Chapter Summaries

As gunfire and fighting erupted outside, Li Ying transformed into a feral, catlike creature, and Qian Yuya beat her until she regained consciousness. Qian Yuya concluded that immortal blood, the Spirit Condensing Pill, and Sea Wave Powder had caused the outbreak and declared Flame Capital finished.

• Li Ying and the others heard gunfire outside and worried that the National Salvation and Relief Society was attacking, but stayed inside to obey Sister Nai’s orders.
• While Lin Xue, Qian Yuya, and Kui Nianruo played Peerless Kill, Li Ying transformed into a catlike beast and begged them to stop her.
• Qian Yuya punched Li Ying into the ground and kept beating her until Lin Xue noticed that Li Ying had regained consciousness.
• Qian Yuya listened to the fighting outside, heard beastly roars and screams, then barricaded the door with a bench.
• Qian Yuya blamed the crisis on immortal blood, the Spirit Condensing Pill, and Sea Wave Powder, and said Flame Capital was finished.

Lan Yan entered Nanming Pass alone and persuaded Tong Xuanye that he intended to help defeat Blood Source Army and foil a National Salvation and Relief Society plot. Tong revealed that another visitor had offered a similar plan, and Lan Yan recognized him as the wanted White Night rebel Gao Jin.

• Lan Yan entered Nanming Pass under armed guard and met its commander, Tong Xuanye.
• Over wine, Lan Yan claimed the National Salvation and Relief Society had allied Coastal Army with Blood Source Army and planted an agent to open the pass gates.
• Lan Yan proposed that Nanming Pass keep the gates shut during a night attack while Coastal Army trapped Blood Source Army from behind.
• Lan Yan offered to help restore the court’s control over Azure District after Blood Source Army’s defeat, while insisting the court appoint its administrator.
• Tong Xuanye revealed that another guest had proposed the same plan with a different outcome, then called in Gao Jin.
• Lan Yan identified Gao Jin as a wanted White Night rebel accused of murdering his teacher and conspiring in his father’s assassination.

Lan Yan and Lin Linlin faced Gao Jin’s trap in Nanming Pass, but Lan Yan had arranged a second move that triggered a mass mutation among the defenders. As Yin Guyue’s night-raiding squad entered the pass amid the chaos, Yin Guyue wondered when Lan Yan would die so he could take his place.

• Yin Guyue led soldiers toward Nanming Pass while its defenders prepared an ambush, and Lan Yan faced Gao Jin and Tong Xuanye inside the pass.
• Gao Jin exposed Lin Linlin as the Assassin Leader and revealed that he expected Lan Yan’s spies to open the gates, only for that plan to be part of a larger trap involving gun wielders and white-coated officers.
• Gao Jin explained that he had anticipated Lan Yan’s second move: drawing Nanming Pass’s gun wielders away from the walls so Yin Guyue’s troops could launch a night raid.
• The officers inside the hall began mutating into beasts and attacking one another, while Lan Yan and Lin Linlin armed themselves and prepared to fight.
• Yin Guyue’s squad crossed the walls and cut down the guards as Nanming Pass descended into slaughter, and Yin Guyue wondered when Lan Yan would die so he could replace him.

Le Yu uncovered how the National Salvation and Relief Society’s Sea Wave Powder had enabled a plan to transform martial artists and open the way for five armies to attack Flame Capital. He chose to risk seizing the Holy Sword Huiyao, but Cha Shiyin appeared first and took it, revealing himself as the Shiyin Progenitor.

• Le Yu learned that Sea Wave Powder contained Weixiao’s demonic blood and Immortal Blood from the Blood Essence Stones, allowing Weixiao to trigger transformations with Furious Roar.
• Le Yu realized that Sea Wave Powder had spread among martial artists and soldiers at Beichen Pass and Nanming Pass, while five outer-region armies planned to march on Flame Capital.
• Le Yu rejected plans that risked losing his personality or placing him under the president’s control, and crawled toward the underground hall to seize the Holy Sword Huiyao.
• The president completed the Holy Sword Huiyao while Le Yu prepared to rush in and take it.
• Cha Shiyin took the Holy Sword Huiyao, and the president recognized him as the Shiyin Progenitor; Cha Shiyin called the president his second brother’s unfilial descendant.

