Chapter Summaries

Yang Qing and his companions were trapped in the Qian Household’s Water Prison, where Yang Qing chose to study the mysterious formation instead of waiting for Qian Tong to rescue them. As sea fog closed in, an empty boat approached, leaving them wondering whether it was a ghost ship.

• Si Yifan explained that the Water Prison was a shifting formation that trapped intruders until a Qian Household member guided them out, but Yang Qing refused to rely on Qian Tong and decided to seek a way through.
• Mo Beixing backed Yang Qing, and the group entered the rocky waters, where the calm sea and brilliant starlight made the prison seem deceptively peaceful.
• Yang Qing warned Si Yifan not to let the beautiful scenery lower their guard, then studied the water and suspected the formation resembled a Void Formation.
• Sea fog thickened until the group could barely see one another, and Si Yifan ordered the boat to stop while they waited.
• Bu Er spotted a large shape approaching through the fog, and Yang Qing’s group saw that it was an empty boat; Si Yifan wondered if it was a ghost ship.

Yang Qing and his companions discovered an apparently abandoned ship inside the Qian Household Water Prison and found a tiny jade fragment marked with Eastern Splendor Ancient Script. They suspected the ship had once carried a Twelve Holy Envoy token, and Yang Qing ordered Bu Er to inspect its mast for clues.

• Yang Qing sent Bu Er, Ouyang Lin, and Mu Feng to investigate the ship that had collided with their vessel.
• Bu Er and Ouyang Lin found the ship empty, while Mu Feng discovered and pocketed a tiny piece of jade.
• Mu Feng showed Yang Qing the jade fragment, and Yang Qing recognized its carved mark as Eastern Splendor Ancient Script associated with the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• Si Yifan said the jade was not a token because it had been left behind, while Mu Feng suggested the Qian Household might know where the missing token was.
• Yang Qing realized the wedged ship blocked their escape and asked Bu Er to climb its mast and inspect it.

Yang Qing discovered that the mysterious ship had an Iron Tung Wood mast, linking it to the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom and possibly the Qian Household. He and Si Yifan followed the drifting ship through the Water Prison, hoping it would reveal a way out and more hidden clues.

• Bu Er found three weapon-like cuts on the ship’s mast, and Yang Qing discovered that a splinter from it resisted fire.
• Si Yifan identified the mast as rare Iron Tung Wood, which had last been recorded during the era of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.
• Yang Qing connected the ship to the Qian Household and suspected that Immortal Island might hold descendants of the ancient kingdom.
• Si Yifan’s crew shifted the empty ship aside, allowing their vessel to pass and follow it through the Water Prison.
• The empty ship veered into a newly revealed fork, and Yang Qing told the others to follow it and watch for more clues.

Yang Qing studied the changing currents and the empty boat’s route to map a path through the Void Formation. He led the group out of the Water Prison, where they saw the Qian Household fleet and learned that Qian Tong had returned.

• Yang Qing observed the empty boat for hours, then explained how the crew could mark repeated junctions in the Void Formation.
• Yang Qing assigned the crewmen tasks, and they charted overlapping junctions until a route emerged.
• After resting, Yang Qing learned the boat had avoided repeating junctions and was nearing the Water Prison’s exit.
• The boat left the Water Prison, and Si Yifan told Yang Qing they had seen the Qian Household fleet and that Qian Tong had returned.

Si Yifan and Yang Qing intercepted Qian Tong’s fleet, confronted him about their imprisonment, and asked about the mysterious designs linked to the Twelve Holy Envoys. Qian Tong promised to make amends and explain what he knew after they returned to Outlying Island, where they were met by Qian Zhi.

• Si Yifan stopped the last ship in Qian Tong’s fleet and revealed that he and the others had escaped the Qian Household Water Prison.
• Qian Tong learned that Qian Zhi had lured Si Yifan and the others into the water prison, and grew furious at his younger brother’s actions.
• Yang Qing showed Qian Tong a design and asked about its connection to the designs on Outlying Island and the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• Yang Qing revealed that he and Si Yifan were descendants of the Twelve Holy Envoys, prompting Qian Tong to promise a fuller explanation after making amends.
• Qian Tong led Si Yifan and Yang Qing into Outlying Island Harbor, where they greeted Qian Zhi.

