Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Tang Yan erupts in fury after hearing Ye Qiu and Mu Qinghe together behind a closed door, while Li Xingchen loudly urges him to attack them.
• Mu Qinghe swiftly knocks Tang Yan down, knocks out three of his teeth with a slap, and orders him back inside. Ye Qiu and Mu Qinghe then jointly beat Li Xingchen for his comments.
• When Li Xingchen wakes later that night, Tang Yan is still waiting outside the door. The sounds from inside have resumed, leaving him dejected. Li Xingchen tries to comfort him by covering his ears.
• Tang Yan explains that he cannot easily end his engagement to Mu Qinghe: their families’ marriage alliance was arranged by a powerful figure at Myriad Laws Academy, and he has loved her for over ten years.
• Learning that Li Xingchen is also headed to the academy, Tang Yan offers to arrange a mentor in exchange for Li keeping the incident private. Li agrees to keep quiet but declines the offer.

Character developments

• Tang Yan shifts from explosive jealousy to weary resignation. Though hurt and humiliated, he remains devoted to Mu Qinghe and feels bound by family and academy obligations.
• Li Xingchen acts as a self-appointed defender of Tang Yan, but his blunt, provocative remarks repeatedly make matters worse. Despite his teasing, he shows sympathy and offers companionship.
• Mu Qinghe is revealed to be far more powerful and intimidating than Li Xingchen expected; she controls the confrontation with effortless force.
• Ye Qiu remains largely quiet, but joins Mu Qinghe in punishing Li Xingchen.

Significant themes

• Love versus duty: Tang Yan’s long-standing love conflicts with an engagement tied to political and family interests.
• Humiliation and loyalty: Tang Yan endures painful circumstances, while Li Xingchen’s loyalty takes the form of both sympathy and irreverent teasing.
• Power and appearances: Mu Qinghe’s mild amusement contrasts with her overwhelming strength, overturning Li Xingchen’s assumptions about who is in control.
• Comic misfortune: Jealousy, bruised pride, and Li Xingchen’s tactless attempts to help drive the chapter’s humor.

Character interactions

• Li Xingchen provokes Tang Yan into action, then is beaten alongside him after continuing to criticize the couple.
• Later, Li offers Tang sympathy and friendship, though his blunt reassurance only partly comforts Tang.
• Tang Yan offers Li help at Myriad Laws Academy in return for discretion; Li promises secrecy but insists Tang need not use his connections on his behalf.

Key plot points and events

• After a long night treating Mu Qinghe’s illness, Ye Qiu asks her fiancé, Tang Yan, to pay the medical bill. He takes two million from him, insisting the treatment was unusually exhausting.
• Li Xingchen criticizes Ye Qiu for exploiting Tang Yan and behaving without compassion. Ye Qiu jokes about Li’s jealousy and points out that he, unlike Li, treated Mu Qinghe all night.
• Ye Qiu reveals a blue Snake Soul that can counter the fire-like Red Flower afflicting Li. It will balance the poison for about half a month and prevent it from progressing toward castration. Li immediately swallows it, despite its intense cold.
• Ye Qiu explains that treating Mu Qinghe required carefully drawing out and refining her Cold Qi, a far more demanding process than simply burning it away. Brother Snake helped him regulate the procedure.
• By the third day, the opposing cold and fire in Li’s body have stabilized. The group then sees their destination: Myriad Laws City, home of the powerful Myriad Laws Academy.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu remains shamelessly mercenary in his banter, but his explanation reveals the technical skill and effort behind his treatment of Mu Qinghe. He also provides Li with a remedy, though he teases him before handing it over.
• Li Xingchen shifts from indignation to desperate gratitude once he realizes the Snake Soul can help him. His envy of Ye Qiu’s success is played for humor.
• Tang Yan says little, but visibly restrains his anger and pays Ye Qiu’s demanded fee.
• Mu Qinghe appears relieved and satisfied after treatment, sharing a quiet smile with Ye Qiu.

Significant themes

• Healing as both skill and sacrifice: Ye Qiu’s treatment requires precision, control, and personal effort.
• Self-interest and loyalty: Ye Qiu charges for his work, yet still helps Li; Li’s complaints give way to gratitude when he needs help.
• Humor amid danger: Banter and rivalry lighten the characters’ serious medical and physical troubles.
• Arrival at a larger world: The view of Myriad Laws City signals a transition toward the academy and the next stage of the journey.

Plot points and events

• Mu Qinghe reunites with Ye Qiu, while Li Xingchen goes to comfort Tang Yan. Li admits that Ye Qiu’s generous gift left him too ashamed to carry out his plan to humiliate him.
• Their honesty and mutual respect quickly turn into an awkward attempt at brotherhood. Tang Yan then explains that Myriad Laws Academy teaches many disciplines and attracts talent—and even major powers—from across the continent.
• Learning that the True Dragon Clan has a presence at the Academy, Li checks with Ye Qiu whether they are still going. Ye Qiu decides they are: the Academy’s independence from any single faction makes it especially appealing.
• After the group reaches Myriad Laws City, Tang Yan urges Mu Qinghe to consider appearances and stop taking Ye Qiu around with her. She ignores him, takes Ye Qiu by the hand, and leads him to her private residence.
• Li Xingchen restrains Tang Yan when he looks ready to react. Mu Qinghe brushes off Ye Qiu’s concern about the rumors, saying she can simply beat Tang Yan again. She then promises to bring ten young women to meet Ye Qiu that night, leaving him bewildered.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Xingchen and Tang Yan bond over their shortcomings and candor, though their attempted brotherly familiarity falters over their ages. Li also acts as Tang Yan’s comic—and genuinely protective—chaperone.
• Ye Qiu chooses the Academy despite its ties to powerful factions, and remains uneasy about the damage Mu Qinghe’s behavior may do to her reputation.
• Mu Qinghe openly defies social expectations and Tang Yan’s objections, confidently taking charge of Ye Qiu’s arrangements.
• Tang Yan is frustrated by Mu Qinghe’s conduct but repeatedly holds back, partly because Li intervenes and partly because he has already been beaten by her.

