Chapter Summaries

Jiang Liu struggled to answer Chu Heyu after learning that Gongsun Haoyue wanted them to form a marriage alliance. Rather than accept or refuse, he fled back to the Flowing Cloud Sect, leaving Chu Heyu and the others to discover his departure later.

• Chu Heyu told Jiang Liu that Gongsun Haoyue had sent her to ask what he thought of their marriage, and Jiang Liu stalled instead of giving her an answer.
• After Chu Heyu left, Jiang Liu decided to flee rather than face the marriage question and left a note before departing the Star Moon Sect.
• Two patrolling elders saw Jiang Liu leave and reported it, but the Affairs Hall did not consider his departure urgent.
• When Jiang Liu failed to appear at the cultivation plaza, Chu Heyu, Yuchi Yue, and Gongsun Haoyue learned that he had already returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect.
• Jiang Liu hurried all the way back to the Flowing Cloud Sect, believing the Star Moon Sect would immediately notice his escape.

Jiang Liu returned to the Flowing Cloud Sect and learned that the Flowing Cloud Matriarch supported a marriage alliance with the Star Moon Sect. Worried the sects might pressure him later, he left the mountain range on the Fire-Winged Monkey and headed toward Yunzhou.

• Jiang Liu hurried back to his courtyard, avoiding two patrolling elders who had been preparing to greet him.
• The Flowing Cloud Matriarch told Jiang Liu that she knew about and supported the marriage alliance with the Star Moon Sect, despite his having two wives.
• Jiang Liu proposed merging the two sects instead, but the Flowing Cloud Matriarch pointed out that old grudges and disputes over precedence made a merger difficult.
• The Flowing Cloud Matriarch told Jiang Liu to stay and cultivate, and he initially remained silent about the marriage alliance.
• Jiang Liu grew uneasy about staying in the Flowing Cloud Sect and left before nightfall on the Fire-Winged Monkey, heading toward Yunzhou.

Tang Wanyu learned that Jiang Liu had left the Flowing Cloud Sect to avoid a marriage alliance with the Star Moon Sect. She and Chen Xiaoyun set out for Yunzhou to find him.

• Tang Wanyu searched for Jiang Liu, then asked Elder Xing Kong and Flowing Cloud Matriarch where he had gone.
• Nangong Yun told Tang Wanyu that the Flowing Cloud Sect had agreed to a marriage alliance with the Star Moon Sect and that Jiang Liu had left to avoid it.
• Tang Wanyu felt relieved that Jiang Liu had refused the alliance, but grew upset that she did not know when he would return.
• Tang Wanyu went to Chen Xiaoyun and told her that Jiang Liu had left the sect.
• Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun packed, left letters in their courtyards, and flew toward Yunzhou on their tamed Iron-Winged Eagles to search for Jiang Liu.

Jiang Liu traveled toward Yun Province, while Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun secretly followed him and the Flowing Cloud Sect imposed martial law to protect them from Lu Tianheng. After the sisters caught up with Jiang Liu near Kan County, the three continued toward Yun Province together.

• Jiang Liu left the Flowing Cloud Sect and flew toward Yun Province, unaware that Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun had followed him.
• Flowing Cloud Matriarch ordered martial law in Qian Province and told Nangong Yun to find the two disciples and bring them back, while the sect's other True Inheritor Disciples stayed to cultivate.
• The Star Moon Sect and Haotian Sect learned that Lu Tianheng was behind the missing Grandmasters, though the Haotian Sect did not learn his identity.
• Jiang Liu learned through Ascension Tower that Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun were pursuing him, but chose to continue toward Yun Province because he feared the marriage alliance with the Star Moon Sect.
• Jiang Liu waited near Kan County for nearly three days until Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun arrived, then endured their punches and kicks before traveling onward with them.

Jiang Liu brought Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun across the barrier into Yun Province, where they saw the prosperity of Kan County and his authority over its officials. A report of people trafficking in a nearby city made Jiang Liu suspect that Corpse Valley might be active again.

• Jiang Liu used the Fire-Winged Monkey to carry Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun across the canyon into Yun Province.
• Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun were amazed by Yun Province's prosperity, while Jiang Liu felt at ease returning to Kan County.
• Jiang Liu met Tang Hui at the City Lord's Mansion and learned that he was heading to a smaller city to handle a problem.
• Jiang Liu and his senior sisters visited the Listening Wind Pavilion station, where Jiang Yun reported that a local faction had been trafficking people.
• Jiang Liu connected the trafficking to Corpse Valley and wondered whether it had returned to Yun Province.

Jiang Liu investigated the disappearances in Kan Cloud City and confirmed that the Yun family had ties to Corpse Valley. He withdrew without alerting them and told Tang Hui to help lure Bai Lei into a plan to eliminate Corpse Valley’s remaining forces.

