Chapter Summaries

As Shen Chuanlian prepared to be adopted into the Liu Family, a sudden darkening of the sky and the Phoenix Feather Plume’s attack disrupted the ceremony. The arrow struck Liu Wan instead of Shen Chuanlian, leaving her gravely wounded.

• Yue Xuanji visited the Temple of the Star Lord of Fate, learned that the Phoenix would not willingly acknowledge a master, and left with a plan to make Xia Wanwan deal with the Demon God.
• The Liu Family gathered at the Ninth Prince’s Residence to support Liu Wan and witness Shen Chuanlian’s adoption, while Shen Chuanlian worried over the ceremony and the Phoenix Feather Plume he carried.
• Shen Chuanlian knelt before Liu Wan and offered her tea, but the sky suddenly darkened and a suppressive force stirred his resentment.
• The Phoenix Feather Plume burned Shen Chuanlian’s palm, broke free, and fired a deadly arrow at him.
• Shen Chuanlian tried to protect Liu Wan, but a transparent force redirected the arrow, which pierced Liu Wan’s chest and made her spit blood.

Phoenix Feather Plume struck Liu Wan, leaving her gravely wounded and prompting Liu Zimu and the Liu Family to blame Shen Chuanlian. Shen Chuanlian turned his grief and rage on Phoenix as Xia Wanwan exhausted herself trying to save her mother, whose wound continued to burn.

• Xia Wanwan reached Liu Wan and found a scorched hole in her chest after Phoenix Feather Plume pierced her.
• Liu Zimu shoved Shen Chuanlian away and accused him of killing Liu Wan, while Shen insisted the attack had been aimed at him.
• Shen Chuanlian unleashed black aura and trapped Phoenix Feather Plume in a barrier, vowing to refine Phoenix into an evil demon.
• The Liu Clan Leader defended the Liu Family as its members eyed Shen Chuanlian with suspicion and fear.
• Xia Wanwan used medicines and her Qilin Horn to try to heal Liu Wan, but Phoenix's nirvana power kept burning the wound and Liu Wan remained motionless.

Xia Wanwan blamed Shen Chuanlian for Liu Wan’s death and fought him, but he forcibly refined the Phoenix Feather Plume, recovered his strength, and escaped. As Xia Wanwan collapsed beside her mother, Yuanbao noticed the Stabby Sword was still glowing.

• Xia Wanwan attacked Shen Chuanlian, accusing him of killing Liu Wan, while he dodged and tried to finish refining the Phoenix Feather Plume.
• Shen Chuanlian realized he believed the Heavenly Dao was controlling his fate and resolved to take revenge regardless of the consequences.
• Xia Wanwan knocked Shen Chuanlian down and prepared to deliver a fatal blow, but he forcibly fused the Phoenix Feather Plume and manifested purplish-black wings.
• Shen Chuanlian blasted away those nearby and flew off, while Gu Ming followed him and Xia Wanwan swore to hunt him down.
• Xia Wanwan collapsed and crawled toward Liu Wan’s body, but Yuanbao called her attention to the glowing Stabby Sword Liu Wan had carried for protection.

Xia Wanwan discovered that the Stabby Sword had reflected part of Phoenix’s attack and protected Liu Wan’s heart, allowing her mother to survive. Imperial Physician Huang said Liu Wan might not wake soon, while Lady Liu began suffering a worrying pregnancy-related problem.

• Xia Wanwan explained how the Stabby Sword weakened Phoenix’s strike and protected Liu Wan’s heart meridians.
• Xia Wanwan treated Liu Wan’s wounds, then collapsed from exhaustion as Minister Liu arranged for her mother to be taken home and Imperial Physician Huang to be summoned.
• Liu Zimu explained why Minister Liu wanted to keep Liu Wan’s survival from the Imperial Family and Liu Ye went to quietly invite Consort Ling.
• Imperial Physician Huang examined Liu Wan and warned that she had lost too much blood and might not wake until her wounds healed.
• Liu Shi noticed Lady Liu sweating and turning pale as she clutched her belly and sank into a crouch.

