Chapter Summaries

Xu Zifeng tried to learn Li Chen’s preferences and instead landed in prison during Lin Yue'e’s mass arrest of privileged scions. Meanwhile, Pang Jin attended court as the new Minister of Justice, and Chancellor Zhao Wenyuan stepped forward to report a matter to Li Chen.

• Xu Zifeng decided to ask his aunt to gather information about Li Chen and then tried to flirt with Lin Yue'e while she was on patrol.
• Lin Yue'e used Li Chen’s Insignia Plaque to arrest Xu Zifeng, other privileged scions, and men brawling in the street.
• Xu Zifeng wondered whether pursuing Lin Yue'e could help him uncover Li Chen’s secrets.
• Pang Jin prepared for his first Morning Court session and learned that his predecessor had exploded at the spot where he was to stand.
• Li Chen entered court, and Pang Jin was struck by the emperor’s imposing presence.
• Zhao Wenyuan stepped forward and told Li Chen he had a matter to report.

Li Chen arranged the Spring Hunt as a chance to assess military officers ahead of the Northern Expedition and agreed to attend Prince Jing'an Li Longyu’s birthday celebration. In a great mood, he summoned Chu Ruoyan, who prepared to meet him while expecting Xiao Ming to try to abduct her.

• Li Chen chose the Vast Wilderness Mountain Range for the Spring Hunt and told eager military officers he would select promising candidates there.
• Li Longyu invited Li Chen to his birthday celebration and said he had completed the task Li Chen had assigned him; Li Chen accepted and agreed to inspect his work.
• After finding few memorials left to handle, Li Chen decided to reward himself and summoned Chu Ruoyan to the palace.
• Chu Ruoyan waited armed for Xiao Ming, but when her maid announced Li Chen’s summons, she changed clothes and hurried to the palace, wary that Xiao Ming might interfere.

Li Chen guided Chu Ruoyan through her cultivation before taking her to his room, while Xiao Ming arrived at the Chu Lineage too late to find her. Xiao Ming mistook her training clothes and drawn sword for signs that she had planned to elope with him.

• Li Chen shifted his attention from teaching Li Sining to guiding Chu Ruoyan, who said she was nearing a breakthrough to the middle stage of the Void-Insight Realm.
• Li Chen adjusted Chu Ruoyan's movements, and Li Sining slipped away as the pair grew increasingly close.
• Li Chen carried Chu Ruoyan into his room, while Xiao Ming climbed into the Chu Lineage's rear courtyard to take her away.
• The Saint Remnant Soul planned to provoke the Chu Lineage's Heaven-Viewing Realm ancestor, then possess Xiao Ming and escape after exhausting him.
• Xiao Ming found Chu Ruoyan's training outfit and sword, then learned from her maid that His Majesty had summoned Chu Ruoyan to the palace.
• Xiao Ming concluded that Chu Ruoyan had dressed to elope with him and had drawn her sword to avoid going to the palace.

Xiao Ming waited for Chu Ruoyan to return from the Imperial Palace, only to learn she had become Li Chen’s imperial consort. After Xiao Ming’s rage awakened a terrifying surge in his cultivation, the Saint Remnant Soul stopped him from attacking the palace and asked whether he could accept Chu Ruoyan belonging to another man.

• Xiao Ming considered sneaking into the Imperial Palace, but the Saint Remnant Soul persuaded him to return to the Chu Lineage’s residence and wait.
• After eight hours, a palace eunuch announced that Chu Ruoyan had become an imperial consort, and the Chu Lineage celebrated its new ties to the imperial household.
• Xiao Ming’s fury over Chu Ruoyan’s marriage to Li Chen caused his cultivation to surge, and he charged toward the palace.
• The Saint Remnant Soul took control of Xiao Ming’s body and stopped him by claiming Chu Ruoyan had compromised with Li Chen while waiting for him.
• Xiao Ming declared his love for Chu Ruoyan, and the Saint Remnant Soul asked whether he could accept her as another man’s wife or as a mother.

The Saint Remnant Soul persuaded Xiao Ming to seek a post in the Ministry of Justice, promising it would help him win back Chu Ruoyan. After emerging from his room with Chu Ruoyan, Li Chen heard how the Empress Dowager had tried to visit and went to see her, finding her with an unfamiliar beautiful woman.

• The Saint Remnant Soul convinced Xiao Ming to pursue government service and recommended joining the Ministry of Justice to earn merit and rise quickly.
• Xiao Ming agreed to follow his master's advice and hurried to report to the Ministry of Justice.
• Li Sining told Li Chen that the Empress Dowager had come earlier, but Eunuch Cui had kept her from interrupting him and Chu Ruoyan.
• Li Chen said he had something to discuss with the Empress Dowager and invited Li Sining, who declined and went to cultivate.
• Li Chen entered the Empress Dowager's bedchamber and found her chatting with an unfamiliar beautiful woman.

