Chapter Summaries

Su Qiao woke in an antique room with Qi Deviation and realized she had returned to the Cultivation Plane. She began controlling her rampaging Internal Energy and healing her injuries.

• Su Qiao woke up coughing blood as her Internal Energy surged out of control.
• 444 gave Su Qiao Advanced Enhancement Potion and medicine to stabilize her condition.
• Su Qiao sat down to heal herself and ordered 444 to keep watch outside.
• Su Qiao recognized the room and cultivation technique, realizing she had returned to the Cultivation Plane.
• Su Qiao began using her familiar, improved cultivation technique to control the Internal Energy rampaging through her body.

Su Qiao survived her Qi Deviation but was left unable to use martial arts, and she discovered that someone had tampered with the incense to worsen her condition. As armed members of the demonic cult pursued her, she escaped into the rear mountain and reached the valley where she had once been imprisoned.

• Su Qiao calmed her Internal Energy and cleared the meridians around her heart, head, and Dantian, but learned she could not use martial arts without risking permanent damage.
• 444 warned Su Qiao that a leader and armed members of the demonic cult were approaching, apparently to exploit her weakened state.
• Su Qiao noticed the incense had a cloying scent and realized it had aggravated her Qi Deviation.
• Following the escape route 444 provided, Su Qiao fled through the back door into the forbidden forest on the rear mountain.
• Cult members spotted Su Qiao and pursued her, but she took a shortcut to the valley where Old Poison Ghost had imprisoned her and temporarily lost her pursuers.

Su Qiao returned to the stone house where she had lived with Old Poison Ghost, hoping to recover and prepare while the Demon Cult pursued her. She planned to lure the forest’s venomous creatures toward the pursuers before they could break through the traps and force her to flee.

• 444 surveyed the valley and recalled how Su Qiao had survived Old Poison Ghost’s experiments by learning martial arts and Gu techniques, then killing him.
• Su Qiao reached Old Poison Ghost’s stone house, rested briefly, and decided she could not remain there for long.
• Su Qiao refused to call on her tiger companion, Little Gold, because she did not want to risk its life against the pursuers.
• Su Qiao gathered poisonous herbs, powders, and toxins, estimating that Xu Changsong’s people could break in by nightfall if he sacrificed his subordinates.
• Su Qiao asked 444 to watch the pursuers’ positions while she prepared to lure the forest’s venomous insects and snakes toward them.

Su Qiao lured pursuers into a valley filled with poisonous creatures, but Xu Changsong and Hong Luan escaped. After reviewing her memories, she decided to leave the Stone House that night while trying to identify who had spread rumors that her flesh and blood granted extraordinary benefits.

• Su Qiao gathered poisonous herbs and powder, then used four fires to draw poisonous creatures into the valley.
• Su Qiao rested in the Stone House while pursuers screamed in her trap; Xu Changsong and Hong Luan escaped.
• Su Qiao identified Xu Changsong as the Demonic Cult's Left Protector and Hong Luan as a Hall Master who gathered martial-world information.
• Su Qiao and 444 discussed the rumors that her flesh and blood could neutralize poison, increase power, and extend life.
• Su Qiao decided to leave under cover of night and began searching her memories for clues about who had spread the rumors.

Su Qiao recalled the hardships that had shaped her, from losing her village to escaping Old Poison Ghost and seizing the cult master’s position. She still had no answers about who massacred her village or spread the rumors about her body, but she believed anyone who tried to eat her flesh would be poisoned.

• Su Qiao remembered how she survived alone after returning from the stream to find her village massacred, then was captured by Old Poison Ghost and kept as a Medicine Person.
• Su Qiao secretly learned to read, studied poisons, and practiced martial arts before killing Old Poison Ghost and escaping.
• Su Qiao killed the Old Cult Master and took his position, but rumors that her flesh could cure poison and boost cultivation soon spread through the martial world.
• Su Qiao reviewed her memories but found no clues about who had massacred her village or framed her, and she told 444 that anyone who ate her poisoned flesh would die.
• Su Qiao recalled that Old Ghost had looked as if he wanted to eat her, so she had fought with all her strength and killed him first.

