Chapter Summaries

Kim Jeong-tae pretended to be ruined by Master Xiao to win sympathy and sell counterfeit Azur Lane Mystery cosmetics to his remaining fans. After his girlfriend warned him that someone had threatened legal action unless he recalled the products, he blamed Master Xiao and continued selling.

• Kim Jeong-tae falsely claimed that Master Xiao and the Company had ruined his life, though he still lived in a villa with his girlfriend and drove a luxury car.
• Kim Jeong-tae used his sob story to persuade his remaining fans to buy expensive Azur Lane Mystery cosmetics, which he knew were counterfeit.
• Kim Jeong-tae celebrated as hundreds of sets sold, then planned to build a single-father persona to keep profiting from sympathy.
• Kim Jeong-tae's girlfriend returned from a phone call and warned him to recall the cosmetics and stop selling or face a lawsuit.
• Kim Jeong-tae dismissed the warning, blamed Master Xiao, and continued his livestream sales.

Kim Jeong-tae profited from selling counterfeit goods on livestream, but Song Qingrong sued him in South Korea after documenting the fraud. Convinced he could win with a top lawyer, Kim Jeong-tae went with Choi Su-jin to meet one she found online.

• Kim Jeong-tae made a large profit selling counterfeit goods during his livestream.
• Song Qingrong bought counterfeit goods, obtained a professional appraisal, and sued Kim Jeong-tae in a South Korean court.
• Kim Jeong-tae received the court summons and blamed Xiao, while Choi Su-jin urged him to find a lawyer.
• Choi Su-jin found an online legal team claiming to have a leader's personal lawyer and a perfect win rate, and arranged a consultation.
• Kim Jeong-tae praised Choi Su-jin and went with her to meet the supposed lawyer.

Kim Jeong-tae and Choi Su-jin visited Jiang Yulin, a lawyer who used flashy advertising and a fabricated hundred percent win rate to scam clients. After Kim described his case one-sidedly, Jiang called out his evasions and made him promise to tell the full story.

• Kim Jeong-tae and Choi Su-jin arrived at Jiang Yulin's lavishly furnished rented storefront, believing her online claims of a hundred percent win rate.
• Jiang charged ten million per hour for consultations and explained that she excluded unwinnable cases from her claimed record.
• Kim accepted Jiang's explanation, then described his online harassment, product livestreaming, malicious reports, and court summons as though everyone else had wronged him.
• Jiang challenged Kim's account, pointed out that a summons implied evidence, and told him to stop hiding facts if he wanted to win.
• Choi Su-jin tugged Kim's sleeve, and Kim admitted he had made himself look better before agreeing to start over and tell the story accurately.

Kim Jeong-tae misled Jiang Yulin about his counterfeit sales and hired her to pursue a publicity-seeking case against Xiao Yu, while his own civil trial over the counterfeit goods began. The judge grew impatient with Kim’s unsupported attacks on Xiao Yu and leaned toward Song Qingrong.

• Kim Jeong-tae gave Jiang Yulin a distorted account that blamed Xiao Yu and the platform for his situation, leading her to devise a misguided legal strategy.
• Jiang Yulin advised Kim that he could drag out compensation payments and suggested suing Xiao Yu for defamation or promoting superstition.
• Kim agreed to pay Jiang five hundred million for two cases, hoping a lawsuit against Xiao Yu would restore his reputation and bring him traffic.
• At the hearing, Song Qingrong and her lawyer presented evidence about Kim’s counterfeit goods while Kim disparaged Xiao Yu without evidence.
• The judge became fed up with Kim’s irrelevant accusations and began leaning toward Song Qingrong.

Kim Jeong-tae lost his counterfeit-goods lawsuit and then won a separate case against Xiao Yu for promoting superstition, using the verdict to revive his career and slander Xiao Yu. When Xiao Yu learned that Song Qingrong had gone to South Korea to sue Kim Jeong-tae for defamation, he discovered she was likely to lose because the judge had been bribed and decided to go support her.

• Kim Jeong-tae lost Song Qingrong’s lawsuit, receiving an order to refund the money and pay compensation and a fine that ruined his prospects as a streamer.
• Jiang Yulin falsely claimed her court strategy had saved Kim Jeong-tae from a fraud conviction, and Kim Jeong-tae and Choi Su-jin thanked her with a cash gift.
• Kim Jeong-tae and Choi Su-jin sued Xiao Yu for promoting superstition, won without Xiao Yu ever receiving a summons, and used the verdict to attack his reputation in South Korea.
• Liu Shan told Xiao Yu that Song Qingrong had returned to South Korea to sue Kim Jeong-tae for defamation after his paid trolls targeted her online.
• Xiao Yu calculated that Song Qingrong would lose because the South Korean judge had been bribed, then decided to travel to South Korea with Liu Shan to support her.

