Chapter Summaries

Gu Rui gained the Celestial River Demon Crab Tribe's support as the struggle for Azure Sea Lake's succession intensified, while the Thousand Mechanisms Demon Sect's Saintess and her companions discussed the contest. Xiao Minghuan revealed that Gu Xing had secretly reached the seventh tier, overturning expectations about the Third Prince's strength.

• Xie Yuan pledged the Celestial River Demon Crab Tribe's support to Gu Rui, and the Fragrant Consort and Gu Changze also committed to backing him.
• Xie Yuan warned that the Water Owl Tribe was likely siding with the Third Prince and described its powerful elite army.
• Gu Changze explained that Xiao Minghuan's visit likely involved assessing Southern Shu's powers ahead of her advancement to the eighth tier.
• At the traveling palace, Xiao Minghuan, the Azure Void Sword Immortal, Goodman Bloodpine, and Xu Sixian discussed the banquet and the Heir Apparent Contest.
• Xiao Minghuan revealed that she had used Heavenly Heart Insight to discover that Gu Xing had reached the seventh tier.

Xiao Minghuan revealed that the Third Prince had secretly reached seventh-tier cultivation and discussed the Profound Heaven Devil Lord’s ambitions and Southern Shu’s past conflicts. The chapter ended with the Third Prince and Liu Sui considering who had learned his cultivation and the Fragrant Consort’s hidden power.

• Xiao Minghuan told the Azure Void Sword Immortal and Goodman Bloodpine that the Third Prince had concealed his seventh-tier cultivation, and she had spent eighty years of lifespan discovering it.
• Xiao Minghuan and Xu Sixian reasoned that a Great Demon King was likely concealing the Third Prince’s heavenly secrets, then discussed the Profound Heaven Devil Lord’s goal of unifying north and south.
• Goodman Bloodpine recounted how Gongyang Yu defeated the Devil Lord, disrupted his effort to unify Southern Shu, and helped reshape the balance between the demonic sects and demon races.
• Xiao Minghuan reflected on the Devil Lord’s control of the Thousand Mechanisms Demon Sect before turning her attention back to the group’s visit to Azure Sea Lake.
• Xiao Minghuan asked Xu Sixian whether he feared losing to his junior disciple, and Xu Sixian said he was certain to win.
• In Tai Chi Hall, the Third Prince told Liu Sui that Xiao Minghuan and his eldest uncle might have guessed his cultivation, while his mother had long known that the Fragrant Consort was an eighth-tier demon cultivator who could exercise the functions of fruit status.

Gu Rui gained the support of Xie Yuan and the Fragrant Consort as the contest for Azure Sea Lake’s succession intensified, while Gu Changze warned him about the Thousand Mechanisms Demon Sect’s plans. At the delegation’s traveling palace, Xiao Minghuan revealed that Gu Xing had secretly reached the seventh tier.

• Xie Yuan pledged the Celestial River Demon Crab Tribe’s support to Gu Rui and warned that the Water Owl Tribe might side with the Third Prince.
• The Fragrant Consort and Gu Changze declared that they would help Gu Rui in the Heir Apparent Contest.
• Gu Changze explained that Xiao Minghuan’s journey through Southern Shu might be a mission to assess the region’s powers for the Thousand Mechanisms Demon Sect.
• Xiao Minghuan asked Xu Sixian to assess the succession contest, and he said Gu Xing must not be underestimated.
• Xiao Minghuan revealed that her Heavenly Heart Insight had shown Gu Xing was already a seventh-tier cultivator, shocking the Azure Void Sword Immortal and Goodman Bloodpine.

At the Spring Excursion Palace, Gu Rui hosted Xiao Minghuan as young scions from Azure Sea Lake’s clans gathered to meet the Saintess amid growing political tensions. The gathering ended with word that Gu Xing had arrived.

• Young descendants of clans loyal to Gu Rui and Gu Feng entered the Spring Excursion Palace to meet Xiao Minghuan, while crowds outside debated the princes’ succession and the assassination attempt on Gu Xing.
• Xiao Minghuan welcomed the young scions, including Qinglin, Jiao Ling, and Guizhi, and exchanged friendly compliments with Jiao Ling.
• Qinglin revealed that Jinhai, Shuihan, and Han Gu had also come to the palace, and Gu Rui said he had invited them inside despite their ties to Gu Feng.
• A maid informed Gu Rui that the Third Prince, Gu Xing, had arrived.

