Recaps

After Pei Ye witnessed the power of True Heaven in the Heart of the Western Court, Yingzhao explained that he needed the Authority of the Chui Star to become Shi Shen and wield it. Pei Ye encountered Yong Ji at a neighboring Temple, then spent the night speaking with Yingzhao about authority and the mysterious People in the Dream.

• Pei Ye left Shenxing Hall after seeing True Heaven, and Yingzhao told him he needed the Authority of the Chui Star to become Shi Shen and command its power.
• Pei Ye found Yong Ji at a neighboring Temple, traded threats and insults with him, and failed to stop him from disappearing into starlight.
• Yingzhao explained that Pei Ye's connection to the Heart of the Western Court let him enter it more easily than other people with stellar authority.
• Pei Ye sat beside Yingzhao as they waited for the starry vault to align, and Yingzhao advised him to remain kind and practice forbearance if he gained great authority.
• Pei Ye asked about the People in the Dream, and Yingzhao said they were also called Fate Hounds before Pei Ye asked whether the Immortal Platform investigated them.

Pei Ye learned more about the Fate Hounds and the Immortal Platform after meeting them in the Queen Mother of the West’s dream, then discussed hidden powers shaping the world with Black Cat. The chapter ended with Li Xianfang summoning him to meet Her Highness in the middle of the night.

• Yingzhao explained what he knew about the Fate Hounds’ identities and described Jiao, Shengyu, and Dali, while Pei Ye promised to keep the information secret.
• Pei Ye left the dream with Lu Wu and learned that the Immortal Platform had granted him lasting power as Shenxing and that [Star-Guard] would later give him the abilities of an Illuminator within Great Tang.
• Pei Ye woke in Vermilion Mirror Hall and told Black Cat about the dream, saying he hoped to join the Fate Hounds and learn what they knew about the forces behind the world.
• Pei Ye and Black Cat discussed how Yingzhao and Lu Wu’s mythological roles might reveal their status and personalities.
• Li Xianfang summoned Pei Ye to speak with Her Highness, and he followed her to the Bedchamber.

Pei Ye learned that Li Xizhou believed someone was watching and planning to kill her, and promised to protect her while she continued investigating the Goddess of the Luo River Palace. The chapter ended with Qi Mengchen and Nan Guannu explaining why the Shaolong group would compete in the Dragon Lake Sword Tournament, as Cui Zijie teased Su Xingke about an earlier defeat.

• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that entering the Goddess of the Luo River's Former Residence required her mother's permission, and admitted she was uncertain whether her mother had truly left that permission to her.
• Li Xizhou drew Pei Ye close and warned him that someone was watching her and seeking an opportunity to kill her, as they had killed Wei Qingju.
• Pei Ye promised to protect Li Xizhou, then sat outside her bedchamber and reflected on how He Wujian had entered Bright Moon Palace through the Mirage Realm.
• Li Xianfang mistakenly suspected Pei Ye had been thrown out of Li Xizhou's bed and offered him illustrated books, prompting Pei Ye to tell her to guard against lust.
• Qi Mengchen and Nan Guannu explained the Dragon Lake Sword Tournament to Su Xingke and the others, and Cui Zijie mocked Su Xingke for forgetting his recent defeat.

Nan Guannu and the Shaolong swordsmen attended the Lu Clan’s sword assembly in the Divine Capital, where they learned how the city’s young swordsmen were ranked and celebrated. Tinghua revealed that the famed Pei Ye was the same young man they knew, leaving them stunned as she invited them to join his fan club.

• Nan Guannu chose Cui Zijie and Zuo Sheng to represent their group in the sword bouts while the others watched.
• Tinghua introduced the Divine Capital’s prominent swordsmen, including Yang Zhenbing, and described the city’s leading academy talents.
• Tinghua said the common people placed Pei Ye alongside Yan Feiqing and Yang Zhenbing, then recounted his victory over Li Zhi with one strike.
• The Shaolong group recognized Tinghua’s description of Pei Ye as the young man they knew, including his black cat and age.
• Tinghua explained that she directed Pei Ye’s fan club and invited them to join, while Su Xingke reacted with an angry sneer.

