Chapter Summaries

Wu Yunhai argued that the Wu Lineage should avoid committing to the hunt for Zuo Xiaoduo and wait for events to unfold. At the Gao Lineage, Gao Qiao'er opposed the bounty and urged the elders to protect their future by befriending Zuo Xiaoduo, whose influence could anchor a powerful network.

• Wu Yunhai said the Wu Lineage had almost no chance of killing Zuo Xiaoduo while the entire Underground World hunted him, and the elders agreed to hold their positions without deciding what to do if they captured him.
• Gao Qiao'er opposed killing Zuo Xiaoduo or joining the bounty, noting that the Gao Lineage had previously approached him to make friends.
• Gao Qiao'er praised Zuo Xiaoduo's personality, talent, and perseverance, and warned that attacking him could bring ruin because of the powerful figures and institutions supporting him.
• Gao Qiao'er argued that Zuo Xiaoduo could unite students from two Hidden Dragon High Martial intakes and build a far-reaching circle of influence across the Jianghu, business, politics, and the frontiers.
• The Gao Lineage elders listened and nodded as Gao Qiao'er warned that their lineage might miss the chance to join Zuo Xiaoduo's growing network.

Gao Qiao’er argued that the Gao Lineage should rescue Zuo Xiaoduo rather than take advantage of the bounty to kill him, because earning his trust could secure their younger generation a place in his inner circle. Her proposal left the Lineage’s elders and senior figures deep in thought.

• Gao Qiao’er explained that Class One kept outsiders from approaching Zuo Xiaoduo because they already treated him as their core and feared sharing his influence and future gains.
• Gao Qiao’er warned that attacking Zuo Xiaoduo would destroy the Gao Lineage’s chance to enter his circle, even if he survived and returned.
• Gao Qiao’er urged the Gao Lineage to rescue Zuo Xiaoduo and have some of their people die for him, turning their past feud into a favor he would remember.
• Gao Qiao’er argued that the ancestral residence should be left aside and might pay a heavy price, while the Gao Lineage’s succession remained uncertain.
• The Gao Lineage’s elders and senior figures were moved by Gao Qiao’er’s argument and fell into deep thought.

The Gao Lineage weighed Gao Qiao'er’s assessment of Zuo Xiaoduo and decided that his future importance outweighed their desire for revenge. The chapter ended with Gao Yu and Gao Panyun privately grieving Gao Yan'er and Gao Ping'er while acknowledging how their upbringing had left them unprepared for danger.

• Gao Lineage disciples agreed that Gao Qiao'er had not exaggerated Zuo Xiaoduo’s ability and significance.
• Gao Panyun warned that supporting Zuo Xiaoduo could mean a bloody path for those who followed him, and Gao Qiao'er said they were willing to take that risk.
• Gao Yu accepted Gao Qiao'er’s reasoning despite his grief over his daughters’ deaths.
• Gao Panyun ordered the dispatched men to protect Zuo Xiaoduo at any cost, and the lineage members agreed to remember Gao Yu’s sacrifice.
• Gao Panyun and Gao Yu spoke privately about their grief and reflected on how Gao Yan'er and Gao Ping'er had been spoiled and sheltered.

Gao Panyun convinced Gao Yu that the Gao Lineage had to stand with Zuo Xiaoduo, and named Gao Qiao'er as his preferred successor. At the Star Radiance Mountain Range, Gao and Wu Lineage members received secret calls, leaving their leaders with different expressions.

• Gao Panyun told Gao Yu that the Gao Lineage had committed itself to Zuo Xiaoduo and that Gao Yu could not become the next lineage head.
• Gao Yu agreed to relinquish his position once the situation stabilized, and Gao Panyun said he favored Gao Qiao'er as the next head.
• Gao Panyun warned Gao Yu that the Gao Lineage must not scheme to place Gao Qiao'er in Zuo Xiaoduo's bed, lest it provoke powerful enemies.
• Gao Panyun went with Gao Yu to help explain their decision to Gao Yu's wife, while Gao Yu's resentment toward his father faded.
• Gao and Wu Lineage members at the Star Radiance Mountain Range received calls, and their leaders spoke privately before asking each other what their lineages had arranged.

Zuo Xiaoduo traveled through the ambush zone under the protection of Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, and Star, who captured attackers and searched for the Witch Alliance member behind the trap. When four powerful assassins attacked him, Moon intervened and recognized them as the ones who had ambushed Vice Principal Liu.

