Chapter Summaries

Jiang Wang left the pursuit of Hell's Gate behind and traveled to Nanyao City to visit Lian Que. After catching up, Lian Que gave him a guide for nurturing Longing, the famous artifact they had forged together.

• Jiang Wang quietly left Yue Leng and Ma Xiong's station, unwilling to get caught in the escalating conflict with Hell's Gate.
• Lin Youxie followed Jiang Wang and questioned him about his reaction to King Wuguan's execution, but Jiang Wang warned her to stop treating him like a suspect and left.
• Jiang Wang flew through Qiaoshan Corridor to Nanyao City in Red Sun Prefecture and reunited with Lian Que, who had reached the Inner Palace Realm and become a leading contender to head the Lian Clan.
• Jiang Wang and Lian Que toasted Longing and recalled the ordeal of forging it together.
• Lian Que gave Jiang Wang a booklet describing how to nurture Longing, and Jiang Wang teased him about its ugly handwriting.

Jiang Wang received Lian Que’s custom tempering method for Longing and a completed secret weapon. Meanwhile, Yin Guan and King Wuguan gathered the Yama Kings still in Qi as Hell’s Gate faced an unprecedented crackdown, and King Dushi challenged Yin Guan’s decision to call them together.

• Jiang Wang praised Lian Que’s writing and accepted his tempering method, which was designed specifically for Longing.
• Lian Que gave Jiang Wang the completed black iron box he had commissioned and warned him to use it carefully.
• Yin Guan spoke with King Wuguan, who described her replacement hand and admitted she could barely remember her original body.
• King Wuguan summoned the Yama Kings in Qi, bringing King Song, King Biancheng, King Dushi, and King Pingdeng onto a silver-white screen with herself and Yin Guan.
• King Dushi questioned whether it was the right time for a discussion with King Qinguang.

Yin Guan defended his leadership of Hell's Gate and argued that the group had to disrupt Qi's pursuit to survive. As Yue Leng tightened the net around Biwu Prefecture and blocked escape routes to the sea, King Song asked what Yin Guan planned to do.

• King Dushi questioned Yin Guan's decision, and Yin Guan asserted his authority over Hell's Gate.
• King Song warned that the Qi Green Badges were closing in, while King Pingdeng objected to another operation after King Taishan's death.
• Yin Guan argued that King Taishan's capture alive proved he would have betrayed them, then warned King Pingdeng that explaining was easier than killing him.
• Yin Guan told the Yama Kings that they were not enemies of Qi and needed to create chaos so Qi's true enemies could act; no one objected, and King Song asked for the plan.
• Yue Leng traced Hell's Gate to Biwu Prefecture, blocked traffic through neighboring prefectures, and positioned himself on the Jinghai-Biwu border to prevent the assassins from reaching the sea.

Jiang Wang visited Lian Que in Nanyao City as Lian Que prepared to use the Weapon Casting Furnace, and the two joked and shared Iron Pulp Fruit while waiting. A sudden explosion interrupted them, and Lian Que rushed outside to investigate.

• Lian Zhuping greeted Jiang Wang and implicitly apologized for the Lian Clan's earlier treatment of him.
• Jiang Wang and Lian Que waited for the Weapon Casting Furnace to awaken while discussing fire and eating Iron Pulp Fruit.
• Jiang Wang enjoyed the fruit and persuaded Lian Que to arrange a hundred more for him.
• Lian Que proposed that Jiang Wang help refine for five hours as payment for the fruit.
• An explosion sounded nearby, and Lian Que doused the furnace and ran outside to see what had happened.

Yin Guan attacked the Lian Clan’s Sword Furnace, but withdrew after defeating its defenders and noticing Jiang Wang. That night, Yin Guan visited Jiang Wang and demanded that he repay his new debt by helping with something.

• Lian Que and Jiang Wang rushed to the Sword Furnace, where Yin Guan shattered its protective sword formation with two punches.
• Yin Guan noticed Jiang Wang, abandoned his plan to destroy the Ancient Furnace, and defeated Lian Zhuping and the Family Elders when they challenged him.
• Yin Guan left the Lian Clan after calling its defenders mud men and straw dogs, while Jiang Wang decided he should leave Nanyao soon.
• Yin Guan appeared in Jiang Wang’s room that night, claimed Jiang Wang owed him another favor, and said he wanted Jiang Wang’s help with something.

Jiang Wang agreed to help Yin Guan escape Qi State and took him west toward Rizhao Prefecture, hiding him in a carriage. At a checkpoint, Jiang Wang used the Hidden Cloak to conceal Yin Guan and passed the soldiers’ search.

