Chapter Summaries

After Mr. Mei’s death, Gu Zhi explained his ties to the Three Heroes of the Cold Year and returned with Yu Ci to Huayan City. Yu Ci resumed his work in the Inner Void, where Xu Sheng reported on Tu Ling Prison and began sharing intelligence about the Evergreen Gate.

• Gu Zhi told Yu Ci that Mr. Mei had been the former Evergreen Gate master, Cold Plum, and that his own senior brother Qing Song was the current master.
• Gu Zhi arranged Mr. Mei’s funeral affairs and traveled with Yu Ci back to Huayan City, where Qing Song’s trusted aide summoned him for discussions.
• Yu Ci settled into the Evergreen Gate’s guest quarters and connected his consciousness to the Inner Void, where he met Xu Sheng in his new form.
• Xu Sheng reported that Tu Ling Prison had been organized into three layers containing the death demon tribulation, the Reincarnation Tu Ling Demonic Light, and the Hell Path Fragment.
• Xu Sheng began reporting intelligence he had gathered about the Evergreen Gate, while Yu Ci received a message asking whether Mr. Jiu Yan had gone to rest.

Yu Ci attended a banquet in Huayan City, where Jiang Shangyan and the Evergreen Gate resident guests introduced him to the city’s cultivators. After Yu Ci handled Cao Jie’s blunt request with tact, the festivities continued with a performance and an invitation for him to choose a dancer.

• Yu Ci accepted an invitation to a banquet intended to introduce him to Huayan City’s cultivators.
• Jiang Shangyan and the Evergreen Gate resident guests welcomed Yu Ci at Yinan Garden and seated him in the central pavilion.
• Wu Yong helped keep the conversation lively, and Yu Ci drank with Cao Jie after turning his request for pleasure incense toward more expensive fragrances.
• Cao Jie called for the troupe Jiang Shangyan had arranged, and dancers performed across the flower lanterns on the pool.
• Jiang Shangyan offered Yu Ci the chance to choose one of the dancers before Cao Jie took his turn.

At a banquet hosted for Jiu Yan, Yu Ci met the alluring Flower Lady and chose one of the veiled dancers. The dancer joined him at his table, and Yu Ci flicked away her veiled hat, revealing her face.

• Flower Lady arrived at the banquet and greeted Jiu Yan, then poured wine for him and toasted him.
• Yu Ci drank Flower Lady’s wine and exchanged playful remarks with her and the other guests.
• When Cao Jie asked Yu Ci to choose a dancer, Yu Ci pointed to one performing by the pond.
• The veiled dancer walked over the water, entered the pavilion, and sat beside Yu Ci.
• Yu Ci flicked the dancer’s veiled hat into the pond, revealing her lovely face.

At a feast in Huayan City, Yu Ci learned that Bao Yun’s unusual condition stemmed from a restriction and asked Flower Lady to reveal how to trigger it. An interruption by Yun Long of Yan Luo Hall shifted the gathering to introductions among the city’s powerful figures, while Flower Lady continued to keep Yu Ci company.

• Flower Lady described Bao Yun’s restriction, Ghost Prison Powder addiction, and the painful effects she could trigger, while Bao Yun struggled to maintain her composure.
• Yu Ci examined Bao Yun and asked Flower Lady not to hide the technique that activated her restriction.
• Yun Long of Yan Luo Hall called out to the gathering, and Zhang Ji of Wuzun Hall soon introduced himself as well.
• Wu Yong guided Yu Ci through introductions to the city’s cultivators while Jiang Shangyan held the fort, and Yu Ci drank with a visitor as Flower Lady stayed beside him.

Yu Ci took Bao Yun from Yinan Garden and discovered that she was caught up in the conflict surrounding Lu Qing. As his carriage departed, a muffled explosion sounded from Yinan Garden, and Yu Ci sent Xusheng to investigate.

• Flower Lady gave Bao Yun to Yu Ci and revealed that Bao Yun was caring for a bedridden younger brother or lover.
• Yu Ci left Yinan Garden with Bao Yun, while Jiang Shangyan and the other departing guests went their separate ways.
• Yu Ci examined Bao Yun and considered how Lu Suhua or Flower Lady might have tampered with her, deciding to use her as bait to find Lu Qing.
• Yu Ci heard an explosion from Yinan Garden and sent Xusheng to investigate while following him with his spiritual will.

Xu Sheng sowed demon seeds throughout Yinan Garden, allowing Yu Ci to uncover Qiongqi’s presence and find the gravely injured Wan Quan. Yu Ci secretly attached a demon seed to Qiongqi, who later returned to Flower Lady as she questioned him about watching a crippled young man.

