Chapter Summaries

Ning Que exposed Xing Chenyuan as an heir of the Demon Star Sect who had infiltrated the Fallen Star Pavilion to revive the sect, then ordered his execution. He spared Liu Fusheng and Liu Piaoying from death but had their cultivation crippled, and turned his attention to Steward Ge.

• The sword slave soul-searched Xing Chenyuan and discovered he was a Demon Star Sect heir who had killed cultivators and planned to revive the sect.
• Ning Que ordered Xing Chenyuan killed, and the sword slave beheaded him.
• Liu Fusheng and Liu Piaoying begged Ning Que for mercy, and he judged them pawns rather than masterminds but ordered their cultivation crippled.
• The sword slave struck Liu Fusheng and Liu Piaoying's dantians, destroying their cultivation, and Liu Piaoying fainted.
• Ning Que turned his attention to the terrified Steward Ge and began to speak.

Ning Que left the Moon Gazing Pavilion after Yue Changkong punished Steward Ge, then claimed rewards for completing the Fallen Star Pavilion background and reached the Purple Sky Holy Land. The Purple Firmament Sacred Lord initially questioned Ning Que’s identity, then suddenly declared that he was not Purple Firmament.

• Yue Changkong knelt before Ning Que and Sword Slave, expelled Steward Ge, and promised to investigate the Moon Gazing Pavilion’s failure.
• Ning Que reassured Xingyunzi that the Fallen Star Pavilion would remain his backing, then departed with Sword Slave.
• Ning Que completed the Fallen Star Pavilion background and claimed the Shore Beyond realm, the Sunlight Wheel, and the fifth level of the Purple Firmament Heart Manual.
• Ning Que and Sword Slave arrived at the Purple Sky Holy Land, where the gathered disciples questioned whether Ning Que was truly the Holy Son.
• Ning Que greeted the Purple Firmament Sacred Lord, who suddenly roared that Ning Que was not Purple Firmament.

Ning Que convinced the Purple Firmament Sacred Lord that he was the Holy Son who had supposedly died three years earlier, then claimed Great Li had taken his wife, Su Yunjin, for a political marriage. The Sacred Lord authorized Ning Que to deploy the holy land’s forces against Great Li and rescue her.

• The Purple Firmament Sacred Lord tested Ning Que with the Holy Son’s final words, then recognized him and embraced him in joy.
• Ning Que said he had survived with amnesia, married Su Yunjin, and later learned Great Li had taken her for a political marriage.
• Ning Que claimed Great Li arrested him when he tried to confront the Empress and said he would destroy the dynasty and save Su Yunjin.
• The Purple Firmament Sacred Lord gave Ning Que permission to deploy anyone in the holy land against Great Li.

Ning Que learned the Purple Sky Holy Land was in danger of losing its status and accepted a system quest to rescue its disciples in the Ten Thousandfold Mountains. Meanwhile, Mu Xuehuang’s efforts to strengthen the Great Li Dynasty still left her uneasy.

• The Purple Firmament Sacred Lord hid from Ning Que that the holy land risked losing its status in the upcoming tournament, while elders explained that its weak younger generation had left it vulnerable.
• The system assigned Ning Que a hidden quest to rescue trapped fellow disciples in the Ten Thousandfold Mountains, and he agreed to go.
• Ning Que resolved to use the rescue to win the holy land’s loyalty and set out from his residence, confident in the strength he had gained.
• Mu Xuehuang reviewed reports that her campaign had eliminated Flowing Sand’s provincial strongholds and that major flood-control and water-diversion projects were underway.
• Mu Xuehuang remained troubled despite her efforts to avert the rebellion, whose leader she had identified as Ning Yuanzhou.

With Flowing Sand’s strongholds lost, Ning Yuanzhou arranged peace talks with Empress Mu Xuehuang, who agreed to meet him despite her court’s protests. As the talks approached at Fallen Phoenix Mountain, Wang Yong gathered officials plotting to overthrow the Empress.

