Chapter Summaries

Pei Ye followed the blood trail to find Li Xizhou trapped in a mountain hollow, barely holding back Yong Ji’s Scale Demons with a water curtain. As Yong Ji prepared to kill her, Pei Ye approached through the enemy ranks and confronted him through the Western Court.

• Pei Ye found the bloodied rock where Yong Ji had speared and dragged Li Xizhou, then followed her blood trail toward the gathered Scale Demons.
• Pei Ye reached the mountain and saw Yong Ji commanding the Scale Demons as they surrounded Li Xizhou’s hollow.
• Yong Ji taunted the wounded Li Xizhou and ordered her to surrender the True Blood before the Spirit Realm vanished.
• Pei Ye made a sharp wooden spear while recalling his anger and concern over Li Xizhou’s disappearance and ordeal.
• Yong Ji sensed Pei Ye, entered the Western Court, and asked whether Pei Ye had regretted his earlier choice.

Pei Ye battled Yong Ji in the Spirit Realm, where Yong Ji’s water authority overwhelmed Pei Ye’s flames and left him exposed to a final attack. Li Xizhou pulled Pei Ye to safety with Merfolk Silk, and he reunited with her behind a curtain of reverse-flowing water.

• Pei Ye attacked Yong Ji and drove his spear through Yong Ji’s chest, but Yong Ji broke the shaft and counterattacked.
• Pei Ye traded sword strikes with Yong Ji, then used his stored true qi and the Fire-Flow Profound Robe to unleash flames.
• Yong Ji invoked the Mirage Water Spirit Realm and used his authority over water to suppress Pei Ye’s flames.
• Pei Ye used Clear Mirror to challenge Yong Ji’s control, but a monk appeared as the world fell dark around him.
• Li Xizhou seized Pei Ye’s wrist and pulled him away through a stream of water.
• Pei Ye reunited with Li Xizhou, who explained that Merfolk Silk formed a reverse-flowing water barrier against the Scale Demons.

Pei Ye found Li Xizhou gravely wounded in the Mirage Realm after fighting Yong Ji and General Chan, and the two confronted their anger, trust, and friendship. Li Xizhou revealed that she had obtained the mirage dragon true blood but had kept it unused, then began asking Pei Ye about their “Swinging Rope.”

• Li Xizhou explained that General Chan was a powerful Sky Tower who could not summon help into the Mirage Realm, and that Yong Ji controlled its boundaries through [White Water].
• Pei Ye channeled true qi into Li Xizhou’s injuries and promised to get her out, while she told him the Immortal Platform could not enter the realm.
• Pei Ye admitted he felt she treated him as a sword rather than a confidant, and Li Xizhou challenged him on whether she was only a friend to him.
• Li Xizhou explained that she had planned their escape and that Yong Ji and General Chan had already lost once she obtained mirage dragon true blood.
• Li Xizhou said she had not used the true blood because doing so would make her successor to the Water Lord’s throne, then asked Pei Ye whether he had read “Hanging High on the Branch in March.”

Li Xizhou told Pei Ye how Zhao Baibi tried to save Li Yao from Heaven’s Will and why she planned to use the Mirage-Qilin Knot to oppose Qilin. She entrusted Pei Ye with the mirage dragon true blood and asked him to join her path, and he accepted it.

• Li Xizhou recounted how Li Yao grew obedient to Heaven’s Will after becoming emperor, while Zhao Baibi pursued reforms and sought to save him.
• Li Xizhou explained that Zhao Baibi created the Mirage-Qilin Knot from her Mirage Blood and Qilin Blood, then died after Li Yao failed to answer her final invitation.
• Li Xizhou said Pei Ye could use the mirage dragon true blood to reclaim [White Water] from Yong Ji and pursue the Immortal Authority needed to kill the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord.
• Li Xizhou revealed that she intended to weave her Qilin Blood into the Mirage-Qilin Knot so she could oppose Qilin and inherit the throne to protect her siblings and empire.
• Li Xizhou entrusted Pei Ye with the mirage dragon true blood and told him she wanted them to walk the same path together.
• Pei Ye took the mirage dragon true blood, and it flowed into his body through his skin.

