Chapter Summaries

Lu Changfeng stopped Xu Renhao and Ba Xiong from seizing the Heavenly Fowl Mysterious Music Casket, then uncovered the dangerous political protection surrounding them. He advised Yan Mingxiao to kill Xu Renhao and erase the evidence rather than risk a deadly investigation.

• Lu Changfeng defeated Ba Xiong and Xu Renhao when they attacked him, and Xu Renhao shoved Ba Xiong into Lu Changfeng’s Threefold Origin-Returning Qi to escape.
• Yan Mingxiao arrived with Constables of the Capital Prefecture and revealed that she had lured Xu Renhao into acting so she could expose his master, Wu Zhaoyun.
• Lu Changfeng stopped Xu Renhao with a snap, and Yan Mingxiao’s Constables shackled him while she destroyed his martial abilities.
• Lu Changfeng removed the Invisible Gu Sprout tormenting Xu Renhao and searched his memories for plans concerning Luo Qingge.
• Lu Changfeng warned Yan Mingxiao that Wu Zhaoyun was protected by Crown Prince Li Chongjun and Prince Cheng, Li Qianli, and advised her not to investigate further.
• Yan Mingxiao asked how to deal with Xu Renhao, and Lu Changfeng advised her to eliminate him and destroy all traces.

Wu Zhaoyun accepted Li Qianli’s offer to help him obtain the Five Poisons Cult’s cultivation art in exchange for aiding the prince’s operation. Li Qianli and Li Xi discussed Wu Sansi’s growing influence and the dangers left behind by Wu Zhao as they prepared for the coming conflict.

• Wu Zhaoyun took Li Qianli’s pill and learned that Lan Die’er of the Five Poisons Cult was in Chang’an, with Li Qianli promising to hand her over after the operation.
• Wu Zhaoyun pledged to help Li Qianli after hearing that the Heaven-Mending Art could remedy his flawed cultivation.
• Wu Zhaoyun discovered that Ba Xiong and Xu Renhao had gone out, then headed to his bedchamber to harvest and replenish himself.
• Li Xi questioned whether Wu Zhaoyun could be trusted, and Li Qianli explained that the cave master’s gu could still prove useful.
• Li Xi reported that Wu Sansi was using the Buddha-Bathing Festival preparations to place his allies in key positions, while Li Qianli warned him not to underestimate the Wu Family.

Li Qianli explained that the Mingtang Oath was meant to undermine the legitimacy of anyone who moved against the Wu Family, and revealed his plan to use the Golden Silkworm Gu against Taiping to make her kill Wu Sansi. The next day, Taiping led Lu Changfeng and the Twenty-Four Floral Periods to Famen Temple, where they arrived as Master Sengjia played a board game with Cui Shi.

• Li Qianli told Li Xi that the Mingtang Oath preserved the Wu Family's legitimacy by making would-be challengers fear divine condemnation.
• Li Qianli admitted that he had cultivated the Golden Silkworm Gu to control Taiping and make her devise Wu Sansi's death, but Lu Changfeng's skills had thwarted him.
• Li Xi reported that Taiping had recovered and planned to visit Famen Temple, and Li Qianli said she might secretly support their effort against Wu Sansi.
• At dawn, Taiping departed Chang'an for Famen Temple with Jinghong, Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and the Twenty-Four Floral Periods.
• Taiping went to the meditation courtyard with Lu Changfeng, where Master Sengjia was playing a board game with Cui Shi.

Princess Taiping brought Lu Changfeng to meet Master Sengjia, where Lu defeated the monk at Go and received guidance about his martial cultivation. Sengjia identified the separation between Lu’s spirit and Qi as the final obstacle to his breakthrough, leaving Lu stunned by sudden clarity.

• Princess Taiping introduced Lu Changfeng to Master Sengjia and asked the monk to guide them.
• Taiping asked Lu to continue the unfinished Go game, and he sacrificed stones to build a new defense before exploiting a weakness and defeating Sengjia.
• Sengjia praised Lu’s decisive play, then compared his command of Go stones to his rigid control of True Qi and spiritual Qi.
• Sengjia explained that Lu’s spirit and Qi remained divided, and that his meticulous control obstructed their union.
• Lu realized his mastery of the Threefold Origin-Returning Qi had kept spirit and Qi from truly blending, and he froze in sudden reflection.

