Chapter Summaries

Bai Xuanling joined Li Yingling and Cui Hao at Desolate Ridge and realized their intelligence operation had likely been exposed. She stopped them from retreating and confronted the Demon Kings lying in wait, promising to send them to explain themselves to their dead companions.

• Cui Hao complained that Li Yingling had let sand blow into his mouth, and Bai Xuanling appeared and teased Li Yingling for bullying him.
• Li Yingling explained that she and Cui Hao had come to exchange intelligence with a Demon Kingdom informant.
• Bai Xuanling said Li Yingling had turned three Golden Core Stage demons, prompting Li Yingling and Cui Hao to realize their informants had likely been exposed and betrayed.
• Li Yingling ordered Cui Hao to retreat and warn the Alliance Leader about a possible ambush, but Bai Xuanling stopped them.
• Great King You Kui, the Spider Demon King, and the Rongke Demon King discussed their dead allies and the traitor as three human cultivators appeared above them.
• Bai Xuanling mocked the three Demon Kings and said she would send them to explain themselves to their dead companions.

Bai Xuanling killed two Demon Kings, left a scorpion alive for Li Yingling to interrogate, then killed it and used her divine sense to locate the remaining demons. She returned to Yunzhou City with Li Yingling and Cui Hao, while Chu Xingchen continued refining Tenfold Great Tonic Pills.

• Bai Xuanling killed the spider and deer Demon Kings and severed the scorpion Demon King's tail, leaving it alive for Li Yingling to question.
• Li Yingling asked the scorpion what information had brought the demons, but it only sneered and refused to answer.
• Bai Xuanling took Li Yingling's Tenfold Great Tonic Pill, killed the scorpion, and declared that they had learned where the Demon Kings gathered.
• Bai Xuanling said she could find the other Demon Kings by sweeping her divine sense along the way, and the group set out.
• In Yunzhou City, Chu Xingchen and Bai Xuanling's pill furnaces produced Tenfold Great Tonic Pills while Lin Luoyu bottled them.
• Bai Xuanling, Li Yingling, and Cui Hao suddenly returned to the teahouse, and Bai Xuanling told Chu Xingchen that the matter was resolved.

Bai Xuanling advised Chu Xingchen to guide and encourage Li Yingling instead of letting her learn only through mistakes, and Chu took her criticism seriously. Meanwhile, Li Xingtian met the bloodied Zhang Yuanshan, whose unusual poison would supposedly disappear once he reached the Nascent Soul Realm.

• Chu Xingchen slowed his pill refining to make future price increases easier, while Li Yingling and Cui Hao wrote reviews of the recent incident.
• Bai Xuanling told Chu Xingchen that Li Yingling needed guidance and affirmation, and Chu admitted his approach to teaching disciples had been too rough.
• Bai Xuanling noticed Chu Xingchen refining pills more slowly than usual, but he insisted that he was giving every pill his full concentration.
• In a tavern in the Central Province, Li Xingtian watched Zhang Yuanshan vomit blood and swallow a bottle of Blood-Replenishing Pills with his meal.
• Zhang Yuanshan explained that a strange poison was infecting his blood, and that a Nascent Soul medical cultivator had advised him to endure it until he broke through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Li Xingtian brought the blood-poisoned Zhang Yuanshan back to his Sect near Yuzhou City, hoping his master could examine him. When Li Xingtian tried to enter, the mountain-protecting formation hurled him back, leaving Zhang Yuanshan to wonder if he had been expelled.

• Zhang Yuanshan described how Li Xingtian's failed attempt to treat his poison had made him vomit blood uncontrollably, though he did not blame Li Xingtian.
• Li Xingtian took Zhang Yuanshan back toward the Sect, intending to ask his master to examine him and hoping to save money on further treatment.
• Zhang Yuanshan praised Li Xingtian's master, making Li Xingtian visibly pleased as they approached the Sect.
• Li Xingtian flew toward the Sect's main gate, but its mountain-protecting formation struck him and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Zhang Yuanshan cautiously asked Li Xingtian whether his master had expelled him.

