Chapter Summaries

Li Piaoqing investigated Qu Zhu’s abandoned cellar and learned how he had developed early imitations of ancient artifacts and the Silk-Tether patterns, but the physical evidence had been removed. A message reported that Zhao Fu had vanished from the Provincial Prison, while Pei Ye recovered at a medicine lodge and was visited by Lord Cheng.

• Li Piaoqing read letters identifying the Eye and Pupil as two parts of Illuminating the Nether and linking Qu Zhu’s Soul-Seizing Pearl to his experiments with the Pupil.
• Li Piaoqing identified the abandoned viewing apparatus as a companion to Qu Zhu’s heart-amber pearl, Seeing the Self, but found no trace of the pearl itself.
• Li Piaoqing examined formation diagrams and sword marks in the cellar, concluding that evidence of Qu Zhu’s Silk-Tether experiments had been cleared away.
• A falcon sparrow delivered news that Zhao Fu’s whereabouts were unknown after an uproar at the Provincial Prison.
• Pei Ye brought Qu Xin to Mount Tai Medicine Lodge, where he stayed to recover and joked with the black cat before Lord Cheng came to see him.

Pei Ye received news of his honors and preparations for the Jade Sword Platform sword meet, then set out to watch the arena finals with Qu Xin. The chapter left him asking whether the Mount Tai Medicine Lodge practiced the Martial Dao.

• Cheng Yuanqi escorted Pei Ye to the Prefectural Office in a grand carriage and explained that his honors would be conferred at the Jade Sword Platform the next day.
• Cheng Yuanqi gave Pei Ye an Azure Emperor Pill to protect his body while he used his sword and showed him his honors, including an Immortal Platform post, a recommendation to the Divine Capital, and a Mountain Pass Sword Tower.
• Cheng Yuanqi told Pei Ye about the likely opponents at the sword meet and offered him information about them before Pei Ye left to watch the arena finals.
• Fu Yun arranged a carriage for Pei Ye, who found Qu Xin waiting to go to the matches as well.
• Qu Xin said she wanted to watch how fighters' bodies were injured, prompting Pei Ye to ask whether the Mount Tai Medicine Lodge cultivated the Martial Dao.

Pei Ye watched Zhang Lingwen defeat Qin Yong at the sword arena and settled into a reserved chamber to follow the gathering. While reading the Great Tang National Gazette, he learned of Jiang Yiner’s rise in the rankings and saw signs that Lord Sui expected him to compete in the upcoming sword selection.

• Fu Yun brought Pei Ye and Qu Xin to the arena, where Zhang Lingwen defeated Qin Yong with Azure Sky Hangs a Rainbow.
• Pei Ye asked Fu Yun whether Li Piaoqing had arrived, then questioned Qu Xin about the swordplay and argued that Qin Yong could not evade Zhang Lingwen’s killing move.
• Fu Yun told Pei Ye he had reserved a chamber overlooking the arena, and Pei Ye went upstairs with Qu Xin.
• A green-robed scholar delivered match information and reading materials, including the Great Tang National Gazette.
• Pei Ye read that Yan Feiqing had risen to ninth and Jiang Yiner had climbed from six hundred and sixty-seven to five hundred and forty-five, then asked for the latest Crane and Teal Register.
• Pei Ye read about major sword events across Great Tang and suspected Lord Sui had expected him to compete in the upcoming sword selection.

Pei Ye read the Court Gazette and discovered that Qu Xin had been listed in the Crane and Teal Register before the sword challenges began. As prominent swordsmen gathered on the Crane-Retaining Terrace, Song Zhishu arrived and challenged Qi Mengchen to a duel to the death.

• Pei Ye read Azure Luan in the Mirror's apology for suspending "Broken Chivalrous Bones" and Cui Jiazhaoye's preface to a new sword appraisal column.
• Pei Ye found Qu Xin listed as number seventy-seven in the Crane and Teal Register and tried to hide his discovery from her.
• Chi Longyun and Su Xingke took their places for a sword match as spectators gathered on the Crane-Retaining Terrace.
• Nan Guannu, Qi Mengchen, and Qu Ying arrived at the terrace, followed by Bai Fei, the champion of the northern first platform.
• Song Zhishu appeared and asked Qi Mengchen when she would agree to a sword duel that must end in life or death.