Significant themes

• Many paths and institutional independence: Myriad Laws Academy’s range of disciplines and ties to many powers make it influential, but also seemingly beholden to none.
• Honor, gratitude, and friendship: Li and Tang Yan’s frank admissions turn embarrassment into mutual respect.
• Reputation versus personal choice: Tang Yan worries about public appearances, while Mu Qinghe dismisses convention and acts on her own terms.
• Comedy through contrast: Serious concerns about politics, reputation, and romance repeatedly give way to blunt, absurd reactions.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu and Li Xingchen arrive at a well-appointed residence in Myriad Laws City. Mu Qinghe’s staff treat them with great respect and provide rune-enhanced clothing and footwear. Li jokes that Ye Qiu earned the gifts by seducing someone; Ye Qiu keeps the clothes but continues wearing the garments Lu Li made for him.
• Ye Qiu cultivates in the garden, drawing golden energy from the Void and using pills and materials left by Lu Li. His body and cultivation strengthen, especially his Qi and Blood, which he estimates at eight and a half million. He may exceed ten million after completing his Divine Gate Realm Baptism.
• As evening falls, Ye Qiu worries about Lu Li and the danger facing the Myriad Heavens. Nan Qingyue’s ominous warning—“salvation,” “suppression,” or “annihilation”—continues to trouble him. Li Xingchen tries to reassure him, though their banter is more effective than his comfort.
• Ye Qiu enters the Tower Spire’s space and questions the weakened Chen Jianyi about Myriad Laws Academy. Chen advises him to conceal his knowledge of One Hundred Eighty Thousand Swords and promises to guide him once he enters the academy, but gives no practical advice on how to gain admission. Ye Qiu suspects Chen has a dangerous enemy there.
• Ye Qiu examines the black mountain imprisoning Chen, Heavy Prison Peak, but cannot discern how to refine it. Chen reveals that it is an Emperor Artifact from the Myriad Heavens.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu grows stronger but remains grounded, aware that powerful peers surpass him and that his larger ambitions lie beyond the Upper Realm. His concern for Lu Li reveals a vulnerable, anxious side.
• Li Xingchen teases Ye Qiu about the gifts and attempts to comfort him, but their exchanges remain playful and blunt. He leaves to meet Tang Yan; Ye Qiu warns him not to visit a brothel.
• Chen Jianyi remains frail and guarded. His reluctance to explain the academy’s admission process, along with his warning to hide the sword technique, suggests a serious personal threat there. He also shares the significance of Heavy Prison Peak.
• Ye Qiu continues supporting Chen by leaving him pills and treasures, despite Chen’s evasiveness.

Significant themes

• Ambition and humility: Ye Qiu’s growing power does not make him complacent; he measures himself against formidable rivals and looks toward greater challenges.
• Love, worry, and uncertainty: Quiet gives Ye Qiu time to reflect, but also amplifies his fear for Lu Li and the crisis in the Myriad Heavens.
• Hidden dangers and secrets: Chen’s warnings, the academy’s ties to powerful factions, and the mysterious Emperor Artifact point to conflicts and knowledge not yet revealed.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu learns that the mountain peak pinning Chen Jianyi down is Heavy Prison Peak, a genuine Emperor Artifact from the Myriad Heavens. Chen Jianyi cannot escape it, and neither he nor Ye Qiu knows how to refine or control it.
• Ye Qiu discovers that the peak absorbs his blood. As he feeds it, he senses its pulse and begins to glimpse its Imperial Dao Patterns. Chen Jianyi and Brother Snake urgently encourage him to continue, hoping this might lead to the artifact recognizing him.
• Since the peak consumes blood faster than Ye Qiu can supply it, Brother Snake gives him Dragon Blood to replenish him. The powerful blood boosts Ye Qiu’s Qi and Blood and accelerates his ongoing Baptism.
• Ye Qiu’s Qi and Blood rise past ten million. His Baptism completes, and he finally enters the Divine Gate realm in the Upper Realm.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu shifts from awe at the artifact’s value to excitement at the possibility of claiming it. He readily exploits Brother Snake’s Dragon Blood, though he insists he is not tricking him. His long-running physical Baptism finally reaches completion.
• Chen Jianyi remains trapped and dependent on Ye Qiu’s discovery. His initial explanation of the artifact’s danger gives way to urgent hope when Ye Qiu’s blood produces a response.
• Brother Snake helps Ye Qiu by donating Dragon Blood, but grows increasingly exhausted and suspicious as Ye Qiu keeps asking for more.

Significant themes

• Power and mystery: Even a genuine Emperor Artifact may be impossible to understand or control, and its full nature remains beyond the characters’ knowledge.
• Luck and opportunity: Ye Qiu’s earlier possession of the broken tower—and now his unexpected compatibility with Heavy Prison Peak—may have arisen by chance.
• Cost of advancement: Ye Qiu’s breakthrough depends on painful physical strain and Brother Snake’s increasingly costly sacrifice.

Character interactions

• Chen Jianyi explains the peak’s identity and limitations, then becomes invested in Ye Qiu’s blood-triggered discovery.
• Ye Qiu and Brother Snake develop a comic, tense exchange: Brother Snake supplies blood, then accuses Ye Qiu of using him as a source; Ye Qiu denies it just as his breakthrough begins.
• The chapter ends with Ye Qiu’s Divine Gate power erupting, leaving the question of whether the peak will ultimately recognize him unresolved.

