Chapter Summaries

Ren Ye searched Qingliang Prefecture’s Archives and found no written record of his trusted strategist, Daoist Fenglin, despite everyone remembering him. After the discovery triggered severe head pain, Ren Ye began testing people’s memories and left the chapter poised to investigate whether Fenglin’s absence from the records was linked to forgotten details.

• Ren Ye ordered his guards to bring the Third Prince to the Prefectural Yamen, then returned to the Archives to search its records.
• Ren Ye had the clerks gather hundreds of files and confirmed that none mentioned Fenglin, even though the records named other leading advisers and Fenglin had appeared on his wedding guest list nowhere.
• Ren Ye wondered who Fenglin was and why everyone remembered and trusted him, then suffered a violent headache as the Human Emperor Sword shone and steadied his mind.
• Ren Ye asked the clerks to bring random people from the street so he could question them one at a time, then sat beside Yang Sanlang’s body and promised to care for his family.
• Ren Ye asked the Old Man about his memories of his mother’s death and whether he had met Fenglin; after the Old Man confirmed he had, Ren Ye asked him to fetch paper and a brush.

Ren Ye investigated why everyone remembered Fenglin, collecting written accounts before seeking help from Lin Xiang. Lin Xiang’s explanation led Ren Ye to recognize that a past battle held the answer.

• Ren Ye secretly questioned residents of Qingliang Prefecture and had them independently write or dictate their memories of meeting the strategist, discovering that their answers were identical.
• Ren Ye suspected Fenglin had appeared in everyone’s memories without an ordinary beginning, and he concealed his investigation before traveling to the Moon-Gazing Pavilion.
• Lin Xiang soothed Ren Ye with Longevity Powder and explained that someone could make a person who did not exist seem real to an entire city, though the effect would not last long.
• Lin Xiang told Ren Ye that the answer lay in a battle described in his Star Gate reports, and Ren Ye suddenly realized what had happened.

Ren Ye hurried to Juma Pass as Great Qian prepared to attack, then joined the princes and commanders to plan a preemptive strike. The group agreed to use Ren Ye’s people as bait to lure out the enemy commander.

• Ren Ye left Vermilion Bird City after receiving Lin Xiang’s guidance and later confronted the Third Prince, who had complained about his disappearance.
• Ren Ye and the Third Prince set out for Juma Pass with Fenglin, Old Liu, and their companions after collecting supplies and checking Shangyu County.
• At Juma Pass, the princes and their allies learned that Great Qian had massed four hundred thousand troops and was preparing siege engines.
• Ren Ye proposed attacking before the enemy was ready, with a feint against its provisions intended to draw out its commander.
• When the group asked who would serve as bait, Ren Ye first suggested Fenglin’s team, then declared that his own people would take the role.

Ren Ye questioned Fenglin about the risks of using their people as bait, then investigated inconsistencies in Li Yan and Er Leng’s memories and ordered them to write down what they remembered. Meanwhile, Han Chan received an order to return to the Capital to die, but the private letters he read left him shaken.

• Fenglin argued that Emperor Wanwu had arranged the Northern Expedition forces to contain potential rebels and intended to help Ren Ye take the Shangyu Nine Lands, so Ren Ye assigned sixty fourth-grade supernatural ability users to the bait operation under Fenglin and Li Yan.
• Ai Fei reported that searching Guan Feng’s soul confirmed Poison Wine Flask had been Han Chan in the Immortality Mountain Secret Realm, and Ren Ye said someone besides Big Fat Dragon might have been mistaken.
• Ren Ye asked Li Yan about his memories of Old Prince Huai’s chief strategist Fenglin and his weakness after the battle at Loushan Pass, then ordered him to write down every detail from their reunion onward.
• Ren Ye questioned Er Leng about why he had stayed at an inn in Funan County and told him to write down everything that happened there before the battle began.
• Han Chan received the Celestial Surveillance Bureau Imperial Preceptor’s decree ordering him to return to the Capital to die, accepted the consequences of his failed schemes, then stared at his private letters in disbelief.

Han Chan learned that the Red Leaf Monk conspiracy had made him a pawn and accepted responsibility for his failed plan, while Han Liang welcomed Taoists from Five Saints Mountain to Great Qian’s camp. At Juma Pass, Big Fat Dragon led seventy thousand Southern Border troops into their first northern expedition.

