Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu investigated the Zheng Household’s hidden pill-refining chambers and questioned the imprisoned Pill Refining Masters about Yu Ren. An elderly prisoner stopped her as she was about to leave, apparently ready to tell her what he knew.

• Yu Jin hurried away after Su Jiu told him the Teleportation Array led outside, and Su Jiu suspected he was rushing to help his cousin claim the Zheng Household.
• Su Jiu searched the bamboo slips with Yun Chao and Qiao Zirong, found the name Yu Ren, and realized the stone chamber was likely a misleading clue.
• Yun Huanling found the passage underground, where Su Jiu and the others discovered imprisoned Pill Refining Masters with restrictions on their Seas of Consciousness.
• Su Jiu asked the prisoners about Yu Ren, and their alarm suggested the Yu Household had once abandoned them to die.
• Su Jiu offered to protect the prisoners’ descendants if they spoke, and an elderly Pill Refining Master called her back before she could leave.

Su Jiu learned how the Zheng Household had manipulated the Pill Refining Masters into killing Yu Ren and suspected the Yu Household was preparing to retaliate. At the inn, she reunited with Shu Wugui and Shu Yi, then discussed the missing spirit-draining stones with her companions and focused on finding Zheng Li.

• Su Jiu learned that the Zheng Household had spread false rumors about Yu Ren, prompting the Pill Refining Masters to abduct and dismember him before the Zheng Household betrayed them.
• Su Jiu suspected the Yu Household planned to retaliate against the Zheng Household soon, but wanted to protect the innocent Pill Refining Masters of the present day.
• Su Jiu encountered Shu Wugui and Shu Yi at an inn, exchanged courtesies with Shu Wugui, and returned to her room without befriending him.
• Shu Wugui considered whether Lu Chuchu had managed to enter the Yu Household, while Shu Yi complained that his brother had been sightseeing instead of investigating his kidnapping.
• Yun Chao and his companions discussed the spirit-draining stones, and Qiao Zirong suggested that the chamber's four one-way Teleportation Arrays might lead to hidden caches.
• Su Jiu agreed the Arrays led to secret chambers and decided that finding Zheng Li, who was connected to the spirit-draining stones, could reveal useful information.

Su Jiu infiltrated the Zheng Household’s secret chambers alone to investigate its Spirit-Draining Stones, while Zheng Li decided to kill the intruders he believed had uncovered his scheme. She found the stones protected by an unknown membrane and escaped before she could reach them.

• Zheng Li recalled how his attempt to accuse Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth had failed, and his father warned him not to use the Lineage to eliminate rivals.
• A messenger reported an intruder, and Zheng Li ordered the household to kill them, believing Su Jiu and the others had returned.
• Su Jiu placed a fixed-point Teleportation Formation Disk in the exit chamber and explored chambers containing Spirit Stones, Magic Treasures, and pills.
• Su Jiu reached the chamber holding the Spirit-Draining Stones and discovered an invisible membrane that repelled her attack and blocked her approach.
• Unable to get past the membrane, Su Jiu used her damaged Formation Disk to teleport back to the exit.

Su Jiu emerged from the Teleportation Array into an ambush led by Lu Chuchu, who had joined forces with Zheng Li. Lu Shuangshuang exposed why Lu Chuchu had been resented by her father, and the confrontation ended with Lu Chuchu ordering her fighters to kill Su Jiu and the others.

• Su Jiu recognized that Zheng Li had planted the spirit-draining stones as a trap and was not surprised when cultivators surrounded her after she teleported out.
• Lu Chuchu denied that she had colluded with Zheng Li and said his household had given her respect, power, and resources.
• Lu Shuangshuang arrived and accused Lu Chuchu of swindling resources, explaining that their father had known about her schemes and hoped she would change.
• Lu Chuchu ordered the cultivators to kill Su Jiu and her companions.
• Su Jiu placed a Defensive Barrier around the girl behind her, summoned Frost-Cold Purple Ultimate, and released Sword Qi that drove Lu Chuchu back.

Su Jiu defeated Lu Chuchu’s hired fighters, and Lu Chuchu died after her poisoned crossbow bolt struck Su Jiu instead. News of Lu Chuchu’s death reached the Lu Household, while Zheng Li tortured two subordinates and vowed to send Fourteenth and Eleventh to the Netherworld.