After returning to the Qian Household, Si Yifan and Yang Qing watched Qian Tong confront Qian Zhi over the Water Prison plot. Qian Zhi revealed that he had acted to protect the household’s secret patterns, prompting Qian Tong to turn his suspicion toward Si Yifan and Yang Qing and demand an explanation.

• Qian Zhi welcomed Si Yifan and Yang Qing back to the Qian Household while trading barbed remarks with Si Yifan.
• At a banquet in his own courtyard, Qian Tong accused Qian Zhi of luring Si Yifan into the Water Prison and striking at the Qian Household’s interests.
• Qian Zhi denied wrongdoing until Qian Tong struck him down, then admitted he had acted because Si Yifan and Yang Qing were asking about the household’s secret patterns.
• Qian Tong asked Si Yifan to explain their interest in the patterns, and Si Yifan pointed out that Qian Tong himself knew about the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• Yang Qing and Si Yifan realized they had walked into another trap as Qian Tong demanded to know why they wanted to see the patterns.

Yang Qing and Si Yifan tried to conceal what they knew about the Twelve Holy Envoys, but Qian Tong revealed that he wanted the sacred relic they carried. When Si Yifan confronted him about the Qian Household’s plunder, Qian Tong ordered his guards to seize them.

• Qian Tong questioned Yang Qing and Si Yifan about their interest in his residence and the Twelve Holy Envoys, then demanded to see their supposed token.
• Yang Qing tried to leave, but Qian Tong blocked the group and led them to a garden to show off rare flowers tied to the Eastern Splendor Imperial Palace.
• Yang Qing suspected that the Qian Household had acquired its treasures from the abandoned ship in the Water Prison and signaled Bu Er to take Si Yifan back to the ship.
• Qian Tong’s armed men stopped Si Yifan and Bu Er, and Qian Tong demanded that Si Yifan surrender the sacred relic.
• Si Yifan accused Qian Tong of piracy, and Qian Tong ordered his guards to seize the group.

Yang Qing and his companions subdued Qian Tong and searched the Qian Household’s treasures for clues about the Twelve Holy Envoys. Qian Tong revealed that the strange ship had been empty when found in the deep sea, but said he could guess where it came from.

• At Qian Tong’s command, the Qian Household’s men surrounded Yang Qing and Si Yifan, but Mu Feng appeared beside Qian Tong and threatened him with a flowering twig.
• Yang Qing made Qian Tong lead them to the treasures taken from the strange Water Prison ship, where they found markings and numbers connected to the Twelve Holy Envoys.
• Qian Tong confirmed that the objects in the courtyard and the estate all came from the same ship, which his fleet had found empty in the deep sea.
• Qian Tong explained that he had displayed the Twelve Holy Envoys’ designs for ten years, hoping to attract people connected to their legacies and gain powerful backing for his household.
• As Mu Feng pressed the twig closer to his neck, Qian Tong hurriedly said he could make a rough guess about where the ship had come from.

Yang Qing examined relics from the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom and learned that they likely came from the Eastern Sea. He questioned Qian Tong about Immortal Island and insisted that Qian Tong accompany them there, despite his fear.

• Qian Tong identified the damaged ship as likely coming from the Eastern Sea and mentioned Immortal Island.
• Yang Qing recognized the ship’s carefully preserved cargo as relics of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom and wondered who had maintained them.
• Yang Qing found a Bone Jade Thumb Ring marked with an eight, matching the ring he wore, which was marked with a one.
• Yang Qing asked Qian Tong whether he had visited Immortal Island, and Qian Tong described its mysterious nature and claimed immortals lived there.
• Qian Tong offered to provide a ship and experienced sailors, but Yang Qing insisted that Qian Tong make the journey himself.

Yang Qing and his companions prepared to sail with Qian Tong to Immortal Island, while suspecting that Qian Tong planned to retaliate once they were at sea. Before boarding, Yang Qing and Bu Er discovered signs that Outlying Island’s residents might be descended from the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.

• Yang Qing ordered Qian Tong to take them to Immortal Island, then told Si Yifan they would depart without him; Si Yifan wished them a safe return and left for the Si Household dock.
• Qian Tong spent three days arranging a ship and supplies, while Yang Qing warned Bu Er that Qian Tong’s dutiful behavior might conceal a plan for revenge.
• Yang Qing walked around Outlying Island with Bu Er and pointed out flowers that appeared as emblems of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom in ruins they had visited.
• Yang Qing said they could investigate Outlying Island’s history if they returned safely, then Jiang Zhizhou reported that the preparations were complete.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou reached the dock, where Qian Tong invited them aboard the ship.

