Chapter Summaries

Li Wei learned that Li Cheng had only seven days left unless a Grandmaster could cure his Black Blood Disease, and struggled to face his brother’s pain and their desperate circumstances. After a mysterious black light entered her, a martial assistant activated and revealed that she had Abyss Essence to spend.

• Li Wei learned that the hospital had given Li Cheng the last enhanced injections and that only a Grandmaster might save him.
• Li Wei carried Li Cheng home and tried to joke about selling herself to raise the thirty million needed to hire a Grandmaster.
• Li Cheng told Li Wei that he was in constant pain, missed their parents, and could no longer endure his illness.
• A sudden rainstorm forced Li Wei to shelter with Li Cheng at a bus stop until an ambulance and SUV sped past.
• A black light shot from the ambulance into Li Wei, activating the High Martial Minor Assistant and showing her 357 Abyss Essence.

Back at their rundown home, Li Wei investigated the Abyss Essence absorbed from an ambulance and spent it to raise her Vitality. She reached 70 and began a painful transformation as her muscles and bones rang in harmony, leaving Li Cheng astonished.

• Li Wei bathed Li Cheng and herself before examining her system panel and its 357 Abyss Essence.
• Li Wei guessed the essence came from a wounded Rift Investigation Bureau member and considered how she might test its source.
• Li Wei spent Abyss Essence to raise her Vitality from 53 to 69, feeling a warm current flow through her body.
• Li Wei raised her Vitality to 70 and underwent a violent transformation as her muscles and bones rang in harmony.
• Li Cheng opened the bed curtain, saw Li Wei's transformation, and asked if she had been reborn as an Immortal Emperor.

Li Wei tried to secure help from Anhe Martial University to raise thirty million for Li Cheng’s treatment, but the school’s guard turned her away. With Li Cheng unable to wait for her to grow stronger, she headed toward the city’s Abyss Rift and resolved to sell herself.

• After raising her Vitality to 75, Li Wei planned to seek financial help from Anhe Martial University and added finding Abyss Essence to her goals.
• Li Wei left Li Cheng in Grandma Wang’s care and secretly left her fifty yuan to help with his lunch.
• Li Wei argued with Anhe Martial University’s gatekeeper, who refused to let her in or contact the school’s leaders.
• After abandoning her plan to ask the school for help, Li Wei headed toward the Abyss Rift and decided she still had to sell herself.
• Li Wei accidentally cracked her phone screen with her increased strength, frightening a young man sitting beside her on the bus.

Li Wei tried to obtain Abyss Essence by waiting near the city Rift and investigating the Bureau, but gained nothing and concluded that essence might come from slain monsters before sterilization. As she searched for a way to kill monsters herself, Li Cheng told her that ordinary people could fight only at the distant Western Frontier Death Line, leaving her staring at her contacts for another option.

• On the bus to the Rift, a scar-faced youth stopped a muscular martial artist from bothering Li Wei after recognizing her as an elite student with high blood-qi.
• Li Wei waited for two hours near the Rift entrance, but her Abyss Essence count stayed at 17 and she left after being repeatedly harassed.
• A news report about the Investigation Bureau killing abyssal monsters led Li Wei to suspect that monsters dropped essence and that sterilization might erase it.
• Li Wei investigated the Bureau entrance but found no essence and nearly got arrested, then brought Li Cheng home and explained her deductions.
• Li Cheng told Li Wei that the Western Frontier Death Line was the only place ordinary people could fight abyssal monsters, and she worried that she could not reach it in time to save him.

Li Wei tried to contact Cheng Hao and offered to sleep with him in exchange for the thirty million needed to save Li Cheng. Cheng Hao agreed to ask his father for the money, while Li Cheng suspected Li Wei had a plan to come out of the deal unharmed.

