Chapter Summaries

Qu Yong and Fan Dazhi learned that the dying Lu Xuanji had been betrayed and tortured by the Strategist of Unknown Island, then inherited his Void Art. After Lu Xuanji’s burial, Mist Concealment and Ghost Sword ambushed them, and Qu Yong fought both attackers in the rising mist.

• Qu Yong and Fan Dazhi brought Lu Xuanji aboveground, where he revealed that Chen Qingfeng had poisoned, imprisoned, and tortured him to obtain the Void Art before exposing himself as the Strategist.
• Lu Xuanji gave the Void Art to Fan Dazhi and died; Qu Yong and Fan Dazhi buried him by the sea.
• Qu Yong refused to take the manual, telling Fan Dazhi that his strong Divine Sense made the Void Art a suitable path for him.
• Fan Dazhi sent Divine Sense into the golden slip, read its opening lines, and watched it crumble into ash.
• Thick mist engulfed Azure Dragon Town, and Qu Yong parried an attack before Mist Concealment and Ghost Sword launched a coordinated assault.
• Qu Yong fought both Unknown Island experts in midair, using a rapidly vibrating sword to break their attacks.

Qu Yong fought Ghost Sword while Fan Dazhi used warnings and improvised elemental techniques to evade Mist Concealment. After nearly trapping Mist Concealment with his powers, Fan Dazhi escaped the ruined tavern, leaving his attacker furious and holding a flattened steamed bun.

• Fan Dazhi warned Qu Yong of Mist Concealment’s ambushes, and Qu Yong dispersed Ghost Sword’s afterimages and wounded him with a strike into the mist.
• Qu Yong held off Ghost Sword as Mist Concealment attacked Fan Dazhi, who fled through the ruined town and barely blocked a lethal slash with ice armor.
• Fan Dazhi unleashed improvised elemental techniques, trapping Mist Concealment in ice and stone before a Vajra Warrior emerged from the ground to strike him.
• Mist Concealment broke free, destroyed the Vajra Warrior, and deflected Fan Dazhi’s barrage of debris, but a scallop shell cut his neck.
• Fan Dazhi disappeared through a hole in the tavern roof after striking Mist Concealment with a steamed bun, leaving Mist Concealment enraged.

Fan Dazhi fled Mist Concealment until a mysterious swordsman in straw sandals intervened and drove him off. Mist Concealment escaped by burrowing into the sand, but the swordsman sealed the beach with a talisman, leaving Fan Dazhi stunned by his strength.

• Fan Dazhi ran from Mist Concealment along the coast, exhausted his true qi, and was struck into the sea.
• A man in straw sandals appeared on a reef, blocked Mist Concealment’s attack with a Bamboo Knife, and defeated him in a clash amid black mist.
• The man pursued Mist Concealment across the sea, then returned with him to the beach after Mist Concealment fled underground.
• The man burned a talisman that spread metal-attribute energy across the beach and hardened the sand like iron.

A straw-sandaled fisherman subdued Mist Concealment and forced the assassin to become his servant, renaming him Dog Egg. Fan Dazhi greeted Senior Brother Qu as he arrived on a streak of sword light.

• The straw-sandaled man found Mist Concealment beneath the beach and stopped his surprise attack with one hand.
• The man beat Mist Concealment, thwarted his escape attempts, and hurled him into a reef.
• Mist Concealment abandoned his attempt to fight and begged for mercy, offering to serve the man.
• The straw-sandaled man cut off Mist Concealment’s topknots, renamed him Dog Egg, and asked Fan Dazhi what he thought of the name.
• Senior Brother Qu arrived on a streak of sword light, and Fan Dazhi called out to him.

Qu Yong reunited with Liu Chuang and Fan Dazhi, then questioned the captured Mist Concealment about Unknown Island and Yun Ying. Mist Concealment revealed that a spy named Junior Sister Yun had been sent to the Ten-Thousand Snake Cave, leaving Qu Yong shaken by the possibility that she was the woman he sought.

