Chapter Summaries

Song Yan pressed Qin Xijun to explain her ruined cultivation and the Phoenix Feather she had once said could heal her. After Qin Xijun revealed the feather’s mysterious origins and handed him an old map, Song Yan joined it to two charts he already possessed, uncovering a nearly complete sea chart whose markings seemed familiar.

• Song Yan confronted Qin Xijun about her failed recovery and the Phoenix Feather, and she explained that her secret technique had destroyed her cultivation but had not diminished her vitality.
• Qin Xijun told Song Yan that a wandering Daoist had given her a Phoenix feather as a child, which had entered her body, and said he had instructed her to seek the Phoenix in Yang Valley.
• Qin Xijun admitted she had withheld the truth to keep Song Yan from wasting his time and delaying his cultivation, while Song Yan promised to keep searching and asked her not to deceive him again.
• Qin Xijun gave Song Yan a map fragment from the Daoist and said Yang Valley might be the legendary site of the Fusang Tree.
• Song Yan fitted Qin Xijun’s fragment to two matching charts he had obtained from Ye Yin and Yang Zhu, forming a sea chart with a small central piece still missing.
• Song Yan examined the chart’s faint ink traces and found them strangely familiar, while Qin Xijun asked where he had obtained the other two pieces.

Song Yan returned to the Chu Kingdom, reunited with Qin Xijun and Xiao Ju, and prepared to remain for the postponed Nine Veins gathering. He visited Shiliang with Xiao He and saw how time had changed the people there, while Sheng Nian arranged for Sheng Yun to go to Jun Mountain.

• Song Yan told Qin Xijun about his years in the Central Region and invited her to Jun Mountain, but she chose to stay in the Chu Kingdom.
• Song Yan learned the Lichuan gathering had been postponed for two months and told Xiao Ju she could return to Jun Mountain with him after the competition.
• Song Yan invited Xiao He to visit Shiliang and watched Meng Lu pay respects at Song Ying's grave, where she recognized that Brother Song had returned.
• Song Yan and Xiao He visited their old home and discussed what they would do if Grandpa had lied about being dead.
• Sheng Nian told Sheng Yun to go to the Central Region with Song Yan and cultivate at Jun Mountain after the Lichuan gathering.

Song Yan visited Xu Ziling’s cenotaph and approved Xu Ziqing’s use of a demonic lamp to torment True Person Shuihan, though he told him to explain it to Sect Master Luo. At the Lichuan Assembly, Ju Luyi defeated Xie Chan in the Nine Veins Grand Competition’s final match and became champion.

• Song Yan found Xu Ziqing mourning Xu Ziling and learned that Xu Ziqing had imprisoned True Person Shuihan’s soul in the Lamp of Everlasting Light, Neither Dead nor Alive.
• Song Yan left a flower at Xu Ziling’s cenotaph and suggested that Xu Ziqing ask Sect Master Luo to let the lamp brighten the Memorial Spirit Hall.
• After the purge of the Xuanyuan Sect, the five remaining great sects resumed the Lichuan Assembly, where Ju Luyi and Xie Chan advanced to the final of the Nine Veins Grand Competition.
• Ju Luyi and Xie Chan fought with their sword arts as Song Yan watched, and Ju Luyi used the Five Spirits Restraint and Purification Sword Formation to withstand Xie Chan’s powerful strike.
• Xie Chan’s flying sword cracked, and she conceded to Ju Luyi, who won the title of Nine Veins Grand Champion.

Ju Luyi won the Nine Veins Grand Champion title, and Song Yan arranged for her and Sheng Yun to travel with him to the Central Region. After leaving Deng Ke to return to Wusun, Song Yan planned to use a teleportation array near Wushang to make the journey safer.

• Ju Luyi defeated Xie Chan and won the Nine Veins Grand Champion title for the Dongyuan Sect, then received a Sword Sect Jade Seal and Golden Core Sword Talisman from Deng Ke.
• Song Yan praised Xie Chan and gave her a jade slip that could help her seek an opportunity at Jun Mountain in the Central Region.
• Song Yan stayed in the Chu Kingdom, told the Sheyang Sect he would take Sheng Yun to the Central Region, and informed Dongyuan elders that Ju Luyi would accompany him.
• Song Yan, Deng Ke, and Ju Luyi visited Qin Xijun and the Sword Sect Ruins before collecting Sheng Yun from the Sheyang Sect.
• Deng Ke parted from Song Yan to return to Wusun, while Song Yan told Sheng Yun they would travel by teleportation array near Wushang.