Plot and events

• Brother Snake confronts Ye Qiu for using his blood to nourish Black Heavy Prison Peak without delivering the promised results. Ye Qiu explains that the Emperor Artifact needs far more blood than he can currently provide, then leaves after promising Brother Snake first chance to use it once it is refined.
• Brother Snake’s anger is partly an act: he intends to help Ye Qiu grow stronger, but hides his reasons so Ye Qiu will not take advantage of his generosity. Still, the blood he gave was precious Essence Blood, and the loss has weakened him.
• Chen Jianyi witnesses the exchange. He realizes the peak may eventually recognize Ye Qiu as its master and concludes that Ye Qiu is connected to powers beyond his understanding. Brother Snake dismisses Chen Jianyi as “unworthy” and warns him to keep his head down.
• Ye Qiu completes a major breakthrough: his Qi and Blood surpass ten million, he harmonizes with the Upper Realm’s Laws, and his Divine Gate reaches ten thousand zhang. Though he still cannot fully control it, it now continuously nourishes him.
• While Ye Qiu stabilizes his new state, Brother Snake senses Mu Qinghe approaching with ten women. Ye Qiu admits he has kept half his attention on them in case they try to take advantage of him.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu remains opportunistic and irreverent, placating Brother Snake with promises—and even invoking Lu Li’s “integrity”—while quietly benefiting from the peak and using Brother Snake’s roar as material for his Soundwave Divine Ability.
• Brother Snake acts furious but is secretly invested in Ye Qiu’s advancement. His rare blood has left him weakened, yet he protects Ye Qiu during his breakthrough.
• Chen Jianyi becomes more cautious and awed, recognizing both Brother Snake’s extraordinary nature and the immense significance of Ye Qiu’s connection to the Emperor Artifact.
• Ye Qiu and Brother Snake trade teasing, exasperated banter; their argument masks a relationship of mutual dependence and guarded support.

Significant themes

• Power and destiny: The peak’s response to Ye Qiu and his unprecedented Divine Gate suggest exceptional potential.
• Trust and manipulation: Ye Qiu’s promises and Brother Snake’s feigned anger show how affection and self-interest coexist.
• Hidden hierarchies: Chen Jianyi learns that even beings of great standing may be insignificant beside powers from beyond the Upper Realm.

Key plot points and events

• Mu Qinghe brings ten beautiful, well-connected women to meet Ye Qiu, hoping to earn his trust and build a relationship.
• They find him deep in cultivation, surrounded by flames and colorful Rosy Glow. His aura and the Divine Gate within him are undergoing a profound change.
• The women realize Ye Qiu is advancing far beyond the usual pace: his Divine Flame has drawn inward and become Divine Radiance, a milestone normally reached only by exceptionally gifted Divine Spirit Realm cultivators.
• Inside Ye Qiu, three linked sprites—associated with his Qi Sea, Sea of Consciousness, and Sea of Flesh—open the enormous Divine Gate together. They enter a chaotic space and form the first step of a Divine Ladder.
• This step brings a fundamental transformation to Ye Qiu’s cultivation, soul, and body. The resulting shock spreads through the Void and shakes the estate and surrounding area.
• Colorful raindrops begin falling from the Firmament: a rare, overwhelming phenomenon the women recognize as a “rain of Divine Light.”

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu remains unaware of the visitors, wholly focused on a dangerous breakthrough. His progress reveals that his talent and cultivation are extraordinary, with his Divine Gate and three aspects of himself developing in unprecedented coordination.
• Mu Qinghe interprets Ye Qiu’s immense Fortune and hidden identity as signs that he carries a serious burden. She sees an opportunity to support him and secure his trust.
• Senior Sister Shen, initially cool and teasing, becomes increasingly astonished as she recognizes the significance of Ye Qiu’s Divine Flame and Divine Radiance.
• The women admire Ye Qiu’s appearance and quietly joke among themselves, but they take care not to interrupt his cultivation.

Significant themes

• Exceptional talent and surpassing limits: Ye Qiu reaches milestones ahead of the conventional cultivation stages.
• Transformation and ascent: His breakthrough is portrayed as a change in essential nature, likened to a carp becoming a dragon or sudden enlightenment.
• Ambition, loyalty, and alliance: Mu Qinghe hopes to form a bond with Ye Qiu by helping him when he needs support.
• Awe before the extraordinary: The women’s reactions and the celestial rain emphasize the unprecedented scale of Ye Qiu’s breakthrough.

Key plot points and events

• A vast, colorful Dao Rain suddenly falls over Myriad Laws City, the Eastern River, and the nearby Academy. People and creatures who absorb it gain strength, break through cultivation barriers, and witness plants, buildings, and sacred sites transformed.
• The rain originates from Ye Qiu, who is meditating at Mu Qinghe’s residence and resonating with the Great Dao. Its radiance also bathes Mu Qinghe and ten other women, rapidly advancing their cultivation.
• After the rain ends, Ye Qiu’s cultivation rises from the first to the second level of the Divine Gate. He keeps his eyes closed, hoping the women will leave before he has to face them.
• The women realize he is awake and tease him. When one mentions seeing him take a Pill, Ye Qiu’s eyelashes betray him. Senior Sister Shen then destroys the Pavilion with a single punch, forcing him out.
• Ye Qiu asks Mu Qinghe who the women are. She answers, “Half of Myriad Laws City.”

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu reveals the scale of his connection to the Great Dao, producing a citywide blessing and gaining a cultivation level. Afterward, he tries to avoid an awkward encounter but is exposed and startled into retreat.
• Mu Qinghe and the ten other women are strengthened by the Dao Rain. Their awe at Ye Qiu deepens, but they also behave playfully and confidently toward him.
• Senior Sister Shen is calm and direct, ending Ye Qiu’s attempt to hide by demolishing the Pavilion.
• The women tease Ye Qiu; he responds with wary politeness, while Mu Qinghe’s final joke leaves him confused.