• Jiang Liu read the dossier on the missing people, then took Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun toward Kan Cloud City on the Fire-Winged Monkey.
• Jiang Liu and his companions reached the city at night and secretly investigated the Yun family residence, where he detected several practitioners using Corpse Valley’s cultivation technique.
• Jiang Liu decided to conceal his discovery and use the opportunity to lure Bai Lei into a plan to wipe out Corpse Valley’s remaining forces.
• Jiang Liu withdrew with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun, then waited in the woods for Tang Hui and the Exotic Weapon Valley disciples.
• Jiang Liu told Tang Hui that Corpse Valley was behind the disappearances and explained his plan, and Tang Hui began dispatching people to carry it out.

Jiang Liu used a decoy to expose Corpse Valley’s Kanyun City base, then uncovered its wider operations in Kan and Lu Counties. After ordering the Lu County base eliminated, he continued pursuing Corpse Valley’s remaining members and its Corpse Nurturing Ground.

• Jiang Liu waited in the wilderness with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun for the Yun family or Corpse Valley to take the bait, and Tang Hui reported that the decoy Martial Practitioner had gone missing.
• Tang Hui found the decoy and captured the Corpse Valley member coordinating with the Yun family, and Jiang Liu used Divine Sense to learn about the Kanyun City base and the family’s dealings with Corpse Valley.
• Jiang Liu ordered Tang Hui to raid the Yun family and the Kanyun City base, while Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun joined the outing; Tang Hui returned with the five Corpse Valley members, and Exotic Weapon Valley took custody of the Yun family.
• Jiang Liu questioned the Kanyun City leader and learned that Corpse Valley had restarted its Corpse Nurturing Ground plan two months earlier and had bases in Kan and Lu Counties.
• Jiang Liu ordered Tang Hui to have the Lu County base wiped out, and Tang Hui accepted the command and departed.

Jiang Liu brought Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun to the Corpse Nurturing Ground to kill Bai Lei and the remaining Corpse Valley experts. After finding the chamber strangely sealed from Divine Sense and receiving no response from inside, Jiang Liu hesitated over destroying it, but Chen Xiaoyun split it open with one strike.

• Jiang Liu froze the five Corpse Valley disciples and learned that Bai Lei was staying at the Corpse Nurturing Ground with the remaining Minor Grandmasters.
• Jiang Liu flew with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun to Xia City, where they briefly rested at Listening Wind Pavilion's station.
• Jiang Liu led the group to the mountain range near Qi Province and found that his Divine Sense could not penetrate the secret chamber.
• Jiang Liu wondered whether Bai Lei and the others were inside or had fled, and hesitated to destroy the reinforced chamber.
• Chen Xiaoyun struck the secret chamber with an Essence Particle saber and cleaved it in half.

Jiang Liu and his allies attacked Bai Lei and the Corpse Valley fighters, capturing Bai Lei’s secrets before killing him. With the Corpse Valley’s knowledge in hand, Jiang Liu planned to destroy its remaining forces in Xun Province.

• Chen Xiaoyun opened the secret chamber, revealing Bai Lei and the Corpse Valley fighters hiding inside.
• Jiang Liu, Chen Xiaoyun, the Fire-Winged Monkey, and Tang Wanyu attacked Bai Lei’s group, killing many of them.
• Tang Wanyu pinched Jiang Liu while he watched Chen Xiaoyun fight, and Jiang Liu’s instinctive power sent her flying.
• Jiang Liu pinned Bai Lei with Eight Steps of Trampling and crippled him by disrupting the vital energy inside his body.
• Jiang Liu questioned Bai Lei, learned the secrets of the Corpse Valley, and shattered him with Frost Nether Palm.

Jiang Liu killed the remaining Corpse Valley disciples and ordered the Fire-Winged Monkey to destroy their secret chamber. As he and his companions prepared to leave, a powerful, corpse-like figure rose from the ruins, apparently a Grandmaster-level Corpse Golem.

• Jiang Liu killed the remaining Corpse Valley disciples after learning everything he needed to know about Corpse Valley.
• Jiang Liu ordered the Fire-Winged Monkey to smash the secret chamber and destroy the corpses and Corpse Golems inside.
• Jiang Liu inspected the ruins but found nothing unusual, then started to leave with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun.
• The ruined chamber rumbled, and a pale, skeletal figure emerged from beneath it.
• Jiang Liu recognized the figure as a likely evolved Corpse Golem and sensed that it had reached the Grandmaster realm.

Jiang Liu, Chen Xiaoyun, and the Fire-Winged Monkey battled a powerful Corpse Golem, with Jiang Liu using Starfall to weaken its soul fire. As the fight continued, the Fire-Winged Monkey began comprehending a battle method, while Chen Xiaoyun used the encounter to hone her combat skills.