Li Chen granted Ji Lianyu’s request to release her nephew, then learned the prisoner was Xu Zifeng, the Prince of the South’s son and a hostage whose calculated misconduct had already drawn official scrutiny. He recognized Xu Zifeng’s attempt to conceal his abilities as an obvious act and left his intentions under suspicion.

• Ji Lianyu asked Li Chen to release her nephew, and he agreed to let him return home while warning him to behave.
• Li Chen asked the Empress Dowager to arrange the next woman for his harem, then rewarded Eunuch Cui and ordered him to investigate Ji Lianyu and her nephew.
• Eunuch Cui soon delivered intelligence identifying the nephew as Xu Zifeng, the Prince of the South’s son, whom Lin Yue'e had jailed for foul speech.
• Li Chen and Li Sining concluded that Xu Zifeng was deliberately causing minor trouble to disguise his intentions, while officials had long monitored his movements.

Li Chen arranged to use Xu Zifeng’s repeated arrests to benefit Lin Yue'e and himself, while Xu Zifeng and Xiao Ming’s paths began to cross. After spending the night with Li Chen, Chu Ruoyan woke to find her cultivation had improved and began adjusting to life as his Imperial Consort.

• Li Chen ordered Lin Yue'e to repeatedly arrest Xu Zifeng and fine him, hoping to draw Ji Lianyu to plead for her nephew.
• Xu Zifeng left the County Yamen and passed Xiao Ming near the Ministry of Justice, beginning to link their destinies.
• Xu Zifeng returned home, complained about Constable Lin, and dismissed Ji Lianyu’s warning not to provoke her.
• Xiao Ming cultivated in secret as the Saint Remnant Soul relied on his resentment to strengthen his hidden saint physique.
• Chu Ruoyan woke after spending the night with Li Chen and discovered she had advanced to the late Void-Insight Realm.
• Chu Ruoyan enjoyed breakfast in the palace, then learned from Li Sining that her loud cries and words had kept her awake.

Chu Ruoyan discussed palace life and cultivation with Li Sining after becoming Li Chen’s consort. She chose a nearby palace as her residence, while her family celebrated its new status and prepared a housewarming banquet.

• Li Sining praised Chu Ruoyan’s cultivation progress, then explained that she should pay respects to the Empress Dowager and arrange her palace.
• The Chu Lineage moved into a grand residence in the Imperial Capital’s first ring, and its head planned a housewarming banquet for influential guests.
• Chu Ruoyan chose a palace near Li Chen’s bedchamber so she could reach him easily and visit the area often.
• Chu Ruoyan’s household maids hoped to join her in the palace, where two could receive official posts as her personal maids.

Chu Ruoyan’s mother visited her in the palace and asked her to invite Li Chen to the Chu Lineage’s housewarming banquet. During court, Pang Jin reported that Fan Kuai had been found dead in the same mysterious manner as the Crown Prince, then brought Li Chen a confidential report.

• Chu Ruoyan’s mother entered the palace with two maids, visited Chu Ruoyan, and asked her to invite Li Chen to the Chu Lineage’s housewarming banquet.
• Chu Ruoyan showed her mother and the two maids around her Bedchamber Palace while Li Chen attended Morning Court.
• Li Chen received a system notification that the Wilderness Secret Realm had opened in South City and decided to enter it alone.
• Pang Jin told the court that Fan Kuai, the Crown Prince’s former guard, had been found dead at home with an Azure Mark on his chest, just like the Crown Prince.
• Li Chen ordered Pang Jin to continue investigating the deaths, and Pang Jin later brought him a confidential report in the Imperial Study.

Pang Jin explained his plan to use a fabricated lead to flush out the forces behind Fan Kuai’s death, and Li Chen revealed that he had reached Great Perfection of the saint realm. Pang Jin secured Li Chen’s promise to intervene if needed, then left as the Heavenly Evolution Divine Sect began making major moves.

• Pang Jin told Li Chen that Fan Kuai’s sudden appearance and the convenient clues might be a trap, so he planned to invent a lead and watch which hidden forces investigated it.
• Li Chen approved Pang Jin’s plan and offered to help if needed.
• Pang Jin asked Li Chen’s cultivation realm, and Li Chen revealed that he had reached Great Perfection of the saint realm.
• Pang Jin asked Li Chen to act personally if the investigation uncovered powerful enemies, and Li Chen agreed.
• Pang Jin promised to keep Li Chen’s cultivation secret, and the Heavenly Evolution Divine Sect began making major moves after Pang Jin left.

