Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

• Nuo Tao’s commendation: Nuo Tao receives a Bronze Medal from Great Qian for her work during the demon tide—coordinating supplies, helping defend Luoxue Pass, and gathering intelligence. At first she treats the award like any valuable object she might steal or sell, but memories of the people she helped make her unexpectedly proud. She puts the medal somewhere prominent on her desk, though she hides her smile when anyone might see it.
• The Northern Border stabilizes: After the demon threat abruptly subsides, Great Qian’s forces seize the opportunity to retake several outposts and push the defensive line three hundred li farther north. The region enters its most peaceful winter in nearly a decade.
• Luo Jinyao looks after Gu Chengming: At North Suppression Manor, Gu reads a warm letter from Zhou Qingmu praising his work and promising a victory celebration when he returns to the capital. Luo Jinyao checks his recovery, then scolds him for risking himself against a Fourth Realm demon king. Though frightened for him, she is also proud of his achievement and offers him a reward. Gu asks her to catch demons for him to kill, leaving her baffled by his reputation as the “Luoxue Pass Murderer.”
• Gu trains by fighting captured demons: Over the next week, Luo brings him demons to battle, and Gu kills them to build his fist intent. His repeated, brutal training worries her, since she fears the violence may be affecting his mind. Gu explains that he is working through a cultivation bottleneck, not taking out personal frustration. After checking his aura for signs of an inner demon, Luo is reassured, and the misunderstanding draws them closer.
• Gu upgrades his sword formation: Using his battle merits, Gu redeems four magic swords and completes the [Magic sword] bond in the Sword Chess System. This unlocks the Tenfold Perfection Sword Formation, which lets him control ten flying swords and doubles the formation’s power. The technique is potent but consumes far more spiritual sense and true essence, prompting Gu to recognize that he must focus on strengthening his cultivation and basic attributes rather than continually collecting new abilities.
• Gu is promoted: Capital City recognizes his role in the victory at Luoxue Pass, promoting him from Sub-flag Officer to General Flag Officer. Gu takes the news calmly, but Zhou Li is ecstatic, seeing the promotion as proof that Gu can advance through the proper order and serve the law. Their discussion raises Zhou Li’s favorability to 90, granting Gu two points in every attribute—ten in total—and bringing his overall stats close to those of a newly entered Third Realm cultivator.

Character developments and themes

• Nuo Tao begins to value honest recognition and service, finding pride in helping others rather than merely acquiring valuables.
• Luo Jinyao’s protective, almost maternal concern for Gu becomes clearer, while Gu’s quiet willingness to accept her care strengthens their bond.
• Gu shows both ambition and growing discipline: he seeks relentless combat training and powerful techniques, but recognizes the need to build a stronger foundation.
• Recognition, duty, and personal growth connect the chapter’s developments: Nuo Tao’s medal, Gu’s promotion, and Zhou Li’s enthusiasm all frame public service as meaningful, while Gu’s training highlights the risks of power gained without balance.

Key plot points and events

• Ten days after the demon tide’s retreat, Gu Chengming’s injuries have healed, and Heavenly Peak Sect disciples Xu Huaiyi and Zhou Hui prepare to leave Luoxue Pass.
• Xu gives Gu a farewell painting: an imagined peach grove where the two of them share wine. She transforms it into a high-grade communication talisman containing her spiritual sense and invites him to contact her anytime.
• Xu asks to call him “Chengming,” and he readily agrees, though he mistakes her romantic gestures for ordinary friendship and generosity. Zhou Hui awkwardly urges Gu to contact Xu often before departing.
• That night, Gu hears Xu’s private thoughts through The Heart Is All Things: she desperately wants to cultivate with him and had gathered fifty thousand spirit stones to propose it, but lacked the courage. Gu is exasperated by the system’s revelations.
• Nuo Tao arrives with the activated Azure Luan Token. She has deciphered its star-chart clues and determined that the secret-realm entrance will open in three days at a moving celestial position north of Luoxue Pass.
• Nuo Tao also reveals, while fishing for praise, that she helped during the siege: she stopped looters, returned stolen medicine to the wounded, and carried spirit stones to the western wall despite danger from demonic birds.

Character developments

• Xu Huaiyi reveals deep affection for Gu but remains too shy to confess directly. Her artistic farewell and offer of constant contact allow her to express her feelings indirectly.
• Gu Chengming remains socially oblivious, interpreting Xu’s affection as comradeship and her valuable talisman as a generous magical artifact. The bond-event ability continues to expose feelings he would otherwise miss.
• Zhou Hui acts as a knowing, tactful matchmaker, strongly encouraging Gu to stay in touch with Xu while avoiding an explicit explanation.
• Nuo Tao demonstrates both expertise in restrictions and growing civic responsibility. Proud of her contributions, she also clearly wants Gu to recognize and appreciate them.

Significant themes

• Unspoken affection and comic misunderstanding: Xu’s sincere romantic gestures clash with Gu’s literal, practical interpretations.
• Bonds forged through danger: Xu and Gu’s shared trials give their parting emotional weight, even as Gu understands their relationship differently.
• Duty and belonging: Nuo Tao’s help during the siege suggests that becoming a lawful resident has begun to make Luoxue Pass—and its people—matter to her.
• Skill and recognition: Nuo Tao’s technical achievement and public service are paired with her desire for acknowledgment.

Character interactions

• Xu and Gu exchange heartfelt thanks, share a poignant artistic farewell, and agree to use more familiar names, but only Xu recognizes the romantic significance of the moment.
• Zhou quietly nudges Gu toward Xu, while Gu’s confusion prevents him from understanding why.
• Gu’s private reaction to Xu’s transmitted thoughts turns the farewell’s tenderness into comic frustration.
• Nuo Tao reports her discovery and recounts her acts of service to Gu, repeatedly watching for his approval.

