Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian used his control over the dream to conceal the Divine Envoy’s departure and make Asao Sakura believe she had fallen asleep over tea. After Asao Sakura left, the Divine Envoy’s presence faded, and Fu Qian told Su Gao that the tea was harmless but something was wrong with him.

• Fu Qian concluded that the Divine Envoy had not noticed the dream changing and planned to let her leave without revealing his abilities.
• Fu Qian altered the dream so Asao Sakura appeared to brew and serve tea, then criticized her tea-making by comparing her to Hayami Suzune.
• Asao Sakura fell asleep when Fu Qian triggered the dream’s release condition, then woke to find Dancy Crawford wearing a mask and accused him of drugging her.
• Fu Qian denied putting anything in the tea, and Asao Sakura left after telling him to consider her earlier words.
• The Divine Envoy’s presence faded as Asao Sakura departed, and Fu Qian assured Su Gao that the tea was harmless before telling him something was wrong with him.

Fu Qian and Su Gao identified the unseen visitor as an An Jing Divine Envoy and discussed Su Gao’s ability, Echoes. Fu Qian decided to leave Leaf Island with Su Gao, then entered the Warehouse to prepare for a possible attack.

• Fu Qian explained that a hidden Divine Envoy had been sitting beside Su Gao and described her obscuring methods.
• Su Gao revealed that her ability, Echoes, instinctively adapted her attacks and defenses to her target.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao discussed Crow Feather and the possibility that he belonged to the Native Council.
• Fu Qian decided they should leave rather than risk exposing Su Gao by approaching the local Night Watchers.
• Fu Qian entered the Warehouse to retrieve equipment and prepare for the Divine Envoy’s attack, where he encountered a leakage warning for Divine Seal, Number 3-0129.

Fu Qian entered Containment Scene 3-0129, where the Kamakura Family’s Severing Divine Seal had begun spiraling out of control. He found a mangled corpse in an underground tomb and disguised himself just as an Academy investigation team arrived, leaving his identity and the cause of the death unresolved.

• Fu Qian accepted the recontainment mission and entered Scene 3-0129 without restrictions on his abilities or items.
• Fu Qian found himself in an underground tomb beside a shattered statue and a corpse covered in wounds, with blood still flowing from its body.
• Fu Qian picked up a hollow, cracked-looking blade beside the corpse and heard people trying to open the stone door.
• Fu Qian changed his appearance to conceal his identity as the stone door opened and three people entered.
• Jian Jingzheng arrived with an unfamiliar demigod and a wounded Kamakura Family member, who demanded to know what had happened.
• The Old Man noticed Fu Qian was a demigod and asked him about it.

Fu Qian posed as the supposedly dead swordsman Yun and claimed that facing death had carried him across the path to demigodhood. After meeting Cas of the Academy of Revelation, he revealed his grudge against Fu Qian and threatened to repay him for granting him death.

• Fu Qian introduced himself as Yun, and a Kamakura Family member recognized him despite believing he had died.
• Fu Qian said the dead man had already been dead when he arrived, then handed the Kamakura Family member the hollowed-out greatsword.
• Fu Qian dismissed Jian Jingzheng and praised Li Weixuan, while Cas introduced himself as the head of the Academy of Revelation.
• Fu Qian asked Cas about Fu Qian, and Cas explained that Professor Fu had left the Academy after a minor mishap.
• Fu Qian touched his neck and said he would return the gift of death to Fu Qian; Cas offered to pass along his regards.

After Cas confirmed that Kamakura Keiji’s grandfather had died from the family’s loss of control, he invited Fu Qian to help investigate the Kamakura family’s Divine Seal. The group returned from the underground structure, where Kamakura Mi thanked Fu Qian and Fu Qian spotted Ji Liushuang among the investigators.

• Kamakura Keiji identified his grandfather’s body, and Cas used black flames to confirm that the old man’s death came from his condition rather than a struggle.
• Cas invited Fu Qian to advise the Kamakura family about their out-of-control Curse Swordsmanship, and Fu Qian accepted as his mission updated to investigate the Divine Seal’s loss of control.
• Fu Qian, Cas, Jian Jingzheng, and Kamakura Keiji left the underground chamber and returned outside with the old man’s body.
• Kamakura Keiji told Kamakura Mi that Fu Qian was alive, had advanced to demigod, and had been cleared by Cas.
• Kamakura Mi thanked Fu Qian, who noticed Ji Liushuang among the elite investigators waiting nearby.

