Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng and Murong Ziyan traveled to Linping City to pressure Cao Yun and investigate the Cao and Wei Families’ connection to the Eternal Mulberry. Shadow Guards watched the Cao Family as mysterious visitors arrived, and Cao Yun met a man called Brother Zhao.

• Lin Heng told Murong Ziyan they would leave for Linping City that night to find Aunt Xin and catch their targets off guard.
• Shadow One reported to Meng Yutong that Lin Heng had left with people from the Dynasty, while Meng Yutong reflected on his past trials and their journey.
• Murong Ziyan met Cao Yun and noticed his reaction when she linked the Eternal Mulberry to the Wei Family.
• Lin Heng bet Murong Ziyan that he could bring down the prestigious lineages, with Jiang Jingyi’s tea invitation as the stake.
• Lin Heng stayed behind to refine the sapphire Little Senior Sister had given him while Murong Ziyan and the Shadow Guards monitored the Cao Family.
• Cao Yun welcomed Brother Zhao, who demanded to know why Cao Yun had used the alliance token to summon him to a family residence.

Cao Yun and Zhao Canghai plotted to lure Zhao Wanqing into their hands, believing they could seize what she had obtained in Medicine King Valley and take the Sacred Heart. Qing Ya betrayed Zhao Wanqing and delivered her to masked men, leaving Zhao Wanqing trapped in a courtyard.

• Cao Yun told Zhao Canghai that Murong Ziyan had revealed the Longevity Immortal Feather Flower and Eternal Mulberry, and they suspected the Wei Family had exposed the secret.
• Cao Yun reported that the Patrol Guard Office had arrested Wei Yan Changliang's family and that the Gongsun Family had captured Xin Shao.
• Cao Yun and Zhao Canghai planned to lure Zhao Wanqing by pretending her mother had been found, then take the Sacred Heart and eliminate Chen Changqin's group.
• Worried about her missing mother and steward, Zhao Wanqing followed Qing Ya to a courtyard in South City after Qing Ya claimed her mother was waiting there.
• Qing Ya and a disguised coachman forced Zhao Wanqing into the courtyard, where masked men surrounded her, and Qing Ya confessed she wanted Zhao Wanqing dead so she could be treated as Xin's daughter.

Yun Yao rescued Zhao Wanqing from Qing Ya and the black-clothed men, then revealed how Qing Ya had been recruited into a conspiracy against Zhao Wanqing and the Patriarch. Qing Ya denied the accusation and warned that killing her would endanger the Patriarch.

• Qing Ya recounted how Liu Feng had rescued her and Zhao Wanqing had treated her kindly, then declared that she planned to take Zhao Wanqing’s place and support the Patriarch.
• Qing Ya approached Zhao Wanqing with shackles, but Yun Yao struck her and stepped in to protect Zhao Wanqing.
• Yun Yao defeated the black-clothed men who attacked them, killing two and capturing the last one.
• Qing Ya refused to confess and threatened that the Patriarch would die if she was killed.
• Yun Yao described how a mysterious person had exploited Qing Ya’s resentment and recruited her to plot against Zhao Wanqing and the Patriarch.

Yun Yao exposed Qing Ya’s ties to Cao Yun and explained how Qing Ya helped arrange the plot against Zhao Wanqing and Xin Shao. When Qing Ya seemed cornered, she unleashed a powerful aura and called for her hidden allies.

• Yun Yao traced Qing Ya’s early departure from the Academy to Cao Yun’s help and pointed out the suspicious circumstances around Xin Shao and Steward Liu’s disappearance.
• Yun Yao argued that impostors posing as the Inner Guard had abducted Xin Shao and taken Steward Liu to avoid raising suspicion.
• Yun Yao revealed that Qing Ya had secretly met two former students of Cao Yun before the attempt to lure Zhao Wanqing into the great courtyard.
• Qing Ya’s composure broke when Yun Yao named the officials she had met, and Yun Yao accused her of betraying her master for advancement.
• Qing Ya released a powerful aura that knocked Yun Yao back, then announced that she still had a trump card and called her allies out.