Pei Ye confronted Li Xizhou for binding the Mirage-Qilin Knot without discussing it with him, then agreed to an alliance based on their shared goals and mutual obligations. After forgiving her and kissing her, he listened as she acknowledged her mistakes and asked how she should have told him about entering the Mirage Realm.

• Pei Ye told Li Xizhou that her trust moved him but that he was angry she had assumed he would accept the knot without consulting him.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou agreed to help each other pursue their goals: killing the Supreme One True Dragon Immortal Lord and Qilin.
• Li Xizhou embraced Pei Ye and used two clay pigs to ease the tension, and Pei Ye said he forgave her.
• Pei Ye kissed Li Xizhou, and she accepted his affection while asking him not to bite her again.
• Li Xizhou explained why she had acted alone and admitted she was unused to sharing plans or respecting boundaries with someone close to her.
• Pei Ye said he had felt pressured by her growing expectations, and Li Xizhou asked how she should have told him she was entering the Mirage Realm.

Pei Ye fought through the Scale Demons outside the curtain of water and discovered that Mirage Blood let him move and sense the underwater world with extraordinary ease. As Endowed Fortune rapidly grew from the spring water, he realized it might keep growing by consuming the Scale Demons and returned inside the shelter.

• Pei Ye left the curtain of water and fought the surrounding Scale Demons, using Blazing Fire Flow to break free when they pinned him against a wall.
• Pei Ye sensed that Mirage Blood connected him to the water, creatures, and landscape, letting him evade the Scale Demons and defeat them with ease.
• Pei Ye absorbed the sweet spring water released by slain Scale Demons, allowing Endowed Fortune to recover and grow to the peak of Eighth Growth.
• Pei Ye noticed Endowed Fortune still eagerly sought more spring water and recalled that the Immortal Lord had once advanced the Divine Seed by consuming Spirit Bodies.
• Pei Ye saw that the largest Scale Demons had been taken away by Yong Ji and his companion, then turned back through the curtain of water instead of pursuing the remaining demons.

Li Xizhou wove Merfolk Silk and prepared to trade places with Pei Ye, who said he might reach ninth growth by eating larger Scale Demons. Meanwhile, Yong Ji considered why Pei Ye had entered the sealed Mirage Realm and recognized that Li Xizhou had stirred a powerful force within it.

• Pei Ye drove off the Scale Demons while Li Xizhou wove Merfolk Silk and added her own Mirage Blood to it.
• Pei Ye asked whether his messages through [Heartbinding · Knowing Intent] had reached Li Xizhou, and she explained that she had been in another world near the Mirage Dragon's bones.
• Pei Ye told Li Xizhou he might reach ninth growth by eating larger Scale Demons, and she agreed to keep it in mind.
• After sixteen hours, Li Xizhou stood and offered to trade places with Pei Ye.
• Yong Ji wondered why Pei Ye had entered the sealed Mirage Realm and reflected on Li Xizhou's unexpected actions and ability to move within it.
• Yong Ji realized that the Mirage Realm itself was a force he had overlooked, and that Li Xizhou had stirred it.

Li Xizhou trapped Yong Ji inside a Merfolk Hall so Pei Ye could fight him again, while Monk remained outside with her. In the Divine Capital, Li Jian arranged for Li He and another swordsman to deal with the underwater threat; the chapter ended with Li Xizhou surrounded by demons as Pei Ye discovered he could steal the White Water within Yong Ji.

• Li Xizhou used Merfolk Silk to seal Yong Ji inside a Merfolk Hall and keep Monk outside.
• Pei Ye entered the hall and fought Yong Ji, using improved control in the water to land blows.
• Yong Ji realized Pei Ye was stealing the White Water inside his body.
• Black Cat questioned Li Jian about the response to the underwater General Chan, and Li Jian said he had sent two swords.
• Li He arrived at the empty boat and met a woman in a red dress before heading into the water.
• Monk remained outside the Merfolk Hall as several great demons surrounded Li Xizhou.

