Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian found Wen Ya and Baobao badly wounded in Bright Moon Palace, where the dead guard Chen Chengqiang made him a suspect in a mysterious attack. As Wen Ya’s condition worsened, Qin Yutong said Ji Feihua might be able to save her, and Hu Xiaotian went to seek him out.

• Hu Xiaotian found Wen Ya freezing and Baobao unconscious with a dagger in her leg, then revived Baobao with CPR as Imperial Guards and physicians arrived.
• Qin Yutong took over Baobao’s care, while Murong Zhan questioned Hu Xiaotian after Qi Danai identified the headless corpse as Chen Chengqiang.
• Hu Xiaotian told Murong Zhan he had seen a man in black on the palace roof, and Murong Zhan said Wen Ya had been struck by the Ice-Soul Asura Palm, a technique mastered by Hong Beimo.
• Qin Yutong treated Baobao’s snake-venom wound and explained that Wen Ya might be saved by someone who knew the Sun-Melting Limitless Art; she named Ji Feihua.
• Hu Xiaotian went to Ji Feihua’s residence and found him reviewing memorials entrusted to him by the emperor.

Ji Feihua revealed that Chen Chengqiang had been his agent and sent Hu Xiaotian to question Quan Dean about the events at Bright Moon Palace. The mystery attacker and the forces behind the attack remained unknown.

• Hu Xiaotian told Ji Feihua that Zhang Fuquan had invited him away and that Chen Chengqiang had been found dead at Bright Moon Palace.
• Ji Feihua admitted Chen Chengqiang had been his man, and reasoned that the attack on Wen Ya might be a scheme meant to weaken him if he used his Sun-Melting Limitless Art to save her.
• Hu Xiaotian asked to leave Bright Moon Palace, but Ji Feihua refused, saying the night's events seemed strange and showing him Chen Chengqiang's severed head.
• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian to visit Quan Dean, reveal Chen Chengqiang's allegiance, and report Quan Dean's response.
• Ji Feihua and Hu Xiaotian suspected that other forces were operating in the shadows, while the identity and purpose of the attacker remained uncertain.

Baobao recovered enough to tell Hu Xiaotian that Chen Chengqiang had approached her before she was attacked, while Qin Yutong identified the dagger’s poison as a rare formula linked to Sumeru Heaven. Hu Xiaotian learned that Baobao could be treated and then questioned Quan Dean about Wen Ya’s resemblance to a woman he had met in Azure Cloud.

• Baobao woke beside Hu Xiaotian, who told her to rest and explained that Qin Yutong had treated her wounds but was still identifying the dagger’s poison.
• Baobao recalled that Chen Chengqiang had come to her before the attack, but she could not confirm that he had stabbed her, so Hu Xiaotian told her not to discuss what she remembered.
• Qin Yutong identified the poison as Seven-Snake Life-Taking Powder, a creation of Sumeru Heaven, and said she knew a prescription that could treat it once the missing ingredients were found.
• Wen Chenghuan arrived at Bright Moon Palace to ask after his daughter, while Quan Dean blamed Hu Xiaotian for failing to keep Lady Wen safe.
• Hu Xiaotian told Quan Dean that Chen Chengqiang had served Ji Feihua and mentioned meeting a woman in Azure Cloud who looked exactly like Wen Ya; Quan Dean dismissed the resemblance as impossible.

Hu Xiaotian struggled with Quan Dean’s growing suspicion while helping Qin Yutong gather medicine and discussing their painful circumstances. After Shi Xuedong warned him to leave Bright Moon Palace, Imperial Guards arrived under Qi Danai to take him for questioning on Murong Zhan’s orders.

• Quan Dean threatened Hu Xiaotian and reminded him that his family could be put at risk as he returned to Bright Moon Palace.
• Hu Xiaotian and Qin Yutong went to the Palace Gardens Bureau, where she gathered medicine and he urged her to spend time supporting Princess Anping.
• Hu Xiaotian challenged Qin Yutong about hiding her face and her claims of being unconcerned with appearances, angering her into leaving without him.
• Shi Xuedong warned Hu Xiaotian that rumors about Lady Wen had spread and urged him to leave Bright Moon Palace, but Hu Xiaotian kept the reasons for staying to himself.
• Qi Danai arrived with four guards to bring Hu Xiaotian in for questioning on Murong Zhan’s orders.

