Chapter Summaries

Lin Heng revealed his identity as the director of the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office and explained his plan to use Nine Dust Hall’s aggression to win over the native clans. He left after recruiting Dugu Yueli, disguised as Miao Ling, to help him take the Great Wall Dao Palace and regain the clans’ support.

• Lin Heng visited Ke Manor and told Dugu Yueli, who was disguised as Miao Ling, that his real name and position were Lin Heng, director of the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office.
• Lin Heng described his aim to make imperial power and the clans coexist, and said he planned to benefit from Nine Dust Hall’s attacks by presenting his faction as the clans’ ally.
• Dugu Yueli realized Lin Heng intended to let Nine Dust Hall earn the clans’ hatred before his faction won their support, and grew angry when he mocked her as an unworthy opponent.
• Lin Heng asked Dugu Yueli to help him take the Great Wall Dao Palace through strategy and win back the clans that had fled Dragon Sea City, promising to make Ke Manor a deputy city office.
• Lin Heng drained his tea and departed, while Dugu Yueli concealed her anger.

Lin Heng learned that everyone in Ke Manor was using a false identity, but he told Wang Lei to let them keep up the disguise while he and Dugu Zixuan secretly planned around Dugu Yueli. The chapter left Meng Yutong abandoning a salvage trip after Lin Heng reminded her of their private plans.

• Dugu Yueli reconsidered fleeing after Lin Heng explained his plan to win over the clans, and vowed to make him pay for his arrogance.
• Wang Lei reported that two people from Ke Manor had confessed that the entire manor used false identities, including Li Caijun, whose real name was Li Fugui.
• Lin Heng ordered Wang Lei not to expose or interrogate the people of Ke Manor and to let them maintain their identities.
• Lin Heng told Dugu Zixuan and Meng Yutong that Ke Manor's disguised Fifth Miss was Dugu Yueli, and Dugu Zixuan instructed them not to alert anyone.
• Dugu Zixuan invited Meng Yutong to join Hou Bozhong's salvage trip, but Lin Heng reminded her of their plans, so she declined.

Dugu Zixuan followed Dugu Yueli to an inn and uncovered that she had secretly sent a warning to Qin Hongyi through the Shadow Alliance. Dugu Zixuan concluded that Yueli's identity and actions were exposed, and planned to keep her close.

• Dugu Zixuan watched Dugu Yueli leave Ke Manor and followed her to an inn in Luo Sacred Heaven City.
• Dugu Yueli met a Shadow Scout and criticized the Shadow Alliance for failing to provide information about the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office.
• Dugu Yueli asked the Shadow Scout to warn Qin Hongyi to prepare support and withdraw if needed during the attack on Great Wall Dao Palace.
• Dugu Zixuan questioned the inn staff about Yueli's meeting, while the Shadow Alliance chose not to warn Yueli that she was being followed.
• Dugu Zixuan inferred that Yueli had delivered a message and decided to keep her under her aunt's care.

Dugu Xuexue accidentally spied on Lin Heng and Meng Yutong in the Spirit Pool, then tried to leave the manor the next morning. Lin Heng prepared to lead forces toward Great Wall Dao Palace and used the peeping incident to pressure Dugu Xuexue into joining him.

• Dugu Xuexue wandered into the back garden and overheard Lin Heng and Meng Yutong bathing together in the Spirit Pool.
• Dugu Xuexue fell from the wall after spotting them, and Meng Yutong slapped Lin Heng out of the bath before covering herself.
• Lin Heng told Dugu Zixuan that Nine Dust Hall had received Moon Glass's message and announced plans to march on Great Wall Dao Palace and Falling Snow City.
• Dugu Zixuan worried that Dugu Yueli might escape if she stayed behind to guard Dragon Sea City, but Lin Heng insisted the plan would keep her close.
• Lin Heng caught Dugu Xuexue trying to climb out of the manor and told her she would accompany his force to Great Wall Dao Palace.
• Lin Heng threatened to reveal that Dugu Xuexue had spied on him bathing, leaving her shocked and denying that she had done so.

