Chapter Summaries

Ren Ye and his companions traveled to Funan County to investigate Song Xing, while Yan Bo explained Guanfeng Young Master's possible links to a murdered frontier general and the history of Immortality Mountain. They found that Song Xing had been involved in a supernatural battle at Moon Listening Pavilion, where Ren Ye recognized a white horse among the ruins.

• Ren Ye and his companions flew overnight to Funan County after Yan Bo summoned Greenwood Birds and alerted local Thousand-Mile Green Battalion agents.
• Yan Bo told Ren Ye that Guanfeng Young Master might have been involved in the death of a frontier general caught smuggling prohibited intelligent beasts.
• Yan Bo recounted how the White Python Tribe's Witch Lord had died at Immortality Mountain, which later became a forbidden area and was classified as a third-tier Secret Realm.
• A Xiushui Military Intelligence Camp runner told the group that Song Xing had been identified among supernatural ability users who fought in Funan County three hours earlier.
• Ren Ye and the others disguised themselves and hurried to Moon Listening Pavilion, where they found a wrecked inn, civilian casualties, and authorities blocking access.
• Ren Ye spotted a white horse beside the ruins and exclaimed that it belonged to Er Leng.

Ren Ye and his companions investigated a supernatural battle in Funan County and used summoned souls to confirm that Er Leng had fought there. They identified the old man Er Leng had helped, while Er Leng asked him what their pursuers wanted and learned that Little Prince Huai faced a great calamity.

• Ren Ye recognized a white horse resembling Er Leng’s mount, and Yan Bo bribed the county magistrate to let the group inspect the battle site.
• Ren Ye’s group found civilian bodies but no supernatural fighters, then Xu Qingzhao summoned souls to question witnesses.
• The souls revealed that Er Leng had joined a fight against fifteen or sixteen attackers and killed one with his silver saber.
• Xu Qingzhao questioned several souls and drew Er Leng’s portrait, confirming he had ridden the white horse and helped the guest in Room A.
• Xu Qingzhao drew a portrait of the old man from Room A, while Er Leng asked him what the attackers wanted and heard that Little Prince Huai’s great calamity had arrived.

Ren Ye searched for Er Leng and Daoist Fenglin, learning that Fenglin had once been Old Prince Huai’s trusted strategist and was believed to have vanished during an assassination attempt on the prince. The Star Gate then upgraded the investigation into an S-Rank Borderland Turmoil mission and began transforming Immortality Mountain.

• Xu Qingzhao learned from the Yin Souls that Song Xing’s sixteen followers had attacked the guest in Room A, Daoist Fenglin, and that he and Er Leng fought their way northwest into the mountains.
• Ren Ye and the others searched northwest by Azure Bird but stopped before the forbidden Southern Border Twenty-Four Heavenly King Mausoleums at Immortality Mountain.
• At an inn in Lingnan Prefecture, Ren Ye and Old Liu identified the guest in Room A as Daoist Fenglin, Old Prince Huai’s former adviser and military strategist.
• Ren Ye recalled that Daoist Fenglin had been publicly honored by Old Prince Huai but disappeared during the chaotic battle in which Emperor Jing tried to have the prince assassinated.
• The Star Gate announced that the Source of the Plague investigation had become the S-Rank Borderland Turmoil mission and that it was transforming Immortality Mountain.

Ren Ye deduced that Guanfeng Young Master had exploited the Heavenly Dao’s punishment to spread Gu Poison through Qingliang Prefecture and planned to seize control of the city. Unable to investigate Immortality Mountain safely, Ren Ye sent Old Liu to recruit Yan Bo with Star Source so they could enlist the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion’s help.

• Ren Ye spent the morning organizing clues and concluded that his refusal of Star Gate authority had brought Heavenly Dao punishment upon Qingliang Prefecture.
• Ren Ye explained that Guanfeng Young Master had used the expected calamity and flooding to spread Gu Poison, while planning to make Daoist Fenglin a puppet after the city was devastated.
• Ren Ye and his companions agreed that Immortality Mountain was too dangerous to investigate directly, so they would seek Yan Bo’s support through the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion.
• Ren Ye ordered Old Liu to win Yan Bo over, and Old Liu brought him more than two hundred thousand in Star Source as a bribe.

