Chapter Summaries

Hou Niao joined the Anhe Daoist Sect, determined to fulfill his childhood dream and irritate the upper-realm emissaries by staying. At Chenglu Hall, he began the sect’s joining formalities by giving deliberately unconventional answers to routine questions.

• Hou Niao settled into ordinary quarters and insisted that he was simply an Anhe disciple.
• The northern and southern branches reunited at Anhe Palace to welcome the upper-realm emissaries, though their leaders remained divided.
• Hou Niao joined a crowded queue at Chenglu Hall to complete the basic formalities for entering the sect.
• When an upper cultivator asked him the opposite of living, Hou Niao answered, “Cooked,” and explained that he meant raw and cooked.
• Asked to explain “Love Anhe, love the Daoist Sect,” Hou Niao began describing how narrow love could make people hate strangers and take pride in achievements they had not contributed to.

Hou Du returned to the Anhe Daoist Sect to complete his admission paperwork and claim the stipend he had accumulated, shocking the priestesses and junior cultivators when they recognized him as the legendary Hou Constellation. He revealed that an earlier admission under his childhood name had let him spend nearly two hundred years undercover in Shanmen Quanzhen, and he left the priestesses calculating his total stipend.

• Hou Du gave irreverent answers about cultivation and teachers, angering a priestess who demanded his name so she could punish him.
• Hou Du identified himself as Hou Du, also known as Hou Xiaoshi, and said he had joined decades earlier but never completed his paperwork.
• The priestesses found his formal admission record from eighty-one years and seven months earlier and realized he was Hou Constellation.
• Hou Du apologized to the waiting junior cultivators by distributing treasures, then discussed the meaning of goodness with them.
• Hou Du asked the priestesses to check another record and revealed that he had joined under his childhood name 178 years earlier to infiltrate Shanmen Quanzhen.
• Hou Du asked the priestesses to calculate the stipend owed to him for his nearly two hundred years of service.

Hou Niao reunited with Lanting and learned how Anhe’s lower-ranking disciples viewed the competition over the sect’s inheritance. He declared that Anhe’s independence was his priority, then reached Cornelian Hall, where Lanting warned him about its master, Martial Uncle Chongxi.

• Lanting took Hou Niao from Chenglu Hall to Cornelian Hall to handle his affairs as a Golden Core cultivator and told him that her sister, Lanruo, was there too.
• Hou Niao asked Lanting about the inheritance candidates and learned that Anhe disciples could only observe their demonstrations and had formed opinions based on the candidates’ bearing and teachings.
• Lanting asked whether Hou Niao would influence Anhe’s choice, and he said he would protect the sect’s independence while avoiding interference that would undermine his position.
• Lanting told Hou Niao that he had considerable support among Anhe’s lower-ranking disciples, but he said that speaking up would make the Sword Lineage’s interference in sect affairs a serious taboo.
• Hou Niao gave Lanting three medicinal pills to help with a possible breakthrough, and she warned him that Cornelian Hall’s master, Martial Uncle Chongxi, was difficult to deal with.
• Lanting and Hou Niao arrived at Cornelian Hall, and Hou Niao recognized Chongxi as a fellow disciple of Daoist Chongling.

Hou Niao went to Cornelian Hall to claim his Daoist Register and nearly two centuries of unpaid wages, but Hall Master Daoist Chongxi rejected his claim and destroyed his service record. Hou Niao beat Chongxi and took control of the hall, leaving the Anhe cultivators too wary to intervene.

• Hou Niao presented his service record at Cornelian Hall and demanded his Daoist Register and outstanding pay.
• The reception Daoist, afraid to decide the matter, summoned Hall Master Chongxi.
• Chongxi refused Hou Niao’s claim and tore his service record in two.
• Hou Niao struck Chongxi, seized him, and dragged him to the hall’s seat of honor.
• Hou Niao trampled Chongxi and denounced the sect for mistreating him after his long undercover service.
• The gathered cultivators watched without intervening, with the Northern Anhe faction enjoying Chongxi’s humiliation.

Hou Niao forced Cornelian Hall to address Daoist Chongxi’s treatment of his appointment after beating him in public. The deputy hall masters secured Chongxi’s reluctant agreement to handle Hou Niao’s post according to the rules, while Chongxi remained humiliated and resentful.