Hu Xiaotian met with Murong Zhan, who tested his reflexes and questioned him about Chen Chengqiang’s death before revealing that Murong Feiyan was his daughter. Murong Zhan asked Hu Xiaotian to persuade her to leave the Divine Strategy Office when she returned from Linyuan, while warning him to keep his distance from her.

• Hu Xiaotian went with Qi Danai to Murong Zhan’s office, where Qi Danai suddenly struck at him with a saber and Hu Xiaotian dodged.
• Murong Zhan questioned Hu Xiaotian about his martial arts, his ties to Ji Feihua and Quan Dean, and Chen Chengqiang’s death; Hu Xiaotian denied involvement.
• Murong Zhan asked Hu Xiaotian to persuade Murong Feiyan to leave the Divine Strategy Office after she returned from Linyuan.
• Murong Zhan revealed that he was Murong Feiyan’s father and told Hu Xiaotian not to tell her about their conversation.
• Hu Xiaotian agreed to remember Murong Zhan’s request, though Murong Zhan also ordered him to stay away from Murong Feiyan.

Hu Xiaotian stayed at Bright Moon Palace to check on Baobao and protect her from Lin Wan, who planned to take her back to Lingyu Hall. That night, Ji Feihua arrived to treat Wen Ya, but he stopped Hu Xiaotian from adding more hot water as they prepared to begin.

• Hu Xiaotian learned that Ji Feihua would arrive that night and visited Baobao, who told him Qin Yutong had detected the lingering poison in her body.
• Hu Xiaotian questioned Baobao about the attack on Wen Ya and told her to act as if she remembered nothing; Baobao confirmed she had kept quiet.
• Lin Wan visited Baobao, touched her neck while she pretended to sleep, and announced she would bring Baobao to Lingyu Hall the next day; Baobao told Hu Xiaotian she refused to go.
• Ji Feihua arrived to treat Wen Ya with the Sun-Melting Limitless Art and ordered that only Hu Xiaotian and Qin Yutong remain in the room.
• As Hu Xiaotian brought hot water to Wen Ya's bathing tub, Ji Feihua stopped him and said there was no need.

Ji Feihua froze Wen Ya to slow the spread of the poison from the Ice-Soul Asura Palm, then began using a mysterious technique to revive her dormant meridians. He left her encased in ice while Qin Yutong and Hu Xiaotian guarded the treatment.

• Qin Yutong urged Ji Feihua to treat Wen Ya as the bathwater froze, but he told her to wait.
• Hu Xiaotian explained that extreme cold could slow the toxins and criticized Qin Yutong’s warming treatment for potentially spreading them.
• Ji Feihua waited until the tub’s water froze solid, then ordered Qin Yutong and Hu Xiaotian to keep everyone out.
• Ji Feihua broke apart the wooden tub and placed his glowing hands against Wen Ya’s back, melting the ice and reviving her meridians.

Ji Feihua used the Sun-Melting Limitless Art to save Wen Ya, but the treatment left him gravely weakened. Hu Xiaotian took him out of the palace to a remote Thatched Cottage at Azure Cloud Lake, where Ji Feihua collapsed into sleep.

• Ji Feihua melted the ice inside Wen Ya, struck her acupoints, and cleared the cold poison from her body, while Qin Yutong and Hu Xiaotian watched.
• After Wen Ya was carried to bed, Ji Feihua vomited blood and said he needed a night's rest; Qin Yutong gave him three Origin-Returning Pills made by her master.
• He Mu reported that His Majesty had summoned Ji Feihua to Xuanwei Palace, but Ji Feihua ordered He Mu to guard Bright Moon Palace and set out with Hu Xiaotian.
• Outside the palace, Ji Feihua coughed blood and ordered Hu Xiaotian to take him out; in the carriage, he refused Ren Tianqing's pills and clung to Hu Xiaotian because he was terribly cold.
• Wu Renxing drove them to Azure Cloud Lake, where Hu Xiaotian carried Ji Feihua across the bridge to the Thatched Cottage and lit a fire after finding him asleep.

