Chapter Summaries

After Yu Sicheng defeated Pei Ye, Pei Ye and Black Cat recovered in the Water Realm, where a mysterious spirit named Luo Weiyou guided them toward a route Yu Sicheng could not see. Following her directions, Pei Ye reached the surface and discovered a springlike pond and pavilion.

• Pei Ye retreated with the exhausted Black Cat after Yu Sicheng warned that he would kill him if they met again.
• A faint, faceless figure led Pei Ye to a Goddess of the Luo River Wood Peach, restoring his senses and explaining that the route east might help him defeat Yu Sicheng.
• Pei Ye named the figure Luo Weiyou, and she told him to cross Yique Huanyuan Valley by following blue lights with his eyes closed.
• Pei Ye learned that the Water Realm passage led to the Goddess of the Luo River's old palace and followed the lights without encountering Yu Sicheng.
• Pei Ye surfaced with Black Cat and found a pond beneath clear spring skies, with ducks, peach blossoms, and a pavilion nearby.

Pei Ye witnessed a vision of the late empress Wei Qingju reviewing an experimental flood-dragon-gold skeleton technique developed by a refined official and his short attendant. The vision ended with the attendant warning the official that the palace was dangerous and that Wei Qingju’s warning should be taken seriously.

• Pei Ye reached the garden and watched a vision of Wei Qingju discussing the new skeleton technique with two palace men.
• The refined official explained that the technique used a complete flood-dragon-gold skeleton and mercury solution to grant its wearer powerful, durable bones, though it remained too dangerous to test on a person.
• Wei Qingju cautioned the official to guard the secret technique against ill-intentioned people and asked whether anyone in the palace would join the Feather-Scale Trial.
• After Wei Qingju left, the short attendant kicked the official for taking all the credit and reminded him that the palace and Divine Capital were dangerous.
• The short attendant warned that the emperor had visited Bright Moon Palace only once that month and urged the official to heed Wei Qingju’s advice before walking away.

Pei Ye explored the Water Realm with Luo Weiyou and learned that the hidden old palace of the Goddess of the Luo River was beyond reach, while he considered how to overcome Yu Sicheng’s iron bones. Before leaving, Pei Ye asked Luo Weiyou for more Goddess of the Luo River Wood Peach blossoms.

• Pei Ye and Black Cat discussed how Yu Sicheng might have obtained the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] bones and decided to seek help from Xu Chuo or learn more from Yu Sicheng.
• Luo Weiyou had a yu bring Pei Ye a Goddess of the Luo River Wood Peach blossom so he could see her underwater.
• Luo Weiyou led Pei Ye through the Water Realm to the gauzy currents that formed the gate and wall before the Goddess of the Luo River’s unreachable dwelling.
• Pei Ye closed his eyes and saw the palace courtyard wall, then asked Luo Weiyou whether she was the Goddess of the Luo River; she said she did not know.
• Pei Ye asked Luo Weiyou if they were friends and requested more blossoms as a parting gift, while Black Cat asked her to include its share.

Pei Ye recovered with Luo Weiyou’s Scale Blossoms, fought his way out of the Water Realm, and escaped the merfolk by returning to the Daming Palace. After Li Xizhou sheltered him, he recounted what he had found and discussed the risks surrounding Yu Ziliang’s case.

• Luo Weiyou gave Pei Ye twelve Scale Blossoms, restoring much of his strength, and he promised to help protect her home from intruders.
• Pei Ye hunted the encircling humans and merfolk, then escaped the Water Realm and emerged through the ice at South Pool.
• Li Xizhou and Li Xianfang received Pei Ye, gave him a cloak, and brought him to Vermilion Mirror Hall to treat his wounds.
• Pei Ye described the Goddess of the Luo River’s Former Residence and the barrier Yu Sicheng had sought to enter.
• Li Xizhou warned that the Directorate of Palace Attendants might use evidence against Pei Ye, and he said his disguise left no proof linking him to Yu Ziliang’s killing.

Li Yao went to the palace gates to reclaim his ancestry but encountered his cousin Li Heng abusing a girl and fought to stop him. After Li Yao killed Li Heng with help from a young man, he insisted that people still had to answer for their actions amid the ruined capital.

