Chapter Summaries

Chu Zhiyuan learned that several evil sects had recently acquired a rare secret technique that could let Demonic Humans conceal themselves and unleash a deadly attack, possibly targeting him. He decided to lure them out by inventing an Evil Emperor’s Cave Mansion near Yujing City.

• Chu Zhiyuan questioned the captured young man and learned that five people nearby had mastered the secret technique, which was recently acquired and difficult to learn.
• Chu Zhiyuan suspected the technique was part of a plot against him connected to the purge in the Eastern Realm, while Xiao Ruoling warned that more sects might possess it.
• Chu Zhiyuan dismissed the idea of interrogating the secret technique and proposed making the Demonic Humans come to him instead.
• Chu Zhiyuan suggested fabricating news of an Evil Emperor’s Cave Mansion, and Xiao Ruoling agreed that the evil sects’ members would likely take the bait.

Chu Zhiyuan helped Xiao Ruoling’s Moon Invitation Palace spread a rumor about the Evil Emperor, then cleared Demonic Humans from the area around Moon-Inviting Peak. After returning to Yujing City, he learned that Meng Canglan had cured Chu Mingrui’s curse and that Chu Mingrui would return to the capital.

• Xiao Ruoling decided to spread the Evil Emperor rumor, and Chu Zhiyuan agreed to take responsibility with the Imperial Court.
• Chu Zhiyuan killed two Demonic Humans with his Glazed Saber Scripture, then swept the surrounding area with Xiao Ruoling and Shen Hanyue and killed more than thirty others.
• Chu Zhiyuan received Chu Mingrui’s letter describing his worsening condition and feared the poison would prove fatal.
• Chu Zhiyuan sensed more Demonic Humans approaching Jade Capital and prepared for the coming threat.
• Chu Mingrui wrote that Meng Canglan had neutralized his Southern Border curse, and he arranged to return to the capital with an Imperial Court envoy.

Chu Zhiyuan urged Li Hongzhao not to rush back to Tianjing after she revealed that peace negotiations were planned and the Great Meng Emperor was gravely ill. Li Hongzhao remained concerned about her father and her own prospects, while Chu Zhiyuan asked her to arrange for Evil Sect statues from Great Meng.

• Li Hongzhao told Chu Zhiyuan she planned to leave for Tianjing the next day because Great Jing and Great Meng were preparing for peace negotiations.
• Chu Zhiyuan questioned why the two dynasties would negotiate, and Li Hongzhao revealed that the Great Meng Emperor was gravely ill.
• Chu Zhiyuan advised Li Hongzhao to wait for more information instead of returning, warning that her ambition to become Emperor could draw suspicion.
• Li Hongzhao said Mr. Su had already gone ahead to investigate the Emperor’s condition, but she did not agree to delay her own return.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked Li Hongzhao to send him Evil Sect statues from Great Meng, and she agreed.

Chu Zhiyuan returned to Prince Qing's Estate, where Chu Qingyan warned him about Li Hongzhao's Phoenix Bloodline and explained the dangers of Grandmaster cultivation and Great Meng's looming succession crisis. The chapter ended with Chu Zhiyuan watching Li Hongzhao at Sifang Pavilion as Su Qiuyan and three Grandmasters spoke with her.

• Chu Zhiyuan returned to Prince Qing's Estate and found Chu Qingyan playing chess with Chu Minghou while Bai Ningshuang played the qin.
• Chu Qingyan warned Chu Zhiyuan to stay away from Li Hongzhao, explaining that her Phoenix Bloodline meant only an Emperor could marry her safely.
• Chu Qingyan told Chu Zhiyuan that Great Meng was likely negotiating peace because its Emperor had suffered Qi Deviation and might pass the throne to the First Prince, who had become a Grandmaster.
• Chu Qingyan cautioned Chu Zhiyuan that Grandmasters risked Qi Deviation if they pursued cultivation too fiercely, and that a masterless Emperor's Sword could plunge the realm into turmoil.
• Chu Zhiyuan considered the possibility of Great Meng's Emperor's Sword becoming masterless, but Chu Qingyan warned him against assassinating a prince and suggested the situation might be a trap.
• Chu Zhiyuan used his Super Sensation to watch Li Hongzhao at Sifang Pavilion as Su Qiuyan and three Grandmasters spoke with her.