Yun Yao’s plan to expose Qing Ya’s scheme ended with the Patrol Guard Office surrounding the courtyard and capturing the conspirators. Afterward, the group discovered that Lin Heng had devised the deductions behind the operation, but he was nowhere to be found, prompting Duan Shuyun to wonder whether he had fled to escape punishment.

• Mad Demon Daoist appeared and attacked Yun Yao, but an unseen figure in white struck him back.
• Jiang Yan led the Patrol Guard Office squad into the courtyard and ordered Qing Ya and the others to surrender.
• Mad Demon Daoist tried to escape, but Jiang Yan seized him with a spatial technique and crushed him, after which the remaining suspects surrendered.
• Jiang Yan praised Yun Yao’s deductions, while Yun Yao and Leng Qingqiu argued before Jiang Yan assigned Leng Qingqiu to record the events.
• Zhao Wanqing thanked Yun Yao for helping her avoid prison, and Yun Yao admitted that Lin Heng had devised the plan and Qingyun had investigated Qing Ya.
• Duan Shuyun wondered whether Lin Heng had disappeared to avoid punishment, while Yun Yao remained unaware of what he had done.

Zhao Wanqing asked to see Qing Ya for clues about her missing mother, while Chen Bingyi revealed to Su Lian’er that he had abandoned his plan to kill Zhao Wanqing. After receiving news from Dingyang, Lin Heng urged Murong Ziyan to delay attacking the Cao Family and return to the city the next day.

• Zhao Wanqing asked Yun Yao and Duan Shuyun to let her see Qing Ya because she believed Qing Ya knew where her mother was.
• Chen Bingyi told Su Lian’er that he had intended to save Zhao Wanqing from danger, but had stopped planning to kill her after realizing the people urging him on would not save Lian’er.
• Murong Ziyan received a Shadow Guard report confirming evidence of Cao Yun’s misconduct and celebrated the chance to strike at the Cao Family.
• Lin Heng warned Murong Ziyan that the report only raised suspicion about Cao Yun’s role in Zhao Wanqing’s attempted murder and urged her to preserve the illusion of victory for the Wei and Zhao Families.
• Lin Heng persuaded Murong Ziyan to return to Dingyang the next day, promising that she might get to watch a play.

Lin Heng caught Feng Cai sneaking into the sealed Wei Yan Residence to find the family’s treasure vault and revealed that the steward was actually Wei Yan Dongning. Wei Yan Dongning admitted his identity after Lin Heng recounted how he and the Cao Family had framed Wei Yan Xiuping and ensnared him in the Black Market.

• A cloaked Feng Cai entered the sealed Wei Yan Residence and found the hidden passage to the family’s treasure vault, but the spatial entrance’s restriction repelled him.
• Lin Heng confronted Feng Cai in the ancestral hall and accused him of being Wei Yan Dongning in disguise.
• Lin Heng explained how Wei Yan Dongning and the Cao Family exploited the conflict between Wei Yan Xiuping and his uncle, driving Xiuping to Eternal Peace City and trapping his businesses in the Black Market.
• Lin Heng addressed Feng Cai as Senior Dongning, and Feng Cai tore away his disguise and admitted he was Wei Yan Dongning.

Lin Heng exposed Wei Yan Dongning’s plot, but Dongning escaped after revealing he had used a fake body. The Dynasty moved to arrest the Cao, Wei, and Zhao families, while Lin Heng returned home, where Meng Yutong and Duan Shuyun planned to shackle him.