Plot points and events

• After the demon tide, Gu Chengming praises Nuo Tao for staying behind to coordinate the city’s defense, calling her Luoxue Pass’s “unsung hero.” Delighted by the recognition, she modestly-but-smugly accepts the title.
• Yu Wenqiu reveals she has reached the Fourth Realm. She boasts that she can now protect Gu Chengming, and he enthusiastically praises her strength. They celebrate with an extravagant meal; afterward, she enters seclusion to stabilize her cultivation.
• Gu reports the Thousand Thieves Gate Secret Realm expedition to General Luo Jinyao, who gives him practical precautions. In the days that follow, Luoxue Pass repairs its defenses while Gu prepares carefully for the journey.
• Three days later, Gu and Nuo Tao travel north across the frozen wilderness. Using two tokens and a compass, Nuo Tao finds a hidden spatial node and opens the secret realm with the Azure Luan and Fire Phoenix Tokens.
• Gu and Nuo Tao are abruptly pulled through the rift. Gu lands steadily, while Nuo Tao is thrown onto her backside. He helps her up, but she quickly reasserts that they are competitors and will rely on their own abilities. She admits she had been willing to let him choose first and take most of the rewards, leaving her confused about why he did not simply hand over his token.

Character developments and interactions

• Nuo Tao is affirmed for her support work during the crisis. Her pride and eagerness for praise show alongside genuine loyalty; even as she declares herself Gu’s rival, she reveals she had been prepared to treat him generously.
• Yu Wenqiu is newly empowered and openly proud of her breakthrough, but her eagerness for Gu’s approval and desire to protect him retain a childlike warmth. Gu responds with affectionate teasing and sincere encouragement.
• Gu Chengming balances humor with responsibility: he recognizes others’ contributions, reports his plans to Luo Jinyao, and prepares thoroughly for the dangerous expedition.
• Gu and Nuo Tao shift into a playful rivalry. Their formal agreement to compete contrasts with their easy trust—he helps her after the rough arrival, and she worries he may distrust her intentions.
• Luo Jinyao provides calm, practical guidance, reinforcing her role as a steady commander. Hundred Bones Ming’s joking commentary adds a recurring comedic layer.

Significant themes

• Recognition and loyalty: Nuo Tao’s behind-the-scenes service proves vital, while Yu Wenqiu’s strength is motivated by her wish to protect Gu.
• Preparation and responsibility: Gu treats the secret realm as a serious risk, preparing carefully and informing his commander.
• Affection beneath competition: Gu and Nuo Tao call themselves rivals, but their mutual consideration complicates the rivalry.
• Humor alongside danger: Comic boasting, appetite, and awkward mishaps offset the looming threat of the secret realm.

Chapter summary

Plot points and events

• Gu Chengming and Nuo Tao enter the Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord’s secret realm, an uncanny, all-white space built from floating platforms and geometric lines.
• Nuo Tao explains that this is a deliberately constructed succession trial, not a naturally formed cave abode. The realm’s trials can change in response to other entrants’ progress, and people who enter together are partners until they reach the final boon—where they become rivals and only one can claim it.
• Gu Chengming accepts the possibility of a future contest without becoming hostile, and the pair proceed together.
• At the first trial, Nuo Tao spends an hour trying and failing to decipher the markings on a sealed stone door. Gu Chengming discovers that it opens by pulling, not solving its intricate-looking formation, and yanks it open by force. The trial praises him for changing perspective.
• A jeweled treasure chest appears as the apparent reward. Gu Chengming immediately attacks it with his flying swords, revealing it to be a monster in disguise, which he kills before it can strike. The second trial congratulates him for resisting temptation.
• The system records increased favorability from the Mortal World Illusory Body Technique and Hundred Bones Resonance, granting Gu Chengming an Agility bonus. The pair then continue down the corridor.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming displays a pragmatic, unconventional approach: rather than trust appearances or puzzle over the door’s elaborate markings, he tests it physically and stays wary of an obvious reward. His instincts and experience make him skeptical of the realm’s traps.
• Nuo Tao begins confident that her sect’s expertise will handle the first trial, but her failure leaves her embarrassed and baffled by Gu Chengming’s simple solution. She is also unsettled by his immediate attack on the chest, then curious about how he detected the disguise.
• Their relationship remains cooperative despite the warning that they will eventually compete. Gu Chengming treats Nuo Tao warmly and postpones the question of the boon; she insists she will fight him for it, though she is visibly affected by his kindness and eagerly follows him.
• Gu Chengming does not explain his caution to Nuo Tao, leaving her puzzled. The realm’s system-like messages also react to his behavior, turning each success into a test of thief-like perspective and restraint.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: The ornate door’s markings distract from its straightforward mechanism, while the attractive treasure chest conceals a deadly monster.
• Practicality over convention: Gu Chengming succeeds by questioning assumptions and acting directly rather than following the expected methods.
• Cooperation and rivalry: The pair must work together for now, but the prospect of competing for the final boon casts a future tension over their partnership.
• Caution as survival: Gu Chengming’s refusal to trust an obvious reward is presented as a hard-earned strength, not mere paranoia.

Chapter Summary

• The bridge and early trials: Gu Chengming stops Nuo Tao from crossing a narrow bridge until he tests a hidden wall recess, triggering crossbow bolts. He warns that the cramped layout itself signals danger. In a supposed rest area, he also exposes a disguised campfire and poisoned tea before Nuo Tao can sit. Over the next several hours, they tackle traps and puzzles together: Gu Chengming handles malicious mechanisms, while Nuo Tao takes on challenges aimed at Thief Cultivators. Their teamwork proves unexpectedly effective, though Nuo Tao complains that ten trials have yielded no rewards.
• The Immortal Lord appears: After the trials, Gu Chengming and Nuo Tao reach a great altar. Their Azure Luan and Fire Phoenix tokens join to summon the Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord, whose lingering will has endured within the secret realm. He quickly recognizes the sources of Gu Chengming’s varied powers and praises his unusual fortune. He then offers Gu Chengming detailed advice on his Mortal World Art, especially its use of Karma and Cause and Effect. Nuo Tao, despite being the Thousand Thieves Gate’s heir, is largely left out of the conversation and feels slighted.
• A new final trial: The Immortal Lord dismisses the map designed by Nuo Tao’s predecessor as ordinary and replaces the usual challenge. Gu Chengming and Nuo Tao will each design a trial for the other, using equal control over the secret realm’s terrain, traps, monsters, formations, and even its rules. Each must clear the other’s course and retrieve a token as quickly as possible to win the final reward. Nuo Tao is eager to test her trickery against Gu Chengming’s strength. They are sent to separate spaces, where Gu Chengming discovers an interface resembling a map editor.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Gu Chengming shows keen perception and caution, repeatedly spotting traps before they catch Nuo Tao. He works smoothly with her and benefits from the Immortal Lord’s expert feedback on his cultivation.
• Nuo Tao grows more trusting of Gu Chengming as they cooperate, but her pride as a thief and heir remains strong. The Immortal Lord’s unequal attention frustrates her; the chance to build a trap-filled challenge lets her regain her competitive spirit.
• The Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord is casual and irreverent, but perceptive and knowledgeable. He recognizes Gu Chengming’s potential, teaches him, and reinvents the final trial to make it more personal and unpredictable.

