Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng arranged hostage negotiations with Nine Dust Hall and sent Luo Xiaochuan to meet the Great Wall Dao Palace. While reviewing Nine Dust Hall’s exchange list, Lin Heng discovered that Ke Miaoling had also been captured and considered using her to verify her identity and gain another hostage.

• Dugu Xin learned from Luo Xiaochuan that the Dugu Clan’s captured juniors were alive, though Nine Dust Hall would only release two hostages at first.
• Luo Xiaochuan returned to Dragon Sea City, where Lin Heng asked him to meet representatives of the Great Wall Dao Palace near the Great Wall Barrier.
• Nine Dust Hall offered to return Luo Xiaochuan’s two wives and daughter but continued holding his two sons.
• Lin Heng showed Hua Qi the hostage list, and they discovered that Ke Miaoling was among those captured.
• Lin Heng planned to exchange for Ke Miaoling, verify whether she was the Ke Clan’s fifth young lady, and potentially keep her as another hostage if her identity was false.

Lin Heng continued cultivating in Dragon Sea City while Meng Yutong and Dugu Zixuan planned to enter through Nine Dust Hall’s territory. After a hostage exchange exposed possible impostors, Dugu Han revealed that Dugu Xuexue was in Lin Heng’s hands, setting off a furious argument among the Dugu family.

• Lin Heng reflected on how the Six Paths Crossing Ruler, the Sword of Time, and the Human Emperor Banner could trap and strike powerful opponents.
• Meng Yutong and Dugu Zixuan learned that Nine Dust Hall had seized four of the Immortal Sea Summit’s seven cities and chose to approach through Dragon Sea City.
• Wang Lei reported that two of the people Nine Dust Hall returned as hostages were impostors, and Lin Heng ordered them admitted anyway.
• Dugu Yueli and the others reunited with Dugu Han and Dugu Tian at Dingyang Immortal City.
• Dugu Han told the group that Dugu Xuexue had fallen into Lin Heng’s hands, and Dugu Xin and Dugu Tao berated and kicked him as Dugu Yueli questioned his account.

Dugu Yueli explained why Lin Heng was not truly related to much of the Dugu Clan and planned to enter Dragon Sea City alone to meet him. That night, Dingyang City sent the second exchange list, which included Ke Miaoling but omitted her two Dao protectors.

• Dugu Yueli convinced Qin Hongyi that Dugu Han's claims about Lin Heng were hearsay and that Lin Heng had acted under the pressure of maintaining his disguise.
• Dugu Yueli explained that generations of separate lineages and intermarriage had left Lin Heng with little kinship to the Nine Dust Hall and Eight Desolations Hall branches.
• Dugu Yueli refused to reveal Lin Heng's identity to her uncles and planned to enter Dragon Sea City alone, while Qin Hongyi agreed to support her from outside.
• That night, Dingyang City sent Dragon Sea City the second exchange list, which included Ke Miaoling but not her two Dao protectors.
• The city lord ordered four prisoners to be released at random.

Dugu Yueli entered Dragon Sea City disguised as Ke Miaoling and faced Lin Heng’s attempts to test her identity. A false Ke Manor attendant accidentally vouched for her, easing Lin Heng’s suspicions and leaving Dugu Yueli safely installed in the manor.

• Dugu Yueli entered Dragon Sea City under her disguise, and Wang Lei escorted her to meet Lin Heng.
• Lin Heng probed Dugu Yueli about her clan and Ke Manor, but she answered convincingly and agreed to visit the manor.
• Lin Heng took Dugu Yueli to Ke Manor, where the fake Attendant Li recognized her as its Fifth Miss to conceal his own false identity.
• The fake Attendant Li cited Dugu Yueli’s plum blossom mark as proof, and Lin Heng lowered his guard.
• After Lin Heng left, Dugu Yueli was pleased that the accidental deception had helped her scheme.

Lin Heng grew suspicious of Dugu Xuexue’s reaction to Ke Miaoling and questioned her, while Ke Manor’s returning servants decided to serve the Fifth Miss as their master. Lin Heng sent Dugu Xuexue to Ke Manor as Ke Miaoling’s maid and ordered an attendant to watch how she reacted.

