Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Yu Wenqiu drives Princess Ji Yixi out after the princess’s first attempt to approach Gu Chengming goes badly. Ji had followed advice to bring force, mention Gu’s dragon qi, and offer him anything he wanted; she realizes she has made things worse.
• Gu worries that Ji might expose his secret or send imperial experts after them. Yu reassures him that they can flee to their sect if necessary.
• The next day, Ji returns alone. Gu shuts the door on her, but she waits outside for three days, including through bad weather, until he finally agrees to hear her out.
• Ji apologizes for her earlier behavior and swears a binding Dao oath never to reveal that Gu bears dragon qi. The oath costs her cultivation and would destroy her if broken.
• Ji says Gu is her “one and only turning point,” though she cannot explain why. Sensing sincerity, Gu acknowledges her honesty, but does not agree to her proposal concerning the Green Lotus Sword Realm. Ji leaves without pressing him.
• The Yin Yang Creation Strategy misreads Gu’s conduct as masterful manipulation, gains favorability, and resolves not to let him become a “simp.”

Character developments and interactions

• Ji Yixi shifts from an imposing, strategically advised princess to an awkward and earnest person who recognizes her mistakes. Her patience, apology, and costly oath show genuine trust and desperation, though her motives remain partly unexplained.
• Gu Chengming remains cautious about the danger of his secret, but gives Ji a chance to speak after seeing her persistence and sensing her sincerity. He accepts her apology without agreeing to cooperate on her terms.
• Yu Wenqiu protects Gu, confronts Ji bluntly, and later explains the significance of the Dao oath. Her practical escape plan reassures Gu.
• The Yin Yang Creation Strategy provides comic relief through its mistaken interpretation of Gu and its growing admiration for him.

Significant themes

• Trust must be earned through actions, not merely promises; Ji’s persistence and oath contrast with her failed first approach.
• Miscommunication and poor social understanding complicate cooperation.
• Caution and self-preservation are treated as sensible responses to political and personal danger.
• The author’s note clarifies that Ji is meant to be socially clueless rather than cruel or spoiled, and that her early mistakes are intended to shift the balance of a future alliance—not signal that the secret realm is dangerous.

Plot and key events

• After returning from leave, Gu Chengming discovers his recent exploits have earned him the 64th place on Great Qian’s Hidden Dragon Ranking, a list of young cultivators ranked by documented combat achievements. His record includes killing several evil spirits and helping stop a Fourth Realm evil cultivator’s formation.
• The ranking confirms the strength of his sect’s elders: Yu Wenqiu once placed 93rd, while Luo Jinyao was ranked first for extraordinary demon-slaying feats.
• Deputy Commander Liu praises Gu Chengming and warns him that the Longevity Sect may retaliate for its losses at the Drunken Dream Boat. He urges Gu to prioritize survival and gives him an approved Mortal World Illusory Body Technique and cultivation pills.
• Gu learns his injury-related leave counts as paid leave and collects his salary and bounty. He then has his damaged sword, Splitting Stone, repaired and purchases a practical, mass-produced Zhenye Magic Sword.

Character development and interactions

• Gu remains wary of the Second Princess despite her solemn oath, reflecting his distrust of easy assurances. He is surprised to learn that his achievements have attracted official attention.
• His colleagues admire and envy his sudden rise, while Li Dujiang explains the ranking system and its significance.
• Deputy Commander Liu shows genuine care for Gu, combining professional praise, a blunt warning about danger, and material support. Gu responds with gratitude and respect.
• Gu’s reaction to Yu Wenqiu’s and Luo Jinyao’s records is amused: he realizes that some of the legendary stories he heard belonged to Luo, not Yu.

Significant themes

• Reputation and recognition: Gu’s actions are publicly recorded, bringing prestige and possible promotion.
• Prudence and survival: Liu’s warning contrasts heroic impulses with the necessity of living to fight another day.
• Practicality and resilience: Gu repairs his damaged weapon and chooses an affordable, dependable sword rather than an expensive masterpiece.
• Support and belonging: His colleagues and superiors increasingly treat him as a valued member of the Town Night Division.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Chengming successfully integrates the fourth Magic Sword, Zhenye, into his Sword Chess system. This activates the fourth sword slot and upgrades the Bond effect.
• With all four swords—Listening to the Waves, Splitting Light, Splitting Stone, and Zhenye—he can form the Four Symbols Sword Array, a formation far more harmonious and powerful than his previous Three Talents Sword Array.
• Seeking to increase the favorability of the Zhou Li Tian Ren Zheng Xin Fa, Gu Chengming decides to visit the Great Qian Imperial Academy and study Zhou Qingmu’s notes.
• The Jade Slip given by Zhou Qingmu grants him entry to the academy. The guards and students react with fear, awe, and pity, revealing that Zhou Qingmu has an intimidating and controversial reputation there.
• Gu Chengming is escorted to the Heart Sutra Hall, where he discovers a massive stone blade embedded in the courtyard. The blade was placed there by Zhou Qingmu herself during an argument with the academy’s Chancellor.
• A student warns Gu Chengming that the academy does not respect most of Zhou Qingmu’s writings. Her works remain on the shelves largely because of her contributions—and because the academy was unwilling to remove them after she forcefully imposed her position.
• Gu Chengming examines several of her books, discovering absurd and aggressively practical titles, including works on forcing the academy to accept her ideas and using household objects as weapons.
• He finally chooses the more serious-looking Zhou Li General Outline, whose introduction explains Zhou Li as a system of “Ritual Law” intended to make people calm, rational, and kind.

Character Developments

• Gu Chengming gains a major increase in combat potential through the Four Symbols Sword Array. Zhenye’s stabilizing nature completes the balance between the other three swords.
• His understanding of Zhou Qingmu changes. He begins to see that her scholarly reputation is tied not only to unconventional theories but also to her forceful, even threatening methods of defending them.
• Gu Chengming remains cautious and skeptical, refusing to accept Zhou Qingmu’s bizarre writings at face value, but he is still willing to investigate her central ideas.
• Zhou Qingmu is characterized indirectly as an immensely powerful, eccentric, stubborn, and highly practical scholar who uses both scholarship and martial strength to advance her theories.
• The Zhou Li Tian Ren Zheng Xin Fa shows anxiety and impatience, urging Gu Chengming to read the books because its own advancement depends on his engagement with them.

Significant Themes

• Martial power and intellectual authority: Zhou Qingmu’s stone blade symbolizes how force and scholarship coexist in her approach to reform.
• Reputation versus reality: The academy’s students fear and pity Gu Chengming because of his association with Zhou Qingmu, while her actual ideas may be more meaningful than her reputation suggests.
• Order, ritual, and human behavior: Zhou Li is introduced as a philosophy that treats ritual not as restrictive rules but as a rational system capable of guiding people toward peace and kindness.
• Tradition versus unconventional thought: The Imperial Academy preserves Zhou Qingmu’s works despite rejecting much of their content, highlighting tension between established scholarship and disruptive new ideas.
• Balance and harmony: The Four Symbols Sword Array reflects the broader idea that different strengths become more effective when properly coordinated.

