Chapter Summaries

Xiao Mo died after using his remaining strength to create a path to Buddhahood for Wang Xin and place the Western Regions’ fortune in her soul. Wang Xin refused to ascend, instead using a golden lotus seed to protect Xiao Mo’s soul as it entered reincarnation.

• Wang Xin caught Xiao Mo after he was stabbed, but his Life Fire faded as he told her to become the Western Regions’ only Buddha.
• Yu Yunwei sensed something was wrong when the teacup in her study shattered, while Xiao Mo’s body and soul dissolved and the heavenly bow vanished.
• A golden stairway to Buddhahood appeared, formed from the Western Regions’ accumulated merit and fortune entrusted to Wang Xin.
• Wang Xin ignored the abbots’ pleas to ascend and told Xu Jing that the path did not belong to her.
• Wang Xin used the golden lotus seed to protect Xiao Mo’s soul fragments as they entered reincarnation, saying her Buddha was still in the mortal world.

After Xiao Mo entered the River of Time, he saw that Wang Xin had not taken the path to Buddhahood and remained in the Immortal Realm. The battle ended, and Si Li brought Xiao Mo’s keepsakes to the Myriad Dao Sect, where she told Yu Yunwei to bury him among the Blood Kui flowers he had hoped to see bloom.

• Xiao Mo entered the River of Time and saw that Wang Xin remained in the Immortal Realm while the steps to Buddhahood had vanished.
• After Xiao Mo’s death, the demonic cultivators scattered, and Si Li approached Wang Xin as the battle at Kong Nian Temple ended.
• Wang Xin asked to keep half of Xiao Mo’s broken Ink Dye blade so she could go find him, and Si Li left it with her.
• Three days later, Si Li returned to the Myriad Dao Sect and gave Yu Yunwei Xiao Mo’s Wine Gourd and the other half of Ink Dye.
• Si Li told Yu Yunwei that Xiao Mo wanted to be buried in the Blood Kui flower field so he could see the flowers bloom.

After Xiao Mo died, the Western Regions adjusted to the laws he had established, while Yu Yunwei became the powerful new sect master of the Myriad Dao Sect. Ten years later, Wang Xin left Kong Nian Temple to search for the reincarnated Xiao Mo as he departed the River of Time.

• News spread that Xiao Mo had died defying the Great Dao, and sects competed for lands and treasures left behind by his campaigns.
• The Myriad Dao Sect buried Xiao Mo in a Clothes Tomb, and its elders unanimously chose Yu Yunwei as sect master.
• Three years after Xiao Mo's death, Yu Yunwei entered the Immortal Realm and defeated an alliance that attacked the Myriad Dao Sect.
• Cultivators who resumed using wicked arts suffered deadly tribulations, while those who unjustly killed ordinary people faced disastrous karma.
• Ten years after Xiao Mo's death, Wang Xin left Kong Nian Temple with Migu to search for him, and Xiao Mo's phantom vanished as he departed the River of Time.

Xiao Mo received the rewards for his fourth life in the Book of a Hundred Lives, then learned that Qin Siyao had arrived in the Zhou capital with a dowry and a marriage contract, intending to marry him as Princess Qinyang. Qin Siyao arranged to meet Yan Ruxue, leaving Xiao Mo facing an unexpected marriage complication shortly before his wedding.

• Xiao Mo received rewards for Wang Xin’s life, including the Buddha Girl’s Sacred Lotus, Blood Demon Blade Intent, Heavenly Dao Marrow Cleansing Liquid, and Blood Tyrant Aura.
• Xiao Mo postponed choosing between two possible life experiences, consumed the marrow-cleansing liquid, and examined his new rewards.
• Wei Xun informed Xiao Mo that the Qin Kingdom had sent Princess Qinyang with a dowry and marriage contract to propose a marriage between her and Xiao Mo.
• Qin Siyao arrived in the Zhou capital with three hundred Snow-Treading Heavy Cavalry and revealed her plan to marry Xiao Mo under the identity of Princess Qinyang.
• Qin Siyao instructed Mingyue to invite Yan Ruxue to meet her.

Empress Dowager Yan and Yan Shan'ao worried over Qin Kingdom's plan to marry Princess Qinyang to Xiao Mo, especially with his wedding to Yan Ruxue approaching. Yan Ruxue accepted Princess Qinyang's invitation to meet that evening, leaving the court's solution to the marriage dilemma undisclosed.

