Chapter Summaries

Fang Yang revealed that he possessed Dragon Qi and used the Immortal Finger on the Female Emperor, whose injuries began to heal. She concluded that his Dragon Qi was the portion stolen from the Tang Kingdom’s imperial family a century earlier, though it could no longer reunite with hers, as Fang Yang combined the Immortal Finger and Demon Finger against her.

• Fang Yang realized that the Demon Venerable’s rapid cultivation had come from the Dragon Qi within his body.
• When the Female Emperor demanded to know who he was, Fang Yang mockingly claimed to be her father and touched her navel with the Immortal Finger.
• The Female Emperor felt her Dragon Qi-related injuries improve and wondered how Fang Yang had healed them.
• She recalled that Dragon Qi had been stolen from the Tang Kingdom’s Nine Cauldrons a century earlier and concluded that Fang Yang possessed the missing portion.
• The Female Emperor discovered that their Dragon Qi had changed over time and could no longer merge, while Fang Yang’s Dragon Qi surged against hers.
• Fang Yang pressed the Demon Finger between the Female Emperor’s brows and combined it with the Immortal Finger.

Fang Yang read the Female Emperor’s diary, learning how Lin Ziyan endured her mother’s death and seized the throne, then offered to help her rule the world in exchange for becoming his woman. She refused, but Fang Yang showed that his Immortal Finger and Demon Finger were already merging their dragon qi and healing her injuries, leaving her to question whether his method could restore the Tang Kingdom’s imperial dragon qi.

• The Female Emperor woke in Ganlu Hall and found Fang Yang reading her private diary while marks remained on her skin.
• Fang Yang read entries describing Lin Ziyan’s mother’s death, her revenge against her father’s family, and her rise to become the Female Emperor.
• Fang Yang offered to help the Female Emperor rule the world if she became his woman, but she firmly refused.
• Fang Yang explained that their shared-origin dragon qi could merge through dual cultivation or another method, while the Female Emperor resisted the effects of his fingers.
• Fang Yang revealed that his Immortal Finger and Demon Finger had already begun merging their dragon qi, and the Female Emperor discovered that her injuries were healing.

The Female Emperor agreed to let Fang Yang unite their dragon qi, hoping the process would complete her power and help her face the growing calamities in the Tang Kingdom. After studying his illustrated cultivation instructions and undressing on the Cold Jade Bed, she prepared to proceed while Fang Yang struggled to contain his desire.

• The Female Emperor agreed to cooperate with Fang Yang but warned him to keep their encounter secret.
• Fang Yang drew portraits of the Female Emperor in unusual cultivation poses and explained that the drawings included instructions for circulating dragon qi.
• The Female Emperor accepted the instructions, studied the portraits, and eventually told Fang Yang to begin.
• The Female Emperor removed her clothes and sat on the Cold Jade Bed while Fang Yang looked at her with rising desire.

Fang Yang treated the Female Emperor’s injuries by guiding her through a cultivation method that required their Dragon Qi to merge while they were physically close. After the first attempt failed because her thoughts were unsettled, they achieved an initial fusion, but she unexpectedly took the initiative in the next movement just as footsteps approached Ganlu Hall.

• Fang Yang restrained his anger and told the Female Emperor to follow the illustrated movements so their Dragon Qi could unite while he treated her injuries.
• The Female Emperor performed the movements, and Fang Yang embraced her beneath a quilt to circulate their Dragon Qi together.
• Their first attempt failed when the Female Emperor’s turbulent thoughts disrupted the Dragon Qi, and Fang Yang warned her to concentrate.
• The Female Emperor steadied herself, allowing their Dragon Qi to merge and her injuries to improve as Fang Yang used his finger techniques to treat her.
• After finishing the first sequence, the Female Emperor followed Fang Yang’s cue and placed his hand on her body for the next movement, then realized she had acted on her own as footsteps sounded outside Ganlu Hall.

The Female Emperor endured Fang Yang’s cultivation technique while receiving Chancellor Zhang Jushan’s warning that forbidden lands were spreading and a calamity threatened the Tang Kingdom. Zhang Jushan began recounting a series of bizarre deaths in Kyoto, leaving the danger unresolved.

• The Female Emperor let Chancellor Zhang Jushan report from outside Ganlu Hall while she remained with Fang Yang, concealing her condition as best she could.
• Zhang Jushan reported that forbidden lands were growing across the kingdom, casualties were mounting, and signs of one appearing in Kyoto had emerged.
• Zhang Jushan explained how resentment and mysterious deaths could cause forbidden lands to form and grow more dangerous.
• The Female Emperor asked whether uncanny incidents and mysterious deaths had occurred in Kyoto, and Zhang Jushan confirmed that they had.
• Zhang Jushan recounted several cases of bizarre deaths in Kyoto, including a drowned family, a severed head, and a magistrate’s household found dead after staging an opera.

