Wanqing, who told him Jiang Caiyan had rescued her from two men in black.
• Lin Heng learned Jiang Caiyan had secretly protected Zhao Wanqing and followed her trail to find her.

Jiang Caiyan tried to leave Swallow Cloud City, but Lin Heng caught up and brought her to a noodle shop to talk. As her anger and evil karma threatened to overwhelm her, Lin Heng asked for one last chance to explain himself.

• Jiang Caiyan headed for South City's gate while Lin Heng pursued her despite his still-healing wound.
• Lin Heng stopped Jiang Caiyan near the gate, and she challenged him to attack while threatening the people around him.
• Lin Heng took back the knife, picked Jiang Caiyan up, and carried her into a nearby noodle shop for breakfast.
• Jiang Caiyan accused Lin Heng of treating her cruelly while treating the other women with affection, and he recognized that he had not treated them equally.
• Jiang Caiyan's fury and evil karma intensified, so Lin Heng asked her to hear him out one last time.

Lin Heng explained his past actions to Jiang Caiyan and confessed that his desire had often outweighed his growing concern for her. Jiang Caiyan left after offering a guarded sign of acceptance, and Lin Heng was left eating noodles when his family head appeared.

• Lin Heng recounted how he captured Jiang Caiyan, branded her with the Beast Seal, and later took advantage of her while trying to help her survive.
• Lin Heng said that his heartache for Jiang Caiyan had grown after Zhanfang City, though desire had still dominated his feelings.
• Jiang Caiyan told Lin Heng that she had always acted according to her heart and reason, then urged him to match his spoken love with true feelings.
• Jiang Caiyan vanished, and Lin Heng took her final words as a possible sign that she might accept him.
• Lin Heng paid the shop owner for two bowls of noodles and began eating after Jiang Caiyan left.
• Lin Heng's family head appeared outside the shop and greeted him.

Mu Liuxi confronted Lin Heng over his growing involvement with the Zhao Family and his closeness with other women, then insisted he return to Mu Manor with her. Lin Heng tried to explain that he still needed to return to the Zhao Family, but Mu Liuxi dragged him away before he could finish his beef noodles.

• Mu Liuxi found Lin Heng at a noodle shop after Jiang Caiyan had left and questioned why he had not returned to the Mu Family.
• Lin Heng explained that the Zhao Family was helping him refine and promote new pills so he could earn the Spirit Stones his master had assigned him to make.
• Mu Liuxi asked how far Lin Heng's relationship with Zhao Wanqing had progressed and questioned him about the black-dressed Jiang Caiyan.
• Lin Heng explained his connection to Zhao Wanqing and said Jiang Caiyan had helped him on missions, while withholding details about her ties to the Blood Moon Cult.
• Mu Liuxi grabbed Lin Heng by the ear and ordered him to return to Mu Manor with her, despite his protests that he needed to apologize to Zhao Wanqing and finish the medicine promotion.

Lin Heng received Mu Xuting’s support for his pill business and comforted himself with her motherly affection while questioning his missing memories. Meanwhile, Gongsun Hongshuo dismissed the Justice Bureau’s investigation and ordered his attendant to watch Lin Heng.

• Mu Xuting offered to help Lin Heng sell pills through the Mu Family’s businesses and welcomed him as family.
• Lin Heng asked Mu Xuting for a hug, then wondered why so much of his past and family history was missing.
• Mu Xuting left to have food prepared after noticing Lin Heng’s troubled emotions.
• At Wang’s Restaurant, Gongsun Hongshuo told his attendant that the dead men he had sent could not expose their plans concerning Zhao Wanqing.
• Gongsun Hongshuo ordered the attendant to monitor Lin Heng and threatened him for interfering in the Zhao Family’s affairs.

Lin Heng prepared to seek resources for his Five Elements Body while news of his assassination reached Fairy Cloud Peak. Meng Yutong confronted Grand Elder Shi Yuanzhou over Li Feiyu’s alleged role and left intending to target the factions behind the plot.

