Chapter Summaries

Chu Ming passed Wenlin Garden’s tests by correctly deciphering all twenty Ancient Oracle Script groups, then refused Prime Minister Zuo Yuan’s offer to work for the court, citing the Crown Prince’s orders. After Zuo Yuan left, Tang Bai introduced Chu Ming to Wenlin Garden, while Qi Chen and Pei Yi demanded compensation for being outshone.

• Zuo Yuan came to Wenlin Garden hoping to learn whether Chu Ming held evidence against Lu Shizhong, while planning to recruit him if possible.
• Lu Xi, Qi Chen, and Pei Yi completed their tests with fourteen and a half, fourteen and a half, and thirteen groups respectively, while Chu Ming began writing near the end of the allotted time.
• Tang Bai verified Chu Ming’s answers and announced that all twenty Ancient Oracle Script groups were correct.
• Zuo Yuan offered to recommend Chu Ming for work serving His Majesty, but Chu Ming said he had entered Wenlin Garden on the Crown Prince’s orders; Zuo Yuan then left with Lu Xi and told him to summon his father.
• Tang Bai explained Wenlin Garden’s duties and gave Chu Ming its robes and jade insignia, then left Qi Chen and Pei Yi to show him around.
• Qi Chen and Pei Yi warned Chu Ming that he had embarrassed them and Lu Xi, then demanded compensation, while Chu Ming recognized that they were trying to get something from him rather than threaten him.

Chu Ming received the Sea Classic fragments, a Palace Reader token, and an antidote from the Seventh Prince, who tasked him with joining the Golden List Hundred Knowledge Competition. As Chu Ming began pursuing the Sea Classic, Zuo Yuan confronted Lu Yanzhong over evidence Cui Ye might have left with Chu Ming and ordered him to cut his ties to the Longevity Platform affair.

• Chu Ming traded Qi Chen and Pei Yi notes on Ancient Oracle Script for access to Tang Bai's Sea Classic fragment, then left Wenlin Garden with Tao Long to meet the Seventh Prince.
• The Crown Prince learned that Zuo Yuan had tested Chu Ming and ordered Ziyue to leave Cui Ye's evidence with him while investigating the Second Prince and Ming Huo.
• The Seventh Prince gave Chu Ming another two hundred pages of Sea Classic fragments, an antidote that Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense identified as poisonous, a Palace Reader token, and notice that Chu Ming could stop investigating the remaining First Rank Humble Gate cases.
• Chu Ming learned from Zhong Yang that the Tang Family's influence had kept Tang Xuan from being taken in for questioning, then concealed himself and went to Linwu Villa to study the Sea Classic.
• Zuo Yuan accused Lu Yanzhong of colluding with Cui Ye, and Lu Xi warned that Cui Ye might have retained evidence against his father in Chu Ming's hands.
• Zuo Yuan ordered Lu Yanzhong to sever his ties to the Longevity Platform affair quickly or lose his position as Chief Secretariat.

Zuo Yuan, the Tang Family, and the Pei Family maneuvered around the evidence in Cui Ye’s corruption case as Tang Xuan prepared for arrest. After deciphering the Sea Classic and transforming his abilities, Chu Ming raced to disrupt Heaven-Asking Pavilion’s trades, while the princes discussed the Seventh Prince’s birthday gift.

• Zuo Yuan ordered an investigation into Lu Shizhong and Chu Ming, while secretly considering how to eliminate Lu Shizhong if necessary.
• Tang Ying confronted Tang Xuan over evidence linking him to Cui Ye, and Tang Zhe began investigating Tang Xuan’s past and possible ties to the Prince of North Snow.
• Tang Xuan sent Tang Man to deliver a threatening letter and a concealed box to Pei Fu, ordered him to kill Chu Ming, and prepared him to attempt a rescue if needed.
• Pei Qing and Pei Fu planned to lure Tang Man out by spreading the story that Tang Xuan had hired the Shadow Tower to destroy the Five Lights Sect.
• Chu Ming deciphered the Sea Classic, strengthened his abilities during three days of seclusion, and rushed toward Heaven-Asking Pavilion to interfere with its trades.
• Heaven-Asking Pavilion completed trades for the Seventh Prince and the Prince of North Snow, then sent Mo Jili and Situ Yanyu to drive off the robbers; meanwhile, the Second, Third, and Fourth Princes discussed the Seventh Prince’s gift for Empress Dowager Duan.

