Chapter Summaries

At the sect gathering, Ming Yun impressed the judges by refining a fourth-tier Jade Dew Pill while Sect Leader Li’s followers spread rumors to praise her over Su Jiu. A resentful, seemingly foolish servant watched Ming Yun and Sect Leader Li, and the narration hinted that a sharp-faced outer gate disciple would soon die.

• Sect Leader Li prompted disciples to spread claims that Ming Yun’s extra petal gave her pill-refining talent and made her superior to Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu and Xia Jue observed that the Heavenly Dawn Sect was trying to elevate Ming Yun, while other sects’ disciples viewed the gossip with suspicion.
• Ming Yun completed a modified Jade Dew Pill, which the judges praised as a fourth-tier pill and earned her congratulations from smaller sect masters.
• A ragged female cultivator glared at Ming Yun and Sect Leader Li, then hid her hostility when a sharp-faced senior sister ordered her back to cleaning.
• The sharp-faced outer gate disciple later died while training, though few in the Heavenly Dawn Sect cared.

As the pill competition continued, Su Jiu learned that Xie Gu had been abducted after an enforcement disciple was killed and another escaped. Xia Jue agreed to let Su Jiu investigate after the competition, while Yun Huanling came over and said she had heard their conversation.

• Tang Wuchen and Gu Ningyun opened their pill furnaces without releasing much fragrance, and a Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple mocked Tang Wuchen until a Medicine Gate disciple defended him.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple attacked the Medicine Gate disciple, but Su Jiu blocked the spiritual qi and made the man leave.
• Xia Jue received a message that Xie Gu had been abducted; he told Su Jiu that the married couple who had tried to smear her had been murdered and that the abductors were probably connected to their killers.
• Xia Jue explained that one enforcement disciple had died while escorting Xie Gu and the other had escaped, then agreed that Su Jiu could investigate after the competition.
• Yun Huanling approached Su Jiu and said she had heard that Xia Jue had agreed to let her investigate Xie Gu's disappearance.

Su Jiu and Yun Huanling agreed to travel together again to investigate the group linked to the stolen souls and abducted disciples. At the pill competition, Tang Wuchen won first place and Gu Ningyun beat Ming Yun for second, leaving Ming Yun furious beneath her display of tears.

• Yun Huanling proposed that he and Su Jiu join forces because they shared an enemy, and Su Jiu said they would see.
• The judges praised Tang Wuchen and Gu Ningyun for refining pills that sealed in their medicinal fragrance, while the elders argued over the contestants’ merits.
• Tang Wuchen won first place in the pill competition, and Gu Ningyun took second place over Ming Yun by two votes to one.
• Ming Yun seethed over losing to Tang Wuchen and Gu Ningyun, while Su Jiu used her Otherworldly Eyes and found no demon seed inside her.
• Ming Yun suppressed her anger, put on a tearful expression, and told her master, Sect Leader Li, that she had disappointed him.

After the pill competition results were finalized, Lie Wushuang defended Gu Ningyun from accusations of unfair judging. Ming Yun’s attempt to use Xiao Jing to challenge Gu Ningyun backfired when the Medicine Gate elder confronted them and demanded that Xiao Jing choose a pill to swallow.

• The competition results were finalized with Tang Wuchen first, Gu Ningyun second, and Ming Yun third, prompting doubts about the judging.
• A Heavenly Dawn Sect cultivator accused Gu Ningyun of benefiting from favoritism, and Lie Wushuang defended her before leaving with Gu Ningyun.
• Ming Yun privately urged Xiao Jing to confront Gu Ningyun, and Xiao Jing repeated her accusations before the Medicine Gate elder.
• Ming Yun apologized to the elder and blamed the misunderstanding on Xiao Jing, but he presented two pills and told Xiao Jing to choose one to swallow.

Feng Jing realized Ming Yun had abandoned her when a Medicine Gate elder pressured her to take a pill, then discovered the pill was harmless and ended their friendship. She returned to her courtyard determined to make Ming Yun pay, where an unfamiliar figure awaited her.

• The Medicine Gate elder forced Xiao Jing to choose between two pills and allowed someone else to take one in her place, while Ming Yun stayed silent.
• Xiao Jing swallowed a pill and denounced Ming Yun before the assembled disciples, warning them not to trust her.
• The elder revealed that the pill was merely a qi-boosting pill, and Xiao Jing realized he had been testing Ming Yun rather than intending to kill her.
• Xiao Jing revealed that her name was Feng Jing, ended her friendship with Ming Yun, and accused her of treating her as a pawn.
• Feng Jing returned to her courtyard and found an unfamiliar figure waiting there.