Significant themes

• The Great Dao’s power and reach: Ye Qiu’s personal breakthrough affects an entire city and its surrounding ecosystem.
• Shared blessing and transformation: The Dao Rain benefits people, beasts, and the natural world alike.
• Awakening and recognition: The event makes Ye Qiu’s extraordinary nature impossible for witnesses to ignore.
• Humor amid grandeur: A world-shaking phenomenon leads into a lighthearted, awkward confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Mu Qinghe introduces Ye Qiu to a gathering of powerful young women: representatives of eight major clans and Wen Ning, a disciple of the Talisman Gate’s master. Their presence amounts to “half of Myriad Laws City.”
• The women have come to try Ye Qiu’s “Fire Therapy,” which Mu Qinghe says can dispel cold and poison, strengthen the body, and improve appearance. She has already accepted their deposits and offers Ye Qiu most of the payment, leaving him little choice.
• Ye Qiu treats the women one by one with his golden lotus flame. Though he worries he lacks real expertise, they seem impressed. The work leaves him exhausted, and Mu Qinghe gives him a restorative pill so he can continue.
• Wen Ning shyly says her chest hurts. Ye Qiu finds no illness and suggests her protective underclothes may be too tight.
• Shen Ling’s body is covered in old battle wounds and whip marks. Ye Qiu’s flame and blood energy heal one of her scars, but she asks him not to erase them again. She considers the scars proof of what she endured for her husband and a reminder that he owes her loyalty and consideration.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu is initially bewildered and reluctant, but money persuades him to perform the treatments. He is resourceful enough to maintain the appearance of a skilled healer, while showing genuine care when he encounters Shen Ling’s injuries.
• Mu Qinghe acts as organizer and negotiator, having arranged the clients and secured deposits before Ye Qiu agreed. Her matter-of-fact pressure makes their partnership feel more like a business operation.
• Chen Chi is bold, teasing, and outspoken, especially toward the shy Wen Ning. She enthusiastically volunteers first and jokes with Ye Qiu.
• Wen Ning is timid and easily embarrassed, contrasting with her impressive status as a divine talisman master.
• Shen Ling is composed and unapologetic about both her marital devotion and her scars. Her explanation reveals a calculating, possessive view of marriage alongside the sacrifices she has made.

Significant themes

• Commerce versus consent: Mu Qinghe’s advance deal and Ye Qiu’s reluctance make the therapy feel less like a freely chosen undertaking than a profitable arrangement.
• Appearance, healing, and identity: The treatment promises physical improvement, but Shen Ling insists that her scars matter because they preserve the meaning of her past.
• Marriage as duty and leverage: Shen Ling treats her suffering as evidence her husband should remember when considering betrayal or family disputes.
• Comedy and embarrassment: Ye Qiu’s uncertainty, the women’s varying reactions, and Chen Chi’s teasing create humor around an otherwise intimate procedure.

Character interactions

• Mu Qinghe controls the introductions and pushes Ye Qiu into the paid treatments; Ye Qiu responds with surprise, reluctance, and eventual practical compliance.
• Chen Chi flirts with Ye Qiu and needles Wen Ning, while Wen Ning remains bashful.
• Ye Qiu treats Shen Ling carefully, but his attempt to heal her scar prompts a revealing exchange about what her wounds represent to her.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu notices that Shen Ling has not only scars but also a lingering Yin chill. He warns her to be careful; she studies him, then returns to her companions.
• Chen Chi and her group thank Ye Qiu for his Fire Therapy. Taking Chen Chi’s polite offer of help seriously, Ye Qiu gives her a prescription and asks her to find its ingredients.
• The prescription contains dangerous poisons, including a 500-year-old Dead Man’s Flower. Ye Qiu says they are for a friend—Li Xingchen—whose condition he hopes to treat with help from a skilled Alchemist.
• After the others leave, Mu Qinghe stays with Ye Qiu. They eat and drink before she offers to help obtain Black-Bone Grass (later called Black-Bone Flower) for 40 million.
• Ye Qiu suspects Mu Qinghe is charging him for the Fire Therapy he performed on her companions. She confirms it, and the two head to the Heavenly Treasure Association.
• Mu Qinghe returns with the poisonous flower and a “gift” for Ye Qiu: a ball of Darksteel. Ye Qiu later learns from a staff member that the Darksteel was free.
• Brother Snake tells Ye Qiu that he has lost out badly and asks what “One Begets Two” means, setting up a revelation.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu shows perceptiveness by identifying Shen Ling’s Yin chill and expertise through his knowledge of medicine and aura-reading. He is also direct and practical, readily asking Chen Chi for help and questioning Mu Qinghe’s prices.
• Shen Ling responds cautiously but appears to take Ye Qiu’s warning seriously.
• Chen Chi is amused by Ye Qiu’s bluntness and shocked by the prescription’s lethal ingredients, but agrees to help search for them.
• Mu Qinghe reveals herself as shrewd, playful, and comfortable profiting from Ye Qiu. She openly admits the 40-million price is tied to his Fire Therapy, though she also gives him the Darksteel.
• Brother Snake acts as Ye Qiu’s informed adviser, hinting that the Darksteel’s true significance is greater than Ye Qiu realizes.