• Han Chan read letters revealing that Xu Jingyuan had no senior fellow disciple called Red Leaf Monk and realized the conspiracy had used him as a pawn.
• Han Liang asked Han Chan to contact the Southern Border rebels, but Han Chan said they had always been in contact with Guan Feng and could no longer act safely.
• Han Chan admitted his responsibility for the plan and asked to go to the battlefield as a common soldier rather than die by execution.
• Han Liang learned that over a hundred Taoists from Five Saints Mountain had arrived, led by a seven- or eight-year-old boy called Little Wonton.
• Big Fat Dragon rejected Ren Ye’s concerns and led seventy thousand Southern Border troops north toward a position held by four hundred thousand troops.

Han Liang learned that Ren Ye's forces had attacked Great Qian's vanguard and supply camp, then chose to ignore the burning supplies and launch a decisive assault on Juma Pass. Ren Ye realized the enemy was advancing for a major battle, while an old man in white appeared at a tavern outside Heaven-Suppressing Pass seeking a drink.

• Han Liang sent Lu Fang and General Zhao to meet the Wuyao Kingdom's Second Prince near Min Mountain after seventy thousand enemy troops marched from Juma Pass.
• Ren Ye dispatched Fenglin, Li Yan, and sixty Fourth Grade experts to raid Great Qian's supply camp, then followed with Dragon Head and other experts.
• Fenglin, Li Yan, Tang Feng, and the other experts attacked the camp, set its granaries ablaze, and fought off Great Qian's defenders.
• After hearing the supply camp was under attack, Han Liang refused to divert his army and ordered all four hundred thousand troops to advance on Juma Pass for a decisive battle.
• Ren Ye saw the signal fires and realized Han Liang was not going to rescue the supply camp but was preparing for a decisive battle.
• An old man in white arrived at a tavern outside Heaven-Suppressing Pass and asked the sleepy waiter for a drink.

Ren Ye and the Northern Expedition Army prepared to strike Han Liang’s command platform as the Battle of Min Mountain began, while Fenglin and Li Yan fought Great Qian’s Celestial Surveillance Bureau after burning its supply camp. Fenglin revealed power beyond Fourth Grade and drove the pursuers away; as Han Liang entered the battle, Ren Ye stared north and remarked that he understood how the story went.

• Ren Ye ordered Yan Bo and the First Prince to engage Great Qian’s army, while the hidden Supernatural Ability Users waited to attack Han Liang’s command platform.
• Lu Fang’s fifty thousand troops engaged Big Fat Dragon, Han Liang led a hundred and fifty thousand troops into battle, and the First Prince moved to flank the enemy.
• Fenglin and Li Yan fled the burning supply camp but were intercepted at Tianma Lake by Wang Chengfeng and eleven Celestial Surveillance Bureau experts.
• Wang Chengfeng’s forces divided the battlefield and trapped Fenglin and Li Yan in separate fights; Fenglin revealed a black Formless Spirit Body and struck the six experts attacking him.
• Wang Chengfeng used a Ground-Shrinking Talisman to take all twelve experts away, freeing Fenglin and Li Yan.
• Dragon Head spotted Han Liang’s command platform entering the battle, but Ren Ye stared north and said he understood how the story went.

Ren Ye led the New Year's Watchers and the Eight Old Ministers in a strike against Great Qian’s command platform, where Han Chan revealed himself as bait and Little Wonton of Five Saints Mountain arrived to block them. With Lin Xiang’s help and the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo, Ren Ye broke the Daoists’ formation, forced Little Wonton to retreat, and helped secure victory at Juma Pass, leaving him set to collect the Nine Lands’ destiny.

• Ren Ye rallied nearly two hundred fourth-grade fighters to attack Han Liang’s command platform while Big Fat Dragon ordered the Southern Border army forward.
• Ren Ye struck the platform but found Han Chan posing as commander behind a third-grade Black Tortoise formation, and Han Chan vowed to die in its defense.
• Little Wonton arrived with more than a hundred Daoists, defeated Ji Canghai, and engaged Fan Ming while Ren Ye struggled to enter their formation.
• Ren Ye summoned the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo, used Ai Fei’s Yin and Yang Qi and Big Fat Dragon’s purple destiny to raise it to the Fourth Tier, and Lin Xiang’s hidden hand shattered the formation.
• Fan Ming’s Kunwu Sword-Annihilation cleared the remaining Daoists, and Little Wonton fled with his companions while Ren Ye captured Han Chan alive.
• Han Liang ordered a retreat, the First Prince’s troops cut into the fleeing army, and the Southern Border forces won the battle before Ren Ye set out for Heaven-Suppressing Pass to collect the destiny.