• Su Jiu killed or wounded the hired fighters with her ice techniques and sword, while Lu Chuchu watched in fear.
• Lu Chuchu fired Zheng Li’s poisoned Wrist Crossbow at Su Jiu, but the bolt struck Lu Chuchu, who died after Su Jiu explained the difference in their cultivation levels.
• Lu Shuangshuang closed Lu Chuchu’s eyes as Su Jiu left the woods, and a flare rose from the place where Lu Chuchu had died.
• The head of the Lu Household learned that Lu Chuchu’s Soul Lamp had gone out and heard servants gossip about Lu Chuchu and Lu Shuangshuang.
• Zheng Li stabbed two dead subordinates in the great hall and threatened to send Fourteenth and Eleventh to join them in the Netherworld.

Zheng Li learned that Su Jiu had survived an attack on the Zheng Household’s spirit-draining stones and ordered a citywide hunt while planning further killings. Su Jiu fled toward the city gate with Yun Huanling and Yun Chao, but chose to remain behind to search for missing Qiao Zirong after revealing that her attackers included someone using a Crystal Soul-Condensing Tablet.

• Zheng Li killed a scout who failed to report Su Jiu’s strength, assigned the scout’s duties to another man, and ordered him to kill Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth.
• Zheng Li ordered the city sealed and a warrant issued for the Golden Core cultivators, believing the Yu Household would not interfere because its young master had gone to the Azure Mist Continent.
• Su Jiu arrived bloodied at Yun Huanling’s door and told him to fetch Yun Chao so they could leave before the Zheng Household acted.
• Su Jiu discovered that Qiao Zirong was missing and told Yun Huanling and Yun Chao that she had found spirit-draining stones at the location linked to stone chamber number five.
• Su Jiu urged Yun Huanling and Yun Chao to flee and notify their sects, but said she would stay to find Qiao Zirong because he had once saved her life.
• Su Jiu revealed that some of her attackers used arts from outside the Zheng Household and that one wielded a Crystal Soul-Condensing Tablet, which Yun Chao identified as a Magic Treasure for refining souls.

Su Jiu uncovered the Hundred Refinement Sect emblem among the magic treasures and learned that Yu Jin planned to use Zheng Li’s attack as an opportunity to act against the Zheng Household. She realized Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth were likely marked for death that night, while Zheng Li’s scheme could also frame her and her companions.

• Su Jiu showed Yun Chao and Yun Huanling the symbol from Stone Chamber No. 3, and Yun Chao identified it as the Hundred Refinement Sect’s emblem.
• Su Jiu urged Yun Chao to check on the Flowing Radiance Sword Sect, then watched Yun Chao and Yun Huanling leave Jade Sun City before disappearing into the night.
• Two men discussed leaving the city because Jade Sun City would soon become chaotic, while one cast a contemptuous glance toward the Zheng Household.
• Yu Jin offered Su Jiu refuge at the Yu Residence and admitted that his household had backing, while Su Jiu suspected he wanted to use her as bait against Zheng Li.
• Yu Jin told Su Jiu that Qiao Zirong was alive and that his captor would likely be unable to protect themselves that night.
• Su Jiu reasoned that Zheng Li intended to use Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth to eliminate her companions, then blame her for their deaths and capture them all.

Su Jiu learned from Yu Jin that the Yu and Zheng households controlled Jade Sun City's defenses, then realized the Zheng Residence was in turmoil and Qiao Zirong could not be rescued that night. An earlier scene revealed Zheng Eleventh's warnings to Zheng Fourteenth about the captives' powerful backgrounds and Zheng Li's schemes, ending as three people ambushed Zheng Fourteenth in his bedroom.

• Yu Jin explained that the Yu and Zheng households could manually operate Jade Sun City's defensive mechanisms, and he said he wanted to be friends with Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu watched the brightly lit Zheng Residence and concluded that unrest inside meant she likely could not rescue Qiao Zirong that night.
• Zheng Fourteenth told Zheng Eleventh that he had captured Qiao Zirong as bait, but Zheng Eleventh ordered him to release the captive and warned him against provoking the other three cultivators.
• Zheng Eleventh revealed that the three companions were powerful disciples and suspected that Zheng Li had lured them to Jade Sun City after losing his Ghost Market operation.
• Zheng Fourteenth locked Qiao Zirong in a private cell, then returned to his bedroom, where three people dropped from the rafters.

