Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian supports the exhausted Shen Xiaoyi as they struggle against the Golden Python Stealing Dragon Configuration. At the critical moment, the Obelisk releases a portion of Old Kingdom Fortune, stabilizing Shen Xiaoyi’s thirty-six Fate Artifacts and weakening the configuration.
• Shen Xiaoyi explains that the Protector has activated the Momentum Configuration. Their immediate goals are to prevent the Son of Man from entering the Palace of Accumulated Felicity and to sever the Protector’s connection to the Golden Python. Capturing the Protector for information is deemed impossible because of his loyalty to the Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• Li Qingxian and Shen Xiaoyi devise a countermeasure: use Dragon and Snake Rising from the Land to draw more “Eighteen Sons” into the configuration, dividing the Old Kingdom’s National Fortune and denying it to the Son of Man.
• Li Qingxian sends one hundred Fortune Fish into the Obelisk Fate Mountain. Its appearance provokes fear and anger from the Golden Python, confirming that the Obelisk greatly restrains the configuration.
• Several new factions arrive outside the palace, including the Monument Inscriber of the Evil Sects, Bone Filth Child, representatives from the Southern Kingdoms, Northern Green Forest led by Sun Qingtian, and the Devil Sect.
• Eunuch Mao Shigao arrives and agrees with Li Qingxian that the newcomers should remain outside unless they are trusted. He privately reveals that a dangerous enemy has escaped into the palace and that the Emperor, Empress, and Crown Prince are absent.
• Using the Protector’s severed arm and Fate Disk, Li Qingxian locates the enemy in the Inner Study. Mao Shigao rushes there and gives Li Qingxian a hexagonal wooden military token from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, warning him to use it only in an emergency.
• Li Qingxian returns to the gate and admits Sun Qingtian with four companions. He then receives a delegation from the Southern Kingdoms and learns that its leader, Hou Duzhou, is actually the Crown Prince of the Eastern Ding Kingdom.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates increasing control over Fortune, Fate, and strategic formations. He uses the Obelisk Fate Mountain not only defensively but also as a weapon against the Golden Python configuration.
• He remains cautious and pragmatic, recognizing that the Protector cannot realistically be interrogated and choosing instead to sever the enemy’s connection to the configuration.
• Shen Xiaoyi recovers enough to help formulate the counterstrategy. His physical dependence on Li Qingxian briefly produces an embarrassing but humanizing moment when Li points out that Shen is still holding his hand.
• Mao Shigao is revealed as a wary but cooperative palace authority. He trusts Li Qingxian’s judgment, relies on his ability to track enemies, and entrusts him with a dangerous military token.
• Sun Qingtian appears as a trusted ally, while the arrival of the Eastern Ding Crown Prince raises the political importance of the Southern Kingdoms’ delegation.
• The Heaven’s Mandate Sect is portrayed as highly capable and secretive, especially through the Protector’s ability to evade pursuit.

Significant Themes

• Fate versus manipulation: Multiple factions attempt to control National Fortune through large-scale configurations, while Li Qingxian counters them by redirecting and dividing fate.
• The value of strategic cooperation: Li and Shen’s success depends on combining their knowledge, artifacts, and political alliances rather than relying solely on individual strength.
• Power and legitimacy: The conflict centers on who has the right to receive the Old Kingdom’s National Fortune—the Son of Man, Li Qingxian, or a wider group of claimants.
• Trust and restraint: Li must decide whom to admit into the palace, while Mao Shigao warns against abusing official authority. The military token symbolizes both power and the danger of violating political taboos.
• Mortality and escalating stakes: The increased value of each death, reflected in the abundance of Fortune Fish, shows how the ongoing conflict has intensified and made every casualty more consequential.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and Shen Xiaoyi work closely together, balancing physical support, tactical planning, and moments of awkward familiarity.
• Li and Mao Shigao cooperate discreetly: Mao provides palace intelligence and authority, while Li supplies divination and tracking abilities.
• Li manages the arriving factions by selectively granting entry, especially favoring Sun Qingtian because of their existing relationship.
• The chapter ends with Li meeting the Southern Kingdoms’ delegation and discovering that its leader is a crown prince, suggesting that the struggle over the palace and National Fortune is also becoming an international political confrontation.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian welcomes Hou Duzhou, crown prince of the Eastern Ding Kingdom, into the East Palace and permits him to select five companions. Despite tensions between the Eastern Ding Kingdom and the Heaven’s Mandate Sect, Li openly treats Hou as an ally.
• The Monument Inscriber requests entry for himself and Bone Filth Child. Li Qingxian refuses unless they swear to obey his commands inside the palace. When the Monument Inscriber rejects the condition, Li uses Mao Shigao’s authority and the palace guards to prevent them from entering.
• Li gathers Meng Huaichuan, Lin Zhenyuan, Scabbard, Black and White Impermanence, Sun Qingtian, Hou Duzhou, Song Baige, and Wang Buwu to reveal that they are inside the Golden Python Stealing Dragon Configuration, a major Grand Momentum Configuration associated with the Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• He asks whether they will compete for the Old Kingdom of the Death Realm’s National Fortune or allow the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s chosen “Son of Man” to claim it. Everyone agrees to resist Heaven’s Mandate Sect, though Meng Huaichuan warns that the fortune already reserved by the sect will be difficult to seize.
• The group’s combined fortunes begin striking the Golden Python Stealing Dragon Configuration. This creates a preliminary Dragon and Snake Rising from the Land Configuration, giving Eerie City and the Old Kingdom enough momentum to challenge Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• Shen Xiaoyi confirms that the new configuration has formed. He explains that the next steps are to capture or kill the Dao Protectors, break the Golden Python configuration, and redistribute the Old Kingdom’s National Fortune.
• Mao Shigao repeatedly leaves the East Palace to pursue a Dao Protector who keeps escaping with treasures. After several failed attempts, Mao decides to request Funeral Man’s assistance and once again follows Li Qingxian’s guidance to the target’s location.
• Bone Filth Child tries to stop Mao and invoke the noble consort’s authority, but Mao angrily strikes him, crushing half his face. Bone Filth Child survives and spits black blood containing insect remains, while the Monument Inscriber remarks on Li Qingxian’s formidable methods.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates increasing authority, strategic intelligence, and political confidence. He uses Mao Shigao’s token to command the palace guards, controls access to the East Palace, and secretly organizes a coalition against Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• Hou Duzhou openly aligns himself with Li’s anti–Heaven’s Mandate Sect cause, reflecting the Eastern Ding Kingdom’s longstanding hostility toward the sect.
• Meng Huaichuan remains cautious because of his identity and concerns about involvement in National Fortune struggles, but ultimately chooses to participate.
• Sun Qingtian shows his blunt, aggressive hatred of Heaven’s Mandate Sect and immediately supports challenging its authority.
• Mao Shigao becomes increasingly frustrated by the Dao Protector’s repeated escapes. His anger culminates in his violent attack on Bone Filth Child.
• Bone Filth Child and the Monument Inscriber are pushed outside the central alliance. Their failed attempt to enter the palace leaves them resentful and suspicious of Li Qingxian.

Significant Themes

• Coalition against centralized power: Multiple kingdoms, sects, and individuals unite to challenge Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s attempt to monopolize National Fortune.
• Fortune and political legitimacy: The chapter questions Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s right to appoint the Son of Man and emphasizes that fortune can be contested by collective will and power.
• Authority and control: Li Qingxian’s conditions for entry, use of Mao’s token, and manipulation of palace rules show how control over institutions can be as important as raw strength.
• Strategic cooperation amid distrust: Former rivals cooperate because of a shared enemy, though suspicion and conflicting interests remain beneath the alliance.
• Persistence and repeated failure: Mao’s repeated pursuit of the Dao Protector highlights both the extraordinary escape methods of Heaven’s Mandate Sect and the relentless effort required to overcome them.

Character Interactions

• Li and Hou establish a cordial alliance despite international and sectarian tensions.
• Li and the Monument Inscriber engage in a quiet power struggle: the Monument Inscriber resists being commanded, while Li refuses to compromise or grant entry.
• Luo Jing supports Li’s position by explaining that the East Palace’s restrictions make obedience necessary.
• The assembled allies debate whether to contest the National Fortune, with Sun Qingtian and Hou Duzhou showing the strongest enthusiasm and Meng Huaichuan expressing the greatest caution.
• Shen Xiaoyi and Li coordinate their understanding of the emerging momentum configuration.
• Mao Shigao’s confrontation with Bone Filth Child ends violently, reinforcing the hostility between those excluded from the palace and the forces controlling it.

Chapter Summary: “A Fly Enters the East Palace”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Good Fortune Born secretly contacts Bone Filth Child through a bamboo whistle, suggesting that Ye Han’s refusal to let them enter the East Palace may indicate a hidden treasure or opportunity inside.
• He subtly encourages Bone Filth Child to investigate, implying that Bone Filth Child could enter through secret methods while Good Fortune Born waits to benefit from either his success or the chaos caused by his failure.
• Bone Filth Child consults the Monument Inscriber, receives a wooden carving, and begins circling the Palace of Accumulated Felicity, clearly preparing some kind of infiltration.
• Wang Buwu reports the suspicious exchange between Good Fortune Born and Bone Filth Child to Li Qingxian, despite apparently having personal reasons to remain silent.
• Li Qingxian deduces Good Fortune Born’s plan: Bone Filth Child is being used as a test subject. If he succeeds, Good Fortune Born can follow; if he fails, Good Fortune Born can exploit the resulting disorder.
• Li Qingxian orders the group to monitor Good Fortune Born and asks Shen Xiaoyi what treasures he might use to bypass their defenses. Shen identifies the Shadow Cloth and Painted Door as likely infiltration tools.
• Li Qingxian discusses the Cat-Head Puppet, originally intended to absorb Good Fortune Born’s power. Shen warns that Good Fortune Born’s mysterious reward may have been designed specifically to counter it. They instead consider using the puppet against another target.
• Meanwhile, Eunuch Mao returns after another attempt to capture the Guardian. Though the Guardian escaped, Mao tore off one of his arms and severely wounded him. Funeral Man also struck him with a yellow paper coin.
• Li Qingxian confirms through the Fate-Seeking Arts that the Guardian is unconscious and orders Mao to capture him. He gives Mao official tokens and authority from the Crown Prince, anticipating that others may interfere.
• Mao leaves with the intention of bringing Funeral Man to assist him.
• The chapter ends with Bone Filth Child successfully infiltrating the East Palace in the form of a tiny fly. His head emerges from the fly’s body as he begins observing the area from a bamboo clothes rack.

