Chapter Summaries

Su Mianmian joined Su Jiu and the Blazing Flame Peak disciples for a lantern festival in Little Pond City, while Jin Chen continued pursuing her shamelessly. The group learned that Qingqing’s Soul Lamp had once flickered dangerously before returning to normal, and Su Jiu recognized Jin Chen’s courtship tactics as a copy of the Golden Guard Peak Master’s.

• Su Mianmian told Su Jiu about Jin Chen’s increasingly blatant pursuit and his claim that he was her fiancé.
• Blazing Flame Peak disciples invited Su Mianmian to Little Pond City’s lantern festival, and Su Jiu agreed to go with them.
• Su Mianmian learned that Qingqing had been away gaining experience for three years and that her Soul Lamp had flickered dimly for over a month about a year earlier.
• Jin Chen arrived as the group was leaving and called Su Mianmian his future wife, prompting her to rush ahead in embarrassment.
• Su Jiu recognized Jin Chen’s shameless pursuit as resembling the Golden Guard Peak Master’s approach to courting a woman.

Su Jiu and Su Mianmian visited Little Pond City with Jin Chen, where several female cultivators mocked them for their looks. A righteous female cultivator intervened, and the women left after realizing she was much stronger.

• Jin Chen clung to Su Mianmian on the journey, and the Blazing Flame Peak disciples stopped challenging him.
• Su Jiu, Su Mianmian, and Jin Chen reached Little Pond City wearing masks and concealment stones.
• Two Foundation Establishment female cultivators mocked Su Jiu and Su Mianmian, but Su Jiu urged Mianmian not to let them spoil their outing.
• The two women continued provoking them until a righteous female cultivator rebuked them for belittling mortals and neglecting cultivation.
• The female cultivators withdrew, then wondered why the man rumored to like pretty girls had not appeared.

Su Jiu defended Su Mianmian from the Righteous Female Cultivator’s attack and exposed her double standards in front of a crowd. After Su Jiu revealed she was a Nascent Soul Cultivator from the Azure Tide Sect, a woman in a bamboo hat thanked the injured cultivator and said she was searching for someone.

• The Righteous Female Cultivator asked Su Jiu not to trouble the Foundation Establishment disciples, and Su Jiu prepared to leave with Su Mianmian.
• Su Mianmian challenged the woman for lecturing Su Jiu, so the woman pressed her with spiritual pressure.
• Su Jiu blocked the pressure and reflected it back, injuring the woman, then confronted her about her double standards.
• Jin Chen checked that Su Mianmian was safe, and Su Jiu told the crowd her name and invited the woman to find her at the Azure Tide Sect.
• The woman in white distanced herself from the two female cultivators who had provoked Su Jiu, then promised to speak to their sect leader.
• A woman in a bamboo hat gave the injured Righteous Female Cultivator a pill and said she was looking for someone.

Su Jiu, Su Mianmian, and Jin Chen visited a sugar-painting stall in Little Pond City, where Su Jiu quietly left gold for the struggling old vendor. They headed back with snacks as Su Mianmian learned what Su Jiu had done.

• Su Jiu, Su Mianmian, and Jin Chen watched an old man make a sugar painting, and he gave it to them as a gift.
• The old man said he had recognized them as cultivation practitioners because of their bearing and gave the painting to them out of kindness.
• After the old man failed to attract customers all day, he found a gold ingot beneath his stall cover and realized Su Jiu had left it for him.
• Su Mianmian bought an assortment of snacks, which Jin Chen carried as they walked back.
• Jin Chen told Su Mianmian that Su Jiu had discreetly paid the old man with gold, and Su Mianmian praised Su Jiu for thinking ahead.

Su Jiu returned to Ice Veil Peak and quietly ate candied hawthorn while Chu Luohen watched her from afar. Earlier, Yun Huanling and the Heavenly Secret Sect elders used the Distant Lookout Platform to investigate a strange fate star rapidly approaching Su Jiu’s; the chapter ended with Su Jiu’s unusually radiant fate star surrounded by brightening stars and signs of calamity.

