Chapter Summaries

The Great Heavenly Venerable tasked Chen Wei with leading a dangerous reform of incense merit and told him to seek Yang Chan’s approval before proceeding. Yang Chan urged him to accept without fear, but the couple set aside the matter to spend time together.

• The Great Heavenly Venerable offered Chen Wei the task of reforming incense merit and instructed him to discuss it with Yang Chan before going to Tongming Hall to find Chang Geng.
• Chen Wei returned to Yang Chan and downplayed the danger of the assignment, but she saw through his explanation.
• Yang Chan told Chen Wei to carry out the reform boldly and promised to cover for him if trouble arose.
• Yang Chan used the Treasure Lotus Lamp to shield their unborn children, and she and Chen Wei turned their attention to each other instead of the incense merit task.

Chen Wei accepted Taibai Jinxing’s warning and backing as he prepared to investigate corruption in incense merit. At the Folk Customs Discipline Inspection Court, he found Yang Chan presiding over a meeting and publicly reprimanded her for taking his seat before allowing her to keep it for the day.

• Taibai Jinxing warned Chen Wei that reforming incense merit would threaten powerful interests and could put his life at risk.
• Chen Wei promised to shoulder the task, and Taibai Jinxing told him to invoke his name if anyone obstructed him.
• Chen Wei headed to the Folk Customs Discipline Inspection Court, planning to start with officials who lacked Mortal Realm backing.
• Chen Wei arrived to find Yang Chan in the principal seat while the true spirits of Chen Xiang and Chen Xiaochan flew around the meeting chamber.
• Chen Wei caught the two spirits and told Yang Chan she could not occupy the Chief Official’s seat, then let her keep it for the day because she was pregnant.

Chen Wei tried to preside over the Discipline Inspection Court meeting while Yang Chan playfully embarrassed him, then left with her for a private meeting. In the front hall, their children won over the officials with their authority and gifts, leaving the courtiers competing to flatter them.

• Chen Wei privately begged Yang Chan to spare his pride, but she pulled his chair away and assigned him the tangyuan everyone claimed to dislike.
• Chen Wei summoned Yang Chan to the rear hall, and she left the two Little Star Lords in Ma Muzhi's care.
• Chen Xiang mocked Ma Muzhi's fourth-rank office while Chen Xiaochan doodled on an official document, which Ma praised and promised to display.
• Chen Xiaochan offered to ask the Jade Emperor to promote Ma Muzhi, while Lu Beiwang praised the Little Star Lords and received Chen Xiang's Jade Pendant.
• Pang Long, Xiao Yan, Chu Feng, and Han Li crowded forward to praise the children, who happily promised them rewards.

Chen Wei learned that Yang Chan had advanced to Daluo and that Yang Jian supported his assignment to reform the Heavenly Court’s incense offerings. He accepted the dangerous task with Yang Chan’s promise of protection and her insistence that his family’s safety came first.

• Yang Chan involuntarily moved Chen Wei in front of her and revealed that she had advanced from Primordial Unity Golden Immortal to Daluo.
• Yang Chan explained that their unborn children had fed origin essence back to her and improved her cultivation.
• Yang Chan told Chen Wei that Yang Jian knew about the reform assignment and had approved it, leaving Chen Wei to recognize the powerful backing behind his task.
• Yang Chan explained that the Great Heavenly Venerable wanted Chen Wei to rein in immortals who kept most mortal incense offerings for themselves.
• Chen Wei said he would act cautiously, and Yang Chan promised that she and Yang Jian would support him against anyone who obstructed the reform.

Chen Wei gathered his six trusted subordinates to plan the Discipline Inspection Court’s reform of incense merit and chose the Martial Virtue Star Lord as their first target. Pang Long identified the Star Lord’s chief clerk, Lu Siji, as their opening, and Chen Wei warned his team to cut any ties that could expose them before they acted.

• Yang Chan stopped Chen Xiang and Lu Beiwang from making trouble in the Council Hall and returned to the residence.
• Chen Wei dismissed the general assembly and told Ma Muzhi, Pang Long, Xiao Yan, Chu Feng, Han Li, and Lu Beiwang about the Great Heavenly Venerable’s order to reform incense merit.
• Xiao Yan proposed targeting the Martial Virtue Star Lord, and Chen Wei agreed, citing the Star Lord’s past attempt to use Yang Chan’s unborn children to defend Wu Wen.
• Pang Long warned that the Star Lord had deep ties, but Chen Wei’s subordinates urged him to proceed and Ma Muzhi stopped Pang Long from divining the outcome.
• Pang Long named the Star Lord’s chief clerk, Lu Siji, as a potential opening because of his shady dealings in the Mortal Realm.
• Chen Wei ordered his subordinates to sever any compromising ties before they began the operation.