Character Developments

• Good Fortune Born reveals himself as highly calculating and manipulative. Rather than attacking directly, he uses Bone Filth Child to test the East Palace’s defenses and create an opportunity for himself.
• Bone Filth Child proves willing to act as an infiltrator. His cooperation with the Monument Inscriber and transformation into a fly show that he possesses both planning ability and powerful concealment techniques.
• Li Qingxian demonstrates sharp deduction and caution. He quickly reconstructs Good Fortune Born’s strategy, strengthens surveillance, and prepares for both infiltration and interference.
• Wang Buwu shows a change in loyalty or conscience by reporting information that he might previously have concealed. Li Qingxian’s reassurance that he should act without guilt seems to encourage this independence.
• Shen Xiaoyi provides important knowledge about Good Fortune Born’s treasures and recognizes the danger posed by his abilities.
• Mao Shigao remains eager to serve Li Qingxian, especially after receiving a peach as a reward. His determination grows despite repeatedly failing to capture the Guardian.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation and indirect conflict: Good Fortune Born avoids direct confrontation and uses Bone Filth Child to probe the enemy’s defenses.
• Surveillance and counter-surveillance: Both sides observe one another through magical artifacts, informants, and disguises.
• Trust and moral choice: Wang Buwu’s decision to reveal what he knows raises questions about loyalty, guilt, and personal freedom.
• Preparation and hidden motives: Nearly every character conceals a second objective, while Li Qingxian attempts to anticipate several layers of strategy.
• Powerful treasures as strategic weapons: The Shadow Cloth, Painted Door, Cat-Head Puppet, and official tokens each represent different methods of bypassing, absorbing, or controlling power.

Important Character Interactions

• Good Fortune Born covertly persuades Bone Filth Child to investigate the East Palace.
• Wang Buwu warns Li Qingxian about the connection between Good Fortune Born, Bone Filth Child, and the Monument Inscriber.
• Li Qingxian and Shen Xiaoyi analyze Good Fortune Born’s possible infiltration methods and discuss the limitations of the Cat-Head Puppet.
• Li Qingxian encourages Wang Buwu to act according to his conscience rather than forcing obedience.
• Li Qingxian rewards and authorizes Mao Shigao to capture the wounded Guardian, anticipating resistance from others.
• The final interaction is indirect: Bone Filth Child enters the East Palace disguised as a fly, positioning himself to spy on Li Qingxian’s forces.

Chapter Summary: “The Eunuch Questions His Background”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian and Shen Xiaoyi prepare the East Palace for an expected infiltration. Li distributes instructions to palace maids, eunuchs, and guards, turning the palace’s ordinary workers into a coordinated defensive network.
• A fly—secretly an incarnation carrying Bone Filth Child’s divine sense and soul—is lured by palace gossip about a hidden treasure. Two disguised servants suddenly trap it with black cloths and suppress it with lightning and Daoist techniques, destroying it.
• Bone Filth Child immediately suffers a severe backlash outside the palace. Because the fly contained part of his soul, his cultivation and Spirit Platform are damaged, potentially preventing him from ever reaching Upper Rank without rare divine medicine.
• The Monument Inscriber questions Bone Filth Child about the failed infiltration. Bone explains that Ye Han possesses a Seeking Immortal Bee, an inheritance of the Fate-Seeking Sect capable of detecting concealed methods. The group concludes that forcing entry would be dangerous and considers abandoning the East Palace.
• Mao Shigao returns through the gate carrying an unconscious, armless protector. He explains that Imperial Guards attempted to seize the prisoner, but “Funeral Man” intervened, allowing Mao to bring him back.
• Li Qingxian praises Mao and orders him to question Good Fortune Born outside the gate without allowing him into the palace. Mao obeys, stopping Good Fortune Born just as he prepares to sneak inside.
• Mao interrogates Good Fortune Born in a deliberately humiliating and absurd manner, asking about his birthplace, parents, and even whether he has hemorrhoids. Good Fortune Born recognizes that Li Qingxian is behind the questioning but is forced to respond politely.
• Meanwhile, Li and Shen Xiaoyi examine the captured protector. Li finds a Luck Silver-Fish Pouch but cannot open it, so he stores it in his Heaven-and-Earth Bracelet.
• Shen advises Li not to inspect the protector’s Fate Mansion, warning that it may contain forbidden arts or protections placed by the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s leader. Instead, Li repeatedly suppresses the protector’s Fate Mold through safer methods.
• With the protector reduced to the verge of death, Li prepares to use the Black Cat-Head Puppet.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates strategic foresight, using palace workers and controlled misinformation to create an effective trap. He also shows caution by avoiding direct contact with the protector’s potentially dangerous Fate Mansion.
• Shen Xiaoyi acts as Li’s tactical adviser, identifying both the value of the Black Cat-Head Puppet and the risks of probing the protector’s fate directly.
• Bone Filth Child suffers a major setback. The destruction of his incarnation damages his soul and cultivation rather than merely injuring his physical body, creating a serious long-term threat to his advancement.
• Good Fortune Born becomes increasingly desperate. Though initially cautious, he decides to risk infiltrating the palace after Bone Filth Child’s failure, only to be intercepted and publicly restrained.
• Mao Shigao earns Li’s approval by successfully returning with the protector. He is portrayed as cheerful, boastful, and willing to carry out Li’s orders with comic enthusiasm.
• The captured protector is gradually weakened through Fate Arts and is left vulnerable to interrogation or further manipulation.

Significant Themes

• Information and deception: Li Qingxian weaponizes rumors, staged conversations, and disguised servants to expose hidden enemies.
• The dangers of divided souls and incarnations: Bone Filth Child’s failed scouting attempt shows that spiritual avatars carry genuine risks when they are linked to the user’s soul.
• Strategic restraint: Li avoids confronting the powerful protections inside the protector’s Fate Mansion, emphasizing the importance of recognizing when an apparently useful technique is too dangerous.
• Humiliation as control: Mao’s ridiculous interrogation prevents Good Fortune Born from acting while undermining his dignity and psychological composure.
• Fortune and fate: The chapter repeatedly contrasts Good Fortune Born’s confidence in his luck with Li Qingxian’s ability to manipulate circumstances and suppress the advantages of fate-based cultivators.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and Shen Xiaoyi: They collaborate closely, with Shen providing tactical warnings and Li making the final strategic decisions.
• Li Qingxian and Mao Shigao: Li rewards Mao’s success and uses him as an intermediary to contain Good Fortune Born. Mao responds with loyalty and eagerness to please.
• Bone Filth Child and the Monument Inscriber: They discuss the failed infiltration and agree that the East Palace is too well-defended to attack recklessly.
• Mao Shigao and Good Fortune Born: Mao arrests and interrogates him in a mocking but controlled manner, preventing him from entering the palace.
• Li Qingxian and the captured protector: Li subjects the protector to repeated Fate suppression, preparing him for the Black Cat-Head Puppet while carefully avoiding a dangerous confrontation with the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s hidden protections.

Chapter Summary: “Cat Head Drains the Guardian”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian prepares cautiously to use the Black Cat-Head Puppet against the unconscious Heaven’s Mandate Sect guardian. He strengthens his Fortune and equips himself with ten Life-Replacement Wooden Children and several protective artifacts borrowed from Shen Xiaoyi.
• Shen Xiaoyi gives Li a collection of powerful protective treasures, including a red cord bearing three jade artifacts. Li also summons the Great Principle-Slaying Sword to defend against possible retaliation.
• When activated, the Black Cat Head begins absorbing the guardian’s protections. Nine layers of Momentum Configuration Imprints—among them the Mountain-River, Phoenix-Bird, Hundred Beasts, and Hundred Herbs diagrams—are stripped away one by one.
• Each absorbed layer consumes one of Li’s Life-Replacement Wooden Children. The puppet grows increasingly powerful as Fortune Fish pour into it, eventually developing a complete catlike body and a golden “King” character on its forehead.
• The puppet continues draining the guardian, absorbing mysterious balls of light from his body. The guardian’s own Great Principle-Slaying Sword emerges in an attempt to resist, but Li’s sword suppresses it and absorbs it, becoming more complete and powerful.
• The guardian’s identity token, originally marked with the surname “Ye,” is also extracted and swallowed by the Black Cat Head. The puppet then attacks Li’s mind, transferring the guardian’s memories and knowledge into him.
• Li witnesses the guardian’s entire life: his cultivation, inheritance from the Heaven’s Mandate Sect, survival in a deadly secret realm, mission to protect the Son of Man, uncertainty over Ye Han and Good Fortune Born, and his pursuit through the palace.
• The memories also reveal the guardian’s connection to the Funeral Man and Mao Shigao, as well as the removal of a Dragon-Patterned Jade Pendant by the Funeral Man.
• By the end, the Black Cat Head has absorbed not only the guardian’s abilities and memories but seemingly his identity. The guardian is reduced to a desiccated corpse.
• A blank identity token appears before Li, and, through an unexplained impulse, the character “Li” materializes on it—suggesting that Li Qingxian may have inherited or overwritten the guardian’s identity.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Li Qingxian demonstrates extreme caution and growing mastery of Fate Arts, Fortune, protective treasures, and the Great Principle-Slaying Sword. His caution proves justified, though the Black Cat Head’s power far exceeds his expectations.
• Shen Xiaoyi supports Li by supplying numerous protective artifacts. Her embarrassment when lending him the jade ornaments adds a moment of personal intimacy and light humor. She is also knowledgeable enough to recognize the guardian’s layered protective diagrams.
• Li and Shen exchange wary observations throughout the ritual, both realizing that the puppet is becoming dangerously powerful.
• The guardian, though unconscious, reveals through his memories that he was a highly dedicated and ruthless disciple of the Heaven’s Mandate Sect, shaped by harsh training and a singular mission.
• The Black Cat Head evolves from a small puppet into a powerful, independent-looking entity capable of consuming protection, weapons, memories, and identity.

Significant Themes

• Identity and transformation: The absorption of the guardian’s identity raises the possibility that Li is taking on more than knowledge—he may be inheriting the guardian’s role or fate.
• Power beyond control: The Black Cat Head initially appears to be a limited tool, but its ability expands dramatically, alarming even Li and Shen Xiaoyi.
• Fortune and destiny: Fortune Fish fuel the puppet’s growth, emphasizing the importance of Fortune as a source of power and the dangerous consequences of manipulating fate.
• Inheritance and memory: The guardian’s life and the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s teachings pass into Li through supernatural memory transfer, turning knowledge into a form of power.
• Protection and sacrifice: The nine diagram-lights and Li’s Life-Replacement Wooden Children demonstrate the immense cost of survival and the layers of preparation required to confront powerful enemies.
• Hidden identities and uncertainty: The guardian’s confusion over the true Son of Man, along with the changing identity token from “Ye” to “Li,” reinforces the chapter’s atmosphere of concealed roles and unstable destiny.

Important Character Interactions

• Shen Xiaoyi’s teasing suspicion that Li is “full of bad water” contrasts with his elaborate precautions.
• Her act of placing the jade cord around Li’s neck creates a brief moment of closeness before the dangerous ritual begins.
• Li protects Shen from the expected bloodshed, showing consideration despite his grim methods.
• The guardian’s memories connect him indirectly to Ye Han, Good Fortune Born, the Funeral Man, and Mao Shigao, expanding the chapter’s larger mystery.
• The final interaction is between Li and the guardian’s remnant identity: by writing “Li” onto the blank token, Li may have claimed the guardian’s place, power, or fate.

