Recaps

Ye Yu let Ye Zhentian, Ye Tairan, and Ye Xuan depart from Great Flame, then secretly pursued them after discovering that the protective force around Ye Xuan had weakened. He arranged a staged plea for help to lure Ye Tairan into danger, and Ye Tairan agreed to follow the people who approached them.

• Murong Xue warned Ye Yu that provoking the Ye family was risky, then left the imperial palace.
• Ye Zhentian saw Ye Xuan winning Ye Tairan's favor and decided he might return to the Ye family with more support later.
• Ye Zhentian warned Ye Yu to stay in Azure Prefecture, and Ye Yu wished him a safe journey.
• Ye Yu hinted to Ye Xuan that the Blood Demon Race's surrender of Great Flame had a hidden reason, then watched the three leave with Ye Tairan and Ye Zhentian.
• Ye Yu tested the weakened protective force around Ye Xuan, gathered his people, and secretly pursued the three under cover of the Void Sky Cauldron.
• Yuan Xiang confirmed that staged Rogue Cultivators had been arranged to ask for help, and they lured Ye Tairan into agreeing to follow them.

Ye Xuan and Ye Tairan entered the Demon Land while Ye Yu guarded against Blood Demon interference, as disturbances spread across the Divine Continent. Ye Yu's Flame Scar Imprint reacted to the upheaval, and the Cauldron Spirit told him that its power was being reclaimed but that he could still use it for now.

• Ye Yu sent Yuan Xiang and ten puppets north to stop any Blood Demons from interfering, then followed Ye Tairan and the others.
• The youth inside the cauldron opened his eyes as the Cauldron Spirit sensed that something had arrived.
• The Ye Family Old Ancestor said their guardian object was rioting and that they had to complete a ritual within half a year, using Ye Chengjun after testing his bloodline.
• The Wang and Lin Family guardian objects also went berserk as the Divine Continent's spiritual energy increased and the Nine Nether Blood Springs began to contract.
• The formerly suppressed woman told the Tablet Spirit that she was free, though she still could not leave the battlefield.
• Ye Yu collapsed as Curse Power spread from his Flame Scar Imprint, but green radiance forced it back; the Cauldron Spirit then appeared and said she had held back the power trying to reclaim itself.

Ye Yu learned from the Cauldron Spirit that Fate Locks constrained people’s choices, but refused to let them decide his actions. He caught up with Ye Tairan’s group in the Demon Land and surrounded them, only for Ye Tairan to reveal External Incarnations that gave him three opponents to face.

• The Cauldron Spirit showed Ye Yu the Fate Locks and explained how they maintained fate, but Ye Yu declared that he would still choose to act.
• The Cauldron Spirit returned to the Void Sky Cauldron, and Ye Yu continued pursuing Ye Tairan with Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast.
• Ye Tairan, Ye Zhentian, and Ye Xuan entered the Demon Land with Rogue Cultivators’ guidance and found no humans or blood demons nearby.
• Ye Yu appeared with his group and ordered six puppets, Liu Qi, and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast to surround the three.
• Ye Tairan summoned two External Incarnations, leaving Ye Yu’s group facing three mid Void Refining opponents.

Ye Yu faced Ye Tairan in a battle while Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast restrained Ye Tairan’s incarnations. Ye Yu forced Ye Tairan to expend his spiritual power, but Ye Tairan began awakening the Ye family’s Bloodline Power.

• Ye Yu brought out the Purple Firmament Sword, while Liu Qi joined him with the Vast Qi Hall and battled Ye Tairan’s incarnations alongside the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast and six puppets.
• Ye Tairan struck Ye Yu and injured him, while Ye Xuan demanded that Ye Yu apologize to Ye Zhentian.
• Ye Yu activated the Primordial Indestructible Art, absorbed demonic qi, and raised his aura to the peak of early Void Refining.
• Ye Tairan attacked with Heaven-Defying Broken Blade, and Ye Yu countered with Heaven Cleaver as their powers devastated the battlefield.
• Ye Tairan’s spiritual power began to run dry, and Liu Qi used the Vast Qi Hall to keep one incarnation trapped while Ye Xuan prepared to contact the Blood Demon Race.
• Ye Tairan’s left leg turned black and purple-black patterns spread across his body, prompting Ye Zhentian to tell Ye Xuan to watch the Ye family’s Bloodline Power.

