Chapter Summaries

Xia Xingguang ordered the Azure Fox to gather forces to open the Stellar Tunnel while worrying about Xia Zimo. Xu Yi awoke after more than ten days in a haystack, discovered Xia Zimo had left him her Sumeru Ring and used pills to recover enough to stand, though he remained badly injured.

• Xia Xingguang ordered the Azure Fox to rush to the Starry River Channel and help open the Stellar Tunnel despite his warning.
• Xu Yi woke in a haystack after being unconscious for more than ten days and realized he was gravely wounded.
• Xu Yi found Xia Zimo's jade-green Sumeru Ring among the rings on his arm and suspected she had given him her supplies to save his life.
• Xu Yi swallowed ordinary pills, used Xia Zimo's Five-Element Formation Flags to break open several restricted rings, and found Top-grade pills.
• Xu Yi stored the rings in Xia Zimo's bracelet, took more Top-grade pills, and rose to see villages and fields nearby.

Xu Yi disguised himself as a traveling scholar and stopped at a thatched inn, where he pretended to be a helpless mark to avoid disrupting a gathering of armed travelers. He listened as the customers drank and talked, hoping to learn what news had spread about the battle at Azure Dragon Mountain.

• Xu Yi washed up, borrowed clothes from a village, and changed into the appearance of a scholar traveling to the imperial exam.
• Xu Yi reread Xia Zimo’s booklet of his poems and her expanded tales based on them.
• Xu Yi reached a crossroads inn and ate and drank lavishly after having gone hungry for half a month.
• A burly bearded man took Xu Yi’s gold coin, and Xu Yi pretended to stumble and fall when he tried to recover it.
• The inn filled with armed travelers, and Xu Yi listened as their drinking and conversation began to reveal the news he sought.

After the Azure Dragon Mountain battle shook the Great Yue Kingdom, Xu Yi learned that powerful clans were still searching for him and the Mysterious Monster. As he tried to leave without drawing attention, a bully tried to extort him, and Xu Yi finally struck back.

• News spread that Old Ancestor Wen, Jiang Baihou, and Great Yue Sword King Feng Xifeng had died at Azure Dragon Mountain, and the Son of Heaven suspended court for three days.
• Xu Yi overheard travelers say that the Seven Great Noble Clans and Eight Great Families were searching for the Mysterious Monster and Scar-faced Daoist, while the Seven Sects were also heading to Azure Dragon Mountain for their debate and talent selection.
• Xu Yi decided to return to the capital quickly, but the fat proprietor refused payment and the burly, fat man slapped him for trying to leave.
• The burly, fat man demanded four gold coins from Xu Yi and tried to drag him off his horse after taking them.
• Xu Yi lifted the burly, fat man and threw him to the ground, leaving him badly beaten and stunning the surrounding thugs.

Xu Yi tried to avoid drawing attention while a patrol force searched for bald or short-haired men, but a gang captured him and dragged him into the forest. The gang discovered his Sumeru Ring, leaving them stunned by the treasure they had found.

• Xu Yi used the burly man as a shield against hidden weapons, and the man’s wounded scolding stopped the gang’s attack.
• Xu Yi overheard that the Patrol Division was inspecting bald or short-haired men near Azure Dragon Mountain to hunt for him.
• Xu Yi let the burly man kick him from his horse, and the gang pinned him down until the white-robed official rode away.
• The burly man took Xu Yi to an old forest and ordered his men to tie him to a tree so he could be skinned alive.
• Qian Yi spotted Xu Yi’s Sumeru Ring, and the gang erupted in excitement at the discovery.

Xu Yi watched bandits slaughter one another over his Sumeru Ring, then reflected on how greed could distort a person. After Steward Sun arrived, Xu Yi demanded an explanation and learned that Sun still did not know his identity.

• Qian Yi stole Xu Yi's Sumeru Ring, but Tie Mouren killed him for it.
• Yang Er turned the bandits against Tie Mouren, and they killed him and fought over the ring until only a bald giant remained.
• The bald giant died holding the Sumeru Ring, while Xu Yi reflected on greed and reaffirmed his resolve to stay true to his purpose.
• Xu Yi tried to rub through his restraints, but Steward Sun emerged from the camphor grove and freed him from immediate danger.
• Xu Yi reproached Steward Sun for arriving late, and Sun asked him to reveal his identity as a Superior Officer.