Chapter Summary: Li Qingxian, Worthy Protector of the Way

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian successfully kills the old Protector of the Way, exposing him as a traitor and claiming that the act was carried out to uphold the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s rules.
• The golden python, destabilized and beginning to crack apart, is subjected to a secret art from the Cat-Headed Protector Book. Li Qingxian uses the Protector Token and declares himself both a Protector of the Way and the one who commands the python to protect Ye Han.
• The golden python explodes into countless clusters of National Fortune. Li Qingxian’s Fate Mansion and the surrounding Fate Arts Masters absorb much of this power.
• Li Qingxian receives the greatest share, while Shen Xiaoyi and the people inside the East Palace gain substantial benefits. Only a small portion reaches those outside.
• After absorbing the Fortune, Li Qingxian enters meditation and discovers that his Fate Mansion has been transformed by a powerful National Fortune Golden Light.
• He studies the Heaven’s Mandate Orthodox Canon through the Cat-Headed Protector Book, beginning to understand the responsibilities and powers of his new position.
• The old Protector’s corpse is handed over to the palace authorities. Li Qingxian also claims an uncut jade pendant from the corpse through his connection to the Funeral Man and Eerie Village.
• The East Palace members thank Li Qingxian, believing he intentionally kept outsiders from entering so that they could benefit from the National Fortune.
• The golden python is discovered barely alive. Li Qingxian rescues it and stores it in his Fate Mansion, intending to rebuild the Golden Python Stealing Dragon Configuration once he obtains suitable materials.
• Li Qingxian announces that the East Palace traitors have been dealt with and permits the outsiders to enter, though Bone Filth Child and the Monument Inscriber reject the invitation and leave.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian rises from a powerful Fate Arts Master to the recognized “Worthy Protector of the Way” of the Heaven’s Mandate Orthodox Canon. His new title and Protector Token grant him greater authority and access to secret teachings.
• His Fate Mansion grows dramatically stronger: it gains National Fortune Golden Light, improved Fate Stars, enhanced seals, a more powerful Ruler’s Fortune sphere, and eighteen enormous golden Fortune carp.
• Li Qingxian becomes more confident and politically influential. His actions cause others to view him as someone capable of protecting allies and controlling major sources of Fortune.
• Shen Xiaoyi benefits greatly from the Fortune and acts as Li Qingxian’s close assistant during the crisis. She remains skeptical and amused by his improvised explanation of events.
• Meng Huaichuan and the other East Palace figures become indebted to Li Qingxian and openly express their gratitude.
• Good Fortune Born develops an unexplained dislike toward Li Qingxian, though he cannot identify its cause or fully turn it into hostility.
• The golden python, once a massive and powerful entity, is reduced to a weakened three-foot form but survives under Li Qingxian’s protection.

Significant Themes

• Power through transformation: Li Qingxian’s absorption of National Fortune marks a major advancement in his cultivation, status, and political importance.
• Legitimacy and identity: By declaring himself both Protector of the Way and the Son of Man’s protector, Li Qingxian asserts authority over forces that do not yet understand his unusual dual role.
• Fortune as political capital: National Fortune is treated as a tangible reward equivalent to military achievement and even the acquisition of a marquisate. Its distribution reshapes alliances and creates obligations.
• Control versus cooperation: Li Qingxian controls access to the East Palace’s blessing, benefiting his allies while deliberately excluding hostile outsiders.
• Rebuilding from destruction: Although the golden python is nearly destroyed, Li Qingxian preserves it for future use, suggesting that broken power can be restored and repurposed.
• Public justice and hidden motives: Li Qingxian presents the killing as enforcement of sect rules, while others interpret his actions through political and personal motives.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and Shen Xiaoyi: Shen Xiaoyi urges him to use the secret art and later helps gather National Fortune. Their interaction shows familiarity, trust, and her tendency to puncture his dramatic claims.
• Li Qingxian and the golden python: He commands the python through the Protector Token, then later saves and absorbs it into his Fate Mansion rather than allowing it to perish.
• Li Qingxian and Mao Shigao: Li Qingxian orders the corpse handled according to palace rules and instructs Mao to retrieve the jade pendant. Mao recognizes that the dead traitor nearly deceived him.
• Li Qingxian and Meng Huaichuan: Meng openly reveals Li Qingxian’s identity and thanks him on behalf of the East Palace, strengthening their alliance.
• Li Qingxian and the East Palace group: The group collectively expresses gratitude, believing he deliberately protected their access to the National Fortune.
• Li Qingxian and the outsiders: He formally allows them into the palace after the danger has passed, but Bone Filth Child and the Monument Inscriber respond with contempt and refuse. Good Fortune Born reacts with instinctive unease toward Li Qingxian.

Chapter Summary: Blue Cloth, Yellow Silk, Red Examination Papers

Key Plot Points and Events

• Good Fortune Born enters the East Palace with Meng Huaichuan, hoping to exploit opportunities there. However, Li Qingxian’s Heaven’s Mandate Dao-Protection Order absorbs the National Fortune gathering around him, leaving Good Fortune Born feeling that the palace is unnaturally cold.
• After leaving, Meng Huaichuan warns Good Fortune Born that Ye Han—Li Qingxian’s identity in the examination—has overwhelming Fortune and influence. Ye Han has defeated major competitors, gained the support of powerful figures, and even forced the Eerie Eunuch to treat him as a master.
• Meng Huaichuan refuses to oppose Ye Han during the Azure Cloud Examination, especially over the Fate-Divider. Good Fortune Born reluctantly agrees to avoid Ye Han, though he privately resents Meng Huaichuan and suspects Li Qingxian is connected to Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• Li Qingxian’s team celebrates after gaining a large amount of National Fortune. They credit him for preventing rival teams from entering the East Palace and competing for its Fortune.
• Eunuch Mao returns and gives Li Qingxian a blue cloth pouch from Funeral Man, along with an apology and a warning to prepare for dangers in the Imperial Garden.
• Mao Shigao explains that the Imperial Garden may become chaotic when its controlling master is absent, allowing demons, monsters, and other eerie beings to seek benefits. He also warns Li Qingxian about powerful Fate Corpses on the road, particularly Upper Rank and Beyond-Rank corpses.
• Mao rewards Li Qingxian with a treasure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, wrapped in yellow silk, because the chief steward praised his handling of the East Palace incident.
• As Li Qingxian leaves, another red mark appears on his examination paper. The phrase “Peace Under Heaven” is almost completely red, suggesting that Ye Han is on track to become the Seventh Rank top graduate.
• Li Qingxian examines his newly acquired treasures. The Dao Protector’s jade pendant is revealed to be a powerful symbol of authority within Heaven’s Mandate Sect, allowing him to summon forces, mobilize officials, and access restricted locations.
• The yellow-silk reward is identified as a Death-Exemption Golden Plaque, stronger than Li Qingxian’s Movable-Type Wooden Tablet.
• The Luck Silver-Fish Pouch left by the Dao Protector can now be opened. Among its contents, Li Qingxian notices a mysterious black-tipped brush with a silver shaft decorated with mountains, rivers, stars, clouds, and seven unusually colored clouds.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: His influence and Fortune continue to grow. He gains National Fortune, powerful treasures, and increasing recognition from both the imperial court and Heaven’s Mandate Sect. His authority now extends beyond personal strength to the ability to command major organizations.
• Good Fortune Born: He becomes increasingly cautious and suspicious of Li Qingxian. Although he outwardly agrees to avoid conflict, he privately views Li Qingxian as a dangerous rival protected by immense destiny and possible ties to Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• Meng Huaichuan: He demonstrates political caution and pragmatism. Despite his own powerful background, he refuses to challenge Li Qingxian during the examination and prioritizes preserving his team’s relationship with him.
• Mao Shigao: He shows genuine concern for Li Qingxian, offers practical warnings, and acts as a trusted intermediary by delivering both Funeral Man’s pouch and the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ reward.
• Li Qingxian’s team: The members grow more confident and grateful toward their leader after benefiting from the National Fortune he secured.

Significant Themes

• Fortune and destiny: National Fortune determines status, opportunities, and the ability to suppress rivals. Li Qingxian’s growing Fortune makes others reluctant to oppose him.
• Political alliances and influence: Strength alone is not enough; Li Qingxian’s connections with Heaven’s Mandate Sect, nobles, Puppet Cultivators, and powerful individuals make him exceptionally difficult to challenge.
• Caution versus ambition: Meng Huaichuan chooses survival and cooperation over competition, while Good Fortune Born struggles to suppress his ambition.
• Hidden power beneath official ceremonies: The imperial examination and the Imperial Garden appear formal and orderly, but beneath them lie contests involving demons, eeries, Fate Corpses, and competing factions.
• Authority and recognition: The treasures Li Qingxian receives symbolize his rising official and supernatural status, especially the Death-Exemption Golden Plaque and Heaven’s Mandate Sect jade pendant.

Important Character Interactions

• Good Fortune Born and Meng Huaichuan: Meng warns him not to confront Ye Han, while Good Fortune Born conceals his resentment and suspicion.
• Li Qingxian and his team: The team thanks him for securing their access to the East Palace and the National Fortune within it.
• Li Qingxian and Mao Shigao: Mao delivers gifts, warnings, and praise from higher authorities, strengthening their relationship.
• Li Qingxian and unseen factions: Funeral Man, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Heaven’s Mandate Sect all acknowledge or reward his growing importance, signaling that he is becoming a central figure in the examination’s larger power struggle.

Chapter Summary: “Blood-Transforming Myriad Insects Strike Suddenly”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qinxian studies the Dao Protector’s memories and learns the three functions of the

Myriad Phenomena Brush

1. It allows travel through the Myriad Phenomena Diagram, unless restricted by forces such as a Weird Game.
2. It can locate Fate Corpses.
3. Most importantly, it can sacrifice itself to save the Son of Man from danger.

• He also discovers the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s plan involving the Fate-Dividing Platform in the Imperial Garden. The platform stores the Death Realm’s Fate Stars and releases them at certain times.
• The Emperor Star is the key to entering the platform. The sect intends for the Son of Man to enter first, seize the initiative, and gain overwhelming Fortune.
• The sect secretly created a Grand Momentum Configuration, which can only be activated by the Great Principle-Slaying Sword. Although they arranged for the sword’s inheritance to reach someone favored by the Son of Man, the Dao Protector was also ordered to refine it as a backup.
• Li Qinxian realizes that his possession of the Great Principle-Slaying Sword disrupted the sect’s intended arrangement. He suspects that Shen Xiaoyi may have been the Fate Arts Master who was meant to inherit it, leaving him feeling guilty.
• While the group travels, Song Baige senses hidden demonic power through the ringing of the Righteousness Sword. Shen Xiaoyi uses the Heaven-Gazing Mirror to discover that Fate Arts have concealed the danger.
• The group is suddenly transported into a scarlet city and trapped inside the Devil Sect’s Blood-Transforming Myriad Insects Formation.
• Poisonous insects and demonic creatures attack from every direction. The Devil Sect had already infected the group with twin poisons, causing Song Baige and the Literary Cultivators to collapse.
• Li Qinxian, Shen Xiaoyi, and the others treat the poisoned members while the Martial and Dao Cultivators defend the group.
• Killing the insects only produces more poisonous mist, which eventually gathers into blood clouds and grotesque demon heads.
• Li Qinxian’s lightning techniques prove highly effective against the poison, but his mana cannot match the formation’s seemingly endless supply.
• To strengthen the defense, he summons two powerful Thunder Seal guardians: a Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman and a Sky-Raising Cloud-Bearing Guard, whose thunder and golden canopy protect the group.

