Chapter Summaries

Lumian Lee entertained a tavern full of villagers with a tale about a poor night watchman who encountered a strange mark on a corpse, then revealed it was one of his sister Aurora’s stories. After meeting the outsiders Ryan Koss, Valentine, and Léa, Lumian was questioned about his surname and his arrival in Cordu, leaving his original name and past uncertain.

• Lumian recounted a story about a struggling hospital watchman who found a strange mark on his former colleague’s corpse and later dreamed of fog.
• When Ryan Koss asked what happened next, Lumian admitted he had made the story up and said his sister Aurora had written it.
• Pierre told Ryan, Valentine, and Léa that Lumian told a different tall tale every day, and Lumian ordered a Green Fairy.
• Ryan explained that the surname Lee reminded people of the feared Frank Lee, then bought drinks for Lumian and Pierre.
• Pierre said Aurora had brought thirteen-year-old Lumian to Cordu five years earlier and given him both the surname Lee and the name Lumian.
• Lumian said he had forgotten what he was originally called.

Lumian Lee entertained visitors in Cordu with a fabricated tale about working as a Corpse Watchman, then joined their conversation at the tavern. Pierre revealed that Lumian had been brought to the village by Aurora five years earlier and had taken her surname; Lumian said he had forgotten his original name.

• Lumian stopped his story about a dead colleague and admitted he had made it up, prompting laughter from the tavern regulars.
• Ryan Koss introduced himself and his companions, Valentine and Léa, and Lumian gave them his name.
• Ryan warned Lumian that his surname recalled the feared sailor Frank Lee, then bought drinks, including Green Fairy for Lumian and Pierre.
• Pierre told Ryan that Aurora had brought thirteen-year-old Lumian back to Cordu five years earlier and given him the surname Lee and the name Lumian.
• Lumian said he had forgotten what he was originally called and continued drinking absinthe.

Lumian Lee entertained Ryan Koss and his companions with a fictional story about working in a morgue, then let Pierre reveal that he had been brought to Cordu by his sister Aurora five years earlier. The conversation ended with Lumian admitting he had forgotten his original name.

• Lumian stopped his tale about a corpse watchman, revealing that he had made it up and that his sister wrote the stories he told.
• Ryan Koss introduced himself and his companions, Valentine and Léa, and offered Lumian a drink for his entertaining story.
• Lumian ordered absinthe, and Ryan warned him about its harmful effects before ordering drinks for himself and Pierre.
• Pierre told Ryan and Léa that Lumian was a notorious prankster who had come to Cordu with Aurora at age thirteen and had never left.
• Pierre explained that Lumian took Aurora's surname and that she had given him his current name; Lumian said he had forgotten what he was originally called.

Lumian Lee entertained a tavern crowd in Cordu with a grim story about a corpse watchman, then admitted it was one of his sister Aurora’s inventions. After meeting outsiders Ryan Koss, Valentine, and Léa, Lumian’s unusual surname and past in the village drew their attention.

• Lumian told Ryan Koss a story about a hospital corpse watchman who touched a strange mark on his dead former colleague and began dreaming of a vast fog.
• Lumian revealed that he had made up the story, and the tavern regulars explained that he spun a different tale each day.
• Lumian introduced himself to Ryan Koss and his companions, Valentine and Léa, and Ryan warned him that the surname Lee recalled the feared sailor Frank Lee.
• Lumian ordered Green Fairy, and Ryan bought drinks for Lumian and Pierre, who offered to explain Lumian’s history.
• Pierre said Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu five years earlier, given him the name Lumian, and passed her surname Lee to him; Lumian said he had forgotten his former name.

Lumian Lee told Ryan Koss and the tavern regulars a grim story about a morgue watchman, then admitted it was one of his sister Aurora’s inventions. As Ryan and his companions got to know him, Pierre revealed that Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu five years earlier and given him his name and surname.