At the sword gathering, Yong Ji arrived in disguise, spoke privately with Grandmaster Zhang about a planned assassination, and joked that the Sixth Princess was his wife. After the gathering, he met Li Youlong and Meng'er and discussed leaving the capital and arranging his wedding.

• Zuo Sheng defeated Wen Li, while Cui Zijie narrowly lost to Wang Shousi at the sword gathering.
• Yong Ji sat beneath a pavilion and discussed with Grandmaster Zhang the risks and urgency of an assassination tied to the King of Yan's Residence and Mirage City.
• Yong Ji told Lin Yuxian that the Sixth Princess was his wife, and the others took it as a joke.
• Yang Zhenbing won the sword gathering, and Jiang Yiner told him that their senior brother remained in the palace but was out of danger.
• At the north gate, Yong Ji joined Li Youlong and Meng'er in a carriage and said he would leave the Divine Capital before the Feather-Scale Trial, then return for a wedding in the third month.
• Yong Ji explained that Li Youlong would travel to the Northern Frontier after their wedding, and she called his name as the carriage moved on.

Li Xizhou relived a childhood memory of the gentle woman who had once kept her company, then woke in the Vermilion Mirror Hall with Pei Ye guarding her. She reflected on the memory and sought a way to suppress her qilin blood so she could enter the Goddess of the Luo River Palace.

• Yong Ji promised Li Youlong that Meng'er would never be hurt again, and Li Youlong agreed to stay with the Yong family.
• Pei Ye guarded Li Xizhou through the night as she took her pill and endured its ordeals.
• Li Xizhou dreamed of her childhood self spending a happy day with the woman who had once visited her, then watched the woman leave again.
• Li Xizhou woke near dawn and found Pei Ye sitting outside her bedchamber, keeping watch.
• Li Jian explained that Li Xizhou's awakened qilin blood had suppressed her ability to enter the Spirit Realm, and Li Xizhou asked for a pill to suppress it.

Pei Ye entered the Mirage Realm of Bright Moon Palace to witness Yue Muzhou guarding the Empress’s bedchamber and test whether He Wujian could have overcome him. After Yue Muzhou’s phantom nearly killed him, Pei Ye returned to the beginning and repeated his warning about the assassination.

• Pei Ye used Jiaozhu Powder to enter Bright Moon Palace’s Mirage Realm and met Yue Muzhou, who guarded the Empress’s bedchamber.
• Pei Ye told Yue Muzhou that He Wujian might attempt to assassinate the Empress and asked to enter the bedchamber.
• Pei Ye tried a surprise sword strike from close range, but Yue Muzhou reacted with such speed that Pei Ye felt his throat pierced before the Mirage Realm reset.
• Pei Ye concluded that Yue Muzhou had been an exceptionally formidable guard and reopened the palace doors to speak with him again.
• Pei Ye again warned Yue Muzhou that He Wujian planned to assassinate the Empress, and Yue Muzhou asked when and how he would strike.

Pei Ye warned Yue Muzhou that He Wujian could assassinate Wei Qingju by moving unseen through the Mirage Realm, and challenged Yue to test whether he could stop such an attack. Yue agreed to keep testing Pei Ye’s speed as they prepared for the assassin’s expected arrival.

• Pei Ye told Yue Muzhou that He Wujian might attack Wei Qingju that night and explained how the assassin could strike from beyond ordinary perception.
• Yue Muzhou insisted that no assassin could outrun his sword and refused to make any special preparations.
• Pei Ye offered to help stop He Wujian and proposed training with Yue to improve his speed.
• Pei Ye launched a mock assassination attempt, and Yue stopped him with his sword at his throat.
• Pei Ye tried again and moved one step farther before Yue intercepted him, then urged Yue to continue the tests.

Pei Ye reproduced Yue Muzhou’s [Unbound] after witnessing the legendary sword strike, prompting Yue Muzhou to explain its unique principles. Yue Muzhou left Pei Ye to study the technique on his own.