• Li Yao and Zhao Baibi agreed that she would sneak into the palace for information while he went to register his name at the palace gates.
• Li Yao saw refugees fighting for porridge and failed to organize them into a line before continuing toward the palace.
• Li Yao found Li Heng dragging a girl through an alley and learned that Li Heng's family had died and he had survived by seizing a cellar.
• Li Yao fought Li Heng to protect the girl and stabbed him in the throat with his Short Sword.
• A young man in Straw Sandals pinned Li Heng's sword arm to the wall with a Short Spike and offered to take responsibility for the killing.
• Li Yao refused to let the young man take the blame and argued that everyone still had to answer for their deeds.

Li Yao returned to the palace after killing Li Heng, denounced the gathered imperial relatives, and was imprisoned. Zhao Baibi helped him escape the capital and revealed that she had obtained the Imperial Heirloom Jade Seal, which awakened Li Yao’s cultivation and set him on a path to defend the realm; she ended by asking what the Luo River Goddess would do if the Prince of Chen betrayed her.

• Li Yao returned to the palace, where the imperial clan gathered to choose an heir, and told them he had killed Li Heng for murdering two households and threatening a little girl.
• Li Yao condemned the gathered relatives for failing to protect the realm and said he would kill others like Li Heng; the guards seized him and locked him in the High-Security Prison.
• Zhao Baibi broke Li Yao out of prison, and they escaped the capital while Imperial Guards searched for the stolen Jade Seal.
• Zhao Baibi led Li Yao downriver to the Luo River, where he resolved to go north and fight the invading northern kingdom.
• Zhao Baibi revealed the Imperial Heirloom Jade Seal, and its power entered Li Yao, healing his wounds and awakening his cultivation.
• Zhao Baibi said Heaven’s Will had chosen Li Yao, then asked what the Luo River Goddess would do if the Prince of Chen betrayed her.

Pei Ye discussed palace legends and an upcoming wedding with Li Xizhou, then spoke with a correspondent through Knowing Intent about their National Gazettes and his injuries. The next morning, Qu Xin began treating him and explained the costly medicines she would use, while Pei Ye braced himself for the procedure.

• Li Xizhou explained that rumors about the late empress and Bright Moon Palace endured because people hoped they were true, and Pei Ye agreed to stand in Yu Sicheng's way.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that Yong Ji had entered the palace and that a wedding was being arranged for him.
• Pei Ye questioned his Knowing Intent correspondent about sharing their conversations with Li Xizhou, and they agreed to write the next National Gazette together.
• Pei Ye reflected on Li Xizhou and Xu Chuo, and Black Cat teased him for smiling like an adult.
• Qu Xin assessed Pei Ye's extensive injuries, explained the prices of her treatments, and began cutting into his broken bone.

Pei Ye brought Qu Xin to examine Guo You, whose consciousness was trapped in a dreamlike memory, and she diagnosed his condition as soul separation. With Li Xizhou providing Guo You’s background and agreeing to the consultation fee, Qu Xin began a treatment that required Pei Ye to guide the old man’s qi with his flame.

• Qu Xin finished repairing Pei Ye’s injuries, then accompanied him to examine Guo You.
• Qu Xin determined that Guo You’s mind had withdrawn into a memory after an unbearable shock, rather than being damaged by an outside attack, and said she could treat him.
• Qu Xin asked Pei Ye to fetch Li Xizhou so she could settle the consultation fee before treating Guo You.
• Li Xizhou provided a report on Guo You’s background and agreed to pay the stated fee as Qu Xin prepared her treatment.
• Qu Xin shaved Guo You’s head, gave him medicine, and asked Pei Ye to use his flame to guide the old man’s qi as she inserted needles.

Qu Xin treated Guo You with the Spirit Pivot Heart-Knocking Record, helping him regain awareness so Pei Ye could question him about the Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft. Guo You suddenly fled after beginning to recall its creation, and Pei Ye set out to pursue him with Li Xianfang while Qu Xin stayed behind.

