Chapter Summaries

Chu Ruoyan became increasingly smitten with Li Chen and anxiously prepared for their next meeting. After morning court, Li Chen considered how to handle the growing power of sects and summoned Chu Ruoyan to accompany him around the city.

• Chu Ruoyan recalled Li Chen's skill in handling ministers and fell asleep looking forward to seeing him again.
• Chu Ruoyan changed outfits repeatedly while waiting for Li Chen to summon her, and her mother helped her choose what to wear.
• Li Chen and the ministers discussed how sect alliances had grown powerful, caused disorder, and weakened local governance.
• Li Chen decided to wait for a chance to meet sect representatives before choosing how to regulate them.
• After finishing his memorials, Li Chen ordered a eunuch to summon Chu Ruoyan so she could guide him through the eastern part of the city.

Li Chen took Chu Ruoyan on an incognito shopping trip through the eastern part of the city and bought her nearly everything she admired. As priceless goods flooded the Chu Lineage’s home, two hidden figures watched in fury.

• Li Chen changed into ordinary clothes, brought plenty of money, and asked Chu Ruoyan to guide him through the eastern part of the city.
• At the Rainbow Garments Pavilion, Li Chen ordered the shopkeeper to pack up every garment except the one Chu Ruoyan said she did not like.
• At the Silk and Perfume Pavilion, Li Chen bought whatever Chu Ruoyan looked at, while the owner personally praised her and promised her first access to new products.
• At the Gold and Jade Hall, Li Chen ordered the shop to pack up everything, including the rare Tears of the Stars, before Chu Ruoyan could properly examine it.
• Members of the Chu Lineage watched priceless treasures and even the shops’ fixtures arrive at their home, while two figures hidden in the shadows gritted their teeth in anger.

Liu Hao and Wu Qi spotted Li Chen with Chu Ruoyan and recognized him as the emperor, so they abandoned their rivalry and tried to win his favor. They joined Li Chen for a lavish meal at the Drunken Immortal Tower, leaving Chu Ruoyan to realize they were competing for his attention.

• Liu Hao saw Chu Ruoyan shopping with Li Chen and hid rather than confront the emperor.
• Wu Qi encouraged Liu Hao to approach Li Chen, and Liu Hao greeted the pair and introduced himself as a Liu Family noble.
• Liu Hao offered to treat Li Chen and Chu Ruoyan to a meal at the Drunken Immortal Tower.
• Wu Qi staged a chance encounter and joined them, then he and Liu Hao eagerly attended to Li Chen and answered his questions.
• Chu Ruoyan realized near the end of the meal that Liu Hao and Wu Qi were trying to steal her man.

Li Chen enjoyed a meal with Liu Hao and Wu Qi, who tried to win his favor by offering to introduce him to beautiful relatives. As he prepared to escort Chu Ruoyan home, he sensed powerful cultivators fighting nearby on the Imperial Capital’s busiest shopping street.

• Li Chen learned about Liu Hao and Wu Qi’s backgrounds and cultivation while Chu Ruoyan grew frustrated at being ignored.
• Liu Hao offered to introduce Li Chen to his beautiful cousin, and Wu Qi countered by offering his unmarried aunt.
• Liu Hao and Wu Qi argued over whose relative was more beautiful and nearly came to blows before Li Chen stopped them.
• Liu Hao paid the bill, and he and Wu Qi bid Li Chen farewell outside the Drunken Immortal Tower.
• Li Chen sensed a violent surge of energy from a nearby fight involving cultivators in at least the Six Harmonies Realm.

Li Chen intervened when Northern Court envoy Altai nearly crippled Wu Qi, then left after Altai invoked his diplomatic status. Altai decided to seek justice from the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty's emperor the next day.

• Liu Hao and Wu Qi collided with Northern Court nobles Altai and Atad, who had deliberately refused to yield, and Altai demanded an apology.
• Liu Hao and Wu Qi fought Altai and Atad after Altai attacked them, but Altai overpowered Wu Qi while keeping his strength hidden.
• Li Chen appeared and stopped Altai from striking Wu Qi, then pinned Altai down and broke his wrist.
• Altai declared himself a Northern Court envoy, so Li Chen released him and left with Liu Hao and the others.
• Altai told Atad not to pursue Li Chen and planned to ask the emperor for justice at their meeting the following day.

