Recaps

Zhang Yuanqing organized a coordinated hunt for the Nihility Sect’s Southern Faction elders and sent his allies to meet in Songhai. He then hypnotized Brainstorm into revealing the compass incantation and entered the Ninth Elder’s dream world, gambling that a Southern Faction demigod awaited him.

• Zhang Yuanqing announced a plan to hunt the Southern Faction’s Third Elder and Ninth Elder, and the Sovereigns chose whether to participate.
• Zhang Yuanqing assigned the participants their teams and ordered them to meet at Fu Family Bay in Songhai at midnight.
• Brainstorm returned home with a woman and was possessed by the Ghost Bride while Princess Yinyao hypnotized him.
• Princess Yinyao made Brainstorm reveal the compass’s activation incantation, and Zhang Yuanqing took the compass and opened the dream world.
• Zhang Yuanqing entered the dream world, wondering whether a Southern Faction demigod was waiting there.

Zhang Yuanqing led a concealed strike against the Southern Faction’s Ninth Elder, but the ambush turned into a confrontation with several enemies in a mirror space. He summoned his allies and used his Sun skills to disrupt a powerful illusion, leaving the battle poised to begin.

• The Stop-Killing Palace Lord hypnotized the Ninth Elder’s subordinate and extracted the incantation needed to enter the Elder’s dream.
• Zhang Yuanqing entered the Ninth Elder’s dream, defeated her dream guardians, and dragged her back into reality.
• The Ninth Elder revealed a scroll that summoned a powerful illusion, and Zhang Yuanqing activated the teleportation array to call his companions.
• The Demon Eye Heavenly King, Little Round, the Stop-Killing Palace Lord, and Madam JOJO arrived in a mirror space, where Zhang Yuanqing identified the Third Elder, Dark Night Rose’s Fourth Protector, Extinction Heavenly King, and the Pure Yang Sect Leader as their enemies.
• Zhang Yuanqing activated Blazing Sun War God and Sunrise, dispelling the forming phantom and suppressing the array’s mystical power.

Zhang Yuanqing and his allies defeated the Ninth Elder and escaped before the Southern Faction's Grand Elder could arrive, but they lost contact with the clone’s team. In the Mirror World, the clone realized the Third Elder had exploited his arrogance to lure Demon Eye Heavenly King and the others into an ambush.

• The Ninth Elder fled through Sunrise’s suppressive light, relying on her Heart Demon Body Transformation Divine Art to resist Zhang Yuanqing’s Solar Power attacks.
• Zhang Yuanqing used Xiahou Aotian’s Forbidden Artifact Heavenly Stele to nullify the Ninth Elder’s scroll, then trapped and weakened her with the Body and Soul Annihilation Blade and his companions’ attacks.
• Zhang Yuanqing subdued the Ninth Elder’s primordial spirit with Lunar Power and absorbed her as a Spirit Servant while Xiahou Aotian’s loudspeaker helped restore the nearby residents.
• Sofia carried Zhang Yuanqing, Xiahou Aotian, and Deng Jingguo away from the city, but they could not contact the clone or Demon Eye Heavenly King and suspected the team was trapped behind a barrier.
• In the Mirror World, Demon Eye Heavenly King accused the clone of recklessly summoning the team into Ling Tuo’s ambush, and the Third Elder revealed that he had amplified the clone’s arrogance.

Zhang Yuanqing and his allies followed the Red Dancing Shoes to a county-town internet cafe after learning their teammates were trapped in Dark Night Rose’s Cloud Dream Divine Realm. Inside the mirror world, the Southern Faction’s Third Elder used a powerful beast-hide drum to overwhelm them, while the rescuers discovered they could not breach the cafe’s restriction.

• Zhang Yuanqing used Little Round’s hair to send the Red Dancing Shoes toward the missing teammates, and the Stop-Killing Palace Lord’s teleportation scroll failed to escape the Cloud Dream Divine Realm.
• Demon Eye Heavenly King and the Stop-Killing Palace Lord attacked the enemy group, but the Third Elder struck his beast-hide drum and dispelled their control effects.
• The drum countered Zhang Yuanqing’s Sunrise and disabled his allies, allowing Extinction Heavenly King to overpower Demon Eye and the Six Protectors to attack Madame JOJO.
• Zhang Yuanqing stopped the Six Protector’s rain attack and helped the Stop-Killing Palace Lord, who escaped the Pure Yang Sect Leader’s World in the Palm with the aid of her revived severed arms.
• As the drumbeats intensified, Zhang Yuanqing’s group struggled to defend themselves inside the mirror world.
• Outside an internet cafe, Xiahou Aotian and Deng Jingguo learned that the hair’s owner was still alive but a powerful restriction prevented them from entering to rescue their trapped teammates.

