Chapter Summaries

Su Jiu learned that descendants of the Divine Race might help remove her curse and heard how the Luoqi Divine Race’s revelation had identified her. The four set off for the Nine Nether Sea, with Qi Song intent on following Su Jiu because a divination named her the key to finding the Heaven-Connecting Tower.

• Chu Luohen suggested that the Merfolk Tribe in the Nine Nether Sea might know how to deal with Su Jiu’s curse, and Qi Song explained why his Luoqi tribe had forbidden the Curse Arts.
• Su Jiu agreed to travel to the Nine Nether Sea, while Xia Jue and Qi Song gave their reasons for accompanying her.
• Su Jiu asked why the Luoqi chieftain had sent Qi Song to find her, and Qi Song described a vague revelation involving an ice-blue flower and a divination that led him to recognize her in Xi He City.
• Qi Song revealed that the final divination named Su Jiu as the ultimate key to finding the Heaven-Connecting Tower, and the four set off together.

Su Shi and Luo Ge learned that fishermen had been disappearing from a seaside village after its ancient protection failed. They planned to investigate while waiting for a boat to be built, though Luo Ge left after refusing to get involved.

• Su Shi and Luo Ge heard villagers discuss recent deaths at sea and asked a shopkeeper about hiring boatbuilders.
• The shopkeeper explained that a cultivator had protected the village’s fishing waters a thousand years earlier, but the protection seemed to have failed.
• Luo Ge insisted that they return to their sect and left the tea stall when Su Shi suggested investigating.
• Su Shi asked the shopkeeper which families could build a boat and stayed behind to drink tea.
• Su Shi recalled that Luo Ge had broken their flying boat while they were being pursued and reflected on the failed Su Family mission.

Su Jiu and her companions discovered that a failing Barrier Stone had left a fishing village vulnerable, so they replaced its protection with a formation before continuing toward the Merfolk Tribe. As they neared their destination, fierce seas and a sudden black whirlpool revealed that the voyage ahead had become dangerous.

• Su Jiu and her companions arrived at the fishing village and learned from an old man that fishermen had been dying at sea.
• Chu Luohen sensed something buried beneath a beach rock and uncovered a cracked Barrier Stone that had once protected the village.
• Su Jiu, Xia Jue, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song set up a formation to replace the failing barrier while Su Shi and Luo Ge prepared to depart by boat.
• Su Jiu and her companions boarded their flying boat and continued toward the Merfolk Tribe as the wind and waves grew stronger.
• A black whirlpool suddenly appeared in the waters ahead, leaving Chu Luohen and Xia Jue visibly concerned.

Su Jiu and her companions used Xia Jue’s Blue Spirit Jade to pass safely through a protected path beside the dangerous black whirlpool. Meanwhile, Su Shi and Luo Ge’s ship was caught in the whirlpool’s pull, leaving them facing possible destruction.

• Su Jiu and the others found chaotic currents and no demon beasts near the whirlpool, so they decided not to enter it directly.
• Xia Jue used the Blue Spirit Jade he had obtained from Li Yishi to open a separate, sheltered path through the water.
• Su Jiu, Xia Jue, Qi Song, and Chu Luohen descended through the calm path and saw the black whirlpool shredding marine creatures and carrying unknown debris.
• A ship carrying Su Shi and Luo Ge appeared on the surface and was swept toward the black whirlpool.
• Su Shi judged that the ship’s formation would soon fail, while Luo Ge blamed him for not bringing an extra Flying Boat.
• Su Shi lamented that he might die without finding a beautiful Dao companion like Su Jiu, angering Luo Ge.

Su Shi saved Luo Ge from the whirlpool, and the two worked together to reach the seabed. Su Jiu and her companions discovered a battle between the Merfolk Tribe and the Dragon Palace forces, whose water attacks had created the whirlpool.

• Su Shi warned Luo Ge to conserve her defensive magic treasures and control her direction as their boat entered the whirlpool.
• Luo Ge lost her treasure and nearly succumbed to the current, but Su Shi pulled her into his defensive barrier and saved her.
• Luo Ge offered Su Shi her remaining defensive treasures and took responsibility for steering them toward the seabed.
• Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song reached the seabed and found merfolk, fish demon, shrimp demon, and crab demon corpses near a battle.
• Qi Song agreed to treat his eyes after the conflict, and Chu Luohen explained that the fighting was likely between the Merfolk Tribe and the Dragon Palace, now ruled by a water snake.
• Su Jiu's group chose to observe the battle and realized the combatants' water attacks had formed the whirlpool and its surface turbulence.

Su Jiu and her companions watched the merfolk battle the Shrimp and Crab Soldiers, then stayed hidden as Su Shi and Luo Ge fled past them. After Su Jiu and Xia Jue killed the soldiers pursuing them, Su Shi recognized Su Jiu, leaving the group face-to-face.