• Yin Guan asked Jiang Wang to repay his favor by helping him leave Qi State, and Jiang Wang promised to do his best.
• Jiang Wang left Nanyao City with a carriage Lian Que had bought and stored the hundred Iron Pulp Fruits Lian Que had promised him.
• Jiang Wang and the concealed Yin Guan traveled west while Jiang Wang focused on cultivating his Inner Palace.
• Qi State soldiers stopped Jiang Wang’s carriage for a search after Yin Guan’s attack on the Lian Clan.
• Jiang Wang gave Yin Guan the Hidden Cloak, allowing him to vanish from sight, and the soldiers let the carriage pass.

Jiang Wang and Yin Guan reached Rizhao Prefecture and traveled to Green Sheep Town, where Jiang Wang planned to use his fief and a merchant caravan to help Yin Guan escape Qi. On returning, Jiang Wang found Xiang Qian waiting at the Town Hall, but Xiang Qian’s Flying Sword sensed danger.

• Jiang Wang gave the coachman the carriage after they reached Rizhao Prefecture, then told Yin Guan he would return to Green Sheep Town before attempting to leave Qi.
• Yin Guan explained that Qi’s national destiny could expose outsiders and that Jiang Wang’s status as a Qi noble helped conceal him; he also said the border should be less guarded while the Yamas and Yue Leng were in Biwu Prefecture.
• Jiang Wang proposed hiding Yin Guan in a merchant caravan bound for Zheng or Rong, while Yin Guan neither approved nor rejected the plan.
• Jiang Wang returned to Green Sheep Town, surveyed the territory, and saw that the townspeople seemed well under Dugu Xiao’s management.
• Jiang Wang entered the Town Hall and found Xiang Qian lounging in the courtyard; Xiang Qian stood up and said his Flying Sword had sensed danger.

Jiang Wang returned to Green Sheep Town with Yin Guan concealed nearby and was greeted enthusiastically by Dugu Xiao and the town clerks. As he left for his courtyard with Xiang Qian and Dugu Xiao, Zhang Hai reflected on how their choices during the battle outside town had shaped their very different lives.

• Jiang Wang warned Xiang Qian not to draw attention to Yin Guan, who was hidden nearby, and Xiang Qian relaxed when he learned the stranger was Jiang Wang's friend.
• Dugu Xiao greeted Jiang Wang excitedly, then summoned the Town Hall clerks, who praised his achievements until he sent them back to work.
• Jiang Wang invited Dugu Xiao and Xiang Qian to talk in his courtyard, and he dragged the reluctant Xiang Qian along.
• Zhang Hai watched them leave and regretted that his choice to protect himself during the battle outside Green Sheep Town had left him behind Dugu Xiao, who had chosen to fight.
• Zhang Hai dismissed his regrets and decided to return to refining pills.

Jiang Wang visited Green Sheep Town and checked on Dugu Xiao’s work and cultivation, then entered her Heaven-Connecting Palace to inspect her Lesser Celestial Circuit. He discovered that its three manifestations were all images of himself.

• Jiang Wang praised Dugu Xiao for managing Green Sheep Town and teased Xiang Qian about his idleness.
• Xiang Qian criticized Dugu Xiao’s cultivation, leaving her afraid that Jiang Wang would consider her useless.
• Jiang Wang reassured Dugu Xiao and asked about her Lesser Celestial Circuit.
• Jiang Wang entered Dugu Xiao’s Heaven-Connecting Palace and examined her formed circuit.
• Three figures appeared above Dugu Xiao’s Dao Vortices, and Jiang Wang saw that all of them looked like him.

Jiang Wang discovered that Dugu Xiao’s Lesser Celestial Circuit was built around her devotion to him and sought Jiang Yan’s advice on how to help her cultivate. He learned a modified Divine Soul technique could let her draw limited power from her faith, and ended the chapter preparing to present a solution to Xiang Qian.

• Jiang Wang realized Dugu Xiao’s three-part Lesser Celestial Circuit consisted entirely of images of him, while Xiang Qian was astonished that Jiang Wang had entered her Heaven-Connecting Palace through a Divine Soul Daoist Art.
• Dugu Xiao explained that she had formed her circuit around the person she admired most, and Jiang Wang understood how his past actions had shaped her life and devotion.
• Jiang Wang called on Jiang Yan, who explained that Dugu Xiao’s circuit resembled Divine Path worship and that her faith could support it if she drew power from Jiang Wang.
• Jiang Yan gave Jiang Wang a modified secret technique that removed its ties to the White Bone Venerable God and could mark Dugu Xiao’s Divine Soul with Jiang Wang’s Divine Ability.
• Jiang Wang memorized the technique and told Xiang Qian that Dugu Xiao’s cultivation problem was common in the age when the Divine Path flourished.