• The Gao Lineage man left with his people after hinting that his lineage had made a clear decision, while the Wu Lineage man remained uncertain about his own orders.
• Zuo Xiaoduo moved cautiously through the area as Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, and Star captured attackers and questioned them about their origins.
• Heaven reported that they had caught an assassin from the Upper Capital Wei Family, and Moon told the others to keep prioritizing the Witch Alliance member who had set the trap.
• Four attackers ambushed Zuo Xiaoduo near an ironwood forest, and residual force from their attack sent him tumbling backward.
• Moon fought the four attackers alone and recognized them as the group that had ambushed Vice Principal Liu.

Yue Venerable and Star Venerable captured four men who had intercepted Vice Principal Liu, while Zuo Xiaoduo fled to the ruined Snake Valley and found Hanging Ghost and Drowning Ghost there. The two ghosts recognized him and, delighted by the encounter, prepared to seize their unexpected prize.

• Yue Venerable defeated four men and captured them, while Star Venerable stopped the one who tried to escape and kill himself.
• Yue Venerable and Star Venerable discussed their captured targets and learned that Ri had pursued the fleeing Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Zuo Xiaoduo reached the devastated Snake Valley and noticed that his chest pain and internal injuries had mostly healed.
• Hanging Ghost and Drowning Ghost met Zuo Xiaoduo after plundering Snake Valley, and Hanging Ghost recognized him with delight.

Zuo Xiaoduo fled from the Two Ghosts of Yellow Springs, but the Sun Venerable intervened and captured both cultivators. The Sun Venerable began treating Drowning Ghost, though he sensed something was wrong.

• Zuo Xiaoduo tried to escape the Two Ghosts of Yellow Springs, and Drowning Ghost lunged to seize him.
• The Sun Venerable appeared, pierced Drowning Ghost’s hand with the Sun Wheel, shattered his meridians, and dislocated his jaw.
• The Sun Venerable fought Hanging Ghost, severed both his legs, and shattered his cultivation while keeping him alive.
• Hanging Ghost recalled the brothers’ oath and the people they had killed, then gave up hope.
• The Sun Venerable hauled Drowning Ghost over and sensed that something was not quite right.

Zuo Xiaoduo kept collecting Space Rings while relying on his five bodyguards, but a difficult fight with an Infant Transformation cultivator showed him that powerful opponents could match his unusual cultivation. Meanwhile, Tian Wujiang finally spotted Zuo Xiaoduo after searching for him relentlessly.

• Zuo Xiaoduo stole Drowning Ghost's Space Ring and celebrated having collected 488 rings.
• Zuo Xiaoduo planned to have Li Chenglong organize the rings and grew bolder because his bodyguards could protect him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo struggled against an Infant Transformation cultivator whose compressed True Essence made him far stronger than expected, and won only after using his swordsmanship, divine weapon, and hidden weapons.
• Tian Wujiang traveled in secrecy, distrusting everyone he encountered while searching for Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Tian Wujiang spotted Zuo Xiaoduo's bald head and rejoiced at finally finding him.

Tian Wujiang ambushed Zuo Xiaoduo, but the Sun Venerable intervened and left him alive. Zuo Xiaoduo took Tian Wujiang’s Space Ring, while the Sun Venerable began to suspect Zuo Xiaoduo was connected to a legendary figure.

• Little Dragon warned Zuo Xiaoduo that an expert was hiding ahead, and the Sun Venerable used his Divine Sense to identify Tian Wujiang in ambush.
• Tian Wujiang charged at Zuo Xiaoduo, but the Sun Venerable struck him into a cliff and decided to spare his life for Gu Qianfan’s students.
• Zuo Xiaoduo took Tian Wujiang’s Space Ring and left him unconscious, despite Tian Wujiang’s silent protests.
• The Sun Venerable studied Zuo Xiaoduo and suspected he resembled the descendant of a legendary figure, but he dared not ask about his identity.
• After Zuo Xiaoduo and the Sun Venerable left, Tian Wujiang woke and guessed that Gu Qianfan was why the Sun Venerable had spared him.

Hidden Dragon High Martial and Shuicheng First High School searched the Star Radiance Mountain Range for Zuo Xiaoduo while he stayed out of their reach, and Qin Fangyang fought his way into the mountains. The search party then mistook movement beneath a rubble mound for a Heavenly Material or Earthly Treasure emerging.

• Sun Moon Star and the others kept Zuo Xiaoduo away from the search party so he could continue making a fortune with his bodyguards.
• Qin Fangyang entered the Star Radiance Mountain Range and killed several groups of Bounty Hunters as he headed toward the Three Demon Kings' valleys.
• Ye Changqing and the others failed to find Zuo Xiaoduo, and they suspected he was deliberately hiding from them.
• Wen Xingtian and the search party noticed the ground heaving beneath rubble and formed a circle around it.
• Wen Xingtian told everyone the disturbance might mean a Heavenly Material or Earthly Treasure was breaking free underground, and the mound rose higher as they watched.

