Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng and the Martial Man intervened in the bloody clash between Waning Moon Divination and the Azure Clan, while Gu Yun pursued a way to remove the Forbidden Curse. After discussing the rising Demon Beast threat, Lin Heng concluded that the secret-realm visitors had been trapped in a deliberate plot and might not escape alive.

• Lin Heng ordered the Martial Man to capture the Azure Clan members alive and kill anyone who resisted, but the prisoners turned on Lin Heng and the Martial Man.
• Gu Yun led Waning Moon Divination in attacking the Azure Clan, while Tian Sheng and Wang Qiang questioned her and she urged them to earn tokens of allegiance to have the Forbidden Curse lifted.
• Lin Heng and the Martial Man intervened to stop the conflict from worsening, and Lin Heng said the captured Azure Clan members could serve as bargaining chips.
• The Martial Man explained that Demon Beast attacks had grown stronger during Lin Heng's nearly two months in seclusion, and he warned that the next wave might include Spirit Transformation-level beasts.
• Lin Heng reasoned that the Demon Beasts were probing the cultivators' strength and that someone had deliberately sealed the Space Tunnel, leaving the secret-realm visitors trapped.

Lin Heng led the Waning Moon Divination group and the Azure Clan survivors away from the demon beast tide, then used the Bone Sword to cut open the Dao Abyss Barrier and escape. After leaving pursuers trapped inside, he accepted the group’s thanks and invited Jiang Caiyan for tea.

• Lin Heng gathered the Martial Man, the Azure Clan people, and the Waning Moon Divination group to flee the approaching demon beast tide, waking Xiao Lan along the way.
• The group ran into the Dao Abyss Barrier, and Lin Heng used the Bone Sword and Five Elements Force to cut a crack through it.
• The Martial Man and the others rushed through the opening, and Lin Heng followed as the crack began to close.
• Lin Heng ignored Tian Sheng, Wang Qiang, and the other pursuers who tried to escape through the crack, leaving them behind.
• The Waning Moon Divination representative thanked Lin Heng, and he invited Jiang Caiyan to tea after they reached the city.

After escaping the Dao Abyss fissure, Lin Heng and the others reached Guang'an City, where Gu Yun worried that someone might be plotting behind the secret realm disaster. Lin Heng went to meet Jiang Caiyan, who still had blurred memories of him, and claimed he could prove they were dao companions before beginning to undress.

• Wang Qiang and Tian Sheng discussed their losses and feared that Gu Yun would become difficult to oppose after the secret realm disaster.
• Lin Heng reassured Gu Yun that she could conceal her tracks and wait for the Dynasty's steward to enter the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm.
• Lin Heng and the others reached Guang'an City just before its gates closed, and he sent the group to an inn while he went to find Jiang Caiyan.
• Lin Heng called Jiang Caiyan by their old pet names and pressed her against a table, but she warned him to behave with dignity.
• Jiang Caiyan asked Lin Heng to prove they were dao companions, and he began undoing his belt to show her.

Lin Heng tried to make Jiang Caiyan remember their relationship by showing her a Beast Seal and a bloodstained cloth, and her anger revealed that she recalled at least part of their past. After he warned her about Gu Yun, both groups hurried to leave Forest City as danger loomed.

• Lin Heng showed Jiang Caiyan the matching Beast Seal mark and claimed it proved they had been intimate, but she accused him of possibly having been her slave.
• Lin Heng presented a bloodstained cloth as proof of their first time, and Jiang Caiyan attacked him while recalling that he was a lying bastard.
• Lin Heng deduced that Jiang Caiyan sought revenge against the Azure Clan and offered to help her; before leaving, he warned her to watch out for Gu Yun.
• Lin Heng returned to the Inn and ordered Martial Man to take the Azure Clan people back to their Azure Cloud Hall branch.
• At Jiang Caiyan's urging, Gu Yun led her subordinates out of the city, and both groups broke through the east and west gates.

Dugu Zixuan attacked the Green Pavilion Sect when Lin Zhique failed to emerge, but stopped when Duan Shuyun said she had news about Lin Heng. At Fairy Cloud Peak, Dugu Zixuan revealed she already suspected Lin Heng was alive and demanded to know where he had gone.

• Dugu Zixuan arrived at the Green Pavilion Sect and threatened to destroy it unless Lin Zhique appeared.
• Shi Yuanzhou tried to defend the Main Peak, while Ling Fei refused to intervene and reminded him that the elders had flattened her own peak.
• Dugu Zixuan overwhelmed Shi Yuanzhou and prepared to destroy the sect, but paused when Duan Shuyun asked to speak about Lin Heng.
• Dugu Zixuan went with Duan Shuyun to Fairy Cloud Peak, where Duan Shuyun and the other disciples knelt before her.
• Dugu Zixuan said she had suspected Lin Heng was alive from the warmth he left on a pillow and asked why the disciples had hidden the news and where he had gone.
• Duan Shuyun admitted that Lin Heng was alive and that he had told them to conceal it.

