Chapter Summaries

After reuniting with Ju Ying at Watercloud Manor, Xing Yan returned with her to Bai Shijun’s banquet and learned that she had helped secure his appointment as Central Court Grand Master. Daoist Qingyun attacked Xing Yan with a blood-empowered dragon made from a bamboo chopstick, but Xing Yan cut it down as Qingyun fled.

• Xing Yan met Ju Ying on Autumn Reed Lake, and she agreed to join him and see Qiong Rong and Xueyi.
• Xing Yan brought Ju Ying back to the banquet, where she introduced him to Bai Shijun as her teacher and friend.
• Bai Shijun told Xing Yan that Princess Qingcheng had spoken on his behalf, and Ju Ying said she would explain more in a few days.
• Daoist Qingyun turned a bamboo chopstick into a black dragon and directed it toward Xing Yan.
• Qingyun used his blood to empower the dragon, but Xing Yan summoned the Yao Guang Sword and struck it down.
• Daoist Qingyun fled over the lake, shouting that Heaven would punish Xing Yan.

After surviving Qingyun Dao’s assassination attempt, Xing Yan accepted Bai Shijun’s formal gifts and investigated a strange locust tied to the plague. He visited Ju Ying and learned that she was Princess Yongchang, leaving him stunned by her revelation.

• Qingyun Dao fled after his attack failed, and Bai Shijun realized the Daoist had tried to assassinate him.
• Bai Shijun sent Xing Yan a grandee’s robe and an Enemy-Repelling Crown to thank him for saving his life.
• Xing Yan examined a strangely marked locust that Qiong Rong had caught and suspected it was connected to the locust plague.
• Xing Yan took Qiong Rong and Xueyi to visit Ju Ying, and Qiong Rong burned the locust with her Fire Sparrows along the way.
• Ju Ying showed Xing Yan a jade seal and revealed that she was Princess Yongchang, the woman he had once said he would not dare marry.

Ju Ying revealed that she was Princess Yongchang, but Xing Yan soon resumed treating her as before after she commanded him to. They shared an evening of cooking, a Seventh Night needle-prayer ceremony, and a moonlit boat ride, ending together atop Qiming Mountain as two objects hurtled toward them.

• Ju Ying showed Xing Yan her royal seal and revealed her identity as Princess Yongchang, then ordered him to treat her as he had before.
• Ju Ying gave Xing Yan the fifteen taels of silver and message his mother had sent, and explained why she was staying at Watercloud Manor to meet Bai Shijun.
• Ju Ying, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong performed the Seventh Night needle-prayer ceremony beside the lake, and Xing Yan judged that all three had succeeded.
• Xing Yan and Ju Ying shared a boat ride through the lotus beds, where Ju Ying sang as they fed each other lotus seeds and sheltered from a brief rain.
• Xing Yan carried Ju Ying to the top of a tree on Qiming Mountain to admire the moonlit landscape, where two objects suddenly hurtled toward them.

Xing Yan and Ju Ying were mistaken for spies near Yujia Stone City, while Bai Shijun’s jealousy over the guests led him to arrange a matchmaking attempt with Xueyi and Qiong Rong. After the girls rebuffed the offer, Bai Shijun’s adviser warned him not to make an enemy of Xing Yan, but Bai Shijun regained his confidence by remembering two people who might help him win Yingju.

• Xing Yan caught two arrows fired from Yujia Stone City and explained that he and Ju Ying were guests of Prefect Bai before returning to the lotus boat.
• Bai Shijun brooded over the visitors, hacked at a willow in anger, and ordered his servants to replace it.
• Aunt Wang invited Xueyi and Qiong Rong to meet Bai Shijun’s wet nurse, then tried to match them with the young lord using promises of wealth and silk.
• Qiong Rong misunderstood Aunt Wang’s offer as evidence that the Bai household ran a silk shop, and the matchmaking attempt failed.
• Xu Zifang warned Bai Shijun to cultivate Xing Yan’s friendship rather than make him an enemy, and Bai Shijun dismissed him to be alone.
• Bai Shijun despaired over the possibility of losing Yingju, then remembered two people and declared that he had not necessarily lost.

Xing Yan rejected Zong Yueru’s warning that he had no chance with Ju Ying, joking that she had awakened him to the possibility of marrying the princess. At Bai Shijun’s evening banquet, Daoist Feihuang began preparing an illusion, while Qiong Rong warned Xing Yan she might accidentally cause trouble, and his careless mention of the Three Pure Ones provoked her anger.