• Daoist Zhan and Daoist Wuwei arrived as Hou Niao continued complaining and planted a foot on the fallen Daoist Chongxi, crushing his bones.
• Hou Niao explained that Chongxi had torn up his credentials despite True Person Xiao approving his appointment to Cornelian Hall.
• Daoist Zhan judged both Chongxi and Hou Niao at fault and urged the deputy hall masters to resolve Hou Niao’s appointment first.
• Daoist Wuwei restrained Chongxi, and Hou Niao apologized while Daoist Zhan urged everyone to treat the fight as a roughhousing incident.
• Daoist Wuwei proposed processing Hou Niao’s appointment according to the register, and Chongxi reluctantly nodded under pressure from both deputy hall masters and Hou Niao.

After provoking Chongxi and receiving his Daoist Register, Hou Niao settled in Anhe Palace to study the five elements from Xiao True Person and True Person An. He left the thirteen Upper Realm Envoys to their own contest of patience while waiting for an opening to reveal their loyalties.

• Hou Niao received his Daoist Register and told Daoist Zhan and Lanting that he had deliberately angered Chongxi to provoke a response from the Upper Realm Envoys.
• Daoist Zhan worried that Hou Niao’s provocation could spark a bloody conflict within Anhe, while Lanting feared Chongxi would blame her for bringing Hou Niao to the palace.
• Daoist Zhan asked to borrow Hou Niao’s appearance-changing treasure for an upcoming mission, and Hou Niao realized Qingqian had told her about it.
• Hou Niao settled in Anhe Palace and stopped seeking out the thirteen Upper Realm Envoys while watching for shifts in their relationships.
• Hou Niao began learning fire and metal techniques from Xiao True Person and True Person An, drawing on knowledge the Upper Realm Envoys had shared about the five elements.

Hou Du pursued the Five Elements to strengthen his swordsmanship while waiting for his plans involving the Upper Realm Envoys to unfold. After Daoist Chongxi was killed, Daoist Xi admitted she had arranged the killing and explained why Hou Du’s forceful methods did not suit the Anhe Daoist Sect.

• Hou Du trained with True Person An and another True Person, hoping to master all five elements and greatly increase his sword frequency.
• True Person An challenged Hou Du to get on with his work, but Hou Du claimed his bait was already set and the plan was waiting for a response.
• News spread that Chongxi had died in a duel with an unfamiliar Qian Cultivator in the Wu Kingdom, making Hou Du a suspect and disrupting his plan.
• Daoist Xi visited Hou Du, returned his Mask Cloth, and admitted that she had arranged Chongxi’s killing.
• Daoist Xi told Hou Du that the Daoist Sect relied on compromise and individual conviction, so his coercive Sword Lineage methods did not suit it.

Hou Niao accepted the post of Anhe Conduct Inspector and helped introduce stricter rules to reform the Anhe Daoist Sect’s lax culture. The new regulations were announced, and he considered whether similar discipline would suit Dushan before deciding the Sword Lineage and Daoist Sect needed different approaches.

• Hou Niao accepted that he could not make choices for others and suspected that True Persons stood behind Shan Daoist’s actions.
• After the master of Cornelian Hall died, the sect appointed Daoist Wuwei as master and added a southern deputy.
• Xiao True Person appointed Hou Niao Anhe Conduct Inspector, explaining that the Upper Realm Envoys supported correcting the sect’s conduct.
• Hou Niao agreed to enforce the rules without making exceptions, including for the True Persons.
• The sect announced dozens of regulations, including limits on flying speed after drinking in crowded areas.
• Hou Niao considered imposing similar rules in Dushan but concluded that the Sword Lineage and Daoist Sect required different standards.

Hou Niao went on his first field inspection of Anhe Palace’s rectification campaign and caught Daoist Tianfeng speeding while drunk. Tianfeng claimed an exemption because his wife was about to give birth, leaving Hou Niao to decide whether the rules applied.

• Hou Niao enjoyed learning about the Five Elements Passages and left Xiao True Person's Small Temple after the True Persons began a meeting.
• Hou Niao donned a Rectification Team helmet and flew through Anhe Palace to conduct his first field inspection.
• Hou Niao spotted Daoist Tianfeng speeding out of Anhe Palace and ordered him to stop.
• Hou Niao questioned Tianfeng about drinking, and Tianfeng admitted he had drunk three pots.
• Hou Niao cited the rules and asked which exemption applied, and Tianfeng said his wife was about to give birth.

Daoist Tianfeng tried to evade Hou Du’s discipline by claiming he needed to visit his wife, but Hou Du followed him to a clinic in Jade Grove Town. After Tianfeng improvised a story around a woman and her newborn daughter, Hou Du accepted the excuse and left the matter open for a future visit.

