Chapter Summaries

Little Bad King traced Chu Meidan's regular deliveries to Seven Friends Inn and learned that its owner, Cao Shouyi, had survived a disastrous mission with the Third Seat. After observing another disciple continue the deliveries, Little Bad King planned to infiltrate the inn through its staff recruitment.

• Lin Ye explained the True Dragon's life-extending treasures and argued that anyone targeting it would need an insider's help.
• Lin Ye revealed that Chu Meidan had visited Seven Friends Inn at least once every seven days to deliver items for the Third Seat and return with food.
• Lin Ye recounted how Cao Shouyi and the Third Seat had survived a mission to arrest Yu Fengchun that left their seven-man group dead, injured, imprisoned, or scattered.
• Little Bad King obtained leave for himself and his five tigers and took them to Heavenly Capital to watch Seven Friends Inn.
• Little Bad King observed Cao Shouyi feeding street children and giving medicine to a sick beggar despite speaking harshly to them.
• Little Bad King watched Liu Xishan exchange a brocade box for a food carrier and offered a Potent Little Pill to persuade one of the five tigers to infiltrate the inn as a waiter.

Ren Ye and Black Brother Dog went undercover as restaurant workers to investigate Cao Shouyi, and Ren Ye used a Yin-Returning Pill to make him appear dead so he could inspect his body. Cao Shouyi awoke during the inspection, but Ren Ye saw a small moon tattoo on his lower back, matching Chu Meidan’s.

• Ren Ye chose to investigate the Seven Friends Restaurant himself with Black Brother Dog after the group bargained over pills to keep Tuoba Chan from taking the dangerous assignment.
• Ren Ye and Black Brother Dog disguised themselves as A Huang and Gou Wazi, secured jobs under Cao Shouyi, and endured the restaurant’s grueling workload while searching for a chance to act.
• Ren Ye secretly poisoned two dishes with bitter powder, then added crushed Yin-Returning Pill so Cao Shouyi would taste it and become unconscious.
• Cao Shouyi returned to his courtyard in a deathlike state while Black Brother Dog distracted the staff, allowing Ren Ye to sneak inside and inspect him.
• Cao Shouyi awoke as Ren Ye examined his lower back, and Ren Ye spotted a small moon tattoo identical to Chu Meidan’s.

Little Bad King discovered Cao Shouyi’s moon tattoo and learned that a pill from the Third Seat kept Cao’s mysterious affliction under control. He and Lin Ye sent Cloud Sea a threatening letter about Chu Meidan’s tattoo, prompting Cloud Sea to summon his Travelers for a sect assignment.

• Little Bad King saw Cao Shouyi’s moon tattoo, then watched Cao suffer a violent attack that ended when he took a pill delivered by the Third Seat.
• Cao Shouyi woke the next morning to find Liu Sanshui had mistaken his suspended state for death and arranged a funeral; Little Bad King decided to befriend Sanshui to learn about Cao’s past.
• Little Bad King instructed Big Black Dog to earn Sanshui’s trust with wine and gifts while he met Lin Ye and planned to pressure Cloud Sea.
• Little Bad King told Lin Ye that Cao Shouyi bore the same moon tattoo as Chu Meidan, and they prepared a letter threatening to expose Chu’s tattoo and corpse unless the Second Seat escaped his predicament.
• Cloud Sea received the letter, suspected the Second Seat’s disciples had discovered Chu Meidan’s connection to the Rising Moon Sect, and summoned more than a dozen Travelers for an assignment involving the Seven Friends.

Cloud Sea sent Nong Zhiwei to help Cao Shouyi flee the Heavenly Capital, while Little Bad King and Black Brother Dog got Liu Sanshui drunk enough to reveal Cao’s past. Little Bad King triggered a memory of the Nansheng Case and found himself watching young Cloud Sea and his companions after their operation had been exposed.

