Chapter Summaries

Cang Yinyue warned Li Musheng that unrest seemed to be brewing in the imperial capital, then brought the captured remnant of Great Qi to the Imperial Secret Police. Fu Yu came to inspect the prisoner, where Cang Yinyue confronted him over whether he trusted her.

• Cang Yinyue cautioned Li Musheng about the unusual actions of Great Qi's remnants and the uncertain future of the imperial capital, while he urged her to focus on finding the Key to the Heavenly Revelation Secret Treasury.
• Li Musheng returned to Aurora Pavilion to rest, and the night passed.
• Cang Yinyue arrived at the Imperial Secret Police with a black-cloth-covered prisoner on a flatbed cart and told the gate constable she had captured the remnant of Great Qi.
• The constable reported Cang Yinyue's claim to Fu Yu, Ji Feiyun, and Gong Lishan, and Ji Feiyun doubted that she could have captured the powerful fugitive.
• Fu Yu and the other two head constables went to the gate, where Cang Yinyue asked Fu Yu whether he did not believe her.
• Fu Yu denied doubting Cang Yinyue and said that mistaking someone for a criminal was normal.

Cang Yinyue presented four wanted criminals’ corpses at the Imperial Secret Police headquarters, proving she had captured the Great Qi remnant and claiming the credit. After rejecting Fu Yu’s marriage arrangement, she went inside to report on Green Mountain Tower, while Fu Yu ordered an investigation into the powerful person who had helped her.

• Cang Yinyue challenged Fu Yu’s doubts, and Ji Feiyun revealed the four corpses on her cart to the constables.
• Gong Lishan confirmed that one corpse was the Great Qi remnant and identified the others as wanted criminals connected to Fu Yu’s case.
• Cang Yinyue demanded that the merit be recorded under her name, rejected her engagement to Fu Yu, and entered the headquarters to report to the Divine Catcher.
• Gong Lishan reported that two of the criminals had been incapacitated before Cang Yinyue killed them and that she had likely interrogated the Great Qi remnant.
• Fu Yu concluded that a formidable martial artist had assisted Cang Yinyue and ordered Ji Feiyun to investigate the helper’s identity and report everything to Marquis Cangyuan Mansion.

Li Yuanling revealed that Consort Jing had known Li Zhi was not her son and had wanted to see Li Musheng before she died. After Li Musheng had Li Yuanling escorted away, Sun Changyu and Song Shanyue realized he had remained unaffected by their sleep-inducing powder.

• Li Yuanling warned Li Musheng that Aurora Pavilion was watched and urged him to stay safe.
• Li Yuanling confessed that Consort Jing had known Li Zhi was not her son, but she denied exposing the fake prince.
• Li Yuanling explained that Consort Jing had wanted to see Li Musheng before her death and promised to protect him.
• Li Musheng revealed that he had reported Li Yuanling, and Sun Changyu and Song Shanyue arrived to escort her away.
• Sun Changyu used Fragrant Slumber Saliva to make Li Yuanling collapse, while Li Musheng showed no effect from the powder.

Li Musheng pressed Sun Changyu to seek the Queen’s judgment on whether he was the Seventh Prince. In the Heavenly Prison, Li Zhi learned of Li Musheng’s appearance, declined to have him killed, and continued managing affairs through his subordinate.

• Li Musheng told Sun Changyu that his resemblance to Consort Jing could establish his identity and asked him to seek the Queen’s decree.
• Sun Changyu agreed to report the matter, then left Aurora Pavilion with Song Shanyue.
• A middle-aged man showed Li Zhi a portrait of Li Musheng, and Li Zhi confirmed that the young man resembled Consort Jing.
• Li Zhi refused to have Li Musheng killed and said his fate was unrelated to them.
• Li Zhi gave the middle-aged man a letter to deliver and ordered him to restrain their allies while they waited for his release.
• A shadow appeared in Li Zhi’s cell and conveyed the Director’s greetings.

Li Zhi learned that the Emperor would release him from the Heavenly Prison if he destroyed one of Great Li’s four great sects within a year, and revealed that he had already reached the Martial Grandmaster realm. At Aurora Pavilion, three false candidates for the Seventh Prince plotted to kill Li Musheng, but he noticed their ambush.

• Lu Ying told Li Zhi that the Emperor had set the sect-destruction condition, and that the Director might let the Shadow Guards assist if Li Zhi advanced to Martial Grandmaster within a month.
• Li Zhi revealed his Martial Grandmaster cultivation and Heavenly Slaughter Blade Intent, prompting Lu Ying to pledge the Shadow Guards’ service to him.
• After Lu Ying left, Li Zhi worried that the impossible task meant someone had discovered his secret.
• At Aurora Pavilion, three young men who feared losing their chance to become the Seventh Prince agreed to kill Li Musheng and destroy his corpse.
• One of the young men approached Li Musheng while the other two hid nearby, but Li Musheng warned him to stop and called out the hidden attackers’ killing intent.