Yang Qing and his companions sailed toward Immortal Island aboard Qian Tong’s ship while Qian Tong secretly tried to abandon them with the ship’s boats and supplies. Yang Qing’s group stopped his final escape and revealed they had tampered with the supplies on the first two boats.

• Qian Tong cooperated as Yang Qing and the others prepared to sail, secretly hoping they would die on Immortal Island.
• Bu Er and Ouyang Lin discovered that Qian Tong had sent two boats loaded with food and fresh water away from the ship.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er and the others to wait for Qian Tong to launch his third boat, while Jiang Zhizhou prepared to take control of the ship.
• At daybreak, Qian Tong’s men lowered the third boat, but Bu Er cut its tether and the waves carried it away.
• Yang Qing confronted Qian Tong, and Jiang Zhizhou revealed that they had tampered with the food on the first two boats.

Yang Qing and his companions sailed toward Immortal Island despite Qian Tong’s warnings about the island’s strange waters. After a sea beast killed Qian Tong, Yang Qing ordered the crew to shelter and push for the island as quickly as possible.

• Yang Qing forced Qian Tong and his men to repair the ship after revealing that its planks had been sabotaged.
• Qian Tong warned Yang Qing and Bu Er that ships near Immortal Island circled without reaching it and that unknown sea beasts prowled the waters.
• As the ship circled the island, Yang Qing told Qian Tong that it was slowly drawing closer, raising Qian Tong’s hopes of reaching the island and finding its treasures.
• A gecko-shaped sea beast clung to Qian Tong’s neck and killed him before Yang Qing and the others could intervene.
• Yang Qing ordered everyone into the cabin, leaving a few men to watch the ship while the rest worked to reach the island as fast as possible.

Yang Qing and his companions were trapped by strange sea beasts guarding Immortal Island, which formed a Dragon-Trapping Formation around their ship. As the formation attacked their minds, Yang Qing relived the fire that had destroyed his family and opened his eyes.

• A vast whirlpool formed beneath the ship, and Qian Tong's body was swept into the sea.
• Hideous sea beasts emerged from the whirlpools and surrounded the ship as the sailors knelt and begged for mercy.
• Yang Qing recognized that the sea beasts were forming a Dragon-Trapping Formation and ordered his companions not to kill them indiscriminately.
• The formation blurred the men's vision and threatened to bewitch their minds, so Yang Qing and the others closed their eyes and guarded their thoughts.
• Yang Qing was overwhelmed by a vision of the fire that had killed more than two hundred members of the Yang Family, then opened his eyes while shouting that he would save them.

Yang Qing was trapped in a fire-filled vision while a sea beast pinned him on the ship, but Bu Er’s words helped him break free and fight back. After the Dragon-Trapping Formation broke and the beasts were driven away, Yang Qing realized he had finally escaped the nightmare of his family’s destruction.

• A sea beast pinned Yang Qing while he was lost in a vision of the fire that destroyed his family.
• Bu Er fought his way to Yang Qing and urged him to wake up and live so he could avenge the Yang Family.
• Yang Qing remembered Bu Er’s words, opened his eyes, and shoved the sea beast aside.
• Bu Er killed the beast, and Yang Qing rose blood-soaked, radiating killing intent.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, Ouyang Lin, and Mu Feng to drive the sea beasts back into the sea, and they did so after the Dragon-Trapping Formation broke.
• Yang Qing told the others he had finally banished the nightmare that had kept him trapped in the fire.

Yang Qing overcame the fear buried since the fire that destroyed his family and reached Immortal Island with his companions. They found the island deserted, but Jiangli led Yang Qing to a small mound of earth, leaving the group to wonder what it had found.

• Yang Qing embraced Bu Er after surviving the Dragon-Trapping Formation, and Bu Er told him that his parents’ spirits would be happy for him.
• Yang Qing’s ship reached Immortal Island after the sea beasts and whirlpools disappeared, and the group went ashore.
• Yang Qing and his companions searched the small, forested island and found no people, leaving them puzzled by Luo Dahai’s family’s accounts of it.
• Yang Qing reminded the group that their main goal was finding the Rootless Wood and chose to search together rather than split up.
• Jiangli emerged from Yang Qing’s robes, led him and the others to a mound, and stopped Bu Er from prying it open.