Pei Ye used Mirage Dragon True Blood to fight Yong Ji for control of [White Water], while Li Xizhou forced General Chan to choose whether to intervene in their battle. Yong Ji unleashed [White Water] to overwhelm Pei Ye, but Pei Ye invoked the Immortal name Fire Official Yanbo, leaving the battle's outcome uncertain.

• Li Xizhou revealed that the Merfolk Palace came from her mother and challenged General Chan to choose while her Merfolk Silk held back the collapsing world.
• Pei Ye battered Yong Ji for twenty exchanges, and Yong Ji realized Pei Ye possessed Mirage Dragon True Blood.
• Li Xizhou explained that she had sought Mirage Dragon True Blood in the Mirage Realm and forced General Chan to consider the risk of intervening in the Merfolk Palace.
• General Chan raised his hand after weighing his choices, and Pei Ye was swept away by Yong Ji's [White Water] Illusory Lord's Seat.
• Pei Ye connected Mirage Dragon True Blood to the Merfolk Palace and invoked the name Fire Official Yanbo.

After the Mirage Realm accepted its new sovereign and returned to the present world, General Chan fought Li He’s Ghost Realm and encountered Li Tishui, who held him at swordpoint. He then remembered that he had parted from a bloodied woman less than fifteen minutes earlier, though he had nearly forgotten her.

• The Mirage Realm completed the Water Lord Ascension Ceremony and began reconnecting with the present world, trapping General Chan amid the lonely souls.
• Li He confronted General Chan with his Ghost Realm, but General Chan’s Golden Body let him fight through it and escape onto the lake.
• General Chan met Jinyang on a boat, but she revealed herself as Li Tishui and cut through his saber with Xianghuang.
• Li He emerged from the water as Li Tishui held her sword at General Chan’s neck.
• A bloodied woman in white appeared on the boat, and General Chan remembered that he had parted from her less than a quarter of an hour earlier.

After passing Li Xizhou’s test, Pei Ye became the Mirage Realm’s new Water Lord and toured his domain with her. They set out to deal with the rampaging great Scale Demons, finding the Great Water Hui attacking a turtle in the northern waters.

• Li Xizhou spared General Chan, who agreed to go to the Immortal Platform and seek a way forward, while the Sword Masters took him away.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou returned to the Mirage Realm, where Pei Ye learned that the Water Masters would be reborn as guardians of his borders.
• Pei Ye discovered that he could enter and govern the Mirage Realm, command its waters, and influence its Scale Demons.
• Li Xizhou led Pei Ye through the Dragon Lake region and explained that the great Scale Demons had to be killed because they continued slaughtering the realm’s inhabitants.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou encountered the Great Water Hui at the northern edge of the realm as it cracked open a great turtle’s shell.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou hunted the three rebel Scale Demons in the Mirage Realm, where Pei Ye fed Endowed Fortune and learned why the realm had chosen him as its Water Lord. He killed the great softshell turtle and began absorbing it, leaving Endowed Fortune on the verge of another breakthrough.

• Pei Ye bound and killed the Water Hui, then absorbed its flesh and blood to feed Endowed Fortune.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou explored the Mirage Realm, encountered a white Spirit Rhinoceros, and discovered that Pei Ye had eaten the horn Li Xizhou gave him.
• Li Xizhou explained that the Mirage Realm wanted a Water Lord who could connect it to the mortal world, and that Pei Ye's ties to the realm had made it choose him.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou discussed Yong Ji, and Pei Ye resolved to become strong enough to kill him while they waited to see how the King of Yan's Residence responded.
• Pei Ye found and killed the great softshell turtle, then absorbed its blood, flesh, and shell as Endowed Fortune gulped it down.

Pei Ye broke through to ninth growth, while Li Xizhou said farewell to the Mirage Realm and gave him the last of her Mirage Blood. As she and Pei Ye shared their grief and memories, she revealed that Yue Muzhou had called Pei Ye his beloved disciple and successor.