Consort Ling arranged to care for the unconscious Liu Wan while Xia Wanwan secretly tended to her damaged soul. After disappearing for a day, Xia Wanwan returned with the Phoenix’s spine, egg, and feathers, then asked Yuanbao to help her lift Phoenix Mountain.

• Imperial Physician Huang warned Lady Liu that grief was endangering her five-month pregnancy, and Consort Ling decided to stay at the Ninth Prince’s Residence to care for Liu Wan.
• Yuanbao discovered Liu Wan was unconscious and that Xia Wanwan had left; he realized she was using talismans to heal the soul that had been scorched.
• The Ninth Prince’s Residence searched for Xia Wanwan until she returned covered in ash with the Phoenix’s spine, egg, and a sack of feathers.
• Xia Wanwan explained that she had pulled out Phoenix Mountain’s backbone and trees because the Phoenix had hurt her mother.
• Xia Wanwan told Yuanbao she had wanted to roast and eat the Phoenix, then asked him to help lift Phoenix Mountain.

Xia Wanwan and Daoist Qianyun found Liuli, the child with the Wood Spirit Pearl, and agreed to wait until they found the child with the Fire Spirit Pearl before gathering them. At the Borderlands, the Third Battalion's commander revealed that Yuan Can had seemed to argue with an unseen presence that called his betrayal of Eastern Lin his destiny.

• Xia Wanwan followed Daoist Qianyun to Yuanbao's room and learned that Liuli possessed the Wood Spirit Pearl.
• Yuanbao explained that Liuli had been practicing her handwriting to reassure the Empress Dowager, and that Liu Zimu had helped her regain some happiness.
• Xia Wanwan told Daoist Qianyun not to take Liuli away until they found the child with the Fire Spirit Pearl, and asked him how to speed her mother's soul's recovery.
• Xia Siheng rescued Old General Mo's remaining troops, ordered him to muster forces, and arrested Yuan Can for treason.
• The Third Battalion's commander recounted hearing Yuan Can cry that he was not a traitor before shouting that betrayal was his destiny.

Xia Siheng questioned Yuan Can after the battalion commanders suspected that he had been possessed, but the exorcism talisman had no effect. Yuan Can insisted that an unknown force had compelled him to betray Great Xia, then fell into agony as conflicting thoughts overwhelmed him.

• The battalion commanders urged Xia Siheng to reconsider Yuan Can's guilt, believing his loyal and compassionate nature made treason impossible.
• Jing Er placed one of the Little Princess's Exorcism Talismans on Yuan Can, but nothing happened.
• Yuan Can awoke, recognized Xia Siheng, and said he had struggled to resist an inexplicable compulsion to serve East Lin.
• Xia Siheng told Yuan Can that he believed him, and Yuan Can broke down, protesting that he was not a traitor.
• Yuan Can began muttering conflicting words about his identity and fate, then clutched his head and screamed in pain as Jing Er asked Xia Siheng what to do.

Yuan Can learned from his family’s letter what his betrayal would cost them and killed himself, asking Xia Siheng to spare his family. Jing Er helped Xia Siheng realize the plot had drawn him away so the Ninth Prince’s Residence could be attacked.

• Xia Siheng and Jing Er restrained Yuan Can as he struggled between declaring loyalty to East Lin and insisting he was not its running dog.
• Xia Siheng gave Yuan Can letters from his mother, son, and wife, and Yuan Can broke down in grief as he read their hopes for his safe return.
• Yuan Can slit his throat, asking Xia Siheng to protect his family and saying he wanted to understand why he had lost control of himself.
• Xia Siheng swore to make those behind the scheme pay for Yuan Can’s death and suspected East Lin was involved.
• Jing Er pointed out that the scheme may have been intended to draw Xia Siheng away, and Xia Siheng realized the Ninth Prince’s Residence might already be under attack.

