Chapter Summaries

Chu Zhiyuan learned that the Imperial Court had not decided whether to punish Ding Shaoqiang or suppress the Daliu Camp rebellion, while powerful officials defended Ding as an incorruptible but overzealous commander. As the court considered deploying Phoenix Camp, an imperial decree arrived for Chu Zhiyuan, leaving him fearing he would be sent into action.

• Chu Zhiyuan judged that the Imperial Court needed to resolve Ding Shaoqiang's case before sending troops and suspected the eastern garrisons' corruption had turned local people against the military.
• Chu Zhiyuan heard Yujing City's residents debate whether Ding Shaoqiang or the rebelling soldiers were to blame, with many suspecting Ding had powerful protectors.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Chu Minghou, Bai Ningshuang, and Chu Yi that Ding Shaoqiang sought merit rather than wealth, making him difficult to punish despite his reckless conduct.
• Chu Minghou said the Emperor had not decided whether to punish Ding or suppress Daliu Camp, and that several officials had proposed deploying Phoenix Camp.
• Feng Xi announced that Chief Steward Huang had arrived with an imperial decree for Chu Zhiyuan, who feared Phoenix Camp would be deployed.

Chu Zhiyuan accepted an imperial decree to lead Phoenix Camp against the Daliu Camp rebellion and investigate the matter, then learned from Meng Canglan that similar military uprisings had repeatedly been covered up across the eastern region. The chapter leaves him confronting a wider pattern of corruption while weighing Ding Shaoqiang’s role in the deaths that sparked the rebellion.

• Huang Cheng delivered the Emperor’s decree ordering Chu Zhiyuan to lead Phoenix Camp to Jihai Town, suppress the Daliu Camp rebellion, investigate thoroughly, and escort Ding Shaoqiang to Yujing City.
• Chu Zhiyuan accepted the decree after learning Phoenix Camp had ten days to depart and that he could decide whether to suppress or pacify the rebels.
• After dinner, Chu Zhiyuan planned to ask Meng Canglan about conditions in Jihai Town, then cultivated the Violet Sun True Scripture at the former Jade Cauldron Sect valley.
• Meng Canglan told Chu Zhiyuan that eight similar cases of officials driving soldiers to rebel had occurred in the eastern region and had all been covered up through appeasement.
• Meng Canglan explained that Ding Shaoqiang was an incorruptible official promoted for discovering a ruin, but lacked skill in managing troops and had angered Daliu Camp’s soldiers.
• Meng Canglan said the soldiers’ behavior had provoked the conflict, while Ding Shaoqiang’s personal guards had killed under pressure.

Chu Zhiyuan investigated the rebellion in Jihai Town, arranged for Phoenix Camp to suppress it, and prepared to enter the Eastern Territory ahead of them. Zhu Caifu then arrived with news of Consort Shu’s death and revealed that Miaozhen planned to use a strange art to save Second Sister.

• Meng Canglan warned Chu Zhiyuan about Daliu Camp’s notorious soldiers and offered Carefree Cult’s information in exchange for his help with twenty disciples.
• Meng Canglan gave Chu Zhiyuan a Mysterious Stone containing a tiny, phantom-like Flying Dagger, which he suspected might be Blade Intent or Blade Soul.
• Chu Zhiyuan reviewed records of eight past rebellions, then examined the Mysterious Stone and the dangerous toad statue at the Prince’s Manor.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Bai Ningyu that Phoenix Camp would suppress the rebellion and trained its soldiers in the Phoenix Seeks Phoenix Formation.
• Chu Zhiyuan decided to travel to Jihai Town ahead of Phoenix Camp and investigate the situation without appearing before them.
• Zhu Caifu told Chu Zhiyuan that Consort Shu had died and that Miaozhen intended to use a strange art to save Second Sister.

Zhu Caifu gave Chu Zhiyuan a jade pendant containing the Yin Yang Calamity Crossing Secret Scripture, which could revive the dead at the cost of lifespan. Chu Zhiyuan discovered and endured the pendant’s inheritance, and Zhu Caifu believed he had learned the art in time to save her Second Sister and Cheng Miaozhen’s future.