• Xia Jue stopped Su Jiu from joining the battle, choosing to wait until the merfolk were in greater danger.
• Su Shi and Luo Ge escaped the whirlpool but, exhausted and pursued by Shrimp and Crab Soldiers, fled toward Su Jiu's hidden group.
• Su Jiu concealed herself and her companions with Invisibility Talismans as Su Shi and Luo Ge passed.
• After Su Shi used two magic treasures to kill most of their pursuers, the last two Shrimp and Crab Soldiers fled to report the humans, and Su Jiu and Xia Jue killed them.
• Su Jiu questioned Xia Jue about his mission after noticing the soldiers' unusual forms, but Su Shi interrupted and recognized her.

Su Jiu and Xia Jue confronted Su Shi and Luo Ge near the Giant Reef, where Xia Jue defended Su Jiu against Luo Ge’s accusations. Su Jiu left with Xia Jue, and two young men in white appeared beside the reef, startling Su Shi.

• Su Jiu and Xia Jue revealed themselves after killing the Shrimp and Crab Soldiers, then asked Su Shi why his Flying Boat had broken.
• Luo Ge tried to summon her Life-Bound Treasure but found that she had no spiritual qi, then urged Xia Jue to discipline Su Jiu.
• Xia Jue rejected Luo Ge’s authority and defended Su Jiu, while Su Shi laughed at the exchange.
• Su Shi reminded Luo Ge that Ming Yun had caused the Flying Boat to break, but Luo Ge still defended her and criticized Su Jiu.
• Su Jiu mocked Luo Ge for believing Ming Yun, then left with Xia Jue after exchanging a brief farewell with Su Shi.
• Two young men in white appeared beside the Giant Reef, leaving Su Shi speechless.

Luo Ge planned to apologize to Su Jiu only to get closer to Chu Luohen, then considered a marriage alliance despite Su Shi's warnings. At the Merfolk Hall, the queen refused to let her eldest daughter fight the enemy, fearing she would suffer the same fate as her father.

• Su Shi told Luo Ge that she had targeted Su Jiu out of selfish resentment and warned her not to expect Chu Luohen to return her feelings.
• Luo Ge decided against apologizing and suggested that a marriage alliance between their sects might bring her closer to Chu Luohen.
• The Merfolk queen comforted her frightened younger daughter and vowed not to send her daughters away despite the battle.
• The eldest merfolk daughter demanded the queen's scepter so she could drive out the enemy's underlings, but the queen refused to let her go.

Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song joined the battle against the Shrimp and Crab Soldiers attacking the Merfolk Tribe, helping the princess turn the tide. The princess, Jiao Zhen, recognized Chu Luohen and thanked Su Jiu, leaving the humans welcomed as old friends of the tribe.

• The Merfolk Princess insisted on fighting to protect her people and her family’s place in the waters.
• Su Jiu, Chu Luohen, and Qi Song arrived in Merfolk territory, where Su Jiu realized the princess had entered the battle in place of the missing king.
• Su Jiu cut off a crab soldier’s pincer as it attacked the princess, drawing enemy troops away from her.
• Su Jiu and her companions cleared a section of the battlefield, while a merfolk guard recognized Chu Luohen and explained that he carried the Former Merfolk King’s Hidden Scale.
• Jiao Zhen approached Chu Luohen and Su Jiu, thanked Su Jiu for saving her, and recognized her as the disciple Chu Luohen’s older cousin had mentioned.

After helping the Merfolk win a temporary victory, Su Jiu and her companions asked the queen for help lifting Su Jiu’s curse. The queen refused, revealing that the Black Water Snake had stolen the tribe’s Curse Arts scrolls, and Xia Jue offered to recover them in exchange for having someone study the art.

• Jiao Zhen recognized Xia Jue as resembling a man she had seen before, but she set aside her suspicions and greeted him.
• Su Jiu, Xia Jue, and Chu Luohen helped Jiao Zhen and the Merfolk defeat the Shrimp and Crab Soldiers, earning a temporary victory and an invitation to a feast.
• At the feast, the younger princess Jiao Zhu clung to Chu Luohen while the Merfolk Queen focused on him, and Jiao Zhen privately asked Su Jiu to speak afterward.
• Chu Luohen explained that Su Jiu was afflicted by a curse, but the queen said the Merfolk no longer practiced Curse Arts and that the Black Water Snake had stolen their scrolls.
• Xia Jue offered to recover the Curse Arts books if the queen arranged for someone to study curse lifting, but the queen instead asked Chu Luohen to kill the Black Water Snake in exchange for gifts.