Wude sent Lu Siji to the Mortal Realm with a warning for his contacts, while Chen Wei prepared to arrest him but was summoned home by Yang Chan. The chapter left Chen Wei rushing back because Yang Chan said their children were about to be born.

• Wude learned that the Discipline Inspection Court was investigating him and told Lu Siji to warn his contacts in the Mortal Realm to cover their tracks.
• Lu Siji mistook Wude's affectionate words and assignment for a sign that he would inherit greater authority, then left for the Mortal Realm in a conspicuous Auspicious Cloud.
• Chen Wei learned that Lu Siji had gone to a Demon King's Cave Residence in Southern Jambudvipa and ordered a quiet arrest after checking for possible backup.
• Chen Wei decided to oversee the operation himself, but Yang Chan summoned him home because their children were about to be born.

Chen Wei returned to find that Yang Chan had already given birth to Chen Xiang and Chen Xiaochan, whose arrival drew a gathering of powerful immortals. In Southern Jambudvipa, Lu Siji accepted the demon queen’s offer to show him the local customs while her husband pretended to sleep.

• Chen Wei rushed home and found Yang Chan calmly emerging with the newborn twins, Chen Xiang and Chen Xiaochan.
• Yang Jian took both babies from their parents and refused to let Sun Wukong hold them, while the twins woke and giggled at the assembled immortals.
• At a demon king’s banquet, the demon queen arranged for drunken mountain gods and earth gods to be carried away, including Lord Liang, who asked for Xiao Li.
• Lu Siji dismissed the minor gods and asked the demon queen to arrange a chance for him to learn the territory’s local customs.
• The demon queen offered to attend to Lu Siji personally, and he put an arm around her waist as the Black Tiger Demon King continued snoring.

After learning that Chen Wei's twin sons had been born, Pang Long led the Discipline Inspection Court's Immortal Officials in a raid on the Demon King's cave to arrest Lu Siji. Caught with the demon queen, Lu Siji denied his identity as the officials presented a portrait of him.

• Pang Long received word that the two Little Star Lords had been born safe and sound and urged the Immortal Officials to arrest Lu Siji as a congratulatory gift for Chen Wei.
• Pang Long ordered the officials to break into the cave abode, where Lu Siji was studying local customs with the demon queen while the Demon King slept.
• The Immortal Officials smashed through the entrance and surrounded the bed, startling Lu Siji and the demon queen.
• Han Li knocked the awakened Black Tiger Demon King unconscious again, and Pang Long presented Lu Siji with the Court's Command Token and ordered him to come along.
• Lu Siji denied being Lu Siji, but Pang Long showed him an illustrated booklet with his portrait.

Pang Long’s team captured Lu Siji after his failed escape, while Chen Wei and Yang Chan hosted celebrations for their newborns. Chen Wei grew suspicious of the babies’ unusual good behavior just as the Three Pure Ones arrived at the Chen Residence.

• Lu Siji threw the Demon Queen into the sealing array, killing her, and escaped through the cavern ceiling.
• Ma Muzhi caught Lu Siji outside with an Immortal-Binding Rope, and Pang Long ordered Lu Siji’s property confiscated.
• Immortals brought modest congratulatory gifts to the Chen Residence to celebrate Chen Wei and Yang Chan’s newborns.
• Chen Wei worried that Chen Xiaochan and Chen Xiang were acting suspiciously well-behaved, but Yang Chan dismissed his concerns.
• The Three Pure Ones arrived at the Chen Residence on Auspicious Clouds.

Chen Wei welcomed the Three Pure Ones, whose visit brought blessings and prestige to his family. At the Martial Virtue Star Lord's Residence, Wude was woken from his nap with news that Lu Siji had been arrested.

• Chen Wei arranged for his steward to record the Three Pure Ones' visit so he could display the scene at his residence.
• Chen Xiaochan flew onto Taishang Laojun's shoulder, tugged his beard, and received an Eight Trigrams Seal from him.
• Chen Xiang followed his sister onto Laojun's other shoulder, and the Three Pure Ones laughed when Chen Wei confirmed Sun Wukong was the twins' master.
• Wude tried to sleep behind the Soundproofing Array until Tie Kui announced that the Discipline Inspection Court had arrested Lu Siji in a Demon King's cave residence in the Mortal Realm.
• Wude threw porcelain at his door, then let Tie Kui in and heard him condemn Lu Siji for disgracing the Star Lord's Residence.