Character Interactions

• Gu Chengming and the Imperial Academy guards: The guards initially block him, but the Jade Slip immediately changes their attitude to one of nervous respect.
• Gu Chengming and the entrance guard: The guard assumes Gu Chengming is Zhou Qingmu’s disciple and expresses sympathy when learning he merely works under her, revealing Zhou’s poor reputation.
• Gu Chengming and the student guide: The student politely leads him to the notes but privately warns him not to trust Zhou Qingmu’s writings too readily. He explains the history of the stone blade and the academy’s reluctance to challenge her.
• Gu Chengming and Zhou Qingmu’s writings: His reactions shift from amusement and disbelief at the strange titles to genuine curiosity when he opens the serious “General Outline.”
• Gu Chengming and the Zhou Li technique: The technique responds emotionally to his hesitation, demonstrating that it possesses a degree of awareness and strongly desires him to study Zhou Qingmu’s ideas.

Key events

• Fu Xiaoxiao, a Joyful Union Sect elder, recovers from severe injuries after Li Suizhuang treats her in the Imperial Academy’s secluded medical hall. Fu had been wounded fighting a Longevity Sect cultivator while protecting bystanders, but managed to kill him.
• Li warns that Fu’s dao foundation is close to collapse. Though the treatment has stabilized her, she is too fragile to fight—even against a Third Realm opponent.
• Fu insists on paying for her care, handing Li 6,000 spirit stones despite having little left. Li accepts but plans to return the money indirectly.
• Li asks about Gu Chengming, whom Fu recently taught the Yin Yang Creation Strategy. Fu praises his resilience, sword talent, and rare pure-yang constitution. Li realizes he is currently at the Imperial Academy’s Heart Sutra Hall.
• Fu rushes to find Gu, eager to redeem herself after his earlier teasing about her figure. Meanwhile, Gu leaves the Hall unsettled by Zhou Li’s doctrine: in essence, the powerful can define their own behavior as proper ritual.
• Fu asks Gu to call her “Senior Sister Fu” and then demands his opinion of her appearance, expecting her technique to make her look like a captivating mature beauty. Gu sees no change and says so. Fu suspects he has a way to see through illusions, while Gu privately attributes it to his many cultivation techniques.

Character developments and interactions

• Fu Xiaoxiao is proud and sharp-tongued, but her willingness to risk herself for strangers reveals a deeply protective nature. Her insistence on paying Li shows her pride and desire to keep personal and professional obligations separate. Her attempt to impress Gu exposes a comic insecurity beneath her bravado.
• Li Suizhuang treats Fu with affection and gentle exasperation, much as one might indulge a sulking child. Though Fu insists they are on different paths, their former closeness remains evident. Li is also quietly protective, planning to return Fu’s money.
• Gu Chengming remains polite despite his irreverent inner thoughts. His resistance to Fu’s appearance-enhancing technique frustrates her, and his experience at the Heart Sutra Hall leaves him questioning whether Director Zhou’s outlook is beginning to influence him.
• Fu and Li’s warm, teasing familiarity contrasts with Fu’s awkward, competitive encounter with Gu. Li introduces herself to Gu but withholds her personal connection to Fu.

Significant themes

• Compassion and duty: Fu accepts serious risks to protect ordinary people, while Li uses her medical skills to preserve her.
• Pride and affection: Fu’s insistence on paying masks her vulnerability, and Li’s acceptance masks her intention to help her anyway.
• Power and “propriety”: Gu’s unsettling takeaway from Zhou Li is that authority can redefine self-serving actions as proper conduct.
• Appearance and perception: Fu’s confidence in her beauty-enhancing technique collides with Gu’s apparent ability—or supposed immunity—to perceive her unchanged.

Plot points and events

• Gu Chengming meets Li Suizhuang, who senses an affectionate quality in his qi and asks whether he practices the Multi-Passion Sword Art. He says he does not. She is intrigued when she learns he has come to study Director Zhou Qingmu’s mental-cultivation notes.
• Fu Xiaoxiao dismisses Zhou’s teachings and offers to teach Gu herself. She notices that he has already made rapid progress with the Yin Yang Creation Strategy and explains that the Joyful Union Sect’s arts require the Mortal World Art as a means of turning their power against opponents.
• Fu demonstrates the art on Gu, but it has no visible effect. Gu reveals he has copied her technique simply by watching and tries it on her. His version overwhelms her with an intense, alluring pull.
• Caught in a Mortal World Illusion and struggling to control herself, Fu offers Gu her Storage Bag, containing five hundred Spirit Stones. Gu accepts it without understanding why she is giving it to him.
• Fu uses the Mortal World Art in reverse to regain control. When Gu asks what happened, she claims she was merely testing him. Li begins to explain that Fu fell into his illusion, but changes her account under Fu’s threatening glare, saying the stones were meant to settle a karmic debt.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming shows extraordinary aptitude: he has advanced unusually quickly in cultivation and reproduces a complex technique after one demonstration. His success surprises both women, though he remains innocent of the effect his art had on Fu.
• Fu Xiaoxiao shifts from boastful instructor to the victim of Gu’s unexpectedly powerful technique. Her embarrassment and effort to conceal what happened puncture her confidence in her own mastery of worldly desires.
• Li Suizhuang observes the exchange with amusement and quiet insight. She sees through Fu’s excuses but ultimately helps preserve her senior’s dignity.
• The encounter highlights the contrasting dynamic among the three: Gu’s earnestness, Fu’s pride and flustered defensiveness, and Li’s composed amusement.

Significant themes

• Talent and imitation: Gu’s rapid progress suggests exceptional innate ability, unsettling the usual pace of cultivation.
• Power and vulnerability: Fu expects to teach and control the demonstration, but her own technique becomes the means by which Gu overwhelms her.
• Appearance versus truth: Fu’s claims that she was “testing” Gu and that the stones settle karma mask her humiliation.
• Desire and self-control: The Mortal World Art’s influence tests Fu’s confidence in her supposedly ironclad Dao Heart.
  The chapter also includes author commentary about reader feedback and planned extra chapters; this does not advance the story.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points