The Four Swords of the Kingly Way recovered from the Centipede King’s poison underground and struggled to dig their way out. They learned that the fourth brother had failed to retrieve the Space Rings, leaving them injured, empty-handed, and still trapped.

• The Four Swords of the Kingly Way spent days purging the Centipede King’s venom and slowly recovering underground.
• The four brothers began digging upward, taking turns because their strength was nearly spent.
• The third brother asked the fourth brother to search the Space Rings for healing supplies, but the fourth brother admitted he had grabbed only dirt.
• The fourth brother explained that the ground collapsed when he reached for the rings, and the venom struck while he was distracted.
• The four brothers lamented their failed mission, then traded dirty jokes and resumed digging with renewed energy.

Ye Changqing and the others watched as four exhausted men emerged from underground, only to discover they were the Four Swords of the Kingly Way, Ye Changqing’s mortal enemies. The two sides recognized each other, leaving the Four Swords trapped face-to-face with the man they had ambushed.

• The Four Swords of the Kingly Way struggled toward the surface, eager to escape and recover from their injuries.
• Wen Xingtian and the others noticed voices coming from beneath the bulging ground as a wounded hand reached out.
• Ye Changqing lifted away the stones and helped all four men climb out.
• The Four Swords thanked their rescuers before recognizing Ye Changqing’s voice and realizing who had saved them.
• Ye Changqing recognized the Four Swords of the Kingly Way as the men who had ambushed him, and both sides froze in shock.

Ye Changqing recognized the Four Swords of the Kingly Way as the men who had attacked him decades earlier, and Wen Xingtian captured them. The chapter explained how the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan had been designed to expose the Witch Alliance’s spies and corrupt officials, leaving Hidden Dragon High Martial as bait.

• Wen Xingtian recognized the Four Swords of the Kingly Way as the four men who had gravely injured Ye Changqing decades earlier.
• Ye Changqing confronted the Four Swords of the Kingly Way and revealed that he knew they were the Golden Dragon Four Baleful Fiends.
• Wen Xingtian crippled the four men, treated their wounds, and ordered them taken to join the other prisoners.
• Ye Changqing reflected that the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan had reached its moment of reckoning and wished Yun Feng were still alive.
• The chapter explained that Minister Ding and Minister Nan had begun the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan after the Cloud High Martial spy scandal failed to seriously damage the Witch Alliance.
• Ye Changqing had left Hidden Dragon High Martial vulnerable so corrupt Star Soul officials and Witch Alliance agents would be drawn in and exposed.

The higher-ups prepared to end the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan before the Royal Family’s affairs could destroy Hidden Dragon High Martial. As Zuo Xiaoduo fought off bounty hunters, the Gao Lineage of Fenghai arrived claiming they had come to protect him, leaving him unsure whether to trust them.

• The chapter recounted how Zuo Xiaoduo’s involvement had exposed hidden schemes and transformed the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan, prompting the higher-ups to bring it to an end.
• Zuo Xiaoduo fought a group of Jianghu people who had spotted him, while Sun Moon Star and the others let him handle the attackers himself.
• Eight people from the Gao Lineage of Fenghai rushed in and announced that they had been sent to protect Zuo Xiaoduo.
• Zuo Xiaoduo recalled his past with Gao Qiao’er and Gao Chengxiang and wondered whether the Gao Lineage truly meant to help him.
• Zuo Xiaoduo and the Gao Lineage fighters killed the attackers, then each group collected its own spoils.

Zuo Xiaoduo fought alongside the Fenghai Gao Lineage while remaining wary of their intentions, and the Sun Venerable advised him not to trust them. When the Gao Lineage leader revealed that their attackers belonged to the Upper Capital Gao Lineage, the Sun Venerable launched a sudden assault.

• The Fenghai Gao Lineage leader warned Zuo Xiaoduo to watch out for the Wu Lineage before his group moved ahead to scout.
• The Sun Venerable learned that Zuo Xiaoduo had killed two Gao Lineage twins and urged him to remain cautious.
• The Fenghai Gao Lineage helped Zuo Xiaoduo through two battles, suffering one death and three severe injuries.
• When more than a dozen enemies overwhelmed the group, Zuo Xiaoduo refused to leave the Gao Lineage behind.
• The Gao Lineage leader identified the attackers as members of the Upper Capital Gao Lineage, and the Sun Venerable sent more than twenty clones to strike them.

Yue Venerable subdued the attackers, and the Gao Lineage group showed goodwill toward Zuo Xiaoduo before leaving. Over the following seven days, Zuo Xiaoduo gathered more than nine hundred Space Rings and listened to Sun Venerable’s advice on trust, friendship, and strength.