• Xu Sheng scattered demon seeds among the people in Yinan Garden, giving Yu Ci a view of the garden and its hidden areas.
• Yu Ci discovered Qiongqi with two women and found Wan Quan near death in a nearby stone chamber.
• Yu Ci wondered what had happened to Red Fang Workshop and searched for Lu Qing but could not locate him.
• Yu Ci used the Equality Bead to plant a demon seed on Qiongqi’s soul without alerting him.
• Qiongqi returned to Flower Lady, who asked why he had left his watch over a crippled young man.

Yu Ci overheard Flower Lady and Qiongqi discussing Lu Qing, Lu Suhua, and the mysterious Jiu Yan, then withdrew his Divine Intent Starlight from Qiongqi and hid it in a fish. He returned to his residence at Evergreen Gate without finding his true target, Xu Sheng.

• Flower Lady warned Qiongqi not to deepen their involvement in Lu Suhua's family affairs, while Qiongqi argued against reconciling with Donghua Palace after the Demon Race's past losses.
• Flower Lady asked Qiongqi to identify hair collected from Jiu Yan, but Qiongqi did not recognize its scent.
• Flower Lady questioned Jiu Yan's reported near-exhausted lifespan and warned that Evergreen Gate and Zhan Shuicheng might be supporting him; Qiongqi chose not to target him.
• Qiongqi made an unwanted advance toward Flower Lady, who struck him, took some of his heart's blood as payment, and shut him outside.
• Yu Ci withdrew the Divine Intent Starlight from Qiongqi's brain palace and sent it into a fish in a nearby pond.
• Yu Ci returned to Evergreen Gate, where his steward offered to arrange maids to attend to him.

Yu Ci staged an apparent night with Bao Yun to conceal his plan to reach Wan Quan, then used divine intent to awaken Wan Quan’s consciousness. Wan Quan called for help, and a powerful chant answered him.

• Yu Ci learned that Wan Quan had fallen unconscious after another round of torture and prepared to intervene.
• Yu Ci brought Bao Yun to the incense workshop, made the encounter appear intimate, and sealed the room to discourage suspicion.
• Yu Ci sent his divine intent to stimulate Wan Quan’s soul and draw him back from deathly stillness.
• Wan Quan endured the pain of his restriction, clung to the familiar voice calling him, and cried out for help.
• A sonorous chant answered Wan Quan’s plea: “Tip the vast blue waves, scatter starlight; the ancient river winds around heaven’s frontier.”

Yu Ci tended to Wan Quan and secretly investigated Bao Yun before arranging for her to be taken to his bedchamber. When Bao Yun’s restriction activated, Yu Ci appeared to attack her, but she struck back with a hidden blade as figures rushed into the room.

• Yu Ci used the Heavenly River Auspicious Prayer Curse to stabilize Wan Quan and tried to imprint it into his spirit.
• Yu Ci planted divine-intent astral light in Bao Yun and noticed a shadow around her spirit.
• Yu Ci had the unconscious Bao Yun carried to his bedchamber and dismissed the maidservants after her restriction activated.
• Yu Ci approached the suffering Bao Yun and reached to lift her skirt, but a blade erupted from behind her head and split his body in two.
• Yu Ci’s severed body dissolved into light, and as armed figures lunged into the room, he vanished in an explosion of smoke and fog.

Yu Ci and Lu Qing recognized each other after she attacked him while trying to reach Bao Yun, and he revealed that the smoke was his Cold Fragrance Clear Dew. Lu Qing joined him in keeping their encounter convincing, but her restrained emotions remained unresolved.

• Lu Qing attacked Yu Ci through the smoke, but he escaped her pressure and seized Bao Yun as a shield.
• Yu Ci realized the smoke had affected Lu Qing and explained how Cold Fragrance Clear Dew worked, then asked her what reward she would offer him.
• Yu Ci recognized Lu Qing as the maid from the Green Gauze Cabinet, and she revealed that she had lured Lu Suhua to the northern lands.
• Yu Ci criticized Lu Qing's rash attempt to save Bao Yun and forced Bao Yun to cry out so witnesses would think he was abusing her.
• Lu Qing told Yu Ci not to call her Mistress anymore, then sat beside Bao Yun and tore away part of her red skirt.

Yu Ci learned that Lu Suhua had placed the Ten Demon Inner Prohibition on ten people connected to Lu Qing, forcing Lu Qing to choose between saving them and risking demonic bonds. Lu Qing revealed that Bao Yun's survival required Wan Quan to die, then disclosed that she and Lu Suhua shared the same mother.

