Chapter Summaries

After receiving Xu Yuanzhi’s warning, Lu Changfeng set out for Mount Yunmeng with Qing Dai and Snow Robe. A frightened beast that might be the Profound Tiger ran to him, and Myriad Beasts Manor surrounded them, leaving Lu Changfeng poised to fight over it.

• Xu Yuanzhi warned Lu Changfeng that Zhou Yichen used schemes and momentum, then took his leave from Jingling Town.
• Lu Changfeng traveled toward Mount Yunmeng with Qing Dai and Snow Robe, deciding Xu Yuanzhi might be trustworthy but staying alert.
• Snow Robe began to point out the treasure, but a terrified black-and-white tiger cub rushed from the woods and hid behind Lu Changfeng.
• Lu Changfeng suspected the cub was the Profound Tiger when Myriad Beasts Manor hunters encircled them and demanded he hand it over.
• Lu Changfeng refused the middle-aged leader’s demand, and the leader ordered his men to seize him and the Profound Tiger.

Lu Changfeng effortlessly repelled the Myriad Beasts Manor’s ambush, then gravely wounded Shi Cunyi with a counterattack. Sensing a hidden formation and feeling the Wind-Raising Formation react, he left Qing Dai to handle the aftermath and rushed into the forest.

• The Myriad Beasts Manor’s retainers attacked Lu Changfeng and Qing Dai with weapons and Soul-Seizing Sound, but Lu Changfeng protected them with his Origin-Returning Qi Barrier.
• Shi Cunyi attacked Lu Changfeng with the Beast-Taming Rings and Six Harmonies Wishful: Mountain-Shattering, but Lu Changfeng redirected his force into the ground with Heaven and Earth Great Shift.
• Lu Changfeng struck Shi Cunyi with a condensed sphere of true qi, shattering his defenses and leaving him gravely injured.
• Lu Changfeng sensed someone preparing a hidden formation in the forest, and the Wind-Raising Formation in his pack trembled.
• Lu Changfeng told Qing Dai to handle the aftermath and ordered Snow Robe and the Profound Tiger to stay before rushing into the forest with his sword drawn.

Lu Changfeng pursued a treasure’s signal into the forest and found Zhou Yichen waiting with the Cloud-Hanging Formation. After exposing Zhou Yichen’s unfinished trap, Lu Changfeng unleashed a powerful sword strike that split the thunderclouds and rushed toward him.

• Qing Dai confronted the people of Myriad Beasts Manor while Snow Robe and the Profound Tiger watched Lu Changfeng enter the forest.
• Lu Changfeng followed the Wind-Raising Formation’s resonance and suspected that Zhou Yichen had set a trap with the Cloud-Hanging Formation.
• Zhou Yichen attacked Lu Changfeng with lightning and fog, then appeared above him and offered to let him leave Mount Yunmeng.
• Lu Changfeng deduced that Zhou Yichen was stalling because his formation was not ready, provoking Zhou Yichen to intensify the attack.
• Lu Changfeng summoned his Mysterious Crane Dharma Form and unleashed a golden, wind-wreathed sword strike that split the clouds and struck toward Zhou Yichen.

Lu Changfeng defeated and killed Zhou Yichen after breaking his formation, then combined the Cloud-Draping and Wind-Raising talismans into a powerful formation disk. He returned to find Qing Dai had killed the Myriad Beasts Manor attackers and noticed the little Profound Tiger’s reaction to the Ghost Valley Jade Pendant.

• Zhou Yichen used the Mountain-Suppressing Mystic Talisman to block part of Lu Changfeng’s Sunrise in the East, but the sword strike shattered it and wounded him.
• Lu Changfeng ignored Zhou Yichen’s threat that his master Mo Xuanji would retaliate and killed him after a brief sword exchange.
• Lu Changfeng recovered the Cloud-Draping Hexagram Talisman and Purple Palace Jade Zhi, then merged the talisman with the Wind-Raising Hexagram Talisman into an octagonal formation disk.
• Lu Changfeng returned to the fork in the path, where Qing Dai reported killing the Myriad Beasts Manor group after they ambushed her.
• Lu Changfeng comforted the little Profound Tiger and saw that it reacted brightly to the Ghost Valley Jade Pendant.