• The Corpse Golem attacked Jiang Liu and his companions, and the Fire-Winged Monkey struck it back with its staff.
• Chen Xiaoyun and Jiang Liu joined the assault, but the Corpse Golem blocked their attacks with its powerful body.
• Jiang Liu used Starfall against the Corpse Golem's Heaven's Gate Acupoint and weakened the sparks in its eyes.
• The Fire-Winged Monkey's repeated staff strikes began forming a pattern as it entered a state of insight and comprehended a battle method.
• Chen Xiaoyun kept attacking the Corpse Golem to improve her practical combat ability.

Jiang Liu, Chen Xiaoyun, and the Fire-Winged Monkey wore down a Grandmaster Realm Corpse Golem as Jiang Liu considered how souls might shape its evolving consciousness. The Corpse Golem’s soul fire went out, and Jiang Liu confirmed that it had been destroyed.

• Jiang Liu, Chen Xiaoyun, and the Fire-Winged Monkey attacked the slow Corpse Golem while avoiding its strikes.
• As the Corpse Golem prepared to fight desperately, Jiang Liu reflected on souls and suspected its consciousness had changed through its evolution.
• Jiang Liu reasoned that the Corpse Golem might become a major threat if Corpse Valley gained control of it.
• The trio continued attacking until the Corpse Golem’s aura weakened and its soul fire dimmed.
• After another quarter-hour, the Corpse Golem’s soul fire went out and icy primal qi storms formed around it.
• Jiang Liu concluded that the Grandmaster Realm Corpse Golem had been destroyed.

After defeating the Corpse Golem, Jiang Liu discovered a statue of King Chujiang that produced the Special Essence Particles used by Corpse Valley. When he probed the unbreakable statue with his Divine Sense, a voice suddenly cried out from inside it.

• Jiang Liu, Chen Xiaoyun, and the Fire-Winged Monkey recovered after working together to defeat the Corpse Golem while Tang Wanyu kept watch.
• Jiang Liu searched the collapsed secret chamber and found that a corner produced increasingly dense Special Essence Particles when he struck it.
• Jiang Liu uncovered a small statue resembling King Chujiang and realized it was producing the Essence Particles used by Corpse Valley's cultivation methods.
• Jiang Liu ordered the Fire-Winged Monkey to smash the statue, but its blow left it unharmed.
• Jiang Liu examined the statue with his Divine Sense, and a voice suddenly came from inside it.

Jiang Liu devoured the resentment-born soul inside the statue, learned how Corpse Valley’s special Essence Particles were made, and destroyed the statue before leaving with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun. Nearly ten days later, a tall figure searched the ruined site for the missing King Yama Statue but found no trace of it.

• Jiang Liu discovered and devoured the feeble soul body inside the statue, strengthening his Divine Sense and learning that the statue condensed resentment into special Essence Particles for Corpse Valley cultivators.
• Jiang Liu froze the statue, shattered it with Wind Attribute Qi, and leveled the damaged mountain range to hide the site.
• Jiang Liu left for Cloud City in Yunzhou with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun aboard the Fire-Winged Monkey.
• Nearly ten days later, a tall figure arrived, sensed for the King Yama Statue, and found no trace of it.
• The tall figure split the mountain range with a saber-shaped gale, searched the exposed area, and left without discovering what had happened.

Jiang Liu returned to Cloud City with Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun, who chose to stay at the Flowing Cloud Sect's residence. There, Elder Liuxing and Elder Yun Yue confirmed that neither sect would hold Jiang Liu's departure over the marriage alliance against him, then questioned the two Senior Sisters about leaving the Sect.

• After three days of flight, Jiang Liu, Tang Wanyu, and Chen Xiaoyun arrived at Cloud City, and the two women decided to stay at the Flowing Cloud Sect's residence rather than Jiang Liu's home.
• Qin Bailian greeted Jiang Liu outside the city and deferred a discussion until later when Jiang Liu said he was taking his Senior Sisters to the Sect's residence.
• Elder Liuxing and Elder Yun Yue welcomed the three into the council hall and asked Jiang Liu whether he had left the Sect without permission.
• Jiang Liu admitted he had acted rashly, and Elder Yun Yue said the Star Moon Sect would not pursue the matter; Elder Liuxing said the Flowing Cloud Sect had nothing more to say about it either.
• Elder Liuxing questioned Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun for leaving the Sect, and Chen Xiaoyun claimed they had only gone out for a stroll.

Jiang Liu returned to Yunzhou, reunited with Murong Yin, and helped the Gentle Rain Pavilion members with their cultivation questions. The chapter ended with him bringing Murong Yin and Feng Yue back to the mountainside residence, where Cuier and Xiao He welcomed him.