• Yue Muzhou demonstrated [Unbound] and told Pei Ye it was the fastest sword strike in the world.
• Pei Ye copied the strike and surprised Yue Muzhou by blocking his return attack.
• Pei Ye asked Yue Muzhou to take him as a disciple, but Yue Muzhou coldly denied knowing him and told him to do his assigned job.
• Yue Muzhou demonstrated [Unbound] again and praised Pei Ye’s unusual sword intuition.
• Yue Muzhou explained that [Unbound] was a direct strike shaped by thought and left Pei Ye to understand it for himself.

Pei Ye tried to understand Yue Muzhou’s Unbound sword and challenged him to consider whether his strike could stop He Wujian. Back at the palace, Li Xizhou discussed her blood, her mother’s research, and her decision to choose Pei Ye, then spoke with him about Yue Muzhou’s youth.

• Pei Ye realized that copying Unbound’s direct thrust was not mastery and discussed the sword’s nature with Yue Muzhou.
• Pei Ye insisted he needed to learn one strike of Unbound and suggested Yue Muzhou had not reached its true realm, asking whether he could stop He Wujian.
• Pei Ye returned to Vermilion Mirror Hall and found Li Xizhou waiting; she told him her elixir doses needed to be spaced three days apart.
• Li Xizhou explained that her mother had investigated the two kinds of blood in her body and may have left something at the Goddess of the Luo River Palace.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye she had been more resolute in choosing him than he had been in choosing her.
• Li Xizhou asked Pei Ye about Yue Muzhou’s appearance and listened as he compared Yue Muzhou with Yan Feiqing.

Li Xizhou told Pei Ye how Yue Muzhou and Wei Qingju’s friendship developed and ended, while they speculated about Yue Muzhou and Ying Suyu’s romance. After dinner, Pei Ye reflexively reacted when Li Xianfang reached for his sword, startling both of them.

• Li Xizhou recounted Yue Muzhou and Wei Qingju’s friendship, including his role in protecting her from three assassination attempts after the Qilin Blood affair came to light.
• Li Xizhou said Yue Muzhou left the capital after Wei Qingju died, and Pei Ye and Li Xizhou joked about how Yue Muzhou and Ying Suyu fell in love.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou waited for Li Xianfang to call them to dinner, then ate with Li Xianfang and Qu Xin.
• Pei Ye washed the dishes while Li Xianfang observed that he had recently been eating less.
• When Li Xianfang reached for Pei Ye’s sword, he slammed his hand down on it and startled her with his reflexive reaction.

Pei Ye entered the Mirage Realm again and prepared to bring out his own [Unbound] strike by summoning the killing intent he had felt before. He delivered a message to Yue Muzhou on Li's orders, and the chapter ended as he stepped onto the first stair, wary of the man beside him.

• Pei Ye carefully prepared himself to kill Wei Qingju and took a minimal dose of pearl powder to enter the Mirage Realm.
• Pei Ye opened the old Bright Moon Palace door and found Yue Muzhou waiting inside.
• Pei Ye introduced himself as a Wild Goose Inspector delivering a message on Li's orders and showed Yue Muzhou his token.
• Pei Ye stepped onto the stair and keenly sensed Yue Muzhou's dangerous power.

Pei Ye repeatedly trained by facing Yue Muzhou in a deadly encounter and returned to Bright Moon Palace to warn him that Empress Wei was in danger. As Pei Ye challenged Yue Muzhou’s ability to protect her, the chapter ended with Yue Muzhou narrowing his eyes in response.

• Pei Ye’s first attempt to strike Yue Muzhou ended with Yue Muzhou killing him.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye she still could not return to her childhood Spirit Realm and described the swing and apricot tree from her memories.
• Li Xizhou watched Xixi struggle to swing alone as the gentle figure promised Xixi they would play together when she grew up.
• Pei Ye returned to Bright Moon Palace and told Yue Muzhou that someone intended to assassinate Empress Wei.
• Pei Ye asked Yue Muzhou whether he could protect Empress Wei while guarding her from the Bedchamber.