Weixiao fought Cha Huan, Yu Ke, and Xie Chenyuan while Radiance teetered on the brink of collapse, but Cha Huan used himself as bait to spring a counterattack. In the underground hall, Ming Jiejin revealed that he led the Necromancer Cult and was the pope known as Visage Saint Häagen-Dazs.

• Weixiao endured the Pillars' coordinated assault, and Xie Chenyuan refused to retreat, saying he was willing to risk his life to kill the Demon Emperor.
• Weixiao told Cha Huan that Radiance's border passes had fallen and Yan Capital was crippled by demonic transformation, but Cha Huan declared his love for Radiance and continued fighting.
• Weixiao spotted a break in the Pillars' rhythm and attacked Cha Huan, who used himself as bait while Yu Ke and Xie Chenyuan struck at Weixiao's back.
• The Chairman confronted Cha Shiyin in the underground hall and identified him as the architect of the Demonic Blood Transformation plan.
• Ming Jiejin revealed that he was the Häagen-Dazs Family patriarch and the 422nd pope of the Necromancer Cult.

Ming Jiejin explained how the Book of the Dead’s power had built the Western Continent’s civilization while draining the vitality of the living and shortening the lives of popes. He revealed that he had spent years maneuvering in Radiance to find Cha Shiyin, then demanded Cha Shiyin’s “Undying Heart.”

• Ming Jiejin told Cha Shiyin that invading Radiance had been abandoned and that he had pursued another route to his ultimate goal.
• Ming Jiejin explained that the Necromancer Cult’s resurrected laborers had hollowed out their human controllers and drained the vitality of the Western Continent’s population.
• Ming Jiejin revealed that the souls of vanished necromancers fed Mental Power back into the Book of the Dead, killing popes young while tempting them with the promise of becoming gods.
• Ming Jiejin confessed that he had founded the National Salvation and Relief Society, allied with the Barbarians, plotted against the emperor, and interfered in the Sword Quest for Succession to reach Cha Shiyin.
• Ming Jiejin unleashed the aura of countless Resentful Spirits and asked Cha Shiyin to give him his “Undying Heart.”

Ming Jiejin warned Cha Shiyin that the Necromancer Cult would eventually wage war on Radiance to obtain the Undying Heart. He explained that the Absolute Divine Weapons trapped their wielders on a dead end, leaving Cha Shiyin visibly sorrowful.

• Ming Jiejin praised the Absolute Divine Weapons and argued that Shiyin Progenitor had been clever to pursue life in reality rather than immortality through history.
• Ming Jiejin described how the Western Continent’s navigation advances and expansion across new continents gave the Seven Nations Alliance growing resources and power.
• Ming Jiejin predicted that the Necromancer Cult would use its expanding population and resources to attack Radiance once Radiance’s civil war ended.
• Ming Jiejin said every necromancer pope would pursue the Undying Heart and that the cult would never stop fighting Radiance until it obtained it.
• Cha Shiyin threatened to kill Ming Jiejin and seize the Book of the Dead, but Ming Jiejin warned that the book would return to the pope’s designated successor.
• Ming Jiejin told Cha Shiyin that Absolute Divine Weapons forced their wielders onto a dead end, and Cha Shiyin responded with sorrow.

Ming Jiejin explained how the Undying Heart had trapped Cha Shiyin in an endless struggle to keep living, but Cha Shiyin said his goal was to cross ten thousand Tribulations. Their conversation turned into a battle, while Le Yu realized Cha Shiyin wanted him to rescue the unconscious sword sheaths.

• Ming Jiejin described Cha Shiyin’s three stages of immortality, from exploring the world to losing interest in everything beyond his reach.
• Cha Shiyin revealed that he faced 197 Tribulations and aimed to cross ten thousand of them to make one thought eternal.
• Ming Jiejin offered to take the Undying Heart, but Cha Shiyin refused and drew Holy Sword Huiyao to fight him.
• Ming Jiejin unleashed Evil Spirit Ghost Domain and attacked Cha Shiyin, who was battered but said he could outlast his opponent because he could not die.
• Cha Shiyin glanced toward Le Yu and led the fight away, and Le Yu understood the signal and carried the seven unconscious sword sheaths out of the underground hall.

