Chapter Summaries

Yun Qing protected Ye Hui from a force trying to implant a fate fragment in his divine soul, then sensed that Blackwater Town’s destiny was being forcibly corrected. Ye Hui woke with confusing memories and unruly devouring power, while an unseen force tightened its scarlet fateweave over the town.

• Ye Hui’s nightmare triggered his devouring power, and Yun Qing used a Divine Soul Guardian Formation to shield him and calm the power.
• Yun Qing suspected the interference came from the Cosmic Star Lord behind Fu Sanyuan and warned that he would not let the threat disturb his shop in peace.
• Ye Hui woke remembering contradictory visions of Aunt Chen and True Person Hua, then found his devouring power spinning excitedly inside his shattered dantian.
• Yun Huang watched the fateweave tightening over Blackwater Town and anticipated that Yun Qing would soon notice it.
• The fate threads above A Little Shop, West Street, and Blackwater Town turned scarlet as an unseen force dragged people back toward their predetermined destinies.

Yun Qing met Liu Niang’s husband, Pei Junyao, at her wonton stall and ended up drinking with him after Pei grew jealous of Yun Qing’s visits. Pei passed out after thirty bowls, leaving Yun Qing sober and Ye Hui watching from the shop next door.

• Yun Qing saw Pei Junyao eating at Liu Niang’s stall, and Pei glared at him before greeting him politely.
• Pei took over the stall and sent Liu Niang inside to rest, then challenged Yun Qing to drink Pear Blossom Liquor with him.
• Yun Qing and Pei competed over drinks while Ye Hui watched from the shop and received a packet of peanuts from Yun Qing.
• After thirty bowls, Pei collapsed over the table while Yun Qing remained sober, and Pei drunkenly told Liu Niang not to look at Yun Qing too much.

Yun Qing shared drinks with Pei Junyao and Liu Niang, learning that the Great Xia Ancient Dynasty was pressuring the Purple Dusk Empire to submit and that its eldest princess would become Xia Wushang’s concubine. Liu Niang also asked Yun Qing to keep her cultivator sister in mind when he met a suitable young man, and the chapter ended with the three of them drinking together.

• Pei Junyao told Yun Qing that Great Xia had shattered Purple Dusk’s protective formation and was forcing the empire to submit.
• Pei Junyao revealed that Purple Dusk planned to marry its eldest princess to Xia Wushang as a concubine, and Yun Qing reacted with delighted surprise.
• Liu Niang explained that her younger sister had fallen for a senior brother in her sect and asked Yun Qing to recommend a dependable young man.
• Yun Qing considered his younger brothers, judged them unsuitable, and promised to keep Liu Niang’s sister in mind if he met someone appropriate.
• Liu Niang and Yun Qing continued drinking as Pei Junyao repeatedly tried to drink in his wife’s place.

Ye Hui discovered his dantian had slightly recovered as Blacksmith Zhao returned badly wounded from a fight with old enemies. After Yun Qing sent Ye Hui to return Aunt Chen’s basket, Ye Hui stopped an attacker and found Niu Niu chopping two masked cultivators into pieces.

• Ye Hui watered the wild chrysanthemums and noticed that his shattered dantian had recovered a little and his devouring power was unusually active.
• Blacksmith Zhao returned to town with his left arm severed, and Yun Qing and Pei Junyao helped treat his wound.
• Blacksmith Zhao said an enemy from his younger days had tracked him down and claimed the matter had been settled.
• Yun Qing sent Ye Hui to return Aunt Chen’s forgotten winnowing basket, and Ye Hui heard a scream from her courtyard.
• Ye Hui killed a masked cultivator who fled from the courtyard with a Snake Sword formed from his devouring power.
• Ye Hui found Niu Niu holding bloodied cleavers beside two dead cultivators and watched her chop their corpses into mince.

After Niu Niu killed the attackers, Ye Hui helped Aunt Chen hide the bodies and learned that the old grudges haunting West Street were surfacing again. Yun Qing secretly protected the neighbors as trouble spread, while Pei Junyao stayed in town to guard Liu Niang and help at the apothecary.

• Aunt Chen rushed home and embraced Niu Niu after she counted the blows she had struck against a corpse.
• Ye Hui told Aunt Chen that the escaped attacker was dead, helped dispose of the bodies, and washed the blood from the courtyard.
• Aunt Chen recognized the jade flute on one corpse, took it, and served Ye Hui the bone broth that matched a scene from his dream.
• Old Sun, Uncle Wu, and Liu Niang faced disturbances linked to old grudges and suspicious outsiders, while Yun Qing secretly intervened to protect them.
• Pei Junyao took leave from his post in Lone Goose City and stayed near Liu Niang, but Ye Hui sent him away after he repeatedly mixed up the apothecary's herbs.