In the Mohist School’s dungeon, Zhou Zhu offered Ruan Zhi a chance to compete for the Juzi position so she could lawfully keep Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, and she named Song Yan as her Dao protector. Meanwhile, a letter from the Mohist School reached Jun Mountain for Song Yan, who was still in seclusion.

• Zhou Zhu told Ruan Zhi that she could not leave yet because the Mohist School was investigating Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, but offered to nominate her as a Juzi candidate.
• Zhou Zhu praised Ruan Zhi’s past acts of kindness and explained that she needed a Dao protector for the selection.
• Ruan Zhi named Song Yan as her close friend and Dao protector, and Zhou Zhu recognized him as Jun Mountain’s chief True Disciple.
• After leaving the dungeon, Zhou Zhu told his disciples that Ruan Zhi’s sincere nature made her a worthy Juzi candidate amid the Mohist School’s leadership crisis and the Demon Ruins’ threat.
• Sheng Yun brought a Mohist School letter for Song Yan to Chiyu Peak, where Ju Luyi took it and decided to give it to Xiao He while Song Yan remained in seclusion.

Song Yan received a letter from Ruan Zhi asking him to serve as her Dao protector in the Mohist School’s contest for Juzi, and traveled to the school with Xiao He and Ju Luyi. At the Mohist School, Wu Mengliu learned that Song Yan was arriving, while Li Zhi recognized Ju Luyi; Song Yan then reunited with Ruan Zhi.

• Xiao He and Xiao Ju discovered that a mechanical figure bore the Mohist School’s mark, and Xiao Ju recalled rescuing its former owner in the Chu Kingdom.
• At the Nuo Realm gathering, Lanzhu told Song Yan that an outsider had refined the Mohist School’s inherited treasure, Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, and Song Yan asked the others to look for a sea chart.
• Song Yan read Ruan Zhi’s letter asking him to come to Tengyang Yinzhou as her Dao protector for the contest for Juzi, and he decided to travel with Xiao He and Xiao Ju.
• At Little Mirror Lake Market, Wu Mengliu learned that Song Yan would support a Mechanism Puppet candidate, while Li Zhi recognized Ju Luyi among Song Yan’s companions.
• Song Yan arrived at the Mohist School, introduced Ju Luyi to Zhou Zhu, and met Ruan Zhi again after more than a decade.

Song Yan learned that Ruan Zhi had to win the Mohist School's Jumaster Contest to resolve the disappearance of Unsolved Spiritual Resonance, and agreed to help her enter Mechanism City. Meanwhile, Li Zhi recruited Wu Mengliu as his partner, and Song Yan arranged for Xiao He to accompany him as the contest approached.

• Ruan Zhi told Song Yan that she could die if she failed to become Juzi, and Zhou Zhu explained that she was a candidate because she had been accused of taking the Mohist School's Unsolved Spiritual Resonance.
• Ruan Zhi said she and Song Yan had found matching floating cubes in Deng Ruikai's lair, and Song Yan proposed that the treasure had been drawn to her because she had absorbed something related to it.
• Song Yan promised to help Ruan Zhi in the Jumaster Contest after Zhou Zhu explained that the candidates and their guardians would enter Mechanism City.
• Li Zhi escorted Ju Luyi to her courtyard, then admitted to Wu Mengliu that he had met her decades earlier; Wu Mengliu agreed to enter Mechanism City with him to retrieve something her father had left there.
• Song Yan admitted that mechanical puzzles were beyond his strengths, then learned that he could bring one spirit pet and chose Xiao He to help him in Mechanism City.

Song Yan visited Master Xu’s residence in Sword-Casting Valley and met Xu Xiaoxiong, who diagnosed a dangerous strain from his Pupil Technique and gave him medicine to suppress it. After Song Yan left, Xu Xiaoxiong told her cousin Jiang Gudong about meeting him and asked how he would fare against Song Yan.