The Female Emperor learned that uncanny beings were causing increasingly frequent deaths in Kyoto, including the deaths of Chancellor Zhang Jushan’s only son and General Chen’s household. After Zhang Jushan departed, she set aside her anger at Fang Yang and continued their dragon-qi cultivation, believing he was the Tang Kingdom’s only hope.

• Zhang Jushan recounted a series of mysterious deaths in Kyoto, including the slaughter of all 127 people in General Chen’s Residence.
• Zhang Jushan revealed that his son had died that night in a strange incident, warned the Female Emperor to protect herself, and left to arrange the funeral.
• Zhang Jushan’s parting remark made the Female Emperor realize he had mistaken her cultivation with Fang Yang for debauchery, humiliating and enraging her.
• The Female Emperor decided she could not risk alienating Fang Yang because she needed his help against the calamity and to complete the Tang Kingdom’s dragon qi.
• Fang Yang told the Female Emperor to resume the poses and techniques in the illustrated manual, and she continued cultivating with him until she had practiced both techniques.

The Female Emperor’s dragon qi continued to fuse under Fang Yang’s strange cultivation methods, bringing her closer to breaking through the four-leaf dharma body. Fang Yang bound her and began another set of movements, and she sensed that her dragon qi was flowing far faster than before.

• The Female Emperor sensed that her dragon qi had partially fused and that her strength had increased, bringing her close to breaking through to the five-leaf dharma body.
• Fang Yang presented the Female Emperor with illustrated instructions for their next cultivation session, and she became furious at their shameless movements and props.
• The Female Emperor challenged Fang Yang as the Imperial Palace’s azure dragon stirred, while Ye Qinghong drew the Clear Shadow Sword to protect his master.
• Fang Yang admitted that the movements included selfish intent, then bound the Female Emperor with a rope.
• Fang Yang pulled the Female Emperor into his embrace and began the next set of movements, prompting her to sense the dragon qi flowing rapidly through her meridians.

The Female Emperor agreed to Fang Yang’s humiliating treatment methods because she needed to strengthen her dragon qi before a catastrophe, then secretly ordered an ambush to take revenge on him. The chapter ended with Fang Yang leaving Ganlu Hall while the guards outside speculated about what had happened between him and the Female Emperor.

• The Female Emperor admitted that she would accept Fang Yang’s requests if he healed her injuries, and he warned her that the treatment would have ten increasingly intense stages.
• Fang Yang left Ganlu Hall, while the Female Emperor studied his illustrated manual and resolved not to let him control her.
• The Female Emperor ordered her people to set an ambush on Maple Forest Mountain and prepare weapons she had kept hidden, intending to make Fang Yang her slave.
• The Female Emperor recalled her treatment, grew flustered, and ordered her attendants to prepare a bath.
• Fang Yang emerged from Ganlu Hall, and the guards outside guessed that he had been alone with the Female Emperor for nearly an hour.

Fang Yang broke through to the Four-Leaf Dharmakaya Realm after secretly combining Dragon Qi with the Female Emperor, then confronted Xiao Yingxue, a Heavenly Fox Clan assassin who suddenly attacked him. As Fang Yang summoned an enormous phantom to counter her, the battle's outcome remained unknown.

• The guards heard the Female Emperor order them to leave while she bathed and departed, convinced Fang Yang had defiled her.
• Fang Yang formed a Golden Flood Dragon from the Profound Heaven Strategy and advanced to the Four-Leaf Dharmakaya Realm.
• Fang Yang met Ye Qinghong on the roof of Ganlu Hall and learned that Ye Qinghong had subdued the black-clad Xiao Yingxue, who had come to assassinate him.
• Xiao Yingxue awakened, broke free using a Heavenly Fox Clan Forbidden Technique, and lunged at Fang Yang with seven tails and lethal claws.
• Ye Qinghong tried to protect Fang Yang, but Fang Yang remained calm and summoned a towering phantom as Xiao Yingxue attacked.

Fang Yang defeated Xiao Yingxue after she attacked him, and she recognized his formless demon body before fleeing. Back in Xingqing Palace, Xiao Yingxue told Xiao Hongyu that the Demon Venerable possessed the long-lost cultivation technique.

• The Female Emperor sensed Fang Yang's formidable power but resolved to make him submit and take his dragon qi.
• Xiao Yingxue's seven tails wrapped around Fang Yang, but his formless demon body broke them and left her badly injured.
• Xiao Yingxue recognized Fang Yang's formless demon body, then escaped into the night and vowed to kill him.
• Ye Qinghong asked Fang Yang whether the sect should investigate Xiao Yingxue, but Fang Yang said it was unnecessary and hinted she might draw out interesting figures.
• Xiao Yingxue appeared in Xingqing Palace, where Xiao Hongyu urged her to stop pursuing Fang Yang.
• Xiao Yingxue asked Xiao Hongyu whether she knew Fang Yang possessed the formless demon body, shocking her younger sister.