• Elder Liuxing told Tang Wanyu and Chen Xiaoyun that the Sect Master would not pursue their matter, and they suspected Jiang Liu had helped them.
• Jiang Liu left the Flowing Cloud Sect's residence and went to the Listening Wind Pavilion, where Murong Yin joyfully embraced him.
• Jiang Liu and Murong Yin went to the Gentle Rain Pavilion and answered its members' cultivation questions until sunset.
• Jiang Liu brought Murong Yin and Feng Yue back to the mountainside residence, where Cuier and Xiao He greeted him with delight.

Jiang Liu discussed Qin Bailian’s proposal to prolong the conflict in Xun Province and considered using the Dark Star Hall to exploit the warring alliances. He also decided to settle the Vast Righteous Sect in Xia County and have Qin Bailian help them integrate into Yun Province.

• Jiang Liu cultivated the Saintly Sky Art before meeting Qin Bailian over tea.
• Qin Bailian proposed using the Five Poisons Sect’s venomous creatures to secretly poison the five-clan alliance and blame the Lotus Sect’s alliance.
• Jiang Liu approved Qin Bailian’s proposal but privately planned to use the Dark Star Hall to take action against both alliances.
• Jiang Liu told Qin Bailian he planned to settle the Vast Righteous Sect in Xia County and asked him to help them settle in Yun Province.
• Jiang Liu explained that the Vast Righteous Sect’s two Grandmasters would strengthen their forces, reassuring Qin Bailian that he still trusted him.

Jiang Liu protected the Dark Star Hall’s secrecy, considered the Vast Righteous Sect’s slow relocation, and resumed cultivating. At the Martial Prohibition Hall, Lu Tianheng summoned his deputy commanders, learned that Mo Province was weakly defended, and decided to reclaim it first.

• Jiang Liu resolved to keep the Dark Star Hall hidden and relied on Murong Yin and Feng Yue’s growing control of its operations and intelligence network.
• Jiang Liu estimated that the Vast Righteous Sect’s relocation of commoners from Mo Province would take months, then resumed cultivating the Saintly Sky Art.
• Lu Tianheng appeared at the Martial Prohibition Hall headquarters and summoned the deputy commanders to discuss the loss of territory.
• Lu Tianheng questioned the deputy commanders about their failure to counterattack, then asked them to report conditions across the provinces and counties.
• Ming Chengyun reported that the Vast Righteous Sect had left Mo Province and that the Ji Family was its only remaining major power, with several of its Grandmasters away in Xun Province.
• Lu Tianheng decided that the Martial Prohibition Hall would take Mo Province first.

Lu Tianheng sent five Grandmasters to help Ming Chengyun reclaim Mo Province, while secretly hoping to use the ensuing war to hunt Grandmasters and advance his strange technique. The Five Great Clans' alliance sent reinforcements to the Ji Family, but its rivals watched for opportunities, leaving the coming conflict unresolved.

• Lu Tianheng ordered five Grandmasters to help Ming Chengyun reclaim Mo Province and looked forward to hunting Grandmasters for their qi and blood.
• The Martial Prohibition Hall assembled its forces in Serpent Prefecture, and Jianghu powers identified Mo Province as its target.
• The Five Great Clans' alliance and the Ghost School failed to agree on a response, so the Liu Family and Wang Family sent Grandmasters and warriors to reinforce the Ji Family.
• The Lotus Sect's alliance prepared to exploit the Ji Family's expected departure, but the Five Great Clans' alliance instead attacked its territory and inflicted losses.
• Flowing Cloud Matriarch and Gongsun Haoyue focused on Lu Tianheng's purpose, while Jiang Liu welcomed the attack on the Ji Family and felt safer in Yun Province.

Emperor Jiang Lan planned to secretly use the Confucian Sect and the National Preceptor's Mansion to destroy the Ji Family and provoke a war between the Three Sects and the Martial Prohibition Hall. He secured Jiang Zongquan's help, but Tian Zhu refused to cooperate, and Jiang Lan set his forces in motion while hoping to reunify Great Qian.

• Jiang Lan summoned Gongyang Zhuang and the National Preceptor's Mansion's four Grandmaster Protectors to plan the Ji Family's destruction and escalate the conflict with Lu Tianheng's Martial Prohibition Hall.
• Gongyang Zhuang and the four Protectors agreed to act secretly, and Jiang Lan told Jiang Zongquan to ensure the Ji Family was completely exterminated.
• Jiang Lan visited the imprisoned Tian Zhu and offered him a chance to serve, but Tian Zhu ignored him, so Jiang Lan left in anger.
• Jiang Lan ordered the Eunuch Bureau and other imperial forces to cooperate with the Confucian Sect and the National Preceptor's Mansion, confident that he could eventually restore Great Qian's unity.