Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yansheng learned that Gu Jinzhi’s allies had crippled most of the Zhang Family’s imperial capital businesses, but Zhang Luye still insisted they proceed with their plans. After hearing what Jiang Xue had done in the rift, Yun Xi warned Yun Lan to stop Lei Xiaoyu from provoking her and to treat her politely.

• Zhang Yansheng told Zhang Luye that Ding Pojun, Zeng Aijia, and Huang Lei had turned against the Zhang Family because of Jiang Xue, and that most of its imperial capital businesses had been shut down.
• Zhang Luye insisted that Gu Jinzhi would go to the Western Frontier, but Zhang Yansheng pointed out that his prediction concerned the Gu Family’s younger generation and could include Jiang Xue.
• Zhang Yansheng canceled the experts he had contacted and told Zhang Pengcheng not to attend the wedding, fearing Jiang Xue might kill him.
• Yun Xi called Yun Lan and told him to stop Lei Xiaoyu from causing trouble for Jiang Xue.
• Yun Xi explained that Jiang Xue had cut through the entire Inverted Domain in the C3-01-045 rift, then advised Yun Lan to stay polite and avoid provoking her.

Min Zimo woke in the hospital after the rift disaster and learned that Jiang Xue had rescued his teammates and fought her way through the Inverted Domain alone. With his divine soul damaged, Ding Pojun proposed using the Zeng family's Sky-Gazing Mirror to speed his recovery and asked Min Zimo to choose the other participants.

• Min Zimo woke in the Imperial First Military Hospital and learned that Liu Zhao had died while Mou Bin had knocked him unconscious and sacrificed himself.
• Ding Pojun told Min Zimo that Jiang Xue had held off the abyss monsters, allowing Hu Yuheng and the others to escape, then cleared the Inverted Domain alone.
• Min Zimo confirmed that a Great Dream Cult human puppet had lured his squad into a trap inside the rift.
• Ding Pojun explained that Min Zimo's divine soul damage could take one or two years to heal naturally.
• Ding Pojun offered to seek the Zeng family's permission for Min Zimo to use the Sky-Gazing Mirror and asked him to choose the other four participants.

At the Gu family's old residence, Gu Jinzhi asked his grandfather whether it was possible to rebuild his foundation. Gu Litong revealed two possible leads, leaving Gu Jinzhi focused on finding a way to restore it.

• Gu Litong teased Gu Jinzhi about his relationship with Jiang Xue and urged him to replace the planned August 2 wedding with a traditional ceremony at the old residence.
• Gu Jinzhi released a grass carp back into the pond and asked Gu Litong whether one could rebuild a damaged foundation.
• Gu Litong said Old Man Yun Sheng possessed a divine pill rumored to enable Nirvana Rebirth and foundation rebuilding.
• Gu Litong suggested Gu Jinzhi investigate the Zeng Family's Sky-Gazing Mirror, which could answer one question after its trials.
• Gu Jinzhi recognized the Sky-Gazing Mirror as a possible source of an answer and began hoping it could reveal how to rebuild his foundation.

Li Wei woke inside a giant lotus seedpod and learned that Gu Jinzhi had carried her unconscious body out of the rift, leaving her mortified. Jiang Xinyue explained that Li Wei’s soul and Natal Lotus Flower were badly injured, then reacted in shock when Li Wei revealed her sword technique had reached Great Accomplishment.

• Li Wei woke in a sealed lotus seedpod and recognized Jiang Xinyue’s voice outside.
• Jiang Xinyue teased Li Wei about Gu Jinzhi carrying her out of the rift while protecting her, and Li Wei angrily denied any romance.
• Jiang Xinyue said Li Wei’s soul and Natal Lotus Flower were injured and that natural recovery could take six months to a year.
• Li Wei learned it was August first and that Jiang Xinyue had postponed the wedding with the Gu Family.
• Jiang Xinyue asked about Li Wei’s Heaven-Man Induction, and Li Wei admitted she had activated her sword intent.
• Jiang Xinyue was stunned to learn Li Wei’s Cold Pond Sinking Jade had reached Great Accomplishment.