• Li Wei discovered Cheng Hao was not in her contacts and had been kicked out of the class group, so she called Lu Feifei for his number.
• Lu Feifei mocked Li Wei for contacting Cheng Hao but eventually sent her his number.
• Li Wei told Cheng Hao she would sleep with him in exchange for money to treat Li Cheng, and Cheng Hao agreed to ask his father for thirty million.
• Cheng Hao warned Li Wei not to find anyone else and hung up after insisting he would sleep with her.
• Li Cheng questioned whether Li Wei intended to sell herself and said he believed she could retreat unscathed.

Cheng Hao's family discovered why he wanted thirty million for the girl in his phone wallpaper and explained that money alone could not hire a Grandmaster to cure her brother. Cheng's father then asked him to contact her about a more important matter that could affect the family's future and Cheng Hao's mother's advancement.

• Cheng Hao's father beat him for demanding thirty million to pursue a woman, while Cheng Hao's mother held him down and Cheng Qian watched and laughed.
• Cheng Qian revealed that Cheng Hao kept the girl's photo as his wallpaper, and their mother took his phone to show it to the family.
• Cheng Hao explained that the girl needed the money to save her younger brother, Li Cheng, who had Black Blood Disease, and said the plan involved hiring a Grandmaster.
• Cheng Hao's parents explained that treating Black Blood Disease required months of a Grandmaster's work, connections, and favors, so thirty million alone would not be enough.
• Cheng's father told Cheng Hao to call the girl because he wanted to ask her about a matter that could help the family rise and allow Cheng Hao's mother to advance to the fifth stage.

Li Wei agreed to meet a powerful man after deciding to risk everything for Li Cheng. Cheng Dongsheng arranged the meeting and brought her to Mulan Villa, while Cheng Hao went along in silent distress.

• Li Wei accepted Cheng Dongsheng's proposal after looking at Li Cheng and deciding she had to do something for him.
• Cheng Dongsheng contacted Mr. Liang and sent him Li Wei's photo, records, and family information; Mr. Liang asked him to bring her to Mulan Villa the next day.
• Cheng Dongsheng and Ji Baozhu discussed the secret candidate search and how helping Mr. Liang might benefit their families.
• The next morning, Li Wei waited with Li Cheng as Cheng Dongsheng arrived in a battered van with Cheng Hao.
• Cheng Dongsheng drove Li Wei toward the meeting and told her to answer honestly, while Cheng Hao remained silent.

Li Wei entered the secluded Liang residence hoping to find a way to save Li Cheng, after saying goodbye to Cheng Hao. She met Liang Yuchuan and an imposing woman who seemed to be searching for someone resembling Jiang Xue, and the chapter ended with Li Wei trying to explain her unexpectedly strong physique.

• Secretary Fan met Li Wei and took her through a side gate, while Cheng Hao begged her not to go.
• Li Wei told Cheng Hao she had to seek help for Li Cheng, thanked him and Cheng Dongsheng, and embraced him before he ran away in tears.
• Secretary Fan took Li Cheng into the residence and assured Li Wei that attendants, food, and toys would be provided for him.
• Li Wei entered the waterside pavilion and met Liang Yuchuan and a striking woman who called him Yuchuan and compared Li Wei's beauty to Jiang Xue's.
• The woman questioned why Li Wei's muscles and bones seemed unusually strong despite her reported qi and blood of 53, and Li Wei blamed an Immortal Emperor Reincarnation.

Liang Qiushi offered Li Wei a deal: serve in the Western Frontier Defense Army in exchange for having a grandmaster treat Li Cheng. Li Wei accepted, then learned she had to disguise herself as Jiang Xue and marry Liang Qiushi’s son, Gu Jinzhi, before taking his place in the army; Liang Qiushi began explaining why she had chosen her.

• Liang Qiushi asked Li Wei whether she would risk her life to save her younger brother, then offered to arrange treatment if Li Wei took a dangerous assignment.
• Liang Qiushi revealed that Li Wei would serve in the Western Frontier Defense Army in place of her son, and Li Wei eagerly accepted in exchange for help saving Li Cheng.
• Liang Qiushi introduced herself and explained that Li Wei would impersonate Jiang Xue, Gu Jinzhi’s childhood sweetheart and fiancée, and marry him.
• Li Wei recalled how wartime conscription and voluntary substitute service worked, then wondered why Liang Qiushi’s family needed a substitute.
• Liang Qiushi said her choice of Li Wei dated back more than thirty years and began to explain.

