Chapter Summaries

Chen Zhilan lost the Holy Envoy Token to a mysterious thief, while Qin Yue confronted Yang Qing and the others with Mu Feng’s Jade Pendant. After Qin Yue shattered the pendant, he declared that Mu Feng would not be able to escape.

• A mysterious man stole the Holy Envoy Token from Chen Zhilan, who collapsed in despair after failing to pursue him.
• Qin Yue arrived at the inn and told Yang Qing and the others that he had come because of their ties to the Chen Estate.
• Qin Yue presented a brocade box containing Mu Feng’s Jade Pendant and challenged him to reclaim the keepsake his mother had left him.
• Mu Feng refused to take the pendant, saying it no longer belonged to him and asking Qin Yue to leave.
• Qin Yue knocked the box to the floor and shattered the pendant, then told Mu Feng he would not be getting away.

Qin Yue tried to force Yang Qing and his companions to go to his residence for punishment, destroying the inn to intimidate them. When he attacked Yang Qing, he was shocked by the result.

• Qin Yue threw the Jade Pendant to the ground, collapsing the inn while leaving Yang Qing's group and the surrounding area unharmed.
• Yang Qing and his companions left the ruins, but Qin Yue told them to come with him and claimed they had to receive punishment for shattering the token.
• Yang Qing questioned Qin Yue's authority to take them away, and Qin Yue insisted they could not leave.
• Qin Yue turned to walk away, expecting Yang Qing and the others to follow, but a Binding Formation appeared in his path.
• Qin Yue dismissed the formation and struck at Yang Qing, then stared in shock at what happened.

Yang Qing used the Rootless Wood to deflect Qin Yue’s attack, then left with his companions after Qin Yue compensated the innkeepers. As the group considered the Holy Envoy Tokens and their next move, they encountered Qin Yue again outside another inn.

• Qin Yue attacked Yang Qing, but Yang Qing used the Rootless Wood to disperse the strike and destroy the inn’s rubble.
• Qin Yue recognized the Rootless Wood as the Eastern Radiance Remnants’ Sacred Relic and let Yang Qing and his companions leave.
• Qin Yue gave the innkeepers a banknote to compensate them, then departed.
• Yang Qing and Mu Feng discussed Qin Yue, the Holy Envoy Tokens, and the Chen Household’s loss of its status as a Holy Envoy Successor.
• Yang Qing proposed gathering the remaining tokens to uncover their purpose, then led the group to find a place to rest.
• Yang Qing and his companions saw Qin Yue standing outside the inn they had chosen.

Yang Qing and his companions waited for Qin Yue to make his move, then invited him to tea and discussed why he had followed them. Qin Yue revealed that he wanted to know why Yang Qing persisted in doing something he believed impossible, leaving the reason unexplained.

• Qin Yue followed Yang Qing and his companions to their inn, and Yang Qing suspected he wanted the Rootless Wood.
• Yang Qing told his companions to stay put, reasoning that Qin Yue was more anxious than they were and that they might have interests in common.
• After two days, Qin Yue came to the courtyard, where Yang Qing invited him to tea.
• Qin Yue asked to see the Rootless Wood, but Yang Qing questioned why he had followed them if the relic alone was not enough to motivate him.
• Qin Yue said he wanted to know why Yang Qing insisted on doing something he knew could not be done, and Yang Qing replied that they would not act against their own wishes.

Yang Qing invited Qin Yue to travel with his companions instead of continuing to serve the leader of the Eastern Radiance Remnants. Qin Yue returned that evening and agreed to join them under two conditions, while Yang Qing added one of his own.

• Yang Qing told Qin Yue that their group had caused the Jade Pendant to shatter by pooling their efforts, and argued that they still had a chance against Qin Yue's master.
• Yang Qing invited Qin Yue to travel with the group, but Qin Yue left without answering; Yang Qing then told everyone to prepare to leave the next day.
• Qin Yue returned that evening and said he would travel with them if he did not have to participate in their actions and could sometimes make their troubles worse, and if no one but Yang Qing knew he had joined them.
• Yang Qing accepted Qin Yue's two conditions and said Qin Yue would also have to agree to one condition of his own.

Yang Qing asked Qin Yue where the next Holy Envoy Token would appear and explained that his group wanted to gather the tokens to learn their purpose. Qin Yue agreed to cooperate, and their discussion linked the tokens’ return to the reappearance of the Eastern Radiance Ruins.