Xu Yi used Steward Sun to evade scrutiny, hoping to reach a city and return to the Divine Capital quickly, but Steward Sun’s greed for the Sumeru Ring led him to recognize Xu Yi as the Scar-faced Daoist. Xu Yi broke free of his restraints, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Xu Yi secretly convinced Steward Sun that he was an injured Ministry of Punishment official and urged him to follow the kidnappers to a secluded place.
• Xu Yi decided against hiding in the mountains because he needed to return to the Divine Capital, check on Xia Zimo, and reach a Space Gate.
• Steward Sun revealed that he had been watching from the shadows and chose to steal Xu Yi’s Sumeru Ring instead of helping him.
• Steward Sun inspected the ring and discovered the mountain-like heaps of Sumeru Rings inside it, then recognized Xu Yi as the Scar-faced Daoist.
• Xu Yi snapped the leather cord binding him and freed himself while Steward Sun stared at him in terror.

Xu Yi captured Steward Sun after the steward tried to kill him, then killed him to protect his identity and contacted Lu Shanren for help. Lu Shanren arrived in the city and agreed to help conceal Xu Yi’s connection to the Scar-faced Daoist.

• Xu Yi forced Steward Sun to swear a Blood Oath, destroyed his dantian, and took him into the city as a hostage.
• Steward Sun helped Xu Yi pass through the city gates and led him to a communications office and an inn.
• Xu Yi killed Steward Sun, burned away his yin energy, and waited until night for Lu Shanren to arrive.
• Xu Yi explained that he had contacted Lu Shanren because Lu could recognize him as the Scar-faced Daoist and help disguise his identity.
• Lu Shanren accepted Xu Yi’s explanation that he had acted to repay a debt, then destroyed Steward Sun’s corpse to erase the evidence.

Lu Shanren helped Xu Yi plan how to hide his identity and gave him Blood Coagulating Pills before they returned to the capital. At Futuo Mountain, Yan Zi continued making blood weapons for Zimo Xuan, and Yuan Qinghua arrived to tell her there was no need to rush.

• Lu Shanren warned Xu Yi to change his appearance, conceal his techniques and cultivation, and avoid fighting, then gave him Blood Coagulating Pills to suppress his blood and Qi.
• Xu Yi gave Lu Shanren Mad Lion’s Sumeru Ring, and the two traveled through the Space Gate to the capital.
• Xu Yi and Lu Shanren rode into the capital, handed over their horses, and went their separate ways.
• Yan Zi continued forging blood weapons for Zimo Xuan while sewing a green robe during her rest.
• Yuan Qinghua visited Yan Zi and told her he had not come to collect weapons because Zimo Xuan could manage for now.

Yuan Qinghua persuaded Yan Zi to attend an important commerce gathering, while Xu Yi returned to Green Flat and recovered from his injuries. After visiting Zimo Xuan, Xu Yi learned that the shop was struggling and facing pressure from creditors.

• Yuan Qinghua convinced Yan Zi to represent Zimo Xuan at the Divine Capital Commerce Association gathering and took her down the mountain.
• Xu Yi returned to Green Flat, found the meal Yan Zi had prepared, and confirmed that his injuries had healed.
• Xu Yi reviewed his Sumeru Rings, then fell asleep and dreamed repeatedly of Xia Zimo.
• Xu Yi rode to Zimo Xuan and learned from Shopkeeper Luo that the shop had been buying blood weapons at a loss to keep business going.
• Shopkeeper Luo told Xu Yi that Delong Money House and another group had demanded the shop's account books and questioned its ability to repay its debts.

Xu Yi returned to Zimo Xuan and confronted Zong Er, Delong Money House’s deputy lending head, over the lender’s concerns about the shop’s business and unpaid loan. Xu Yi answered Zong Er’s doubts by producing five genuine Sumeru Rings, leaving him stunned.

• Xu Yi learned that Yan Zi was attending a social gathering with Yuan Qinghua, then followed Shopkeeper Luo to meet Zong Er, who was pressing Zimo Xuan about its loan.
• Zong Er questioned why the shop bought most of its blood weapons from outside suppliers without recording the costs, and Xu Yi explained that it was part of his business strategy.
• Zong Er cited Zimo Xuan’s failure to contribute a rare treasure worth at least one hundred thousand gold to the Merchant Alliance gathering as evidence that the shop might be in trouble.
• Xu Yi said Yuan Qinghua lacked authority to offer the shop’s treasures and claimed he had been away negotiating a major deal.
• Xu Yi placed five Sumeru Rings on the table, and Zong Er confirmed they were genuine and unusually valuable.

Xu Yi used stacks of Five Elements Array Flags to break the restriction on Old Ancestor Wen’s Sumeru Ring. He unlocked the other rings as well and discovered that he had gathered a mountain of treasure.

