Chapter Summaries

Tao Wenshu explained how the Sage-Slaying Path used the Liu Family in Yuejiang Prefecture to create false identities, and told Ding Songyan that an earlier sighting of him there might reveal secrets about his past. She agreed to support his investigation if he chose to travel, then set conditions for Pan Yunzhou to help complete the Great Canon of the Stars.

• Tao Wenshu told Ding Songyan that the Sage-Slaying Path had used the Liu Family as a cover to support its schemes and warned him about the sect's elaborate deceptions.
• Tao Wenshu revealed that Ding Songyan had been seen in Yuejiang Prefecture before the Nine-Evil Witch and the others arrived, including near Ge Family Village, and left further investigation to him.
• Ding Songyan said he wanted to visit Yuejiang Prefecture, and Tao Wenshu offered to arrange fast transport while advising him that he could also seek help from other elders.
• Tao Wenshu promised to seek life-extending items for Ding Songyan and then summoned Pan Yunzhou to discuss the Great Canon of the Stars.
• Tao Wenshu required Pan Yunzhou to rely on intermediaries rather than read the Celestial Stars Scripture directly and to join the sect only as an entry-level disciple; he accepted and planned to fetch his canon from Eastern Plain Prefecture.

Ding Songyan arranged to travel with Pan Yunzhou to retrieve martial arts from the Great Canon of the Stars, while planning to investigate Immortal Cave County in Yuejiang Prefecture. The chapter ended as the two boarded a Painted Airship bound for Eastern Plain Prefecture, with Ding Songyan confident he could fly if it malfunctioned.

• Ding Songyan volunteered to accompany Pan Yunzhou, and Tao Wenshu secured a Painted Airship for their journey.
• Ding Songyan told Pan Yunzhou that he also needed to visit Yuejiang Prefecture, and Pan agreed to go there first.
• Zheng Zhuxi warned Ding Songyan about the Devil Lord and the Nine-Evil Witch, advised him to seek help from powerful local forces, and urged him to return safely.
• Zheng Zhuxi departed with her parents, while Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou waited for their Painted Airship the next morning.
• The Painted Airship landed, and Ding Songyan led Pan Yunzhou aboard, reassuring him that he was not afraid to fly.

Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou boarded the Painted Airship and learned about its crew, flight, and dangers. Ding Songyan went onto the icy deck to seek insight from the sky and wind, and Pan Yunzhou followed him.

• Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou boarded the Painted Airship and met Ren Jiuyue of the Heavenly Lake School and Wei Ling of the Fish-Dragon Gate.
• Wei Ling explained that the airship could face attacks from flying martial artists and Qigu People, then helped the passengers secure themselves for takeoff.
• After the airship steadied, Ding Songyan studied the view from the window and reflected on the division between above and below.
• Ding Songyan went onto the windy, freezing deck to observe the sky and earth and seek insight, while Ren Jiuyue warned him of the danger.
• Pan Yunzhou left the cabin and joined Ding Songyan on the deck, prompting Ren Jiuyue and Wei Ling to wonder whether everyone in the Xiaoming Sect behaved this way.

Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou traveled by Painted Airship to Yuejiang Prefecture, where Ding reflected on his cultivation and learned about regional martial customs. After borrowing horses from the Hongxin Trading Company, Ding decided to test his sword on the road to Immortal Cave County.

• Ding Songyan reviewed the cultivation arts he had developed and contemplated the division of above and below while Pan Yunzhou tried to gain insights beside him.
• Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou chatted with Ren Jiuyue and Wei Ling during the uneventful Painted Airship journey, then landed outside Huachang County.
• Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou passed a martial contest to choose a spouse, and Pan Yunzhou explained the custom's purpose and popularity in Chu Province and Treasure Province.
• At the Hongxin Trading Company, the steward confirmed that the sect master had arranged support and provided two horses.
• Ding Songyan decided to test his sword before reaching Immortal Cave County and urged Pan Yunzhou to set off immediately.

At an inn during freezing rain, Ding Songyan used the Dream-Waking Block to give Wu Jiting a dream of the life he might have lived and awaken him to the value of his family. After refusing a merchant’s offer to buy the block, Ding Songyan hinted to Pan Yunzhou that he had staged the demonstration to draw out a worthy opponent.