The Merfolk Queen revealed why her tribe could not use Curse Arts and refused to risk her life to help Su Jiu. Xia Jue demanded an equal exchange for eliminating the Black Water Snake, and Jiao Zhen offered to learn Curse-Removal Arts instead, beginning a blood-bound formation with Su Jiu.

• Jiao Zhen challenged the queen for refusing to help Su Jiu, and the queen explained that the Heavenly Dao restricted the merfolk and that Curse Arts had cost her husband his fortune and life.
• Su Jiu accepted that she would not sacrifice anyone to remove her curse, but Xia Jue stopped her and demanded suitable payment for defeating the Black Water Snake.
• The queen agreed to learn Curse-Removal Arts if the group secured her tribe's safety, but Jiao Zhen insisted that she would learn the arts in her mother's place.
• The queen relented, and Jiao Zhen created a formation with her blood and invited Su Jiu to add hers.

Su Jiu and her companions secured a contract with Jiao Zhen to remove Su Jiu’s curse within ten years after they killed Black Water Snake. Meanwhile, Black Water Snake and Mister Jing’s agents prepared against them, and Ming Yun accepted a deal to become a demonic cultivator, leaving her future in their hands.

• Su Jiu’s blood completed the contract with Jiao Zhen, which required the group to kill Black Water Snake and gave Jiao Zhen ten years to remove Su Jiu’s curse.
• A black-cloaked man warned Black Water Snake to follow Mister Jing’s orders, but she resolved to test Su Jiu and her companions herself.
• A diviner declared that one piece had fallen and another would become useless.
• Ming Yun rejected Li Yishi and admitted she had stayed with him because he was useful, prompting him to leave.
• A masked man offered Ming Yun demonic cultivation and revenge against Su Jiu, and she signed his contract and swallowed a seed that let her sense demonic qi.

The Enforcement Hall captured Ming Yun, extracted and sealed the conscious demon seed inside her, then killed her after Feng Qi deemed her no longer useful. Meanwhile, Li Yishi grieved without knowing why, and Su Jiu learned how the Black Water Snake built her forces and crippled the Merfolk Tribe.

• Feng Qi and the Enforcement Hall disciples destroyed the black-robed man's clone and found that he had been trying to take Ming Yun away.
• Cao Yin extracted the conscious demon seed from Ming Yun and sealed it, then told Feng Qi that innate origin qi could counter and destroy demon seeds.
• Feng Qi ordered the disciples to kill Ming Yun, and they left her ashes behind.
• Li Yishi arrived in the mortal town where he had planned to settle with Ming Yun and broke down crying, sensing that he had lost something important.
• Su Jiu learned from Princess Jiao Zhen that the Black Water Snake had built her forces by coercing those she defeated and had gravely wounded the Merfolk Tribe's king in battle.

After Su Jiu learned that her Heart Discernment was gradually being sealed even without using her Pupil Art, she led Xia Jue, Qi Song, and Chu Luohen toward the Black Water Snake’s palace to retrieve the curse-script Jade Slip. The group reached the secret passage and hid nearby as the Black Water Snake’s soldiers discussed the outsiders who had arrived to help the Merfolk Tribe.

• Jiao Zhen gave Su Jiu a detailed map of the Black Water Snake’s palace, including two secret passages.
• Su Jiu discovered that the seventh petal on her Petal Mark had vanished and the Nine-Petal Frostflow was closing, suggesting her Heart Discernment was being sealed over time.
• Su Jiu told Chu Luohen that using her Pupil Art accelerated the sealing, but she believed she could last ten years without using it.
• After Xia Jue confirmed the Enforcement Hall matter was handled, Su Jiu and the others set out to recover the curse-script Jade Slip.
• Su Jiu explained that the treasures were likely at the end of a secret passage, though its traps and formations were not marked on the map.
• Su Jiu, Xia Jue, Qi Song, and Chu Luohen hid near the passage as four Shrimp and Crab Soldiers spoke about the Merfolk Tribe’s powerful new helpers.

Su Jiu, Xia Jue, and Chu Luohen sneaked past the Shrimp and Crab Soldiers toward the cave entrance, where they planned to search for the Jade Slip. After Xia Jue urged Su Jiu to rely on her companions while she was injured, she thanked him, but Chu Luohen and Xia Jue grew tense with each other as they hurried to catch up with Qi Song.

• Su Jiu and Xia Jue chose to sneak past the four Shrimp and Crab Soldiers rather than kill them and risk alerting the others.
• Su Jiu drew a Concealment Breath Talisman on Qi Song, who passed the guards unnoticed and went ahead to the cave entrance.
• Chu Luohen and Xia Jue realized Su Jiu's talisman craft and spiritual qi had been affected, and Xia Jue encouraged her to rely on those around her.
• Su Jiu reflected on her habit of handling everything alone, thanked Xia Jue, and noticed Chu Luohen and Xia Jue speeding up beside her.
• Qi Song questioned why the others had arrived so quickly, and Chu Luohen and Xia Jue traded pointed remarks about speed, efficiency, and safety.