• Zong Er inspected five exceptional Sumeru Rings and left convinced that Zimo Xuan was a powerful shop.
• Shopkeeper Shen and Shopkeeper Luo gathered more than thirty ordinary Five Elements Array Flag sets for Xu Yi before the exchange meeting.
• Xu Yi repeatedly used the flags to weaken the restriction on Old Ancestor Wen’s bright silver Sumeru Ring.
• Xu Yi combined six sets of flags at a time, used his blood to weaken the ring’s barrier, and finally tore it open.
• Xu Yi used his top-grade flags to break the restrictions on the other Sumeru Rings and claimed their contents.

Xu Yi sorted the spoils from his battles, reorganized his treasures, and arranged for Yuan Qinghua to deliver a Sumeru Ring. As Xu Yi prepared to study his cultivation insights, Brother Li arrived in person to find him.

• Xu Yi counted and sorted the gold, pills, artifacts, cultivation booklets, and other spoils, choosing Old Ancestor Wen's Sumeru Ring as his main ring.
• Xu Yi offered Shopkeeper Luo and Shopkeeper Shen a valuable Sumeru Ring to deliver, and both hesitated to accept the task.
• Yuan Qinghua arrived, took the ring for delivery, and told Xu Yi that he had already sent someone to take Xiao Yan to the arriving guests.
• Xu Yi dismissed Shopkeeper Luo and Shopkeeper Shen and was about to enter the underground chamber when Brother Li came looking for him.
• Xu Yi led Brother Li into a side room and asked why he had come in person instead of sending a message.

Li Xiuluo visited Xu Yi to thank him for killing Old Ancestor Wen and revealed the Ghost Master's plan to raid the Great Yue Royal Court's ancestral tombs. He asked Xu Yi to help obtain a Thousand Machine Formation at the gathering, leaving Xu Yi weighing the costly offer.

• Li Xiuluo knelt before Xu Yi and thanked him for avenging his wife by killing Old Ancestor Wen at Azure Dragon Mountain.
• Li Xiuluo told Xu Yi that the Ghost Master wanted to break into the Great Yue Royal Court's ancestral tombs, where the final three layers of the Undefeated Golden Body might be hidden.
• Li Xiuluo explained that the Ghost Master had planned to use Heavenly Thunder Pearls with Marquis Wu Cheng, but changed course after Marquis Wu Cheng died.
• Li Xiuluo revealed that the Ghost Master wanted the formation flags and manual for the Thousand Machine Formation being offered at the gathering.
• Xu Yi asked the price, and Li Xiuluo said the starting bid was three hundred thousand gold and the final price would likely be higher.

Xu Yi accepted the Ghost Master’s partnership offer and received a Spirit Concealing Pill that changed how others sensed him. Li Xiuluo then revealed that Taiyin Liquid would be sold at the gathering and that the Ghost Master had news of Essence of Earth Fire, while explaining the basics of cultivation toward the Liquid Condensation Realm.

• Xu Yi agreed to cooperate with the Ghost Master, and Li Xiuluo gave him a Spirit Concealing Pill to hide his identity.
• Xu Yi swallowed the pill, circulated his blood and qi as instructed, and saw that his bearing had changed.
• Li Xiuluo told Xu Yi that Taiyin Liquid would be sold at the gathering and explained that the Ghost Master had noticed Xu Yi’s damaged but extraordinary Yin soul.
• Li Xiuluo revealed that the Ghost Master had news of Essence of Earth Fire, but Xu Yi admitted he knew little about cultivation beyond Qi Sea.
• Li Xiuluo explained how malice was used to temper the organs in the Liquid Condensation Realm and introduced Astral Malice as another kind besides Soldier Malice.

Li Xiuluo advised Xu Yi to pursue the Essence of Earth Fire and prepare carefully before attempting to condense astral malice, then gave him a map and invitations to the Divine Capital Merchant Alliance Soiree. At the soiree, Yan Zi met Chen Qingshui, who was surprised to learn she represented Zimo Xuan.

• Li Xiuluo explained the risks of condensing astral malice and urged Xu Yi to consider the Fire Malice of the Five Elements.
• Xu Yi thanked Li Xiuluo, who handed him a map to the Essence of Earth Fire and two invitations to the soiree.
• Xu Yi and Yan Zi arrived at the Hall of Ten Thousand Nations, where Yan Zi was awed by its lavish splendor.
• Chen Qingshui sat with Yan Zi, shared pastries and wine, and introduced herself as a guest whose fiancé had left her alone.
• Chen Qingshui jumped up in surprise when Yan Zi said she was representing Zimo Xuan.