Gu Xing arrived at Gu Rui’s gathering at Spring Excursion Palace, where he met Xiao Minghuan, the Nine Great Clans’ young scions, and human leader Jiang Ziyang. He invited Jiang Ziyang to visit Tai Chi Hall, prompting Gu Rui to wonder whether his younger brother was courting the humans’ support.

• Jinhai and other followers of Gu Feng arrived at Spring Excursion Palace and presented Grand Yin Flowing Essence to Gu Rui and Xiao Minghuan.
• Jiang Ziyang joined the gathering, and the guests showed respect to the human teacher and representative of Azure Sea Lake’s human lineage.
• Gu Xing entered with Liu Sui and his two maids, greeting Gu Rui, Xiao Minghuan, and the assembled guests.
• Gu Xing remarked that Gu Rui’s residence needed renovations and invited Jiang Ziyang to visit Tai Chi Hall.
• Jiang Ziyang agreed to call on Gu Xing in a few days, and Gu Rui frowned at his younger brother’s apparent effort to draw close to the humans.

The Third Prince offered Jiang Ziyang access to Tai Chi Hall’s human texts and treasures, surprising him amid Azure Sea Lake’s increasingly fraught succession struggle. As the demon prodigies judged the Third Prince’s low cultivation and questioned his interest in human culture, he praised humanity, and Jiang Ziyang invited him to visit human settlements.

• The Third Prince invited Jiang Ziyang to explore Tai Chi Hall’s collection, and Jiang Ziyang accepted while considering the succession struggle and the need for human factions to choose their stance.
• Gu Rui wondered why his youngest brother had become interested in humans, whom Gu Rui had cultivated as his own source of support.
• Qinglin, Jinhai, and the other demon prodigies assessed the Third Prince’s third-tier cultivation and concealed their contempt for his slow progress.
• Jinhai asked why the Third Prince liked human objects, and the Third Prince explained that his mother had taught him to admire humanity’s spiritual gifts and diversity.
• Jiang Ziyang suggested that the Third Prince visit human settlements, saying that people today might differ from what he imagined.

Gu Xing demonstrated his knowledge of human culture by tracing Shuihan’s Arrowfish Tribe ancestry through an Azure Sea Lake Gazetteer, surprising the gathered princes and factions. When asked which human he admired most, he named the Three Truths Patriarch, Lu Chen, leaving Jiang Ziyang startled.

• Gu Rui and Guizhi questioned whether Gu Xing truly understood human culture, but Gu Xing explained how demons had been shaped by it.
• Gu Xing identified Shuihan’s Arrowfish Tribe as descended from the Wenchang Fish lineage and supported his deduction with passages from a Gazetteer.
• Shuihan confirmed Gu Xing’s account, while Gu Rui and Jiang Zifan realized that Gu Xing had genuinely studied human records.
• The gathered figures named the humans they admired, including Gengxin True Lord, Gongyang Yu, the master of White Jade Capital, the Devil Lord, and the East Sea Daoist Ancestor.
• Gu Rui pressed Gu Xing to answer, and Gu Xing named the Three Truths Patriarch, Lu Chen, startling Jiang Ziyang.

Gu Xing discussed the ancient Three Truths patriarch Lu Chen with Jiang Ziyang, who openly sought to build a connection with him, while Gu Rui took Xiao Minghuan and the others on an excursion through Azure Sea Lake. As they traveled, the party debated whether the Dragon Monarch Gu Jingming deserved to be called a benevolent sovereign, given his harsh suppression of a rebellion.

• Jiang Ziyang praised Lu Chen’s achievements after Gu Xing described studying the patriarch’s life and writings, and Gu Rui grew wary of Jiang’s interest in his younger brother.
• Jiang Ziyang publicly invited Gu Xing to receive him at Tai Chi Hall, then departed as Gu Rui concealed his displeasure.
• Gu Rui led Xiao Minghuan, Gu Xing, and the remaining young demons from Spring Excursion Palace, drawing crowds eager to see the Holy Maiden and the secluded Third Prince.
• Xiao Minghuan remarked that Azure Sea Lake’s ordinary demons showed little fear of the palace guards, and the Azure Void Sword Immortal and Xu Sixian described Gu Jingming’s lighter taxes, Dragon Gate gathering, and Dao academies.
• Goodman Bloodpine recounted how Gu Jingming annihilated rebel clans and purged wavering kin, questioning whether such ruthlessness suited a benevolent sovereign, before acknowledging that Gu Jingming had left Azure Sea Lake a strong foundation.