Duan Shuyun explained that Lin Heng faked his death after revealing Dragon Qi during his tribulation, partly to protect himself and partly to test his parents’ attitude. Dugu Zixuan learned that the five women before her were all Lin Heng’s Dao companions and began wondering whether Meng Yutong knew, and how the Star God Temple marriage agreement would fit in.

• Duan Shuyun told Dugu Zixuan that Lin Heng had used false death to avoid the imperial clan and the Literary Path after exposing Dragon Qi, and that he also wanted to test his parents’ attitude.
• Yun Yao bluntly explained that Lin Heng felt like a stranger to his parents after they had left him alone for years, and Dugu Zixuan accepted that they might have hidden his survival indefinitely.
• Dugu Zixuan was shocked when Duan Shuyun and the others revealed that all five were Lin Heng’s wives and Dao companions.
• Dugu Zixuan observed the women’s different personalities and wondered whether Meng Yutong knew about their relationship and whether the Star God Temple would accept the existing marriage agreement.

Dugu Zixuan learned Lin Heng had gone to the Northern Continent and received a way to track him using writing linked to his body. There, Lin Heng discovered that the Dynasty had placed a bounty on Ye Tian, using Martial Man’s face on the wanted poster, and warned that all those who escaped the secret realm could be in danger.

• Dugu Zixuan considered traveling to the Northern Continent to find Lin Heng, but Leng Qingyun’s hairpin suggestion was dismissed because its memories could reveal her being cuckolded.
• Duan Shuyun used the White Mystic Brush to write names on paper, explaining that the writing would resonate with the names on Lin Heng’s chest within two or three li; Dugu Zixuan took it and left.
• At Azure Cloud Hall’s Falcon Joy Town branch, Smoke Ghost told Martial Man that Demon Beasts had appeared near several settlements and that the Dynasty was arresting Ye Tian.
• Martial Man saw a wanted poster bearing his own portrait and objected that Ye Tian was Lin Heng’s alias.
• Lin Heng emerged, confirmed that Ye Tian was his alias, and said the Dynasty was framing them to conceal who had enabled the Demon Beasts’ escape.
• Lin Heng warned Martial Man and Smoke Ghost that everyone who escaped the secret realm might be in danger, then called them over to show them something.

Lin Heng learned that the three Holy Artifacts could open the Starry Sky Ancient Road, while Martial Man and Smoke Ghost expected him to use them. Meanwhile, his mother Dugu Zixuan reached Red Lotus City and mistook Lin Heng’s Ye Tian identity for a threat to her son, leaving her determined to find him.

• Martial Man and Smoke Ghost picked up Holy Artifacts and explained that five were needed to open the Starry Sky Ancient Road, then told Lin Heng their late master intended him to use them.
• Lin Heng showed them a powerful Dao Fruit, and Smoke Ghost suggested asking Plowman to identify its source seed.
• Lin Heng went out hoping to meet Jiang Caiyan and figure out how to satisfy his craving for meat.
• Dugu Zixuan tracked Lin Heng to Red Lotus City and heard that Ye Tian had caused trouble and orchestrated the Northern Continent Beast Tide.
• Dugu Zixuan concluded Ye Tian was pursuing her son, vowed to take Ye Nantian’s son’s head, and hurried to find Lin Heng.

Lin Heng waited in River of Forgetfulness Library while Jiang Caiyan learned that the forces involved in the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm were being purged and resolved to seek help from the man who saved her. Back at Azure Cloud Hall, the Martial Man gave Smoke Ghost demon cores in exchange for wine and food, unaware that the errand would bring trouble.

• Lin Heng waited at River of Forgetfulness Library and reflected on the growing rumors of demonized people and the tampered Space Tunnel to Cang Mountain.
• Jiang Caiyan learned that Waning Moon Divination, Cloud Wander Sect, Blood Moon Valley, and other forces had been raided, and that Wang Qiang had been captured.
• Jiang Caiyan told Crippled Granny that she would seek help from the man who saved her, whom she called her man.
• Crippled Granny recalled her daughter's similar faith in a man and left, determined not to let Jiang Caiyan make the same mistake.
• The Martial Man complained about being confined to Azure Cloud Hall while Smoke Ghost persuaded him to hand over five demon cores for wine and roast geese.

Lin Heng explained to Jiang Caiyan why the officials were hunting the secret-realm survivors and began inventing a romantic history to claim she was his Dao companion. Jiang Caiyan saw through his lies and attacked him.

