Chapter Summaries

After the Great Qian delegation's massacre heightened tensions with Great Xun, Su Yueli suspected someone was deliberately provoking a war but could not identify the culprit. The massacre of Azure Stone City pushed both dynasties into battle, and Su Yueli realized the mastermind had planned the escalation.

• Su Yueli and Han Yu reviewed conflicting evidence about the delegation's deaths and suspected a hidden instigator, while Su Yueli refused to accuse Motian Xing without proof.
• Su Yueli forbade Han Yu from investigating in Great Xun because her connection to her master would make her appear biased, and ordered Great Li's spies to investigate instead.
• Great Qian and Great Xun continued mobilizing troops as their spies clashed, while both courts waited for an excuse to fight.
• Attackers wearing Great Qian armor entered Azure Stone City after its formation was opened from within, killed its defenders and civilians, and left a blood-debt message.
• Great Xun declared war after the massacre, and the two nations' armies clashed at the border, killing over ten thousand soldiers in an hour.
• After reading a secret report, Su Yueli recognized that the delegation massacre had only ignited the conflict and that Azure Stone City's slaughter had triggered the war.

Han Yu investigated the massacre in Azure Stone City and found signs that the victims’ life force had been drained while the supposed Great Qian attackers’ souls had been destroyed to conceal their identities. At the broken formation core, she detected Demon Qi linked to Motian Xing.

• Su Yueli suspected Motian Xing had caused the Azure Stone City massacre, and Han Yu set out with Heavenly Secrets Pavilion cultivators to investigate.
• Han Yu’s party passed fleeing civilians whose food and able-bodied young men had been seized for the war between Great Qian and Great Xun.
• After entering Azure Stone City, Han Yu examined corpses and discovered that every one had been completely drained of life force.
• Han Yu found that the alleged Great Qian killers had destroyed their own Divine Souls with Soul-Destroying Pills, preventing their identities from being confirmed.
• At the shattered city-protecting formation core, Han Yu detected Demon Qi in the blood of a slain Great Xun cultivator.

Han Yu uncovered evidence of demonic involvement in Azure Stone City's massacre as Great Qian and Great Xun escalated their war. In Great Li, Su Yueli stopped an imperial army from exploiting the conflict to seize three border cities, leaving the court to resolve its territorial ambitions without claiming her support.

• Han Yu sealed a blood scab containing Demon Qi and suspected demonic cultivators were behind Azure Stone City's massacre, then saw the trace of Demon Qi shift westward.
• After Great Qian took Linchuan Pass, Great Xun and Great Qian reinforced their armies and traded attacks, while sects seized Spiritual Veins and hatred between the nations grew.
• Great Li's court debated taking three border cities and their nearby Spirit Ore before vassal kings could claim them, then the regent prince ordered thirty thousand soldiers to move out under the pretext of suppressing bandits.
• Su Yueli confronted the army commander, exposed the planned seizure, and ordered him to return while warning Great Li not to claim her backing.

Su Yueli uncovered that Motian Xing’s followers had used Demon Seeds to drain Azure Stone City’s dead and fuel his recovery, while their massacre also aimed to provoke a war. Han Yu found 372 corpses that had retained some life force in the city’s western district, leaving Su Yueli focused on why those dead were different.

• Great Li’s regent ordered the troops to withdraw after Su Yueli refused to help force other dynasties into surrender.
• Han Yu told Su Yueli that the corpses in Azure Stone City had lost their life force and that he had found Demon Qi at the City-Guarding Formation’s core.
• Su Yueli recognized the Demon Qi as connected to Motian Xing and ordered the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion to investigate the Devil Dao Sects and old cases involving him.
• Su Yueli deduced that hidden Demon Seeds had sent the city’s stolen life force to Motian Xing and that the massacre was meant to provoke war and aid his recovery.
• Han Yu reported that 372 corpses retained some Qi and Blood and Divine Soul, and said they had died in the western district near a collapsed stone tower.