Lu Changfeng attained a new understanding of the Threefold Origin-Returning Qi and broke through to grandmaster, forming a Mysterious Crane dharma form. Princess Taiping asked Master Sengjia how to face a love with no clear future, and he advised her to cherish the present and wait for circumstances to unfold.

• Lu Changfeng identified with the Mysterious Crane in the painting and let the wind, clouds, and frost circulate freely as extensions of his will.
• Master Sengjia praised Lu Changfeng’s spontaneous spiritual awakening, while Princess Taiping thanked him for guiding Lu.
• Princess Taiping asked Master Sengjia what she should do when her heart clung to something but the road ahead seemed to have ended, and he told her to watch as causes and conditions converged.
• Lu Changfeng’s aura erupted, and his Mysterious Crane dharma form solidified as his domain expanded to forty zhang.
• Lu Changfeng opened his eyes, recognized that he had become a grandmaster, and thanked Master Sengjia for his guidance.

After breaking through to the martial Grandmaster realm, Lu Changfeng received Princess Taiping’s Five Elements Positioning manual and went to test his new abilities in a secluded ravine. As he practiced, three massive boulders suddenly attacked him from above, trapping him with no clear escape.

• Lu Changfeng thanked Princess Taiping and Master Sengjia for helping him break through, then agreed to honor his wager with Taiping by massaging her when he checked her pulse.
• Princess Taiping gave Lu Changfeng the Five Elements Positioning manual as a congratulatory gift, and he left to test his new Grandmaster powers.
• Master Sengjia warned Princess Taiping that the future consequences of the seed she had planted in Lu Changfeng might exceed what she could foresee, before they turned to discuss the Buddha’s bone and the nation’s destiny.
• At Azure Abyss Ravine, Lu Changfeng used the manual to form a forty-zhang Yin-Yang array and successfully gathered water essence into ice shards.
• As Lu Changfeng experimented with drawing on metal essence, three enormous boulders hurtled toward him and sealed off his escape routes.

Lu Changfeng fought off Wu Chongxun’s attackers, redirecting Huijue’s powerful strikes and leaving the Grandmaster unable to land a blow. As Wu Lingyun watched, she signaled Shang Poyue to prepare a surprise attack on Lu Changfeng.

• Lu Changfeng blocked the stone barrage with a Thick Earth Barrier and redirected a massive stone pillar back into the woods with Heaven and Earth Great Shift.
• Huijue charged from the woods and attacked Lu Changfeng with his Mind-Bewildering Pestle and Weituo dharma form.
• Lu Changfeng resisted Huijue’s mind-disturbing attack, deflected his blows, and evaded him with Phoenix Dance Nine Heavens.
• Wu Chongxun, Wu Lingyun, and their companions emerged from the woods and watched Lu Changfeng outmaneuver Huijue.
• Wu Lingyun gave Shang Poyue a signal, and he gathered the Sun-Piercing Divine Finger’s power and aimed it at Lu Changfeng.

Princess Anle interrupted the confrontation at Famen Temple and openly tried to draw Lu Changfeng into a private meeting, but Princess Taiping stopped her. As Wu Chongxun and his companions prepared to leave, Lu Changfeng secretly caused Huijue to collapse in agony, leaving Wu Chongxun demanding an antidote.

• Princess Anle arrived at Famen Temple and stopped Wu Chongxun and Huijue from continuing their fight with Lu Changfeng.
• Princess Anle praised Lu Changfeng and invited him to her residence for tea, while Wu Chongxun stood by in silence.
• Princess Taiping intervened, refused Anle's invitation on Lu Changfeng's behalf, and sent Zi Zhi to examine Anle instead.
• Anle left with Zi Zhi, and Wu Chongxun and the others began to follow her after glaring at Lu Changfeng.
• Lu Changfeng secretly triggered the Crimson Flame Wyrm, causing Huijue to convulse in pain and drop his pestle.
• Wu Chongxun demanded an antidote, but Lu Changfeng denied responsibility and claimed Huijue had suffered a sudden illness.