• Yan Shan'ao told Empress Dowager Yan that Qin Kingdom's Lord intended to marry Princess Qinyang to Xiao Mo.
• Empress Dowager Yan rejected Yan Shan'ao's suggestion that Ruxue become a consort and Princess Qinyang the Empress.
• Yan Shan'ao said he had found a way to satisfy both sides, and Empress Dowager Yan asked him to explain.
• Mingyue delivered Princess Qinyang's invitation to Yan Ruxue at the Minister of Rites' residence.
• Yan Ruxue accepted the invitation and told Chunyan to arrange a carriage to the Drunken Immortal Tower that evening.

Yan Ruxue met Qin Siyao, who claimed the Qin Kingdom intended to honor an ancient betrothal and asked to enter the palace alongside her. After Yan Ruxue left, Qin Siyao confronted Jiang Qingyi and proposed a deal, leaving their intentions unresolved.

• Qin Siyao welcomed Yan Ruxue privately and explained that her brother wanted to honor the Qin and Zhou kingdoms’ two-hundred-year-old betrothal agreement.
• Yan Ruxue accepted the possibility of Qin Siyao entering the palace and dismissed the idea of competing over their status.
• Xiao Qing revealed that Qin Siyao was the Qin Kingdom’s Lord and Grand Princess Qin Mujiu, and offered to kill her, but Yan Ruxue refused.
• Yan Ruxue said she wanted to see what Qin Siyao intended, while Qin Siyao remained behind after seeing her off.
• Qin Siyao detected Jiang Qingyi in the bamboo house, questioned her presence in the Zhou imperial harem, and proposed that they make a deal.

Xiao Mo welcomed Qin Mujiu of the Qin Kingdom and accompanied her to the Firefly Garden, where she offered to help him against the powerful ministers and Empress Dowager Yan. The chapter ended with Mujiu asking Xiao Mo to trust her and promising to give everything to help him.

• Xiao Mo reached the eighth layer of the Qi Refining Realm after practicing the Grass Character Sword Art.
• Xiao Mo attended the welcoming banquet for Qin's envoys and met Princess Qinyang, Qin Mujiu.
• Mujiu praised Yan Ruxue and playfully agreed to drink with Xiao Mo, surprising the Zhou officials.
• Xiao Mo escorted Mujiu to the Firefly Garden, where she spoke about his troubles with Yan Shan'ao and Empress Dowager Yan.
• Mujiu told Xiao Mo that Qin would help him and promised to give everything if he trusted her.

Xiao Mo attended court as the Zhou Kingdom debated whether he should marry Yan Ruxue or Princess Qinyang, and the court decided both women would enter the palace while he chose an Empress after a year. Yan Ruxue sent an envoy to warn the Nine-Tails Kingdom against advancing into myriad laws under heaven, while its forces captured the Yanhuo Kingdom and looked toward the Great Wall.

• Xiao Mo attended morning court, where the ministers argued over his marriage to Yan Ruxue or Princess Qinyang.
• Yan Shan'ao proposed that both women enter the palace and that Xiao Mo choose one as Empress after a year; Empress Dowager Yan and Xiao Mo accepted the plan.
• Xiao Chun told Yan Ruxue that she and Princess Qinyang would enter the palace together, and Yan Ruxue calmly accepted the news.
• Yan Ruxue gave a green-clad woman a letter to deliver to the Nine-Tails Kingdom and ordered her to prevent it from advancing into myriad laws under heaven.
• Nine-Tails Kingdom soldiers captured the Yanhuo Kingdom's capital and executed its ruler, while their ruler gazed toward the Great Wall.

Xiao Mo practiced swordsmanship with Jiang Qingyi, who investigated his rapid cultivation progress before sparring with him over his joke about bringing her into his harem. Jiang Qingyi left after asking for a millstone-sized Osmanthus Cake for her birthday.

• Xiao Mo clashed swords with Jiang Qingyi for fifty exchanges, and she disarmed him before examining his Spiritual Meridian and Root Bone.
• Jiang Qingyi said Xiao Mo had made astonishing progress and told him that Qin Mujiu, Princess Qinyang of the Qin Kingdom, planned to enter his palace.
• Xiao Mo joked that he would not mind Jiang Qingyi joining his harem, and she challenged him to beat her in a fight.
• Jiang Qingyi battered Xiao Mo in their sparring match and said she disliked every woman in the world, including herself.
• Xiao Mo invited Jiang Qingyi to a birthday banquet, but she declined and requested one Osmanthus Cake as big as a millstone.

Jiang Qingyi sent Qiu Ye back to the Myriad Sword Sect with orders to obtain a Three Lives Three Worlds Pill and collect records about Bai Ruxue and the Ancient Qin Kingdom's Empress. Xiao Mo arrived late with homemade Osmanthus Cake and wine, and Jiang Qingyi ended their quiet evening by saying she really hated the friend she had described.