• Xing Yan took Qiong Rong and Xueyi to visit Ju Ying at Lotus Lake, where Zong Yueru intercepted him and insisted that Ju Ying’s kindness did not mean she loved him.
• Zong Yueru revealed that Bai Shijun had asked her to dissuade Xing Yan from pursuing the princess, but Xing Yan thanked her and joked that her words made him realize he could marry Ju Ying.
• Zong Yueru learned that Ju Ying had gone boating with Xing Yan, then told Bai Shijun what had happened; Bai Shijun invited them to a banquet and arranged for an immortal master to attend.
• At the banquet, Daoist Feihuang offered to perform an illusion, and Qiong Rong quietly asked Xing Yan whether he would be angry if she caused trouble.
• Xing Yan reassured Qiong Rong and said even the patriarchs of the Three Pure Ones would forgive her, causing her expression to turn angry.

At Bai Shijun's banquet, Qiong Rong attacked Daoist Feihuang, who had tried to kill Xing Yan with Venomous Locusts, and the hidden fire of the Divine Sparrows destroyed Feihuang and his insects. Bai Shijun demanded Qiong Rong's execution, so Xing Yan appeared to punish her by striking her into Autumn Reed Lake, leaving everyone unsure whether she would survive.

• Daoist Feihuang sent two Venomous Locusts to attack Xing Yan, but Qiong Rong set them ablaze and charged Feihuang on her Vermilion Bird Blade.
• Bai Shijun summoned archers to shoot Qiong Rong, but Xing Yan used Iceheart Knot to freeze their bows and arrows and stop them.
• The Divine Sparrows' hidden fire burned Feihuang and his Venomous Locusts, and Qiong Rong excitedly told Xing Yan she had destroyed more harmful bugs.
• Bai Shijun demanded that Qiong Rong be executed for killing his adviser, and Xing Yan agreed to carry out the punishment.
• Xing Yan struck Qiong Rong into Autumn Reed Lake and told her to seek her own good fortune, horrifying Bai Shijun and the banquet guests.

Xing Yan rescued Qiong Rong after staging her fall into Autumn Reed Lake, then accepted Bai Shijun’s offer to stay at Coiling Dragon Court while investigating the manor’s secrets. That night, Qiong Rong overheard Bai Shijun and Aunt Wang plotting against Xing Yan, but her movement alerted them before she could return to warn him.

• Xing Yan knocked Qiong Rong into Autumn Reed Lake in front of Bai Shijun, then secretly rescued her with his Water-Traveling Art and returned with her to Ju Ying’s cottage.
• Ju Ying hosted Xing Yan, Xueyi, and Qiong Rong for the night, while Bai Shijun later apologized and arranged for them to stay at Coiling Dragon Court.
• Xing Yan wondered why Bai Shijun had suddenly become deferential and planned to use Water Without a Trace to investigate the manor.
• A guard revealed that Xu Zifang was imprisoned and feared the young marquis would bring ruin by defying Highest Clarity.
• Qiong Rong wandered off to catch fireflies while Aunt Wang delivered supper to Coiling Dragon Court and Ju Ying joined Xing Yan and Xueyi there.
• Qiong Rong overheard Bai Shijun and Aunt Wang discussing a mechanism and Bai Shijun’s scheme to exploit famine, then heard him vow to kill Xing Yan; a rustle alerted him to someone nearby, but he found no one.

Xing Yan escaped Bai Shijun’s burning trap, protected Ju Ying and the others, then pursued Bai to Yujia City and clashed with the sword adepts guarding it. He agreed to end the fight after the defenders called the attack a misunderstanding, while Qiong Rong set more fires at Bai’s estate as they flew north.

• Bai Shijun’s hidden flames engulfed the Coiling Dragon Court, killing a maid, but Xing Yan shielded the others and broke through the roof to escape with Ju Ying, Xueyi, Zong Yueru, and Qiong Rong.
• Xing Yan sent Zong Yueru to lead the princess’s guards north, then took Ju Ying and Xueyi to a concealed woodland spring before returning with Qiong Rong to Watercloud Manor.
• Xing Yan learned that Bai Shijun had fled to Yujia City, and he and Qiong Rong pursued him to Qiming Mountain.
• Xing Yan and Qiong Rong attacked the flying-sword formation protecting Yujia City, overpowering several swords before the city’s chief adept pleaded for a chance to explain.
• Xing Yan accepted the defenders’ offer to investigate the arson and withdrew, while Qiong Rong set additional fires at Bai Shijun’s summer estate before they flew north.