• Lin Heng decided to seek refined objects in the Western Wasteland’s Sea of Death to help cultivate his Earth Element Body.
• Meng Yutong told Yun Yao that Li Feiyu had allegedly colluded with the Black Market to arrange Lin Heng’s assassination in Jiangbing City.
• Meng Yutong suspected that elders on Main Peak had pushed Li Feiyu to attack Lin Heng because Lin Heng threatened their preferred Holy Son succession.
• Meng Yutong confronted Shi Yuanzhou, demanding an explanation about Li Feiyu and warning him not to shield the alleged murderer.
• Shi Yuanzhou denied ordering the plot, promised to punish Li Feiyu if the accusations were confirmed, and pointed Meng Yutong toward Sitting Dao Peak.
• Meng Yutong left determined to find an opportunity to eliminate the enemies from Sitting Dao Peak and Return to Origin Peak.

Meng Yutong learned that Xu Gou and his allies planned to use her divine infant to refine pills and ordered an investigation into the attack on Lin Heng. Meanwhile, Lin Heng persuaded Mu Liuxi to let him visit the Zhao Family, accidentally securing her agreement to become his Dao companion.

• The Shadow Scout reported that the Refining Void Pill required the infant soul of a Return to Void cultivator, and Meng Yutong ordered evidence gathered about the Jiangbing City assassination attempt on Lin Heng.
• Ye Nantian refused to meet the Alchemy Alliance, disowned Ye Tian, and discussed the Imperial Capital's plans for Western Continent with his wife.
• Lin Heng clung to Mu Liuxi's leg and asked to visit the Zhao Family to continue investigating the pills.
• Mu Liuxi agreed to become Lin Heng's Dao companion so he would let go, while Lin Heng mistakenly thought she had only agreed to his visit.
• Lin Heng left Mu Manor to go to the Zhao Family and promised to return the next day to help Mu Liuxi deal with the Demon Beast.

Mu Liuxi and Jiang Caiyan pursued the Demon Beast threat around Swallow Cloud City, while Lin Heng stayed at the Zhao Family to refine pills with Zhao Wanqing. Jiang Caiyan suspected Ji Family Village was the Demon Beast’s next target and considered meeting Mu Liuxi.

• Lin Heng slipped away from Mu Liuxi, and Mu Xuting told her that Demon Beasts had begun moving near the city and urged her to seek help from Yun Yao.
• Mu Liuxi headed to the Justice Bureau to investigate the Demon Beast activity, confident that Lin Heng would avoid danger.
• Jiang Caiyan met Black Robe near Ji Family Village, where they deduced that the Demon Beast might attack the village because it had the largest population and had not yet been slaughtered.
• Jiang Caiyan wondered whether the Demon Beast was baiting the Justice Bureau into an ambush, then decided to wait for the secular authorities and considered meeting Mu Liuxi.
• Lin Heng refined pills alongside Zhao Wanqing, impressing the other alchemists with his ability to work while chatting as his Green Lotus Dao Fire and Jade Origin Vine complained about being overworked.

Lin Heng confessed to Zhao Wanqing that his relationship with Jiang Caiyan began through threats and coercion, and Zhao Wanqing accepted his honesty while suggesting they take time to understand one another. Xin Shao then explained that Lin Heng could help Zhao Wanqing claim the Medical Ancestor's Legacy, which her mother believed was necessary to cure her illness.

• Zhao Wanqing asked Lin Heng why he called Jiang Caiyan the Little Demoness, and he explained that her mischievous behavior had inspired the nickname.
• Lin Heng asked what Jiang Caiyan had told Zhao Wanqing, then admitted that she was his Dao companion and that their relationship had begun with threats and coercion.
• Zhao Wanqing praised Lin Heng for being honest and agreed that they could take more time to consider their relationship.
• After Lin Heng left, Xin Shao teased Zhao Wanqing about her happiness and discussed the Zhao Family's White Tiger Essence Jade keys and the Medical Ancestor's Legacy.
• Xin Shao explained that Lin Heng's Dragon Qi could help them claim the legacy and said she believed it was Zhao Wanqing's chance to be cured.

Mu Liuxi investigated the western forest near Ji Family Village and discovered a trap set by two men and a Golden Core Soul Abyss Venom Python. Surrounded and weakened by their Soul-Seizing Formation, she fought back as Jiang Caiyan and Black Robe watched from concealment, debating whether to help her.