Xiao Yu and Liu Shan met Song Qingrong and Li Ruzhi, who planned to expose Kim Jeong-tae’s lawyer and her associates, but Xiao Yu warned that the case looked unfavorable. At the hotel, Xiao Yu watched Kim Jeong-tae’s viral video portraying himself as a victim, and Song Qingrong vowed to destroy his reputation in court.

• Song Qingrong introduced Li Ruzhi, known as Li Si, who said he intended to win the case and expose lawyer Jiang Yulin as a fraud.
• Xiao Yu warned Li Ruzhi that the lawsuit’s outlook might be poor, leading Li to suspect the judge had fixed the outcome and rush off to find evidence.
• Liu Shan reasoned that Xiao Yu’s warning could only mean the judge had taken bribes.
• Xiao Yu followed Song Qingrong to a hotel, where she showed him Kim Jeong-tae’s video accusing him of cyberbullying and driving Kim toward suicide.
• Song Qingrong said Li Ruzhi was investigating Kim’s claims and the girl in the video, and she vowed to ruin Kim’s reputation in court.

After Kim Jeong-tae’s video sparked a wave of abuse against Xiao Yu, Xiao Yu decided to retaliate by helping lawyer Li Ruzhi prepare for the trial. As Kim Jeong-tae livestreamed ahead of the hearing, police arrived at his villa to investigate allegations against him.

• Xiao Yu watched Kim Jeong-tae’s video and, angered by the online abuse, decided to stop holding back and destroy him.
• Xiao Yu gave Li Ruzhi an address connected to the little girl and promised to provide evidence of the judge taking bribes before the trial.
• Xiao Yu warned Li Ruzhi that someone would attack him after the trial and urged him to prepare a surprise for the attacker.
• Xiao Yu told Li Ruzhi several damaging stories about Kim Jeong-tae, and Li Ruzhi vowed to win the case or quit law.
• Kim Jeong-tae livestreamed from his villa with his daughter as he continued playing the victim ahead of the trial.
• Police entered Kim Jeong-tae’s villa and said they were investigating reports that he had pressured female fans to drink with him and used bedroom photos to threaten them.

Police arrested Kim Jeong-tae during his livestream over allegations that he had coerced female fans, and they took away the little girl he had presented as his daughter. As Choi Su-jin ended the stream, viewers exposed his fabricated sob story and his public image collapsed.

• Police officers confronted Kim Jeong-tae with allegations that he had forced female fans to entertain people and used intimate photos to threaten them.
• Choi Su-jin challenged the officers, but they warned Kim Jeong-tae against resisting and took him into custody.
• The officers took the little girl from Kim Jeong-tae, saying they would return her to her real parents and question her parents about using her as a swindler.
• Kim Jeong-tae told Choi Su-jin to end the livestream and reassure viewers before he followed the officers, leaving him unable to attend the next day's court hearing.
• Viewers connected the arrest to the girl's false identity, Kim Jeong-tae's villa, and his history of exploiting women, and his public persona collapsed.

Kim Jeong-tae’s livestream account was permanently banned, and Song Qingrong mocked South Korean internet users online over his arrest. As Xiao Yu’s group gathered for the defamation hearing, Li Ruzhi revealed evidence linking the presiding judge to a bribe, while Jiang Yulin arrived confident that the case was already decided.

• The platform permanently banned Kim Jeong-tae’s account and channel after the livestream exposed his fraud and crimes.
• Song Qingrong celebrated Kim Jeong-tae’s downfall, then posted a provocative video mocking South Korean internet users and challenging them to await the court’s decision.
• At the courthouse, Xiao Yu gave Li Ruzhi a judge’s phone containing chat records and payment receipts, and Li Ruzhi explained how the evidence could expose the judge without appearing to have been planted.
• Choi Su-jin and Jiang Yulin arrived for the defendant’s side; Choi Su-jin avoided the others’ eyes, while Jiang Yulin confidently expected to win the hearing.

At pretrial mediation, Jiang Yulin rejected a settlement on behalf of Kim Jeong-tae, persuading Choi Su-jin that fighting the case would save her money. The sides proceeded to a formal trial, where the judge opened court.

• The mediator urged Song Qingrong to settle, while Choi Su-jin considered accepting mediation to avoid further trouble for Kim Jeong-tae.
• Jiang Yulin rejected mediation and accused Song Qingrong of defaming Kim Jeong-tae and trying to profit from his traffic.
• Song Qingrong persuaded Choi Su-jin that a trial could be a guaranteed win and save her legal fees, and Choi Su-jin agreed to proceed.
• Li Ruzhi welcomed the refusal to mediate, and the mediator announced that the case would go to trial.
• The parties took their places in the courtroom, and the judge opened the session.

