Chapter Summaries

Chi Yu and Xie Xiyi discovered that rubbing their divine senses together felt pleasurable, then Chi Yu went lantern-viewing with Xiaoqiu in Yanjing, the peaceful capital of the Yu Dynasty. They heard rumors that the emperor had remained young for decades and sacrificed children for eternal youth.

• Xie Xiyi kneaded Chi Yu's divine sense and warned him that cultivators' divine senses could clash dangerously, while Chi Yu discovered that touching and rubbing Xie Xiyi's divine sense felt good.
• Xie Xiyi cautioned Chi Yu against indulging in the pleasure or touching other cultivators' divine senses, and Chi Yu later left the inn with Xiaoqiu to see lanterns.
• Chi Yu and Xiaoqiu learned from an old man that they were in Yanjing, where the Yu Dynasty's Demon-Suppressing Bureau kept the city safe from fiends and spirits.
• The old man said the emperor had looked young since taking the throne more than eighty years ago and repeated a rumor that he sacrificed pairs of virgin boys and girls for eternal youth.
• Xiaoqiu dismissed the rumored sacrifice as implausible, prompting the old man to scold him for believing storybooks.

Chi Yu and Xiaoqiu enjoyed the river lanterns, exchanged names, and encountered Xie Xiyi, who revealed his imperial schemes and urged them back to the inn. There, Chi Yu found Wu Yunsu safe in the kitchen, where the child had tried to lick an injured worker’s wound.

• Chi Yu and Xiaoqiu decided not to investigate possible demons in the peaceful city and released lanterns bearing their wishes.
• Xiaoqiu told Chi Yu his full name was Xie Tinghan and indirectly revealed that Xie Xiyi’s secular name was Xie Xiyi.
• Xie Xiyi appeared behind Chi Yu, teased him about asking for his name, and said Wu Yunsu was at the inn.
• Xie Xiyi told Xiaoqiu he had originally spared the demon to keep Chi Yu from killing him too decisively, though he now wanted him dead.
• Chi Yu found Wu Yunsu in the inn’s kitchen, where a worker explained that the child had licked his bleeding wound out of concern.

Chi Yu cared for Wu Yunsu and joined Xiaoqiu in watching the Demon-Suppressing Bureau return to the city with a captured Demon Dragon. When Chi Yu probed the masked bureau head with his divine sense, the contact caused him intense pain, and Xie Xiyi caught him.

• Chi Yu warned Wu Yunsu not to eat people or raw meat, while privately doubting Senior Brother Xuanji's plan to test the child with temptation.
• Chi Yu dressed Wu Yunsu in little buns, ribbons, and a red forehead mark, then learned from Xiaoqiu that Xie Xiyi had gone out nearby.
• At breakfast, Xiaoqiu explained how mortals could form symbiotic contracts with demons, and Chi Yu urged him to stop revealing family secrets.
• After hearing that the Demon-Suppressing Bureau had returned with a Demon Dragon, Chi Yu paid the restaurant owner with gold and followed the crowd to the street.
• Chi Yu sensed something ominous about the masked bureau head and probed him with divine sense; the pain nearly made Chi Yu collapse, but Xie Xiyi caught him while Xiaoqiu caught Wu Yunsu.

Chi Yu was afflicted with Intent Poison after probing the Demon-Suppressing Bureau chief, a demon dragon, and Xie Xiyi forced the chief to provide the antidote. The chief then agreed to consider exchanging his poison sac for Xie Xiyi’s offer to give a mortal a Spiritual Root.

• Xie Xiyi identified the pain in Chi Yu’s Divine Sense as Intent Poison and said the person riding Moonlight could cure it.
• Chi Yu and his companions saw a dead demon dragon being brought to the Demon-Suppressing Bureau and learned that its chief was a member of the Demon Race whose original form was a dragon.
• The chief invited Chi Yu and the others inside, but Xie Xiyi demanded that he cure Chi Yu and drew his sword when the chief tried to bargain.
• The chief poured ash into Chi Yu’s mouth as an antidote, and Chi Yu’s Divine Sense stopped hurting.
• Xie Xiyi offered the chief a Spiritual Root in exchange for his poison sac, and the chief said he was willing if the offer was genuine.