Ye Yu fought Ye Tairan, whose Bloodline Power proved to be a weakened form of Curse Power, and revealed his Chaos Nascent Soul. After Ye Yu destroyed Ye Tairan’s formation and beheaded him, Ye Tairan remained alive and seized Ye Yu by the throat, intent on taking his Chaos Nascent Soul.

• Ye Tairan unleashed his Bloodline Power and raised his cultivation to late Void Refining, but Ye Yu sensed that it shared the origin of the Curse Power in his Flame Scar Imprint and was suppressed by his Chaos Spiritual Energy.
• Ye Tairan recognized that Ye Yu possessed a Chaos Nascent Soul and used a Seven Stars Imprisoning Dragon Formation array disc to trap him.
• Ye Yu summoned the Void Sky Cauldron, which freed him and shattered Ye Tairan’s array disc, then used his Chaos Domain to slow Ye Tairan’s spiritual energy.
• Ye Yu struck Ye Tairan’s neck with the Purple Firmament Sword and severed his head, while Ye Tairan’s two clones sent Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast flying.
• Ye Tairan’s head remained connected to his body by black patterns, and he seized Ye Yu by the throat, declaring that he would take the Chaos Nascent Soul.

Ye Yu killed Ye Tairan by unleashing the Curse Power in his palm, then dealt with Ye Zhentian and faced Ye Xuan. As Ye Yu raised the Purple Firmament Sword against his former tormentor, he revealed that the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast could not kill Ye Xuan.

• Ye Tairan tried to use the Ye family Bloodline Power to suppress Ye Yu, but Ye Yu's palm rune drained his power and killed him with Curse Power.
• The Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast knocked Ye Xuan and Ye Zhentian down after their clones vanished, and Liu Qi killed Ye Zhentian at Ye Yu's direction.
• Ye Xuan begged Ye Yu to spare him and offered to endure torture, while Ye Yu swallowed a medicinal pill to recover his spiritual energy.
• Ye Yu stopped the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast from killing Ye Xuan, saying that it could not kill him.
• Ye Yu lifted Ye Xuan by the throat and declared that this time he had won as the shadow of the Purple Firmament Sword loomed before Ye Xuan.

Ye Yu overcame the power protecting Ye Xuan and killed him, breaking the Fate Lock that bound him. A devastating fate tribulation descended, and Ye Yu prepared to face it himself as the Void Sky Cauldron and the Haotian Mirror fragment struggled to hold it back.

• A golden force protected Ye Xuan from Ye Yu's sword, Curse Power, and Void Sky Cauldron, while Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast went to help Yuan Xiang fight the approaching Blood Demon Race members.
• The young man inside the Void Sky Cauldron told Ye Yu that he had to settle his fate himself, and Ye Yu began crushing Ye Xuan's neck despite the pain inflicted by the golden protection.
• Ye Xuan begged Ye Yu to spare him and blamed the women who had ordered him to act, but Ye Yu continued until Ye Xuan died and his Fate Lock broke.
• Golden lightning descended as punishment for breaking fate, and the Void Sky Cauldron and Haotian Mirror fragment joined forces to shield Ye Yu.
• Ye Yu recovered some spiritual energy, drew the Purple Firmament Sword, and stepped forward to face the tribulation himself, but an unknown hand suddenly rested on his shoulder.

Ye Yu witnessed a shadowy figure he believed was his mother help block the Fate Tribulation, then learned that Ye Xuan had been one of many Children of Destiny tied to the Imperial Clan. Meanwhile, Ye Chengjun absorbed the golden orb and confronted the Ye Clan elders, leaving to search for someone.

• Ye Yu recognized the figure emerging from his shadow as his mother, and she joined with the Flame Scar Imprint's rune to block the Fate Tribulation.
• The Cauldron Spirit told Ye Yu his mother had survived but was in poor condition, then Ye Yu grabbed the golden orb released from Ye Xuan's corpse and was briefly shown Ye Chengjun absorbing it.
• The Cauldron Spirit explained that Children of Destiny who understood their fate called themselves Imperial Sons, while others called them the Imperial Clan, and urged Ye Yu to choose his path.
• Ye Yu erased the traces left by Ye Zhentian and Ye Xuan before departing, while Xue Chen realized the Blood Demon Race could not safely retaliate against him.
• Ye Chengjun killed a junior who called him Brother Chengjun instead of Imperial Son, then cut off a Clan Elder's arm after learning the Ye Clan had considered sacrificing him and declared that he was looking for someone.