In Xingqing Palace, Xiao Hongyu persuaded the injured Xiao Yingxue to join her in seducing and assassinating Fang Yang, though Xiao Hongyu also secretly longed to fall back into his embrace. Xiao Yingxue agreed, healed enough to leave the palace, and headed into the night as strange incidents continued to trouble Kyoto.

• Xiao Hongyu proposed that she and Xiao Yingxue seduce Fang Yang and exploit his lowered guard to kill him.
• Xiao Yingxue suspected her sister wanted her to become Fang Yang's slave too, but Xiao Hongyu denied it and persuaded her to join forces.
• Xiao Yingxue agreed to keep their plan secret and help kill Fang Yang, while Xiao Hongyu privately yearned to experience his pleasure again.
• Xiao Yingxue cultivated until her injuries had mostly healed, then strapped on her Ink-Colored Long Sword and left the palace.
• The narration shifted to Kyoto, where strange incidents and forbidden lands had become frequent over the past year.

Zhang Jushan entered a haunted courtyard and met a Fierce Ghost in an opera costume, who revealed that the Underworld Realm was nearing its opening and asked him about the Blood Rain Demon Venerable. Her reaction to the demon made Zhang Jushan reconsider how much influence he could have, while his own motives for betraying the Female Emperor remained secret.

• Zhang Jushan walked through a supernatural illusion in the deserted residence and confronted the woman in the Opera Costume in its rear courtyard.
• The woman accused Zhang Jushan of coldly ordering General Chen’s family killed, then explained that her master would soon emerge from the forbidden land as the Underworld Realm opened.
• The woman asked why Zhang Jushan, despite helping the Female Emperor take the throne, had chosen to cooperate with her group; he said the Female Emperor was only a piece in his plans and refused to explain further.
• The woman asked whether Zhang Jushan knew of the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, and he mocked her for being attracted to him before she insisted the demon would accept even Fierce Ghosts.
• Zhang Jushan recalled the demon’s growing influence over Kyoto’s women and wondered whether even the Female Emperor had fallen for him, then began to speak.

Zhang Jushan revealed that he was willing to sacrifice even his only son to carry out his plan to cleanse Kyoto, while Lian Yue arrived at the capital gravely weakened after giving up her cultivation technique to save her Eldest Senior Sister. At the city gates, she saw a portrait of the Blood Rain Demon Venerable and stopped in front of it.

• Zhang Jushan told the Female Wraith to follow his plan to sacrifice court ministers, then admitted he had willingly let her kill his only son for the sake of his scheme.
• The Female Wraith watched Zhang Jushan leave and restored the lights and activity in the courtyard.
• Lian Yue traveled toward Kyoto, barely alive after surrendering her cultivation technique and suffering severe injuries, hoping to tell Mo Ke what she had learned about their master.
• Lian Yue apologized to her dying Red Dust Gu for breaking her promise, then concealed her face with a veil and entered Kyoto through the city gates.
• Onlookers at the city gates worried that the beautiful Lian Yue would fall for the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, but she stopped at a painting stall and stared at his portrait.

Lian Yue traveled to Star-Seizing Temple to persuade Mo Ke to reconcile with their master, while struggling to believe Mo Ke’s message that she planned to marry him. Gravely injured after the long journey, Lian Yue reached the temple’s door barely able to stand.

• Lian Yue bought a portrait of her master in Kyoto and headed for Star-Seizing Temple, hoping to change Mo Ke’s mind about him.
• Lian Yue reread Mo Ke’s message about marrying their master but convinced herself that Mo Ke was only teasing her.
• Mo Ke reflected on her master’s charm and sent him a message asking him to come to Star-Seizing Temple.
• Lian Yue arrived at the temple gravely injured, with nearly all her spiritual qi exhausted.

Lian Yue told Mo Ke that Fang Yang had treated her differently after she tried to kill him, and admitted that she no longer hated him as before. Mo Ke asked whether Lian Yue had fallen in love with their master.

• Mo Ke temporarily eased Lian Yue’s injuries with a spring breeze, but said it could sustain her for only one more day.
• Mo Ke noticed the peach blossom Lian Yue treasured and asked why her injuries had worsened so severely.
• Mo Ke deduced that Fang Yang had caused Lian Yue’s injuries and asked whether she had sacrificed herself for Eldest Senior Sister.
• Lian Yue denied that Eldest Senior Sister was the reason and asked whether Mo Ke still hated Fang Yang; Mo Ke said she did.
• Lian Yue explained that she had returned intending to assassinate Fang Yang but changed her view after he spared her, treated her injuries, and protected her.
• Mo Ke asked Lian Yue whether she had fallen in love with Fang Yang and put the past behind her.

