Chapter Summaries

Yu Qian declined Gongsun Yan’s offers to join headquarters and move next door, then visited the Martial Skills Hall to choose new cultivation manuals. He left with the Moon Scroll and Five-Element Escape Art, but found them incomprehensible without his cheat.

• Gongsun Yan invited Yu Qian to headquarters for personal instruction and offered him an empty courtyard beside her home, but Yu Qian refused both offers.
• Gongsun Yan learned from a Spirit Butterfly that Yu Qian’s identity and martial cultivation checked out, and added him to the Court’s list of people deserving special attention.
• Yu Qian went to the Martial Skills Hall and spent two hundred merit points on a Moon Scroll.
• Yu Qian chose the Five-Element Escape Art for its escape and concealment abilities and spent four hundred merit points on it.
• Yu Qian tried to study both manuals without any origin left for his cheat, then left the hall with his head spinning.

Yu Qian and Shi Da were assigned to watch over a hunt organized by the Fifth Prince at Returning North Mountain. As the young highborn hunters arrived, Yu Qian relaxed at his lookout and privately wondered whether the gathering might lead to more than hunting.

• Yu Qian declined the minister’s invitation to headquarters and returned to the Dingyou Office.
• Ji Cheng assigned Yu Qian and Shi Da to provide security at the Fifth Prince’s hunt outside South City.
• Yu Qian and Shi Da traveled to Returning North Mountain with officers from the Court of Judicial Review and coordinated with the Imperial Guard and palace guards.
• Yu Qian and Shi Da took up a lookout above the gathering ground, where Yu Qian lounged while Shi Da watched their surroundings.
• More than twenty young men and women arrived in hunting gear, and Yu Qian regretted not bringing his spyglass.

Yu Qian was assigned to guard Princess Wen'an, Li Nianxiang, during the hunt. After Li Jian told him to protect her, Yu Qian followed her into the woods and tried to avoid clearing the way until she ordered him to do so.

• Li Jian explained the hunt and proposed assigning Court of Judicial Review officers to guard the women.
• Princess Wen'an chose Yu Qian as her guard, and Li Jian told him to keep her safe.
• Yu Qian followed Li Nianxiang into the woods while leaving her to cut through the brambles herself.
• Li Nianxiang ordered Yu Qian to clear the path, and he quickly drew his saber and obeyed.

Li Nianxiang went hunting with Yu Qian, who taught her to use a bow and helped her practice while praising her shots. The chapter left Li Nianxiang continuing to hunt as Yu Qian roasted her quarry.

• Li Nianxiang asked Yu Qian to lead her through the woods in search of game.
• Yu Qian admitted he could not shoot, then quickly mastered the bow and arrow with his cultivation.
• Yu Qian killed a wild goat and falsely congratulated Li Nianxiang on taking the first quarry.
• Yu Qian caught rabbits and pheasants, tied them up as targets, and helped Li Nianxiang practice until she hit a rabbit.
• Yu Qian prepared the rabbit over a fire and praised Li Nianxiang each time she took another quarry.

Yu Qian tried to draw closer to Li Nianxiang while helping her hunt in Returning North Mountain, but she kept him at a distance and tested his strength. As Li Nianxiang prepared to compete with another young hunter by the river, a black-clad figure emerged from the water and knocked the man unconscious.

• Yu Qian served Li Nianxiang roasted hare, but she rebuked him when he casually asked her name and ordered him to split a tree; he broke it with one palm.
• Li Nianxiang practiced archery and hunted several animals as Yu Qian carried the carcasses behind her.
• A young hunter shot a stag Li Nianxiang had been aiming at, then offered to accompany her; she continued walking, and he followed.
• At the river, the young hunter proposed a contest with Li Nianxiang, and she agreed.
• A black-clad figure sprang from the river, seized the young hunter, knocked him unconscious, and threw him to the ground.

Yu Qian discovered that the White Lotus Cult had infiltrated the hunting grounds to kidnap the participants and kill officers of the Court of Judicial Review. After defeating and interrogating one attacker, he sounded an emergency alarm and returned to protect Li Nianxiang, who woke believing his story about fighting off other villains.