Character Developments

• Li Qinxian gains a clearer understanding of the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s grand scheme and recognizes how his acquisition of the Great Principle-Slaying Sword altered the intended course of events.
• His guilt toward Shen Xiaoyi reveals that he is increasingly aware of the consequences his actions may have had on others.
• Li Qinxian demonstrates leadership and resourcefulness by treating Song Baige, using lightning to counter the poison, and summoning powerful guardians when his own mana begins to run low.
• Song Baige shows heightened danger-sensing ability through the Righteousness Sword, but is poisoned and rendered unconscious after warning the group.
• Shen Xiaoyi proves crucial by identifying the Fate Arts concealment and deploying the Heaven-Gazing Mirror and poison-repelling talismans.
• Wang Buwu becomes an important defensive force. His unusual cultivation technique allows him to weaken the poisonous mist more effectively than ordinary cultivators.
• The group’s Literary Cultivators are established as essential to neutralizing Devilish Poison, making their recovery vital to everyone’s survival.

Significant Themes

• Fate versus individual choice: The Heaven’s Mandate Sect has carefully arranged events around the Son of Man, but Li Qinxian’s unexpected inheritance of the Great Principle-Slaying Sword disrupts their plans.
• Hidden manipulation and uncertainty: The group’s enemies use Fate Arts to conceal their trap, emphasizing the danger of unseen forces and incomplete information.
• Cooperation across cultivation paths: Martial, Dao, and Literary Cultivators each contribute different abilities, and survival depends on their combined efforts.
• Limits of power and resources: Li Qinxian’s lightning can counter the poison, but his finite mana cannot indefinitely withstand an inexhaustible formation.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: The Myriad Phenomena Brush’s ability to sacrifice itself for the Son of Man, along with Li Qinxian’s concern for Shen Xiaoyi, highlights the costs of protecting others.

Character Interactions

• Li Qinxian and Shen Xiaoyi work closely in recognizing and responding to the hidden ambush.
• Li Qinxian personally catches and treats the fallen Song Baige, showing trust and concern between them.
• Shen Xiaoyi supports the group with analysis, poison-repelling talismans, and protective measures.
• Wang Buwu reassures the others while taking the lead in physically clearing the insect swarms.
• The group forms a defensive circle around Li Qinxian, Shen Xiaoyi, and the incapacitated Literary Cultivators, combining their abilities while waiting for the poisoned members to recover.

Chapter Summary: Strongman-Guard Demon-Sweeping Formation

Key Plot Points and Events

• Two Inner Gods descend to help the group confront the Devil Sect’s Blood-Transforming Myriad Insects Formation, but the danger remains severe.
• The formation releases endless poisonous insects and deadly toxins. One Literary Cultivator whom Li Qingxian previously rescued succumbs to the poison, despite the group’s efforts.
• The group recognizes that the formation cannot be defeated through ordinary Heavenly Fire or lightning alone. Their best hope lies in the Inner Gods’ power and the righteous energy of Literary Cultivators.
• The Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman increases his strength and uses thunderous drumbeats to generate thousands of expanding shockwaves. These waves destroy the countless demonic insects and evaporate the blood sea.
• Once the insects are destroyed, tens of thousands of terrifying middle-rank demon heads emerge. To contain them, Li Qingxian summons the Wind-Shaking Mist-Supporting Left Guard.
• The Left Guard uses her plantain fan to compress the remaining blood, poison, and demon heads into a single sphere. The Strongman then channels heavenly lightning into it and destroys the entire demonic formation.
• The formation collapses, revealing the Imperial Palace beneath it. Six Devil Sect disciples are found dead nearby, along with their monstrous Prismatic Hundred-Insect Monsters.
• The group deduces that the attackers belonged to Devil-Transforming Mountain and were likely driven by resentment after failing to obtain the National Fortune. They may have been connected to Bone Filth Child.
• The Martial Cultivators treat the poisoned Literary Cultivators. Song Baige eventually awakens and is judged to be out of immediate danger, though severely weakened.
• Li Qingxian prepares a bamboo-chair ritual artifact carried by paper strongmen so the injured Literary Cultivators can continue traveling. He also collects the Devil Sect corpses for later use or investigation.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates responsibility and calm judgment. He understands the formation’s nature, coordinates the Inner Gods, protects Song Baige, strengthens the Seeking Immortal Bee with Fortune Fish, and takes responsibility for guarding against further attacks.
• The Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman reveals even greater power, using drum-generated shockwaves and concentrated heavenly lightning to annihilate the formation.
• The Wind-Shaking Mist-Supporting Left Guard is introduced as elegant and composed, contrasting with the two male Inner Gods. Her wind-based abilities prove essential for containing the surviving demonic forces.
• Song Baige survives the poison but is left weak and physically damaged. His recovery reinforces the severity of the Devil Sect’s attack.
• Wang Buwu remains alert and quick to investigate the aftermath, discovering the dead Devil Sect disciples.
• The Martial Cultivators show their protective role by using True Essence to stabilize the poisoned Literary Cultivators.

Significant Themes

• Cooperation between different cultivation paths: The formation can only be overcome through the combined powers of the Inner Gods, lightning, wind, and the group’s mutual support.
• The limits and strengths of each discipline: Literary Cultivators resist Devilish Poison but are vulnerable to ordinary deadly toxins, while Martial Cultivators resist physical poison but struggle against Devilish Poison.
• The brutality of the Devil Sect: The attack is portrayed as deliberately vicious, using an inexhaustible formation and a poison powerful enough to kill even highly capable cultivators.
• Duty and sacrifice: Li Qingxian and the others continue protecting the wounded despite the danger, while the fallen Literary Cultivator emphasizes the cost of arriving too late.
• Adaptability and strategy: Rather than relying on raw strength alone, the group combines the Strongman’s destructive power with the Left Guard’s containment abilities to defeat the formation.
• Lingering danger: Although the formation is destroyed, the group realizes the Devil Sect will continue pursuing them.

Character Interactions

• The group looks to Li Qingxian and the Inner Gods for guidance after recognizing the formation’s danger.
• Li Qingxian and the Lightning-Wrapped Drum-Bearing Strongman coordinate directly, with the Strongman requesting the Wind-Shaking Mist-Supporting Left Guard.
• The Left Guard formally acknowledges Li Qingxian before acting, reinforcing his authority as her summoner.
• The Martial Cultivators support the poisoned Literary Cultivators, while Li Qingxian personally reassures Song Baige and arranges transportation for the injured.
• The group collectively analyzes the identities and motives of the dead Devil Sect disciples, linking them to Devil-Transforming Mountain and Bone Filth Child.

Chapter Summary: “Blood Begonia Outside Divine Capital”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qinxian’s group ambushes five Devil Sect disciples guarding a courtyard. Wang Buwu and two Martial Cultivators use Fate Arts, artifacts, and hundreds of thunder-fire talismans to destroy them.
• The disciples’ bodies contain Prismatic Hundred-Insect Monsters, which release poisonous mist after death. Li Qinxian uses lightning talismans to completely disperse the poison before collecting the bodies and insects.
• Li Qinxian and Shen Xiaoyi perform the dangerous Cursing Fate ritual. They force the monster insects to consume their former hosts and one another, then combine the surviving insect with poisoned blood, body parts, Fortune Fish, and material taken from a golden python skeleton.
• The resulting Vengeance Insect emerges as a golden, mosquito-like monster and flies away to curse Bone Filth Child. Shen Xiaoyi believes the curse will be extremely difficult for Bone Filth Child’s Fate Arts Master to remove because the curse is built from multiple layers of mutually reinforcing fate materials.
• While advancing toward the Imperial Garden, the group encounters a powerful Middle Rank Fate Corpse. Li Qinxian suppresses its Fortune, reducing its combat ability drastically and allowing the group to kill it quickly. He plans to exchange its corpse at the Black Lantern Bureau for a Book of Fate.
• More increasingly violent Fate Corpses appear near the Imperial Garden, but Li Qinxian’s Fate Arts and Shen Xiaoyi’s Fate Artifact repeatedly weaken them. The group eventually reaches the Imperial Garden gates, where entry is still forbidden because the appointed time has not arrived.
• The narrative then shifts to Divine Capital. A carriage carrying Zhou Chunfeng is intercepted after being forcibly diverted into a wilderness area. Several Devil Sect cultivators and four enormous Upper Rank Devil Cultivator phantoms surround him, while the Ministry of Justice Chancellor’s Seal announces that Zhou has been influenced by traitors and urges him to confess.
• Zhou refuses to respond verbally. Instead, his literary energy erupts, the Four Aspects of plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum transform into three white lotuses, and an orange pillar of literary qi rises into the heavens. He successfully advances to Third Rank.
• Zhou’s Half-Life Man Puppet appears at his side, and his blood-red eyes evoke his terrifying reputation as the Blood Begonia, the figure whose name once caused the South Bank demon armies to flee.

Character Developments

• Li Qinxian demonstrates increasing mastery and ruthlessness in Fate Arts. He is willing to sacrifice valuable Fate Artifacts to counter Bone Filth Child’s protections and strengthen the Great Principle-Slaying Sword.
• Li also reveals strategic ambition by planning to merge the Prince’s Golden Seal into the sword to advance it to Upper Rank, while considering the future value of the Jade Imperial Seal as a vessel for a Momentum Configuration.
• Shen Xiaoyi acts as Li’s knowledgeable partner, advising him about Fate Artifacts and recognizing the exceptional power of the Vengeance Insect.
• Wang Buwu and the Martial Cultivators become increasingly reliant on Li’s support. Although they can fight powerful Fate Corpses directly, Li’s Fortune-suppressing techniques turn difficult battles into easy victories.
• Zhou Chunfeng reaches Third Rank under extreme pressure, revealing a major breakthrough in power. His silent defiance and transformation into the Blood Begonia emphasize his resolve and formidable hidden strength.

