Chapter Summaries

Li Que asked Old Man Wuxiang and Elder Zhe to keep Imperial Concubine Ji’s murder secret, and Elder Zhe warned him not to provoke the killer. Later, Li Yuanling led Li Musheng to a hidden underground boat ride beneath the Music Bureau, where they prepared to board one of the descending boats.

• Li Que asked Old Man Wuxiang and Elder Zhe not to reveal Imperial Concubine Ji’s death, and Elder Zhe cautioned him about the powerful murderer.
• Li Yuanling brought Li Musheng to the Music Bureau and led him to a hidden iron door in a nearby alley.
• Li Yuanling opened the door with an ancient bronze coin, and Li Musheng pushed her into the dark passage before following.
• Li Musheng and Li Yuanling descended to an underground platform where five chained boats hung beside a cliff.
• A woman in rose-red palace attire ordered the boats lowered, and Li Yuanling hurried with Li Musheng toward the last empty boat.

Li Musheng and Li Yuanling entered the first trial in Floating Boat City, where they had to keep their candle lit as their boat spun on an iron wheel and endured increasingly fierce palm winds. Li Yuanling’s candle nearly went out, but it suddenly steadied, leaving their boat among the final three still burning as the trial continued.

• Li Yuanling read the first trial’s rules and lit the candle while her boat carried her and Li Musheng into the spinning wheel.
• Thirty boats were secured to the iron wheel, which spun rapidly as Li Yuanling shielded their candle and Li Musheng remained calm.
• After one incense stick passed, only seven candles remained lit, and a black-clad elder began attacking them with palm-force gusts.
• Li Yuanling struggled to protect their candle until its flame suddenly recovered and burned steadily despite the wind.
• The sword-bearing middle-aged man expected Li Yuanling’s boat to fail the next round as only three boats still had lit candles.

Li Musheng secretly protected the candle flame on his and Li Yuanling’s boat from the black-robed elder’s increasingly powerful palm winds, leaving Li Yuanling amazed and hopeful that they could break Floating Boat City’s record. As the boats descended toward the next trial, the elder reported the pair as true experts, while a neighboring competitor watched them warily.

• Li Yuanling watched her candle survive palm winds that scattered her true qi and realized Li Musheng had intervened.
• Li Musheng’s candle remained untouched by the elder’s palms at the twenty-eighth and twenty-ninth breaths, even as Li Yuanling stopped shielding it.
• The elder secretly increased the force of his thirtieth-breath attack, extinguishing one candle and forcing the jianghu brute and the middle-aged man to work together to save theirs.
• Li Musheng’s candle stayed perfectly still, and Li Yuanling excitedly suggested that they might break Floating Boat City’s record.
• The iron wheel stopped, its mechanisms released the chains, and the wooden boats resumed descending into Earth Cliff.
• The black-robed elder declared that Floating Boat City had received true experts and vanished to report them, while the middle-aged man eyed Li Musheng and Li Yuanling as competitors in the next trial.

Li Yuanling and Li Musheng entered the second trial on Dark Current Lake, where they had to protect their candle and collect jade plaques. Elsewhere, Han Meiyan confronted Zhang He about his past actions and ordered him to help her obtain an item in Floating Boat City.

• Li Yuanling caught boat number twenty-one’s jade plaque and learned that her group earned forty markings for clearing the first trial.
• Li Yuanling read the second trial’s rules: keep the boat’s candle lit, seize other boats’ plaques, and finish among the ten highest-scoring boats.
• Li Yuanling told Li Musheng to guard their flame while she pursued other boats’ jade plaques.
• Han Meiyan warned Zhang He that he could lose his chance to become the Holy Son and questioned him about arranging an assassination attempt on a prince of Great Li.
• Han Meiyan said she would waive Zhang He’s punishment if he helped her obtain an item in Floating Boat City.

Han Meiyan sought Zhang He's help in obtaining the Qilin Blood and told him they would pursue a middling ranking in Floating Boat City's competition. As the second round began, Li Yuanling launched herself toward a nearby boat to seize its jade tokens.

• Han Meiyan told Zhang He that Qilin Blood was real and promised to share some if he helped her obtain it.
• Zhang He agreed to help Han Meiyan, and she said she would reveal how to get the Qilin Blood after they passed the third round.
• The bell announced the second round, and Li Yuanling rose while Li Musheng teased her about her chances.
• Iron portcullises opened, creating five whirlpools that pulled the boats toward the center of the underground lake.
• A fighter attacked the burly martial wanderer for his jade token as clashes broke out across the lake.
• Li Yuanling reminded Li Musheng to watch the candle flame and leaped toward a boat carrying three young people with weak martial auras.