Lin Heng teased Dugu Xuexue about catching him with his Master, then set out with his forces to seize Great Wall Dao Palace. The group traveled in three teams while Dugu Yueli questioned how Lin Heng planned to overcome the palace’s defenses.

• Lin Heng teased Dugu Xuexue for peeking at him and his Master, and she tried to threaten him into apologizing.
• Lin Heng explained that his mother already knew about his relationship with his Master, then teased Dugu Xuexue until she ran off.
• Duan Shuyun and Mu Liuxi reported that the group was ready, and Lin Heng ordered everyone to set out.
• Lin Heng’s force of two hundred and three people split into three teams and traveled on foot to keep their movement concealed.
• Dugu Yueli wondered how Lin Heng’s small force could take Great Wall Dao Palace, while Duan Shuyun asked why Nine Dust Hall’s holy maiden had not reacted to the loss of Dragon Sea City.

Lin Heng mocked Dugu Yueli’s lack of experience, while Dugu Xuexue defended her and described her victories at Immortal Sea Summit. Dugu Yueli, disguised as Ke Miaoling, overheard Lin Heng’s threats and ended the chapter flustered when he approached her.

• Lin Heng and Duan Shuyun criticized Dugu Yueli’s limited experience, and Dugu Xuexue defended her accomplishments at Immortal Sea Summit.
• Duan Shuyun questioned how Dragon Sea City had fallen, and Dugu Xuexue blamed her second brother for ignoring Dugu Yueli’s warning about the teleportation array.
• Lin Heng praised Dugu Xuexue to stir tension between her and Dugu Yueli, but Ke Miaoling’s cough made Xuexue realize what he was doing.
• Lin Heng threatened to capture Dugu Yueli and lock her in a private Little Black Room, angering the disguised Dugu Yueli.
• Dugu Yueli imagined making Lin Heng beg for mercy, then discovered he had appeared behind her and offered his arm for support.

Lin Heng teased Dugu Yueli by calling her the kind of little sister he preferred, prompting her to suspect he wanted her romantically, before his Senior Sisters reprimanded him for flirting. Dugu Xuexue then questioned why they could scold a Return to Void True Lord so freely, while the others overheard and reacted to the conversation.

• Lin Heng held Dugu Yueli's wrist and praised her gentle temperament, saying he preferred a little sister like her over Dugu Xuexue.
• Dugu Yueli suspected Lin Heng's talk of a little sister concealed romantic intentions, while Duan Shuyun and Mu Liuxi grabbed his ears and scolded him for flirting.
• Jiang Caiyan returned from the carriage, and Duan Shuyun called her over while Lin Heng escaped from between his Senior Sisters.
• Dugu Xuexue pointed out that Lin Heng's lower-ranked Senior Sisters had pulled his ears in public despite his status as a Return to Void True Lord.
• Lin Heng asked Dugu Xuexue how she would react in his place, and she said she would slap anyone who embarrassed her in public.
• Duan Shuyun, Mu Liuxi, Jiang Caiyan, Dugu Yueli, and Bai Yi overheard the conversation and privately reacted to Lin Heng and his relationships.

Lin Heng and his companions reached Great Wall Dao Palace after Nine Dust Hall broke through its barrier, and Lin Heng planned to turn the conflict to his advantage. He sent Bai Yi to negotiate the palace’s surrender, leaving Meng Yutong unsure whether Bai Yi could truly be reborn in the Underworld if killed.

• Dugu Xuexue learned that Jiang Caiyan was also Lin Heng’s Dao companion and recoiled from Lin Heng’s teasing.
• Lin Heng recognized the Dao Integration might at the shattered Great Wall Barrier and explained that he had wanted Nine Dust Hall to break through so they could seize the spoils.
• Dugu Wuwu and the others mocked Lin Heng and the Huang Clan while waiting near Great Wall Dao Palace.
• Lin Heng ordered Bai Yi to approach the city gates as an envoy and persuaded him by promising him a senior position if he secured the palace’s surrender.
• Lin Heng told Meng Yutong that his own rebirth in the Underworld was real but admitted he did not know whether Bai Yi would be reborn.