• Fu Xiaoxiao explains that the Joyful Union Sect’s Mortal World Art manipulates Karma by establishing an effect first, causing a person’s mind—or, at higher levels, reality itself—to supply the cause. A powerful cultivator might impose an outcome such as “you have already lost.”
• She clarifies why the sect requires payment for casual Dual Cultivation: taking someone’s essence creates a karmic debt, and compensation provides the balancing effect. Gu Chengming realizes that her gift of five hundred Spirit Stones was also a way to settle Karma; Fu insists it was simply a reward for his talent.
• Fu warns Gu that his constitution attracts Karma. He must learn to control Mortal World Qi, since others may use similar methods against him.
• In the East Market, Gu experiments with the technique, trying to make a vendor sell his candied hawthorn and to influence small events. His attempts fail because his Qi is weak and reality resists him. The Yin Yang Creation Strategy reassures him that his results are impressive for someone in the Second Realm, though he has accumulated too little Mortal World Qi.
• Gu’s personified Cultivation Methods awaken from their Mortal World Illusions. Huiyuan Sword Art is dazed by a comforting dream, Clear Heart Art tries to conceal its experience, and Hundred Bones Cry is reluctant to leave the illusion.
• A Night Patrol Order summons Gu to Xuande Ward. He finds the scene already quiet but disastrous: a luxurious carriage and a restrained half-blood flood-dragon beast stand amid wreckage. An old man lies dead, while a grief-stricken teenage boy clutches his body. Officials from the Ministry of Justice and Court of Diplomatic Relations face the boy; the latter describes the death as an unwanted accident.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming gains a deeper understanding of the Mortal World Art and begins cautiously testing it. Though frustrated by his failures, he accepts that his limited realm and Qi—not necessarily a lack of talent—are holding him back.
• Fu Xiaoxiao shifts from irritation to patient instruction and genuine concern. Her embarrassment over the Spirit Stone gift adds humor to her otherwise serious warning.
• Li Suizhuang teases Fu about giving away her method, money, and dignity, reinforcing their familiar, affectionate rapport.
• The personified Cultivation Methods reveal that the Mortal World Illusion affected each of them differently, creating a comic contrast between their attempts at dignity and their lingering attachment to their dreams.
• At the chapter’s end, the grieving boy’s silent anguish contrasts sharply with the diplomatic official’s calm, conciliatory manner. Gu observes the confrontation but has not yet intervened.

Significant themes

• Karma and reciprocity: Actions create debts that must be balanced; payment is more than a transaction.
• Power and limits: Mortal World Qi can potentially bend reality, but Gu’s early experiments show how strongly both personal Karma and ordinary cause-and-effect resist such power.
• Responsibility in cultivation: The ability to influence others carries risks, making restraint and control essential.
• Privilege and injustice: The destroyed street, dead civilian, powerful beast, and officials’ restrained response suggest a conflict between ordinary people and those protected by status or authority.

Key events

• A Half-Blood Flood Dragon Beast has killed a boy’s grandfather in Xuande Ward. A diplomatic official offers the grieving boy five hundred spirit stones and urges him to accept the payment, arguing that challenging the East Sea Whale Shark Aristocratic Clan would only ruin his future.
• Gu Chengming watches from above, disgusted by the official’s attempt to excuse injustice as “for the boy’s own good.” Clear Heart Art is unusually disturbed by the scene, while Hundred Bones Ming urges Gu to act.
• Gu leaps down and kills the beast with a single sword strike, then cites Great Qian law against street killing. He identifies himself as a Night Patrol Guard of the Town Night Division, leaving the official to reckon with both the death and his own failed cover-up.
• As Gu leaves, his cultivation methods react positively to his action. Clear Heart Art, however, remains unsettled and eventually says, “Good riddance.”
• Gu concludes that the incident has exposed a knot in Clear Heart Art’s past. Suspecting a connection to the Flood Dragon Clan or the East Sea, he considers asking Elder Yu about a previously recorded battle with a Flood Dragon there.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming acts decisively against a powerful diplomatic interest, choosing justice over an expedient compromise. His concern shifts from the immediate case to understanding Clear Heart Art’s emotional reaction.
• Clear Heart Art shows unfamiliar distress at the boy’s suffering. Even after Gu kills the beast, it feels no relief, suggesting a deeper memory or unresolved grievance tied to the event.
• Hundred Bones Ming enthusiastically supports Gu’s intervention and celebrates the beast’s death.
• The diplomatic official presents himself as compassionate while prioritizing political convenience. Gu’s action exposes the weakness of his “best possible solution,” and the official recognizes that Gu’s legal and institutional standing makes him difficult to intimidate.
• The boy and onlookers witness the beast’s death; the crowd responds with relief and admiration after years of apparent powerlessness.

Significant themes

• Justice versus political expediency: The chapter challenges compromises that protect powerful guests while leaving ordinary people to bear the cost.
• Law and moral responsibility: Gu invokes the law not merely as procedure, but as a means to restore order and public trust.
• Compassion and hidden wounds: Clear Heart Art’s reaction suggests that past trauma can surface through another person’s suffering, and that righteous action may not immediately heal it.
• Power and accountability: Gu uses his authority against a creature and officials who assumed the weak could be made to accept injustice.

Key plot points and events

• Yu Wenqiu gives Gu Chengming a matched pair of Dongdong Bells, magic treasures that alert their wearer with a soul-piercing chime if the other is caught in an illusion or soul-binding technique. Her attempt at “double insurance” is undercut when Gu points out that neither can ring a bell if both are incapacitated.
• Gu praises Yu Wenqiu’s past achievement on the Hidden Dragon Ranking: at the second realm, she killed a rampaging flood dragon and reached ninety-third place. He then reveals that he has been ranked sixty-fourth, startling her.
• Using the conversation to ask about the East Sea, Gu learns that Great Qian’s Sea-Land Pact recognizes the Flood Dragon Clan as “auspicious beasts,” limiting when officials may kill them. In practice, the court tolerates lesser-branch flood dragons’ abuses until they go too far.
• Yu Wenqiu recalls killing a mixed-blood flood dragon that terrorized a fishing village. She acted despite the pact and local officials’ fear of offending the East Sea.
• Gu reveals that he has also killed a flood dragon-like beast that attacked civilians. Yu Wenqiu approves without hesitation, and they share their experiences of confronting demonic cruelty.
• Back at the Town Night Division, Gu’s report describes the incident plainly as the killing of an untamed demonic beast. The department approves and archives it as routine work, leaving any diplomatic fallout to higher officials.
• Gu visits the mourning hall of a boy whose grandfather was killed in the incident. Since the boy rejected compensation from the Court of Diplomatic Relations, Gu gives him a thousand spirit stones as a personal gift.

Character developments and interactions

• Yu Wenqiu shows her caring side through the bells, which reflect her regret at failing to protect Gu before. Her pride in her past achievement is played for comedy, but her recollection also reveals the courage and cost behind it.
• Gu Chengming uses tactful flattery and casual questions to draw out information about the East Sea. He also demonstrates compassion by helping the bereaved boy privately.
• Their exchange is warm and teasing: Gu gently punctures Yu Wenqiu’s confidence, then lets her enjoy her old glory. Once he mentions his own dragon killing, she responds with immediate solidarity.