Chu Zhiyuan learned that the Great Meng Emperor had summoned Li Hongzhao back to the capital after suffering Qi Deviation, and he suspected the summons was meant to hinder her succession. As Li Hongzhao prepared to obey the edict, Chu Zhiyuan considered how the Emperor’s Sword might choose its next master.

• Chu Zhiyuan considered using the Fearless Sect against Great Meng but decided Great Jing could oppose it openly as its strength grew.
• Su Qiuyan told Li Hongzhao that the Great Meng Emperor had summoned her to the capital after Qi Deviation had ruined more than half his cultivation.
• Su Qiuyan secretly told Li Hongzhao she need not hurry back, and Li Hongzhao sensed the three Grandmasters’ distance and suspected something was wrong.
• Chu Zhiyuan asked Chu Qingyan how the Emperor’s Sword chose among Princes, learning that cultivation and character mattered most while merit and prestige could be compromised on.
• Chu Zhiyuan suspected the Great Meng Emperor wanted Li Hongzhao away from the capital so the First Prince, Li Haotian, could inherit the throne without her becoming a Grandmaster.

Chu Zhiyuan chose not to interfere with Li Hongzhao’s departure, then met her outside Yujing and exchanged tokens so they could find each other again. Li Hongzhao rode away with the Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry, while Chu Zhiyuan discovered her jade pendant let him sense her direction.

• Chu Zhiyuan decided to wait and watch rather than help Li Hongzhao, and Chu Qingyan warned him to be cautious about spreading rumors of the Evil Emperor to lure the Demonic Humans.
• Chu Qingyan explained that the Evil Emperor had been the first person to ascend through evil arts, and Chu Zhiyuan reaffirmed that he wanted to wipe out the Demonic Humans.
• Li Hongzhao left Yujing with more than a hundred Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry and stopped to meet Chu Zhiyuan at a pavilion outside the western gate.
• Chu Zhiyuan gave Li Hongzhao a small knife to use if she needed his help, and Li Hongzhao gave him her jade pendant in return.
• After Li Hongzhao rode away, Chu Zhiyuan sensed that her jade pendant revealed her vague direction.

Chu Zhiyuan met Cheng Miaozhen while she waited for her elder brother, Cheng Yifeng, to arrive in the capital. After agreeing to attend a dinner at the Princess Mansion, he left the siblings together, and Cheng Miaozhen realized Cheng Yifeng’s stories from Wentian Cliff hinted at a woman.

• Chu Zhiyuan sensed Li Hongzhao’s direction with the token he had received from her, even after she had gone beyond his perception range.
• Cheng Miaozhen met Chu Zhiyuan at a pavilion while waiting for her elder brother and discussed Great Jing’s planned peace negotiations with Great Meng, her brother’s cultivation, and the Heaven’s Machine Art.
• Cheng Miaozhen invited Chu Zhiyuan to a banquet at the Princess Mansion, and he agreed to attend on the evening of the eighteenth, three days later.
• Cheng Yifeng arrived, greeted Cheng Miaozhen and Chu Zhiyuan, and was introduced as the Seventeenth Prince of Great Zhen.
• Chu Zhiyuan departed, and Cheng Miaozhen questioned Cheng Yifeng about his journey and experiences at Wentian Cliff.
• Cheng Miaozhen picked up on the implication in Cheng Yifeng’s tales that a woman was involved.

Cheng Yifeng told Cheng Miaozhen he intended to marry Xiao Qiuya, a Moon Invitation Palace disciple whose marriage would require her to give up her cultivation. As Chu Zhiyuan considered his own reasons for pursuing Cheng Miaozhen, he spotted two Demonic Humans, who collapsed and shriveled into skeletons.

• Cheng Yifeng told Cheng Miaozhen he loved Xiao Qiuya and would marry her even if she had to abandon her martial arts.
• Cheng Yifeng bought ornaments for Xiao Qiuya and suggested asking the Saintess, Fourth Heir Apparent's future Heir Apparent's Consort, to help her avoid losing her cultivation.
• Cheng Miaozhen hurried ahead while Cheng Yifeng followed with a hairpin, and Chu Zhiyuan overheard their conversation.
• Chu Zhiyuan reflected that he had accepted Cheng Miaozhen's invitation to investigate the Yin Yang Void Return Art and its mysterious breath.
• Chu Zhiyuan noticed two young men he recognized as Demonic Humans; they collapsed, rapidly shrank into skeletons, and terrified the nearby crowd.

