Chapter Summaries

At Lin Heng’s hot spring estate, Leng Qingqiu faced Leng Qingyun and Yun Yao in a playful fight over who would get the upper hand. Jiang Caiyan joined them, and the three captured Lin Heng and tied Leng Qingqiu to a chair.

• Lin Heng teased Leng Qingqiu at the hot spring estate while Leng Qingyun trapped them beneath her umbrella’s Formation.
• Leng Qingqiu blasted the umbrella away with her Green Lotus Dao Fire and challenged Leng Qingyun and Yun Yao to fight.
• Leng Qingqiu easily defended herself against Leng Qingyun and Yun Yao with her strange fire.
• Jiang Caiyan bound Leng Qingqiu with blood-red chains and joined Yun Yao and Leng Qingyun.
• Yun Yao stopped Lin Heng from slipping away, blindfolded him, and left Leng Qingqiu tied to a chair.

Leng Qingyun, Yun Yao, and Jiang Caiyan joined forces to torment Leng Qingqiu while Lin Heng enjoyed the resulting chaos. After two and a half days, Murong Ziyan arrived at the Great Wall Dao Palace with an urgent message from the Female Emperor, but Dugu Zixuan was away and Meng Yutong challenged her claim that only Lin Heng or Zixuan could receive it.

• Leng Qingyun, Yun Yao, and Jiang Caiyan restrained Leng Qingqiu and pressured Jiang Caiyan to join their plan with Lin Heng.
• Jiang Caiyan reluctantly agreed to stay with the others after Yun Yao warned that she could no longer avoid taking sides.
• Leng Qingqiu cursed Yun Yao as Lin Heng silently enjoyed the situation, which continued for two and a half days.
• Meng Yutong worried that Lin Heng had been overworked and set out to check on the manor.
• Murong Ziyan arrived with Duan Shuyun and asked Meng Yutong where Dugu Zixuan was.
• Murong Ziyan said the Female Emperor had sent an urgent message that could only be delivered to Lin Heng or Dugu Zixuan, and Meng Yutong insisted she wait.

Murong Ziyan urgently brought Meng Yutong news that could change the long-term situation and warned that Prince Jing might come to the Heavenly Action Continent. Lin Heng joked with Yun Yao and Jiang Caiyan about paying their ten-million-Spirit-Stone betrothal gifts in tiny daily installments, then met Murong Ziyan and asked after the Female Emperor.

• Murong Ziyan told Meng Yutong about an urgent matter and warned her that Prince Jing was likely to come to the Heavenly Action Continent.
• Lin Heng teased Yun Yao and Jiang Caiyan by promising each a ten-million-Spirit-Stone betrothal gift paid in installments of about twenty-seven Spirit Stones a day.
• Yun Yao and Jiang Caiyan grew angry and struck Lin Heng, sending him flying.
• Lin Heng later met Murong Ziyan in the manor's side hall, while Meng Yutong stopped him from rushing over to hug her.
• Lin Heng composed himself and asked Murong Ziyan whether the Female Emperor Sister was doing well.

Lin Heng learned that Prince Jing had secretly come to the Heavenly Action Continent, then discussed a proposed mission involving the Demon Beast clans of the Ten Wastelands Demon Domain with Meng Yutong. The chapter left Lin Heng considering how the demon beasts should be treated if the continent were unified.

• Murong Ziyan warned Lin Heng that Prince Jing was coming and revealed that Jiang Zhenqing had secretly set out to target him.
• Murong Ziyan speculated that Prince Jing was angry because Lin Heng had grown close to King Le, and Meng Yutong questioned Lin Heng about it as well.
• Murong Ziyan said she could not help with Prince Jing and left the Great Wall Dao Palace for a classified mission.
• Lin Heng and Meng Yutong discussed arrangements concerning the Demon Forest north of Dragon Sea City, where the Ten Wastelands Demon Domain was caught up in internal strife.
• Lin Heng argued that demon beasts with human-level intelligence should not simply be wiped out if the Heavenly Action Continent were unified.