Ye Chengjun asserted his power over the Ye Lineage, while the clan learned that Ye Tairan had died. Ye Yu’s heart demon forced him to confront his unwillingness to accept his past and present failures, and he left to seek a way through it.

• Ye Chengjun cut off a Clan Elder’s arm, warned the Ye Lineage Patriarch against targeting him, and left a wisp of aura to guide a search.
• The Ye Lineage discovered that Ye Chengjun’s power prevented them from reattaching the Elder’s arm, then learned that Elder Ye Tairan’s soul lamp had gone out.
• Ye Yu returned to the imperial palace and suffered a violent backlash while undergoing the heart demon tribulation.
• The Cauldron Spirit told Ye Yu that his heart demon came from his unwillingness to accept that his efforts had failed to win the Great Yan Royal Family’s favor.
• Ye Yu recognized his obsession, left to find his own way through the tribulation, and the young man and Cauldron Spirit discussed whether he might prove the Dao through killing.

Ye Yu lived as Xu Wangchen in a small town, where encounters with a dying scholar, a displaced man, and two children led him to understand the links between cause and effect and begin a new path of Karma. As his spiritual energy changed, the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast and Liu Qi remained unable to find him while the Ye family approached.

• Ye Yu watched the newly named Third Place Scholar die after sensing that his life force had nearly run out.
• Ye Yu spoke with a destitute man who had accepted his inability to cultivate, then left him a gold ingot and felt his heart demon loosen.
• Ye Yu treated a child’s injured hand and, while listening to the children argue, realized that cause and effect connected all things.
• Black light emerged within Ye Yu’s Chaos Spiritual Energy, and the Cauldron Spirit identified his new path as Karma.
• The Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast asked Liu Qi about Ye Yu, and Liu Qi said there was still no news as the Ye family drew near.

The Ye family arrived in Great Flame, where Ye Qingshan subdued Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast while Ye Fan took control of the kingdom. Ye Qingshan then discovered Ye Yu’s extraordinary power of Karma and demanded that he join the Ye family or die.

• Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast entered the front hall and found Yuan Xiang injured, while Ye Fan sat on the dragon throne beside Wei Qionghua.
• Ye Qingshan’s pressure forced Liu Qi to his knees, and Ye Shanshan declared that she wanted the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast as her mount.
• Ye Fan asked Ye Qingshan, Ye Lan, and Ye Shanshan to spare his subordinates, then announced that he would take control of Great Flame.
• Ye Qingshan sensed powerful spiritual energy and went to investigate as black-and-white pillars of light appeared over the town.
• Ye Yu awakened from his enlightenment with Karma power replacing his Chaos Spiritual Energy, and Ye Qingshan demanded that he follow the Ye family or die.

Ye Yu confirmed his bloodline to Ye Qingshan and learned that Ye Tairan and Ye Xuan were dead, then returned to the palace and found Yuan Xiang and Liu Qi injured. Meanwhile, Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua returned with Ye Xuan already at the Ye Lineage, and Wei Qionghua worried Ye Yu might accuse him of wrongdoing.

• Ye Yu avoided a fight with Ye Qingshan by claiming his identity, and Ye Qingshan confirmed that he belonged to the Ye Lineage.
• Ye Qingshan told Ye Yu that Ye Tairan and Ye Xuan had died, and Ye Yu admitted he had been glad about Ye Xuan’s death.
• Ye Yu returned to the palace, treated the injured Yuan Xiang and Liu Qi, and urged them to endure the Ye Lineage’s pressure until they became vulnerable.
• The Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast agreed to stay with Ye Yu for what it called the last time, and the group laughed together.
• Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua returned from the Myriad Dynasty, and Wei Qionghua urged Ye Fan to turn the Ye Lineage against Ye Yu before he could frame Ye Xuan.