Chu Ming followed the Blood Fiend Cult and the Martial Immortal Alliance to Changtai Post Station, where their rival ambushes erupted into a massacre. He remained hidden as the two sides slaughtered the post station’s travelers, while two Marrow Cleansing Realm experts watched from nearby.

• Chu Ming killed Jin Qi and four White Jade Sect disciples who had been ordered to ambush the Seventh Prince, and Situ Yanyu later found their bodies.
• The Qi Emperor sent Tang Guang to ensure the Blood Fiend Cult was wiped out, while the Crown Prince dispatched Yang Rong, Xi Peng, and Martial Immortal Alliance experts to attack its members.
• Chu Ming followed Mo Sha and Lie Sha to Changtai Post Station and discovered that the Blood Fiend Cult and the Martial Immortal Alliance were preparing to attack each other.
• Two Marrow Cleansing Realm experts arrived near the post station, and Chu Ming sensed both their presence while deciding to remain an observer.
• Chu Ming triggered the fighting by sending concealed weapons through the inn door, prompting the Martial Immortal Alliance and Blood Fiend Cult to launch their attacks.
• The battle spread through Changtai Post Station, where both sides killed travelers and Star-Falling Blade Hero died while leading civilians toward an exit.

Chu Ming slaughtered Blood Fiend Cult fighters at the relay station, drawing the Marrow Cleansing experts Xie Yue and Tang Guang into battle. After Tang Guang returned to report the appearance of an unknown Fifth Realm Qi Master, Chu Ming pursued Xie Yue into the Red Cold Forest, where he fought her and unleashed a golden Sword Qi as she attacked him with deadly blood weapons.

• Chu Ming caught the Blood Fiend Cult’s arrows, killed three Meridian Opening Realm attackers, and helped the people flee the relay station.
• Chu Ming killed Blood Fiend Cult fighters across the relay station, drawing Xie Yue from the north and Tang Guang from the south into a battle that destroyed much of the station.
• Chu Ming killed Mo Sha, Lie Sha, Cold Blade, Soul Devouring, and numerous other Blood Fiend Cult fighters, while Xie Yue trapped Tang Guang with the Blood Veil and escaped north.
• Tang Guang recognized that an unknown Qi Master of the Fifth Realm had killed the Blood Fiend Cult fighters and left to report the discovery, while Chu Ming pursued Xie Yue into the Red Cold Forest.
• Chu Ming tested his Shield Fragments and other weapons against Xie Yue’s defenses, then confronted her with the Wolf Totem Crown and Crimson Palms when she tried to seduce him.
• Xie Yue unleashed ten blood weapons that shattered Chu Ming’s Bronze Fragment, but Chu Ming answered with golden Sword Qi that left her soul trembling.

Chu Ming survived a clash with Xie Yue of the Blood Fiend Cult and turned the captured blood awls into a powerful Blood-Colored Awl Artifact, while the Cult’s Sect Master investigated the loss of its treasures. At Cloud Mist Villa, Chu Ming recovered and reviewed his gains as the Crown Prince learned that a mysterious Marrow Cleansing Realm fighter had intervened in the battle.