Le Yu rescued Ning Xinyuan and Nieruo from the battle and left them beneath streetlamps to recover, then returned to the underground hall and discovered Sihis had killed Qian Mian and taken the diamond from his chest. He attacked her with Wuzhiqi’s power, but her crescent blades shattered his domain and wounded him, leaving him facing an opponent whose strength and weapons he could not match.

• Le Yu carried Ning Xinyuan and Nieruo away in their stone coffins and placed them beneath streetlamps so they could recover.
• Le Yu realized Wuzhiqi’s hatred of humans prevented him from carrying Ning Xinyuan in his arms and decided he needed to regain his human form.
• Le Yu returned to the underground hall and found that Sihis had slit Qian Mian’s throat, cut open his chest, and taken a brilliant diamond while his heart was missing.
• Le Yu attacked Sihis with the Blood-Drinking Eight Rice Flow Step, Water Moon Combat Arts Ring, and Divine Ability, but her crescent blades emitted light that broke his domain.
• Sihis struck Le Yu with surging ripples from her crescent blades, leaving bloody gashes across his chest as he struggled to control Wuzhiqi’s body.

Le Yu and Sihis fought over the Water of Variants after Sihis tossed it into an underground river, while she explained why the Naga wanted Smile and the humans to weaken each other. As Le Yu and Sihis remained locked in battle, the other survivors began to stir, and 'Qin Leyin' opened his eyes.

• Le Yu accused Sihis of seeking the Water of Variants rather than avenging Hanuman, and Sihis explained the value of her Hydra Arc Blades.
• Sihis tossed the Water of Variants into an underground river, then fought off Le Yu as he attacked her.
• Sihis revealed that Smile was being overwhelmed by three Martial Pillars, Cha Huan, Yu Ke, and Xie Chenyuan, and said the Naga would let the humans and Smile weaken each other.
• Le Yu and Sihis argued over the Naga's plans and fought over the Water of Variants and the scabbards containing Divine Weapons.
• As Le Yu and Sihis continued fighting, Mietangya, Cai Nü, and Feng Lü began to stir, and 'Qin Leyin' opened his eyes.

Ning Xinyuan drifted through visions of past violence while chasing a butterfly, then woke badly injured beside Ming Chaoyan and Ming Shuangli. As a crash sounded from the courtyard, she noticed blood on her gun and wondered whether it belonged to Qin Leyin, the savage, or both.

• Ning Xinyuan chased a butterfly through a river and saw visions of a train, a white-haired assassin, and brothers fighting in a mourning hall.
• Ning Xinyuan followed a red-haired figure's life and death across the lake before catching the butterfly, which spoke to her.
• Ning Xinyuan woke holding Ming Chaoyan's hand and realized her broken ribs had pierced her internal organs.
• Ming Chaoyan told Ning Xinyuan that she and Ming Shuangli had found her and Nieruo in roadside coffins while the others searched for their scabbards.
• Ning Xinyuan urged Ming Chaoyan to call the others back after hearing a crash from the courtyard, but Ming Chaoyan refused to leave her.
• Ning Xinyuan saw blood on the Overlord Butterfly Long Gun and wondered whether it came from Qin Leyin, the savage, or both.

Le Yu defeated Sihis with help from Mietangya and Fenglu, then carried the injured Qin Leyin away to confront Wuzhiqi, who was trapped inside Qin Leyin’s body. Le Yu forced Wuzhiqi to stab him with the Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword, killing Wuzhiqi, and was left wondering why he could keep living when Wuzhiqi had to die.

• Sihis tried to seize Mietangya from his stone coffin, but Mietangya struck back and gave Le Yu an opening to attack.
• Fenglu pinned Sihis’s wrist with his body, allowing Le Yu to wound her; Le Yu then crushed Sihis’s throat and killed her.
• Fenglu asked Ming Qingyun to trust Wuzhiqi and explained that his bond with her was his own choice, even as he prepared to die from his injuries.
• Le Yu suddenly carried Qin Leyin away from the underground hall, leaving Ming Shuiyun and the others unable to stop him.
• In a secluded place, Le Yu forced Wuzhiqi, trapped in Qin Leyin’s body, to drive the Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword through Le Yu’s throat, killing Wuzhiqi.
• After healing his injuries with the sword’s stolen life force, Le Yu watched Wuzhiqi’s corpse and admitted that he was still searching for a reason he could live while Wuzhiqi had to die.