Xing Yan and the others guarded Princess Yingju until General Zong Han arrived, and Xing Yan recognized him as the coachman from his past. Xing Yan warned Zong Han that Bai Shijun’s crimes might point to Marquis Changyi’s treason, but Zong Han feared court politics would let Bai escape punishment; the chapter ended with Xing Yan calmly invoking Heaven’s judgment.

• Xing Yan found Qiong Rong perched in a tree, where she was blowing south to fan a fire, and brought her safely down.
• Zong Han arrived with Imperial Guard Cavalry after Zong Yueru had secretly sent for help, and Xing Yan recognized him as Uncle Zong, Ju Ying’s former coachman.
• Xing Yan recounted Bai Shijun’s attack and suggested that his intentions might extend beyond robbery and murder, prompting Zong Han to suspect Marquis Changyi of treason.
• Zong Han said Bai Shijun might evade punishment because of his powerful adoptive father and court politics, while Xing Yan protested that the displaced common people deserved justice.
• Xing Yan apologized for his outburst and declared that Heaven might punish a criminal even if no person did, leaving Zong Han recalling events from years earlier in Poyang County.

Xing Yan and Ju Ying confessed their affection, and Xing Yan later used a ghostly ring to make Bai Shijun lose his mind. After Daoist Qingyun thanked him and gave him the Upper Clarity Scripture, Xing Yan set out with Qiong Rong and Xueyi for the next stage of his journey.

• Xing Yan learned that Ju Ying’s Dust Repelling Jade Pendant was a royal treasure, but Ju Ying insisted he keep it and confessed that she liked him.
• Xing Yan and Ju Ying shared a tender moment in the woods, while Qiong Rong, Xueyi, and a general quietly left them alone.
• Xing Yan learned Bai Shijun was hoarding relief grain and devised a plan after hearing of the Treasure Bureau.
• Xing Yan disguised himself as a beggar and sold Zhou Fang a ring, prompting Zhou Fang to present it to Bai Shijun, who soon became mentally incapacitated.
• Xing Yan apologized to the monstrous spirit god Lao Xiao, then met Daoist Qingyun, who thanked him for helping Yulin Commandery and gave him the Upper Clarity Scripture.

Xu Zifang restored Yulin Commandery’s affairs while Marquis Changyi rejected supernatural explanations, planned Bai Shijun’s marriage to Princess Qingcheng, and reacted to an omen in his courtyard. Far away, Xing Yan and his companions traveled north, and Xing Yan ended the chapter puzzled when Lingyi said she had come to give him an invitation.

• Xu Zifang temporarily managed Yulin Commandery and restored its relief measures, ending Bai Shijun’s grain scheme.
• Marquis Changyi dismissed claims of gods and destiny, then planned for Bai Shijun to marry Princess Qingcheng and vowed to recruit the Daoists of Shangqing Palace.
• Marquis Changyi’s retainers killed the leading rat in a procession, and he ordered it buried beneath the flowering trees.
• Xing Yan traveled north with Xueyi and Qiong Rong, reconsidered where to search for the Water Spirit, and resolved to follow his feelings about Ju Ying.
• Xing Yan summoned Lingyi at Coiling Dragon Town, where she said she had come to give him an invitation.

Ling Yier took Xing Yan by dragon-steed carriage to the South Sea for a flower-viewing banquet, and the journey gave him a sudden insight into riding clouds. As they neared a floating city, two unknown objects fell into the sea beside them.

• Ling Yier invited Xing Yan to the South Sea flower banquet and gave gifts to him, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi.
• Ling Yier arrived in splendid robes and carried Xing Yan through the clouds in her family’s four-horse dragon-steed carriage.
• Watching the steeds run across the clouds, Xing Yan understood how to use the Iceheart Knot to ride clouds, though he chose not to test it in the frigid sky.
• Xing Yan and Ling Yier shared a quiet moment in the carriage before reaching the South Sea at sunset.
• Ling Yier explained that the South Sea’s eight floating cities guarded against the Zhuyou Ghostlands and its ghostly forces.
• As Ling Yier guided the carriage toward a floating city, two objects suddenly fell from the sky and splashed into the sea beside them.