• Ding Songyan persuaded Pan Yunzhou to share one room at the crowded relay-station inn and invited their troubled tablemate, Wu Jiting, to explain his worries.
• Wu Jiting described his failed attempts at martial and civil examinations, his business losses, and his desperate wish to rise above the crowd.
• Ding Songyan gave Wu Jiting the Dream-Waking Block, then secretly used it to send him into a dream of success, arrogance, and the ruin of his family.
• Wu Jiting woke in tears, resolved to stop trading, care for his parents, and build a family, then bowed to Ding Songyan in gratitude.
• A merchant caravan representative offered to buy the block, but Ding Songyan refused; he later told Pan Yunzhou that he wanted to use it to test his sword against someone.

Ding Songyan killed Tang Du, a wanted deserter who attacked him at the relay station, and questioned his ghost about the Overturned Boat Faction. He learned Tang Du had been promised further training in the Flame Capital but knew neither the faction’s plan nor any remaining wealth.

• Ding Songyan secretly infused the Golden Millet Dream-Waking Block with Great Dream Sword Intent while Pan Yunzhou worried about attracting dangerous enemies.
• After they returned to their room, Pan Yunzhou kept watch while Ding Songyan went to sleep.
• Tang Du entered the room and attacked Ding Songyan, who fought back with Cold Shadow and killed him using the embryonic form of Six Harmonies as One.
• Ding Songyan summoned Tang Du’s ghost and learned that his bounty was nineteen thousand taels and that he had deserted after an unsuccessful rebellion attempt for the Overturned Boat Faction.
• Tang Du revealed that the faction had helped him complete his final Organ Dressing and ordered him to enter the Flame Capital, but he knew nothing of their purpose and had given them his wealth.

Ding Songyan questioned Tang Du’s remnant soul about the Accumulated Waters Divine Art and considered merging its void-based power with Passing the Torch, but the soul vanished before explaining the crucial details. After Tang Du’s corpse appeared, Pan Yunzhou agreed to take credit for the kill so Ding Songyan could keep his identity hidden, and the Station Chief identified Tang Du as a wanted criminal with a nineteen-thousand-tael bounty.

• Ding Songyan learned how Tang Du’s Forming an Abyss accumulated power in the surrounding void and pooled the strength of nearby practitioners.
• Ding Songyan planned to combine Forming an Abyss with Passing the Torch, but Tang Du’s remnant soul vanished before revealing the move’s orifices and techniques.
• Ding Songyan asked Pan Yunzhou to claim responsibility for killing Tang Du, offering him a share of the bounty silver.
• Pan Yunzhou agreed, beheaded Tang Du to support their account, and told himself Ding Songyan had killed the attacker in a swift ambush.
• The Station Chief identified the corpse as Tang Du, a wanted renegade, and announced a bounty of nineteen thousand taels, leaving Pan Yunzhou stunned that he was credited with the kill.

Ding Songyan left Pan Yunzhou to claim Tang Du’s bounty and went to Ge Family Village to investigate the mysterious events that had left him witless and Old Man Jiang dead. He confronted Ge Qi, who revealed that Old Man Jiang wanted to change into a younger body before suddenly recognizing Ding Songyan as possibly being the old man.

• Pan Yunzhou took responsibility for Tang Du’s death, and the Station Chief arranged for him and Ding Songyan to travel to Prefecture City to claim the bounty.
• Ding Songyan told the Station Chief about Tang Du’s mention of the Overturned Boat Faction and the Flame Capital, then reassured Wu Jiting that the bounty would cover the trouble caused by the Yellow Millet Dream-Waking Block.
• Ding Songyan left Pan Yunzhou and the Relay Station Attendants on the road to Huachang County and traveled alone to Ge Family Village.
• Ding Songyan registered as Pan Yunzhou, waited by an old willow, and followed Ge Qi home after Ge Qi recognized him and fled.
• Ding Songyan questioned Ge Qi about Old Man Jiang’s death, and Ge Qi said Old Man Jiang had wanted to change into a younger body before asking whether Ding Songyan was Old Man Jiang.