Lu Changfeng entered the hidden valley in Mount Yunmeng, claimed the Ghost Valley Inheritance, and broke through to the mid Fourth Realm. Elsewhere, Xu Yuanzhi read the Monthly Appraisal’s new rankings and learned that other ancient treasures and inheritances had resurfaced.

• Lu Changfeng named the little Profound Tiger Mo Li, and the cub followed him deeper into Mount Yunmeng with Qing Dai and Snow Robe.
• Lu Changfeng used the Ghost Valley Jade Pendant to open a barrier, find a hidden chamber, and claim the Treatise on All Under Heaven.
• The Monthly Appraisal raised Lu Changfeng to tenth place in the Azure Cloud Rankings and changed his cultivation assessment to mid Fourth Realm.
• Xu Yuanzhi saw the Purple Tenuity Scroll listed as the fifth-ranked divine weapon and inferred that Princess Taiping, Li Lingyue, had recovered it.
• Xu Yuanzhi read that the Nine-Sectioned Li Staff had reappeared and wondered whether its unknown wielder also possessed the Essential Arts of Taiping.

Lu Changfeng inherited the Treatise on All Under Heaven, fused his qi, and broke through to the fourth realm mid-stage before returning to Chang'an. After checking on the young sect leader, he went to meet Li Lingyue, who was waiting for him in Yao Light Hall.

• Lu Changfeng studied the Treatise on All Under Heaven and learned to refine vertical-and-horizontal qi.
• He fused the new qi with his Shennong true qi and broke through to the fourth realm mid-stage, expanding his divine sense.
• Lu Changfeng mastered the principles of Opening-and-Closing Hands and Divine Command of the Six Forces as his Mysterious Crane Dharma Form transformed.
• He left Ghost Valley with Qing Dai, Mo Li, and Snow Robe and returned to Chang'an several days later.
• At the Moon-Gathering Tower, Lu Changfeng learned that the young sect leader was safe at Mount Yangluo but had not yet returned.
• Jinghong escorted Lu Changfeng to Yao Light Hall, where Li Lingyue had been waiting for him.

Li Lingyue tested Lu Changfeng’s improved martial skills, then warned him about growing dangers in the palace, the borderlands, and the martial world. She ended by inviting him to see Jiang Li’s pills, which had made Blood Tai Sui far safer to use.

• Li Lingyue trapped Lu Changfeng inside the [Purple Tenuity Scroll] and sparred with him, testing his newly advanced cultivation and techniques.
• Li Lingyue stopped the fight by embracing Lu Changfeng, then explained that she had obtained the [Purple Tenuity Scroll] and the Classic of the Hidden Tally on Li Mountain.
• Li Lingyue asked about the violence on Lu Changfeng’s journey south, and he said his enemies had attacked first.
• Li Lingyue warned Lu Changfeng that people might pursue the thing he obtained from Mount Yunmeng, then described an occult practitioner in the palace, unrest in the provinces, foreign threats, and suspicious activity in Swordforging City.
• Li Lingyue said Sanlang was searching for ancient treasures and divine artifacts near Dragon Head Mountain and the Wei River, and that his influence was growing.
• Li Lingyue told Lu Changfeng that Jiang Li’s pills had removed most of Blood Tai Sui’s hidden dangers and invited him to see them.

Jiang Li introduced the Tai Sui Essence-Nourishing Liquid, a revised formula designed to boost vitality without the harmful effects of Li Qianli’s Soldier Blood Tonic. Qing Dai volunteered to test it and experienced a clear improvement, leaving Li Lingyue hopeful that it could strengthen the Plum Blossom Guards.

