Chapter Summaries

Huang Xiao and Du Ge learned about Xu Wuyu’s Mid Peerless realm and discussed Yan Xi’s betrothal to Dugu Sheng, who was secluded to advance his swordsmanship. Hong Yi and Meng Jiu left to meet the Commandery Princess in Kaifeng, while Huang Xiao and Du Ge stayed behind.

• Huang Xiao confirmed that Xu Wuyu had reached the Mid Peerless realm and had overwhelmed him when they fought.
• Yan Xi demanded that Hong Yi take her to Dugu Sheng, but Hong Yi and Meng Jiu explained they had come to Kaifeng at the Commandery Princess’s summons.
• Yan Xi went to see the Commandery Princess after Hong Yi promised to take her to Dugu Sheng once the princess’s business was settled.
• Meng Jiu explained that Yan Xi and Dugu Sheng had been betrothed before birth and that Dugu Sheng had hidden his seclusion so he could focus on his swordsmanship.
• Hong Yi, Meng Jiu, and Huang Xiao discussed the Tang Sect and the vanished Phoenix Mountain Manor before Hong Yi and Meng Jiu left to meet the Commandery Princess.
• Du Ge thanked Huang Xiao for meeting Hong Yi and Meng Jiu, and Huang Xiao encouraged him to grow stronger through the Supreme Yang Skill.

Huang Xiao received his first-class constable token and celebrated with other constables while waiting for news about becoming a retainer. In the Imperial Palace, Xiao Yu asked Zhao Guangyi to help her senior against the Peaceful Heaven Sect, but their reunion turned urgent when Zhao Guangyi suffered a real chest attack.

• Huang Xiao received his Yellow Gate first-class constable token from two second-class constables and gave one of them a hundred-tael tip.
• Several first-class constables invited Huang Xiao to a celebratory banquet, and he later decided to wait another day for the Arrest Sage before asking Du Ge for help finding Zhao Xin'er.
• Eunuch Wang brought Xiao Yu to meet Zhao Guangyi in Diligent Governance Hall, where the emperor welcomed her after eighteen years apart.
• Xiao Yu asked Zhao Guangyi to help her senior against the Peaceful Heaven Sect, and he promised not to stand by.
• Zhao Guangyi tried to persuade Xiao Yu to stay, then suffered a genuine chest attack, prompting her to return and treat him.

Xiao Yu reunited with Zhao Guangyi and learned about the mysterious man who had gravely injured him and Zhao Kuangyin, as well as the lost Sui Emperor Chapter of the Three Sovereigns Scripture. Zhao Guangyi explained that their daughter Hui'er had gone to the Eastern Sea, where her exceptional talent for divination and formations might lead her to understand the Fuxi Emperor Chapter.

• Xiao Yu treated Zhao Guangyi's heart pain and gave him three Heart-Protecting Pills.
• Zhao Guangyi told Xiao Yu that an unidentified man had injured both him and Zhao Kuangyin, and that their search for the man's identity had uncovered nothing.
• Zhao Guangyi explained that Zhao Kuangyin's Sui Emperor Chapter had been lost, while the Fuxi Emperor Chapter had yielded little because few people had the affinity to understand it.
• Zhao Guangyi revealed that Hui'er had gone to the Eastern Sea to become an island lord after divining that her destined opportunity awaited her there.
• Xiao Yu objected to Hui'er relying on divination, but Zhao Guangyi explained that the Fuxi Emperor Chapter's true power lay in divination and formations, arts at which Hui'er excelled.

Zhao Guangyi told Xiaoyu about Zhao Yunhui’s reputation and their daughters’ histories before asking to meet Zhao Xin’er and reveal that he was her father. Xiaoyu finally reconciled with Zhao Guangyi over their past and wept in his arms, while Eunuch Wang sent the guards away outside the door.

