Chapter Summaries

Mo Ke explained to Ye Qinghong how Fourth Junior Sister had been gravely injured while helping their master, and that their master's complete cultivation technique could restore her and strengthen them both. Convinced that helping their master prepare for the coming calamity was his duty, Ye Qinghong left the pool and headed for the Female Emperor's bedchamber.

• Mo Ke found Ye Qinghong at the cold pool, and Ye Qinghong warned her not to become romantically attached to their master.
• Mo Ke told Ye Qinghong that their five cultivation techniques came from one ancient divine skill connected to the Hehuan Sect.
• Mo Ke explained that Fourth Junior Sister had offered her cultivation technique to help their master, but their master had absorbed her red dust aura and gravely injured her.
• Mo Ke said their master's complete technique could heal Fourth Junior Sister and improve both their cultivation techniques without sacrificing their foundations.
• Ye Qinghong decided to help their master face the coming calamity and flew toward the Female Emperor's bedchamber.

Fang Yang’s treatment strengthened both him and Lian Yue, and he decided to continue healing her alongside the Female Emperor. Ye Qinghong entered the bedchamber and accepted Lian Yue’s choice for now, but vowed they would compete fairly for Fang Yang next time.

• Fang Yang sensed that his cultivation had improved and a shattered five-colored lotus platform in his dantian had begun to repair itself.
• Fang Yang told Lian Yue that she would need three or four more treatments to recover fully, and she reluctantly agreed.
• Fang Yang proposed taking Lian Yue to the Imperial Palace to cultivate and introducing her to the Female Emperor.
• Fang Yang called Ye Qinghong into the bedchamber, where she found Lian Yue beside the disheveled bed.
• Ye Qinghong comforted Lian Yue but said she would compete fairly with her for Fang Yang next time, and Lian Yue vowed not to yield.

Fang Yang persuaded Ye Qinghong and Lian Yue to cultivate with him together, claiming their combined efforts would strengthen them and help Lian Yue recover. The two disciples agreed and began studying his illustrated manual, though they were embarrassed by its increasingly bold techniques.

• Ye Qinghong offered to help Fang Yang cultivate, and Fang Yang drew him into his arms while promising to make him his after avenging the past.
• Lian Yue tried to leave, but Fang Yang stopped her and proposed that all three cultivate together.
• Ye Qinghong agreed to the arrangement, and Lian Yue eventually agreed as well.
• Fang Yang brought both disciples to the bed, removed their outer clothes with astral wind, and told them to study his illustrated manual.
• Ye Qinghong and Lian Yue saw that the manual depicted intricate, bolder movements that required them to coordinate closely.

Mo Ke glimpsed her master cultivating with Lian Yue and Ye Qinghong together, leaving her shocked by his influence over his disciples. In Kyoto, a mysterious man consumed a Blood Pearl made from the Minister of Rites' victims, regained his youth, and looked toward Star-Seizing Temple.

• Mo Ke saw images of her master, Lian Yue, and Ye Qinghong cultivating together on the Cold Jade Bed, and she retreated into the lake to regain her composure.
• Mo Ke reconsidered her fear that the disciples would become rivals, realizing her master had persuaded the proud Lian Yue and Ye Qinghong to act together.
• Black-robed men revived the drained corpses in the Minister of Rites' residence and reported to a white-robed man that the slaughter and cleanup were complete.
• The white-robed man condensed the victims' blood essence into a Blood Pearl and swallowed it, restoring his youth and vitality.
• The rejuvenated man smiled and looked toward Star-Seizing Temple.

A white-robed man planned to exploit Kyoto’s coming cultivation assembly and dismissed Blood Rain Demon Venerable as insignificant. On Jade Lake, the Underworld River challenged Kyoto’s ancient will, and a powerful Five-Leaf Dharma Body emerged to break its suppression before the city’s will receded.

• A white-robed man said the calamity would descend in half a month, when Kyoto’s cultivation assembly began, and vanished into blood mist with the black-robed men.
• At Jade Lake, a ghost woman in an opera costume watched the Underworld River appear and draw the attention of Kyoto’s ancient will.
• Kyoto’s oppressive aura destroyed the lantern-bearing female ghosts and shattered the opera-costumed ghost’s Soul Lamp, leaving her near collapse.
• A Five-Leaf Dharma Body rose from the Underworld River and punched back against Kyoto’s descending power, breaking its mountainlike aura.
• The Underworld River spread across Jade Lake as enormous corpse-like shadows stirred beneath it, while Kyoto’s ancient will receded and the Dharma Body restrained itself from attacking the city wall.

Wen Chanyi awakened aboard the painted boat and accidentally called out for the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, provoking the Shanhai Devil Master’s suspicion. She placated him with an explanation and feigned injury, then heard his plans to seize Kyoto as the Underworld River surged toward the city.