Chu Zhiyuan secretly killed Demonic Humans from the evil sects who had infiltrated Yujing City, while rumors spread that the Emperor’s Sword was responsible. Cheng Miaozhen suspected who was truly behind the killings but kept her thoughts to herself.

• Chu Zhiyuan sensed and silently killed eleven Demonic Humans from the evil sects in Yujing City, then returned to Prince Qing’s Estate worried about how they had bypassed the city’s guards.
• For three days, Chu Zhiyuan searched the city and eliminated any evil sect disciples he found with Blade Soul.
• Cheng Yifeng, Cheng Miaozhen, and Consort Shu ate at Qingfeng Tower, where Consort Shu reprimanded Cheng Yifeng for hiding his princely identity from Xiao Qiuya and warned him not to imitate his father’s deception.
• Cheng Miaozhen drew her family’s attention to rumors downstairs that the Emperor’s Sword had silently killed the Demonic Humans and could ward off evil.
• Cheng Yifeng questioned who was killing the evil sect members, and Cheng Miaozhen suspected someone but did not reveal the person’s identity.

Cheng Miaozhen suspected Chu Zhiyuan was responsible for killing the evil sect’s Demonic Humans, and he confirmed it during a visit to Princess Jianing’s residence. Consort Shu warned him that becoming Emperor would change his temperament under the influence of the Emperor’s Sword, and advised him to delay taking the throne.

• Cheng Miaozhen and Cheng Yifeng discussed the rumors about an Evil Emperor and a hidden cave mansion, while Consort Shu explained that Wentian Cliff disciples were barred from becoming Emperor.
• Cheng Yifeng warmly welcomed Chu Zhiyuan to Princess Jianing’s residence, where he met Cheng Miaozhen and Consort Shu.
• Cheng Miaozhen asked whether Chu Zhiyuan had killed the evil sect’s Demonic Humans, and he confirmed that his secret art had done so.
• Chu Zhiyuan explained that the Demonic Humans had learned to conceal their auras, but said he could still find them.
• Consort Shu warned Chu Zhiyuan that the Emperor’s Sword would change an Emperor’s temperament and urged him not to inherit the throne too early.

Chu Zhiyuan discussed the burdens of wielding the Emperor's Sword with Consort Shu and learned of Cheng Yifeng's unrequited love for Xiao Qiuya. After the meal, Cheng Miaozhen passed the Yin Yang Void Return Art to Chu Zhiyuan, leaving him with an unusual glimmer in his eyes.

• Consort Shu warned Chu Zhiyuan that the Emperor's Sword brought ceaseless duties and urged him to delay wielding it while he cultivated.
• Cheng Yifeng thanked Chu Zhiyuan for helping his family, then confessed his love for Xiao Qiuya and learned that Moon Invitation Palace disciples risk losing their martial arts if they marry.
• Cheng Yifeng drank heavily and fell asleep, so Chu Zhiyuan said farewell and left with Cheng Miaozhen.
• Cheng Miaozhen offered to pass on the Yin Yang Void Return Art as thanks, and Chu Zhiyuan told her she need not feel guilty over the court dispute.
• Cheng Miaozhen touched Chu Zhiyuan's brow and successfully transmitted the Yin Yang Void Return Art.

Chu Zhiyuan mastered the Yin Yang Void Return Art, while Cheng Miaozhen advanced to the Spirit Void Realm after seeing him off. At a dinner with his relatives, Chu Zhiyuan learned that Li Hongzhao had succeeded to the Great Meng throne and concluded the news was likely true.

• Chu Zhiyuan mastered the Yin Yang Void Return Art and learned from Cheng Miaozhen that he had reached the Body Void stage of the Void Return Realm.
• Cheng Miaozhen advanced to the Spirit Void Realm after escorting Chu Zhiyuan from the Princess Mansion, then spoke with Consort Shu about him.
• Chu Zhiyuan returned to Listening to Waves Courtyard and wondered whether deeper cultivation of the art could free him from the Grandmaster's restraints on killing.
• Chu Mingxuan told Chu Zhiyuan, Chu Zhiting, and Chu Zhichuan that Li Hongzhao had inherited the Great Meng throne.
• Chu Zhiyuan considered the imperial decree and the three Grandmasters who had accompanied Li Hongzhao, and judged that she might truly have become emperor.