Li Yuanling robbed jade tokens from weaker contestants and extinguished their candle flames, while Li Musheng remained on their boat. Zhang Fu failed to extinguish Li Musheng’s candle, then watched his young master’s repeatedly relit candle go out despite attempts to protect it.

• Li Yuanling beat three young men, took their jade token, and blew out their candle flame.
• Li Yuanling leaped between boats, taking jade tokens from weaker contestants and extinguishing their candle flames; she had collected seven tokens.
• A green-robed middle-aged man named Zhang Fu landed on Li Musheng’s boat and demanded a jade token, but Li Musheng said he had none.
• At the order of a young man nearby, Zhang Fu tried twice to extinguish Li Musheng’s candle, but it remained lit.
• Zhang Fu saw his young master’s candle go out repeatedly, even after the young men relit it and surrounded it with true qi.

Li Yuanling returned to Li Musheng after losing all their jade tokens, while Li Musheng drove off the blue-robed middle-aged man and his young master. After hearing about Floating Boat City's cultivation-enhancing divine treasure, Li Musheng decided to pursue first place and hinted that Li Yuanling could reclaim her tokens without winning a fight.

• The blue-robed middle-aged man realized Li Musheng had kept his candle lit, apologized, and left with his young master after Li Musheng warned them not to return.
• Li Yuanling came back to Li Musheng's boat dejected and admitted that her jade tokens had all been taken.
• Li Musheng teased Li Yuanling about losing their tokens, and she complained that he had sent her into battle and mocked her afterward.
• Li Yuanling told Li Musheng that Floating Boat City supposedly held a divine treasure that could improve martial cultivation.
• Li Musheng decided they should aim for first place, and Li Yuanling explained that three women had easily stripped her of her tokens.
• Li Musheng told Li Yuanling that she did not need to defeat anyone in a fight to take their jade tokens.

Li Musheng drew jade tokens from boats across the underground lake, leaving Li Yuanling amazed by his power and emotional over their godmother. They hoped their haul would win the contest, while Li Musheng remained intent on obtaining the divine artifact.

• Li Musheng sped his boat toward the lake’s center, and jade tokens from nearby boats flew through the darkness and rained onto his boat.
• Song Zimo’s attendant and other competitors lost their jade tokens to the unseen force, while witnesses stared in shock at the token rain around Li Musheng’s boat.
• Li Yuanling gathered the tokens until she could not hold any more, and Li Musheng stopped them from falling.
• Li Yuanling said she had not realized how powerful Li Musheng was and recalled how happy their godmother would have been; Li Musheng urged her to pull herself together.
• Li Yuanling hoped their haul would secure first place, while Li Musheng said he wanted the divine artifact, prompting her to question why he needed it.

Li Musheng and Li Yuanling waited for the jade plaque results after Li Musheng demonstrated his formidable martial cultivation. Above the underground lake, Tu Yao and Sheng Shi'an discussed the stolen plaques, the newcomers, and Floating Boat City's struggle to control Qilin Blood while its City Lord Su Changqing was in seclusion.

• Li Yuanling questioned Li Musheng about his cultivation, and he brushed off her suspicions before telling her to gather the jade plaques.
• Shu Wan'er, Shu Qing'er, and Shu Ying'er realized an unseen expert had taken the plaques they had collected and decided to keep pursuing a place in the top ten.
• Sheng Shi'an told Tu Yao that he had detected no one entering Floating Boat City and advised him to investigate Li Musheng and Li Yuanling.
• The black-clothed elder confirmed to Tu Yao that Li Musheng and Li Yuanling were the pair whose candle flame his palm wind could not disturb.
• Tu Yao and Sheng Shi'an discussed how news of Qilin Blood had drawn martial artists to Floating Boat City and doubted whether Su Changqing could control it and reach the first rank of martial cultivation.

Tu Yao and Sheng Shi'an discussed the mysterious source of qilin blood and the powerful expert who had seized jade plaques, while Sheng dismissed the possibility that Li Musheng was responsible. Li Musheng and Li Yuanling entered the final round as first place, and Zhang He revealed Li Musheng’s identity to Han Meiyan, who considered him a target for recruitment.

• Tu Yao asked Sheng Shi'an about the origin of qilin blood and the strength of the expert who had taken the jade plaques, and Sheng said the expert was likely a concealed Heavenly Human Realm master.
• Sheng Shi'an rejected Tu Yao’s suspicion that Li Musheng had acted, reasoning that an expert must be assisting Li Musheng and Li Yuanling.
• The lake’s whirlpools stopped, and ten boats were pulled to the center for the final round; Boat Number Twenty-One, carrying Li Musheng and Li Yuanling, was announced as first place with 190 markings.
• Li Yuanling flaunted her jade plaques at Shu Wan'er and the other women whose plaques had been stolen, while they avoided confronting her and Li Musheng.
• Zhang He told Han Meiyan that Li Musheng was the Eighth Prince acknowledged by Emperor Yuanwu, and Han Meiyan identified him as a promising target to turn.

