Chapter Summaries

Ye Yu rejected Murong Xue’s plea to trust others and chose the chill of the shadows, while Qin Han began to recognize that he had been deceived and that Ye Yu had not come to claim Great Qin. As Great Qin’s last defenders faced the Blood Demon Race, two figures passed through the horde toward Yan Ruyu and the others.

• Ye Yu told Murong Xue he would not trust anyone again, and she left after he refused to hear her advice.
• Ye Yu called Liu Qi to join him in the shadows.
• Qin Han saw that Great Qin had lost most of its territory and realized Ye Yu had not taken advantage of its weakness.
• Qin Han admitted to himself that his father had been right and that he had been deceived.
• At the Demon Land border, Yan Ruyu said she wished she could see Ye Yu once more, and Qingyun Ancestor blamed him for abandoning Great Qin.
• The blood demons parted to let two figures approach the exhausted defenders.

Ye Yu and Liu Qi returned to Great Qin, passed through the Blood Demons, and entered the capital to evacuate Qin Wushuang, the imperial princes and princesses, Cangyun, and his chosen alchemists. The chapter left Qin Han discovering Qin Wushuang missing and rushing from the bedchamber, while Ye Qingshuang was near death after Ye Yu left without answering her pleas.

• Ye Yu and Liu Qi walked unhindered through the Blood Demons, and Qingyun Ancestor recognized Ye Yu on the city wall.
• Ye Yu and Liu Qi concealed their auras, entered the capital, and saw Ye Qingshuang hanging at the palace gate and pleading for Ye Yu to appear.
• Ye Yu found the unconscious Qin Wushuang beside the dead Situ Guang and carried Qin Wushuang from the bedchamber.
• Ye Yu gathered more than ten members of the imperial family, then departed with Cangyun and the alchemists he had selected.
• After Ye Yu left, Ye Qingshuang broke down as Qin Han returned and found Qin Wushuang missing and Situ Guang's eyes closed.

Ye Yu evacuated Great Qin’s imperial princes and princesses, then returned to Great Flame and warned the Blood Demons not to cross the border. After Qin Wushuang learned that Ye Yu would not have defended Great Qin, he acknowledged the decision was right but said he could no longer face his family or live with himself.

• Qin Han realized Ye Yu had taken the imperial family away, and Great Qin’s ministers blamed both Ye Yu and Qin Han for their predicament.
• Ye Yu brought the evacuees through the Demon Land and returned to Great Flame without stopping to fight the Blood Demons.
• Ye Yu cut a vast ravine into the border and ordered Yuan Xiang to kill anyone who crossed it.
• Ye Yu woke Qin Wushuang and admitted he would not have helped Great Qin even if Qin Wushuang had stayed awake.
• Qin Wushuang accepted that Ye Yu’s choice was right but said bringing his children away had left him unable to face his family.

Ye Yu learned that Ye Zhentian was approaching Great Flame with a Ye Lineage expert, so he prepared the court to conceal the truth about Ye Fan. Ye Zhentian arrived at the palace and called for Ye Fan, while Ye Yu greeted him as his imperial grandfather.

• Ye Yu left Qin Wushuang alone after honestly admitting his feelings for her.
• Murong Xue told Ye Yu that Ye Zhentian had arrived in Azure Prefecture with Ye Tairan, an expert whose strength made an illusion array too risky.
• Ye Yu instructed Liu Qi and the officials to coordinate their stories about Ye Fan.
• Ye Tairan promised Ye Zhentian a place in his branch if Ye Fan proved strong enough, and the two traveled toward Great Flame.
• Ye Zhentian called for Ye Fan from above the imperial palace, and Ye Yu stepped out of Fengtian Hall to welcome him.

Ye Zhentian and Ye Tairan arrived in Azure Prefecture to bring Ye Yu back to the Ye family, while Ye Yu concealed his role in killing the Blood Demon and made arrangements of his own. The Ye family’s arrival was announced across the Three States, alarming Ye Yu’s enemies and prompting him to predict that Ye Xuan would try to take his place.

• Ye Yu told Ye Zhentian that an unnamed expert had nearly defeated the Blood Demon before Ye Yu arrived, and Ye Tairan dismissed the claim that Ye Yu could have killed it himself.
• Ye Zhentian brought Ye Tairan to Fengtian Hall, where Ye Tairan agreed to stay and collect gifts before the clan competition determined whether Ye Yu would join their branch.
• Ye Zhentian questioned Ye Yu about the expert and ordered him to announce throughout Azure Prefecture that Ye Yu would return to the Ye family; Ye Yu instead had Liu Qi spread the announcement across the Qingyunlei Three States and contacted Feng Qiwen.
• Ye Yu told Murong Xue that someone would take the opportunity to return to the Ye family from him, predicting that Ye Xuan would use his usual tricks.
• News of the Ye family’s arrival spread through the Three States, delighting Qing Xuzi and frightening the Nine Spirits Sword Sect.

Ye Xuan enlisted Xue Qin and Xue Chen in a plan to claim that he, rather than Ye Yu, had fought a Ye family elder, swearing loyalty to the Blood Demon Race to secure their help. Meanwhile, Ye Yu waited for Ye Zhentian and Ye Tairan to separate, then followed Ye Zhentian toward a nearby city with Feng Qiwen ready to set an illusion formation.