• Zhao Guangyi told Xiaoyu that Zhao Yunhui was known in the Jianghu as the Lingbo Fairy and explained how she had mastered the Fuxi Emperor Chapter.
• Zhao Guangyi and Xiaoyu discussed the Nüwa Emperor Chapter, the Three Sovereigns Scripture, and the mysterious man who had obtained other scriptures.
• Zhao Guangyi asked whether Zhao Xin’er knew he was her father, then pleaded to meet her and tell her about her father and elder sister, Zhao Yunhui.
• Zhao Guangyi explained that the mysterious man was connected to the destruction of Phoenix Mountain Manor and said he would seek him when the time was right.
• Xiaoyu recalled witnessing the slaughter of her family, admitted she understood Zhao Guangyi’s past limitations, and embraced him as she wept.
• Eunuch Wang sent the guards away from the door, leaving Zhao Guangyi and Xiaoyu alone.

Zhao Guangyi reunited intimately with Xiao Yu, whose Blissful Art eased the pain in his heart meridians. Their conversation turned to Xin'er, and Xiao Yu revealed that someone had taken her chastity, leaving Zhao Guangyi furious and demanding to know who it was.

• Zhao Guangyi comforted Xiao Yu and became intimate with her, while she eventually responded to him.
• Eunuch Wang kept the guards from asking questions and ordered Liu Dacheng to tell the Imperial Household Department that Zhao Guangyi would review memorials all night.
• Afterward, Zhao Guangyi said Xiao Yu's Blissful Art had eased his heart meridians and asked about Xin'er.
• Xiao Yu revealed that someone had taken Xin'er's chastity, and Zhao Guangyi vowed to punish the culprit.
• Xiao Yu told Zhao Guangyi to stay out of it and said she had once wanted to kill the boy but had given up.

Xiao Yu persuaded Zhao Guangyi to tolerate Huang Xiao’s relationship with Zhao Xin'er, though Zhao Guangyi vowed to make things difficult for him and punish the Peaceful Heaven Sect. Huang Xiao arrived at the Six Gates to receive his imperial appointment as a Retainer and met other candidates, one of whom challenged his account of fighting Tuoba Xing.

• Xiao Yu explained how Huang Xiao saved Zhao Xin'er and the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion disciples, and why Xin'er had developed feelings for him.
• Zhao Guangyi agreed not to kill Huang Xiao but insisted he would make him pay, and Xiao Yu told him Huang Xiao had passed the First-Class Constable Examination and fought Tuoba Xing to a draw.
• Zhao Guangyi blamed the Peaceful Heaven Sect for what happened and vowed not to spare them.
• Huang Xiao arrived at the Six Gates ahead of his imperial audience, where constables recognized his unprecedented rise to Retainer.
• Huang Xiao met Liu Sanfu and Han Jing, who welcomed him, but a middle-aged candidate challenged his claim that Tuoba Xing had held back.

Huang Xiao entered the Imperial Palace with the other Retainer candidates after humiliating Zhou Ding and meeting Arrest Sage Jiang Ang. Chief Steward Wang told Jiang Ang that the four candidates would wait in the Imperial Garden while the Emperor discussed state affairs.

• Zhou Ding provoked Huang Xiao into a fight, but Huang Xiao evaded his grab and sent him stumbling with a flick of his sleeve.
• Jiang Ang arrived, questioned Huang Xiao briefly, and led him, Zhou Ding, Liu Sanfu, and Han Jing into the Imperial Palace.
• Huang Xiao admired the palace and spoke with Liu Sanfu and Han Jing while Zhou Ding muttered insults and Jiang Ang rebuked him.
• Chief Steward Wang met Jiang Ang and directed the four Retainer candidates to wait in the Imperial Garden because the Emperor was busy with officials.

Huang Xiao was summoned away from the other newly appointed Retainers and led through the Imperial Garden. He discovered that the person waiting for him atop a rockery was the Third Princess.

• Chief Steward Wang had Xiao Linzi escort Huang Xiao and the other three Retainers to a pavilion in the Imperial Garden while Jiang Ang accompanied the chief steward.
• Huang Xiao and Han Jing discussed the garden’s landscaping and hidden formations, while Zhou Ding dismissed their remarks.
• Palace maid Tao'er arrived and asked Huang Xiao to go with her, leaving Liu Sanfu, Han Jing, and Zhou Ding behind.
• Tao'er led Huang Xiao through the Imperial Garden to a rockery and told him to go up alone.
• Huang Xiao reached the pavilion and paid his respects to the Third Princess.