• Qu Yong arrived and reunited with Fan Dazhi and Liu Chuang, recounting his pursuit of Unknown Island and the battle in which he wounded Mist Concealment.
• Liu Chuang introduced Fan Dazhi, declared him a brother, and made Mist Concealment call Qu Yong and Fan Dazhi his First and Third Masters.
• Liu Chuang interrogated Mist Concealment, who said he did not know Unknown Island's main lair and identified its assassins' leader as Ogetsuyomi.
• Liu Chuang forced Mist Concealment to swallow a Three Hearts, Two Minds Pill to keep him from betraying them.
• Qu Yong asked whether Unknown Island had a woman named Yun Ying, and Mist Concealment described a spy called Junior Sister Yun who developed feelings for her lover and was sent to the Ten-Thousand Snake Cave.
• Qu Yong's heart pounded as he wondered whether Junior Sister Yun was the woman he sought.

Qu Yong learned that Yun had escaped from Unknown Island and disappeared, leaving him determined to find her someday. In Luoyang, Wei Zhilin divined that He An was in grave danger or dead, and spent New Year’s Eve grieving in the deserted Knowledge and Practice Institute.

• Mist Concealment told Qu Yong that Yun had escaped after killing guards, jumped into the sea, and become the subject of a bounty and kill order.
• Qu Yong accepted Mist Concealment’s account and set out with him and Liu Chuang, while Fan Dazhi silently kept him company.
• Wei Zhilin burned a secret letter and examined the new clothes prepared for his absent disciples, feeling especially uneasy about He An’s robe.
• Wei Zhilin cast three coins for He An and read the resulting hexagram as a sign that He An had entered the underworld and could no longer be found.
• Wei Zhilin folded the children’s clothes, sat alone in the cold study, and sighed as New Year’s firecrackers filled Luoyang.

On New Year’s Day in Luoyang, Cui Zhixia saw a toy seller’s bamboo blades and was reminded of Liu Chuang, who had humiliated him in the Sword Tomb Secret Realm. He beat the innocent boy and destroyed his wares before leaving with his companions, still consumed by his grudge against Liu Chuang.

• A bloodied boy sat at the South Market selling bamboo blades and wooden swords after several young men had broken some of his wares.
• Cui Zhixia spotted the bamboo blades and remembered how Liu Chuang had beaten and humiliated him in the Sword Tomb Secret Realm.
• Cui Zhixia kicked the boy and accused him of acting like Liu Chuang, then realized the frightened seller was not the person he remembered.
• Cui Zhixia stamped the remaining toys to pieces, threatened the boy, and tossed him a silver ingot before Wang Pingwei pulled him away.
• Lu Zicheng invited Cui Zhixia to Xiaoxiang House, while Cui Zhixia continued to brood over Liu Chuang despite his recent rise as Dragon Gate Academy’s foremost disciple.

Cui Zhixia rose to fame by defeating several sect leaders and earned Emperor Chen’s public favor, stirring speculation at court. Meanwhile, Jiu Shan recovered in hiding in Chu Province with help from Unknown Island’s agents, as tensions surfaced among the women serving him.

• Cui Zhixia defeated Hu Yinmeng of the Cloud Dream Pavilion and became celebrated across the Capital.
• Emperor Chen sent gifts and a plaque to the Cui Residence, prompting court officials to wonder whether he had restored his favor toward Cui Yizhong.
• Shen Hai sheltered Jiu Shan and his companions in Chu Province, guarding the residence and arranging for Jiu Shan’s needs.
• Jiu Shan used his Blood Primordial Spirit Divine Art to weaken the cold-marrow energy in his body and restore his vitality by refining blood.
• Jin Caiyun ordered Zhu Qiqi and Linu to bring more hot water, while the two women ignored her and resented her arrogance.