Significant themes

• Justice versus political convenience: The pact protects diplomatic relations, while local abuses may be overlooked until they become impossible to ignore.
• Moral courage: Both Yu Wenqiu and Gu choose to protect civilians despite the risks or political complications.
• Care and mutual protection: The bells symbolize their concern for each other, while Gu’s gift extends that concern to an innocent victim.
• The gap between public recognition and real sacrifice: Yu Wenqiu’s ranking citation conceals the dangers and hardships behind her achievement.

Key plot points and events

• After Gu Chengming secures justice for the boy, the boy accepts the Storage Bag given as payment for the Flood Dragon Beast’s life and kneels to vow that he will repay Gu’s kindness.
• Gu settles into a routine of reporting to the Town Night Division and researching at the Imperial Academy, where he searches old texts for information about the East Sea, Flood Dragon bloodlines, and powerful clans.
• He repeatedly encounters Fu Xiaoxiao of the Joyful Union Sect. Under her playful but earnest instruction, he improves his control of the Mortal World Art, condensing its power into a precise thread that can influence the thoughts of mortals and low-level cultivators. He has now crossed the threshold of the Yin Yang Creation Strategy.
• While researching, Gu reads the history of Reef Daoist, a fisherman who joined Wenjian Sect hoping to bring his family to safety. On returning home, he found Reefstone Village massacred by a son of the Floating White Dragon King. Though Reef Daoist later confronted the killer, fear of the Dragon King made him lower his sword. His suppressed rage and regret eventually resurfaced as inner demons, destroying his dao foundation.
• Back at the Town Night Division, Gu learns of a minor case involving river bandits near the East Sea. He recognizes the incident location in the file: Reefstone Village.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming grows more capable in the Mortal World Art and becomes increasingly interested in the East Sea’s history and dangers. Reef Daoist’s story leaves him solemn, and the case’s location appears to strike him deeply.
• Fu Xiaoxiao develops a friendly, teasing mentor-student relationship with Gu. Though she complains about his slow progress, she is generous with her instruction and secretly fears he will learn so quickly that she will have nothing left to teach.
• Reef Daoist, through the historical account, is portrayed as a man whose love for his family and desire for justice conflict with his fear of death and loss. His failure to act against the Dragon King’s son haunts him for the rest of his life.
• The boy expresses profound gratitude to Gu, accepting his help without ceremony and promising lifelong repayment.

Significant themes

• The cost of suppressed emotion: Reef Daoist’s attempt to bury grief and hatred does not erase them; his unresolved feelings ultimately destroy him.
• Fear, justice, and power: Reef Daoist’s encounter with the Dragon King’s son shows how unequal power can make justice feel impossible—and how fear can shape a person’s choices.
• The heart as a battleground: The Mortal World Art influences others through their emotions, while Reef Daoist’s story demonstrates how inner turmoil can become more dangerous than an external enemy.
• Kindness and obligation: The boy’s vow underscores the lasting bonds created by Gu’s intervention.

Character interactions

• Gu and Fu build familiarity through frequent meetings and hands-on lessons, blending playful teasing with genuine mentorship.
• Gu’s earlier act of justice inspires the boy’s solemn vow of repayment.
• Reef Daoist’s family story contrasts with his later confrontation with the Dragon King’s son: his devotion to them fuels his pursuit of justice, but fear ultimately stops him.
• Deputy Commander Liu tries to spare Gu from the East Sea assignment, but the place name in the case file—Reefstone Village—connects the current investigation to the tragic account Gu has just read.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chengming spots a Town Night Division case file about pirates near Reefstone Village. The location matches the long-lost burial ground of 136 wrathful souls, a tragedy tied to the Reef Daoist’s life and death. Despite Deputy Commander Liu’s objections, Gu takes the assignment, saying the East Sea will help temper his sword intent.
• Before he leaves, Yu Wenqiu shows unusual concern, telling him to seek help if needed and offering to come herself.
• After a day’s flight, Gu reaches the bleak, polluted East Sea and enters Reefstone Village disguised as a poor traveler. The villagers have shuttered their homes, hung bone wind chimes, and worship a grotesque Dragon King statue. The headman warns Gu to leave.
• A boy named Aji cautions Gu against eating fish that washed ashore dead. He shows unusual awareness of the sea’s qi and reveals that he is secretly studying a basic cultivation manual. Aji hopes to become strong enough to protect his father and village from the “monsters” demanding tribute.
• Gu recognizes Aji’s rare spiritual talent and gives him Qi-Gathering Pills. Aji offers Gu a Tide-Listening Conch in return and promises to find him someday. The moment is interrupted when the sea turns ominously dark and the headman panics, insisting Aji hide his ability to cultivate lest the village be endangered.
• Gu visits the county office, expecting corruption but meeting Magistrate Li, a worn and anxious official. Li urges him not to investigate the pirates openly, arguing that the county depends on East Sea trade and that a forceful response could ruin its people.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming is drawn to the case by its connection to an old tragedy, while presenting his assignment as sword training. In the village, he acts discreetly and compassionately, helping Aji without revealing his identity.
• Yu Wenqiu briefly drops her usual lazy manner to express protective concern for Gu.
• Aji is perceptive, resourceful, and unusually gifted, but his hope of becoming a cultivator contrasts with the fear that forces him to keep his talent secret. His exchange with Gu creates a bond of gratitude and promise.
• The village headman is fearful and controlling, but his warnings suggest the village lives under a threat more dangerous than ordinary pirates.
• Magistrate Li appears genuinely concerned for his people rather than merely self-serving. His plea puts Gu between enforcing the law and avoiding economic harm to the county.

Significant themes

• Fear and oppression: The villagers’ closed doors, strange offerings, and suppression of Aji’s cultivation suggest an unseen power controlling daily life.
• Hope amid hardship: Aji’s ambition and natural talent offer a small promise of change in a desolate community.
• Duty versus pragmatism: Gu’s investigation and the magistrate’s plea frame a conflict between confronting wrongdoing and protecting livelihoods.
• Hidden danger beneath appearances: The dead fish, unnatural sea, and ominous shifts in the water signal that the “pirate” case may involve something far more sinister.

Plot

• Gu Chengming rejects Magistrate Li’s attempt to stop him investigating the deaths in a fishing village. The victims appear unharmed, but Insightful Eyes reveal that their bones were crushed while they were alive and their bodies arranged facing the sea.
• The sole survivor, a traumatized old scholar, describes a laughing figure in blue-green clothes. Gu recognizes a possible connection to the suspicious young master mentioned earlier.
• Magistrate Li privately begs Gu to leave, admitting that the real threat is too dangerous to challenge. Gu does not press him, choosing instead to investigate on his own.
• Disguised as a traveling merchant, Gu finds similar deaths and disappearances in other villages. Officials have concealed them under explanations such as bandit raids, storms, and sea-beast attacks.
• Mapping the sites, Gu discovers that they all lie along the official shipping route used for trade with the East Sea’s Whale Shark Aristocratic Clan. He concludes that a flood-dragon demon is exploiting the alliance—and officials’ reluctance to disrupt it—to hide its killings.
• A tribute ship is due to pass through the area that night. Before Gu can act, he finds Aji gravely injured: the boy’s eyes have been torn out after he went to the shore to warn his teacher that the sea’s clouds looked wrong. Gu uses his true essence to preserve Aji’s remaining life.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming proves determined and principled, refusing both official pressure and personal danger. He shifts from investigating one massacre to exposing a wider pattern of corruption, and his concern for Aji becomes immediate and personal.
• Magistrate Li is revealed as frightened and resigned rather than simply obstructive. He believes resistance will only get Gu killed and begs him to protect himself by leaving.
• The old scholar is the only survivor but is too traumatized to offer reliable testimony; his fragments nonetheless reinforce the link to a supernatural attacker.
• Aji emerges as perceptive and earnest: he notices danger at sea and tries to warn Gu, but pays terribly for it. His earlier hopes of becoming a sword immortal make his injury especially poignant.
• Gu treats both the magistrate and the survivor with restraint, but acts decisively when Aji’s life is at stake.