• Song Yan visited Sword-Casting Valley hoping to meet Master Xu, but Xu Xiaoxiong told him her grandfather was away and would return before the Juzi contest.
• Xu Xiaoxiong recognized that Song Yan practiced a Pupil Technique and examined his eyes, finding that his pupil power was dangerously excessive.
• Xu Xiaoxiong warned Song Yan that his vision could fail as his cultivation advanced, then sold him three years’ worth of medicine and instructed him to keep his Pupil Technique circulating.
• Jiang Gudong arrived after Song Yan left and worried that Xu Xiaoxiong had allowed an outsider into the residence.
• Xu Xiaoxiong asked Jiang Gudong how he would fare against Song Yan, and Jiang Gudong joked that Song Yan could kill him eight times in two breaths.

Song Yan met Master Xu and recognized Jiang Gudong from their earlier encounter, then entered the Mohist School’s Juzi contest with Ruan Zhi. The trial began inside the Mohist School Mechanism City, where they received a slate that recorded their assessment, initially marked zero.

• Song Yan visited Master Xu, discussed Mount Li and his sword case, and reunited with Jiang Gudong, whom he had once met in Immortal-Descending Pass.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi arrived at the Juzi contest, where Wu Mengliu disguised as Deng Caiwei; Song Yan recognized her and warned her not to steal anything.
• The former Heavenly Craftsman Commander opened the trial by sending the contestants into the Mohist School Mechanism City.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi explored the Mechanism City and met a Mechanism Golem that gave them a Heavenly Craftsman Slate.
• Ruan Zhi accepted the slate, and the character zero appeared on it.

Song Yan, Ruan Zhi, and Xiao He began the Mohist School’s nine trials, earning modest scores in cooking and medicine before Xiao He excelled at the mechanical craftsmanship trial. The Heavenly Craft Slate awarded her a golden nine, bringing their total score to eighteen as they crossed the completed path over the abyss.

• A mechanical golem explained the trial system, gave Song Yan and Ruan Zhi the Heavenly Craft Slate, and directed them into the trial ground.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi cooked kung pao chicken under a chef’s supervision and received a score of four for the food trial.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi completed a medicine trial and earned five points, bringing their slate total to nine.
• Ruan Zhi admitted she accepted that she might lose her life for having lost the other candidates’ treasure, and Song Yan urged her to continue.
• Song Yan recognized the next area as a mechanical craftsmanship trial, where Xiao He manipulated the Heavenly Craft Hub to assemble a passage across the abyss.
• The slate awarded Xiao He a golden nine, raising their total score to eighteen.

Xiao He, Ruan Zhi, and Song Yan completed the Sword Dao trial, where Ruan Zhi earned a seven and Song Yan earned a nine and received a seal to claim a sword left with the Mohist School. At another trial, Wu Mengliu confronted a mysterious gaunt man, stole his jade pendant while he restrained her, and earned a nine.

• Xiao He received the Heavenly Craft Cube as a reward for her high score in the Mechanism Dao trial.
• Ruan Zhi fought the white-robed swordsman, used her self-devised Hundred-Step Flying Sword, and earned a seven.
• Song Yan fought the swordsman with his cloud bamboo sword and Blameless Sword Forms, earning a nine.
• The swordsman gave Song Yan a seal for retrieving a sword he had entrusted to the Mohist School, and Song Yan recognized the seal's character as “Nie.”
• Wu Mengliu attacked the gaunt man at the theft trial after questioning whether he was a real consciousness, but stole his jade pendant while he held her by the neck.
• The gaunt man accepted Wu Mengliu's success, gave her the jade pendant, and awarded the pair a nine.

Li Zhi learned that Wu Mengliu was the daughter of the Mohist examiner, while Song Yan’s group attempted the theft trial and reached an artifact-refining trial. Ruan Zhi used Unsolved Spiritual Resonance to forge a Flying Sword, earned a nine, and received the founding Patriarch’s treasure, Non-Aggression, which she immediately refined.

• Wu Mengliu told Li Zhi that the Mohist examiner was her father, and Li Zhi realized he was his father’s supposedly deceased friend.
• Ruan Zhi tried to steal the examiner’s Jade Pendant openly and earned a one, then Song Yan used a Flying Sword to threaten the examiner so Xiao He could take it, earning Ruan Zhi a seven.
• Song Yan and Ruan Zhi chose to refine a Flying Sword at the artifact-refining trial, but Ruan Zhi declined his help.
• Ruan Zhi used black-blue Spiritual Resonance to refine the materials barehanded, astonishing Song Yan and the old examiner with the finished sword.
• The old examiner awarded Ruan Zhi a nine and gave her Non-Aggression, a treasure passed down by the Mohist School’s founding Patriarch.
• Ruan Zhi’s Spiritual Resonance immediately finished refining Non-Aggression.