After the scandal surrounding Ming Yun, Su Jiu prepared for the Talisman Competition and asked Xia Jue about its rules. She decided to rely on the established competition categories and promised to represent the Azure Tide Sect with all her effort.

• The Medicine Gate elder explained to Tang Wuchen that he had yielded to Sect Leader Li to avoid trouble on their journey back, and wondered where the Heavenly Dawn Sect's confidence came from.
• Su Jiu opened her door to find Xia Jue there and invited him inside after noticing female cultivators watching him.
• Su Jiu asked Xia Jue about the Talisman Competition, and he explained that it would follow the usual format of drawing talismans, pitting them against one another, and testing their uses.
• Xia Jue told Su Jiu that Void Talisman Drawing had not appeared in Azure Realm competitions for years, so she decided to save it for a critical moment.
• Xia Jue said Su Jiu alone was enough to represent the Azure Tide Sect, and she vowed to give the competition her all.

The Talisman Competition began, and Li Yishi's dislike of Su Jiu grew as he watched her and was warned off by Tong Qi. Back at the courtyard, Su Mianmian welcomed Su Jiu and brought out a collection of hair ribbons for her.

• The contestants drew lots, and Li Yishi watched Su Jiu while thinking she had failed to defend Ming Yun.
• Tong Qi confronted Li Yishi, then led Su Jiu away and warned her that Li Yishi was stubborn and disliked her.
• Tong Qi told Su Jiu that Li Yishi had once fallen out with Luo Cang's other disciple because of his stubbornness.
• Su Jiu returned to the courtyard, where Su Mianmian greeted her and showed her dozens of hair ribbons she had bought for her.

Su Jiu noticed that Ming Yun’s cinnabar had been tampered with but said nothing as the Talisman Competition began. Both women quickly completed the difficult Tracking Talisman, though an eliminated disciple judged Su Jiu’s talisman to be finer and richer in spiritual qi despite Ming Yun’s brighter glow.

• Su Mianmian’s fussing nearly made Su Jiu late for the Talisman Competition.
• Su Jiu saw through her Otherworldly Eyes that Ming Yun’s cinnabar was different, while Ming Yun and Sect Leader Li worried she had noticed the tampering.
• The first round began with the difficult first-tier Tracking Talisman, and several junior disciples struggled to finish.
• A junior disciple’s brush trembled near the end, making his talisman burst into flames; he withdrew from the competition.
• The departing disciple saw that Su Jiu and Ming Yun had finished, and thought Su Jiu’s talisman looked finer and held more spiritual qi, although Ming Yun’s runes glowed more brightly.

Ming Yun took first place over Su Jiu in the Talisman Competition’s first round, though a judge recognized that Su Jiu’s talisman was far superior. As the sect disciples argued over the result, Lie Wushuang confronted the Heavenly Dawn Sect, leaving the quarrel drawing a crowd.

• The judges awarded Ming Yun first place and Su Jiu second, despite one judge realizing that Su Jiu had sealed all the cinnabar’s spiritual qi into her talisman.
• Yun Huanling doubted that Su Jiu had truly lost and noticed that Ming Yun’s talisman was losing spiritual qi and would soon become useless.
• Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples taunted the Azure Tide Sect, but Jin Chen stopped Su Mianmian from responding and told her the early rounds would not affect Su Jiu.
• Lie Wushuang criticized the Heavenly Dawn Sect for boasting about Ming Yun after she had placed third in pill refining, and the argument attracted a crowd.

Su Jiu and Ming Yun advanced through the second round of the talisman competition, with Su Jiu secretly impressing the judges despite taking second place. As the third round began, most competitors withdrew, but Li Yishi remained among those still competing.

• Lie Wushuang verbally drove her critics away while the second round of the competition began.
• Su Jiu drew a second-tier talisman in two breaths and placed second behind Ming Yun, though the judges recognized the extraordinary spiritual qi it contained.
• The judges worried that Su Jiu's talent would make it difficult to conceal the competition's unfair treatment, while the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder chose to wait for the next round.
• Ming Yun briefly showed satisfaction at taking first place, then hid her reaction as the third round began.
• Several competitors withdrew before the third-tier talisman round, and Ming Yun noticed that Li Yishi had stayed on the platform.

During the talisman competition, the Heavenly Dawn Sect sabotaged Su Jiu’s talisman to keep Ming Yun in first place, but Su Jiu secretly repaired the damaged runes. Xia Jue recognized the scheme and ordered Feng Qi to expose the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s lack of support, threatening its efforts to recruit disciples.