Li Musheng and Li Yuanling began the final trial, an underground water maze filled with poisonous mist and hazards. After recognizing Han Meiyan and Zhang He as members of the demonic path, Li Musheng let them lead the way.

• Li Yuanling read the maze trial’s rules, and Li Musheng told her he would leave the decisions to her.
• The poisonous mist spread as the trial began, and Li Musheng waited for the other boats to scout ahead while secretly sending strands of true qi after them.
• Han Meiyan approached Li Musheng and Li Yuanling’s boat and tried to charm Li Musheng into traveling together.
• Li Musheng called out Han Meiyan’s flirtatious act and identified her and Zhang He as people from the demonic path.
• After Zhang He claimed Han Meiyan was his cousin, Li Musheng praised her appearance and told them to lead the way through the maze.

Han Meiyan and Zhang He tried to lead Li Musheng and Li Yuanling through the misty cavern while hiding their search for the Qilin Blood. After Han Meiyan suspected Li Musheng was a powerful expert, the pair repeatedly attempted to lose him, but his boat kept catching up.

• Han Meiyan agreed to guide Li Musheng and Li Yuanling through the cavern, while Li Musheng questioned Li Yuanling about Han Meiyan's beauty.
• Han Meiyan told Zhang He that Li Musheng's immunity to the poisonous mist and resistance to her charms made him seem like a hidden expert, and she warned him not to act rashly.
• Han Meiyan and Zhang He tried to lose Li Musheng and Li Yuanling at a bend, but Li Musheng directed Li Yuanling along a different route and caught up with them.
• Han Meiyan and Zhang He repeatedly sped away and covered their tracks, but Li Musheng and Li Yuanling's boat kept catching up.

Li Musheng and Li Yuanling followed Han Meiyan and Zhang He through Floating Boat City’s dangerous water maze and reached the underground palace first. There, they learned their score fell short of the record and uncovered signs that the city was hiding the divine item they sought.

• Han Meiyan proposed that she draw Li Musheng and Li Yuanling away while Zhang He searched for the Qilin Blood if they had no other choice.
• Li Yuanling suggested robbing other boats of copper coins, and she and Li Musheng followed Han Meiyan and Zhang through the maze without being harmed by its traps.
• Han Meiyan let Li Musheng and Li Yuanling enter the underground palace first, then followed them with Zhang He.
• A brocade-robed official congratulated Li Musheng and Li Yuanling for earning 210 patterns but said Floating Boat City had no cultivation-enhancing divine item and that the record was 250.
• Li Musheng questioned Li Yuanling’s uncertain information and noticed Han Meiyan and Zhang He secretly communicating, concluding that Floating Boat City was concealing the divine item.

Shu Wan'er demanded that Floating Boat City surrender the Qilin Blood, triggering an attack on the three boats. As Floating Boat City’s leaders plotted their next moves, Li Musheng silently stopped five assassins from striking Li Yuanling.

• Shu Wan'er demanded the Qilin Blood from the brocade-robed man and threatened to erase Floating Boat City from the Great Li Imperial Capital.
• Li Yuanling told Li Musheng that the supposed divine relic was Qilin Blood, while Floating Boat City’s fighters surrounded the boats and attacked.
• Tu Yao and Sheng Shi'an ordered their people to test the newcomers and suspected Fairy Lingbo had infiltrated the city.
• Li Yuanling saw that the five attackers’ weapons had stopped inches from her, and realized Li Musheng had neutralized them without her noticing.
• Li Yuanling withdrew her martial true qi and lightly pushed one assassin with a sword tip, knocking him to the ground.

Li Musheng stayed behind with Li Yuanling as the others fled the underground palace and Sheng Shi'an attacked from the black ship. Li Musheng halted Sheng Shi'an’s bronze rings in midair, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Zhang He was wounded while fighting two assassins, fell into the water, and was pursued beneath the surface.
• Tu Yao arrived aboard a massive black ship, prompting Shu Wan'er, Han Meiyan, and the other women to flee as Floating Boat City’s experts chased them.
• Li Yuanling hid behind Li Musheng, who urged her to stand with dignity as pressure filled the underground palace.
• Sheng Shi'an warned Tu Yao that Li Musheng was powerful and sent his bronze rings crashing toward Li Musheng and Li Yuanling.
• Li Musheng froze the space around their boat, stopping Sheng Shi'an’s bronze rings in midair.