Crane Tear defeated Sasa Jue Luo but suffered devastating internal injuries, reflecting on the ambition he had abandoned before dying with a curse for Cha Huan. Meanwhile, Cha Huan, Yu Ke, and Xie Chenyuan continued attacking the strangely passive Smile and realized they were growing tired.

• Crane Tear used his Myriad Forms Combat Arts to kill Sasa Jue Luo, taking two sword wounds in the process.
• Crane Tear treated his injuries and regretted letting fame, comfort, and wasted years wear away his ambitions.
• Crane Tear called for Sima Huo to save him, then used his final strength to curse Cha Huan.
• Cha Huan turned at the feeling that someone was calling him, while Yu Ke joked with him and Xie Chenyuan reminded them that the Demon Emperor was still alive.
• Cha Huan, Yu Ke, and Xie Chenyuan kept attacking Smile as it defended without retaliating, until they realized they were tired.

Cha Huan, Xie Chenyuan, and Yu Ke kept Smiling pinned down, but Smiling chose to save Shi Pantou rather than escape. After Shi Pantou fled with the Blood Essence Stone, Smiling gave his vitality and spiritual energy to the stone and died.

• Cha Huan paused to recover while Smiling mocked the exhausted humans and claimed they could not outlast him.
• Cui Yan arrived and reported that he had killed Mo Yu after Mo Yu attacked him, then Xie Chenyuan ordered him to find Bai Letian and kill the Grass Barbarian.
• Smiling stopped Cui Yan because he could not let him go kill Shi Pantou, and admitted that protecting his disciple meant abandoning his chance to escape.
• Smiling sent the Blood Essence Stone to Shi Pantou, who escaped Yanjing past Bai Letian and carried the stone back toward the tribe.
• Smiling returned his vitality and spiritual energy to the Blood Essence Stone, then withered into ash as Cha Huan and the others watched.

Qin Yueshi realized that Qin Leyin had changed dramatically and questioned whether Qin Yueyang knew why, but a terrifying soul army interrupted them. The Underworld Emperor Ming Jiejin continued pursuing Cha Shiyin, who faced him with the Holy Sword Huiyao and little hope of victory.

• Qin Yueshi criticized Qin Yueyang for paying the servants too much, and the siblings discussed the beast mutations, immortal blood, and Qin Leyin’s choices.
• Qin Yueshi pointed out how much Qin Leyin’s behavior had changed and asked what Qin Yueyang really was, but Qin Yueyang suddenly carried her out of the collapsing hall.
• A soul army passed through the Qin residence in pursuit of a fugitive, and Qin Yueshi identified its procession as belonging to the Underworld Emperor from the Book of the Dead.
• Ming Jiejin caught up with Cha Shiyin and warned that the Book of the Dead’s accumulated undead could overwhelm him even without the Holy Sword’s power.

Ming Jiejin trapped Cha Shiyin and tried to use a copied Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword to take the Undying Heart, but Cha Shiyin and the Huiyao Four Guards turned the imperial cannon against them. Ming Jiejin died after recognizing that Cha Shiyin had resisted the Undying Heart’s curse, leaving Cha Shiyin alone at dawn with the knowledge that the curse made life worse than death.

• Ming Jiejin trapped Cha Shiyin in an abyss of undead and prepared to drain the Undying Heart with a Divine Sub-Armament copying the Soul-Cleansing Demonic Sword.
• Ming Jiejin stabbed Cha Shiyin’s chest, but Cha Shiyin embraced him with newly regenerated arms as the Radiant Stone Concentrated Main Cannon fired at them.
• Cha Shiyin survived the blast and recovered the Holy Sword Huiyao, while Ming Jiejin lay mortally wounded in the crater on Sheyang Street.
• Ming Jiejin realized Cha Shiyin had waited for him to take the Undying Heart and had resisted its influence, then warned him that the curse made life worse than death.
• Cha Shiyin closed Ming Jiejin’s eyes and watched dawn break over Flame Capital.