Li Xingtian returned to his sect with Zhang Yuanshan and found it transformed by an expensive formation and lavish improvements, leaving him wondering how his master had become so wealthy. After Ning Qianqian verified his identity and showed them inside, the new disciples mistook Zhang Yuanshan for Li Xingtian and greeted him as their Second Senior Brother.

• Li Xingtian and Zhang Yuanshan inspected the sect's new mountain-protecting formation and grand renovations, and Li Xingtian wondered whether he had returned to the right place.
• Ning Qianqian cautiously asked Li Xingtian to prove who he was, then recognized him and brought both men into the sect.
• Ning Qianqian told Li Xingtian that Chu Xingchen and the others were away and would return soon, while Zhang Yuanshan agreed to wait in the guest rooms.
• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu saw Zhang Yuanshan beside Li Xingtian and mistook him for their Second Senior Brother, greeting him while Li Xingtian froze with his gifts in hand.

Li Xingtian met his junior disciples Lin Luoyu and Cui Hao, who initially mistook Zhang Yuanshan for him, and gave them gifts. Zhang Yuanshan laughed at Li Xingtian’s embarrassment until he suddenly spat blood.

• Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu mistakenly bowed to Zhang Yuanshan before Ning Qianqian’s hint redirected them to Li Xingtian.
• Cui Hao introduced himself as Li Xingtian’s Fifth Junior Brother, and Lin Luoyu introduced herself as his Fourth Junior Sister.
• Li Xingtian gave Cui Hao and Lin Luoyu Dharma Treasures and Artifacts, then introduced himself by name.
• Zhang Yuanshan laughed at Li Xingtian’s awkwardness until he violently spat a mouthful of blood.

Li Xingtian reunited with Chu Xingchen and his fellow disciples after returning to the Sect, while Chu Xingchen brought Bai Xuanling in to treat Zhang Yuanshan’s poison. The chapter ended with Bai Xuanling asking whether Zhang Yuanshan feared pain before restraining him with spiritual power.

• Ning Qianqian left the Main Hall, where Zhang Yuanshan, Lin Luoyu, and Li Xingtian remained awkwardly silent while Cui Hao watched them.
• Cui Hao asked Li Xingtian about his trip to Central Province, but Li Xingtian’s brief answer left the hall quiet again.
• Chu Xingchen arrived with Li Yingling and Chen Baiqing, and Li Xingtian greeted his master respectfully.
• Chu Xingchen examined Zhang Yuanshan and said he was not a physician, then called for the Sect’s real expert.
• Bai Xuanling gave Li Xingtian a bottle of pills and asked Zhang Yuanshan whether he feared pain.
• Zhang Yuanshan tried to change his answer, but Bai Xuanling locked him in place with spiritual power.

The Sect held its forty-first Whole-Sect Gathering, where Zhang Yuanshan recovered from Qianji Poison and Chu Xingchen encouraged Li Yingling to enjoy the games instead of refereeing. As the gathering ended, Chu Xingchen traded Bai Xuanling one hundred bottles of pills for another Heavenly Derivation Sect token so Li Xingtian could carry it while traveling.

• Bai Xuanling stayed for the gathering, while Zhang Yuanshan rested after surviving the poison that had spread through his body.
• Chu Xingchen thanked Zhang Yuanshan for looking after Li Xingtian and invited him to stay in the sect until he recovered.
• Chu Xingchen took the referee's flag from Li Yingling and sent her into the games, reminding her to relax and have fun.
• Bai Xuanling joined games designed by Chu Xingchen, and the gathering ended with her mood soothed.
• Chu Xingchen asked Bai Xuanling for another Heavenly Derivation Sect token for Li Xingtian and agreed to give her one hundred bottles of pills in exchange.