• Su Jiu returned to Ice Veil Peak with her fellow disciples, ate candied hawthorn on the hall roof, and reflected on how much time had passed.
• Chu Luohen watched Su Jiu from a pavilion and softened at the sight of her eating the mortal snack.
• Yun Huanling told Hongguang that a peculiar fate star had rapidly changed course toward the cluster around Su Jiu’s star and that he sensed danger connected to himself.
• Yun Huanling asked Hongguang and seven elders to help divine the threat, and they entered the Heavenly Secret Sect’s Distant Lookout Platform.
• Hongguang and the elders revealed the celestial signs, showing Su Jiu’s red fate star surrounded by radiant stars and one previously dim star recovering quickly.

Yun Huanling uncovered a plot involving a mysterious mirror that had manipulated Zhang Zhong into luring him to Little Pond City. More than ten days later, the mirror appeared with two female disciples, directing them to meet their destined man at the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s banquet.

• Yun Huanling questioned Zhang Zhong about his insistence that Yun Huanling visit Su Jiu in Little Pond City and secretly attached divine sense to him.
• A black-flame presence inside Zhang Zhong’s mirror attacked him after realizing Yun Huanling had left a trace on him.
• Yun Huanling saved Zhang Zhong, learned the mirror had ordered him to track Hongguang and several elders and lure Yun Huanling away, then destroyed it.
• Yun Huanling returned Zhang Zhong’s demonic-tainted Spirit Treasure and urged him to cultivate without seeking shortcuts.
• Two female disciples later complained to their mirrors that they had not met their destined man, and the black flames told them to expect him at the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s banquet.

As the Azure Tide Sect prepared to travel to the Heavenly Dawn Sect for a contest, Mian Mian shared rumors about a gifted disciple who resembled Su Jiu, prompting the group to suspect a scheme. Xia Jue, Ning Fan, and Feng Qi reviewed intelligence on the visiting sects, and the chapter ended with the Shadow Pavilion’s papers dissolving into light.

• Long Aotian and the Fifth Elder prepared to lead the Azure Tide Sect delegation, including Xia Jue, Su Jiu, Tong Qi, Mian Mian, and Jin Chen, to the Heavenly Dawn Sect.
• Mian Mian told Su Jiu and the others rumors about a beautiful, talented Ming Household disciple who resembled Su Jiu and had become Sect Leader Li’s disciple.
• Jin Chen questioned why the Ming Household had kept such a gifted young woman hidden, while Su Jiu and the others wondered whether the rumors targeted her or the Azure Tide Sect.
• Tong Qi used Secret Voice Transmission to ask Su Jiu whether Xia Jue and the Enforcement Hall knew about the possible trap, and Su Jiu acknowledged the possibility.
• An Enforcement Hall member delivered Xia Jue a scroll, and Xia Jue consulted Ning Fan’s detailed list of sects and delegates traveling to the Heavenly Dawn Sect.
• Xia Jue finished reading the Shadow Pavilion’s two sheets of paper, which dissolved into glowing specks and vanished.

Xia Jue learned that the Water Moon School’s Nascent Soul disciples had been raised with drugs that shortened their lives and left them under another’s control, and he planned to use the competition to address the threat. He suspected Qiu Yinong might be connected to the Heavenly Devil Palace, then joined the others aboard the Flying Boat for the banquet.

• Ning Fan explained that Shadow Pavilion letters were protected and that he had allowed Xia Jue to read the letter listing sects participating in the competition.
• Xia Jue and Feng Qi discussed the Water Moon School’s many Nascent Soul disciples, and Xia Jue recalled evidence that drugs had advanced them while shortening their lives and placing them under their supplier’s control.
• Xia Jue resolved to use the competition to eliminate the Water Moon School threat and said he had plans for the Bright Moon School.
• Xia Jue questioned whether Qiu Yinong had truly abandoned Qian Ling and told Ning Fan to investigate a possible connection to the Heavenly Devil Palace.
• The Fifth Elder and Long Aotian emerged and summoned everyone onto the Flying Boat, while Jin Chen secretly explained to Mian Mian how they had been chosen to lead the team.

As the Azure Tide Sect traveled to the Heavenly Dawn Sect, Xie Gu warned Su Jiu to be wary of the Night-Gathering Sect, and Xia Jue hinted that he could help make her famous. A Feathered Demon Beast attacked their Flying Boat, which continued on after Enforcement Hall disciples responded, while the Night-Gathering Sect arrived ahead of them.