Duyu brought Xie Xiyi, Chi Yu, and Xiaoqiu to a palace banquet after agreeing to trade his Poison Sac for help obtaining a spiritual root. There, Duyu explained the emperor’s forbidden life-preserving formation and urged the group to show the emperor respect, but they refused to kneel as the emperor arrived.

• A palace messenger summoned Duyu to a banquet, and Duyu invited Xie Xiyi and the others to accompany him.
• On the way, Duyu explained that the forbidden formation preserving the emperor’s life would fail within a dozen years and was weakening him.
• Duyu described the emperor’s goal of protecting mortals from yaomo, while Chi Yu privately wondered whether Duyu was dim.
• At the banquet, Duyu asked Xie Xiyi to secure the best spiritual root in exchange for his Poison Sac, and accepted that three spiritual roots were the most Xie Xiyi could promise.
• When the emperor arrived, Duyu joined the officials in bowing, but Chi Yu, Xie Xiyi, and Xiaoqiu refused to kneel.

After the banquet, Duyu brought Chi Yu and Xie Xiyi to meet Emperor Xiao Jingyu, who agreed to postpone receiving a Spiritual Root despite his concerns about violating the Heavenly Dao. As they left, Chi Yu suspected the emperor and Duyu were romantically involved, while Xie Xiyi revealed he could read Chi Yu’s thoughts through their connected Divine Senses.

• Emperor Xiao Jingyu honored Duyu at the banquet and invited him to sit beside the throne.
• Duyu led Chi Yu, Xie Xiyi, and another companion to meet the emperor, warning them to conceal his Demon Race identity and the true price of their transaction.
• Chi Yu explained that cultivators used mortal gold and treasures to refine some pills and artifacts when Xiao Jingyu questioned their bargain.
• Xiao Jingyu agreed to consider receiving a Spiritual Root after a few days, and sent the visitors away to their accommodations.
• Chi Yu told Xie Xiyi that he suspected Xiao Jingyu and Duyu had a romantic relationship, then worried about repaying Xie Xiyi’s gifts.
• Xie Xiyi said he could see Chi Yu’s thoughts while their Divine Senses were connected and promised to take back many times whatever he gave.

Chi Yu met Emperor Xiao Jingyu, who questioned him about what Pei Du had traded for the spiritual root and then revealed how he had deliberately arranged to meet Pei Du. Xiao Jingyu explained that he had sought a powerful demon to defend his realm, and the chapter left their story at the beginning of that carefully planned encounter.

• Chi Yu arranged sleeping quarters with Xiaoqiu and Wu Yunsu, while Xie Xiyi summoned Long Aotian to stay in the main hall with him.
• Duyu invited Chi Yu and Xiaoqiu to meet Xiao Jingyu, and Chi Yu asked why the powerful demon served a mortal emperor.
• Xiao Jingyu dismissed Duyu and asked Chi Yu what Pei Du had given in exchange for the spiritual root, but Chi Yu refused to say.
• Xiao Jingyu told Chi Yu about his rise from the cold palace to emperor and his decision to rule wisely after realizing how vast the world was.
• Xiao Jingyu explained that he needed a powerful demon to defend his realm and had deliberately engineered his meeting with Pei Du, the Demon Dragon of Beiding Mountain.

Xiao Jingyu told Chi Yu that he planned to make Pei Du his empress, but gave up the Poison Sac trade when he learned it could weaken Pei Qing. Back at the palace, Chi Yu found himself admiring Xie Xiyi and told him the trade should be canceled.

• Xiao Jingyu recounted how he first met Pei Du and confessed that he wanted to spend his life with him as his empress.
• Chi Yu learned that Pei Qing’s Poison Sac made him lethally poisonous and explained that surrendering it would remove the danger between him and Xiao Jingyu.
• Xiao Jingyu rejected the trade because losing the Poison Sac would weaken Pei Qing and leave him more vulnerable to his own kind.
• Xiaoqiu warned Chi Yu that Xie Xiyi might someday become dangerously attached to him, and Chi Yu dismissed the possibility while feeling unsettled.
• Chi Yu returned to the palace, admired Xie Xiyi’s looks, and then told him that they should abandon the Poison Sac trade.

