Recaps

Ning Chen entered the palace as a fake eunuch, helped Mu Chengxue escape, and became entangled in Great Xia’s efforts to counter the Zhenji Kingdom’s challenges. After winning the boiling-oil test but losing the couplet round, he began preparing a plan for the final maze contest while trying to avoid palace scrutiny.

• Ning Chen hid the wounded assassin Mu Chengxue during the palace lockdown and was assigned to Weiyang Palace, where Zhangsun Wuyou and Qing Ling took charge of him.
• Ning Chen predicted a dangerous celestial omen, and after Zhangsun confirmed it, Great Xia faced threats from the Eternal Night Divine Cult and the Northern Mongol Royal Court.
• Ning Chen helped Qing Ling survive an ambush on Zhangsun, then delivered Zhangsun’s message to Marquis Taiping and helped reunite him with her.
• Ning Chen smuggled the injured Mu Chengxue out of the palace for treatment, and she gave him a Golden Page containing a cultivation technique before leaving.
• At Lingyan Pavilion, Ning Chen cultivated, made soap for Li'er, and agreed to help Great Xia answer Zhenji Kingdom’s challenge in return for Zhangsun’s favor.
• Ning Chen used limescale and vinegar to help Zhangsun pass the boiling-oil needle test, then revealed how he had rigged the challenge, and Qing Ling defeated Jin Yi in a fight.
• Ning Chen broke through to Martial Arts First Rank, answered two couplet questions at court, and lost the second contest after the envoy secretly extinguished the incense.
• After learning the old eunuch’s corpse had been found, Ning Chen sought Xia Xinyu’s help to leave with a marriage procession, then proposed a plan for the final maze contest and went with a general to the Imperial Medical Institute.

Ning Chen survived the wasteland, the Underworld ruins, and a series of attacks while pursuing the truth about his injuries and the letter he carried. He returned to the capital and delivered the letter to Changsun, whose expression darkened as she read it.

• Ning Chen won the wager for Great Xia with explosions in Zhengqi Palace, then was assigned to Princess Miaoyu’s bridal escort and left after Changsun punished him for disobeying her.
• Ning Chen protected Xia Miaoyu from wolves and Jun Shaoqing, but fell from a cliff and was left crippled before Sword Enshrined brought him back to Changsun.
• Ning Chen entered Tiancang Academy as a handyman, traveled north after the Master’s advice, and met Yue Ling in Falling Moon City.
• Ning Chen killed the bandits who had murdered travelers, then used poison and a sedative to defeat the old eunuch who pursued him.
• Ning Chen and Little White Horse crossed Weak Water and entered the Underworld ruins, where the horse broke the illusion and Ning Chen bonded with the Golden Pages.
• Ning Chen returned to the academy, received a new wheelchair from Old Lu, and left Little White Horse with the Master before heading back toward the palace.
• Ning Chen reunited with Li'er and visited Du'an Pharmacy, where Yue Ling bought a Millennium Blood Ginseng King after learning she had at most one year to live.
• Ning Chen killed the flute player and the crippled archer who attacked him, then signaled Changsun with her jade pendant and delivered her a military letter.

Ning Chen searched for Mu Chengxue, joined Prince Yan, and became entangled in a marriage proposal, court intrigues, and A'man’s near-fatal injury. As Great Xia faced invasion and rebellion, Ning Chen recovered and began helping Changsun prepare for war.

• Ning Chen traveled with Prince Yan to Sword City, found Mu Chengxue, and was gravely wounded when she failed to recognize him and attacked.
• Prince Yan took Ning Chen to the Barbarian Dynasty, where A'man asked to marry him, but she ultimately accompanied him to the Central Plains as a friend.
• Ning Chen defended A'man from Ji Yuntang and Marquis Jiyu’s guards, then used a bomb to destroy the Martial Marquis Estate’s gate.
• Four Noted Swords ambushed Ning Chen, and A'man took their fatal strike protecting him, and Prince Yan drove them off but could not save her.
• Ning Chen sought the Rhombus Crystal Flower at Azure Frost Valley, sacrificing his heart’s essence blood to make it bloom so it could be sent to A'man.
• While Ning Chen lay unconscious, invaders and rebels ravaged Great Xia, the Xia Emperor disappeared after an assassination attempt, and A'man awakened after receiving the flower.
• Ning Chen warned Changsun about Prince Yue and advised her on handling the rebellions, while she investigated attacks on her generals and suspected Sword City.
• Ning Chen helped Changsun and Old General Ling prepare for a possible raid on their camp, then promised Qing Ling he would do everything he could to help her win the coming battle.

Ning Chen survived his clash with Fan Lingyue, traveled north, and abducted the Northern Meng emperor, Mingyue, while Great Xia’s military position worsened. As they crossed the Qizhou Mountain Range, Ning Chen found evidence that The Master was alive and met the ancient Jiang Wangji, who sent him to seek the Scroll of Nothingness.

• Ning Chen recovered with Prince Yan’s help, while Fan Lingyue awakened and took Heaven’s Gate Pass, leaving Great Xia’s three Martial Marquises trapped outside.
• Ning Chen and Prince Yan traveled north, and Ning Chen entered the Qing Family as a retainer before winning a place in the Martial Arts Banquet.
• Ning Chen killed the Xiao Family’s Ninth Rank and the Ming Family’s Eighth Rank, then abducted the Little Emperor and escaped into the desert with her.
• Ning Chen discovered that the Little Emperor was a girl named Mingyue, promised to protect her, and brought her toward Great Xia while evading pursuers.
• Ning Chen fought men who had struck Mingyue, crossed the battlefield at Northern Zhangyuan, and rejected Marquis Qinghe’s order to surrender before receiving the old marquis’s cultivation.
• Ning Chen and Mingyue crossed the Qizhou Mountain Range with a giant ape, whom Mingyue named Little Huang, and Ning Chen found a note suggesting The Master was still alive.
• A rift swallowed Ning Chen, Mingyue, and Little Huang, and Ning Chen met Jiang Wangji inside Taotie, received a Daoist cultivation art, and was told to find the Scroll of Nothingness.