Chapter Summaries

Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe infiltrated Xiaoshan Fort to investigate its hidden cave and discovered a secret forge, where an elderly Linghu attacked them with a whip and a blazing sword blank. Ye Jingtang seized the blank, quenched it into a fine sword, and recognized his opponent as Senior Linghu.

• Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe rode to Xiaoshan Fort, where they learned martial contests were underway and planned to sneak in after dark.
• At Xiaoshan Fort, the Three-Perfection Immortal Elder and Linghu Rengang heard strange noises behind the patriarchs’ portraits while discussing Linghu Guanzhi.
• Fan Qinghe traced a hidden water channel to a passage beneath a storeroom, and she and Ye Jingtang followed it to a secret forge filled with weapons.
• An elderly man attacked Ye Jingtang with a black whip, and a blazing sword blank shot from the furnace, pierced his spear, and wounded his side.
• Ye Jingtang seized the hot sword blank and plunged it into the quenching oil, revealing a golden blade that cut through the old man’s whip.
• Ye Jingtang recognized the old man as Senior Linghu and praised his sword-forging skills and Yin-Yang Transformation Divine Art.

Ye Jingtang confronted Linghu Guanzhi over the completed pale-gold sword blank and Long Zhengqing’s whereabouts, then fought him when he refused to cooperate. After Linghu Guanzhi’s concealed sword attack nearly killed Ye Jingtang, Ye Jingtang struck him down, leaving the secret behind the forging unresolved.

• Linghu Guanzhi recalled how Long Zhengqing supplied forbidden treasures containing Dragon-Scale Stone, which he forged into a sword blank that had only transformed when Ye Jingtang sacrificed his prodigious potential.
• Ye Jingtang questioned Linghu Guanzhi about his recovered martial arts and Long Zhengqing, then ordered him to surrender the sword blank and come in for questioning.
• Linghu Guanzhi refused and fought Ye Jingtang barehanded, but Ye Jingtang quickly understood Yin-Yang Transformation and turned its techniques against him.
• Linghu Guanzhi drew a flexible sword hidden around his waist and attacked Ye Jingtang, who caught the blade and pierced Linghu Guanzhi’s chest with a Dragon-Qi Sword finger strike.
• Ye Jingtang left the mortally wounded Linghu Guanzhi behind and departed with Fan Qinghe, who carried the Chi Dragon Blade and the sword blank.

After leaving Xiaoshan Fort, Ye Jingtang stayed at an inn while Fan Qinghe tended his wound and examined the mysterious sword blank. He admitted his past advances toward her had not all been accidental, asked whether she liked him, and kissed her before she stopped him with a silver needle and left to keep watch.

• Jianghu rumors spread that Ye Jingtang had killed Linghu Guanzhi at Xiaoshan Fort with a single finger.
• Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe reached an inn, where he examined the sword blank while she treated his wound.
• Fan Qinghe speculated about the sword blank's origin as she bandaged Ye Jingtang, and the two exchanged flirtatious remarks.
• Ye Jingtang confessed that some earlier intimate encounters with Fan Qinghe had been deliberate and asked whether she liked him.
• Fan Qinghe hesitated to stab Ye Jingtang as he leaned in, and they kissed until she immobilized him with a silver needle.
• Fan Qinghe warned Ye Jingtang not to try anything else and left to keep watch; once she was gone, he pulled out the needle himself.

Fan Qinghe wrestled with her feelings after Ye Jingtang kissed her, while Perfected Person Xuanji arrived to warn him about Long Zhengqing’s challenge and tease him over his earlier behavior. The women ended up arguing next door as Ye Jingtang rested and prepared to face Long Zhengqing.

• Fan Qinghe watched a swift horse race past town, and Niao Niao drew its rider, Perfected Person Xuanji, back to the inn.
• Perfected Person Xuanji challenged Fan Qinghe over her relationship with Ye Jingtang, then explained that Long Zhengqing had issued him a duel at the Sea-Viewing Tower.
• Fan Qinghe told Perfected Person Xuanji that Ye Jingtang had killed Linghu Guanzhi at Xiaoshan Fort and taken the sword blank.
• Perfected Person Xuanji visited Ye Jingtang, who pretended to be immobilized, and teased him about his earlier treatment of her before he revealed he could move and kissed her.
• Ye Jingtang stopped short of punishing Perfected Person Xuanji and said he needed to recover before meeting Long Zhengqing.
• Perfected Person Xuanji went to Fan Qinghe’s room, where the two women argued and began wrestling while Ye Jingtang listened from next door.

