Chapter Summaries

Donglan Li learned that Yan Xuan had relied on his Mechanism Technique to overcome battlefield formations, while Zhao Yuxiang remained hidden and sought the Eldest Princess’s support. The story then shifted to Yu Sui, whom Zhang Guanyi challenged to wake Mei Chengyu from a Butterfly Dream and take her senior martial brother with her.

• Donglan Li accompanied Princess Wangshu, Prince Yuheng, and Yan Xuan to Baixiang Hall, where Donglan Xun warned them to keep Zhao Yuxiang’s identity secret.
• Gongsun Xi confronted Zhao Yuxiang, rejected his appeal to ally against the Crown Prince, and warned that his presence in the capital could endanger Yan Xuan.
• Yan Xuan told Zhao Yuxiang that Donglan Li had given him a Mechanism Ball Cage and explained how to break through the battlefield formations.
• Donglan Li heard a mysterious voice call him “Senior Martial Brother” but continued walking with his mother and sister, thinking that the call was meant for someone else.
• Zhang Guanyi dispelled the barrier hiding Yu Sui and Liang Zhen, then told Yu Sui that she could take her senior martial brother if she woke Mei Chengyu from the Butterfly Dream.

Yu Sui fought Liang Zhen to protect Mei Chengyu’s Ice Butterfly, then stayed in the valley with it for a month, hoping to wake her senior martial brother. As the storm ended, the butterfly dream revealed Donglan Li receiving reports of war and meeting Nangong Ming for the first time.

• Yu Sui refused to hand the Ice Butterfly to Liang Zhen and fought him with her Ghost Dao techniques and Exotic Fire.
• Zhang Guanyi used Swallow Distance to prevent Yu Sui from escaping, but the Ice Butterfly chose to remain with her, so Zhang allowed her to keep it.
• Yu Sui agreed to stay in the valley and spent a month talking and waiting beside the Ice Butterfly while Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen watched from afar.
• As the storm passed, Yu Sui told Mei Chengyu he could remain in the butterfly dream if he wished and softly asked him to speak to her.
• In the dream, Donglan Li heard reports of the Sixth Highness’s disappearance and the rebel advance, then met Nangong Ming as the Sixth Highness was brought into the palace.

Donglan Li recovered memories of his past in Yan Kingdom and chose to return to Yu Sui, while Mei Chengyu awakened with his memories restored. Mei Chengyu reunited with Yu Sui in the valley and promised not to leave her alone.

• Donglan Li remembered his mother Gongsun Xi's words about ending Yan Kingdom's old era and escaped the palace with Gao Tianhao while the veiled girl was trapped in an endless corridor.
• Donglan Li confronted the anguish of his separation from Yu Sui, and Prince Yuheng urged him to follow his heart and return to her.
• Donglan Li accepted Prince Yuheng's hand and left Yan Kingdom to begin a new life, while Mei Chengyu's memories of Yu Sui and his destructive impulses resurfaced.
• Mei Chengyu found Yu Sui resting in the valley and explained that the Thousand Mechanism Heart had severed their Soul Contract.
• Mei Chengyu confirmed that he had remembered and seen the person he wanted to see, then kissed Yu Sui and vowed not to leave her alone.

Yu Sui confided to Mei Chengyu that she feared death and the danger Nangong Ming represented, and Mei Chengyu helped her find perspective. As he revealed his plans to go to Shuizhou and take Yan Xiaochuan back to Yan, Yu Sui was struck by shared pain triggered by Xue Mushi.

• Mei Chengyu inferred that Elder Zhu was behind the Nether Lake scheme, and Yu Sui explained why she had never accepted Nangong Ming as her father.
• Yu Sui admitted that she feared death and the unfamiliar world, while Mei Chengyu reassured her that Nangong Ming was not as powerful as she imagined.
• Mei Chengyu told Yu Sui he planned to wait for people from Shuizhou and take Yan Xiaochuan back to Yan, where he was the surviving prince and heir.
• Yu Sui collapsed in Mei Chengyu's arms as shared sensation caused her intense pain, and Mei Chengyu concealed the episode from Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen.
• Yu Sui recognized that Xue Mushi had triggered the shared sensation while undergoing trials in the School of Dao.

Yu Sui and the others watched through their shared perception as Xue Mushi endured the Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Thunder, which the strange fire turned into a chance to temper his body and soul. As Xue Mushi remained trapped between life and death, Han Ziyang, injured and hiding in a woodshed, encountered Chu Jin.

