Chapter Summaries

Jiang Chen freed the Twin Mermaids from the tear-inducing restriction and collected six Merfolk Pearls, then reviewed system footage revealing Princess Ping'an’s ties to the Beast Tamer and the fallout from the old general’s death. Princess Ping'an came to Peaceful Palace to question him, and after Jiang Chen refused her audience, she vaulted over the wall and confronted him.

• Jiang Chen discovered a hidden tear-inducing restriction on the Twin Mermaids and removed it with Myriad Phenomena Resonance.
• Jiang Chen told the Twin Mermaids Stairway to the Immortal Kingdom, prompting them to cry and produce six Merfolk Pearls.
• Jiang Chen reviewed footage showing Princess Ping'an receiving the Beast Tamer’s letter and deciding to marry the Emperor ahead of schedule.
• Jiang Chen watched footage of the Emperor avoiding an investigation into the old general’s death and Li Lingzhou being taken back to Xihe Prefecture after admitting she killed Chen.
• Princess Ping'an requested an audience with Jiang Chen, and after he refused, she vaulted over the wall into Spirit-Calming Garden and confronted him.

Jiang Chen examined Princess Ping'an Yuwen Chan and discovered that her abdominal pain came from demonic aura in tainted venison, not a gynecological illness. After she tried to seize him and accused him of molesting her, the empress dowager returned and defended him, leaving Yuwen Chan wary of the physician.

• Yuwen Chan challenged Jiang Chen to examine her abdominal pain, and he found that tainted venison rice balls had caused it.
• Yuwen Chan accused Jiang Chen of slandering her and tried to seize him, but he restrained her and suppressed her spiritual pressure.
• Jiang Chen released Yuwen Chan and told her to return, while she continued to suspect him of involvement in the Merfolk Women’s disappearance.
• The empress dowager returned, heard Yuwen Chan’s accusation, and defended Jiang Chen as an extraordinary physician.
• Yuwen Chan accepted her grandmother’s explanation and warned Jiang Chen that she would not spare him next time.

Jiang Chen investigated Princess Ping'an’s possible connection to the Dragon Bone, commissioned a Five-Element Sword, and cultivated the Demi-Immortal's Book with the Empress Dowager’s help. After reaching Minor Accomplishment, he received a prompt to enter the storyline simulation for Princess Ping'an’s broken engagement.

• The Empress Dowager told Jiang Chen that Princess Ping'an was the daughter of a Beast Taming Sect prodigy and had recently accepted her engagement to Yun Lanzi, possibly to pursue the legendary Dragon Bone.
• The Empress Dowager explained the Dragon Bone’s rumored powers and said that no known cultivator could absorb demonic and devil aura as efficiently as Jiang Chen.
• Jiang Chen commissioned a custom Five-Element Sword using Old General Chen’s heavy sword and sold his unused artifacts and resources to fund its forging.
• Jiang Chen gave the Empress Dowager six Merfolk Pearls and told her that he had removed the restrictions on the two Merfolk Women, allowing them to produce more pearls.
• Jiang Chen cultivated the Demi-Immortal's Book in the underground chamber for three days and advanced it to Minor Accomplishment.
• A system prompt announced that the storyline simulation for Princess Breaks Off the Engagement had begun and asked Jiang Chen whether he would watch and participate.

Jiang Chen watched the original storyline reveal Yun Lanzi and the Beast Taming Sect’s plot to use the Twin Mermaids to find the Dragon Bone and gain power in the Fireburn Kingdom. Princess Ping'an rejected her arranged marriage and promised to marry whoever brought her the mermaids, leaving Jiang Chen to realize he was the likely target of her scheme.

• Jiang Chen watched Yun Lanzi and Elder Guo travel to Xiyang City, where they planned to use the Twin Mermaids to locate the Dragon Bone and advance the Beast Taming Sect’s influence.
• Yun Lanzi and Elder Guo met the Emperor, the Empress Dowager, Princess Ping'an, and the court to formalize Yun Lanzi’s marriage pact with Princess Ping'an.
• Yun Lanzi said he had released the Twin Mermaids, prompting Princess Ping'an to insist that she would not marry him without them.
• Princess Ping'an declared that she would marry whichever man brought her the Twin Mermaids, and Jiang Chen realized she might be targeting him.

Jiang Chen watched the original storyline unfold, in which Yun Lanzi and Princess Ping'an schemed to recover the twin mermaids and use them in their plan. The empress dowager proposed involving Jiang Chen and the mermaids to save them, but he refused to act until he reached Foundation Establishment, and the story ended with him and the empress dowager together in the pool.

• Princess Ping'an threatened never to marry unless the Beast Taming Sect recovered the twin mermaids, and Yun Lanzi promised to search for them.
• Yun Lanzi told Elder Guo that the princess possessed his beast-taming orb and would help complete their plan.
• The empress dowager told Jiang Chen that Princess Ping'an seemed to like him, and he suspected the mermaids were central to the scheme.
• The empress dowager suggested using the mermaids in a marriage arrangement to uncover the plan and potentially save other merfolk women.
• Jiang Chen refused to gamble with the mermaids' lives and said he would reconsider after reaching Foundation Establishment.
• Jiang Chen pushed the empress dowager into the pool, and they remained together after the storyline ended.