Jiang Wang questioned Xiang Qian about his stagnant cultivation and invited him on a trip to a place no one had visited in a long time. He also asked Yin Guan to assess a secret art for Dugu Xiao, and Yin Guan found only its Divine Soul imprint uncertain.

• Jiang Wang told Xiang Qian that his wavering heart, not the Fog of Ignorance, was keeping him from advancing, then invited him on a trip the next day.
• Xiang Qian watched Jiang Wang leave and felt the loneliness of his own long drift.
• Jiang Wang explained Dugu Xiao's situation to Yin Guan and learned that Yin Guan would not teach her spellcraft, though he believed it could help her Lesser Celestial Circuit.
• Jiang Wang showed Yin Guan Jiang Yan's secret art, and Yin Guan said it should solve Dugu Xiao's problem but could not vouch for the safety of its Divine Soul imprint.

Jiang Wang replaced the imprint in Jiang Yan’s secret technique with a safe one and used the resulting Divine Seal Method to stabilize Dugu Xiao’s Lesser Celestial Circuit. He then told Yin Guan he would help him cross the border in a caravan, but warned that this would be his last involvement with Hell’s Gate.

• Jiang Wang used the Great Void Illusion Realm’s Dao Evolution Platform to replace the secret technique’s imprint and named the revised technique the Divine Seal Method.
• Jiang Wang placed a flame-shaped imprint in the center of Dugu Xiao’s Lesser Celestial Circuit, stabilizing her foundation.
• Jiang Wang recovered from the precise and exhausting technique while Dugu Xiao quietly left.
• Jiang Wang told Yin Guan that he had arranged to cross the border with Chongxuan Sheng’s Desheng Trading Firm caravan, though guards might discover them.
• Jiang Wang explained that his standing as a Qi State Prodigy gave him some protection from suspicion, but said he would not help Hell’s Gate again after this trip.

Jiang Wang prepared to help Yin Guan escape Qi by sending Xiang Qian and Dugu Xiao away from Green Sheep Town before joining a caravan bound for Rong Kingdom. As the caravan approached the border, Yin Guan entered Jiang Wang’s carriage and announced he had a new idea.

• Jiang Wang told Xiang Qian to travel to Zheng Kingdom ahead of him, using a trip to the Hanging Temple as an excuse to keep his friend out of danger.
• Jiang Wang sent Dugu Xiao to visit her hometown, while she privately recalled her troubled past and the fate of her parents.
• Jiang Wang left Green Sheep Town alone and joined a caravan bound for Rong Kingdom, where Yin Guan was hidden among its cargo.
• As the caravan faced strict border checks, Yin Guan slipped into Jiang Wang’s carriage and said he had a new idea.

Yin Guan asked Jiang Wang to report his whereabouts to lure Yue Leng and create a chance for his subordinates in Biwu Prefecture to escape. Jiang Wang left a Green Badge alert in Yue City, but wondered whether the people involved would follow Yin Guan’s plan.

• Yin Guan told Jiang Wang to use his Green Badge authority to report his location and draw Yue Leng to him.
• Yin Guan said he planned to cause a major disturbance at the border to help his Yama escape Biwu Prefecture for the Near-Sea Archipelago.
• Yin Guan laid out a story in which Jiang Wang discovered and reported King Qinguang, clearing suspicion that he had ties to Hell’s Gate.
• Jiang Wang’s caravan reached Yue City, where he visited Zeren Medical Hall and left a Green Badge alert mark in a nearby alley.
• Jiang Wang left the city wondering whether the people involved would follow Yin Guan’s script.

Jiang Wang confirmed that King Qinguang was traveling with the caravan and passed the intelligence onward while waiting for Yue Leng. In Biwu Prefecture, the Yamas learned Yue Leng had been lured away and prepared attacks on the Jinghai Gao Clan and Heavenly Mansion City.

• Jiang Wang spotted a Green Badge signal, confirmed King Qinguang's presence in the caravan, and signaled the intelligence to a hidden Green Badge agent.
• Jiang Wang considered who had planted the agent but chose not to react, and he waited for Yue Leng while organizing his Inner Palace.
• Ma Xiong and Yang Luo surrounded five apparent Yamas in a courtyard, but the figures were fakes made from King Wuguan's flesh and blood.
• King Wuguan told the Yamas that Yue Leng had been drawn away and ordered them to split up, attack the Jinghai Gao Clan and Heavenly Mansion City, then escape to the Near-Sea Archipelago.
• King Song volunteered to lead the assault on the Jinghai Gao Clan.