Ding Songyan investigated Old Man Jiang’s death and grew suspicious that Ge Qi was connected to the failed possession that had shaped his own return to life. At Old Man Jiang’s abandoned hollow, Ge Qi revealed strange powers and attacked, claiming that killing Ding Songyan would restore his memories.

• Ding Songyan questioned Ge Qi about Old Man Jiang, learning that the old man had lived near Ge Family Village for several years and was buried at his hollow.
• Ding Songyan used the Yellow Millet Dream-Waking Block to test Ge Qi, then delayed their trip to the grave so he could ask villagers about Ge Qi’s past.
• The bun-shop owner told Ding Songyan that Ge Qi had acted possessed and gone witless before recovering with a changed manner.
• Ding Songyan and Ge Qi reached Old Man Jiang’s hollow, where Ding Songyan noticed that someone still tended the land.
• Ge Qi attacked Ding Songyan with a flaming hoe, but Ding Songyan vanished from its path and confronted him about being Old Man Jiang.
• Ge Qi said he did not know who he was, but claimed his divine soul had told him that killing Ding Songyan would make him whole, then attacked again.

Ding Songyan fought Ge Qi, using the Hundun State and his swordsmanship to withstand the Law Realm master’s devastating flames. After Ding Songyan pierced Ge Qi with sword intent and Ge Qi fell, Ge Qi’s ghost tried to seize Ding Songyan’s body, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Ding Songyan analyzed Ge Qi’s fiery techniques and defended against his hoe strikes with Candlelight in the Dark Night.
• Ge Qi ignited the heated air into a sea of flames, but Ding Songyan absorbed the fire before Ge Qi disrupted it and caused an explosion.
• Ding Songyan pressed Ge Qi with a series of sword attacks, while Ge Qi detonated his shrinking sea of fire and blasted Ding Songyan backward.
• Ding Songyan transformed and pierced Ge Qi with a sword strike that awakened memories of Ge Qi’s past body-snatching attempts and his fear of heavenly punishment.
• Ge Qi collapsed, but his ghost rushed toward Ding Songyan’s brow in an attempt to possess him; Ding Songyan manifested the Hundun State and demanded to know who he was.

Ding Songyan killed Ge Qi and discovered that Ge Qi's soul had been entangled with a forgotten Imperial Daughter Sect reincarnation. While searching the burning rooms, he found a cultivation manual and a letter from Ji Hanyi explaining the art and revealing that she had investigated his former stupor.

• Ding Songyan questioned Ge Qi's fading soul, which could not remember how it had tried to possess him or what method it had used.
• Ge Qi's soul dissolved in Ding Songyan's Hundun state, and Ding Songyan searched the corpse and recovered the Yellow Millet Dream-Waking Block.
• Ding Songyan searched the burning mud-walled rooms and found a book and letter hidden in a loose patch of wall.
• Ding Songyan recognized the book, Great Art of Sheltering the Inner Nature in the Mystic Pass and Passing Through Tribulations Unclouded, as being written in Ji Hanyi's handwriting.
• Ji Hanyi's letter explained that the art could preserve a soul through reincarnation, described the Imperial Daughter Sect's rules against using it for reincarnation or possession, and noted that Ding Songyan's past-life wisdom seemed unlike theirs.

Ding Songyan read Demoness Ji’s letter explaining Jiang Cheng’s attempted body-snatching rebirth and warning him about the heavenly heart imprint, then studied the manual she had left. He reconstructed the failed possession and, deciding how to conceal the battle from the authorities, dissolved Ge Qi’s corpse with his being-and-nonbeing myriad forms qi.

• Ding Songyan finished Demoness Ji’s letter and worried that she might someday treat him as a worldly tie to sever.
• Ding Songyan read the Great Art of Concealing Nature within the Mystic Pass and Retaining Awareness through Tribulations and reflected on the dangers of his origins becoming known.
• Ding Songyan pieced together how Jiang Cheng’s failed possession had left his external illusory aspect and part of his spirit attached to Ge Qi.
• Ding Songyan decided he needed to hide the circumstances of Ge Qi’s death from the government offices and considered the risks of revealing his strength and past.
• Ding Songyan pressed his hand against Ge Qi’s corpse and used Return All Things to One to dissolve it.