Chi Yu refused the poison sac meant for him because refining it would be risky and might prevent Xie Xiyi from contemplating him, but Xie Xiyi insisted on honoring the trade and said he could give the treasure to Xiaoqiu. After Xie Xiyi finished contemplating Chi Yu, the palace celebrated New Year, and Wu Yunsu watched warily as Xie Xiyi doted on Xiaoqiu.

• Xie Xiyi explained that Duyu's poison sac would make a powerful magic treasure for Chi Yu, but Chi Yu refused it because he wanted Xie Xiyi to keep contemplating him and worried about its risks.
• Chi Yu suggested trading for the spiritual root with demons caught by Duyu, but Xie Xiyi rejected the shortcut and said the poison sac was still part of their agreement.
• Xie Xiyi agreed not to take the poison sac for Chi Yu and said he could give it to Xiaoqiu, then continued contemplating Chi Yu by touching his shoulders and back.
• After Xie Xiyi finished contemplating him, Chi Yu warned him not to be deceived by a female cultivator from the Demon Clan or Demon Race, and Xie Xiyi told Chi Yu to worry about his own fragile state of mind.
• Several days passed, and Chi Yu realized the New Year had arrived when his system count changed to 17; Xiaoqiu celebrated turning eleven, and Xie Xiyi scolded him for remaining at the Qi Refining Third Layer.
• Wu Yunsu watched Xie Xiyi and Xiaoqiu play, feeling wary of Xie Xiyi's attention and unable to win Chi Yu's affection as easily as Xiaoqiu did.

Chi Yu celebrated New Year’s Eve in the city with Wu Yunsu, Xiaoqiu, Duyu, and Xie Xiyi, while Xie Xiyi negotiated with Duyu over his poison sac. The group returned to the palace before the hour of the monkey for the imperial family banquet.

• Duyu told Chi Yu that His Majesty had invited him to a family banquet and ordered him back by the hour of the monkey.
• Chi Yu explored the New Year’s Eve festivities with Wu Yunsu and Xiaoqiu while Duyu and Xie Xiyi followed.
• Duyu warned Xie Xiyi that the poison sac could endanger Chi Yu and offered to trade his horns so Xie Xiyi could seal the remaining half.
• Chi Yu gave Xie Xiyi trumpet creeper flowers, and Xie Xiyi preserved them with ice and accepted them.
• Chi Yu told Xie Xiyi that he really liked him and called him the best senior brother before the group returned to the palace.

Chi Yu and Xie Xiyi helped Duyu give Xiao Jingyu spiritual roots, and the emperor woke to learn he could cultivate. That evening, Xie Xiyi asked Chi Yu to undress for visualization, and Chi Yu proudly showed off his abs.

• Duyu admitted he was nearly penniless, so Chi Yu gave him a middle-grade spirit stone as New Year's money.
• At the New Year's Eve dinner, Xie Xiyi and Duyu agreed to give Xiao Jingyu spiritual roots, while Chi Yu realized the emperor had arranged for them to take responsibility for breaking their agreement.
• Xie Xiyi warned Duyu not to spy with his divine sense, and Duyu anxiously waited outside while Xiao Jingyu received his spiritual roots.
• Xie Xiyi completed the procedure, and Duyu excitedly discovered that Xiao Jingyu had three spiritual roots and could cultivate.
• Chi Yu teased that Duyu and Xiao Jingyu were a couple, but Xie Xiyi dismissed his curiosity as irrelevant to cultivation.
• Xie Xiyi asked Chi Yu to expose his upper body for visualization, and Chi Yu proudly showed him his four-pack.

Chi Yu endured Xie Xiyi’s increasingly intimate examination, believing it was part of a serious Visualization, while Xie Xiyi’s unfamiliar desire emerged. Xie Xiyi suddenly advanced in cultivation, leaving Chi Yu trapped in his arms as Xiaoqiu waited outside the hall.

• Xie Xiyi examined Chi Yu’s body and drew him close, then gave him a pair of earrings before deciding to let his hand’s movements take their course.
• Xie Xiyi untied Chi Yu’s belt and made him sit on his thighs while continuing his serious Visualization.
• Xie Xiyi’s desire for Chi Yu grew, though he did not understand what the feeling was or recognize it as love.
• Xie Xiyi entered an unusual state of awareness, and the palace’s spiritual energy surged as he began to advance.
• Chi Yu stayed still so he would not interrupt Xie Xiyi’s advancement, while Xiaoqiu arrived outside and asked if His Highness was advancing to the third dhyana.