Pei Ye repeatedly tried to become fast enough to kill Wei Qingju before Yue Muzhou could stop him, while Yong Ji prepared the Eight Waters for war and planned to leave the Divine Capital. After Li Xizhou described how the last elixir had clarified her dreamscape without letting her return to it, she asked Pei Ye whether Yue Muzhou’s harshness annoyed him.

• Pei Ye drew his sword against Yue Muzhou again, struck at Wei Qingju, and died in the Bedchamber once more.
• Yong Ji learned that the Eight Waters’ leaders were mobilizing and ordered his people to sell their holdings in the Divine Capital and distribute the proceeds among the Eight Waters.
• Yong Ji discussed the timing of spring rain before riding away with the monk and the general.
• On the twenty-seventh of the second month, Pei Ye woke to find Li Xizhou eating mutton soup beside his bed and joined her for a meal.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that her Qilin Blood had been sealed away and that she could now see her dreamscape clearly, but could not return to it.
• Li Xizhou asked Pei Ye whether Yue Muzhou’s fierceness annoyed him even though Pei Ye kept Yue in his thoughts.

Li Xizhou’s dream of her childhood changed when the first spring rain blurred the boundary between the Spirit Realm and reality, allowing her to reunite with the gentle woman and discover how to enter the Goddess of the Luo River Palace. As Pei Ye kept watch outside Vermilion Mirror Hall, he reflected on the hidden forces waiting for Li Xizhou to falter.

• Pei Ye admitted that he wanted to read Xu Chuo and Yue Muzhou’s private conversations to learn what Yue Muzhou had said about him, but Li Xizhou refused to show him.
• Pei Ye stayed outside Vermilion Mirror Hall with his sword as night rain began to fall, while Li Xizhou slept inside.
• Li Xizhou dreamed that six-year-old Xixi lost sight of the gentle woman after her Qilin Blood awakened, and she realized the scene marked the start of her own childhood memories.
• When the first spring rain of the Renwu Year blurred the boundary between reality and the Spirit Realm, Li Xizhou returned to the swing and heard the gentle woman speak to her again.
• Li Xizhou understood that the swing could carry her over the courtyard wall into the Goddess of the Luo River Palace, then swung high enough to see beyond it.
• As the rain grew heavier, Pei Ye watched the darkened courtyard and thought about the political enemies waiting for Li Xizhou to stumble.

Pei Ye waited through the night rain to protect the sleeping Jinyang, and killed Zhang Mengqiu when he emerged from the Mirage Realm to assassinate her. With Jinyang still asleep and safe, Pei Ye leaned against the bed and finally let his exhaustion catch up with him.

• Zhang Mengqiu prepared to assassinate Jinyang with the Mirage Stab, a technique he had trained for over twenty years.
• Zhang Mengqiu entered Vermilion Mirror Hall and launched his strike at Jinyang’s throat as she slept.
• Pei Ye intercepted Zhang Mengqiu’s sword and cut off his head before he could harm Jinyang.
• Pei Ye sealed the blood and its smell, checked that Jinyang remained asleep, and sat against the headboard as his tension faded.

Pei Ye killed the assassin who attacked Li Xizhou in the Bedchamber of Bright Moon Palace, using the speed he had built through repeated practice with [Unbound]. After Li Xizhou thanked him and entrusted her life to him, she said she had found the door to the Goddess of the Luo River Palace and took him to see it.

• Pei Ye used the rain and his knowledge of the assassin’s approach to prepare for the attack, then killed the intruder before he could harm Li Xizhou.
• Pei Ye spent the night beside Li Xizhou’s bed, and she woke to ask whether he had been hurt.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye she would trust him with her life, and he pulled the quilt over her shoulders as she rested against him.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye she had found the door to the Goddess of the Luo River Palace by having a swing and invited him to see it.
• Li Xizhou dressed, approached Pei Ye, and extended her wrist toward him while the assassin’s corpse remained in the bedchamber.