Significant Themes

• Fate versus power: Li’s abilities show that manipulating Fortune and Fate can overcome overwhelming physical strength.
• Sacrifice for advancement: Li accepts the destruction of valuable Fate Artifacts to achieve greater strategic goals, highlighting the costs of pursuing power.
• Curses and retaliation: The Vengeance Insect represents layered revenge, with each curse reinforcing the next and making retribution difficult to escape.
• Hidden strength and transformation: Zhou Chunfeng’s advancement occurs at the moment he is surrounded and condemned, turning an apparent arrest into a confrontation with a newly empowered opponent.
• Decline and survival: The sharp reduction in survivors—from several thousand entering the Imperial City to fewer than two thousand reaching the Imperial Garden—emphasizes the danger of Eerie City and the harsh competition surrounding the examination.

Character Interactions

• Li and Shen cooperate closely in crafting the Vengeance Insect, with Shen questioning Li’s willingness to expend a Fate Artifact and Li explaining his broader plans.
• Li directs Wang Buwu and the other Martial Cultivators during the ambush, showing his authority and tactical control.
• The Martial Cultivators praise Li after witnessing him suppress the Fate Corpse’s Fortune and dramatically weaken it.
• Zhou Chunfeng does not engage in dialogue with the Devil Sect’s representatives; his refusal to answer their accusation becomes a silent challenge, answered through his sudden Third Rank breakthrough and the reappearance of his Blood Begonia identity.

Chapter Summary: The Xue Family Stands Before the Advent

Key Plot Points and Events

• Outside the Imperial Garden, the assembled teams wait for the gates to open after Bone Filth Child’s attack on Song Baige and others. Many groups promise Li Qingxian that they will avoid unnecessary conflict inside, recognizing that survival is more important than fighting over the Emperor Star.
• Li Qingxian remains tense because Song Baige is injured and Bone Filth Child is still missing. Shen Xiaoyi comforts him with homemade bean-crisp candy, and Li shares his own pastries with the surrounding teams, earning their goodwill.
• While pretending to converse, Shen Xiaoyi secretly briefs Li on the various factions present, including the Mountain-River Fate Sect, Netherworld Army, Radiance Sect, Advent Sect, and the Xue Family.
• Shen explains that Advent Sect is an extremely secretive and dangerous force whose goal is to exterminate all other humans and establish a world ruled solely by its own bloodline. It has allegedly manipulated conflicts among the Human and Demon Races, the Devil and Evil Sects, and other major powers.
• Shen also details the history of the Southern and Northern Xue Families. Though divided after the fall of the An Dynasty, the two branches remain secretly allied, sharing wealth and assistance while maintaining influence through commerce, collateral relatives, and imperial marriages.
• Before entering the garden, Li privately creates twenty Life-Replacement Wooden Children—one for each team member—to provide everyone with a means of surviving a fatal attack. The effort consumes nearly all his remaining materials.
• A wolf howl sounds, Li’s forehead burns, and the remaining children begin chanting a disturbing nursery rhyme about catching a treacherous minister. The omen unsettles everyone and appears connected to Good Fortune Born.
• At midnight, the Imperial Garden gates open. Meng Huaichuan’s and Good Fortune Born’s teams enter first, convincing Li that his group must not remain passive. He leads his team inside immediately.
• Once everyone crosses the threshold, the children chant again, and the “treacherous” mark on the participants’ foreheads disappears. Li confirms that the spell has been removed and dispels it from the entire team.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates both caution and leadership. He prepares emergency Life-Replacement Wooden Children for his companions, shares food generously, and realizes that entering the garden early is strategically necessary.
• Shen Xiaoyi acts as Li’s emotional support and intelligence source. His homemade candy calms Li, while his detailed knowledge of the factions helps Li understand the political dangers ahead.
• Wang Buwu provides comic relief by claiming he dislikes sweets, then immediately devouring the dragon beard candy and asking for more.
• Good Fortune Born becomes increasingly threatening through his apparent connection to the omen and his team’s decision to enter first.
• Bone Filth Child remains hidden, suggesting he is deliberately avoiding Li while preparing for future confrontation.

Significant Themes

• Survival over competition: The teams recognize that staying alive matters more than claiming the Emperor Star.
• Trust and temporary alliances: Rivals make promises to avoid conflict, while Li’s generosity through food helps build informal goodwill.
• Hidden political power: The chapter emphasizes that factions such as Advent Sect and the Xue Family influence events from behind the scenes through bloodlines, money, manipulation, and long-term alliances.
• Preparation and foresight: Li’s creation of the Life-Replacement Wooden Children reflects the importance of planning for unseen dangers.
• Ominous fate and identity: The chants, the disappearing forehead mark, and the references to “treacherous ministers” suggest that the Imperial Garden is governed by supernatural judgments or hidden rules.

Important Character Interactions

• Shen Xiaoyi comforts Li and gives him bean-crisp candy, creating a quiet moment of trust amid the tension.
• Li distributes pastries to his teammates and nearby allies, strengthening relationships and raising morale.
• Shen privately educates Li about the major factions, particularly Advent Sect and the Xue Families.
• Li protects his teammates by making replacement bodies and later removes the treacherous-minister spell from each of them.
• The teams collectively react to the wolf howl, nursery rhyme, and opening gates, sharing both fear and relief as they finally enter the Imperial Garden.

Chapter Summary: Upper-Rank Fate Corpse Descends from Heaven

Key Plot Points and Events

• As the Azure Cloud Examination enters its final stage, glowing Traitor Marks appear on many examinees’ foreheads. Li Qingxian realizes that each group likely contains a designated “traitor,” while unaffiliated individuals are all marked.
• Li Qingxian comforts the frightened young Shen Xiaoyi, promising that he will protect her.
• The groups enter the Imperial Garden, which has transformed into a vast, silent maze of trees, artificial mountains, streams, corridors, and constantly shifting paths. Attempts to scout or use divination fail because the area is controlled by a powerful formation that disrupts fate-based techniques.
• A pillar of light suddenly descends, releasing a gigantic Upper-Rank Fate Corpse. It is armed with heavy crossbows and releases swarms of headless, poison-filled wasps.
• The Fate Corpse immediately targets Shen Xiaoyi, apparently drawn to her Traitor Mark. Her magical Three-Phoenix Hairpin intercepts the crossbow bolts, preventing her death.
• The examinees flee rather than fight. Li Qingxian protects Shen Xiaoyi, uses talismans, fog, lightning, fire, rain, and summoned Yellow Turban Strongmen to delay the monster. Literary, Dao, and Martial Cultivators contribute different forms of support while retreating.
• Shen Xiaoyi summons a skeletal war carriage and has Li Qingxian ride aboard to perform divinations and search for a route of escape.
• Li Qingxian uses his Spirit Eye, Qi-Gazing, Fortune-Observing, and multiple Fortune Fish, but cannot see through the Fate Corpse or determine a safe path, suggesting that the danger is even greater than expected.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates leadership, composure, and protective instincts. He quickly identifies the significance of the Traitor Marks, shields Shen Xiaoyi from the attack, and coordinates the group’s retreat.
• Shen Xiaoyi struggles to conceal her Traitor Mark and is visibly frightened despite maintaining a calm exterior. She shows courage by warning everyone to flee, using her phoenix hairpin defensively, and summoning the skeletal carriage.
• Wang Buwu remains cautious and perceptive, recognizing that the Fate Corpse’s appearance is abnormal and warning that greater dangers may follow.
• The various cultivators cooperate under pressure: Literary Cultivators use Battle Poetry, Dao Cultivators cast spells, Martial Cultivators deploy concealed weapons, and the group relies on previously rehearsed tactics against Fate Corpses.

Significant Themes

• Trust and betrayal: The Traitor Marks create suspicion and pressure, implying that the examination is designed to force participants to turn against one another.
• Protection and loyalty: Li Qingxian’s promise to Shen Xiaoyi and his physical defense of her contrast with the examination’s atmosphere of mistrust.
• Limits of knowledge and power: Fate Arts and divination become unreliable inside the shifting formation, leaving the examinees unable to predict events or find a clear path.
• Escalating danger: The sudden appearance of an Upper-Rank Fate Corpse against Lower-Rank examinees suggests that the examination has entered a far more lethal phase.
• Cooperation under crisis: Although the examination encourages betrayal, survival depends on the groups’ ability to coordinate and combine their different abilities.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian reassures Shen Xiaoyi after she fails to conceal her Traitor Mark, strengthening their bond.
• Shen Xiaoyi stays close to Li Qingxian, grabs his sleeve when the Fate Corpse appears, and later entrusts him with divination duties.
• Li Qingxian shields Shen Xiaoyi from the exploding crossbow bolts and continues holding her wrist as they flee.
• The group discusses the meaning of the Traitor Marks, the changing Imperial Garden, and the possibility that the Fate Corpse is specifically pursuing Shen Xiaoyi.
• Wang Buwu challenges the group’s assumptions, warning that the Upper-Rank Fate Corpse may signal an even more serious threat ahead.

Chapter Summary: “Sky-Calamity Eagle Throws the Death Realm into Chaos”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the fifth Fortune Fish is fed to the Upper-Rank Fate Corpse, its head becomes transparent, revealing a Fate Star depicting a gigantic, wounded white-tailed eagle covered in blood and feathers from its own kind.
• Although the Fate Star resembles the known Eagle Strikes the Vast Sky, Li Qingxian realizes that its violent, self-destructive nature makes it fundamentally different. He identifies it as an undiscovered Fate Star and names it the Sky-Calamity Eagle.
• Naming the Fate Star establishes a mysterious connection between Li Qingxian and it, greatly enhancing his understanding. He determines that, unlike the auspicious and ambitious Eagle Strikes the Vast Sky, the Sky-Calamity Eagle represents calamity brought upon one’s own kind.
• Li Qingxian deduces methods to counter the Fate Star: metal to restrain its wood-and-wind nature, thunder and fire to purge its immense evil, and the Great Principle-Slaying Sword to sever its powerful underlying support.
• Using five more Fortune Fish and the Physiognomic Formation Technique, Li Qingxian uncovers the Grand Momentum Configuration influencing the Fate Corpse: Nine Heavens and Ten Directions in Reversal.
• His vision reveals a world consumed by fire, filled with fiends and surrounded by enormous Devil God statues. He realizes this is a Myriad-Extinction Deadly Configuration, a world-destroying formation that brings ruin indiscriminately, even to those who created or benefited from it.
• Li Qingxian deduces that the configuration was not intentionally designed at first. Instead, unresolved chaotic formations, worsened by the selfishness of the old realm’s clans, spiraled into catastrophe and eventually destroyed the Old Kingdom of the Death Realm.
• He suspects that the Heaven’s Mandate Sect is exploiting the Death Realm by sending young Human Race cultivators into it through the Azure Cloud Examination. Their deaths and destinies gradually weaken the deadly configuration, allowing the sect to later seize the realm’s remaining power.
• Li Qingxian recognizes a troubling parallel between the Death Realm’s collapse and the current condition of the Qi Kingdom and Human Race, where numerous chaotic formations are also emerging.
• Before he can remove Shen Xiaoyi’s Traitor Mark and escape, the enormous Fate Corpse suddenly attacks by leaping directly toward them.
• Forced to respond, Li Qingxian transforms his Fate Mold into a metal-based Fate Pattern containing thunder, fire, and life force, hoping it can weaken the deadly configuration enough to survive.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates increasingly advanced Fate Arts knowledge and intuition. He successfully identifies and names a previously unknown Fate Star, gaining deeper insight into its nature.
• His deduction reveals his growing ability to perceive large-scale historical and political truths, including the destructive consequences of the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s plans.
• Li Qingxian becomes more cautious and strategically minded. Rather than confronting the Fate Corpse directly, he recognizes that the surrounding Grand Momentum Configuration makes retreat the only sensible option.
• His concern expands beyond immediate survival. He begins to fear that the Human Race and Qi Kingdom may be following the same path toward realm-wide destruction as the Old Kingdom of the Death Realm.
• Shen Xiaoyi responds enthusiastically to the possibility of a new Fate Star and encourages Li Qingxian to document and name it, showing trust in his judgment and excitement about the potential rewards.

