Chapter Summaries

Mu Yunsheng followed Hua Junchen in hopes of obtaining the Snow Lake Flower, while Ye Jingtang escorted Hua Qingzhi to a chess club match. On the way, three burglars ambushed them for the flower, but Ye Jingtang swiftly knocked them unconscious and continued toward the club.

• Mu Yunsheng learned that Hua Junchen was staying at Myriad Treasures Tower and decided to follow him to assess his strength.
• Ye Jingtang bought rabbit heads for Niao Niao, then escorted Hua Qingzhi from the Imperial Academy toward the chess club.
• Hua Qingzhi arranged for Hua Ning and the other guards to escort Wang Jiwen home, leaving Ye Jingtang alone with her.
• As Ye Jingtang pushed Hua Qingzhi through a secluded path in the plum grove, the Three Heroes of Mang Mountain demanded the Snow Lake Flower.
• Ye Jingtang distracted the three burglars with a copper coin, kicked dirt into their faces, and knocked them unconscious before continuing to the chess club.

Li Chong and Wang Jiwen’s matchmaking schemes were interrupted when Hua Junchen left Duke Li’s Manor after arguing with Wang Chongning and was ambushed in an alley. Ye Jingtang revealed himself as the Night Great Fiend, killed Mu Yunsheng and Ke Yu, and left Hua Junchen stunned by his true identity.

• Li Chong and Wang Jiwen discussed arranging more dangers to bring Hua Qingzhi and Ye Jingtang closer, but the housekeeper summoned them to Duke Li’s Manor after Hua Junchen killed two people outside.
• Ye Jingtang accompanied Hua Qingzhi to fetch Hua Junchen, who had argued with Wang Chongning at Duke Li’s banquet and left in anger.
• Hua Junchen and Ye Jingtang entered an alley, where Mu Yunsheng and Ke Yu attacked them and demanded information about immortal pills in the Imperial Court’s Forbidden Ground.
• Hua Junchen failed to stop Mu Yunsheng’s copper-coin attacks, but Ye Jingtang caught one between his fingers and revealed his identity as the Night Great Fiend.
• Ye Jingtang killed Ke Yu and defeated Mu Yunsheng with the Green-Fouled Sword while Hua Junchen watched in shock.

Ye Jingtang killed Mu Yunsheng and used Hua Junchen’s Swarming Bee Sword techniques to make the witnesses believe Hua had won the fight. Meanwhile, Xue Baijin’s group learned that Hua Junchen had supposedly slain Mu Yunsheng and reconsidered their plan to question him about the imitation Heavenly Lang Pearl.

• Ye Jingtang killed Mu Yunsheng and his companion, then hid behind Hua Junchen when people approached.
• Hua Junchen claimed responsibility for the fight after Ye Jingtang’s sword marks convinced the onlookers that he had used the Swarming Bee Sword to defeat Mu Yunsheng.
• Lu Xingjun and the gathered martial artists praised Hua Junchen for killing Mu Yunsheng, while Ye Jingtang took Hua and Hua Qingzhi away from the scene.
• Xue Baijin, Luo Ning, and Qiu Tianhe discussed paying the Azure Dragon Society thirty thousand taels for information about the imitation Heavenly Lang Pearl and considered approaching Hua Junchen instead.
• Gangzi reported that Hua Junchen had slain Mu Yunsheng, leading Xue Baijin to warn Qiu Tianhe against approaching Hua and to reconsider how they could obtain the information.

Hua Junchen accepted Ye Jingtang’s presence in the Hua Family after mistaking him for Hua Qingzhi’s lover, while Hua Qingzhi passed a tribute box of Freeze-Age Cream to Ye Jingtang. Zhe Yunli used the cream and was drugged with Dreamlike Illusion Powder, and Ye Jingtang discovered the cream’s effects before taking Fan Qinghe to the bedroom.

• Hua Qingzhi offered to distance the Hua Family from Ye Jingtang, but Hua Junchen told her to judge the matter herself and did not send Ye away.
• Hua Qingzhi gave Ye Jingtang a box of Freeze-Age Cream that Wang Jiwen had delivered as an apology from Vice Minister Wang.
• Fan Qinghe and Zhe Yunli discussed clothes and cosmetics, and Zhe Yunli applied the Freeze-Age Cream after Ye Jingtang gave it to her.
• Zhe Yunli began seeing bizarre illusions and groped Ye Jingtang before Fan Qinghe identified the drug as Dreamlike Illusion Powder and treated her with a needle.
• Fan Qinghe found the drug in the Freeze-Age Cream, and Ye Jingtang tested it before drawing her into the bedroom to counteract its effects.