• Ning Yuanzhou ordered Flowing Sand to abandon its strongholds and decided to negotiate with the Empress, revealing that he wanted a peaceful dynasty and was willing to become emperor.
• Mu Xuehuang accepted Flowing Sand’s request for a face-to-face meeting, overruling ministers who warned her it might be a trap.
• Wang Yong persuaded Deng Shigao that Great Li should replace Mu Xuehuang and revealed that he had won over many officials.
• Wang Yong hosted a gathering of officials plotting to depose Mu Xuehuang and described a plan to exploit her meeting with Ning Yuanzhou.
• Ning Yuanzhou prepared for the talks at Fallen Phoenix Mountain, keeping Flowing Sand’s main force on standby and bringing Luo Qingwan with him.

Ning Yuanzhou and Luo Qingwan met Empress Mu Xuehuang at Fallen Phoenix Mountain, where he demanded reforms to end Flowing Sand’s rebellion. The meeting took an unexpected turn when Mu Xuehuang revealed that she, too, came from Qinghe Town, leaving Ning Yuanzhou stunned.

• Wang Yong and Deng Shigao expected Ning Yuanzhou to arrive and hoped the meeting would help remove the Empress from power.
• Ning Yuanzhou and Luo Qingwan approached the heavily guarded mountain with only the two of them, and Mu Xuehuang went to meet them despite ministers urging her to seize them.
• Luo Qingwan used her umbrella sword to make the imperial troops withdraw from within a hundred paces of the pavilion before she and Ning Yuanzhou sat with Mu Xuehuang.
• Ning Yuanzhou described corruption and abuses involving relief grain and grain transport, then demanded investigations, new transport regulations, and three years of tax relief for the northwest.
• Mu Xuehuang asked whether Ning Yuanzhou was from Qinghe Town and then revealed that she was from there too, leaving him bewildered.

Mu Xuehuang offered Ning Yuanzhou amnesty and asked him to help expose corrupt ministers, but Wang Yong and Deng Shigao launched a plot to kill them. Luo Qingwan took the Empress hostage as troops surrounded Ning Yuanzhou, leaving him convinced Mu Xuehuang had betrayed him.

• Mu Xuehuang urged Ning Yuanzhou to disband Flowing Sand and serve as an official, but he rejected her offer and prepared to end their talks.
• Mu Xuehuang proposed that Ning Yuanzhou use Flowing Sand's informants to gather evidence against ministers who opposed her rule.
• Wang Yong ordered the Imperial Guard deputy commander to blow the whistle and frame Ning Yuanzhou's party for taking the Empress hostage.
• Luo Qingwan drew her Umbrella Sword and held Mu Xuehuang at knifepoint as hundreds of soldiers surrounded Ning Yuanzhou.
• Ning Yuanzhou accused Mu Xuehuang of betraying him, while she could not convince him that she was innocent.

Luo Qingwan took Mu Xuehuang hostage as the imperial guards surrounded Ning Yuanzhou, while Wang Yong and Deng Shigao tried to turn the standoff into a conflict between the court and Flowing Sand. Ning Yuanzhou offered to surrender to spare his men, but when the guards refused to release him, Luo Qingwan fled with Mu Xuehuang toward the cliff.

• Luo Qingwan held Mu Xuehuang at swordpoint and demanded that the imperial guards stand down, but their deputy commander refused.
• Ning Yuanzhou accused Mu Xuehuang of deceiving him, while she insisted the guards had acted without her orders.
• Wang Yong and Deng Shigao celebrated the growing rift between the Empress and Flowing Sand and hoped both sides would be weakened.
• Flowing Sand's main force rushed into the mountain hollow, but Ning Yuanzhou ordered his men to stop fighting and fall back.
• Ning Yuanzhou agreed to surrender if the guards let his men leave, but the deputy commander kept him surrounded and demanded that Luo Qingwan release Mu Xuehuang.
• Luo Qingwan refused to release Mu Xuehuang and fled with her toward the cliff.

Luo Qingwan abducted Empress Mu Xuehuang, giving Wang Yong and his allies an opening to take control of Great Li’s court. Meanwhile, Ning Que explored the Ten Thousandfold Mountains before following a group he suspected were his fellow disciples, as hostile cultivators shadowed them.