Han Yu uncovered evidence that Demon Seeds had been planted in Azure Stone City’s victims, then resisted Great Xun’s attempt to use her testimony against Great Qian. On the journey home, she stopped a Great Qian grain team from taking more than its authorized share, while recognizing she could only intervene once.

• Han Yu showed Su Yueli evidence of Demon Seeds in the corpses, and Su Yueli ordered her to seal the news and leave with the evidence.
• Great Xun cultivators tried to detain Han Yu and pressure her to blame Great Qian, but she invoked Su Yueli and led her group away.
• Han Yu’s companions worried their return journey would be dangerous, and she ordered them to travel through the night because their enemies feared her master.
• At a Great Qian border town, Han Yu stopped a grain requisition team from taking all the town’s grain and made them follow the order to take seventy percent.
• When a companion asked why she had not let the townspeople keep all their grain, Han Yu said she could only interfere this once.

Han Yu learned that Motian Xing was feeding on the deaths caused by the war, while Su Yueli set out to pursue the demon qi. Before she could leave, King Dongping invaded a neighboring city in Su Yueli’s name, and she went to confront whoever was responsible.

• Han Yu brought blood scabs and ashes from Azure Stone City to Su Yueli, and Little Black exposed a demon seed containing remnant souls.
• Su Yueli explained that Motian Xing had used demon seeds to absorb the life force of more than a hundred thousand victims, but the warring nations would not accept the truth easily.
• Su Yueli marked the demon qi’s path west and decided to follow it herself, telling Han Yu to remain in Great Li.
• A message reported that King Dongping had led a hundred thousand soldiers across the border, seized a city, and claimed Su Yueli authorized the invasion.
• Su Yueli departed to confront the responsible party as King Dongping occupied Anyuan City and assured its surrendered lord that he would protect the people.

Su Yueli confronted King Dongping after he used her name to seize Anyuan City for Great Li and exploit its resources. She forced him to withdraw his troops, return what they had taken, and release the arrested Azure Sun Sect disciples, then warned him against invoking her name again.

• King Dongping ordered the arrest of the Azure Sun Sect disciples occupying the Spirit Ore mine and threatened to execute anyone who resisted.
• Lord Mayor Liang questioned whether King Dongping had Su Yueli's written authorization, and King Dongping insisted Anyuan City now belonged to Great Li.
• Su Yueli entered the hall, found the military order requisitioning the city's resources, and accused King Dongping of using her name to take the city.
• King Dongping offered Su Yueli increasing shares of the Spirit Ore and other treasures, but she demanded that his army withdraw, return everything taken, and release the arrested disciples.
• Su Yueli forced King Dongping and his generals to their knees until he admitted his mistake, then gave him two hours to withdraw his troops.
• Su Yueli warned King Dongping that if he borrowed her name again, she would go to Dongping Prince's Palace and take his head.

Su Yueli forced King Dongping’s army to withdraw from Anyuan City, then learned that conflicts across the continent were spreading and that death aura was gathering in western Great Xun. Back in the Imperial City, she rejected the court’s attempt to make her capture King Dongping and warned the ministers that they had to handle Great Li’s affairs themselves.

• Su Yueli left Anyuan City after the Dongping Army returned everything it had taken and withdrew under King Dongping’s orders.
• Su Yueli told the Anyuan City Lord that the Azure Sun Sect would decide how to judge his choice to open the city gates.
• Su Yueli reviewed the Great Li Heavenly Secrets Pavilion’s intelligence and learned that dozens of conflicts had erupted across the continent.
• Little Black sensed that death aura was gathering in western Great Xun, and Su Yueli concluded that someone was collecting power from the wars for Motian Xing.
• Han Yu told Su Yueli that the court wanted her back in the Imperial City to discuss King Dongping, so Su Yueli returned and confronted the ministers.
• Su Yueli refused to capture King Dongping for the court and told the ministers to deal with him according to Great Li’s laws.

Su Yueli refused to help Great Li reclaim military authority, then hurried toward Azure River Pass after receiving a desperate message about a demonic attack. She discovered that Motian Xing’s forces were gathering death qi from the war and learned that Azure River Pass had been infiltrated and massacred.