• Li Fugui warned the returning servants to hide their false identities and said they should treat Dugu Yueli as their master while she controlled Ke Manor.
• Lin Heng suspected Ke Miaoling’s identity was connected to Dugu Xuexue’s fearful reaction when they met.
• Lin Heng summoned Dugu Xuexue and demanded to know who Ke Miaoling was.
• Dugu Xuexue claimed she feared Ke Miaoling because she had helped kill members of her clan, though she secretly worried Ke Miaoling was Moon Glass and might be exposed.
• Lin Heng ordered Wang Lei to take Dugu Xuexue to Ke Manor to serve Ke Miaoling and sent someone to watch her reaction.

Dugu Yueli reunited with Dugu Xuexue, learned how Lin Heng had treated her, and planned to use a banquet to suppress him. As the third hostage exchange began, Dugu Zixuan and the others arrived at the Heavenly Action Continent aboard a starship.

• Wang Lei sent Dugu Xuexue to Ke Manor as a maidservant, and Dugu Yueli pretended to accept her while ordering her to do exhausting chores.
• Dugu Yueli secretly met Dugu Xuexue in the woodshed, learned that the Dugu Clan members were imprisoned, and told her the banquet in three days would be a trap for Lin Heng.
• Dugu Xuexue asked to punish Lin Heng herself, but Dugu Yueli told her to keep acting as a maidservant until Lin Heng lowered his guard.
• Steward Li reported Dugu Xuexue's treatment to Wang Lei, who warned him to confirm Ke Miaoling was truly the Ke Clan's Fifth Miss.
• Two days later, the third batch of exchanged hostages entered Dragon Sea City, while Dugu Zixuan and the others arrived at the Heavenly Action Continent aboard a starship.

Dugu Zixuan and her companions reached Dragon Sea City and discovered that Lin Heng had taken it from Nine Dust Hall. Lin Heng avoided Dugu Yueli’s attempt to drug him at a banquet, then admitted the newcomers into the city, where Meng Yutong confronted him at Ke Manor.

• Dugu Zixuan and Meng Yutong learned that Lin Tian had seized Dragon Sea City from Nine Dust Hall, and they suspected he was Lin Heng.
• Dugu Yueli prepared a banquet and drugged the wine to weaken Lin Heng’s divine sense, but Wang Lei summoned him away before he drank.
• Dugu Zixuan’s group arrived at the East City Gate, and Lin Heng ordered Wang Lei to let them enter and take them to the City Lord’s Mansion.
• Wang Lei told Meng Yutong that Lin Heng was drinking with Miss Ke, so she demanded directions to Ke Manor.
• Meng Yutong arrived at Ke Manor, and Lin Heng introduced her as his Master, shocking Dugu Yueli.

Meng Yutong arrived during Lin Heng’s banquet with Dugu Yueli, interrupted the gathering, and took him away. After Dugu Yueli revealed Lin Heng’s identity to Dugu Xuexue, she worried that Aunt Zixuan would expose her; on the road home, Meng Yutong confronted Lin Heng about his disguise and the name he had given her.

• Meng Yutong arrived at the banquet, heard Lin Heng introduce Ke Miaoling and explain her help in taking the city, then ordered him to leave with her.
• After Lin Heng and Meng Yutong departed, Dugu Yueli told Dugu Xuexue that Lin Heng was the man she had known as the rotten rogue, shocking her.
• Dugu Yueli worried Aunt Zixuan might recognize her and reveal her identity to Lin Heng, while Dugu Xuexue urged her to escape.
• On the way back to the City Lord's Mansion, Meng Yutong grabbed Lin Heng by the ear and challenged him about disguising himself and calling her the Sect Leader of the Desire Maiden Sect.
• Lin Heng explained why he was hiding his identity, then teased Meng Yutong that she had already accepted the implication; she grabbed him as his True Lord aura emerged.

Lin Heng reunited with Meng Yutong, Duan Shuyun, and the others before meeting with Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office allies to discuss how to handle Nine Dust Hall’s claim to Dragon Sea City. Duan Shuyun offered a plan to make Nine Dust Hall surrender the city, leaving Lin Heng uneasy about what she had in mind.