• Lin Heng explained how Wei Yan Dongning had faked his death to purge Wei Yan’s main line and reclaim the family’s wealth, then Dongning tried to kill him.
• Murong Ziyan and Mu Li revealed themselves with Dynasty forces, but Wei Yan Dongning vanished using a fake body.
• Lin Heng urged Murong Ziyan to arrest the Cao, Wei, and Zhao families, and Prince Qi and the Patrol Guard Office set out to capture their leaders.
• Lin Heng returned home, and Meng Yutong prepared to interrogate him with shackles obtained from Prince Qi.
• Duan Shuyun proposed shackling Meng Yutong and Lin Heng together under the pretense of testing the artifact, and Meng Yutong agreed to try it.

Lin Heng warned Zhao Wanqing and the others that an unknown force might be behind the plot surrounding her mother, then went to meet Meng Yutong expecting to tease her. He ended the chapter shackled and kicked to the ground after Duan Shuyun and Meng Yutong turned the tables on him.

• Zhao Wanqing told Lin Heng that the interrogation had revealed the impostors knew nothing about her mother's whereabouts, and he said the person who gave their orders might know more.
• Lin Heng pointed out suspicious details in Zhao Wanqing's arrival in Dingyang and Wei Yan Dongning's search for the treasures, concluding that another force had intervened.
• Duan Shuyun signaled Lin Heng to meet Meng Yutong, while Meng Yutong waited upstairs with shackles prepared to detain cultivators.
• Lin Heng showed Meng Yutong his Inner Envoy Token and taunted her, believing its status would keep her from acting against him.
• Duan Shuyun restrained Lin Heng, and Meng Yutong shackled him and kicked him to the ground.

Lin Heng turned Meng Yutong’s interrogation into a trap, with Duan Shuyun helping him restrain her, but he left after she insulted him and he confronted her for never showing him care. Meng Yutong was left behind as Lin Heng walked away, choosing to give his master the cold shoulder.

• Meng Yutong questioned Lin Heng about meeting Mu Li and dealing with the Murong family while Duan Shuyun helped keep him shackled.
• Duan Shuyun suddenly bound Meng Yutong, and Lin Heng revealed that his shackles were fake and freed himself.
• Lin Heng overpowered Meng Yutong and carried her to the bed while Duan Shuyun left the room.
• After Meng Yutong cursed him, Lin Heng said he wished she would show him even a little care, then removed her shackles and walked away.

Meng Yutong reflected on her unspoken concern for Lin Heng, while Saint Ye told him about a strange source of Dragon Qi near Dingyang City. After Lin Heng delayed investigating it to collect his reward, Jiang Jingyi granted him a place in the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm.

• Meng Yutong recognized that she had hidden her worry for Lin Heng behind scolding and had not offered him the direct support Yun Yao gave him.
• Saint Ye told Lin Heng that he had sensed pure Dragon Qi underground near Dingyang City, inside a Mine Cave, and offered to take him there.
• Lin Heng postponed investigating the Dragon Qi until the Dynasty delivered his promised share of the confiscated wealth, and Saint Ye agreed to help him choose valuable rewards.
• Jiang Jingyi received reports that the Cao, Wei, and Zhao families had been brought down and ordered Gongsun Hongshuo to come for tea after he impersonated the Inner Guard.
• Murong Ziyan told Jiang Jingyi that Lin Heng had invited her to tea and asked about her romantic interests, but Jiang Jingyi decided to meet him.
• Jiang Jingyi granted Lin Heng an extra place in the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm as a reward for his service.

After the Cao, Wei, and Zhao family heads were arrested, Jiang Jingyi decided Lin Heng would enter the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm to quiet the Medical Clan’s opposition. Lin Heng learned the decision from Jiang Yan and ended the chapter convinced he had been denied the resources he wanted.

• Jiang Yan questioned Jiang Jingyi about granting Lin Heng one of the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm spots, and she said the decision would discourage those still plotting against him.
• Sun Hao and Wei Yan Changliang visited Lin Heng to thank him, and Sun Hao apologized for hitting him before Lin Heng kicked him to settle the score.
• Lin Heng teased Sun Hao about his relationship with Xianlan and bragged that he had at least ten Dao companions.
• Jiang Yan told Lin Heng that the Supreme One had granted him entry to the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm instead of the spoils he had hoped to receive.
• Lin Heng complained about having to risk his life in a secret realm and blamed the Female Emperor for withholding valuable resources.