The author reported being diagnosed with sleep apnea caused by enlarged tonsils and uvula, which had been affecting his sleep, energy, and ability to write. He left the chapter wary of surgery and trying conservative treatment with weight loss and daily tongue exercises.

• The author went to the hospital after waking up choking and struggling to breathe.
• The author learned that he had sleep apnea syndrome caused by enlarged tonsils and uvula blocking his airway.
• The author connected the illness to his poor sleep, declining energy, and difficulty updating Spirit Realm.
• The author explained that surgery could interrupt updates and might not cure the condition, so he was wary of undergoing it.
• The author began conservative treatment by trying to lose weight and do daily tongue exercises.

Zhang Yuanqing and his allies broke through the barrier and joined the battle inside the Cloud Dream Divine Realm, where they worked to seal the Third Elder’s drum and defeat the Southern Faction. The Third Elder’s body was destroyed, but the Pure Yang Sect Leader swallowed his remnant soul, leaving the enemy’s intentions unclear.

• Zhang Yuanqing kicked open the invisible barrier after the Red Dancing Shoes let him touch it, restoring contact between his avatar and true body.
• Zhang Yuanqing’s true body arrived in the Cloud Dream Divine Realm, but the Third Elder’s drumbeats disrupted his attack and left the allies struggling to fight.
• Xiahou Aotian threw a sealing stele at the drum while Zhang Yuanqing, Sofia, and the Demon Eye Heavenly King fought to keep the Extinction Heavenly King and the other Sovereigns at bay.
• Little Round tried to strike the drum with the Falling Treasure Money, and the Stop-Killing Palace Lord restored the coin so it could seal the drum.
• With the drum silenced, the Sovereigns overwhelmed the Third Elder and destroyed his body, but the Pure Yang Sect Leader intercepted and swallowed his remnant soul.

Zhang Yuanqing and his allies defeated the Southern Faction’s elders, claimed two Sovereign-grade items, and regrouped to divide the spoils. After identifying the Pure Yang Sect Leader as Ling Tuo’s hidden contingency, Zhang Yuanqing prepared to enter a dungeon while Jade Fusion officials learned he had killed a Southern Faction elder.

• The Sixth Protector escaped through the sewers, while the Pure Yang Sect Leader fled with the Third Elder’s primordial spirit and Extinction Heavenly King threatened Demon Eye before leaving.
• Zhang Yuanqing and the others withdrew, and he examined the Kui Ox Drum before discussing Ling Tuo’s tactics and his plans to strengthen himself with Jiang Yu'er.
• Zhang Yuanqing placed the Kui Ox Drum and Hundred Ghost Garment in the guild warehouse, set rules for members to use them, and awarded each participant twenty million.
• Uncle told Zhang Yuanqing that Ling Tuo had not tried to trap him and the Marshal; Zhang Yuanqing concluded that the Pure Yang Sect Leader had been Ling Tuo’s contingency, then defended the Star Lord against Uncle’s suspicions.
• In Jade Fusion City, Waves Still Sound identified Yuanshi Tianzun in surveillance footage and learned from Fresh Fish Ball that he had killed the Southern Faction elder.

Zhao Chenghuang learned that Yuanshi Tianzun suspected his great-grandfather of being a Fallen One and returned to the old headquarters to investigate. While waiting for his great-grandfather, Zhao Chenghuang recalled a forbidden basement beneath the locust tree and decided to explore it.

• On the flight to Capital City, Zhao Chenghuang, Sun Miaomiao, and Yuan Ting read that Yuanshi Tianzun had killed two Southern Faction elders and built Return of the Dead into a powerful organization.
• Yuanshi Tianzun offered Zhao Chenghuang the corpse puppets of Greedy Divine General and Hundred-Man Slayer, then asked him to investigate whether his great-grandfather was tied to the Same Boat Society.
• Asano Ryo resisted Kobe Ichiro's demand to reclaim the Eight-Span Mirror and agreed only to convey the request to Yuanshi Tianzun.
• Zhao Chenghuang reached the old headquarters, learned his great-grandfather was away, and waited beneath the locust tree while considering the suspicion against him.
• Zhao Chenghuang remembered that his great-grandfather had forbidden him from entering the basement beneath the locust tree and decided to investigate it.