Li Musheng stopped a demonic attacker from killing Little Anzi and began investigating the man’s blood-draining technique. A sinister voice identified the technique as the Demonic Heart Seed, leaving the attacker’s identity and abilities in question.

• Three young men attacked Li Musheng, but Little Anzi struck them down before they could reach him.
• The young man in scholarly robes drained the other two men’s blood and vitality, then attacked Little Anzi with crimson claws.
• Li Musheng stopped the young man’s claws just short of Little Anzi’s heart, and Little Anzi thanked him for saving his life.
• Li Musheng questioned the crazed young man about the Star-Sucking Great Art and prepared to test his Life-Death Seal.
• An unseen speaker identified the young man’s technique as the Demonic Heart Seed.

Li Musheng learned that the scholar had been afflicted by the Demonic Heart Seed and agreed to go with Sun Changyu to the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters for an identity check. Cang Yinyue was forcibly brought back to Marquis Cangyuan Mansion, where she planned to obtain the Bone-Eroding Yin Wind Finger.

• Sun Changyu explained how the Demonic Heart Seed worked and ordered eunuchs to search near Aurora Pavilion for the demon who had planted it.
• Sun Changyu failed to undo the scholar’s sealed acupoints, then discovered they had already been released while he was speaking with Li Musheng.
• Sun Changyu told Li Musheng that the Queen had approved his proposal and arranged for the Commander and Eunuch Shen to verify his identity at the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters.
• Guan Tianqian classified Cang Yinyue’s report about Green Mountain Tower and the remnants of Great Qi as an Imperial Secret Police secret, and allowed her to join the investigation.
• An old woman seized Cang Yinyue and carried her back to Marquis Cangyuan Mansion after the Marquis ordered her return.
• Cang Yinyue endured the humiliation in silence, anticipating that she could obtain the Bone-Eroding Yin Wind Finger at the mansion.

Cang Yinyue denied her engagement to Fu Yu to provoke her father into taking her to the Marquis Mansion, where she hoped to steal the Bone-Eroding Yin Wind Finger manual. Meanwhile, Li Musheng warned Sun Changyu that a Heavenly Brocade Guard Commanding Assistant might use demonic arts, but Sun dismissed the suspicion; Li Musheng’s carriage then took a different route as an identical carriage continued under escort.

• Cang Yinyue used her public denial of her engagement to Fu Yu to try to make her father bring her into the Marquis Mansion.
• Sun Changyu asked Li Musheng about his martial arts and cultivation, and Li said he had created his current techniques himself and that his realm was very high.
• Li Musheng warned Sun Changyu that the Commanding Assistant had an aura resembling demonic arts, but Sun rejected the accusation and defended the man’s spotless record.
• Li Musheng noticed his carriage turn into an alley while an identical carriage took its place and continued under the soldiers’ escort.

Zhang He revealed his connection to the Six Desires Demon Sect and pressured Song Shanyue, who carried a Demonic Heart Seed, to help him kill the real Seventh Prince. Song Shanyue agreed to hear him out but warned that the target might not be easy to kill.

• Sun Changyu told Li Musheng that the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s precautions were a smokescreen as storm clouds gathered over the capital.
• Heavenly Brocade Guard soldiers brought Zhang He to Song Shanyue, claiming they had found him acting suspiciously near Aurora Pavilion.
• After the soldiers left, Zhang He dropped his disguise and told Song Shanyue that the Holy Maiden had sent greetings.
• Song Shanyue attacked Zhang He, but Zhang He threatened to activate the Demonic Heart Seed and healed himself by inhaling blood mist.
• Song Shanyue asked whether Zhang He’s request would count toward the three tasks required to remove the seed and let Yun'er return.
• Zhang He asked Song Shanyue to kill the real Seventh Prince, and Song Shanyue warned that the prince was likely not simple.

Zhang He pressured Song Shanyue to kill Li Musheng, who was traveling with Sun Changyu to the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters. During a violent rainstorm, five Martial Grandmasters ambushed the carriage and announced themselves as the assassins, leaving the confrontation about to begin.

• Zhang He told Song Shanyue that many enemies of the Great Li Court wanted Li Musheng dead and insisted that Song secure the result.
• After Zhang He left, Song Shanyue smashed a desk in anger.
• As Li Musheng's carriage traveled through the storm, Sun Changyu sensed killing intent and leaped out to face the threat.
• The coachman stopped the carriage and drew a saber while Sun Changyu and he prepared to defend it.
• An elderly man in a rain cape, two azure-robed swordsmen, and two masked figures surrounded them; the swordsmen identified themselves as the West Wind Duo.