• The Bureau Chief told Mu Liuxi that Ji Family Village was the only nearby settlement the Demon Beast had avoided, and Mu Liuxi went west to investigate suspicious traces.
• Jiang Caiyan and Black Robe watched Mu Liuxi head toward the slope where their restrictions and food were hidden.
• Mu Liuxi found signs of a huge creature in the withered forest and was surrounded by two men and the Soul Abyss Venom Python.
• The men revealed their plan to massacre the village after the Python weakened Mu Liuxi with its Soul-Seizing Formation.
• Mu Liuxi struck the Python with her sword, but its scales stopped the attack without a wound.
• Jiang Caiyan and Black Robe considered rescuing Mu Liuxi, but Jiang Caiyan chose to wait, grumbling that she had already saved one of Lin Heng’s companions.

Mu Liuxi was trapped by two men and a Soul Abyss Venom Python, but she endured their formation and unleashed the Heaven-Borrowing Seven Swords when it collapsed. The battle left the python badly injured and ended with it devouring one of the men, while Lin Heng rushed to help.

• Jiang Caiyan assessed the Soul Abyss Venom Python and considered whether to intervene as Mu Liuxi faced it and two men inside their bewildering formation.
• Mu Liuxi warned her attackers that their formation would fail by dawn, and the men and python delayed attacking her while her Protective Qi was being drained.
• Lin Heng received the Justice Bureau's plea for aid and set out after learning that Mu Liuxi had encountered trouble.
• After the formation collapsed, Mu Liuxi kicked the python aside and used the Heaven-Borrowing Seven Swords, battering it with powerful sword qi.
• The wounded python swallowed one of the men, while the surviving man fled and shouted at it.

Mu Liuxi was badly wounded after the Soul Python strengthened, but Jiang Caiyan and her followers intervened and helped kill it. Lin Heng hurried to find his injured Senior Sister, while Jiang Caiyan prepared to leave with the demon corpse and return to the Blood Moon Cult.

• Mu Liuxi wounded the Soul Python, but it grew stronger, struck her aside, and threatened to devour her.
• Jiang Caiyan appeared, and the Soul Python fled in terror from her demon-blue eyes.
• Jiang Caiyan sent Black Robe to block the Soul Python while she attacked it with her Twin Blades.
• Lin Heng and two dragon shadows arrived and struck the Soul Python dead before Jiang Caiyan could finish it.
• Lin Heng asked Jiang Caiyan where his Senior Sister was, and she pointed him toward her before he rushed away.
• Jiang Caiyan ordered Black Robe to gather the scales and bind the corpse, then decided to return to the Blood Moon Cult.

Lin Heng rescued the wounded Mu Liuxi and used his Wood Element Body to heal her corrosive chest wound. After asking for intimate Dual Cultivation as a reward, he carried her home before she could finish objecting.

• Mu Liuxi blocked a hidden needle, but Lin Heng arrived and killed the last attacker before carrying her to the Land of Origin.
• Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi found that the Little Demoness had left, and Mu Liuxi asked him to thank her for helping them.
• Mu Liuxi coughed blood, so Lin Heng discovered the spreading corrosive wound on her chest and used Life Origin Force to heal it.
• Lin Heng treated the wound with his Wood Element Body, then asked Mu Liuxi for intimate Dual Cultivation as a reward.
• Mu Liuxi objected that she had only just agreed to become his Dao companion and had not recovered, but Lin Heng carried her home anyway.

After the Soul Python incident, Swallow Cloud City’s officials argued over credit and the danger of Demon Beasts infiltrating from Demon Valley. Meanwhile, Lin Heng’s Dream-Enhancing Pill became a bestseller, and Mu Liuxi prepared to leave the city with him.

• The Justice Bureau returned to Swallow Cloud City, and the Soul Python mission was reclassified from grade B to grade D after the Demon Beast’s appearance raised fears about Demon Valley.
• The Bureau Chief insisted that the Mu Family deserved credit for eliminating the Demon Beast and warned the mansion lord that Swallow Cloud City needed to prepare for further attacks.
• The Zhao Family’s Medical Halls increased production of the Dream-Enhancing Pill, while Mu Family restaurants used the pills to attract customers and more than tripled their revenue.
• Mu Xuting teased Mu Liuxi about Lin Heng visiting her at night, and Mu Liuxi explained that he had only been caring for her before leaving over the wall at dawn.
• Mu Liuxi learned that the Justice Bureau had sent tea herbs to thank her and said she and Lin Heng would leave Swallow Cloud City within the next few days.