Li Wei learned that her Soul Damage had locked her cultivation progress and reduced her strength, but Jiang Xinyue arranged for her to recover inside the Zeng Family’s Sky-Gazing Mirror. As Li Wei agreed to enter after the families’ wedding, she learned the wedding had only been postponed, then drifted back to sleep.

• Jiang Xinyue stopped shaking the lotus and warned Li Wei that her Soul Damage could halt her cultivation or cripple her.
• Li Wei checked her status panel and saw her qi-and-blood maximum reduced, an eleven-month Weakness Countdown, and her methods locked.
• Jiang Xinyue explained that the Sky-Gazing Mirror could accelerate soul recovery, but its talent-based Mirror World could leave Li Wei’s teammates dangerously outmatched.
• Li Wei agreed to enter the Sky-Gazing Mirror, and Jiang Xinyue said she would take her after the wedding between the two families was finished.
• Jiang Xinyue explained the risks of the Mirror World and finding suitable teammates, while Li Wei lamented the wedding and blamed Gu Jinzhi.
• Jiang Xinyue’s lotus petals glowed warmly, and Li Wei fell asleep again.

Zeng Jianguo received a warning from his Teacher not to interfere in the Gu and Zhang Families’ grudge, then divined a hexagram that suggested a return of vitality. In the Gu Family’s secret chamber, Liang Qiushi explained why she had sought protection for the mysterious girl through the Martial Arts Alliance, while Liang Chunhua asked what they would do next.

• Zeng Jianguo’s Teacher ordered him not to interfere in the Gu Family and Zhang Family grudge, and Zeng Jianguo immediately obeyed.
• Zeng Jianguo cast a hexagram and drew the Fu Hexagram, interpreting it as a yang returning and myriad phenomena renewing.
• Liang Qiushi told Liang Chunhua that Gu Litong had criticized her for neglecting Jin Zhi’s marriage and the new bride’s preparations.
• Liang Chunhua asked what Liang Qiushi planned to do about the little girl, and Liang Qiushi admitted she could only take things one step at a time.
• Liang Qiushi explained that she had wanted the Martial Arts Alliance to become the girl’s backer because revealing her Dao-Approaching Body would not guarantee her safety.
• Liang Chunhua noted that the girl had single-handedly fought through the Ninth Layer of the rift, leaving Liang Qiushi speechless.

Li Wei awakened from her spiritual injury and saw the Four Seasons Sword Array’s lotus formation foundation before Jiang Xinyue gave her a powerful new sword. Jiang Xinyue warned that Li Wei could fight only in low-intensity battles until her spirit recovered, delaying her plan to confront Gu Jinzhi.

• Li Wei awakened in the Red Lotus and examined the Four Seasons Sword Array’s formation foundation with Jiang Xinyue, seeing its flourishing Red Lotus, budding White Lotus, wilted Golden Lotus, and dead lotus stalk.
• Jiang Xinyue told Li Wei that she and her mother had never learned why the lotuses were in such different conditions.
• Jiang Xinyue brought Li Wei back to the courtyard and showed her a new cicada-wing soft sword, a pseudo-divine weapon containing thirty-three percent Existence Material.
• Li Wei worried that her spiritual injury and weakness countdown would prevent her from fighting Gu Jinzhi.
• Jiang Xinyue said Li Wei could manage low-intensity battles but must avoid spirit-powered techniques until she recovered.

Li Wei struggled with unexplained irritation while recovering from soul damage and learned that her wedding to Gu Jinzhi had been postponed and the Sky-Gazing Mirror would open soon. When Gu Jinzhi arrived to take her back to the Gu family, she avoided speaking to him and got into the car with him anyway.

• Jiang Xinyue warned Li Wei to stay safe, told her the wedding was postponed to August fifteenth, and said the Sky-Gazing Mirror was tentatively set to open around August tenth.
• Li Wei learned that Min Zimo was the Grandmaster she had rescued and that she could not practice two sword stances until her soul healed.
• Li Wei wandered around the Jiang family manor in a foul mood, failed to find Jiang Han, and kicked and struck the landscaping with a branch.
• Li Wei saw Gu Jinzhi sitting with Jiang Yunshu and Tang Zhou, ignored him, and left with Gu Yan.
• Li Wei found the car's front seat packed with gifts from Jiang Yunshu and Tang Zhou, so she sat in the back; Gu Jinzhi joined her there, and she closed her eyes as the car door shut.