• Xie Gu thanked Su Jiu for helping A Li and warned her to be careful of the Night-Gathering Sect.
• Xia Jue reassured Su Jiu that she would understand the sects’ motives in time and offered to help make her famous across the four seas.
• A Feathered Demon Beast struck the Flying Boat, and Xia Jue sent Enforcement Hall disciples to deal with the attack.
• Su Jiu and Xia Jue suspected someone had ordered the Feathered Demon Beast to attack, though Xia Jue thought it was likely an individual acting foolishly.
• The Night-Gathering Sect arrived at the Heavenly Dawn Sect, where its leader ingratiated himself with the welcoming disciples and Xie Liang.

After learning that a Feathered Demon Beast attacked the Azure Tide Sect's Flying Boat, the Night-Gathering Sect delegation discovered Zhang Heng had sent it out to spite the Azure Tide Sect and please Ming Yun. The incident exposed the sect's internal divisions, leaving one low-ranking disciple to fear that the Night-Gathering Sect had lost its unity and identity.

• A disciple told Xie Liang that a single Feathered Demon Beast had delayed the Azure Tide Sect's Flying Boat, and Xie Liang was pleased by the news.
• Back at their courtyard, the Martial Uncle struck a disciple and accused him of using the Feathered Demon Beast, which the Sect Leader had assigned for the competition, to attack the Azure Tide Sect.
• The disciple admitted through his silence that the beast was dead, while Zhang Heng defended his decision and revealed his resentment toward the Azure Tide Sect and his feelings for Ming Yun.
• The Martial Uncle ordered Zhang Heng to explain himself to his master, and Zhang Heng dismissed the concerns of the other male disciple before returning to his room.
• Left alone, the male disciple reflected that the Night-Gathering Sect's members pursued their own interests and worried that serving the Heavenly Dawn Sect had changed the sect beyond recognition.

Su Jiu and the Azure Tide Sect arrived at the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s gathering, drawing attention from disciples across many sects. After Night-Gathering Sect disciples questioned why Su Jiu resembled Ming Yun, Lu Tianqi misled them into thinking Su Jiu had disguised herself and quietly plotted to deepen the confusion.

• Su Jiu blocked onlookers’ attempts to probe her companions with divine sense as the Azure Tide Sect party disembarked.
• Sect disciples discussed Su Jiu and Xia Jue’s reputations, including Su Jiu’s rapid cultivation and the Water Moon School’s powerful disciples.
• Shu Man and Shu Yan of the Night-Gathering Sect wondered whether the woman they had met in Little Pond City was Ming Yun or an impostor after seeing Su Jiu.
• Lu Tianqi approached the sisters, claimed he and Su Jiu had once been friends, and suggested she had worn a mask in Little Pond City.
• Shu Man and Shu Yan reconsidered their account while Lu Tianqi privately resolved to stir up trouble between Su Jiu and Ming Yun, whom he both resented.

At the Heavenly Dawn Sect banquet, Su Jiu noticed old acquaintances and learned that Lan Fang Ziyi had found his sister, Lan Xiaoxi, after receiving her message. The banquet grew tense when Qian Ling accused Shui Rao'er of killing Qing'er, and Su Jiu asked Xia Jue about the confrontation.

• Su Jiu observed the gathered sects, including Gu Ningyun with Lie Wushuang, and noticed the Heavenly Secret Sect's leader had an empty seat beside him while Lan Fang Ziyi sat farther back.
• Lan Fang Ziyi thanked Su Jiu, and Xia Jue confirmed that he had reached the Wuyi Tribe and picked up Lan Xiaoxi before the Enforcement Hall withdrew.
• Su Jiu remembered the message she had sent Lan Fang Ziyi and realized she had correctly guessed that Lan Xiaoxi was his sister.
• Qian Ling confronted the woman in blue, accusing her of killing Qing'er, while the woman denied the accusation.
• Su Jiu identified the woman as Shui Rao'er and asked Xia Jue about the dispute; he teased her for expecting him to know everything.