Significant themes

• Justice versus political expediency: Officials disguise atrocities to protect trade and diplomatic relations.
• Corruption and complicity: A commercial alliance becomes cover for a demon’s violence and the authorities’ concealment.
• Courage against resignation: Gu’s resolve contrasts with Magistrate Li’s belief that resistance is futile.
• The human cost of hidden power: Ordinary villagers—and especially a child trying to help—suffer for decisions made by powerful institutions.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Ao Qing, the arrogant seventh son of the East Sea’s Floating White Dragon King, feasts on the eyes he gouged from Aji, a child from Reefstone Village. He delights in killing young humans, whom he sees as rivals because they can cultivate more quickly than he can.
• He recalls a sword cultivator who once nearly killed him but stopped when Ao Qing invoked his father. That escape has fed his contempt for humans and encouraged him to torment them.
• A Great Qian diplomatic official admits that the authorities covered up the deaths in Reefhead Village as an accident and silenced those who objected. He timidly asks Ao Qing to be more discreet in the future.
• Ao Qing humiliates the official, declaring that humans exist for his amusement and that he may kill them wherever and however he pleases.
• Gu Chengming enters the Whale Ship. Ao Qing assumes he has come to bargain or offer a bribe, as officials usually do. Instead, Gu immediately attacks with four swords and activates the Four Symbols Sword Array.
• The array cuts Ao Qing’s cheek, enraging him. He attacks Gu, but the formation’s binding sword intent slows him, while its coordinated blades press him back and penetrate the effects of his tough dragon scales.
• Ao Qing unleashes water-based demonic power to break the formation. Gu counters with the heavy swords Splitting Stone and Zhenye, which crash into the waterspouts and shake the ship. The fight remains unresolved as the chapter ends.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming moves from caring for the wounded Aji to acting decisively against Ao Qing. His quiet acceptance of the command to “kill” becomes action: he refuses the customary negotiation and attacks without hesitation.
• Ao Qing is revealed as cruel, entitled, and deeply resentful of human cultivators. His confidence falters when Gu’s sword formation proves capable of restraining him and damaging his defenses.
• The diplomatic official embodies the government’s fear and complicity: he has helped conceal Ao Qing’s crimes and can only plead for moderation.

Significant themes

• Corruption and injustice: Officials protect a powerful demon and suppress evidence rather than defend the victims.
• Racism, entitlement, and dehumanization: Ao Qing treats humans as food and denies their worth, while his own insecurity fuels his brutality.
• Courage and resistance: Gu breaks the established pattern of bribery and appeasement, confronting Ao Qing directly.
• Power versus skill: Though Ao Qing has superior physical strength and demonic power, Gu’s precise coordination and sword technique challenge his advantage.

Character interactions

• Ao Qing taunts and terrorizes the official, asserting his dominance while the official apologizes and tries to limit the damage.
• Gu and Ao Qing begin as opponents with sharply contrasting approaches: Ao Qing expects submission, while Gu answers with immediate force.
• Gu’s four swords operate as a coordinated unit, slowing Ao Qing’s attack and exploiting openings in his defenses.

Key plot points

• Ao Qing, the Flood Dragon King’s son, transforms into his true flood-dragon form and tries to escape into the sea after Gu Chengming’s sword formation overwhelms him.
• Gu uses his Mortal World Art to connect with the unfinished Karma of a sword cultivator from a century earlier. He borrows that cultivator’s unspent Sword Intent and completes the strike that should have killed Ao Qing long ago, beheading him.
• Afterward, Gu retrieves Ao Qing’s corpse and turns on a Court of Diplomatic Relations official who helped demons prey on ordinary people. When the official defends the practice as necessary for trade and stability, Gu executes him.
• Gu recognizes that killing Ao Qing will provoke the Flood Dragon Clan. Though he wants to take the dragon’s head to Reefstone Village as a tribute to the victims, he realizes doing so would be reckless.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming commits fully to acting on his own sense of justice, rejecting arguments that sacrifice commoners for political convenience. He becomes the agent who completes another person’s unfinished vengeance.
• Ao Qing shifts from arrogant confidence to fear when confronted with the old Sword Intent, then dies before he can reach safety.
• Clear Heart Art is freed from the hatred and fear that had defined it since its birth. Its bond with Gu reaches “Life and Death Mutual Reliance,” and the chapter declares that the fearful Reef Daoist is gone, leaving only Gu’s sword and the Art’s heart.
• Zhou Li Tian Ren Zheng Xin Fa approves of Gu’s execution of the corrupt official, interpreting it as moral correction rather than a violation of propriety. Hundred Bones Ming celebrates Gu’s victory and reminds him to collect the dragon’s materials.

Themes

• Unfinished justice and inherited purpose: Gu completes the sword strike that a long-dead cultivator could not bring himself to deliver.
• Karma and consequence: Ao Qing’s past crimes catch up with him, and Gu’s use of the Mortal World Art makes the old grievance’s consequence unavoidable.
• Moral law versus corrupt rules: Gu rejects the official’s appeal to custom, trade, and stability when those systems permit people to be sacrificed.
• Release through action: By resolving the old vengeance, Gu also helps Clear Heart Art escape the fear that had trapped it.

Character interactions

• Gu faces Ao Qing as both a present enemy and the continuation of the old cultivator’s vendetta.
• He confronts the diplomatic official, refusing to accept the official’s claim that exploitation is justified by policy or commerce.
• The crew and performers cower after the executions, while Gu ignores them and focuses on the consequences of his actions.