Li Xingtian returned to find the sect thriving while his master and fellow disciples remained familiar in their own eccentric ways. After Cui Hao submitted an absurdly long summary, Chu Xingchen sent Li Yingling to teach him a lesson, and Li Xingtian left as the commotion began.

• Li Xingtian saw how much the sect had changed and reflected on how Chu Xingchen still treated him with warmth and trust.
• Li Xingtian spotted Chen Baiqing apparently letting a fish grill itself, then convinced himself he had imagined it.
• Li Xingtian and Cui Hao entered the Main Hall, where Chu Xingchen was refining pills and Li Yingling was revising an assignment.
• Cui Hao handed Chu Xingchen his lengthy summary, and Chu Xingchen skimmed it before demanding a reason not to beat him.
• Chu Xingchen gave Cui Hao's summary to Li Yingling and told her to focus on page fifty-three.
• Li Yingling confronted Cui Hao about his remarks on correcting a leader's flawed plan, while Li Xingtian hurried away from the ensuing commotion.

As Chizhou’s ongoing floods displaced refugees, Chu Xingchen offered to help and Yuankong arrived pleading for urgent aid. Chu Xingchen gave him a Spatial Ring full of gold and silver, leaving Yuankong to suspect they had misunderstood each other.

• The Sect members gathered in the rain to drink tea and listen to Li Yingling play the zither.
• Lin Luoyu and Li Yingling noticed the rain had continued without stopping, and Cui Hao reported that floods in Chizhou had killed people and sent refugees toward Yuzhou City.
• Chu Xingchen told Cui Hao to contact Chanwood Temple and offer money to help the refugees.
• Yuankong rushed into the pavilion and begged Chu Xingchen for help with an urgent matter concerning Chizhou.
• Chu Xingchen handed Yuankong a Spatial Ring containing gold and silver, and Yuankong said Chu Xingchen might have misunderstood him.

Chu Xingchen agreed to help Yuankong search for his missing abbot after a demon attack, but a hidden quest revealed that a luck thief was traveling through the waterways. Chu Xingchen and Li Xingtian reached flood-stricken Chizhou, where Li Xingtian entered the raging river to capture demons and Chu Xingchen went after him when blood qi rose from the water.

• Yuankong told Chu Xingchen that his abbot had been attacked by river demons near Chizhou, and Chu Xingchen agreed to help him search.
• When Chu Xingchen told Li Xingtian to accompany Yuankong, a hidden quest appeared, requiring him to capture a luck thief traveling through the water veins.
• Chu Xingchen chose Li Xingtian to travel with him to Chizhou and told Li Yingling to stay behind and look after the others.
• Chu Xingchen arranged donations for flood relief and traveled with Li Xingtian and Yuankong toward Chizhou, where Yuankong distributed food to victims.
• Li Xingtian entered the flooded river to capture demons, but blood qi rose from the water, so Chu Xingchen went after him.

Chu Xingchen discovered that demons were dismantling dams to expose a Water Vein needed for a ritual, and sent Li Xingtian and Yuankong to search other dams for Yuanjing. After studying how Water Veins worked in Yunze City, Chu Xingchen saw Li Xingtian return after three days, apparently having found Yuanjing.

• Li Xingtian told Chu Xingchen that several water demons had acted strangely and self-destructed, leaving only a bighead carp to question.
• Chu Xingchen found a trace of unusual Spiritual Power on the carp and concluded that Yuanjing’s attack was connected to a larger matter.
• Chu Xingchen and the others found demons dismantling a dam, so he sent Li Xingtian and Yuankong to check other dams for Yuanjing while he handled the demons.
• Chu Xingchen learned that the dam’s destruction would expose a Water Vein needed for a ritual, then studied a book to understand Water Veins.
• After three days, Li Xingtian returned to Yuelai Restaurant in Yunze City, and Chu Xingchen suspected he had found Yuanjing.