• Yang Qing asked Qin Yue where the next Holy Envoy Token would appear, and Qin Yue asked what Yang Qing intended to do with the remaining tokens.
• Yang Qing said his group wanted to gather the tokens to discover their purpose, and Qin Yue admitted he also wanted to know the truth behind them.
• Qin Yue recalled that the Twelve Holy Envoys had vanished after Emperor Zetian’s fall and that Eastern Splendor’s Final Secret Archive had disappeared.
• Qin Yue told Yang Qing that the Twelve Holy Envoys had begun appearing again over the past two years.
• Yang Qing connected their return to the reappearance of the Eastern Radiance Ruins and said they needed to uncover the truth.

Qin Yue warned Yang Qing that a token connected to the troubled Du, Lin, Qian, and Si households might soon appear, possibly putting Yang Qing in danger. Yang Qing stayed in Xiangyang City, where two armed men confronted him and showed him Lin Zhong’s inherited snuff bottle to make him comply.

• Qin Yue told Yang Qing that tokens belonging to the Du, Lin, Qian, and Si households still needed to be found, and hinted that one might come for Yang Qing.
• Qin Yue asked whether Yang Qing would choose a token or righteousness if his own safety were at stake, and Yang Qing decided to remain in Xiangyang City rather than leave.
• Yang Qing and Ouyang Lin encountered two men with strong murderous auras while strolling through the city.
• The two men invited Yang Qing to come with them and threatened his friends if he refused.
• One man produced Lin Zhong’s snuff bottle, making Yang Qing and Ouyang Lin realize the men had leverage over Lin Zhong.

Yang Qing and his companions were lured to a courtyard where Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan had been captured, and their captors demanded Yang Qing surrender the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring. Yang Qing challenged their claim and sent the green Rootless Wood toward the speaker, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• Yang Qing realized Lin Zhong was being held and followed the two men with his companions to a courtyard.
• Lin Zhong warned Yang Qing to leave, but Yang Qing stayed, while Lin Zhong wondered about the captors’ connection to the Holy Envoy Tokens and Du Yongquan’s fate.
• Du Yongquan arrived in the courtyard, confirming Yang Qing’s suspicion that someone was pursuing the Holy Envoy Tokens.
• A man demanded Yang Qing hand over the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring, claiming they belonged to his master.
• Yang Qing rejected the claim and sent a streak of green light toward the man, telling him to ask the Rootless Wood whether Yang Qing was only borrowing it.

Yang Qing confronted two men who demanded the Rootless Wood and threatened his companions, while he tried to uncover their true plans. He exposed their personal greed, but the men still held Lin Zhong hostage as Yang Qing demanded to know what they intended to do with the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring.

• Yang Qing used the Rootless Wood to wound one of the men, who accused him of violating their master's taboos and demanded that he surrender it.
• Yang Qing rejected the men's claims about their master and said he and his companions would decide their own fate.
• The second man demanded the Rootless Wood and threatened to kill everyone present, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou guarded Yang Qing.
• The blood-covered man grabbed Lin Zhong by the throat and used his life to pressure Yang Qing into handing over the Rootless Wood.
• Yang Qing inferred that the men had used the token to lure them there for the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring, then asked what they planned to do with the relics.

Yang Qing refused to surrender the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring to the two men who had captured Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan. He exposed their selfish motives and deduced that the items and his life were connected to the Sacred Emperor, leaving everyone stunned.

• Yang Qing rejected the men's claim that handing over the items would keep him alive and accused them of misusing their master's name.
• Yang Qing refused to surrender the Rootless Wood and Bone Jade Thumb Ring, despite the men holding Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan hostage.
• The men hesitated when Yang Qing pointed out that killing the hostages would not get them the items, exposing their plan to earn promotion by obtaining them.
• Yang Qing offered to hear their desires and then said his life had been tied to the Sacred Emperor ever since he obtained the Rootless Wood.
• The men fell silent and released Lin Zhong as Yang Qing concluded that the Rootless Wood, Bone Jade Thumb Ring, and his life were connected to the Sacred Emperor, startling Bu Er and the others.

Yang Qing questioned Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan about the tokens and Sacred Relics, suspecting they were connected to Emperor Zetian and the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom. Lin Zhong recalled a legend about a Heaven-Fallen Strange Stone that recorded secrets of immortality, leading Yang Qing to suspect the Heavenly Stones were behind the Holy Envoys and Sacred Relics.