Zhao Chenghuang tried to enter his great-grandfather’s basement but was stopped by Elder Zhao, while Zhang Yuanqing dismissed the idea that it contained evidence of a fallen one and decided to visit the Capital City himself. At Zhang Yuanqing’s welcome banquet, he sensed a waiter’s malice and confronted the intruder, who warned that he was about to die.

• Zhao Chenghuang used Yuanshi Tianzun’s Evil-Breaking Talismans to force open the basement door, but Elder Zhao caught him and ordered him to stay out.
• Elder Zhao questioned Zhao Chenghuang about his cultivation, then told the basement spirit that Zhao Chenghuang had not seen inside.
• Zhang Yuanqing concluded the basement was probably unrelated to fallen ones and told Zhao Chenghuang he would go to the Capital City to ask Elder Zhao about the Same Boat Society.
• Zhang Yuanqing refused Asano Ryo’s request to return the Eight-Span Mirror and prepared a welcome banquet for Guan Ya and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire.
• Guests including Li Dongze, Ling Jun, Miao Teng'er, and Xie Lingxi attended the banquet, where Xiahou Aotian told Ling Jun and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire that his divinations had predicted Zhang Yuanqing might die young.
• Zhang Yuanqing sensed malice from a burgundy-vested waiter, followed him into the restroom, and heard him declare that Zhang Yuanqing was about to die.

Zhang Yuanqing investigated Pure Yang Sect Leader’s death threat and concluded it was meant to scare him away from a planned inquiry into the Same Boat Society. He visited Elder Zhao with Zhao Chenghuang and questioned him about the society, ending as Elder Zhao began revealing the truth about the North China branch.

• Pure Yang Sect Leader possessed a waiter, threatened to kill Zhang Yuanqing in seven days, and was destroyed by Zhang Yuanqing.
• After stargazing revealed no imminent danger, Zhang Yuanqing asked Fu Qingyang to assess the threat, and Fu Qingyang reasoned that it was meant to make him hide.
• Zhang Yuanqing suspected the threat was connected to his plans to investigate the Same Boat Society and decided to visit Elder Zhao in the Capital City.
• Zhang Yuanqing and Zhao Chenghuang met Elder Zhao, and Zhang Yuanqing asked whether he belonged to the Same Boat Society and who had attacked Huo Zhengkui.
• Elder Zhao described the Same Boat Society as a secretive, loosely organized patriotic network and denied that the evidence made him the only possible suspect.
• Elder Zhao said the branch rumored to have collapsed in internal strife was the North China branch, then revealed that the truth was different.

Zhang Yuanqing learned that a mysterious seed left by Ling Jun’s birth mother was hidden in Elder Zhao’s basement, and agreed to help uncover its secret. Meanwhile, Zhai Cai was unexpectedly pulled into an S-rank death-type dungeon, Knight’s Twilight.

• Elder Zhao told Zhang Yuanqing that Everlasting Rivers and Mountains had survived a massacre at the Same Boat Society’s North China branch.
• Zhang Yuanqing questioned Elder Zhao about the basement, and Elder Zhao revealed a seed entrusted to him by Ling Jun’s birth mother, Wind Chime.
• Elder Zhao asked Zhang Yuanqing to investigate the seed’s secret, and Zhang Yuanqing agreed to keep it confidential.
• Zhang Yuanqing returned to Songhai and considered why Ling Tuo had tried to stop his investigation, despite seemingly not knowing about the seed.
• Zhai Cai received a notification that he would enter the S-rank death-type dungeon Knight’s Twilight and shouted to Yuzuriha Inori before vanishing.

Zhang Yuanqing decided to investigate the cultivation method for the seed left by Ling Jun's biological mother without telling Uncle or Fu Qingyang, then arranged to speak with Ling Jun. The chapter ended with Ling Jun reacting fiercely after Zhang Yuanqing said the matter concerned his mother.

• Zhang Yuanqing analyzed how Ling Tuo might be manipulating events and decided to find a way to cultivate the seed before revealing it to anyone.
• Zhang Yuanqing invited his allies to enter a dungeon in three days, and they discussed whether Saints could join Sovereign-level guild instances through the White Tiger Corps.
• Zhang Yuanqing contacted Ling Jun and arranged to meet him the next day about the seed and his mother.
• Zhang Yuanqing's duplicate visited Ling Jun's villa in disguise, and Ling Jun became a fierce lion after realizing Zhang Yuanqing was talking about his biological mother.

