Chapter Summaries

Xie Jinhuan brought Nangong Ye medicine and a ceramic xun, then played music while Nangong Ye struggled with the Yang Poison and reconsidered his boundaries. Nangong Ye agreed to repay Xie Jinhuan for saving him, and Xie Jinhuan ended up holding him while continuing to play as Ye Hongshang joined them.

• Xie Jinhuan visited Nangong Ye with medicine and promised that a friend would prepare a cure within three to five days.
• Xie Jinhuan gave Nangong Ye a ceramic xun and played “Love of a Lifetime” while using icy Qi to cool his Yang Poison.
• Ye Hongshang danced provocatively to compete for Xie Jinhuan’s attention as Nangong Ye wrestled with his feelings and principles.
• Nangong Ye covered his eyes and offered to repay Xie Jinhuan for saving him, moving close beside him.
• Xie Jinhuan pulled the blindfolded Nangong Ye into his arms and continued playing while Ye Hongshang nestled against him.

Xie Jinhuan received the Dragon and Tiger Vitality Pill from Lin Zisu and took it despite fears about its side effects. Its immense power knocked him unconscious, and he was expected to sleep for half a month, leaving little time before the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum crisis.

• Nangong Ye told Xie Jinhuan that they were even after repaying his earlier favor, and Xie Jinhuan left, promising to return the next day.
• Xie Jinhuan returned to the Lin Household and watched Lin Zisu finish refining the Dragon and Tiger Vitality Pill, stopping Coal Ball from biting it.
• Lin Zisu assured Xie Jinhuan the pill was safe, while Lin Wanyi warned that any side effects would likely be embarrassing rather than dangerous.
• Xie Jinhuan swallowed the pill, and its surging medicinal power overwhelmed his weak Divine Sense and made him collapse unconscious.
• Lin Zisu examined Xie Jinhuan and said he would wake in about half a month, while the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum was due to erupt in roughly eleven days and fourteen hours.

Nangong Ye secretly helped Xie Jinhuan suppress his Yang Poison while Xie Jinhuan recovered in seclusion, and the chapter followed the political changes in the Capital City during his recovery. After Xie Jinhuan received a marquis title and the Daoist and Buddhist factions began openly competing, Nangong Ye returned to find him missing.

• Nangong Ye found Xie Jinhuan unconscious at the Lin Residence and secretly clasped his hand to use his icy Qi to suppress the Yang Poison.
• Over the following days, Nangong Ye repeatedly visited Xie Jinhuan, sometimes putting Qingmo or the eldest Miss Lin to sleep when they were nearby.
• Emperor Qian issued an edict revealing the case against the He Clan and granted Xie Jinhuan the title of Danyang County Marquis, a fief, and the Demon-Suppressing Order.
• Monk Wuxin, Lu Wuzhen, and Wu Jing took up new posts as Daoist and Buddhist factions began confronting one another openly in Jingzhao Prefecture.
• Nangong Ye noticed Emperor Qian's health worsening, while the Pill King visited the Capital City and beat his heir at the Prince's Manor.
• On the eighth day of the ninth month, Nangong Ye returned to the Lin Residence and found Xie Jinhuan gone, with the eldest Miss Lin asleep in his bed.

After taking the Dragon and Tiger Vitality Pill, Xie Jinhuan raced to the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum to seal it before Ye Hongshang was trapped inside. As the sealing formation stirred his buried memories, he chose to pull the Zhenglun Sword free and open the tomb instead.

• Xie Jinhuan woke after ten days of sleep, learned Ye Hongshang had only hours before the tomb sealed, and hurried toward Purple Emblem Mountain with Coal Ball and A Piao.
• Zhang Guan and A Cai saw a flash of lightning and storm clouds gather over Purple Emblem Mountain as the Boar King waited in the rain.
• Xie Jinhuan subdued the Boar King, rode him to the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum, and used the Zhenglun Sword to activate its sealing formation.
• Ye Hongshang kissed Xie Jinhuan before fading into the tomb, and he began restoring the formation while the chains rattled around the coffin.
• After taking the Dao Progress Surge Pill, Xie Jinhuan recalled fragments suggesting he had shared a life with Ye Hongshang and decided to free her rather than keep the tomb sealed.
• Xie Jinhuan pulled the Zhenglun Sword from the Demon-Suppressing Coffin, and red light swallowed him.

