Chapter Summaries

Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge uncovered signs of a Göktürk operation seeking spiritual treasures near Zhongnan Mountain and decided to lure its hidden handlers into a trap. After Lu Changfeng alerted Princess Taiping’s residence, its forces quietly began surrounding the mountain as they waited for the next move.

• Lu Changfeng deduced that a high-ranking Göktürk was nearby, likely operating from a base on the Northern Frontier, and confirmed his suspicions by provoking the Wolf Guard’s reaction.
• Lu Changfeng removed the Wolf Guard’s treasure-seeking disc, took the Six Meridian Divine Sword, and knocked him unconscious.
• Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge decided to use the disc to lure the Göktürks into the open, but Lu Changfeng worried they could not safely face stronger reinforcements alone.
• Luo Qingge agreed that Lu Changfeng should ask Princess Taiping’s residence for help, and he sent Ink Jade with a letter to Qing Dai at the Snow Listening Tower.
• Princess Taiping’s forces secretly took up positions around Zhongnan Mountain, closing an invisible net over its key routes and locations.

Ashina Lu returned to Granny Wuya’s hideout with Batur’s corpse and the Empathic Disc, unknowingly leading Princess Taiping’s forces to their lair. The Plum Blossom Guards attacked, and the fight continued inside Granny Wuya’s poison-mist formation.

• Ashina Lu reported that Batur and several Wolf Guards had been killed at Zhongnan Mountain and brought back Batur’s body and the Empathic Disc.
• Granny Wuya suspected the enemy had deliberately left the bodies as bait and warned that it was too late to escape.
• The Plum Blossom Guards, led by the Three Signs of Minor Cold and the Three Baleful Skeletons, stormed the cave.
• Granny Wuya activated her Mandala Flower poison-mist formation, briefly slowing the attacking guards.
• Year Baleful cut through the mist with his Yin Wind Blade, and the Plum Blossom Guards used the opening to launch a coordinated assault.
• Granny Wuya and the scar-faced Turk fought back as the stone hall erupted into a chaotic melee.

Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue captured Granny Wuya’s Göktürk cell and uncovered its alliance with the Great Vehicle Sect and a secret base near Wild Fox Ravine in Youzhou. Li Lingyue prepared to seek military support and investigate the frontier, while Pei Shuang revealed where the stolen goods were hidden.

• Granny Wuya unleashed a powerful poison cloud to escape, but Plum Blossom and the guards captured her and subdued the remaining Göktürk warriors.
• Lu Changfeng smashed open a hidden chamber and found Pei Shuang, who revealed a secret Göktürk and Great Vehicle Sect base near Wild Fox Ravine in Youzhou.
• Pei Shuang identified himself as Pei Zhennan’s son and admitted that the Great Vehicle Sect supplied hideouts and intelligence in exchange for plundered treasures.
• Li Lingyue ordered a memorial requesting military support and plans to investigate Wild Fox Ravine while keeping Granny Wuya and Pei Shuang under guard.
• Pei Shuang told Lu Changfeng that the plundered goods were hidden beneath a spring deep inside the cave.

Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue recovered several treasures from a cold pool, including Zuo Ci’s legendary Greenwood Creation Furnace, and began taking them back to the residence. On the journey, Lu Changfeng explained the Dark Beast Origin Furnace’s sinister history, leaving its fate uncertain.

• Pei Shuang led Li Lingyue, Lu Changfeng, and the others to a cold pool, where Lu Changfeng retrieved three sealed iron boxes containing a strange fan, a jade pendant, and a wine cup that condensed spiritual qi into wine.
• Lu Changfeng and Li Lingyue discovered the Greenwood Creation Furnace beneath the boxes, identified it as Zuo Ci’s pill furnace, and praised its power to refine healing and nourishing pills.
• Li Lingyue ordered the group to escort the furnace back to the residence and asked Lu Changfeng to study it.
• As they returned, Li Lingyue asked Lu Changfeng about Zuo Ci’s other furnace, the Dark Beast Origin Furnace, and he described its association with Liu Yan’s human-sacrifice pills and its lingering reputation for malign energy.

Lu Changfeng discussed the Dark Beast Origin Furnace with Li Lingyue, while Xuan Zhenzi used the furnace to refine a young genius into a pill. At a banquet, Lu Changfeng discovered that a pill given to Li Dan was designed to erode his independent judgment, suggesting someone was manipulating Li Xian.