Significant themes

• Hidden illness and healing: Ye Qiu’s warning to Shen Ling and his search for poisons both point to conditions that are not immediately visible.
• Knowledge and discernment: Ye Qiu’s specialized understanding lets him detect Shen Ling’s condition and pursue a treatment for Li Xingchen.
• Bargaining and trust: Mu Qinghe’s teasing, opaque business dealings create a comic contest over who is taking advantage of whom.
• Rumors and power: The city continues speculating about the Dao Rain and breakthroughs, while Mu Qinghe sees the rumors as a possible way to profit.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu and Mu Qinghe leave the Heavenly Treasure Association separately. Suspicious of her generosity, Ye Qiu assumes she has been manipulating him, though he doesn’t understand what Brother Snake meant by “One Begets Two.”
• Tang Yan races past Ye Qiu, pursued by Mu Qinghe. She lands a powerful sword strike that sends Tang Yan flying; he gets up and runs while she continues after him.
• Li Xingchen catches up and blames Ye Qiu for setting off a chain of events: Tang Yan’s jealousy led him to visit a brothel, where Mu Qinghe caught him. Li Xingchen also went along, spent Ye Qiu’s Pills to impress a courtesan, and picked a fight with other patrons.
• Li Xingchen reveals that he bragged about Ye Qiu’s wealth of Pills, attracting people who now want to beat them up and take the Pills. Young heirs surround the pair from both directions.
• Ye Qiu tries to disown the trouble, but the leader claims he has heard Ye Qiu is Li Xingchen’s big brother. Ye Qiu jokingly reverses the relationship. A black-clad enforcer attacks him, but the man’s fist breaks and he is sent flying while Ye Qiu remains untouched.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu is wary of Mu Qinghe, quick to condemn Tang Yan’s infidelity, and increasingly exasperated by Li Xingchen’s absurd excuses. Despite trying to avoid involvement, he becomes the target of Li’s bragging.
• Mu Qinghe is revealed as a formidable fighter, pursuing Tang Yan with startling force after catching him at a brothel.
• Tang Yan is jealous of Ye Qiu and acts recklessly, then flees Mu Qinghe’s retaliation.
• Li Xingchen is loyal to Tang Yan but also impulsive and self-justifying. He claims to have been helping Ye Qiu make amends, while his boasting creates a new danger for them.
• The chapter ends with Ye Qiu’s calm, effortless defense against the enforcer, shocking the assembled heirs.

Significant themes

• Comic blame and misunderstanding: Li Xingchen invents an increasingly convoluted chain of reasons to make Ye Qiu responsible for everyone else’s choices.
• Pride and jealousy: Tang Yan’s competitiveness drives his reckless behavior.
• Hidden strength and bravado: The young heirs expect an easy target, but Ye Qiu’s composure and power overturn their assumptions.
• Brotherhood as a running joke: Li Xingchen’s claim that Ye Qiu is his “big brother” becomes both a source of trouble and the chapter’s punchline.

Plot points

• After Ye Qiu easily breaks the fist of a Divine Spirit Second Level attacker, the gang leader realizes Ye Qiu is powerful—but becomes more eager to steal his pills.
• A swordsman attacks Ye Qiu with a surprise thrust. Ye Qiu dodges, pulls him out of the Void, and kills him with a single punch.
• The leader orders his men to attack. Ye Qiu charges first and brutally overwhelms the gang, using his immense strength, speed, Sound Wave technique, and heightened perception to defeat them all.
• Ye Qiu then asks the leader whether he and Li Xingchen may leave. When the leader tries to assert himself with his aura, Ye Qiu punches through it and knocks him back.
• The leader finally nods, but Ye Qiu hits him again and declares that he no longer wants to leave.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu reveals just how dramatically he has advanced: his Qi and Blood, cultivation, and Primordial Soul make him nearly impervious to the gang’s attacks. He is controlled at first, but turns openly furious once violence begins.
• Li Xingchen watches in growing disbelief. He had thought Ye Qiu could handle only ten opponents like himself, then revises that estimate to twenty.
• The gang leader shifts from greedy confidence to shock and humiliation. He refuses to be intimidated until Ye Qiu proves the gap between them is overwhelming.
• Ye Qiu repeatedly asks permission to leave, while the leader dismisses his warnings and orders attacks. After defeating the gang, Ye Qiu reverses the exchange by refusing to leave.

Significant themes

• Power and transformation: Ye Qiu’s recent breakthroughs are shown through his effortless defeat of stronger opponents.
• Greed and its consequences: The leader’s desire for Ye Qiu’s pills drives him to escalate a confrontation he cannot win.
• Violence and retaliation: Ye Qiu responds to lethal attacks with lethal force, encapsulated by his belief that those who kill may be killed in turn.
• The reversal of control: The repeated question “Can we leave?” changes meaning as Ye Qiu moves from seeking safe passage to deciding the encounter’s terms himself.

Plot points and events

• Newly attuned to the Upper Realm’s Laws, Ye Qiu uses his enhanced strength and speed to beat Zhang Chuan, the Zhang Family leader, while refusing to let him intimidate him with family status.
• After knocking Zhang Chuan unconscious, Ye Qiu collects the Storage Rings from the defeated group. He complains that the haul amounts to only five hundred million.
• Li Xingchen hesitates to approach Ye Qiu, wary that he might be next. Tang Yan arrives, intending to rescue Li, but discovers Ye Qiu has already defeated everyone.
• Tang Yan learns that Mu has beaten him badly, and asks his retainer, Uncle Lin, to secretly retaliate against Ye Qiu. Uncle Lin refuses, arguing Ye Qiu is too strong and that Mu’s interest in him is nothing to worry about.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu displays overwhelming confidence, speed, and strength, and answers Zhang Chuan’s threats with relentless punches. His concern after the fight is less about the violence than the modest value of his spoils.
• Li Xingchen admires Tang Yan’s loyalty after hearing how badly he was beaten for coming to help. He also warns Tang Yan that Ye Qiu is currently far too powerful to challenge.
• Tang Yan is injured and jealous of Mu’s apparent admiration for Ye Qiu. Though eager for revenge, he is checked by Uncle Lin.
• Uncle Lin acts as Tang Yan’s cautious, pragmatic voice. He points out the danger of confronting Ye Qiu and admits he is reluctant to risk another beating from the Mu household.