A young man and his father were ambushed on Three-Fork Ridge by a spear-wielding killer who sought to silence the father over what he had seen in the Imperial Palace. A Golden-Armored Divine Being saved them, sent the young man south to seek a mysterious being, and promised to make him a king if he returned alive; after a year of hardship and a perilous voyage, he sank into the sea at the End of the World.

• A cloaked spear-wielder attacked the traveling party, and the wounded middle-aged official revealed that he had seen He Man and He Hai sneaking through the Imperial Palace’s rear mountain with someone who might have been the Crown Prince.
• The white-robed boy fought the spear-wielder with his Heavenly Gang Mace, and his strange right eye froze the attacker as a Golden-Armored Divine Being arrived and destroyed him.
• The Golden-Armored Divine Being took the boy’s father away, gave the boy back his mace, healed his wounds, and told him to head south; she promised to watch over his family and make him a king if he met the being and returned alive.
• After killing Little White Horse to end its suffering, the boy vowed revenge on the He Household and traveled south with the Black Eagle, surviving by robbing martial thugs and fighting fiends.
• The boy reached Phoenix Harbor, stole a boat, and sailed south for two months before a storm wrecked it and left him stranded at the End of the World.
• The boy gave his remaining food to Little Black Eagle, then was overturned by a towering wave and sank into the sea.

The chapter revealed that Ye Hongshang had trained Xie Jinhuan for two years in an illusion realm before erasing his memories and sending him back to the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum. Watching him choose to save her again despite forgetting their time together, she stayed by his side as a wandering ghost and sealed away her own memories so they could share an ordinary life.

• Xie Jinhuan washed ashore after crossing the ocean and found Ye Hongshang atop a cliff, where he chose to stay and train rather than leave.
• Ye Hongshang sent Xie Jinhuan into the cave’s illusion realm to defeat increasingly difficult opponents, with death or failure wiping out his accumulated gains.
• Over two years, Xie Jinhuan developed his combat skills and entertained Ye Hongshang, while she grew attached to him and decided to send him back with the Zhenglun Sword.
• Ye Hongshang erased Xie Jinhuan’s memories of their training and planted a trigger that activated the Soul-Locking Curse when he drew the sword.
• Ye Hongshang watched Xie Jinhuan choose to overturn the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum for her, kissed him, and resolved to accompany him as a wandering ghost with her memories sealed.

Xie Jinhuan woke in the Demon-Suppressing Mausoleum and learned that the white-haired Daoist nun was Qixia True Person, while Ye Hongshang remained a separate presence with mysterious missing memories. After resealing the tomb, he set out resolved to repay the Northern Zhou benefactor who had saved him and his father.

• Xie Jinhuan woke in the Demon-Suppressing Coffin and discovered that the white-haired Daoist nun was Qixia True Person's body, not Ye Hongshang's true form.
• Ye Hongshang explained that Qixia True Person had nearly become a demon after using Blood Sacrifice and was recovering in Life-and-Death Seclusion, while a spell kept both women's memories from returning.
• Xie Jinhuan remembered that he owed a debt to a Northern Zhou benefactor and feared his father might be suffering in exile there; he resolved to go north after settling matters in Great Qian.
• Ye Hongshang used a magical treasure to conceal the disturbance at the mausoleum and cast a protective Golden Light Spell on Xie Jinhuan.
• Xie Jinhuan resealed the coffin, concealed the tomb passage, woke the Boar King, and rode away with Ye Hongshang and Coal Ball, determined to repay his benefactor and bring his wife north.

Xie Jinhuan returned to Capital City, reunited with Lin Wanyi, and learned that Ye Hongshang could explain how to undo the Seven-Star Nails in exchange for a Jiazi Lotus. He also obtained Lin Zisu’s risky method for treating the Immortal-Burning Gu and hurried toward Linghu Qingmo’s carriage garage.

• Xie Jinhuan returned to Capital City with gifts for Lin Wanyi and Momo, reflecting on his cultivation, his debts to Golden-Armored Big Sister, and the mystery of the Heavenly Gang Mace.
• Xie Jinhuan reunited with Lin Wanyi, who scolded him for disappearing, and Lin Zisu checked that his pill had caused no obvious problems.
• Ye Hongshang revealed that she could determine how to undo the Seven-Star Nails by learning which seven Qi points had been locked, allowing Xie Jinhuan to seek a Jiazi Lotus from Lin Wanyi’s sect.
• Lin Zisu gave Xie Jinhuan an Adding Oil to the Fire Pill and instructions for using its antidote to combat the Immortal-Burning Gu, warning that the treatment could either restore the patient or kill him.
• Xie Jinhuan read the treatment instructions and headed for Linghu Qingmo’s carriage garage.