At the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s celebration, Sect Leader Li introduced Ming Yun, whose appearance and background suggested she was Su Jiu’s lost twin sister. Su Jiu recognized the staged family-reunion trap and refused to play along, but Sect Leader Li pressed the resemblance in front of the guests.

• Xia Jue explained that Shui Rao’er had blamed Qian Ling for trying to destroy her sect and killed Qian Ling’s talented disciple Qing’er in revenge.
• Sect Leader Li announced that the Heavenly Dawn Sect had two joyous occasions and introduced her new disciple, Ming Yun, who looked strikingly like Su Jiu.
• Sect Leader Li revealed that Ming Yun had a younger twin sister, prompting guests to speculate that Su Jiu was not the Su Family’s biological child.
• Su Jiu stopped Su Mianmian from confronting the guests and explained that the rumors were meant to make her reveal her origins and enable a staged family reunion.
• Sect Leader Li noticed Su Jiu’s refusal to take the bait and publicly remarked that Su Jiu resembled Ming Yun.

At the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s banquet, Sect Leader Li tried to link Su Jiu to Ming Yun as family, but Su Jiu refused to acknowledge any birth parents. When a drunken Night-Gathering Sect disciple disrupted Ming Yun’s introductions, Su Jiu suspected a setup, while Xia Jue secretly knew the man had plotted against her.

• The Fifth Elder dismissed the resemblance between Su Jiu and Ming Yun, and Su Jiu told Sect Leader Li she considered the Su Family elders her parents and felt no resentment toward her birth parents.
• Sect Leader Li stopped pressing Su Jiu about her family and began introducing Ming Yun to the guests, while Xia Jue warned Su Jiu not to lower her guard.
• A drunken Night-Gathering Sect disciple grabbed Ming Yun and claimed they had sworn vows; Ming Yun rejected him, and his sect leader bound him with a Spirit-Locking Chain.
• Su Jiu wondered whether someone had deliberately made the disciple drunk, while Xia Jue watched with a concealed, malicious smile.
• Feng Qi recalled that the disciple had sent the Feathered Demon Beast to please Ming Yun and had planned to ruin Su Jiu’s reputation because the two women looked alike.

Xia Jue’s scheme caused a Night-Gathering Sect disciple to publicly expose his feelings for Ming Yun before insulting her as he was dragged away. At the banquet, Lan Fang Ziyi worried that Yun Huanling would face a foretold calamity, while Ming Yun mistook Lan Fang Ziyi for him.

• Feng Qi recognized that Xia Jue had made the Night-Gathering Sect disciple suffer for trying to ruin Su Jiu’s reputation.
• The drunken disciple confronted Ming Yun at the banquet, and Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples dismissed his words while Sect Leader Li ordered guards to remove him.
• As he was dragged out, the disciple cursed Ming Yun, who privately regretted losing a useful pawn.
• Jin Chen told Su Mianmian that the disciple had been schemed against, and the banquet resumed after Sect Leader Li restored her smile.
• Lan Fang Ziyi worried that Yun Huanling might disobey their master’s plan to delay his arrival despite a divination warning of calamity.
• Ming Yun scrutinized Lan Fang Ziyi and mistook him for Yun Huanling.

At a gathering of sects, Ming Yun searched for someone connected to Su Jiu, but her encounter with Lan Fang Ziyi and the Heavenly Secret Sect’s elder suggested that she might be the fate star approaching Su Jiu. Sect Leader Li also investigated Hu Yucheng, while Lie Wushuang and Gu Ningyun discussed Ming Yun’s resemblance to Su Jiu under Xia Jue’s wary gaze.

• Ming Yun stared at Lan Fang Ziyi until Sect Leader Li asked whether Yun Huanling had come, and Ming Yun realized Lan Fang Ziyi was not the person she sought.
• Lan Fang Ziyi’s junior brothers criticized Ming Yun’s disdainful manner, and a Heavenly Secret Sect elder identified her as the fate star rapidly drawing closer to Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu noticed that Sect Leader Li and Ming Yun visited sects in order of strength and left the Heavenly Secret Sect after learning Yun Huanling was absent.
• Ming Yun examined Hu Yucheng, and Sect Leader Li learned that he had become Dao companions with Lin Jiaojiao, then abruptly ended the conversation.
• Lie Wushuang told Gu Ningyun that Ming Yun seemed to imitate Su Jiu, while Xia Jue warned the women away with his gaze.