After Yuan Can died under suspicious circumstances, Xia Siheng prepared to attack East Lin while Xia Wanwan suspected the plot was meant to leave her mother vulnerable. Xia Wanwan secretly fed her mother heart blood to help restore her soul, then learned the last child with a Fire Spirit Pearl was her little cousin.

• Xia Siheng sent letters about Yuan Can's death and ordered his troops to prepare an attack on Eastern Lin City to avenge him.
• Xia Wanwan suspected Yuan Can's fate had been altered to lure her father away so enemies could target the Ninth Prince's Residence, but she told Consort Ling to reassure him that all was well.
• Xia Wanwan asked Consort Ling to claim an East Lin expert had altered Yuan Can's fate, then secretly fed her mother heart blood with spiritual power.
• Xia Wanwan continued giving her mother heart blood while her eldest brother studied for the examination instead of worrying over her.
• Daoist Qianyun returned with the last child who had a Fire Spirit Pearl, and Xia Wanwan recognized the child as her little cousin and accused him of stealing her.

After a month of care and Xia Wanwan secretly feeding Liu Wan blood from her heart, Liu Wan showed signs of waking, leaving the family overjoyed. Meanwhile, Shen Chuanlian continued searching for the Heavenly Dao and sought a fortune-teller, whose reaction to his palm left his fate uncertain.

• Daoist Qianyun confirmed Liu Wan should awaken after thirty days and took Xia Wanwan’s little cousin and Liuli to Azure Cloud Temple.
• Xia Wanwan secretly fed Liu Wan blood from her heart each night while Yuanbao and the household helped care for her.
• On the final day of the month, Liu Wan clasped Xia Wanwan’s hand, and the family gathered around her in joyful tears.
• Minister Liu rushed to the Ninth Prince’s Residence, learned Liu Wan was responding, and broke down in Xia Wanwan’s arms.
• Shen Chuanlian searched fruitlessly for the Heavenly Dao, then descended to a mortal town and asked a fortune-teller to read his palm.
• The fortune-teller examined Shen Chuanlian’s palm, and his smile suddenly froze.

Shen Chuanlian confronted Star Lord Siming to learn who had given him his cruel fate. Siming revealed that the Heavenly Dao had ordered him to alter Shen Chuanlian’s mother’s destiny so Shen Chuanlian would become a Demon God and be destroyed.

• After the old Daoist failed to divine Shen Chuanlian’s fate, he directed him to the Temple of the Star Lord of Fate, and Gu Ming followed him there.
• Shen Chuanlian drove the worshippers away, overturned the incense burner, and attacked Siming’s statue, demanding to know who had arranged his fate.
• Siming appeared and told Shen Chuanlian that the Heavenly Dao, not Siming, had determined his destiny.
• When Shen Chuanlian threatened to destroy Siming’s statue and plunge the world into chaos, Siming showed him the story of his mother’s life.
• Siming revealed that the Heavenly Dao had ordered him to change Shen Chuanlian’s mother’s fate because Shen Chuanlian had to become a Demon God so he could be eradicated.

Shen Chuanlian learned that fate-changing had caused his mother’s tragic life and destroyed Star Lord Siming’s chance to become a god, so he set out to force Yue Xuanji to appear by attacking the Mortal Emperor. As Siming sacrificed himself and Yue Xuanji vowed revenge, she tried to kill Liu Wan to drive Xia Wanwan into confronting Shen Chuanlian, but Xia Wanwan arrived just as Liu Wan was near death.