• Lin Heng deduced that the officials had arranged the secret realm and ensuing Demon Beast disaster, then silenced witnesses and framed survivors.
• Jiang Caiyan realized the dynasty’s people had likely orchestrated the disaster and that the truth had been covered up.
• Lin Heng moved beside Jiang Caiyan and claimed they were Dao companions, but she denied remembering that.
• Lin Heng fabricated a story in which Jiang Caiyan fell in love with him and loved sharing hot springs.
• Jiang Caiyan recognized his lies, confronted him, and smacked him.

Jiang Caiyan remembered that Lin Heng had lied to her, but accepted his apology and agreed to help him oppose the Azure Clan. Lin Heng planned to use the Azure Clan survivors to expose the secret realm conspirators, but authorities surrounded Azure Cloud Hall after Smoke Ghost sold demon cores, leaving Lin Heng and Martial Man to stall while Smoke Ghost moved the captives.

• Jiang Caiyan confronted Lin Heng over his fabricated story, then accepted his New Year's hairpin and agreed to help him deal with the Azure Clan.
• Lin Heng and Jiang Caiyan discussed using the Azure Clan survivors to draw the secret realm conspirators into the open, then arranged their next moves.
• Lin Heng stopped Jiang Caiyan from leaving, and she kissed him before returning to prepare.
• At Azure Cloud Hall, Lin Heng told Martial Man to accompany him to Broad Communication Manor for the reward and ordered Smoke Ghost to transfer the Azure Clan High Priest and two survivors to the City Lord's Mansion.
• Authorities surrounded Azure Cloud Hall after Smoke Ghost sold demon cores, so Lin Heng sent Smoke Ghost through a secret passage with the captives while he and Martial Man stayed behind.

Lin Heng and Martial Man escaped the Justice Bureau’s encirclement and traveled to Blackstone Port, where Lin Heng went to Broad Communication Manor to claim a reward. After he identified himself as Ye Tian, the manor’s steward recognized him as the wanted man blamed for the deaths of its recruits.

• Lin Heng used a flame barrier to stall the Justice Bureau while he and Martial Man escaped through a secret passage with Xiao Lan.
• A late-stage Spirit Transformation Elder arrived too late and vowed to pursue Lin Heng over the deaths of Li Shu and Zhou Min.
• Lin Heng and Martial Man reached Blackstone Port after three days and went to Broad Communication Manor to collect a debt.
• Lin Heng incapacitated the guards at the gate and entered the manor with Martial Man.
• Lin Heng presented his jade token as proof of his claim to a reward, and the steward identified him as Ye Tian and accused him of causing the manor’s recruits to die.

Lin Heng and the Martial Man forced Broad Communication Manor’s manager to lead them to its hidden treasury, which turned out to be an underground city resembling the Underground Black Market. The manager secretly expected the manor lord to ambush them, but Lin Heng had already noticed the village’s suspicious nature.

• Broad Communication Manor’s guards attacked Lin Heng, and the Martial Man defeated them before beating the manor’s manager.
• The manager revealed that the treasury was hidden elsewhere and offered to guide Lin Heng and the Martial Man there.
• The manager led Lin Heng, the Martial Man, and Xiao Lan through a village whose residents were all connected to Broad Communication Manor, while secretly anticipating an ambush from the manor lord.
• Lin Heng noticed the village was suspicious, then entered the underground treasury and recognized its layout as resembling the Underground Black Market.
• The Martial Man opened a treasury box and was nearly blinded by its golden contents.

Lin Heng and Martial Man escaped Broad Communication Manor as Xiao Lan neared her transformation, then split up to draw away their pursuers. Lin Heng stopped to protect Xiao Lan and was confronted by Su Qiubai, whose strength surprised him.

• Lin Heng told Martial Man to head to Three Capital City and meet Smoke Ghost, while he planned to go to the Carefree Holy Land and use the Azure Clan to shift blame.
• Lin Heng and Martial Man took five chests of treasures, and Lin Heng noticed that Xiao Lan was about to enter the Transformation Realm.
• As the underground city shook, Lin Heng and Martial Man used a teleportation array to escape; Martial Man stayed behind to draw away the pursuers while Lin Heng fled with Xiao Lan.
• Lin Heng drew the crowd after him with a sword strike, then stopped five hundred li away and protected Xiao Lan inside a sphere of water.
• Su Qiubai charged Lin Heng with her Crested Feather Spear, and Lin Heng realized she was far stronger than he had expected.

Lin Heng fought Su Qiubai, a powerful spear-wielding saintess, while the Blade Sect disciples tried to ambush him. He killed several of them with earth control and broke Su Qiubai’s illusion technique with a water reflection, leaving her wounded and disarmed.