• Lumian finished a tale about a poor hospital night watchman who touched a strange mark on a dead colleague and began dreaming of a vast fog.
• When Ryan Koss asked what happened next, Lumian joked that he had quit and returned to the countryside to tell tall tales, prompting the tavern regulars to laugh.
• Lumian introduced himself to Ryan and his companions, Valentine and Léa, and Ryan warned that the surname Lee was associated with the feared sailor Frank Lee.
• Ryan bought Lumian a Green Fairy, while Pierre urged him to pay for another drink in exchange for explaining Lumian’s background.
• Pierre said Aurora had brought thirteen-year-old Lumian to Cordu five years earlier, after which Lumian took her surname and the name she gave him.

Lumian Lee spun a fictional tale about working as a corpse watchman, then met three visitors who learned about his adopted surname and past. Ryan Koss bought him drinks while Pierre revealed that Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu five years earlier and given him his name.

• Lumian ended his story about the hospital morgue by admitting he had quit and returned to the countryside to tell yarns.
• Ryan Koss introduced his companions Valentine and Léa and asked Lumian his name.
• Ryan and Léa reacted to Lumian's surname Lee because of the notorious sailor Frank Lee.
• Lumian ordered Green Fairy, and Ryan bought drinks for him and Pierre.
• Pierre told the visitors that Aurora had brought Lumian to Cordu five years earlier, and that Lumian had taken her surname and the name she gave him.
• Lumian said he had forgotten what he was called before.

Hou Niao restrained the Prairie Sword Cultivators after they defeated the Orthopedic Sect, then decided the Prairie Sword Lineage could not yet keep the territory. Wei True Person revealed he had escorted them and offered to reassure neighboring traditions before leaving Hou Niao to handle matters alone.

• Hou Niao found the Orthopedic Sect's Mountain Gate burning and Miao Renlong dead, then learned that True Person Sun had also died.
• Hou Niao stopped the Prairie Sword Cultivators from attacking the Orthopedic Sect's remaining minor cultivators and rebuked them for their arrogance.
• Hou Niao ordered the Sword Cultivators to contain the fire and return the two True Persons' Dharma Bodies so the Orthopedic Sect could bury them.
• Hou Niao met Wei True Person, who revealed that he had secretly followed the campaign to support him.
• Hou Niao said the Prairie Sword Lineage would return the Orthopedic Sect's territory, and Wei True Person offered to explain the decision to neighboring traditions before departing.

After conquering Daitao, Hou Niao and the grassland Sword Lineage decided not to occupy the kingdom, instead withdrawing and leaving its future to the Northern Borderlands powers. Hou Niao set their longer-term goal as uniting the grasslands over the next sixty years, while the Orthopedic Sect was left weakened and vulnerable to outside interference.

• Hou Niao reflected on how the old True Persons had helped make his rise to sect leader possible by giving way and supporting the Sword Lineage's future.
• Hou Niao asked Shi Le, Shi Bu, and Shi Zhu how they should handle the conquered Daitao Kingdom.
• Shi Le and Shi Bu argued that the grassland forces lacked the strength to occupy Daitao and that destroying the Orthopedic Sect would provoke further conflict.
• Shi Zhu proposed withdrawing from Daitao and letting the surrounding powers decide its future, and Hou Niao approved the plan.
• Hou Niao told the Golden Core cultivators to focus on uniting the grasslands and reaching agreements with neighboring powers over the next sixty years.
• The grassland Sword Lineage withdrew and issued a proclamation disclaiming any intent to destroy Daitao or eradicate the Orthopedic Sect, but outside powers began interfering as the weakened sect struggled with internal succession.

Hou Niao left the grasslands after ensuring the crisis had passed and received a request from Immortal Maiden Dong to help the Way of Harmony evaluate seven upper-realm traditions. The sect had unanimously accepted her recommendation of him, and he was left uncertain about what the task would involve.