Bai Yi returned to the Great Wall Dao Palace and tried to persuade the Huang Clan that he had come to save them from Nine Dust Hall. The clan members remained suspicious and threatened to kill him before he could finish his pitch.

• Huang Qiusheng confronted Mu Qiuhong over his claim that Lin Tian belonged to the Changlin Clan, while Mu Qiuhong denied colluding with the outsiders.
• Huang Qiusheng warned the Huang Clan that Nine Dust Hall outmatched them and that the Central Domain's immortal clans could not be relied on.
• Bai Yi arrived at the First Hall, and Mu Qiuhong argued that his return proved Dragon Sea City had not betrayed the Huang Clan.
• Bai Yi defended Dragon Sea City's inability to stop Nine Dust Hall and announced that he had come to save the Huang Clan.
• Bai Yi asked why the Dugu Clan wanted to attack the Immortal Sea Summit, but an elder called for him to be dragged away and killed before he could explain further.

Bai Yi tried to persuade the Huang Clan to cooperate with the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office, but Huang Qiusheng demanded that Lin Heng negotiate in person. Lin Heng planned to enter Great Wall Dao Palace the next morning, confident he could win the Huang Clan over and help Dugu Yueli find her clansmen.

• Bai Yi offered the Huang Clan three choices: surrender to Nine Dust Hall, wait for immortal reinforcements, or cooperate with Dragon Sea City and the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office.
• Huang Qiusheng recognized Lin Heng’s name, then attacked Bai Yi, accusing the Heavenly Profound Continent’s people of trying to deceive the Huang Clan.
• Mu Qiuhong saved Bai Yi and persuaded Huang Qiusheng to spare him; Huang Qiusheng agreed to discuss cooperation only with the office chief and ordered Bai Yi out.
• Bai Yi returned to Lin Heng and complained that he had been sent without knowing the terms of the proposed cooperation.
• Lin Heng said Bai Yi’s mission had tested the Huang Clan’s attitude and announced that he would visit the clan the next morning with Bai Yi, his master, and Dugu Yueli.
• Lin Heng predicted that Great Wall Dao Palace would be taken the next day and said Dugu Yueli could search for her clansmen there.

Lin Heng entered Great Wall Dao Palace and demanded territory from the Huang Clan in exchange for cooperation, then revealed the hidden history of the clan’s rise. He left Huang Qiushi unsettled as he began explaining how the Huang Clan later fell from power.

• Lin Heng arrived at Great Wall Dao Palace with Meng Yutong and Dugu Yueli to meet Huang Qiushi.
• Lin Heng demanded control of the land beneath Great Wall Dao Palace and Falling Snow City to establish a route between Dragon Sea City and Falling Snow City.
• Lin Heng told Huang Qiushi that the Central Domain’s immortal clans were waiting for the Dugu Clan to weaken Immortal Sea Summit before claiming its lands.
• Lin Heng revealed that the Huang Clan had descended from the Song Clan, which had fought the Chen Clan over Immortal Sea Summit.
• Huang Qiushi asked how Lin Heng knew the Huang Clan’s hidden history, and Lin Heng began recounting the Immortal Sea War that had caused its decline.

Lin Heng tried to persuade Huang Qiushi to hand over Great Wall Dao Palace and cooperate with the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office, while Mu Qiuhong reminded Huang that the immortal clans were also responsible for the Huang Clan’s decline. Huang Qiushi left to consult his clansmen, and Lin Heng’s questions about Dragon Sea City’s exiled clans made Dugu Yueli fear her false identity would be exposed.

• Lin Heng offered Huang Qiushi a chance to preserve the Huang Clan if it surrendered the dragon-head seat and handed Great Wall Dao Palace to him.
• Mu Qiuhong argued that the immortal clans had harmed the Huang Clan for generations and that cooperating with Lin Heng was its best option.
• Huang Qiushi left to discuss the proposal with his clansmen and asked Mu Qiuhong to entertain Lin Heng.
• Mu Qiuhong admitted he hoped to protect Great Wall Dao Palace and gain Lin Heng’s favor, then said Huang Qiushi might know where Dragon Sea City’s exiled clans were.
• Lin Heng said he had come to summon back Dragon Sea City’s old clans, causing Dugu Yueli to fear that meeting the exiles would expose her false identity.