• Yang Qing said the Ultimate Land was Emperor Zetian’s resting place and suggested they had been unable to enter it before but might soon be able to.
• Two men tried to kill Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan, but Jiang Zhizhou and Mu Feng intervened; the men escaped by leaving their robes behind.
• Yang Qing told Lin Zhong that the snuff bottle the men had brought was likely a token passed down through the Lin Family.
• Lin Zhong recalled a legend that the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom’s Primordial Ancestor had obtained a Heaven-Fallen Strange Stone bearing unknown records, possibly about ascension to immortality.
• Yang Qing recalled that Emperor Zetian had taken a Heavenly Stone into the Imperial Palace and suspected the stones were connected to the Holy Envoys and Sacred Relics.

Yang Qing learned that Heavenly Stones were linked to Emperor Zetian’s unexplained death and might be cursed, then asked Qin Yue for what he knew. Qin Yue claimed the stones were buried in the Sacred Emperor’s Mausoleum, and Yang Qing pressed him to reveal where one had been placed.

• Lin Zhong recounted the Heavenly Stones’ history, including Emperor Zetian’s death soon after obtaining one, and Du Yongquan suggested Yang Qing could use the Rootless Wood to find them.
• Lin Zhong and Du Yongquan warned Yang Qing that the Heavenly Stones were said to be cursed before leaving the courtyard.
• Yang Qing told Ouyang Lin that they might need the Heavenly Stones to uncover why people were pushing them to collect the Holy Envoy Tokens.
• Yang Qing asked Qin Yue about the Heavenly Stones, and Qin Yue said they had all been buried in the Mausoleum with the Sacred Emperor.
• Yang Qing challenged Qin Yue’s claim by raising the curse legend and asked where the Heavenly Stone had been placed.

Yang Qing pressed Qin Yue for the Heavenly Stone’s whereabouts, and Qin Yue revealed that the Primordial Emperor’s stone was at Fated Mountain. The group learned little else about the place, leaving them to investigate its significance themselves.

• Yang Qing challenged Qin Yue’s claim that the Heavenly Stone was only a legend and asked him to reveal its whereabouts.
• Qin Yue warned Yang Qing and his companions that his master would not allow them to investigate and urged them to abandon the idea.
• Yang Qing asked Qin Yue to tell them where the stone was, while insisting they would handle the danger themselves.
• Qin Yue explained that he had learned about the Heavenly Stone from the Secret Archives, which recorded two notable stones: the Primordial Emperor’s and the one that created the Skyfall Pit.
• Qin Yue said the Sacred Emperor’s stone was buried with him, but the Primordial Emperor’s stone was at Fated Mountain.
• Mu Feng questioned how the stone could be at Fated Mountain, and Qin Yue refused to explain what kind of place it was.

Yang Qing and his companions followed Mu Feng through Xiangyang City to find the hidden Fated Mountain and its Heavenly Stone. After carefully following Mu Feng’s steps, they reached a stone stele marking the mountain’s entrance.

• Mu Feng told Yang Qing that Fated Mountain was in Xiangyang City and that they had to wait until dusk to enter it.
• Qin Yue left the group, worried that Yang Qing and his companions might be the anomalies recorded in secret histories and unsure how to respond.
• At dusk, Yang Qing and the others walked north through the city, while Mu Feng forbade them from using a carriage, horses, or internal power to travel.
• Mu Feng led the group through an empty crossroads by a precise sequence of fast steps and warned them not to stray from his footsteps.
• Bu Er saw a stone stele appear before them and exclaimed that Fated Mountain was there.

Yang Qing and his companions found the first Heavenly Stone at Fated Mountain, where Mu Feng explained the place’s connection to the Primordial Emperor. With only four hours before they had to leave, Yang Qing decided to inspect the stone’s cavities for the secret hidden within it.

• Yang Qing recognized the black stone on the White Jade Platform as a Heavenly Stone and wondered why another had appeared in the Skyfall Pit.
• Mu Feng explained that Fated Mountain was the name of the place where the Primordial Emperor had stored the stone, not an actual mountain.
• Yang Qing circled the Heavenly Stone and sensed a powerful pressure from it, though he could find no visible clue to its secret.
• Mu Feng warned that the group had four hours left before the danger of remaining at Fated Mountain became too great.
• Yang Qing concluded the answer might be hidden in the stone’s cavities and ordered Bu Er to send him onto the jade platform.

Yang Qing’s search around the Heavenly Stone revealed the Eastern Splendor Primordial Ancestor’s coffin and a smaller stone covered in unreadable writing. As he wished he could decipher it, his soul was drawn inside the Heavenly Stone while his body remained beside Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.