Lin Heng arranged for two Zhao Family alchemists to refine Dream-Enhancing Pills, then brought a Beauty Pill to Mu Xuting and visited Mu Liuxi. After invoking Zhao Wanqing, he persuaded Mu Liuxi to agree to intimacy, which ended with her noticing something was wrong.

• Lin Heng taught two Zhao Family alchemists how to refine Dream-Enhancing Pills and entrusted them with the work while promising future cooperation.
• Lin Heng successfully refined a second Beauty Pill and sent it to Mu Xuting for her mother.
• Lin Heng brought hot water to Mu Liuxi and asked her to fulfill his reward, but she offered him Spirit Stones instead.
• Lin Heng compared Mu Liuxi's treatment of him with Zhao Wanqing's, prompting Mu Liuxi to agree to intimacy once.
• Lin Heng explained the process, and after they became intimate, Mu Liuxi noticed something was wrong with the taste.

Lin Heng persuaded Mu Liuxi not to give up drinking Essence Grass Leaf tea despite the awkward revelation about its taste. The next morning, the Justice Bureau arrived at the Wang Family Inn and confronted Gongsun Hongshuo.

• Mu Liuxi realized that the tea she loved had the same overwhelming taste Lin Heng had reacted to before, and she worried about facing him and Yun Yao.
• Lin Heng reassured Mu Liuxi that she did not need to abandon her tea hobby, and she accepted his argument and agreed to try it again.
• Lin Heng praised Mu Liuxi and encouraged her to savor the tea a second time, leaving her flustered and determined to rein in his restless thoughts when they returned to the sect.
• At daybreak, the Justice Bureau's Bureau Chief and Executors surrounded the chamber of Gongsun Hongshuo at the Wang Family Inn.
• Gongsun Hongshuo questioned the Bureau Chief's show of force, and the Bureau Chief asked whether he knew what he had done.

Lin Heng said farewell to the Zhao Family and accepted two pieces of White Tiger Essence Jade after learning that the Medical Ancestor’s inheritance lay in the dangerous Western Wasteland. As Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi left for Fairy Cloud Peak, Ye Tian remained on the run from the Black Market.

• The Bureau Chief invoked the Western Continent’s authority to detain Gongsun Hongshuo over Zhao Wanqing’s kidnapping, and Gongsun Hongshuo reluctantly went with the officials.
• Mu Liuxi and Mu Xuting discussed Lin Heng’s Beauty-Preserving Pill, his visit to the Zhao Family, and their upcoming departure.
• Xin Shao told Lin Heng that the Medical Ancestor’s inheritance was in the Sea of Death in the Western Wasteland, and Zhao Wanqing brought him the two pieces of White Tiger Essence Jade.
• Lin Heng promised Zhao Wanqing he would return to Swallow Cloud City and invite her to Fairy Cloud Peak, then rode away with Mu Liuxi.
• Ye Tian fled the Black Market’s pursuers in the eastern Western Continent and called for Fairy Hua Qi to save him.

Ye Tian escaped a Nascent Soul cultivator of the Black Market only because Hua Qi spent her strength to teleport him far away. After waking in a forest, Ye Tian faced Hua Qi’s rebuke over his growing troubles and past schemes, and asked whether she thought he was a hypocrite.

• A Nascent Soul cultivator of the Black Market unleashed a storm of power to trap Ye Tian as he fled.
• Ye Tian called for Hua Qi’s help, and she used a divine ability to make him vanish from the pursuer’s reach.
• The Black Market cultivator searched in vain and concluded that Ye Tian had escaped.
• Ye Tian woke a day later in a forest, where Hua Qi explained that she had brought him south and warned that she could not rescue him again.
• Ye Tian blamed his enemies on a possible impersonator, but Hua Qi reminded him of his own schemes in Swallow Cloud City and with Yun Yao.
• Ye Tian took Hua Qi’s criticism personally and asked if she was calling him a hypocrite.