Mu Liuxi worried that Lin Heng had outgrown her, but he reassured her and encouraged her to seek guidance from his mentor. Yun Yao then brought him to a hot spring the Senior Sisters had prepared to comfort and reward him.

• Lin Heng met Mu Liuxi at Falling Flower Pavilion, teased her, and kissed her.
• Mu Liuxi admitted she felt unsettled because Lin Heng had advanced beyond the Senior Sisters.
• Lin Heng reassured Mu Liuxi that she and the others could learn from his mentor and grow alongside him.
• Yun Yao interrupted them and took Lin Heng and Mu Liuxi to the Back Garden at South Side Tower.
• Lin Heng found Leng Qingqiu, Leng Qingyun, and the other Senior Sisters waiting in a spirit-water hot spring to comfort him.

Lin Heng relaxed in the hidden hot spring with his senior sisters and discussed his uncertain reward for helping the Dynasty. The gathering grew rowdy, and Meng Yutong arrived just as she discovered them all together.

• Yun Yao and Mu Liuxi joined Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun in the hot spring, where Lin Heng discussed returning to oversee the Immortal Academy Hall and complained that his promised commission had been replaced with secret-realm training.
• Leng Qingqiu wondered whether Lin Heng might be allowed into the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm, which was normally reserved for the royal family and people who had rendered great service.
• Yun Yao hugged Lin Heng and teased him beneath the water, prompting Duan Shuyun, Leng Qingqiu, and Mu Liuxi to confront her until Lin Heng pulled her hand up and calmed them.
• Yun Yao demanded a reward for helping Lin Heng, accepted three Spirit Stones, and left her spot so Qingyun could join Lin Heng.
• Meng Yutong searched for Lin Heng and unexpectedly found him and the others gathered in the hot spring.

Lin Heng spent a happy night with his five Senior Sisters, while Ye Tian blamed him for the arrests of the Wei Yan and Zhao families and vowed revenge. The next morning, Lin Heng arrived late to meet Murong Ziyan and Jiang Jingyi at White Grass Pavilion.

• Duan Shuyun noticed her name had vanished from Lin Heng’s chest and used the White Mystic Brush to write it there again.
• Lin Heng’s Senior Sisters restrained him and each marked his chest with her name, then the group enjoyed a relaxed night together.
• Ye Tian lamented that Wei Yan Changliang had refused to give him the Golden Autumn Grass Fruit and that the Zhao family leaders had disappeared.
• After a passerby drenched and insulted him, Ye Tian suppressed his anger when Patrol Guard Office soldiers arrived and left, still intent on killing Lin Heng.
• Murong Ziyan and Jiang Jingyi waited for Lin Heng at White Grass Pavilion, where Murong Ziyan scolded him for arriving late.

Lin Heng met with Jiang Jingyi and Murong Ziyan, then tried to trade his Ancient Emperor Secret Realm entry for the ten-percent cut he had been promised. He insulted the Female Emperor and invoked Dugu Feng’s protection, prompting Murong Ziyan to decide to invite Dugu Feng to Ten Directions Hall.

• Lin Heng credited Jiang Jingyi and Murong Ziyan with helping expose the Three Great Medical Clans, hoping to protect the Murong Family from being purged.
• Lin Heng served Jiang Jingyi tea from the Western Continent, and she drank the strange-tasting Origin Grass tea despite her initial surprise.
• Lin Heng asked Jiang Jingyi to help restore his promised ten-percent cut from the seized clans instead of his secret realm entry, but Murong Ziyan told him the realm entry was far more valuable.
• Lin Heng accused the Female Emperor of keeping the seized clans’ wealth and said his father and Dugu Feng would protect him from consequences.
• Murong Ziyan understood Jiang Jingyi’s cue and decided to invite Dugu Feng to Ten Directions Hall so he could answer for Lin Heng’s insults.