Liang Qiushi explained the Gu Family’s decline and the Zhang Family’s hostility, then revealed why she wanted Li Wei to impersonate Jin Zhi’s fiancée and take his place in the Western Frontier. Li Wei agreed only after asking for more money.

• Liang Qiushi told Li Wei that three Martial Immortals entered the Xifeng Rift thirty-two years earlier, and two died while Gu Xunzhang survived but remained unconscious.
• The Zhang Family blamed the Gu Family for Zhang Heming’s death, and its new Martial Immortal, Zhang Luye, later intensified pressure on the weakened Gu Family.
• Liang Qiushi explained that Jin Zhi had to report to the Western Frontier under the Mobilization Order, while the Gu Family lacked the strength to protect itself.
• Li Wei asked why she had to impersonate Jiang Xue rather than marry Jin Zhi directly, and Liang Qiushi said the disguise would make a later Substitute Service appear legitimate.
• Liang Qiushi asked whether Li Wei could handle the plan, and Li Wei said she would need more money.

Li Wei agreed to impersonate Jiang Xue and marry Gu Jinzhi so he would not have to enlist, while Liang Qiushi promised to help Li Cheng and rewarded Li Wei with martial arts techniques. Liang Qiushi arranged Li Wei’s preparations and warned her to keep the deception secret, leaving Li Wei to act as though she admired Jinzhi and share his bed without consummating the marriage.

• Li Wei asked about Jiang Xue’s family and whether anyone would expose her impersonation, and Liang Qiushi explained that the Jiang Family had been informed and planned for Li Wei to study Jiang Xue’s habits in Britain.
• Liang Qiushi revealed that Jiang Xue had been exiled after poisoning her younger sister, Jiang Yao, and said the family would keep an eye on her.
• Liang Qiushi promised Li Wei private visits with Li Cheng and arranged for him to attend the Liang Family’s school after recovering, while a grandmaster would temporarily ease his illness.
• Liang Qiushi secured the first three swords of the Jiang Family’s Nine Moon Reflection Swords and the physical-body chapter of the Great Yin Jade Lotus Treasure Scroll for Li Wei.
• Liang Qiushi explained that Li Wei’s impersonation would also spare Jiang Xue’s twin brother, Jiang Han, from future enlistment, and instructed Li Wei to share a bed with Jinzhi and act devoted to him.
• Liang Qiushi told Li Wei that the rest of the Gu Family did not know about the plan and that she must keep it secret.

Li Wei packed the family’s keepsakes and prepared to leave with Li Cheng for her Substitute Service, while the Old Grandpa’s treatment had already eased Li Cheng’s symptoms. As the van carried him away, Li Cheng silently cried and wondered why Li Wei cared for him so much when she was not even his real sister.

• Li Cheng told Li Wei that an Old Grandpa had touched his stomach, leaving him feeling warmer and more relaxed and fading the black vessels on his cheeks.
• Li Wei packed their parents’ belongings, family photographs, and other keepsakes into a suitcase for Li Cheng to take with him.
• Li Cheng asked what Li Wei had promised Liang Qiushi, and Li Wei explained her Substitute Service and said the battlefield felt like home to her.
• Li Cheng questioned Li Wei’s confidence about the battlefield, but she insisted she meant what she said and teased him before they left.
• Li Cheng watched Li Wei disappear from view as the van drove away, then silently cried and wondered why she was so good to him despite not being his sister.

Li Wei left Spirit Spring with Liang Qiushi’s help, received a fabricated death record and a new identity, and was sent toward Britain in a cryogenic transport. Meanwhile, Zhang Yansheng investigated Liang Yuchuan’s search for a scapegoat but uncovered little and ordered Zhang Pengcheng home.