Xiao Minghuan considered how to escape the Devil Lord’s control as Gu Rui brought her party to Azure Sea Lake’s Northern Sky Prison. The Longze Marquis Residence’s support for Gu Rui became clear as the group prepared to watch the prison’s Demon Fighting Arena.

• Goodman Bloodpine and Xiao Minghuan explained how Azure Sea Lake had strengthened its position through alliances and internal balance.
• Xiao Minghuan reflected on the Devil Lord’s influence over the Demon Sects and her search for a way to preserve her independence.
• Gu Rui’s party reached the black-iron Northern Sky Prison, and the Azure Void Sword Immortal and Goodman Bloodpine recognized it as a venue for arena battles.
• Liu Sui identified the destination as the Northern Sky Prison’s Demon Fighting Arena and recalled Gu Rui’s former role as its warden.
• Jinhai, Han Gu, and Shuihan realized the Longze Marquis Residence had authorized Gu Rui’s arrangements, signaling its support for the Second Prince.

Gu Rui brought Xiao Minghuan, the Third Prince, and their companions to Northern Sky Prison for a private visit to its Demon Fighting Arena, where sixth-tier demons were set to fight. After they arrived and learned about the prison, the guests agreed to place wagers, and Gu Rui asked the Third Prince for his opinion on the rules.

• Gu Rui displayed Qiu Lan and Xia He, former attendants of the Third Prince, and implied that he had taken them from his younger brother, but the Third Prince ignored the provocation.
• Warden Shui Xu welcomed Gu Rui, the Third Prince, and Xiao Minghuan, then led them through Northern Sky Prison's sealed passages toward a fighting arena.
• Jinhai learned that the prison had nine levels and that even Shui Xu could not enter the deepest level, which held powerful demons.
• Shui Xu seated the party in an empty arena prepared for private matches between sixth-tier demons.
• Jiao Ling proposed wagering on the fights, and Gu Rui suggested betting only on the winner and the match's duration before asking the Third Prince what he thought.

Gu Rui and the other guests agreed to compete in the Demon Fighting Arena after Shui Xu revealed that the final two victors could leave the Northern Sky Prison and become someone’s subordinate. The participants began wagering treasures, and the chapter ended with the Third Prince offering a wisp of Can Shui Fruit Status spiritual essence.

• Shui Xu explained that the contest’s prize was freedom for two sixth-tier descendants of condemned demons, though they would have to enter a residence or otherwise accept a patron.
• Shui Xu revealed that the winners would receive Master-Slave Tokens, allowing them to control the demon cultivators, and that the Holy Maiden could also take a victorious cultivator as her prize.
• Jiao Ling began organizing the contest’s wagers, and Gu Rui staked a Delusion-Breaking Soul-Nourishing Pill.
• Xiao Minghuan offered a supreme-grade Storage Bag that could hold spiritual veins, grow herbs, and nurture living creatures.
• The Third Prince offered a wisp of Can Shui Fruit Status spiritual essence, and Gu Rui’s smile stiffened when the Third Prince said his father usually gave him several such wisps.

Gu Rui and the other spectators wagered treasures before Shui Xu opened the Demon Fighting Arena for a three-bout tournament among four sixth-rank prisoners. The first fight began between Hu Su of the Flame Fox Tribe and Tianyue of the Sky Moon Tribe, leaving both women activating their natal bodies.

• Gu Rui invited the spectators to wager treasures, and Jinhai, Shuihan, Jiao Ling, Qinglin, Han Gu, and others placed rare items, including Goodman Bloodpine's Blood Qilin.
• Goodman Bloodpine explained that the Blood Qilin could help refine a Taiyi Pill capable of changing a cultivator's Dao lineage, though making the pill required a Fruit Status cultivator's divine soul, many rare treasures, and a recipe held by the Jade Truth Sect.
• Shui Xu opened the Demon Fighting Arena and explained that four sixth-rank prisoners would fight in three bouts, with the final champion winning freedom and having their criminal status erased.
• Shui Xu announced that Hu Su of the Flame Fox Tribe would face Tianyue of the Sky Moon Tribe in the first bout, and spectators discussed their records, backgrounds, and opposing fire and water paths.
• Hu Su and Tianyue faced off on the platform and activated their natal bodies; a blazing crimson fox phantom appeared behind Hu Su as Tail Fire Dao resonance spread across the arena.