• Li Yishi encouraged Ming Yun before the third round, while Ming Yun remained worried about Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu completed her talisman smoothly, but the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder secretly damaged its runes and the judges still ranked Ming Yun first and Su Jiu second.
• Su Jiu noticed the damage and secretly restored the runes with her blood.
• Xia Jue sensed Su Jiu’s blood and deduced what the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder had done.
• Xia Jue told Feng Qi to have the Shadow Pavilion publicize that the Heavenly Dawn Sect lacked enough seniors to suppress the Nightfall Cold Pool.

Su Jiu and the remaining contestants competed to draw fourth-tier talismans, while signs that Ming Yun’s cinnabar was concealing her weakness drew quiet suspicion. Ming Yun won the round again, but the strange judging and her smug reaction left the spectators increasingly doubtful.

• The Heavenly Dawn Sect set a lower-middle-grade fourth-tier talisman as the fourth-round task, and Su Jiu realized the easier requirement suited Ming Yun’s limited abilities.
• Several contestants noticed Ming Yun’s unstable spiritual qi and suspected that her exceptional cinnabar was compensating for her weakness.
• Tong Qi asked Xia Jue whether they should intervene, but Xia Jue chose to wait for a chance to strike decisively.
• The judges again ranked Su Jiu’s talisman below Ming Yun’s, and Su Jiu secretly repaired the damage to her talisman.
• Ming Yun took first place, prompting uneasy stares from the crowd and a junior disciple to compare her smug manner to a favored concubine throwing her weight around.

At the Talisman Competition, Su Jiu exposed the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder’s knowledge of alleged damage to her talismans and showed that they were intact and exceptionally powerful. The elder’s attempt to demand another inspection left the judges facing the possibility that any further tampering would expose the sect.

• A junior disciple criticized Ming Yun’s behavior, and Li Yishi rebuked him while Bright Moon School disciples mocked Li Yishi and the Water Moon School.
• Several major sects proposed that the six remaining contestants display their talismans before the final round, despite the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder’s objections.
• The contestants revealed their talismans, and the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder claimed Su Jiu’s runes had been damaged before she had said anything about them.
• Su Jiu pointed out that the elder knew about damage she herself had not noticed, and the judges reacted as the audience fell silent.
• The elder inspected Su Jiu’s intact, high-quality talismans and demanded that all contestants’ talismans be collected for another inspection.
• Su Jiu warned that another inspection could let the judges tamper with her talismans again, making the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s involvement plain to everyone.

Su Jiu exposed the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s manipulation and defeated Ming Yun in the Talisman Competition, while Shui Rao’er reacted angrily to Li Yishi conceding to Ming Yun. After the final, Su Jiu hinted that she knew Ming Yun had hidden cinnabar, leaving Ming Yun shaken and resentful.

• Su Jiu revealed talismans far stronger than before, undermining the judges’ biased rulings and turning the crowd against the Heavenly Dawn Sect.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect elder tried to dismiss the judging discrepancies and insisted the fifth round would decide the competition.
• Li Yishi conceded to Ming Yun, leaving Su Jiu and Ming Yun as the final competitors and enraging Shui Rao’er, who took a pill after coughing violently.
• Su Jiu defeated Ming Yun in their spiritual-qi duel after a quarter of an hour.
• Su Jiu warned Ming Yun to hide her cinnabar more carefully, and Ming Yun silently challenged her before Su Jiu walked away.

After Su Jiu won the Talisman Competition, Yun Huanling told her the Heavenly Dawn Sect had moved the Array Competition’s final round to its own Trial Grounds. Sect Leader Li blamed an elder for the recent setbacks and confronted Ming Yun, whose reaction to her master’s touch raised suspicion.

• Su Mianmian celebrated Su Jiu’s victory in the Talisman Competition, while Su Jiu teased her and Jin Chen about her choice of idioms.
• Yun Huanling told Su Jiu that the Array Competition’s final round would involve breaking an array in the Heavenly Dawn Sect’s Trial Grounds.
• Su Jiu and Yun Huanling agreed to compete seriously despite the changed venue, and Yun Huanling warned her that he had grown stronger.
• Sect Leader Li berated an elder for failing to anticipate Su Jiu’s completed talisman and warned him not to allow further surprises in the Array Competition.
• Ming Yun entered to see Sect Leader Li, flinched when her master reached toward the flower on her face, then promised she would not disappoint her in the Array Competition.

Su Jiu entered the Heavenly Dawn Sect's Trial Grounds for the Array Competition, sensing that other forces might be interfering and warning Yun Huanling to stay alert. The competitors were scattered through the formations, and Su Jiu encountered a fifth-tier Cloudborn Beast in a second-tier formation as the Heavenly Dawn Sect dismissed the mishap.