Ruan Zhi chose to save the gravely injured Jiang Gudong and Xu Xiaoxiong in the final trial, earning a perfect Chivalry rating and completing the nine trials with Song Yan. As the other candidates finished, Wu Mengliu recognized that the wounded Song Yan in Xu Xiaoxiong's illusion was fake, leaving the nature of their trial uncertain.

• Ruan Zhi explained to Song Yan that the blue-black cube might be responsible for her ability to refine artifacts barehanded, and they earned scores in the wealth and chess trials.
• Ruan Zhi and Song Yan found Jiang Gudong and Xu Xiaoxiong gravely injured outside the final trial, and Ruan Zhi insisted on treating them despite the risk to her Juzi candidacy.
• Song Yan helped Ruan Zhi heal the pair, and the illusion vanished before their slate awarded them nine in Chivalry and raised their total to seventy-two.
• Ruan Zhi and Song Yan returned to the Mohist School stone terrace, where the former commander praised their exceptional ratings and asked them to wait for the other candidates.
• Xu Xiaoxiong and Jiang Gudong completed their trials, but Wu Mengliu told Li Zhi that the gravely wounded Song Yan in their final illusion was fake because True Person Ciyu could not have been injured so badly by a trial.

Elder Gao announced that Ruan Zhi had won the Mohist School Juzi contest and presided over her succession. As the Mohist School adjusted to its new leader, Song Yan learned that the flying sword he sought was in Sword-Casting Valley and remained at the school while arrangements were made for the protectors to choose gifts.

• Elder Gao revealed the scores, and Ruan Zhi's group won with seventy-two points, ahead of Li Zhi's group with seventy-one and Xu Xiaoxiong's with seventy.
• Li Zhi told Wu Mengliu that he did not resent Ruan Zhi becoming Juzi, since she shared the Mohist School's goals and had the ability to lead.
• Ruan Zhi accepted the Juzi Token and Mo Dian and was formally recognized as the Mohist School's new Juzi.
• Master Xu told Song Yan that the flying sword he sought was in Sword-Casting Valley and invited him to discuss the complicated situation before he left.
• Ruan Zhi offered Mo Dian to Song Yan, but Zhou Zhu and Song Yan stopped her, and Zhou Zhu promised the Mohist School would reward Song Yan for his help.
• After several days at the Mohist School, Song Yan was invited to its Secret Land to choose a gift.

Song Yan visited the Mohist School’s secret treasury and chose the Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge for Xiao Ju. He then learned that Gai Nie’s unfinished Abyssal Chime sword could be reforged only after he chose its materials, and Master Xu pointed him toward Mount Li to seek more thunder-charged fushi stone.

• Li Zhi escorted Song Yan to the secret treasury and told him that Ju Luyi had once rescued him from Devil Cultivators in the Chu Kingdom.
• Song Yan chose the Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge from the treasury, while Wu Mengliu selected a different treasure after seeing the sword set was gone.
• Song Yan visited Master Xu at the Sword-Casting Valley to ask about collecting the sword from the Sword Dao Illusion Realm.
• Master Xu revealed that the sword blank was Abyssal Chime, once wielded by Gai Nie, and that it had remained unfinished for tens of thousands of years.
• Master Xu showed Song Yan a piece of thunder-charged fushi stone found at Mount Li and suggested that more of it could be used to reforge Abyssal Chime.

Song Yan prepared for a possible journey to the Eastern Sea while gifting Ju Luyi a powerful sword set and learning about the Mohist School's history. In the Scripture Repository, he found an account of an unsuccessful search for immortal mountains and recognized a familiar pattern in Master Hu Feizi's mechanical designs.

• Song Yan borrowed Master Xu's thunder-charged fushi stone and agreed to wait until he could gather the materials needed to forge the Immortal Sword.
• Ju Luyi and Ruan Zhi planned a protective Law Treasure for Song Yan, then Song Yan gave Ju Luyi the Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge and admitted he was considering a long journey to the Eastern Sea.
• Song Yan told Xiao He he would take her to search for the divine bird Phoenix, and Ju Luyi realized he had given her the swords because he might be leaving.
• Song Yan searched the Mohist School's ancient texts for information about Yang Valley but found no new clues.
• Song Yan read that Xu Junfang had sailed into the Eastern Dark Sea seeking immortal mountains and never returned, then recognized the style of Master Hu Feizi's mechanical designs.