Significant Themes

• Caution and ingenuity: Survival depends on noticing how a challenge is designed, not merely reacting to its obvious threats.
• Karma and fortune: The Immortal Lord values karmic entanglement over spiritual aptitude and sees Gu Chengming’s varied powers as signs of unusual fortune.
• Cooperation and rivalry: Gu Chengming and Nuo Tao first succeed through teamwork, then become one another’s opponents in a contest that tests their creativity and understanding of each other.

Key plot points and events

• Nuo Tao proudly unveils a maze packed with seventy-two lethal traps, illusions, and misleading routes. The Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord praises her ingenuity.
• Gu Chengming enters and uses his strength and sword formation to smash through the traps, walls, and terrain, clearing the maze almost immediately. Nuo Tao is stunned.
• Nuo Tao then attempts Gu Chengming’s apparently simple trial: a path of floating bricks leading to a distant castle. Its hidden hazards repeatedly kill her, including invisible blocks, a man-eating flower, falling boulders, spikes, deceptive checkpoints, cloud monsters, and a seemingly helpful star that is actually necessary to survive.
• After thirty-seven deaths, Nuo Tao finally makes it to the goal platform. The apparent treasure bead is actually a Mimic Beast, which bites her just as she reaches it.

Character developments

• Nuo Tao begins confident in her skills as a trap designer, but Gu Chengming’s brute-force solution leaves her questioning her work. She then discovers how thoroughly his trial can outwit her. Though repeatedly frustrated and humiliated, she persists and gradually learns to anticipate its traps.
• Gu Chengming remains calm and courteous, complimenting Nuo Tao’s design even after demolishing it. His own trial reveals a mischievous, highly inventive side.
• The Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord admires both Nuo Tao’s elaborate design and Gu Chengming’s unexpectedly effective trial, and sees the ordeal as a useful test of a thief cultivator’s ability to find a path through danger.

Significant themes

• Strength versus technique: Gu Chengming’s raw power defeats Nuo Tao’s intricate mechanisms, illustrating that superior force can overcome clever design.
• Learning through failure: Nuo Tao’s repeated deaths teach her to recognize patterns and adapt.
• Deception and survival: The trial turns familiar game-like cues—question-mark bricks, checkpoints, power-ups, and treasure—into traps, testing observation and judgment.

Character interactions

• Nuo Tao challenges Gu Chengming and later endures his trial, while he watches her progress with growing concern and dry amusement.
• The Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord praises Nuo Tao, comments on Gu Chengming’s strength, and interprets the trial as a lesson in finding the sole route to survival.

Key plot points

• Nuo Tao finally clears the Thousand Thieves Gate’s trial after many failed attempts. The Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord praises her performance and gives her a reward, then abruptly sends her away.
• Alone with Gu Chengming, the Immortal Lord offers him the role of the Gate’s representative. Gu declines, so the Immortal Lord instead grants him a rare fortune: a trace of the Dao Law Position, which he once struggled and nearly died to obtain.
• The Immortal Lord says Gu may be able to accomplish what he could not. As the secret realm pours into Gu, he perceives matter, Spiritual Power, and hidden rules at a new level. A mysterious message appears: “Obtained Special CG/Love Laboratory.”
• Gu is swept back to the snowy plains near Luoxue Pass. He keeps the details of his new fortune to himself, unsure what it means.
• Nuo Tao joins him on the way back. Exhausted from the trial, she tries to persuade him to rest and then pretends to have injured her ankle. Gu sees through—or at least does not indulge—the act, offering her a hand instead. She quickly recovers and follows him, planning what they will eat in town.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming remains wary of powerful figures and their cryptic offers, but accepts the Immortal Lord’s gift after asking what is expected of him. He is startled and amused by the strange “Love Laboratory” label, and keeps the inheritance’s specifics from Nuo Tao.
• Nuo Tao shifts from despair at repeatedly failing the trial to delight at receiving a reward. Though she feels chagrined that Gu’s trial design outwitted her, she recognizes his talent and feels safe near him. Her feigned injury reveals her fatigue and playful reliance on his company.
• The Thousand Thieves Immortal Lord shows respect for both contestants, but gives Gu an exceptional, potentially consequential inheritance while hinting at a future purpose he does not explain.
• Gu and Nuo Tao return to their familiar, teasing dynamic: she complains and flatters him, while he responds with restrained humor and practical concern.

Significant themes

• Fortune and cosmic rules: True fortune at higher levels is not material wealth but a Law Position that embodies a rule of the world.
• Destiny and responsibility: The Immortal Lord’s gift reflects Gu’s unusual Karma and abundant destiny, and carries the suggestion of a larger task.
• Trust amid uncertainty: Gu accepts help from a powerful, enigmatic figure while remaining cautious about hidden costs.
• Companionship and safety: After the ordeal, Nuo Tao’s closeness to Gu offers comfort, expressed through everyday banter and shared plans.