• Wen Chanyi awakened as the Shanhai Devil Master watched over her, but murmured, “Demon Venerable, please be gentle,” leaving him stunned.
• Wen Chanyi knelt before the Shanhai Devil Master, who demanded to know why she had mentioned the Blood Rain Demon Venerable.
• Wen Chanyi claimed she had dreamed of a captured double in the mountain village and had feigned compliance to deceive and injure the Demon Venerable.
• Wen Chanyi dodged the Shanhai Devil Master's embrace and pretended that the will in Kyoto had left her badly injured, easing his suspicions.
• The Shanhai Devil Master ordered Wen Chanyi to take control of Kyoto and said he would emerge from the Shanhai Forbidden Land once the Underworld River fully descended.
• Wen Chanyi reported that the Iron-Blooded Chancellor was uncooperative, and the Underworld River began flowing backward toward Jade Lake.

The Shanhai Devil Master strengthened Wen Chanyi and predicted the Great Calamity would begin in half a month, while she secretly longed for the Blood Rain Demon Venerable and set out to find him. At White Jade Tower, Zheng Heng watched Young Master Zhao and other nobles boast as the women of the establishment arrived.

• The Shanhai Devil Master told Wen Chanyi to gather killing intent before the Great Calamity and gave her power to reach the five-leaf realm.
• After the Devil Master departed, Wen Chanyi awakened corpses in Jade Lake with her lantern and reflected on the approaching calamity.
• Wen Chanyi resolved to subdue the Blood Rain Demon Venerable and flew away from Jade Lake to seek him.
• At White Jade Tower, Young Master Zhao demanded the beauties attend him while his companions praised his status, and Zheng Heng privately scorned them.
• The White Jade Tower madam brought in a group of beautiful women, and the nobles continued flattering Zhao Cheng.

At White Jade Tower, Zhao Cheng grew furious after learning that the courtesan he sought had fallen ill from obsessing over the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, and he vowed to destroy the Demon Cult. Guan Qinghan arrived, defended the Demon Venerable’s strength, then admitted she admired him and wondered whether to approach him again to conceive a child.

• Zhao Cheng learned that White Jade Tower’s leading courtesan had become ill after obsessing over portraits of the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, and his companions urged him to attack the fiend.
• Zheng Heng stayed silent as Zhao Cheng disparaged the Demon Venerable, hoping their rivalry would lead Zhao Cheng to his ruin.
• Guan Qinghan entered White Jade Tower and rejected Zhao Cheng’s offer to join forces, declaring that he and the Heavenly Sword Sect were unworthy of working with her.
• When Zhao Cheng questioned her Dao Heart, Guan Qinghan said she admired the Demon Venerable but still intended to kill him herself.
• As Guan Qinghan left, she wondered whether to visit the Demon Venerable again to borrow his seed so she could bear a child and take control of the Yanqi Sect.

Zhao Cheng resolved to kill the Blood Rain Demon Venerable at the Kyoto cultivators' assembly in half a month, while Guan Qinghan met her father, Guan Yuanshan, and tried to hide the marks the Demon Venerable had left on her. Guan Yuanshan appeared to notice her neck despite her efforts to conceal it.

• Zhao Cheng grew furious after Guan Qinghan rebuffed him and vowed to kill the fiend at the upcoming cultivators' assembly.
• Guan Qinghan arrived at a pavilion outside Kyoto, where her father, Guan Yuanshan, was waiting for her.
• Guan Yuanshan reflected on Guan Qinghan's cold disposition and his hope that marrying her to the fiend might bring her warmth.
• Guan Qinghan used a moonlight mirror to inspect herself and discovered bite marks on her earlobes and neck.
• Guan Qinghan concealed and erased the marks before her father could see them, but Guan Yuanshan glanced at her neck with a knowing half-smile.

Guan Yuanshan confronted Guan Qinghan about her feelings for the Blood Rain Demon Venerable and revealed that the marks on her body had appeared in her Heart-Questioning Mirror. He resolved to help her acknowledge how her feelings had changed, while Qinghan remained unable to admit them.

• Guan Yuanshan teased Guan Qinghan about the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, and she insisted that she hated him despite her embarrassment and guilt.
• Guan Yuanshan announced that he would use the Yanqi Sect's Forbidden Object and ally with Righteous Path sects to kill the demon, prompting Qinghan to panic and warn him against it.
• Qinghan claimed she would destroy the Demonic Path herself to sever her growing demonic thoughts, while Guan Yuanshan recognized her fear for the Blood Rain Demon Venerable.
• Guan Yuanshan created a mirror showing Qinghan's flushed face and kiss marks, then explained that he had seen through her Heart-Questioning Realm.
• Qinghan stayed silent when Guan Yuanshan guessed that the Blood Rain Demon Venerable had left the marks, and he pointed out that her personality had changed since meeting the demon.