Ye Jingtang received the Azure Dragon Society’s map and plan for entering the palace during the Grain Rain sacrifice, then returned home and began teaching Hua Junchen swordsmanship. The chapter ended with Hua Junchen repeatedly getting struck down as Hua Qingzhi and the others watched.

• Ye Jingtang met Liu, learned that he could enter the palace through the Empress Dowager’s private route on the night of the Grain Rain sacrifice, and received a map to Mingle Palace.
• Hua Qingzhi asked Ye Jingtang about noises she had heard, and he blamed Niao Niao for making trouble on the roof.
• Ye Jingtang caught Hua Junchen’s enormous stone barbell with one hand, revealing his extraordinary strength.
• Ye Jingtang explained martial arts cultivation to Hua Junchen and offered to spar with him so he could improve.
• Hua Junchen attacked with his sword, but Ye Jingtang repeatedly struck his ankle and fingers with a twig while Hua Qingzhi, Yunli, Fan Qinghe, Green Pearl, and Niao Niao watched.

Ye Jingtang trained Hua Junchen and shared a meal with the Hua family before Wang Jiwen visited with a story about Dreamlike Illusion Powder. Meanwhile, Xue Baijin and Qiu Tianhe learned that Xing Baisheng’s accomplices planned to distract Jade Water Forest while he searched the Imperial Palace for the Dragon-Mingling Diagram, and they decided to use the resulting chaos to target Zhongsun Jin and the Immortal Elixir.

• Ye Jingtang treated Hua Junchen’s bruises after training him, and Hua Junchen lamented that Ye Jingtang would soon leave.
• Hua Qingzhi tried wine for the first time and coughed, while Ye Jingtang hurried to comfort her.
• Wang Jiwen visited Hua Qingzhi and claimed his attendant had delivered Dreamlike Illusion Powder by mistake, then described its effects before leaving.
• Xue Baijin overheard a group planning to use Fire Crows to distract Jade Water Forest while Xing Baisheng stole the Dragon-Mingling Diagram from the Imperial Palace.
• Qiu Tianhe identified Xing Baisheng as the Painted-Face Fox, and Xue Baijin decided to use the planned disturbance to infiltrate Jade Water Forest and seek the Immortal Elixir.

Ye Jingtang infiltrated Mingle Palace to search the Liang Emperor’s bedchamber for the Dragon-Mingling Diagram, taking the saber Red Fox along the way. He found no diagram and discovered another thief inside the palace, so he left the bedchamber to investigate.

• Ye Jingtang said farewell to Hua Qingzhi before preparing to enter the Imperial City, while Eunuch Xu summoned Hua Junchen to guard Jade Water Forest.
• Ye Jingtang slipped into the palace through Changyang Gate after the Imperial Guards changed shifts and avoided detection as he crossed the Eastern City.
• Ye Jingtang overheard Eunuch Yin teaching Cao Aning about palace patrols, then entered Mingle Palace and stole the saber Red Fox from the Liang Emperor’s treasure pavilion.
• Ye Jingtang searched the Liang Emperor’s bedchamber for the Dragon-Mingling Diagram and found hidden assignments written by the Crown Prince, but no sign of the diagram.
• Ye Jingtang spotted a black-clad intruder evade the eunuchs’ patrols and enter a side hall, then left the bedchamber to investigate the fellow thief.

Ye Jingtang followed a burglar into the Liang Emperor’s hidden chamber and secured the Bright Deity Diagram, then carried the unconscious thief out of the palace. He left the burglar near the Empress Dowager and escaped Palace City as she found him.

• Ye Jingtang watched Xing Baisheng open the secret chamber’s complicated lock and enter to search for the Bright Deity Diagram.
• Ye Jingtang startled Xing Baisheng, caught the jade box, and stopped him from shutting the iron door while they hid from the guards.
• Ye Jingtang showed Xing Baisheng the diagram, but Xing Baisheng tried to escape with it and leave Ye Jingtang to distract the guards.
• Ye Jingtang caught Xing Baisheng, knocked him unconscious, and carried him out of the library with the diagram.
• Ye Jingtang recognized the Empress Dowager searching for Xing Baisheng, left the unconscious burglar by her covered gallery, and slipped away as she found him.

Ye Jingtang stole the Dragon-Mingling Diagram from the palace and headed toward Jade Water Forest with Fan Qinghe and Zhe Yunli. As an attack threw the manor into chaos, Hua Junchen boldly announced his presence, deterring the would-be infiltrators just as Xue Baijin spotted Niao Niao approaching from the capital.