Zhang Yuanqing played a Demon Lord recording for Ling Jun that revealed Ling Jun’s mother had warned of a terrifying secret before returning to the Spirit Realm, prompting suspicions about the Taiyi Sect Master. He learned the key to his investigation might lie with the Miao Family, then used the Cat King Speaker to request more recordings of the Demon Lord and Teng’er’s mother.

• Zhang Yuanqing asked Victoria to prepare a secret room protected by Lunar Moon, then warned Ling Jun that hostile factions might target him as his power grew.
• Zhang Yuanqing played the Cat King Speaker’s recordings, and Ling Jun reacted angrily when the Demon Lord’s conversation suggested Ling Jun’s mother had spoken with him.
• The recording revealed that Ling Jun’s mother had told her sister she had discovered a terrifying secret and feared it might involve the Taiyi Sect Master before entering the Spirit Realm.
• Zhang Yuanqing told Ling Jun that his mother had left a relic requiring a key related to the Wood Demon profession, and Ling Jun suspected the key might be with the Miao Family.
• Zhang Yuanqing urged Ling Jun not to investigate, then returned to his grandmother’s house and asked the Cat King Speaker to play all recordings involving the Demon Lord and Teng’er’s mother.

Zhang Yuanqing uncovered a clue about the cultivation method tied to Ling Jun's mother, then chose the A-rank Lord of a Fallen Kingdom dungeon for his group to enter in two days. The chapter ended when An Yeqi urgently told him that something had happened to the boss.

• Zhang Yuanqing listened to Demon Lord's recordings and learned that Ling Jun's aunt remembered her sister revealing a cultivation method only Wood Demons could understand.
• Zhang Yuanqing arranged through Little Doubi to meet Miao Teng'er's mother the next morning, then left Night Roaming to visit Fu Qingyang.
• Fu Qingyang showed Zhang Yuanqing the available unraided dungeons, and Zhang Yuanqing chose the A-rank Lord of a Fallen Kingdom dungeon.
• Zhang Yuanqing invited his companions to enter the dungeon in two days, and Ling Jun was included on the team.
• An Yeqi called Zhang Yuanqing on Punchable Knight's phone and told him that something had happened to the boss.

Zhang Yuanqing sought help for the Sole-Heir Knight, who had entered an S-rank dungeon, then visited Miao Fengyun to ask for a spiritual plant cultivation method. While traveling to Elder Zhao’s residence to retrieve a seed, he was trapped outside the real world and confronted by Ling Tuo.

• An Yeqi told Zhang Yuanqing that the Sole-Heir Knight had entered the S-rank dungeon Knight’s Twilight, and Zhang asked his uncle to rescue him.
• Zhang Yuanqing’s uncle agreed to bring back the Sole-Heir Knight but left without explaining how he planned to do it.
• Zhang Yuanqing met Miao Fengyun at Victoria’s villa and asked for the spiritual plant cultivation method left by Ling Jun’s mother.
• Zhang Yuanqing left the villa under Victoria’s concealment protection and flew toward Elder Zhao’s residence to retrieve a seed.
• The city turned black and white around Zhang Yuanqing, his powers froze, and Ling Tuo appeared as a vast face in the sky, calling him a ridiculous clown.

Zhang Yuanqing’s attempt to recover Miao Fengling’s seed failed when Ling Tuo outmaneuvered him and destroyed the Eight-Span Mirror protecting his duplicate. After arranging to have the mirror repaired and telling Fu Qingyang what happened, Zhang Yuanqing was surprised by Uncle’s return.

• Ling Tuo located Zhang Yuanqing’s concealed duplicate, resisted its protection, and tried to devour its soul and hypnotize it, but the duplicate vanished when the Eight-Span Mirror shattered.
• Zhang Yuanqing learned from Elder Zhao that Miao Fengling’s seed was gone and concluded that Ling Tuo had used him to find it.
• Zhang Yuanqing told Ling Jun that his mother’s relic was gone, then asked Xiahou Aotian to arrange for the Xiahou Family head to repair the broken Eight-Span Mirror.
• Xiahou Aotian brought the mirror fragments to the Xiahou Family head, who agreed to repair them but rejected Xiahou Aotian’s request to do it for free.
• Zhang Yuanqing told Fu Qingyang about the seed incident, then saw Uncle return and wondered whether he had found the Thunder God Set or rescued the Sole-Heir Knight.

Zhang Yuanqing inspected the Thunder God Set, then refined Princess Yinyao into a stronger yin creature and the Ninth Elder into a Spirit Servant. The chapter left him entering the A-rank multiplayer death dungeon “Lord of a Fallen Kingdom.”