Su Qiao prepared to leave Old Poison Ghost’s valley and discussed the dangerous Cultivation Technique she had practiced for years. She planned to disguise herself and began questioning why she had returned to her original plane, while 444 confirmed she could still use system Points.

• Su Qiao told Old Poison Ghost that she had found her Cultivation Technique beneath a shelf and insisted on continuing to practice it because she had modified its later levels.
• Su Qiao searched Old Poison Ghost’s shelves for useful medicines, then gathered herbs and flowers in the valley to make disguise liquid.
• Su Qiao explained to 444 that disguising herself would help her evade the Demon Sect and the hidden enemy plotting against her.
• 444 told Su Qiao she could still spend system Points and said they had enough for purchases, though not enough to buy 444 a body.
• Su Qiao wondered why she had suddenly returned to her original plane after her last mission.

Su Qiao learned that her mission progress had reached ninety-eight percent and wondered whether resolving everything in this plane would complete it. As she prepared to disguise herself, 444 urged her not to pose as a man, leaving her to continue getting ready for the approaching night.

• Su Qiao and 444 discussed how they still lacked enough Points to buy 444 a high-grade body.
• 444 checked the mission progress and told Su Qiao it had reached ninety-eight percent.
• Su Qiao questioned whether the mission was completed or merely close to completion, but 444 could not say for sure.
• Su Qiao returned to the Stone House and began applying disguise potion and cosmetics.
• 444 advised Su Qiao not to disguise herself as a man, citing her build and the discomfort of binding her chest.

Su Qiao prepared to disguise herself before traveling, weighing how to conceal her identity without attracting attention. With 444’s advice, she began reshaping her features into those of a delicate beauty, leaving her disguise unfinished.

• Su Qiao realized that disguising herself as a man could expose her when her period came, but making herself ugly could also draw attention.
• Su Qiao considered her striking appearance, formidable bearing, and fierce eyes, which could make people recognize her.
• 444 warned Su Qiao not to pose as a rural woman and recommended disguising herself as a delicate beauty who could veil her face.
• Su Qiao agreed to follow 444’s advice and told it to watch outside while she worked quickly.
• Su Qiao altered her eyes and nose to give herself a softer, more alluring appearance.

Su Qiao escaped the Devil Cult pursuers by circling through the mountains all night, then stopped to rest outside their territory. 444 spotted a woman hanging from a tree nearby.

• Su Qiao disguised her appearance as frail and gentle, then left the Stone House rather than head toward movement in the western woods.
• Xu Changsong and his people entered the valley, cautiously searching for Su Qiao.
• Su Qiao ran through the mountains all night, evaded the Devil Cult members, and found a route out of their territory.
• Su Qiao stopped to rest after her supplies were nearly gone, and 444 told her a woman appeared to have hanged herself from a tree.

Su Qiao found a dead young woman near a convoy of beauties bound for a Martial Arts Convention and considered using her identity to leave the wilderness. She remained wary of being recognized, but the possibility of obtaining money and medicine made the disguise tempting.

• Su Qiao found a woman hanging from a tree and determined that she was dead.
• 444 scanned the area and told Su Qiao that the nearby convoy was headed to a Martial Arts Convention connected to Flying Eagle Fortress's Ye family.
• Su Qiao refused to join the convoy because the martial world was hunting her, and she wanted to recover before taking revenge.
• 444 suggested that Su Qiao replace the dead woman, who was similar in size and had been frail in life.
• Su Qiao considered using the woman's identity to leave and obtain silver and medicinal ingredients, but worried her maids and servants would discover the deception.