Lin Heng persuaded Huang Qiushi to let the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office take control of the Great Wall Dao Palace while the Huang Clan withdrew from its defense. He then revealed that the Hong Clan had abducted Huang Yueqi and other Huang Clan juniors, and proposed shaping the Huang Clan into a model of cooperation with the Imperial Office.

• Huang Qiushi agreed to let the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office control the Great Wall Dao Palace, provided it left Huang Clan lands untouched and handled Nine Dust Hall itself.
• Lin Heng spoke privately with Huang Qiushi and asked about Huang Yueqi, the Huang Clan saintess who had gone missing in the Southern Domain.
• Huang Qiushi revealed that Huang Yueqi carried the Huang Clan's ancestral Immortal Essence true blood and was especially important to the clan.
• Lin Heng told Huang Qiushi that the Hong Clan of the Central Domain had secretly taken Huang Yueqi and other Huang Clan juniors, and linked the Hong Clan to the Immortal Clan Xiao Family.
• Lin Heng argued that the Hong Clan might be trying to destroy the Huang Clan by targeting its fortune, then proposed making the Huang Clan a model of cooperation with the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office.

Lin Heng used Dugu Xuexue to send Dugu Yueli a message while secretly planning to lure Nine Dust Hall into attacking Dragon Sea City. Dugu Yueli, angered by his schemes, decided she and Xuexue would return home and challenge his defense of the city.

• Lin Heng settled into the Great Wall Dao Palace and spent time with Mu Liuxi and Dugu Xuexue, whom he tried to recruit to help capture Dugu Yueli.
• Dugu Xuexue rejected Lin Heng’s attempt to turn her against her sister and ran off after nearly revealing that Dugu Yueli was nearby.
• Lin Heng told Mu Liuxi that Ke Miaoling was involved and asked her to take command of Dragon Sea City while he moved his mother to the Great Wall Dao Palace, leaving the city vulnerable to Nine Dust Hall.
• Dugu Xuexue reported Lin Heng’s scheme to Dugu Yueli, who vowed to take Dragon Sea City and said they could return home.

Lin Heng sent Mu Liuxi and a group of people to reinforce Dragon Sea City, then encouraged Dugu Yueli to return there by pretending to worry about Nine Dust Hall’s plans. Dugu Yueli escaped her escort and reached Nine Dust Hall’s hidden main base, where someone rebuked her for returning.

• Lin Heng reassured Dugu Yueli that no Ke Clan members had appeared and feigned concern that Nine Dust Hall would attack Dragon Sea City or the Great Wall Dao Palace.
• Dugu Yueli pointed out that Lin Heng lacked the manpower to defend both cities, and Lin Heng claimed he had sent Mu Liuxi to reinforce Dragon Sea City.
• Dugu Yueli asked to return to Dragon Sea City, and Lin Heng agreed to send Wang Lei and a guard to escort her.
• Lin Heng flew after the escort with Dugu Xuexue, telling her he planned to take her to see Dugu Yueli.
• Dugu Yueli left behind a false body, escaped the escort, and followed Qin Hongyi’s information to Nine Dust Hall’s hidden main base.
• Someone at Nine Dust Hall’s base scolded Dugu Yueli for returning and nearly forgetting her identity.

Dugu Yueli returned to Nine Dust Hall and proposed a plan to reclaim Dragon Sea City by luring Dugu Zixuan away and taking the City Lord’s Token. She seized the token from Mu Liuxi, but a trap in the city’s underground formation caught her, and Lin Heng appeared.

• Dugu Yueli explained how Lin Heng had secured Great Wall Dao Palace through cooperation, then briefed Nine Dust Hall on Dragon Sea City’s defenses.
• Dugu Hongxuan proposed using peace talks to lure Dugu Zixuan outside while Dugu Yueli returned to the city, and Dugu Yueli agreed to the plan.
• Dugu Zixuan left Dragon Sea City for the meeting and entrusted the city to Mu Liuxi.
• Dugu Yueli threatened Mu Liuxi into surrendering the City Lord’s Token and leading her to the city-protecting formation’s core.
• The formation activated around Dugu Yueli, and Lin Heng appeared in the passage.