Fu Qian and the investigation team arrived at the Kamakura Family’s guarded site, where Ni Huayuan challenged Cas’s findings and questioned Fu Qian’s actions. Their dispute exposed a rift within the academy, and the chapter ended when a Sword Participation Institute instructor called them back to the investigation.

• Fu Qian noticed Ji Liushuang had improved, while Kamakura Mi kept her clan from reacting to Ni Huayuan’s pointed questions.
• Ni Huayuan asked Fu Qian why he had gone to the guarded site, but Fu Qian refused to answer and Ni Huayuan turned his challenge toward Cas.
• Cas affirmed that Fu Qian was innocent and mocked Ni Huayuan’s Spirit Ash Institute, prompting Ni Huayuan to demand that Fu Qian be handed over.
• Jian Jingzheng explained that Cas had found no signs of supernatural power at the scene, and Cas invited Ni Huayuan to check again.
• Fu Qian recalled that the academy knew he had killed Ian and worried that Lanaia was facing trouble, while a Sword Participation Institute instructor urged the team to begin the investigation.

Ni Huayuan used the dead Kamakura elder’s blood to reveal a fading image of his final moments, supporting the view that Yun had not killed him. Fu Qian joined the investigation at the Kamakura estate, where Cas asked about the family’s curse before Kamakura Mi reported another collapse.

• Ni Huayuan examined the corpse and made its blood form a brief image of the elder collapsing without visible external injuries.
• A female mentor concluded that Yun did not appear responsible, and Kamakura Mi agreed to return to the estate with the investigators.
• Fu Qian followed the group to the Kamakura estate and noticed bloodstains on many of the family’s transcendent practitioners.
• Cas asked Fu Qian what might be causing the Kamakura family’s power to turn against them, and Fu Qian said he could not be sure.
• Kamakura Mi hurried over and told Cas that someone else had collapsed.

Fu Qian and the others examined Kamakura Shinji as his body suffered the same mysterious wounds linked to the Kamakura Family’s cursed swordsmanship. After Shinji revealed he had only been calming his mind and watching TV, Cas asked A Kai whether there was a way to save him.

• Fu Qian and his companion arrived to find Kamakura Shinji critically wounded, and Teacher Chang gave him some of her unlabeled medicine.
• Kamakura Shinji told Kamakura Mi that he had not practiced swordsmanship but had only been calming his mind, then his wounds reopened and worsened.
• Ni Huayuan snapped his fingers to calm Shinji and questioned him until Shinji remembered he had been watching TV.
• Cas mocked Ni Huayuan’s interrogation, examined Shinji’s wounds, and confirmed with Kamakura Mi that they came from the Family’s Cursed Swordsmanship.
• Cas turned toward A Kai and asked whether Shinji could be saved.

A Kai stabilized Kamakura Shinji’s worsening wounds, though the treatment left him in agony and would last less than three days. Ji Liushuang argued that the power harming him was not swordsmanship, and Cas asked Fu Qian to judge her claim.

• Cas called on A Kai, who warned that he could only stabilize Kamakura Shinji’s condition and that the process would be extremely painful.
• Kamakura Mi accepted A Kai’s offer, and A Kai performed a ritual that slowed Shinji’s bleeding and deterioration without healing his wounds.
• A Kai said the stabilization would last less than three days, and Cas judged that it would be enough.
• Cas asked Ji Liushuang to assess the out-of-control Sword Intent, and she said the power might not be swordsmanship.
• Kamakura Mi and the others challenged Ji Liushuang, but Cas silenced them and asked Fu Qian what he thought.
• Fu Qian agreed that the Kamakura Family’s divine seal blessing did not resemble Sword Intent.

Fu Qian challenged the Kamakura family to demonstrate their Shattered Divine Seal so he could experience its effects, arguing that their inherited curse had nothing to do with true sword cultivation. In the dojo, Kamakura Keiji prepared to face him while the Academy team watched.

• Fu Qian agreed with Ji Liushuang that the Kamakura family's divine seal was unrelated to swordsmanship and criticized their centuries-old understanding of the Way.
• Kamakura Mi asked Fu Qian for advice, but Fu Qian proposed experiencing the family's Shattered Divine Seal instead.
• Fu Qian promised not to fight back and taunted the Kamakura family until Kamakura Keiji volunteered to demonstrate the technique.
• Kamakura Mi let Keiji proceed despite fearing the seal might cause him the same fate as Kamakura Shinji.
• The group went to a dim dojo, where Keiji took up his sword and faced Fu Qian as the Academy team watched.