• Li Lingyue recoiled at the idea of refining people into pills, and Lu Changfeng reflected that the furnace’s danger depended on whoever wielded it.
• In the Ghost Market beneath Chang'an, Xuan Zhenzi refined Chen Ziang into a Human Origin Great Pill and turned his attention toward the Princess's Residence.
• At Li Dan’s banquet, Li Lingyue recounted the threats around Zhongnan Mountain, Shangzhou, and Wild Fox Ravine, and Li Dan promised to monitor developments in Youzhou.
• Li Dan showed Lu Changfeng a Heart-Cleansing Spirit-Nourishing Pill bestowed by the emperor, and Lu Changfeng identified it as poisonous.
• Lu Changfeng explained that nightmare dream grass root marrow in the pill would gradually weaken Li Dan’s judgment and will, leading them to suspect someone was undermining Li Xian.

Lu Changfeng warned Li Dan and Li Lingyue that the emperor’s pills contained a poison and laid out plans to protect the emperor, investigate Zong Chuke’s mysterious retainer, and prepare for threats on the frontier. After Li Longji learned of the danger and praised Lu Changfeng’s insight, Li Dan asked whether he had obtained the item.

• Lu Changfeng advised Li Dan and Li Lingyue to quietly reduce the emperor’s use of the pills, investigate the alchemist tied to Zong Chuke, and strengthen the emperor’s security.
• Li Dan agreed to arrange replacement medicines, while Li Lingyue took responsibility for investigating Zong Chuke’s retainer.
• Lu Changfeng warned that court turmoil could invite the Göktürks and the evil cult to threaten Youzhou, prompting Li Dan and Li Lingyue to recognize the danger.
• Li Longji arrived, and Li Dan and Li Lingyue ended their secret discussion before escorting Lu Changfeng away.
• Li Dan told Li Longji about the poisoned pills and the suspected conspiracy, and Li Longji praised Lu Changfeng’s insight.
• Li Dan cautioned Li Longji to keep proper boundaries with Lu Changfeng, then asked whether he had obtained the item.

Li Longji revealed the Crimson Firmament Sword to Li Dan, who warned him to keep it hidden. Meanwhile, Lu Changfeng and Princess Taiping planned to use Luo Qingge’s bird-scrying ability to investigate Zong Chuke’s mysterious aide, and Li Lingyue’s frustration with the emperor’s constraints led her to consider replacing Li Xian.

• Li Longji summoned the Crimson Firmament Sword, and Li Dan warned him that revealing the imperial weapon could bring disaster; Li Longji promised to conceal it.
• Li Lingyue questioned Lu Changfeng about the secluded villa, but he redirected their conversation to investigating Zong Chuke’s mysterious aide.
• Li Lingyue suggested Zhao Lanjun investigate, but Lu Changfeng judged the unknown danger too great and proposed asking Luo Qingge for help.
• Li Lingyue accepted that Luo Qingge’s ability to understand birds could make her an effective spy, while Lu Changfeng said he would ask her to assist.
• After Lu Changfeng left, Li Lingyue snapped at Jinghong and brooded over her inability to act against the traitors without risking rebellion and political upheaval.
• Li Lingyue concluded that replacing Li Xian might be necessary and thought, “Third Brother, don't blame me!”

Lu Changfeng overheard Yan Mingxiao discussing the Azure Cloud Rankings and the disappearance of two young grandmasters in Chang’an, then interrupted to ask Luo Qingge for help tracking down someone tied to a potentially related threat. The chapter left Yan Mingxiao considering Lu Changfeng’s grim suspicion that the missing Pei Yunshu and Chen Ziang might already be dead.

• Yan Mingxiao told Luo Qingge that Lu Changfeng ranked tenth in the new Azure Cloud Rankings and listed several other prominent young martial artists.
• Yan Mingxiao explained that Pei Yunshu and Chen Ziang had both vanished in Chang’an and asked Luo Qingge to search for them using her birds.
• Lu Changfeng entered and asked Luo Qingge for urgent help, while Luo Qingge immediately agreed and Yan Mingxiao protested being put second.
• Lu Changfeng suggested that his own target and the missing grandmasters’ case might involve the same person or group, and asked Yan Mingxiao to wait a few days.
• Yan Mingxiao revealed that the men had been missing for half a month without ransom demands, and Lu Changfeng warned that Pei Yunshu’s survival was unlikely.