Ren Ye confronted Fenglin with evidence that he had fabricated the military advisor’s identity and manipulated events across three lands to obtain the destiny in the Dragon Cauldron. After revealing Fenglin’s true identity as the Demon Monk Mumu, Ren Ye raised a second cup to their bond as comrades-in-arms.

• Ren Ye and Fenglin hurried to Heaven-Suppressing Pass while the others held their headquarters at Juma Pass and the First Prince and Big Fat Dragon blockaded Min Mountain with 150,000 troops.
• While they waited for the Dragon Cauldron to finish refining Shangyu’s destiny, Fenglin briefly formed a dark light at his fingertip but let it vanish before Ren Ye returned with wine.
• Ren Ye recounted how Fenglin had used Red Leaf Monk, Han Chan, Guan Feng, and fabricated memories to provoke conflict, conceal his identity, and advance a plan to claim the destiny.
• Ren Ye explained how Yang Sanlang’s investigation and written accounts exposed Fenglin’s memory-altering ability, which Fenglin had strengthened with destiny to evade the Heavenly Dao.
• Ren Ye drank a first cup for his resentment and for the military advisor he believed had died, then raised a second cup for a comrade-in-arms.
• Ren Ye revealed that Fenglin was the resurrected comrade from Binhai City, the Demon Monk Mumu, and called him Comrade Sandbag; Fenglin recognized him and smiled.

Fenglin explained that he had manipulated events to gather destiny so he could find a way to resurrect his wife and children, even if it meant killing many more people. Ren Ye refused to let him take the destiny, but Fenglin escaped with it and revealed that Mumu had died long ago.

• Ren Ye explained how he had identified Fenglin as Mumu, and Fenglin described his plan to gather destiny to return to the past and revive his family.
• Fenglin defended his willingness to kill for that goal, while Ren Ye said their different paths meant he could not support him.
• Fenglin gave manuals and a visualization scroll to Liu, Xu Qingzhao, Xu Bangzi, and Er Leng, then shared a final cup of wine with Ren Ye.
• When Fenglin moved to take the destiny, Ren Ye warned him and Zhao Baicheng appeared to stop him, but Fenglin endured their clash and entered the courtyard.
• Fenglin took the destiny from a jar he had prepared earlier, then revealed that Mumu was dead and departed as the soul of a little monk on a black lotus.

Ren Ye claimed all of the Shangyu Nine Lands, closed the Mist Barrier, and advanced to Third Tier as Qingliang Prefecture became a Third Tier Secret Realm. He celebrated with his allies and planned an investment conference, while two newly advanced players emerged from a Star Gate in the Migration Land.

• Ren Ye returned the collected destiny to the Human Emperor Seal, took authority over Shangyu, and closed the Mist Barrier as Han Liang feared Great Qian would lose even more territory.
• The Heavenly Dao confirmed Ren Ye's mission achievements and advanced him to Third Tier, level four, granting new abilities and assigning him the task of building three World-Shocking Wonders or Blessed Lands.
• Ren Ye welcomed his allies to a victory banquet and asked them to stay for a three-day celebration and an investment conference.
• Brother Huang recognized Ren Ye's plan as a chance to raise money and agreed to help promote the project.
• Two hungry young men emerged from a Third Tier Star Gate in Base City, pleased that they had advanced and eager to eat beef.

Ren Ye and Brother Huang planned how to govern the Shangyu Nine Lands while struggling to fund military cuts and new construction. Lin Xiang outlined three wonders and blessed lands for Ren Ye, who left eager to raise money by killing nearly two hundred fourth-grade fellow disciples; the chapter ended with two generals in Qingliang Prefecture's dungeon.

• Brother Huang warned Ren Ye that military households and a bloated army threatened their finances, and Ren Ye ordered military household reductions and discharges while retaining elite troops.
• Ren Ye and Brother Huang discussed filling administrative vacancies through recommendations, training officials, and future imperial examinations, then planned to sell properties before construction.
• Ren Ye returned to Vermilion Bird City and asked Lin Xiang how to build three wonders and blessed lands.
• Lin Xiang proposed a Human Emperor statue at Heaven-Suppressing Pass, the Nine-Curve Azure Sky Hall and Azure Sky Pool in Shangyu County, and the Four-Sided Destiny-Bearing Terrace on Qingliang Mountain.
• When Lin Xiang demanded the return of nearly two hundred fourth-grade fellow disciples, Ren Ye decided to raise funds by slaughtering them.
• A burly general refused food in Qingliang Prefecture's dungeon while an old general wondered how he had been imprisoned and called Little Prince Huai a sorcerer.