• Qu Xin explained her three-stage treatment and used needles and medicine to begin melting Guo You's mental barriers as Li Xizhou shared his history as a survivor of the Luo River Guo Family.
• While they waited, Pei Ye spoke with Li Xianfang, who admitted she had made it look as if he had cut Yu Ziliang off because she feared Pei Ye would not return.
• After Guo You regained awareness, Pei Ye asked about the Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft, and Guo You recalled that Her Majesty had provided the flood dragon bones used to make it.
• Guo You began to discuss the raft's weaknesses, then abruptly leaped up, overturned Li Xizhou's desk, and escaped through the hall doors.
• Qu Xin revealed that she had left a magnetic needle in Guo You, and Pei Ye took the compass to track him; Li Xianfang volunteered to accompany him.

Li Xizhou and Pei Ye questioned the delusional Guo You about the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] and deduced that its battle with Yu Sicheng likely took place at Bright Moon Palace. As they headed there, Li Xizhou revealed that the Nourishing Intent Tower’s Artifact Masters involved in the raft’s creation had all died in the purge after Wei Qingju’s death.

• Li Xizhou and Pei Ye followed Guo You to the abandoned Directorate of Works, where he remembered designing the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] for Ziliang.
• Guo You said Ziliang had lost to Yu Sicheng and that the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] was now on Yu Sicheng, then became distressed.
• Li Xizhou reasoned that the raft had been forged between the Bright Moon assassination and Wei Qingju’s death to protect Her Highness, and that its battle likely happened at Bright Moon Palace.
• Li Xizhou agreed to go to Bright Moon Palace with Pei Ye after making him observe the proper courtesies of a subordinate.
• Pei Ye asked about the Nourishing Intent Tower’s records, and Li Xizhou explained that all twelve of its Artifact Masters assigned to the Directorate of Works, including Zhai Haidong, had died in the purge after Wei Qingju’s death.

Li Xizhou and Pei Ye searched Bright Moon Palace for evidence of a battle connected to the late Empress’s death but found no traces. They concluded that Ziliang’s Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft had fought there to protect her, and began considering whether its people had attacked or defended.

• Li Xizhou and Pei Ye entered Bright Moon Palace, where they encountered Meng'er searching for a secret passage.
• Pei Ye enlisted Black Cat to melt the snow across the courtyard, but found no evidence of a past battle.
• Li Xizhou explained that the late Empress died in Bright Moon Palace a month after the Bright Moon assassination and Qilin Blood calamity.
• Pei Ye questioned whether the Empress could have been weakened by childbirth and listed possible causes of her death.
• Li Xizhou said she believed her mother had chosen to die, and noted that Ziliang’s Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft had come to protect her.
• Li Xizhou and Pei Ye considered whether Ziliang’s people had attacked or defended during the battle.

Pei Ye uncovered evidence that a fierce battle had taken place on the path to Bright Moon Palace, including spear strikes, intense scorching, and a damaged fragment from the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft]. He suspected the flame that damaged it was Qilin Flame and asked Li Xizhou, the Qilin-Blood Princess, whether the blood on the fragment affected her, but she felt nothing.

• Li Xizhou directed Pei Ye to search the path between the Directorate of Works and the rear wall of Bright Moon Palace, where Ziliang and Guo You had fought.
• Pei Ye uncovered buried spear marks and battle damage along the stone path, then found old trees and paving scorched by intense heat.
• Pei Ye discovered a purple-gold fragment embedded in charred heartwood and collected the blood residue lodged in it.
• Pei Ye summoned Li Xizhou, showed her the damaged fragment, and concluded that the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] could be harmed by a particular kind of fire.
• Pei Ye suggested the blood was qilin blood and the flame was Qilin Flame, but Li Xizhou said she felt nothing from the old blood.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou planned to borrow Qilin Flame from Li Zhi to counter Yu Sicheng, while Meng'er searched beneath Scenic Pool’s ice for something Empress Wei might have left behind. The chapter ended with Meng'er limping back toward Clear Thought Hall after a day of chiseling, still determined to find it.