• Pei Ye's meridians doubled to five hundred and twelve, and Endowed Fortune rebuilt them as he advanced to ninth growth.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou returned to the Mirage Dragon's head and discussed how she wanted her Merfolk Palace decorated.
• Li Xizhou gave Pei Ye the last portion of Mirage Blood and said she would not return to the Mirage Realm.
• Pei Ye comforted Li Xizhou, telling her that shared paths, not blood, connected people.
• Li Xizhou asked whether Pei Ye regretted failing to kill Yong Ji, and Pei Ye admitted he had wanted to follow Yue Muzhou's path.
• Li Xizhou told Pei Ye that Yue Muzhou had called him his beloved disciple and successor, and recalled how Yue Muzhou praised him in their letters.

Pei Ye and Li Xizhou shared an intimate reconciliation in the Mirage Realm before planning their next steps, and Pei Ye left to report for duty at the Immortal Platform. After the rain cleared over the Divine Capital, Zhu Gaoyang came to pick him up and teased him about Li Xizhou.

• Li Xizhou showed Pei Ye Yue Muzhou’s final message entrusting him to her and reassured him that Yue Muzhou had loved him regardless of whether he avenged him.
• Pei Ye and Li Xizhou discussed his heartfelt messages, admitted their affection, and kissed in the Mirage Realm.
• Li Xizhou planned to return to Vermilion Mirror Hall while Pei Ye planned to report to the Immortal Platform and resume sword practice at the Sword Cultivation Academy.
• Pei Ye asked Li Xizhou to arrange introductions to the [Xianghuang] and [Flying Light] Sword Masters, and warned her to keep people out of the old Bright Moon hall and Scenic Pool.
• The rain stopped over the Divine Capital, and Pei Ye waited by Dragon Lake after Li Xizhou returned to the palace.
• Zhu Gaoyang arrived on horseback to take Pei Ye to the Immortal Platform and suggested that Li Xizhou might not hold him in her heart.

Pei Ye returned to the Divine Capital, reported the linked cases to Zhang Siche, and met Li Jian to discuss Yong Ji, the Western Court’s Immortal Authority, and Fate Hounds. Li Jian explained the plan to capture Yong Ji, while Pei Ye described the limits of his fire abilities and began explaining the power of [Fire Official Yanbo].

• Pei Ye and Zhu Gaoyang rode into the Divine Capital, where visitors gathered for the Feather-Scale Trial and few people recognized Pei Ye.
• Pei Ye reported the Floodwaters Envoy, Mirage City, and [White Water] cases to Zhang Siche, who said resolving them would qualify him for the 'Yi' rank.
• Zhang Siche sent Pei Ye to meet Li Jian and called Zhu Gaoyang into the office, leaving Zhu looking pale.
• Li Jian told Pei Ye that the Immortal Platform planned to kill Yong Ji and keep his corpse in the Divine Capital, using General Chan's testimony as leverage.
• Pei Ye described how Star-Guard form amplified his control of fire and explained that his ordinary flames were limited against powerful Profound Gate opponents.
• When Li Jian asked about [Fire Official Yanbo], Pei Ye said it was a sea of fire in himself.

Pei Ye learned how his Divine Name and immortal authority worked, agreed to join [Fate Hounds], and returned to the Sword Cultivation Academy. He reunited with Yan Feiqing and Yang Zhenbing, settled their courtyard dispute, and resumed lessons on Daoist Sword.

• Li Jian explained that Pei Ye's Divine Name [Fire Official Yanbo] helped him wield immortal authority, and said he would grant him the White Water name in summer.
• Li Jian warned Pei Ye to delay lighting [Shi Shen]'s Temple, advised him to light the Zui Star Temple first, and invited him to his first [Fate Hounds] gathering in three days.
• Pei Ye returned to the Sword Cultivation Academy and found Yan Feiqing and Yang Zhenbing arguing over whether he had been expelled from their courtyard.
• Yang Zhenbing took Little Cat into his room, and Pei Ye prevented Yan Feiqing from drawing his sword and kept the two from fighting.
• Pei Ye let Little Cat stay with Yang Zhenbing overnight, then joined him for breakfast and a lesson on Daoist Sword.