Fu Qian tested the Kamakura Family’s Cursed Sword Dao against Kamakura Keiji and discovered that its power could wound him without a direct strike. The observation team discussed how the sword’s lingering cuts worked, while Ji Liushuang hinted that Fu Qian’s earlier words had inspired her.

• Kamakura Keiji attacked Fu Qian with Nightclub Queen, but his swordsmanship failed to land a hit and the sword’s effects badly cut his own arm.
• A cut appeared on Fu Qian’s cheek without Kamakura Keiji touching him, prompting the Kamakura clan to celebrate that their swordsmanship had wounded a demigod.
• Fu Qian joined the observation team, where A Kai and Cas concluded that the sword’s damage was not directly caused by Kamakura Keiji and could repeatedly cancel out healing.
• Fu Qian explained that the wound persisted because continuous cuts reopened it, and Cas suggested finding and severing the power’s source.
• Ji Liushuang thanked Fu Qian for inspiring her and left him wondering whether she was referring to something he had said before.

Fu Qian watched the Academy of Revelation debate the Kamakura family’s unstable powers, while Ni Huayuan tested his theory by triggering another violent reaction in Kamakura Keiji. Ni Huayuan argued that an enemy had attacked the family through the Cursed Sword Dao and suggested the attack might be connected to their role as tomb guardians.

• Fu Qian realized Ji Liushuang remembered words he had once used to provoke the Sword Heart, while she carefully concealed her reaction.
• Cas and A Kai discussed their failure to identify the cause of the Kamakura family’s power instability and the difficulty of severing its connection.
• Ni Huayuan called out to Kamakura Keiji, triggering a painful episode that left Keiji badly wounded as he tried to attack him.
• Ni Huayuan explained that cutting Keiji off from the outside world had triggered the same severing effect, and argued that something within the family was destabilizing their power.
• Ni Huayuan proposed finding whoever was causing the effects and suggested the Kamakura family’s enemies had attacked them through the Cursed Sword Dao because they were famous as tomb guardians.

Ni Huayuan persuaded the Kamakura family to let the academy lead another expedition into the ancient ruins, where they hoped to find traces explaining the divine seal’s loss of control. As the group set out, Ji Liushuang thanked Fu Qian for his insights.

• Ni Huayuan suggested that the attacks might have targeted something in the ruins, and Kamakura Mi agreed to share the family’s secret and cooperate.
• After Kamakura Keiji said his grandfather had gone into the ruins seeking a solution, Ni Huayuan persuaded the Kamakura family to let the academy investigate again.
• Fu Qian decided the expedition would help him pursue his mission, though he doubted Ni Huayuan’s method could stop the changes affecting Kamakura Keiji.
• The academy members gathered at the ruins, where A Kai asked Fu Qian how he understood deities; Fu Qian said he had no interest in replacing them and invoked the sword’s pursuit of the self.
• Ni Huayuan led the group toward the ruins, and Ji Liushuang quietly thanked Fu Qian for sharing his insights.

Fu Qian spoke with Ji Liushuang about swordsmanship and the ruins as the group explored the Kamakura Family’s ancient site. They reached the chamber where the body had been found, and Ni Huayuan suspected the shattered statue held something unusual.

• Fu Qian told Ji Liushuang that general observations could point her in the right direction but could not replace personal understanding, and she thanked him for the advice.
• Ji Liushuang asked what the ruins had originally been, and Fu Qian suggested they might once have been a temple before becoming known as a tomb.
• Ni Huayuan asked Kamakura Mi to lead the group to the room where the body was found, and Kamakura Mi guided them to the deepest part of the ruins.
• Ni Huayuan entered the chamber with the others and asked why the deceased had chosen it, but Kamakura Mi said it did not seem special.
• Ni Huayuan examined the bloodstains and the bare chamber before focusing on the shattered statue and sensing something unusual about it.

Ni Huayuan summoned two strange hounds to investigate the wall behind the damaged statue, but an unseen wielder of the Cursed Sword Dao cut them apart. The group concluded that someone was behind the wall and decided to find a way around.