Su Qiao disguised herself as a dead young woman and concealed the body, then encountered the maid Xiao Huan and Nanny Wu while pretending to be the woman. She had to keep acting the part as Nanny Wu helped her back toward the caravan.

• Su Qiao decided to impersonate the dead woman so she could leave before her pursuers found her.
• Su Qiao used disguise potion and cosmetics to copy the woman's face, changed into her clothes, and buried the body beneath stones and debris.
• 444 reminded Su Qiao to act like a frail, sheltered young lady, so she lowered her head and shortened her stride.
• Xiao Huan and Nanny Wu spotted Su Qiao and hurried over, relieved to find their missing miss.
• Xiao Huan complained that Su Qiao had made them search, and Nanny Wu gently explained her absence before supporting her and asking how she felt.

Su Qiao impersonated a quiet young woman traveling with a convoy to Flying Eagle Fortress and asked Xiao Si to investigate her identity and the journey’s purpose. As the convoy continued, Xiao Huan and Nanny Wu discussed the young woman’s unusual behavior and her planned presentation to the Ye family.

• Su Qiao acted reservedly around Xiao Huan and Nanny Wu, then asked Xiao Si to gather information about her body and the convoy’s destination.
• Su Qiao sent Xiao Huan and Nanny Wu out of her carriage so she could have some peace and quiet.
• Xiao Huan told Nanny Wu that Su Qiao seemed strange because she had barely spoken and had sent them away.
• Nanny Wu explained that Su Qiao had been raised by the Su family as the Old Madam’s godgranddaughter and was being sent to the Ye family at Flying Eagle Fortress.
• Xiao Huan lamented that Su Qiao might be given as a concubine, while Nanny Wu questioned whether avoiding selection would truly be better.

Nanny Wu explained to Xiao Huan why she wanted Miss to remain in Flying Eagle Fortress, despite the likelihood that she would become Young Master Ye’s concubine. Xiao Huan understood the danger Miss faced if she returned to the Su family, but her concern about Young Master Ye’s health made Nanny Wu warn her to stay silent.

• Nanny Wu told Xiao Huan that Miss’s reputation would make it difficult for her to marry properly if she was not chosen by Young Master Ye.
• Nanny Wu explained that Miss could not become Young Master Ye’s principal wife because her status was too low, and that the Su family treated her as a pawn.
• Xiao Huan recalled rumors that the Su family might send Miss to a powerful official, a merchant, or even into entertainment if she returned.
• Xiao Huan worried that Young Master Ye might die young because of his poor health, leaving Miss in a worse position.
• Nanny Wu checked whether the mounted guards could hear them and warned Xiao Huan that speaking such things could cost her life.

As Su Qiao traveled to Flying Eagle Fortress to be considered as a concubine by the Ye family, Nanny Wu warned Xiao Huan to keep quiet and focus on serving her. Su Qiao remained wary and learned that the Ye family was one of the martial world's Eight Great Sects.

• Nanny Wu warned Xiao Huan that careless talk could endanger them, and Xiao Huan promised to speak less and work more.
• Xiao Huan asked Nanny Wu whether girls like Su Qiao could be sent to brothels, and Nanny Wu told her not to mention it to Su Qiao.
• Nanny Wu reminded Xiao Huan to focus on Su Qiao's affairs rather than the Martial Arts Convention at Flying Eagle Fortress.
• Xiao Huan wondered whether she would see martial arts experts and Lin Hanyan at the convention.
• Su Qiao pretended to sleep in the carriage but stayed alert, reflecting that the Ye family was a mysterious sect second only to Gathering of Sages Villa.

Su Qiao learned that her assumed identity, Su Lian Yue, belonged to a girl selected as a candidate to become Young Master Ye’s concubine. Trapped in the guarded convoy, she decided to restore her damaged meridians while 444 gathered information.