Old Liu bribed Yan Bo to seek Imperial Court approval for an investigation of Immortality Mountain Manor, while Ren Ye met Wu Pangzi in Lingnan to discuss expanding Qingliang Prefecture’s territory. Ren Ye then received an invitation to an SS-Rank Immortality Mountain Star Gate and learned he had two days to find his guide.

• Old Liu offered Yan Bo Star Source and Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo in exchange for seeking Imperial Court approval to investigate Immortality Mountain Manor and bringing the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion along.
• Yan Bo agreed to consult the Eight Old Ministers, then sent Fox Mei Zi and Yao Chi with Ren Ye as he secretly traveled to Lingnan Prefecture.
• Ren Ye told Wu Pangzi about the scheme against Qingliang Prefecture, and the two discussed whether Yan Bo had enough confidence to follow through.
• Wu Pangzi argued that Golden Wolf General Ba Wu might support territorial expansion for a price, while Yao Chi insisted it was impossible; they wagered that Ba Wu would name a price.
• Ren Ye received a notification that the Immortality Mountain Star Gate had evolved and an invitation to enter its SS-Rank challenge, requiring him to find his guide on the mountain’s northeastern side within two days.
• At a lingerie shop in Migration Land, an elegant young master in white asked the Gate Spirit about a bra and then froze when he received a notification.

Ren Ye received an invitation to enter the dangerous Immortality Mountain Star Gate and decided to go alone, believing it might reveal the truth behind Qingliang Prefecture’s plague. He made plans with his companions before Wu Pangzi left to meet Ba Wu about expanding their territory.

• Ren Ye learned that the Immortality Mountain Star Gate was a third-tier, SS-Rank mission lasting seven to nine days, with dangerous death mechanisms and no death penalty for defeated Players.
• Ren Ye told Wu Pangzi, Old Liu, Ai Fei, Xu Bangzi, and Xu Qingzhao that he alone had received an invitation and could not bring them into the realm.
• Ren Ye argued that the clues linking Young Master Guanfeng, Immortality Mountain, and the plague made the Star Gate essential to investigating the crisis, despite the risk and the limited time to find a cure.
• Ren Ye decided to enter the Star Gate, and the group discussed preparations, including sending Master Yan a letter through the White-Headed Eagle.
• Wu Pangzi left to meet Ba Wu after Ba Wu’s steward invited him to the Prefectural Yamen, while Ren Ye advised him to let Ba Wu name his terms first.
• In the Migration Land Star Gate, the White-Clad Young Master said he was returning home and warned the chosen ones to watch out for him when he came back.

Ren Ye decided to enter the Star Gate at Immortality Mountain, while Ba Wu recalled the sacrifices of his military career and revealed how corruption had blocked his advancement. At the Northward-Looking Wall, Guanfeng Young Master questioned whether the person said to have died there had truly succumbed to illness.

• Ren Ye watched the full moon, resolved to seek a guide into the Star Gate, and went to bed while Xu Qingzhao continued meditating.
• Ba Wu summoned Wu Pangzi and recounted refusing Prince Huai’s offer of six million five hundred thousand Star Source during the Southern Pacification Campaign.
• Ba Wu told Wu Pangzi that officials had demanded bribes for military transfers and said he now wanted wealth and treasures; Wu Pangzi understood the request.
• After Wu Pangzi left, Ba Wu called for his elixir and went to visit his concubines.
• At the Northward-Looking Wall, Guanfeng Young Master studied the ancient battle marks and wondered whether the person said to have died there had really died of illness.

Guanfeng Young Master ordered his people to abandon Immortality Mountain Manor after learning it had become a Small Secret Realm, while Ren Ye and Wu Pangzi negotiated funding for Qingliang Prefecture’s expansion. As Ren Ye prepared to enter the realm, Yan Bo encountered a familiar visitor, and Er Leng and Daoist Fenglin realized their route through the mountain might be more complicated than they thought.

• Guanfeng Young Master learned Immortality Mountain Manor had become a Small Secret Realm and ordered his followers to withdraw before dawn, leaving Monk Peng to wait nearby for his instructions.
• Xu Qingzhao revealed that she had inscribed a Divine Sense talisman to teach Ren Ye how to control a Night Walker, but Wu Pangzi interrupted them to report Ba Wu’s demand for six million five hundred thousand Star Source.
• Ren Ye persuaded Wu Pangzi to contribute two million Star Source toward Ba Wu’s price in exchange for future business and trade benefits, then told him to delay negotiations while Ren Ye explored the Small Secret Realm.
• Yan Bo visited Daoist Meishan’s residence and found a familiar figure waiting for him with an Entrant token.
• Er Leng said he and Daoist Fenglin seemed lost and proposed finding their bearings, but Daoist Fenglin warned that returning to Qingliang Prefecture would not be simple.