The coachman and Chief Eunuch Sun Changyu fought off three attackers but were badly outmatched. As the coachman tried to buy time for Sun Changyu and Li Musheng to escape, he unleashed a devastating saber slash and was left stunned by its power.

• The straw-cloaked elder and two blue-robed swordsmen attacked Sun Changyu and the coachman, seeking to reach Li Musheng in the carriage.
• The blue-robed swordsmen wounded the coachman and shattered his saber, while the elder’s staff strike drove Sun Changyu back.
• The coachman told Sun Changyu to escape and asked him to deliver his compensation money to the coachman’s daughter.
• Li Musheng criticized the defenders’ fighting and pointed out that the straw-cloaked elder restrained Sun Changyu’s True Qi.
• The coachman charged the two blue-robed swordsmen and unleashed the Fault Blade Slash, carving a long pit into the ruined street.
• The coachman stared at the destruction and wondered whether the slash had really been his own.

The coachman’s impossible slash killed two blue-robed swordsmen, while an unseen attacker had already killed three other assassins with finger strikes. Li Musheng claimed he had done it, but Chief Eunuch Sun Changyu suspected a hidden expert was protecting him as the carriage continued toward the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters.

• Chief Eunuch Sun Changyu asked whether the coachman had broken through, and Li Musheng told the coachman to remember the slash as his only chance to glimpse the Heavenly Human realm.
• Sun Changyu discovered that the Skull-Knocking Bamboo Staff Elder and two masked men had been silently killed by finger strikes, leaving the coachman to conclude that all five attackers had died.
• Li Musheng urged them to leave, and the coachman drove the carriage toward the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters while Sun Changyu returned inside.
• Sun Changyu questioned Li Musheng, who calmly claimed responsibility for the killings; Sun Changyu thanked him but privately suspected a hidden expert had acted.
• Li Musheng told Sun Changyu to make him tea.

Li Musheng arrived safely at the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters, where Commander Fu Qiwen agreed to begin verifying his identity as the Seventh Prince without first questioning him. As Eunuch Shen prepared a jade box to test Li Musheng’s blood, Song Shanyue abandoned his pursuit after finding the dead assassins.

• Song Shanyue found five dead men on the ruined street, recognized three as powerful wanted criminals, and fled to Aurora Pavilion rather than continue pursuing Li Musheng.
• Chief Eunuch Sun Changyu escorted Li Musheng to the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters, where Pacification Commissioner Yu Jin and Commander Fu Qiwen received them.
• Li Musheng asked to begin verifying his identity immediately, and Fu Qiwen approved skipping Eunuch Shen’s questions.
• Eunuch Shen brought out a jade box and pricked Li Musheng’s finger to draw blood for the identity verification.

Fu Qiwen tested Li Musheng’s blood and brought the jade box to Emperor Yuanwu, while Li Musheng noticed poison had entered his body through the jade needle. Emperor Yuanwu asked Fu Qiwen for his assessment of the newly found Seventh Prince, leaving the reason for Li Musheng’s lack of detectable martial true qi unanswered.

• Fu Qiwen spun the jade box with his power after collecting Li Musheng’s blood, and Yu Jin and Sun Changyu struggled to stabilize their true qi.
• Li Musheng discovered a dormant poison in his finger and suspected someone in the palace had tampered with the jade needle.
• Fu Qiwen left for the palace, while Sun Changyu reported another matter and departed with Han Li on Fu Qiwen’s orders.
• Fu Qiwen presented the jade box to Emperor Yuanwu and confirmed that the Seventh Prince had been found.
• Emperor Yuanwu asked Fu Qiwen what he thought of Li Musheng, and Fu Qiwen noted that he had sensed no martial true qi despite the dossier describing Li Musheng as a Xiantian Realm martial artist.

Emperor Yuanwu heard Fu Qiwen’s account of Li Musheng’s strength and demeanor, then entrusted Fu Qiwen with authority over the Eighth Prince while he entered seclusion. At the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters, Li Musheng considered how his new status could help him investigate the Martial Transcendence Realm, though he remained ready to disappear if princely duties became burdensome.

• Fu Qiwen told Emperor Yuanwu that five Martial Grandmasters had ambushed Li Musheng and that they were swiftly killed, then described Li Musheng’s apparent disregard for others.
• Emperor Yuanwu reconsidered his plan to let Li Musheng live as an idle prince and asked Fu Qiwen how to handle him.
• Emperor Yuanwu gave Fu Qiwen a scroll and full authority over the Eighth Prince, explaining that the prince swap remained unresolved and that he would enter seclusion.
• Emperor Yuanwu instructed Fu Qiwen to give Li Musheng troublesome duties to test his disposition before making further decisions.
• At the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters, Li Musheng considered using his status as a prince to search for the Martial Transcendence Realm, while resolving to flee if the role brought too much trouble.