Yun Qing and Pei Junyao discussed the suspicious history of Blackwater Town’s residents before Hua Luoqi suddenly regained Spirit Transformation cultivation at the Mine. As Pei Junyao fled to protect Liu Niang, Hua Luoqi began heading toward the town.

• Pei Junyao told Yun Qing that Old Zhao, Old Sun, and Uncle Wu had hidden their pasts for years, but strange incidents had recently begun happening around them.
• Pei Junyao recognized Ye Hui as a former leading disciple of the Heavenly Pivot Sect, prompting Ye Hui to react with anger before Yun Qing redirected the conversation.
• Yun Qing sensed a surge of spiritual power at the Mine that rapidly rose from Golden Core to Spirit Transformation.
• Hua Luoqi announced that she had regained her full strength, and Ye Hui recognized the laughter from his nightmare.
• Pei Junyao identified Hua Luoqi as the Flower Demon, warned Yun Qing to leave, and rushed to protect Liu Niang.
• Yun Qing sensed distorted fate around Hua Luoqi as Pei Junyao shouted that she was coming toward them.

Hua Luoqi attacked Blackwater Town to refine its residents into materials for her Thousand-Bone Flower Banner, and Pei Junyao and the people of West Street stood against her. As the Flower Demon overwhelmed them, Uncle Wu gave Yun Qing a High-Rank Teleportation Scroll and told him to escape with the others.

• Hua Luoqi surrounded Blackwater Town with blood-flower vines and declared that she would use the entire town to complete her Thousand-Bone Flower Banner.
• Hua Luoqi sensed Pei Junyao's Purple Extreme Heavenly Gang, descended on West Street, and struck him down as he defended Liu Niang.
• Blacksmith Zhao, Niu Niu, and Old Sun joined the fight against Hua Luoqi while Yun Qing watched the falling flowers dissolve before reaching him.
• Uncle Wu thanked Yun Qing for healing him, handed him a High-Rank Teleportation Scroll, and urged him to escape with Liu Niang, Niu Niu, and the others.

Hua Luoqi overwhelmed West Street as Yun Qing saw that the Heavenly Dao had arranged the street’s destruction as his final mortalization tribulation. He rejected the trial and unleashed his double pupils, accepting that he might fail to return to the Immortal World.

• Uncle Wu revealed a Formation Banner as Hua Luoqi unleashed a storm of blood-blossom blades against West Street.
• Pei Junyao, Blacksmith Zhao, Old Sun, and Uncle Wu fought to protect the neighbors, but Hua Luoqi broke their defenses and left them gravely injured.
• Ye Hui nearly lost control of his devouring power, but Yun Qing placed a hand on his shoulder and stepped into the street.
• Yun Qing’s double pupils opened, revealing fate threads binding West Street and the Heavenly Dao’s plan to annihilate it before the Child of Heaven’s Mandate arrived.
• The Heavenly Dao told Yun Qing that enduring West Street’s destruction would complete his mortalization and allow him to return to the Heavenly Origin Immortal World.
• Yun Qing refused the tribulation and declared he would accept failure in the mortal world as his double pupils opened across the sky.

Yun Qing revealed overwhelming Void Refinement power and killed Hua Luoqi to save West Street. After the survivors thanked him as a senior, a Dao Diagram scroll burned away in the Chaos Sea, and Yun Huang’s next move made another scroll shine.

• Hua Luoqi tried to flee when Yun Qing’s Double Pupils Dharma Aspect appeared, but his gaze destroyed her and her blood blossoms.
• Blacksmith Zhao, Old Sun, Aunt Chen, Pei Junyao, Liu Niang, and Uncle Wu reacted to Yun Qing’s power, and Uncle Wu thanked him as a senior.
• On the Lotus Platform, Yun Huang watched the Dao Diagram scroll inscribed with “all beings sharing the dust” burn to ash.
• Yun Huang placed another stone, and the scroll inscribed with “free and unfettered true heart” blazed with light.

Yun Qing restored West Street and severed the fate threads threatening its residents, stopping Ye Hui when an unseen force compelled him to attack. As Yun Qing began examining Ye Hui, the Purple Dusk Empire announced its submission to Great Xia and ceased to exist as an independent nation.

• Yun Qing repaired West Street and gave its residents healing pills.
• Yun Qing used the Bear All Things Spear to sever the fate threads binding West Street's residents to the scarlet net.
• An unseen fate thread possessed Ye Hui and made him attack Yun Qing, but Yun Qing parried him and cut the thread.
• Yun Qing began preparing to examine Ye Hui's divine soul as eighty-one bells rang across the Purple Dusk Empire.
• The Purple Dusk Empire announced its allegiance to Great Xia and declared that its territory and people would enter the Xia Map.