Lu Changfeng and Luo Qingge used her bird-scouting ability to investigate the mysterious adept connected to Zong Chuke. The birds traced the adept to the northwest corner of Princess Taiping’s Residence, where Wu Youji lived, leaving Lu Changfeng suspecting Wu Youji was involved.

• Lu Changfeng persuaded Yan Mingxiao to give him a few days to investigate, and Yan Mingxiao left after warning him to share any news.
• Lu Changfeng asked Luo Qingge to have birds discreetly watch Zong Chuke’s residence, and she agreed on the condition that he stay with her.
• Luo Qingge guided birds around the city to observe Zong Chuke’s residence while she and Lu Changfeng analyzed their reports over the next few days.
• Luo Qingge reported that an adept had changed his appearance and slipped out of Zong Chuke’s residence, with birds tracking him to Princess Taiping’s Residence.
• Luo Qingge determined that the adept disappeared in the residence’s northwest corner, where Wu Youji’s separate courtyard stood, and Lu Changfeng suspected Wu Youji.

On June Fifteenth, Wu Youji went to the Yao Light Hall and believed Li Lingyue was having sex with Lu Changfeng, enraging him. Xuan Zhenzi urged him to stick to their full-moon plan, but Wu Youji worried he could not get close enough to use the Spirit-Sealing Talisman.

• Wu Youji went to the Yao Light Hall to pay his respects, but Zhao Lanjun barred him from seeing Li Lingyue because she was unwell.
• Wu Youji heard Li Lingyue moan inside the hall and concluded that she was with Lu Changfeng, then stormed away in fury.
• Zhao Lanjun secretly attached two Gu Insects to Wu Youji's sleeve as he left.
• Wu Youji returned to his residence and smashed its furnishings while vowing revenge on Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng.
• Xuan Zhenzi appeared and counseled Wu Youji to wait until the full moon, when the Spirit-Sealing Talisman could exploit Li Lingyue's cultivation weakness.
• Wu Youji said Li Lingyue's guards and her refusal to receive him left him no chance to approach her and activate the talisman.

Xuan Zhenzi’s scheme with Wu Youji was exposed when Zhao Lanjun’s Blazing Wind Gu struck him and Li Lingyue’s forces surrounded the residence. After Xuan Zhenzi killed Wu Youji and tried to escape, Li Lingyue used the Purple Tenuity Scroll to counter his formation and trap him beneath its starlight.

• Xuan Zhenzi told Wu Youji that a palace carriage would bring him and Li Lingyue to a banquet, giving him a chance to use the talisman against her.
• Zhao Lanjun’s hidden Blazing Wind Gu struck Xuan Zhenzi, while Zhao Lanjun, Mu Qinghong, Lu Changfeng, Li Lingyue, and the Plum Blossom Guards surrounded him.
• Li Lingyue accused Wu Youji and Xuan Zhenzi of plotting against the Empress, abducting young men, and conspiring to assault her, then ordered the guards to kill them.
• Xuan Zhenzi seized Wu Youji as a hostage, but strangled him when he pleaded with Li Lingyue for help, then hurled his corpse at Zhao Lanjun.
• Xuan Zhenzi cast a Spirit-Binding Formation and tried to flee, but Li Lingyue deployed the Purple Tenuity Scroll, which dissolved the formation and enveloped the area in starlight.

Li Lingyue, Zhao Lanjun, and Mu Qinghong trapped Xuan Zhenzi with the starlight formation, but he unleashed increasingly powerful paper puppets to turn the battle around. As Li Qianli’s puppet attacked Li Lingyue, Lu Changfeng prepared to intervene with another method.

• Li Lingyue, Zhao Lanjun, and Mu Qinghong attacked Xuan Zhenzi at full strength, empowered by the starlight formation.
• Xuan Zhenzi summoned eight paper puppets containing the combat intent of missing Fourth Realm experts Pei Yunshu and Chen Ziang, but the three women destroyed them.
• The destroyed puppets exploded into blood-red blades that distracted the women, allowing Xuan Zhenzi to summon a Fifth Realm puppet of Prince Cheng, Li Qianli, wielding the Cloud-Splitting Sword.
• Li Qianli’s puppet attacked Li Lingyue, while Lu Changfeng realized Xuan Zhenzi had obtained the prince’s remnant soul and divine weapon.
• Lu Changfeng began circulating his Vertical and Horizontal True Qi and focused his mind to intervene without alerting Xuan Zhenzi.