Chu Ruoyan tried to explain her feelings to Xiao Ming, but he misread her and left with a promise that she would see the light again in six days. Liu Hao returned home and boasted to his father about currying favor with Li Chen, prompting the Liu Lineage to prepare his older female cousin for a possible summons to the palace.

• Chu Ruoyan returned home with the treasures Li Chen had bought her, and she and her mother delighted in trying on the clothes and jewelry.
• Xiao Ming mistook Chu Ruoyan's greeting for eagerness to escape the Imperial Capital, condemned the emperor's gifts, and vanished before she could explain.
• Xiao Ming left Chu Ruoyan with the promise, "Six more days, and you'll see the light again!"
• Liu Hao returned to the Liu residence and stopped his father from striking him by announcing that he had treated Li Chen to a meal.
• Liu Hao recounted how he had used Chu Ruoyan to approach Li Chen, and his father praised his plan and ordered his older female cousin to be ready for a palace summons.

Liu Hao’s father urged him to uphold the Liu Family’s battlefield honor after learning Li Chen had demonstrated great strength against a court noble. Wu Qi used his encounter with Li Chen to give Wu Nanzhi an excuse to escape matchmaking, while Li Chen studied the rising threats around the dynasty before the Empress Dowager visited his bedchamber.

• Liu Hao told his father how Li Chen had effortlessly broken a Six Harmonies Realm court noble’s hand, and his father declared that the Liu Family must never retreat on the battlefield.
• Wu Nanzhi visited Wu Qi to hide from the matchmaking arranged by her grandfather and father, and Wu Qi claimed he had settled her marriage with Li Chen.
• Wu Nanzhi accepted Wu Qi’s suggestion that Li Chen could serve as an excuse to stop the matchmaking, while Wu Qi planned to arrange a meeting between them.
• Li Chen studied reports about the Snow Eagle Court and other surrounding nations before the Empress Dowager entered his bedchamber late at night.

The Empress Dowager asked Li Chen about Chu Ruoyan and requested his hot pot recipe, while both privately struggled to understand the other's motives. At morning court, Li Chen heard reports of the Third Prince's withdrawal and regional affairs before Yan Hai asked how to receive envoys from the Northern Court.

• The Empress Dowager asked Li Chen whether he liked Chu Ruoyan, and he said his impression of her was good.
• The Empress Dowager asked Li Chen for his hot pot soup-base recipe, and he wrote down a milder ingredient list for her.
• The Empress Dowager left Li Chen's quarters and resumed her dignified bearing, while she and Li Chen each considered the other difficult to read.
• At morning court, the Vice Minister of War reported that the Third Prince had withdrawn his troops, and Li Chen made no comment about the absent Minister of War.
• Yan Hai told Li Chen that envoys from the Northern Court had arrived seeking an audience and asked whether they should be received immediately.

Altai and Atad came to court to demand punishment for the men who attacked them, only to discover that Li Chen himself had beaten Altai. Li Chen then turned their marriage-alliance proposal into a set of extravagant demands on the Northern Court.

• Yan Hai accused the attackers of undermining the dynasty’s dignity, and Li Chen revealed that he had beaten Altai and ordered Yan Hai to slap himself a hundred times.
• Yan Hai obeyed and returned with a swollen face, while Altai and Atad knelt before Li Chen.
• Altai proposed a marriage alliance between the Northern Court and the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty on his Khan’s orders.
• Li Chen accepted the proposal but demanded ten royal women, hundreds of bridal attendants from each northern tribe, fifty thousand horses, and ten thousand tonnes of beef.

Li Chen rejected the Northern Court’s marriage proposal and ordered its envoys to deliver vast quantities of goods within six months or face his invasion. After the envoys left, they began plotting to abduct Li Sining, while the Empress Dowager quietly prepared for possible conflict and news reached the academy where the princess studied.

• Li Chen rebuked Altai and Atad, demanded hundreds of beauties, tens of thousands of horses, and ten thousand tons of premium beef, then gave their Khan six months to comply or face his army.
• Li Chen had Altai and Atad driven from the hall, and the humiliated envoys discussed abducting Li Sining to win favor with the Khan.
• The Empress Dowager heard about the court’s confrontation and instructed her trusted palace maid to make discreet preparations in the north.
• Liu Hao’s father urged him to make himself known to Li Chen in hopes of gaining military achievements.
• News of Li Chen’s treatment of the envoys caused a stir at Cloud Deer Academy, where Li Sining was studying.