• Su Qiubai attacked Lin Heng with the Crown Feather Spear, but he blocked her strikes and taunted her fighting style.
• Su Qiubai used Chaotic Spear Shadows to create twelve attacking afterimages, but Lin Heng tracked and parried her attacks with his Dao Eye.
• Ning Wuque and the Blade Sect disciples ambushed Lin Heng, who endured Ning Wuque’s sword qi and crushed five disciples inside a coffin of earth and stone.
• Lin Heng used a water curtain to reflect Su Qiubai’s image and disrupt her shadow technique.
• Su Qiubai was thrown out of the shadows, struck a wooden post, and spat blood as her spear fell beside her.

Lin Heng defeated Su Qiubai and captured her, intending to use her as leverage against Star God Temple. As Su Qiubai listened to his unspoken thoughts, she concealed that she was the temple’s Saintess and claimed to be a relative of its Temple Master.

• Lin Heng recognized Su Qiubai’s Star God Temple techniques, compared her unfavorably with Su Wanyue, and said he would keep her alive for ransom.
• Su Qiubai tried to resist, but Lin Heng subdued her and bound her hands with restrictive shackles.
• Lin Heng checked on Xiao Lan during her transformation and promised the Jade Origin Vine that he would help it take human form.
• Su Qiubai realized she could hear Lin Heng’s thoughts, including his plans to draw Star God Temple into a conflict.
• When Lin Heng asked her name, Su Qiubai refused to reveal that she was the Saintess and instead claimed to be a relative of the Temple Master.

Lin Heng watched Xiao Lan complete her transformation into a human and set out with her and Su Qiubai for Carefree Holy Land. Meanwhile, the Martial Man remained pursued until Dugu Zixuan confronted him, mistaking him for Ye Tian and attacking.

• Lin Heng waited as Xiao Lan transformed, then gave her a green silk dress when she emerged without clothes.
• Xiao Lan struggled to walk and asked whether she could eat Su Qiubai, but Lin Heng told her not to eat people.
• Lin Heng left for Carefree Holy Land with Xiao Lan and Su Qiubai.
• The Martial Man escaped his pursuers after killing a Spirit Transformation cultivator, but Dugu Zixuan struck and wounded him with her sword energy.
• Dugu Zixuan accused the Martial Man of endangering her son Ye Tian, and he brought out his Holy Artifact to fight her.

Dugu Zixuan mistook Martial Man for Ye Tian and attacked him, but Martial Man survived her strikes with the help of his Holy Artifact. After learning he was not Ye Tian, she realized he was connected to Lin Heng, leaving Martial Man to search for a way out of the danger.

• Dugu Zixuan struck Martial Man with frost and wind-snow laws, but he blocked her attack without injury.
• Martial Man unleashed a powerful blade strike with his Holy Artifact, but Dugu Zixuan defeated him and left him badly wounded.
• Dugu Zixuan confronted Martial Man about chasing her son, and he explained that he was Martial Man of Azure Cloud Hall, not Ye Tian.
• Dugu Zixuan recognized that Martial Man was connected to Lin Heng, while Martial Man worried she might be targeting Lord Lin.
• Martial Man, unable to fight, came up with a plan to deal with Dugu Zixuan.

Martial Man persuaded Dugu Zixuan to take him to Three Capital City in search of Ye Tian, and she killed four Immortal Sect pursuers who tried to stop them. Days later, the Justice Bureau arrested them and Smoke Ghost, disrupting Lin Heng’s plan to contact the City Lord’s Mansion.

• Martial Man told Dugu Zixuan that Ye Tian had ties to the Azure Clan and agreed to lead her to Three Capital City.
• Dugu Zixuan killed four Immortal Sect pursuers who demanded that Martial Man be handed over, then let him take the blame for their deaths.
• The Justice Bureau arrested Martial Man and Dugu Zixuan shortly after they reached Three Capital City.
• Martial Man reunited with Smoke Ghost in the cells and learned that Smoke Ghost and the Azure Clan people had also been caught soon after entering the city.
• Martial Man and Smoke Ghost realized they had not contacted the City Lord’s Mansion as Lin Heng had instructed, and decided to wait rather than fight their way out.

Dugu Zixuan investigated the Justice Bureau’s secret imprisonment of Azure Clan members who had escaped the Immortal Wheel Secret Realm, then questioned Martial Man about Ye Tian’s identity. Martial Man named Lin Heng, and Dugu Zixuan revealed that Lin Heng was her son.

• Dugu Zixuan met Lord Cui at the Justice Bureau and learned that its Chief had secretly imprisoned four Azure Clan members.
• Lord Cui confronted an Executor, who explained that Chief Lyu had ordered the Azure Clan members held and their arrest concealed.
• Dugu Zixuan questioned the Azure Clan members, but their hostility toward Ye Tian contradicted Martial Man’s account.
• Dugu Zixuan asked Martial Man whose name Ye Tian had used, and Martial Man said it was Lin Heng.
• Dugu Zixuan accused Martial Man of lying and declared that Lin Heng was her son, shocking Martial Man and Smoke Ghost.