Key plot points and events

• After returning from the Thousand Thieves Secret Realm, Nuo Tao is thrilled by the boon she received from the Heaven-Connecting Branch and immediately begins secluded cultivation.
• Gu Chengming activates the boon, which the system has safely recorded as a special CG called “Love Laboratory.” He finds a misty gate labeled “Love’s Huiyuan Sword Art” and enters it, expecting something very different.
• Inside, Gu Chengming faces a featureless figure wielding a copy of his sword. A rule strips away his cultivation and other advantages, leaving him only his sword and the Huiyuan Sword Art.
• The figure uses the same basic techniques as Gu Chengming, but with flawless timing, positioning, and transitions. After an hour of fighting, Gu Chengming is defeated.
• The system explains that the figure represents the Huiyuan Sword Art’s theoretical pinnacle, perfected without outside influences. Gu Chengming realizes the challenge is not proof that the sword art has a low ceiling, but a measure of its potential.
• Huiyuan becomes despondent and blames itself for the loss. Gu Chengming comforts it, promising they will keep improving and eventually surpass the theoretical ideal.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming is cautious about the boon’s origins but trusts the system’s safety checks. Though frustrated by defeat, he responds with resolve and encouragement rather than discouragement.
• Nuo Tao shows growing ambition and eagerness to develop her new boon, choosing immediate cultivation over celebration.
• Huiyuan Sword Art shifts from shame and self-doubt toward determination after Gu Chengming reassures it that its potential is not fixed.

Significant themes

• Potential versus reputation: A sword art dismissed as basic may hold far greater possibilities than its reputation suggests.
• Growth through failure: Defeat becomes a benchmark and motivation rather than a final judgment.
• Trust and partnership: Gu Chengming and Huiyuan share responsibility for improving, supporting one another through disappointment.
• Technique beyond raw power: The challenge isolates swordsmanship from cultivation, talent, and other bonuses to test skill alone.

Character interactions

• Gu Chengming gives Nuo Tao space to pursue her cultivation after her excitement over the boon.
• During the challenge, the perfect swordsman mirrors Gu Chengming’s own techniques, exposing gaps in his execution.
• Afterward, Gu Chengming directly comforts Huiyuan, reframing the loss as a shared step toward greater mastery.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chengming practices the basic Huiyuan Sword Art every morning, carefully refining his technique. The sword art within his consciousness, Little Huiyuan, trains alongside him.
• Nuo Tao brings news that Gu has risen to third place on the Hidden Dragon Ranking after helping slay the Fourth Realm Azure-Scaled Eagle King. Gu is largely indifferent to the fame, focused instead on his training and Little Huiyuan’s well-being.
• Luo Jinyao visits with breakfast, gives Gu patient sword instruction, and expresses affection for the newcomers at North Suppression Manor, whom she considers family.
• Gu and Little Huiyuan repeatedly challenge a seemingly unbeatable opponent. Despite steady gains in Gu’s swordsmanship, their failures mount—from seven by the third day to sixty-three by the thirteenth. Little Huiyuan grows increasingly anxious and blames herself when their coordination falters.
• On the fourteenth day, Gu deliberately recalls their early, joyful practice together and tells Little Huiyuan that mistakes and limitations are part of being alive. He urges her to value their imperfect growth rather than compare herself with an idealized, “perfect” version.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming becomes more disciplined and technically precise, but his main concern is helping Little Huiyuan build self-worth. He recognizes that reassurance alone cannot resolve her insecurity; she must learn to accept and value herself.
• Little Huiyuan shifts from initial optimism about overcoming failure to self-doubt and shame. Gu’s reminiscence begins to reconnect her with the happiness she once found in learning and growing together.
• Luo Jinyao reveals a warm, nurturing side beneath her formidable reputation, taking an active interest in Gu’s training and daily care.
• Nuo Tao remains an observant, supportive presence, bringing news and noticing Gu’s unusual devotion to sword practice.

Significant themes

• Imperfection and self-acceptance: The chapter argues that flaws, fatigue, and mistakes are not disqualifying; they are part of what makes someone human.
• Growth over perfection: Progress is gradual, and repeated failure does not erase improvement.
• Care expressed through action: Luo’s food and instruction, and Gu’s patient encouragement, show affection through practical support.
• Purpose beyond recognition: Gu values his bond with Little Huiyuan and her growth more than public status.

Character interactions

• Nuo Tao shares Gu’s ranking news, then quietly lets him return to practice.
• Luo Jinyao feeds and instructs Gu, while he responds with respect and gratitude; their relationship takes on a familial warmth.
• Gu and Little Huiyuan train as partners, but their mounting failures strain her confidence. Gu responds not with blame, but by reminding her of their shared beginnings and redefining success as growing together rather than attaining perfection.

Plot points and events

• On the fifteenth day, Gu Chengming returns to the mist gate to face the flawless embodiment of Huiyuan Sword Art. After being defeated repeatedly, he realizes that copying perfection means denying the history he and his sword art share.
• He embraces their imperfect, hard-won experience and attacks without retreating. Though the opponent’s sword pierces his shoulder, he uses the wound to trap its blade and smashes the perfect figure apart with a forceful, unorthodox strike.
• The shattered light merges with Huiyuan Sword Art, transforming her into CG/Love’s Huiyuan Sword Art (incomplete). Huiyuan then takes human form, confesses her love, and kisses Chengming. Their intimate moment unlocks the CG.
• Later, the System confirms the sword art is complete: she is no longer limited by her basic-swordsmanship grade, can grow as Chengming’s understanding and her favorability increase, and can exceed the usual favorability cap.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming stops measuring himself against an abstract ideal. He recognizes that his own awkwardness, effort, pain, and persistence are the source of his swordsmanship’s strength.
• Huiyuan Sword Art overcomes her fear that she is not good enough for Chengming. She accepts that he chose her—not a supposedly superior sword art—and gains confidence in what makes her unique.
• Their bond deepens from shared practice and mutual support into openly expressed romantic love.