Song Qingrong and Li Ruzhi presented evidence in their defamation case against Kim Jeong-tae, but the judge rejected their arguments and openly sided with the defendants. Li Ruzhi realized the case could not be won fairly, while Master Xiao’s presence offered a way to overcome the opposing side’s advantages.

• Song Qingrong and Li Ruzhi submitted videos, screenshots, and a medical report alleging that Kim Jeong-tae had incited online abuse and caused Song Qingrong and Xiao Yu severe depression.
• The judge rejected the evidence, disputing the medical report’s validity and saying Li Ruzhi had not proved that Kim Jeong-tae caused or directed the cyberbullying.
• Li Ruzhi recognized that the judge was taking sides and using word games to undermine the case.
• Li Ruzhi understood why Master Xiao had predicted they could not win, but recalled that Master Xiao could use his cultivation to destroy the opposition’s advantages.

Li Ruzhi set aside Kim Jeong-tae’s case and accused Jiang Yulin and her law firm of organized fraud, then presented evidence that implicated the judge in bribery. The judge and Jiang Yulin were left facing police investigation as the hearing spiraled into a series of accusations.

• Li Ruzhi asked the judge to set aside Kim Jeong-tae’s case and submitted evidence accusing Jiang Yulin and six other law firm members of organized fraud.
• The judge reviewed the evidence, discovered Jiang Yulin’s phone matched the contact information, and ordered police to take her for questioning.
• After bailiffs took Jiang Yulin away, Li Ruzhi submitted a phone and accused the judge of accepting bribes.
• Li Ruzhi challenged the judge to summon the bailiffs or let him call the police, and the judge realized he was in serious trouble.

Li Ruzhi won the overseas defamation case, leading to the arrest of Kim Jeong-tae’s lawyer and the judge, while Choi Su-jin also faced a bribery charge. After police foiled Kim Jeong-tae’s planned attack on Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong, Xiao Yu and the others returned to Huaxia, where Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong thanked him.

• Li Ruzhi exposed bribery in court, and the judge and Kim Jeong-tae’s lawyer were taken into custody.
• Li Ruzhi warned Choi Su-jin that she would face charges over the bribery and declared victory in the case.
• Song Qingrong reported the outcome to Huaxia, where online fans celebrated Li Ruzhi’s win and Kim Jeong-tae’s downfall.
• Police arrested the thugs Kim Jeong-tae had hired to attack Song Qingrong and Li Ruzhi, adding assault charges to his case.
• Xiao Yu and the others returned to Huaxia, and Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong thanked Xiao Yu for helping protect them and win the case.

After the court case, Xiao Yu invited Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong to his shop for readings. He asked Li Ruzhi to choose between revenge and finding love, then began telling him about Lan Yuqing’s future to explain the choice.

• Song Qingrong and Li Ruzhi thanked Xiao Yu, and he invited them to his shop for fortune-telling.
• At the shop, Xiao Yu read Li Ruzhi’s past and learned that his pursuit of law had been driven by a desire to avenge his mother against his father and the mistress who broke up his family.
• Xiao Yu asked Li Ruzhi to choose between punishing the woman and finding perfect love, warning that choosing one would cost him the other.
• Li Ruzhi said he would rather find love but asked Xiao Yu to explain why the two choices were connected before he decided.
• Xiao Yu began recounting the future story of Lan Yuqing, a twenty-five-year-old doctoral student whose turning point would come four years later.

The chapter described a future in which Lan Yuqing persuaded her secretary Feng Jing to sleep with a lawyer for help with her stepmother’s lawsuit, but opposing lawyer Li Si exposed them and got them all convicted. It left Lan Yuqing consumed by anger and hatred toward the person who had caused this future.

• Feng Jing feared her volatile boss, Lan Yuqing, who asked her to meet someone after work and explained that her stepmother faced a lawsuit threatening the family company.
• Lan Yuqing offered Feng Jing increasing sums of money to sleep with the family’s hired lawyer, and Feng Jing eventually agreed.
• Feng Jing slept with the lawyer, received promotions and pay raises, and later accompanied Lan Yuqing to court as her chief secretary general.
• Li Si represented the opposing side, overwhelmed the Demon Lawyer, and sued Lan Yuqing, Feng Jing, their lawyer, and the company during the trial.
• The court convicted Feng Jing of prostitution, Lan Yuqing of inciting and forcing prostitution, the Demon Lawyer of multiple crimes, and Lan Yuqing’s mother lost her case; they were all detained.
• Feng Jing blamed Lan Yuqing for ruining her life, and the two cried together as Lan Yuqing silently grew furious and resolved to hate the person responsible for this future.