Ji Feihua recovered in the Thatched Cottage with Hu Xiaotian, sharing a rare moment of warmth over roasted sweet potatoes while explaining how palace life had shaped his distrust of others. He began to reveal why he had saved Wen Ya and brought Hu Xiaotian out of the palace, urging him to voice what he suspected.

• Ji Feihua awoke and told Hu Xiaotian that treating Wen Ya had aggravated an old injury, though Hu Xiaotian doubted his explanation for fleeing the palace.
• Ji Feihua revealed that he had secretly rebuilt the Thatched Cottage, a place from before he entered the palace, and accepted medicine Hu Xiaotian offered.
• Hu Xiaotian found two sweet potatoes in a ruined shed, and Ji Feihua happily shared them with him.
• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian to call him elder brother, then spoke about how power and experience had taught him to distrust people's hidden intentions.
• Hu Xiaotian asked why Ji Feihua had saved Wen Ya instead of eliminating her, and Ji Feihua said the people behind her were the real threat.
• Ji Feihua asked Hu Xiaotian to explain why he thought Ji Feihua had left trusted subordinates behind and brought only him out of the palace.

Ji Feihua revealed that Wen Ya’s injuries were real but that her resilience and unknown origins puzzled him, and he anticipated an attack after leaving the Imperial Palace. At Azure Cloud Lake, he faced three assassins alone and killed two before the last one launched a meteor hammer at him.

• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian that Wen Ya had survived the Ice-Soul Asura Palm despite her injuries, leaving her strength and origins unexplained.
• Hu Xiaotian realized Ji Feihua might have feigned the severity of his own injuries and expected an ambush, while Ji Feihua ordered him to stay inside the cottage.
• Three black-clad riders approached Azure Cloud Lake, and Hu Xiaotian swore to protect Ji Feihua before Ji Feihua sent him back into the cottage.
• Ji Feihua smashed the bridge and used its splinters to destroy the first assassin and his saber.
• Ji Feihua stopped the second assassin’s sword with a spiraling fist and struck him dead.
• The final assassin leaped the broken bridge and hurled a meteor hammer toward Ji Feihua’s face.

Ji Feihua fought assassins and a giant python at the lake while Hu Xiaotian faced a swarm of bats and an armored Winged Warrior on shore. The chapter ended with Ji Feihua evading a Gray-Robed Man’s arrows in midair.

• Ji Feihua killed the Black-Clad Man and broke the bridge, while Hu Xiaotian was carried ashore inside the Thatched Cottage as an explosion erupted beneath the lake.
• Eighteen crossbowmen attacked a swarm of bats near Hu Xiaotian, and two black-armored Winged Warriors emerged and killed three men with sleeve arrows.
• A ballista operator killed one Winged Warrior, but the surviving warrior killed the operators and attacked Hu Xiaotian, who blocked his spear with a broken Alloy Wing.
• Ji Feihua fought a Multicolored Giant Python that lunged from a whirlpool and then retreated beneath the lake.
• A Gray-Robed Man riding a giant python shot arrows at Ji Feihua, who evaded the first arrow before facing three more fired in a triangular formation.

Ji Feihua’s trap at Azure Cloud Lake killed several of Hong Beimo’s men, though Xie Long escaped badly injured. After ordering the lake sealed because of the poison, Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian to report the battle to Quan Dean, hinting that Quan Dean had been making plans elsewhere.

• Wu Renxing rescued Hu Xiaotian from the black-armored warrior, and Hu Xiaotian realized Ji Feihua had lured the attackers into a prepared trap.
• Ji Feihua caught Xie Long’s saber, destroyed it, attacked him, and killed the two pythons before letting the badly injured Xie Long escape.
• Wu Renxing identified several dead attackers as former Heavenly Secrets Bureau men, and Ji Feihua recognized Hong Beimo as the force behind the ambush.
• Ji Feihua ordered Azure Cloud Lake sealed after the poisoned arrows killed its fish, then explained that Xie Long was Sumeru Heaven’s renegade disciple.
• Ji Feihua told Hu Xiaotian to describe the battle to Quan Dean, adding that Quan Dean had been laying plans, but not at Azure Cloud Lake.