Significant Themes

• Self-inflicted destruction: The Sky-Calamity Eagle and Nine Heavens and Ten Directions in Reversal symbolize societies destroying their own people through greed, conflict, and shortsighted decisions.
• Cycles of history: The Death Realm’s collapse mirrors the current dangers facing the Human Race, suggesting that civilizations repeat the same mistakes.
• Institutional exploitation: The Heaven’s Mandate Sect is portrayed as sacrificing young cultivators to weaken a deadly formation while preserving its own strength and seeking power.
• Knowledge and naming as power: By naming the unknown Fate Star, Li Qingxian gains a deeper connection to and understanding of it, emphasizing the importance of recognition and insight.
• The limits of individual power: Although Li Qingxian uncovers enormous truths, he acknowledges that as only a Seventh-Rank Fate Arts Master, he lacks the strength to alter the larger crisis.
• Chaos without correction: Problems that might once have been manageable become catastrophic when powerful groups refuse to resolve them for the sake of their own interests.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian warns Shen Xiaoyi that the Fate Star does not match its conventional counterpart. Shen Xiaoyi is delighted rather than alarmed and gives him the Book of All Stars to verify his discovery.
• Their exchange shows mutual cooperation: Shen Xiaoyi provides knowledge and support, while Li Qingxian supplies the critical deduction.
• Li Qingxian intends to use the Weird Princess’s Turtle-Button Silver Seal to remove Shen Xiaoyi’s Traitor Mark, demonstrating his concern for Shen Xiaoyi’s safety.
• The impending attack by the Fate Corpse interrupts their escape and forces Li Qingxian to protect the group through an emergency Fate Arts response.

Chapter Summary: An Encounter with Fate Corpses at Fixed Stone Mountain

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian attempts to use the Obelisk Fate Mountain to summon the Sky-Raising Cloud-Bearing Guard, but the Upper-Rank Fate Corpse reacts violently to the divine light. It collapses, then fixes its gaze on the Obelisk, forcing Li Qingxian and the others to retreat.
• The group reaches a strange corridor filled with bridges, water, ornamental hills, and oppressive yin energy. The Upper-Rank Fate Corpse does not immediately pursue them.
• Li Qingxian transfers the “treacherous” character embedded in Shen Xiaoyi’s body to his own Turtle-Button Silver Seal, protecting Shen but discovering that the seal can only transfer the mark rather than destroy it. He seals the artifact and stores it away.
• The group discusses the enormous gap between Lower-, Middle-, and Upper-Rank Fate Corpses. Li explains that although he can easily suppress Middle-Rank corpses, an Upper-Rank corpse is so powerful that even his full strength can only reduce it to roughly Fourth-Rank power.
• Li creates emergency Fate Talismans while the group continues following the Emperor Star. Their relief at escaping the Upper-Rank corpse ends when three Middle-Rank Fate Corpses attack.
• The three enemies consist of an archer, a fire-breathing corpse, and a shield-bearing corpse. Li identifies their Fate Stars as Towering Tree, Three Furnaces Burning Fire, and the rare Fixed Stone Mountain.
• Li orders the group to divide their forces while he suppresses the enemies’ fates. His power quickly shatters the archer’s arm, Wang Buwu seals the fire-breather’s mouth and causes it to burn itself, and Li defeats and collects the shield-bearing corpse. The battle ends in fewer than a hundred breaths.
• Afterward, the group discusses how the Devil Sect and Evil Sects derive power from Fate Corpses. The Devil Sect uses Devilish Poison released from ordinary corpses, while the Evil Sects draw on more sinister powers from Upper-Rank and Beyond-Rank corpses. The Netherworld seeks to control Fate Corpses as puppets, though no one has yet succeeded.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates increasing mastery and confidence. He protects Shen Xiaoyi, prepares safeguards against the Upper-Rank corpse, identifies the enemies’ Fate Stars, and single-handedly suppresses their fates with remarkable efficiency.
• Li becomes deeply interested in the Fixed Stone Mountain Fate Star, recognizing that its qualities—steadfastness, decisiveness, and unwavering will—could compensate for his own lack of a lifelong cultivation foundation. He also realizes that it complements his existing Heaped Earth Reaches Mountain Fate Star.
• Shen Xiaoyi is visibly grateful after Li removes the treacherous mark from him. He also provides important knowledge about Fate Corpses, the Devil Sect, the Evil Sects, and Netherworld methods.
• Wang Buwu proves reliable in combat and leadership. He blocks the archer’s attack, organizes the group into three teams, and cleverly uses a talisman to neutralize the fire-breathing corpse.
• The group’s confidence in Li grows as they witness him dismantle Middle-Rank Fate Corpses with startling ease.

Significant Themes

• The hierarchy of power: The chapter emphasizes the near-insurmountable gap between Lower-, Middle-, and Upper-Rank beings. Even a group capable of defeating Middle-Rank corpses remains highly vulnerable to a single Upper-Rank corpse.
• Fate as both weapon and limitation: Fate Arts allow Li to weaken enemies dramatically, but their effectiveness depends on rank and preparation. Fate can be manipulated, transferred, or suppressed, but not always destroyed.
• Willpower and self-improvement: Fixed Stone Mountain represents determination, resolve, and steadfastness. Li’s desire to obtain it reflects his awareness of his personal shortcomings and his ambition to strengthen himself.
• Cooperation versus individual strength: Although Li is overwhelmingly effective, the victory still depends on coordinated tactics, with Wang Buwu and the others restraining enemies and exploiting Li’s fate suppression.
• The dangerous relationship between Fate Corpses and sect power: Fate Corpses are not merely monsters; they are the foundation of major cultivation systems. Their remains, poisons, and hidden powers fuel the Devil and Evil Sects, making their capture extremely valuable.

Character Interactions

• Li and Shen share a moment of trust when Li takes Shen’s treacherous mark onto his own seal. Shen’s gratitude contrasts with Li’s understated response.
• Li rejects Shen’s offer to help suppress the three corpses, confidently taking responsibility himself while instructing the group to protect one another.
• Li and Wang Buwu cooperate seamlessly during the battle: Li weakens the corpses through Fate Arts, while Wang uses practical combat skill and a talisman to finish the fire-breathing corpse.
• Shen acts as the group’s source of knowledge, explaining the origins of Devil Sect and Evil Sect powers and the Netherworld’s interest in controlling Fate Corpses.
• The group’s reactions—shock, relief, amusement, and envy—highlight how extraordinary Li’s growing abilities have become.

Chapter Summary: An Encounter with a Beyond-Rank in the Imperial Garden

Key Plot Points and Events

• After defeating three Middle-Rank Fate Corpses, Li Qingxian continues studying the Book of All Stars while the group travels through Eerie City.
• The children suddenly summon or announce the arrival of “Old Wolf,” causing everyone to witness a vision of the Imperial City from above.
• A gigantic black wolf appears and begins hunting examinees who remain outside the Imperial Garden. It effortlessly kills and devours several groups, proving that avoiding the Imperial Garden is not a viable survival strategy.
• The group concludes that passive defense is fatal in Eerie City and that they must keep advancing.
• Their journey is repeatedly interrupted by batches of Middle-Rank Fate Corpses, which they defeat one after another.
• After the fifth group, they encounter Meng Huaichuan, Good Fortune Born, Lin Zhenyuan, and others fleeing from a severely wounded but still terrifying Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse.
• The Fate Corpse has grown larger since its previous appearance, though its injuries and light-ribbon weapons have deteriorated. It uses its ribbons to kill anyone bearing the golden Traitor Mark.
• The Traitor Mark repeatedly transfers from one person to another after each marked victim dies.
• Li Qingxian’s group refuses to help Meng Huaichuan’s party, recognizing that confronting a Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse would be suicidal.
• Good Fortune Born manipulates the situation by urging his entire group to follow Li Qingxian, effectively using Li’s team as protection and potential sacrifices.
• Song Baige openly accuses Good Fortune Born of causing the Eerie Village disaster and participating in an assassination attempt against Ye Han. The accusations create tension within Meng Huaichuan’s group.
• A righteous martial cultivator voluntarily separates from the group to draw away the Fate Corpse, asking Meng Huaichuan to protect his family. Meng Huaichuan promises to do so, but the man is killed almost instantly.
• The Traitor Mark then lands on Good Fortune Born, placing him in immediate danger.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Demonstrates practical judgment and leadership. He understands that the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse cannot be confronted directly and prioritizes his group’s survival. He also continues gathering knowledge from the Book of All Stars.
• The children: Their mysterious connection to Old Wolf becomes more significant, as their words precede the wolf’s appearance and reveal another deadly rule of Eerie City.
• Old Wolf: Establishes itself as a powerful, indiscriminate predator that forces examinees toward the Imperial Garden.
• Meng Huaichuan: Appears increasingly self-serving. He asks Li Qingxian to save only him rather than his entire group and remains silent when questioned about Good Fortune Born’s alleged crimes. Nonetheless, he publicly promises to protect the family of the volunteer who sacrifices himself.
• Good Fortune Born: Reveals his manipulative and ruthless nature by redirecting his group toward Li Qingxian’s team. His past actions are openly questioned, and the Traitor Mark ultimately falls upon him.
• Song Baige: Acts as a blunt defender of Li Qingxian’s group, condemning Good Fortune Born’s attempt to exploit them.
• Lin Zhenyuan: Begins questioning the loyalties and past actions of Good Fortune Born and Meng Huaichuan.
• The unnamed martial cultivator: Provides a contrast to the scheming elites through his genuine willingness to sacrifice himself for his companions and family.