Zheng Fourteenth and Zheng Eleventh were killed, and the Zheng Household blamed Su Jiu, locking down Jade Sun City to search for her. Su Jiu entered the weakened Zheng Household, found the drugged Qiao Zirong hidden beneath Zheng Eleventh’s room, and carried him away to seek help from the Yu Household.

• Zheng Fourteenth revealed his late Golden Core cultivation and ability to unravel formations, but a powerful masked attacker later killed him with a sword.
• Zheng Eleventh was found dead with ice spiritual qi in her sword wound, and the Zheng Residence fell into chaos.
• The Zheng Household posted wanted notices for Su Jiu and her companions, sealed Jade Sun City’s gates, and searched the streets and buildings.
• Su Jiu recognized Heavenly Secret Sect’s Eighth Elder, Meng En, among the searchers and realized the Zheng Household planned to activate mechanisms in the city.
• Su Jiu entered Zheng Eleventh’s room, opened a hidden underground entrance, and found Qiao Zirong bound and drugged with Slumber Powder.
• Su Jiu placed concealment talismans on Qiao Zirong and carried him away, noticing the blue mark on his palm flicker.

Meng En warned Zheng Li that Su Jiu’s companions might have escaped Jade Sun City, while Zheng Li realized Su Jiu could still be nearby. Su Jiu, carrying Qiao Zirong, was ambushed by the Zheng Household and fought her way across its rooftops.

• Meng En met with Zheng Li and said he had recovered, though he could no longer divine the whereabouts of the mother and daughter on the Spiritflight Continent.
• Meng En explained that the damaged black key held only one person’s aura and reported that Su Jiu’s companions might have escaped the city.
• Meng En criticized Zheng Li for delaying the gate lockdown, and Zheng Li began to suspect Su Jiu had stayed behind while her companions left.
• Su Jiu emerged with Qiao Zirong on her back and evaded a Spirit-Binding Net and powder designed to counter Concealment Talismans.
• Su Jiu leaped across the Zheng Household’s rooftops, dodging and blocking a growing barrage of hidden weapons.

Su Jiu escaped the Zheng Household’s formations as Zheng Li questioned Meng En about his refusal to intervene and learned of Meng En’s past in the Heavenly Secret Sect. Meanwhile, word of the spirit-draining stones reached the Azure Tide Sect, whose elders elected Xia Jue as acting sect leader even though he was already away on the Spiritflight Continent.

• Su Jiu broke through three formations despite suffering hidden-weapon injuries, reached the Zheng Household’s gates, and vanished after casting a smile toward the main residence.
• Zheng Li challenged Meng En for letting Su Jiu’s group live, and Meng En said their survival threatened only the Zheng Household and explained that his damaged soul power kept him from fighting Su Jiu.
• Zheng Li tested Meng En by mentioning Yun Huanling, and Meng En denied knowing him as Zheng Li said he could capture the Heavenly Secret Sect disciple.
• Yun Huanling and Yun Chao hurried toward the Flowing Radiance Sword Sect as Yun Huanling sent messages that prompted the Azure Tide Sect to take notice of the spirit-draining stones.
• Ning Hai learned that Xia Jue had gone to the Spiritflight Continent, gathered the elders and peak masters to choose an acting sect leader, and saw them elect Xia Jue.

Xia Jue led Azure Tide Sect disciples to the Spiritflight Continent, where Shen Qingyue tried to buy his Sound-Mixing Bell and was refused. The chapter recounted how her behavior and her childhood sweetheart Gao Yang’s hostility had already caused conflict within the team.

• Xia Jue arrived on the Spiritflight Continent with Shen Qingyue and more than a dozen Azure Tide Sect disciples.
• Shen Qingyue asked Xia Jue to sell her one of his Sound-Mixing Bells, but he refused and told her to ask his master instead.
• Two female cultivators mocked Shen Qingyue and recalled how she had withheld healing from them during group battles.
• Gao Yang threw pills at the injured women and threatened them, so Xia Jue knocked away his sword and warned that he would expel him from the team and the Enforcement Hall.
• Gao Yang tried to leave with Shen Qingyue, but she stayed and coaxed him to calm down with a smile.