• Jiang Li explained how he removed the mind-altering ingredients from Li Qianli’s formula and used the Three Talents Cauldron to refine the Tai Sui Essence-Nourishing Liquid.
• Jiang Li asked Li Lingyue to find trustworthy volunteers to test the medicine, and Qing Dai immediately volunteered.
• Lu Changfeng judged that the medicine could overwhelm Qing Dai’s cultivation if taken all at once, so he instructed her to divide it into three portions and mix each with aged yellow rice wine.
• Qing Dai drank one portion and meditated as the medicine circulated through her body.
• Qing Dai reported that her blood and qi had strengthened and her bottleneck had begun to loosen, prompting Li Lingyue to consider the medicine’s potential for the Plum Blossom Guards.
• Lu Changfeng noted that the medicine would have little effect on him now that he had entered the Fourth Realm.

Lu Changfeng and Jiang Li warned Li Lingyue that desperate martial artists might revive the forbidden practice of refining pills with living humans. When the Three Seasonal Signs of Beginning of Spring returned gravely poisoned with the Hundred-Resonance Spirit Altar, Lu Changfeng rushed to treat them, while Li Lingyue suspected their story was suspicious and went to the Spirit Pivot Institute.

• Jiang Li raised the possibility that people in the Fourth and Fifth Realms might be used as ingredients for pills, and Lu Changfeng explained the forbidden practice’s history.
• Li Lingyue condemned human pill-refining and promised to have her people watch for it and destroy any practitioners.
• Jinghong reported that the Three Seasonal Signs of Beginning of Spring had returned from the Western Regions with the Hundred-Resonance Spirit Altar and severe poisoning.
• Lu Changfeng hurried to the Spirit Pivot Institute to treat them, and Li Lingyue realized their survival through the journey seemed suspicious.
• Li Lingyue offered Jiang Li medicinal ingredients and a share of the pills, then set out with Qing Dai for the Spirit Pivot Institute.

Lu Changfeng treated the Three Seasonal Signs of Beginning of Spring after a giant Hook-Tailed Serpent poisoned them near Dingkun Pool. After learning that Prince Xiang had gone to Dingkun Pool at Princess Anle’s invitation, Li Lingyue rushed there with Lu Changfeng.

• Lu Changfeng used the Nine Dragon Stone and Shennong qi to extract the poison from Yingchun and Cherry and stabilize the third woman.
• Yingchun told Lu Changfeng that a huge snake with a hooked blade on its tail had attacked them beside Dingkun Pool.
• Li Lingyue identified the creature as a Hook-Tailed Serpent, and Lu Changfeng suspected it had come from the waterways connected to Ancient Kunming Pool.
• Jinghong told Li Lingyue that Prince Xiang had accepted Princess Anle’s invitation to admire the lotuses on Dingkun Pool.
• Li Lingyue hurried to Dingkun Pool to save Prince Xiang, and Lu Changfeng followed after stabilizing Yingchun.

Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng attended Princess Anle’s gathering at Dingkun Pool, where Lu suspected the musician Peng Junqing planned to use guqin music to control the Hook-Tailed Serpent and assassinate Prince Xiang Li Dan. Lu accepted Peng’s invitation to perform, preparing to counter the danger.

• Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng arrived at Princess Anle’s gathering and joined Prince Xiang Li Dan and Shangguan Wan'er.
• Princess Anle introduced Peng Junqing, whose unusual black guqin made Lu suspect he was more than an ordinary musician.
• Princess Anle proposed that Lu and Peng perform together, and Peng selected the water-themed 'Canglang Prelude.'
• Lu reasoned that Peng’s music could be a signal to control the Hook-Tailed Serpent and attack Li Dan.
• Lu accepted the performance invitation, deciding he would protect Li Dan and recover the cost from Li Longji later.

Lu Changfeng recognized the secret technique in Peng Junqing’s Canglang Prelude and challenged it with his own music, but Peng Junqing unleashed a sonic attack that let the Hook-Tailed Serpent ambush the pleasure boat. Li Lingyue protected Li Dan and drove the serpent underwater, though its strength and defenses proved far greater than expected.