Li Xizhou brought Pei Ye into the Goddess of the Luo River Palace, where they followed a current toward its heart and discussed what her mother had done with its power. As they continued their writing project, Li Xizhou revealed that the chapter they were working on was a love affair.

• Li Xizhou linked herself and Pei Ye with a blood ribbon, then led him into a rainy Spirit Realm version of Vermilion Mirror Hall.
• Li Xizhou sat on a swing while Pei Ye pushed her, and they talked about continuing their story after publishing four chapters.
• Li Xizhou revealed that the swing courtyard was the entrance to the Goddess of the Luo River Palace, and she and Pei Ye entered its water-filled realm.
• Li Xizhou explained that the palace’s original power could grant access to the Mirage Realm and inheritance of [White Water], but her mother had used it for another purpose.
• Li Xizhou described the chapter’s setting of Li Yao and Zhao Baibi returning to the old capital, then told Pei Ye that their story was a love affair.

Li Yao’s army stormed the Palace City, where he killed the emperor and took the throne, only to discover that Heaven’s Will bound him there with Zhao Baibi. Pei Ye and Li Xizhou then reached the Merfolk Hall and saw the long-dead woman whose body had become the Goddess of the Luo River blossoms.

• Li Yao’s forces breached the Palace City, and Li Yao arrived to fight through the Imperial Guards with a halberd and a spear-wielding ally.
• Li Yao killed the gold-armored general, carried the Crown Prince’s head into the throne room, and confronted the emperor.
• Li Yao fought the emperor through a day and two nights, killed him, and became the new emperor as Heaven’s Will ribbons wound around him.
• Zhao Baibi reminded Li Yao of his ambition to change the world, and they accepted that they could no longer escape the palace and would succeed or die together.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou saw the dead woman on the swing and learned that her body had dissolved into flowers throughout the Mirage Realm.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou discovered Wei Qingju’s legacy, the Mirage-Qilin Knot, which Li Xizhou believed could free her from Qilin Blood. Li Xizhou entered the true Mirage Realm, leaving Pei Ye behind with instructions to keep her departure secret.

• Li Xizhou retrieved the Mirage-Qilin Knot from Wei Qingju’s body and explained that her mother had studied the conflict between Mirage Blood and Qilin Blood.
• Li Xizhou concluded that Wei Qingju had used her body to develop a way to break free of Qilin Blood and left the Knot for her daughter.
• The Knot entered Li Xizhou’s body, but she said she still needed Mirage Dragon True Blood to use it fully.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that Xu Chuo would be leaving the capital and asked him to keep her departure secret and treat Her Highness Jinyang respectfully.
• Li Xizhou opened a passage to the true Mirage Realm and disappeared through it, while Pei Ye tried and failed to catch her.

Pei Ye struggled with Li Xizhou’s departure into the Mirage Realm and found her apparently unchanged in the palace afterward. He left the Divine Capital to pursue his orders and went to the Cultivation Literature Academy seeking Qi Zhaohua.

• Pei Ye worried that Li Xizhou intended to enter the dangerous wilderness waters of the Mirage Realm, and Luo Weiyou told him she could not reopen the passage Li Xizhou had used.
• Pei Ye returned to the palace and found Li Xizhou apparently present as usual, leaving him unsure whether his earlier encounter had been real.
• Pei Ye told Li Xizhou he would leave the Divine Capital, and she urged him to kill Yong Ji before they worked together.
• Pei Ye loaded Zhang Mengqiu’s remains into a carriage and departed the palace, while Qu Xin followed to say farewell to Li Xizhou.
• Pei Ye went to the Cultivation Literature Academy and asked its scholars whether Qi Zhaohua was there.

Pei Ye reunited with his friends in the Divine Capital while carrying a headless corpse, and heard about the many sword gatherings taking place in the city. At the banquet, he reflected on his ongoing major undertaking and Jiang Yiner promised to help him once she could venture into the Jianghu.