• Han Ziyang argued with the Irritable Man, who denied being Ming Yueqing even as Han Ziyang revealed that Ming Yueqing's location had been exposed.
• Gongsun Qi identified Xue Mushi's injury as the work of the Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Thunder, and Han Ziyang deduced that Yu Sui belonged to the Yin-Yang School.
• Yu Sui and the others learned that Xue Mushi's strange fire was drawing in the thunder and helping to temper his body and soul, though he remained barely conscious.
• At the cliff, Luo Cheng threatened Tu Qian to keep her quiet after Xue Mushi fell, then left with the others believing the thunder had killed him.
• Han Ziyang urged the unconscious Xue Mushi to think of the person he loved, then hid from pursuers in a woodshed as the Nangong Family arrived.
• Chu Jin found Han Ziyang in the dark woodshed and asked whether he was injured, but he ordered her to stop.

Han Ziyang endured the heavenly thunder while Xue Mushi remained unconscious in Xunlei Trench, leaving their companions to share the torment. Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu clung to each other through the night, while Han Bing took the injured Han Ziyang to his quarters.

• Chu Jin helped Han Ziyang after the attackers were killed, but he insulted her and refused her help until Han Bing arrived.
• Han Bing escorted Han Ziyang to his room, where Han Ziyang noticed the birthday gifts and cards Han Bing had prepared for his younger sister.
• Han Ziyang and Irritable Man cursed Xue Mushi as the heavenly thunder intensified, while Gongsun Qi mostly stayed silent.
• Yu Sui endured the shared pain with Mei Chengyu, and they kissed and held each other through the night as she struggled to bear it.
• At dawn, Liang Zhen and Zhang Guanyi stood guard outside the valley and wondered whether the others had been talking or fighting.

Xue Mushi confronted his desire for an ordinary life and awakened after enduring three days of Heavenly Thunder, accepting that he could no longer avoid his fate. Meanwhile, Ming Yueqing killed the Luosha Practitioners who entered the Northern Wasteland Polar Region and found a Listening Wind Ruler.

• Xue Mushi remembered how his engagement to Tu Miaoyi brought him hostility, and how Tu Miaoyi told him she considered him special and did not hate him.
• Xue Mushi faced the strange flame in his soul, accepted that he had lost the chance at an ordinary life, and awakened in the Xunlei Trench as the Heavenly Thunder attacks ended.
• Xue Mushi stood up as Myriad Phenomena Heavenly Thunder coursed docilely over his skin, while Han Ziyang, Irritable Man, and Yu Sui checked on him.
• Jiang Shu and a group of Luosha Practitioners entered the Northern Wasteland Polar Region and encountered Ming Yueqing in a flower-filled valley.
• Ming Yueqing caused medicinal flowers to burst from the intruders' bodies, killing them all, then searched the corpses and found a Listening Wind Ruler.

Han Bing told Chu Jin that Nangong Sui had rapidly advanced at Taiyi and been chosen by the School of Names Golden Key, shaking Chu Jin’s confidence in her claim to the Nangong Family. At Taiyi, Gongsun Qi contacted Yu Sui to borrow money, while Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu confronted the fears and uncertainty in their relationship before he went to meet Dean Liang.

• Han Bing revealed that Nangong Sui had become an eighth-realm practitioner and that the School of Names Golden Key had chosen her, prompting Chu Jin to leave in silence.
• Gongsun Qi took A'Lan to Mechanism Island’s marketplace, recalled a past family memory, and decided to seek help from one of the island’s clans.
• Gongsun Qi used Yu Sui’s secret cipher to send her a message asking to borrow money.
• Yu Sui challenged Mei Chengyu for avoiding questions about the World Destroyer and told him she wanted him to trust that she loved him.
• Mei Chengyu apologized, reassured Yu Sui that she was separate from Nangong Ming, and left to speak with Dean Liang.
• Yu Sui received Gongsun Qi’s request for thirty thousand and agreed to meet him at the Mechanism Island Marketplace.

Yusui lent Gongsun Qi money, learning that he was a Six Nations Wanted Criminal while he traveled with A'Lan. Meanwhile, Mei Liangyu recovered his memories, planned to uncover Sage Chang Gen's motives and help carry out his father's plan, and agreed to let Zhang Guanyi try to erase his feelings for Nangong Sui.