• Xie Yue sacrificed her Blood Veil and Blood Robe to escape Chu Ming’s sword beams, while Chu Ming exhausted the pursuing blood artifacts and later collected them and the shattered defenses.
• Xie Yue told Pei Yan and the Blood Fiend that inaccurate intelligence had cost her the Ancient Gold Sky Silkworm Silk and Xiantian Phoenix Feather; the Blood Fiend questioned Lang Tu about the Wolf Totem Crown and learned that Tang Xuan had been arrested.
• At Cloud Mist Villa, Chu Ming restored the ten blood awls with his Qi and Blood and combined them into a Blood-Colored Awl Artifact, then examined the rare materials and damaged treasures he had recovered.
• Changqin Wenshuo received the Blood Fiend’s request to find replacement materials and ordered that the search be hurried before his birthday celebration.
• The Crown Prince heard that Jin Qi had attacked the Seventh Prince and asked his brothers to find the mysterious expert, while revealing that the Blood Fiend Cult’s ambush involved a Marrow Cleansing Realm fighter and a possible Nature Master.

Chu Ming investigated Cui Ye’s case, gained the Chu Estate and two businesses from the Seventh Prince, and sought work for the displaced poor. The chapter ended with the Seventh Prince’s plan sending the shantytown residents to those businesses, while Ji Wujiang set out to find Chu Ming.

• The Crown Prince ordered Tang Xuan’s case handled according to law and sent the princes to investigate mysterious practitioners and the Blood Fiend Cult’s leaked ambush information.
• Zhong Yang seized the Cui Mansion, and Chu Ming questioned how the displaced shantytown residents would survive after Cui Ye’s corruption was exposed.
• Chu Ming used Sword Gourd Spiritual Sense to discover people from Lu Shizhong’s circle, the Tang Family, and other groups watching the new Chu Estate.
• The Seventh Prince gave Chu Ming a Snow Qilin Cloak and Su Xin as his attendant, then appointed him to oversee Cui Ye’s Stone Processing Plant and cloth store and employ the shantytown residents.
• Tang Bai asked Chu Ming to join the Painting Golden Competition, but Chu Ming declined and finished reading the books at Wenlan Pavilion.
• Zhong Yang announced the residents’ restored registrations and the shantytown’s demolition, but Tao Long arrived with the Seventh Prince’s order directing them to work at Chu Ming’s businesses; Ji Wujiang then decided to seek out Chu Ming.

Chu Ming visited Xiang Yue and gave him newly derived cultivation techniques, weapons, supplies, and two Mustard Seed treasures. He then encountered Ji Wujiang, Xiang Yue’s master and one of Great Qi’s two Nation-Suppressing Realm experts, who refused to give Chu Ming a Marrow Cleansing Realm technique and urged him to derive his own path.

• Chu Ming gave Xiang Yue the Mountain-Sea Origin Body Technique and Mountain-Sea Thousand Spears, along with selected pills, armor, and two Mustard Seed treasures for Xiang Yue and Steward Fang.
• As Chu Ming prepared to leave, he sensed Xiaoyu approaching with Ji Wujiang, then lost track of her aura before the pair appeared at Xiang Estate.
• Xiang Yue revealed that Ji Wujiang was his master and one of Great Qi’s two Nation-Suppressing Realm experts; Ji Wujiang explained that he had recognized Chu Ming because Xiang Yue’s Red Falling was with him.
• Ji Wujiang gave Chu Ming Crimson Blood Earth Dragon Gloves and a Crimson Heart Exquisite Pendant, but Chu Ming asked to trade them for a Marrow Cleansing Realm cultivation technique.
• Ji Wujiang refused, explaining that his first disciple, Ji Wu'ao, had died after pursuing a technique that did not suit him, and insisted that Chu Ming must derive his own martial path.

Ji Wujiang warned Chu Ming and Xiang Yue that a continent-wide calamity was approaching and revealed that nations, clans, and sects were protected by powerful treasures. After Chu Ming seized a hidden item from Tang Man’s courtyard, Elder Song exposed proof that Tang Xuan had ordered the destruction of Tang Man’s family, leaving Tang Man devastated.

