Chapter Summaries

Ye Lin agreed to help the Third Prince build support among the empire’s families and other forces, despite the danger posed by Golden Crow Pass. Fu Heng left the two men to plan, and Chu Yang pledged to follow Ye Lin’s instructions.

• Ye Lin understood that the Third Prince had been left without allies because the Empress had no powerful maternal family and the other princes relied on theirs.
• Ye Lin considered how Golden Crow Pass held greater power than the Emperor and how even an imperial heir could be killed without anyone intervening.
• Ye Lin agreed to help the Third Prince court families and forces that might support his claim to the throne.
• Fu Heng thanked Ye Lin for agreeing and left so Ye Lin and Chu Yang could discuss their plans.
• Chu Yang bowed to Ye Lin and promised to carry out his instructions carefully.

Ye Lin assessed the Golden Crow Empire’s rival factions and advised Chu Yang to recruit the overlooked minor forces to build support for his bid for the throne. Chu Yang went to gather allies, while Ye Lin persuaded Hong Batian to stay by promising access to the empire’s wealth and cultivation methods.

• Chu Yang explained that the Prime Ministers, Four Great Families, and ministers had backed rival princes, while the three grand marshals had not chosen sides.
• Ye Lin told Chu Yang to unite the minor forces that the other princes had ignored and build his foundation one ally at a time.
• Chu Yang accepted Ye Lin’s advice and left to recruit those forces.
• Hong Batian complained that the political struggle was boring and suggested they leave.
• Ye Lin argued that helping Chu Yang become Emperor could earn them the Golden Crow Empire’s resources and cultivation methods.

Ye Lin planned to use high-rank cultivation techniques and help Chu Yang build support among the smaller factions. As the three headed to a dinner with those factions, a loyal guardian continued watching over the Third Prince after refusing to abandon him, while Hong Batian sensed someone observing them.

• Ye Lin and Hong Batian discussed obtaining cultivation techniques from the new world, with Ye Lin saying they would need Chu Yang to secure high-rank methods.
• Chu Yang reported that thirteen smaller factions had agreed to attend a gathering at Vast Martial Restaurant that evening, while the great factions had refused his invitations.
• Ye Lin told Chu Yang that winning over the smaller factions would give him a foundation for the next stage of their plan, and the three left the courtyard together.
• An elderly man confronted the middle-aged guardian watching the Third Prince and threatened to kill him for refusing to abandon his post.
• Hong Batian told Ye Lin that someone was watching them, and that the gaze made him uncomfortable.

Ye Lin accompanied Chu Yang to Vast Martial Restaurant, where Chu Yang met with thirteen influential people. Ye Lin asked them to state the cultivation realm of the strongest person under their command.

• Ye Lin warned his companions not to act rashly, suspecting that a powerful protector was watching them.
• Chu Yang led Ye Lin and the others through the Golden Crow Empire to Vast Martial Restaurant.
• Chu Yang entered a private room and greeted thirteen people, who welcomed him and offered him the seat of honor.
• Chu Yang deferred to Ye Lin, prompting the guests to wonder who Ye Lin was.
• Ye Lin asked everyone to briefly state the cultivation realm of the strongest person under their command.

Ye Lin recruited thirteen family heads to help the Third Prince by spreading word that he had hidden forces and trump cards. He sent them to investigate the imperial capital’s layout while they began carrying out his plan.

• The family heads told Ye Lin that their strongest ancestors had reached the Forging God realm.
• Ye Lin used his Demigod aura to pressure the family heads and warned them not to betray the Third Prince.
• Ye Lin ordered them to casually spread word that the Third Prince commanded concealed forces and trump cards.
• Ye Lin told the thirteen family heads to use their influence to investigate the imperial capital’s layout, and they left to carry out his orders.

Ye Lin arranged for Hong Batian to reveal his strength, strengthening the impression that Chu Yang had powerful backing. As visitors began gathering at the Third Prince’s residence, Chu Yang reported that several powerful experts and their factions had offered support.

• Ye Lin told Chu Yang that they still had one matter to handle, and Hong Batian revealed himself to kill a hidden watcher.
• A young man in a golden robe learned that the Third Prince had a Heaven God-level expert and summoned the Seventh Prince, Fifth Prince, and Eighth Prince to discuss it.
• Over the next three days, prominent figures visited the Third Prince’s residence.
• Chu Yang told Ye Lin that three Demigod-level experts and one Heaven God-level expert, along with their factions, had agreed to support him.

Chu Yang and Ye Lin secured Blood Sword Manor’s support after Yan Yang offered help in exchange for borrowing the Heaven-Answering Stele for three days. Chu Yang accepted the deal, though he worried that Golden Crow Pass would never allow it.