• Sect Leader Li reassured Ming Yun that she would not blame her, despite their hidden schemes.
• Su Jiu sensed something uncanny at the Trial Grounds, while Yun Huanling's divination was blocked by a powerful force.
• Su Jiu warned Yun Huanling that the unusually large number of competitors from smaller sects might signal outside interference.
• The Azure Tide Sect's Fifth Elder challenged the Heavenly Dawn Sect's elder over lax identity checks, but the elder dismissed the danger.
• Su Jiu entered the formation, quickly read its spiritual patterns, and encountered a fifth-tier Cloudborn Beast in a second-tier formation.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect's elder blamed an underling for failing to clear the demon beasts, while the Fifth Elder demanded an explanation and Long Aotian feared worse dangers lay ahead.

Su Jiu fought and killed a winged Bewildering Beast that had interrupted her progress through the formations. After breaking the formation and entering the second ring, she left the onlookers wondering whether her words and final glance were aimed at the Heavenly Dawn Sect.

• Heavenly Dawn Sect disciples broke through the first layer of formations, while Lan Fang Ziyi and Yun Huanling discovered that their formations had been tampered with and delayed them.
• Su Jiu faced a winged Bewildering Beast and used the wind from its wings to reach it and slash its wing.
• The injured Bewildering Beast was forced to the ground, and Su Jiu said that a beast should know its place before silver threads dismembered it.
• Su Jiu glanced toward the sky, broke the formation, and entered the second ring of formations.

Su Jiu waited in the Mist Formation while the Azure Tide Sect watched, but the formation spaces suddenly broke apart and rearranged, plunging the Array Competition into chaos. Disciples from different sects blamed the Heavenly Dawn Sect for the upheaval, and one of its inner gate disciples was beaten after failing to explain what was happening.

• Su Jiu and the Fifth Elder mocked the Heavenly Dawn Sect elder, who left after criticizing Su Jiu's formation skills.
• Su Jiu remained in the thick mist, leaving the Azure Tide Sect and other spectators puzzled as time passed.
• Ming Yun's formation space shattered and changed, placing an unfamiliar female cultivator beside her.
• Feng Jing's formation space also changed after she used a stolen magic treasure to block the Heaven-Viewing Mirror, and two people appeared beside her.
• The formations throughout the competition broke apart and rearranged, exposing lurking demons and monsters and confusing the contestants.
• A Misty Immortal Sect disciple accused a Heavenly Dawn Sect inner gate disciple of plotting, grabbed him by the collar, and punched him when he could not explain the upheaval.

Murong Feng joined two disciples to break the altered formations while sect leaders struggled to respond to the Heaven-Viewing Mirror’s failure and the sealed exit. The Heavenly Dawn Sect elder suspected his daughter Feng Jing had stolen the Sky-Covering Seal to target Ming Yun, while Feng Jing herself was puzzled by the formations’ changes.

• Murong Feng allowed two disciples from the Misty Immortal Sect and Heavenly Dawn Sect to follow him as they set out to break the formations.
• The sect leaders watching the Heaven-Viewing Mirror blamed the Heavenly Dawn Sect when its view of the competition disappeared, and the Azure Tide Sect’s Fifth Elder demanded an explanation.
• Sect Leader Li ordered the elders to open the formations, but the exit would not open, leaving the trapped disciples unable to leave.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect elder discovered that a magic treasure in his custody might have caused the mirror’s failure and recalled that his daughter Feng Jing had borrowed it.
• The elder suspected Feng Jing had taken the Sky-Covering Seal into the formations to obstruct the mirror and target Ming Yun, while Feng Jing wondered why the formations had changed after she used the seal.

Murong Feng recognized that the changing formation was a Fourth Tier Reverse Five Elements Formation after the Heavenly Dawn Sect and Mystic Dharma Immortal Sect disciples repeatedly interrupted his attempts to explain. He led them along a new route through the formation, while the Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple wondered why Trial Peak held a formation he had never encountered.

• Murong Feng grew frustrated as the two disciples argued over divination and the five elements while leading him in circles.
• Murong Feng sealed the Mystic Dharma Immortal Sect disciple’s mouth with a Silencing Talisman and explained that the formation had changed from third tier to fourth tier.
• Murong Feng identified the formation as a Reverse Five Elements Formation and told the disciples to follow him without speaking.
• Murong Feng performed divinatory calculations at intervals and led the disciples along a different path through the formation.
• The Heavenly Dawn Sect disciple admitted he had never seen this formation on Trial Peak, and the Mystic Dharma Immortal Sect disciple questioned how the sect’s competitions could change so unpredictably.