Significant themes

• Power and status: Zhang Chuan’s family name offers no protection against Ye Qiu’s strength.
• Loyalty and friendship: Tang Yan comes to help Li despite his own injuries, earning Li’s gratitude.
• Jealousy and overthinking: Tang Yan interprets Mu’s interest in Ye Qiu as a threat, while Uncle Lin urges him not to assume the worst.
• Comic bravado and restraint: Tang Yan talks of vengeance, but Uncle Lin’s practical warnings—and fear of being beaten again—keep him from acting.

Key plot points

• After returning to Mu Qinghe’s residence, Ye Qiu examines a mysterious black iron ball. Brother Snake hints it is far from ordinary, and Ye Qiu’s powerful Golden Lotus Exotic Fire barely melts its surface after an hour. He suspects something remarkable is hidden inside.
• Ye Qiu spends the following day resting and preparing for the Myriad Laws Academy’s major recruitment, which begins the next day. He cultivates, takes pills, reviews his techniques, and studies the Broken Saber, which has grown stronger but remains only a fraction of its former power.
• In the Tower Spire, Ye Qiu feeds blood to the mountain containing an Emperor Artifact. Its Dao Patterns become clearer, but he accepts that gaining its submission will take patience.
• Li Xingchen remains at the Tang Family overnight, while Mu Qinghe is also absent. At midnight, Chen Chi arrives with her grandaunt, asking Ye Qiu to treat the old woman. Ye Qiu refuses, but Chen Chi insists that Mu Qinghe has already taken fifty million from each of them for memberships.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu is methodical and persistent: he investigates the iron ball, maintains his cultivation, strengthens his bond with the Broken Saber, and slowly works to tame the Emperor Artifact. He also enjoys a rare, peaceful morning after a prolonged period of tension.
• Brother Snake remains secretive and exasperated by Ye Qiu’s repeated questions. He confirms the iron ball is unusual but cannot identify its contents, and denies being able to breathe fire.
• Li Xingchen and Tang Yan appear to have grown close: Tang Yan risked himself to bring people to rescue Li Xingchen, who stays with the Tang Family.
• Chen Chi returns in a cheerful, familiar manner, but her request puts Ye Qiu in an awkward position. Her claim that Mu Qinghe accepted huge advance payments suggests Ye Qiu may be expected to provide treatment whether or not he agrees.

Significant themes

• Patience and steady effort: Ye Qiu advances his cultivation, weapon, and control over the Emperor Artifact through consistent work rather than sudden breakthroughs.
• The unknown and hidden power: The iron ball and Broken Saber both suggest that apparently limited objects may conceal extraordinary potential.
• Duty, friendship, and obligation: Tang Yan’s effort to help Li Xingchen underscores their bond, while Chen Chi’s appeal raises questions about what Ye Qiu owes clients after Mu Qinghe has accepted their money.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu discovers that Mu Qinghe collected 500 million from ten powerful people for his Fire Therapy, but kept all the money and left for seclusion. He is furious at being unpaid.
• Chen Chi explains that the arrangement was intended to build a network of powerful patrons for Ye Qiu, who faces serious obstacles entering Myriad Laws Academy. Mu Qinghe serves as guarantor, while the others’ payments establish ties and obligations.
• Chen Chi admits she deliberately came late so Ye Qiu would have little time to refuse before the Academy’s recruitment. She also reveals she found the Dead Man’s Flower he had wanted.
• When Ye Qiu threatens to decline, Chen Jianyi reveals that Chen Chi’s deathly afflicted great-aunt is his daughter. He urges Ye Qiu to help, while Brother Snake also argues that saving a life is worthwhile.
• Chen Jianyi offers Ye Qiu the missing principles of the One Hundred Eighty Thousand Swords. The revelation deepens Ye Qiu’s understanding of the sword art and persuades him to agree.
• Ye Qiu agrees to treat the great-aunt, asking Chen Chi to owe him a favor and warning that he cannot guarantee success. He stops Chen Chi from undressing her great-aunt, insisting the elderly woman does not need to.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu shifts from indignation and refusal to reluctant agreement, motivated by Chen Jianyi’s appeal and the newly revealed sword principles. He remains proud, wary of being exploited, and quick with comic retorts.
• Chen Chi shows herself to be strategic and blunt: she sees Ye Qiu as a valuable, affordable healer and uses time pressure and connections to secure his help.
• Chen Jianyi is revealed as the great-aunt’s father. He is willing to manipulate Ye Qiu—holding back part of the sword art—but also rewards him with knowledge to influence his decision.
• Brother Snake backs the call to save the great-aunt, reinforcing Ye Qiu’s sense that everyone has sided against him.