• Zhang Yuanqing told Uncle about the seed and examined the Thunder Spear, discovering its power and the Thunderstorm effect of the three-piece set.
• Zhang Yuanqing entered the Mohist Mechanism City dungeon and summoned Lady of Three Paths Mountain, who brought materials for Princess Yinyao’s advancement and his Spirit Servant.
• With Lady of Three Paths Mountain’s guidance, Zhang Yuanqing inscribed the formations that advanced Princess Yinyao, who gained the ability to speak.
• Zhang Yuanqing told Lady of Three Paths Mountain about the Pure Yang Sect Leader’s thousand-year killing move, then refined the Ninth Elder into a Spirit Servant after taking her artifacts and materials.
• Zhang Yuanqing ordered the Return of the Dead guild to enter a dungeon and then received the Spirit Realm notice for the A-rank multiplayer death dungeon “Lord of a Fallen Kingdom.”

Fu Qingyang entered a role-playing Spirit Realm as Yang Ce, the disgraced marshal defending Summer's Edge City, and began assessing the overwhelming Northern Dynasty threat. After learning that the captured enemy prisoner howled every day, he went to investigate.

• Fu Qingyang learned that Yang Ce had recently led a disastrous attack and lost the trust of his officers, then summoned them to discuss the city's defenses.
• Ling Jun, Zhao Chenghuang, and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire joined the council, where Fu Qingyang gathered intelligence about Tuoba Guanghe, the enemy forces, and the city's dwindling morale.
• Fu Qingyang privately learned that his teammates' quests only required them to survive ten days, while his own demanded that he repel the army or preserve the capital; they had not found Yuanshi or the other members of Return of the Dead.
• Fu Qingyang pointed out that their dungeon was called Lord of a Fallen Kingdom, prompting Ling Jun to realize that the Southern Dynasty ruler might be the foolish one.
• A Northern Dynasty prisoner howled outside, and Fu Qingyang ordered a soldier to take him to the prisoner.

Fu Qingyang freed Demon Eye Heavenly King, who adopted his identity as Wanyan Butcher and pledged loyalty to Marshal Yang, while the team prepared to defend Linxia. At the capital, Zhang Yuanqing awakened in the body of the Southern Dynasty’s emperor after spending the night with a young consort.

• Fu Qingyang recognized Demon Eye Heavenly King as the prisoner Wanyan Butcher and cut him free from his restraints.
• Demon Eye Heavenly King swore allegiance to Marshal Yang, winning the soldiers’ astonished acceptance and completing his character’s predicament.
• Demon Eye Heavenly King and Fu Qingyang learned their main quest was to repel the Northern Dynasty or defend the capital, and Fu Qingyang argued that they should hold Linxia.
• Xiahou Aotian entered the marshal’s tent as the strategist, prompting the group to realize that both their brains and their strength were gathered there.
• Zhang Yuanqing awoke in the imperial palace beside a young consort and received a fragmented memory through the sun wheel on his forehead.

Zhang Yuanqing awoke in the body of Emperor Zhao Shun, whose palace was threatened by a hidden spy, and began searching for clues while trying to survive. After learning Zhao Shun had recently been poisoned, he obtained the inner palace’s daily records to investigate who might have done it.

• Zhang Yuanqing received quests to repel the Northern Dynasty or preserve the capital, survive for twenty-four hours, identify a palace spy, and win the people’s support.
• Zhang Yuanqing questioned Eunuch Li about his medicine and learned Zhao Shun had been poisoned three days earlier.
• Zhang Yuanqing refused the medicine and dismissed Eunuch Li after the eunuch threatened to force-feed him.
• Zhang Yuanqing questioned the palace maid, learned Eunuch Li had discovered the poisoning, and asked for records of Zhao Shun’s palace activities.
• The palace maid brought the daily records, and Zhang Yuanqing began reading them for clues.

Zhang Yuanqing investigated the women who might have poisoned Zhao Shun, then turned to inspect the harem while trying to protect Yang Ce from political attacks. He arrived at Beauty Chu’s pavilion and found her eating an enormous meal.