Ye Yu joined the Ye family members as they investigated the deaths of their kin in Azure Prefecture, while Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua tried to promote their son Ye Xuan. The chapter ended with Ye Shanshan revealing that Ye Xuan was among the dead, prompting Wei Qionghua to accuse Ye Yu.

• Ye Fan agreed to speak with the Ye family elders about Ye Yu, while Wei Qionghua privately considered having another child with him.
• Ye Qingshan chose not to tell the clan about Ye Yu’s talent, fearing the clan would use him as a sacrifice.
• Yuan Xiang told Ye Yu that Qin Wushuang had left Great Flame and did not know how to face him.
• Ye Yu brought his subordinates to apologize to Ye Lan and the others, who asked them to investigate the killings of Ye family members in Azure Prefecture.
• Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua urged the Ye family to recall Ye Xuan to help investigate, but Ye Shanshan revealed that Ye Xuan and the others were already dead.
• Wei Qionghua lunged at Ye Yu and accused him of killing Ye Xuan.

Ye Yu openly admitted he had wanted to kill Ye Xuan but turned the investigation toward the Blood Demon Race and asked for a chance to enter the Ye family. After overcoming his heart demon tribulation, he advanced close to the Void Refining tribulation, and Ye Qingshan offered him a rare pill to help.

• Wei Qionghua’s protective pendant shattered as Ye Yu’s Sword Qi pierced her chest, and Ye Fan saved her with a pill before accusing Ye Yu of killing Ye Xuan.
• Ye Yu admitted he had wanted to kill Ye Xuan but lacked the strength, then argued that the Blood Demon Race was the likeliest culprit and suggested investigating rogue cultivators.
• Ye Lan agreed to follow Ye Yu’s proposed investigation, and Ye Yu secured an opportunity to participate in the Ye family clan competition if he completed the task.
• Ye Yu told Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast that Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua would likely frame him, then ordered an investigation and a search for the Blood Demon Race.
• Ye Yu overcame his heart demon tribulation after three days, and Ye Qingshan offered him a Yin Yang Wuji Pill to help with the Void Refining tribulation.

Ye Yu discovered the Yin Yang Wuji Pill carried a tracking rune, so he transferred it to a duplicate made from his spiritual root and left the imperial palace. Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast were stunned that Ye Yu’s strength remained unchanged without his spiritual root, while Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua prepared to pursue him with help from Ye Fan’s contacts.

• Ye Yu swallowed Ye Qingshan’s Yin Yang Wuji Pill and realized it had been altered to track his aura.
• Ye Yu used his discarded spiritual root to create a convincing duplicate of himself and transferred the pill’s tracking rune to it.
• Ye Yu instructed Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast to take the duplicate into crowded places while he left the palace.
• Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast realized Ye Yu’s combat power had not weakened despite his spiritual root being elsewhere, and wondered whether he was human.
• Ye Fan told Wei Qionghua that he had arranged help through his father’s Ye family connections, and they set out after Ye Yu.

Ye Yu visited Murong Xue at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion to learn what the Ye family was doing and discovered they were seeking a sacrifice. Murong Xue identified Ye Chengjun as a formidable threat, and as Ye Yu left, a woman recognized him as Xiao Yu.

• Ye Yu reached the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion in disguise and asked to see Murong Xue as Yunxi.
• Ye Yu proved his identity by changing his ring into a Purple Crystal Ring engraved with Xu, and Murong Xue told him the Ye family had come seeking a severed arm from the Yan Shang Cave Mansion.
• Murong Xue revealed that the Ye family needed a sacrifice and had previously targeted Ye Yu before Ye Xuan took his place.
• Ye Yu learned that Ye Chengjun had severed an incarnation of a Body Integration Realm expert, and he recognized Ye Chengjun as the man connected to his new Fate Lock.
• As Ye Yu left the rear courtyard, a woman saw him and cried out, calling him Xiao Yu.

Ye Yu met Zhou Li at the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion and learned that the Great Zhou imperial family was searching for the Xu family ring. Feng Qiwen examined Ye Qingxuan and discovered a hidden backlash rune that could explain her future madness and death.