Lu Changfeng forced Huijue to beg for mercy, treated him, and received the Wondrous Lotus-Touching Hand. Princess Taiping explained the plan to kill Wu Sansi during the Buddha-Bone Relic procession, then invited Lu Changfeng to see the relic and fulfill his massage promise.

• Wu Chongxun ordered Huijue to apologize to Lu Changfeng, and Huijue kowtowed and begged for mercy.
• Lu Changfeng ended Huijue’s pain and warned him not to challenge him again, then the Wu Family left in disgrace.
• The Noble Physician’s Canon rewarded Lu Changfeng with the Wondrous Lotus-Touching Hand after he treated Huijue.
• Princess Taiping told Lu Changfeng that Wu Sansi planned to study the Buddha-Bone Relic alone and that their chance to kill him would come on the Eighth Day of the Fourth Month.
• Lu Changfeng questioned whether the Buddha-Bone Relic was truly a bone of Shakyamuni, and Princess Taiping invited him to return to Famen Temple to see it and fulfill his promise.

Lu Changfeng viewed the Buddha-Finger Relic at Famen Temple and wondered whether legendary sages and immortals had truly existed, strengthening his resolve to grow more powerful. In Princess Taiping’s quarters, he prepared to massage her neck and shoulders and realized her strain might qualify as an illness eligible for a reward.

• Master Sengjia showed Princess Taiping and Lu Changfeng the Buddha-Finger Relic, whose presence cleansed Lu Changfeng’s Mysterious Crane Dharma Form and calmed the Blazing Wind Gu.
• Lu Changfeng speculated that legendary figures such as Shakyamuni, Laozi, and Zhang Daoling might have cultivated into realms beyond mortal understanding, and he resolved to become stronger.
• Lu Changfeng followed Princess Taiping to the guest quarters, where she dismissed her attendants and asked him to honor his promise to massage her.
• As Lu Changfeng prepared to use the Wondrous Lotus-Touching Hand on Princess Taiping’s stiff neck and shoulders, he wondered whether treating her strain could earn him a reward, and writing appeared across his retina.

Lu Changfeng treated Princess Taiping’s neck and shoulder strain with his Lotus Touch technique and considered the danger of becoming emotionally entangled with her. Taiping then asked him to travel to Lu Prefecture to help Sanlang investigate a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land, while admitting that she hoped he would stay despite giving him freedom.

• Lu Changfeng received Heavenly One Divine Water and its extraction method as the reward for treating Li Lingyue’s neck and shoulder strain.
• Lu Changfeng used Shennong Qi and Lotus Touch to ease Princess Taiping’s pain, while privately resolving not to become her kept lover or give her his heart.
• Princess Taiping told Lu Changfeng that Sanlang had discovered a Grotto-Heaven Blessed Land in Lu Prefecture guarded by a Suan Yu whose cries confused the mind.
• Princess Taiping asked Lu Changfeng to go to Lu Prefecture as Inspector Pavilion Commander and help Sanlang after the Buddha Bone matter was settled.
• Princess Taiping said she was giving Lu Changfeng freedom but hoped he would not leave her.

After leaving Princess Taiping without answering her feelings, Lu Changfeng opened his guest-room door and found himself in a strange meadow with the mysterious elder Yuan Tiangang. Yuan Tiangang revealed that dark-mystery true qi was eroding his Dao foundation and gave Lu Changfeng a rare treasure-seeking parrot, leaving Lu with a chance to treat him and earn the complete Four Absolutes of the Cosmic Sphere.

• Lu Changfeng left Princess Taiping after finishing her treatment, while she took his silence as rejection.
• Lu Changfeng opened his guest-room door and found himself transported to a sunlit meadow where an old man was fishing.
• The old man identified Lu Changfeng's martial art and revealed he had come seeking medical treatment.
• Lu Changfeng examined the old man's pulse, but dark-mystery true qi nearly froze him before the elder rescued him.
• The elder named himself Yuan Tiangang, gave Lu Changfeng a rare treasure-seeking parrot, and said he would wait for Lu's cultivation to grow.
• Lu Changfeng's Noble Physician's Canon identified Yuan Tiangang's condition and offered the complete Four Absolutes of the Cosmic Sphere as the success reward.