• Ji Wujiang gave Xiang Yue lower-realm technique manuals, explained the approaching thousand-year calamity, and described the treasures that guarded nations, clans, and sects.
• Ji Wujiang left Xiaoyu with Chu Ming and Xiang Yue, gave them Ice Glaze Jade Slips, and departed through the snow.
• Chu Ming returned to his estate and discovered that the Pei Family’s men were tracking Tang Man, while Tang Man hired Gao Yong to kill him.
• Gao Yong turned on Tang Man over the gold and silver, and Chu Ming detected a hidden Gold Jade Box containing Blood Fiend Qi and another powerful aura.
• Chu Ming entered the courtyard, struck down the Pei Family’s men, and took the hidden item before disappearing into the snow.
• Elder Song found Tang Man alive and showed him a contract bearing Tang Xuan’s seal, revealing that Tang Xuan had ordered the destruction of the Five Lights Sect; Tang Man recognized the seals and spat blood.

Chu Ming captured and killed the Shadow Tower assassins sent after him, learning that Yongping Medical Hall’s owner, Hua Zaizhu, was their contact for information about the employer. He headed to the medical hall to investigate, where two young men were bringing hot water to Hua Zaizhu late at night.

• Elder Song told Tang Man that Tang Xuan had ordered the Five Lights Sect massacre because Tang Man’s parents refused to give him Tang Man’s mother, and urged Tang Man to seek revenge with Grand Marshal Pei’s help.
• Chu Ming returned to the Chu Estate, where Shadow Tower assassins entered to kill him; he knocked Mei unconscious and killed the other three after they attacked him.
• Chu Ming questioned Mei, learned that Hua Zaizhu at Yongping Medical Hall could provide information about the assassination’s employer, and killed Mei after giving her medicine that removed the poison around her heart.
• Chu Ming considered how the Gold Jade Box might set the Tang and Pei Families against each other, then chose to investigate the Shadow Tower’s contact at Yongping Medical Hall.
• At Yongping Medical Hall, Ayi reprimanded two young men for complaining about treating the poor and sent them to bring hot water to Hua Zaizhu in Spring Grass Hall.

Chu Ming killed the Shadow Tower agents who had targeted him, traced their payment to Prime Minister Zuo Yuan, and set events in motion against Chief Secretariat Lu Shizhong before heading to the Zixiao Sect. There, he raided the sect’s treasury and seized its Zixiao Forbidden Ruler, leaving the Sect Master confronting him as the ruler’s power shifted.

• Hua Zaizhu drugged two youths for the Shadow Tower, but Chu Ming killed Master Ye, Hua Zaizhu, and Ayi after questioning Hua Zaizhu and took her Mustard Seed Space treasure.
• Chu Ming used the Trace-Seeking Technique on the Dark Gold Copper Mother and traced the assassination contract to the Zuo Estate, then planted evidence against Lu Shizhong at Zhong Yang’s estate.
• Zhong Yang found the account books and letters and ordered a search, while Chu Ming flew toward the Zixiao Sect to retaliate for its attempts on his life.
• Zixiao and four elders attacked First Elder Cha Rong and prepared to hand him over to Tang Run and Liu Bingmu, but Cha Rong fought back before Tang Run drove him into the hall.
• Chu Ming entered the Zixiao Sect treasury, collected its treasures, and took the Zixiao Forbidden Ruler, prompting Zixiao to rush after him.
• Zixiao attacked Chu Ming in the rear of the sect, but Chu Ming connected with the Zixiao Forbidden Ruler and channeled his qi and blood into it, causing Zixiao’s short ruler to dim.

Chu Ming looted the Zixiao Sect, took Tang Run’s Black Gold Dragon-Binding Rope, and helped Jiang Zhan and Meng Zhen break through before they returned to the Tiger Armor Army. Meanwhile, Ji Qianhong opened an investigation into evidence against Lu Guzhong, and Tang Man confronted Tang Xuan in prison about the Five Lights Sect massacre.