• Meng Yutong slapped Lin Heng into the City Lord's Mansion's rear garden after he boasted that she should obey him in dual cultivation.
• Duan Shuyun pulled Lin Heng out of a vegetable patch, and they embraced before she rejected his offer to share a night with Meng Yutong.
• Yun Yao, Leng Qingyun, and Leng Qingqiu arrived and told Lin Heng that the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office was waiting in the main hall.
• Lin Heng dismissed the hall attendants, revealed his face to the gathered allies, and asked how they could resolve Dragon Sea City's conflict with Nine Dust Hall.
• Duan Shuyun offered a plan to make Nine Dust Hall willingly surrender the city, and Lin Heng felt uneasy about her proposal.

Lin Heng approved Duan Shuyun’s plan to use Nine Dust Hall’s urgent need to conquer the Great Wall Dao Palace as leverage for a deal over Dragon Sea City. As a messenger arrived in Dingyang City to discuss cooperation, Dugu Wuwu learned that Dugu Yueli was inside Dragon Sea City and ordered her to withdraw.

• Duan Shuyun proposed that Lin Heng offer Nine Dust Hall help taking the Great Wall Dao Palace in exchange for Dragon Sea City, and Lin Heng approved the plan.
• Lin Heng sent Wang Lei to Dingyang City with a message scroll for the Dugu Clan, then looked forward to a feast with the women around him.
• Dugu Wuwu returned to Dingyang City after failing to break through on the front line and demanded to know why Dugu Yueli was absent.
• Qin Hongyi admitted that Dugu Yueli had gone to Dragon Sea City seven or eight days earlier to rescue captives and reclaim the city.
• Dugu Wuwu scolded Qin Hongyi and ordered him to have Dugu Yueli withdraw, even if Dragon Sea City was lost.
• A young man reported that an envoy from Dragon Sea City had arrived to discuss cooperation.

Dugu Wuwu’s forces considered Dragon Sea City’s offer to lend them a route through the northern barrier, then learned that Lin Heng had seized the city. Dugu Hongxuan proposed a surprise attack, but Qin Hongyi warned that it could expose Dugu Yueli, who was still in Dragon Sea City.

• Wang Lei delivered Dragon Sea City’s offer to Dugu Wuwu, who agreed on the condition that the Dugu juniors were released first.
• Dugu Xin explained that Dragon Sea City’s offer would let Nine Dust Hall attack the Great Wall Dao Palace from the north, while Qin Hongyi questioned the plan and pointed out the offer’s warning about who would control the Dao Palace.
• Qin Hongyi revealed that Lin Heng had seized Dragon Sea City, shocking the assembly and alarming Dugu Wuwu because Dugu Yueli was there.
• Dugu Hongxuan proposed pretending to accept the borrowed route, then launching a surprise attack to retake Dragon Sea City and expose Lin Heng.
• Qin Hongyi warned that revealing they knew Lin Heng’s identity could expose Dugu Yueli’s disguise, and reminded Dugu Wuwu of Lin Heng’s reputation as a greedy, lustful wretch.

The Dugu Clan argued over whether Lin Heng posed a threat to Dugu Moon Glass, then chose to pursue an alliance with Great Wall Dao Palace. At Dao Mountain, Bai Yi secured Luo Xiaochuan’s agreement to a contract that sent Dao Palace personnel and funds to help defend Dragon Sea City.

• Dugu Xin panicked when Qin Hongyi mentioned Moon Glass, fearing that Lin Heng might treat her like Dugu Xuexue.
• Dugu Wuwu and Qin Hongyi argued about whether Moon Glass was in danger, and the Dugu Clan decided to use the opportunity to reclaim the city.
• Bai Yi offered Luo Xiaochuan Dao Palace troops and funding to help defend Dragon Sea City.
• Bai Yi promised that the troops’ life-and-death tablets would be handed over to Dragon Sea City, ensuring they followed its orders.
• Luo Xiaochuan agreed to help Great Wall Dao Palace defend the north and harass Dingyang City if pressure mounted, then took the prepared contract with him.

Huang Qiusheng sent Bai Yi and a five-hundred-person Dao Palace force to Dragon Sea City to secure the Huang Clan’s survival, while Lin Heng spent a quiet evening with Jiang Caiyan. The chapter ended with Bai Yi leading an attack on the City Lord’s Mansion and discovering that Lin Heng was still alive.