Chi Yu helped Xie Xiyi with visualization, but Xie Xiyi stopped a false breakthrough before it could damage his foundation and only advanced to the sixth layer of the Golden Core. Afterward, Duyu traded his dragon horns and part of his poison sac to Xie Xiyi, then befriended Chi Yu and accepted spirit stones from him.

• Chi Yu woke to learn that Xie Xiyi had abandoned an illusory breakthrough because advancing would have harmed his foundation.
• Xie Xiyi continued visualizing Chi Yu and asked him to remove his enchanted robe during their next session.
• Xie Xiyi told Chi Yu that he had advanced to the sixth layer of the Golden Core, though his Chan cultivation had not progressed.
• Duyu gave Xie Xiyi two dragon horns in exchange for having half of his poison sac divided and sealed.
• Duyu offered Chi Yu a stolen Shangyang Sect cultivation manual and called him his sworn younger brother.
• Chi Yu gave Duyu two Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and Duyu asked him his name.

Chi Yu and Xie Xiyi left Duyu and Xiao Jingyu after Chi Yu befriended Duyu and received a dragon scale that could summon his help. On the road, Chi Yu shared his resources with Xiaoqiu and Wu Yunsu, while Xie Xiyi pressed him for the thank-you gift he had promised and Chi Yu still had no idea what to give him.

• Chi Yu gave Duyu two Top-Grade Spirit Stones to make friends, then explained to Xie Xiyi that he saw it as an investment in a powerful ally.
• Xie Xiyi proposed leaving with the Poison Sac, and Duyu gave Chi Yu a dragon scale that would summon him if they needed help.
• Xiao Jingyu teased Duyu about Xie Xiyi being jealous, and Duyu decided his beauty must be the cause.
• As they traveled, Chi Yu showed Xie Xiyi his sword practice and gave Duyu's scale to Xiaoqiu for protection.
• Chi Yu gave Wu Yunsu a Storage Bag full of cultivation resources, but Wu Yunsu refused it for the time being.
• Xie Xiyi reminded Chi Yu about the thank-you gift he had promised, and Chi Yu asked for more time because he could not think of one.

Chi Yu and Xie Xiyi learned that Wu Yunsu’s demon siblings had followed them since Mulian Town, so they used him as bait to draw them out. After hours of waiting, one female demon approached, while Xie Xiyi teased Chi Yu for staring at her.

• Chi Yu asked Wu Yunsu whether he could conceal his aura, and Wu Yunsu revealed that many demons were approaching from the east.
• Wu Yunsu admitted that the demons were his siblings and said he wanted to stay with Chi Yu rather than join them.
• Xie Xiyi proposed using Wu Yunsu as bait, and Chi Yu agreed after Xie Xiyi supplied extra talisman tablets for his protection.
• Chi Yu, Xie Xiyi, and Xiaoqiu concealed their auras and waited beneath a tree for the demons to approach.
• After four hours, the demons sent a female demon toward Wu Yunsu, and Xie Xiyi teased Chi Yu for staring at her.

Wu Yunsu’s yaomo siblings tried to recruit him into their plan to conquer the Demon Realm, but he secretly used Gu Worms to control them. Xie Xiyi and Chi Yu killed all seven yaomo, and Wu Yunsu chose to cling to Chi Yu as his only route to becoming a human cultivator.

• A female yaomo told Wu Yunsu about their shared mother and invited him to join his siblings in conquering the Demon Realm.
• Wu Yunsu pretended to accept his siblings’ welcome and secretly sent Gu Worms into their bodies.
• Xie Xiyi and Chi Yu attacked the seven yaomo, while Wu Yunsu used his Gu Worms to prevent one from unleashing its blood energy.
• Chi Yu killed three yaomo and Xie Xiyi killed four; afterward, Wu Yunsu hugged Chi Yu and called him Dad.
• Xie Xiyi wiped the blood from Chi Yu’s face, then tossed Wu Yunsu aside, and Xiaoqiu caught him.

Chi Yu celebrated his growing strength while growing closer to Xie Xiyi, as Xiaoqiu and Wu Yunsu bickered behind them. A caravan of Xie Xiyi’s younger siblings followed a blood-guiding trail toward the Wildlands, where his sister reflected on the secret behind his exile and his past loss of control.