• Chu Ming defeated Zixiao, Tang Run, and the Zixiao Sect elders, stealing their treasures and taking Tang Run’s Black Gold Dragon-Binding Rope.
• At Cloud Mist Villa, Chu Ming disguised himself as a Blood Fiend Cult fighter and sparred with Jiang Zhan and Meng Zhen, helping both men break through.
• Chu Ming gave Jiang Zhan and Meng Zhen pills and weapons before they departed for the Tiger Armor Army, while he headed back to Qi Capital.
• Liu Bingmu told Ji Qianhong that the Zixiao Forbidden Ruler and Tang Run’s Black Gold Dragon-Binding Rope had been stolen, and Ji ordered an investigation into Lu Guzhong based on delivered evidence.
• Tang Man entered the State Supervision Office dungeon and demanded that Tang Xuan name the mastermind behind Shadow Deaf’s massacre of the Five Lights Sect.

Chu Ming left Qi Capital to visit the Wind Spirit Tribe, where its elders weighed the danger of the Imperial Forbidden Army hunting the fleeing Spirit Covenant Tribe. As the Wolf Totem Tribe recruited Chaobei Ridge’s bandits to pursue the Spirit Covenant Tribe, Granny Shui ordered her people to flee at once.

• Xu Man murdered Tang Xuan in the State Supervision Office prison, and Ji Qianhong learned that the assassin had also been killed.
• Chu Ming sorted the treasures he had taken, showed himself around his estate, then flew toward the Wind Spirit Tribe after learning its Clan Tree Spirit needed to return to the Clan Tree.
• Feng Zhi reported that the Imperial Forbidden Army appeared to be pursuing the Spirit Covenant Tribe west along the White River, and Feng Jun ordered the Wind Spirit Tribe to investigate, mobilize its bandits, and prepare to move.
• Feng Jun learned that three elders might soon reach the Meridian Opening Realm and declared that he would lead an attack on Chaobei Ridge after the Spirit Covenant Tribe crisis was settled.
• Lang Bing persuaded Ruan Geng, Ruan You, and Ruan Zhou to ally Chaobei Ridge with the Wolf Totem Tribe and help pursue the Spirit Covenant Tribe, which he said had rebelled against the Qi Dynasty.
• After Qi Konghen reported that Wolf Totem Tribe members were nearby, Granny Shui ordered Qi Yuewu to lead the Spirit Covenant Tribe away immediately.

Granny Shui, whose true name was Qi Lanshui, risked approaching the Wolf Totem Tribe to secure her people’s future, while Chu Ming uncovered the competing forces pursuing the Spirit Covenant Tribe and prepared to intervene. The Wolf Totem Tribe attacked Qi Lanshui, and an Azure Imperial Demon Wolf fought to cover her escape.

• Qi Lanshui gave half of the Spirit Covenant Tribe’s Twin Fish Covenant Language to Qi Konghen, then left alone to seek the Wolf Totem Tribe’s help.
• Chu Ming surveyed the Spirit Covenant Tribe, Imperial Forbidden Army, Wolf Totem Tribe, and Chaobei Ridge bandits, then returned to the Wind Spirit Tribe and ordered its forces to prepare an ambush while strengthening several elders and clansmen with pills and equipment.
• Qi Lanshui met Lang Lin, Lang Zhong, and Lang You, who demanded the Spirit Covenant Tribe’s Clan Treasure and attacked when she refused to surrender it.
• Qi Lanshui fled to draw the Wolf Totem Tribe away from her people, but Lang Zhong and Lang You transformed using Wolf Totem Replica Crowns and chased her.
• An Azure Imperial Demon Wolf charged Lang Zhong, and Lang Lin attacked it while ordering the others to capture Qi Lanshui.

Chu Ming killed the Wolf Totem Tribe elders attacking Old Ji, then helped the Spirit Covenant Tribe escape the Imperial Forbidden Army’s trap at Xiqu Bay. Disguised as Lang Lin, he killed Pei Qin and Pei Hu, took half of the Twin Fish Covenant Language, and sent Lang Dong’s bandits to the battle while concealing his role.