After Great Xia annexed the Purple Dusk Empire, a dragon cavalry herald met Yun Qing in Blackwater Town and learned that Yun Qing had dealt with the Flower Demon. Yun Qing turned his attention back to Ye Hui, planning to heal him and help him eventually seek revenge.

• Great Xia's dragon cavalry announced that Purple Dusk's people and territory now belonged to Great Xia and began enforcing its laws.
• A herald arrived in Blackwater Town, destroyed the Flower Demon's lingering blood blossoms, and recognized Yun Qing.
• Yun Qing told the herald that Hua Luoqi had attacked the town and warned him about dangers remaining in the nearby mine.
• The herald thanked Yun Qing, promised to search the mine, and carried off Blackwater Town's chief official.
• Yun Qing considered healing Ye Hui, rebuilding his dantian, and giving him treasures so the boy could pursue revenge on his own.

Yun Huang revealed Ye Hui as a Chaos Ancient Beast by striking him with a sun-powered Go stone, which forced him into his tiny snake form. Yun Qing recognized him as a Chaos Heaven-Devouring Python and decided to take him home.

• Yun Qing was struck twice by white Go stones thrown by Yun Huang, but he failed to realize Ye Hui was the reason.
• Yun Huang hit Ye Hui with a stone infused with sun divine power, forcing his serpent form to emerge and suppressing it into a tiny snake.
• Yun Huang placed Ye Hui in a radiant box and presented him to Yun Qing.
• Yun Qing recognized the little snake as a Chaos Heaven-Devouring Python and gently nudged his chin.
• Yun Qing announced that he had picked up a Chaos Ancient Beast who wanted to come home with him, while Ye Hui hid beneath his tail.

Ye Tianchen and his companions traveled toward Blackwater Town after Great Xia annexed the Purple Dusk Empire, and they discussed the mysterious dynasty’s origins and power. Ye Tianchen resolved to investigate the mine disturbances before going to the Purple Dusk capital to meet the eldest princess, while Su Wanwan worried about her sister.

• Lin Muyao criticized the Purple Dusk Empire for surrendering to Great Xia, while Red Ji dismissed mortal dynasties as insignificant.
• Ye Tianchen worried because the eldest princess had summoned him and he sensed that something tied to his fate had changed.
• Su Wanwan explained that her sect suspected Great Xia had come from the Immortal World and had heard warnings about its formidable armies and National Fortune.
• Ye Tianchen asked Elder Mu about Great Xia, but Elder Mu had never heard of the dynasty, leading Ye Tianchen to underestimate it.
• Ye Tianchen reassured Su Wanwan that her sister would be safe, and the group sped toward Blackwater Town to investigate the mine disturbances.

Yun Qing received Ye Hui, a juvenile Chaos Heaven-Devouring Python, as a gift from Yun Huang and examined him in his shop. Ye Hui woke in snake form, panicked at Yun Qing’s teasing threat to sell him, then relaxed under Yun Qing’s soothing touch.

• Yun Qing placed the unconscious Ye Hui in a luxurious box and sent Yun Huang an image of the gift snake.
• Yun Huang asked whether Ye Hui suited Yun Qing, and Yun Qing enthusiastically agreed in his heart.
• Ye Hui woke without arms or legs, realized he was a snake, and struck his head against the box.
• Yun Qing joked that Ye Hui might fetch a good price, frightening Ye Hui into a clumsy attempt to move.
• Yun Qing explained that Ye Hui was still a newborn python and gently stroked him with chaos immortal power, soothing his battered divine soul.

Yun Qing revealed that Ye Hui was a Chaos Heaven-Devouring Python and placed a protective Heart-Easing Pact around his Divine Soul. The pact unlocked fragments of Ye Hui’s inherited memories, which Yun Qing found severely incomplete.

• Yun Qing recognized Ye Hui as a Chaos Heaven-Devouring Python rather than a Spirit-Devouring Body and considered how valuable the ancient beast’s body could be.
• Yun Qing teased Ye Hui by pretending to threaten him with harvesting his body, then bound him with a sigil while Ye Hui feigned humiliation to entertain him.
• Yun Qing explained that the Heart-Easing Pact protected Ye Hui’s Divine Soul and would alert Yun Qing if fate threads interfered again.
• Yun Qing activated the pact and revealed inherited information about the Chaos Heaven-Devouring Python, whose kind could eventually devour worlds, laws, and Heaven’s Mandate.
• Yun Qing noticed that Ye Hui’s inherited memories were severely incomplete.

Yun Qing cared for the newly hatched Ye Hui, who struggled to slither, while Ye Hui sensed the arrival of Ye Tianchen and his companions in Blackwater Town. Elsewhere, Fu Sanyuan resumed fortune-telling and spun a story that prompted a white-robed gentleman to question the fates of Ye Tianchen and Night Rice.