• Zhu Caifu told Chu Zhiyuan that the revival art required a man and a woman of comparable cultivation and could consume lifespan, then asked him to help.
• Chu Zhiyuan agreed to examine the art before committing, and Zhu Caifu handed him the jade pendant Cheng Miaozhen had identified as its inheritance.
• Chu Zhiyuan used Super Sensation to find a strange pattern in the pendant and endured a blazing vision of a sun and a flower while circulating the Heavenly Yuan Art.
• A black flower bloomed within the white radiance and transformed into a white flower, while an invisible power settled upon Chu Zhiyuan.
• Chu Zhiyuan opened his eyes with the image of a flower in his pupils, and Zhu Caifu exclaimed that he had succeeded.

Chu Zhiyuan learned how the Yin Yang Calamity Crossing Secret Scripture used life and death energies, then joined Cheng Miaozhen in trying to revive Consort Shu. The attempt stalled when Chu Zhiyuan withdrew his hand, leaving Consort Shu’s fate uncertain.

• Chu Zhiyuan understood that the secret scripture manipulated life and death energies using the cultivator’s own lifespan and could heal or save lives but not reverse its own yin and yang.
• Zhu Caifu brought Chu Zhiyuan to an estate where Cheng Miaozhen was preparing to save Consort Shu.
• Chu Zhiyuan saw Consort Shu’s preserved body and began the ritual with Cheng Miaozhen, who supported him from behind.
• Chu Zhiyuan expelled Consort Shu’s Death Qi and channeled Cheng Miaozhen’s yang energy into her, but then frowned and withdrew his hand.
• Cheng Miaozhen glared at Chu Zhiyuan in dissatisfaction.

Chu Zhiyuan stopped Cheng Miaozhen from sacrificing more of her lifespan to extend Consort Shu’s life, and the three discussed how to protect her secret and keep her out of the palace. Cheng Miaozhen revealed that her inheritance came from the ancient hidden Yin Yang Sect and that she had found its scriptures in jade pendants.

• Chu Zhiyuan stopped Cheng Miaozhen after she had given Consort Shu ten years of lifespan, warning that further use of the technique could bring backlash.
• Cheng Miaozhen decided that Consort Shu would stay by her side, while Zhu Caifu said she did not want to return to the palace.
• Chu Zhiyuan warned that news of Consort Shu’s return from death could lead the Emperor and other relatives to demand that Cheng Miaozhen extend their lives.
• Chu Zhiyuan proposed publicly explaining Consort Shu’s return as a strange case of false death, and Cheng Miaozhen agreed to keep the secret technique hidden.
• Cheng Miaozhen told Chu Zhiyuan that she belonged to the ancient hidden Yin Yang Sect and had found the Yin Yang Void Return Art and the Yin Yang Calamity Crossing Secret Scripture in two jade pendants.

Chu Zhiyuan and Cheng Miaozhen discussed her inheritance before Zhu Caifu showed him an ancient saber and shared a secret about Prince Ying. The chapter left Chu Zhiyuan questioning whether the Emperor's Sword would choose him for the throne.

• Chu Zhiyuan learned that Cheng Miaozhen's inheritance was not in the Imperial Secret Treasury, which princesses could not enter.
• Zhu Caifu gave Chu Zhiyuan the ancient saber Zhou Jing'an, and he found it valuable but lacking Blade Intent or Blade Soul.
• Zhu Caifu said her saber was not payment and offered a secret concerning Prince Ying instead.
• Zhu Caifu told Chu Zhiyuan that Prince Ying could never become a Grandmaster because he had cultivated a Visualization Diagram in the Xiantian Realm.
• Chu Zhiyuan questioned how Zhu Caifu knew this and said the Emperor's Sword would decide who was chosen for the throne.

Chu Zhiyuan discussed Great Zhen’s succession with Zhu Caifu, then examined Blade Lord Zhou Jing'an’s saber and discovered that it could purify his Blade Intent. After a day and night of cultivation, he perfected his Spirit Transformation Realm and sensed the aura that would lead him into the Spirit Nourishing Realm.