Pei Ye returned to the Sword Cultivation Academy, learned that the Kunlun Sunlit Palace had been provoking the academy’s students, and sought out Jiang Yiner before her sword trial. He gave her a white-cat jade pendant and promised she would not have to face danger alone.

• Pei Ye reunited with Ning Shuhong and Wang Shousi, who told him that Jiang Yiner had arranged a sword trial with the Kunlun Sunlit Palace after its swordsmen injured Zhang Chao and challenged the academy.
• Pei Ye asked Yang Zhenbing why he would not fight and promised him a night with Little Cat whenever he helped Jiang Yiner while Pei Ye was away.
• Pei Ye found Jiang Yiner practicing alone and gave her a beautiful pendant carved in the shape of a white cat.
• Jiang Yiner told Pei Ye that she was struggling to learn the second form of “Phoenix Soars,” and he encouraged her by comparing her progress with his own.
• When Jiang Yiner said she could endure the hardships Pei Ye had faced, he smacked her head and insisted that she did not have to do so while he was there; she laughed and thanked him.

Jiang Yiner prepared to face Chen Mishuang of the Kunlun Sunlit Palace, and Pei Ye advised her to meet his aggressive swordsmanship with equal resolve. The duel began with Chen Mishuang unleashing a blinding, fiercely lethal attack, leaving the crowd to watch how Jiang Yiner would respond.

• Jiang Yiner told Pei Ye she had challenged Chen Mishuang after he injured Zhang Chao and asked for advice on mastering the second form of 'Phoenix Soars.'
• Pei Ye urged Jiang Yiner to clash swords with Chen Mishuang instead of trying to dismantle his attacks, arguing that his confidence depended on others fearing his ruthlessness.
• Pei Ye and Jiang Yiner arrived at the Sword Field, where Chen Mishuang provoked Jiang Yiner and the visiting Sunlit Palace disciples exchanged matches with the academy's swordsmen.
• Jiang Yiner challenged Chen Mishuang and demanded that he apologize to Zhang Chao if she won.
• Chen Mishuang drew [Seize the Sun] and attacked Jiang Yiner with a fast, blazing form of 'Six Blades Cut the Sun.'

Jiang Yiner defeated Chen Mishuang by risking a fatal wound, then challenged Xu Wensang’s defense of Yannri Palace. Pei Ye stepped in to face Xu Wensang, and the Sword Field recognized him as the legendary swordsman ranked third on the Teal List.

• Jiang Yiner endured Chen Mishuang’s strike and forced him to abandon his attack, then disarmed him and wounded his shoulder.
• Jiang Yiner rebuked Xu Wensang for accusing her of fighting unfairly and argued that Chen Mishuang had bullied Zhang Chao with his lethal swordsmanship.
• Xu Wensang offered to fight Jiang Yiner with one arm bound, but Pei Ye called her back and accepted the challenge himself.
• Pei Ye insulted Yannri Palace and introduced himself as Pei Ye of Fenghuai, prompting the Sword Field to recognize his name.
• Xu Wensang recalled that Pei Ye had been ranked third on the Teal List, and Pei Ye entered the field as the Sword Talents watched eagerly.

Pei Ye defeated Xu Wensang with one strike, then spent the afternoon sparring with the Sword Talents and discussing swordsmanship with Jiang Yiner. He encouraged her to pursue the Sword Dao without fixating on victory, but she realized she had disobeyed her master's warning and worried about being punished.

• Xu Wensang challenged Pei Ye, who defeated him with [Clouded Sky Obscures Eyes, Lost Feathers] without moving from his spot.
• The people from Yannri Palace left after Xu Wensang praised the Sword Cultivation Academy, and Pei Ye sparred with several Sword Talents during the afternoon's studies.
• Wen Zheng invited Pei Ye to visit Mount Hua's lodgings, but he declined and went with Jiang Yiner to practice at Sword Field C6.
• Jiang Yiner explained how Pei Ye's sword-dueling method had changed her understanding of victory, defeat, and combat, and Pei Ye advised her to focus on her Sword Dao.
• Jiang Yiner remembered that her master had warned her not to contend in bravery and ferocity, and Pei Ye suggested they conceal her mistake.