• Ye Lin told Chu Yang that the powerful forces were still watching and the real test had not begun.
• Yan Yang, Deputy Manor Lord of Blood Sword Manor, appeared and offered support for Chu Yang’s bid for power in return for three days with the Heaven-Answering Stele.
• Ye Lin agreed to Yan Yang’s condition, and Chu Yang followed his master’s lead.
• Yan Yang promised that Blood Sword Manor’s reinforcements would arrive within a day, then vanished.
• Chu Yang told Ye Lin that Golden Crow Pass would never approve lending the imperial treasure, even if he agreed.

Ye Lin accompanied Chu Yang to the palace after the princes received an urgent summons, as the ailing emperor’s condition threatened to plunge the Golden Crow Empire into chaos. They reached the golden hall, where the princes were to meet their father.

• Ye Lin asked Chu Yang to gather only high-grade cultivation manuals, and Chu Yang agreed.
• Chu Yang received word that all the princes had been urgently summoned to the palace and feared his father was near death.
• Ye Lin decided to accompany Chu Yang, while Hong Batian followed them through streets filled with soldiers and powerful auras.
• At the palace gates, a eunuch ordered the princes’ followers to remain behind and warned them to behave inside.
• Ye Lin and Chu Yang walked the long golden corridor and arrived before the hall, guarded by golden-armored soldiers.

The Emperor of the Golden Crow Empire summoned his nine sons and condemned them for their schemes against one another, especially rebuking Chu Zheng. Ye Lin noticed that the Emperor was gravely ill and surrounded by an aura of death.

• Chu Zheng led the princes into the great hall, while Ye Lin and Chu Yang entered together.
• The Emperor dismissed the old eunuch and addressed his nine sons about their rivalry and schemes.
• The Emperor angrily rebuked Chu Zheng for being the most ruthless of his sons.
• Ye Lin noticed black qi around the Emperor and realized he was forcing himself to remain standing.

The dying Emperor of the Golden Crow Empire named Chu Yang as his successor and warned his other sons against interfering. He gave Chu Yang the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's command token, leaving him to face the struggle for the throne.

• Chu Yun announced that he had chosen the Third Prince, Chu Yang, as the next emperor and ordered his other eight sons not to interfere.
• Chu Yun ordered the Imperial Astronomical Bureau to protect Chu Yang and dismissed the other princes, who left while glaring at him with killing intent.
• Chu Yun told Chu Yang that he had chosen him because of the debt he owed Chu Yang's mother and because his brothers would not let him live peacefully.
• Chu Yun criticized Chu Yang for being too weak and said his fate was now in his own hands.
• Chu Yun gave Chu Yang the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's command token, which let its holder command the entire bureau.

Chu Yang left after Chu Yun gave him the Identity Token, while the dying Emperor prepared to secure his third son's succession. Chu Yun sent his trusted eunuch to help the Third Prince and issued a final decree granting him authority to kill the new Emperor if he became a tyrant.

• Chu Yun explained the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's purpose and handed Chu Yang its Identity Token before dismissing him and Ye Lin.
• After Chu Yang and Ye Lin left, Chu Yun spat black blood and revealed that a heart demon had shattered his dantian and divine soul, leaving him close to death.
• Chu Yun told his trusted eunuch to follow and assist the Third Prince, but to kill him if he became a foolish tyrant.
• Chu Yun gave the eunuch his final imperial decree, which Golden Crow Pass would recognize if the Third Prince had to be killed.
• Chu Yun ordered the eunuch to gather the officials for court the next day and help his third son one final time.

Ye Lin protected Chu Yang from an assassination attempt after learning that Chu Yang’s guardian and Hong Batian had been held back. The First Prince and Fifth Prince were behind the attack, and Chu Yang and Ye Lin fled the capital with three pursuers close behind.

• Ye Lin shoved Chu Yang aside and dodged a black-light strike aimed at him.
• Ye Lin learned that Chu Yang’s guardian and Hong Batian were each being restrained by three Mahayana Half-Immortals.
• Ye Lin grabbed Chu Yang and fled the capital through the void as three black shadows followed them.
• The First Prince and Fifth Prince discussed their plan to assassinate Chu Yang before he could gain control of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.

Ye Lin fought off three peak Tribulation Transcendence experts sent to assassinate Chu Yang, using his Destruction Sword Dao Rule to suppress them. After the assassins trapped and reflected his Sword Qi, the fight left Ye Lin facing his own attack.

• The First Prince vowed to kill his Third Brother and then target the other princes.
• Ye Lin shielded Chu Yang from three black-clad assassins and told him to run away.
• Ye Lin drew the Bloodthirsty Demon Sword and used his Destruction Sword Dao Rule to drive one assassin from the void and attack him.
• Ye Lin unleashed two sword techniques, but the assassins formed a golden net that trapped and reflected his Sword Qi back at him.

Ye Lin killed three pursuers and realized that the Sword Dao Rule and Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art could help him grow rapidly in this world. After checking his destiny, he began planning to rescue Xiaoyao from a future threat posed by a Loose Immortal.