• Hou Niao told the grassland Golden Core sword cultivators that Shizhu and Shi Le would take charge and urged them to distinguish core interests from expendable concerns.
• Hou Niao met Immortal Maiden Fangfei, who showed him a Hundred Beauties Mask, and then heard Immortal Maiden Dong explain the Way of Harmony’s dilemma.
• Immortal Maiden Dong explained that dual cultivation could involve a person, an object, or a broader connection with nature, and that a dao companion was needed to judge its practical results.
• Immortal Maiden Dong said she had recommended Hou Niao as a trustworthy Golden Core cultivator to test the seven traditions, and the Way of Harmony had agreed unanimously.

Hou Niao and Immortal Maiden Dong traveled to the Southeast Region, where they discussed the settling of inherited traditions and the uncertain claims surrounding the Anhe Daoist Sect. In Sangmo, Hou Niao challenged Immortal Maiden Dong over the Way of Harmony’s responsibility for the region’s prosperous, pleasure-seeking society.

• Immortal Maiden Dong explained that major Daoist and Buddhist sects had quickly secured their inheritances through powerful representatives, while more than ten traditions were reportedly seeking ties to the Anhe Daoist Sect.
• Immortal Maiden Dong told Hou Niao that Daoist Zhixuan had publicly claimed Anhe was also a Taiqing inheritance, and Hou Niao questioned the claim.
• Hou Niao decided he needed to return to Anhe soon, though no one had yet summoned him despite his absence of more than two months.
• Hou Niao and Immortal Maiden Dong entered Sangmo and saw its wealthy, pleasure-filled cities, which Immortal Maiden Dong said reflected generations of carefree living across the Southeast.
• Hou Niao told Immortal Maiden Dong that the Way of Harmony bore major responsibility for failing to guide the region’s people, then admitted that he liked places where he could amuse himself.

Hou Niao met Yuantong True Person and agreed to help the Way of Harmony assess seven candidates through blind dual-cultivation sessions. He was taken to the Exotic Garden to prepare, while Immortal Maiden Dong warned him that the trials could conceal traps or attempts at control.

• Yuantong True Person explained that seven candidates would undergo blind testing with Hou Niao, whose impressions would help the Way of Harmony choose a practitioner.
• Hou Niao showed Yuantong True Person his identity-concealing treasure and agreed to prepare for daily sessions in the Exotic Garden.
• Yuantong True Person assigned her disciple Fangfei to guide Hou Niao through the basics of dual cultivation before the trials began.
• Immortal Maiden Dong urged Hou Niao to take the assessment seriously and focus on judging each candidate rather than pursuing pleasure.
• Immortal Maiden Dong warned Hou Niao that the candidates from the upper realms might use hidden methods to lure or control him.

Hou Du spent seven days assessing the Way of Harmony's dual cultivation maidens and recorded detailed impressions for Immortal Maiden Yuantong. After he left, Immortal Maiden Yuantong revealed that she had secretly been one of the seven women, so she trusted his account firsthand.

• Immortal Maiden Dong taught Hou Du about the Dual Cultivation Path for three days before leaving him to assess the maidens in the Exotic Garden.
• Hou Du practiced with the first maiden and wrote a poetic account of her methods, then spent the next day in a serene, Dao-focused encounter with another maiden.
• On the fifth day, a maiden secretly gave Hou Du plant essence and hinted that she would provide more if he helped her become the successor.
• Hou Du completed his assessments, documented every change he noticed, and left the Exotic Garden without waiting for the result.
• Immortal Maiden Dong questioned Immortal Maiden Yuantong's confidence in Hou Du, and Yuantong revealed that she had been the seventh maiden he assessed.

A year after Hou Niao took office, Dushan’s Mountain Gate had transformed into a vast complex that helped bind Quanzhen together. At the anniversary gathering, the sect’s leaders discussed its future, and Hou Niao urged closer ties with the prairie’s Golden Bloodline as they prepared for coming turmoil.