Li Musheng revealed himself as a Heavenly Human Realm expert and demanded the Qilin Blood from Floating Boat City's leaders. After Sheng Shi'an unleashed a devastating attack, Li Musheng effortlessly made the blood flames, storm, and giant hand vanish, leaving Sheng Shi'an suspended before him.

• Li Musheng pulled Li Yuanling from the underground palace onto the black ship after the bronze rings shattered.
• Sheng Shi'an and Tu Yao recognized Li Musheng as a Heavenly Human Realm expert, and Tu Yao urged Sheng Shi'an to help capture him.
• Sheng Shi'an broke free of his restraints and unleashed a blood-red storm that wrecked the black ship.
• Sheng Shi'an summoned the Heavenly Demon Blood Handprint and struck at Li Musheng and Li Yuanling.
• Li Musheng moved Li Yuanling into the air and caused Sheng Shi'an's blood flames, storm, and giant hand to disappear.

Li Musheng subdued Sheng Shi'an and Tu Yao, forced them to reveal the location of the Qilin Blood, and killed them before rushing toward the underground cold pool. He arrived to find Han Meiyan, Zhang He, and Fairy Lingbo fighting the injured Su Changqing.

• Li Musheng stripped Sheng Shi'an of control over his true qi and effortlessly scattered Tu Yao's fist attack, then restrained both men.
• Li Musheng used the Life-Death Seals to torture Sheng Shi'an and Tu Yao until they revealed what they knew about the Qilin Blood.
• Li Musheng killed Sheng Shi'an and Tu Yao and hurried with Li Yuanling toward the city lord's location.
• Li Musheng and Li Yuanling reached an underground cold pool, where Han Meiyan, Zhang He, and Fairy Lingbo were attacking the badly burned Su Changqing.
• Zhang He clung to Su Changqing and tore at his flesh while Han Meiyan's poison and Fairy Lingbo's sword attacks further weakened him.

Li Musheng stopped Su Changqing from reaching the icy pool and demanded that he give up the Qilin Blood. After killing Fairy Lingbo, Li Musheng decided to take the Qilin Blood from Su Changqing by force.

• Su Changqing continued toward the icy pool while Fairy Lingbo and Han Meiyan tried to stop him, and Zhang He kept biting and consuming his flesh.
• Li Musheng appeared, immobilized Su Changqing, and blasted Zhang He away when he tried to bite Su Changqing again.
• Fairy Lingbo attacked Li Musheng, but he killed her with a finger of sword qi.
• Han Meiyan stayed still after witnessing Li Musheng's strength, while Li Musheng demanded that Su Changqing surrender the Qilin Blood.
• When Su Changqing did not answer, Li Musheng used Six Directions Sealing Meridians, Subduing the Dragon on him.

Li Musheng extracted Su Changqing’s Qilin Blood, absorbed its power, and killed Su when he attempted a sneak attack. The blood slightly strengthened Li Musheng’s innate constitution and gave him a new lead in his search for a path beyond martial arts: finding the Fire Qilin.

• Li Musheng sealed Su Changqing’s meridians and extracted all the Qilin Blood from his body.
• Li Musheng absorbed the Qilin Blood, whose violent energy surged through his body without harming him.
• Su Changqing recovered his Heavenly Human Realm strength and attacked Li Musheng, but Li Musheng killed him with a strike to the forehead.
• Li Yuanling arrived after Su Changqing fell and asked whether Li Musheng had simply swallowed the Qilin Blood.
• Li Musheng finished absorbing the blood and realized it could subtly improve his constitution, prompting him to consider finding more Qilin Blood or the Fire Qilin.

Li Musheng questioned Han Meiyan after Zhang He died, then learned that the Qilin Sacred Sect spread clues about Qilin Blood and that Floating Boat City was backed by Great Li’s Fourth Prince. He considered seeking the sect to find more Qilin Blood and recognized the Fourth Prince’s involvement as significant.

• Li Yuanling asked why Li Musheng showed no visible changes after consuming Qilin Blood, and he asked her to help find more of it.
• Li Musheng questioned Han Meiyan about her name and faction, and she revealed she belonged to the Six Desires Demon Sect.
• Zhang He emerged as a blood mist from the crater, and Han Meiyan agreed to answer Li Musheng’s questions to avoid being harmed.
• Han Meiyan explained that the Qilin Sacred Sect spread information about Qilin Blood and that a sect disciple had told her Floating Boat City possessed some.
• Han Meiyan revealed that Floating Boat City was secretly backed by Great Li’s Fourth Prince, prompting Li Musheng to recall the prince’s past alliance with the fake Seventh Prince.