• Ye Yu recognized that Ye Qingxuan still carried his mother’s aura and summoned Feng Qiwen to examine her.
• Zhou Li told Ye Yu that Zhou Qitian had arranged his marriage to Ye Qingxuan to find the Purple Crystal Ring, and Ye Yu allowed him to reveal the ring’s location to Zhou Qitian alone in half a month.
• Feng Qiwen confirmed that Ye Qingxuan bore a Xu family backlash rune that would harm her if she violated a certain matter.
• Ye Yu suspected Ye Qingxuan’s obsession with him was resisting the rune and might be connected to the madness that had led to her death in his previous life.

Ye Yu left Zhou Li with instructions to investigate his mother's past, then went to the Yan Shang Cave Mansion and met the fortune-teller Weng Banxian. Weng revealed himself as Weng Buyu, the founding patriarch of Qingyun Sect.

• Ye Yu told Zhou Li to investigate the woman who had come to Great Zhou more than ten years ago, whom Ye Yu believed might be his mother.
• Ye Yu left Ye Qingxuan behind and headed to the Yan Shang Cave Mansion, refusing to let Feng Qiwen accompany him.
• At the cave mansion, Weng Banxian called Ye Yu down to his stall and charged him one million spirit stones to read his fortune.
• Weng Banxian struck down a cultivator trying to sneak into the cave mansion, then interpreted the character for fate that Ye Yu had written.
• Weng Banxian told Ye Yu that changing fate required believing in it, then identified himself as Weng Buyu, the founding patriarch of Qingyun Sect.

Ye Yu learned that Weng Buyu served an Imperial Son and had imprisoned Ye Yu’s mother in Yan Shang Cave Mansion, but he left after realizing he could not defeat Weng Buyu. Near the Demon Land, Liu Qi and Yuan Xiang kept captured Rogue Cultivators safe while Ye Fan’s men grew desperate to find them.

• Weng Buyu told Ye Yu that he had once founded Qingyun Sect, now served an Imperial Son, and considered Ye Yu the Imperial Son’s prey.
• Ye Yu asked to enter Yan Shang Cave Mansion, but Weng Buyu refused and revealed that Ye Yu’s mother had entered it carrying a severed arm.
• Ye Yu’s killing intent faded when he sensed Weng Buyu’s stronger power of destiny, and he left, determined to return for his mother.
• Yan Ruyu told Weng Buyu that she believed Ye Yu could succeed, and Weng Buyu agreed to trust him.
• Near the Demon Land, Liu Qi and Yuan Xiang protected captured Rogue Cultivators while Ye Fan’s men searched aggressively for them.
• Ye Fan worried that they had made no progress and that Ye Yu might reach his destination first.

Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua struggled to find a way to avenge Ye Xuan, while Ye Yu plotted to keep the Ye family occupied. After the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast was caught mistreating Ye Yu’s puppet, Ye Yu ordered a new plan involving a false report and a trip to the Demon Land.

• Ye Fan told Wei Qionghua that Ye Yu had likely killed the witnesses and left no evidence, and vowed that Ye Xuan would not die in vain.
• Ye Yu returned to Azure Prefecture and ordered Liu Qi and Yuan Xiang to muddy the waters by killing more people so the Ye family could not act freely.
• The Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast sat on Ye Yu’s puppet, boasted about urinating on it, and was caught when Ye Yu returned and bound it with spiritual power.
• Liu Qi showed Ye Yu a Memory Stone proving the beast’s actions, and Ye Yu whipped it before the disturbance eased his gloom.
• Ye Yu told Yuan Xiang to spread a false report about capturing Rogue Cultivators and ordered Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast to take his puppet secretly to the Demon Land.

Ye Lan and Ye Qingshan waited in Azure Prefecture for Ye Yu and the Rogue Cultivators, while Ye Qingqing worried about Ye Yu’s safety. After Ye Qingshan sensed Ye Yu heading toward the Demon Land, he left to check on him, and Ye Lan beckoned Ye Shanshan back to his side.

• Ye Lan and the others heard that Ye Yu had found the Rogue Cultivators and planned to return to the Great Yan Imperial City.
• Ye Shanshan urged Ye Lan to investigate immediately, but he chose to wait after asking Ye Qingqing what she thought.
• Ye Lan slapped Ye Shanshan for insulting Ye Qingqing, then discussed with Ye Qingshan how the clan would judge Ye Yu’s and Ye Fan’s accounts of Ye Tairan’s death.
• Ye Lan told Ye Qingshan that he enjoyed manipulating people like Ye Shanshan, who would return whenever he beckoned.
• Ye Qingshan sensed Ye Yu moving toward the Demon Land and left, while Ye Lan beckoned Ye Shanshan back and she apologized.