Significant themes

• Authenticity over perfection: A technically flawless ideal lacks the lived experience that gives Chengming and Huiyuan’s swordsmanship its meaning.
• Growth through shared experience: Their mistakes, struggles, and memories become strengths rather than flaws.
• Love and acceptance: The chapter’s central message is that love embraces imperfections, not just idealized versions of a person.
• Defying limits: Chengming rejects the “theoretical limit” imposed by convention, while Huiyuan’s new form can grow beyond ordinary system constraints.

Character interactions

• Chengming reassures Huiyuan that fear and doubt are normal, and asks her to try again with him.
• During the duel, he fights in a way that reflects their shared past, and Huiyuan recognizes the experiences that make their sword art uniquely theirs.
• After the victory, Huiyuan confesses and initiates their first kiss; Chengming reciprocates.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chengming unlocks the Love Laboratory room for Love’s Huiyuan Sword Art. Two more mist-covered doors appear, apparently linked to the Clear Heart Art and Hundred Bones Chime, but their locks remain closed.
• After returning from the room, Gu finds Huiyuan Sword Art affectionate, content, and notably more self-assured. The other cultivation methods know nothing about what happened; Hundred Bones Chime assumes Gu won a fight, while Clear Heart Art suspects a more intimate encounter.
• Gu tests his improved swordsmanship and finds that a small amount of True Essence now produces far greater power.
• Over the following months, the Myriad Wonders Society expands across the Northern Border, making news and practical information available almost instantly. Gu also uses his wartime merit to acquire cultivation resources, and his cultivation advances to Second Realm, eighth layer.
• A transfer order arrives: with the Northern Border’s demon crisis resolved and the Ten Thousand Gold Pavilion’s remaining poison purged, Gu must return to the capital in triumph.
• As Gu prepares to leave Luoxue Pass, Luo Jinyao offers advice and support. Yu Wenqiu is saddened to leave her.
• Nuo Tao gives Gu a Dragon-Seeking Token, asking him to come help if she ever finds a dangerous hidden realm. Gu recognizes that the token is also her way of ensuring they can meet again, and accepts it without teasing her.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming grows stronger in both cultivation and swordsmanship, while becoming more established as a leader and figure of influence in the Northern Border.
• Huiyuan Sword Art has gained confidence through its bond with Gu. It is proud of their shared secret and seems to have become more powerful as well as more emotionally secure.
• Luo Jinyao shows a gentler, protective side beneath her stern exterior, giving Gu sincere guidance and promising that he can turn to her if he faces trouble.
• Nuo Tao reveals her attachment to Gu through an awkward, indirect attempt to arrange another meeting.
• Yu Wenqiu displays her affection for Luo Jinyao, openly lamenting their parting.

Significant themes

• Bonds create growth: Gu’s connection with Huiyuan Sword Art transforms an ordinary cultivation method into something without a clear limit to its potential.
• Progress and recognition: Gu’s achievements bring increased strength, influence, and honors, but also lead to a new posting and separation from the people he has grown close to.
• Parting and continued connection: The farewells are softened by promises, advice, and tokens that keep relationships alive beyond distance.
• Intimacy and subtext: Several characters conceal or misunderstand emotional closeness, while Gu often recognizes the feelings behind their words.

Character interactions

• Gu and Huiyuan Sword Art share a private, deeply affectionate bond that the other cultivation methods cannot perceive.
• Clear Heart Art silently suspects Gu and Huiyuan have crossed into more intimate territory; Hundred Bones Chime humorously misreads events as a victory in combat.
• Luo Jinyao advises Gu and offers him future support, while Yu Wenqiu clings to her and mourns their separation.
• Nuo Tao hides her wish to see Gu again behind a practical-sounding request for help; Gu understands and accepts her token with warmth.

Key plot points and events

• As the group leaves Luoxue Pass, Gu Chengming promises Nuo Tao he’ll help her when needed. She hides her sadness behind a confident farewell and vows to become a third-realm expert.
• The flying boat carries Gu Chengming and Yu Wenqiu south. The Northern Border is finally at peace, and Gu’s deeds are already becoming the stuff of stories.
• Reflecting on his brief time there, Gu recognizes how much the people and experiences of the mortal world have deepened his cultivation and strengthened his mortal-world qi.
• During the return journey, Yu Wenqiu practices a new fourth-realm ability from her Heavenly Eye Technique. She explains that it can glimpse possible futures by tracing existing karmic threads—not certain outcomes—and may help anticipate fortune, danger, or secrets.
• At Gu’s request, Yu Wenqiu uses the ability to look into his future. She sees him enthroned in the Joyful Union Sect, dressed in a lavish black robe and surrounded by kneeling female cultivators, with two formidable attendants behind him. The vision breaks before she can explain it.
• Flustered, Yu Wenqiu denies seeing anything and hurriedly retreats to her room.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming leaves the Northern Border more reflective, with a stronger grasp of how worldly experiences nourish his cultivation. His reputation is growing, though he remains modest and doubtful that his notoriety will attract admirers.
• Nuo Tao reveals her affection through her reluctant, emotional farewell, while insisting she will grow strong enough to protect Gu in the future.
• Yu Wenqiu has reached the fourth realm and is developing a powerful, though limited, karmic-vision ability. Her curiosity about Gu’s future quickly turns to embarrassment after the vision.

Character interactions

• Gu and Nuo exchange a playful but heartfelt goodbye, with Nuo masking her sadness through bravado.
• Yu Wenqiu teases Gu about his fame and possible admirers; he responds self-deprecatingly, citing his “murder fiend” reputation.
• Gu and Yu Wenqiu discuss the limits of her future-sight before she examines his karmic thread. Her evasive reaction to what she sees leaves Gu suspicious and intrigued.

Significant themes

• The value of lived experience: Gu’s journey shows that entering the mortal world and forming attachments can advance cultivation as much as formal practice.
• Parting and enduring bonds: The Northern Border becomes a completed chapter, but Gu carries its people and memories with him.
• Uncertain fate: Yu Wenqiu’s technique reveals possibilities shaped by existing karma, not fixed destiny.
• Unexpected transformation: The vision of Gu’s apparent future in the Joyful Union Sect contrasts sharply with his present image as a gentle orthodox sword cultivator, foreshadowing a surprising new direction.