Chu Zhiyuan and the princes discussed Li Hongzhao’s ascension to Great Meng’s throne, the chance of war, and the growing influx of Demonic Humans into Yujing City. The next morning, Cheng Yifeng went out with Consort Shu and Cheng Miaozhen, where they heard that the Evil Emperor’s Cave Mansion had appeared in the eastern part of the city.

• Chu Zhiyuan told the princes that Li Hongzhao’s Phoenix Bloodline had helped her become emperor and that she might avoid starting a war with Great Jing.
• Chu Zhiyuan and the princes speculated that Demonic Humans kept entering Yujing City because deaths strengthened their belief that the Evil Emperor’s Cave Mansion was real.
• Chu Zhiyuan cleansed Yujing City’s inner city again, then returned to the Prince’s residence after Feng Xi reported that everything had been arranged.
• Cheng Yifeng woke with a hangover, ate porridge with Consort Shu and Cheng Miaozhen, and then set out with them to visit Jade Capital’s restaurants.
• At a crowded restaurant, Cheng Yifeng, Consort Shu, and Cheng Miaozhen heard people discussing the Evil Emperor’s Cave Mansion, which had appeared in the eastern part of the city.

Chu Zhiyuan drew evil sect experts toward Yujing City while waiting for the chance to kill Grandmasters and complete his Blade Soul. After welcoming Chu Mingrui back, he discussed Great Meng’s new emperor, Li Hongzhao, and Chu Mingrui suggested that he visit Tianjing to meet her.

• Cheng Miaozhen suspected Chu Zhiyuan had spread the Evil Emperor’s Cave Mansion rumor to lure evil sect experts into a trap.
• Chu Zhiyuan concluded that killing Grandmasters was necessary to complete his nearly finished Blade Soul and concealed his martial aura while moving through Yujing City.
• Chu Zhiyuan found Weng Qifeng close to completing his breakthrough but left without disturbing him.
• Chu Zhiyuan and his relatives welcomed Chu Mingrui back to the capital, where Chu Mingrui described encountering evil sect fighters on the way.
• Chu Mingrui told Chu Zhiyuan that Li Hongzhao had become Great Meng’s emperor after the Emperor’s Sword rejected the First Prince.
• Chu Mingrui suggested that Chu Zhiyuan travel to Tianjing to meet Li Hongzhao and explore the possibility of negotiation.

Chu Zhiyuan discussed the throne with Chu Mingrui, who revealed that he had deliberately chosen military life over pursuing the throne. As Chu Zhiyuan weighed his chances of wielding the Emperor's Sword, Chu Mingrui hinted that he knew a way to make up for Chu Zhiyuan's lack of military merit.

• Chu Zhiyuan and Chu Mingrui discussed Li Hongzhao, the approaching Great Meng delegation, and the secret realms discovered across the three countries.
• At King Ying's Residence, Chu Mingrui asked Chu Zhiyuan to stay behind and speak with him about the throne.
• Chu Zhiyuan admitted he wanted to wield the Emperor's Sword because he wanted control over his own fate and freedom to choose whom he married.
• Chu Mingrui explained that he preferred leading troops to ruling, and that he had deliberately damaged his spirit by practicing the Meditation Technique early so he would not pursue the throne.
• Chu Zhiyuan noted that his cousins might become Grandmasters within ten years, while Chu Mingrui said there was a way to make up for Chu Zhiyuan's lack of military merit.

Chu Zhiyuan received the Qi Transformation Returning to Origin Art from Chu Mingrui and considered using it to strengthen his body while lowering his cultivation. He later met Meng Canglan outside Jade Capital, discussed the Evil Sect’s growing presence, and revealed that he planned to lure its members into fighting over the Evil Emperor’s treasures.