• Chu Ming killed Lang Lin and later Lang Zhong and Lang You, rescued Old Ji, and gave her a healing pill before she rode the Azure Imperial Demon Wolf toward Xiqu Bay.
• At Xiqu Bay, Yang Rong and Pei Qin trapped Qi Konghen’s and Qi Yuewu’s Spirit Covenant Tribe branches, and Pei Qin found one half of the Twin Fish Covenant Language on Qi Konghen.
• Chu Ming ordered Feng Zhi and the other Wind Spirit Tribe elders to lead bandits in an attack, allowing Old Ji, Qi Konghen, Qi Yuewu, and their people to flee west.
• Disguised as Lang Lin, Chu Ming killed Pei Qin and Pei Hu, took Pei Qin’s half of the clan treasure, and let the wounded Pei Chuan escape to deepen distrust among the Pei Family, Wolf Totem Tribe, and Blood Fiend Cult.
• Chu Ming met Lang Dong and the bandits from Chaobei Ridge, rebuked them for arriving late, and ordered them to help fight the Imperial Forbidden Army.

Chu Ming used his Lang Lin disguise and the Wind Spirit Tribe’s bandits to mislead the Imperial Forbidden Army and protect the Spirit Covenant Tribe, then persuaded Qi Lanshui and her people to submit to the Wind Spirit Tribe. The survivors reached the Wind Spirit Tribe’s ancestral grounds, while Yang Rong met Tang Run’s cavalry north of Xiqu Bay.

• Chu Ming led Chaobei Ridge’s bandits into Xiqu Bay, where Yang Rong’s formation killed Lang Dong and the three Ruan brothers before Chu Ming wounded Yang Rong and his deputies and let the Imperial Forbidden Army retreat.
• Chu Ming met the fleeing Spirit Covenant Tribe, revealed the Wind Spirit Tribe’s role in the battle, and explained how his deception would make the Qi Dynasty and Wolf Totem Tribe blame each other for the clan’s disappearance.
• Qi Lanshui accepted Chu Ming’s protection and submitted the Spirit Covenant Tribe to the Wind Spirit Tribe, while offering half of her clan’s treasure and accepting healing pills that also contained poison.
• Chu Ming gathered the Spirit Covenant Tribe and ordered Feng Zhi and Feng Ying to take them to a prepared refuge within the Wind Spirit Tribe’s territory.
• Tang Run arrived with ten Meridian Opening Realm cavalrymen and attacked the pursuing bandits after Yang Rong reported that the Wolf Totem Tribe had allied with them and abducted the Spirit Covenant Tribe.
• At the Wind Spirit Tribe’s ancestral hall, Chu Ming sat above the nine Wind Spirit Tribe experts and the three injured elders of the Spirit Covenant Tribe.

Chu Ming returned to the Wind Spirit Tribe, learned how the Spirit Covenant Tribe’s treasure tamed spirit beasts, and used an optimized version of their technique to awaken it. He captured thirty Blade-Horned Red Deer for a new cavalry unit, then returned to Qi Capital, where the Qi Emperor suspected the Prince of North Snow of stealing the Spirit Covenant Tribe’s clan treasure.

• Feng Zhi reported that more than 4,700 people had died in the fighting, and Chu Ming ordered promising bandit recruits to be trained separately with rewards and punishments.
• Qi Yuewu explained how the Twin Fish Covenant Language tamed spirit beasts, and Chu Ming optimized the Spirit Covenant Body Forging Technique and awakened the clan treasure.
• Old Ji asked Chu Ming to rescue Spirit Covenant Tribe captives in their ancestral territory, but he said he would consider it and refused to promise help.
• Chu Ming captured and provisionally tamed thirty Blade-Horned Red Deer with Qi Yuewu, then named the planned cavalry unit the Red Deer Army.
• After returning to Qi Capital, Chu Ming noticed Blood Fiend Cult agents watching his estate and merged three Wolf Totem Replica Crowns with the genuine Wolf Totem Crown.
• Tang Run told the Qi Emperor that the Spirit Covenant Tribe’s clan treasure had been taken by the Blood Fiend Cult, and Tang Guang suggested the Prince of North Snow might have acted because he believed the Qi Emperor stole his gifts.