• Ye Jingtang escaped the palace with the Dragon-Mingling Diagram after encountering a burglar, whom he sent back toward the Empress Dowager's palace to draw attention away from the theft.
• Ye Jingtang, Fan Qinghe, and Zhe Yunli set out for Jade Water Forest, while Xue Baijin, Qiu Tianhe, and Luo Ning watched the manor and the Dragon King discussed the situation with Jiang Han on a boat.
• The Dragon King and Jiang Han spotted figures on the riverbank, and attackers launched three Fire Crows that dropped explosives into Jade Water Forest.
• Hua Junchen leaped onto the manor wall and shouted his challenge, causing the gathered martial artists to hold back; Zhongsun Jin watched from a rooftop.
• Xue Baijin considered withdrawing rather than risk confronting Hua Junchen and Zhongsun Jin, then noticed Niao Niao flying toward them from Yanjing Capital City.

Xue Baijin drew Zhongsun Jin and the Imperial Guards into negotiations outside Jade Water Forest while Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe slipped into the manor to search for the Immortal Elixir. They reached the Buddhist hall and prepared to enter the hidden alchemy chamber, with Ye Jingtang planning to distract Zhongsun Jin if needed.

• Xue Baijin arrived at Jade Water Forest and identified herself to Hua Junchen and Zhongsun Jin.
• Xue Baijin negotiated with Zhongsun Jin for an Immortal Elixir, asking about rewards and the relocation of her people from Southern Skies Mountain.
• Ye Jingtang entered the manor from the rear with Fan Qinghe while Xue Baijin kept the experts occupied outside.
• Fan Qinghe spotted Thousand Mechanisms Sect warning insects and guided Ye Jingtang around the manor's traps to the Buddhist hall.
• Ye Jingtang silently subdued two medicine masters, and Fan Qinghe found footsteps beneath the golden Buddha.
• Ye Jingtang told Fan Qinghe to open the alchemy chamber and search for the Immortal Elixir or its recipe while he went to help Xue Baijin hold off Zhongsun Jin.

Ye Jingtang and Fan Qinghe broke into the Medicine Workshop beneath the golden Buddha to search for Snow Lake Flower, pills, and their formula, while Xue Baijin stalled Zhongsun Jin outside. After escaping the trapped Buddha hall and clashing with Zhongsun Jin’s tricks, Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin withdrew with Fan Qinghe into the mountain ridges, carrying the medicine and documents they had found.

• Fan Qinghe identified the golden Buddha’s entrance mechanism, and Ye Jingtang forced the statue aside and knocked out the Medicine Masters with stone fragments.
• The anti-theft mechanism sealed Ye Jingtang inside the Buddha hall, but he tore through its reinforced wall while Fan Qinghe searched the Alchemy Room.
• Xue Baijin fought Zhongsun Jin outside as Eunuch Xu and the other experts headed for the Buddha hall, and Hua Junchen accepted Li Guangxian’s saber before pursuing other intruders.
• Ye Jingtang joined Xue Baijin against Zhongsun Jin, but his black mist, concealed weapons, and traps thwarted their attacks.
• Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin abandoned the fight and rushed back to the Buddha hall, where Fan Qinghe emerged carrying Snow Lake Flower and the papers she had gathered.
• Ye Jingtang, Xue Baijin, and Fan Qinghe escaped into the mountain ridges.

Ye Jingtang and his companions escaped Jade Water Forest with Snow Lake Flower ingredients and papers, while Zhongsun Jin’s forces secured the damaged compound and waited for the Imperial Preceptor. Back in Yanjing, the city went under curfew, and Xue Baijin treated Ye Jingtang’s leg wounds with painfully potent medicine as they hid from the patrols.

• Niao Niao guided Luo Ning and Zhe Yunli to meet Ye Jingtang, Xue Baijin, Fan Qinghe, and Qiu Tianhe as they escaped through the woods.
• Fan Qinghe reported that she had stolen two boxes of Snow Lake Flower and papers from the Alchemy Room, and Ye Jingtang led the group toward the Capital City.
• Hua Junchen and Li Guangxian drove off the fleeing outlaws, while Zhongsun Jin confirmed that only medicinal ingredients had been lost and decided to remain at Jade Water Forest.
• Yanjing imposed a curfew and sent officers to search houses after the disturbance at Jade Water Forest, while Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin watched the patrols from a dark alley.
• Xue Baijin bandaged Ye Jingtang’s calf wounds with her painful homemade medicine, and he went inside to rest while she continued keeping watch.