Li Wei and Gu Jinzhi broke the silence between them during the drive back to the imperial capital, discussing their injuries and Min Zimo's invitation to enter the Sky-Gazing Mirror. Gu Jinzhi passed her Min Zimo's silver-gray card and message of gratitude, but Li Wei ended by suspecting Gu Jinzhi had kept part of her reward.

• Li Wei decided to break the ice with Gu Jinzhi, and they asked each other about their recovering spirit souls.
• Gu Jinzhi told Li Wei that Min Zimo had invited them both to dinner and to enter the Sky-Gazing Mirror.
• Gu Jinzhi explained that Min Zimo had invited him because Li Wei was his wife and had only recently recovered from her injuries.
• Gu Jinzhi gave Li Wei a silver-gray card and relayed Min Zimo's promise to obey her commands if she ever needed him.
• Li Wei examined the card and accused Gu Jinzhi of taking a rebate from the benefits Min Zimo had given her.

Li Wei went with Gu Jinzhi to the Martial Arts Alliance to collect rewards for saving Min Zimo. She received 30,000 Contribution Points from the Investigation Bureau and the Alliance, then accepted Min Zimo’s card containing another 12,537 points.

• Gu Yan drove Li Wei and Gu Jinzhi to the Martial Arts Alliance instead of Gu Garden, explaining that Commander Huang had summoned Li Wei to receive rewards.
• Huang Lei reminded Li Wei to identify herself as 93, and she confirmed she would do so.
• Huang Lei announced that the Investigation Bureau awarded Li Wei 20,000 Contribution Points and the Alliance awarded her another 10,000.
• Gu Jinzhi reminded Li Wei about Min Zimo’s card, and Huang Lei confirmed it held 12,537 Contribution Points transferred by Min Zimo.
• Gu Jinzhi advised Li Wei to accept the points, and she agreed to have them transferred to her martial artist account.

Li Wei and Gu Jinzhi visited the Martial Arts Alliance’s Logistics Department, where staff crowded around Li Wei for autographs before Liu Min helped them. Li Wei browsed the items available with her pending Triple Armor clearance, and Liu Min introduced a rare Abyss treasure called Fleeting Bloom, leaving Li Wei exasperated and Gu Jinzhi quietly flustered.

• Logistics Department staff mobbed Li Wei for autographs until Liu Min sent them back to work and invited Li Wei and Gu Jinzhi into her office.
• Liu Min revealed that her daughter was a CP fan, so Gu Jinzhi signed beside Li Wei’s crooked autograph.
• Liu Min told Li Wei that she had 42,537 Contribution Points and access to Triple Armor exchange items while her clearance was being approved.
• Li Wei browsed weapons and cultivation manuals, noting that the available weapons fell short of the Pseudo-Divine Weapon threshold.
• Liu Min introduced Fleeting Bloom, a rare Abyss treasure that aided Blood-Nourishing Realm cultivation and could be used to make healing pills.
• Liu Min teased Li Wei and Gu Jinzhi about stocking up on Fleeting Bloom for future children, making Li Wei deadpan and Gu Jinzhi blush.

On the way back to Gu Garden, Li Wei regretted spending Contribution Points on a Fleeting Bloom and listing Gu Jinzhi as its beneficiary. When her period unexpectedly began in the car, Gu Jinzhi helped her discreetly, and Li Wei resolved to recover and advance her cultivation so she could control it.

• Li Wei spent thirty-five thousand Contribution Points on a Fleeting Bloom and named Gu Jinzhi as its second beneficiary because she could not safely list Li Cheng or the Jiang Family.
• Li Wei noticed Gu Jinzhi blushing and grew irritated, then realized her period was starting and panicked when it began before she had prepared.
• Gu Jinzhi recognized what was happening, asked Gu Yan to stop at a convenience store, and returned with supplies for Li Wei.
• Gu Jinzhi drove to the underground parking lot, gave Li Wei his shirt to tie around her waist, and let Gu Yan leave them alone.
• Li Wei hurried back to her bedroom to clean up and resolved to recover from her Soul Damage and reach the fourth-tier Essence Refining Realm so she could control her period.