Ding Songyan concealed Ge Qi’s death and reported Ge Qi’s suspected body-snatching and powerful attacks to the Immortal Cave County authorities. Wen Shenxing accepted Ding’s account, concluded Ge Qi had fled, and offered to investigate Ding’s origins.

• Ding Songyan erased the traces of Ge Qi’s corpse and took a winding route back to Immortal Cave County.
• Ding Songyan told Wen Shenxing, Pan Yunzhou, and Zhang Yan that Ge Qi had ambushed him and seemed to lose his sense of identity before explosions sounded in the hollow.
• Wen Shenxing judged that Ge Qi might be Old Man Jiang and organized a search party to investigate the mountain hollow.
• The party found scorched ground, craters, and a collapsed hut, then concluded Ge Qi had fled rather than remained to face the authorities.
• The head constables uncovered a skeleton behind the hut, and the party searched Ge Qi’s home and questioned villagers.
• Wen Shenxing offered Ding Songyan a place to stay and promised to investigate his origins overnight.

Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou traveled to Sun-Driving County, where Ding learned how local mythology identified Emperor Jun with Emperor Shun and Xihe with Ehuang. At the Pan family home, Pan Yunzhou prepared to retrieve the Great Canon of the Stars, risking his life to preserve his family’s legacy.

• Ding Songyan told Wen Shenxing he would travel with Pan Yunzhou to Eastern Plain Prefecture before returning to investigate his origins, and Pan Yunzhou received his share of the bounty silver.
• Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou rode overnight to Sun-Driving County, where Pan explained the local accounts equating Emperor Jun with Emperor Shun and Xihe with Ehuang.
• Pan Yunzhou brought Ding Songyan to the Pan Residence, where his younger siblings and parents welcomed him home.
• Pan Yunzhou asked Ding Songyan to accompany him to retrieve the Great Canon of the Stars, while his family waited anxiously outside the ancestral hall.
• Pan Yunzhou prayed to his ancestors, declared that the Pan Family must survive even if he perished, and bowed three times before the spirit tablets.

Ding Songyan returned to the Xiaoming Sect with Pan Yunzhou, then completed methods to fill the gaps in the Great Canon of the Stars. After hearing that using the methods could bring severe consequences, Pan Yunzhou asked for a few days to consider whether to undergo Organ Dressing.

• Ding Songyan learned from Peng Jiayin that the sect had uncovered his origins and arranged for him and Pan Yunzhou to return from Eastern Plain Prefecture.
• Pan Yunzhou gave money and tearful farewells to his family, then left with Ding Songyan for the sect.
• Zheng Zhuxi learned from Tao Wenshu that Ding Songyan and Pan Yunzhou had returned safely to the sect.
• Ding Songyan studied the Great Canon of the Stars and the Celestial Stars Scripture, then wrote and refined methods to complete the missing Organ Dressing instructions.
• Ding Songyan presented the completed methods to Pan Yunzhou, who found them convincing and was overjoyed that his family’s cultivation method might be restored.
• Ding Songyan warned Pan Yunzhou that testing the method could cause madness, permanent injury, or death, and Pan Yunzhou asked for a few days to decide.

Pan Yunzhou overcame his hesitation and underwent Azure Dragon organ dressing, allowing him to continue advancing in the Dayan Realm. Many days later, Zheng Zhuxi returned to the mountain, where Ding Songyan was waiting for her.

• Pan Yunzhou spent a sleepless night at Peaceful Lake before telling Ding Songyan that he was willing to undergo organ dressing.
• Ding Songyan and Hu Chengzong implanted the Azure Dragon organ while Pan Yunzhou slept under Numbing Powder.
• Pan Yunzhou woke safely, circulated his true qi to fuse with the Azure Dragon organ, and thanked the sect before giving Hu Chengzong three thousand taels.
• Hu Chengzong gave Pan Yunzhou Jade Salve Scar-Removing Powder to treat his surgical scar.
• Zheng Zhuxi returned to Flat Lake Town with Tao Wenshu, then hurried back toward the mountain and found Ding Songyan waiting beneath a pine tree.