Plot and events

• To protect Reefstone Village from the East Sea Flood Dragon Clan’s retaliation, Gu Chengming drags the dead flood dragon far out to sea and leaves its corpse on a conspicuous, uninhabited island. He retrieves the dragon’s valuable inner core and harvests its scales and sinews, then carves an inscription identifying himself as the slayer.
• Gu returns to Reefstone Village and confirms that Aji has survived, though the boy will remain blind. He gives the village headman medicine and Spirit Stones to support Aji’s recovery and future.
• At the County Office, Gu tells Magistrate Li that the flood dragon and the Court of Diplomatic Relations officials are dead. To shield the village and local authorities, he instructs Li to claim that Gu acted alone, despite their efforts to stop him. Li understands and responds with tearful gratitude.
• The next morning, a formerly crazed old scholar carves a crude wooden figure that villagers interpret as a sword-bearing hero. He quietly worships it, foreshadowing a legend that will be recognized years later.
• On the peaceful journey home, Gu examines the Clear Heart Art’s CG illustration and discovers its new skill: it can dispel mental control and other negative Divine Soul effects from him and his Cultivation Methods, with a one-day cooldown.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming shows both ferocity and responsibility: he humiliates the slain dragon, but deliberately draws danger away from ordinary people, provides for Aji, and protects the village and county officials by taking sole blame.
• Magistrate Li, long accustomed to yielding to powerful forces to protect his people, is overwhelmed by Gu’s victory. His kneeling now expresses respect and gratitude rather than fear.
• The old scholar shifts from apparent madness to solemn devotion, preserving the memory of Gu’s heroism in a humble, obscure way.
• The Clear Heart Art becomes more openly personal. It tells Gu that it likes watching him not merely for entertainment but because it genuinely wants to, then abruptly asks what he thought of its appearance. Gu is caught off guard by its direct affection.

Significant themes

• Heroism and protection: Gu’s strength matters not only in defeating a threat but in preventing ordinary people from paying the price.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: Gu accepts public blame to spare the village and local officials from the consequences.
• Legend and remembrance: The old scholar’s crude carving suggests that great acts can become folk legends through small, private acts of devotion.
• Growing intimacy: The Clear Heart Art’s shift from observer to participant marks a more personal bond with Gu.

Key plot points and events

• After Gu Chengming compliments Pure Heart Art’s appearance, she openly flirts with him and leaves him to rest. Huiyuan Sword Art witnesses this and panics, fearing Pure Heart Art is a serious romantic rival. Unable to imitate her charm, Huiyuan resolves to improve her appearance and secretly admits that Gu Chengming is her “great hero” too.
• Gu returns to Capital City and reports that his assignment is complete. Deputy Commander Liu assumes it was a routine dispute with river bandits and gives him a Class A evaluation, unaware that Gu’s receipt concerns the slaying of an early Third Realm flood dragon.
• At home, Gu tells Yu Wenqiu what happened. She initially dismisses the threat, then is shocked to learn he killed a Third Realm flood dragon while still in the Second Realm. Though worried about retaliation, she checks that he is unharmed and promises to help him flee or seek support if necessary.
• Gu asks Yu Wenqiu about Reef Daoist, a former Wenjian Sect elder. She recalls that he died after failing to break through to the Fifth Realm. The Sect Master’s words suggest that suppressing one’s true feelings can turn the sword against its wielder, and the elders’ strange behavior at Reef Daoist’s funeral implies his death may have been a kind of release.
• Gu connects this history to the East Sea conflict: the Dragon King’s dead son alone seems insufficient to explain the clan’s fury, while Reef Daoist’s family had been killed by the flood dragons. Gu suspects an Inner Demon caused Reef Daoist to stop pursuing revenge and ultimately fail his breakthrough.

Character developments and interactions

• Huiyuan Sword Art shifts from complacent confidence in her place beside Gu to jealous determination after seeing Pure Heart Art flirt successfully. Her awkward attempts at flirtation reveal her insecurity and affection.
• Pure Heart Art displays a newly direct, playful confidence, while Gu’s approval of her design and style prompts her flirtation.
• Gu Chengming remains understated about his extraordinary achievement, but his questions about Reef Daoist show he is investigating the deeper history behind the East Sea events.
• Yu Wenqiu moves from casual curiosity to alarm, then to protective resolve. Her teasing, domestic ease with Gu gives way to genuine concern for his safety.
• Deputy Commander Liu unknowingly underestimates Gu’s mission, creating a contrast between the routine version of events known in Capital City and the dangerous reality.

Significant themes

• Affection, rivalry, and self-expression: Huiyuan’s jealousy contrasts with Pure Heart Art’s willingness to speak plainly.
• Hidden truths and mistaken assumptions: Officials and people in Capital City have little idea what Gu accomplished; similarly, the real cause of Reef Daoist’s failure was concealed.
• Strength and protection: Gu’s power surprises Yu Wenqiu, while her immediate instinct is to protect him regardless of the danger.
• Repressed emotion and the Inner Demon: The chapter suggests that denying one’s true feelings can undermine a cultivator’s path and turn inner conflict into self-destruction.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chengming explains to Yu Wenqiu that Reef Daoist’s century-old resentment began when he suppressed a killing blow for the sake of avoiding trouble for his sect. That unresolved grievance ultimately ruined Reef Daoist’s Dao Path.
• Gu reveals that the Flood Dragon he killed was Ao Qing, son of the Floating White Dragon King—and the demon responsible for murdering Reef Daoist’s family. His victory therefore also ended a long-standing thread of vengeance.
• At the Imperial Observatory, officials detect a powerful disturbance near the East Sea and identify the aura as Ao Qing’s. Using the Heavenly Sight and Earthly Hearing Formation, they witness Gu’s battle: he uses four coordinated Flying Swords to contain the stronger opponent before killing him with a decisive strike.
• Deputy Astronomer Song Zhixing recognizes Gu’s exceptional skill and raises him from 64th to 20th on the Hidden Dragon Ranking, citing his past achievements as well as the Flood Dragon’s death.
• News of the fight spreads quickly through the capital, distilled into the rumor: “A Flood Dragon caused havoc; one sword strike slew him.”
• The chapter then shifts to the Town Night Division, where Deputy Commander Liu anxiously waits as Director Zhou Qingmu reads Gu’s mission report.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming appears both formidable and perceptive: he understands the tangled history behind Reef Daoist’s tragedy and has proved able to defeat an opponent a realm above him. His calm demeanor contrasts with the enormity of his feat.
• Yu Wenqiu moves from shock and self-doubt to renewed confidence, deciding that she has her own distinctive way of being “mediocre.” Her private emotional shift baffles Gu.
• Song Zhixing changes from treating the East Sea disturbance as a routine report to recognizing Gu as an extraordinary young cultivator. He judges that Gu’s tactical skill, Sword Heart, and courage matter even if the final blow drew on outside power.
• The Observatory staff witness and assess Gu’s battle, turning a remote event into official recognition.
• Deputy Commander Liu and Zhou Qingmu establish a tense setup for the next scene: Liu is visibly nervous while Zhou carefully reviews Gu’s report.