Significant themes

• Favors, trust, and patronage: The wealthy families’ payment is less a fee than a way to establish ties and secure future obligations.
• Self-interest and manipulation: Mu Qinghe, Chen Chi, and Chen Jianyi all maneuver for their own purposes, while Ye Qiu resents being treated as a cheap resource.
• The value of life and knowledge: Saving the great-aunt becomes worthwhile to Ye Qiu partly through family ties and partly through the powerful sword principles offered in return.
• Comic bargaining: Ye Qiu’s indignation and the others’ matter-of-fact schemes keep the negotiation humorous even as the stakes are serious.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu treats Great-Aunt, the ailing daughter of legendary sword master Jian Yi, using his Golden Lotus Exotic Fire. After an hour of careful work, he removes nearly half the Death Qi afflicting her.
• He gives her three priceless Eight-Colored Supreme Dao Pills to continue the treatment, refusing payment because he believes he has already been compensated.
• Chen Chi postpones taking Ye Qiu to collect the Coffin Fungus, since Myriad Laws Academy’s major recruitment is the next day and she does not want to risk his condition.
• Great-Aunt and Chen Chi leave Mu Qinghe’s residence. Great-Aunt is now able to walk normally, a clear sign of Ye Qiu’s success.
• Great-Aunt concludes that Ye Qiu possesses extraordinary Fortune, which may influence the people around him. She decides to attend the recruitment herself.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu demonstrates exceptional skill, concentration, and control, but the treatment leaves him badly weakened. His refusal of Great-Aunt’s payment reveals that he has a personal sense of fairness.
• Great-Aunt moves from suspicion to gratitude and admiration. Drawing on her experience and insight, she recognizes that Ye Qiu’s unusual qualities go beyond his remarkable flame.
• Chen Chi is initially resentful and suspicious of Ye Qiu, but her worry for Great-Aunt takes precedence. She acknowledges his ability and conscience, while still teasingly judging his morals as imperfect.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu’s successful treatment earns Great-Aunt’s sincere thanks and changes her opinion of him.
• Chen Chi watches anxiously throughout the procedure, then joins Great-Aunt in assessing Ye Qiu’s abilities and presence.
• In private, Great-Aunt explains to Chen Chi that being near Ye Qiu may allow others to share in his extraordinary Fortune. She links Mu Qinghe’s elaborate efforts to secure him—and possibly his fusion with Heaven’s Gate—to that hidden potential.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Ye Qiu’s immense ability requires precision; one mistake during treatment could have killed Great-Aunt.
• Character and trust: Ye Qiu’s refusal of payment persuades Great-Aunt that he has principles, despite Chen Chi’s doubts.
• Fortune and destiny: Ye Qiu’s presence may alter the prospects of those around him, making him a figure of unusual importance.
• Legacy: Jian Yi’s reputation still shapes the Chen family’s standing and Great-Aunt’s perspective.

Key events

• Mu Qinghe and Chen Chi return to their Lineage after the deathly energy disperses. Mu Qinghe’s suppressed cultivation has partially surfaced but remains unstable, so she needs to bring it back under control.
• Ye Qiu rests after the earlier ordeal, then tries to persuade Brother Snake to breathe fire for him. Brother Snake refuses, suspecting Ye Qiu has already taken too much of his blood. Ye Qiu accepts that Brother Snake may need time to recover, since he will be important against the Dragon Clan.
• The next morning, Ye Qiu returns to Heavy Prison Peak and detects hidden Dao Patterns on the imperial treasure—patterns he identifies as Imperial Patterns. He studies them persistently, hoping to uncover a Great Emperor’s art.
• His study triggers three violent mountain tremors. The crushing pressure injures Ye Qiu and badly weakens Chen Jianyi, but it also tempers Ye Qiu’s Qi and Blood and slightly advances his cultivation and mental energy.
• Ye Qiu wants to provoke another tremor, but Chen Jianyi begs him to stop. To make him relent, Chen Jianyi gives Ye Qiu the rest of what he knows about the One Hundred Eighty Thousand Swords. The new knowledge clarifies the sword art, and Ye Qiu leaves immediately.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu shows characteristic persistence and opportunism: he keeps pressing Brother Snake for help, studies the Imperial Patterns despite gaining nothing at first, and turns the mountain’s dangerous pressure into cultivation gains. His joking, possibly deliberate torment of Chen Jianyi also suggests he is willing to exploit a situation for what he wants.
• Brother Snake pushes back against Ye Qiu’s familiarity and requests, but their exchange reveals an established, teasing closeness. Ye Qiu ultimately recognizes that Brother Snake may need to recover.
• Chen Jianyi is reduced to pleading by the tremors and ultimately gives Ye Qiu his remaining sword-art knowledge. He believes Ye Qiu has been tormenting him in revenge, though Ye Qiu denies it.
• Mu Qinghe is presented as exceptionally talented and clever, while Chen Chi is capable but less serious and focused. Mu Qinghe’s immediate concern is stabilizing her cultivation.

Significant themes

• Persistence and self-directed learning: Ye Qiu believes repeated effort can overcome apparent limits, as with both the Dragon Clan’s Azure Dragon Roar and the Imperial Patterns.
• Risk converted into growth: The mountain’s punishing pressure harms Ye Qiu but strengthens and consolidates his cultivation.
• Reciprocity, leverage, and comic friction: Ye Qiu’s relationships involve favors and bargaining, with his playful insistence often testing others’ patience.

Chapter Summary: “Tomboy”

Key plot points and events

• As Myriad Laws Academy’s grand recruitment begins, Ye Qiu stays in his room to contemplate the Imperial Pattern and the One Hundred Eighty Thousand Swords. An earlier accident has strengthened his body and foundations, accelerated his cultivation, and unexpectedly helped him gain the final portion of sword insight known to Chen Jianyi.
• After changing into a white robe, Ye Qiu heads toward the academy, using Dragon’s Passage to move swiftly through the Upper Realm’s Void.
• A short-haired woman in white overtakes him with an extraordinary Movement Technique. Their silent contest escalates: Ye Qiu’s best effort reaches nearly three hundred zhang, while she advances a thousand zhang in a single step.
• The woman teases Ye Qiu for losing. He claims his teacher, “Brother Snake,” taught him poorly and asks her to teach him instead. When she refuses to share her Lineage’s secret art, Ye Qiu offers to trade for medical treatment.
• Ye Qiu correctly identifies her problem as a cultivation-related inability to pass gas. They exchange a pill and a Jade Slip containing Movement Technique insights. After the woman gives him a more complete version of the technique, Ye Qiu provides a prescription.
• The woman leaves, saying she has no need to attend the recruitment. Ye Qiu continues to Myriad Laws Academy, where he finds an immense crowd—at least a hundred thousand people—gathered outside.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Qiu benefits from accidental progress in cultivation and sword comprehension. He is confident, observant, and quick-witted, turning an awkward medical diagnosis into a mutually beneficial exchange. Though competitive, he insists he was not trying to race.
• The White-Clad Tomboy is spirited, teasing, and exceptionally skilled at movement. She initially treats Ye Qiu as a rival, then becomes interested when he diagnoses her condition. Her willingness to trade shows practical judgment, though she remains wary that his cure might be false.
• Brother Snake is mentioned as Ye Qiu’s teacher and becomes the target of Ye Qiu’s complaint that his instruction was useless.
• Ye Qiu and the woman interact through rivalry, banter, negotiation, and an exchange of knowledge and treatment. Neither fully trusts the other, and each gives the other only part of what they could offer.