Lin Heng learned that Duan Shuyun was negotiating Falling Snow City’s surrender by sharing Gong Panzi’s Writing Diagram, then tried to draw her into his romantic schemes. The next morning, Dugu Zixuan returned from Nine Dust Hall, and Lin Heng prepared to visit the captive Dugu Yueli.

• Lin Heng told Meng Yutong that he intended to deliver the Supreme Bone Sword to the Demon Race on the Heavenly Action Continent, and she warned him to focus on proper business.
• Lin Heng learned that Duan Shuyun and the others had attended an exchange gathering at Literary Manor to handle Falling Snow City’s possible surrender.
• Duan Shuyun explained that she was transcribing Gong Panzi’s Writing Diagram for a proposed exchange, with Pavilion Master Hou’s approval.
• Lin Heng praised Duan Shuyun and suggested she join him and Second Senior Sister in reconciling with Qingqiu, but Duan Shuyun saw through his ulterior motives.
• Dugu Zixuan returned from Nine Dust Hall, and Lin Heng decided to visit the detained Dugu Yueli with her.

Lin Heng visited the imprisoned Dugu Yueli and tried to make her accept her defeat in the clan struggle. After removing her veil and learning she had wanted to challenge him fairly, he recognized why she felt wronged but left her captive.

• Dugu Zixuan told Lin Heng that the ancestor might force him to release Dugu Yueli, and the two planned how to frighten her with news of the outside situation.
• Saint Ye watched Dugu Zixuan and Lin Heng leave for the Small World and suspected Lin Heng intended to use Dugu Yueli against Nine Dust Hall.
• Lin Heng entered the Little Black Room, taunted Dugu Yueli, and pulled off her veil, revealing her renowned beauty.
• Dugu Yueli called Lin Heng a villain and demanded that he release her or fight her directly.
• Dugu Yueli explained that she had wanted to spar with Lin Heng since Great Mountain and resented being captured without a fair contest.
• Lin Heng acknowledged that Dugu Yueli had reason to feel angry, then laughed as she remained bound in the Little Black Room.

Lin Heng stripped Dugu Yueli of her treasures and used her portrait to tease her before threatening to take her Fortune. Dugu Zixuan intervened and invited Dugu Yueli to stay with her and Dugu Xuexue instead of returning to Nine Dust Hall.

• Lin Heng took Dugu Yueli's Storage Ring and seized her Immortal Cauldron, jade seal, and dress.
• Lin Heng found a scroll containing his portrait and history, and Dugu Yueli admitted she had wanted to study him as an opponent.
• Dugu Yueli offered Lin Heng her treasures and the southern region of Immortal Sea Summit in exchange for her release and warned him about Nine Dust Hall's wrath.
• Lin Heng told Dugu Yueli he intended to take her Fortune through their union, frightening her with talk of having a child.
• Dugu Zixuan emerged and stopped Lin Heng from frightening Dugu Yueli further, then invited her to stay with her and Dugu Xuexue rather than return to Nine Dust Hall.

Dugu Zixuan and Lin Heng refused Dugu Yueli’s offer to ease tensions between their families and explained that they intended to keep her as leverage. Lin Heng then manipulated her with claims about her father’s visit, leaving her confused about whether her family had abandoned her.

• Dugu Yueli offered to suspend the families’ struggle over Immortal Sea Summit if Dugu Zixuan let her return to Nine Dust Hall.
• Dugu Zixuan rejected the offer and said keeping Dugu Yueli would prevent the families from moving into extreme opposition, while Lin Heng backed her.
• Dugu Yueli accused Dugu Zixuan of planning to use her as a hostage, and Dugu Zixuan said she also wanted Yueli to learn from Lin Heng.
• Dugu Yueli insisted her father would rescue her, but Dugu Zixuan told her that Dugu Wuwu had visited and then left after warning them not to harm Yueli.
• Lin Heng threatened that he could force Dugu Yueli to submit, then claimed her family could not demand her return because the Great Wall Dao Palace denied holding her.
• Dugu Yueli became bewildered when Lin Heng explained that both sides knew she was being held but her family could not prove it.