Significant Themes

• Advancement versus passive survival: Eerie City offers no truly safe refuge. Those who avoid danger or refuse to move forward are eventually destroyed.
• The cost of selfishness: Meng Huaichuan and Good Fortune Born attempt to preserve themselves by sacrificing others, exposing the moral decay caused by extreme danger.
• Righteousness amid corruption: The martial cultivator’s sacrifice demonstrates that courage and loyalty still exist, even in a brutal environment.
• Manipulation and betrayal: Good Fortune Born weaponizes trust and group dynamics, while the shifting Traitor Mark symbolizes suspicion, guilt, and the consequences of betrayal.
• Power hierarchy and helplessness: The gap between Upper-Rank and Beyond-Rank is emphasized. Even powerful examinees can only flee from the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse.
• Rules of the supernatural world: Old Wolf and the Traitor Mark show that survival depends on understanding Eerie City’s hidden laws, not merely on strength.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian and his group collectively refuse Meng Huaichuan’s request for help, choosing survival over reckless heroism.
• Meng Huaichuan appeals directly to Li Qingxian and promises lifelong protection, but his wording reveals that he prioritizes himself.
• Good Fortune Born pressures his own group to follow Li Qingxian, provoking Song Baige’s fierce condemnation.
• Song Baige’s accusations cause Lin Zhenyuan to question Good Fortune Born and Meng Huaichuan about their past involvement in the Eerie Village incident and the attempted assassination of Ye Han.
• Meng Huaichuan promises to protect the sacrificial martial cultivator’s family, but the promise is immediately tested when the man dies.
• The chapter ends with Good Fortune Born receiving the Traitor Mark, turning him from manipulator into the next likely target of the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse.

Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group abandons Good Fortune Born after the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse marks him as its target. Its white energy bands repeatedly attack him, but Good Fortune Born survives by using an array of bizarre treasures and techniques:
  • A silver armor plate redirects an attack into a nearby ally.
  • A mirror creates a false duplicate, allowing him to evade being killed.
  • He transforms into water, sacrifices his hair to create a decoy, and uses a white stone to lure attacks away.
  • He damages himself and employs the Yin-Yang Fish-Dragon Jade Pendant and Shadow Cloth to escape.
• Good Fortune Born blames Li Qingxian, claiming that Li’s refusal to help him enter the East Palace and gain National Fortune caused the Beyond-Rank being to notice him.
• Using Shadow Cloth, Good Fortune Born turns into a shadow and hides inside Li Qingxian’s shadow, effectively redirecting the Fate Corpse’s attacks toward Li.
• Shen Xiaoyi recognizes the Shadow Cloth, revealing that he is still alive despite the group believing him dead.
• Wang Buwu protects Li by deploying the Block-Character Token, creating a massive black iron gate that temporarily blocks the Fate Corpse.
• The gate eventually breaks. Shen Xiaoyi declares that the combined threat of the Eerie being, the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse, and Good Fortune Born’s sabotage is overwhelming. He recommends using the Cloud-Enhancing Art and sacrifices the Imperial Ranking List to temporarily strengthen Li’s Fortune.
• Li’s spells, including Divine Firmament Thunder, cannot harm Good Fortune Born’s shadow.
• As the Fate Corpse grows stronger and closes in, Meng Huaichuan offers to remain and help instead of fleeing. Li tests his sincerity, and Meng gives him the rare Southern Token of the Dingnan Prince’s Residence.
• The token grants Li future support from Meng Huaichuan and the Dingnan Prince’s faction. Good Fortune Born is devastated because he had spent considerable effort befriending Meng specifically to obtain that token.

Character Developments

• Good Fortune Born: Becomes increasingly desperate and ruthless. His many survival treasures show his resourcefulness, but he repeatedly redirects lethal attacks toward others. His resentment toward Li intensifies, and he deliberately makes Li the Fate Corpse’s new target. He is also furious at losing the Southern Token after his long-term scheming.
• Li Qingxian: Remains calm and analytical under extreme danger, searching for a way to neutralize Good Fortune Born’s shadow and the Fate Corpse. He gains Meng Huaichuan’s political support and becomes the focus of the combined threat.
• Shen Xiaoyi: Reveals that he survived and demonstrates knowledge of the Shadow Cloth and the current crisis. Though he cannot solve the problem, he contributes the Imperial Ranking List to strengthen Li’s Fortune.
• Wang Buwu: Shows loyalty by using the Block-Character Token to shield Li from the Fate Corpse, despite disapproving of Good Fortune Born’s actions.
• Meng Huaichuan: Initially distances himself from Good Fortune Born, but later chooses to stay and help Li. By surrendering the Southern Token, he formally builds an alliance with Li.
• The surrounding cultivators: Become fearful and self-preserving, abandoning Good Fortune Born and trying to avoid becoming collateral damage.

Significant Themes

• The danger of misplaced Fortune: Good Fortune Born’s extraordinary Fortune attracts a Beyond-Rank threat, suggesting that great luck can become a curse.
• Betrayal and manipulation: Good Fortune Born survives by sacrificing allies and ultimately turns the Fate Corpse against Li, while Meng’s earlier association with him is exposed as part of a political struggle.
• Trust versus self-interest: Most characters flee or distance themselves from Good Fortune Born, while Wang Buwu and Meng Huaichuan take risks to aid Li.
• Political power and alliances: The Southern Token represents influence and future protection. Its transfer from Meng to Li marks a major shift in political advantage.
• The limits of individual power: Even Li’s powerful Fate Arts and treasures are ineffective against the combined supernatural threat, forcing the characters to rely on cooperation, artifacts, and strategy.
• Consequences of past choices: Good Fortune Born blames Li for his predicament, demonstrating how earlier conflicts over the East Palace and National Fortune continue to shape the present crisis.

Character Interactions

• Good Fortune Born repeatedly begs Meng Huaichuan for help, but Meng refuses to endanger himself and keeps his distance.
• The group openly avoids Good Fortune Born after witnessing his defensive treasures redirect attacks into others.
• Good Fortune Born directly confronts Li, blaming him for his misfortune before hiding in Li’s shadow.
• Shen Xiaoyi identifies the Shadow Cloth and is recognized by Meng’s group as alive.
• Wang Buwu protects Li with the black iron gate, earning Li’s gratitude but provoking Good Fortune Born’s hostility.
• Li asks Meng to prove his earlier promise of support. Meng responds by giving him the Southern Token, creating a formal bond between Li and the Dingnan Prince’s Residence.
• Good Fortune Born reacts with shock and envy, realizing that his painstaking efforts to obtain the same political connection have failed.

Summary of Ye Hao and Good Fortune Born Enter the Dungeon Together

1. Key Plot Points & Events

• Escape from the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse: Li Qingxian lures the deadly Fate Corpse away from his group (Meng Huaichuan, Lin Zhenyuan, Song Baige, Shen Xiaoyi) using teleportation doors, but the Corpse relentlessly pursues him.
• Good Fortune Born’s True Intentions Revealed: Li discovers that Good Fortune Born, his shadowy companion, secretly used the Four Directions Paper to summon the Corpse for the supreme trial in Eerie City, hoping to gain massive rewards.
• Betrayal & Capture: Shen Xiaoyi, after being manipulated by Li, helps him fake a treacherous act (using a Voice Transmission Talisman and a Turtle-Button Silver Seal) to be captured by the Imperial Palace guards.
• Escape into the Dungeon: The guards, terrified by the Corpse, flee, allowing Li and Good Fortune Born to be taken into the Imperial Palace Dungeon—a hidden, sealed-off prison—where they are trapped in darkness.

2. Character Developments

Li Qingxian

• Proves his cleverness and adaptability by outmaneuvering the Corpse and manipulating Shen Xiaoyi.
• Reveals his strategic mind in using artifacts (teleportation doors, talismans) to survive.
• His distrust of Good Fortune Born grows as he uncovers the shadow’s true motives.

Good Fortune Born

• Initially passive and silent, but his greed and recklessness (choosing the supreme trial) backfire, leading to the Corpse’s pursuit.
• His anger and betrayal surface when Li exposes his plan, showing a more hostile and vengeful side.

Shen Xiaoyi

• Initially cynical and dismissive of others, but she reluctantly aids Li due to his cleverness and her own strategic needs.
• Her doubt and concern for Li’s safety are evident, but she follows through with the plan despite risks.

The Group (Meng, Lin, Song)

• Meng Huaichuan admires Li’s virtues but is powerless against the Corpse.
• Lin Zhenyuan criticizes petty accusations against Li but remains passive.
• Song Baige is helpless and resentful, showing his weakness in the face of danger.

3. Significant Themes

• Betrayal & Deception: Li and Shen’s fake treachery to escape the Corpse highlights how trust is fragile in high-stakes situations.
• Greed vs. Survival: Good Fortune Born’s desire for power (choosing the supreme trial) leads to disaster, contrasting with Li’s pragmatic survival instincts.
• Fear & Power Dynamics: The guards’ fear of the Corpse shows how absolute power (or terror) controls others, even authority figures.
• Destiny & Fate: The Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse represents an inescapable, deadly fate, forcing characters to adapt or perish.
• Alliances & Betrayal: The fragile trust among the group (especially Li and Good Fortune Born) is shattered, setting up future conflicts.

4. Character Interactions

Li Qingxian & Good Fortune Born

• Hostile & Manipulative—Li exposes Good Fortune Born’s true intentions, leading to open hostility.
• Power Struggle—Both are trapped together, but Li dominates the narrative, while Good Fortune Born is forced into submission.

Li Qingxian & Shen Xiaoyi

• Strategic Partnership—Shen reluctantly aids Li in a fake betrayal, showing mutual distrust but necessity.
• Tension & Respect—Shen is impressed by Li’s cleverness but remains skeptical of his motives.

The Group’s Reaction to the Corpse

• Fear & Helplessness—Meng, Lin, and Song are overwhelmed, showing their lack of agency against supernatural threats.
• Shen’s Isolation—She stands apart, more calculating than the others, foreshadowing her future role.

Chapter Summary: “The True and False Son of Man Bare Their Hearts”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Good Fortune Born admits that he transformed into a shadow to save himself rather than to harm Li Qingxian. He reveals that he has come to believe Li is secretly the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s “Son of Man.”
• His belief is based on Li’s ability to defeat him in Eerie Village, gather powerful allies in Eerie City, and receive support from figures such as Lin Zhen Yuan, Scabbard, and Shen Xiaoyi.
• Li privately finds the theory absurd but pretends to take it seriously. Good Fortune Born further assumes that Shen Xiaoyi, Zhou Chunfeng, Jiang Youfei, Song Yanxue, and others are all Dao Protectors or agents arranged by the Heaven’s Mandate Sect.
• Good Fortune Born apologizes formally, acknowledging that he underestimated Li and repeatedly opposed someone whose hidden status might surpass his own.
• The two argue over whether Good Fortune Born owes Li for their past conflicts and for Li’s role in saving him. They eventually agree that Good Fortune Born owes Li a life.
• Good Fortune Born claims that he has genuinely repented because he wants to survive, though Li remains uncertain whether the change is sincere. He then attempts to escape using his final treasure, the Painted Door.
• The door transports Good Fortune Born only into the neighboring cell rather than out of the prison. Li realizes this and laughs, while Good Fortune Born is left frustrated and humiliated.
• The Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse suddenly attacks the prison again, terrifying Good Fortune Born and convincing Li that his earlier surrender was sincere.
• Li attempts to use the Myriad Phenomena Brush to escape, but the surrounding weird power prevents it from working.
• Accepting that he must follow the prison’s rules, Li declares that he is willing to play the required game. A red-robed eunuch then transports him to a dark corridor lined with forty locked-looking prison doors, each marked by a different torture instrument.
• Li senses extreme danger but takes comfort in the Life-Replacement Wooden Child and produces his silver “Pass” token as the new trial begins.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian: Remains outwardly calm and manipulative, concealing his amusement at Good Fortune Born’s mistaken assumptions. He recognizes that Good Fortune Born may be undergoing a genuine transformation after losing his fortune and being terrorized by the Fate Corpse. When escape becomes impossible, Li pragmatically accepts the prison’s game.
• Good Fortune Born: Experiences a major reversal. Once arrogant and confident, he now admits defeat, apologizes, and accepts that he owes Li his life. His change appears motivated by fear and the desire to survive, but it may represent the beginning of sincere repentance. His failed escape with the Painted Door also exposes his remaining helplessness.
• The red-robed eunuch: Acts as an enigmatic prison authority, confirming that Li can leave only by participating in the prison’s special game.