• Chu Mingrui offered Chu Zhiyuan a secret art that could dissolve his cultivation and rebuild his strength, and Chu Zhiyuan accepted the Qi Transformation Returning to Origin Art to study.
• Chu Zhiyuan reflected on Li Hongzhao as the only opponent who truly challenged him and struggled to understand the art’s underlying theories.
• Chu Zhiyuan met Meng Canglan outside the southern city gate, where she had killed two Evil Sect Grandmasters, and learned that the Eastern Border had quieted after the purge.
• Chu Zhiyuan told Meng Canglan that he had spread the Evil Emperor rumors and used Lu Yaofeng’s cave mansion as part of his plan against the Evil Sect.
• Chu Zhiyuan revealed that his next step was to make the Evil Emperor’s treasures appear so the Evil Sect members would turn on one another.

Chu Zhiyuan learned from Meng Canglan how the Thousand Spirits Sect had cursed King Ying and how the curse was redirected, then considered investigating the Southern Border. As four men approached them, their eyes dimmed and they collapsed before reaching the pair.

• Meng Canglan identified the Thousand Spirits Sect as the source of the curse against King Ying and explained the information and materials needed to cast it.
• Meng Canglan revealed that she had redirected the curse onto a pig with Heaven and Earth Minor Teleportation, and warned that the Thousand Spirits Sect was hidden in the Southern Border.
• Chu Zhiyuan concluded that the curse’s mastermind would be difficult to identify and asked Meng Canglan for a map of the Southern Border and statues of evil sects.
• Four middle-aged men approached Meng Canglan, but their eyes dimmed and they fell to the ground before they could reach her.

Meng Canglan told Chu Zhiyuan that the evil sects came from beyond the heavens and gave him an ancient formation diagram. Chu Zhiyuan tested the formation with white jade and discovered that it transformed the jade into the strange material used for evil sect statues.

• Chu Zhiyuan told Meng Canglan he recognized Demonic Heart Sect members and killed them with a special mental secret art.
• Meng Canglan gave Chu Zhiyuan a booklet containing an ancient formation diagram, which he memorized and partly understood.
• Meng Canglan said she would stay at Carefree Mountain Villa and invited Chu Zhiyuan to visit if he needed anything.
• Chu Zhiyuan arranged twelve small pieces of white jade around a pavilion, but a surge of power shattered them.
• Chu Zhiyuan arranged twelve larger pieces of white jade and watched them darken as the formation transformed them into material resembling evil sect statues.

Chu Zhiyuan discovered that prayer to a carved Fearless Sect statue could connect him to Outer Heavenly Power, and concluded that both the formation and the statues had to be destroyed to eradicate the evil sects. As he headed south to hunt their disciples, a young woman fighting six Xuyang Sect men received help from a White Cloud Sword Palace swordsman.

• Chu Zhiyuan carved statues from the transformed black jade and found that praying to the Fearless Sect statue deepened his connection to power beyond the heavens.
• Chu Zhiyuan learned that Outer Heavenly Power made it easy for evil sect disciples to begin cultivating, and decided that destroying the formation and confiscating the statues were both necessary.
• Chu Zhiyuan left Yujing City with Zou Fang and traveled south to clear evil sect disciples from the surrounding area.
• In a forest fifty li south of the city gate, a young woman fought six Xuyang Sect men who threatened her and boasted of abusing other chivalrous women.
• A handsome young man from the White Cloud Sword Palace dropped from the trees and attacked the six men, identifying them as Demonic Humans of the evil sects.

Qu Ying and Shao Feng were trapped by six Demonic Humans from the Xuyang Sect, who tortured them and planned to use them as bait. Just as the pair burned their potential to fight back, Chu Zhiyuan arrived and stopped the attackers, allowing Shao Feng to kill all six.

• Qu Ying and Shao Feng fought the six Demonic Humans while waiting for reinforcements, but the men’s sword formation kept them trapped.
• Shao Feng urged Qu Ying to escape alone, but she refused to leave him behind.
• The Demonic Humans wounded Shao Feng and revealed through their actions that they were using the pair as bait to lure others.
• Shao Feng and Qu Ying burned their potential and prepared to fight to the death.
• Chu Zhiyuan arrived with a clean-shaven middle-aged man, and Qu Ying identified him as the Fourth Heir Apparent.
• Chu Zhiyuan’s presence made the six men’s movements stop, and Shao Feng used the opening to stab each of them through the brow.