• Chu Zhiyuan questioned Zhu Caifu about Great Zhen’s possible heirs, and she said the Fourth Prince had reached Grandmaster Perfection while the Third Prince was close.
• Chu Zhiyuan judged that neither prince was suited to become emperor and left after Cheng Miaozhen thanked him for his help.
• Chu Zhiyuan found that his Blade Intent could not penetrate Blade Lord Zhou Jing'an’s saber, but forcing it against the saber purified it.
• Chu Zhiyuan alternated between purifying his Blade Intent with Zhou Jing'an’s saber and strengthening it with the Flying Heaven Sect’s saber and Blade Soul.
• Chu Zhiyuan cultivated for a day and night, perfected his Spirit Transformation Realm, and sensed the fused aura that would catalyze the Spirit Nourishing Realm.

Chu Zhiyuan advanced the Bright Moon Blade’s Blade Soul by cultivating and clashing it against the Flying Heaven Sect’s blade, then met Li Hongzhao to discuss the Phoenix Camp and the unrest in Jihai Town. He left her uncertain whether he would suppress or recruit the rebellious soldiers as he looked toward Jihai Town.

• Chu Zhiyuan used Blade Intent and a demon crystal to nourish the Bright Moon Blade, then clashed its emerging Blade Soul against the Flying Heaven Sect’s blade and found that the experience had strengthened the Bright Moon Blade’s intelligence.
• Chu Zhiyuan realized he could use the clash to advance the Bright Moon Blade’s Spirit Nourishing Realm, though he would need to complete its Blade Soul before improving his own.
• Chu Zhiyuan went to Bright Moon Tower and found Li Hongzhao waiting alone; she questioned whether he had gone to Jihai Town, and he warned that Great Meng’s agents should not cause trouble there.
• Li Hongzhao revealed that she knew Chu Zhiyuan had accepted the Phoenix Camp assignment and urged him to suppress the soldiers rather than recruit them.
• Chu Zhiyuan left the decision unsettled and looked southeast toward Jihai Town.

Chu Zhiyuan and Li Hongzhao discussed Great Meng’s agents in the Eastern Territory, Consort Shu’s faked death, and the Seventeenth Prince’s return as a Grandmaster. Their meal was interrupted when Gao Jiuqu arrived at Bright Moon Tower, and Li Hongzhao arranged for him to join them.

• Li Hongzhao warned Chu Zhiyuan that the Eastern Territory was dangerous and urged him to withdraw Great Meng’s agents, while Chu Zhiyuan accused her of mixing truth with falsehood.
• Li Hongzhao told Chu Zhiyuan that Consort Shu had faked her death and that the Seventeenth Prince had returned from Wentian Cliff as a Grandmaster.
• Li Hongzhao said the Seventeenth Prince might seek revenge on Chu Zhiyuan, but Chu Zhiyuan dismissed the threat and asked for the meal to be served.
• Gao Jiuqu arrived at Bright Moon Tower, and Li Hongzhao sent a maid to invite him over while teasing Chu Zhiyuan about their meeting.

Chu Zhiyuan met with Li Hongzhao and Gao Jiuqu, discussed the Seventeenth Prince and the conflict at Jihai Town, then demonstrated a strange blade technique. The chapter left Gao Jiuqu injured by Chu Zhiyuan’s Blade Intent despite his superior cultivation.

• Li Hongzhao invited Gao Jiuqu to meet her, and he found her and Chu Zhiyuan locked in an uneasy rivalry.
• Chu Zhiyuan questioned Gao Jiuqu about the Seventeenth Prince and said he would soon leave Jade Capital for Jihai Town.
• Li Hongzhao and Gao Jiuqu disagreed over whether soldiers and officials who provoked rebellion deserved punishment or leniency.
• Chu Zhiyuan sent a corner of the table to Gao Jiuqu for the Seventeenth Prince to examine, and Li Hongzhao was injured when she picked it up.
• Gao Jiuqu examined the table corner and experienced a powerful blade vision that left him bleeding, while Chu Zhiyuan and Li Hongzhao argued over whether the technique was a sneak attack.

Chu Zhiyuan demonstrated an ancient blade technique to Gao Jiuqu, then questioned him about the rebellion in Jihai Town. Gao Jiuqu hinted that Grandmasters and Great Meng agents were involved and warned of another uprising, prompting Chu Zhiyuan to leave at once.