• Ye Xuan learned that Ye Yu had reclaimed Great Flame and feared that Ye Yu would gain the Ye family's recognition.
• Ye Xuan proposed to Xue Qin and Xue Chen that he claim to have fought the Ye family elder first, and he swore an oath of loyalty to the Blood Demon Race.
• Ye Yu prepared a banquet to meet Ye Tairan while watching Ye Zhentian investigate Ye Fan and the others' absence.
• After learning Ye Zhentian had left the imperial city for a nearby city, Ye Yu followed him and called on Feng Qiwen, who said his illusion formation was ready.

Ye Yu and Feng Qiwen used an illusion array to uncover Ye Zhentian’s memories and saw Xu Yunxi alive, offering him the Void Sky Cauldron to protect Ye Yu. Ye Yu sent Feng Qiwen to the Triangular Region to stop his mother if she appeared, then asked the Cauldron Spirit whether it had seen her.

• Feng Qiwen trapped Ye Zhentian in the Illusionary Sky Heart Mirroring Array, and Ye Yu saw Ye Zhentian’s murderous reaction to the Great Yan Dynasty’s situation.
• Ye Zhentian’s memory showed Xu Yunxi confronting him while gravely injured and offering the Small Cauldron in exchange for sparing Ye Yu.
• Ye Yu recognized the Small Cauldron as the Void Sky Cauldron, and the image began to crack as Ye Zhentian reached for it.
• Feng Qiwen ended the illusion, and Ye Zhentian awoke without remembering what he had seen.
• Ye Yu ordered Feng Qiwen to go to the Triangular Region and stop Xu Yunxi if she appeared, then asked the Cauldron Spirit whether it had seen his mother.

Ye Yu prepared for the three provinces’ arrival while wondering whether his mother had sent the Void Sky Cauldron to him. Ye Xuan staged his return from the Demon Land, and the chapter ended with the Ye family welcoming the provincial factions into an extravagantly decorated imperial palace.

• Ye Yu questioned the Cauldron Spirit about his mother, then returned to the imperial palace and exchanged a knowing glance with Ye Zhentian.
• Ye Yu kept the three provinces’ prominent figures outside the imperial palace until their arrival, where Qing Xuzi greeted him and Ji Wuming stopped him from pressing Ye Yu about joining the Ye family.
• Ye Xuan emerged from the Demon Land pursued by Blood Demons, claimed he had encountered a mid Void Refining Blood Demon, and pretended to faint after the Rogue Cultivators sheltered him.
• Zhou Qitian and Zhou Li were blocked from traveling to Great Flame by Blood Demons, so Zhou Qitian decided to send a message instead of forcing their way through.
• Three days later, the palace gates opened to reveal spirit stones covering the imperial palace, and Ye Tairan entered as Ye Zhentian and Ye Yu welcomed the cultivators from the three provinces.

Ye Xuan arrived at the palace battered and apparently crippled, prompting Ye Zhentian and Ye Tairan to examine his injuries. Ye Xuan claimed he had wounded a mid Void Refining Blood Demon, and the hall’s attention turned to Ye Yu as the story connected their achievements.

• Ye Tairan accepted tribute from the Three States and said the Ye family would provide protection in exchange for their continued assistance.
• Ye Xuan was carried into the palace after a group rescued him from the Blood Demon Race, and Ye Zhentian accused Ye Yu of failing to keep him safe.
• Ye Xuan woke and defended Ye Yu, then claimed demon blood had ruined his body and left him unable to cultivate.
• Ye Tairan confirmed Ye Xuan’s severe injuries, but hesitated over whether the Ye family should save him.
• Ye Xuan said he had severely wounded a mid Void Refining Blood Demon, and Ye Tairan verified that the blood on him was the demon’s essence blood.

Ye Yu publicly yielded the credit and the Ye family position to Ye Xuan, leaving Ye Xuan set to return with Ye Zhentian while Ye Yu stayed in Azure Prefecture. After the others departed, Ye Yu ordered his forces gathered and hinted that Ye Xuan’s journey could end in a Blood Demon ambush.

• Ye Yu recognized Yun Cong and suggested that Ye Xuan had been the expert who injured the Blood Demon, then insisted Ye Xuan deserved the Ye family position.
• Ye Zhentian tried to argue that Ye Yu should go because he had killed the Blood Demon, but Ye Yu appealed to Ye Tairan and chose to remain in Azure Prefecture.
• Ye Tairan praised Ye Yu and settled the matter in Ye Xuan’s favor, while Ye Zhentian glared at Ye Yu and Ye Xuan believed Ye Yu had been pressured into yielding.
• Zhou Qitian and Zhou Li questioned Ye Xuan’s claim and wondered why Ye Yu had given up the chance to enter the Ye family.
• Ye Yu told Liu Qi to summon Yuan Xiang’s sixteen puppets and the Ice Crystal Dragon Scale Beast, then suggested Ye Xuan could be ambushed by the Blood Demon Race.

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.