Ye Jingtang left for Lin'an Commandery with Perfected Person Xuanji and Fan Qinghe to investigate the trouble at Sea-Viewing Tower, while Dongfang Liren met Hua Qingzhi in the capital before her departure for Northern Liang. Hua Qingzhi and Dongfang Liren exchanged parting gifts and left open the possibility of meeting again.

• Ye Jingtang heard that Long Zhengqing had publicly challenged him and considered how to make his flashes of inspiration into lasting progress toward a higher realm.
• Ye Jingtang found Perfected Person Xuanji and Fan Qinghe asleep together, then set out with them toward Sea-Viewing Tower after deciding his injuries could heal on the way.
• Dongfang Liren, lonely after spending weeks as regent, went to welcome Hua Qingzhi, who had come to say farewell before returning north with Assistant Minister Li.
• Dongfang Liren invited Hua Qingzhi to stay in Yun'an, but Hua Qingzhi said she had to leave and hinted that the man she admired already belonged to someone else.
• Dongfang Liren gave Hua Qingzhi the dagger Clear Crane, and Hua Qingzhi presented Dongfang Liren with a painting of the two of them playing chess beside Ye Jingtang.

Ye Jingtang and his companions arrived in Lin'an before heading to the Sea-Viewing Tower to face Long Zhengqing, and they gathered rumors about the challenge and the missing Left Xian King. The chapter ended with Ye Jingtang returning to the inn and teasing Perfected Person Xuanji, who had waited there for him.

• Ye Jingtang chose to rest in Lin'an for the night before traveling to the Sea-Viewing Tower the next morning.
• Perfected Person Xuanji sent Fan Qinghe out to ask around, and Ye Jingtang joined her as they explored the city and Eastern Mausoleum Harbor.
• Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe heard a rumor that the Left Xian King had disappeared for nearly two months after being beaten by Night Great Yama.
• Fan Qinghe speculated that the Left Xian King might be feigning illness, and Ye Jingtang decided to alert the Imperial Court to investigate.
• Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe found no sign of Long Zhengqing, then returned toward the inn separately from Perfected Person Xuanji.
• Ye Jingtang found Perfected Person Xuanji pretending to sleep in his room and teased her until she pleaded with him to be gentler.

Qiu Tianhe brought his young disciple to watch Ye Jingtang’s duel with Long Zhengqing, who appeared atop a pleasure boat and offered information about the Bright Deity Diagram in exchange for his sword. Long Zhengqing claimed the diagram was in Yanjing’s Imperial Study and said he had seen it himself, as he and Ye Jingtang prepared to fight.

• Qiu Tianhe recalled meeting Fengguancheng, whose overwhelming strike convinced him how far he stood from the pinnacle of the Martial Dao.
• Qiu Tianhe spotted Ye Jingtang’s arrival at the Sea-Viewing Tower and took his disciple to watch.
• Long Zhengqing leaped onto a pleasure boat with the Green-Fouled Sword, and Ye Jingtang joined him on its roof ridge.
• Long Zhengqing admitted ties to the Green Bandits and explained that they were information brokers serving opportunists rather than a unified rebellion.
• Ye Jingtang had Perfected Person Xuanji return Long Zhengqing’s sword, and Long Zhengqing revealed that the Bright Deity Diagram was in Yanjing’s Imperial Study.
• Long Zhengqing said he had infiltrated Yanjing’s Imperial City when he was young and seen the diagram himself.

Ye Jingtang fought Long Zhengqing in a storm over the sea, adapting to his opponent’s shifting weapons before killing him with the Sword Strip. After Long Zhengqing died, Ye Jingtang recovered his sunken Chi Dragon Blade while the stunned spectators and his companions reacted to the duel’s outcome.