Nangong Ye and Xie Jinhuan tested Zisu’s treatment for the Immortal-Burning Gu, and it permanently reduced Nangong Ye’s poison at the cost of Xie Jinhuan enduring intense pain. Their complicated closeness was interrupted when the death knell announced Emperor Qian’s death, leaving Xie Jinhuan to fear upheaval in Great Qian.

• Nangong Ye rejected Bu Yuehua’s reconciliation offer unless she also gave him a Jiazi Lotus, and Bu Yuehua answered that he was out of his mind.
• Xie Jinhuan brought Nangong Ye Zisu’s treatment, took the first pill, and endured a painful outbreak so Nangong Ye could expel the poison.
• Nangong Ye’s Yang Poison was permanently reduced, and he thanked Xie Jinhuan while worrying about the debt and the growing entanglement between them.
• Xie Jinhuan gave Nangong Ye a pouch he had bought for him, and Nangong Ye accepted it despite his conflicted feelings.
• The death knell sounded, Nangong Ye identified it as Emperor Qian’s death, and Xie Jinhuan worried that Great Qian’s political order might change.

Emperor Qian died after refusing to use life-prolonging pills, and Empress He followed him by drinking poisoned wine. Crown Prince Zhao Jing Huan began preparing to rule, but after releasing his father’s Purple Thunder Sparrow, a strange, savage gleam flashed in his eyes.

• Lu Wuzhen and Monk Wuxin discussed the emperor’s impending death and the struggle between Daoism and Buddhism over Great Qian’s interests.
• Emperor Qian apologized to Empress He and prayed for peace for Great Qian’s people before he died; Empress He drank poisoned wine and joined him.
• Cao Fo'er announced Zhao Jing Huan’s regency and the mourning period, while people across Great Qian mourned the emperor.
• Cao Fo'er gave Zhao Jing Huan a box of childhood toys and a letter from Empress He, and told him why Emperor Qian had fought to reclaim the throne.
• Zhao Jing Huan released the Purple Thunder Sparrow, declared he would devote himself to becoming a wise ruler, and watched it fly away as a savage gleam briefly appeared in his eyes.

While waiting outside the palace after Emperor Qian’s death, Xie Jinhuan met Northern Zhou envoy Guo Ziyan and received a letter from his father, Xie Wen, in Yanjing. The letter reassured Xie Jinhuan that his father was safe and urged him to visit, leaving him with news of his father’s new life and a string of personal questions.

• Xie Jinhuan waited outside the palace with Linghu Qingmo and the others as dignitaries left after paying their respects to Emperor Qian.
• Xie Jinhuan gave Linghu Qingmo a white jade tassel hairpin, then discussed a case involving newly discovered desiccated corpses while the two secretly held hands.
• Xie Jinhuan approached Guo Ziyan and hinted at his past connection with Northern Zhou’s Empress Dowager.
• Guo Ziyan discreetly passed Xie Jinhuan a sealed letter from Xie Wen before leaving with his party.
• Xie Jinhuan read Xie Wen’s letter, which said he was thriving as a fifth-rank official and asked about Xie Jinhuan’s friends and romantic prospects.

Xie Jinhuan comforted Commandery Princess Changning over her father’s uncertain future and designed her a pair of high-heeled shoes. Meanwhile, Xue Laosan brought He Can and Zhang Chu to an abandoned temple, where he prepared them for a plan involving the Corpse Ancestor Mausoleum.

• Xie Jinhuan read Sister Guo’s letter, then joined Commandery Princess Changning’s carriage and heard her fears that the new emperor might threaten her father.
• Xie Jinhuan sketched high-heeled shoes with red soles for Commandery Princess Changning, who decided to have craftsmen make a pair.
• At an abandoned temple, He Can mourned the He Household’s deaths while Xue Laosan shaved his head and explained how hatred could awaken his demonic nature.
• Xue Laosan said he planned to capture yin-aligned spellcasters and try to open the Corpse Ancestor Mausoleum once its location became known.
• Xue Laosan revealed that He Can would serve only as a spare vessel for the Corpse Ancestor, provoking He Can’s anger.