• Cloud Sea assigned Nong Zhiwei and the other Traveler disciples to escort Cao Shouyi out of the Heavenly Capital, and Nong warned Cao that his past connection to Chu Meidan put him at risk.
• Black Brother Dog won Liu Sanshui’s trust by offering wine, gifts, and half his wages to become his apprentice, then he and Little Bad King questioned the cook about Cao’s courtyard.
• Liu Sanshui revealed that Cao had been a Fifth-Grade Punishment Hall disciple, was gravely injured and nearly executed after the Nansheng Case, and survived through Cloud Sea’s connections.
• Little Bad King triggered a Heavenly Dao memory rewind and entered the viewpoint of someone witnessing young Cloud Sea and his companions in Nansheng City.
• Cao Shouyi urged Cloud Sea and the others to retreat after they realized Yu Fengchun’s informants had exposed them, while Yang Qi argued they should attack Yu’s headquarters instead.

Cloud Sea’s group stormed Yu Fengchun’s residence, where a bloody battle killed Su Sheng and Aman and awakened Cloud Sea’s Great Dao qi. After Yu Fengchun revealed his ties to Celestial Master Tiantong and Jin Yu urged the group to steal his hidden fortune, Cloud Sea chose his brothers over his assignment and killed Yu Fengchun to seize everything.

• Yang Qi charged into the company commander’s old residence, and Cloud Sea’s group followed without finding an ambush.
• Cloud Sea’s group fought Yu Fengchun’s guards; Su Sheng and Aman died, Cao Shouyi was gravely injured, and Cloud Sea awakened his first strand of Great Dao qi.
• Cloud Sea’s group captured Yu Fengchun, who revealed that he was Celestial Master Tiantong’s illegitimate son and warned that Divine Sect was using them in a factional struggle.
• Jin Yu found Yu Fengchun’s secret chamber of stolen treasures and proposed killing him and taking everything; Cloud Sea initially opposed him.
• Cao Shouyi’s Star Core Inner Core cracked, and Cloud Sea chose to side with his surviving brothers rather than return Yu Fengchun alive.
• Cloud Sea told Yu Fengchun he wanted all the treasures, then killed him with his giant blade.

Cloud Sea was arrested over the Nansheng Case, then released after Jin Yu took the blame and Yunlu pleaded for him. Yang Qi confessed that he had betrayed his brothers to advance himself, leaving Cloud Sea questioning the Great Dao before he awoke in the Seven Friends Restaurant.

• After Cloud Sea’s Completed Robe Banquet, the Fulong Pavilion arrested him and the other survivors to reopen the Nansheng Case, then recovered the stolen goods from Yang Village.
• After eight months in prison, Yunlu brought Cloud Sea home and explained that Jin Yu had confessed to the murder and theft, then died after Fulong Pavilion officers poisoned him.
• Yunlu revealed that Yang Qi had exposed the crime to the Martial Academy faction, and that the court had spared Cloud Sea and the others through a political settlement.
• Cloud Sea confronted Yang Qi outside Martial Hero Hall, where Yang Qi said he had betrayed his brothers to escape being a stepping stone and accused Cloud Sea of letting Jin Yu bear the blame.
• After Yang Qi left, Cloud Sea questioned whether the order he had pursued was truly the Great Dao, and the wisp of Great Dao Qi within him dispersed.
• Cloud Sea awoke in the Seven Friends Restaurant, where Liu Sanshui recounted how the survivors’ lives had turned out.

Little Bad King planned to use Cao Shouyi’s illness and medicine to uncover Cloud Sea’s secrets, while Cao prepared to leave the Seven Friends Restaurant and wrote Cloud Sea a farewell letter. After receiving a mysterious reply, Cloud Sea reversed his decision and ordered Cao assassinated, as Little Bad King sought help from Daoist Chu.

• Little Bad King reasoned that Cao Shouyi’s illness could let him extract information about Cloud Sea, so he ordered Lin Ye to find Cao’s medicine and recruit experts to help steal it.
• Cao Shouyi sat outside the Seven Friends Restaurant through the night, then wrote Cloud Sea a heartfelt letter before preparing to leave.
• Cloud Sea read Cao’s letter and arranged to meet him at Jin Yu’s grave, then sent Nong Zhiwei to return a jade-crystal vase and deliver a secret letter to Wu Blind Man.
• After Nong Zhiwei returned with Wu Blind Man’s reply, Cloud Sea ordered his disciples to cancel Cao’s departure and kill him in the Heavenly Capital.
• Little Bad King returned to Myriad Spirits Main Peak and tried to lure Daoist Chu into helping him by promising to show him new mistresses in the Puppet Corpse Room.