Tianyue defeated Hu Su in the Demon Fighting Arena by using Heavenly Moon Divine Light to conceal her illusion arts and expose Hu Su’s trap. Tianyue won the chance to leave the Northern Sky Prison, while Qinglin wondered how the Third Prince had predicted the outcome.

• Tianyue spread Heavenly Moon Divine Light, and Hu Su shielded herself from its mental influence before attacking with yin-charged fox fire.
• The Azure Void Sword Immortal explained that Hu Su’s unorthodox cultivation had let her reach the sixth tier but had likely cut off her path to the seventh.
• Tianyue passed through Hu Su’s illusory fox fire, but Hu Su then vanished and ensnared what appeared to be Tianyue inside a cocoon of blue flames.
• The spectators debated the trap, and the Third Prince and Gu Rui both predicted that Tianyue would win.
• Tianyue revealed that Hu Su’s trap and the fiery cocoon were illusions, then pointed a moonlight sword at Hu Su and accepted her surrender.
• Hu Su left the arena, and Tianyue claimed the chance to leave the Northern Sky Prison; Qinglin wondered whether the Third Prince had reasoned out his prediction or merely guessed.

Ye Chenjun and Sheng Xiao faced off in the Demon Fighting Arena, renewing a past rivalry that would determine whether they could leave the Northern Sky Prison. After their powers collided, Ye Chenjun used an azure sword to break Sheng Xiao’s dragon form and seal him, leaving the fight’s outcome unresolved.

• Ye Chenjun emerged as a sixth-tier-perfection human cultivator with sword intent, known for an undefeated arena record and for sparing his opponents.
• Shui Xu revealed that Sheng Xiao was a disgraced member of Azure Sea Lake’s Pure Water Dragon royal clan and that Ye Chenjun had given him his only defeat.
• Sheng Xiao declared he would overcome his past loss, while the Third Prince predicted that a human could not defeat a Pure Water Dragon.
• Sheng Xiao manifested his ninety-foot dragon form, and Ye Chenjun answered with a Four-Armed Heavenly King Dharma Form.
• Ye Chenjun’s azure sword struck Sheng Xiao, shattering his natal form and sealing his body and spiritual power as the Dharma Form moved in to attack.

Xiao Sheng survived Ye Chenjun’s crushing attack by revealing a rare turbid water bloodline that could imprison sword intent, prompting Ye Chenjun to concede. As the prison prepared the final match between Xiao Sheng and Tianyue, the spectators placed wagers, and Gu Rui asked the Crown Prince to choose a side.

• Ye Chenjun sealed Xiao Sheng’s cultivation and struck with his Four-Armed Heavenly King Dharma Form, but Xiao Sheng emerged from the crater holding Ye Chenjun’s sword radiance in his bloodied hand.
• Xiao Sheng revealed that his turbid water bloodline could corrode artifacts and imprison sword intent, and Gu Rui explained why the Pure Water Dragon Clan regarded that bloodline as a defective rarity.
• Ye Chenjun conceded rather than risk injury, preserving his standing in the Northern Sky Prison, while Xiao Sheng saved his strength for his coming match with Tianyue.
• Jiao Du announced betting on the final match, and most spectators wagered that Xiao Sheng would win quickly.
• Xiao Minghuan wagered on Tianyue, and Gu Rui and Jinhai followed her; Gu Rui then asked the Crown Prince whom he would choose.

The Third Prince led Ye Chenjun out of the Northern Sky Prison as a riot erupted and the Spirit-Commanding Army sealed off the prison. Ye Chenjun chose to follow the Third Prince despite the danger, while the Third Prince remained confident that he had made the right choice.