• Yusui sent Gongsun Qi a Secret Text, and Feifeng Bank exchanged it for three hundred thousand in gold notes.
• Gongsun Qi bought A'Lan a mechanism toy and admitted to Yusui that he was a Six Nations Wanted Criminal.
• Liang Zhen and Zhang Guanyi met Mei Liangyu after he recovered his memories, and Mei Liangyu chose to remain in Taiyi until he could investigate Sage Chang Gen.
• Mei Liangyu told Liang Zhen he would visit Wujian Mountain Abyss, then take Yan Xiaochuan to the six provinces to advance his father's plan to Move the Sea to Fill the Prefecture.
• Mei Liangyu admitted that he was serious about Nangong Sui and promised Zhang Guanyi he would obey him if he could erase those feelings, but warned him never to harm Nangong Sui if he failed.

Yu Sui learned that Mei Chengyu had defeated both Deans, while Gongsun Qi confronted Murong Xiao about the past behind Mei Chengyu’s identity. Murong Xiao revealed that Mei Chengyu was the child taken after Chang Gen killed Gongsun Qi’s younger sister, and said he was now safe and happy in Taiyi.

• Wu Huaiwei warned Yu Sui that Nine Schools Practitioners were hunting her, then left to find her at the Famous School.
• Mei Chengyu returned to Yu Sui covered in blood and told her that both Deans had lost to him.
• Zhang Guanyi and Liang Zhen discussed Mei Chengyu’s Thousand Mechanism Heart and concluded that he was driven by slaughter rather than hatred.
• Gongsun Qi entered Murong Xiao’s palace with the sleeping A'Lan and asked whether Chang Gen had killed his younger sister and taken the child.
• Murong Xiao confirmed Chang Gen’s role and revealed that the child was Mei Chengyu, now Chang Gen’s disciple and safe in Taiyi.
• Murong Xiao told Gongsun Qi that Mei Chengyu was happy and could even risk his life for Nangong Sui.

Gongsun Qi learned Zhao Yuxiang was still alive and set out with A'Lan, while the Mechanism Clan leaders prepared moves against Dan and Nan Jing. At Taiyi Academy, Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu were interrupted by Wu Huaiwei, who found them together.

• Murong Xiao gave Gongsun Qi a Spirit Ghost Plaque and revealed that Zhao Yuxiang had survived and was hiding in Qingyang Imperial Capital.
• Gongsun Qi reacted with frightening fury, vowed to kill Zhao Yuxiang, and left carrying A'Lan.
• The Mechanism Clan leaders discussed their plans to take Dan, their use of the Fire-Absorbing Ice Stone, and impending chaos in Nan Jing.
• Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu washed his wounds by a stream, teased each other, and drew close before Yu Sui noticed someone approaching.
• Wu Huaiwei arrived and recognized Mei Chengyu with Yu Sui, asking what the two of them were doing there.

During the Night Walk Trial, Wu Huaiwei discovered the danger of the Yin Qi inside Yu Sui and urged her to leave the trial, but Yu Sui insisted on refining it. Wu Huaiwei said Yu Sui could keep the Yin and Yang Qi only by killing Gu Gan and taking the Yang Qi, prompting Mei Chengyu to offer to kill him instead.

• Yu Sui covered for Mei Chengyu after Wu Huaiwei questioned the marks on her neck and scolded them both.
• Wu Huaiwei examined the Yin Qi inside Yu Sui and warned that it could eventually devour her, telling her to come stay at Moon Mountain.
• Yu Sui showed Wu Huaiwei her evolved Nine Provinces Star Sea and persuaded her that she wanted to learn the Nine Profound Methods and continue the Night Walk Trial.
• Wu Huaiwei explained that the Yin and Yang Qi would draw Yu Sui and Gu Gan toward one another and said the Qi must return to Nether Lake unless Yu Sui killed Gu Gan and took the Yang Qi.
• Yu Sui told Mei Chengyu that Wu Huaiwei wanted Gu Gan killed, and Mei Chengyu offered to kill him himself.

Yu Sui agreed to join Mei Chengyu on the journey to Wujian Mountain Abyss, where they hoped to learn what was happening and pursue their own targets. After hearing Zhang Pinghui’s absurd plan to make Mei Chengyu take staged blows for Yu Sui, the two set out for the Abyss.