Su Jiu and the others explored the secret passage beneath the water snake’s palace and discovered that its water nets could assimilate living creatures into seawater. The nets dispersed after consuming a school of fish, but the group had not yet learned how to escape them safely.

• Qi Song pointed out the strange tension between Chu Luohen and Xia Jue, then urged Su Jiu to focus on finding the jade slip about her curse script.
• Xia Jue explained that the secret passage had once belonged to a fish demon, and Su Jiu wondered how the water snake had overcome its barriers.
• Su Jiu noticed cracks leaking water in the passage, and the currents formed a net that attacked her and the others.
• The water net split into four smaller nets and pursued each of them, adapting as they dodged and attacked.
• Su Jiu lured her net toward a school of fish, and it assimilated them into seawater before dispersing; Xia Jue and Chu Luohen witnessed what happened.

Su Jiu and her companions destroyed the curse script controlling the underwater nets, then discovered a barrier and stone door beyond it. Her attempt to remove the curse inside herself failed, and she concluded that a powerful, unknown conspirator had targeted her and would likely need to be killed to free her from the curse.

• Su Jiu used Spirit-Cleansing Pool Water carrying her blood to destroy the curse script controlling the nets, and she and her companions found a gray barrier with a stone door bearing a water snake totem.
• Su Jiu tried to cleanse the curse from her meridians, but neither she nor Little Pearl could remove it.
• Su Jiu and her companions discussed killing the curse caster as a way to break the curse, and Qi Song explained that Hong Ming had grown confident after secretly leaving before the ambush.
• Su Jiu deduced that an unknown person had manipulated Hong Ming and planted a curse script at the Immortal Pool Spring, using him as a pawn.
• Su Jiu concluded that the person who cursed her was far more powerful than the one who drew the script controlling the nets, while Xia Jue considered a possible lead.

Su Jiu and her companions broke through the barrier guarding the stone door and discovered a Black Water Snake totem carrying a powerful demonic aura. They collected the aura to keep it from alerting the snake demon, while Xia Jue planned to gather information before they confronted her.

• Su Jiu recognized the barrier as a mixture of spiritual qi and demonic qi, and Xia Jue reflected on how others judged those who were different.
• Xia Jue used the Ringing Ram to shatter the barrier while Chu Luohen suppressed the disturbances in the water.
• The four saw a lifelike Black Water Snake totem on the exposed stone door, and Su Jiu suggested getting rid of its owner while they were there.
• Xia Jue urged Su Jiu to wait while he gathered information about the Black Water Snake from the Enforcement Hall disciples, and she apologized for being impatient.
• Chu Luohen drew black energy from the totem and guided it into a jade bottle.

Su Jiu studied a composite formation and a star map that prompted her to question the belief that fate stars fixed people’s destinies. She realized her changed spirit root and Heart Discernment had diverted her from the Heavenly Dao’s ordained path, but remained unsure how her previous life connected to this one.

• Chu Luohen opened the stone door, and the group entered a secret chamber filled with powerful spiritual qi.
• Su Jiu recognized a complex composite formation on the floor while Xia Jue, Qi Song, and Chu Luohen examined the star maps on the walls.
• Su Jiu argued that people could shape their own fate-star trajectories, surprising Qi Song, Xia Jue, and Chu Luohen.
• Chu Luohen warned Su Jiu not to voice her belief in public because others might treat it as heresy and target her.
• Su Jiu concluded that changes to her spirit root and Heart Discernment had shifted her from the Heavenly Dao’s ordained destiny, then wondered how her previous life related to this one.

Su Jiu and her companions entered a bloody, demonic-qi-filled formation that resembled the scene inside a portrait at Zen Sound Temple. As the Double Killing Array awakened its dead branches, Chu Luohen urged the group to move, and Su Jiu left her Defensive Formation as branches attacked it.

• Su Jiu followed Chu Luohen through the Teleportation Array after he studied the Formation Disk.
• Su Jiu and the others emerged in a blood-red illusion and identified the first formation as a Double Killing Array.
• Chu Luohen connected the scene to the portrait at Zen Sound Temple and suggested the formation resembled the linked formation at the Water Moon School.
• Su Jiu concluded that the person behind Hong Ming might be responsible, while Xia Jue said he could represent the Azure Tide Sect.
• When Qi Song touched a branch, Su Jiu pulled him clear and shielded the group with a Defensive Formation.
• Chu Luohen charged out and told the others to go, so Su Jiu followed as demonic-qi-wrapped branches stabbed toward her formation.