• Su Qiao discovered that the women in the convoy were being sent to the Ye family as concubine candidates.
• She learned that Su Lian Yue was a sixteen-year-old Thin Horse of Yangzhou, adopted and trained by the Su family.
• Su Qiao realized she could not escape the guarded convoy and worried about what awaited her at the Ye family.
• 444 advised her to act frail so Young Master Ye might not choose her, and Su Qiao objected to its gloomy predictions.
• Su Qiao told 444 to watch the convoy and gather information while she meditated to repair her meridians.

After being brought to Flying Eagle Fortress as a candidate concubine, Su Qiao worried about what Young Master Ye might do while she was unable to fight. The women were hurried into the main hall to meet him, leaving the convoy steward concerned that none would be chosen.

• 444 considered using Su Qiao’s unidentified poisons if Young Master Ye tried to force her.
• After treating her injuries, Su Qiao rested as the convoy continued toward Flying Eagle Fortress.
• The convoy arrived at a large residence, where Steward Shen hurried the women toward the main hall without giving them time to wash or rest.
• Steward Shen told the convoy leader that Young Master Ye was already waiting and would not care how tired the women looked.
• The convoy leader worried that Young Master Ye might choose none of the women, leaving him unable to answer to Madam Ye and the families.

Su Qiao entered Flying Eagle Fortress disguised as a frail candidate for Young Master Ye’s concubine, hoping her apparent poor health would keep her from being chosen. When Young Master Ye finally looked over the women, 444 realized he was one of Su Qiao’s own people.

• The steward tried to bribe Steward Shen for information, but Shen went inside to report to Young Master Ye.
• The steward ordered the women to remove their veiled hats, and Xiao Huan and Nanny Wu prepared Su Qiao without recognizing her disguise.
• At 444’s urging, Su Qiao coughed and acted as though she were gravely ill as she entered the hall.
• Young Master Ye reclined in his seat and showed disgust at the candidates until Steward Shen reminded him to consider Madam’s wishes.
• 444 recognized Young Master Ye as one of Su Qiao’s people and admitted that it had made a mistake.

Su Qiao tried to pass herself off as ill so she could leave Ye Shaoxuan’s selection and escape to recover her injuries. Ye Shaoxuan abruptly chose her just as she was about to exit the hall.

• Su Qiao sensed something familiar about Ye Shaoxuan but focused on getting through the selection and escaping afterward.
• Ye Shaoxuan complained that the steward had brought him another frail woman and thought his mother was trying to distract and undermine him.
• The steward ordered the servants to remove Su Qiao, and she followed them toward the exit while pretending to cough.
• Ye Shaoxuan stopped Su Qiao and declared that she would be the one he chose.

Ye Shaoxuan chose the frail Su Qiao and rejected the steward’s suggestion that he keep more young women. He left the other candidates facing a deadly challenge if they wanted to be chosen.

• The steward hesitated to accept Su Qiao because she seemed too sickly to serve Ye Shaoxuan, then urged him to select more young women.
• The other young women suspected Su Qiao had faked her coughing to attract Ye Shaoxuan’s attention, and some imitated her.
• Ye Shaoxuan rebuked the steward for trying to decide his affairs.
• Ye Shaoxuan said he would keep the other women only if they could cross blazing coals and dance atop seventy-two sharp blades.
• The steward realized the challenge was a lethal punishment normally reserved for family traitors.

Ye Shaoxuan dismissed the other women and ordered Steward Shen to keep Su Qiao far from him, though he allowed her to remain at Flying Eagle Fortress. Su Qiao left the hall with Steward Shen, while Nanny Wu and Xiao Huan learned she had been kept and would stay to care for her.

• Ye Shaoxuan sent the other women away and told the steward to keep them out of his sight.
• Ye Shaoxuan ordered Steward Shen to keep Su Qiao away from him, then left the main hall.
• Steward Shen led Su Qiao outside and told her attendants that she would stay at Flying Eagle Fortress with them.
• Nanny Wu apologized on Su Qiao's behalf, and Xiao Huan excitedly learned that Ye Shaoxuan had kept her.