• Chi Yu praised his progress after killing Yaomo, and Xie Xiyi acknowledged that he had done well.
• Chi Yu gave Xie Xiyi flowers and a stone, then took his hand; meanwhile, Xiaoqiu argued with Wu Yunsu, who insisted he liked the dress and accessories Chi Yu had given him.
• At a camp, Xie Xiyi’s younger sister urged her hesitant twin brother to use the Blood Guiding Technique to find their eldest brother, and his blood pointed toward the Wildlands.
• The sister told Xie Bo'an that she wanted Xie Xiyi to become emperor because her twin’s many desires might endanger the Xie Clan.
• The sister recalled that Xie Xiyi’s cultivation method had not prevented him from losing control and hurting palace servants, and she remembered the incident that led their parents to send him away.

The girl recalled how her eldest brother’s Demonic Heart had once driven him to slaughter a Yaoshou pack and the aristocratic scions who provoked them, and resolved to bring him back because she believed he could control it. Meanwhile, Xie Xiyi sensed trouble ahead, then distracted Chi Yu by teasing him and massaging his Divine Sense, leaving Chi Yu asking to move somewhere private.

• The girl remembered how aristocratic scions led a Yaoshou pack to her family, forcing her twelve-year-old eldest brother to fight while their mother could not intervene.
• When her eldest brother’s Demonic Heart took over, he slaughtered the Yaoshou and the scions, then nearly attacked his family before Chan Master Ruoku suppressed him.
• The girl concluded that her eldest brother had lost control to protect them and insisted that they must bring him back because she believed he could master his Demonic Heart.
• Xie Xiyi told Chi Yu he expected a heap of trouble and called their companions burdens, while Chi Yu tried to cheer him up by suggesting games and a Divine Sense massage.
• Xie Xiyi teased Chi Yu about his face and lips, then massaged his increasingly sensitive Divine Sense as Chi Yu clutched his sleeve and asked to go somewhere else.

After Xie Xiyi lost an hour and his memory while entwining his divine sense with Chi Yu’s, he warned Chi Yu that his Demonic Heart might have taken control and could kill him. Chi Yu insisted the affectionate, happy Xie Xiyi he experienced was the real one, and they returned to camp with Xiaoqiu growing suspicious of their closeness.

• Xie Xiyi examined himself and found his Demonic Heart bound and quiet, while Chi Yu cheerfully straightened his clothes and said they had both enjoyed what happened.
• Xie Xiyi realized he could not remember entering Chi Yu’s Spiritual Realm, and Chi Yu admitted he had invented a story about Xie Xiyi’s words while describing how Xie Xiyi’s divine sense had behaved.
• Xie Xiyi warned Chi Yu that his Demonic Heart might have acted without his knowledge and explained that no one should enter Chi Yu’s fragile Spiritual Realm.
• Chi Yu argued that Xie Xiyi’s Demonic Heart could not have taken control because Chi Yu had survived, and Xie Xiyi ended the discussion and returned with him to camp.
• Xiaoqiu asked what they had done, and Chi Yu said they had helped Xie Xiyi with visualization before Xiaoqiu compared their relationship to Duyu and his Majesty.

Chi Yu continued hunting Yaomo and grew closer to Xie Xiyi, while Xie Xiyi struggled to understand the new feelings and thoughts disrupting his cultivation. After clearing out the area near camp, Chi Yu flew farther into the Wasteland to find more prey, drawing the attention of nearby Yaomo.

• Xiaoqiu worried that he was becoming less important to Chi Yu, but Chi Yu kissed and reassured him.
• Xie Xiyi considered removing his discriminating mind after losing half an hour of memory, but the thought faded whenever Chi Yu returned from a hunt with a gift.
• Chi Yu's mission token count rose from 27 to 38 as he hunted Yaomo and gave Xie Xiyi a piece of throat bone that resembled jade.
• Xiaoqiu sensed that Xie Xiyi had been unsettled lately, but Xie Xiyi rebuked him for his low cultivation and sent him away.
• Chi Yu avoided stronger Yaomo, cleared the area around camp, and flew farther into the Wasteland, where his spiritual power fluctuations attracted Qi Refining Stage Yaomo.