Lu Changfeng discovered that the diviner before him was the supposedly long-dead Yuan Tiangang, who found Lu’s fate impossible to read but accepted his unusual origins without probing further. Yuan gave him a spiritual cultivation vessel and explained how Ye Fashan could sense his successor, leaving Lu with a clearer understanding of divination.

• Lu Changfeng recognized Yuan Tiangang, who tried to divine his fate but found his chart and qi lineage unlike those of anyone from this world.
• Snow Robe interrupted Yuan Tiangang’s probing by demanding food, and Yuan apologized before sharing a story about Qifu Hui’s sudden transformation after a near-fatal injury.
• Yuan Tiangang reassured Lu Changfeng that his unusual awakening had its own causes and consequences and would not be investigated further.
• Yuan Tiangang gave Lu Changfeng the Eight Extremes Dew-Bearing Plate as a welcoming gift from Ye Fashan.
• Yuan Tiangang explained that Ye Fashan could sense Lu through their resonating spiritual intent and taught Lu why accomplished diviners could calculate their own fate.

Yuan Tiangang explained divination and warned Lu Changfeng that his Shennong qi could weaken unless he cultivated it alongside his other qi. He then taught Lu Changfeng how qi absorption worked beyond the fourth realm and why grandmasters sought places and treasures suited to their cultivation.

• Yuan Tiangang explained to Lu Changfeng that divination read the likeliest outcome from changing signs rather than revealing a fixed destiny.
• Yuan Tiangang warned Lu Changfeng that his wind, cloud, and frost qi threatened to outgrow his Shennong qi, and Lu Changfeng affirmed he would continue practicing the Shennong Glazed Glass Art.
• Yuan Tiangang revealed that Lu Changfeng's eldest senior fellow disciple, Jiang Li, was waiting for him in Chang'an.
• Yuan Tiangang explained that cultivators before the fourth realm gathered qi for quantity, while those beyond it absorbed qi suited to their own intent and spirit.
• Yuan Tiangang described how grandmasters sought specialized cultivation grounds and treasures to strengthen their Dharma Forms and spiritual intents.

Yuan Tiangang explained the Eight Extremes Dew-Bearing Plate and gave it to Lu Changfeng, who learned that his success with the Snowfield Mysterious Crane Painting had earned him the inheritance opportunity. Back at Famen Temple, Lu Changfeng told Princess Taiping what happened and introduced Snow Robe, who ended the conversation by asking to leave and find fire ganoderma.

• Yuan Tiangang explained how the Eight Extremes Dew-Bearing Plate was made and how its essence could aid Lu Changfeng's cultivation.
• Lu Changfeng questioned why Yuan Tiangang had given him such a valuable treasure, and Yuan Tiangang said he was the only one to comprehend and condense the painting's three aspects circulation.
• Lu Changfeng thanked Yuan Tiangang and promised to cultivate diligently and purge his cold poison; Yuan Tiangang sent him back to his guest room at Famen Temple.
• Princess Taiping and Master Sengjia rushed into the room after Lu Changfeng's presence vanished, and Lu Changfeng recounted his meeting with Yuan Tiangang.
• Snow Robe refused to answer Princess Taiping's questions, then told Lu Changfeng it was hungry and knew where to find fire ganoderma.

Lu Changfeng and Taiping followed Snow Robe to a five-hundred-year-old fire ganoderma, while discussing the dangers of the spiritual energy revival and Taiping asked him to stay at her residence. Lu Changfeng began refining half the ganoderma with the Shennong Glazed Glass Art as Snow Robe ate the other half.

• Taiping and Lu Changfeng followed Snow Robe through the night to search for spiritual materials.
• Taiping explained the origins of several cultivation arts and warned that the spiritual energy revival would bring great dangers, then asked Lu Changfeng to face the coming tide with her.
• Snow Robe led them to a secluded cave on Mount Qiao, where they found a fire ganoderma more than five hundred years old.
• Lu Changfeng picked the fire ganoderma, divided it in half, and gave one half to Snow Robe.
• Lu Changfeng tested the Eight Extremes Dew-Bearing Plate, then sat down to refine his half of the fire ganoderma into his body.