Chu Xingchen sent Yuanjing and Yuankong back to Chanwood Temple while preparing to investigate the unnatural disaster in Chizhou and catch an unknown “big fish.” He gave Li Xingtian the Commentary on the Water Classic to study water veins, but two days later Li Xingtian admitted he could not understand it and asked Chu Xingchen to bring Eldest Senior Sister.

• Li Xingtian brought Yuanjing and Yuankong to meet Chu Xingchen, who urged the frail abbot to return to Chanwood Temple.
• Yuanjing warned Chu Xingchen that the disaster in Chizhou was not a simple natural disaster, and Chu Xingchen told him the next steps were not his concern.
• Li Xingtian explained that he had threatened villagers downstream of the dam into evacuating after Yuanjing failed to persuade them.
• Chu Xingchen said he planned to catch an unknown big fish and gave Li Xingtian the Commentary on the Water Classic to learn how to locate water veins.
• After struggling with the book for two days, Li Xingtian asked Chu Xingchen to bring Eldest Senior Sister to help.

At Yuelai Inn, Chu Xingchen tasked Li Yingling and Li Xingtian with mapping nearby water veins while he prepared additional plans. At the Heavenly Derivation Sect, Bai Xuanling confronted Qinghe over allegedly inflating pill prices, but an urgent message from the sect leader changed her mood before she could cut off Qinghe’s horn.

• Li Yingling quickly studied the Commentary on the Water Classic, then agreed to teach Li Xingtian how to survey and map the water veins.
• Chu Xingchen sent Li Yingling and Li Xingtian to compile a clear map book and vanished to make further arrangements.
• Bai Xuanling accused Qinghe of raising pill prices and keeping the extra spirit stones, threatening to cut off one of her horns.
• Qinghe denied the accusation, tried several excuses, then defiantly told Bai Xuanling to cut off her horns.
• Xie Lingyu arrived and tried to intervene, but an urgent message from the sect leader reached Bai Xuanling first.
• After reading the message, Bai Xuanling released Qinghe’s horn and said she could not bear to cut it off.

Li Yingling and Li Xingtian mapped Chizhou’s water veins and suspected their winding route was a deliberate feint. After Li Yingling proposed that the Southern Candle Kingdom might offer a better route to the sea, Chu Xingchen questioned why a Black Tortoise would protect the Black Tortoise Kingdom and left her recalling a bizarre unofficial history.

• Li Yingling and Li Xingtian explored Chizhou’s rivers, with Li Yingling detecting water veins and Li Xingtian recording them.
• Li Yingling noticed the water veins followed a dangerously crooked route and wondered whether they were meant to mislead anyone seeking a path to the sea.
• Li Yingling and Li Xingtian returned to Yunze City, where Chu Xingchen joined them and examined their map.
• Li Yingling suggested that the Southern Candle Kingdom’s extensive coastline and river network might provide a better route to the sea.
• Chu Xingchen questioned why the Black Tortoise would guard a mortal kingdom for nearly four hundred years, prompting Li Yingling to remember an outlandish unofficial history.

Li Yingling recounted an unofficial history claiming Black Tortoise helped Zhao Taizu found the dynasty in exchange for a deeply compromising arrangement, and Chu Xingchen assigned her to investigate the Guardian Divine Beast. Meanwhile, Qinghe clung to Xie Lingyu above the Cangzhou River, afraid of what Granny Bai’s plans might mean for her.

• Li Yingling told Chu Xingchen and Li Xingtian that Zhao Taizu’s rebellion began in defeat and that Black Tortoise later helped him seize power after Empress Chen bore his second son.
• Li Yingling described the unofficial history’s claim that Zhao Taizu’s son renamed the Tangchi Kingdom the Black Tortoise Kingdom after Zhao Taizu died, summing it up as a turtle’s journey of acknowledging his father and founding a kingdom.
• Li Xingtian called the account slander, while Li Yingling said it was more plausible than other unofficial histories and contained details that matched recorded history.
• Chu Xingchen tasked Li Yingling with researching Black Tortoise and took Li Xingtian to the Water Vein area to prepare a surprise.
• Above the Cangzhou River, Qinghe clung to Xie Lingyu and worried Granny Bai might leave her in danger, while Xie Lingyu tried to reassure her.