Guan Qinghan asked Guan Yuanshan whether she could still become Yanqi Sect master after losing her virginity, then insisted she would have the Blood Rain Demon Venerable’s child and destroy the Demonic Path. Unable to sever her growing longing for the demon, she went to the Female Emperor’s Bedchamber, where Ye Qinghong left after cultivating with his master.

• Guan Yuanshan confronted Guan Qinghan about her feelings for the Blood Rain Demon Venerable, and she insisted that she had conquered him rather than surrendered to him.
• Guan Qinghan asked whether she could still succeed as Yanqi Sect master without completing the Yanqi Sect’s Forbidden Cultivation Technique, and Guan Yuanshan refused to change the rule.
• Guan Qinghan declared that she would bear the demon’s son, then destroy the Demonic Path and the demon, and rejected her father’s offer to arrange a marriage.
• Guan Qinghan admitted to herself that her longing for the demon kept growing as she stood outside the Female Emperor’s Bedchamber, uncertain whether he would recognize her true appearance.
• Lian Yue fled the courtyard after cultivating with Ye Qinghong and her master, while Ye Qinghong claimed he would do better next time and left for a mountain lake.

As strange deaths and supernatural disturbances spread through Kyoto, the Female Emperor worried that the approaching calamity would overwhelm the Tang Kingdom. Struggling with the dragon qi’s pull toward Fang Yang, she stood on Ganlu Hall’s roof until a mysterious figure appeared beside her.

• Fang Yang felt his strength increase after cultivating with both disciples and expected to soon reach the four-leaf peak.
• Supernatural beings and violent incidents became increasingly common in Kyoto as rumors spread about the approaching great calamity and the Cultivators' Conference.
• The Female Emperor reviewed reports of massacres and recalled the devastation of the previous calamity, fearing she might not be able to protect the Tang Kingdom.
• On Ganlu Hall’s roof, the Female Emperor resisted her growing desire to merge dragon qi with the demon who had treated her.
• A black-robed figure suddenly appeared beside the Female Emperor, prompting her to summon the Imperial Palace’s dragon qi and prepare for a threat.

Fang Yang reunited with the Female Emperor and mingled their Dragon Qi to heal her and advance her cultivation. When morning court threatened to interrupt them, she ordered the officials to wait outside, but still faced the challenge of continuing their cultivation without being discovered.

• The Female Emperor attacked Fang Yang, but her Dragon Qi reacted to his presence and she recognized him as the Blood Rain Demon Venerable.
• Fang Yang offered to heal her and help her break through, and the Female Emperor pulled him into Ganlu Hall to cultivate together.
• Their Dragon Qi mingled as the Female Emperor performed the cultivation movements, and her strength began approaching a breakthrough.
• The commander-in-chief announced that morning court was about to begin, forcing the Female Emperor to suppress her reactions and respond from inside the hall.
• The Female Emperor told the commander-in-chief that she was unwell and ordered the officials to hold court outside while she continued cultivating with Fang Yang.
• After the commander-in-chief left, the Female Emperor worried about how to keep cultivating with Fang Yang during morning court without the officials discovering them.

Fang Yang persuaded the Female Emperor to beg him to accompany her to Daming Palace so they could cultivate and heal, then carried her there unseen by the officials. He brought her to the Dragon Throne as her dragon qi surged again, intending to continue cultivating with her there.

• The Female Emperor asked Fang Yang to take her to Daming Palace because her dragon qi required their intimate cultivation to heal.
• Fang Yang made the Female Emperor beg him to accompany her, then carried her through the palace with his movement technique.
• Fang Yang and the Female Emperor entered Daming Palace unseen, while the officials waited outside after its doors closed.
• The Female Emperor's dragon qi surged, and she clung to Fang Yang as they entered the palace.
• Fang Yang carried the Female Emperor up to the Dragon Throne and planned to have her kneel before him while they cultivated.

Fang Yang and the Female Emperor cultivated on the dragon throne, where the dense dragon qi intensified their progress and stirred their desires. As officials grew alarmed by her absence, the Female Emperor ordered them to hold court outside Daming Palace, leaving them suspicious and fearful of what was happening inside.

• A golden dragon burst from the throne and merged into Fang Yang and the Female Emperor, greatly increasing their dragon qi and stirring desire.
• The Female Emperor threw herself into Fang Yang's arms, and they cultivated together on the throne as her cultivation rapidly advanced.
• Zhang Jushan questioned the Guard Commander about the Female Emperor's whereabouts and demanded to know what had happened and where to find her.
• The Female Emperor told the officials she was unwell and ordered them to hold morning court outside Daming Palace.
• As Fang Yang continued their cultivation, the Female Emperor sharply warned the officials not to question her authority, and her killing intent frightened them.