Little Bad King used Daoist Chu’s hints and a staged herb dispute to reach the Medical Hall Pill Academy and find the pills he wanted. After he found them, the Heavenly Dao sharply increased the difficulty of the assignment and granted a rule allowing one teammate to use an Infiltrator Token in their True Self Body.

• Little Bad King questioned Daoist Chu about pills that could heal Star Core fractures, and Daoist Chu pointed him toward the Medical Hall Pill Academy.
• Daoist Chu arranged for a Punishment Hall disciple to demand more medicinal herbs, then persuaded Little Bad King to order the increase and learned the Medical Hall’s staffing and routines.
• Daoist Chu got Junior Brother Zhang and the other disciples drunk, moved the keys within reach, and left Zhang asleep beneath a heavy Magic Treasure fan.
• Little Bad King entered the Medical Hall Pill Academy, used the keys to reach the third-floor pill-refining chamber, and found three pills identical to those Old Cao had taken.
• The Heavenly Dao announced that assignments related to “Past Events: Seven Friends” had become unknown in difficulty and granted the team a rule allowing one Traveler to use an Infiltrator Token in their True Self Body.

Little Bad King stole two pills from a guarded cabinet, learned that Old Cao planned to visit his brother Jin Yu’s grave, and organized the Five Tigers to watch for trouble there. That night, Nong Zhiwei led Travelers down the mountain while an ancient Old Man watched Myriad Spirits Main Peak.

• Little Bad King resisted the cabinet’s freezing power, stole an Invincible Strength Pill, then returned to take Soul-Suppressing Water despite a warning from the Heavenly Dao Proclamation.
• Little Bad King returned to the Seven Friends Restaurant and learned from Liu Sanshui that Old Cao had gone to Deng Family Village and was preparing offerings for Jin Yu’s grave visit.
• Little Bad King met the Five Tigers, explained that he had obtained a pill to suppress Old Cao’s ailment, and ordered them to watch Jin Yu’s grave and act only when an opportunity arose.
• Little Bad King gave Little Marquis the team’s Infiltrator Token and planned for himself and Black Dog to follow Old Cao in secret.
• Nong Zhiwei led more than a dozen Travelers down the mountain, while an ancient Old Man at the Heavenly Capital Martial Academy watched Myriad Spirits Main Peak and remarked that someone had not changed in 160 years.

Cao Shouyi left the Seven Friends Restaurant for a supposed grave visit, but Third Seat’s disciples lured him into an illusion and accused him of betraying Yun Hai. When Cao Shouyi began vomiting poisonous gu insects, the disciples prepared to kill him as Little Bad King and Black Brother Dog were trapped inside the Heavenly Capital by an early curfew.

• Cao Shouyi fed the alley’s beggars for the last time, then left Liu Sanshui the restaurant and inn deeds and a farewell letter before departing with four of Third Seat’s disciples.
• Little Bad King read Cao Shouyi’s papers, and Black Brother Dog used Aspect-Seeking Pursuit to track the carriage toward Autumn Mountain.
• Li Mao revealed that Yun Hai suspected Cao Shouyi had been captured and used as bait, and threatened to search his soul after telling him his medicine was fake.
• Cao Shouyi declared that he had never betrayed Yun Hai, then vomited dozens of powerful gu insects that attacked the carriage and its occupants.
• Li Mao and the other disciples decided to use Dao Transformation to kill Cao Shouyi, while Yun Hai watched through a token.
• Little Bad King and Black Brother Dog reached the city gate but were barred from leaving by an early curfew; Little Bad King realized a Divine Court faction had mobilized the garrison and spotted a possible way out.

Ren Ye used Soul-Suppressing Water to frighten Lu Qinzhuo into lifting the city closure and redirecting his troops toward the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land, where the forces pursuing Cao Shouyi were already fighting. As the Myriad Spirits Four Tigers watched the battle, the Three-Headed Azure Bird decided that a falling roast chicken was the signal to act.