Qinghe and Xie Lingyu searched Cangzhou for a rumored opportunity, but Qinghe became distracted by the city’s food and declared its steamed buns an excellent opportunity. As Xie Lingyu prepared to return to the Heavenly Derivation Sect, Qinghe teased her about seeking out an old sweetheart, and Xie Lingyu swung a fist at her.

• Qinghe defended her love of happiness and slacking off when Xie Lingyu questioned whether she could become a mighty expert.
• Qinghe complained that Granny Bai had given them no details about Cangzhou’s opportunity and followed the smell of food to a steamed bun stall.
• Xie Lingyu paid for a bag of buns, and Qinghe eagerly ate them while praising their taste and low price.
• Xie Lingyu said she would return to the Heavenly Derivation Sect the next day and leave Qinghe to search for the opportunity alone.
• Qinghe teased Xie Lingyu about returning to the Black Tortoise Kingdom to find her old sweetheart, and Xie Lingyu swung a fist at her face.

Li Yingling searched through unofficial histories and confessions at the Demon-Suppression Bureau to understand Chizhou’s place in a hidden stretch of history. After reviewing the archivist’s notes, she figured out Chizhou’s role and left.

• Li Yingling criticized the archivist’s materials for being flattering stories rather than the unofficial histories she had requested.
• Li Yingling reviewed her summaries and noticed that different accounts consistently mentioned defeat, strategic retreat, Cangzhou, and Black Tortoise, while leaving Chizhou’s role unclear.
• Li Yingling considered how the Black Tortoise Kingdom’s decline, the unending rain, and eastern rebellions might be groundwork for the thief’s plans.
• The archivist brought Li Yingling the confessions of people arrested for spreading unofficial histories and warned her to read them quickly before he burned them.
• Li Yingling read the confessions, understood what role Chizhou had played, and left the archives.

Li Yingling used unofficial histories to deduce that Zhao Taizu’s concealed attack on Chizhou might explain the connection between Chizhou and Cangzhou, and Chu Xingchen agreed to investigate Cangzhou’s Water Veins. Meanwhile, Xie Lingyu forced Qinghe to search for opportunities with her in Cangzhou, leaving Qinghe regretting her complaints.

• Li Yingling completed a diagram tracing Zhao Taizu’s retreat, the Black Tortoise’s appearances, and his briefly successful attack on Chizhou.
• Chu Xingchen praised Li Yingling’s deductions, then asked her to decide their next move.
• Li Yingling proposed going to Cangzhou to investigate whether its Water Veins connected to Chizhou, and Chu Xingchen agreed after asking Li Xingtian for his opinion.
• In Cangzhou, Qinghe followed Xie Lingyu, whose bruising she could have healed, as Xie Lingyu insisted they search for opportunities together and threatened to report her if she slacked off.

Qinghe tried to bargain with Xie Lingyu to avoid working, then probed the Cangzhou River while enjoying the chance to slack off. Masked strangers ambushed her underwater, and their Monkey-Masked leader seized her and dragged her toward the riverbed.

• Qinghe offered to reveal that Granny Bai had visited Xie Lingyu’s old flame, but Xie Lingyu already knew and refused to bargain.
• Qinghe went to the Cangzhou River and casually probed its water veins while floating downstream.
• Qinghe sensed strange spiritual fluctuations and tried to flee, but spiritual water chains suddenly bound her.
• Qinghe transformed into her Flood Dragon form and broke free of the chains.
• Qinghe saw three masked figures, then tried to escape toward Xie Lingyu, but the Monkey-Masked man grabbed her tail with a giant Nascent Soul hand and dragged her toward the riverbed.