Li Sining visited Cloud Deer Academy to bid farewell before an expected marriage alliance with the Northern Court. She learned that Li Chen had instead demanded that a member of the Northern Court's imperial family marry into the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty, leaving her and Master Yu astonished by his boldness.

• Li Sining visited Master Yu at Cloud Deer Academy and said she had come to bid him farewell because she expected to be sent north for a political marriage.
• The academy's scholars condemned the emperor's decision, while Master Yu offered Li Sining refuge if she did not wish to leave.
• Li Sining's maid reported that Li Chen had agreed to the alliance but would not send her north; instead, a Northern Court imperial family member would marry into the Heavenly Strategy Dynasty.
• The scholars who had criticized the emperor immediately praised his wisdom and courage, leaving Master Yu speechless.
• Master Yu concluded that Li Chen must be in the Saint Realm to make such a demand, and Li Sining grew curious about her brother.

Li Sining returned to the palace eager to see Li Chen, the brother with whom she could be herself. Outside the Imperial Study, she met Chu Ruoyan, whom she suspected might become Li Chen’s consort, and the chapter ended as they listened to furious cursing from inside.

• Li Sining recalled how her family taught her to wear a mask in the palace, while Li Chen had once let her play freely.
• Li Sining hurried to the Imperial Study, believing Li Chen had rejected the Northern Court’s marriage alliance to protect her.
• Li Sining found Chu Ruoyan peering through the Imperial Study window and mistook her for Li Chen’s future consort.
• Li Sining and Chu Ruoyan admired each other’s beauty, and Chu Ruoyan shushed Li Sining and pointed inside.
• Li Sining leaned toward the window with Chu Ruoyan and heard someone furiously cursing inside the Imperial Study.

Li Sining reunited with Li Chen in the Imperial Study, where he had been sternly punishing corrupt officials and reviewing a mountain of memorials. She asked him to attend Cloud Deer Academy’s twentieth-anniversary celebration, and he agreed, while she teased him and Chu Ruoyan about their apparent date.

• Li Chen reprimanded two kneeling officials, and Li Sining watched with admiration while Chu Ruoyan wondered whether the girl was a princess.
• Li Chen summoned Li Sining and Chu Ruoyan into the Imperial Study after the officials were taken away.
• Li Chen finished reviewing his memorials, and Li Sining comforted him and told him about her frustrations with her studies and palace life.
• Li Sining invited Li Chen to Cloud Deer Academy’s anniversary celebration on behalf of her master, and Li Chen agreed to attend the next day.
• Li Sining teased Li Chen and Chu Ruoyan about going on a date, then left after encouraging Chu Ruoyan.

Li Chen and Chu Ruoyan enjoyed a carefully planned date on Marriage Mountain, where they grew closer through games and mishaps. They descended at dusk, with Li Chen confident he would eventually win her over.

• Chu Ruoyan planned a romantic outing for Li Chen at Marriage Mountain and accidentally twisted her ankle while worrying over her scheme.
• Li Chen massaged Chu Ruoyan’s ankle and carried her up the mountain, and she accepted the chance to be close to him.
• At the summit, Li Chen used his cultivation technique to make Chu Ruoyan draw the best fortune at the Marriage Tree.
• Li Chen and Chu Ruoyan played the mountain’s couples’ games, while Li Chen helped her plans succeed and stopped a cloaked woman from falling.
• Li Chen knocked down two men who were fighting over a woman, and bystanders credited the incident to the God of Marriage.
• Li Chen and Chu Ruoyan descended at dusk after their date, and Li Chen believed he would win her over in time.

Chu Ruoyan prepared to explain her feelings to Xiao Ming, but his message announced he would return in five days before she could speak. Wu Qi persuaded Wu Nanzhi to attend Cloud Deer Academy, while Li Sining visited Li Chen and asked how his plans were progressing.

• Chu Ruoyan received Xiao Ming's letter saying he would see her in five days and worried he might cause trouble.
• Wu Qi returned after failing to see Chu Ruoyan and learned she had avoided him and Liu Hao by climbing over a wall.
• Wu Qi persuaded Wu Nanzhi to accompany him to Cloud Deer Academy the next day.
• Li Sining played with Li Chen's LEGO set and fell asleep in his bedchamber while waiting for him.
• Li Chen returned, and Li Sining asked how things were progressing; he replied that it was not that fast, but soon.