Xing Yan and Lingyi arrived at the South Sea Dragon Palace for Meng Zhang’s flower-viewing banquet, where they met several unusual immortals and learned the Golden Sea Epiphyllum would bloom hours later. While Lingyi chatted with the goddesses, Xing Yan wandered away from the palace and accidentally entered a mysterious forbidden place.

• Xing Yan and Lingyi met Flowstep Immortal, who introduced his new mounts, a pair of Manman Birds.
• Xing Yan and Lingyi reached the South Sea Dragon Palace and attended the gathering at Spirit Bud Palace, where Meng Zhang welcomed Lingyi and met Xing Yan.
• Lingyi explained that Fu Zhu and Ming Snake were sworn enemies, and their quarrel ended when Meng Zhang intervened.
• Meng Zhang announced that the Golden Sea Epiphyllum would not bloom for another two to four hours, so the banquet was delayed.
• As Lingyi spoke with the goddesses, Xing Yan wandered through the coral grove, became lost, and followed a light into an unfamiliar place.
• Two enormous clams opened at the entrance to the forbidden grounds, and a green-robed clam maiden wondered whether someone had intruded.

While lost in the Dragon Palace grounds, Zhang Xingyan met a mysterious girl named Xi Ying in a moonlit lake valley and calmed the waters when they surged around them. Xi Ying disappeared before he could learn more, and Xing Yan returned to the palace still thinking of her just as someone reminded him that the Sea Epiphyllum would bloom soon.

• Zhang Xingyan wandered into a secluded blue lake valley and found a white-clad girl weaving a garland beneath a flowering tree.
• The girl startled when Zhang Xingyan approached, then turned to reveal dark markings across her face and a dragon-scaled fish tail.
• Zhang Xingyan apologized for his reaction and awkwardly tried to comfort the girl by mentioning another woman with a facial birthmark.
• The lake erupted into towering waves, and Zhang Xingyan used his whistle and water arts to calm the storm into gentle rain.
• The girl vanished after Zhang Xingyan asked her name, leaving the characters Xi Ying traced in the sand.
• Zhang Xingyan returned to the Dragon Palace, where someone told him the Sea Epiphyllum would bloom in a quarter of an hour.

Xing Yan and Lingyi attended the South Sea banquet, where the Sea Epiphyllum bloomed and a tale about its red petals stirred romantic embarrassment between them. The feast’s martial dance ended with Pan Hou shouting that he sensed ghostly energy in the hall.

• Xing Yan returned to Lingyi, and they watched the Sea Epiphyllum bloom in Spirit Bud Palace before the banquet began.
• Xing Yan saw red threads in the flower’s golden petals, which Meng Zhang said foretold a happy marriage with a woman seen in the past three days; Lingyi blushed as they discussed the women Xing Yan had met.
• Xing Yan told Lingyi he had met Xi Ying, the South Sea Dragon God’s second princess, and the two teased each other about appearances and their first meeting.
• At Poyang, Lady of the Xiang River suggested Lingyi might love the South Sea Water Marquis, while the Lord of the Clouds said her marriage should not be interfered with and called for the Four Rivers Dragon Clan to prepare its forces.
• At the South Sea banquet, Pan Hou led a combat dance to the Army-Breaker music, then shouted that he sensed ghostly energy.

At Meng Zhang’s banquet, Xing Yan concealed the ghostly energy from his ring and used pure immortal power to clear suspicion when General Pan Hou accused him of carrying it. After leaving the South Sea Dragon Palace, Xing Yan comforted a tearful Lingyi as they crossed the starlit sea and suggested they spend the night in fishermen’s huts.

• General Pan Hou detected ghostly energy at Spirit Bud Palace, but it vanished before he could locate its source.
• Pan Hou pointed to Xing Yan, prompting Lingyi to defend him while Meng Zhang ordered Netherlight Grass brought to test for ghosts.
• Xing Yan used his Great Splendor power to make the grass blaze with green light, convincing Meng Zhang that he was not possessed and impressing the gathered guests.
• After the banquet, Lingyi left the South Sea with Xing Yan, and he bought gifts for Xueyi and Qiong Rong at an island market.
• As they traveled through the night sky over the sea, Lingyi began crying in Xing Yan’s arms, and he suggested they spend the night in nearby fishermen’s huts.