• Jiang Qingyi told Qiu Ye to return to the Myriad Sword Sect and manage its affairs in her stead.
• Jiang Qingyi ordered Qiu Ye to seek a Three Lives Three Worlds Pill and gather accounts of Bai Ruxue and the Ancient Qin Kingdom's Empress.
• Jiang Qingyi waited all day for Xiao Mo to bring the promised Osmanthus Cake and grew angry when he did not appear.
• Xiao Mo arrived at the Imperial Preceptor's Residence with Osmanthus Cake he had learned to make and a jar of wine.
• Jiang Qingyi and Xiao Mo shared the cake and wine, and Jiang Qingyi said she hated the friend she had described.

Wang Xin settled in the Zhou Kingdom’s Imperial Capital and continued searching for Xiao Mo, where Si Li soon came to visit her. Meanwhile, Yu Yunwei saw the blood kui flowers bloom at her senior brother’s grave, including one blossom that seemed especially beautiful.

• Yan Zhen told Wang Xin the coronation ceremony had been postponed and offered her gifts, but she accepted only a small gold ingot.
• Wang Xin bought a courtyard in the Imperial Capital and searched the streets for Xiao Mo while learning about the planned joint palace entry of the Yan Clan’s daughter and Princess Qinyang.
• Si Li arrived at Wang Xin’s courtyard and greeted her as an old friend.
• Ning Wei told Yu Yunwei that the blood kui flower seeds had sprouted, so Yu Yunwei left sect affairs in the Punishment Hall head’s care and waited by her senior brother’s grave.
• On the fourth night, the blood kui flowers bloomed across the plain, and a single flower opened before the gravestone.

After annexing the Yanhuo Kingdom, the ruler of the Nine-Tails Kingdom received Xiao Qing, who asked her to delay attacking Myriad Laws Under Heaven for three years. The ruler rejected the appeal after suspecting that the man she sought was the same Xiao Mo sought by Bai Ruxue.

• The ruler of the Nine-Tails Kingdom learned that Xiao Qing had come to discuss a deal with her.
• Xiao Qing delivered Bai Ruxue's letter and explained that the Four Seas wanted the Nine-Tails Kingdom to postpone war for three years.
• The ruler burned the letter and questioned whether the Four Seas meant to side with Myriad Laws Under Heaven.
• The ruler told Xiao Qing that she and Bai Ruxue might both be seeking the same Xiao Mo in the Zhou Kingdom.
• The ruler dismissed Xiao Qing and said she would compete with Bai Ruxue for the man if they shared the same target.

Xiao Mo arranged to leave the palace for the Poetry Lantern Festival and invited Jiang Rou to accompany him. She initially refused, then agreed to go after Xiao Mo pretended he did not need her protection, and told him to come early.

• Xiao Mo ordered the Ministry of Rites to proceed with plans for the Yan Clan's daughter and Princess Qinyang to enter the palace in early July.
• Xiao Mo decided to leave the palace incognito for the Poetry Lantern Festival and rejected Wei Xun's suggestion that he invite Princess Qinyang.
• Xiao Mo visited Jiang Rou and invited her to the festival, but she said she was not interested.
• Jiang Rou questioned Xiao Mo's safety and told him to come pick her up, claiming she only wanted to protect him.
• Xiao Mo pretended he did not need Jiang Rou's company, so she blocked his way with her sword and offered to spar with him.
• Xiao Mo agreed that he would feel safer with Jiang Rou accompanying him, and she told him to come early.

Xiao Mo left the palace with Jiang Qingyi for the Poetry Lantern Festival, where she accepted a skewer of sugar-coated haws before sensing two friends nearby. In the western wasteland, Si Li and Wang Xin prepared a Formation to find Xiao Mo, and Jiang Qingyi arrived just as they were about to activate it.

• Xiao Mo and Jiang Qingyi left the palace and walked through the crowded Poetry Lantern Festival.
• Xiao Mo bought Jiang Qingyi a skewer of sugar-coated haws, and she explained that her master had allowed her only one a day when she was little.
• Jiang Qingyi sensed two friends in the western part of the Imperial Capital and left to meet them.
• Si Li asked Wang Xin to place half of Ink Dye at the center of the Formation they had built to locate Xiao Mo.
• Si Li and Wang Xin sensed someone approaching and saw a woman carrying a long sword walk toward them.

After parting from Jiang Qingyi, Xiao Mo strolled through the Imperial Capital and met Yan Ruxue outside a brothel. They walked together to Zhen Tea House, where Yan Ruxue invited him to play a poetry-guessing game.

• After Jiang Qingyi left, Xiao Mo continued exploring the Imperial Capital while Wei Xun and the guards stayed with him.
• Near the largest brothel, Xiao Mo encountered Yan Ruxue and her maid Xiao Chun, and agreed to stroll with them.
• Xiao Mo and Yan Ruxue chatted about the Imperial City and the arts as they walked together.
• At Zhen Tea House, Xiao Mo and Yan Ruxue looked around its poetry games and went upstairs.
• Yan Ruxue asked Xiao Mo if he would like to play the poetry-guessing game with her.