After the demonic transformation ended, the girls crossed a devastated Yan Capital and learned that warlords might soon threaten the city. At the Imperial Academy, they found Le Yu badly injured and learned he was refusing medical care while others needed it more.

• Li Ying worried about her face, accepted a pistol, and agreed to learn Inner Scenery Combat Arts as Qian Yuya warned that troubled times were coming.
• Qin Yueshi drove the girls through streets filled with corpses and wounded people, and explained that Feathered Forest Commander Su Su had died amid the conflict with her family.
• Lin Xue told Kui Nianruo that outer-district warlords might plunge Yan Capital into chaos, while Qian Yuya said they could arrive within a month or sooner.
• At the Imperial Academy, Wei Weiwei said classes were suspended for a month and directed the girls to Vice Principal Qin, while hinting that Hong Le had joined their side.
• The girls found Le Yu bloodied and badly injured in the Platinum Tower; he refused to seek a physician because the wounded needed medical care more, and Qian Yuya asked whether the principal was still alive.

Le Yu told the girls that Smile had nearly defeated the Martial Pillars and that armies from the outer districts were advancing on Flame Capital. With the city likely to fall, he arranged for the group to flee downriver to Dongyang, but Shuiyun had not yet arrived.

• Le Yu explained that Smile had threatened to kill a Martial Pillar and that the outer-district armies had breached Beichen Pass and Nanming Pass.
• Le Yu named the armies advancing on Flame Capital, while Lin Xue explained that their commanders could claim they were coming to rescue the emperor and purge traitors.
• Qin Yueshi urged the group to focus on protecting themselves, and Qian Yuya concluded that they should leave.
• Qin Yueshi and the others noticed that the woman in Le Yu's painting had turned nearly toward them and found blood on its frame, exposing his attempt to alter it.
• Le Yu said Yueyang was preparing a ship and that they would take Shuiyun with them, then wondered why she had not come to meet him.

Ming Shuiyun and her six sisters attended a meeting with Cha Shiyin, the Empress Dowager, and the court ministers as rebel forces closed in on Yanjing. Cha Shiyin asked whether they had chosen the sacrifice required for the Holy Sword Huiyao, leaving the Sword-Wielding Lineage's response unresolved.

• Ming Shuiyun entered the White Box Library and found her six sisters gathered in the director's office with Cha Huan, Ling Jiangli, and the Empress Dowager of Radiance, Ning Yulian.
• Cha Shiyin sat behind the director's desk with the Holy Sword Huiyao and told the sisters they were qualified to remain seated.
• Ling Jiangli reported that Nanming Pass and Beichen Pass had fallen and that rebel forces were advancing toward Yanjing.
• Ning Yulian and the Cabinet Ministers asked the Sword-Wielding Lineage to save Yanjing from the coming rebel attack.
• Cha Shiyin said that even if he agreed to help, they first had to choose the sacrifice for the Holy Sword Huiyao.

The Empress Dowager and court officials discussed Ming Shuangli as a possible Supreme, then pleaded with Cha Shiyin to cancel the Holy Sword’s vacancy and save Flame Capital. After Cha Shiyin condemned the court and Cha Huan and Ling Jiangli argued over how Radiance’s failures could be addressed, the Empress Dowager admitted the imperial family’s guilt but renewed her desperate plea.

• The Empress Dowager proposed Twin Carp Palace as a Supreme candidate, and Ling Jiangli, Cha Huan, and the Empress Dowager praised Ming Shuangli’s qualities.
• Cha Shiyin asked how the imperial family intended to persuade him to cancel the Holy Sword’s vacancy, and revealed that doing so would cost his life.
• Cha Shiyin denounced the court for Radiance’s collapse, while Ling Jiangli defended the court and described the causes of the nation’s decline.
• Cha Huan challenged Ling Jiangli to punish powerful landlords and reform the court, and Ling Jiangli argued that harsh killing would worsen governance.
• The Empress Dowager and Ling Jiangli acknowledged the imperial family’s and court’s failures, then the Empress Dowager begged Cha Shiyin to bring out Huiyao to save Flame Capital.