Huang Xiao met Zhao Xin'er in the palace and learned she had just discovered that the Third Princess was her older sister and the emperor her father. After Zhao Xin'er told him to leave for the emperor’s summons, Huang Xiao returned her handkerchief, but she told him to keep it and watched him go.

• Huang Xiao realized the woman he had mistaken for the Third Princess was Zhao Xin'er.
• Zhao Xin'er told Huang Xiao that she had learned she had an older sister and a father, but she did not care about being a princess.
• Zhao Xin'er thanked Huang Xiao for helping her at Everlasting Spring Mountain and told him not to mention what happened at the Ruined Taoist Temple again.
• Huang Xiao and Zhao Xin'er spoke about his progress in cultivation, and Huang Xiao vowed he would not lose to others.
• Tao'er announced that the emperor had summoned Huang Xiao and the other three, so Zhao Xin'er told him to go.
• Huang Xiao offered Zhao Xin'er her handkerchief, but she told him to keep it; after he left, she sat down and watched him go.

Emperor Zhao Guangyi recognized Zhou Ding, Liu Sanfu, and Han Jing as Six Gates retainers but refused to confirm Huang Xiao’s appointment, demoting him to reserve constable despite his proven strength. Huang Xiao suppressed his anger and accepted the decision, leaving his future advancement delayed.

• Xiao Linzi brought Huang Xiao, Zhou Ding, Liu Sanfu, and Han Jing before Emperor Zhao Guangyi, who asked whether they would serve as Six Gates retainers.
• Zhao Guangyi named Zhou Ding, Liu Sanfu, and Han Jing as the three new retainers and awarded them gold, silver, and a choice of cultivation method from the Imperial Library.
• When Jiang Ang asked about Huang Xiao’s reward, Zhao Guangyi claimed Huang Xiao’s rapid rise from reserve constable made him unfit for immediate promotion.
• Zhao Guangyi revoked Huang Xiao’s first-class constable rank and delayed his retainer appointment, ordering him to remain a reserve constable and take third-class assignments.
• Jiang Ang endorsed Zhao Guangyi’s decision, and Huang Xiao suppressed his anger and said he had nothing to add.

Zhao Guangyi stripped Huang Xiao of his Retainer position and rank, then ordered him to serve in the palace Prison Office. Huang Xiao welcomed the assignment because it gave him a chance to see Zhao Xin'er, though he learned the post would leave him at the mercy of the palace hierarchy.

• Huang Xiao suspected Jiang Ang had interfered with his appointment after Zhao Guangyi reduced him to a Reserve Constable.
• Zhao Guangyi ordered Huang Xiao to remain in the palace, and Jiang Ang accepted the assignment despite warning that Huang Xiao might be unsuitable for guard duty.
• Chief Steward Wang assigned Huang Xiao to the understaffed Prison Office as a Prison Office Guard, while privately criticizing Jiang Ang for straying from the emperor’s intentions.
• Huang Xiao felt pleased that staying in the palace could bring him closer to Zhao Xin'er, even as a guard explained that the Prison Office was a harsh place dominated by eunuchs.
• The guard warned Huang Xiao to endure the mistreatment and avoid making trouble if he wanted to return to the Six Gates.

Huang Xiao was assigned to guard the Prison Office after losing his first-class constable status, while Eunuch Gou suspected the appointment had a hidden purpose. At the Six Gates, Jiang Ang and Huang Qitao wondered whether the emperor had sent Huang Xiao to investigate imprisoned Eunuch Qiu, though they remained unsure of the emperor’s intentions.

• An imperial guard took Huang Xiao to the Prison Office, where Eunuch Gou ordered Little Guzi to show him the prison and explain his duties.
• After Huang Xiao left, Eunuch Gou suspected that Chief Steward Wang or Huang Qitao might have sent him to interfere with a long-running scheme.
• Jiang Ang told Huang Qitao that the emperor had denied Huang Xiao a retainership and reduced him to a reserve constable.
• Huang Qitao and Jiang Ang speculated that Huang Xiao might be tasked with questioning Qiu Dafu, but agreed the emperor might simply be testing him.
• Huang Qitao revealed that Qiu Dafu’s cultivation method shared a lineage with the Late Emperor’s, then told Jiang Ang to keep watch on Huang Xiao without overreacting.
• Jiang Ang warned that Huang Qitao might be disappointed about the vacant Arrest God position and asked whether they should begin the Second Plan.