Lu Changfeng refined a cultivation method for the twelve children, with Taiping’s guidance, and named it Spirit Ape Transformation. After teaching it to them, he saw Longhand and A Mao regain their human forms and prepared to give the children new names.

• Lu Changfeng and Taiping sampled the Three Origins essence, then Taiping advised him on adapting a cultivation method for the children.
• Lu Changfeng revised the method to prioritize the children’s survival and named it Spirit Ape Transformation.
• Master Sengjia set out for Chang'an with the Buddha-Bone Relic, while Lu Changfeng and Taiping arranged a secret handover to protect the genuine relic during the Buddha-Bathing Festival.
• Lu Changfeng returned to the Princess's Residence and taught the twelve children Spirit Ape Transformation under Su Bonian's watch.
• Longhand and A Mao mastered the method first and regained their human forms, giving the other children hope of recovery.
• Lu Changfeng asked the children for their forgotten birth names and began assigning them new names inspired by famous steeds.

Lu Changfeng gave the twelve children new names and entrusted their education to Su Bonian, while Princess Taiping warned them that Lu might leave. Back at Snow Listening Tower, Lu found a summons from Jiang Li and decided to meet his senior brother at Little Apricot Ridge.

• Lu Changfeng named the eight boys Ji, Li, Yi, Lun, Shan, Qu, Liu, and Er, and the four girls Yun, Dian, Qun, and Yan, then asked Su Bonian to teach them.
• Princess Taiping told the children that Lu Changfeng might leave, leaving them frightened and reluctant to be separated from him.
• Lu Changfeng explained to Snow Robe that he had given the children the surname Mu to keep them clear of his enemies and grudges.
• Qing Dai found a willow-leaf-shaped dart bearing Jiang Li's emblem embedded in the Snow Listening Tower's doorframe, with a note summoning Lu Changfeng to Little Apricot Ridge at the hour of the Dog.
• Lu Changfeng decided to meet Jiang Li, trusting Yuan Tiangang's judgment that Medicine King Valley would not pose a substantial danger for now.

Lu Changfeng met Jiang Li at Little Apricot Ridge and learned that Jiang Li knew the truth about Zhang Shouzhuo and Sun Huaijin. Jiang Li said he had already punished Sun Huaijin, then asked Lu Changfeng to follow him.

• Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and Snow Robe left Chang'an City and watched Jiang Li treat villagers at Little Apricot Ridge.
• Jiang Li asked whether Lu Changfeng had killed Zhang Shouzhuo, and Lu Changfeng challenged him to speak plainly about his purpose.
• Jiang Li explained that he had known Zhang Shouzhuo and Sun Huaijin were flawed but had not removed them from the lineage because of his master's wishes and their court positions.
• Jiang Li told Lu Changfeng that he had punished Sun Huaijin and that Lu's poison would keep him from causing trouble again.
• Jiang Li asked whether Lu Changfeng had paid his respects to Sun Simiao, then told him to follow as he left.

Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and Snow Robe accompanied Jiang Li to pay respects at Sun Simiao’s grave, where the Fire-Worshipping Cult’s Li Nantian ambushed them and demanded Jiang Li take a poison pill. As Jiang Li prepared to comply, Lu Changfeng activated a powerful Five Elements array.

• Jiang Li led Lu Changfeng, Qing Dai, and Snow Robe to Sun Simiao’s grave, where they paid their respects.
• Jiang Li began to explain that Lu Changfeng had mastered Sun Simiao’s Shennong Glazed Glass Art, but several figures suddenly approached.
• Li Nantian arrived with eight Fire-Worshipping Cult followers and confronted Jiang Li, who was already weakened by fire-poison injuries.
• Jiang Li told Lu Changfeng to escape, then offered to cure Li Nantian’s Netherfire Pill poison in exchange for the others’ freedom.
• Li Nantian demanded that Jiang Li take a Heart-Eroding Bone-Rotting Pill as proof of sincerity.
• Lu Changfeng activated a vast Yin-Yang Array Diagram and invoked the Five Elements technique, White Dew Defies the Frost.