Yao Chi nearly fulfilled his bet by eating from an outhouse, but Ren Ye and the others persuaded him to stop, earning Ren Ye a promise from him. After receiving Yan Bo’s letter and arranging for his companions to wait nearby, Ren Ye set out for Immortality Mountain’s Small Secret Realm.

• Yao Chi charged toward the outhouse to honor his bet, but Ren Ye, Wu Pangzi, Old Liu, and the others stopped him; Yao Chi then promised Wu Pangzi a favor.
• Ren Ye received Yan Bo’s letter confirming the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion’s support and learned that Yao Chi and Fox Mei Zi were to return to the Main Headquarters.
• Yao Chi and Fox Mei Zi departed, while Ren Ye, Xu Qingzhao, Xu Bangzi, and Old Liu set out for Immortality Mountain; Wu Pangzi summoned his adopted sons, then promised Little Bat security and a comfortable future.
• Ren Ye and his companions searched for the guide for twelve to fourteen hours before finding the remnant soul in a mountain hut.
• Ren Ye instructed Xu Qingzhao, Xu Bangzi, and Old Liu to wait near the entrance and send word to Qingliang Prefecture, then told the guide to take him to the manor; the surrounding woods blurred as they departed.

Ren Ye entered the SSS-Rank Immortality Mountain Star Gate as Buddha Young Master, one of the Six Gentlemen serving Wu Yuanjun, and learned that the Witch Lord was preparing for war against the Imperial Court. Wu Yuanjun sent the Six Gentlemen to investigate Deputy Commander Niu Xi, while the Star Gate made them auction for mission pouches; the chapter ended with Weng Sanren revealing an enormous store of Star Source.

• Ren Ye learned that the White Python Tribe and the Imperial Court were on the verge of conflict, and that his Trust Value could determine whether Wu Yuanjun sidelined him.
• Ren Ye met Poison Wine Flask, Ghost-Headed Saber, and Weng Sanren, then Big Fat Dragon and Hundred-Flower Immortal joined the Six Gentlemen.
• Wu Yuanjun ordered the Earth Dragon Army to prepare for war and secretly move military supplies into Immortality Mountain.
• Wu Yuanjun tasked the Six Gentlemen with investigating Niu Xi at Crouching Tiger Temple and bringing him back alive if they confirmed his treachery.
• The Six Gentlemen bid Star Source for mission pouches, with Ren Ye receiving a hard pouch and Weng Sanren and Poison Wine Flask winning normal pouches.
• Weng Sanren paid three hundred thousand Star Source for his pouch, astonishing the others.

Ren Ye and the other five gentlemen read their assignments for infiltrating Crouching Tiger Temple and capturing Niu Xi, then split into pairs to prepare in Funan County. Ren Ye traveled with Big Fat Dragon, while Poison Wine Flask rode with Weng Sanren, and both pairs exchanged evasive answers about their origins.

• Ren Ye read his hard-difficulty assignment to investigate evidence of Niu Xi's collusion with the Imperial Court within two days, with help from a hermit surnamed Huang if needed.
• Hundred-Flower Immortal, Ghost-Headed Saber, Ren Ye, Big Fat Dragon, Weng Sanren, and Poison Wine Flask compared assignments involving capturing Niu Xi, investigating him, learning poison and disguise skills, and digging an escape tunnel.
• The group agreed to leave promptly, gathered horses and personal guards, and departed in pairs for their separate preparations.
• Ren Ye rode with Big Fat Dragon toward Funan County; Big Fat Dragon claimed to know the way and said the secret realm's rewards were probably already described in its background information.
• Poison Wine Flask asked Weng Sanren where he came from, and Weng Sanren claimed he was not human.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon found Master Huang, who demanded a rooster and then a young python as payment for his Disguise Secret Art and poison formulas. Big Fat Dragon paid Ren Ye to fetch the python, while Weng Sanren and Poison Wine Flask and Ghost-Headed Saber and Hundred-Flower Immortal pursued their own quests.

• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon bribed a waiter at Wangbei Tower to locate Master Huang and visited his residence, where they found him rendering oil from human skin.
• Ren Ye asked Master Huang for the Disguise Secret Art and a poison that could silently disable people, and Huang demanded a rooster weighing three jin and two liang.
• The two found the rooster by asking around and stole it, then brought it to Huang, who demanded a young python three chi and three cun long as well.
• Big Fat Dragon gave Ren Ye twenty thousand star source to fetch the python himself, then returned to Huang's residence to rest while Ren Ye went back to the inn for help.
• Weng Sanren and Poison Wine Flask reached their own quest location, and Ghost-Headed Saber asked Hundred-Flower Immortal to team up.

Big Fat Dragon suspected the Huang Family was plotting against him and slaughtered the household, including its children. After returning to find the massacre, Ren Ye challenged him, but Big Fat Dragon defended his actions and left the truth of the suspected betrayal unresolved.

• Big Fat Dragon noticed Steward You and a horse had disappeared, then killed Yingying and Second Madam before attacking the servants and other members of the Huang Family.
• Ren Ye returned to Huang Mansion with a young python and found the courtyard strewn with bodies; Big Fat Dragon told him to hide while he pursued the last person.
• Ren Ye discovered that all twenty-seven members of the Huang Family, including Master Huang, had been killed.
• Big Fat Dragon returned and explained that he suspected Master Huang had sent someone to alert others and that the family's requests for a chicken and python had been meant to delay them.
• Ren Ye condemned Big Fat Dragon for killing the household based on suspicion, but Big Fat Dragon insisted that the risk was enough to justify it.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon uncovered Huang Hermit's poison operation for the Wuyao Kingdom's Rat Lord and found methods to poison guards and impersonate them. After two of Niu Xi's guards arrived to collect poison, Big Fat Dragon called Ren Ye to remove their bodies, leaving their plan to infiltrate Crouching Tiger Temple underway.

• Big Fat Dragon paid Ren Ye to dispose of the Huang household's bodies, then used a spirit-querying recollection art to locate Huang Hermit's hidden chamber.
• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon found the Source-Sealing Poison Formula, the Same-Life Secret Art, and a letter revealing Huang Hermit had supplied poison and monitored Niu Xi for Rat Lord.
• Ren Ye reasoned that the poison deliveries could provide a way into Crouching Tiger Temple, and Big Fat Dragon revealed the next two guards would arrive that morning.
• Big Fat Dragon impersonated the household's steward and led the two guards inside; afterward, he called Ren Ye to collect their bodies for another payment.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon reported their discovery about Huang Hermit to Wu Yuanjun, who rewarded them and tasked them with finding Niu Xi’s Thousand Poisons Manual at Crouching Tiger Temple. The hidden quest raised their trust, while the other four participants argued over whether the pair would share their rewards.

• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon finished making Disguise Pills, buried the bodies at the Huang residence, and returned to Immortality Mountain Manor.
• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon told the other participants they had found a way into Crouching Tiger Temple but needed to report to the Witch Lord first.
• Wu Yuanjun read the letters linking Huang Hermit to Rat Lord and said they were not enough to prove that Niu Xi had defected to the Imperial Court.
• Wu Yuanjun ordered Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon to search Crouching Tiger Temple for Niu Xi’s Thousand Poisons Manual and promised them a reward.
• The Star Gate announced a hidden quest and raised both players’ trust in Wu Yuanjun to 60.
• Hundred-Flower Immortal challenged Ghost-Headed Saber’s hope of sharing rewards, and he defended himself by citing the story of Kong Rong giving away the larger pears.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon received the Witch Lord’s rewards, and Ren Ye talked Big Fat Dragon into giving him his share as payment for a future favor. The Six Gentlemen finalized a plan to capture Niu Xi and left for Crouching Tiger Temple, where Hundred Flowers Fairy hinted that her old friend was Yan Bo.

• The Witch Lord’s steward rewarded Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon with forty thousand Star Source, and Ren Ye persuaded Big Fat Dragon to hand over his twenty thousand in exchange for a favor.
• Poison Wine Flask outlined Niu Xi’s routine and the group identified the change of guards at the end of Xu Hour as their chance to strike.
• Ren Ye explained how he and Big Fat Dragon would infiltrate Crouching Tiger Temple, search for evidence, and poison the night guards while Ghost-Headed Saber and Hundred Flowers Fairy ambushed Niu Xi.
• The Six Gentlemen agreed on their roles and rode toward Crouching Tiger Temple before their deadline expired.
• Hundred Flowers Fairy told Ren Ye that four bamboo leaves reminded her of an old friend who had been deceived by a scoundrel, and Ren Ye asked if the friend was surnamed Yan.