• Huang Qiusheng explained that he had sent Dao Palace’s elites to Dragon Sea City to show goodwill to the Immortal Clans and preserve the Huang Clan amid a coming war between Supremes.
• Bai Yi and Chen Changqin led the five-hundred-person force to Dragon Sea City, and Bai Yi secretly planned to seize the city and become its City Lord.
• Lin Heng met Jiang Caiyan in the City Lord’s Mansion’s Back Garden, where she told him she would take her mother’s surname, Yu.
• Bai Yi’s force attacked the City Lord’s Mansion, and Wang Lei warned Lin Heng that Dao Palace had turned against them.
• Lin Heng confronted Bai Yi, who was shocked to see that Lin Heng was still alive.

Lin Heng reunited with Chen Changqin and the others after stopping their uprising in Dragon Sea City, then revealed his plan to take Great Wall Dao Palace. Chen Changqin decided to travel ahead to the Central Domain in search of Sun-Continuing Grass, while Lin Heng agreed to support him.

• Lin Heng suppressed Bai Yi, ended the attempted uprising, and ordered the Great Wall Dao Palace forces back to their camp and posts.
• At a Zhao clan manor, Chen Changqin and Sun Hao reunited with Lin Heng, who learned that they had entered the south with a star merchant convoy after hearing rumors that he had died.
• Lin Heng told Chen Changqin that he planned to take Great Wall Dao Palace, and said the trouble in Dragon Sea City had helped advance that plan.
• Chen Changqin told Lin Heng that the scripture depository held clues to Sun-Continuing Grass in the Rakshasa Sea and that he intended to go to the Central Domain ahead of him.
• Chen Changqin revealed that one of his past lives had reached the Mahayana stage and explained why he had not stopped the Dead Sand Spirit sooner.
• Lin Heng agreed to fund Chen Changqin's journey and asked him to let them know before he left.

Lin Heng learned why Meng Yutong had been cold toward him: his rapid cultivation and talk of overpowering her had unsettled her sense of their master-disciple dynamic. He decided to have a heart-to-heart with her, while agreeing to help Yun Yao claim Dao Province and Leng Qingyun with her request.

• Yun Yao explained that Fire Qilin had mistaken Xiao Lan’s dangling tail for a vine and nearly bitten it, prompting Lin Heng to break up their fight.
• Lin Heng told Yun Yao and Leng Qingyun that Meng Yutong had grown cold after he teased her about overpowering her.
• Yun Yao and Leng Qingyun agreed to explain Meng Yutong’s feelings if Lin Heng accepted their requests: he would help Leng Qingyun with her older sister and let Yun Yao choose territory first.
• Yun Yao revealed that she wanted Dao Province for herself, Cai Yan, and their plans to establish sects, and Lin Heng agreed to work toward it.
• Yun Yao and Leng Qingyun told Lin Heng that Meng Yutong was anxious about his rapid cultivation and the changing power dynamic between master and disciple.
• Lin Heng realized Meng Yutong was unsettled rather than angry and resolved to speak with her heart to heart.

Lin Heng postponed his plans with Jiang Caiyan to tend to Meng Yutong, while Jiang Caiyan explained how she used restraint to keep his attention. In Dragon Sea City, Dugu Wuwu ignored Dugu Yueli’s warning and led troops toward the city, where Dugu Zixuan was waiting.

• Lin Heng told Jiang Caiyan he had to change their plans because Meng Yutong needed him, and Jiang Caiyan reassured him while describing her approach to keeping his interest.
• After five hundred Dao Palace cultivators arrived in Dragon Sea City, Dugu Wuwu ordered Dugu Tao and Dugu Xin to lead an attack through the western and southern routes.
• Qin Hongyi relayed Dugu Yueli’s warning that Ten Directions Hall forces, including Dugu Zixuan, had entered Dragon Sea City and that the operation should be canceled.
• Dugu Wuwu rejected the warning and continued with the plan, arguing that Ten Directions Hall’s presence could be used to challenge Dugu Zixuan openly.
• Dugu Wuwu led at least a thousand people east after scouts reported that Dragon Sea City had lowered its protective formation.
• Dugu Zixuan watched from the city wall as the force approached, and Su Moxie asked whether they intended to seize the city.