Tie Kui realized Lu Siji’s downfall could clear his path to power in the Martial Virtue Star Lord’s Residence. Wude appointed Tie Kui to take charge of the residence and clean up Lu Siji’s affairs, leaving Tie Kui convinced he was being groomed as Wude’s successor.

• Tie Kui denounced Lu Siji to Wude, claiming Lu Siji had been caught naked with a demon in the Mortal Realm.
• Wude condemned Lu Siji for misconduct and endangering the Star Lord’s Residence, then praised Tie Kui as honest and dependable.
• Wude ordered Tie Kui to oversee all civil and military matters and clean up Lu Siji’s loose ends without leaving the Censorate any leverage.
• Wude called Tie Kui his son, and Tie Kui accepted the role eagerly before leaving to carry out his orders.
• Tie Kui celebrated his rise and vowed to remove Lu Siji from his path, even arranging for him to be reborn in a good life.

Ma Muzhi lured Lu Siji into signing a case closure before arresting him again with evidence of his corruption. Wude then handed Chen Wei records implicating his godson Tie Kui, claiming to expose him as well, and left Chen Wei to consider the Star Lord’s motives.

• Lu Siji refused to confess, but Ma Muzhi presented him with a case-closure document, which he signed.
• As Lu Siji prepared to leave, Ma Muzhi bound him with an Immortal-Binding Rope and presented a new arrest document detailing his crimes in the Mortal Realm.
• Lu Siji realized the Discipline Inspection Court had coordinated the apparent release and new arrest, and wondered how it had obtained the evidence.
• Wude arrived at the Discipline Inspection Court with ledgers and evidence against Lu Siji and Tie Kui, claiming he had turned them in out of remorse.
• Chen Wei recognized that Wude was sacrificing Tie Kui to cut off potential threats to himself, while Wude insisted Tie Kui was committing crimes under the Star Lord’s banner.

Chen Wei forced Martial Virtue Star Lord to take responsibility for arresting Tie Kui, while sending Pang Long along to ensure he could not collude with him. He then confronted the bound Lu Siji, revealed that Wude had handed over the evidence, and challenged him to face his defeat.

• Chen Wei pretended to believe Martial Virtue Star Lord's claim that his subordinates had acted without his knowledge, then insisted Wude personally bring Tie Kui to the Censorate.
• Wude agreed to arrest Tie Kui, and Chen Wei assigned Pang Long and a squad of Censorate Immortal Officials to accompany him.
• Chen Wei visited the bound Lu Siji, who insulted him and accused him of rising through connections.
• Chen Wei stopped Ma Muzhi from punishing Lu Siji and argued that Lu could not have faced the dangers Chen Wei had endured.
• Chen Wei told Lu Siji that Martial Virtue Star Lord had supplied the evidence and urged him to admit defeat and face the consequences.

Chen Wei faced growing obstruction and rumors in the Heavenly Court but urged his subordinates to follow the rules and endure. At home, Yang Chan hinted at his troubles to the Great Heavenly Venerable, who offered family support and asked whether Chen Wei could overcome the difficulties.

• Immortals spread rumors blaming Chen Wei and the Discipline Inspection Court, while other departments obstructed their investigations.
• Chen Wei told Ma Muzhi, Pang Long, Xiao Yan, and his other subordinates to avoid clashes, follow procedure, and weather the resistance.
• Chen Wei returned home and found the Great Heavenly Venerable and Taibai Jinxing visiting, with Chen Xiang and Chen Xiaochan clambering over the Great Heavenly Venerable.
• Yang Chan gently complained to her uncle about Chen Wei's heavy workload, hinting that his duties had met resistance.
• The Great Heavenly Venerable offered to stand up for Chen Wei and asked whether he could overcome the temporary difficulties.

Taibai Jinxing and the Great Heavenly Venerable arranged a staged investigation to make Chen Wei appear vulnerable and draw his enemies out. Chen Wei was escorted to the Inspection Office, while Yang Chan was stopped from bringing him tangyuan until Taibai Jinxing spoke through her jade talisman.

• Taibai Jinxing told Chen Wei to accept a staged loss of reputation and authority, and Chen Wei agreed despite Yang Chan's concern.
• A Merit Demon King accused Chen Wei of taking Merit and protecting demons, and Wei Jin's Inspection Office escorted Chen Wei away from the Discipline Inspection Court.
• Rumors spread that Chen Wei had been arrested or struck from the Immortal Register, while he calmly drank tea in a private room at the Inspection Office.
• Yang Chan brought tangyuan to Chen Wei but was stopped at the gates by an official citing orders from the South Dipper Star Lord.
• Yang Chan called Taibai Jinxing and held the jade talisman to the official's ear as Taibai Jinxing identified himself.