Song Yan discovered that the patterns on Xiao Ju’s Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge formed a mechanism diagram linked to Qu Jiangzi, a castoff disciple of the Mohist School. Meanwhile, Wu Mengliu secretly entered Song Yan’s residence to seek cooperation, but became trapped and faced his threat to kill her.

• Song Yan examined the Three Swords of the Celestial Lodge and copied their faint mechanism patterns before returning the swords to Xiao Ju.
• Zhou Zhu identified the diagrams as likely work of Qu Jiangzi, Master Hu Feizi’s gifted disciple who left the Mohist School for Immortal Qin, and learned the swords had been gifted by the Xiang Clan.
• Zhou Zhu joined the three diagrams into a defensive mechanism plan and agreed to reconstruct it for Song Yan.
• Wu Mengliu teased Li Zhi about his feelings for Xiao Ju, then told him she planned to visit Song Yan without revealing her reason.
• Wu Mengliu slipped into Song Yan’s residence to arrange cooperation, but became trapped in a strange space as Song Yan appeared to watch her from the clouds and threatened to kill her unless she gave a satisfactory answer.

Wu Mengliu tried to recruit Song Yan for a major opportunity, but he refused and later bid farewell to Zhou Zhu and Ruan Zhi. At Mount Li, Li Yi was summoned to a gathering where Prince Ning Li Xian backed announcing the newly accessible Outer Underground Palaces, as Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum was about to emerge into the world.

• Wu Mengliu offered to cooperate with Song Yan and even proposed becoming his concubine, but Song Yan refused and ordered her to leave.
• Zhou Zhu gave Song Yan the completed mechanism diagram, warned him not to trust it completely, and joined Ruan Zhi in seeing Song Yan and his companions off as they prepared to return to Jun Mountain.
• At the Mount Li Garrison, Li Yi trained with his halberd and listened as young Office Soldiers complained about their posting and the disdain shown toward the True Martial Lineage.
• A messenger summoned Li Yi to Qingxu Plateau in armor, where Lu Xuanling, officials, and sect elders had gathered to discuss Mount Li's Burial Palaces.
• Prince Ning Li Xian supported announcing the Outer Underground Palaces to cultivators across the world, and Li Yi looked toward Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum as it neared its unveiling.

Sheng Yun wondered why her carefully made talismans were weaker than those Sheng Nian had once given her, and hoped to visit Ghost Valley to study the Lingzhen Seal. Song Yan, troubled by his upcoming Dao lecture, was summoned to Xuanyuan, where he met Prince Ning Li Xian.

• Sheng Yun made a Blackwater Spirit-Protecting Talisman but questioned why it seemed less effective than the talismans Sheng Nian had given her.
• Sheng Yun learned that the Lingzhen Seal might reappear and planned to ask her sworn elder brother for an introduction to Ghost Valley.
• Sheng Yun visited Fang Cunsheng, learned that Song Yan was troubled by his upcoming Dao lecture, and decided not to disturb him.
• Yuan Xiaolu told Song Yan that Yangsu Divine Lord had summoned him to Xuanyuan, so Song Yan set out at once.
• Song Yan arrived at Xuanyuan and met Prince Ning Li Xian, who praised him and teased him about his popularity among Chang'an's noble young ladies.

Song Yan rejected Wu Mengliu’s offer to cooperate, then received Zhou Zhu’s revised mechanism plans and departed with the Mohist School. At Mount Li, Li Yi was summoned to a conference where Prince Ning Li Xian and other leaders decided to announce the opening of the outer burial palaces around Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum.

• Song Yan refused Wu Mengliu’s offer to work together and ordered her to leave.
• Zhou Zhu gave Song Yan the completed mechanism plans and warned him not to rely on them completely.
• Song Yan and the Mohist School prepared to return to Jun Mountain, and Ruan Zhi and Zhou Zhu came to see them off.
• A messenger summoned Li Yi in armor to a conference at Qingxu Plateau, where leaders discussed the burial palaces around Mount Li.
• Prince Ning Li Xian supported announcing the burial palaces to the world soon, as Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum was about to emerge.