• Over the year, Quanzhen Sword Cultivators helped build Dushan’s Mountain Gate, where True Person Wu oversaw the construction of immense ice halls and subsidiary buildings.
• Hou Niao reflected that the building work had strengthened the sect’s unity and helped his reforms take root, though Dushan’s development would take many more years.
• At the anniversary gathering, Hou Niao questioned how the enormous Ice and Snow Sword Pavilion would be roofed, and True Person Wu explained that it would remain open and be sealed by a formation.
• True Person Xu and Sea True Person criticized Hou Niao for spending little time at the Mountain Gate and warned that he needed a Nascent Soul True Person to accompany him while traveling.
• The senior ranks discussed the Mountain Gate’s rules, organization, staffing, rewards, external relations, and swordsmanship.
• Hou Niao reported that Jinxiu’s Lost Dao Alliance had few members and proposed exchanging Golden Core cultivators with the prairie’s Golden Bloodline to strengthen ties before war broke out.

Hou Du continued developing Quanzhen Sect’s swordsmanship and taught its cultivators the importance of free-ranging movement in combat. A message from Xiao True Person in Anhe summoned him, and Hou Du realized a difficult new problem awaited him.

• Quanzhen Sect’s Nascent Soul True Persons and many Golden Core cultivators greatly improved their Sword Light Division, while Hou Du expanded his swordsmanship and raised his sword-launching frequency to fifty.
• Yu Zhengxing demonstrated more than a hundred sword lights at the Sword-Dueling Arena and challenged Hou Du to show his skills.
• Hou Du fought Yu Zhengxing and the gathered cultivators, dodged their attacks, struck them all, and urged them to master free-ranging movement.
• Li Chuping told Hou Du that Xiao True Person in Anhe had sent a letter asking him to visit, and Hou Du dreaded the trouble ahead.

Hou Niao set out for Anhe to attend a succession assembly, hoping to protect Shanmen Quanzhen’s interests without openly interfering in Anhe’s affairs. He arrived near the Divine Capital and met Daoist Zhan, reflecting on how far their paths and cultivation had diverged.

• Hou Niao learned that Anhe’s succession had drawn interest from the Wu Sect and Upper Realm Visitors, while Li Chuping urged him to seek an impartial successor or preserve the status quo.
• Li Chuping arranged for Quanzhen Nascent Soul True Persons and Sword Cultivators to conduct border trials as a warning to the Daoist Sect not to pressure Anhe’s succession.
• Hou Niao left alone for Anhe after giving instructions about sect affairs and reread Xiao True Person’s invitation to the Dharma assembly at Anhe Palace.
• Hou Niao reached Wild Goose Return Lake near the Divine Capital and sent a message token to Daoist Zhan.
• Daoist Zhan met Hou Niao, and he reflected on their growing distance and on how his cultivation had left former peers far behind.

Hou Niao discussed the Anhe Daoist Sect’s dispute over which upper-realm lineage should transmit its Dao and learned that the sect remained divided. He and Daoist Zhan entered Anhe Palace to consult Xiao True Person, where they encountered Daoist Tianfeng of Shangqing playing a bamboo flute.

• Daoist Zhan told Hou Niao that thirteen Daoists from branches of the Three Pure Ones’ Daoist Sect had gathered at Anhe Palace to compete to transmit their teachings.
• Hou Niao learned that the thirteen excluded outsiders and that Juemingzi of Yuqing, already chosen by the Wu Sect, was backed by Southern Anhe but opposed by Northern Anhe.
• Daoist Zhan explained that Anhe’s internal divisions prevented its True Persons from reaching a decision, and they wanted Hou Niao’s opinion.
• Hou Niao and Daoist Zhan entered the dilapidated Anhe Palace and crossed Yanhuai Lake on their way to Xiao True Person’s secluded quarters.
• Hou Niao and Daoist Zhan heard a bamboo flute on Heart-of-the-Lake Island and saw Daoist Tianfeng of Shangqing standing in its pavilion.

Hou Niao and Daoist Tianfeng exchanged powerful attacks on Heart-of-the-Lake Island before a Cloud Board stopped their fight. Meanwhile, Daoist Zhixuan urged Tianfeng to unite the Qi Sect, Wu Sect, and Anhe Daoist Sect, but Tianfeng warned that the plan depended on whether others agreed.