Huang Qitao and Jiang Ang planned to recruit Tuoba Xing while continuing to position Huang Qitao to become Arrest God. In the Imperial Palace, Huang Xiao lost patience with the eunuchs bullying him, but Liu Dacheng’s arrival stopped the confrontation and made them back down.

• Huang Qitao told Jiang Ang to keep waiting for his appointment as Arrest God and suggested approaching Tuoba Xing after Huang Xiao crippled Yang Quan.
• Jiang Ang agreed to contact Tuoba Xing and try to build a connection with the Tuoba Family Lineage.
• After three days as a prison office guard, Huang Xiao refused to sweep the corridor or empty chamber pots for the eunuchs and threatened to strike them with a broom.
• Liu Dacheng arrived, recognized Huang Xiao as his junior brother, and made the middle-aged eunuch order the others to stop harassing him.
• Huang Xiao insisted he would handle only his cell-inspection duties, and Liu Dacheng asked why he had left the Six Gates to work in the palace.

Huang Xiao asked Liu Dacheng to pass a message to Zhao Xin'er through Tao'er, hoping she would learn he was in the Prison Office. Liu Dacheng agreed, and the two headed to the cells together to deliver food and make their rounds.

• Huang Xiao told Liu Dacheng he had come to seek a retainer's position and reaffirmed his intention to avenge Xuanzhenzi by killing Bai Tianqi.
• Huang Xiao asked Liu Dacheng about Zhao Xin'er and learned that Tao'er served the Third Princess, though Liu Dacheng had only heard of her.
• Liu Dacheng offered to use Eunuch Gou's connections to try to meet Tao'er, and Huang Xiao asked him to say, "Young Master Huang is in the Prison Office now."
• Huang Xiao gave Liu Dacheng ten thousand taels to help arrange the meeting, and Liu Dacheng agreed to do his best.
• Liu Dacheng remembered he had to deliver food to a prisoner, and Huang Xiao joined him to make a round of the cells.

Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng visited the dying Eunuch Qiu in a hidden underground chamber, where Huang Xiao revived him long enough to speak. Eunuch Qiu revealed that Eunuch Gou wanted a cultivation method he had created and began telling Liu Dacheng the secret, warning that it could bring danger or opportunity.

• Liu Dacheng showed Huang Xiao the hidden entrance to the underground chamber and introduced him to the frail, shackled Eunuch Qiu.
• Huang Xiao used his Everlasting Spring Ageless True Qi to revive Eunuch Qiu, who recognized the cultivation method as likely belonging to Medicine King Hall.
• Eunuch Qiu asked Liu Dacheng to demonstrate the move he had taught him, and Liu Dacheng pierced an iron cage bar with an embroidery needle.
• After Huang Xiao left them alone, Eunuch Qiu told Liu Dacheng that he knew Eunuch Gou's scheme and that the secret they wanted was a cultivation method he had created himself.

Eunuch Qiu revealed that he had once served as the Late Emperor’s chief steward and entrusted Liu Dacheng with finding two books buried in a grave outside the city. He died before explaining the second book, leaving Liu Dacheng and Huang Xiao to seek a way to give him a proper burial.

• Eunuch Qiu told Liu Dacheng that the moves he had taught him were a test and offered to pass on his cultivation method, urging him to practice it and rely on Huang Xiao when needed.
• Eunuch Qiu instructed Liu Dacheng to retrieve two books from a grave fifty li east of the city, then died before revealing what the second book contained.
• Huang Xiao returned to the hidden chamber, where Liu Dacheng mourned Eunuch Qiu and resolved to arrange his burial outside the palace.
• Huang Xiao used Godslayer to cut through Eunuch Qiu’s unusually strong shackles and freed his hands and feet.
• Liu Dacheng left to report Eunuch Qiu’s death to Eunuch Gou and ask permission to bury him himself.