Lu Changfeng used Great Void Returning to Dust to weaken the Li Qianli sword puppet, allowing Li Lingyue, Zhao Lanjun, and Mu Qinghong to defeat it and bring down Xuan Zhenzi. Before Xuan Zhenzi destroyed his own body, the hidden inheritor of the Essential Arts of Taiping spoke through him and vowed to avenge his disciple; Li Lingyue shielded Lu Changfeng from the explosion, leaving him with the genuine book and more questions about his enemy.

• Xuan Zhenzi and the Li Qianli sword puppet pressured Li Lingyue, Zhao Lanjun, and Mu Qinghong, while Lu Changfeng prepared a forbidden technique.
• Lu Changfeng cast Great Void Returning to Dust on the sword puppet, and Li Lingyue struck its weakened body with Starlight Fire Burns the City.
• The puppet's faltering broke Xuan Zhenzi's control link, letting Zhao Lanjun and Mu Qinghong shatter his defenses; Lu Changfeng severed Xuan Zhenzi's remaining hand and took the Essential Arts of Taiping.
• Lu Changfeng recognized that Xuan Zhenzi was not the true inheritor, and the hidden figure spoke through Xuan Zhenzi, threatening to avenge his disciple and warning Lu Changfeng that he had been remembered.
• Xuan Zhenzi erupted in a self-destructive blast, while Li Lingyue protected Lu Changfeng; afterward, Lu Changfeng found the words "Way of Taiping" amid the devastation and wondered who was behind the scheme.

After Xuan Zhenzi’s death, Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng discussed how to secure evidence that could overcome Empress Wei and Zong Chuke’s likely accusations. Li Lingyue brought out a Calamity Hound and offered it fire-aspected treasures to track Xuan Zhenzi’s hidden pill-refining lair.

• Li Lingyue ordered Zhao Lanjun, Mu Qinghong, and the Plum Blossom Guards to collect evidence from the battlefield before she reported the crimes to the emperor.
• Lu Changfeng warned Li Lingyue that her enemies could portray Xuan Zhenzi’s death as a staged assassination and urged her to find his lair and pill-making evidence.
• Li Lingyue decided to use Xuan Zhenzi’s clothing and aura to search for his hideout, but noted that Chang'an City was too large to search by hand.
• Li Lingyue explained that she had captured a Calamity Hound cub in Longyou and had been trying to tame it.
• Li Lingyue offered the Calamity Hound redfire marrow and other treasures if it found where Xuan Zhenzi’s scent was strongest; the hound sniffed the cloth and began searching scents within thirty li.

Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng followed the Calamity Hound to Xuan Zhenzi’s hidden lair, where they found evidence of his pill-making and rescued several abducted young martial artists. Li Lingyue believed the discovery would expose Empress Wei and Zong Chuke, while Lu Changfeng feared the political struggle was far from over.

• Li Lingyue directed the Calamity Hound away from Zong Chuke’s residence, and it led Mu Qinghong’s squad toward the Ghost Market.
• Lu Changfeng studied the original Essential Arts of Taiping and connected talismanic arts to divine intent, sword-nurturing, and artifact refinement.
• Mu Qinghong signaled that the squad had found the lair, and Li Lingyue, Lu Changfeng, Zhao Lanjun, and the others hurried there.
• Li Lingyue and Lu Changfeng entered the concealed cave and found the Dark Beast Origin Furnace, pill-making supplies, and cages holding abducted young martial artists.
• Li Lingyue declared the findings conclusive evidence against Empress Wei and Zong Chuke, while Lu Changfeng worried that the conflict would continue.

Lu Changfeng mastered the Mystic Ice Incantation and discovered that nourishing the Wind-Raising Sword with divine intent awakened its spirituality. He was then summoned to the Yao Light Hall, where Li Lingyue was suffering a dangerous backlash in her cultivation.

• Lu Changfeng practiced the Mystic Ice Incantation until a talisman he had drawn froze an entire bathtub of water in a few breaths.
• Lu Changfeng considered sealing difficult arts in talismans, then nourished the Wind-Raising Sword with wind-aspected divine intent and formed a deeper bond with it.
• Jinghong arrived at the Snow Listening Tower and told Lu Changfeng that Li Lingyue had returned from the palace pale and was now suffering pain in her heart meridians.
• Lu Changfeng followed Jinghong to the Yao Light Hall, where Zhao Lanjun, Mu Qinghong, and the other attendants left him to care for Li Lingyue.