• Ren Ye secretly dosed Lu Qinzhuo with Soul-Suppressing Water, causing the Qianhu to believe Ren Ye was the Divine Court’s Second Prince, Long Er.
• Ren Ye learned that Lu Qinzhuo had been ordered to close the gates after Cao Shouyi’s carriage passed and that troops were gathering near the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land.
• Ren Ye persuaded Lu Qinzhuo to reopen the gates, follow travelers heading toward the Imperial Mausoleum, and intercept suspected accomplices while Ren Ye and Black Brother Dog stayed hidden.
• The Myriad Spirits Four Tigers saw Li Mao and his companions pursue Cao Shouyi, whose gu insects and newfound power helped him resist them.
• A gu insect controlling a grave-offering chicken died when the chicken blocked Li Mao’s spear and fell near the Myriad Spirits Four Tigers.
• The Three-Headed Azure Bird interpreted the fallen chicken as Ox Heavenly Venerable’s signal, and urged the group to act.

Tuoba Chan and the Little Marquis fought Cao Shouyi’s Gu insects and Li Mao’s group at the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land, while the Little Bad King maneuvered the Divine Guard Army to isolate the Third Seat’s disciples. The chapter ended with other Travelers questioning the strange behavior of the Azure Ox’s supposed allies.

• The Buddha’s Son interpreted the Ox Heavenly Venerable’s warning as a reference to a chicken, then joined the fight against Cao Shouyi while the Three-Headed Bird, Lei Hu, and the Little Marquis followed.
• Tuoba Chan used the Instant Clear Delusion Seal to destroy Cao Shouyi’s Gu insects, then impaled him with the Myriad Forms Annihilation Pestle and called Lei Hu and the Three-Headed Bird to help suppress the Gu insect without killing Cao Shouyi.
• The Little Marquis used the Phoenix Feather Blade to kill Li Mao and his three companions after they charged at him.
• The Little Bad King ordered Lu Qinzhuo to track three Third Seat disciples, then led Divine Guard Army troops to intercept them outside the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land.
• A group of Travelers debated why Li Mao’s allies had not rescued him, and one concluded that the Azure Ox would not have acted so rashly.

Nong Zhiwei and Yu Jinguang’s forces revealed themselves when Buddha’s Son activated a Ground-Shrinking Talisman, while Three-Headed Bird’s plan to make them clash left the Four Tigers trapped in the middle. Little Bad King learned that the four had captured Cao Shouyi, and the chapter ended with him realizing they were the group using the feather saber.

• Nong Zhiwei ordered her Travelers to stay hidden and wait for the Military Faction to emerge after the Four Tigers captured Cao Shouyi.
• Three-Headed Bird proposed using Buddha’s Son’s Ground-Shrinking Talisman as a decoy to draw out the forces watching the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land.
• Nong Zhiwei activated the Infiltrator Token, and Yu Jinguang revealed the eight hundred academy disciples when both groups sensed the talisman’s power.
• The talisman’s void path collapsed, leaving Nong Zhiwei’s Travelers, Yu Jinguang’s army, and the Four Tigers exposed as the two forces began fighting.
• The Little Marquis fled to seek help while Lei Hu said he would find another powerful ally, leaving Three-Headed Bird and Buddha’s Son with Cao Shouyi.
• Old Donkey reported the chaos to Little Bad King, who recognized the four captors as the group that included someone using a feather saber.

Little Bad King rushed to rescue the Four Tigers as the Martial Academy surrounded them and Nong Zhiwei’s group, while all three sides faced mounting danger. As he prepared to use the Second Seat’s jade thumb ring and Nong Zhiwei fired a Guixu Plume, a white-haired spear wielder awakened at the Fifth-Grade Extreme Realm, and Wu Blind Man confronted Cloud Sea about the balance of power.