Ye Jingtang reunited with Luo Ning and Fan Qinghe after escaping the city’s soldiers, then returned secretly to the Hua Residence. There, Hua Qingzhi inhaled Dreamlike Illusion Powder, mistook him for a figure from her painting, and kissed him before falling asleep.

• Ye Jingtang returned to the hideout with a leg injured by Fan Qinghe’s medicine, and Luo Ning and Fan Qinghe treated him while discussing where the group could stay.
• Fan Qinghe suggested the Hua Residence as a temporary refuge, and Ye Jingtang decided to check with Hua Qingzhi first.
• Lonely after Ye Jingtang left, Hua Qingzhi took Dreamlike Illusion Powder and saw the man in her painting come to life, teasing her with almost-kisses.
• Ye Jingtang returned to the Hua Residence and found Hua Qingzhi wheeling around her room in frustration.
• Hua Qingzhi grabbed Ye Jingtang, demanded a kiss, and kissed his cheek three times while believing he was the figure from her painting.
• Ye Jingtang realized Hua Qingzhi had taken Dreamlike Illusion Powder and fled outside when she began undressing; Hua Qingzhi went to bed, convinced he had disappeared again.

Ye Jingtang practiced the Bright Deity Diagram while Hua Qingzhi slept off the drug, then faced her mortification when she woke and realized she had kissed him. He shared the diagram with Xue Baijin and reunited with Luo Ning and Fan Qinghe for the night, while Xue Baijin’s enhanced senses picked up sounds throughout the residence.

• Ye Jingtang studied the Bright Deity Diagram and practiced it beneath Hua Qingzhi’s window, sharpening his hearing and awareness.
• Hua Qingzhi woke, discovered Ye Jingtang was real, and fainted from embarrassment after realizing she had kissed him; he comforted her and wiped off her lip print.
• Ye Jingtang showed Xue Baijin the Bright Deity Diagram, and she accepted it to study despite worrying about the favor she owed him.
• Ye Jingtang joined Luo Ning and Fan Qinghe in bed, and the three began an intimate encounter.
• Xue Baijin practiced the diagram and heard the couple through the wall, then used her heightened senses to detect others awake around the residence.
• Xue Baijin tapped Zhe Yunli twice in the chest before Yunli could call out, and Yunli fell back asleep.

Ye Jingtang stayed in the Capital City after stealing the Bright Deity Diagram and learned that the Imperial Preceptor was in seclusion while a pill was being prepared for Eunuch Ziliang. Far away, the Empress and her allies learned he was still in Yanjing and ordered their agents to help him escape without issuing reckless orders.

• Ye Jingtang spoke with Xue Baijin after a sleepless night, then visited Hua Qingzhi, who remained embarrassed about their kiss and went to school with him.
• Hua Junchen returned to the Capital City, learned Ye Jingtang had not left, and warned him that the Imperial Preceptor was in seclusion and Jade Water Forest planned to give its pill to Eunuch Ziliang.
• Hua Junchen refused to look at the stolen Bright Deity Diagram, while Ye Jingtang said he would finish his business in the next few days.
• At Jingjie City, the Empress reviewed the Border Army as Great Wei and Northern Liang prepared for a possible war, while Perfected Person Xuanji and Dongfang Liren worried about Ye Jingtang.
• The White-Haired Truth-Listener reported that Ye Jingtang had stolen the Bright Deity Diagram, joined the Sky-Pacifying Sect Master at Jade Water Forest, and remained in Yanjing after failing to seize the pill formula.
• Dongfang Liren persuaded the Empress not to issue distant orders, and the Empress directed her agents to help Ye Jingtang escape and arrange a meeting at the border.

Ye Jingtang learned that Xiang Hanshi might soon emerge from his transformation, so he and Xue Baijin planned another attempt at Jade Water Forest and arranged for their companions to leave the capital. He told Hua Qingzhi he would soon depart, and she found a legitimate way to return to Chengtian Prefecture with her guards and maids.

• Ye Jingtang met Cao Aning outside the Twelve Offices, learned the Empress Dowager had framed Eunuch Yin for the Bright Deity Diagram’s theft, and heard that Xiang Hanshi might soon leave Immortal Seclusion Peak.
• Ye Jingtang and Cao Aning agreed that Ye Jingtang should make another attempt at Jade Water Forest before Xiang Hanshi returned.
• Ye Jingtang met Xue Baijin and Niao Niao outside the Rabbit Head Shop, and Xue Baijin proposed sending Ning'er and the others to Chengtian Prefecture while she accompanied Ye Jingtang to Jade Water Forest.
• Ye Jingtang told Xue Baijin to prepare their companions to leave, then hurried to the Imperial Academy when classes ended.
• Ye Jingtang told Hua Qingzhi he might leave in a couple of days, and Hua Qingzhi offered to obtain leave to return to Chengtian Prefecture with her guards and maids.