The Qi Emperor planned an East Suburb Hunt that drew the court, the Pei Family, the Blood Fiend Cult, and the Prince of North Snow into competing schemes. Meanwhile, Chu Ming broke through the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and formed a ninth vortex of Qi and blood, surpassing perfection in the Meridian Opening Realm Lower Realm.

• Tang Guang redirected the Qi Emperor's suspicions toward Zuo Yuan and Pei Qing, and the emperor scheduled the East Suburb Hunt for three days later while ordering Zuo Yuan to attend.
• Zuo Yuan ordered Sha Ying to silence Lu Shizhong, while Pei Qing sent Pei Fu and Pei Chuan to report the Wolf Totem Tribe's role in the Spirit Covenant Tribe attack to Pei Yan.
• Pei Yan and Lang Tu accused each other before the Blood Fiend, who gave both men Blood Sand and ordered Xie Yue to investigate; the Prince of North Snow decided to pursue his own plan at the hunt.
• Chu Ming completed the eighth meridian and fused the Qi and Blood Bead into his body, forming a ninth vortex that carried him beyond Meridian Opening Realm Lower Realm perfection.
• Chu Ming reviewed petitions about snow damage at the Meian Mountain Stone Processing Plant and Jiping Cloth Store while the Blood Fiend Cult and three other men continued watching his estate.

Chu Ming went to the Meian Mountain Stone Processing Plant, where the Blood Fiend Cult attacked and he secretly killed two of its strongest fighters, leading the Crown Prince to believe a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert protected him. After deciding to investigate the East Suburb Hunting Ground, Chu Ming was summoned to the East Palace, where the Crown Prince arranged for Fang Xiao to be released from confinement and brought before him.

• Chu Ming traveled through the heavy snow to the Stone Processing Plant, while Blood Fiend Cult members and the Crown Prince’s men followed him there.
• The Blood Fiend Cult attacked the plant, and Scorpion abducted Chu Ming as Lu Ji fought the cultists nearby.
• Chu Ming revealed his strength, killed Scorpion and Old Ghost Bai, and staged his own unconsciousness so Lu Ji would believe a hidden Marrow Cleansing Realm expert had saved him.
• Lu Ji reported the attack to the Crown Prince, who suspected the expert might support Chu Ming and considered winning his favor.
• Chu Ming reviewed the spoils, learned of the East Suburb Hunting Ground, and decided to investigate it before the Crown Prince summoned him to the palace.
• The Crown Prince presented Fang Xiao to Chu Ming, explaining that the Emperor had agreed to lift Fang Xiao’s confinement.

Chu Ming and Fang Xiao received the Crown Prince’s favor and invitations to the East Suburb Hunt, while the princes and Qi Emperor investigated the mysterious expert believed to protect Chu Ming. As Chu Ming secretly went to scout the hunting grounds, Yan Zhong and Yan Tai planted explosives and arranged for savage beasts to be smuggled inside for a Blood Fiend Cult operation.

• The Crown Prince freed Fang Xiao from the Xiang Estate, appointed him an Outer Palace Guard, and gave him armor and pills while rewarding Chu Ming with a painting and three-thousand-year-old Black Ginseng.
• The Crown Prince invited Chu Ming and Fang Xiao to the East Suburb Hunt, and the Fifth Prince and Seventh Prince separately questioned and rewarded them.
• The Seventh Prince reported his suspicions to the Fifth Prince, and Tang Guang told the Qi Emperor that a Marrow Cleansing Realm expert might be protecting Chu Ming.
• Chu Ming reunited with Fang Xiao at the Chu Estate, reassured him about Xiang Yue, and left at night to explore the East Suburb Hunting Ground.
• Tang Guang and Hong Xiao began patrolling the hunting ground as Yan Zhong and Yan Tai planted Mountain Shaking Beads and Surging Wave Beads.
• Yan Zhong and Yan Tai met Pei Yan, confirmed that four fifth-rank beasts had been smuggled into the hunting ground, and warned him that Prince Shuo would punish the Blood Fiend Cult if the operation failed.