• Little Bad King ordered Old Donkey to block the road with a warning about the Second Prince taking charge, then flew toward the battlefield with Black Dog.
• Three-Headed Bird used Cao Shouyi as a shield while Buddha’s Son and Lei Hu held off the Martial Academy; Ox Heavenly Venerable arrived and helped them fight back.
• Little Bad King reunited with the Four Tigers, scolded them for jumping into battle, and decided to activate the Second Seat’s jade thumb ring as Black Dog urged him to stop holding back.
• Nong Zhiwei chose to expend one of her rare imitation Guixu Plumes and fired it to give her teammates a chance to escape.
• A white-haired young man awakened near the Imperial Mausoleum and reached the Fifth-Grade Extreme Realm, while Little Bad King recognized his aura.
• Liu Sanshui stopped outside the Emperor’s Tomb, and Wu Blind Man asked Cloud Sea who held power now and who needed to be curtailed.

Wu Blind Man warned Cloud Sea that the Imperial Court’s tacit approval of the attack reflected its fear of Myriad Spirits Garden, and Cloud Sea decided to abandon the attempt to seize Cao Shouyi. At the Imperial Mausoleum, the Little Marquis arrived and shattered Nong Zhiwei’s arrow, while Long Er’s orders kept the Military Faction’s reinforcements from reaching the fighting.

• Wu Blind Man urged Cloud Sea to preserve himself and explained that the Imperial Court would never tolerate Myriad Spirits Garden as it had the human Military Faction, and Cloud Sea said he would abandon the attempt to seize Cao Shouyi.
• Nong Zhiwei fired her Guixu Plume at Ren Ye and the others, but the Little Marquis arrived and destroyed the arrow with the Nine Skies God-Slaying Spear.
• The Little Marquis killed the Martial Academy instructor and nearly thirty disciples while Little Bad King tried to escape with Cao Shouyi, and Cloud Sea recalled Nong Zhiwei.
• Old Donkey blocked the road to the Imperial Mausoleum under Long Er’s orders and convinced Regional Commander Wang and the Military Faction soldiers to wait rather than advance.

Old Donkey tried to block the Military Faction’s reinforcements, but Long Er arrived in disguise and exposed his confusion before sending the troops toward the battle. As the Little Bad King realized someone had steered events toward a hidden trap, he led the Tigers to a gap in the Grand Formation beneath Autumn Mountain.

• Old Donkey’s warnings kept the Military Faction’s reinforcements outside the battlefield until Long Er revealed himself from a sedan and ordered them to assist Yu Jinguang.
• A sturdy martial artist struck Old Donkey unconscious, and Long Er told the Military Faction to follow him while they hurried to the battlefield.
• Nong Zhiwei and her group escaped after losing four people and abandoning most of their assignments, while the Little Marquis continued fighting as the Martial Academy’s numbers dwindled.
• As thousands of Military Faction cultivators approached, Little Bad King noticed a headless corpse’s divine soul and realized that someone had set a trap; he then led the Tigers toward the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land instead of activating his jade thumb ring.
• The Little Marquis shattered his Star Core and began Dao Transformation to hold off the Military Faction, while Little Bad King concealed himself and Fourth Tiger with destiny and found a dog-hole entrance held open by a Purple Clay Teapot and three stone steles.

The Military Faction failed to recover Cao Shouyi and could not enter the Imperial Mausoleum Ancestral Land, while Little Bad King brought Cao Shouyi inside and questioned him about evidence tied to the Rising Moon Sect. The chapter ended with Little Bad King suspecting Liu Sanshui had tipped off the Military Faction as Liu Sanshui searched the graveyard in fear and uncertainty.

• The Military Faction searched the area around the Imperial Mausoleum Ancestral Land, but Long Er delayed permission to open it until the Imperial Rites Office could decide.
• Lin Ye brought Myriad Spirits Dao Palace disciples to the blockade under the pretext of investigating a corruption case, hoping to receive Ren Daniú.
• Daoist Tiantong sent Feng Jun and Yu Jinguang to tell the Divine Sect everything and press the case against Cloud Sea.
• Long Er told the Divine Sect that the Military Faction had planned its operation for a long time, and the Divine Sect said the night’s affair was only beginning.
• Little Bad King revived Cao Shouyi inside the Imperial Mausoleum Ancestral Land and questioned him about evidence involving Chu Meidan and the Rising Moon Sect.
• Little Bad King suggested Liu Sanshui might have betrayed Cao Shouyi, while Liu Sanshui searched the graveyard, torn between fleeing and staying.