Ye Jingtang left Hua Qingzhi’s convoy and joined Xue Baijin to attack Jade Water Forest, while the Liang Emperor and Crown Prince discussed the Southern Dynasty’s military plans. The chapter ended as Ye Jingtang’s spear tore through the forest’s defenses and triggered the garden’s mechanisms.

• Ye Jingtang saw Hua Qingzhi’s convoy safely out of the capital, then stayed behind to meet Xue Baijin and prepare for their operation.
• Xue Baijin reported that Jade Water Forest was guarded by formations and mechanisms, and Ye Jingtang equipped himself with a spear and infiltration gear.
• The Liang Emperor questioned the Crown Prince about whether the Southern Dynasty Empress planned to wage war, then explained why she might fight to secure her power.
• The Liang Emperor and his attendants saw a blaze rise near Jade Water Forest after hearing a distant explosion.
• Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin approached Jade Water Forest, and Ye Jingtang unleashed his spear to rip open a path through the woods and trigger the defenses.

Ye Jingtang raided Jade Water Forest to seize the Elixir Recipe, breaking through its outer defenses and confronting Zhongsun Jin’s traps. He was caught between two armored fighters and an unseen sword strike as the battle escalated.

• Zhongsun Jin, Eunuch Xu, and Protector Song discussed the fortifications and the need to keep the pills from Ye Jingtang.
• Ye Jingtang blasted through Jade Water Forest’s White High Wall, forcing the guards and senior eunuchs to prepare for his attack.
• Zhongsun Jin revealed the Elixir Recipe and challenged Ye Jingtang to take it, while the others withdrew into their positions in the Demon-Slaying Grand Formation.
• Zhongsun Jin sent the armored Chen Chao and Feng Yu to attack Ye Jingtang through the smoke, and Ye Jingtang dodged their opening strikes.
• Ye Jingtang scattered the smoke, escaped a burst of fierce-fire oil, and blocked the armored men’s hammer blows as their combined force bent his spear.
• An unseen sword strike appeared behind Ye Jingtang while the armored men pinned him in place.

Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin fought Zhongsun Jin and his controlled armored soldiers inside the Thousand Mechanisms Sect Manor. Ye Jingtang copied Zhongsun Jin’s method of discharging internal force, broke Zhongsun Jin’s ankle, and left the injured master fleeing through the Manor as a powerful enemy approached.

• Xue Baijin and Ye Jingtang attacked Zhongsun Jin, who used black mist, chains, and controlled armored soldiers to counter them.
• Ye Jingtang seized an armored soldier’s hammer and used it to knock the soldiers aside while Zhongsun Jin avoided his heavy strikes.
• Ye Jingtang copied Zhongsun Jin’s force-discharging technique during their fight and used it to launch a knee strike that sent Zhongsun Jin flying.
• Xue Baijin destroyed the corridor pillars, preventing Zhongsun Jin from using his golden thread to escape, and Ye Jingtang grabbed him in midair and broke his ankle with a leg lock.
• Xue Baijin struck the injured Zhongsun Jin through a wall, forcing him to flee through the Manor while triggering mechanisms and concealed weapons.
• Ye Jingtang warned that a powerful enemy was approaching, and Xue Baijin caught her mace and fled beyond the Manor’s perimeter.

After escaping the battle at Jade Water Forest with Zhongsun Jin’s pill and alchemy records, Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin hid in a riverboat to recover. Niao Niao warned them that Xiang Hanshi had caught up, so they fled south without turning to fight.

• Xiang Hanshi arrived at the Buddhist Hall, found Zhongsun Jin badly injured and dispirited, and pursued Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin into the rain.
• Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin inspected the stolen pill and alchemy records aboard a hidden boat, then treated their injuries while discussing Zhongsun Jin’s techniques.
• Xue Baijin asked Ye Jingtang for two pills in return for her help, and Ye Jingtang agreed before massaging her arm.
• Niao Niao warned Ye Jingtang and Xue Baijin of an approaching threat, prompting them to flee as the boat was destroyed.
• Ye Jingtang recognized Xiang Hanshi on a distant hill and led Xue Baijin south to avoid another fight.