Xiao Yu explained how Lan Yuqing’s future depended on Li Ruzhi’s choices, then resolved to stop agonizing over always being a good person. Song Qingrong suggested a way for Li Ruzhi to pursue Lan Yuqing while seeking another form of revenge, but Xiao Yu set the matter aside to tell Song’s fortune.

• Li Ruzhi balked at pursuing Lan Yuqing after hearing about her future as a scheming mistress, but Xiao Yu told him an alternate version in which she became a devoted and loving wife.
• Xiao Yu explained why he would not forcibly use karma to imprison Lan Yuqing’s stepmother for her past behavior, and decided he would act more freely from then on.
• Song Qingrong proposed that Li Ruzhi date Lan Yuqing and later involve her in deciding what to do about her stepmother.
• Li Ruzhi considered persuading the stepmother or his future father-in-law to change the situation, and Song suggested investigating and exposing the stepmother.
• Li Ruzhi named the woman Lu Qiumeng, and Xiao Yu put the discussion aside to tell Song Qingrong’s fortune.

Song Qingrong and Li Ruzhi confronted Lu Qiumeng in a Yanjing cosmetics store, publicly revealing her past to Lan Yuqing. The crowd joined in shaming Lu Qiumeng, while the scandal spread around them.

• Song Qingrong learned Lu Qiumeng was taking Lan Yuqing to Yanjing and planned to help Li Ruzhi expose her.
• Li Ruzhi met Lan Yuqing at a cosmetics store but hesitated to approach her until Song Qingrong pretended to be his girlfriend and greeted Lu Qiumeng as his mother.
• Li Ruzhi called Lu Qiumeng his mother and accused her of driving his birth mother to her death before marrying his father, Li Kai.
• Lan Yuqing demanded that Lu Qiumeng explain her past, including how she obtained her three-million-yuan dowry.
• Shop assistants and passersby gathered, insulted Lu Qiumeng, and encouraged one another to photograph and publicize the scandal.

Lu Qiumeng defended herself against Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong’s accusations, persuading Lan Yuqing to doubt them with a carefully rehearsed explanation. Li Ruzhi nearly lost control when Lu Qiumeng taunted him, but he demanded that her marital history be checked, leaving the decision to Lan Yuqing.

• Lu Qiumeng denied knowing the people who called her “Mom” and claimed they had been paid to frame her and ruin her relationship with Lan Yuqing’s father.
• Lu Qiumeng cited her dowry and savings as proof that she sincerely loved Lan Yuqing’s father, and Lan Yuqing began to believe her.
• Lan Yuqing accused Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong of taking money to slander Lu Qiumeng.
• Li Ruzhi nearly lost control after seeing Lu Qiumeng’s smug expression, but Song Qingrong pulled him back to his senses.
• Li Ruzhi said Lu Qiumeng’s marital history would expose the truth, and Lu Qiumeng agreed to a check if Lan Yuqing or her father asked her to go.

Li Ruzhi learned that Lu Qiumeng had never married his father and that the three million she brought into the Lan Family had been a gift, not an inheritance. He enlisted Song Qingrong to help expose Lu Qiumeng, while Lu Qiumeng and Lan Yuqing headed home with their relationship seemingly improved.

• Lu Qiumeng refused to prove herself to Li Ruzhi and Song Qingrong in public, claimed they were hired troublemakers, and promised to prove her innocence after returning home.
• Li Ruzhi left with Song Qingrong, suspecting that Lu Qiumeng’s claim about the three million had revealed a damaging secret.
• Lu Qiumeng persuaded Lan Yuqing that the accusations were slander, and Lan Yuqing accepted her affectionate nickname and agreed to go home with her.
• Li Ruzhi called Master Xiao and confirmed that Lu Qiumeng had never married his father and had received the three million as a gift.
• Li Ruzhi asked Song Qingrong to help him expose Lu Qiumeng, and she agreed to make a video.

Li Ruzhi’s video about Lu Qiumeng went viral as clickbait accounts and online commenters distorted its claims, damaging her reputation and the Lan Group. When Lu Qiumeng returned home, Lan Yang confronted and struck her, then demanded an explanation after showing her the video.

• Li Ruzhi’s video spread rapidly online, and clickbait accounts turned allegations about Lu Qiumeng into increasingly false claims.
• Song Qingrong realized that keyboard warriors and clickbait accounts had become an unexpected force supporting Li Ruzhi’s aims.
• The scandal reached the Lan Family and Lan Yang while Lu Qiumeng and Lan Yuqing were returning from Yanjing.
• Lu Qiumeng came home and noticed the household staff whispering about her, then went to bathe while Lan Yuqing went to speak with her father.
• Lan Yang burst into Lu Qiumeng’s room, slapped her, and showed her the viral video, demanding an explanation for the damage to his reputation and the Lan Group.