As Nine Dust Hall attacked Dragon Sea City, Lin Heng found Meng Yutong and tried to bring her back to their intimate master-disciple dynamic. They reconciled and shared a tender moment, but Meng Yutong said they would have to wait until the next night because the Yin Fruit needed one more day to complete its month.

• Dugu Zixuan warned Su Moxie that Dugu Wuwu was petty and overbearing, and Su Moxie ordered the ambush to prepare as Nine Dust Hall attacked outside Dragon Sea City.
• Lin Heng told Meng Yutong that the attack was under control and tried to take her to her room, but then chose to gently comb her hair instead.
• Lin Heng apologized for his earlier words and explained that he wanted to preserve their playful master-disciple relationship as they grew closer.
• Meng Yutong admitted she had struggled with Lin Heng's growth and feared losing her place as his Master, and Lin Heng reassured her that she could still punish him.
• Meng Yutong said the Yin Fruit needed one more day to complete a full month, then whispered what she would do with Lin Heng the following night.

Lin Heng and Meng Yutong went to South City, where Dugu Zixuan faced Nine Dust Hall’s leader, Dugu Wuwu, over the attack on Dragon Sea City. Lin Heng’s rebuke drove Dugu Wuwu away, and Lin Heng hurried back with Meng Yutong while Dugu Zixuan lamented their united front.

• Meng Yutong reminded Lin Heng that they needed to deal with the crisis outside the city, and they went to South City’s wall.
• Duan Shuyun stopped Yun Yao from following Lin Heng and Meng Yutong to the confrontation, while Yun Yao argued with the other senior sisters.
• Dugu Zixuan accused Dugu Wuwu of breaking the covenant and objecting to Ten Directions Hall taking its own family’s city.
• Lin Heng criticized Dugu Wuwu for Nine Dust Hall’s harsh rule in Dragon Sea City, and Dugu Wuwu attacked him with a palm strike.
• Dugu Zixuan split the attack and confronted Dugu Wuwu, who threatened her and left; Meng Yutong defended Lin Heng, and he carried her back.

Dugu Yueli learned that her father’s attack on Dragon Sea City had failed and tried to evade surveillance, but Attendant Li summoned her to Lin Heng’s victory banquet. At the banquet, Dugu Zixuan sensed Dugu Yueli’s familiar immortal aura and began to suspect her identity, leaving Dugu Yueli afraid she had been discovered.

• Dugu Xuexue told Dugu Yueli she wanted to leave her maid disguise and ask Dugu Zixuan to deal with Lin Heng, and Dugu Yueli agreed.
• Attendant Li found Dugu Yueli at the watchtower and invited her to Lin Heng’s victory banquet while urging her to attach herself to him.
• Dugu Yueli slapped Attendant Li twice after he insulted her, then took the concealed Dugu Xuexue with her to the City Lord’s Mansion.
• At the banquet, Meng Yutong watched Ke Miaoling warily, while Dugu Zixuan recognized a familiar aura and wondered if Ke Miaoling was Dugu Yueli.
• Dugu Zixuan’s sudden laughter startled Lin Heng, and Dugu Yueli decided she would try to slip away the next morning.

Dugu Zixuan suspected that Ke Miaoling was actually Dugu Yueli and told Lin Heng, who became convinced that Yueli had been secretly scheming around him. Lin Heng wanted to seize and imprison her, but Dugu Zixuan stopped him and said she had a plan to keep Yueli by his side.

• Dugu Zixuan questioned Lin Heng about Ke Miaoling and approached her at the banquet, praising her help and showing her unusual warmth.
• Dugu Zixuan recognized Ke Miaoling's hidden aura and suspected she was no ordinary young lady from Ke Manor.
• After the banquet, Dugu Zixuan told Lin Heng that she suspected Ke Miaoling was Dugu Yueli.
• Lin Heng reconsidered Ke Miaoling's appearances and concluded that Dugu Yueli might have used her identity to lure him into danger and reclaim Dragon Sea City.
• Lin Heng set out to capture and imprison Dugu Yueli, but Dugu Zixuan stopped him and promised to make her stay by his side.