Li Wei reflected on her gains from the rift before Liang Qiushi took her to see Li Cheng and warned her that she could avoid military service by revealing her identity. The chapter ended with Li Wei realizing that if she did not serve in Gu Jinzhi’s place, she might be unable to reach the front line herself.

• Li Wei reviewed her improved physical abilities and tested her new cicada-wing soft sword, finding it more effective than her old weapon.
• Liang Qiushi told Li Wei she would take her to handle the transfer of a trust fund and company shares, then revealed that they were going to see Li Cheng.
• Li Wei told Liang Qiushi about the Fleeting Bloom she had obtained for Li Cheng and asked her to ensure it reached him if anything happened to Li Wei in Xijiang.
• Liang Qiushi explained that Li Wei could reveal her identity, gain powerful supporters, and avoid the constraints of the Mobilization Act.
• Li Wei urgently asked whether refusing to serve in Gu Jinzhi’s place would prevent her from going to the front line herself.

Li Wei visited Li Cheng after his treatment had greatly improved his health, and the siblings reunited with teasing and a playful scuffle. They caught up on their lives together, with Li Wei exaggerating her exploits in the rift while Li Cheng listened in disbelief.

• Li Wei insisted that Liang Qiushi honor her agreement to help her secure Gu Jinzhi's military enlistment slot.
• Liang Qiushi drove Li Wei to the wooded villa where Li Cheng was staying and told her to return within an hour.
• Li Wei found Li Cheng looking healthy again, but he teased her about her white-lotus persona.
• Li Cheng praised fashionable character archetypes until Li Wei pulled him off the swing and playfully spanked him.
• Li Cheng told Li Wei that his treatment was progressing well but would take a little over two more months to finish.
• Li Wei recounted her embellished rift exploits, leaving Li Cheng staring at her in disbelief.

Li Wei said goodbye to Li Cheng before leaving with Liang Qiushi, while Li Cheng asked for a lock of her hair and questioned why she was so good to him. The car departed before Li Wei could answer, leaving Li Cheng alone in the courtyard.

• Li Wei reassured the tearful Li Cheng that she would return in a year or two and had arranged an inheritance for him.
• Li Cheng asked Li Wei for a lock of her hair, then carefully placed it in a brocade pouch he had brought along.
• After Li Cheng told Li Wei she could leave, he asked why she was so good to him.
• Liang Qiushi called from the car and warned Li Wei not to waste time if she wanted the plan to succeed.
• Li Wei waved goodbye, got into the car, and left as it began to move.

Su Mo reunited with Min Zimo and learned that Jiang Xue was powerful enough to outmatch three people like him as they discussed the team for the Sky-Gazing Mirror. Meanwhile, a bald High Person reported the candidates and their strengths to the Cult Master, then prostrated himself in excitement after the wooden tablet responded.

• Su Mo met Min Zimo at the Imperial Capital’s transportation hub, and Min Zimo told him that Gu Jinzhi, Jiang Xue, and one other person would join their trip to the Sky-Gazing Mirror.
• Min Zimo warned Su Mo that Jiang Xue could defeat three people like him, prompting Su Mo to take her abilities seriously.
• Su Mo proposed that Min Zimo take the Sovereign position and he take Martial, but Min Zimo revealed that Gu Jinzhi and Jiang Xue were husband and wife.
• A bald High Person reported the confirmed candidates and their foundations to the Cult Master, speculating that Zeng Yi would fill the remaining spot.
• The wooden tablet trembled as the High Person defended his intelligence, and he then prostrated himself, exclaiming, “Namo Great Dream Bodhisattva!”

Li Wei and the others met with Zeng Aijia to settle their roles and learn how the Sky-Gazing Mirror’s trials worked. They left with a warning about the Mirror World’s dangers and the revelation that everyone would be ranked against prodigies from all eras.