• Jinhai, Shuihan, and Han Gu escaped the prison as sixth- and seventh-tier demons revolted, and they suspected the First Prince and warden Shui Xu were involved.
• Jinhai and his companions found the Spirit-Commanding Army surrounding the prison, and Zhang Chi announced that the Third Prince had forbidden anyone from entering or leaving.
• The Third Prince confronted Ye Chenjun about Tianyue's offer and guessed that Ye Chenjun had changed sides after realizing the First Prince's plan would leave Tianyue and Xiao Sheng as puppets.
• Ye Chenjun weighed fleeing or attacking the Third Prince against his oath to whoever freed him from Prison Slave, while Liu Sui warned that he was disloyal.
• Ye Chenjun pledged to follow the Third Prince, who calmly told him he had made a good choice.

Shui Xu sealed the Northern Sky Prison and sent controlled demons to confront Ye Chenjun, Liu Sui, and you. As Liu Sui attacked Tianyue, Rogue Du'e revealed himself to stop her and threatened to devour you, leaving the group facing a seventh-tier killer.

• Ye Chenjun realized the Northern Sky Prison had been sealed and that Shui Xu's plan targeted you.
• Xiao Sheng and Hu Su appeared under the Prison Slave binding's total control, while Tianyue urged Ye Chenjun to submit.
• Liu Sui attacked Tianyue, but a concealed seventh-tier Sword Cultivator blocked her strike with a golden ring.
• Ye Chenjun identified the revealed attacker as Rogue Du'e, a vicious human prisoner from the Northern Sky Prison's deepest levels.
• Rogue Du'e recognized your Pure Water Demonic Dragon bloodline and threatened to capture you and the other dragon princes as food.

Rogue Du'e revealed that the Dragon Monarch’s fruit status had become unstable, then attacked Gu Xing’s group at the Jianmu Assembly. Liu Sui was trapped in a single-combat arena and grievously wounded by Du'e’s demonic Blood-Colored Flying Sword.

• Rogue Du'e rejected Ye Chenjun’s offer, revealed that the Prison Slave mark had been removed, and declared that he would kill Gu Xing to avenge his eighteen hundred years of imprisonment.
• Tianyue prepared to isolate Ye Chenjun and leave Gu Xing exposed, while Gu Xing reassured Liu Sui that they would be fine.
• Rogue Du'e launched an invisible sword attack at Gu Xing, but Liu Sui intercepted it before he summoned an arena that forcibly trapped her inside with him.
• Rogue Du'e released his Blood-Colored Flying Sword, which formed a mysterious swordsman that vanished and stabbed Liu Sui through the chest in a single strike.

Rogue Du'e wounded Liu Sui with a hidden Blood-Colored Dharma Sword while Tianyue and her allies moved to kill Gu Xing. When Xiao Sheng and Hu Su’s attacks failed against him, Gu Xing revealed his sixth-tier cultivation and unleashed his natal true form as a towering purple dragon.

• Rogue Du'e used the Blood-Colored Dharma Sword to gravely wound Liu Sui while holding back from killing her and planning his escape.
• Tianyue used Blood Moon Reincarnation against Ye Chenjun, who shut his eyes and manifested his Dharma form to resist her.
• Tianyue ordered Xiao Sheng and Hu Su to kill Gu Xing, and the two demons attacked him and his maids with powerful spells.
• Gu Xing stepped in front of Chun Tao and Yingxue, and Xiao Sheng and Hu Su’s attacks vanished without harming them.
• Gu Xing revealed his sixth-tier cultivation and manifested an immense purple dragon as his natal body.

Gu Xing revealed his powerful violet dragon natal body, overwhelmed Xiao Sheng and Hu Su, then purified Xiao Sheng’s turbid water bloodline and erased his prison slave brand. After explaining that he had done so to draw out someone hidden nearby, Gu Xing killed Xiao Sheng and Hu Yue as a figure emerged from the passage.

• Gu Xing manifested a violet true dragon natal body that astonished Hu Su, Chun Tao, Yingxue, and the others with its size and power.
• Gu Xing’s water-fire dragon breath formed a dragon to suppress Xiao Sheng and a flame fox to drive Hu Su back, while Tianyue and Ye Chenjun watched their battle.
• Gu Xing dismissed his natal body and used a purifying power to transform Xiao Sheng’s turbid water bloodline into a pure one, heal him, and erase his prison slave brand.
• Gu Xing told Xiao Sheng that he had removed the brand to draw out a hidden observer, then killed Xiao Sheng and Hu Yue with a sword strike.
• A figure emerged from the shadows of the passage.