Lin Heng explained how he had maneuvered Dugu Yueli into being captured and persuaded her to stay with his group. Dugu Yueli accepted Dugu Zixuan’s restraint for now, though Lin Heng continued to tease her.

• Lin Heng held Dugu Yueli close and explained how he used Mu Liuxi, the peace talks, and Dragon Sea City’s abandonment to trap her.
• Dugu Yueli realized how thoroughly Lin Heng had planned her capture and acknowledged his cunning.
• Dugu Yueli agreed to stay temporarily rather than face lifelong imprisonment in the Little Black Room.
• Dugu Zixuan placed a restrictive bracelet on Dugu Yueli and promised her the highest standard of treatment if she did not try to escape.
• Lin Heng teased Dugu Yueli about getting along with him, and she called him a scum.

Lin Heng sent Sun Hao and Bai Yi to seek contact with the Demon Race while preparing to negotiate Falling Snow City's surrender. At Nine Dust Hall, Dugu Hongxuan was blamed for Dugu Yueli's capture and was thrown out after offering another plan to retrieve her and Dugu Xuexue.

• Dugu Zixuan's warmth strategy helped Dugu Yueli become less resistant after two days, though she still looked down on Lin Heng.
• The Cui Clan agreed to surrender Falling Snow City if Lin Heng negotiated in person, and he prepared to leave the next day.
• Lin Heng tasked Sun Hao and Bai Yi with crossing Immortal Sea to contact the Spirit Fox Clan's Green-Faced Jade Luo Lady and convey the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office's intentions.
• Bai Yi challenged Lin Heng to honor his promise to make him city lord, then angered Lin Heng by asking to be introduced to Dugu Yueli.
• Dugu Wuwu blamed Dugu Hongxuan for Dugu Yueli's capture, while Qin Hongyi defended him and argued that the elders had approved his plan.
• Dugu Hongxuan proposed a plan to bring back Dugu Yueli and Dugu Xuexue, but Qin Hongyi slapped him out of the hall.

Qin Hongyi explained how Lin Heng had used Dragon Sea City and the negotiations to trap the Dugu Clan into losing the initiative over Dugu Yueli. As Dugu Wuwu admitted his mistake and feared for his daughter, Qin Hongyi agreed to negotiate with Ten Directions Hall.

• Qin Hongyi warned that Yueli would not return unless Ten Directions Hall released her, and said even the Ancestor could not force the matter.
• Qin Hongyi deduced that Lin Heng had used Dragon Sea City as bait and manipulated the Dugu Clan into surrendering the initiative over Yueli.
• Qin Hongyi argued that Lin Heng had anticipated their actions by understanding their arrogance and underestimation of him.
• Dugu Wuwu admitted he had been wrong and told Qin Hongyi he feared what might happen to Yueli in Lin Heng's hands.
• Qin Hongyi questioned the intelligence about Lin Heng's relationships and agreed to negotiate with Ten Directions Hall himself.

Lin Heng learned that Jiang Zhenqing had spread a scandalous biography about him to provoke a conflict with Nine Dust Hall, while Qin Hongyi arrived at Great Wall Dao Palace seeking a meeting. Lin Heng decided to meet Moon Glass’s uncle and enlisted Dugu Zixuan to help with a plan involving Dugu Yueli.

• Lin Heng read a biography filled with rumors about his private life and worried Jiang Zhenqing would use it to target him over King Le.
• Jiang Zhenqing admitted he had spread the biography through Nine Dust Hall and ordered his attendants to blame the rumors on the hall, hoping to drive a wedge between it and Ten Directions Hall.
• Five days later, Jiang Zhenqing reached Falling Snow City after Lin Heng had returned to Great Wall Dao Palace and left Duan Shuyun behind to guard the city.
• Qin Hongyi arrived at Great Wall Dao Palace and requested to see Lin Heng, who learned that Qin Hongyi belonged to Moon Glass’s powerful maternal Qin Clan.
• Lin Heng decided to meet Qin Hongyi and whispered a plan to Dugu Zixuan involving Moon Glass, prompting her to warn him not to bully Dugu Yueli.