Heaven-Topping High Person and Orchid Fairy secretly traveled toward the Imperial Capital while enduring unwanted attention, as Li Xian sought Master Yu’s support at Cloud Deer Academy. Master Yu remained noncommittal, waiting to compare Li Xian’s strength with the Third Prince’s before choosing a side.

• Heaven-Topping High Person and Orchid Fairy announced a false seclusion to conceal their journey to the Imperial Capital in support of Li Xian.
• Heaven-Topping High Person repeatedly drove away men who harassed Orchid Fairy along the road, while both Saints avoided killing anyone to prevent trouble.
• Li Xian arrived at Cloud Deer Academy and waited outside Master Yu’s room for half an hour before the scholar pretended to wake.
• Li Xian flattered Master Yu and indirectly asked for guidance on his path as a prince, signaling his ambition to become emperor.
• Master Yu probed Li Xian about his master, the alliance leader of the Nine Abyss Sacred Domain, and agreed to meet him later without promising support.
• Master Yu returned to sleep, intending to compare Li Xian with the Third Prince before deciding whom to back.

Li Xian failed to secure Master Yu’s help, while the Third Prince plotted to ally with the Prince of the South and Li Ran secretly cultivated his Forbidden Evil Art. The Prince of the South received the Third Prince’s proposal as Li Chen left to grind a beginner dungeon.

• Li Xian told Feng Wuhen that Master Yu had refused to help and decided to keep gathering intelligence on Li Chen.
• The Third Prince planned to join forces with the Prince of the South, seize the Imperial Capital while Li Chen fought the Northern Court, then turn against his allies.
• Li Ran trained in his self-created Forbidden Evil Art, vowed revenge on the Second Prince and Third Prince, and set out to find the Emperor Dragon Sutra for Li Chen.
• The Prince of the South prepared to rebel, driven in part by his son Xu Zifeng’s ambition and by the Previous Emperor’s decision to keep Xu Zifeng as a hostage.
• The Prince of the South received a secret letter from the Third Prince, while Li Chen went off to grind a beginner dungeon.

Li Chen followed the system to a Wild Secret Realm outside the Imperial Capital, where Luo Yong explained how the realm worked and how higher-level cultivators could make it dangerous for newcomers. Li Chen hoped to be matched against void-breaking realm cultivators who preyed on weaker entrants, while Wu Qi appeared at another secret realm entrance with three masked companions.

• Li Chen changed into ordinary clothes, followed the system’s directions, and reached a Wild Secret Realm in the mountains east of the Imperial Capital.
• At the crowded entrance, Li Chen asked Luo Yong how the secret realm worked, and Luo Yong explained its resources, demonic beasts, time limit, and exit pillars of light.
• Luo Yong complained that a void-breaking realm cultivator had once brought meridian opening realm cultivators into a low-level secret realm, making its demonic beasts too strong for them.
• Li Chen joined Luo Yong in condemning such cultivators, then realized they might be matched against him and looked forward to defeating them.
• Wu Qi, a void-breaking realm prodigy, appeared with three masked people at another Wild Secret Realm entrance.

Wu Qi entered the Wilderness Secret Realm with his aunt and two younger cousins, confident that his strength would let him dominate the expedition. He found a wolf demon guarding two Moonlight Spirit Leaves, but sensed that the beast was far stronger than expected.

• Unable to see Chu Ruoyan or meet up with Li Chen, Wu Qi agreed to take his aunt, Wu Nanzhi, and two younger cousins into the secret realm.
• Wu Qi and Li Chen separately declined invitations from Luo Yong to team up before the secret realm opened.
• Wu Qi's group entered first and began searching noisily through the forest for danger and resources.
• Wu Qi found two Moonlight Spirit Leaves near a wolf demon's lair, but sensed the demon's aura was unexpectedly powerful as it awoke.

Wu Nanzhi’s sealed Saint Tiger awakened and rampaged through the secret realm, but Li Chen subdued it with ease while trying to claim it as a mount. The tiger vanished beneath him and left a naked woman in its place, surprising Li Chen.

• Wu Qi struggled to escape a peak Six Harmonies Realm wolf demon and realized his aunt and younger clansmen were surrounded by its pack.
• When a wolf demon attacked Wu Nanzhi, the Saint Tiger sealed within her awakened and blasted the attacker away.
• The Saint Tiger ignored Wu Nanzhi’s attempts to control it, drove Wu Qi and his clansmen off, and slaughtered the nearby beasts.
• Li Chen found the rampaging Saint Tiger and pinned it in place with a single move.
• As Li Chen sat on the subdued tiger, it vanished and a naked woman appeared before him.