Ren Ye recruited Ba Wu and Guo Feng into his Empire, completing the core framework of the Empire Royal Army, then hosted a gathering for powerful guests to raise funds. As the gathering began, Dragon Head revealed that his master refused to break Monk Peng’s curse, and a Player suddenly returned to Qingliang Prefecture.

• Ren Ye reunited Ba Wu with his family and offered him command of the Earth Dragon Army; Ba Wu accepted and decided to donate most of his family’s wealth.
• Guo Feng’s family pressured him to surrender, and Ren Ye offered him a high military post and protection for his relatives; Guo Feng agreed to serve Ren Ye.
• Ba Wu and Guo Feng officially joined Ren Ye as retainers, bringing his total to five and completing the Empire Royal Army’s core leadership.
• Ren Ye’s gathering for Fourth Grade Supernatural Ability Users began at Prince Huai’s Residence, where guests speculated about how he planned to raise money.
• Dragon Head told Ren Ye that his master could remove Monk Peng’s curse but refused to reveal the secrets behind it.
• A resident Player recognized by the Star Gate appeared on Qingliang Prefecture’s main street and announced his return.

Ren Ye recruited Tang Feng to help fleece a prince at Qingliang Prefecture’s auction of unbuilt mountain residences, which Brother Huang promoted as an exclusive cultivation haven. The auction began with the Third Prince in attendance, and Tang Feng’s attempt to ensnare him ended with someone snapping their fingers and putting him into a crazed state.

• Lian'er told Ren Ye that Tang Feng had returned, and Ren Ye went to meet her while Dragon Head took a seat at the gathering.
• Tang Feng told Ren Ye she had reached Third Grade and learned that the northern campaign was already over, so Ren Ye recruited her to help fleece a prince for a five-percent commission.
• Brother Huang opened the auction, announced the victory in the northern campaign, and presented four selling points for the planned residences on Qingliang Mountain.
• The First Prince asked Dragon Head about the auction, while Ji Canghai and Fan Ming discussed the scheme and its possible ties to Lin Xiang.
• Brother Huang put Residence 001 up for auction, and Tang Feng approached the cautious Third Prince with tea before dropping a cup and drawing his gaze.
• A finger snapped, and the Third Prince’s eyes went blank before filling with a feverish, crazed look.

Tang Feng manipulated the Third Prince into buying six residences at Qingliang Prefecture’s auction, bringing in a fortune for Ren Ye and Brother Huang. After the gathering, Ren Ye and Big Fat Dragon prepared to travel to the Capital, where Big Fat Dragon asked whether Ren Ye had solved the Southern Border Court case.

• The Little Songstress stirred the Third Prince’s desires and persuaded him to bid against Big Fat Dragon until he won Residence No. 1 for 3.2 million Star Source.
• The Third Prince bought six of the first ten residences, spending over seven million Star Source before the Little Songstress left him drained and briefly yearning to become a monk.
• Ren Ye and Brother Huang celebrated the auction’s unexpectedly high proceeds, while Li Yan and other guests discussed heading to the Migration Land.
• Tang Feng returned to the Prefectural Yamen suffering a backlash from overusing his mystical ability, and Li Yan gave him fourth-grade Mind-Clearing Pills.
• After guests departed, Big Fat Dragon told Ren Ye that Emperor Wanwu wanted them in the Capital, and Ren Ye agreed to leave that afternoon.
• During the journey, Big Fat Dragon asked Ren Ye whether he had solved the Southern Border Court case, leaving Ren Ye uncertain whether he could reveal what he knew.

Ren Ye told Big Fat Dragon his theory that First Tiger led the Rebel Party in the Court, using a story about a tiger, a fox, and a murdered prince to explain the suspected imperial crimes. He proposed a trap involving Monk Peng to make First Tiger reveal himself, leaving Big Fat Dragon to weigh the plan.

• Ren Ye argued that Monk Peng knew the identity of the Rebel Party in the Court’s leader, while Big Fat Dragon pressed him to reveal his own conclusions.
• Big Fat Dragon offered Ren Ye the White Python Soul and interest-free reconstruction funding in exchange for the truth, and Ren Ye agreed to tell him a story.
• Ren Ye described a fox who stole Second Tiger’s Destiny and a tiger who killed his son to gain a Dao Body and pursue eternal rule.
• Ren Ye identified First Tiger as the likely rebel, citing his losses, his investigation, and the bald panda’s visits to Hezhou Prefecture.
• Ren Ye proposed using Monk Peng as bait in the Heavenly Prison, predicting that First Tiger would try to silence him.