Long Yelin and Quan Dean plotted to remove Ji Feihua, while Ji Feihua sent Hu Xiaotian back to Bright Moon Palace with seven pills and a task concerning Wen Ya. Hu Xiaotian then confronted Lin Wan at Lingyu Hall over Baobao and fought her after discovering the Rejuvenation Flute had no effect on her.

• Long Yelin vowed to kill Ji Feihua, but Quan Dean urged him to wait until they could seize control of the Heavenly Secrets Bureau and the Feathered Forest Iron Guards.
• Ji Feihua gave Hu Xiaotian seven pills to mix into a woman's food, then promised to transfer him from Bright Moon Palace after the task was done.
• Hu Xiaotian learned Baobao had been taken to Lingyu Hall and hurried there, fearing Lin Wan would harm her.
• Hu Xiaotian demanded that Lin Wan hand over Baobao, but she threatened her and attacked when he played the Rejuvenation Flute.
• Hu Xiaotian and Lin Wan traded blows, with Lin Wan's martial skill proving superior, until Hu Xiaotian shouted that he would use Rainstorm Pear Blossom Needles.

Lin Wan forced Hu Xiaotian to agree to plant poisonous insects in Wen Ya’s bed by threatening Baobao’s life. Hu Xiaotian returned to Bright Moon Palace and found Wen Ya recovered, but her mysterious abilities and rapid recovery left him puzzled.

• Lin Wan and Hu Xiaotian fought until he provoked her into calming down and hearing his offer to talk.
• Lin Wan gave Hu Xiaotian a box of poisonous insects and ordered him to scatter them over Wen Ya’s bed by the next day, threatening Baobao if he refused.
• Hu Xiaotian agreed outwardly while planning to keep Lin Wan placated and find a way to rescue Baobao.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to Bright Moon Palace at dusk and found Wen Ya standing by a painting after recovering from her illness.
• Wen Ya asked Hu Xiaotian where he had been the previous night, and he concealed the truth while wondering how she had recovered so quickly.

Wen Ya revealed that she had never been Le Yao and tried to kill Hu Xiaotian with venomous scorpions and Ji Feihua’s pills. Lin Wan’s brocade box unleashed golden insects that attacked them both, and the chapter left Wen Ya fighting the insects with her Ice-Soul Asura Palm as she cut her wrist.

• Hu Xiaotian withheld Ji Feihua’s pills, then told Wen Ya how Ji had treated her the previous night.
• Wen Ya led Hu Xiaotian to a chest and released poisonous red scorpions, then identified the seven pills he carried as Crimson Sun Yin-Burning Pills and forced him to swallow them.
• Wen Ya said she was never Le Yao and explained that Hu Xiaotian had repeatedly thwarted her plans.
• As scorpions overwhelmed Hu Xiaotian, he opened Lin Wan’s brocade box, releasing golden insects that devoured the scorpions and attacked Wen Ya.
• Wen Ya used the Ice-Soul Asura Palm to freeze and expel the golden insects, then cut her left wrist as one enlarged insect reached her palm.
• Hu Xiaotian tried to circulate his qi to suppress the burning in his body while Wen Ya continued battling the remaining insects.

Wen Ya struggled to expel the Bloodshadow Golden Beetles and their eggs while Hu Xiaotian suffered the effects of swallowing seven Crimson Sun Yin-Burning Pills. Ji Feihua confronted Lin Wan and investigated the connection between Hong Beimo, Sumeru Heaven, and the vanished Blue Moon Kingdom; the chapter ended with Wen Ya’s strike sending Hu Xiaotian crashing through a folding screen and cooling the fire in his body.

• Wen Ya froze and smashed the adult golden insect, then discovered its eggs embedded in her heart.
• Ji Feihua confronted Lin Wan, ordered her to stay away from the Bright Moon Palace, and questioned her about Sumeru Heaven and the myriad poison spirit body.
• Lin Wan told Ji Feihua that the Blue Moon Kingdom’s last queen had failed to transfer her consciousness into a new body before the cultivation method disappeared.
• Hu Xiaotian approached Wen Ya while the seven Crimson Sun Yin-Burning Pills and scorpion venom made his body burn, and Wen Ya realized the beetle eggs could hatch unless she froze her heart.
• Hu Xiaotian embraced Wen Ya, and she struck him into a folding screen; the cold qi from her palm brought him relief from the heat.