• Chu Zhiyuan explained that his Blade Intent could not injure a Grandmaster, and Gao Jiuqu said the blade strike had enlightened him about the path to Grandmasterhood.
• Li Hongzhao questioned Gao Jiuqu about the Eighteenth Prince and Consort Shu, then implied Consort Shu might eventually become Empress Dowager.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked Gao Jiuqu about the Jihai Town rebellion, but Gao Jiuqu cautioned that the matter was complicated and warned him to be careful.
• Chu Zhiyuan accused Great Meng of meddling after Gao Jiuqu's reaction gave him reason to suspect its Secret Agents were involved, and Li Hongzhao left angrily.
• Gao Jiuqu confirmed Chu Zhiyuan's suspicion that another rebellion might occur, so Chu Zhiyuan decided to depart for Jihai Town immediately.

Chu Zhiyuan reviewed intelligence on Daliu Camp and concluded it needed to be suppressed, then entered Wanghai City disguised as a scholar to investigate its gangs and officials. After questioning two would-be robbers, he killed them and judged that the city’s disorder stemmed from its City Governor and a broken civil administration.

• Chu Zhiyuan received a detailed Sky Concealment Sect list of Daliu Camp’s personnel and found that evil-sect Demonic Humans had infiltrated the ranks, so he decided the camp must be suppressed.
• Chu Zhiyuan traveled to Wanghai City in the guise of a sickly young scholar and stayed at a Yuelai Inn.
• Two masked gray-robed men drugged the inn room and tried to rob the scholar, but he repelled them and immobilized them with his Soul Searching Hand.
• Chu Zhiyuan questioned the two men separately about Wanghai City’s factions, officials, and military camp, checking their answers for consistency.
• Chu Zhiyuan killed the two gray-robed men and concluded that Wanghai City’s disorder was the City Governor’s fault, while the Eastern Sea army and civil administration were both in disarray.

Chu Zhiyuan suspected the Emperor had deliberately allowed the Eastern Territory to decay and went undercover in Wanghai City to find signs of another rebellion. He tracked down two plotters and tortured them until they agreed to reveal their plans.

• Chu Zhiyuan considered whether the Emperor had deliberately made the Eastern Territory a counterbalance to the strict Western and Northern Territories, then resolved to stop another rebellion in Jihai Town.
• Chu Zhiyuan changed his appearance and listened for rumors at Tianshui Pavilion, where he overheard two men discussing a planned raid on the Commander's Residence.
• Chu Zhiyuan followed the men out of Wanghai City and immobilized them on their way to a nearby military camp.
• Chu Zhiyuan tortured the two men with the Soul Searching Hand, threatening them until they finally began to talk.

Chu Zhiyuan revealed his identity to Commander Ding Shaoqiang and warned him that Feiniao Camp planned to defect to Great Lie and expose Jihai Town’s defenses. He left Ding with a plan to weaken Feiniao Camp before arresting its officers, while the threat from Daliu Camp remained unresolved.

• Chu Zhiyuan learned that Feiniao Camp intended to defect to Great Lie and steal Jihai Town’s defense deployment map.
• Chu Zhiyuan found Ding Shaoqiang at Tianshui Pavilion and proved his identity with his jade pendant.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Ding Shaoqiang that Great Lie could invade the Eastern Frontier through Jihai Town and that Feiniao Camp had to be dealt with first.
• Ding Shaoqiang proposed arresting Feiniao Camp’s generals immediately, but Chu Zhiyuan warned that this might trigger an outright rebellion.
• Chu Zhiyuan instructed Ding Shaoqiang to send Feiniao Camp on a campaign against Daliu Camp, then recall it and seize its officers after its strength had been worn down.

Chu Zhiyuan directed Ding Shaoqiang to mobilize several camps against Daliu Camp while quietly preparing to deal with Feiniao Camp. The pursuing troops discovered a mine, leaving the eastern borderlands’ secret iron mining exposed.

• Chu Zhiyuan warned Ding Shaoqiang not to publicize the private iron mine and advised him to use generous rewards to mobilize several camps against Daliu Camp.
• Ding Shaoqiang rejected his guard’s suggestion of treason and said he trusted Chu Zhiyuan to confront the powerful forces entrenched in the eastern borderlands.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed at least four hidden Grandmasters in the region and suspected they came from hostile sects or neighboring dynasties.
• Feiniao Camp, Baihe Camp, Jingyun Camp, and She Diao Camp marched toward Daliu Camp, while officers in Feiniao Camp were arrested and replaced during a reorganization.
• Feiniao Camp learned Daliu Camp had fled and followed wagon tracks in pursuit, eventually finding a mine.