At the Azure Tide Sect’s banquet, Ming Yun approached Xia Jue and tried to build a connection, but he politely rejected her invitation to visit him personally. Tong Qi teased her and then worried that Xia Jue might have heard him mocking him.

• Sect Leader Li and the Fifth Elder exchanged barbed remarks about their past friendship and changed appearances.
• Ming Yun noticed Xia Jue, approached him, and considered whether she could win his favor as Su Jiu had.
• Ming Yun urged unity among the Eight Great Sects, drawing a quiet objection from a junior disciple of a smaller sect.
• Xia Jue agreed that sects should help one another but implied Ming Yun had no need to sound out the Azure Tide Sect.
• Ming Yun asked to visit the Azure Tide Sect’s swordsmanship and arts, and Xia Jue said other disciples could receive her instead.
• Tong Qi mocked Ming Yun to Su Jiu through Secret Voice Transmission, then feared Xia Jue might punish him for it.

At the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s banquet, Sect Leader Li announced a competition between junior disciples, then hurried away after receiving a secret message. Su Jiu and Xia Jue suspected Xie Gu was involved and arranged to investigate, while Su Jiu’s thoughts turned to the Azure Tide Sect’s uncertain future.

• Ming Yun watched Xia Jue and the other Azure Tide Sect disciples, while planning to use Su Jiu as a stepping stone once the couple summoned by Sect Leader Li arrived.
• Sect Leader Li announced a competition for junior disciples, which smaller sects recognized as the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s attempt to challenge the Azure Tide Sect’s standing.
• A Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple secretly spoke with Sect Leader Li, who postponed the competition until the next day and hurried away.
• Su Jiu sent a paper crane after Sect Leader Li, but Xia Jue reminded her that he had already assigned Enforcement Hall disciples to investigate.
• Su Jiu and Xia Jue suspected Xie Gu’s absence was connected to Sect Leader Li’s sudden departure, while Su Jiu wondered whether a later event in the Enforcement Hall had caused the Azure Tide Sect’s decline.

After a dream of his murdered grandmother drove him to seek revenge, Xie Gu assassinated Xie Liang and an Outer Gate female cultivator at the Heavenly Dawn Sect. Sect Leader Li seized the chance to blame the Azure Tide Sect, while Xia Jue and Su Jiu learned the details and recognized the danger to their sect at the Grand Tournament.

• Xie Gu dreamed that his grandmother demanded revenge, and he answered her before waking with revenge rooted in his consciousness.
• The day before the banquet, Xie Gu went to Xie Liang's room and stabbed Xie Liang and an Outer Gate female cultivator, killing her and wounding him.
• He chased Xie Liang until Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples captured him, and Sect Leader Li saw his abnormal condition as an opportunity to make the Azure Tide Sect pay.
• Sect Leader Li ordered her disciples to dispose of the female cultivator's body near the Demon Beast Cavern, and Su Jiu was shocked by the killing and cover-up.
• An Enforcement Hall member told Xia Jue and Su Jiu the full account, and they realized Sect Leader Li could use Xie Gu's crime against the Azure Tide Sect at the Grand Tournament.

Xie Liang lashed out at two Outer Gate disciples while they treated his wounds, but Sect Leader Li intervened and dismissed them. She then turned her attention to Xie Liang, who feared her intentions, and said she had something to instruct him to do.

• Su Jiu expected the Heavenly Dawn Sect to expose Xie Gu’s condition before the next competition, while Xia Jue reassured her that nothing would happen.
• Xie Liang complained about Xie Gu and ordered two Outer Gate disciples to continue treating his wounds.
• When one disciple touched his wound, Xie Liang threw a medicine bottle at her, but Sect Leader Li stopped it and rebuked him.
• Xie Liang reflected that Sect Leader Li had used him as a furnace cauldron and feared leaving the sect, then fawned on her when she arrived.
• Sect Leader Li warned Xie Liang against being with another woman, dismissed the two disciples, and told him she had an instruction for him.