• Lu Qing removed Bao Yun's restriction temporarily and told Yu Ci that Lu Suhua had placed different restrictions on ten people from Red Fang Workshop and sold them across the Northern Wasteland.
• Lu Qing explained that removing all ten layers would bind her to ten demons and Lu Suhua, but abandoning the effort would let Lu Suhua win outright.
• Lu Qing revealed that Bao Yun and the others' souls stabilized her defective soul, so their deaths would cause it to collapse.
• Lu Qing asked Yu Ci to look after the unconscious Bao Yun while she cultivated in seclusion, and warned that Wan Quan was likely part of Bao Yun's restriction and had to die for her to live.
• Lu Qing told Yu Ci that she and Lu Suhua were born of the same mother.

Yu Ci learned how Lu Qing and Lu Suhua became rival consciousnesses in one person, and why Lu Suhua was trying to absorb Lu Qing. Lu Qing departed in secret, while rumors about Jiu Yan spread through the city and Gu Zhi invited him to meet his senior martial brother.

• Yu Ci learned that Madame Yellow Springs shaped Lu Suhua's divided consciousness toward the demonic path, while Lu Chen turned both daughters against their mother.
• When Lu Suhua was ten, she split off an incarnation, and the two Lu Suhuas began fighting for the right to exist as the sole self.
• Lu Chen returned from the Outer Domain of the Nine Heavens and made both daughters acknowledge him as their father while hating Madame Yellow Springs.
• Lu Qing explained that Lu Suhua pursued her to absorb her under specific conditions, then left to find a place to cultivate without alerting Bao Yun.
• Yu Ci secretly used the Equality Bead and Zhaoshen Bronze Mirror to observe Lu Qing, while rumors about Jiu Yan's methods spread among the city's stewards and servants.
• Gu Zhi joked about Jiu Yan's growing reputation and invited him to meet his senior martial brother, offering to introduce someone as well.

Yu Ci met Buyun Society chief steward Lu Lian at the Evergreen Gate and discussed his interest in reaching the Outer Domain of the Nine Heavens. After Yu Ci demonstrated his knowledge of Jade Flower Flowing Pearl, Lu Lian suggested joining a major expedition to the Azure Sky Domain, and the others waited for Yu Ci’s answer.

• Gu Zhi introduced Yu Ci to Mr. Qingsong and Buyun Society chief steward Lu Lian in the medicine garden.
• Lu Lian said the Buyun Society would not help Yu Ci travel to the Outer Domain, but asked whether he knew about Jade Flower Flowing Pearl.
• Yu Ci explained how Jade Flower Flowing Pearl was preserved and said he could restore one stage of its lost potency through refinement.
• Lu Lian offered Yu Ci a place in next year’s Azure Sky Excursion, which he believed would likely continue on to the Outer Domain.
• Gu Zhi offered to buy any Jade Flower Flowing Pearl Yu Ci gathered for ten percent above market price, and Mr. Qingsong asked Yu Ci what he thought.

Yu Ci accepted Evergreen Gate’s invitation to join its expedition plan and tried to help Bao Yun save Wan Quan while suppressing his death-demon tribulation. The chapter ended when Zhu Clan’s Wen Ying arrived, sent by her master to serve Lord Jiu Yan.

• Yu Ci agreed to consider Evergreen Gate’s Thirteen Water Mansions plan, which was scheduled for the following year.
• Bao Yun stayed in Yu Ci’s private courtyard and used her charms while hinting that she wanted him to help Wan Quan escape Yinan Garden.
• Yu Ci used the Heavenly River Auspicious Prayer Curse to preserve Wan Quan’s life and suppressed the death demons stirred by his desire for Bao Yun.
• Gao Bing told Yu Ci that a visitor from his western frontier past had come to see him.
• Zhu Clan’s Wen Ying knelt before Yu Ci and announced that her master had sent her to serve Lord Jiu Yan.

Yu Ci learned that the Jade Lapis Journey was part of the Thirteen Water Mansions’ effort to unite Blackwater River’s sects against the growing Yin Mountain Sect. After Zhu Wenying arrived as his assigned household member, Yu Ci considered joining the journey while he waited to resolve Lu Qing’s matter.

• Zhu Wenying told Yu Ci that Yu Qing Xuan had sent her to serve him and asked whether preparations should begin for the Jade Lapis Journey.
• Zhu Wenying explained that the Heavy Artifact Sect had been invited months earlier and that the Evergreen Gate had recently sent word about Yu Ci’s situation.
• Gu Zhi arrived, and Yu Ci introduced Zhu Wenying as a household member given to him by a senior, letting Gu Zhi mistakenly suspect Zhan Shuicheng was responsible.
• Gu Zhi told Yu Ci that the Evergreen Gate had already written to the Thirteen Water Mansions about his ascension to the outer realms and that a reply was expected soon.
• Gu Zhi explained that the Jade Lapis Journey aimed to build an alliance against the Yin Mountain Sect, prompting Yu Ci to consider going along and form a vague plan involving Zhu Wenying.