Yan Ruxue challenged Xiao Mo to guess a poem using clues and red beans, but he ran out of time before identifying it. She revealed the final couplet by placing beans in his palm, leaving the meaning of her gesture between them.

• Yan Ruxue chose a poem slip and began a guessing game with Xiao Mo at the teahouse.
• Yan Ruxue gave Xiao Mo clues that the poem was a five-character quatrain, its final couplet, and related to red beans.
• Xiao Mo guessed several poems, but Yan Ruxue said none were correct and the hourglass ran out.
• Yan Ruxue placed red beans in Xiao Mo's palm and recited, “May you gather many, / For these things / Are the deepest longing.”

Xiao Mo spent the Poetry Lantern Festival with Yan Ruxue, whose handkerchief stirred an inexplicable longing in him. As they parted, Yan Ruxue looked back and imagined him still standing beneath the dim lanterns, staring after her.

• Xiao Mo and Yan Ruxue guessed poems together and won two boxes of pastries before listening to Miss Sisi play the zither at the Zhen Tea House.
• Xiao Mo choked when he overheard people speculate about which women the emperor would take to his bed, then told Wei Xun not to punish them.
• Xiao Mo and Yan Ruxue parted late at night, and Xiao Mo asked Wei Xun to send sugar-coated haws to the Imperial Preceptor's Residence every day.
• Xiao Mo noticed a necklace containing a red bean and compared it with the pattern on Yan Ruxue's handkerchief.
• As Yan Ruxue walked home with Xiao Chun, she looked back and said Xiao Mo was standing beneath the dim lanterns, staring blankly like a fool.

Si Li and Wang Xin escaped the attack and used a fragment of Ink Dye to narrow their search for the young master to the area around a Lin family tofu shop, including the Imperial Palace. Xiao Mo continued training with Jiang Qingyi, then spent time with Qin Siyao, whose attempt to approach him while he slept was interrupted by Jiang Qingyi.

• Si Li complained about the masked Sword Cultivator who had disrupted her Formation, then used Ink Dye to direct the Listening Wind Pavilion to search around the Lin family tofu shop.
• Xiao Mo practiced the Grass Character Sword Art and sparred with Jiang Qingyi, who again urged him to consider joining the Myriad Sword Sect.
• Qin Siyao visited Xiao Mo, and the two went to Ten-Thousand Carp Lake, where they accidentally fell into the water.
• After changing, Qin Siyao used a fragrance to put Xiao Mo to sleep and began undressing before Jiang Qingyi confronted her with a sword.
• Qin Siyao deflected Jiang Qingyi's sword and challenged her demand to leave, prompting Jiang Qingyi to tell her to try staying.

Qin Siyao urged Jiang Qingyi to ally against Bai Ruxue and then concealed their confrontation from Xiao Mo, who believed Jiang had merely calmed his Spiritual Energy. After seeing Qin Siyao off, Xiao Mo entered the fifth life in the Book of a Hundred Lives, chose the life associated with her, and awoke as a crying infant.

• Qin Siyao gave Jiang Qingyi a month to reconsider joining forces against Bai Ruxue, and Jiang did not reject the proposal.
• Qin Siyao dressed Xiao Mo and told him and Jiang Qingyi that Jiang had helped settle his unsettled Spiritual Energy.
• Xiao Mo escorted Qin Siyao toward the palace gates while Jiang Qingyi rode with them, then watched Qin Siyao depart.
• Xiao Mo returned to his bedchamber and entered the Book of a Hundred Lives, selecting the fifth life, Qin Siyao, and naming his character Xiao Mo.
• Xiao Mo awoke in the new life and heard himself wailing like an infant.

Xiao Mo was born as the son of General Xiao Shi and his concubine, Zhou Ruoxi, and learned that his fifth life came with three missions. He fell asleep in his mother’s care, beginning a life in a realm torn by war and division.

• Zhou Ruoxi gave birth to Xiao Mo, and Xiao Shi named him before leaving to attend to other matters.
• After Xiao Shi left, Zhou Ruoxi treasured her newborn son while her maid Cuicui comforted her.
• The Book of a Hundred Lives told Xiao Mo that he could help the Qin princess conquer the nations, build his renown, and advance his cultivation.
• Xiao Mo reflected on experiencing a mother’s love for the first time and cried to reassure Zhou Ruoxi he was well.
• Zhou Ruoxi sang to Xiao Mo until he fell asleep holding her finger, and she promised she would always be there.