King Wuguan deceived the other Yama Kings into pursuing a plan she claimed came from King Qinguang, intending to leave Hell's Gate without its leaders and return to take charge. At Qi's guarded border, Yue Leng intercepted Yin Guan, who attacked Jiang Wang before Yue Leng intervened.

• King Pingdeng agreed to follow King Song, King Biancheng chose to go to Heavenly Mansion City, and King Wuguan said she would escape overseas alone.
• After ending the call, King Wuguan revealed that King Qinguang had never ordered the others to attack Jinghai Gao or take Heavenly Mansion City, and she hoped to return and lead Hell's Gate.
• Jiang Wang's caravan approached a Qi border outpost, where Yue Leng descended and destroyed the cargo carriage while searching for Yin Guan.
• Yin Guan appeared using the Hidden Cloak, and Jiang Wang claimed he had found him in the caravan.
• Yin Guan lunged at Jiang Wang with cursed power, wounded him, and was stopped when Yue Leng arrived and dispelled the curse.
• Yue Leng confronted Yin Guan, unaware that Yin Guan had arranged their encounter from the start.

Yin Guan faced Yue Leng near the border, choosing to fight the Divine Presence Realm constable despite the overwhelming gap in their strength. After Yue Leng sealed the area and easily repelled Yin Guan’s first punch, Yin Guan invoked his curse and charged again, leaving the outcome unresolved.

• Yue Leng intercepted Yin Guan near the border and warned him to use any life-saving tricks he had.
• Yue Leng sealed a ten-li area with eight Cast Iron Black Pillars, while Jiang Wang led the innocent caravan members to safety.
• Yin Guan entered his strongest state and punched Yue Leng, who repelled him with a casual blow and dismissed the curse mark on his fist.
• Yin Guan cursed Yue Leng’s fortune, circumstances, prospects, lifespan, and survival, then charged at him again.

Yin Guan unleashed his full curse against Yue Leng, who countered with the Legalist Beast of Law, while Yin Guan continued attacking despite being wounded. Meanwhile, Hell's Gate assaulted the Jinghai Gao Clan, and a mysterious Night Watchman appeared in a forbidden ground in Linzi.

• Yin Guan unleashed a torrent of resentment within the Cast Iron Black Pillar's sealed area and charged at Yue Leng.
• Yue Leng summoned the Beast of Law, which dispelled the curse and struck Yin Guan with its horn.
• Yin Guan tore apart the Beast of Law's phantom, stopped his bleeding, and charged Yue Leng again.
• King Pingdeng and King Song attacked the Jinghai Gao Clan, and King Song destroyed the clan's formation nexus with a punch.
• Gao Xianchang hid in a secret chamber and ordered his people to seek help from Imperial Concubine Jing.
• An old blind Night Watchman carrying a white-paper lantern appeared in a forbidden ground in Linzi.

King Biancheng and King Dushi tried to escape after their attack on Qi State’s Heavenly Mansion City went awry, but the Blind Night Watchman killed them both. The Lord of Heavenly Mansion City survived, while the Night Watchman vanished again.

• King Biancheng unleashed his three souls against the Lord of Heavenly Mansion City, but the Blind Night Watchman appeared and killed him with a single press of his hand.
• King Dushi reached the coast and attacked a checkpoint in Qi State’s Nation-Protecting Array, hoping to make a temporary opening and escape by sea.
• The Blind Night Watchman appeared at the dock and killed King Dushi before he could break through the array.

The Blind Night Watchman arrived at the Jinghai Gao Clan estate and killed King Pingdeng and King Song, who met him with a desperate final punch. Afterward, Gao Xianchang tried to appease the Night Watchman by offering his son, but the Night Watchman ignored the Gao Clan and left, leaving the clan head fearing for his family’s future.

• The Blind Night Watchman appeared at the Jinghai Gao Clan estate and killed King Pingdeng with a single strike.
• King Song detonated the Five Palaces and Four Towers and struck at the Night Watchman, but the Night Watchman extinguished his attack and King Song died.
• Gao Qing emerged from hiding and angrily accused the Night Watchman of arriving too late, prompting Gao Xianchang to kick him down and ask the Night Watchman to execute him.
• The Night Watchman ignored the Gao Clan’s pleas and disappeared, while Gao Xianchang warned that he was the head of the Night Watchmen of Great Qi.