Plot points and events

• Yu Wenqiu is shaken by a vision in which Gu Chengming appears as leader of the Joyful Union Sect, one of the Six Paths. She tries to dismiss it, but worries it may reveal a real karmic connection.
• Returning to the Capital, Gu sees that the Great Qian Dragon Qi is sickly and agitated, threaded with pink energy. He recognizes the energy as immense, tangled lust—apparently drawn from the city’s people and forced into the Dragon Qi. He suspects a hidden Capital crisis may explain why Director Zhou urgently recalled him.
• Gu and Yu return to their courtyard. The neighbors have cared for the house, and the Orange Cat has grown enormously fat from eating and sleeping. Yu, exhausted from the Northern Border campaign, falls asleep while Gu cleans up and heads to report for duty.
• In the streets, Gu notices people behaving unusually excited and restless, suggesting the Dragon Qi’s corruption may be affecting the city.
• At the Town Night Division, Deputy Commander Liu praises Gu’s remarkable rise and Northern Border achievements, then sends him to meet Zhou Qingmu.
• Gu finds Zhou in a wheelchair, pale and weakened, with her saber across her knees. Despite her severe injuries, the campaign was a major victory: Great Qian killed two Demon Kings and crippled a third. Zhou and Gu begin discussing the battle, but she shows little satisfaction at the enemy’s defeat.

Character developments and interactions

• Yu Wenqiu is unsettled by her vision and increasingly concerned that Gu’s future may be tied to the Joyful Union Sect. At home, her exhaustion becomes clear as she finally relaxes and sleeps.
• Gu Chengming returns more perceptive and powerful, sensing both the Dragon Qi’s corruption and its possible link to the city’s people. He remains modest when praised.
• Zhou Qingmu appears physically diminished by the campaign, but retains her authority and dry humor. Her grave reaction to victory suggests she is focused on a greater threat.
• Deputy Commander Liu recognizes how dramatically Gu has advanced and welcomes him with warm, informal praise.
• Gu and Yu share a familiar domestic moment with the cat, while Gu’s meeting with Zhou shifts the chapter back toward the political and supernatural crisis.

Significant themes

• Fate and karma: Yu’s vision raises the possibility that Gu’s future is already entangled with a path he would not choose.
• Hidden corruption: The Capital appears normal on the surface, but its Dragon Qi—and perhaps its people—are being affected by a concealed force.
• Victory’s cost: Great Qian has won decisively, yet Zhou’s injuries underline the personal price of war.
• Home and respite: The familiar courtyard offers a brief refuge from campaigning, even as danger follows Gu back to the Capital.

Summary

Key plot points

• After returning to the Capital City, Gu Chengming learns that members of the Joyful Union Sect have suddenly lost control of their cultivation methods. Their heightened desires have caused widespread public disturbances, though not murder or arson.
• Zhou Qingmu warns Gu Chengming—who also practices the Yin Yang Creation Strategy—to keep the Zhou Li Tian Ren Zheng Xin Fa circulating and use Vast Righteous Qi to guard his mind. Investigators suspect either a change to the cultivation method’s foundations or a higher-order rule.
• Gu Chengming suspects the crisis may involve a Law Position. Zhou Qingmu appears composed while advising him, but after he leaves, she reveals that his presence has stirred her own desires; she blames her injuries.
• Yu Wenqiu learns of the crisis and worries that Gu Chengming may be affected. A wisp of the pink aura takes advantage of her distracted thoughts, gradually distorting her concern into an urge to “help” him.
• When Gu Chengming returns home, Yu Wenqiu behaves unusually demurely and watches him with unsettling intensity. That night, she sneaks into his room, rationalizing that she needs to check on him. As she leans close, her remaining restraint breaks—then a sudden “Swish—!” interrupts the moment.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming remains cautious and self-controlled, follows Zhou Qingmu’s instructions, and recognizes that the crisis may have a supernatural or rule-based source. He becomes increasingly wary when Yu Wenqiu starts acting strangely.
• Zhou Qingmu fulfills her role as a protective superior, giving Gu Chengming practical warnings. Her private struggle shows that even she may be vulnerable, despite her formidable reputation and apparent composure.
• Yu Wenqiu shifts from detached observer to worried guardian, then falls prey to the very influence she hopes to guard Gu Chengming against. Her concern becomes a self-serving justification for approaching him.
• The chapter links the three through the crisis: Zhou warns Gu, Gu returns to Yu, and Yu’s attempt to protect him turns dangerous.

Significant themes

• Reason versus desire: The pink aura exploits people’s thoughts and makes irrational impulses seem justified.
• Composure and vulnerability: Both powerful women conceal or underestimate their susceptibility.
• Dramatic irony and comedy: Gu believes he is being warned about a general danger, unaware that Zhou and then Yu are already affected.
• A mystery behind the disorder: The crisis may be more than ordinary cultivation deviation, hinting at a change in the world’s underlying rules.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chengming discovers that the Joyful Union Sect’s loss-of-control phenomenon can affect even powerful cultivators: Yu Wenqiu, a Fourth-Realm elder, becomes fixated on “helping” him and sneaks into his room.
• He restrains her until she regains her senses, then asks what triggered the episode. Yu explains that simply worrying Gu might lose control—and imagining he would need help—was enough for the influence to take hold.
• Gu concludes the phenomenon magnifies a small, existing thought into an obsession. He ties Yu up again before she sleeps, wary that the influence might return.
• Gu wonders why he himself is unaffected despite practicing the Yin Yang Creation Strategy. His cultivation techniques’ dialogue boxes claim they protect him, and he suspects his system operates outside the Heavenly Dao’s rules.
• At the Imperial Observatory, Deputy Director Song Zhixing praises Xu Huaiyi’s work after the Northern Border campaign, then cautions her not to confuse Red Dust Heart Refining with romantic attachment to Gu Chengming.
• Xu calmly assures him that Gu is merely a passing companion on her cultivation path. Once Song leaves, her inner thoughts reveal intense longing for Gu.
• While reviewing reports about Joyful Union Sect methods, Xu realizes Gu practices one too. She worries that he may be vulnerable at the Northern Border—and that another woman might take advantage of him.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming responds pragmatically to danger, restraining Yu rather than trusting that the episode has passed. He also begins investigating why the phenomenon does not affect him.
• Yu Wenqiu is embarrassed by her loss of control but cooperates with Gu’s questioning. Her account helps him identify how the corruption begins.
• Xu Huaiyi maintains a composed, disciplined exterior, but privately reveals strong romantic longing and jealousy. Her concern for Gu shifts from abstract interest to fear for his safety.
• Song Zhixing acts as a protective mentor, trying to steer Xu away from Gu because of the complicated karma surrounding him. He mistakenly believes her calm response means she has no romantic feelings.
• The cultivation techniques’ snarky dialogue boxes provide comic commentary and suggest that Gu’s methods may be shielding him.