Song Zhishu questioned the National Gazette’s ranking of the leading sects, prompting Xiang Zongyuan to challenge the strongest swordsmen to duels. Su Xingke and Chi Longyun fought a fierce match that left Su Xingke wounded and the outcome undecided.

• Song Zhishu praised Bai Fei’s gentleness, then asked how the National Gazette had decided which schools were strongest.
• Xiang Zongyuan said he would seek sword bouts with Zuo Sheng, Yan Bingjian, and Cui Zijie on the Jade Sword Platform.
• Su Xingke attacked Chi Longyun with swift sword techniques and broke through the killing intent of Chi’s Ascending Above.
• Chi Longyun countered with Zhuan Zhu, forcing Su Xingke to evade the killing blow at the cost of a wound to his shoulder.
• Chi Longyun pressed his next strike as spectators on the Crane-Retaining Terrace rose to watch.

Su Xingke defeated Chi Longyun with the Entering the Abyss Manual’s Sleeping Dragon Awakens, then challenged Xiang Zongyuan before Cui Zijie called him out. After the Sword Selection Meet’s arena contests ended, the crowd gathered for the Jade Sword Platform rankings, which began with Cai Wuzhi in seventy-second place.

• Chi Longyun struck Su Xingke with Candle Star Attacks the Moon, but Su Xingke countered with Sleeping Dragon Awakens and defeated him.
• Su Xingke drank tea on the Crane-Retaining Terrace, pointed at Xiang Zongyuan, and then turned toward Cui Zijie as Cui beckoned him.
• Pei Ye discussed Su Xingke’s sword technique with Qu Xin and learned that Entering the Abyss Manual was a Pearl Waterside Pavilion legacy rarely seen in the Jianghu.
• Zuo Sheng defeated Wang Jinhong with a single strike, and the Ten Directions Arena contests concluded.
• The Jade Sword Platform rankings appeared at the hour of the Rooster, beginning with Cai Wuzhi ranked seventy-second.

The Golden Register rankings reached their summit, surprising the crowd as celebrated sword talents placed lower than expected. Pei Ye was named first with the Assembly’s verdict of “no doubts,” leaving the sword world stunned as people began wondering how he had earned the top spot.

• Pei Ye watched the rankings from a window while Qu Xin explained that “unanimous” meant every council member agreed, and that He Tianlai had been ranked last.
• At Crane-Retaining Terrace, Nan Guannu asked about a sealed-off room, while Yan Bingjian and the others discussed the rankings and the Register Compilation Assembly’s preference for talent over proven strength.
• As the announcements reached the top twenty, Qu Ying placed nineteenth, Song Zhishu sixteenth, Bai Fei thirteenth, and Chi Longyun eleventh.
• Qi Mengchen ranked eighth, Nan Guannu seventh, Yan Bingjian sixth, and Zuo Sheng fifth, prompting surprise among the observers on Crane-Retaining Terrace.
• Su Xingke ranked fourth, Cui Zijie third, and Xiang Zongyuan second, while Su Xingke rose in anger and the terrace fell silent.
• The Assembly named Pei Ye first with a settled verdict of “no doubts,” stunning the crowd and prompting people to speculate about the young swordsman.

Pei Ye learned that the Sword Selection Meet had ranked him first in Shaolong despite his obscurity, and the announcement sent the city into an uproar. While he recovered from his injuries and faced the sudden attention, Sui Zaihua visited him and spoke with him about his new position as Governor-General and Pei Ye’s unexpected rise.

• The Register Compilation Assembly announced Pei Ye as Shaolong’s foremost sword talent, ranking him first and scheduling his sword test for the day after tomorrow because he was gravely injured.
• Su Xingke, Xiang Zongyuan, Nan Guannu, and the other leading talents reacted with bewilderment because they knew nothing about Pei Ye.
• Gao Feigong told Pei Ye that he had secretly protected him and that Sui Zaihua would visit him at the Medical Tower; Pei Ye left the Sword-Setting Tower and passed Ren Zixin’s group.
• Pei Ye returned to the Medical Tower, joked with the little cat and Qu Xin, and received acupuncture to prepare his injuries for the upcoming fight.
• Sui Zaihua visited Pei Ye beneath the moon, told him he had received the Governor-General’s seal, and shared wine with him as Pei Ye admitted he felt pleased with his sudden rise.