• Hou Niao recognized Daoist Tianfeng from the rift, and Tianfeng demanded that he take responsibility for the karma tied to the Azure Sky Legacy.
• Hou Niao and Daoist Tianfeng traded attacks, with Tianfeng breaking apart Hou Niao’s Sword Dragon and Hou Niao answering Tianfeng’s Pure Qi net with Five-Colored Radiance.
• A Cloud Board sounded, and Hou Niao and Daoist Tianfeng withdrew before either could gain the upper hand.
• Daoist Zhan asked Hou Niao whether he could have beaten Tianfeng, and Hou Niao said neither could know after one exchange, though a winner would pay a steep price.
• Daoist Zhixuan proposed that the Three Purities disciples unite the Qi Sect, Wu Sect, and Anhe Daoist Sect, while Daoist Tianfeng said their agreement alone would not make the plan succeed.

Hou Niao met with True Person An and Xiao True Person to discuss the upheaval surrounding the Brocade Continent and Anhe. They urged him to learn about the powerful visitors without rushing to oppose them, leaving him to shoulder a role the local cultivators could not fulfill.

• Hou Niao told True Person An and Xiao True Person that he could find no workable plan for Anhe amid the Brocade Continent's unexplained upheaval.
• Xiao True Person explained that Buddhist sects had proposed building sanctuaries in Anhe in exchange for Daoist temples in their lands, and True Person An said they had stalled the proposal.
• Xiao True Person asked Hou Niao to spend time observing and engaging with the visitors, including Daoist Tianfeng, to understand their intentions.
• Hou Niao recalled that Daoist Tianfeng was very strong, but said he had not been afraid to fight him.
• Xiao True Person argued that Hou Niao could not rely on Anhe or Brocade Continent cultivators to match the visitors and urged him to consider that they might become allies in strengthening Jinxiu.

Xiao True Person theorized that the Brocade Continent’s spiritual-energy revival and rapid cultivation growth had been engineered to prepare it for a coming crisis. He predicted that an external threat would arrive in sixty years, leaving Jinxiu to face it with little help from the Upper Realms, and urged Hou Niao to accept his role in the coming events.

• Xiao True Person explained that the New Era had revived spiritual energy on the Brocade Continent and suggested that Jinxiu had been uniquely sealed and accelerated by powerful lineages.
• Xiao True Person reasoned that the Upper Realm Visitors had grown anxious and predicted that an external threat would come in sixty years.
• Hou Niao asked whether Heaven-Opening would bring more Upper Realm Envoys, and Xiao True Person said Jinxiu would probably have to face the danger largely on its own.
• Hou Niao joked that he wished he had stayed on Hell Star, while Xiao True Person insisted he could not escape what he was born to face.
• Hou Niao protested that he had only intended to work undercover and change the Sword Lineage, but Xiao True Person called him a potential legendary cultivation-world spy.

Hou Niao visited Daoist Zhixuan to oppose Yuqing’s participation in the contest for Anhe’s Daoist tradition, but Zhixuan said he lacked the authority to change the Wu Sect’s plans. Hou Niao left determined to find divisions among the thirteen Daoist sects and seek another way to protect Anhe.

• Xiao True Person told Hou Niao that Jinxiu’s history had to be made by its own people and urged him to meet and understand the Upper Realm Visitors.
• Hou Niao barged into Anshen Hall and challenged Daoist Zhixuan, who refused to fight and offered him wine instead.
• Hou Niao warned Zhixuan that the Sword Lineage would intervene if the Wu Sect and other sects continued coveting Anhe, and argued against Yuqing joining the succession contest.
• Zhixuan said Juemingzi had little chance and that the Wu Sect’s Nascent Soul True Persons, not people like them, would decide its expansion plans.
• Hou Niao left without reaching an agreement and resolved to find a rift among Taiqing’s Zhixuan, Yuqing’s Juemingzi, and Shangqing’s Tianfeng.