Lin Heng lured Dugu Yueli into acting like a soft little sister by promising to reveal Nine Dust Hall’s movements and threatening to bully Xuexue. Qin Hongyi saw them in an intimate-looking pose through a window and demanded an explanation from Dugu Zixuan, while Lin Heng and Dugu Yueli vanished.

• Lin Heng took Dugu Yueli to the main hall and told her that Nine Dust Hall’s movements were the subject he wanted to discuss.
• Lin Heng admitted he had been deliberately frightening Dugu Yueli, then said he wanted her to act like a soft little sister.
• Lin Heng threatened to bully Xuexue unless Dugu Yueli performed, so she followed his directions and wrapped her arms around his neck.
• Lin Heng nudged Dugu Yueli’s forehead while holding her waist, and Qin Hongyi saw them through a crescent-shaped window.
• Dugu Zixuan distracted Qin Hongyi, but Qin hurried to the corridor and found Lin Heng and Dugu Yueli gone before demanding an explanation about Moon Glass.

Qin Hongyi confronted Dugu Zixuan and Lin Heng over Dugu Yueli’s disappearance, while they denied holding her and Lin Heng suggested she might be staying willingly. Qin Hongyi demanded proof, and Lin Heng claimed a verse in one of Yueli’s paintings showed her lovesick devotion to him as he searched for the painting.

• Qin Hongyi accused Dugu Zixuan of hiding Yueli, but Dugu Zixuan denied that Yueli was with them.
• Yun Yao tried to provoke Meng Yutong into fighting Dugu Yueli, and Meng Yutong slapped Yun Yao away.
• Lin Heng arrived and denied holding Yueli, then admitted he had kissed a woman beneath a tree without naming her.
• Qin Hongyi attacked Lin Heng after realizing he meant Yueli, but Lin Heng summoned the Human Emperor Banner and warned him to stand down.
• Lin Heng argued that Yueli might not want to return and claimed a verse in one of her paintings proved her lovesick devotion to him.
• Qin Hongyi demanded to see the painting, and Lin Heng began searching his Storage Pouch for it.

Lin Heng tried to convince Qin Hongyi that Dugu Yueli wanted to stay with him, using a skirt and a painting as evidence. The chapter ended with Lin Heng interpreting the painting’s poem as a love poem and planting doubts in Qin Hongyi’s mind.

• Lin Heng accidentally pulled a pink skirt from his Storage Pouch, and Qin Hongyi recognized it as clothing Dugu Yueli had worn.
• Lin Heng accused the Nine Dust Hall of slandering him with a biography, while Qin Hongyi denied involvement and demanded to take Moon Glass away.
• Lin Heng showed Qin Hongyi a painting he said belonged to Moon Glass, and Qin Hongyi recognized its scenery and artistic style.
• Lin Heng claimed the poem on the painting secretly expressed Moon Glass’s love for him and began explaining its supposed hidden meanings.

Lin Heng persuaded Qin Hongyi that Dugu Yueli’s poem revealed affection for him and argued that keeping her at the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office protected her from Dugu Wuwu. Qin Hongyi began to agree that returning her would bring trouble, while Yueli and Dugu Zixuan watched the conversation through a visualized light screen.

• Lin Heng interpreted Dugu Yueli’s poem as a confession of affection for him, leaving Qin Hongyi unable to refute him.
• Lin Heng told Qin Hongyi to consider how he would explain Yueli’s feelings and refusal to return to Dugu Wuwu.
• Qin Hongyi worried that the Dugu Clan would reject Yueli and accused the Lin family of repeatedly opposing the Dugu Clan.
• Lin Heng argued that keeping Yueli at the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office would protect her from Dugu Wuwu’s blame and mistreatment.
• Qin Hongyi agreed that Yueli would suffer if she returned, and Dugu Yueli saw him and Lin Heng talking through a light screen with Dugu Zixuan.

Lin Heng and Qin Hongyi negotiated over Dugu Yueli’s future and the division of territory, while Dugu Zixuan led Yueli to believe that Nine Dust Hall had abandoned her. Yueli remained at Ten Directions Hall, shaken by her uncle’s apparent rejection, as Zixuan urged her not to burden herself with ruling.