Pei Ye wrestled with the pressure of being named first at the Sword Selection Meet as Sui Zaihua urged him to prove the title and invited him to share his ambitions. The next morning, the Shaolong Register Revision Meet opened before a huge crowd, with Pei Ye’s name at the top of the draft ranking drawing growing disbelief.

• Pei Ye admitted to Sui Zaihua that he feared he could not defeat the other Eighth Growth swordsmen, and Sui Zaihua told him to uphold his title through victory.
• Sui Zaihua revealed that he wanted to understand how the world worked, pursue high office, and enter the Sky Tower, then invited Pei Ye to become his fellow traveler.
• Sui Zaihua told Pei Ye that Li Piaoqing had declined the sword invitation and offered him the post of Young Feather Inspectorate, with responsibility for the Shaolong Jianghu after he entered the Profound Gate.
• Sui Zaihua said the Immortal Platform would give [Sima] an opportunity the next night and try to destroy the Joy-in-Death Tower by ending Qu Zhu.
• The Shaolong Register Revision Meet opened at the Jade Sword Platform, where the crowd gathered to witness the rankings being publicly reconsidered.
• Pei Ye’s name remained first on the draft golden banner, and its placement sparked growing astonishment and doubt among onlookers.

Pei Ye attended the register revision in disguise as Zhang Siche, listened as the crowd debated his unexplained first-place ranking, and became increasingly determined to prove himself. The Shaolong Immortal Platform then announced the Joy-in-Death Mask case, publicly linking Pei Ye to the dangerous organization.

• Pei Ye arrived at the Jade Sword Platform in green clothes and sat with Ren Zixin of the Flying Swallow Sword Gate, introducing himself as Zhang Siche.
• Ren Zixin and Pei Ye watched Zhu Wenyuan and Nan Guannu arrive, while Ren explained the leading swordsmen’s rankings and accomplishments.
• As the register deliberations began, Pei Ye heard people criticize his first-place ranking and felt a growing desire to win.
• During the hour of the Snake, the Shaolong Immortal Platform announced the Joy-in-Death Mask case and revealed Pei Ye’s connection to it.
• Pei Ye continued asking Ren Zixin about the swordsmen and admitted that he was at sixth growth and came from a remote place.

The Feather-Tied Book revealed how Pei Ye helped expose and destroy Joy-in-Death Tower’s conspiracy at Kongtong, astonishing the crowds at the Register Compilation Assembly. As his reputation soared, the Immortal Platform announced that he would come to the Jade Sword Platform the next morning.

• Pei Ye and Ren Zixin received the Feather-Tied Book and read its account of the Kongtong case, including the deaths, Ji Changyun’s capture, and Joy-in-Death Tower’s destruction.
• The booklet warned that Shadow-Faced Sima had escaped and announced that the Immortal Platform would supervise Kongtong’s succession.
• The crowd realized Pei Ye had killed Jiang Yitong and Xi Tianji and broken the formation that threatened the Glaze Sword Master, and the booklet praised his role in the victory.
• Ren Zixin admired Pei Ye’s deeds while Pei Ye quietly suggested that the Glaze Sword Master might have helped him.
• The Immortal Platform conferred honors on Pei Ye and announced that he would arrive at the Jade Sword Platform the next morning.

Pei Ye prepared for his appointment as Young Feather Inspectorate and the next day’s sword trial while Qu Xin treated him at the Medical Tower. Meanwhile, Li Piaoqing found that the physical evidence of Qu Zhu’s experiments had disappeared and tracked the likely destruction of his weapons to Old Ding’s family Ironworks.

• Pei Ye tried on his official robes as Cheng Yuanqi explained the appointment ceremony and the gathering at the Jade Sword Platform.
• Pei Ye returned to the Medical Tower, where Qu Xin treated him and warned him that he had not fully recovered before tomorrow’s fight.
• Pei Ye waited through the night, thinking about the plan involving the Immortal Platform, Lord Sui, Sima, and Qu Zhu, while Qu Xin promised another treatment at midnight.
• Li Piaoqing searched Qu Zhu’s cellar for physical evidence but found that the traces of his experiments had vanished.
• Li Piaoqing followed the trail of Qu Zhu’s accumulated weapons to Old Ding’s family Ironworks and watched the courtyard from a tree outside the city.