• Li Xizhou explained that only the Sage and Li Zhi possessed Qilin Flame, and proposed borrowing it from Li Zhi when he came to the palace in four days.
• Pei Ye found Meng'er chiseling through the ice at Scenic Pool, where she hoped to uncover a secret route or something left by Empress Wei, and left her a small flame before departing.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye how Consort Mei had suffered in the palace and died after Li Youlong’s Qilin Blood awakened when she was six.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou discussed Yu Sicheng’s effort to enter the Goddess of the Luo River Palace and the upcoming banquet where a princess would be chosen to marry Yong Ji.
• Meng'er finished chiseling a little over half a foot into the ice and limped back toward the hall, hoping to find what Empress Wei had left and replace her wooden limb.

Meng'er was attacked by Your Eighth Highness while hurrying back to Clear Thought Hall, as Yong Ji and Yu Sicheng discussed Pei Ye’s progress and their plan to enter the Goddess of the Luo River Palace. At the Vermilion Mirror Side Hall, Qu Xin prepared trigger puppets to help treat Guo You and unexpectedly gave one to Pei Ye.

• Your Eighth Highness kicked Meng'er and ordered her to tell her mistress that she would become Princess Consort Yan.
• Yong Ji and Yu Sicheng agreed to move their plan forward, while Yu Sicheng warned that Pei Ye could not enter the Goddess of the Luo River Palace before them.
• Qu Xin explained that trigger puppets paired with Spiritual Pivot Heart-Knocking Needles could help Guo You revisit traumatic memories and reveal them to the physician.
• Pei Ye joked that Qu Xin could sell puppets modeled after famous figures, and Qu Xin silently handed him one as his own.

Pei Ye, Li Xizhou, and Qu Xin examined Guo You’s memories of Ziliang’s defeat and discovered that Guo You’s breakdown had come from a later consequence tied to his own regret. They prepared to question him about the Purple-Gold Body Bones after Li Xizhou’s reply from the Nourishing Intent Tower arrived.

• Qu Xin gave Pei Ye a wooden Puppet, then used Guo You’s memories to stage Ziliang’s brief defeat by a mysterious opponent.
• Qu Xin determined that Guo You’s collapse had occurred after the fight and demonstrated that the Puppet’s gentler gestures could keep his emotions steady.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou reasoned that Guo You likely believed he had caused Ziliang’s defeat, and wondered whether Guo You had helped create the weakness that defeated the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft].
• Qu Xin treated Guo You’s Heart Wound and said Pei Ye could ask him about the Purple-Gold Body Bones.
• Li Xizhou waited for a reply from the Nourishing Intent Tower about the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft], and the Immortal Platform’s Soul Bird arrived shortly after the hour of the Rooster began.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou used Guo You’s memories and the Nourishing Intent Tower’s detailed plans to learn how the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] worked and identify its weak points. Li Xizhou then revealed that the Guo Family believed the Goddess of the Luo River ruled a vast Immortal Realm, and that Yu Sicheng and others might be trying to seize control of it.

• The Immortal Platform confirmed that the old blood belonged to the same lineage as Her Highness Jinyang, while a Nourishing Intent Tower expert reconstructed the [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft] from Pei Ye’s descriptions.
• Pei Ye questioned Guo You about the plans, and Guo You corrected them before admitting that he had kept something from Ziliang.
• Qu Xin stopped Pei Ye’s questions when Guo You became distressed, and Pei Ye inferred that the Qilin Flame had triggered a weakness Guo You had built into the floating raft.
• Guo You identified the fragment’s original position over the raft’s chest, then tearfully told Pei Ye to pay respects to the Goddess of the Luo River.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that the Guo Family believed the Goddess of the Luo River ruled the Immortal Realm and suggested Yu Sicheng’s faction sought control of that world.

Li Xizhou and Pei Ye discussed Guo You’s reconstruction of a classic and Pei Ye’s past battles as they prepared to face Yu Sicheng. The next day, Li Xizhou finished analyzing Guo You’s writing and invited Pei Ye to examine her deductions.

• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that Guo You was writing Seeking the Crossing on the Luo River from memory so they could investigate the Spirit Realm and Yu Sicheng.
• Pei Ye admitted he felt pressure about fighting Yu Sicheng and recalled earlier battles where he had feared losing, including his defeat by Qu Zhu.
• Pei Ye explained that Ming had helped him through past losses, while Li Xizhou listened and then left without explaining her reaction.
• Pei Ye spent the night practicing in the Mindscape Realm, then continued studying his diagram while Li Xizhou and Qu Xin read Guo You’s completed volumes.
• Li Xizhou summoned Pei Ye after finishing her analysis and offered to let him read her deductions for himself.

Li Xizhou explained the Guo family’s laws of the spirit realm, and Pei Ye used them to distinguish two ways of entering it and infer that the Goddess of the Luo River Palace was a separate, hidden realm from the Mirage Realm. The chapter ended with Pei Ye proposing that the two realms were separate in broad terms but connected as one in essence.

• Li Xizhou said the spirit realm had a master, changed with the world, and could exist only in water, then explained how dried waterways could preserve its images of the past.
• Li Xizhou described boundary markers as bridges and guardians that enabled entry through recognition or by rewriting the body, and Pei Ye connected those methods to Jiaozhu Powder and the [Azure Wind Envoys].
• Pei Ye distinguished natural recognition from bodily rewriting and concluded that the Goddess of the Luo River Wood Peach had given him freer passage through the spirit realm than Jiaozhu Powder did.
• Pei Ye argued that the Goddess of the Luo River Palace was a hidden, closed realm distinct from the Mirage Realm, explaining why Yu Sicheng’s efforts there had failed.
• Li Xizhou cited Seeking the Crossing on the Luo River, which said the realms were interconnected, and Pei Ye suggested they were separate in broad terms but one in essence.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou explored how the Mirage Realm and the Goddess of the Luo River Palace might be connected, while preparing to stop Yu Sicheng from obtaining what Li Xizhou’s mother left behind. After failing to find a Boundary Marker in the old Jade Hail Garden, Pei Ye concluded that Yu Sicheng might use the site and Scenic Pool to reach the palace.

• Pei Ye reasoned that the Goddess of the Luo River Palace was an independent Spirit Realm that could only be approached through the Mirage Realm, though he still lacked a way to enter the Mirage Realm at will.
• Li Xizhou said she believed her mother had left something for her in the Goddess of the Luo River Palace and insisted that the Yong and Yu families must not obtain it.
• Li Xizhou had Qu Xin trim Pei Ye’s hair and shave him before the next day’s private banquet.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou discussed whether the Qilin Flame could counter Yu Sicheng’s [Mercury Blossoms Floating Raft], and Pei Ye argued that its purifying, exalted properties made it a likely weakness.
• Pei Ye searched the old Jade Hail Garden for Mirage Realm Boundary Markers but found none, then deduced that Yu Sicheng might use the site and Scenic Pool to reach the Goddess of the Luo River Palace.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou deduced that Yu Sicheng needed to alter his body and open a water gate to enter the Goddess of the Luo River Palace, but they could not determine how he could open it. Pei Ye stopped Li Cannan from beating Meng'er and learned that Meng'er believed a secret passage held a way to wash the qilin blood from Li Xizhou; the chapter ended as palace legends about the Spirit Realm were described.

• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou traced the Mirage Realm’s waterway to a possible entrance to the Goddess of the Luo River Palace and concluded Yu Sicheng needed to change his body and open the water gate.
• Li Xizhou explained that she lacked enough capable allies to confront Yu Sicheng, and she and Pei Ye heard Li Cannan angrily berating someone near Qiongju Garden.
• Pei Ye stopped Li Cannan from striking Meng'er, and Li Xizhou ordered her to stop venting her temper before Li Cannan left.
• Meng'er explained that Li Cannan was upset over the marriage between Li Xizhou and Young Master Yong, then revealed that the Empress would approve it.
• Meng'er told Pei Ye she believed a secret passage contained a way to remove qilin blood from imperial children, and that she and Li Xizhou hoped to see snow in the north.