• Princess Anle presented Lu Changfeng with her treasured Great Sage's Lost Melody, and Peng Junqing began playing Canglang Prelude to draw fish beneath the boat.
• Lu Changfeng joined the performance, detected Peng Junqing’s hidden summoning technique, and used his music to interfere with it.
• Peng Junqing shattered his zither with The Greatest Sound Is Silence, stunning those aboard and allowing the Hook-Tailed Serpent to rush toward the boat.
• The Hook-Tailed Serpent smashed through the boat and lunged at Li Dan, but Li Lingyue struck its head with Heavenly Pivot Falling Star Palm and shielded him.
• The injured Hook-Tailed Serpent fled underwater, leaving Li Lingyue alarmed by its extraordinary defenses and vitality.

Lu Changfeng used the Wind and Thunder Formation Disk to save himself, unleash heavenly lightning on the Hook-Tailed Serpent, and crush Peng Junqing’s defenses with a giant golden palm. Peng Junqing lay near death and the serpent was gravely injured as Lu Changfeng returned to the pleasure boat.

• Peng Junqing used Spirit-Binding Talismans and a feint to distract Li Lingyue while the Hook-Tailed Serpent attacked Lu Changfeng and sent him flying off the boat.
• Shangguan Wan'er summoned Three-Foot White to deflect arrows fired at Lu Changfeng by guards under Peng Junqing’s control.
• Lu Changfeng activated the Wind and Thunder Formation Disk, summoned a storm, and struck the Hook-Tailed Serpent with two devastating lightning bolts.
• Peng Junqing tried to flee, but Lu Changfeng formed a giant golden palm that shattered his Dharma Form and defenses, leaving him near death.
• The lightning and the palm’s residual force left the Hook-Tailed Serpent barely alive, and Lu Changfeng returned to the boat as the crowd fell silent.

Lu Changfeng saved Li Dan from an assassination attempt, but the attacker, Peng Junqing, exploded and left behind a mark identifying the Way of Taiping. Suspicion fell on Princess Anle, though her presence at the scene and damaged gown did not prove whether she was involved or stood to benefit.

• Li Dan thanked Lu Changfeng for saving his life and invited him to his residence, while Li Lingyue agreed to bring Lu there.
• Lu Changfeng moved to question the wounded Peng Junqing, but Peng screamed as a talismanic light appeared on his chest.
• Peng Junqing's body exploded into corrosive blood arrows, killing or fatally wounding several Guards and Maids while Lu Changfeng blocked the attack with his Origin-Returning Qi Barrier.
• Those present discovered the blood-red words “The Way of Taiping” where Peng Junqing had been, and suspicion turned toward Princess Anle.
• Princess Anle denied plotting against Li Dan, arguing that she would not have placed herself in danger if she had been the mastermind.
• Lu Changfeng privately considered that Princess Anle might still have been involved or could have benefited from the attack.

Lu Changfeng concluded that Empress Wei and Zong Chuke might have orchestrated the attack on Li Dan, but the investigation yielded no evidence that could reach them. That night, Li Lingyue offered Lu Changfeng a Nine-Hearted Purple Jade Lotus and drew him into a passionate embrace.

• Lu Changfeng urged Li Lingyue to escort Li Dan home, secure the scene, and investigate the Way of Taiping; Li Lingyue agreed and warned Anle to answer for the disaster.
• Li Lingyue told Lu Changfeng that Peng Junqing had been introduced to Anle through a performer and that his apparent handlers had erased every trace of their connection.
• Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue agreed that suspicion alone could not overcome Li Xian's protection of Empress Wei and the Wei clan.
• Li Lingyue emerged from Golden Scale Pool with a Nine-Hearted Purple Jade Lotus and asked Lu Changfeng whether he wanted it.
• Li Lingyue pulled Lu Changfeng into the pool, embraced him, and kissed him passionately.

Li Lingyue reflected on her unrequited feelings for Lu Changfeng and refused to see Wu Youji. Humiliated and jealous, Wu Youji asked Xuan Zhenzi how to force Li Lingyue to submit.