• Luo Qingwan carried Mu Xuehuang away, and the Imperial Guard halted its pursuit for fear of injuring the Empress.
• Wang Yong and Deng Shigao planned to control the court while using the Empress’s captivity to further their political aims.
• Ning Que arrived at the deserted Ten Thousandfold Mountains and learned that the Purple Sky Holy Land disciples had not set out yet.
• The Purple Firmament Sacred Lord sent Lin Yan and the other disciples to seek opportunities in the mountains before the Holy Land Tournament.
• A group from Burning Heaven Valley followed the Purple Sky Holy Land disciples, intending to kill them, while Ning Que followed the group.
• The group abruptly turned around and demanded to know who was there.

Ning Que overheard Lei Jue and Burning Heaven Valley disciples boasting about their role in hunting the Purple Firmament Holy Son. When Lei Jue attacked Lin Yan and his companions over a Vermilion Fruit and prepared to kill them, Ning Que intervened.

• Ning Que encountered Lei Jue and Burning Heaven Valley disciples, who threatened him and claimed the Ten Thousandfold Mountains for the strong.
• Ning Que heard Lei Jue admit that Burning Heaven Valley had helped hunt down the Purple Firmament Holy Son three years earlier.
• Lin Yan and two Purple Sky Holy Land disciples found a hundred-year-old Vermilion Fruit, but Lei Jue demanded it for Burning Heaven Valley.
• Lei Jue slapped Lin Yan, stamped on him, and ordered his disciples to cripple Lin Yan's companions while he took the fruit.
• Burning Heaven Valley disciples caught and badly injured Lin Yan's companions, and Lei Jue took the fruit and ordered Lin Yan killed.
• Ning Que appeared and challenged Lei Jue as he prepared to stab Lin Yan.

Ning Que appeared before Lin Yan and his companions as the Purple Firmament Holy Son, then learned that the Purple Sky Holy Land could lose its status if it finished last in the tournament. He killed two Burning Heaven Valley disciples with swift sword strikes, leaving Lei Jue terrified and facing him.

• Ning Que arrived as Lin Yan and his companions were being held by Lei Jue and the Burning Heaven Valley disciples, who doubted he was the Purple Firmament Holy Son.
• Lei Jue refused to release the Purple Sky Holy Land disciples and revealed that their holy land could be stripped of its status if it finished last in the tournament.
• Lin Yan realized Ning Que had not known about the threat facing the holy land and lost hope that he could help them.
• Two Burning Heaven Valley disciples charged Ning Que, and he killed them both with swift sword strikes.
• Lei Jue recognized that Ning Que was alive and seemingly stronger than before, then grew terrified as Ning Que turned his gaze toward him.

Ning Que killed Lei Jue and his two companions, returned to Purple Sky Holy Land, and agreed to represent it in the Holy Land Tournament. Burning Heaven Valley discovered the deaths and its valley master, Chu Fentian, demanded to know who was responsible.

• Ning Que severed Lei Jue’s feet, then killed him despite Lei Jue’s threats about Burning Heaven Valley.
• Ning Que told Lin Yan and his companions he would represent Purple Sky Holy Land in the Holy Land Tournament.
• Lin Yan reported Ning Que’s victory to the Purple Firmament Sacred Lord, who rejoiced that the holy land had hope again.
• Ning Que received a hidden-quest notification and decided the Holy Land Tournament would advance the storyline, while planning to deal with the Great Li Dynasty.
• Chu Fentian sent two guardians to find Lei Jue, and they discovered Lei Jue and his companions dead in the Ten Thousandfold Mountains.
• Chu Fentian flew into a rage when he learned Lei Jue had been killed.

Burning Heaven Valley began secretly investigating the deaths of Lei Jue and the other disciples, while Ning Que left the Purple Sky Holy Land to check on Flowing Sand and prepare to represent the Holy Land in the tournament. At Flowing Sand's headquarters, Mu Xuehuang remained captive and believed Ning Yuanzhou's arrest had changed the future and saved the Great Li Dynasty.