Yang Qing and his companions opened the mound and were trapped inside a poison-filled stone enclosure, where the sailors died. Mo Beixing revealed that she knew the place, opened a hidden passage, and disappeared into it, leaving the others behind.

• Yang Qing opened the mound, releasing smoke that transported the group into a stone-walled enclosure.
• Mu Feng identified the smoke as deadly poison and protected Yang Qing and the others, while the sailors succumbed and died.
• Mo Beixing struck the stone wall and left a deep depression, alarming Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.
• Yang Qing questioned Mo Beixing about her familiarity with the place, and she said she had seen it many years ago.
• Mo Beixing struck the recessed stone block again, opened a narrow passage, and slipped inside.

After Mo Beixing trapped Yang Qing and his companions behind a mercury-coated wall, Jiangli guided them to a hidden door. They emerged into a forest resembling the one they had left, and Yang Qing noticed signs that they had reached the real Immortal Island.

• Mo Beixing sealed the passage behind her, leaving Yang Qing, Bu Er, Ouyang Lin, Mu Feng, and Jiang Zhizhou trapped beside walls coated with poisonous mercury.
• Yang Qing concluded that Mo Beixing believed they were on Immortal Island and that another world was hidden within it.
• Jiangli led the group to a corner where Bu Er and Ouyang Lin found a small protrusion that opened a door after the walls dried.
• The group passed through the door into a forest resembling the one outside, but found no boat on the nearby beach.
• Yang Qing stopped and pointed into the distance, asking Bu Er to identify what he saw.

Yang Qing and his companions discovered that Immortal Island held the remnants of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom and suspected Mo Beixing had lured them there for a purpose. After searching a row of empty houses, they entered an open courtyard and encountered armed men from the Eastern Splendor Army, who challenged their intrusion.

• Yang Qing and his companions saw houses on Immortal Island and discussed whether Mo Beixing was an Eastern Radiance Remnant who had lured them there.
• Bu Er suggested Mo Beixing might use the Rootless Wood to force them into her service, while Yang Qing feared the Fierce Beast and their journey were part of a larger scheme.
• Yang Qing decided they had to find the Rootless Wood despite the danger, and his companions followed him into the island settlement.
• Yang Qing and the others found the houses empty but recognized their architecture, plants, and furnishings as remnants of the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom.
• Yang Qing entered the last courtyard through its open gate, and several men in Eastern Splendor Army uniforms appeared and challenged the group for intruding on Immortal Island.

Yang Qing and his companions sought Rootless Wood on Immortal Island, where the island’s inhabitants recognized the Thumb Ring on Yang Qing’s hand but sent them south to search. They found a rocky stretch where Rootless Wood was said to appear, only to encounter Mo Beixing, who vowed they would not obtain it.

• Yang Qing asked the island’s inhabitants about Rootless Wood, and one of them directed him to search south.
• One man tried to take Yang Qing’s Thumb Ring, but Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou stopped him; the others recognized the ring and withdrew their hostility.
• Mu Feng explained that the men seemed to know the Thumb Ring’s significance, while Yang Qing focused the group on finding Rootless Wood and wondered whether the Ultimate Land existed.
• Yang Qing and his companions reached a rocky area in the south, where they expected Rootless Wood to reveal itself to someone destined to find it.
• Yang Qing’s group encountered Mo Beixing, who said they would not get Rootless Wood.

Yang Qing and his companions confronted Mo Beixing over her claim to the Rootless Wood, and she attacked them with Soul-Seeking Smoke to seize it. Bu Er and Mu Feng stopped her, and the chapter left Mo Beixing restrained while Yang Qing’s group demanded to know where the Rootless Wood was.

• Mo Beixing said the Rootless Wood belonged to the Sacred Mountain and dismissed Yang Qing and the others as unworthy of it.
• Bu Er defended Yang Qing, and Mo Beixing drew her Flexible Sword and attacked him while the others held back.
• Jiang Zhizhou spotted the pellet in Mo Beixing’s hand and ordered everyone to retreat as she released Soul-Seeking Smoke.
• Mo Beixing claimed the smoke would kill them and tried to leave, but Bu Er and Mu Feng blocked her.
• Mu Feng sealed Mo Beixing’s acupoint, and Bu Er demanded that she reveal where the Rootless Wood was.