• Daoist Tianfeng claimed his wife was at the Jade Grove Clinic, and Hou Du insisted on accompanying him there.
• At the clinic, Tianfeng picked Qiu Di’s name from the patient register, only to learn she had already given birth to a daughter.
• Hou Du urged Tianfeng to check on the mother and child, so Tianfeng asked the physician to take him to their room.
• Tianfeng admitted privately to Qiu Di that he had been caught speeding after drinking and had used the newborn as an excuse.
• Qiu Di told Hou Du that Tianfeng was her husband and asked him to spare her husband, and Hou Du accepted her explanation and said he would visit again for the child’s full-month banquet.

Daoist Tianfeng agreed to help the woman in Jade Grove Town after Hou Du maneuvered him into staying for the child’s Full-Moon Banquet. Later, Hou Du discussed the Upper Realm Envoys’ factions and the convict cultivators’ future with Fang Yazi and Li Shipeng, while Hongkan remained undecided about joining events on the Brocade Continent.

• Daoist Tianfeng offered to help the woman after realizing Hou Du might expose him if he missed the Full-Moon Banquet.
• Hou Du left Jade Grove Town pleased that he had forced Tianfeng into a wager over who would give in first.
• Li Shipeng relayed Tower Master Li’s advice that Hou Du return, but Hou Du chose to wait and ordered Li Chuping to stop the border trials.
• Li Shipeng explained that Upper Realm Envoys belonged to loosely divided Daoist factions and that many had other prospective inheritances.
• Hou Du read Hongkan’s letter and learned that Hongkan was considering whether his group of convict cultivators should remain secluded overseas or take part in events on the Brocade Continent.

Hou Du discussed suspicions about Ancient Langzhong and the coming changes on Jinxiu, then gave his friends pills and swordsmanship insights. At the clinic, Daoist Tianfeng agreed to let Qiu Di stay after Hou Du sent her flowers anonymously, leaving Tianfeng struggling to contain his anger.

• Hou Du rejected using force against Ancient Langzhong cultivators and decided to visit them himself to preserve trust.
• Hou Du warned Li Shipeng and Li Chuping to focus on strengthening the Quanzhen Sect, then gave them medicinal pills and swordsmanship insights.
• Hou Du explained that he would contact Daoist elites to learn their views on Jinxiu, the universe, and the Great Dao.
• Hou Du sensed a powerful presence, bought flowers, and had the old physician deliver them anonymously to Room Wu.
• Qiu Di told Daoist Tianfeng she would stay in the Divine Capital, and Tianfeng agreed to make arrangements after recognizing Hou Du's message.

Hou Niao returned to Pingliang to address the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s uncertain future and meet its elders. He demonstrated his developing Five Elements Mystic Light, while the sect’s hidden inheritor remained unexplained.

• Hou Niao attended Daoist Tianfeng’s child’s full-month banquet and continued their contest of Dao hearts.
• Hou Niao flew to Pingliang and observed that the prefecture had prospered under Li Chuping while the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s foundations weakened.
• Hou Niao visited the Ancient Langzhong Sect, whose elders had failed to locate the concealed inheritor despite the Quanzhen Sword Cultivators’ trials.
• Blackbeard, Mottledbeard, and Silverbeard welcomed Hou Niao as their sect leader, but he called himself only a nominal disciple.
• Hou Niao displayed two opposing Five Elements Light Wheels and asked the three elders for guidance on the Peacock Display Technique.

Hou Niao returned to the Ancient Langzhong Sect to study its Ancestral Diagram and exchange cultivation techniques with the three old Daoists. He discovered their hidden inheritor, a young woman from the Universe Peacock Clan, and learned why they had kept her secluded.

• Hou Niao demonstrated how two opposing wheels strengthened his Profound Light, and the three old Daoists shared their own Display Techniques with him.
• Hou Niao declined to voice his suspicions and said he had come to study the Ancestral Diagram again.
• The three old Daoists asked Hou Niao to stroll around the estate while they prepared a feast.
• Hou Niao recognized that one of the peacocks in the enclosure was a disguised visitor, who transformed into a young girl.
• Silverbeard explained that the girl was the Ancient Langzhong Sect's Upper Realm Envoy and a member of the Universe Peacock Clan, born in the Golden Core Realm but inexperienced with people.

Hou Niao advised the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s elders on how to manage the restless little peacock, then went to study the Ancestral Diagram. As he cultivated, someone interrupted him and challenged him to spar directly.

• Hou Niao told the Silver-Bearded Daoist that the little peacock needed sightseeing and new experiences rather than confinement.
• Hou Niao refused to take the little peacock traveling and went to study the Ancestral Diagram.
• The three old Daoists decided Hou Niao should take responsibility for the little peacock, and the Mottled-Bearded Daoist encouraged her to follow him.
• The little peacock questioned Hou Niao’s connection to the Ancient Langzhong Sect, and the Silver-Bearded Daoist explained that Hou Niao had originally belonged to the Sword Lineage.
• Hou Niao practiced with the Ancestral Diagram’s great bird until a voice beside him suggested that they sparred with each other instead.