• Chu Fentian concluded that a person had killed Lei Jue and the others, ordered a secret investigation, and said Burning Heaven Valley needed new tournament representatives.
• Ning Que agreed to represent the Purple Sky Holy Land in the tournament and left for Flowing Sand with a Kunlun Mirror from the Purple Firmament Sacred Lord.
• Ning Que reached Flowing Sand's headquarters five days later, where its members grieved over Ning Yuanzhou's capture and held Mu Xuehuang as leverage.
• Luo Qingwan repeatedly tried to kill Mu Xuehuang, but Mu Lingfeng and the others stopped her so they could negotiate with the Great Li Court.
• Mu Xuehuang told Flowing Sand that the Court would attack rather than negotiate, then privately rejoiced that Ning Yuanzhou's capture had rewritten the future and preserved Great Li.

Mu Xuehuang learned that Flowing Sand’s mysterious Little Juzi was Ning Yuanzhou’s missing son, Ning Que, and watched him return to the rebels’ stronghold. After hearing that Ning Yuanzhou had been captured, Ning Que went to meet the captive Empress of Great Li.

• Mu Lingfeng told Mu Xuehuang that Flowing Sand would wait for Little Juzi, Ning Yuanzhou’s son, before making further decisions.
• Mu Xuehuang doubted that Little Juzi existed, but woke to find Flowing Sand gathered to welcome Ning Que back.
• Ning Que asked where his father was, and Luo Qingwan told him that Great Li had captured Ning Yuanzhou during negotiations.
• Luo Qingwan revealed that Flowing Sand had captured the Empress of Great Li as a hostage, and Ning Que demanded to see her.
• Ning Que entered Mu Xuehuang’s chamber and greeted her, saying they had finally met.

Mu Xuehuang’s simulation revealed how her conscription order had separated an ordinary woman from her husband, leaving her vulnerable to the Mara Holy Son. The vision ended as Mara soldiers brought the woman to the Holy Son’s carriage, while Mu Xuehuang recognized it as the one belonging to the visitor she had recently met.

• Ning Que told Mu Xuehuang that he would keep her alive as a hostage and make her witness Great Li’s ruin.
• Mu Xuehuang began to suspect Ning Que, not Ning Yuanzhou, was the true heart of Flowing Sand, and started a new simulation.
• The simulation showed a poor woman rescuing an injured man, falling in love with him, and marrying him.
• Mu Xuehuang watched the man leave for war under the conscription order she had issued, while his wife waited for him through the seasons.
• Mara soldiers abducted the woman and said their Holy Son wanted her as the young crown prince’s consort.
• Mu Xuehuang recognized the carriage waiting for the woman as the one belonging to the Mara Holy Son who had recently visited her.

Mu Xuehuang learned that the Mara Dynasty had abducted Ning Que’s wife as part of a marriage scheme, leading Ning Que to seek revenge against Great Li. Though Mu Xuehuang tried to stop him, Ning Que declared that the dynasty would fall that day and agreed to a hostage exchange before heading out to face its army.

• Mu Xuehuang watched a vision in which Mara soldiers abducted a woman while Ning Que was away fighting, then left gold as betrothal gifts for the marriage alliance.
• Mu Xuehuang realized the man who stormed the palace in the vision was Ning Que and feared his actions would bring down Great Li.
• Mu Xuehuang pleaded with Ning Que to rescue his wife through negotiation, but he told her it was too late and that Great Li would fall that day.
• Ning Que agreed to Great Li’s proposed hostage exchange and warned Mu Xuehuang that the reckoning would begin afterward.
• The next day, Ning Que led Flowing Sand to confront Great Li’s army, bringing only Luo Qingwan and Mu Xuehuang as his hostage.

Ning Que exposed Wang Yong’s false hostage exchange and summoned cultivators from the Purple Sky Holy Land to crush the Great Li army. After the slaughter, he rejected ruling the dynasty and left to save his wife in the Mara Dynasty.

• Ning Que let Mu Xuehuang return to Great Li, but Wang Yong revealed that Ning Yuanzhou was not there and ordered his soldiers to attack.
• Ning Que clapped once, summoning cultivators from the Purple Sky Holy Land, who attacked the Great Li army.
• Luo Qingwan stopped Wang Yong from fleeing, while the cultivators killed Deng Shigao and routed the soldiers.
• Mu Xuehuang asked Ning Que whether the slaughter had to happen, and he told her she could not stop it.
• Ning Que rejected Mu Xuehuang’s claim that he had become master of the dynasty and vanished to save his wife in the Mara Dynasty.