• Qin Hongyi decided to leave Dugu Yueli at Ten Directions Hall for now and blame Lin Heng for keeping her there.
• Lin Heng and Qin Hongyi spoke as though Yueli were not present, and their words convinced the eavesdropping Yueli that her uncle would not take her back.
• Dugu Zixuan told Yueli that Nine Dust Hall had lost faith in her and that Dugu Wuwu held the real power in the alliance.
• Lin Heng and Qin Hongyi agreed that the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office would receive the Great Wall Dao Palace and Falling Snow City, while Nine Dust Hall would receive the remaining territory.
• After Qin Hongyi left, Yueli slumped into her chair, and Dugu Zixuan comforted her and encouraged her to stay at Ten Directions Hall.

Dugu Yueli learned that Qin Hongyi had left her behind, then confronted Lin Heng when he visited her and Dugu Xuexue. Lin Heng predicted that Nine Dust Hall would face a crisis and wagered that it would have to ask him for help, leaving Yueli uneasy about her family’s prospects.

• Dugu Yueli told Dugu Xuexue that Qin Hongyi had visited but had not taken her back, making her fear that Nine Dust Hall had abandoned her.
• Lin Heng sneaked into the courtyard, teased the sisters, and claimed that only he wanted Yueli now.
• Dugu Yueli objected when Lin Heng touched her, while Dugu Xuexue tried to shield her sister from him.
• Lin Heng took the sisters to the Dao Palace Great Wall and showed them signs that Nine Dust Hall’s forces were moving toward a clash with the Central Domain Immortal Clans.
• Lin Heng bet that Nine Dust Hall would face serious trouble and beg him for help, promising to free both sisters if it did not happen within a month.
• Dugu Yueli accepted the bet but grew worried that Lin Heng might be right about her family facing danger.

Qin Hongyi and Dugu Wuwu divided the captured Immortal Cities and discussed the Ye Family, while Lin Heng learned that the Ye Family had been assigned to defend Anqiu Immortal City. Lin Heng revealed that a spatial fault would delay the main forces of both the Nine Dust Hall and the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office.

• Qin Hongyi advised Dugu Wuwu to conceal the circumstances of Dugu Yueli’s stay with Dugu Zixuan and helped him plan the distribution of the seven Immortal Cities.
• Dugu Wuwu assigned Dingyang City to the Hall of Light, and Qin Hongyi warned him that the Ye Family had risen through betrayal and opportunism.
• Dugu Wuwu decided to send the Ye Family to defend Anqiu Immortal City against the Immortal Clan’s assault.
• Lin Heng read a Shadow Alliance briefing and told Dugu Zixuan that the Ye Family had been made bait to open a gap for the Immortal Clans.
• Lin Heng explained that a deliberately triggered spatial fault would prevent the Nine Dust Hall and the Heavenly Mystery Imperial Office from sending their main forces anytime soon.

Lin Heng learned that the Heavenly River’s destruction had isolated Immortal Sea Summit, while the Qi Clan slaughtered nearby towns and the Changlin Clan remained mysterious. As turmoil spread through his household, Lin Heng discovered clues to a world-shaping origin fruit and learned that Dugu Yueli and Xuexue had run away.

• Lin Heng explained that the Heavenly River’s detonation had cut off reinforcements, forcing the Nine Dust Hall and Ten Directions Hall to cooperate against the Central Domain forces.
• Ten days later, the Qi Clan arrived, and Qi Zhuoqun’s forces slaughtered towns and villages around Anqiu Immortal City while Lin Heng watched for signs of the Changlin Clan.
• Xiao Lan told Lin Heng that a qilin had destroyed the crescent melon field, but Saint Ye revealed that the digging had uncovered a Heaven and Earth Stone.
• Saint Ye connected Lin Jinren’s search for Heaven Heart and Earth Heart seeds to origin fruits that could create life in Lin Heng’s Small World, and warned that Lin Jinren might be searching for one.
• Yun Yao told Lin Heng that Su Wanyue and Su Qiubai had fought over him, their elders had joined the fighting, and Dugu Yueli and Xuexue had run away.