• Li Lingyue woke beside Lu Changfeng and worried that her love for him was not returned.
• Li Lingyue refused Wu Youji's visit, claiming she was unwell.
• Wu Youji left calmly, then erupted in private fury over Li Lingyue's rejection and her closeness with Lu Changfeng.
• Xuan Zhenzi explained that the Wisdom-Opening Pill could not make Wu Youji into someone Li Lingyue loved.
• Wu Youji declared that he would take Li Lingyue by force and demanded that Xuan Zhenzi tell him how to subdue her.

Wu Youji received Xuan Zhenzi’s talisman and planned to exploit Princess Taiping’s cultivation weakness, while Lu Changfeng refined a rare lotus, replied to Shangguan Wan’er’s request for a crane poem, and learned Luo Qingge had returned. He left to find her after a myna reported that she expected him to know where she was.

• Xuan Zhenzi told Wu Youji that Princess Taiping’s qi briefly faltered on full-moon nights and gave him a Spirit-Sealing Talisman to exploit the weakness.
• Lu Changfeng finished refining the Nine-Hearted Purple Jade Lotus and shared lunch with Qing Dai, Snow Robe, and Mo Li.
• A female official delivered Shangguan Wan’er’s letter requesting a poem about cranes, and Lu Changfeng sent her his poem, “Lone Crane Chapter.”
• A myna told Lu Changfeng that Luo Qingge had returned and said she expected him to know where she was.
• Lu Changfeng left at once to find Luo Qingge.

At the Zhongnan Mountain retreat, Luo Qingge revealed she had mastered the Bird-Speech Art and teased Lu Changfeng about his night away before asking him to play the Burnt Tail zither. After they shared an intimate moment, Lu Changfeng passed off his dual-cultivation method as a Ghost Valley Secret Transmission, leaving Luo Qingge doubtful.

• Luo Qingge teased Lu Changfeng with information she had gathered through the birds and demanded he play the Burnt Tail zither as punishment.
• Lu Changfeng played Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix while Luo Qingge watched, still jealous about his night away.
• Luo Qingge embraced Lu Changfeng, and the two kissed and became intimate in the bamboo cottage.
• Lu Changfeng recited the Yin-Yang Passage Chapter, and Luo Qingge asked what kind of practice it was.
• Lu Changfeng claimed the method was the Ghost Valley Secret Transmission, and Luo Qingge questioned whether Guiguzi could have known Buddhist teachings.

Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge discovered that a group was tracking her spiritual treasures, and Lu Changfeng used the Eight Formations Diagram to kill twelve of the thirteen intruders. He confronted the surviving fourth-realm leader and identified him as a Turk.

• Luo Qingge told Lu Changfeng about the Heavenly Fowl Sect's inheritance and explained how her ring let her understand birds.
• Luo Qingge learned from birds that roughly thirteen strangers were secretly approaching the courtyard, and Lu Changfeng suspected they were tracking spiritual treasures.
• Lu Changfeng detected thirteen intruders entering his range and activated the Eight Formations Diagram.
• Lu Changfeng's wind formation decapitated eight Xiantian upper-realm warriors, and his thunder formation killed four Xiantian peak warriors as they fled.
• Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge appeared before the surviving fourth-realm leader, and Lu Changfeng recognized him as a Turk.

Lu Changfeng defeated and captured Batur, a Göktürk Wolf Fang Palace warrior and Witch God Cult Wolf Guard, after exposing his identity and stopping his escape. Batur’s affiliation with both groups led Lu Changfeng to suspect the Göktürk High Shaman, He Chen, had ordered the operation.

• The Göktürk expert attacked Lu Changfeng with the Azure Wolf Dharma Form and Full Moon Scimitar Art, but Lu Changfeng’s protective true qi stopped the assault.
• The expert fled into the bamboo grove using Azure Wolf Step, but Lu Changfeng appeared in his path and severed both his legs with an invisible force.
• Lu Changfeng used the Blazing Wind Gu to torment the captured warrior, who refused to submit and demanded death.
• The Noble Physician’s Canon identified the warrior as Batur, a Wolf Fang Palace elite and Witch God Cult Wolf Guard.
• Lu Changfeng considered Batur’s dual affiliations and suspected the Witch God Cult’s High Shaman, He Chen, was behind the operation.