Li Piaoqing killed Zhao Fu after entering his memories, but Old Ding’s recollections pointed her toward Yu Chaocai’s tomb, where she found the escaped prisoner Luo Defeng waiting. The chapter left her facing Zhao Fu’s diversion and the threat he had released.

• Li Piaoqing ambushed Zhao Fu and entered his Heart Candle realm, where she saw how Qu Zhu had taken the young Zhao Fu in after his father’s death.
• Li Piaoqing traced Zhao Fu’s conviction to a grave in Bowang, then returned to the rainy courtyard and killed him with her Jadeite Sword technique.
• Li Piaoqing questioned Old Ding about someone destroying patterned blades and swords, but he said no such customer had come to his forge.
• Old Ding recalled seeing a mysterious figure throw something into Yu Chaocai’s tomb more than twenty years earlier, and Li Piaoqing realized Zhao Fu might have been heading there.
• Luo Defeng appeared at the courtyard entrance in chains after Zhao Fu had freed him from the Water Prison.

Li Piaoqing secretly came to Pei Ye after being wounded while pursuing Qu Zhu and asked to borrow [Illuminating the Nether]. Pei Ye realized she was still investigating Qu Zhu, agreed to examine the Heart Amber bead for her, and the chapter ended with Sima imprisoned in an unknown place outside Shaolong's Prefectural City.

• Li Piaoqing arrived at Pei Ye's room, and the two awkwardly talked about Elder Li, the Bright Sword Master, and Heavenly Mountain's request for [Illuminating the Nether].
• Pei Ye noticed Li Piaoqing's hidden waist injury and understood she had been hurt fighting the Seven Flood Dragons while pursuing Qu Zhu.
• Qu Xin interrupted their conversation to give Pei Ye his final meridian-strengthening acupuncture session, then left them alone.
• Li Piaoqing admitted she wanted to use [Illuminating the Nether] on a Heart Amber bead from the Prefectural Treasury to continue investigating Qu Zhu.
• Pei Ye explained that [Illuminating the Nether] required [Great Liang], [Jianglou], or [Shi Shen], and offered to examine the bead for her.
• Sima struggled to stay alive while imprisoned in an unknown location outside Shaolong's Prefectural City.

Sima escaped the Demon-Prison Land using two hidden sparks that restored his powers, while the Immortal Platform secretly monitored him and prepared to draw out Qu Zhu. The chapter ended as Sima left the prison and the Immortal Platform’s net converged on his location.

• After seven days imprisoned beneath [Jieyou], Sima awakened two hidden sparks and used them to restore his true qi and profound qi.
• The man in the Confucian cap told Zhang Xiaozhu that the Immortal Platform had detected projections of immortal authority within Sima and suspected they were connected to fire and 'Faceless.'
• Sima escaped his cell, disguised himself in a Wild Goose Inspector’s clothes, and left the Demon-Prison Land without killing anyone.
• The man in the Confucian cap and Zhang Xiaozhu used the [Five-Hundred-Li Profound Qi Map] to track Sima and deployed cultivators around the prison to lure Qu Zhu into the open.
• Sima escaped sooner than expected, and his point of light blazed on the stone map as the Immortal Platform’s net converged on him.

Sima waited for Qu Zhu while recovering his Profound Qi and summoning the ethereal pearl, then helped Qu Zhu begin the [Other Shore Treasure Raft] formation. As Qu Zhu carried out their plan, Pei Ye examined an old heart-amber bead that Li Piaoqing had found.

• Zhang Xiaozhu and the man in the Confucian cap waited for Qu Zhu to appear, but after one hundred and fifty breaths they ordered the net to close and Sima to be killed.
• Sima used the object-retrieval art of [Other Shore Treasure Raft] to summon an ethereal pearl as Qu Zhu arrived beside him.
• Sima accused Qu Zhu of seeking the Heart of the Western Court for himself, and Qu Zhu admitted nothing but agreed to continue their shared plan.
• Qu Zhu absorbed Sima's parasitic fire seed, discarded his imitation arm, and grew a new one before they began the formation.
• Qu Zhu formed an enormous [Other Shore Treasure Raft] on the river while Li Piaoqing gave Pei Ye an old heart-amber bead inscribed with “Seeing the Self.”