Yang Chan reached Chen Wei after Taibai Jinxing ordered the Inspection Office to let her through, bringing tangyuan and their sleeping children. Wei Jin arrived to apologize and assured them that the investigation into the Demon Kings’ claims would soon be settled.

• Taibai Jinxing ordered Ye Bo to let Yang Chan see Chen Wei and said he would speak with the South Dipper Star Lord personally.
• Yang Chan entered the Inspection Office, leaving its immobilized Immortal Officials standing in the courtyard.
• Yang Chan reunited with Chen Wei and showed him Chen Xiang and Chen Xiaochan sleeping inside the Ruyi Cloud Brocade Pouch before offering him tangyuan.
• Wei Jin arrived, apologized to Yang Chan for his subordinates, and promised that the investigation into the Demon Kings’ claims would soon be cleared up.

Yang Chan pressured Wei Jin to release Chen Wei, while Yang Jian captured a tiger demon who had reported Chen Wei and intercepted the demons sent to silence him. The snake demon leader was left in Yang Jian’s grip, forced to explain his claim that he worked for the Heavenly Court.

• Yang Chan ordered Wei Jin to finish the paperwork and release Chen Wei, and Chen Wei urged her not to blame Wei Jin for following orders.
• Yang Jian sent the Howling Celestial Dog to capture a tiger demon and demanded to know who had instructed him to report Chen Wei.
• A black cloud carrying demons arrived to silence the tiger demon, who realized they had promised to spare him only to eliminate him afterward.
• Yang Jian stopped the black cloud, dragged out the demons inside, and seized their Black-Scaled Snake Demon leader.
• Yang Jian challenged the snake demon to explain which Heavenly Court he claimed to serve.

Chen Wei and Yang Chan were cleared after the Demon King withdrew his accusation, but Chen Wei suspected the failed case was part of a larger scheme. At the South Dipper Star Lord’s residence, Wude realized the Star Lord might be offering to free his son Wu Wen in exchange for making him the scapegoat.

• Yang Chan told Chen Wei that her Second Brother had confronted the Demon King, who recanted his accusation.
• Wei Jin announced that the Inspection Office had closed the case, and Chen Wei and Yang Chan left for home.
• Chen Wei wondered why the people behind the accusation had abandoned their plan so easily.
• The South Dipper Star Lord criticized the botched operation against Chen Wei while Wude waited anxiously.
• The South Dipper Star Lord offered to secure Wu Wen’s release and said he would take responsibility for the failed scheme.
• Wude realized the Star Lord’s offer might require him to serve as the scapegoat.

The South Dipper Star Lord pressured the Martial Virtue Star Lord to accept blame for Wu Wen, but Wude used their shared history of Sun Wukong’s Havoc in Heaven to warn him against forcing the issue. Meanwhile, Chen Wei weighed whether to pursue an investigation that could implicate the Great Heavenly Venerable as Chen Xiang demanded to go out and play.

• The Martial Virtue Star Lord realized the South Dipper Star Lord was offering to spare Wu Wen only if Wude surrendered his position and took responsibility.
• Wude recalled the Heavenly Court’s hidden dealings during Sun Wukong’s Havoc in Heaven, warning that he could expose the old double books if pushed too far.
• The South Dipper Star Lord dropped his pressure and urged Wude to put aside the past, and the two resumed their tea while concealing their calculations.
• At the Chen Residence, Chen Wei read Ma Muzhi’s reports about widespread deceit in the merit accounts and a guarded lead implicating the Great Heavenly Venerable.
• Chen Xiang demanded that Chen Wei take him out, so Chen Wei set aside the reports and agreed to go for a walk.

Chen Wei took his family to the Discipline Inspection Court to visit his overworked subordinates, while Yang Chan brought them sweet tangyuan. Chen Xiang remembered Lu Beiwang, then darted into the document-filled inner hall, leaving Chen Wei to worry about the trouble he might cause.

• Chen Wei decided to take Chen Xiang to the Discipline Inspection Court and bring along confidential files, while Yang Chan joined them with Chen Xiaochan.
• Yang Chan prepared osmanthus tangyuan to thank Chen Wei's subordinates, and Chen Wei silently worried about how unbearably sweet they would be.
• Ma Muzhi and Pang Long's staff uncovered questionable entries while auditing the Heavenly Court's accounts, then stopped work to welcome Chen Wei and his family.
• Yang Chan served the Immortal Officials tangyuan, and they praised it enthusiastically while struggling with its sweetness.
• Chen Xiang climbed onto Lu Beiwang's shoulders and demanded a ride, delighting Lu Beiwang with the chance to please him.
• Chen Xiang suddenly ran into the inner hall, and Chen Wei worried that his son would disturb the documents.