Jiang Chen began a simulation by hiding from the danger around Xiyang City, but discovered signs that the Beast Taming Sect might be preparing to attack with a sandworm swarm. After he completed the storyline from a concealed Gray Castle inn, the Empress Dowager noticed his disappearance and suggested he could roam the entire Ascending Dragon Continent.

• Jiang Chen searched Xiyang City for powerful figures and chose to begin the simulation by hiding beneath the desert outside the city.
• He sensed sandworms moving toward Xiyang City and suspected a Nascent Soul powerhouse from the Beast Taming Sect was preparing an attack.
• Jiang Chen relocated to a Gray Castle inn, registered under the name Xuande, and completed the storyline without being noticed.
• The Empress Dowager returned to Peaceful Palace, realized Jiang Chen had vanished, and calmly speculated that he could roam the entire Ascending Dragon Continent.
• Jiang Chen wondered whether he and Thousand-Faced Fox had been fellow disciples at the Azure Mist Sect before the system appeared.

Jiang Chen helped Mu Rong form a Golden Core and secretly planted hidden spiritual marks in two Merfolk Women, preparing to use them against Yun Lanzi’s plot. He delivered the women to Yun Lanzi under the name Liu Xuande, claiming they were a gift to raise spirit stones for the wager.

• Jiang Chen used dual cultivation to clear Mu Rong’s spiritual obstruction, helping her form a Golden Core.
• Jiang Chen and Mu Rong agreed to hide his spiritual power inside the two Merfolk Women so he could interfere with the Emperor’s plan and aid them at a critical moment.
• After several failed attempts, Jiang Chen used Li Lingzhou’s Pure Yang Sword Aura wrapped in Five-Element Spirit Control to plant hidden marks in both Merfolk Women.
• Mu Rong discovered that Jiang Chen had used Li Lingzhou’s sword aura, while Jiang Chen admitted he had forcibly taken it and paid Li Lingzhou five hundred in tips.
• Jiang Chen put the unconscious Merfolk Women in water tanks, drove them to the inn, and introduced himself to Yun Lanzi as Liu Xuande while presenting them as a gift from Prison Envoy Li.

Jiang Chen collected ten thousand spirit stones from Yun Lanzi and Guo Yanzai, then learned that Li Lingzhou had nominated him for a prison suppression envoy post. After reviewing the simulation, he began a third run with a compressed timeline and reached the imperial palace with the Twin Mermaids, where the emperor summoned Liu Xuande into the hall.

• Jiang Chen convinced Yun Lanzi that he was connected to Li Lingzhou by displaying his sword aura, then received ten thousand spirit stones from Guo Yanzai.
• Jiang Chen traveled to Xihe City and discovered that Li Lingzhou had recommended him for a prison suppression envoy position, which the bureau had already approved.
• Jiang Chen returned to Xiyang City, reviewed the simulation, and decided to compress the timeline of his next attempt.
• Jiang Chen began the third simulation, quickly subdued the Twin Mermaids, and brought them by carriage to the imperial palace.
• The emperor heard that Liu Xuande had arrived with two Twin Mermaids and ordered him summoned into the hall.

Jiang Chen brought the Twin Mermaids to the Golden Hall and was forced into a sword duel with Yun Lanzi over their fate and Princess Ping'an’s marriage. He defeated Yun Lanzi with a Resonant Sword Shock, leaving the emperor to honor the duel’s terms.

• Jiang Chen brought the Twin Mermaids before the emperor, and Princess Ping'an reunited with them while Yun Lanzi confirmed they were the pair he had released.
• Jiang Chen demanded one hundred thousand spirit stones for the merfolk women, and Yun Lanzi challenged him to a sword duel after tensions rose in the Golden Hall.
• The emperor decreed that Jiang Chen could take the merfolk women and marry the princess if he won, while Yun Lanzi would prevail if Jiang Chen lost.
• Jiang Chen objected to the mismatch in cultivation, and Yun Lanzi agreed to suppress his strength to the Qi Refining Ninth Layer.
• Jiang Chen struck Yun Lanzi with a Resonant Sword Shock that Yun Lanzi could only deflect into a protected pillar, and Jiang Chen declared him defeated.

Jiang Chen defeated Yun Lanzi in a sword duel and was ordered to marry Princess Ping'an, who revealed that she had been plotting to rescue the merfolk women imprisoned by her father. Jiang Chen agreed to consult the empress dowager before deciding whether to help her.

• Jiang Chen used a surprise Sword Shock to defeat Yun Lanzi, who acknowledged his skill and left the hall.
• The emperor ordered Jiang Chen to marry Princess Ping'an and sent him to Pingxing Palace with a reward for the palace.
• Princess Ping'an pulled Jiang Chen into her private chambers and mistakenly assumed the empress dowager had sent him to help rescue the imprisoned merfolk women.
• Princess Ping'an explained that her father had exploited thousands of merfolk women while seeking the Dragon Bone, and that her mother had died opposing him.
• Princess Ping'an revealed that she had cooperated with the Beast Taming Sect and planned to use Xiaobai and Feifei to rescue the merfolk women, but Jiang Chen said he would first consult the empress dowager and assess the danger and reward.