• Yu Qian spotted dozens of black-clad figures underwater, fled to hide, and activated his token to call for backup.
• When one attacker chased him, Yu Qian ambushed and defeated the man, then learned the group belonged to the White Lotus Cult and had orders to kidnap the hunt participants and kill anyone from the Court of Judicial Review.
• Yu Qian killed the attacker and launched an urgent lotus-shaped firework signal for the Court of Judicial Review.
• Yu Qian smeared blood on himself and dirtied his clothes before waking Li Nianxiang and telling her the White Lotus Cult had planned the attack.
• Li Nianxiang questioned Yu Qian about running away, but after seeing his bloodied and disheveled appearance, she apologized.

Yu Qian and Li Nianxiang were captured by a woman in black during the attack on Returning North Mountain. The Court of Judicial Review regrouped and began searching for the missing hostages, while Yu Qian awoke bound in a carriage that stopped at a cave.

• Yu Qian disguised himself in a bandit's robe and carried Li Nianxiang downhill, but a woman in black knocked them both unconscious and took them away.
• The White Lotus Cult attackers abducted more than a dozen people before retreating from Returning North Mountain.
• Cinnabar Sea Realm experts from the Court of Judicial Review arrived, and Li Jian ordered a search for Princess Wen'an.
• Xun Ansheng learned that fourteen people, including Yu Qian, were missing and left to report the abductions to the Court.
• Yu Qian woke bound and hooded beside Li Nianxiang, and the carriage carrying them stopped outside a cave.

Yu Qian freed himself and Li Nianxiang, then decided to escape the mountain prison alone and bring help. His attempt to pick the iron door’s lock failed, and Li Nianxiang reacted with shock to something she witnessed.

• Yu Qian slipped out of his bindings, freed Li Nianxiang, and assessed the prison cell and their chances of escape.
• Yu Qian told Li Nianxiang he planned to leave her behind while he escaped and brought help; she agreed to stay and pretend to be unconscious.
• Yu Qian made a lockpick from Li Nianxiang’s gold hairpin and tried to reach the lock through the bars.
• Yu Qian found he could not reach the keyhole, and Li Nianxiang suddenly trembled in shock at what happened next.

Yu Qian escaped his cell after breaking and resetting his arm, but the black-clad woman caught him and revealed herself as Li Nianxiang. She chose Yu Qian as her agent and offered to help him rise through the Court of Judicial Review, leaving him ready to demand an explanation.

• Yu Qian broke his left forearm to reach the cell lock, then reset and bound it before leaving Li Nianxiang behind.
• Yu Qian escaped through the cave but was intercepted by the black-clad woman near the entrance.
• The woman identified Yu Qian as a Court of Judicial Review officer and vanished before returning with the unconscious Li Nianxiang.
• The black-clad woman transferred herself into Li Nianxiang's body and demonstrated her strength by seizing Yu Qian by the neck.
• Li Nianxiang told Yu Qian he had been chosen and offered to act as his direct contact, helping him rise through the Court of Judicial Review in exchange for carrying out her requests.
• Yu Qian accepted the partnership but insisted on learning the whole story, and Li Nianxiang invited him to ask questions.

Yu Qian learned that Li Nianxiang was a symbiotic being who had chosen him to infiltrate the Court of Judicial Review, then accepted her spirit gu and tested their partnership by slapping her twice. Li Nianxiang threatened to kill him if he tried again, and Yu Qian asked whether she had noticed him as soon as he reached Returning North Mountain.

• Li Nianxiang explained that she shared Li Nianxiang's body through symbiosis and confirmed that her kidnapping scheme aimed to enter Tai'an City.
• Li Nianxiang said she had selected Yu Qian for his low standing, clean background, martial talent, and personal qualities, and confirmed that the cave encounter had tested him.
• Li Nianxiang implanted a spirit gu in Yu Qian's dantian and warned him not to betray their arrangement.
• Yu Qian slapped Li Nianxiang, was kicked away, and then slapped her again with a distraction before being kicked away once more.
• Li Nianxiang warned Yu Qian that another attack would get him killed, and Yu Qian asked whether she had noticed him upon his arrival at Returning North Mountain.