Ling Yier and Xing Yan spent the night on a deserted shore after she wept over the gulf between mortals and dragons. The next morning, they teased each other by the sea, while in Coiling Dragon Town a little girl waited for Xing Yan’s return.

• Ling Yier wept in the cold sky, and Xing Yan took her down to the shore to rest in an abandoned fishing hut.
• Xing Yan made a bed for Ling Yier, then kept watch outside while she slept.
• Ling Yier woke to find Xing Yan meditating by the sea, and he said the shore’s spiritual energy had made his cultivation unusually effective.
• Ling Yier went to bathe while Xing Yan rested behind a reef, then mistook his sword tapping on the sand for approaching footsteps.
• Xing Yan showed Ling Yier the tiny crabs fleeing his tapping, and she knocked him on the head after he mistook her blush for a fever.
• In Coiling Dragon Town, a little girl told Big Sister Xueyi that she had lost count while waiting for Brother Xing Yan to return on a cloud.

Xing Yan and Lingyi returned to Coiling Dragon Town for Mid-Autumn and celebrated the moon with Kou Xueyi and Qiong Rong, while Xing Yan’s thoughts turned to Ju Ying and his wish to return to Mount Luofu. The next day Lingyi returned to the Dragon Palace beneath Poyang Lake, where her mother’s maid said the dragon consort had important news for her.

• Lingyi asked Xing Yan why he had spent the previous night practicing outside the fishing hut, and he admitted he had feared losing control if they shared a room.
• Xing Yan and Lingyi arrived in Coiling Dragon Town on Mid-Autumn night and joined Kou Xueyi and Qiong Rong for fruit, reunion pastries, and moon viewing.
• Xing Yan thought of his home on Thousand Birds Cliff, resolved to search harder for the missing Water Spirit, and wondered whether Ju Ying was watching the same moon.
• Qiong Rong asked Xing Yan about the jade-like flowers he had seen in the South Sea Dragon Palace, and Lingyi teased him for having been distracted by a girl beneath the tree.
• Lingyi explained her version of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl tale, and Qiong Rong criticized the princess and Queen Mother of the West as the stars suddenly flickered.
• The day after Mid-Autumn, Lingyi returned to the Dragon Palace beneath Poyang Lake, where her mother’s personal maid told her the dragon consort had something important to say.

Lingyi learned that Meng Zhang had sent her a gift, but her mother’s warning about marrying someone with a shorter lifespan left her stricken. Meanwhile, Xing Yan spent a peaceful day in Coiling Dragon Town before seven luminous orbs appeared around his room and he began to rise into the air.

• Lingyi’s mother praised Meng Zhang and urged Lingyi to spend more time with him, while Lingyi remained distracted.
• The Dragon Consort told Lingyi a story about tribespeople mistaking a painted mountain for a short climb, then warned that her future husband needed a long lifespan.
• Lingyi turned pale at her mother’s warning, left for her Spirit Pearl Palace, and learned that Meng Zhang had sent her a hundred bolts of fine dragon gauze.
• Xing Yan, Qiong Rong, and Xueyi spent the day exploring Coiling Dragon Town before returning to the inn for the night.
• As Xing Yan slept beneath the full moon, seven luminous orbs appeared around his room and the Big Dipper blazed overhead.
• Xing Yan’s body quietly floated upward as the lights filled the inn and courtyard.

Xing Yan absorbed the power of the Big Dipper Formation and survived the God-Sealing Ancient Sword piercing his heart, gaining new insight into the Dao. As he spoke with Qiong Rong and Xueyi in Coiling Dragon Town, stones in the distant Flowing Cloud Pasture began to glow red.

• The Astrologer warned the emperor that the Seven Stars Concealing the Moon omen signaled treason and a possible change of ruler, stirring chaos among the court ministers.
• Xing Yan rose in his sleep into a seven-star formation as heaven and earth qi flowed into him, while Qiong Rong and Xueyi watched.
• The God-Sealing Ancient Sword pierced Xing Yan's heart and vanished, but he stood unharmed when the courtyard returned to normal.
• Xing Yan showed Qiong Rong and Xueyi seven points of starlight and explained that he had stopped refining qi to avoid harming Coiling Dragon Town.
• Xing Yan told the girls that nature held mysteries beyond human understanding and urged reverence for the Dao.
• Dozens of stones in Flowing Cloud Pasture began to glow faint red near the Dragon-Scaled Divine Steeds.