Ren Ye and Hundred-Flower Immortal secretly confirmed they were allies in the Immortality Mountain Secret Realm and compared their roles in the unfolding Borderland Turmoil. Ren Ye exposed that she was likely the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion’s Dragon Head in disguise, leaving their partnership at a tense turning point.

• Ren Ye and Hundred-Flower Immortal recognized each other through the secret four-leaf agreement and confirmed that she was Feather Immortal-Fuyao, a successor of the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion.
• Hundred-Flower Immortal explained that Daoist Meishan had given her an Entrant token so she could secretly assist Ren Ye, who disclosed that his own token named him the Gamebreaker.
• Hundred-Flower Immortal reasoned that the six Secret Realm entrants represented factions involved in the Borderland Turmoil, but Ren Ye questioned why only she had entered for the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion.
• Ren Ye concluded that Hundred-Flower Immortal was not merely a successor but the Dragon Head disguised as a woman, and challenged her to deny it.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon infiltrated Crouching Tiger Temple disguised as dead guards to place Hundred-Flower Immortal and Ghost-Headed Saber, transformed into weapons, near Niu Xi. Their cover came under threat when a royal Scenting Spirit Hound recognized Ren Ye as it inspected the guards.

• Hundred-Flower Immortal denied being Dragon Head but agreed to help Ren Ye investigate the conspiracy, while Ren Ye privately suspected she held a senior position in the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion.
• Ren Ye tested Weng Sanren by pretending to demand compensation, then set out with Big Fat Dragon and the others to infiltrate Crouching Tiger Temple.
• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon used Disguise Pills to impersonate Wang Liang and Li Ping, passed the temple guards, and left Hundred-Flower Immortal and Ghost-Headed Saber, disguised as weapons, by the Inner Courtyard wall.
• A captain ordered the guards to assemble for inspection by a Scenting Spirit Hound, and Big Fat Dragon warned Ren Ye that the royal spirit beast might see through their disguises.
• The Scenting Spirit Hound reached Ren Ye, opened its jaws, and growled as the captain reached for his saber.

Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon passed the Scenting Spirit Hound’s inspection and secretly prepared weapons while planning to search Niu Xi’s bedroom for evidence. Niu Xi refused the Emperor’s gifts, and the chapter ended as a fire broke out in the Inner Courtyard.

• Big Fat Dragon released an aura that frightened the Scenting Spirit Hound, allowing it to finish inspecting the guards without raising an alarm.
• Ren Ye handed the captain one hundred bottles of poison from Old Huang, then he and Big Fat Dragon placed Ghost-Headed Saber and Hundred-Flower Immortal on the weapon racks.
• Niu Xi told the captain to give Old Huang a curiosity as a message to the court, then refused the treasures and star source sent by the Emperor.
• Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon discussed a plan to search Niu Xi’s bedroom and agreed they needed a plausible distraction.
• As the servants left for dinner, shouts of “Fire!” rang out from a storeroom at the rear of the Inner Courtyard.

Ren Ye infiltrated Niu Xi’s residence during a fire diversion and found letters proving Niu Xi had sided with the emperor against Wu Yuanjun. While searching for the Thousand Poisons Manual, he hid beneath Niu Xi’s bed when another masked thief entered, but his surprise attack missed and the stranger demanded to know who he served.

• Big Fat Dragon set fire to a storage room in the Rear Courtyard, drawing guards away while Ren Ye used an Invisibility Talisman to enter Niu Xi’s Main House.
• Ren Ye searched Niu Xi’s study and found letters showing that Niu Xi had pledged loyalty to the emperor and would help Ao Yin’s army encircle Wu Yuanjun at Immortality Mountain.
• Ren Ye searched Niu Xi’s bedroom for the Thousand Poisons Manual but heard footsteps approaching and hid beneath the bed.
• A masked thief entered the bedroom and headed toward the bed, prompting Ren Ye to attack with the Human Emperor Sword.
• The masked thief dodged Ren Ye’s strike and asked whether he was working for Wu Yuanjun, Great Qian, or one of the tribal Witch Lords.