Hou Niao challenged Kong Li to contests of their Display Techniques so he could learn from her, but she repeatedly defeated him. Kong Li declared that she would travel with him and protect him, while Hou Niao tried to delay her by claiming he needed to cultivate before the Ancestral Diagram.

• Hou Niao and Kong Li repeatedly competed with their Profound Lights, and Kong Li won each contest despite Hou Niao changing the rules.
• Kong Li revealed that her name was Kong Li and told Hou Niao to call her Nineteenth Aunt.
• Hou Niao tried to dissuade Kong Li from leaving with him, but she said she had run away to the Brocade Continent for freedom and insisted on protecting him.
• Hou Niao asked to cultivate before the Ancestral Diagram first, claiming he needed to show sincerity, and Kong Li reluctantly let him continue.

Hou Niao spent half a month in Pingliang Prefecture before secretly leaving his estate for Anhe Palace, hoping to avoid taking Kong Li into danger. Near the border, cultivators converged on him, and he unleashed a barrage of flying swords that caught his first two opponents off guard.

• Hou Niao spent his days practicing with Kong Li, meditating before the ancestral portrait, and exploring the mortal world with her.
• He told a Quanzhen Sect disciple to inform Li Chuping that the Ancient Langzhong Sect’s affairs were settled and that Pingliang Prefecture needed reinforcements.
• Hou Niao bought Kong Li a heap of curiosities, then used his meditation as cover to slip out through the skylight and head toward Anhe Palace.
• Two Golden Core cultivators approached Hou Niao near the border, while other presences converged on him from every direction.
• Hou Niao released dozens of flying swords with his Sword Frequency, overwhelming the two cultivators before they could respond.

Hou Du defeated two Golden Core cultivators during an ambush, but Nineteenth Aunt’s interference drove off the other attackers before he could question them. He accepted that she would travel with him and began showing her the Anhe Daoist Kingdom, while insisting she keep her true form secret.

• Hou Du’s sword light killed one Golden Core cultivator and cut down the other as the attackers tried to retreat.
• Nineteenth Aunt fought several Daoists with her five-colored screen, and they scattered when Hou Du arrived.
• Nineteenth Aunt scolded Hou Du for sneaking away and insisted on protecting him as they traveled.
• Hou Du collected the fallen cultivators’ Storage Rings, and Nineteenth Aunt opened them and inspected their contents.
• Hou Du warned Nineteenth Aunt not to reveal her true form unless she killed anyone who saw it, and she promised to obey.
• Hou Du and Nineteenth Aunt flew through the Anhe Daoist Kingdom, and she demanded that he follow through on showing her the scenery.

Hou Niao brought the little peacock to Anhe Palace and warned her to conceal her identity among the powerful cultivators gathered there. After she met Lanting and complained about his lodging, Hou Niao promised to find her a larger house near the lake, while reminding her not to reveal her true form.

• Hou Niao explained Anhe Palace’s powerful visitors and told the little peacock to keep her true form secret.
• The little peacock said Grandpa Lingbao had secretly brought her through the Spatial Passage, and Hou Niao filled her in on the situation at Anhe Palace.
• Hou Niao and the little peacock flew into Anhe Palace, where cultivators lowered their heads to him.
• Hou Niao introduced the little peacock to Lanting as his nineteenth aunt, and the women sized each other up.
• The little peacock objected to Hou Niao’s modest lodgings, so he promised to arrange a house with gardens near the lake within three days.

Hou Niao asked the little peacock for advice on choosing among the visiting Daoist traditions, and she narrowed his options to the Three Purities. She told him he had already chosen Shangqing through his actions toward Daoist Tianfeng, leaving Hou Niao startled by the implication.

• The little peacock explained that the Peacock Clan lacked the strength to rival the great Daoist sects and mostly survived as a courted but marginal power.
• Hou Niao and the little peacock joked about their friendship and discussed how he had forced Daoist Tianfeng into marriage and fatherhood.
• Hou Niao pleaded with the little peacock to advise him on which of the nineteen traditions to choose and promised to consult her before leaving during the next sixty years.
• The little peacock dismissed the lesser branch traditions and told Hou Niao to consider only the Three Purities, which held the real power.
• The little peacock said Hou Niao had already chosen Shangqing because he had arranged Daoist Tianfeng's marriage and family.