Lu Changfeng treated Li Lingyue’s qi deviation as she vented her frustration over the emperor’s refusal to act against Empress Wei and Zong Chuke. After learning that Youzhou’s hunted Xu Lu might possess the Heaven-Covering Formation, Lu Changfeng became interested in quelling the unrest, and Li Lingyue rewarded him with a rare treasure before kissing him.

• Lu Changfeng used Huayang Needles and Shennong Qi to stabilize Li Lingyue during a qi deviation, and she told him the emperor had refused to act on the evidence against Xuan Zhenzi, Empress Wei, and Zong Chuke.
• Li Lingyue warned Lu Changfeng that Youzhou faced unrest after Xue Ne found Wild Fox Ravine empty and foreign experts gathered near Swordforging City.
• Lu Changfeng read that Xu Lu had repeatedly evaded government forces and survived attacks, and suspected he possessed the Heaven-Covering Formation.
• Li Lingyue promised Lu Changfeng a surprise if he quelled the Youzhou unrest, then presented Master Luo with ice-soul snow silkworm silk gloves and Lu Changfeng with Nine-Orifice Blood-Veined Dragon Coral.
• Li Lingyue held back Lu Changfeng’s reward until he complained about having to sell his looks, then pulled him close and kissed him.

Lu Changfeng traveled toward Youzhou with a newly acquired divine bow and arrows, then encountered a mysterious white-haired old man who challenged him to a life-or-death game of Go. Their game grew perilous, with neither player yet securing victory.

• Lu Changfeng set out for Youzhou with Qing Dai, Snow Robe, and Mo Li, carrying the Eight Desolations Sun-Shooting Bow and Four Symbols Sun-Shooting Arrows he received after treating Li Lingyue.
• Qing Dai advanced her cultivation as the party traveled north through the desolate frontier.
• Lu Changfeng met a white-haired old man waiting at a roadside pavilion, who declared that the winner of their Go game would live and the loser would die.
• Lu Changfeng accepted the challenge and opened at tengen, while the old man played a solid, imposing game and Lu Changfeng responded with swift, unpredictable moves.
• By the middle game, the board had become dangerously complex, and the contest remained unresolved.

Lu Changfeng won his Go match against Mo Xuanji, who tried to kill him, but Ye Fashan intervened and forced Mo to leave. Lu Changfeng accepted Ye Fashan’s offer to inherit the Frost-Sky Cold Jade Manual and went with him.

• Lu Changfeng turned the match around with a brilliant sacrifice and beat Mo Xuanji by a point and a half.
• Mo Xuanji revealed himself as Zhou Yichen’s master and moved to kill Lu Changfeng for revenge.
• Ye Fashan appeared, stopped Mo Xuanji, and warned that he would destroy Chessboard Mountain’s lineage if Mo pursued revenge.
• Mo Xuanji withdrew, and Lu Changfeng thanked Ye Fashan for saving his life.
• Lu Changfeng accepted the Frost-Sky Cold Jade Manual inheritance and promised to study it diligently.
• Ye Fashan invited Lu Changfeng to come with him, and Lu Changfeng signaled Qing Dai to wait before following.

Ye Fashan passed the Frost-Sky Cold Jade Manual to Lu Changfeng and gave him the Jade Rinsing zither before departing. Ten days later, Lu Changfeng reached Youzhou, where reports of another horrific household massacre spread as a troop from the Governor's Office arrived.

• Ye Fashan explained that the Frost-Sky Cold Jade Manual used sound and divine intent to resonate with heaven and earth's cold qi, then transmitted its cultivation framework to Lu Changfeng.
• Lu Changfeng absorbed the inheritance and thanked Ye Fashan for teaching him the art.
• Ye Fashan gave Lu Changfeng the Jade Rinsing zither and advised him to seek Chan Master Hui Ming at Cold Mountain Temple if he faced trouble.
• Ye Fashan departed, and Lu Changfeng continued his journey to Youzhou, arriving ten days later.
• Lu Changfeng heard that all forty-seven members of the Liu Family had been killed, and a grim-faced general led cavalry bearing the Youzhou Governor's Office banner toward the gate.