Ren Ye negotiated Qingliang Prefecture’s alliance with Emperor Wanwu, who revealed the tragedy behind Consort Jing’s death and the secret of the three Dao Bodies. After Monk Peng was killed, Emperor Wanwu punished the First Prince and the capital erupted in a bloody political purge.

• Ren Ye handed Monk Peng and Han Chan over to the Southern Border Court, then spent five days in Wuyao City while court factions feared Monk Peng’s testimony.
• Emperor Wanwu summoned Ren Ye to the abandoned Empress’s Bedchamber, granted him a different-surname prince’s title, Qingliang Prefecture’s autonomy, a White Python soul egg, and a twenty-million-Star-Source loan in exchange for facing future threats alongside the Southern Border.
• Emperor Wanwu told Ren Ye that a little fox had tried to control Second Tiger and refine the children into Dao Bodies, and that the tiger had used Three Origins Returning to One to preserve his dead son.
• Rat Lord reported that Monk Peng was dead and admitted that he had killed him; Emperor Wanwu explained that he had acted to protect his son.
• Emperor Wanwu sent the First Prince, Donghan, to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, while Jin Guoting hanged himself and rival factions purged the capital’s officials and families.
• A figure watched the bloodied Wuyao Kingdom Capital and wondered whether the skies had finally cleared.

Ren Ye secured political and military arrangements for Qingliang Prefecture, then returned home to prepare for his next journey into the Migration Land. After learning that new Guide missions had opened, he began assembling his squad and summoned Ms. Wang Lili.

• Emperor Wanwu invested Ren Ye as the Southern Border's Prince of a Different Surname and appointed the Dragon Head Prefect of the Three Lands of Lingnan, while establishing an alliance between Wuyao Kingdom and Qingliang Prefecture.
• Ren Ye left the Capital after refusing to reduce the Third Prince's interest, and escaped Princess Jun'an's summons; Han Chan was sent on foot to Sunset Town to kowtow at the Mass Grave for the dead.
• Ren Ye returned to Qingliang Prefecture, finalized its development plans, postponed the Earth Dragon Army, and decided to carry the Nine-Curve Azure Cloud Bamboo, Nether River Treasure Vase, and White Python Soul on his travels.
• Lin Xiang told Ren Ye to enter the Migration Land quickly because its new Guide missions were open, and warned him to prioritize them; Ren Ye said he had one more potential squad member than he needed.
• Ren Ye wrote down nine names and summoned Ms. Wang Lili to see him.

Ren Ye assembled a new eight-member team to travel through Migration Land after Er Leng chose to pursue a Heavenly Dao mission and Wang Lili agreed to join. The full Qingliang Prefecture Park Team gathered at the Fortune Tea House, where Ren Ye discovered they ranked 6,859th on the Third Tier leaderboard.

• Ren Ye invited Er Leng to travel with the team, but Er Leng declined because the Heavenly Dao had assigned him a Secret Realm mission that could help him reach Third Grade.
• Ren Ye recruited Wang Lili from the brothel, and she agreed to join the journey in exchange for escaping her harsh work there.
• Ren Ye and his companions said goodbye to the officials and allies remaining in Qingliang Prefecture, then traveled to Migration Land.
• Apu joined the group as an early Third Grade Artisan, and Dragon Head also joined after realizing the Opportunity had been beside him.
• Ren Ye confirmed the team's eight members and checked their standing, discovering their 11,350 Glory Points placed them 6,859th on the Third Tier leaderboard.

Ren Ye found an SSS+ Guide Series Star Gate that only he, as squad captain, could enter, and decided to accept it despite his teammates’ concern. After appointing Dragon Head vice-captain and arranging for the others to strengthen their ranks while he was away, Ren Ye entered the Star Gate alone.

• Ren Ye learned that the Migration Land’s rules had changed, including tiered leaderboards and a coming Large City Star Gate with opposing camps.
• Ren Ye found the only currently available Guide Series Mission, “Horror Haunted House--Die at 8:30,” an SSS+ Star Gate that admitted only squad captains and imposed an eight-day limit.
• Ren Ye’s teammates worried about him entering alone, but he chose to accept the mission and explained that the others could use his absence to complete their Promotion Missions.
• Ren Ye told Old Liu, Xu Bangzi, and the others to help the squad members advance while he was gone, then appointed Dragon Head vice-captain.
• Ren Ye and Dragon Head paid for combat supplies, and the squad said goodbye before Ren Ye opened the Star Gate and disappeared inside.