Xia Jue and his companions encountered Flowing Radiance Sword Sect disciples being hunted on the way to Jade Sun City, where Su Jiu was trapped. After learning the attackers were tied to a scheme involving spirit-draining stones, Xia Jue’s Enforcement Hall captured them and began interrogating them.

• Xia Jue stopped a masked man from attacking a wounded Flowing Radiance Sword Sect disciple and revealed himself as the Jade-Scepter Young Master.
• The disciple told Xia Jue that Su Jiu was trapped in Jade Sun City and that the Flowing Radiance Sword Sect group had been heading there over spirit-draining stones.
• Xia Jue’s companions surrounded and captured the men in black, while the disciple accused them of serving the Zheng Household.
• An Enforcement Hall disciple tortured one captive with needles, and another captive claimed restrictions in their seas of consciousness would kill them if they revealed relevant information.
• Xia Jue called Yang Guo forward, and she raised a formation to question one of the captives privately.

Yang Guo extracted information from a captured man before Xia Jue ordered the prisoners killed, while Su Jiu recovered at the besieged Yu Household and learned Yu Jin planned to bring down the Zheng Household. Yu Jin prepared to act with help from the Azure Tide Sect as the story left him ready to draw in the net.

• Yang Guo questioned a captured man, then Xia Jue ordered the remaining prisoners killed after hearing her report.
• Su Jiu recalled surviving Zheng Household traps and reaching the Yu Household with Qiao Zirong, despite being wounded and exposed to meridian-sealing powder.
• Yu Jin asked Su Jiu to help kill Zheng Li and revealed that his cousin and family would arrive in about half a month.
• Su Jiu discovered that the powder had completely congealed her meridians and warned Yu Jin not to repeat the Zheng Household's involvement with spirit-draining stone.
• Su Jiu told Yu Jin that Azure Tide Sect reinforcements should arrive in about seven days, and Yu Jin announced that it was time to draw in the net.

While her meridians remained sealed, Su Jiu began cultivating her divine sense and managed to destroy a stone with it. She then met Xia Jue at a tense meeting between the Azure Tide Sect and the Yu Household over the Zheng Household, where Xia Jue rejected the Yu elder’s attempt to dictate terms.

• Su Jiu trained her divine sense while Meridian-Sealing Powder prevented her spiritual qi from circulating, and she shattered a stone before resting to recover.
• Qiao Zirong learned that Su Jiu had stayed in Jade Sun City because of him, but hesitated when he saw her and she walked away.
• Su Jiu met Xia Jue, and Yu Jin brought them to a meeting with Yu Nian and the Yu Household elders.
• Xia Jue reminded the Yu Household that Su Jiu had saved Yu Xiaoyu’s life, then asked whether they meant to settle accounts with the Azure Tide Sect.
• A blunt Yu elder demanded that the Azure Tide Sect help conquer the Zheng Household and hand it over to the Yu Household, while Yu Jin hurried to dismiss the demand as a joke.

Xia Jue secured Jade Sun City and its Defense Mechanism Blueprints for the Azure Tide Sect, then gave Su Jiu the antidote to Meridian-Sealing Powder. After warning her about her risky investigation of the Zheng Household, he discussed the unresolved Spirit-Draining Stone operation and suspected it had moved to another continent.

• Xia Jue demanded that Jade Sun City become a subordinate city of the Azure Tide Sect and that the Yu Household provide a copy of its Mechanism Diagram, and Yu Nian agreed.
• Xia Jue gave Su Jiu an antidote for Meridian-Sealing Powder after they left the Yu Household.
• Yang Guo told Su Jiu that the Enforcement Hall had smashed through the sealed city gate and fought past the mechanisms and patrols.
• Xia Jue scolded Su Jiu for entering the Zheng Household’s secret chamber, then praised her for preserving evidence with a Recording Stone.
• Su Jiu asked about another Spirit-Draining Stone operation, and Xia Jue said it might have shifted to another continent.

Su Jiu learned more about the Enforcement Hall and the rare Fusion talent, while Xia Jue revealed that he possessed two talents. Shen Qingyue grew jealous of Su Jiu and sought comfort from Gao Yang, who continued to love her despite knowing she wanted Xia Jue.