• Li Wei asked Secretary Fan to clean her rented attic and compensate Grandma Wang, then asked what would happen to her and Li Cheng’s identities.
• Liang Qiushi said Li Wei and Li Cheng would be recorded as dead, and that Li Wei would use the name Jiang Xue until she returned from the battlefield.
• Liang Qiushi brought Li Wei to a container truck and explained that she would be transported discreetly in a cryogenic state.
• Li Wei swallowed a Blood-Nourishing Pill, used the cryogenic protectant, and lost consciousness after asking them not to lose her phone.
• Zhang Yansheng questioned Uncle An about Liang Yuchuan’s search for a scapegoat and heard that their surveillance had yielded little.
• Zhang Yansheng ordered Uncle An to tell Zhang Pengcheng to return home.

Li Wei woke at the Gu Family estate and met the bitter, exhausted Jiang Xue, who was supposed to prepare her to return to the country and take Gu Jinzhi’s place. Jiang Xue showed her the identity items and explained that the belt concealed a costly Jiang Family soft sword, leaving Li Wei playfully testing its mechanism.

• Li Wei woke in an elegant lakeside bedroom and saw Jiang Xue, whose appearance had become gaunt and unhealthy.
• Jiang Xue told Li Wei that the Gu Family butler would teach her what she needed to know, then reluctantly brought out items meant to prove Li Wei’s identity in the country.
• Jiang Xue called Li Wei a sacrificial pawn and resented that she would marry Gu Jinzhi under a false arrangement, while the butler kept Jiang Xue under watch.
• Jiang Xue identified an ordinary-looking belt as a Jiang Family soft sword worth more than ten million, and Li Wei fastened it around her waist.
• Li Wei discovered the hidden catch that deployed the sword’s hilt and repeatedly tested the mechanism, leaving Jiang Xue to ask whether she had ever played with one before.

Li Wei received Jiang Xue’s belongings and discovered that the tablet containing Cold Pool Sinking Jade could be recorded and mastered through her system. After spending essence to initiate the sword form, she gained a complete grasp of its techniques and realized how deadly the flexible sword could be.

• Li Wei tested the cicada-wing flexible sword, learning to harden it by channeling qi and blood.
• Jiang Xue gave Li Wei her jewelry, watches, bank-vault key, membership cards, secure phone, and the tablet containing Cold Pool Sinking Jade.
• Li Wei rapidly swiped through the tablet, raising her system’s recording progress to 100% while ignoring Jiang Xue’s warnings and the butler’s advice.
• Li Wei spent 10 essence points to initiate Cold Pool Sinking Jade and instantly absorbed its techniques and knowledge.
• Li Wei tested the sword form’s direct, swift movements and judged it a powerful weapon when paired with the flexible sword.

Li Wei entered the beginner stage of the Jiang Family’s sword technique in minutes, startling Jiang Xue and the butler. Meanwhile, the Liang Family worked to erase and alter records linking Li Wei to her identity, while its Family Head directed them to involve the Jiang Family.

• Jiang Xue mocked Li Wei’s rapid learning, then lunged at her after their argument escalated.
• Li Wei dodged Jiang Xue and held a soft sword to her neck, revealing beginner-level mastery of First String: Cold Pool Sinking Jade.
• Jiang Xue laughed and cried, then told Li Wei she would teach her after bandaging her neck and challenged her not to avoid sparring with Jiang Yao.
• The butler reported Li Wei’s progress to Liang Qiushi, who ordered him to follow the original plan and not doubt those she employed.
• Liang Yuchuan told the Liang Family’s Family Head that Li Wei’s photos, memories, and records were being erased or altered.
• The Family Head approved altering Li Wei’s biological records and ordered Liang Yuchuan to send her biological characteristics to the Jiang Family.