• Ni Huayuan and the others noticed that the broken statue looked less human than the statues outside, and Kamakura Mi said he had never seen its design before.
• Ni Huayuan summoned two grotesque hounds from his arms and sent them to investigate the wall behind the statue.
• The hounds passed through the wall, but an unseen force cut them apart before they could return.
• Jian Jingzheng recognized the cuts as the work of the Cursed Sword Dao, and Kamakura Mi said no other tomb keepers were present.
• Ni Huayuan proposed finding a way around the wall to investigate who was on the other side.

Ni Huayuan led the group through a hidden chamber behind the statue, where they found a long-dead, mangled body and an open passage. He suggested the person attacking the Kamakura family might still be inside the ruin, leaving the group to investigate where the passage led.

• Ni Huayuan had an academy member break through the wall behind the statue, and Jian Jingzheng widened the opening with sword energy.
• Fu Qian questioned Kamakura Mi about the statue, and Kamakura Mi explained that his ancestors had settled there after receiving a dream revelation and that each generation gained a divine mark.
• Ni Huayuan led the group into the chamber beyond the wall, where they found a deformed, long-dead body and an open door.
• Ni Huayuan argued that the attacker might still be inside the ruin and could have used special means to cause the Kamakura family's troubles.
• Kamakura Mi accepted that Ni Huayuan's explanation was possible, and Ni Huayuan urged the group to hope the passage did not lead outside.

Ni Huayuan led the group through the ruins to pursue the people who had escaped, then divided them into smaller teams to search the branching corridors. When Fu Qian offered to explore alone, Ji Liushuang and Chang volunteered to accompany him, and Ni Huayuan approved.

• Kamakura Mi agreed to pursue the culprits rather than repeat the failed attempts to mask the connection.
• Ni Huayuan led the group through a stone passage into the ruins’ labyrinthine corridors, where Kamakura Mi admitted he did not recognize the area.
• Ni Huayuan ordered the group to split up at branches, accepting the risk that the smaller teams might be hunted in exchange for leaving traces.
• Fu Qian volunteered to explore a branch alone, but Ji Liushuang offered to go with him.
• Jian Jingzheng objected, and Chang volunteered as well; Ni Huayuan approved the three-person team, to the Kamakura Family’s relief.

Fu Qian, Ji Liushuang, and Chang Mo explored the ruins, discussing the Nameless Deity, its unusual follower, and the destruction of its statues. When they reached a damaged hall with no visible exit, Fu Qian concluded that another level lay below.

• Ji Liushuang asked Chang Mo about the strange statue, and Chang Mo explained that depictions of deities could change over time.
• Fu Qian suggested that the Nameless Deity's statue in the hidden chamber depicted an unusually shaped follower whom other followers may have rejected.
• Chang Mo explained that followers had destroyed many deities' statues during the long night and warned Ji Liushuang against adopting the Kamakura Family's spiritual totem practices.
• The group entered a heavily damaged hall with no visible way forward, and Fu Qian inferred that the ruins had another level below.

Fu Qian opened a passage into a lower level of the ruins, where he and Ji Liushuang continued with Chang Mo. In the corridor below, Chang Mo discovered a crystal-covered creature clinging to the ceiling and struck it, but her sword did no harm.

• Chang Mo realized Fu Qian was making excuses to go downstairs and that Ji Liushuang intended to follow him.
• Fu Qian transformed his left arm into a blade and cut a triangular opening through the stone floor.
• Fu Qian, Chang Mo, and Ji Liushuang jumped into the lower level and followed a sound through its corridor.
• Chang Mo spotted a crystal-covered creature dropping from the ceiling and struck it, but the blow left it unharmed.

Fu Qian, Chang Mo, and Ji Liushuang pursued a resilient crystal creature into a hidden chamber, where they discovered that the apparent pool was a massive formation of living crystals. As the crystals stirred and the Kamakura Family members approached, Fu Qian led the others behind the door.

• Fu Qian wounded the crystal creature with Man-Sword Unity, but it escaped after Chang Mo's sword strike failed to harm it.
• Chang Mo and Ji Liushuang followed Fu Qian through a stone door into a chamber containing a clear-looking pool, but they could not find the creature.
• Fu Qian took Ji Liushuang's sword and struck the pool, revealing that its surface was made of joined crystals rather than water.
• The crystal formation cracked, rippled, and reached out with tendrils while remaining one enormous creature.
• Fu Qian told Chang Mo not to focus on killing it and said the Kamakura Family members had arrived, then led the group behind the door.