Li Chen discovered that the system had rewarded him with pills and a dangerous secret-realm mission, then decided to use its cultivation resources to train his younger sister, Li Sining. After one night of instruction, she reached the early stage of the meridian opening realm, and Li Chen wondered whether her rapid progress needed to be slowed.

• Li Sining teased Li Chen about needing to work harder to surpass the deceased crown prince, while Li Chen reflected on the unresolved mystery of the prince’s death.
• Li Chen praised Li Sining’s LEGO palace, and the system announced his reward of ten Heaven-Grade Meridian-Strengthening Pills and a 60-day secret-realm mission.
• Li Chen realized he could use his resources and knowledge to cultivate Li Sining into a powerful fighter, then confirmed she had never cultivated before.
• Li Sining agreed to pursue the saint realm, and Li Chen gave her cultivation pills and the Nine Heavens Dragon Meridian Art before teaching her how to begin.
• After a night of cultivation, Li Sining reached the early stage of the meridian opening realm, leaving Li Chen impressed by her speed.

The Saint Remnant Soul decided to intensify Xiao Ming’s humiliation so he would keep cultivating instead of pursuing Chu Ruoyan. Meanwhile, Li Chen arrived at Cloud Deer Academy for its once-a-decade ceremony and revealed his Saint Realm power, leaving Master Yu as the only person who had not knelt.

• The Saint Remnant Soul realized Xiao Ming’s cultivation had accelerated since Chu Ruoyan left and credited his disciple’s humiliation-driven solitude.
• The Saint Remnant Soul decided to stop Xiao Ming from taking Chu Ruoyan away and to arrange for her to get together with Li Chen sooner.
• Xiao Ming continued cultivating in the courtyard, unaware of his master’s plan to make him suffer for his own good.
• Li Chen rode in an imperial carriage to Cloud Deer Academy, where Master Yu personally welcomed him at the gates.
• Li Chen released his Saint Realm pressure, causing everyone present except Master Yu to kneel before him.

Li Chen asserted his imperial authority at the Cloud Deer Academy celebration by forcing Master Yu to kneel before him in public. He entered the academy as scholars and officials bowed, while the crowds outside reacted with awe and excitement.

• Li Chen released his Saint Realm aura before Master Yu and waited for him to acknowledge the emperor's authority.
• Master Yu knelt and paid his respects to Li Chen, who helped him rise and allowed the Cloud Deer Academy celebration to begin.
• Li Chen entered the academy ahead of the officials, with Master Yu walking behind him as scholars lowered their heads.
• The crowd praised Li Chen, while the Chu Lineage's ancestor led his family away and Chu Ruoyan watched Li Chen in admiration.
• Wu Qi failed to get close enough to see Li Chen, and his aunt Wu Nanzhi scolded him for being unable to secure a good spot.
• Liu Hao, who had arranged to enter the academy early, waited for a chance to grovel before Li Chen.

Li Chen turned Master Yu’s academy ceremony into a show of imperial authority, winning the scholars’ admiration and urging them to serve the dynasty. The chapter ended with Zhao Wenyuan weighing whether to tell Li Chen about the Second Prince’s increasingly frequent moves.

• The scholars praised Li Chen and presented him with poems while Master Yu stood quietly beside him.
• Li Chen addressed the candidates from the Star-Gazing Tower, and the scholars vowed to serve the nation and share his burdens.
• Li Chen toured Cloud Deer Academy and mistakenly encouraged Liu Hao to take the spring examination, prompting Liu Hao to go home and study.
• Zhao Wenyuan reviewed intelligence about the Second Prince’s activities, and his subordinate suggested reporting them to Li Chen.

Zhao Wenyuan explained his cautious approach to serving Li Chen, while Li Xian returned to the Heavenly Evolution Divine Sect and tried to enlist his master’s help against the Crown Prince. Heaven-Topping High Person told Orchid Fairy he would help Li Xian, but not by committing regicide, leaving his plan unclear.

• Zhao Wenyuan warned his subordinate that officials should wait for Li Chen to ask for help rather than risk guessing what he wanted.
• Li Xian returned to the Heavenly Evolution Divine Sect after his defeat by Li Chen and waited anxiously for Heaven-Topping High Person to respond.
• Li Xian appealed to Orchid Fairy, who agreed to speak with Heaven-Topping High Person on his behalf.
• Orchid Fairy asked Heaven-Topping High Person why he had not answered Li Xian and questioned whether helping him meant regicide.
• Heaven-Topping High Person said he would help Li Xian, but denied that he intended to commit regicide.