Significant themes

• Karma and consequences: A choice made to avoid immediate trouble can leave resentment unresolved and shape events across generations.
• Talent and individuality: Gu’s extraordinary abilities prompt Yu Wenqiu to compare herself with geniuses, but she finds pride in her own unconventional path.
• Skill, courage, and results: Song values Gu’s ability to control the battle and win, arguing that using an external force does not erase the achievement.
• Reputation and public narrative: Gu’s deed rapidly becomes a simple, dramatic story across the capital, while official records give it broader significance.

Key plot points and events

• Deputy Commander Liu anxiously reviews Gu Chengming’s mission report, which reveals that Gu killed a Third Realm Flood Dragon—an East Sea royal descendant—in public, then asserted Great Qian’s authority. He expects Director Zhou Qingmu to rebuke him for approving the mission.
• Zhou instead praises Liu for making and owning a difficult decision. She declares that any man-eating creature on Great Qian territory is a demon and deserves to die, and says she will confront both the Court of Diplomatic Relations and the East Sea if they retaliate.
• Zhou orders Gu’s achievement to be rewarded as the slaying of a major Third Realm demon, not merely as the suppression of river bandits. She also promises Liu an excellent personnel evaluation and possible promotion. Liu leaves stunned by how his risky decision has become a career success.
• Gu wakes to find himself ranked twentieth on the Imperial Observatory’s Hidden Dragon Ranking. The Observatory recorded his victory independently and with remarkable speed, prompting him to wonder about Great Qian’s surveillance powers—and why the dynasty nevertheless treats the Flood Dragon Clan so cautiously.
• During his leave, Gu reflects on how he defeated the Flood Dragon. Rather than create a fatal karmic consequence from nothing, he completed the unfinished vengeance of Reef Daoist, whose family Ao Qing had killed. Gu’s Mortal World Art connected the old cause to its overdue result, allowing him to borrow the force of that just conclusion.
• This insight strengthens Gu’s cultivation: his Qi Seed responds, his meridians open naturally, and he advances to the third layer of the Second Realm. His swordsmanship also improves, allowing him to leave a brief Sword Mark with a simple gesture.
• The following day, Gu returns to the Hidden Flood Dragon Hall. Li Dujiang welcomes him with praise, while Gu worries that his angry actions will bring trouble.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Qingmu reveals herself as a decisive, protective leader who prioritizes the Town Night Division’s duty over diplomatic pressure. She supports Gu and recognizes Liu’s willingness to take responsibility.
• Deputy Commander Liu shifts from panic to relief and gratitude. Though he had approved Gu’s mission without fully understanding its implications, Zhou reframes his action as sound leadership and rewards his initiative.
• Gu Chengming grows both in power and understanding. He recognizes that his victory depended on karma, moral conviction, and the legacy of another cultivator—not simply his own strength.
• Li Dujiang offers Gu straightforward approval, while Gu responds modestly and anticipates political consequences.

Significant themes

• Duty versus diplomacy: Zhou insists that protecting people and upholding the law must come before appeasing powerful outsiders.
• Responsibility and leadership: Liu’s willingness to make a decision—and accept its consequences—is valued more than cautious inaction.
• Karma and justice: Gu’s sword completes a cause left unresolved for a century, suggesting that past wrongs may remain active until their consequences are fulfilled.
• Power and hidden politics: Great Qian appears capable of overwhelming the East Sea, yet its restraint hints at larger political secrets.
• Growth through understanding: Gu’s cultivation advances when he comprehends the meaning behind his actions, linking spiritual progress to clarity of purpose.

Key plot points and events

• Li Dujiang warns Gu Chengming that the Floating White Dragon King may eventually seek revenge for the slain flood dragon, though he is currently unable to act. He advises Gu to stay alert and notes that the flood dragon’s core, spine, and sinews could be used to forge a powerful water-aspect sword.
• Fu Xiaoxiao, frustrated that Gu vanished for half a month without contacting her, secretly waits outside his home. When she senses his return, she slips into his courtyard.
• She first confirms that Gu is unharmed, then scolds him for leaving without saying goodbye. Gu apologizes, and her anger quickly eases.
• Fu asks whether Gu really killed the flood dragon alone. He explains that he used the Mortal World Art, drawing on unresolved karma to help defeat it.
• Recognizing his talent, Fu praises his progress but points out that his success depended on unusually favorable circumstances. Gu asks her to teach him how to use Mortal World Qi more reliably.
• Fu explains that his understanding remains superficial: he can observe the mortal world, but has not truly entered into it. She begins illustrating the nature of karma with a fallen branch.

Character developments

• Gu Chengming remains cautious and practical, already considering how to turn the flood dragon’s remains into a stronger sword. He also shows humility by openly acknowledging his limitations and asking Fu for guidance.
• Fu Xiaoxiao reveals a more vulnerable, affectionate side beneath her sharp tongue. Her frustration stems less from the missed instruction than from feeling forgotten; she is relieved to find Gu safe and pleased when he seeks her help.
• Li Dujiang demonstrates detailed knowledge of East Sea politics and the Dragon Lord’s temperament, hinting at possible connections or undisclosed knowledge.

Character interactions

• Li gives Gu both a warning about future danger and practical advice about the flood dragon’s remains.
• Fu and Gu’s teasing, mildly confrontational exchange conceals mutual regard: she wants recognition and influence in his life, while he understands her feelings and apologizes without escalating the quarrel.
• Their discussion of Gu’s victory shifts into a mentor-student exchange, with Fu taking pride in his progress and beginning to guide his cultivation.

Significant themes

• Karma and cultivation: The Mortal World Art draws power from human connections and unresolved consequences, but Gu has not yet learned to use it beyond special circumstances.
• Relationships and obligation: Fu’s insistence on their “karma” expresses her desire for their connection to be acknowledged, while Gu’s apology helps restore their bond.
• Power and looming danger: Gu’s achievement is significant, but the Floating White Dragon King’s potential retaliation makes clear that victory may bring further threats.