The Female Emperor indulged in intimate cultivation with Fang Yang while the court mistook her strained voice for evidence of serious injury and praised her devotion to the Tang Kingdom. In Xingqing Palace, the Empress Dowager recalled how Fang Yang had overcome her seduction attempt, then studied his portrait as her desire for him resurfaced.

• The ministers reported powerful wandering souls in Kyoto and warned that they could signal the arrival of a forbidden land.
• The Female Emperor continued changing cultivation postures at Fang Yang’s direction, growing ashamed as she struggled to justify her actions as a sacrifice for her people.
• The Empress Dowager recalled that the Heavenly Fox Clan had ordered her to seduce Fang Yang, but he had conquered her instead.
• After five days of restless longing, the Empress Dowager summoned a painting of Fang Yang and gazed at it.

The Empress Dowager concluded that the Female Emperor was secretly meeting Blood Rain Demon Venerable and flew toward Daming Palace to catch them. Meanwhile, Xiao Yingxue continued plotting to kill Fang Yang and sensed that Red Fish had left the palace, prompting her to prepare a tracking restriction.

• The Empress Dowager heard that the Female Emperor was holding court behind closed doors with a hoarse, trembling voice and inferred that Blood Rain Demon Venerable was with her.
• The Empress Dowager decided the Demon Venerable threatened the Heavenly Fox Clan’s plans and headed to Daming Palace with a Recording Stone to expose the pair.
• Xiao Yingxue reflected on her previous setback against the Formless Demon Body and considered seducing Fang Yang with her younger sister as a way to lower his guard.
• Xiao Yingxue sensed that Red Fish had left Xingqing Palace and suspected she was going to meet the Demon Venerable.
• Xiao Yingxue formed a complex restriction to monitor Red Fish’s movements and emotions.

The Empress Dowager arrived at Daming Palace, suspecting the Female Emperor was involved with Fang Yang and intending to catch them together. Inside, the Female Emperor continued cultivating with Fang Yang and realized the Empress Dowager had likely come to investigate her unusual behavior, while the officials waited to see what would happen.

• The Empress Dowager reinforced a restriction and a wisp of Divine Soul in her younger sister so she could observe her emotions and investigate the demon’s weaknesses.
• As Kyoto emerged into a brief dawn before the Great Calamity, officials gathered outside Daming Palace and worried over the Female Emperor’s muffled moans.
• The Empress Dowager arrived at Daming Palace, declaring she had come to visit the unwell Female Emperor, and Chancellor Zhang Jushan questioned her purpose.
• The Female Emperor heard the officials greet the Empress Dowager and suspected she had come to expose her cultivation with Fang Yang, but Fang Yang reminded her that the Empress Dowager had likely noticed her unusual condition.
• The officials hesitated as the Empress Dowager ordered them to clear her way into Daming Palace.

The Female Emperor continued healing with Fang Yang on the Dragon Throne as the Empress Dowager entered Daming Palace and recorded the scene, intending to expose her. The Female Emperor denied having improper relations with the demon, but the recording threatened to reveal what had happened.

• The Empress Dowager arrived at Daming Palace while the Female Emperor worried that she would see her cultivating with Fang Yang.
• Fang Yang suggested that the Empress Dowager join their cultivation, and the Female Emperor angrily refused.
• The Empress Dowager entered the hall, saw Fang Yang and the Female Emperor still cultivating on the Dragon Throne, and used a recording bead to capture them.
• The Female Emperor recognized the recording bead and tried to attack the Empress Dowager, but her cultivation with Fang Yang made her recoil in pain.
• The Empress Dowager accused the Female Emperor of carrying on with a demon during morning court, and the Female Emperor insisted they had only been healing her injuries.

The Female Emperor and Empress Dowager were drawn into Fang Yang’s cultivation scheme, while Xiao Rongxue’s soul link made her share the temptation affecting her sister. As the Chancellor waited outside Daming Palace for news of the Female Emperor’s injuries, the Empress Dowager remained in Fang Yang’s arms, sliding toward surrender.

• The Female Emperor realized the Empress Dowager would not keep silent and considered recording their cultivation together to prevent her from exposing them.
• Fang Yang invited the Empress Dowager to join him and the Female Emperor, and she began to give in to his advances.
• Xiao Rongxue felt her sister’s desire through their soul link and tried to weaken the restriction, but it intensified and trapped her in the same sensations.
• The Chancellor called from outside Daming Palace to ask how the Female Emperor’s injuries were, while the Empress Dowager trembled in Fang Yang’s arms.