Ding Songyan reunited with Zheng Zhuxi, exchanged gifts with her, and shared the truth about his journey and Ji Hanyi’s letter. He entrusted Zheng Zhuxi with a secret manual so they could study its soul-protecting sections together, and she accepted his decision and explained her progress with the Lesser Limitless Method.

• Ding Songyan met Zheng Zhuxi at Peaceful Lake and accepted an Illness-Curing Longevity Pill from her mother and a Crane Longevity Pill from Zheng Zhuxi, which he swallowed.
• Ding Songyan gave Zheng Zhuxi a secret Imperial Daughter Sect manual and recounted his journey, his fight with Ge Qi, and what he learned about Old Man Jiang.
• Ding Songyan showed Zheng Zhuxi Ji Hanyi’s letter and warned her to prepare for both truth and deception in the Sage-Slaying Path Sect Master's claims.
• Zheng Zhuxi told Ding Songyan that his past did not shape her judgment of him, and she trusted that he would not use Body-Snatching Rebirth.
• Ding Songyan asked Zheng Zhuxi to keep the manual and help him avoid its reincarnation and Body-Snatching Rebirth teachings while they studied its earlier sections.
• Zheng Zhuxi said her progress with the Lesser Limitless Method was faster than expected, then described her practice as Ding Songyan recorded her insights.

Ding Songyan underwent organ dressing to install the inhuman organ Limitless, then recovered while Zheng Zhuxi read him the latest martial ranks. By the end of March, he was preparing to visit Prefecture City and had written to Su Qingli to ask about the Imperial Daughter Sect and a mysterious cultivation method.

• Ding Songyan endured Hu Chengzong's painful organ dressing and used being-and-nonbeing myriad forms qi to activate Limitless.
• Zheng Zhuxi stayed with Ding Songyan as he recovered, read him the martial ranks, and told him he had received Fifth Rank, Probing Mystery.
• Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi discussed how widely strength varied among martial artists with the same rank and joked about their fellow disciples' rankings.
• Ding Songyan wrote to Su Qingli to ask about the Imperial Daughter Sect, reincarnation, and the Great Method of Concealing One's Nature within the Mystic Pass and Remaining Undimmed through Tribulations.
• Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi planned to go to Prefecture City to meet Second Brother Xing and look through the Accumulated Waters Scripture.

Ding Songyan arranged for the Xiaoming Sect to work with Xing Chang on coordinating the Xingtian Method and the Way of the Military Strategists, giving him and Zheng Zhuxi a lawful reason to study the Accumulated Waters Scripture and Xingtian combat methods. After returning to the Prefecture City, Ding Songyan received Liang Gan, who asked him and Zheng Zhuxi to save him.

• Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi traveled to the Military Camp, where he asked Xing Chang to let him study the Accumulated Waters Scripture.
• Ding Songyan proposed that the Xiaoming Sect help the Imperial Court improve coordination between the Xingtian Method and the Way of the Military Strategists, and Xing Chang agreed to seek approval.
• Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi sparred with Xing Chang, each narrowly winning, then discussed how Ding Songyan had used their connection to the sect to support his proposal.
• Ding Songyan brought Zheng Zhuxi to the Ding Family residence in Baoping Lane, where Liang Gan arrived after learning they had returned to the city.
• Liang Gan bowed to Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi and pleaded with them to save him.

Liang Gan asked Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi to investigate his senior brother, Fu Yangquan, whose suspicious behavior worried him. When they met Fu Yangquan, Ding Songyan discovered that he was a member of the Two-Faced Clan and subtly warned Zheng Zhuxi as black qi began to spread toward him.

• Liang Gan explained that Fu Yangquan had returned from the Gan Kingdom after offending a superior and asked Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi to investigate him.
• Ding Songyan agreed to help under their existing agreement, and he and Zheng Zhuxi went to Liang Gan's courtyard to meet Fu Yangquan.
• Ding Songyan examined Fu Yangquan with his Candle Eyes and Star Pupils and saw a vicious face beneath his kindly outer appearance.
• Ding Songyan hinted to Zheng Zhuxi that Fu Yangquan resembled the Two-Faced Clan, and she recognized his warning.
• Black qi spread from Fu Yangquan toward Ding Songyan as he sensed the energy moving through the courtyard.