• Xia Jue told Su Jiu that altars containing Thousand-Spirit Blood-Coagulating Pearls had appeared across all three continents and asked whether she would join the Enforcement Hall.
• Xia Jue explained that Su Jiu's awakened Fusion talent could qualify her for the Enforcement Hall without an assessment, and secretly revealed his talents were Sound Control and Soul Subjugation.
• Xia Jue told Su Jiu that Fusion was extraordinarily rare and had once allowed a cultivator to awaken four talents, then gave her a command token for the Enforcement Hall assessment.
• Shen Qingyue, unable to meditate while wondering what Su Jiu and Xia Jue were discussing, went to Gao Yang for comfort.
• Shen Qingyue lamented that Xia Jue had given the Sound-Mixing Bell to Su Jiu instead of her, and Gao Yang suggested she tell Xia Jue how she felt.

Xia Jue led the Azure Tide Sect and Flowing Radiance Sword Sect disciples into the Zheng Household to confront Zheng Li, who tried to blame Su Jiu for the deaths of Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth. Xia Jue rejected Zheng Li’s accusations, and Zheng Li realized the confrontation would not end on his terms.

• Shen Qingyue asked Gao Yang to help her avoid telling the female cultivators that she had rejected them.
• Xia Jue arrived at the Zheng Household with the Voidfang Sword and entered with the sect disciples after its gates opened.
• Xia Jue’s group found the Zheng Household in mourning, and Zheng Li claimed he would accept responsibility after his father’s funeral.
• Zheng Li’s side presented a Recording Stone showing Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth dead with wounds bearing ice spiritual qi, implicating Su Jiu.
• An elder claimed Zheng Eighth had issued the wanted notice and was imprisoned for murdering his father and seizing power.
• Xia Jue challenged Zheng Li, who regretted provoking him and realized he could not simply end the confrontation.

Su Jiu and the Azure Tide Sect exposed Zheng Li’s role in the Spirit-Draining Stones and the deaths of his brothers. Zheng Li summoned his Life-Bound Treasure and fought Xia Jue as Xia Jue protected the others with Defensive Barriers.

• Yang Guo showed Zheng Li recordings of the Spirit-Draining Stones in the Zheng Household’s secret chamber, and an elder revealed that Zheng Li’s Eighth Brother had secretly stored them there.
• Zheng Eighth accused Zheng Li of murdering their father and using him to support a false account of events.
• Su Jiu returned with Meng En and presented an Ice Cloud Pearl, linking Zheng Li to the deaths of Zheng Eleventh and Zheng Fourteenth.
• Yang Guo’s recording identified Zheng Li as the person liaising with those behind the Spirit-Draining Stones, and the elder confessed the full sequence of events.
• Zheng Li tried to kill the elder, but Xia Jue pinned him with the Voidfang Sword and then protected Su Jiu and the others with Defensive Barriers.
• Zheng Li summoned his Life-Bound Treasure and fought Xia Jue, damaging much of the Zheng Household estate.

Xia Jue killed Zheng Li and the Zheng Household was destroyed, while Su Jiu rescued the painting’s spirit and planned to investigate a strange formation. Xia Jue ordered Su Jiu back to the sect rather than let her travel to Dragon Shadow City, warning that powerful demonic cultivators and sects from other continents were converging on Spiritflight Continent.

• Xia Jue defeated Zheng Li with the seven real Voidfang Swords and killed him after rejecting his pleas for mercy.
• The Zheng Household was wiped out, Zheng Eighth left Jade Sun City, and Meng En died when a hidden restriction was activated during his escort to the Heavenly Secret Sect.
• Su Jiu rescued the pill refiners and took the painting, whose weakened spirit agreed to stay with her while Flower Bud explained that it needed spiritual qi to recover.
• Su Jiu told Xia Jue she wanted to visit Dragon Shadow City because of the altar and the Thousand-Spirit Blood-Coagulating Pill, then planned to inspect a strange formation at the Zheng Residence.
• Xia Jue ordered Su Jiu to return to the sect and warned that Nascent Soul-stage demonic cultivators and major sects from other continents were investigating Spiritflight Continent.