• Su Yueli rejected the ministers’ request to intervene against King Dongping, and they abandoned their plan to involve her in court struggles.
• Little Black sensed a powerful demonic fluctuation, and a Jade Talisman reported that Azure River Pass’s Formation had been breached and people were being killed.
• Su Yueli left for Azure River Pass alone, instructing Han Yu to remain in Great Li and protect the Imperial City.
• While crossing the battlefield between Great Qian and Great Xun, Su Yueli found and destroyed a demonic stone that had been collecting death qi for Motian Xing.
• Su Yueli met refugees fleeing Azure River Pass and learned that Great Qian-armored cultivators had used an imperial token to enter, killed the commander, and joined thousands of demonic cultivators in massacring the city.
• A one-armed guard told Su Yueli that the attackers had driven black objects into their victims’ corpses, suggesting they had planted Demon Seeds.

Su Yueli arrived at Azure River Pass and found its people massacred by Demon Cultivators gathering life force and death qi. After defeating them and learning of Motian Xing’s broader scheme, she followed a trail of death qi west toward a crucial location.

• Su Yueli reached Azure River Pass, killed or captured the Demon Cultivators at its gate, and watched the survivors destroy themselves with Soul-Destroying Pills.
• Su Yueli suppressed hundreds of fleeing Demon Cultivators, while Little Black stopped their strongest fighter from escaping through a teleportation talisman.
• Su Yueli extracted the Twelfth Realm Demon Cultivator’s Demon Seed and learned that Motian Xing had arranged attacks in both nations to prolong the war and directed death qi westward.
• Su Yueli destroyed the Demon Seed, rescued civilians hiding in the city, and found that nearly ninety thousand people had died in Azure River Pass.
• Little Black traced death qi gathered by formation pillars toward the west, and Su Yueli followed the trail, suspecting it led to a key part of Motian Xing’s plan.

Great Qian and Great Xun went to war after accusing each other of border attacks, and Su Yueli forcibly halted their advances. She secured a seven-day ceasefire to investigate the evidence, while both sides remained suspicious of her intentions.

• Great Qian and Great Xun exchanged accusations and evidence after fighting began, and both dynasties ordered nearby sects to support their armies.
• Great Xun retook Red Sand City at heavy cost and prepared to advance toward Azure River Prefecture.
• Su Yueli suppressed the Great Xun camp and ordered its forces to stop advancing while she went to confront Great Qian.
• Su Yueli also suppressed the Great Qian camp and ordered both armies to hold their lines, then found an unfamiliar aura on a Great Xun military token.
• Envoys from both dynasties accepted Su Yueli's seven-day ceasefire, but each privately warned their side to guard against her favoring the other dynasty.

Su Yueli uncovered signs that the attacks provoking Great Qian and Great Xun might have been staged, but both armies resumed fighting after false-flag strikes destroyed supplies and implicated each other. She arrived at Red Sand City as the battle raged and forcibly separated the armies.

• Su Yueli found a shattered restriction and traces of Demon Qi in the corpses of supposed Great Xun attackers, then ordered the evidence kept secret while she investigated missing sect disciples.
• Masked attackers in Great Xun uniforms destroyed Great Qian's grain convoy, planted a token bearing Great Xun's military designation, and triggered Great Qian's march on Red Sand City.
• An attacker reported the grain route's destruction and was ordered to enter Great Xun territory with Great Qian tokens; disguised assailants then attacked an eastern watchtower and left Great Qian banners behind.
• Convinced that the other side had broken the truce, Great Qian and Great Xun resumed battle, drawing nearby towns and sects into the expanding conflict.
• After learning both armies blamed each other for the attacks, Su Yueli ordered a missing disciple's cultivation sealed and hurried to Red Sand City, where she split the fighting armies with a palm strike.

Su Yueli uncovered proof that Demon Path agents had provoked the war between Great Qian and Great Xun, but conflicts spread across the continent faster than she could contain them. As Great Li faced danger and new attacks erupted, she was left unsure whether anyone would believe her evidence.