Chapter summary

• Fu Xiaoxiao visits Gu Chengming at night and challenges his detached, “player-like” way of viewing the world. She argues that cultivating the Joyful Union Sect’s Mortal World Dao requires experiencing people’s suffering and becoming entangled in their lives. Her deliberately provocative advice is to incur debts, make enemies, fall in love, and make mistakes—then she offers a safer alternative: let Gu owe her more favors. He laughs at her transparent attempt to draw him closer, and she leaves pleased with the exchange.
• Yu Wenqiu returns after secretly waiting outside. Hearing that Fu has left, she asks how Gu became involved with the Joyful Union Sect and is astonished to learn he knows its core Yin Yang Creation Strategy. Her concern that he might use it to drain someone turns into flustered, ambiguous banter when Gu assures her he will not use it on her. She hurriedly walks back her words, tells him to keep wearing the Dongdong Bells, and asks him to let her know if Fu visits again so she can prepare tea.
• The next morning, Gu tries to have the flood dragon core forged into a weapon to strengthen his Sword Formation bond. The Town Night Division’s craftsmen refuse: they fear retaliation from the East Sea and the Floating White Dragon King, even though Gu has powerful protection.
• Director Zhou Qingmu summons Gu. She praises his East Sea sword strike and affirms that under Great Qian’s law, creatures that eat people must pay for it, regardless of their status as auspicious beasts. She then asks whether he read her notes at the Imperial Academy’s Heart Sutra Hall and what he thought of her ideas and writing. Gu gives sincere praise, saying the work broadened his understanding of the Zhou Li Tian Ren Zheng Xin Fa.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chengming recognizes that his detached, strategic outlook has protected him but also limited him. Fu’s advice prompts him to consider engaging more fully with the human world. He remains composed through Yu’s awkwardness and continues seeking practical ways to improve his strength.
• Fu Xiaoxiao acts as both a spiritual guide and a teasing romantic presence, using Daoist teaching to encourage Gu’s emotional involvement while also angling for a closer personal connection.
• Yu Wenqiu reveals unexpected jealousy or insecurity about Gu’s relationship with Fu, though she masks it with jokes and excuses. Her request to be told about future visits suggests she wants to stay involved.
• Zhou Qingmu shows unusual warmth and pride in Gu’s actions, then turns the conversation toward her own writing and its influence on his cultivation.

Significant themes

• Engagement versus detachment: Genuine understanding of the mortal world requires more than observing it from a distance; it means accepting relationships, obligations, and consequences.
• Law and responsibility: Zhou Qingmu frames Gu’s killing of the flood dragon as a defense of the law and of human life.
• The cost of action: Even a victory can create risks for others, as shown by the craftsmen’s fear of East Sea retaliation.
• Intimacy and awkwardness: The chapter’s playful exchanges contrast spiritual instruction with the characters’ unspoken feelings and embarrassment.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Gu Chengming proposes improving Zhou Qingmu’s doctrine of “putting ritual law into practice.” Instead of using force immediately, one should first explain and appeal to reason, then resort to force only if the other party remains discourteous. He humorously compares this to Zhou Qingmu’s method of striking female cultivators with a hot-water-filled copper kettle: warmth first, hardness afterward.
• Zhou Qingmu praises Gu Chengming as a promising student of her interpretation of ritual and law.
• Gu asks about threats from the East Sea. Zhou explains that the old flood dragon is occupied competing for a place in the Dragon Transformation Pool and is unlikely to attack him personally soon. However, officials in the Court of Diplomatic Relations may obstruct him through political maneuvering and legal procedures.
• Gu also asks for help forging the flood dragon core he obtained into a magic sword. The Artifact Forging Workshop refuses because of the core’s connection to the East Sea. Zhou cannot force the craftsmen, but promises to introduce Gu to a capable artifact smith.
• While waiting, Gu continues cultivating and studies the Mortal World Art with Fu Xiaoxiao at the Imperial Academy. Fu judges his progress to be respectable for a second-realm cultivator.
• Fu awkwardly gives Gu an expensive box of pastries, pretending they are unwanted and should be fed to his cat. Gu recognizes that this is a disguised act of affection, leaving Fu embarrassed and flustered.
• On his way home, Gu is stopped by Qin Qing of the Longlife Sect. She creates a strange domain-like restriction that slows the surrounding world, causing Gu to suspect she may be connected to the evil Longevity Sect and intend revenge.
• Gu secretly crushes his Night Patrol Order to summon help. Before Qin can explain herself, Deputy Commander Liu arrives dramatically and destroys her restriction, believing Gu is under attack.
• Liu immediately recognizes Qin as a powerful senior expert and becomes terrified, revealing that she is a fourth-realm cultivator at the height of the realm and an old acquaintance of Zhou Qingmu.
• At the Town Night Division office, Qin angrily confronts Liu for attacking her restriction and ruining her carefully planned entrance. Liu insists he only acted out of concern for Gu, while Gu admits he was also overly cautious.

Character Developments

• Gu Chengming: Shows growing political and social intelligence. He refines Zhou Qingmu’s violent philosophy into a more strategic doctrine of courtesy followed by force. He remains cautious and perceptive, immediately treating Qin Qing as a potential enemy and summoning assistance without hesitation. His relationships with Zhou Qingmu and Fu Xiaoxiao also continue to strengthen.
• Zhou Qingmu: Demonstrates concern for Gu’s safety and offers practical protection against both the East Sea and bureaucratic enemies. Her recommendation of an artifact smith suggests she has hidden connections and perhaps knows more about the smith’s unusual reputation than she reveals.
• Fu Xiaoxiao: Her pride in Gu’s progress is clear, but her gift of pastries reveals a softer and more affectionate side. She disguises her concern and fondness with insults and claims of disinterest, becoming visibly embarrassed when Gu sees through her gesture.
• Qin Qing: Introduced as a powerful, mysterious fourth-realm cultivator from the Longlife Sect. Her intimidating entrance is undercut by Gu’s immediate suspicion and Liu’s intervention, leaving her frustrated that she cannot maintain the dignified image she had planned.
• Deputy Commander Liu Bantian: Initially appears as a fierce and loyal protector, charging in to save Gu. Once he recognizes Qin, however, his confidence collapses into fear and obedience, revealing both Qin’s formidable reputation and Liu’s impulsive nature.

Significant Themes

• Courtesy and force: The chapter explores whether true moral authority comes from explaining principles first and using force only after the other party rejects reason. Gu’s argument humorously turns violence into a supposed extension of etiquette.
• Appearances versus reality: Fu pretends not to care about the pastries, Qin attempts to make a grand and mysterious entrance, and Liu presents himself as a fearless rescuer before becoming terrified. In each case, hidden emotions and relationships undermine the characters’ outward performances.
• Caution and misjudgment: Gu’s suspicion of Qin may be understandable given the similarity between the Longlife Sect and the previously encountered Longevity Sect, but his immediate response creates an embarrassing misunderstanding. Liu likewise mistakes Qin’s actions for an attack.
• Power and reputation: Qin’s influence is demonstrated not through combat but through Liu’s instant fear and deference. Her reputation carries as much force as her cultivation.
• Political vulnerability: Even powerful organizations like the Town Night Division cannot easily counter opponents who use bureaucracy and rules as weapons.

Character Interactions

• Gu and Zhou Qingmu share a playful but strategic discussion about ritual, justice, and force, reinforcing their mentor-student relationship.
• Gu and Fu Xiaoxiao display increasing familiarity and mutual affection. Her teasing, concealed gift, and embarrassment contrast with Gu’s amused understanding.
• Gu and Qin Qing begin with immediate distrust. Qin intends to present herself as an impressive senior, while Gu treats her as a possible enemy and secretly summons aid.
• Liu’s arrival transforms the encounter into comic chaos: he tries to protect Gu, destroys Qin’s restriction, then becomes submissive once he realizes her identity.
• The chapter ends with Qin reprimanding Liu and Gu taking partial responsibility, setting up an explanation of Qin’s true purpose and connection to Zhou Qingmu.