• Yang Qing searched the Heavenly Stone for two hours, then struck it with his elbow and triggered a tremor that split it apart.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou pulled Yang Qing off the platform as a black, symbol-covered coffin appeared between the halves of the Heavenly Stone.
• Mu Feng recognized the Yin-Yang Symbols and identified the coffin as the Primordial Emperor’s final resting place.
• Jiang Zhizhou showed Yang Qing a smaller, smooth Heavenly Stone behind the coffin, whose moving characters Mu Feng said were not any known Eastern Splendor script.
• Yang Qing suddenly felt pain in his head and found his soul inside the Heavenly Stone, surrounded by golden lights and unreadable characters, while his body remained motionless beside Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.

Yang Qing survived being overwhelmed by the Heavenly Stone’s golden characters and escaped with Bu Er and the others just before their time ran out. After waking the next afternoon, he told them the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom’s monarchs had pursued a forbidden supreme realm by practicing the Immortality Art.

• Yang Qing calmed himself inside the Heavenly Stone, absorbed its golden characters, and stopped them when their flood of knowledge nearly overwhelmed him.
• Yang Qing’s Divine Soul returned safely to his body, and he hurried Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and the others out of the crossroads before the allotted hour ended.
• Yang Qing returned to his lodging, collapsed from exhaustion, and slept until the following afternoon.
• Yang Qing gathered Bu Er and the others and said he had understood the Heavenly Stone’s records.
• Yang Qing warned that the secret had nearly trapped him, then revealed that the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom’s successive monarchs practiced the Immortality Art in pursuit of a supreme realm.

Yang Qing explained that the Heavenly Stone described the Immortality Art and suggested Eastern Splendor’s emperors had planned to overturn heaven and earth and return to life. The group suspected their search for the Twelve Holy Envoys’ tokens was part of a scheme tied to Emperor Zetian, and Yang Qing revealed that the next Golden Armor Year was only two years away.

• Yang Qing told Ouyang Lin, Jiang Zhizhou, Mu Feng, Bu Er, and the others that the Heavenly Stone recorded the Immortality Art and its method of practice.
• Jiang Zhizhou pointed out that the Primordial Ancestor Emperor’s coffin and Eastern Splendor’s secrecy about the Heavenly Stone raised questions about whether the emperors had abandoned the art.
• Mu Feng proposed that the Twelve Star Mansions referred to the Twelve Holy Envoys’ tokens, and Yang Qing said Eastern Splendor’s rulers sought to overturn heaven and earth and preserve their bodies from decay.
• Ouyang Lin asked what role the group played in the scheme, and Yang Qing suggested Emperor Zetian might have prepared the tokens for his own return.
• Ouyang Lin wondered whether time was running short, and Yang Qing said the Golden Armor Year would arrive in two years, exactly a century after the last celestial alignment.

Yang Qing and his companions concluded that Emperor Zetian might be seeking resurrection and decided to keep gathering the Holy Envoy Tokens while investigating their purpose. Yang Qing then suspected the tokens mattered because his group found and came into contact with them, and feared they would be sacrificed with them before the Sacred Emperor.

• Yang Qing argued that they should oppose Emperor Zetian if he was defying heaven, and Ouyang Lin and Mu Feng agreed to face their fate on their own terms.
• Bu Er proposed gathering the tokens and entering Emperor Zetian's Mausoleum early to verify their suspicions and seek a chance to survive.
• Yang Qing questioned why Lin Zhong's and Du Yongquan's tokens had not been kept, and wondered whether the tokens themselves were necessary.
• Yang Qing noticed the Rootless Wood emerging from the back of his hand and suspected that finding and touching the tokens mattered more than keeping them intact.
• Yang Qing realized that the tokens still missing corresponded to Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Ouyang Lin, and feared that the five companions would be sacrificed before the Sacred Emperor with the tokens.

Yang Qing and his companions decided to keep their discovery about the tokens secret and search for them, but the Eastern Splendor Envoy confronted Qin Yue over revealing the Ancestral Resting Place. The Envoy struck Qin Yue with a painful attack and vanished, leaving Yang Qing and the others to rush him inside for treatment.

• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou agreed to keep their discovery under wraps and focus on finding all the tokens.
• Qin Yue visited Yang Qing's courtyard to share a lead on the tokens and was shocked to find the Eastern Splendor Envoy there.
• The Envoy accused Qin Yue of letting others reveal the Ancestral Resting Place and reminded him of Eastern Splendor's Ancestral Admonition.
• The Envoy struck Qin Yue at several acupoints and left him convulsing on the ground.
• Qin Yue warned Yang Qing and the others to be careful, then fainted, and Yang Qing ordered them to carry him inside for Xiao Zhou to examine.