Significant themes

• Desire and self-control: Even a minor thought can be amplified into overwhelming obsession, making the phenomenon difficult to guard against.
• Power does not guarantee immunity: Yu’s high cultivation offers no protection and may even make her more perceptive to the corruption.
• Hidden feelings versus outward discipline: Xu’s formal composure conceals emotions she struggles to contain.
• Different systems of cultivation: Gu’s possible immunity raises the question of whether his methods exist beyond the Heavenly Dao’s influence.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Huaiyi learns that Gu Chengming has returned from the Northern Border and rushes to visit him, bringing a large collection of spiritual gifts.
• Hoping Gu has been affected by the Joyful Union Sect’s destabilized qi, Xu probes him for signs of desire or distress. Gu says his Confucian cultivation protects him and that he feels nothing, leaving Xu disappointed. She leaves with her gifts unused.
• Director Zhou Qingmu reveals that the Joyful Union Sect’s foundational treasure, the Yin Yang Fish, is out of balance, causing desire and qi disturbances throughout the capital.
• To justify Great Qian’s intervention, the Town Night Division needs evidence from the sect’s forbidden grounds. Most cultivators cannot approach the treasure safely, but someone who practices the sect’s cultivation method and remains unaffected may be able to infiltrate.
• Zhou asks Gu to undertake the mission. Concerned that his identity and appearance would make him conspicuous, he hesitates. Zhou says she has a specialist in mind and summons Li Suizhuang, an expert in medicine and bodily alteration.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Huaiyi shifts from frustrated scheming to hopeful eagerness when she hears Gu is back, then suffers comic disappointment when he proves unaffected. Her concern is real, but mixed with a plan to offer resources and cultivate with him.
• Gu Chengming remains calm, courteous, and self-controlled. His righteous qi shields him from the chaos, and he is reluctant to take a dangerous undercover assignment, especially given his fame.
• Zhou Qingmu moves from concern over the crisis to a practical plan: use Gu’s resistance to the sect’s influence to gather evidence. She flatters him into recognizing the logic, then recruits him.
• Li Suizhuang arrives as the proposed solution to Gu’s disguise problem, setting up the next stage of the infiltration plan.

Significant themes

• Desire versus self-control: The capital’s disorder contrasts with Gu’s composure and disciplined cultivation.
• Duty and political maneuvering: Evidence is needed before Great Qian can intervene without appearing to exploit the Joyful Union Sect’s crisis.
• Comedy amid danger: Xu’s romantic hopes and Gu’s oblivious steadiness provide humor against the serious threat posed by the Yin Yang Fish.
• Personal sacrifice for public service: Gu is being asked to risk exposure and harm for a mission that could protect the capital and enable a legitimate response.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Qingmu’s operation requires Gu Chengming to infiltrate the Joyful Union Sect while Li Suizhuang approaches its leaders openly. Li disguises Gu with medicine and spiritual power, altering both his face and his sword cultivator’s bearing so he appears to be an ordinary Rogue Cultivator.
• Gu reluctantly agrees to pose as Li’s assistant and investigate the sect’s turmoil. They travel by flying boat toward the sect.
• During the journey, Gu asks after Fu Xiaoxiao, a Joyful Union Sect elder who once helped him. Li gives a guarded answer, suggesting Fu’s safety—and the sect’s situation—may be uncertain.
• That night, Gu hears Li struggling with the effects of her cultivation method through the thin cabin wall. He considers checking on her but realizes what is happening and stays away.
• The next morning, Li and Gu behave as if nothing happened and share breakfast. Li briefs him: the Joyful Union Sect is ancient and powerful, with numerous Fourth Realm cultivators and several Fifth Realm elders. Its cultivation system is more comprehensive than outsiders assume, but she warns Gu not to rely on Zhou’s protection once they arrive.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming accepts the risky undercover assignment despite his misgivings. He remains observant and disciplined, notices Li’s evasiveness about Fu Xiaoxiao, and chooses discretion after overhearing her distress.
• Li Suizhuang proves skilled and resourceful, but her concern for Fu Xiaoxiao and her own difficulty controlling her cultivation method reveal vulnerabilities beneath her composed manner. She prepares food for Gu and gives him a serious warning about the dangers ahead.
• Zhou Qingmu takes charge of the plan, assigning Li to make contact and Gu to investigate covertly.
• Li and Gu maintain courteous professional rapport, with a slight undercurrent of awkwardness after the night aboard the boat. Gu’s concern for Fu Xiaoxiao also hints at his continuing ties to the sect.

Significant themes

• Disguise and identity: Gu’s appearance and bearing can be changed, but Li senses that his underlying presence remains distinctive.
• Restraint and respect: Gu avoids intruding on Li’s private struggle, and both preserve a professional relationship afterward.
• Hidden danger and uncertainty: Li’s evasiveness, Fu Xiaoxiao’s unknown condition, and the sect’s power establish that the mission may be far more dangerous than expected.
• Appearance versus reality: The Joyful Union Sect is widely misunderstood, and its reputation conceals a deep, organized tradition.