Xie Jinhuan moved into his new residence and received an invitation to Wei Wuyi’s Heroes’ Gathering, where martial artists would compete for a Tiger Bone Vine. The chapter ended with Xie Jinhuan kissing Linghu Qingmo as he taught her to play the flute.

• Xie Jinhuan sketched Commandery Princess Changning, Linghu Qingmo, and Nai Duo in the carriage, and Changning kept the portrait.
• Nai Duo showed Xie Jinhuan his newly prepared Danyang Marquis residence and accepted his reward.
• Wei Lu delivered Xie Jinhuan an invitation to Wei Wuyi’s Heroes’ Gathering at Three Rivers Crossing, where the sects would discuss choosing the next alliance leader and compete for a Tiger Bone Vine.
• Xie Jinhuan considered the value of the gathering and the difficulty of raising his cultivation before it began, then said he would attend if his duties allowed.
• Xie Jinhuan and Linghu Qingmo explored the residence, and he drew her close to teach her a flute tune before kissing her.

Bu Hanying returned to the shop after discussing the Gu Poison Sect’s bid for official recognition and its proposed trade for the Seven-Star Nails remedy, but someone struck him unconscious. At the Lin Residence, Xie Jinhuan learned how to release the Seven-Star Nails and sought a way to strengthen himself before his trip to Three Rivers Crossing.

• Bu Hanying considered the Gu Poison Sect’s plan to gain recognition through Missing Moon Manor and exchanged a Jiazi Lotus for the method of removing the Seven-Star Nails.
• Bu Hanying entered his shop in Carefree Cave and was knocked unconscious by a fist.
• Xie Jinhuan read a letter from home and worried about the Crown Prince, his cultivation, and obtaining Tiger Bone Vine at Three Rivers Crossing.
• Ye Hongshang told Xie Jinhuan that a Mortal Shedding Pill could raise his cultivation by half a grade and that Fanyun Temple might have Diamond Dew.
• Lin Wanyi gave Xie Jinhuan Bu Hanying’s Seven-Star Nails instructions, and Xie Jinhuan wrote down the acupoints that had to be released in order.

Xie Jinhuan investigated a corpse killed by the Nether God Sect’s Essence-Seizing Art while seeking Diamond Dew to refine a Mortal Shedding Pill. He then learned Bu Hanying had been kidnapped and found signs that Gu Masters from multiple sects were being targeted.

• Xie Jinhuan visited the morgue, where he, Linghu Qingmo, Fei Ji, and Yang Dabiao examined a corpse killed by the Nether God Sect’s Essence-Seizing Art.
• Linghu Qingmo explained that Diamond Dew was scarce and that the Protector of the State Temple’s plans to build a temple beside Purple Emblem Mountain had strained relations between the Buddhists and the sect.
• A servant summoned Xie Jinhuan to the Lin Household, where he learned Bu Hanying had disappeared from his looted shop in Carefree Cave.
• Xie Jinhuan reassured Lin Wanyi and began investigating, while Ghost Wife spotted another Gu Poison Sect minion acting suspiciously nearby.
• Xie Jinhuan and Lin Wanyi found a ransacked herb workshop and a dead black snake, leading them to suspect that someone was capturing Gu Masters from multiple sects.

Nangong Ye and Xie Jinhuan investigated the disappearance of Poison Masters near Carefree Cave, suspecting ghost cultivators were behind it. Xie Jinhuan planned to pose as a Poison Master to lure out the kidnappers, while Bu Hanying was already their captive and tried to use his connection to Xie Jinhuan to secure his release.

• At the Directorate of Celestial Observation, Lu Wuzhen assigned Nangong Ye to send Zhang Guan to monitor Wei Wuyi’s gathering at Three Rivers Crossing.
• At home, Nangong Ye found the intimate clothing Xie Jinhuan had given him, tried on the stockings, and hurried to dress when Xie arrived.
• Xie Jinhuan told Nangong Ye that several Poison Masters had vanished near Carefree Cave, and Nangong Ye suspected ghost cultivators were capturing them for cultivation.
• Xie Jinhuan disguised himself as a timid Poison Master and planned to scout Carefree Cave that evening while Nangong Ye stayed nearby to help if needed.
• Captors held Bu Hanying beneath a building, and he claimed to be Xie Jinhuan’s informant in hopes they would release him.
• The young monk in yellow hesitated over Bu Hanying’s warning, but another captor ordered that he be kept alive and given water.