Jiang Jingyi let Lin Heng continue behaving boldly while the court gathered to watch the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm trial. As the contestants entered Immortal Cloud Ancient City, Prince Qi revealed that the realm’s suppression had been raised to Nascent Soul Early Stage, putting Lin Heng at a disadvantage.

• Jiang Jingyi told Murong Ziyan she wanted to let Lin Heng reveal his true nature before confronting him.
• The court assembled at Heavenly Prosperity Hall, where Murong Ziyan opened the passage to the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm.
• The observers watched the contestants emerge in Immortal Cloud Ancient City, the historic battlefield where the Martial Emperor had risen.
• The court recognized the participants, including King Le and Lin Heng, whom many officials resented for helping destroy the three great clans.
• Jiang Yan told Meng Yutong that Jiang Jingyi had raised the realm’s suppression limit to Nascent Soul Early Stage, leaving Lin Heng weaker than the other contestants.

Lin Heng entered the Immortal Cloud Ancient City in the Ancient Emperor Secret Realm and was threatened by Leng Qiansha, who blamed him for the Wei Family’s destruction. As officials debated Lin Heng’s chances against Leng Qiansha, the viewing image shifted back to Lin Heng and revealed a Golden-Scaled Snake.

• Lin Heng and the other entrants arrived at Immortal Cloud Ancient City, the first trial of the secret realm, where the court officials recalled how few people had ever made it beyond the early trials.
• After the entrants scattered through the city, Leng Qiansha confronted Lin Heng and threatened to kill him for wiping out the Wei Family and other clans.
• Lin Heng dismissed Leng Qiansha’s threat and left, believing he could fight a Nascent Soul Early Stage cultivator with the power of the Kunpeng Nirvana Art.
• At Heavenly Prosperity Hall, officials discussed Leng Qiansha’s grudge against Lin Heng and predicted that Lin Heng would not survive their encounter.
• The viewing image returned to Lin Heng and showed a pale-blue, silver-horned Golden-Scaled Snake, catching Jiang Jingyi’s attention.

Lin Heng explored Immortal Cloud Ancient City with Xiao Lan, whose treasure-seeking abilities drew attention after officials identified her as a transformed Blue-Scale Snake. The chapter ended with Jiang Qian and Jiang Lan eyeing the valuable spirit beast.

• Yun Yao and Leng Qingqiu argued about Lin Heng's gifts while Meng Yutong and Jiang Yan worried that others might target him and Xiao Lan.
• Lin Heng stopped Xiao Lan from chewing on a stone statue, then let her gnaw on objects around the ancient city to help her detect treasures.
• Lord Li identified Xiao Lan as a Golden-Scaled Snake, and Jiang Jingyi explained that she had transformed into a more perceptive Blue-Scale Snake.
• Jiang Qian and Jiang Lan noticed Xiao Lan and considered taking or borrowing the rare spirit beast from Lin Heng.

Lin Heng and Xiao Lan searched the ruined Immortal Cloud Ancient City, uncovering Demon Cores while Jiang Yan explained the history of Red Roc and the Supreme demon bone. After three days of finding little and discovering the city was sealed, Lin Heng began refining a Return to Void Demon Core as King Le and the others appeared to find a restriction.

• Xiao Lan dug up a Demon Core and led Lin Heng to find two more among buried Demon Beast remains.
• Jiang Yan told Leng Qingqiu and Meng Yutong that the cores pointed to a buried Supreme demon bone and recounted how Red Roc died defending Immortal Cloud Ancient City alongside the Martial Emperor.
• Lin Heng spent three days searching the city, found only three valuable Demon Cores, and discovered that an invisible barrier blocked every exit.
• Lin Heng began refining a Return to Void Demon Core while Xiao Lan slept beside him.
• Observers remarked on Lin Heng refining the core, then noticed King Le and the others had found a restriction.