• Shen Chuanlian crushed Siming’s divine statue, condemned him for changing fate, and flew off intending to attack the Mortal Emperor and provoke the Heavenly Dao.
• Siming returned the Fate Scroll, exhausted his strength, detonated his divine soul, and vanished as his Divine Temple collapsed.
• Yue Xuanji appeared at the ruins and vowed to avenge Siming by making Shen Chuanlian disappear.
• Minister Liu told Xia Wanwan that the Phoenix’s attack had changed direction and struck Liu Wan, confirming her suspicion that someone had manipulated the incident.
• Yue Xuanji put Liu Wan and the others in a deep sleep and began strangling Liu Wan so Xia Wanwan would go after Shen Chuanlian.
• Xia Wanwan burst into Liu Wan’s room and cried out to her mother as Liu Wan was close to death.

Liu Wan woke from her month-long unconsciousness and reunited with Xia Wanwan, while the household celebrated her recovery. Meanwhile, news reached the Capital that the Ninth Prince had captured East Lin’s first city, and the emperor secretly celebrated the victory with the Empress Dowager.

• Xia Wanwan found Liu Wan safe after Yue Xuanji vanished, and Liu Wan woke the next day and embraced her daughter.
• Consort Ling, Lady Liu, Liu Shi, and others visited to celebrate Liu Wan’s recovery, while Xia Wanwan stayed close because she feared her mother would be harmed again.
• Liu Wan secretly added her blood to Xia Wanwan’s tonic after realizing her daughter had given her heart blood while she was unconscious.
• News arrived in the Capital that the Ninth Prince had led twenty thousand soldiers to capture East Lin’s first city in half a month.
• The emperor woke from pretending to be unconscious, celebrated the victory with the Empress Dowager, and joked about his looks.

The Empress Dowager and the emperor planned to wait for Southern Yue to provoke Great Xia before sending troops to aid Southern Mei. At the Ninth Prince’s Residence, Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan learned that Shen Chuanlian had appeared as the Black-Winged Youth and helped Great Xia capture East Lin, and Liu Wan revealed that he had once saved her from a fatal attack.

• The Empress Dowager told the emperor that the Eldest Princess had seized Southern Mei’s throne and asked Great Xia for military aid against Southern Yue, while submitting documents declaring Southern Mei a vassal.
• The Empress Dowager explained that Great Xia needed a just cause to send troops, and Master Youzheng pointed them toward the Detention Center in the Capital Outskirts.
• Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan read Xia Siheng’s letter describing how the Black-Winged Youth killed East Lin’s commander and enabled Great Xia to capture the city.
• Xia Wanwan concluded that Shen Chuanlian had been searching for her, and Liu Wan said the youth sounded like him.
• Liu Wan revealed that Shen Chuanlian had pushed her out of the way of a fatal Phoenix Feather Plume strike during the tea ceremony.

Liu Wan and Xia Wanwan read their letters, while Xie Jin'an discovered Xiaomi had been forced to handle Happy Powder and reported Southern Yue Remnants to the authorities. After returning home, he found a man threatening Yan and their infant daughter, and rushed in to stop him.

• Liu Wan reassured Xia Wanwan, then read her own letter and kept its unsuitable contents from her daughter.
• Xie Jin'an learned that Xiaomi had hidden a packet of gray powder and heard the boy explain that someone had forced him to take it to protect the patients' medicine.
• Xie Jin'an reported the crime, and officers captured several Southern Yue Remnants the next day.
• Xie Jin'an gave the reward to Xiaomi's family to help him quit the powder, then returned home and found the courtyard disturbed.
• Xie Jin'an heard a man threaten Yan and their three-month-old daughter, kicked open the door, and shouted for him to stop.

Xie Jin'an died protecting Yan and their daughter from a Southern Yue loyalist, and the Empress Dowager used his death as grounds to declare war on Southern Yue. Meanwhile, Xia Siheng's campaign devastated East Lin, whose ruler considered using someone he cared about to stop the attack.