Little Bad King forced Old Cao to reveal how he planned to frame Cloud Sea and use the Military Faction to regain his life. He accused Old Cao of betraying the brother who had cared for him, leaving Old Cao to insist that years of suffering had driven him to become bad.

• Little Bad King confronted Old Cao with the moon tattoo evidence and threatened to withhold the Star-Nourishing Pill unless he told the truth.
• Old Cao explained that after the Nansheng Case he had lived for over a hundred and sixty years with a damaged Star Core, then seized an opportunity when Chu Meidan confided his secrets and evidence about Cloud Sea.
• Old Cao admitted he planned to pose as a Rising Moon Sect pawn, frame Cloud Sea with help from Daoist Tiantong, and make Liu Sanshui the apparent traitor to protect his own reputation.
• Little Bad King accused Old Cao of ignoring how Cloud Sea had cared for him and risked himself to save him, while Old Cao recalled Cloud Sea’s remorse after the Nansheng Case.
• Old Cao argued that good people suffered while Tiantong and Yang Qi prospered, and said he wanted to try being bad after spending his life as a good person.

Little Bad King traded with Cao Shouyi for evidence, but Cao Shouyi died when the Star-Nourishing Pill activated Cloud Sea’s hidden soul. After securing Old Cao’s parcel from Liu Sanshui, Little Bad King persuaded Cloud Sea to help free his master; Cloud Sea then confronted the Military Faction, prompting the other Seats to threaten war.

• Little Bad King exposed Cao Shouyi’s second bargaining chip, received his case memories, and gave him Star-Nourishing Pills that burned him to death.
• Little Bad King and Black Dog escaped the Imperial Mausoleum’s Ancestral Land and collected Cao Shouyi’s parcel from frightened Liu Sanshui, who gave up the Seven Friends Restaurant deeds and planned to leave with his family.
• Little Bad King met Cloud Sea and offered evidence of Chu Meidan’s crimes in exchange for help freeing his master from the Dragon Scale Case.
• Cloud Sea revealed that he had been investigating the case and offered Little Bad King access to Zheng Zhuo, while admitting that he had tolerated some wrongdoing to preserve stability.
• As Imperial Court investigators approached, Cloud Sea went to the Martial Academy and challenged Tiantong and the other Dao-Touchers to face him together.
• Yunlu, Cloud Dragon, and Cloud Clear backed Cloud Sea, warning the Martial Academy that the Myriad Spirits Garden would attack if anyone there moved against him.

After receiving Cloud Sea’s saber-drawing talisman, Little Bad King met Zheng Zhuo and learned that disciples serving several seats had helped frame the Second Seat in the Dragon Scale Case. Zheng Zhuo implicated Dong Rencheng, while Little Bad King left the Five Tigers to question him further and discovered that the fastest-running member of the assignment team had become a Fence-Sitter.

• Cloud Sea’s public challenge humiliated the Martial Academy, and Little Bad King received a single-use talisman containing Cloud Sea’s strongest saber strike as the Seven Friends assignment reward.
• Little Bad King reconsidered Cloud Sea’s loyalties and suspected Nong Zhiwei and Melon had chosen him as master based on information they already possessed.
• Nong Zhiwei confronted Little Bad King about his scheme, then told him the fastest-running member of her team had fled the Third Seat’s Dao Palace to avoid a mad dog.
• Little Bad King and the Myriad Spirits Five Tigers visited Zheng Zhuo in the Heavenly Prison, where Zheng Zhuo explained that Dong Rencheng had arranged for Feng Yu to hide a box in the Second Seat’s secret chamber.
• Zheng Zhuo said disciples of nearly every seat had participated in the plot, and that Dong Rencheng had used him to frame Cloud Sea before Feng Yu was killed by a Person of Chaos.
• Little Bad King left Zheng Zhuo with the Five Tigers for more questioning, then learned that the fastest-running man had earned his Recommendation Letter and become a Fence-Sitter.