Li Wei completed a week of etiquette and preparations before traveling to the Imperial Capital in Jiang Xue’s identity. She reunited with Jiang Han at the airport, while Jiang Xue prepared to leave the lakeside manor as well.

• Li Wei spent her first days learning Jiang Xue’s social circle and struggling through etiquette lessons, while Jiang Xue watched and sometimes joined her practice.
• The academy approved Jiang Xue’s transfer to Imperial Capital Qingyun Martial University, and the embassy issued her a replacement passport, both bearing Li Wei’s photograph.
• After a week of training, Li Wei left the manor and exchanged mocking gestures with Jiang Xue before departing by car.
• At the Imperial Capital airport, Jiang Han mistook the transformed Li Wei for a stranger until he recognized her as Jiang Xue.
• Jiang Han took Li Wei to his pink sports car, discarded her suitcase, and drove her away as they traded insults.
• At the lakeside manor, Jiang Xue answered the butler and picked up her prepared luggage to leave.

Li Wei arrived at the Jiang Family manor with Jiang Han, who warned her that the Gu Family intended to send her to the battlefield in Gu Jinzhi’s place. She learned Jiang Yao was stronger than she expected, while Liang Qiushi remained determined to carry out her plan for Jinzhi.

• Jiang Han drove recklessly until Li Wei scolded him, then accused her of foolishly agreeing to marry into the Gu Family.
• Jiang Han told Li Wei that the Gu Family wanted her to go to the battlefield in Gu Jinzhi’s place because of the Mobilization Act and the Gu Family’s feud with the Zhang Family.
• Jiang Han warned Li Wei that Jiang Yao had blood vitality of 81 and had reached Minor Perfection of Physical Body, but did not know Cold Pond Sinking Wall.
• Li Wei and Jiang Han arrived at the Jiang Family manor, where Li Wei decided she would rely on Cold Pond Sinking Wall and seek a chance to hunt Abyssal Monsters.
• In Gu Garden’s secret chamber, Liang Chunhua questioned Liang Qiushi about the plan, and Liang Qiushi said she was willing to risk it for Jinzhi.

Li Wei returned to the Jiang family home with Jiang Han, then asked him to take her somewhere she could see and kill Abyssal monsters. At the Shark Martial Arts Hall’s colosseum, she watched a monster die and absorbed its Abyss Essence, raising her total from 7 to 103.

• Jiang Han told Li Wei that her bedroom had been converted into Jiang Yao’s training room, so she settled into a guest room instead.
• Li Wei asked Jiang Han about places to see or fight Abyssal monsters, and he told her about a Sixth-Tier monster in Investigation Bureau custody and the Shark Martial Arts Hall’s colosseum.
• Jiang Han took Li Wei to the colosseum, where staff searched them and a manager mistook her for Jiang Han’s girlfriend before he identified her as his biological older sister.
• Li Wei watched a horned Abyssal monster pin and kill a six-legged canine monster in the arena.
• Li Wei absorbed the faint black light that emerged from the dead monster, increasing her Abyss Essence from 7 to 103.

Li Wei tested her ability to absorb Abyss Essence at the arena while Jiang Han confronted her about volunteering to die in Gu Jinzhi’s place. After confirming that she could absorb essence from dead monsters within about ten meters, she looked forward to strengthening herself before heading to the Western Frontier.

• Li Wei returned to Jiang Han after absorbing 96 essence from the Third Order monster Ghost Sheep and decided to hide any increase in her Vitality Value in the crowded arena.
• Jiang Han accused Li Wei of volunteering to die in Gu Jinzhi’s place, and she insisted she would willingly take his place on the Western Frontier.
• A young man seated behind them secretly relayed their conversation to Gu Jinzhi, who told him to keep an eye on Li Wei.
• After the Second Order Bug King defeated the Three-tailed Cat, Li Wei approached the corpse and absorbed 28 essence from roughly ten meters away.
• Li Wei confirmed she could absorb Abyss Essence only after a monster died and within about ten meters, then resolved to grow stronger before going to the Western Frontier.