• Su Yueli halted the fighting at Red Sand City, but the Great Qian and Great Xun commanders planned to resume hostilities once she left.
• Su Yueli found Divine Soul Restrictions on the attackers’ corpses and learned that someone had impersonated cultivators from both dynasties to reignite the war.
• Conflicts spread as Great Chu and Great Yan mobilized, sects seized rivals’ territory and resources, and Rogue Cultivators ambushed supply convoys.
• After seeing the wounded and hearing a young cultivator ask whether the fighting would stop, Su Yueli agreed that Han Yu should defend Great Li’s border without pursuing enemies.
• Su Yueli traced demonic qi to an abandoned mine, where uniforms, identity tokens, aura-altering pills, and a Formation marked “Kill” revealed the Demon Path’s role.
• Su Yueli received simultaneous reports of an attack on Great Xun’s rear, the destruction of a Great Qian supply route, and the official start of war between Great Chu and Great Yan, and hesitated to send her evidence.

Han Yu and Su Yueli uncovered the Demon Path’s role in the escalating war, but Great Xun and Great Qian refused to withdraw their armies. After a controlled army massacred three villages, Su Yueli confronted a Demon Cultivator who recognized Motian Xing’s name and warned that she could not stop what was coming.

• Han Yu opened Great Li’s gates to refugees, caught an old man carrying forged identity tokens and aura-altering pills, and tightened the city’s security after he died in prison.
• Demon Path attacks struck Great Li’s villages, towns, and grain convoys while Great Xun, Great Qian, Great Chu, and Great Yan expanded the fighting.
• Su Yueli showed Great Xun’s commander evidence of the Demon Path’s involvement, but he refused to withdraw because he wanted to weaken Great Qian; Great Qian’s commander also rejected peace.
• A Great Xun army broke orders and slaughtered the people of three villages before its cultivators died with their Divine Souls destroyed.
• Su Yueli tracked a black-robed Thirteenth Realm Demon Cultivator, sealed his attempt to detonate his Demon Qi, and questioned him about the army’s rampage and Motian Xing.
• The Demon Cultivator resisted Su Yueli’s memory search with a Divine Soul restriction and told her she could not stop what was coming.

Su Yueli learned that Motian Xing was using deaths from the war to advance toward the Fifteenth Realm, so she ordered the four dynasties to stop fighting and set rules against attacks on mortals. When Great Chu, Great Qian, and Great Xun defied her, she killed their powerful cultivators and confronted a Great Xun elder holding thirty thousand commoners hostage.

• A dying black-robed Demon Cultivator told Su Yueli that Motian Xing was cultivating through the war and that the Fifteenth Realm’s arrival would doom the continent.
• Su Yueli ordered Great Xun, Great Qian, Great Chu, and Great Yan to stop the war and forbade powerful cultivators from attacking ordinary cities, mortals, or using large-scale slaughter techniques.
• A Great Chu Thirteenth Realm Attendant attacked a Great Yan city, and Su Yueli killed him when he refused to withdraw; she then ordered Great Chu’s army to retreat.
• Su Yueli pursued and killed a Great Qian Thirteenth Realm powerhouse who had destroyed a border city’s defenses.
• A Great Xun Fourteenth Realm elder seized thirty thousand Great Qian commoners to demand a spirit mine, but Su Yueli destroyed his killing formation and told him he would die that day.

Su Yueli tried to protect civilians as the dynasties evaded her rules by destroying food and water supplies and driving refugees toward border cities. With three cities requesting aid at once, she faced the choice of which one to save.

• Great Qian commanders ordered Twelfth Realm cultivators to destroy grain depots and supply routes without harming civilians, and other dynasties sent out similar squads.
• After attackers burned a grain depot and a convoy, Su Yueli captured two cultivators but released them with a warning to their commander.
• Enemy cultivators poisoned wells and cut off a city’s water, and Su Yueli cured many residents but arrived too late to save thousands.
• Su Yueli ordered a city’s gates opened to refugees, then requisitioned grain from nearby sects to relieve the shortage.
• Three border cities simultaneously asked Su Yueli for help with a siege, a plague, and burned granaries, leaving her to choose one.