• Zhang Yuanqing read Zhao Shun’s daily records and identified Beauty Wan, Beauty Chu, Virtuous Consort, Elegant Lady, and Songstress Wang as possible suspects in the poisoning.
• Zhang Yuanqing ordered Zheng Longtu to find the traitor within six hours, and Zheng Longtu left to continue the investigation.
• Zhang Yuanqing reviewed memorials attacking the Yang Family and Yang Ce, suspected Yang Ce was Fu Qingyang, and rejected every impeachment of him.
• Zhang Yuanqing rode to Beauty Chu’s pavilion to investigate her and found her eating roast chicken and lamb as she scrutinized him.

Zhang Yuanqing investigated Consort Chu and discovered that she was Jiang Jingwei, then encountered the imposing Consort Wan and noticed a mysterious pavilion. Meanwhile, Fu Qingyang learned that an assassination squad was heading for the capital, and poisonous insects appeared at Linxia.

• Zhang Yuanqing questioned Consort Chu about her background and recognized her as Jiang Jingwei after she nearly revealed her name.
• Zhang Yuanqing favored Consort Chu and ordered that she be brought another roasted lamb before leaving to investigate Consort Wan.
• Zhang Yuanqing discovered that two women shared the title Consort Wan, including a warrior who had rescued Zhao Shun from a lake.
• Zhang Yuanqing noticed a stag eagerly eating salted branches outside a pavilion and heard a beautiful voice from within.
• Fu Qingyang learned that the Northern Dynasty had sent an assassination squad to the capital and warned that spies might be in the palace.
• Drums sounded as soldiers reported that poisonous insects had appeared at Linxia.

Fu Qingyang’s forces repelled a gu-insect attack and learned that the Northern Dynasty had far more powerful experts, while Zhang Yuanqing searched the emperor’s harem for teammates who could protect him from an unknown assassin. Beauty Chu arrived at his bedchamber, then drew a dagger, leaving Zhang Yuanqing facing a possible attack.

• Fu Qingyang and his teammates helped the army destroy the gu-insect swarm, and Fu Qingyang flew off to confront the Northern Dynasty’s experts.
• Fu Qingyang returned wounded and reported that the Northern Dynasty had many powerful experts, including a level-eight Fog Master and possibly the peak-level-eight Tuoba Guanghe.
• Zhang Yuanqing tested Beauty Wan, Virtuous Consort, palace maids, and Songstress Wang for signs that they were Spirit Realm Walkers, identifying several possible teammates but not the spy.
• Zhang Yuanqing learned from Attendant Li that the emperor had been poisoned by multiple poisons and drank his medicine after having it tested.
• Beauty Chu arrived at Zhang Yuanqing’s bedchamber, asked him to dismiss everyone else, and drew a dagger after the room emptied.

Zhang Yuanqing was trapped in bed by three Spirit Realm Walker assassins posing as beauties, each intent on killing the debauched emperor. Attendant Li intervened and helped Zhang Yuanqing escape, leaving the assassins fighting inside the bedchamber.

• Beauty Chu attacked Zhang Yuanqing, but stopped when Beauty Wan arrived and ordered him to send her away.
• Beauty Wan revealed her own dagger and joined Beauty Chu in trying to kill Zhang Yuanqing.
• Songstress Wang arrived with a dagger, and the three women realized they had all come to assassinate the emperor.
• Attendant Li's fire attack burned the assassins' hands and disrupted their attempt to kill Zhang Yuanqing.
• Attendant Li threw Zhang Yuanqing off the bed and fought Beauty Chu and Beauty Wan while Songstress Wang pursued him.
• Zhang Yuanqing escaped through the lattice door and shouted for help, telling Attendant Li to leave the assassins alive.

Zhang Yuanqing escaped the bedchamber attack only to be confronted by Zheng Longtu, who revealed that he had planned to assassinate the Emperor. At Summer's Edge City, the Northern Dynasty launched a fog-covered assault, and the arrival of its elite Great Gate Army revealed that Tuoba Guanghe was a level-nine opponent.

• Zhang Yuanqing ordered the Imperial Guards to capture the three female assassins, while a swarm of gu insects attacked the guards and palace attendants.
• Zhang Yuanqing suspected Little Round had sent the gu insects to help the assassins escape, then followed Zheng Longtu into a side hall, where Zheng Longtu turned on him with a sword and admitted to plotting his assassination.
• Zhao Chenghuang spotted fog and an enemy advance beyond Summer's Edge City, sounded the alarm, and Xiahou Aotian dispersed the fog with a giant feather fan.
• Fu Qingyang and the defenders repelled the Northern Dynasty assault as the Demon Eye Heavenly King fought Wanyan Batian across the battlefield.
• The Great Gate Army joined the battle, and Fu Qingyang realized that Tuoba Guanghe was level nine.