• Yue Venerable knocked down and carried away the attackers while Zuo Xiaoduo gave the wounded Gao Lineage members medicine.
• The Gao Lineage leader explained that their lineage head had ordered them to protect Zuo Xiaoduo, and the seven injured members departed.
• Sun Venerable warned Zuo Xiaoduo to remain cautious and not accept the Gao Lineage until their sincerity was proven.
• Over seven days of fighting and probing, Zuo Xiaoduo’s collection of Space Rings grew past nine hundred, mostly from enemies Sun Venerable had killed.
• Sun Venerable told Zuo Xiaoduo to value sincere brothers while building his own strength, and Zuo Xiaoduo promised to remember his lessons.

Zuo Xiaoduo and the people from Hidden Dragon High Martial survived the fighting in the Star Radiance Mountain Range, while the Sun Venerable and his allies oversaw the capture of several implicated lineages. The group returned safely to Fenghai City, and the Sun Venerable’s companions wondered why his attitude toward Zuo Xiaoduo had changed.

• The Wu Lineage’s people held their positions as Zuo Xiaoduo disappeared, while the Sun Venerable reported that the Wu, Wei, Gao, and Lü Lineages and others had been captured.
• The Sun Venerable let Zuo Xiaoduo reunite with Hidden Dragon High Martial, whose people had escaped the fighting without injuries and gained plentiful spoils.
• Ye Changqing and the others beat and scolded Zuo Xiaoduo before leading him and the group out of the Star Radiance Mountain Range.
• Three days later, Hidden Dragon High Martial and Zuo Xiaoduo left the range, and four days after that they returned to Fenghai City.
• The Sun Venerable’s group watched everyone enter Hidden Dragon High Martial, then divided up, with some returning to report and the others placing the mountain range under military control.
• The Yue Venerable asked the Sun Venerable why his attitude had changed, and the Sun Venerable teased him instead of explaining.

Upper Capital faced a sweeping crackdown after the city’s network went down and signs pointed to an imminent battle. Minister Nan and the Crown Prince ordered arrests across the Flame Martial Empire as they pursued the conspirators behind the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan and Xiu’er’s blood debt.

• Minister Nan ordered the arrest of the Gao Lineage, Wu Lineage, Wei Family, and Lü Lineage, demanding that they be taken alive where possible and their communications investigated.
• The Crown Prince personally stamped arrest warrants with the imperial jade seal and vowed to avenge Xiu’er by finding the mastermind behind the Hidden Dragon Ascension Plan.
• Minister Nan placed Upper Capital under special-grade lockdown and ordered military control and arrests throughout the Flame Martial Empire.
• Minister Nan threatened soldiers who let suspects escape with punishment for their entire families, while spies’ relatives were added to the Nine Heavens Pavilion’s kill list.

The Gao Lineage faced imminent arrest after its escape tunnels were destroyed, while the Wei Family gathered in its ancestral hall and relied on its ancestors’ wartime sacrifices for a chance at leniency. Soldiers preparing to arrest the Wei Family saluted its martyrs and declared that they would carry out their orders without disrespecting the dead.

• The Gao patriarch realized Master Bai’s walnut divination had warned him that the Gao Lineage could not withstand the coming crackdown.
• Soldiers stormed the Gao ancestral residence, and officials connected to the Gao faction were taken into custody across the country.
• Arresting forces found the Wei Family kneeling together in its ancestral hall among statues honoring generations of fallen warriors.
• The soldiers hesitated before the ancestral hall, moved by the sight of the Wei Family’s martyrs.
• Military officers ordered the soldiers to salute the ancestors and explained that they had come to arrest the Wei Family descendants under orders.

Minister Nan oversaw the arrest of several prominent lineages in Upper Capital and spent the night paying tribute to his fallen comrades. The next day, an urgent report from Hidden Dragon High Martial revealed that suspects in two old crimes had been caught, prompting the Crown Prince to react in shock.

• Soldiers arrested every member of the Wei Family, the Wu Lineage, the Lü Lineage, and other prominent lineages, while leaving their ancestors' honored belongings untouched.
• Minister Nan ordered the arrested lineages held in the Ministry of Finance courtyard and spent the night drinking and mourning with the heroic spirits in their ancestral halls.
• After network communications were restored, the Crown Prince met with Minister Nan on the emperor's behalf.
• An adjutant reported that Hidden Dragon High Martial had caught the murderer who brutalized Vice Principal Cheng's granddaughters and the four culprits who ambushed Principal Ye Changqing.
• The Crown Prince sprang to his feet, bloodshot-eyed, and exclaimed in shock.