Ye Fan sent two Ye family dead soldiers after Ye Yu, believing Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast had entered the Demon Land without their strongest support. Ye Yu prepared for the attack while Liu Qi and the beast encountered the two figures inside the Demon Land.

• Ye Fan concluded that Ye Yu’s plan involved capturing Blood Demons and decided to attack his escort, while two seniors agreed to help him.
• Ye Yu recognized the approaching black-clad figures as Ye family dead soldiers and told Yuan Xiang to use a master-servant contract on the Rogue Cultivators if the attackers tried to replace them.
• Ye Yu headed into the Demon Land, where Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast remained alert despite finding no Blood Demons.
• Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast joked about using the puppet “Ye Yu” to watch a Memory Stone, then noticed two black-robed figures approaching.
• Liu Qi recognized the yellow crystal rings on the figures and realized they were from the Ye family.

Liu Qi and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast were overwhelmed by two Ye family deathsworn until Ye Yu intervened and appeared to lose his spiritual root and nascent soul. Ye Qingshan arrived, discovered Ye Yu’s condition, killed one deathsworn, and seized the other to demand who had ordered the attack.

• The Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast unleashed his dragon blood essence to slow the deathsworn’s attack and sent Liu Qi away, but the men struck him down.
• Ye Yu appeared, used the Void Sky Cauldron to swallow a palm attack, and countered the deathsworn with Karma Power.
• Ye Yu carried the injured Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast to Liu Qi, then let the deathsworn destroy his puppet as he returned to his original appearance and collapsed.
• The deathsworn tried to flee, but Ye Qingshan arrived and the men knelt before him.
• Ye Qingshan examined Ye Yu, found his spiritual root and nascent soul apparently gone, killed one deathsworn, and demanded an explanation from the other.

Ye Yu deceived the Ye family into believing his spiritual root had been destroyed, then planned to return to the Great Flame Dynasty before traveling to Central Prefecture. In Great Zhou, Zhou Qitian revealed that he and Zhou Li were both bound by master-servant contracts, while Zhou Li knew Ye Yu held the ring connected to them.

• Ye Qingshan learned that Ye Yu's spiritual root was gone, killed the man responsible, and abandoned Ye Yu when he begged for help.
• After Ye Qingshan left, Ye Yu revealed to the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast and Liu Qi that he had staged his apparent crippling and planned to return to the Great Flame Dynasty before heading to Central Prefecture.
• The Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast said it needed to return to its clan to grow stronger, and Ye Yu agreed that it and Liu Qi could leave together after matters were settled.
• News of Ye Yu's supposed crippling spread across Qingyunlei Three States, and Ye Qingxuan worried that she could not return to Great Flame to see him.
• Zhou Qitian showed Zhou Li the master-servant contract rune and revealed that a woman had forced him to sign a contract over a decade earlier.
• Zhou Qitian explained that the woman had tied his contract to a ring, while Zhou Li privately realized Ye Yu currently possessed it.

Ye Yu returned to Great Yan Imperial City pretending to have lost his spiritual root, while Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua planned to kill him after the Ye family arrived. At the palace hall, Ye Lan demanded to see the person accused of murdering Ye Tairan.

• Zhou Qitian told Zhou Li that he served Ye Yu's mother, and Zhou Li informed Ye Yu of the claim.
• Ye Yu told Zhou Li to keep the news secret until they could determine whether Zhou Qitian's story was true.
• Ye Yu arrived in Great Yan Imperial City looking gravely ill, and Ye Fan and Wei Qionghua discussed waiting until after the Ye family's meeting before killing him.
• Ye Lan and Ye Qingshan assessed Ye Yu's condition and debated whether Ye Yu or Ye Fan should control Great Flame, while other factions waited to see what the Ye family would do.
• Ye Yu spent the night without being attacked, then pretended to weaken further before being carried to the palace hall.
• Ye Lan asked for the culprit in Ye Tairan's murder to be brought before the Ye family.