Yu Ci agreed to attend a spice-business meeting at Yinan Garden, hoping to find a way to help Wan Quan and resolve his own affairs. He arrived with Zhu Wenying and met rival broker Zuo Huang, just as Flower Lady came to greet the gathering.

• Gu Zhi told Yu Ci that Yinan Garden wanted to discuss supplying cultivation spices for a Void-Walking expert, and Yu Ci agreed to go.
• Zhu Wenying asked to remain by Yu Ci's side, then watched a beauty enter his room and wondered whether she was the dancing girl.
• Zhu Wenying prepared a message with a transmission array but erased a suspicious remark about Yu Ci pursuing beauty.
• Yu Ci and Zhu Wenying traveled to Yinan Garden, where Gu Zhi introduced them to Three Families Market manager Zuo Huang.
• Zhu Wenying refused a seat and stood behind Yu Ci as a maidservant, while Zuo Huang watched her and Flower Lady arrived with another figure.

Flower Lady introduced Bai Lian, a Dharma Envoy of the Fragrance Teaching Cult, who asked Yu Ci and the others to help find peerless-grade Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense for a fellow sect member. Yu Ci recognized Bai Lian from an earlier encounter and wondered why an incense expert from her sect needed outside help.

• Yu Ci recognized Bai Lian as a Void-Walking cultivator from the Great Black Heavenly Buddha Mother Bodhisattva's lineage, whom he had seen interacting with Qiongqi in Fengdu City.
• Flower Lady introduced Bai Lian as a Dharma Envoy skilled in blending incense and asked the gathering to help her.
• Zuo Huang and Gu Zhi offered assistance, and Yu Ci said he would respond as a guest elder of Evergreen Gate.
• Bai Lian explained that a fellow sect member needed peerless-grade Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense, which she had been unable to find.
• Yu Ci recalled the complex recipe and production process for Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense and questioned why the Fragrance Teaching Cult could not handle the task itself.

Yu Ci weighed White Lotus's proposal to cooperate on making supreme-grade Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense, recognizing it could help him address the troubles of Lu Qing and Wan Quan. After Bao Yun suffered another restriction relapse, he told Zhu Wenying to use the opportunity of his work with Yinan Garden to attempt to rescue Bao Yun's lover.

• Yu Ci considered White Lotus's offer to make Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense together and the risks and opportunities of accepting it.
• Gu Zhi left Yu Ci to ponder the proposal as they returned to Yu Ci's private courtyard.
• The steward reported that Bao Yun's Ten Demon Inner Prohibition had relapsed, and Yu Ci estimated that she had only four to eight months to live.
• Yu Ci found Bao Yun suffering in the Green Gauze Cabinet and saw her silent plea for help.
• Yu Ci told Zhu Wenying to get close to Bao Yun, then secretly rescue her lover during his work with Yinan Garden and protect that person's life.

Yu Ci went to Yinan Garden, accepted Flower Lady’s offer of a Profound Truth Condensing Void Pill, and met Bai Lian to discuss producing Seven Turn Peaceful Incense. Their discussion was interrupted by a mysterious voice asking whether fifty portions was a large order.

• Yu Ci visited Yinan Garden alone and chose a lifespan-extending Profound Truth Condensing Void Pill from Flower Lady’s three offers.
• Flower Lady praised Yu Ci’s physical condition, flirted with him, and directed him to Bai Lian in the pill chamber.
• Bai Lian told Yu Ci that qualified incense ingredients were difficult to obtain, so they would need to make the Seven Turn Peaceful Incense themselves.
• Yu Ci recognized the scent of the incense in Bai Lian’s chamber and learned that someone had requested fifty portions.
• A strange, magnetic voice asked whether fifty portions counted as much, startling Yu Ci.

Yu Ci worked with Bai Lian to produce supreme-grade Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense after learning it was intended for Miaoxiang, whose smoke avatar suggested she was near Huayan City. On the third day, an explosion in the courtyard interrupted a discussion that was testing Yu Ci’s limited incense-blending expertise.

• Miaoxiang appeared as a smoke avatar and told Bai Lian that fifty portions of supreme-grade Seven-Turn Peaceful Incense might not be enough for her needs.
• Yu Ci left the chamber, deduced that Miaoxiang was likely near Huayan City, and tasked Xiao Wu and Xusheng with locating her.
• Yu Ci and Bai Lian began making incense together, with Bai Lian blending the spices and Yu Ci extracting the ingredients.
• Over two days, Bai Lian attempted nearly three hundred blends and produced a supreme-grade batch only once, while remaining calm and courteous.
• On the third day, Bai Lian invited Yu Ci to discuss adjusting her technique, and an explosion suddenly sounded in the courtyard.