Yan Zi attended the Divine Capital gathering on behalf of Zimo Xuan, where Chen Qingshui befriended her and teased her about her feelings for Xu Yi. The charity auction revealed that merchants were expected to bid on palace keepsakes, leaving Yan Zi to consider the consequences of making no purchase.

• Chen Qingshui asked Yan Zi about Xu Yi and teased her after Yan Zi praised him and blushed.
• Yan Zi went to hear Marquis Anqing speak, then found herself surrounded by men eager to meet her.
• Chen Qingshui pulled Yan Zi from the crowd and accompanied her around the gathering.
• The host opened a charity auction featuring ordinary objects associated with members of the imperial family.
• Chen Qingshui warned Yan Zi that Zimo Xuan could face trouble if it failed to win a bid.

Yan Zi attended the capital’s charity auction with Chen Qingshui, then got caught in a staged dispute over shattered lamps that exposed her connection to Xu Yi. Chen Qingshui revealed herself as Shui Qingchen, the surviving Shui family woman who had escaped Xu Yi before and had now tricked Yan Zi into giving away information.

• Yan Zi spent nearly all her money winning Consort Su Huifei’s silver comb at the charity auction, then stayed with Chen Qingshui to browse the exhibition.
• Yan Zi touched the Hundred Refinements Sect’s nine-dragon glazed lamps, which shattered, and the hawk-nosed exhibitor demanded eight thousand gold in compensation.
• Chen Qingshui offered to lend Yan Zi the money and asked her what poems Xu Yi had been studying, prompting Yan Zi to question her motives.
• Chen Qingshui teased Yan Zi about not seeing Xu Yi lately, and Yan Zi’s reaction revealed that she had not seen her young master in some time.
• Chen Qingshui revealed that she was Shui Qingchen, who had escaped Xu Yi during the raid on the Shui family ancestral home and later entered the Wen household.

Shui Qingchen used Yan Zi’s reaction to confirm her suspicion that Xu Yi was the Scar-faced Daoist. When Xu Yi appeared to rescue Yan Zi, Shui Qingchen recognized him and became convinced of his identity.

• Shui Qingchen recalled how the Wen family’s disasters had ruined her plans and how reports of the Scar-faced Daoist led her to suspect he was Xu Yi.
• At the gathering, Shui Qingchen questioned Yan Zi about Xu Yi and inferred from Yan Zi’s reaction that he had been away for some time.
• Yan Zi tried to leave, but an aquiline-nosed young man blocked her over the broken colored-glass lamp, and Shui Qingchen then stopped her as well.
• Yan Zi struck the aquiline-nosed young man and attacked Shui Qingchen, who caught her arm and moved to destroy her dantian.
• A blue-robed scholar appeared beside Yan Zi, and Shui Qingchen recognized him as Xu Yi and concluded that he was the Scar-faced Daoist.

Xu Yi found Shui Qingchen at the Hall of Ten Thousand Nations and confronted the men who had targeted Yan Zi. When Master Niu tried to extort him and block his way, Xu Yi crushed his foot and continued onward.

• Shui Qingchen recognized Xu Yi and entered the crowd, hoping to exploit his feud with the Wen family.
• Yan Zi warned Xu Yi that Shui Qingchen had deceived and pressured her, and Xu Yi told Yan Zi to relax and enjoy the gathering.
• Xu Yi questioned Haidongqing about Yan Zi’s supposed damage and learned he was demanding an inflated admission fee.
• Master Niu arrived, backed Haidongqing’s demands, and ordered Xu Yi to pay a hundred thousand gold.
• Xu Yi refused to avoid a scene, walked past Master Niu, and crushed the front half of his foot.

Master Niu’s failed attempt to control Xu Yi’s disruption embarrassed Marquis Anqing’s gathering, while Shui Qingchen hurried away to claim her reward and pursue revenge. A lecherous young master intercepted her and took her into a private room.

• Master Niu had the shrieking hawk-nosed young man gagged and dragged away as Marquis Anqing restored order at the gathering.
• Master Niu blamed Xu Yi and the Hundred Refinements Sect, and Marquis Anqing demanded to know who had disrespected him.
• Shui Qingchen hurried through the crowd, hoping to reach the Wen household and claim her reward.
• A brocade-robed young master stopped Shui Qingchen, flirted with her, and led her to a private room.
• The brocade-robed young master shut the door, picked Shui Qingchen up, and tossed her onto the bed.