• Yu Sui agreed to Wu Huaiwei’s one-month deadline to recover the Yang Qi from Gu Gan, and Mei Chengyu said he would go to Wujian Mountain Abyss for his own target and the Futuo Tower Fragments.
• Yu Sui checked the death toll in Wujian Mountain Abyss and explained that the mountains blocked communication, while Mei Chengyu suggested asking the Jiudu Guard and information brokers for news.
• Mei Chengyu and Yu Sui went to the Dining Hall, where Zhang Pinghui reported strange weather, missing fragments, and people competing in Wujian Mountain Abyss.
• Zhang Pinghui and the Jiudu Guard proposed staging attacks so Mei Chengyu could take blows for Yu Sui and make her fall for him.
• Yu Sui teased Mei Chengyu about pretending not to know and letting him take three staged blows, and Mei Chengyu told her to finish eating before they went to Wujian Mountain Abyss.

Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu headed for Ruoshui Qingni to investigate a corpse that might be connected to Sage Chang Gen and search for the Futuo Tower Fragments. At Mei Chengyu’s dormitory, they reunited with Wei Ren and Wan Qi, who revealed that Ji Meng’s episodes transformed his Qi into Ownerless Qi, and Yu Sui decided to bring him along for further study.

• Yu Sui read Ren Gui’s report that Gu Gan and Su Jichun had disappeared into a ravine after Gu Gan fought Qin Yidong, and she talked with Mei Chengyu about her jealousy and his willingness to risk himself for other women.
• Mei Chengyu explained that Qin Yidong sought a powerful Ownerless Contracted God at Ruoshui Qingni, where Mei Chengyu hoped to identify a familiar corpse that might be connected to his master, Sage Chang Gen.
• Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu went to his dormitory and found Wei Ren and Wan Qi with Ji Meng tied up after another episode of Body Beastification.
• Wan Qi explained that Ji Meng’s beastification erased his memories and purified his Five Elements Qi into Ownerless Qi, prompting Mei Chengyu to suspect that someone was testing a way to let people practice the Hundred Schools Techniques regardless of talent.
• Yu Sui decided to take Ji Meng with them so Wan Qi could investigate further, and challenged Wei Ren to use Phantom Beast Shadow to make Ji Meng come willingly.

Yu Sui learned from Su Feng that Mei Chengyu was Donglan Li, the surviving son of Yan’s Eldest Princess, whose family Sage Chang Gen and Nangong Ming had helped destroy. The revelation left her wondering whether her master remembered his role, just as a crash sounded outside.

• Yu Sui introduced Wan Qi to Mei Chengyu, and Wan Qi admitted that Yu Sui valued his Five Elements Destruction constitution.
• Mei Chengyu recalled Wan Qi enduring a brutal beating in the past, while Wan Qi kept his humiliation to himself.
• Mei Chengyu taunted Wei Ren as he prepared to use Phantom Beast Control on Ji Meng, and Wei Ren revealed that he had cultivated four Phantom Beast Shadows, including the dangerous Charm Serpent.
• Yu Sui received an urgent message from Su Feng, who asked whether she liked Mei Chengyu and warned that his background made their relationship perilous.
• Su Feng sent Yu Sui confirmation that Mei Chengyu was Donglan Li, son of Yan’s Eldest Princess, and that Sage Chang Gen had brought him to Taiyi after her family’s destruction.
• Yu Sui wondered whether Sage Chang Gen remembered what he had done, then heard a loud crash outside.

Wei Ren lost control of the Charm Serpent as it exploited his memories of his mother, but Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu restrained him while Yu Sui used the Five Elements Light Core to help him destroy it. After recovering, Wei Ren agreed to take two days before they continued to Wujian Mountain Abyss.

• The Charm Serpent attacked everyone in the room while Wei Ren struggled to keep control, and Yu Sui sensed his Five Elements Light Core rapidly weakening.
• The Charm Serpent forced Wei Ren to relive his childhood and taunted him with memories of his mother until it took over much of his body.
• Mei Chengyu restrained Wei Ren, and Yu Sui pinned him with her umbrella and crushed eighteen Five Elements Light Cores to control his inner core and gouge out the Charm Serpent's eyes.
• Wei Ren regained consciousness and received treatment from Wan Qi, while Pei Daiqing and Shen Tianxue learned that the Charm Serpent had died.
• Wei Ren realized Yu Sui had helped him destroy the Charm Serpent, then asked for two days before they continued to Wujian Mountain Abyss.

Yu Sui and Mei Chengyu waited for Xue Mushi, who emerged from the Xunlei Trench transformed into an eleven-year-old boy by a Daoist technique. Meanwhile, Gongsun Qi entered Taiyi Academy with the Mechanism Clan technicians, recognized Yan Xiaochuan as resembling his parents, and announced he was going to kill someone.