Significant Themes

• Misunderstanding and mistaken identity: Good Fortune Born wrongly interprets Li’s alliances and successes as evidence that he is the Heaven’s Mandate Sect’s chosen Son of Man. Li benefits from this misunderstanding without correcting him.
• Transformation through suffering: Good Fortune Born’s loss of fortune, defeat, and terror before the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse force him to reconsider his arrogance and behavior.
• Power and survival: Respect in this world is determined by strength and backing. Good Fortune Born acknowledges that he cannot safely oppose someone protected by overwhelming forces.
• Fate versus personal agency: The discussion of the “Son of Man,” Heaven’s Mandate, and changing destiny reflects the chapter’s larger concern with whether characters are guided by fate or acting through their own choices.
• False hope and hidden danger: Good Fortune Born’s Painted Door appears to offer escape but merely moves him to another cell, while the prison’s seemingly simple corridor promises a deadly, rule-bound trial.

Character Interactions

• Li and Good Fortune Born engage in a tense but often humorous negotiation over guilt, debt, and trust.
• Good Fortune Born openly apologizes and acknowledges Li’s superiority, while Li maintains a false seriousness and quietly exploits his assumptions.
• Their exchange shows a temporary shift from direct hostility to an uneasy relationship based on debt and mutual survival.
• The chapter ends with Li separated from Good Fortune Born and forced into a new prison game, leaving Good Fortune Born behind as the Fate Corpse’s attack resumes.

Summary: “The Imperial Eunuchs Battle the Fate Corpse”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian examines the Pass-Character Token, a reward he received after rescuing the Vegetable-Chopping Child and defeating the Vegetable Gardener in the Cabbage-Chopping Game.
• The red-robed eunuch explains that the Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse is extraordinarily dangerous because it originated in the Death Realm and possesses many abnormal abilities. Although the imperial forces are struggling against it, several powerful figures have joined forces to contain and potentially destroy it.
• Li Qingxian uses the Pass-Character Token. It transforms into gray-yellow mist, allowing him to pass through a series of prison cells and escape through the deepest gate.
• Outside, he discovers that he is somewhere near the imperial palace’s administrative offices. His Traitor Mark is slowly fading, which should eventually prevent the Fate Corpse from tracking him.
• The Vegetable Gardener suddenly appears in a new, enormous body but with the same familiar face. He reveals that he anticipated Li Qingxian’s use of the Pass-Character Token and has been waiting to ambush him.
• The battle behind Li Qingxian intensifies. The Fate Corpse devastates the palace grounds, creating a massive crater and defeating or incapacitating many red-robed eunuchs.
• Three purple-robed eunuchs continue fighting. Each summons a different supernatural formation:
  • Red-clad children surround the corpse, causing poisonous pustules to erupt and expel partially digested objects.
  • Mourners in white attack with paper money that drains the corpse’s armor, flesh, and blood before exploding.
  • People eating from empty bowls magically consume pieces of the corpse’s body.
• The Fate Corpse retaliates by opening its head and back, transforming its white ribbons into vast golden wings, generating a black-and-red sphere of fire, and sprouting numerous bloodshot eyes from its wounds.
• Li Qingxian recognizes those eyes as resembling Fate Stars, suggesting that the corpse’s powers are connected to fate itself and may be even more dangerous than previously understood.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates increasing knowledge of the Eerie City and realizes the Pass-Character Token is an extremely valuable treasure. He also becomes more cautious and suspicious of the Fate Corpse’s intentions.
• The red-robed eunuch is established as informed and pragmatic. He provides Li Qingxian with strategic information but urges him to use the token quickly.
• The Vegetable Gardener is revealed to be calculating and persistent. After losing to Li Qingxian previously, he has studied Li’s behavior and predicted where he would go.
• The imperial eunuchs display extraordinary collective power, using ritualistic and symbolic techniques rather than direct combat. Their efforts show both their strength and the terrifying resilience of the Fate Corpse.
• The Fate Corpse evolves during the fight, revealing increasingly bizarre and destructive abilities. Its connection to Fate Stars raises the possibility that it is more than a simple monster.

Significant Themes

• Cunning versus overwhelming power: Li Qingxian relies on planning and treasures to escape, while the imperial forces confront the Fate Corpse through coordinated strength and supernatural rituals.
• The danger of prediction and counterprediction: The Vegetable Gardener’s ability to anticipate Li’s actions shows that survival in the Eerie City depends on outthinking enemies who are constantly analyzing one another.
• Corruption and unnatural transformation: The Fate Corpse’s mutations, black fluids, eyes, and distorted body emphasize themes of decay, contamination, and the violation of natural order.
• Ritual and symbolic power: Children’s songs, funerary rites, paper money, empty bowls, and chopsticks become weapons, suggesting that ordinary customs gain terrifying supernatural meaning in the Eerie City.
• Fate and destiny: The Fate Corpse’s Fate-Star-like eyes hint that the conflict is tied not merely to physical survival but to manipulation or destruction of fate itself.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian questions the red-robed eunuch about whether the imperial forces can defeat the Fate Corpse, gaining insight into the battle and the creature’s origins.
• The eunuch interrupts Li’s questioning to remind him that he must use the Pass-Character Token before another person clears the trial.
• The Vegetable Gardener confronts Li directly, explaining how he tracked Li’s likely destination and threatening to “harvest” him like a cabbage.
• Li watches the eunuchs battle the Fate Corpse from a distance, witnessing their coordinated formations and the corpse’s terrifying transformation.

Chapter Summary: “When Disaster Strikes, Throw a Tile”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Qingxian makes a split-second decision and teleports away with the Myriad Phenomena Brush as the severely wounded Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse unleashes its remaining power.
• The corpse’s attack combines golden bands of light, crimson divine rays from its Fate Stars, and an expanding black sphere. The resulting explosion devastates the Imperial City, destroying roughly a quarter of it, including the East Palace and numerous halls.
• The Jade Imperial Seal appears at Qianqing Palace and abruptly suppresses the explosion and its aftermath, restoring calm to the rest of the Imperial Palace.
• Li Qingxian initially believes the battle is over, but the headless Fate Corpse begins forcing its way through the spatial gate, revealing that it survived.
• Recognizing that Good Fortune Born has likely manipulated events to make the corpse target him, Li Qingxian prepares to flee. However, he realizes the corpse is drastically weakened: half its body is gone, its arm is barely attached, and most of its white light ribbons have been destroyed.
• Using Fate Observation and the Heaven’s Mandate Instrument, Li Qingxian sacrifices more than a thousand Fortune Fish to investigate the corpse’s hidden Fate Star.
• He discovers an eagle-headed, six-winged dragon surrounded by immense treasure and engaged in indiscriminate slaughter and plunder. He names it the Heavenly Calamity Beast Dragon, an Extremely Ominous Fate Star.
• By naming the Fate Star, Li Qingxian gains a clearer understanding of its nature and concludes that it cannot be defeated through tricks or ordinary counters. It must be overwhelmed by force.
• He rearranges his Fate Stars, unleashes his strongest abilities, and summons the strengthened Obelisk Fate Mountain, temporarily halting the corpse.
• Li Qingxian then throws the broken Glazed Tile he obtained from the “Pin the Nose” game. The tile summons the enormous child from outside the city, who stomps on the tile—and the Fate Corpse beneath it—driving it into the ground.

Character Developments

• Li Qingxian demonstrates quick thinking and adaptability, first escaping the city-destroying blast and then reassessing the situation when the corpse survives.
• He becomes more knowledgeable about the Fate Corpse after identifying its Fate Star, showing his growing mastery of Fate Observation, fate analysis, and Fate Stars.
• His willingness to expend over a thousand Fortune Fish reflects both his resourcefulness and his readiness to sacrifice valuable assets to gain crucial information.
• Li Qingxian also displays increasing confidence: after determining that the Heavenly Calamity Beast Dragon has no exploitable weakness, he commits to overpowering it directly.
• Good Fortune Born is revealed as an unseen manipulator who has likely arranged for the Fate Corpse to pursue Li Qingxian, reinforcing his role as a dangerous and calculating adversary.
• The Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse, though still terrifying, is shown to be severely damaged and gradually losing its former power.
• The mysterious giant child reappears as an overwhelming force, responding to the Glazed Tile and attacking the corpse without apparent concern for the surrounding destruction.

Significant Themes

• Destruction and survival: Even a heavily protected city cannot fully withstand the power of a Beyond-Rank Fate Corpse, emphasizing the scale of the conflict.
• Fate as knowledge and power: Naming the Fate Star gives Li Qingxian deeper insight into the corpse and demonstrates how understanding fate can translate directly into combat advantage.
• Improvisation in crisis: The chapter’s central idea is reflected in its title: when conventional methods fail, Li Qingxian uses an unlikely object—a broken tile—as a weapon and summoning trigger.
• The danger of unchecked savagery: The Heavenly Calamity Beast Dragon represents violence, greed, domination, and the progression of brutality into world-threatening calamity.
• Hidden manipulation: Good Fortune Born’s influence shows that the apparent battle is part of a larger struggle involving traps, indirect attacks, and competing schemes.
• Overwhelming force versus clever strategy: Li Qingxian first uses observation and analysis, but ultimately accepts that some enemies cannot be outmaneuvered and must be crushed through superior power.

Character Interactions

• Li Qingxian’s main direct interaction is with the wounded Fate Corpse, which continues reaching for him despite its catastrophic injuries.
• Through Fate Observation, Li Qingxian effectively confronts the inner nature of the corpse’s Fate Star and classifies its dragon as the Heavenly Calamity Beast Dragon.
• Good Fortune Born influences the encounter indirectly by apparently directing the Fate Corpse toward Li Qingxian.
• Li Qingxian interacts with the mysterious giant child through the broken Glazed Tile. His throw triggers the child’s intervention, resulting in the child stomping the Fate Corpse into the ground.