• Long Zhengqing used the Bright Deity Diagram and his transforming Blade Whip to seize the initiative, wounding Ye Jingtang during their fierce exchanges.
• Ye Jingtang turned his cloak into a Soft Staff, entangled Long Zhengqing’s weapon, and forced the fight into close quarters, where Long Zhengqing attacked with twin Short Daggers.
• Ye Jingtang drove Long Zhengqing back with a knee strike, then drew the Sword Strip and cut through Long Zhengqing’s dagger and neck in their final exchange.
• Long Zhengqing acknowledged Ye Jingtang’s victory before dying in the sea, while Ye Jingtang wrapped away the Sword Strip and addressed the spectators.
• Ye Jingtang noticed Qiu Tianhe onshore and plunged into the sea to retrieve his Chi Dragon Blade as the crowd realized the duel was over.
• Fan Qinghe and Perfected Person Xuanji discussed Ye Jingtang’s martial skill aboard the Black-Awning Boat, then rowed toward him when his head emerged from the water.

After recovering from his fight with Long Zhengqing, Ye Jingtang reunited with Qiu Tianhe and watched him leave with his young disciple. Luo Ning and Xue Baijin arrived in Lin'an Commandery too late to find him, and Baijin planned to seek a northern opponent after the New Year.

• Perfected Person Xuanji warned Ye Jingtang that his unusual sword seemed to have darkened and began making it a scabbard.
• Fan Qinghe treated Ye Jingtang's wound, then left him with Perfected Person Xuanji, who consecrated the sword and tended to him.
• Ye Jingtang met Qiu Tianhe, who said he was traveling north with his disciple, and saw them off from the inn.
• Luo Ning and Xue Baijin heard reports of Ye Jingtang's victory and concluded that his sword was unlikely to be the Son of Heaven Sword.
• Xue Baijin said she wanted to test her saber against the Left Xian King, and Luo Ning persuaded her to wait until after the New Year.

Ye Jingtang reunited with Luo Ning at Eastern Mausoleum Wharf and accompanied her to her parents’ graves, where they pledged themselves to marry. Back at the inn, Perfected Person Xuanji negotiated with Xue Baijin over the Changqing Diagram, and Xue Baijin asked for Ye Jingtang to visit her room that night.

• Ye Jingtang recognized Luo Ning beside the river and joined her on the way to Eastern Mausoleum Manor.
• Luo Ning and Ye Jingtang visited her parents’ graves and exchanged marriage vows before them.
• Perfected Person Xuanji offered Xue Baijin access to the Imperial Court’s Dragon-Mingling Diagrams in exchange for the Changqing Diagram.
• Xue Baijin refused the offer unless the Empress exchanged all three diagrams, then asked Perfected Person Xuanji to send Ye Jingtang to her room that night.

After visiting Luo Ning’s parents’ graves, Ye Jingtang spent the night with Xue Baijin discussing the Sword Strip and the Dragon-Mingling Diagrams. He independently deduced a version of the Changqing Diagram that differed from the original, then left while Xue Baijin reconsidered what he had discovered.

• Ye Jingtang kissed Luo Ning in the bamboo grove, but she stopped him from going further and they returned to the inn.
• Luo Ning joined Shui'er and Fan Qinghe for drinks while Ye Jingtang went to meet Xue Baijin in her room.
• Xue Baijin examined Ye Jingtang’s Sword Strip and discussed the Martial Dao and its mysteries with him.
• Xue Baijin gave Ye Jingtang the Changqing Diagram and watched as he tried to deduce it from the other Dragon-Mingling Diagrams.
• Ye Jingtang said his deductions differed from the original because he believed his version suited his own circumstances, and Xue Baijin warned him against pursuing it recklessly.
• Ye Jingtang left with the Changqing Diagram, and Xue Baijin realized he had already gone before she could call him back.

Ye Jingtang spent the night with Luo Ning and Perfected Person Xuanji after tending his wounds, while Fan Qinghe helped wash his back. At the Duke's Manor, the Empress Dowager urged the Empress to find a confidant, then vanished when she heard that Ye Jingtang had returned.

• Ye Jingtang washed in the inn courtyard, and Fan Qinghe helped scrub his back before accidentally touching a sensitive spot and fleeing inside.
• Ye Jingtang joined Luo Ning and Perfected Person Xuanji in bed, and the three settled down together for the night.
• The Empress Dowager spoke with the Empress about her loneliness and suggested that she find a trusted male confidant.
• The Empress told the Empress Dowager that she could privately keep a confidant, then hinted that the Empress Dowager had grown livelier since the Northwest trip.
• Hongyu announced Ye Jingtang's return, and the Empress Dowager turned to find that the Empress had disappeared from behind the painting desk.