Nangong Ye watched Xie Jinhuan let two Nether God Sect men capture him, then followed them in hopes of finding their hideout. Meanwhile, He Man discussed the He Clan’s fall with Xue Laosan, and an underground chamber holding captured Poison Rats was shaken by a rumble as its guards vanished.

• Nangong Ye watched Xie Jinhuan disguise himself as a timid Poison Rat and draw the attention of two Nether God Sect men.
• The yellow-robed monk knocked Xie Jinhuan unconscious, discovered his pure yin-cold cultivation, and carried him away as a valuable vessel while his partner kept watch.
• Nangong Ye followed the men, pleased that their capture might lead him to the Nether God Sect’s hideout.
• At a Pine Crane Bay retreat, He Man mourned the He Clan’s destruction as Xue Laosan made him an Inner Sect Direct Disciple and questioned why he had asked for He Can’s return.
• In an underground chamber, He Can and Zhang Chu guarded the captured Poison Rats until a rumble sounded above and the two guards disappeared.

Xie Jinhuan was captured and taken to the Northwest Branch Altar, where he discovered He Man and the ghost cultivator Xue Laosan. After Nangong Ye defeated Xue Laosan, Xie Jinhuan pursued He Man into the woods and overwhelmed him in a martial arts fight, leaving He Man unable to get up.

• Xie Jinhuan was carried into the bandits' hideout, where He Man recognized him and revealed that the Blood Demon Pill was meant for someone else.
• He Man and Xue Laosan attacked Xie Jinhuan, but his armor and defensive stance let him survive their assault until Nangong Ye arrived and struck them with his sword.
• Nangong Ye fought Xue Laosan while Xie Jinhuan pursued He Man toward the riverbank, using Black Dragon Strikes the Pillar to close the distance.
• He Man countered Xie Jinhuan's charging attack and challenged him to fight as a martial artist, so Xie Jinhuan put down his weapons and fought barehanded.
• Xie Jinhuan defeated He Man with a series of close-range strikes, then hurled his mace at him and walked over after He Man could no longer rise.

Xie Jinhuan killed the wounded He Man just before a masked transcendent-grade fighter attacked, then took the blow while shielding Nangong Ye and fled with her. Unable to identify their pursuer and wary of returning to the capital, Xie Jinhuan changed course for Danyang so Nangong Ye could recover.

• Xie Jinhuan questioned the wounded He Man, who blamed Monk Wuxin, then killed him when a masked attacker charged toward Big Ice Lump.
• Xie Jinhuan shielded Nangong Ye from the transcendent-grade fighter’s punch, and the impact sent both of them hurtling through the woods.
• Xie Jinhuan used repeated Black Dragon Strikes the Pillar charges to escape with Nangong Ye, while the attacker collected He Man’s corpse and withdrew.
• Xie Jinhuan and Nangong Ye suspected the attacker belonged to the Buddhist Sect, but they could not determine his identity.
• Nangong Ye urged Xie Jinhuan to avoid the capital and head to Danyang, so he carried her toward the Huai River while she suppressed her Yang Poison.

During the transfer of imperial secrets to Zhao Jing Huan, Jing Wuniang reported that Xie Jinhuan had vanished after fighting Demon Bandits, prompting Monk Wuxin to investigate. Xie Jinhuan reached his Danyang house with the injured Nangong Ye, and Nangong Ye agreed to let him use his yin energy to suppress her yang poison rather than take the painful medicine.

• Lu Wuzhen guided Zhao Jing Huan into the Qianyuan Underground Palace, where Zhao Jing Huan read the golden book of imperial secrets while Monk Wuxin declined to inspect it.
• Jing Wuniang reported that Xie Jinhuan had killed He Man and the Demon Bandits at Pine Crane Bay, but had disappeared after an apparent ambush; Monk Wuxin left to investigate.
• Officials examined the dead at Pine Crane Bay and found the Poison Masters had escaped, while Fachen asked how Xie Jinhuan had uncovered the hidden bandits.
• Xie Jinhuan secretly brought the exhausted Nangong Ye to his Danyang house and prepared to use the Adding Oil to the Fire Pill to suppress her yang poison.
• Nangong Ye refused to let Xie Jinhuan take the pill and agreed to let him use her yin energy, insisting he preserve her chastity mark and promising not to leave without saying goodbye.
• Xie Jinhuan blindfolded Nangong Ye and kissed her, while Nangong Ye struggled to seal her divine sense and the bedroom curtains fell around them.