Plot points and events

• Gu Chengming and Li Suizhuang travel by Flying Boat toward the Joyful Union Sect. As they talk, Li explains that Senior Sister Fu once protected her when she was bullied and remains a devoted friend.
• Gu asks why Li serves as a medical officer at the Imperial Academy despite her exceptional healing skills. Li reveals that she made a bargain with the Academy’s mysterious Master: he helped her accomplish something important, and she agreed to serve for sixty years before returning to the sect.
• They reach a protected town beneath the Joyful Union Sect. Li explains that the sect cultivates the Mortal World Art, drawing Mortal World Qi from people’s everyday joys and sorrows; the surrounding settlements therefore serve both as training grounds and as a source of Qi.
• Since the sect has sealed itself off for a month, Gu and Li decide to gather information before approaching it. Gu learns from local Rogue Cultivators that something serious may have happened inside, several elders are absent, and a strange Yin-Yang phenomenon recently appeared over the mountain gate.
• Gu sees Li secretly commission a custom-made magical artifact but chooses not to confront her. That evening, they compare their findings and agree to head to the sect that night.
• While waiting near the gate, Gu hears loud sounds from the neighboring cabin and silently hopes not to be pulled into whatever “training” is taking place. The Flying Boat reaches the foot of Mortal World Mountain the next morning.

Character development and interactions

• Gu Chengming grows more comfortable with Li, asking about her past and the Joyful Union Sect. He shows tact by ignoring her private purchase, while remaining wary of the sect’s situation.
• Li Suizhuang shares more of her personal history, including her gratitude toward Senior Sister Fu and the obligation that keeps her at the Imperial Academy. Her calm manner conceals some private business, suggested by the custom artifact she orders.
• Their initially awkward relationship warms through teasing and conversation. They cooperate closely, dividing up the work of gathering information and deciding together when to approach the sect.
• Gu also learns of the distant, legendary Master, whose influence in Great Qian includes major military and historical deeds, though Li says she knows little about him personally.

Significant themes

• Personal obligations and sacrifice: Li’s sixty-year service reflects the costs of bargains made to achieve important goals.
• Community and cultivation: The Joyful Union Sect depends on ordinary human life and emotion for Mortal World Qi, making the town’s prosperity part of its spiritual practice.
• Secrecy and uncertainty: The sect’s closure, the strange celestial sign, Li’s hidden purchase, and the Master’s obscurity all leave important questions unresolved.
• The mortal world as spiritual resource: Everyday settlements are not merely background; their human experiences directly sustain the sect’s cultivation.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Chengming and Li Suizhuang arrive at Mortal World Mountain, the Joyful Union Sect's headquarters.
• They are greeted by Senior Sister Yun, who seems warm but is secretly wary of their visit.
• Gu Chengming is taken to a remote courtyard called "Quiet Contemplation Courtyard" by a young disciple, Su Xiashao, who shows interest in him.
• Li Suizhuang meets with the Sect Master, while Gu Chengming explores the courtyard and senses the Yin Yang Qi using the Yin Yang Creation Strategy.
• Su Qiuzhi, a core disciple, mocks Gu Chengming and provokes Su Xiashao.

Character Developments

• Gu Chengming maintains his disguise as Gu An, Li Suizhuang's physician apprentice.
• Li Suizhuang shows concern for Gu Chengming's safety and tries to deter Su Xiashao's interest in him.
• Su Xiashao is curious about Gu Chengming and openly expresses her interest.
• Su Qiuzhi, a core disciple, is revealed to have a slow cultivation progress until recently, and she has a tense relationship with Su Xiashao.

Significant Themes

• The imbalance of the Yin Yang Fish and the Sect's struggle to suppress it.
• The tension and competition among the Joyful Union Sect's disciples, particularly between Su Xiashao and Su Qiuzhi.
• The theme of disguise and deception, as Gu Chengming maintains his cover.

Character Interactions

• Li Suizhuang and Senior Sister Yun have a cordial but guarded conversation.
• Gu Chengming interacts with Su Xiashao, who shows interest in him, and later with Su Qiuzhi, who mocks him.
• Li Suizhuang tries to discourage Su Xiashao's interest in Gu Chengming.
• Su Xiashao and Su Qiuzhi have a tense exchange, revealing their rivalry.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Chengming accidentally activates a large amount of Mortal World Qi while trying to sense the Yin Yang Fish's condition using the Yin Yang Creation Strategy.
• The Mortal World Qi is concealed by the Yin Yang Fish, avoiding detection by the Joyful Union Sect's higher-ups.
• Su Xiashao and Su Qiuzhi both sneak into the Quiet Contemplation Courtyard at night, with Su Qiuzhi getting affected by the dense Mortal World Qi and pleasuring herself near Gu Chengming's window.
• Li Suizhuang shares information about the Joyful Union Sect's Yin Yang Fish imbalance, which has been worsening over the past three years.

Character Developments

• Gu Chengming: Struggles with controlling the Mortal World Qi and decides to tell Li Suizhuang about the incident.
• Su Xiashao: Confronts Su Qiuzhi about her actions and expresses her disapproval.
• Su Qiuzhi: Gets affected by the Mortal World Qi and pleasures herself near Gu Chengming's window, later arguing with Su Xiashao about her actions.
• Li Suizhuang: Shares important information about the Yin Yang Fish imbalance with Gu Chengming.

Significant Themes

• The consequences of Gu Chengming's actions and the potential risks he faces.
• The growing tension and conflict between Su Xiashao and Su Qiuzhi.
• The increasing severity of the Yin Yang Fish imbalance and its potential impact on the Joyful Union Sect.

Character Interactions

• Gu Chengming and Li Suizhuang: Share information and discuss the Yin Yang Fish imbalance, with Gu Chengming deciding to tell Li Suizhuang about the previous night's incident.
• Su Xiashao and Su Qiuzhi: Confront each other about their actions, leading to an argument between them.
• Gu Chengming and the Yin Yang Fish: The Yin Yang Fish takes notice of Gu Chengming and conceals the Mortal World Qi he stirred up, showing curiosity rather than malice or benevolence.