• Pei Ye visited Qi Zhaohua at the Cultivation Literature Academy and learned that Xu Chuo had left, then invited their friends to gather.
• Qi Zhaohua and Fang Jidao were startled to find a headless male corpse inside Pei Ye's carriage, but Fang Jidao rode beside it to the Star-Plucking Tower.
• Pei Ye gathered Qi Zhaohua, Fang Jidao, Shang Lang, Xing Zhi, Yan Feiqing, Yang Zhenbing, Jiang Yiner, Cui Zhaoye, and Changsun Jue for a reunion banquet.
• Cui Zhaoye told Pei Ye about the sword gatherings in the Divine Capital, including Yang Zhenbing's second-place finish at the Awakening of Insects Sword Gathering.
• Jiang Yiner asked Pei Ye whether his palace work was going badly, and he said he was handling a vast undertaking involving many people.
• Jiang Yiner told Pei Ye that her master would let her venture through the Jianghu in a little over a year, and she promised to help him then.

Pei Ye visited the Immortal Platform, closed the twenty-three-year-old Bright Moon's Stab case, and was promoted to a Crane Inspector. Li Jian assigned him a new, empire-wide investigation into Mirage City's attempt on the Eldest Princess and directed him to consult Zhang Zhongcheng about work beyond the Divine Capital.

• Jiang Yiner told Pei Ye that the Qilin Blood Test would determine Great Tang's next Crown Prince, and they talked until Cui Zhaoye pulled her away.
• Pei Ye traveled with Xing Zhi and Shang Lang to the Immortal Platform and revealed that he had killed Zhang Mengqiu, a Crane List cultivator involved in the old case.
• Pei Ye gave Li Jian his brief closure report on Bright Moon's Stab, and Li Jian officially closed the case.
• Li Jian promoted Pei Ye to First Bing Crane Inspector and opened a top-priority investigation into Mirage City's attempt to assassinate the Eldest Princess.
• Li Jian told Pei Ye to ask Zhang Zhongcheng about the Immortal Platform's next operations beyond the Divine Capital and to handle the new case's registration and records.

Pei Ye joined the Fate Hounds’ observation as a prospective member and declared that he wanted to kill the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord. After reporting to Censor-in-Chief Zhang Siche, he was assigned to investigate the water gangs’ mysterious fishing preparations by infiltrating a Green Reed Gang boat.

• Pei Ye asked Li Jian to let him join the Fate Hounds, and Li Jian explained that access to the Queen Mother of the West’s dream depended on her bequests and the bearer’s reason for serving them.
• Pei Ye told Li Jian that his ideal was to kill the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord, then left to report to Censor-in-Chief Zhang Siche.
• Pei Ye registered his Bing One token, submitted the closed Bright Moon's Stab case, and delivered Li Jian’s order to open an investigation into the assassination attempt on the Grand Princess at Vermilion Mirror Hall.
• Zhang Siche assigned Pei Ye to investigate the Azure Wind Envoy’s waterway network, whose gangs had spent ten days gathering enormous quantities of fish for a supposed welcome of the Water Lord.
• Zhang Siche arranged for Pei Ye to disguise himself and join a Green Reed Gang boat as hired labor, sending him north to investigate the preparations for an imminent sacrifice.

Pei Ye joined a fishing crew on Great Goose Dock’s crowded lake under orders to find and kill a mysterious powerful target during the gathering. His boat delivered its fish offering and reached the vast flotilla, where the newcomers came face to face with the water-gang heroes.

• Zhang Siche told Pei Ye to board the great ship within two days, meet Great Goose Dock’s master, and kill a revered visitor on the second night, with insiders secretly helping him.
• Pei Ye confirmed to Zhang Siche that Zhu Gaoyang often used his name, then answered Fu Zaiting’s questions as the assassination case file was formally sealed.
• Pei Ye traveled in disguise as Zhu Liu with Third Uncle and three village youths, who were hired to haul fish for the Green Reed Gang.
• Third Uncle warned the young men to obey the rules, keep fires forbidden, and avoid drawing attention while they worked on the lake.
• The boat brought its catch to the immense gathering of boats around a huge ship, where Pei Ye answered a water-gang member who challenged him.