Significant themes

• Accidental progress: Ye Qiu’s misunderstandings and mistakes repeatedly lead to real gains.
• Skill and rivalry: The movement contest reveals the gap between Ye Qiu’s ability and the woman’s mastery, while motivating him to seek better instruction.
• Pragmatic exchange: Knowledge and healing are treated as tradeable resources, with both characters carefully weighing what they give and receive.
• Humor amid cultivation: The chapter balances grand academy proceedings and advanced techniques with comic banter about Ye Qiu’s blunt diagnosis.

Plot points and events

• Ye Qiu arrives at the packed Myriad Laws Academy recruitment grounds, where the crush of people makes reaching the examination area difficult.
• Li Xingchen guides him through a paid, restricted passage. Li reveals that the Academy recruited him directly and made him an elder’s Final Disciple, supposedly because of his “character.”
• Ye Qiu suspects Tang Yan helped Li, but Tang remains openly hostile toward him. Ye Qiu proceeds to the entrance examination alone.
• When Ye Qiu reaches the testing elder, he accuses him of being pressured to block his admission. The elder’s cold manner makes Ye Qiu suspect the accusation is true.
• Zhang Chuan, the man Ye Qiu previously beat, appears with a group and threatens him, citing his family’s influence at the Academy.
• Ye Qiu immediately attacks Zhang and brutally defeats his companions. He then turns to the stunned examiner and demands to know whether the examination will continue—or the beating will.

Character developments

• Ye Qiu remains perceptive, blunt, and unconcerned by threats. He quickly reads the examiner’s behavior and responds to intimidation with decisive violence.
• Li Xingchen has grown markedly more confident after receiving direct admission and a prestigious apprenticeship. His claim that this is due to his character is played for humor.
• Tang Yan remains resentful toward Ye Qiu, though Ye Qiu suspects he may have helped Li Xingchen behind the scenes.
• Zhang Chuan again relies on his family’s status to intimidate Ye Qiu, but is swiftly overpowered.

Significant themes

• Merit versus influence: The Academy’s rigorous admissions ideals clash with the possibility that powerful people can interfere with the process.
• Status and intimidation: Zhang Chuan expects family connections to protect him, but they do not impress Ye Qiu.
• Confidence and comic bravado: Li Xingchen’s sudden self-assurance—and his dubious explanation for it—provides a lighter counterpoint to Ye Qiu’s confrontation.

Character interactions

• Li Xingchen and Ye Qiu banter like familiar companions, with Ye Qiu teasing him about his sudden success.
• Ye Qiu and Tang Yan exchange no words, but Tang’s hostile stare keeps their unresolved conflict present.
• Ye Qiu confronts the examiner over suspected bias, then clashes with Zhang Chuan and his followers. The chapter ends with the examiner forced to respond to Ye Qiu’s challenge.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Qiu swiftly defeats Zhang Chuan and several other privileged young cultivators, leaving the Examination Elder unsure whether to enforce the Academy’s rules.
• Zhang Chuan and his allies demand that Ye Qiu be seized, while their family elders arrive to support them. The Examination Elder starts to side with the powerful families.
• Mu Qinghe steps forward to defend Ye Qiu. When the young men threaten her family, their own female relatives intervene: Jiang Qing strikes her brother, Chu Yue beats hers, and women from other families likewise discipline their relatives and withdraw their families’ complaints.
• Shen Ling confronts Zhang Chuan, who recognizes the danger and leaves. The women gather beside Ye Qiu, and the immediate dispute ends in his favor.
• Tang Yan’s anger fades when he sees how many formidable women support Ye Qiu. Li Xingchen is left fuming, while Tang Yan repeatedly tells him to “hold it in for now.”

Character developments

• Ye Qiu demonstrates overwhelming strength and composure, defeating Divine Spirit cultivators despite being only at the Divine Gate Second Layer.
• Mu Qinghe openly claims Ye Qiu as one of her own and refuses to be intimidated by threats against her family.
• Jiang Qing, Chu Yue, and the other women reveal that they will oppose their relatives’ misconduct, even using force to rein them in.
• The Examination Elder is shown as fearful and politically cautious, nearly choosing the powerful families’ side before the women change the balance.
• Tang Yan and Li Xingchen provide comic relief: Tang Yan tries to restrain his anger, while Li Xingchen insists he is upset on behalf of his “sister-in-law,” though Tang Yan accuses him of jealousy.

Significant themes

• Power and influence: The elder’s judgment is shaped less by rules than by fear of influential families.
• Justice versus privilege: The young men invoke their family status to evade consequences, but their own relatives hold them accountable.
• Strength and reputation: Ye Qiu’s unexpectedly dominant performance shocks onlookers and shifts the situation’s power balance.
• Jealousy and romantic rivalry: The growing number of women supporting Ye Qiu provokes comic envy in Tang Yan and especially Li Xingchen.

Character interactions

• Ye Qiu challenges the elder to decide whether the exam will proceed; the elder hesitates under pressure from Zhang Chuan and the arriving family elders.
• Mu Qinghe publicly backs Ye Qiu and rebuffs Zhang Chuan’s threats.
• The women confront and discipline their male relatives, then declare that their families will not pursue the matter.
• Shen Ling’s quiet warning sends Zhang Chuan away.
• Tang Yan restrains both himself and Li Xingchen, whose argument over whether he is jealous closes the chapter.