Zhao Guangyi explained to Xiao Yu that he had sent Huang Xiao to the Prison Office as part of a plan involving Qiu Kui, and decided to return Huang Xiao to the Six Gates as a Reserve Constable. As Huang Xiao prepared to leave the Prison Office, Zhao Xin'er arrived and demanded to know why he had accepted such humiliation.

• Zhao Guangyi told Xiao Yu that Qiu Kui had died in the Prison Office and revealed he had hoped the imprisoned man would pass his formidable cultivation method to Huang Xiao.
• Zhao Guangyi said Huang Xiao could return to the Six Gates the next day, but only as a Reserve Constable for now.
• Liu Dacheng told Huang Xiao he had delivered his message to Tao'er, though Zhao Xin'er had shown little reaction, and arranged to help Huang Xiao leave with Qiu Kui's body that night.
• Huang Xiao worried that Zhao Xin'er had not come to see him, then was overjoyed when she appeared at his cell.
• Zhao Xin'er reproached Huang Xiao for accepting the Prison Office Guard post instead of leaving when Zhao Guangyi denied him his former rank.

Huang Xiao confessed that he had accepted the prison office guard position to stay near Zhao Xin'er, and the two grew closer as they spoke about his ambitions and their feelings. Their hands triggered the Blissful Art’s exchange of true qi, and Zhao Xin'er said they could cultivate together after she reached the Peak Realm, leaving Huang Xiao stunned.

• Huang Xiao told Zhao Xin'er he had stayed in the palace because he wanted to see her, and she revealed she could have found him outside the palace too.
• Zhao Xin'er told Huang Xiao he could leave the prison office guard post and return to the Six Gates, then asked him to call her Xin'er and let her call him Brother Huang.
• Huang Xiao took Zhao Xin'er's hand and vowed to grow strong enough to surpass Xu Wuyu, while Zhao Xin'er acknowledged his progress and said he did not need to explain his secrets.
• Huang Xiao and Zhao Xin'er released each other's hands after their internal power and true qi began to merge through the Heavenly Mountain Pavilion's Blissful Art.
• Zhao Xin'er explained that the Blissful Art was a form of dual cultivation and said they could cultivate together after she reached the Peak Realm, leaving Huang Xiao focused on her words.

Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng secretly carried Eunuch Qiu’s body out of the palace to bury him at a mass burial ground. After opening a grave marked with the Tomb of the Kui Clan, they found Eunuch Qiu’s cultivation method inside a jar, but a sinister voice interrupted them.

• Zhao Xin'er visited Huang Xiao, and Liu Dacheng mistook her for the Third Princess when he arrived.
• Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng waited until the third watch, then smuggled Eunuch Qiu’s body out of the palace and left the city.
• Liu Dacheng led Huang Xiao to the mass burial ground and found the grave marked with the Tomb of the Kui Clan.
• They dug up the grave and opened its coffin, finding no remains but a sealed black jar containing Eunuch Qiu’s cultivation method.
• A sinister laugh sounded nearby, declaring that Eunuch Qiu had arrived at just the right time.

Eunuch Gou tracked Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng using Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Incense and attacked them to seize Eunuch Qiu’s cultivation method. After fighting him off with evasive footwork, Huang Xiao learned that the Remnant Demon Sword Technique came from an incomplete version of Eunuch Qiu’s method, then dismissed Eunuch Gou’s confidence as he prepared to respond.

• Eunuch Gou revealed that he had followed Liu Dacheng by using Thousand-Mile Soul-Chasing Incense and demanded the jar containing Eunuch Qiu’s cultivation method.
• Liu Dacheng urged Huang Xiao to escape with the jar, but Huang Xiao refused to abandon his fellow disciple.
• Eunuch Gou attacked Huang Xiao with the Remnant Demon Sword Technique, while Huang Xiao evaded his increasingly dangerous strikes with Snake-Traveling Tiny Steps.
• Huang Xiao recognized Eunuch Gou’s sword technique, and Eunuch Gou explained that it had evolved from Eunuch Qiu’s incomplete cultivation method.
• Eunuch Gou threatened Huang Xiao and Liu Dacheng to keep the secret, but Huang Xiao mocked his certainty and thanked him for revealing the method’s history.