Arc 13Chapters 301–325
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Lu Changfeng used the complete Eight Formations Diagram to attack Liu Ciyuan and the Twenty-Eight Mansions outside the Riverside Inn. He left the twenty-eight battered by wind, mud, ice, and lightning while Chen Xuanli watched in astonishment.
Lu Changfeng defeated the transformed Kangjinlong with a single kick after Chen Xuanli was gravely wounded. He stabilized Chen Xuanli’s injuries and faced Liu Ciyuan, declaring Dragon-Slaying City nothing special.
Lu Changfeng fought Liu Ciyuan, a peak Fifth Realm warrior from the Dragon-Ruling Clan, and held on despite being outmatched. Lu Yuanfang, Xiao Yanwen, and Zhang Tongxuan arrived to watch but hesitated over whether to intervene, while Qing Dai watched anxiously from an inn.
Lu Changfeng and Liu Ciyuan fought a devastating duel across Linjian County and West Mountain Island, with Lu Changfeng’s techniques and swords overcoming Liu Ciyuan’s strength. After Lu sent Liu crashing into a mountainside, Liu summoned the Dragon-Controlling Halberd, Abyss-Suppressing.
Liu Ciyuan unleashed the Dragon-Ruling Halberd and battled Lu Changfeng in a destructive clash of divine weapons. As Lu Changfeng realized the halberd was intensifying Liu Ciyuan’s bloodlust and madness, he shifted to defense and prepared to exploit that weakness.
Lu Changfeng used the Heavenly Demon Zither’s Soul-Seizing Tune to turn Liu Ciyuan’s murderous impulses against him while buying time for Li Lingyue to arrive. Li Lingyue subdued the Dragon-Slaying City forces and defeated Liu Ciyuan, leaving Lu Changfeng with other captives to question.
Li Lingyue defeated the Twenty-Seven Mansions and forced Lu Yuanfang, Xiao Yanwen, and Zhang Tongxuan to share responsibility for the Dragon-Slaying City prisoners. She and Lu Changfeng accepted Lu Yuanfang’s invitation to Nine Tortoise Island, where they prepared to interrogate the captives.
Lu Changfeng used a blazing wind gu to break three Dragon-Slaying City captives and learned why they had come to the Central Plains, including a mission to seize the Wordless Heavenly Tome. The scroll was recovered, but its purpose remained unknown because Kangjinlong refused to talk and Liu Ciyuan had lost his mind.
Lu Changfeng forced Kangjinlong to reveal why Dragon-Slaying City had targeted him and learned that the Imperial Seal could open the First Emperor's Mausoleum. Kangjinlong disclosed the map’s history and identified the keeper of another volume, leaving Lu Changfeng with a new lead at Inkstone Heart Academy.
Lu Changfeng treated Liu Ciyuan’s shattered mind and woke him, though the treatment could not restore his martial arts. He used the Soul-Shifting Great Method to question Liu Ciyuan about Dragon-Slaying City’s purpose in the Central Plains.
Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue traveled to Inkstone Heart Academy seeking the Mystic Volume, but Su Yanqiu revealed the First Emperor’s tomb concealed a sleeping Ancestral Dragon and warned that opening it could plunge the world into chaos. He ended by revealing that his own cultivation drew on the White Marsh bloodline.
Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue learned why Su Yanqiu was guarding the Mystic Volume: the First Emperor’s Mausoleum had spent a thousand years drawing in dragon qi, and even three Sixth Realm cultivators might not be enough to contain the resurrected First Emperor. After realizing Su Yanqiu would rather die than let the volume fall into dangerous hands, Lu Changfeng told him he did not have to die.
Lu Changfeng persuaded Su Yanqiu to entrust them with the Mystic Volume, arguing that they must confront the danger of the Ancestral Dragon rather than keep delaying. Su Yanqiu handed over the sealed Bronze Casket after Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue promised not to recklessly open the mausoleum.
Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue were ambushed on their way to the Nine Tortoise Isles by a force from the anti-Wu faction. Their attackers included the deposed Crown Prince Li Chongjun, whose emergence revealed that the faction had been watching them and their newly acquired divine artifacts.
Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue confronted the anti-Wu group, who demanded the Tomb Map and attacked when they refused. Lu Changfeng fought a descendant of Heichi Changzhi wielding the Border-Defender Spear, while Li Lingyue battled the group’s powerful elder.
Lu Changfeng poisoned Hei Chijun during their battle, while Zhao Lanjun and Li Lingyue fought the other black-clad men. Li Chongjun watched, troubled by their enemies’ plan to seize the First Emperor’s Mausoleum and overthrow the Wu-descended rulers; the chapter ended with Hei Chijun’s poison stopping his final attack.
Lu Changfeng captured Hei Chijun and struck a bargain with Li Lingkui’s group: they would bring back a head from Dragon-Slaying City in exchange for Hei Chijun. After they left, Li Lingyue revealed she considered Li Lingkui and his allies enemies and planned to interrogate their captive.
Lu Changfeng began slowly unsealing the Bronze Casket while Li Lingyue interrogated Hei Chijun, provoking him with the failures of the anti-Wu faction. Hei Chijun erupted in anger over the deaths of renowned generals and his faction’s inability to avenge Zhou Xing and Lai Junchen, leaving Li Lingyue convinced she was close to breaking him.
Li Lingyue tricked Hei Chijun into revealing that many displaced nobles and former soldiers had gathered under his protection in Lingnan. After Lu Changfeng uncovered a clue pointing to the Heavenly Fowl Sect and Mount Yangluo, Li Lingyue set aside their investigation to take charge of an intimate moment with him.
Lu Changfeng returned to Chang'an and reunited with Luo Qingge after she performed for a crowd of birds at the Moon-Gathering Tower. He asked whether she had noticed anything connected to the Azure Luan at Senior Yang Xuan's tomb site, and Luo Qingge recalled a mural.
Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge returned to Yang Xuan’s tomb after suspecting its mural hid a barrier or treasure, but they found signs that others had already entered. They suspected the Great Vehicle Sect and prepared to investigate cautiously.
Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge discovered that the Azure Luan mural had been replaced by a Bashé and entered the hidden domain behind it. They found an orchard of Jade Flat Peaches and reached the Azure Luan fighting the giant snake.
Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge defeated the Bashé and saved the poisoned Azure Luan. The bird shared its memories with Luo Qingge, who learned it had waited years for her and finally welcomed her arrival.
Lu Changfeng cured the Azure Luan of Bashé venom and received the Five-Thunder Dissolution Hand, while Luo Qingge searched the peach orchard for Yang Xuan’s legacy. She found the blank third volume of the Wordless Heavenly Tome and a letter addressed to whoever came after.
Luo Qingge learned that Yang Xuan had safeguarded the Heavenly Book scroll, entrusted to him by a Li Clan branch that Zhao Gao’s surviving followers wiped out. Lu Changfeng mastered the Five-Thunder Dissolution Hand, and Luo Qingge gave him the scroll and explained its history.