• Yu Sui wondered whether Mei Chengyu could remain with her despite their families’ history, while Mei Chengyu remained guarded and gave her no clear answer.
• Xue Mushi climbed out of the Xunlei Trench, discovered he had become a boy again, and asked Yu Sui to help him find Luo Cheng in Wujian Mountain Abyss.
• Yu Sui told Mei Chengyu that Xue Mushi was coming, and Mei Chengyu identified his condition as the Daoist technique Heavenly Secrets: Return to Simplicity and Truth.
• Xue Mushi met Yu Sui and the others at Wujian Mountain Abyss, where Wei Ren doubted his identity until Mei Chengyu recognized the technique.
• Gongsun Qi entered Taiyi Academy with A Quan, saw Yan Xiaochuan and recognized his resemblance to his parents, then told A Quan he was going to kill someone.

Gongsun Qi attacked Mu Yong'an and Yan Xiaochuan, but Mu Yong'an's formation teleported them to the Outer City before Gongsun Qi could kill Yan Xiaochuan. As Mu Yong'an died from sword poison, he urged Yan Xiaochuan to return to the Yan Kingdom, while elsewhere Zou Yexi refused to hand over a wounded youth to the Nangong Family.

• A Quan helped Gongsun Qi enter Taiyi Academy under a barrier, where Gongsun Qi attacked Mu Yong'an and Yan Xiaochuan.
• Mu Yong'an shielded Yan Xiaochuan from Gongsun Qi's sword shadows, and a hidden formation teleported them to a building in the Outer City.
• Gongsun Qi learned that Mei Chengyu had gone to Wujian Mountain Abyss and said Mu Yong'an would die from the sword poison.
• Mu Yong'an told Yan Xiaochuan that he was the Yan Kingdom's last surviving prince and urged him to return, but Yan Xiaochuan said he would rather die with his master.
• Black Beard learned that Star Moon Island people had taken the target from the Nangong Second Division, then went to find out what had happened.
• At an abandoned ferry, Zou Yexi argued with the Star Moon Island Master and refused to surrender the wounded youth, while the youth sobbed beside him.

Black Beard tried to protect Yan Xiaochuan from the Nangong Second Division, while Zou Yexi helped him flee with Mu Yong'an’s body. After burying his master, Yan Xiaochuan learned Zhao Yuxiang was alive and chose to seek the Nangong Family, leaving Zou Yexi and the division confronting him at Mingzhu Casino.

• Black Beard and Wei Liu decided to delay the Second Division long enough to protect the boy the County Princess wanted safeguarded.
• Zou Yexi and Yan Xiaochuan escaped with Mu Yong'an’s corpse, while the Second Division found the body left by the shore and Commander Chen called off the bounty for the other target.
• Yan Xiaochuan buried Mu Yong'an by the sea, and Zou Yexi recognized Zhao Yuxiang’s name on the papers Yan Xiaochuan burned and told him Zhao was alive.
• After kneeling at the grave for three days, Yan Xiaochuan refused to leave with Zou Yexi and threatened to tell Nangong Ming that Zhao Yuxiang had survived.
• Yan Xiaochuan revealed his Yin-Yang School star array to stop Zou Yexi from attacking him, then headed into the city toward Mingzhu Casino to find the Nangong Family.

Mei Chengyu entered the waterfall at Thousand Foot Cliff alone to face Ruoshui Qingni while Yu Sui and the others assembled a ferry outside. As Yu Sui searched the Cangjia Scroll for a way to contain the Death Qi, Wan Qi speculated that the Ji Family was experimenting with Qi Marrow and Ownerless Qi to bypass cultivation talent.

• Mei Chengyu explained that Ruoshui Qingni could flood Thousand Foot Cliff if he broke the seal, then gave Yu Sui three Mechanism Boxes so she could assemble a ferry.
• Mei Chengyu entered the waterfall alone, while Yu Sui, Wei Ren, and Wan Qi began building the ferry and Xue Mushi rested to release accumulated Inner Bombardment.
• Yu Sui reassured Mei Chengyu that she was there for him, and later told Xue Mushi that no one loved Mei Chengyu more than she did.
• Yu Sui searched the Cangjia Scroll for a way to stop Ruoshui Qingni as Wan Qi theorized that the Ji Family had used Qi Marrow to create Ownerless Qi and bypass talent restrictions.
• Wei Ren left Xue Mushi to take over the ferry work and tried the Charm Serpent on Ji Meng again.