• Xie Jin'an fought a burly Southern Yue loyalist to protect Yan and their infant daughter, then died holding the attacker while Yan escaped for help.
• Villagers and government soldiers arrived, and the Empress Dowager ordered troops in the Southern States to attack Southern Yue.
• Minister Liu brought relief funds to Yan, who mourned Xie Jin'an and recognized that he had died protecting their child.
• Great Xia prepared to focus its military campaign on East Lin while Southern Mei fought Southern Yue.
• Xia Siheng's forces killed East Lin's general, and Eunuch Mo reminded the ruler that East Lin held someone Xia Siheng cared about.

As Great Xia’s army threatened East Lin, Eunuch Mo proposed using the Empress Dowager to make Xia Siheng withdraw, while Grand Tutor Peng condemned the plan and defended her. The Ruler of Eastern Lin claimed he would ask his mother to mediate peace, and Grand Tutor Peng left determined to visit her.

• Eunuch Mo suggested offering the Empress Dowager as a bargaining chip to force Xia Siheng to withdraw his troops.
• Grand Tutor Peng objected, warning that the proposal would disgrace East Lin and recounting how the Empress Dowager had risked her life to destroy the Southern Yue Poison Den.
• Eunuch Mo argued that Great Xia had already ruined the Ruler of Eastern Lin’s reputation, and the Ruler tacitly supported his suggestion.
• The Ruler ordered Eunuch Mo to slap his own face, then told the ministers he would ask the Empress Dowager to mediate peace.
• Grand Tutor Peng doubted the Empress Dowager was being cared for as claimed and decided to visit her.

The Ruler of Eastern Lin forced medicine down the Empress Dowager’s throat to restore her speech, then demanded that she persuade Xia Siheng to withdraw his invading forces. After threatening her and dismissing his wife’s pleas, he went to visit Linglong, while Grand Tutor Peng secretly entered the palace to check on the Empress Dowager.

• The Ruler of Eastern Lin had Eunuch Mo force the Empress Dowager to drink medicine that burned her mouth and throat, restoring her ability to speak.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin told the Empress Dowager that Xia Siheng had invaded East Lin and ordered her to persuade him to withdraw.
• The Empress Dowager remembered how the Ruler of Eastern Lin had killed his younger brother’s cat and realized how cruel he was.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin ordered the attendants to keep the Empress Dowager cared for and out of sight, then threatened to slaughter his wife’s clan when told she was threatening suicide.
• The Ruler of Eastern Lin chose to visit Linglong, while Grand Tutor Peng slipped into the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility to investigate the Empress Dowager’s condition.

Grand Tutor Peng discovered that the Sovereign had imprisoned and abused the Empress Dowager for twenty years, and vowed to support her in the war. Meanwhile, the Sovereign elevated Linglong to Consort Xian and demoted Consort Jing after learning she had spread rumors about Linglong.

• Grand Tutor Peng found the Empress Dowager in a filthy, neglected state and learned that the Sovereign had abused her for twenty years.
• The Empress Dowager asked to see Xia Siheng, and Grand Tutor Peng pledged to follow her decision about the war.
• Linglong acted hurt over harem rumors, prompting the Sovereign to grant her the title of Consort Xian.
• Eunuch Mo traced the rumors to Consort Jing's palace, and the Sovereign stripped Consort Jing of her title and demoted her.

After being demoted, Consort Jing decided to flee East Lin with Jiu'er, the Little Imperial Prince, and her rabbit before Xia Siheng’s army reached the palace. Shen Chuanlian urged Xia Siheng to march on East Lin, then returned at dawn to order him to get up and fight.

• Consort Jing told Jiu'er that East Lin would lose the war and planned to escape with her and the Little Imperial Prince.
• Consort Jing decided to bring along the rabbit that had comforted her through pregnancy and childbirth.
• Shen Chuanlian entered Xia Siheng’s tent and urged him to attack East Lin’s Imperial Palace within three days.
• Xia Siheng refused to act rashly without knowing Shen Chuanlian’s purpose and preparing for battle.
• At dawn, Shen Chuanlian appeared by Xia Siheng’s bed and told him to get up and fight.