• Zeng Yi claimed the Retainer position, Min Zimo chose Warrior, and Su Mo challenged Gu Jinzhi’s claim to Sovereign, provoking the group’s anger.
• Zeng Aijia explained that Heaven’s Favor, rather than natural talent alone, determined their identities and strength in the Mirror World.
• Zeng Aijia assigned the remaining positions and warned the group that Sovereign, Consort, and Warrior faced immediate danger while Scholar and Retainer needed to find them quickly.
• Zeng Aijia told the group that their appearances would remain unchanged, their trials would be shared, and trial information would appear in their minds.
• Zeng Aijia described how the Sword Immortal’s overwhelming Heaven’s Favor had suppressed his team, then revealed that the Mirror World ranked entrants against prodigies from every age.
• Li Wei asked about the highest possible strength tier, and Zeng Aijia answered that it was the third tier.

Li Wei and the others prepared to enter the Sky-Gazing Mirror, where they would spend three years and protect Jiang Xue and Min Zimo while their souls healed. As the five souls entered, the mirror turned black, injured Zeng Aijia, and triggered a powerful intervention above the Zeng Family estate.

• Zeng Aijia explained that everyone in the Mirror World was capped at Third Order and could retain their cultivation insights and combat experience, but not external items.
• Zeng Aijia described how the Lord and Queen positions could balance each other's Heaven's Favor, while Zeng Yi teased Gu Jinzhi about benefiting from Jiang Xue.
• Zeng Aijia ordered Gu Jinzhi, Zeng Yi, and Su Mo to protect Jiang Xue and Min Zimo until their souls had fully recovered, then warned the group they would spend three years in the Mirror World without inheriting their hosts' memories.
• Zeng Aijia summoned the Sky-Gazing Mirror, and five silver pillars drew the souls of Li Wei, Gu Jinzhi, Zeng Yi, Su Mo, and Min Zimo into it.
• A purple-black spot spread across the mirror, turning it pitch-black and hurling Zeng Aijia through a wall as the mirror shook violently.
• A furious voice rang across the estate, and a colossal energy hand pushed a gigantic Yin-Yang Tai Chi symbol down toward the Sky-Gazing Pavilion.

Zeng Jianguo discovered that the Great Dream Bodhisattva had trapped Li Wei and four others in the Mirror World and altered its power restrictions, leaving their fate uncertain. After an unknown presence told him to wait and watch, the Bodhisattva awakened inside Min Zimo’s badly crippled body and realized she had descended into a frail, legless vessel.

• Zeng Jianguo suppressed the Sky-Gazing Mirror and told Zeng Aijia that the Great Dream Bodhisattva had changed the Mirror World’s restrictions and severed the five youths from the outside world.
• Zeng Jianguo and Zeng Aijia prepared to divine the youths’ fate, but an unidentified voice told them to watch how events unfolded, and they bowed in reverence.
• The Great Dream Bodhisattva awakened in Min Zimo’s body at a ruined watchtower outside Floating Cloud Pass, where three barbarian soldiers surrounded him.
• The Bodhisattva tried to raise Min Zimo’s cultivation, then discovered that his body was an ordinary, severely injured wreck with shattered bones below the knees.
• The three barbarians, emboldened by Min Zimo’s lack of movement, prepared to attack him.

Su Mo, Zeng Yi, and Gu Jinzhi awoke in unfamiliar, debilitated bodies in the Mirror World. Gu Jinzhi ordered the Empress brought to him over the sealed Phoenix Ceremony Palace, but the palace exploded before she arrived.

• Su Mo woke in a sick, qi-less body, fell from his bed, and was discovered by a child.
• Zeng Yi woke in a eunuch’s body as a young eunuch treated his wounds, then screamed after discovering he had been castrated.
• Gu Jinzhi woke as a frail emperor, postponed taking his medicine, and suspected Jiang Xue had sheltered him into becoming emperor.
• A eunuch told Gu Jinzhi that the Empress Dowager had sealed Phoenix Ceremony Palace over the case of Empress Li harming the Imperial Heir.
• Gu Jinzhi ordered the Empress brought to him, but a little eunuch rushed in to report that Phoenix Ceremony Palace had exploded.