Pei Ye used Illuminating the Nether to view a damaged Heart Amber recording from Sui Zaihua’s journey through Great Kongtong twenty years earlier. The vision revealed Yu Chaocai and Qu Zhu’s ambitions and ended with two Kongtong scouts missing in the snow.

• Pei Ye questioned Li Piaoqing about the bead, then entered its recording while she watched.
• Pei Ye saw Qu Zhu bring porridge to Yu Chaocai and listened as Yu advised his protégé about advancing in officialdom.
• The younger Sui Zaihua told Yu Chaocai he wanted them to rise together, promising to help make Yu a governor-general before pursuing his own ambitions.
• After the damaged recording skipped ahead, Pei Ye saw Qu Zhu leave to help prepare the camp while Sui Zaihua was summoned to Yu.
• Sui Zaihua learned that the two Kongtong disciples sent ahead to scout the snowy route had not returned.

Pei Ye witnessed Sui Zaihua’s long-buried battle with a Joy-in-Death Tower assassin and realized Sui had fought with a saber disguised as a sword. The vision then revealed Qu Zhu overseeing Sima’s transformation through Immortal Fire as the Joy-in-Death Tower prepared to bring the [Play Lord] into Sima’s body.

• Pei Ye and Qu Zhu discussed Qiao Changyue, the dangers facing Sui Zaihua, and their ambitions to support him.
• Pei Ye relived the convoy’s discovery that four scouts had disappeared and watched Sui Zaihua find two dead disciples and confront an Eighth Growth Play Mask.
• Sui Zaihua fought the masked attacker, drew a hidden saber, and defeated him with a flash of saber light.
• Qu Zhu watched Immortal Fire transform Sima’s body into a crystalline tree while Sima prepared to withdraw his will.
• Qu Zhu explained that the [Play Lord] would take possession of Sima’s body and begin advancing toward the Sky Tower.

Qu Zhu stopped the Play Lord from taking over Sima’s body, while Pei Ye relived Lord Sui’s bloody ambush and discovered that the events differed from the story he remembered. The chapter ended as Pei Ye understood that Lord Sui had entered the Profound Gate and killed the black-robed attacker, leaving his dying friend beside him.

• Qu Zhu trapped the Immortal Fire in a Formation, erased the body prepared for the Play Lord’s descent, and gathered the remaining flame into his sleeve.
• Pei Ye hurried back to the Great Heavenly Tides and found black-robed attackers slaughtering the party while Su Xuchun and Ji Changcun fought for their lives.
• Qu Zhu revealed Lord Yu beneath an overturned carriage, but a colleague stabbed both Yu Chaocai and Lord Sui before Lord Sui killed him.
• Lord Sui entered the Profound Gate while gravely wounded and fought the remaining black-robed attacker, who killed Ji Changcun.
• Lord Sui pinned the attacker with a blade and stood beside his dying friend as Pei Ye recognized that this battle did not follow the story he remembered.

Qu Zhu revealed that he had spent twenty years working to destroy the Joy-in-Death Tower, then erased Sima and disappeared as the Immortal Platform closed its investigation. Pei Ye emerged from Seeing the Self with the secret of Yu Chaocai’s final memory, tended to the wounded Li Piaoqing, and left the Medical Tower carrying Jade Tiger and a letter.

• Qu Zhu told Sima he had never wanted Great Liang and erased his consciousness, then destroyed the Play Mask and the remains of the Joy-in-Death Tower’s plans.
• Sui Zaihua and Xiao Changong recovered the surviving Immortal Authority projections and recorded Sima’s death as a suicide, while Qu Zhu left no trace.
• Pei Ye recalled Qu Zhu’s final memory of Yu Chaocai’s burial and promised to destroy the Joy-in-Death Tower.
• Pei Ye told Li Piaoqing that the pearl showed Qu Zhu sharing Seeing the Self with Yu Chaocai, then asked Qu Xin to treat Li Piaoqing’s wounds and help her sleep.
• Qu Xin warned that Li Piaoqing’s severed arm could not yet be treated with a regrowth art, and Pei Ye took her pouch and found a letter inside.
• Pei Ye descended the Medical Tower before dawn carrying Jade Tiger and stopped at the ground-floor doorway.