Lin Heng revealed that Dugu Yueli was a member of Nine Dust Hall and explained how her scheme helped him understand the Immortal Sea Summit's proxy forces. He sealed Dugu Yueli's power inside the light pillars, then summoned Saint Ye, who had been refining the Star-Suppressing Tower.

• Lin Heng freed Mu Liuxi, and she joined him as Dugu Xuexue arrived and recognized the veiled Dugu Yueli as Moon Glass Sister.
• Lin Heng revealed that Dugu Yueli was from Nine Dust Hall and explained how he had pieced together her role and the faction's plans for the Immortal Sea Summit's proxy forces.
• Lin Heng told Dugu Xuexue that he knew she and Dugu Yueli had kept in contact, then taunted Dugu Yueli as she tried to summon her power.
• Dugu Yueli found her True Yuan suppressed and was trapped inside the pillars of light.
• Lin Heng summoned Saint Ye, who appeared with the Nine-Layer Illusory Light Pagoda and said he had been refining the Star-Suppressing Tower.

Lin Heng trapped Dugu Yueli in the Star-Suppressing Tower, then led the City Lord’s Mansion and others out of Dragon Sea City before Nine Dust Hall arrived. After Dugu Xin’s forces found the city deserted and Yueli missing, Dugu Zixuan rejoined Lin Heng’s group and questioned why he had given up the city.

• Lin Heng imprisoned Dugu Yueli in the Star-Suppressing Tower and had Mu Liuxi take Dugu Xuexue away.
• Lin Heng and Saint Ye dispelled Dragon Sea City’s protective formation, and the willing residents and City Lord’s Mansion members withdrew through the East City Gate.
• Dugu Hongxuan led Nine Dust Hall into the empty city and searched for Dugu Yueli, but could not find her.
• Dugu Xin slapped Dugu Hongxuan and blamed him for Yueli’s disappearance while ordering the search to continue.
• Dugu Zixuan caught up with Lin Heng’s group and heard that he had captured Yueli and abandoned Dragon Sea City.
• Dugu Zixuan questioned why Lin Heng had not used Yueli to seize the city as well.

Lin Heng returned to Great Wall Dao Palace and confronted the Huang Clan after its members rebelled while he was away. After the dispute was settled, Yun Yao and Leng Qingyun reminded him of his promise to help Senior Niu and whispered a daring plan to him.

• While Lin Heng was away, four Huang Clan members tried to seize control of Great Wall Dao Palace and lay hands on Meng Yutong, but Master and Huang Qiushi suppressed them.
• Lin Heng demanded an explanation, and Huang Qiushi defended his decision to hand over the Dao Palace and ordered the four rebels removed from the clan, punished, and exiled.
• Huang Qiushi offered the confiscated gains from the Second Hall and Sixth Hall to Meng Yutong as compensation, and she accepted.
• As Lin Heng headed to the Small World to see Dugu Yueli, Yun Yao and Leng Qingyun stopped him and reminded him that he had promised to help Senior Niu.
• Leng Qingyun whispered her plan to Lin Heng, proposing that Senior Niu be tied to a chair as an audience member.

Lin Heng helped Leng Qingyun and Yun Yao devise a plan to challenge Leng Qingqiu while keeping himself out of the conflict. Leng Qingqiu then boasted about bullying others within earshot of Meng Yutong, who decided her rebellious disciple needed discipline.

• Lin Heng persuaded Leng Qingyun and Yun Yao to let Leng Qingqiu counterattack before Yun Yao stepped in to help Leng Qingyun win.
• Lin Heng postponed visiting Dugu Yueli and told Leng Qingqiu that her younger sister planned to bully her.
• Leng Qingqiu told Zhao Wanqing about her past tricks with Leng Qingyun and encouraged her to join their scheming over Lin Heng.
• Leng Qingqiu boasted that even her Master could not stop her from bullying others, and Meng Yutong overheard her.
• Meng Yutong accused Leng Qingqiu of rebellious behavior and resolved to discipline her.