Ye Jingtang returned to Jiangzhou with his companions, reunited with his household, and visited the Empress. They discussed the Dragon-Mingling Diagram, the Changqing Diagram, and the missing Left Xian King before heading together to a poetry gathering on Wild Goose Street.

• Ye Jingtang and his companions arrived in Jiangzhou, where Xue Baijin parted ways with the group and headed to an inn with Luo Ning.
• Ye Jingtang returned to the Yuanqing Escort Agency and found Zhe Yunli cooking noodles for him at the Chen Family residence.
• Ye Jingtang carried Perfected Person Xuanji through an alley, where they unexpectedly encountered the Empress.
• The Empress examined Ye Jingtang's sword and discussed the Dragon-Mingling Diagram, the Changqing Diagram, and the missing Left Xian King with him.
• Ye Jingtang and the Empress walked toward the poetry gathering on Wild Goose Street, and she urged him to compose more lyrics.

During the New Year festivities in Jiangzhou, Ye Jingtang accompanied Yu Hu and later visited the Empress Dowager, who asked him to take her to Jade Void Mountain. He planned to leave the next day with Shui'er, then returned to Third Madam and spent the night with her.

• Xue Baijin heard Ye Jingtang and Yu Hu nearby, recognized the Empress, and led Luo Ning away to avoid a confrontation.
• Ye Jingtang escorted Yu Hu back to the Duke's Manor, then visited the Empress Dowager, who asked him to accompany her to Jade Void Mountain to fulfill an old vow.
• Ye Jingtang went to Shui'er's courtyard and invited her on the trip; she eagerly prepared to leave, but he persuaded her to wait until morning.
• Ye Jingtang returned to the Yuanqing Escort Agency and told Third Madam that Yu Hu had caught him and Shui'er together; Third Madam treated his wound and urged him to slow down.
• Third Madam finished tending to Ye Jingtang, then drew him close as he lowered the bed curtains.

Ye Jingtang traveled north from Jiangzhou with the Empress Dowager, Perfected Person Xuanji, and Hongyu while the Left Xian King prepared to guard the rare Snow Lake Flowers at Tianlang Lake. The group stopped for the night at Nameless Town, where Perfected Person Xuanji grew suspicious that the drunken Empress Dowager was concealing a secret.

• Niao Niao brought Ye Jingtang a sugar figurine that Yunli had sent him, and Ye Jingtang departed with the Empress Dowager, Hongyu, and Perfected Person Xuanji.
• The Left Xian King and Shi Daoyu inspected Snow Lake Forest and discussed the coming bloom, the danger of outsiders learning about it, and the possibility that Ye Jingtang might come to seize the flowers.
• Ye Jingtang's party reached Nameless Town after nightfall, and he settled the drunken Hongyu into her room before checking on the Empress Dowager and Perfected Person Xuanji.
• Ye Jingtang kissed Perfected Person Xuanji while the Empress Dowager lay asleep, then left them to rest.
• Perfected Person Xuanji tried to test the Empress Dowager's chest while she slept, but the Empress Dowager woke and pretended to misunderstand her intentions.

Ye Jingtang arrived at Jade Void Mountain with Perfected Person Xuanji, the Empress Dowager, Hongyu, and Niao Niao, then explored the temple while the women offered incense. In a bamboo grove, he met a young novice training under a mysterious master and struggled to cross a hundred and eight hanging leaves without disturbing them.

• Ye Jingtang and his companions traveled to Jade Void Mountain, where Perfected Person Xuanji pointed out her residence on Green Duckweed Peak and recalled childhood memories with the Empress Dowager.
• The group climbed to Jade Void Temple, and the Daoists recognized Perfected Person Xuanji as Martial Aunt Lu when she arrived.
• Perfected Person Xuanji took the Empress Dowager inside to offer incense while Ye Jingtang wandered around the temple with Niao Niao.
• Ye Jingtang heard someone practicing the Nine Palaces Step in a bamboo grove and met a young novice who explained that his master had set him the challenge of crossing without disturbing a hundred and eight hanging leaves.
• Ye Jingtang attempted the challenge twice, reaching only seven steps on his second try, and suspected the novice's absent master was Imperial Preceptor Lü Taiqing.
• The novice left for dinner, and Ye Jingtang stayed by the pool to practice again.

Perfected Person Xuanji reunited with her senior brother, Lü Taiqing, who knew of her planned marriage to Ye Jingtang and explained that Ye Jingtang was being trained to inherit the burden of protecting Great Wei. After a difficult night of practice, Ye Jingtang joined Xuanji at her temple, where they discussed their future and bathed together.