Su Yueli tried to save three cities caught in the war, but she could protect only one before the other two suffered devastating losses. Motian Xing revealed that he had arranged the crises to force her to keep choosing who would live, leaving Su Yueli amid refugees with a cracked Message Jade Talisman.

• Su Yueli stopped the siege of a border city and made the enemy army withdraw, but the general refused to promise that it would not attack again.
• Su Yueli found the plague-stricken city in chaos, gathered its survivors, and brought medicine, then heard an old man say that his daughter had died waiting for her.
• Su Yueli stopped the army that had driven civilians from the third city, gathered the displaced people, and brought them food, but many had already died on the road.
• Su Yueli saw more pleas for help arrive on the Message Jade Talisman and hesitated to open it, fearing she would have to choose whom to save.
• Motian Xing contacted Su Yueli through the talisman and told her he had prepared more crises to make her choose repeatedly; Su Yueli clenched the talisman until it cracked.

Su Yueli pursued Motian Xing but was forced to choose between chasing him and answering false and real calls for help. After saving several cities, she learned that Han Yu had entered battle at Great Li Pass against the Demon Path despite being badly outmatched.

• Su Yueli followed Motian Xing's traces into the mountains and found a Fourteenth Realm Demon Cultivator instead of her target.
• The Demon Cultivator revealed Motian Xing's dilemma: pursuing him would leave cities under attack, while saving people would give him time to advance.
• Su Yueli imprisoned the Demon Cultivator and abandoned the pursuit to investigate six calls for aid, discovering that three were false and three were true.
• Su Yueli repelled the attack on one city and restored its water source, though more than ten thousand people had died; another city had held until reinforcements arrived.
• Su Yueli learned that Great Li Pass was under siege by the Demon Path and that Han Yu had led people into battle against enemies above the Thirteenth Realm, refusing to request her help.

Han Yu led Great Li's defenders against a Demon Cultivator assault intended to draw Su Yueli away from the Four-Dynasty War, refusing to request her help as the pass fell under attack. After Han Yu was gravely wounded and the remaining defenders stood their ground, a messenger crushed her Message Jade Talisman, and Su Yueli's aura appeared on it.

• Han Yu ordered civilians into the inner city and rallied the defenders against more than a thousand Demon Cultivators, including three Thirteenth Realm fighters.
• Han Yu told the defenders to hold the walls and not pursue, but a young warrior chased the enemy and was killed in an ambush.
• After the outer formation shattered, Han Yu blocked the breach and learned the attack was meant to lure Su Yueli away from other battlefronts.
• Han Yu forbade anyone from asking Su Yueli for aid and fought on until the enemy leader and two other Thirteenth Realm cultivators overwhelmed her.
• Han Yu sacrificed herself to maim the enemy leader, while the defending general and fewer than three hundred warriors continued to hold the breach.
• A messenger finally crushed Han Yu's Message Jade Talisman before dying, and Su Yueli's aura appeared on it.

Su Yueli arrived at Great Li Pass in time to save Han Yu and capture the Demon Cultivators, but the battle left most of the defenders dead. While probing a captive’s memories for Motian Xing’s location, she heard Shen Huai'an conspiring with him and was left questioning whose side he was truly on.

• Su Yueli reached Great Li Pass as its formation fell, rescued the gravely wounded Han Yu, and defeated the attackers without killing their leader.
• Su Yueli sealed the fleeing Thirteenth Realm Demon Cultivators, and the defenders captured the surviving enemies, though fewer than thirty percent of the garrison had survived.
• After dawn, Han Yu apologized to Su Yueli for not calling for help and explained that she had stayed to defend the people at the pass.
• Su Yueli searched a captive’s memories and saw Motian Xing gathering strength from deaths across the four dynasties.
• Su Yueli heard Shen Huai'an explain that forcing her to choose between saving people and protecting Han Yu would keep her from finding them, but the captive’s soul restriction destroyed the memory before she could see who was speaking.