Chu Zhiyuan questioned Meng Canglan about the Yanxing Mountain iron mine and Carefree Cult’s involvement in the eastern border’s unrest. He pressured her into revealing Daliu Camp’s latest location at Eagle Beak Cliff, leaving him poised to act against the rebels.

• Chu Zhiyuan watched Ding Shaoqiang seize the iron mine and judged that the forceful approach would seal the mine without uncovering those behind the private mining.
• At Tianshui Pavilion, Chu Zhiyuan pressed Meng Canglan about the iron mine, and she admitted Senior Brother Huang had considered involvement before the cult’s Elders rebuked him.
• Chu Zhiyuan suspected powerful eastern-border families and officials were involved in the mine, and accused Carefree Cult of exploiting the Daliu Camp rebellion for its own gain.
• Chu Zhiyuan demanded that Carefree Cult help suppress Daliu Camp, and Meng Canglan said the rebels had moved to Eagle Beak Cliff, a hundred li south of Yanxing Mountain.
• Meng Canglan handed Chu Zhiyuan a map of the camp’s location, and he recognized Eagle Beak Cliff as one of four dangerous places.

Chu Zhiyuan and Meng Canglan investigated Daliu Camp, where Chu’s intuition warned of hidden danger and the unorthodox sect experts were conspicuously absent. As they followed Carefree Cult disciple Zhou Zhijia to locate the camp’s other groups, the trail markers vanished, leaving their whereabouts uncertain.

• Chu Zhiyuan warned Meng Canglan that Daliu Camp held immense danger and insisted on going there with her.
• At Eagle Beak Cliff, Chu Zhiyuan and Meng Canglan found only 1,136 people, and Zhou Zhijia told them the group planned to surrender because of hunger and hardship.
• Zhou Zhijia explained that the camp had split into three groups, with the other two heading north and south, and said markers could lead them to the others.
• Chu Zhiyuan suspected the Huaisu Sect and Tianxin Sect experts had joined the other groups and feared they might be targeting ordinary people.
• As Zhou Zhijia led Chu Zhiyuan and Meng Canglan toward the other groups, he discovered that their markers had disappeared.

Chu Zhiyuan, Meng Canglan, and Zhou Zhijia discovered two mass sacrifices and fled from the pursuing Tianxin Sect Grandmaster Zheng Tu. Chu Zhiyuan stopped to face Zheng Tu, then called Huang Cheng and Mr. Tao to join them.

• Chu Zhiyuan led Meng Canglan and Zhou Zhijia to a valley where corpses and severed limbs had been arranged for a sacrifice.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed another sacrifice and found more than a thousand men dead, their faces frozen in ecstasy.
• Chu Zhiyuan carried Meng Canglan and Zhou Zhijia away from the valley as an evil sect expert pursued them.
• Zheng Tu revealed he was a Tianxin Sect disciple who had killed the victims and used the Sacrifice Method to become a Grandmaster.
• Chu Zhiyuan stopped to confront Zheng Tu, who claimed Chu Zhiyuan would not get the chance to use his saber technique.
• Chu Zhiyuan summoned Huang Cheng and Mr. Tao, who appeared behind him.

Chu Zhiyuan and his companions faced Zheng Tu and Xu Lingfeng, who had slaughtered more than a thousand people. Chu Zhiyuan’s coordinated counterattack killed both Grandmasters, leaving the group alive.

• Zheng Tu revealed that Xu Lingfeng was waiting nearby, and Xu Lingfeng admitted that he had killed the people Zhou Zhijia asked about.
• Chu Zhiyuan and Huang Cheng decided to injure the two Grandmasters to create a chance to escape while Meng Canglan and Zhou Zhijia prepared to withdraw.
• Zheng Tu attacked Meng Canglan, but Chu Zhiyuan’s Flying Dagger and Tao Haoran’s strike drew him into a clash with Chu Zhiyuan.
• Chu Zhiyuan’s Blade Soul disrupted Zheng Tu, allowing Huang Cheng to strike him, and Chu Zhiyuan’s Flying Dagger killed him.
• The Flying Dagger struck Xu Lingfeng and disrupted his defenses, enabling Huang Cheng and Tao Haoran to kill him.