• Perfected Person Xuanji gave the Empress Dowager a fortune that said Hongyu's beloved was right before her eyes, then met Lü Taiqing outside the golden hall.
• Lü Taiqing told Perfected Person Xuanji that he had learned of her marriage plans and explained that Ye Jingtang might have to become Great Wei's next protector.
• Lü Taiqing said he was teaching Ye Jingtang to cross the Nine Palaces Eight Trigrams Formation, and Perfected Person Xuanji watched Ye Jingtang struggle with the plum-blossom stakes.
• Ye Jingtang practiced for hours, then left Jade Void Mountain and went to Perfected Person Xuanji's temple, where she told him her senior brother knew about their relationship.
• Ye Jingtang promised to take on the burden of protecting Great Wei, and Perfected Person Xuanji said he should wait to speak with Lü Taiqing until he was ready.
• Perfected Person Xuanji invited Ye Jingtang to keep watch while she bathed, but he joined her in the pool and massaged her.

The Empress Dowager discovered that Ye Jingtang and Shui'er had become lovers, then returned to find Perfected Person Xuanji with Ye Jingtang at the mountain pool. Meanwhile, Jia Shengzi and Cao Aning fled toward Pingyi City after Dǒulì Kè attacked their group, and they realized he was guarding a blooming Snow Lake Flower.

• The Empress Dowager followed sounds into the woods, found Ye Jingtang with a lipstick mark on his neck, and learned he had bathed with Shui'er.
• The Empress Dowager returned to the temple with Ye Jingtang, kissed him, and told him to send Shui'er to speak with her.
• Ye Jingtang returned to Perfected Person Xuanji at the pool, where she questioned him about Huaiyan before they stayed together.
• Jia Shengzi and Cao Aning debated how to explain their return to the Left Xian King as their group crossed Liaoyuan.
• Dǒulì Kè attacked the six White Owl Camp men, killed three, and pursued Cao Aning and Jia Shengzi until Xu Tianying drew him away.
• Jia Shengzi recognized Dǒulì Kè as likely Tian Wuliang and realized he was guarding the blooming Snow Lake Flower, then continued fleeing with Cao Aning toward Pingyi City.

After spending the night with Perfected Person Xuanji, Ye Jingtang went to Jade Void Temple to practice while Dongfang Liren learned that Cao Gonggong wanted to venture beyond the pass to retrieve Snow Lake Flowers. Dongfang Liren postponed a decision and ordered a letter sent to Ye Jingtang as she sought Chancellor Li’s counsel.

• The Empress Dowager found Perfected Person Xuanji exhausted after her night with Ye Jingtang, helped her into bed, and watched her fall asleep.
• Ye Jingtang reached Jade Void Temple and practiced alongside Huayang, who asked how long it would take to reach his level.
• Dongfang Liren arrived at Prince Jing’s Manor and learned that Cao Gonggong had requested an audience.
• Cao Gonggong explained that Snow Lake Flowers might bloom again after sixty years and volunteered to go beyond the pass to bring them back for Great Wei.
• Dongfang Liren declined to decide immediately, ordered Meng Jiao to write Ye Jingtang about Cao Gonggong’s plan, and sent Shang Jianli to invite Chancellor Li.

Ye Jingtang completed the Plum Blossom Stakes training and received a letter from Silly with official reports and news from the capital. He left the mountain with the Empress Dowager, Perfected Person Xuanji, and Hongyu, heading toward Jiangzhou before the New Year.

• Ye Jingtang spent half a month balancing internal cultivation with the Plum Blossom Stakes and finally crossed them with effortless control, then demonstrated a precise saber strike to Huayang.
• The Empress Dowager brought Ye Jingtang a letter from the capital; he read Black Bureau reports and Silly’s personal letter about family matters and people in the capital.
• Ye Jingtang said farewell to Huayang and prepared to leave the mountain with the Empress Dowager and Perfected Person Xuanji.
• As the group packed, the Empress Dowager carved a keepsake into a bamboo stalk, and the travelers discussed Ye Jingtang’s New Year’s Eve birthday.
• On the carriage ride down the mountain, Perfected Person Xuanji teased the Empress Dowager and Ye Jingtang, while Hongyu drove and Niao Niao watched the snowfall.