Wu Nanzhi explained how the Saint Tiger had transformed her and left her naked, while Li Chen teased her instead of lending her clothes. They retraced the tiger's path and found her clothes hanging in a tree, but Li Chen still had not helped her retrieve them.

• Wu Nanzhi told Li Chen that the Saint Tiger had hunted demonic beasts before returning to her body and leaving her naked.
• Li Chen caught Wu Nanzhi, groped and teased her, and refused to lend her clothes.
• Wu Nanzhi reluctantly followed Li Chen through the forest as he dawdled and petted a harmless, guinea-pig-like animal.
• Li Chen and Wu Nanzhi reached the place where she had transformed and found her clothes hanging high in a tree beside the wolf demon's remains.

Li Chen left the secret realm after gathering resources, while Wu Nanzhi followed him and accidentally revealed where she lived. Outside, he reunited with Luo Yong, who described the demonic beasts’ rampage and the terror inside the realm.

• Wu Nanzhi retrieved and repaired her clothes, then followed Li Chen because a powerful demonic beast made the wilderness too dangerous to face alone.
• As they traveled, Li Chen gathered Spirit Herbs while the guarding demonic beasts fled, and Wu Nanzhi asked whether he was from the Imperial Capital.
• Li Chen entered a pillar of light to leave the secret realm, and Wu Nanzhi blurted out that she lived at 7 Evergreen Street before he vanished.
• Li Chen emerged elsewhere and encountered Luo Yong, who said the demonic beasts had gone mad and that he was lucky to find a nearby exit pillar.
• Wu Qi and the other Void-Breaking Realm cultivators remained trapped and afraid, and cultivators around their level would avoid the Wilderness Secret Realm for the time being.

Li Chen received the first volume of the Emperor Dragon Sutra from Li Ran while Lin Yue'e continued arresting powerful offenders under the protection of Li Chen's Insignia Plaque. That night, after pursuing Li Chen's order to target Xu Zifeng, she left the chapter unresolved as an anxious woman came to see the emperor.

• Eunuch Cui delivered the first volume of the Emperor Dragon Sutra from Li Ran, and Li Chen told him to focus on cultivation and ask for anything he needed.
• Lin Yue'e continued arresting officials and privileged people with evidence, earning the people's trust and frightening the powerful.
• The Chief Constable warned Lin Yue'e that her bold arrests could bring revenge, but she explained that Li Chen's Insignia Plaque showed his trust and would help her rise.
• The Chief Constable agreed that the yamen would support Lin Yue'e, then reconsidered his own faded ideals until she reminded him he did not have the emperor's protection.
• Lin Yue'e left the yamen to carry out Li Chen's order to target Xu Zifeng, heir to the Prince of the South.
• A eunuch serving the Empress Dowager brought Li Chen a request to receive a haggard, anxious woman, who entered his study and paid her respects.

Ji Lianyu pleaded with Li Chen to release Xu Zifeng, and Li Chen agreed while making her uneasy about returning to ask for help. Xu Zifeng went home and discussed his plans for the Spring Hunt, while Chu Ruoyan invited Li Chen to her family banquet the next day.

• Ji Lianyu begged Li Chen to free Xu Zifeng from prison, and Li Chen agreed after warning her that another offense would have consequences.
• Li Chen ordered a eunuch to tell Lin Yue'e to release Xu Zifeng and praised her for enforcing the law.
• Xu Zifeng returned to the Prince of the South's Residence, promised Ji Lianyu he would behave, and said he planned to gather leverage at the Spring Hunt.
• Xu Zifeng asked Ji Lianyu about her investigation into Li Chen, then revealed he suspected the Second Prince and Third Prince would make a move at the Spring Hunt.
• Chu Ruoyan invited Li Chen to her family's banquet the next day, and Li Chen spent the evening with her until she lost consciousness.

Wu Qi planned to attend the Chu Lineage's Housewarming Banquet to seek a connection with Li Chen, while Wu Nanzhi continued dwelling on her encounter with him. At Morning Court, Guo Poyun returned after his House Arrest was lifted and prepared to compete for command of the Northern Expedition at the Spring Hunt.

• Wu Qi left his residence to find a gift for the Chu Lineage's Housewarming Banquet and hoped Chu Ruoyan could help him approach Li Chen.
• Wu Nanzhi wondered why Li Chen had not appeared and vowed to make him pay if she caught him.
• Guo Poyun attended Morning Court after his House Arrest ended, accepted congratulations from military officials, and resolved to win command of the Northern Expedition at the Spring Hunt.
• Guo Poyun greeted Pang Jin and probed Zhao Wenyuan about recent developments in the Crown Prince's case, but Zhao referred him to the Minister of Justice.
• Li Chen arrived at Morning Court and greeted Guo Poyun.