Fu Qiwen told Li Musheng that Emperor Yuanwu had recognized him as the Eighth Prince and arranged a residence, wealth, and three teachers for him. Fu Qiwen then asked Li Musheng to destroy Falling God Peak, leaving his response unresolved.

• Fu Qiwen presented Emperor Yuanwu’s arrangements and explained why Li Musheng had been ranked the Eighth Prince.
• Li Musheng accepted temporary lodging at the Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters but questioned the benefits and the choice of General Wu'an as a teacher.
• Li Musheng agreed to meet his three teachers so he could seek knowledge about transcending the martial path and learn about the martial world.
• Fu Qiwen urged Li Musheng to handle affairs for Great Li and asked him to destroy Falling God Peak.
• Fu Qiwen expected Li Musheng to refuse, since even Fu Qiwen did not know how to defeat Falling God Peak.

Li Musheng negotiated with Fu Qiwen over a proposal to destroy Falling God Peak and demanded better terms before agreeing. Fu Qiwen explained that Great Li planned to suppress powerful martial-world sects, but Li Musheng remained doubtful that destroying them would end the people’s suffering.

• Li Musheng told Fu Qiwen that taking on Falling God Peak would require a better offer, despite the sect’s immense power.
• Fu Qiwen asked what conditions Li Musheng wanted, but Li Musheng first demanded to know why he wanted Falling God Peak destroyed.
• Fu Qiwen said Emperor Yuanwu had long planned to eliminate Great Li’s martial-world forces, which had grown powerful while the empire faced unstable borders.
• Li Musheng questioned whether the sects deserved destruction without cause, and Fu Qiwen cited the Heavenly Brocade Guard’s records of their abuses.
• Li Musheng recalled the martial world’s violence and the suffering of common people, but concluded that destroying one force would only let another take its place.

Li Musheng agreed to help Fu Qiwen destroy Falling God Peak in exchange for control of the Heavenly Brocade Guard and another condition from Emperor Yuanwu. After the emperor publicly recognized him as the Eighth Prince, Fu Qiwen urged Emperor Yuanwu to seize the opportunity and launch the attack, accepting the risk of failure.

• Li Musheng agreed to go to Falling God Peak with Fu Qiwen and demanded that the Heavenly Brocade Guard belong to him afterward, along with another condition from Emperor Yuanwu.
• Yu Jin showed Li Musheng around the Heavenly Brocade Guard headquarters while Fu Qiwen wondered whether the prince had hidden backing.
• Han Li reported that two of the five assassins were agents from Great Zhou, and Fu Qiwen ordered him to investigate possible spies within Aurora Pavilion with Li Musheng's help.
• Emperor Yuanwu's decree recognizing Li Musheng as the Eighth Prince was announced throughout the realm.
• Fu Qiwen urged Emperor Yuanwu to attack the martial factions now rather than wait for a better opportunity, and said he was prepared to die if the plan failed.

Emperor Yuanwu agreed to let Fu Qiwen attack Falling God Peak but refused to support him, while Guan Shanxue set out to confront Cang Yinyue. Li Musheng followed a thread of true qi to discover Cang Yinyue’s whereabouts, as she struggled to escape a reinforced secret chamber in Marquis Cangyuan Mansion.

• Emperor Yuanwu told Wu Daban he would send no help to Fu Qiwen’s campaign against Falling God Peak and said he would spare the Eighth Prince if possible.
• Guan Shanxue recovered from her sealed acupoints, learned that Cang Yinyue had won acclaim in her absence, and headed to Marquis Cangyuan Mansion after hearing Cang Yinyue would be staying there for her wedding.
• Li Musheng spotted a palace expert secretly watching him at Heavenly Brocade Guard Headquarters and followed a thread of true qi toward Cang Yinyue.
• Cang Yinyue awoke in a reinforced secret chamber beneath Marquis Cangyuan Mansion and began trying to pick its locks with her hairpin so she could escape and search for the secret manual.

Guan Shanxue followed a mysterious figure from Marquis Cangyuan Mansion and discovered him attacking a woman in Zhuyan Ward. After she recognized the flower-picking thief as Cang Yuning, an old woman struck her unconscious.

• Guan Shanxue spotted a black-clad figure leaving Marquis Cangyuan Mansion and pursued him, suspecting he was Cang Yinyue.
• The figure drugged a woman’s chamber in Zhuyan Ward and broke inside.
• Guan Shanxue realized the intruder was a flower-picking thief and attacked him with her Cold Ice Divine Palm.
• The thief countered with a sinister claw and drove Guan Shanxue back; she recognized him as Cang Yuning.
• A gaunt old woman appeared, knocked Guan Shanxue unconscious, and said she had been watching over the young master.