• Yun Qing explained that Ye Hui lacked his inheritance because the Chaos Sea had dried up and his lineage’s Fortune had been severed, then helped him into his palm.
• Ye Hui tried and failed to slither, forgetting he could transform into a human as Yun Qing took him to find Liu Niang and eat wontons.
• Yun Huang watched Yun Qing’s daily life through the Dao path’s broadcast while the Heavenly Dao cautiously stayed out of his way.
• Ye Tianchen entered Blackwater Town with his junior sister, a demoness, his childhood sweetheart, and twin sisters, and Ye Hui stiffened as he sensed them.
• Fu Sanyuan told a fortune-seeking white-robed gentleman a tale casting Leaf Cake as a winner and Night Rice as a villain; the gentleman challenged him to continue by contrasting their fortunes.

Xie Junheng sought Fu Sanyuan’s advice on whether to follow fate or break free, and Fu told him that an upcoming Great Xia Ancient Dynasty examination held the key to his escape. After Xie left, Fu looked forward to meeting Eldest Young Master Yun again.

• Xie Junheng asked Fu Sanyuan to divine whether he should obey heaven’s decree or resist the game shaping his fate.
• Fu cast a hexagram and said Xie’s life was marked by hardship and sacrifice for others, prompting Xiao An to angrily denounce him.
• Xie asked how to break free, and Fu agreed to explain in exchange for Xie helping him analyze a story ending when they met again.
• Fu advised Xie to break out of the game because a new variable had made the path of obedience doomed to fail.
• Fu revealed that the Great Xia Ancient Dynasty would soon hold an open imperial examination in the former capital, where Xie could find the person and way to change his fate.
• After Xie departed, Fu watched the fortune clouds reform and said he would meet Eldest Young Master Yun again for another contest.

Xie Junheng manipulated Xiao An with promises of sect cultivation while sending a letter to his cousin Junyao to lure him back to Purple Dusk. In Blackwater Town, Su Wanwan reunited with Liu Niang and introduced Ye Tianchen and the others, while Liu Niang quietly assessed the group’s romantic entanglements.

• Xie Junheng promised Xiao An that he and his sister could join Ye Tianchen in an immortal sect, then wrote Junyao about the upcoming examinations and a possible cure for his wife's ailment.
• Xie Junheng sent Xiao An away before arranging for servants to deliver the sealed letter to Junyao.
• Yun Qing opened A Little Shop as Su Wanwan arrived in Blackwater Town with Ye Tianchen and their companions.
• Su Wanwan embraced Liu Niang and tearfully asked after her, and Liu Niang reassured her that she was well.
• Lin Muyao praised Ye Tianchen’s cultivation and reputation, while Liu Niang observed the women’s affection for him and thought Shopkeeper Yun had no suitable nephews.

Su Wanwan reunited with Liu Niang and gave her pills, while Ye Tianchen learned Liu Niang possessed a ruined primordial maiden bone and offered her a Warming Origin Pill. As Liu Niang played along with Su Wanwan’s tender act, she recalled how the two had once backed each other up in the brothel.

• Liu Niang served Su Wanwan the rice cakes she had loved as a child, and Su Wanwan recalled being sold to a brothel and protected by Liu Niang.
• Su Wanwan gave Liu Niang saved pills, and Ye Tianchen asked Elder Mu to examine Liu Niang’s illness.
• Elder Mu identified Liu Niang’s primordial maiden bone and explained that her Dao foundation had been destroyed after her primordial yin was lost.
• Ye Tianchen gave Liu Niang a high-grade Warming Origin Pill, and Su Wanwan and Liu Niang thanked him.
• Liu Niang recalled how young Su Wanwan used to fight anyone who stole her rice cakes and hide behind her while they faced life in the brothel together.

Liu Niang reunited with Su Wanwan while Yun Qing met Ye Tianchen and invited his group to A Little Shop. After they left, Yun Qing studied Ye Tianchen’s powerful fortune and sent the scene to Brother Huang, judging Ye Tianchen a hollow counterfeit of someone he admired.

• Liu Niang noticed Su Wanwan’s feelings did not match her words about Ye Tianchen and held her close without asking further in front of the group.
• Yun Qing visited the wonton stall, offered Liu Niang help with medicine, and introduced himself to Ye Tianchen as a West Street shopkeeper.
• Ye Tianchen suggested that his companions browse A Little Shop while Liu Niang and Su Wanwan spoke privately, and Liu Niang gave Yun Qing rabbit-shaped rice cakes.
• Su Wanwan felt increasingly wary of Yun Qing as Liu Niang led her inside and Ye Tianchen’s group headed for the shop.
• Yun Qing examined Ye Tianchen’s vast fortune, transmitted the scene to Brother Huang, and privately dismissed Ye Tianchen as a counterfeit.