Wen Ya survived Hu Xiaotian’s frenzied attack and expelled the Bloodshadow Beetle King from her body, then spared him and left him behind. Hu Xiaotian awoke during a fire at the Bright Moon Palace, while Wen Ya watched him rush toward the blaze and slipped away, vowing to make him suffer.

• Wen Ya exhausted her inner power resisting Hu Xiaotian, whose seven Crimson Sun Yin-Burning Pills drove him into a frenzy.
• Hu Xiaotian’s yang energy roused Wen Ya’s body and helped force the Bloodshadow Beetle King from her heart and out through her wrist wound.
• Wen Ya caught the golden worm in a brocade box and considered killing the sleeping Hu Xiaotian, but decided to leave him alive and make his life worse than death.
• Hu Xiaotian awoke naked in his room to cries of fire, dressed, and discovered the main hall of the Bright Moon Palace engulfed in flames.
• Hu Xiaotian rushed to help fight the fire as Wen Ya watched him leave, then escaped over the palace wall and vowed to make him regret ever coming into the world.

After Bright Moon Palace burned, Wen Ya and six other residents were presumed dead, while Hu Xiaotian became the sole survivor and fell under suspicion. Wen Ya’s final letter claimed she had started the fire, but Hu remained troubled by his fragmented memories and faced an uncertain reckoning.

• After the fire, investigators found seven sets of remains and a letter in which Wen Ya claimed she had set the blaze and died by her own hand.
• Hu Xiaotian gave a guarded account of the previous night, was placed under surveillance, and returned to the Palace Gardens Bureau to await further orders.
• Wen Chenghuan grieved for Wen Ya and glared at Hu, while Ji Feihua and Quan Dean watched the investigation closely.
• Shi Xuedong returned to the bureau and reassured Hu that he was relieved to see him safe.
• Hu told Shi Xuedong that Wen Ya and six palace workers had died and admitted he might be held responsible as the eunuch in charge of Bright Moon Palace.

After the Bright Moon Palace fire, Hu Xiaotian expected Wen Chenghuan to make him bear the blame and was taken into solitary confinement. While imprisoned, he practiced the Formless Divine Skill, unexpectedly broke through its first major barrier, and heard Commander Murong approaching.

• Hu Xiaotian told Shi Xuedong that Wen Chenghuan might blame him for the fire and asked Shi to tell the princess that he could no longer fulfill his promise if trouble came.
• Two Imperial Guards escorted Hu Xiaotian to a dark holding room and locked him inside.
• Hu Xiaotian recalled seeing the Coiled Dragon Jade Pendant on Wen Ya and wondered if she was Le Yao, then decided to practice the Formless Divine Skill.
• Hu Xiaotian's dantian erupted with hot and cold qi, which surged through his meridians and brought him to modest success in the Formless Divine Skill.
• Hu Xiaotian found that his vision and hearing had improved, and heard someone greet Commander Murong outside the room.

Hu Xiaotian was framed for the Bright Moon Palace fire after Wen Chenghuan and Zhai Guangmu declared Wen Ya’s final letter forged, while Ji Feihua realized the officials were trying to make him the scapegoat. As Ji Feihua forbade anyone from harming Hu Xiaotian, Hu Xiaotian mistook a lavish meal for an assassination attempt and attacked the guard bringing it.

• Murong Zhan told Hu Xiaotian that Wen Chenghuan had deemed Wen Ya’s letter forged and that Hu Xiaotian would remain imprisoned pending the Emperor’s decision.
• Li Yan reported that Zhai Guangmu’s handwriting comparison implicated Hu Xiaotian, and Ji Feihua rebuked him for failing to see that the officials meant to frame Ji Feihua.
• Ji Feihua ordered Li Yan to tell Zhai Guangmu that his eyes were no longer useful and forbade He Mu from harming Hu Xiaotian without orders.
• Hu Xiaotian feared Ji Feihua had sent him a lavish meal and wine to silence him, then decided to fight back against his enemies.
• Hu Xiaotian lunged at the guard and clamped a hand around his throat.