• Ye Lin appeared behind the three pursuers and drained their divine power, flesh, blood, and vital essence until they became corpses.
• Ye Lin noticed that the Sword Dao Rule restrained this world's cultivators and considered how quickly he might advance by using the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art.
• Ye Lin checked his panel and saw that his future ended at the early Mahayana stage when he died saving Xiaoyao from a Loose Immortal.
• Ye Lin realized he would break through to the Mahayana stage in this world and resolved to bring several Loose Immortal-level experts when he went to save Xiaoyao.
• Ye Lin suspected that Xiaoyao's death was connected to his provoking a race in the deep sea.

Ye Lin rescued Chu Yang and urged him to grow stronger as they traveled away from the imperial capital. At Yellow Springs Slope, Chu Yang recounted the Sword God’s legendary final battle, leaving Ye Lin astonished by the prodigy’s talent.

• Ye Lin found Chu Yang hiding in a haystack and told him he had dealt with the pursuers.
• Chu Yang thanked Ye Lin, and Ye Lin warned him that surviving would require him to work harder.
• Ye Lin and Chu Yang reached Yellow Springs Slope, ten thousand li from the imperial capital.
• Chu Yang explained that the land had become barren after the Sword God fought ten True God experts there and died.
• Ye Lin marveled at the Sword God’s cultivation speed and fighting prowess, comparing the prodigy’s achievements with his own.

Ye Lin parted ways with Chu Yang and followed an opportunity to a cave hidden inside a mountain. There he found a chained, disheveled figure suspended in a vast chamber, while the mountain vanished after he entered.

• Ye Lin told Chu Yang to return to the imperial capital, sensing that powerful support from Blood Sword Manor had arrived.
• Ye Lin examined Chu Yang's panel, learned of his unusual Fate Trait and a nearby opportunity, and sent him on his way.
• Ye Lin followed the panel's directions to a mountain and shattered its golden restriction with a punch.
• Ye Lin entered the mountain and found a vast chamber where chains bound a disheveled figure in midair.
• The mountain disappeared after Ye Lin entered the cave.

Ye Lin met a mortally wounded old man who said they were fated and began telling him the story of a childhood promise between a boy and a girl. The old man left the girl’s rejection unfinished as the story cut off.

• Ye Lin approached the wounded man on the iron chains, but stopped when the man warned him not to come closer.
• The man told Ye Lin that he had waited ten thousand years for someone fated and asked him to listen to a story.
• The man recounted how a boy gave up his chance to cultivate so his childhood friend could join a sect, and she promised to return for him.
• Five years later, the girl returned as the Saintess of the Snow Cloud Sect and told the boy he was no longer worthy of her.
• The girl turned away without touching the meal the boy had prepared, and the story cut off.

The boy learned that the girl had rejected the Demonic Sect’s Holy Son to protect him and had been killed for defying the Holy Son. Consumed by grief, he trained until he reached the True God Realm and finally waited for an opportunity to act.

• The boy cultivated with the black jar’s help and reached the Heavenly God Realm in three years.
• He found the girl’s letter at the Snow Cloud Sect and learned she had left him to keep him from being targeted by the Demonic Sect.
• The boy went to the Demonic Sect but could not enter, even with his Heavenly God strength.
• He discovered that the Holy Son had killed the girl three years earlier for angering him.
• Grieving, the boy wandered through forbidden zones and reached the True God Realm.
• The boy waited until a perfect opportunity appeared.

Old Garden recounted how the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar drove him from a powerless mortal to a Heavenly God before he sealed himself to stop it from possessing him. He identified Ye Lin as the person fated to take the jar, then sent it to him as the jar protested that no one but Old Garden could control it.

• Old Garden explained how the jar helped him kill the Demonic Sect's Holy Son and ten True God experts, then began to take control of his body and divine soul.
• Old Garden said he had sealed himself away, waiting for someone capable of controlling the jar and killing him.
• Old Garden revealed to Ye Lin that he was the boy in the story and declared Ye Lin the fated person who had found him.
• Old Garden warned Ye Lin to seal the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar if it slipped out of control and offered to send him away if he could not control it.
• A black jar rose from Old Garden's chest and flew toward Ye Lin as it complained that Old Garden had failed to erode its mind and insisted only he could control it.

Ye Lin seized the Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar and discovered that his Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art could suppress it. The jar realized it could no longer escape his control, while Old Garden remained trapped with it.

• The Heaven-Devouring Demon Jar threatened Ye Lin and refused to spend its strength attacking him because it wanted to keep eroding Old Garden.
• Ye Lin recognized the jar’s name and grabbed it while wielding the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art.
• The jar panicked when it sensed Ye Lin’s cultivation art and struggled to break free.
• The jar realized its creator had made the Heaven-Devouring Demonic Art capable of suppressing it, leaving Ye Lin in control.