Lian Yue confessed to Mo Ke that she loved Fang Yang but believed her Fate Pattern meant she was destined to die, so she had given up competing with Eldest Senior Sister for him. Mo Ke revealed that Lian Yue’s chance to change her fate had arrived when Fang Yang appeared in Kyoto and declared himself that opportunity.

• Lian Yue asked Mo Ke whether she still hated Fang Yang, and Mo Ke said she did but had fallen deeply in love with him and intended to marry him.
• Mo Ke pressed Lian Yue to explain her injuries, and Lian Yue described how she had used Fang Yang’s secret method to help Eldest Senior Sister, weakening herself in the process.
• Lian Yue admitted that she loved Fang Yang, showed Mo Ke the Peach Blossom he had given her, and explained why she had yielded to Eldest Senior Sister despite wanting to marry him herself.
• Mo Ke told Lian Yue that her chance to change her Fate Pattern had arrived, just as Fang Yang entered the Star-Seizing Temple.
• Fang Yang reassured the dying Lian Yue that he would not let anyone hurt her and said he was her opportunity to change her Fate Pattern.

Fang Yang took Lian Yue from Star-Seizing Temple after learning she had sacrificed herself out of love for him, and brought her to the Female Emperor’s bedchamber. Ye Qinghong resolved to keep competing for Fang Yang after Lian Yue’s wedding night.

• Fang Yang embraced Lian Yue and took her away from Star-Seizing Temple, while Mo Ke revealed that she had provoked Lian Yue into telling the truth so Fang Yang would hear it.
• Mo Ke comforted Ye Qinghong, but he insisted that Lian Yue’s sacrifice for him did not mean he would give up Fang Yang.
• Mo Ke reminded Ye Qinghong that she had already given him a wedding gift and urged him not to abandon his pursuit of Fang Yang.
• Ye Qinghong decided to let Lian Yue have her turn with Fang Yang, then flew toward the Female Emperor’s bedchamber, planning to compete for him afterward.
• Fang Yang brought Lian Yue into the bedchamber, lit the lanterns, and laid her on the Cold Jade Bed.

Fang Yang began healing Lian Yue’s damaged cultivation and promised her a true wedding night, while she struggled to believe he would accept her. As he worked, Lian Yue remained convinced her Fate Pattern might still doom her, and the chapter ended with her blushing under his intimate healing technique.

• Fang Yang reminded Lian Yue that she had hidden her plans and arranged a wedding night behind his back, then admitted he had once intended to harvest the results of the disciples’ cultivation.
• Fang Yang told Lian Yue he could heal her injuries using the cultivation technique’s general outline and promised her a true wedding night.
• Fang Yang lit red candles in the Female Emperor’s bedchamber and assured Lian Yue that her Fate Pattern could be broken.
• Fang Yang drew Lian Yue’s dimmed Red Dust Decision from between her brows, and their red threads intertwined as she feared he would absorb her power again.
• Fang Yang lifted Lian Yue into his arms and began healing her by pressing acupoints, leaving her deeply embarrassed.

Fang Yang used an intimate ancient cultivation technique to heal Lian Yue’s shattered foundation, while Ye Qinghong’s Glazed Sword Heart broke as she sensed and witnessed their closeness. Ye Qinghong left for the Back Mountain, where Mo Ke was sitting by a stream with her elder sister, when an image suddenly appeared in her mind.

• Fang Yang explained that the ancient technique was clearing Lian Yue’s mind and slowly repairing her damaged foundation.
• Lian Yue agreed to let Fang Yang heal her through the technique, and they began the treatment together.
• Ye Qinghong sensed images of Fang Yang and Lian Yue, and her Glazed Sword Heart shattered as she watched them.
• Ye Qinghong flew away from the bedchamber to seek calm at the Back Mountain.
• Mo Ke washed her feet by a stream with her elder sister when an image surfaced in her mind.

Mo Ke used the Forbidden Technique to investigate the visions of Master and her junior sisters, but she could not see through the mist surrounding him and discovered that their Fate Patterns were becoming entangled. As she worried that she and the other disciples might fall in love with Master, she spotted Ye Qinghong bathing in the lake too.

• Mo Ke saw a vision of Master and Fourth Junior Sister together, then used the Forbidden Technique to calm herself and calculate what had caused it.
• Mo Ke found that she could not see through the mist around Master and went to the lake to cool her flushed cheeks and settle her thoughts.
• A vision showed Mo Ke and Eldest Senior Sister kneeling before Master with Red Threads connecting their Fate Patterns, and Mo Ke's attempt to calculate the change nearly overwhelmed her.
• Mo Ke realized the connections might draw all five disciples toward Master and feared they would become his rebellious disciples.
• Mo Ke heard someone bathing nearby and saw Ye Qinghong enter the misty lake.