Chapter Summaries

Jiang Beiran tested the miasma’s effects on a Star-Net Sect patrolman, then encountered the injured Meng Sipei and helped her fight a burly foreign tribesman. With Jiang Beiran’s pills, talismans, and formations supporting her, Meng Sipei regained her strength and drove the enemy toward desperation.

• Jiang Beiran gave the Star-Net Sect patrolman a pill that canceled his Poison-Avoiding Pill, observed the miasma’s effects, and then left him behind.
• Jiang Beiran drew a divination slip but was interrupted when Meng Sipei crashed into him while fleeing a burly foreign tribesman.
• Jiang Beiran blocked the tribesman’s attack with a talisman and gave Meng Sipei a pill that restored her injuries and Mystic Qi.
• Jiang Beiran bound the tribesman with Cold Lock Talismans, then sealed his mouth with a jade slip so Meng Sipei’s Life-Taking Dance could strike him.
• Jiang Beiran’s Spike Formation repelled the tribesman when he attacked, and Jiang Beiran warned Meng Sipei that the wounded enemy was about to stake his life on one final attack.

Jiang Beiran helped Meng Sipei defeat a burly outsider by using Little Yellow to consume the poisonous miasma and striking the enemy with an earth-spike formation. After making Meng Sipei his attendant, he had her lead him through the miasma, and they heard fighting ahead.

• The burly outsider overwhelmed Meng Sipei with toxic dark-green miasma, but Jiang Beiran sent Little Yellow to devour it and restore her ability to fight.
• Jiang Beiran wounded the outsider with an earth spike, allowing Meng Sipei to finish him with her Phoenix-tail flames before Jiang Beiran pierced his vital points.
• Jiang Beiran demanded that Meng Sipei serve him, and she agreed to become his attendant; he gave her medicine to clear the remaining toxin.
• Jiang Beiran asked Meng Sipei to lead him through the miasma, and she chose a direction while questioning his identity and motives.
• When fighting erupted ahead, Jiang Beiran laughed and told Meng Sipei that her good fortune had led them to it.

Jiang Beiran treated Meng Sipei’s injuries and sent her to help Sheng Qingsui defeat a foreign cultivator. After Sheng Qingsui left, Meng Sipei stood guard while Jiang Beiran prepared to break the formation.

• Jiang Beiran gave Meng Sipei three Purple Firmament Pills and ordered her to help the human Mystic Emperor fight the foreign cultivator.
• Meng Sipei collapsed after taking unsuitable detoxification pills, and Jiang Beiran used golden needles and acupuncture to stabilize her injuries.
• Meng Sipei joined Sheng Qingsui in battle, and together they defeated the foreign female cultivator.
• Meng Sipei sent Sheng Qingsui east to assist other fighters, then returned to guard Jiang Beiran as he began breaking the formation.

Jiang Beiran analyzed and partially broke the miasma’s complex grand formation, but a second Formation Eye kept it active. After leaving Meng Sipei to face two array guardians, he reunited with her and decided to keep following her.

• Jiang Beiran studied the multidimensional formation and used eighteen Oracle Bone Plates to locate an array guardian approaching him and Meng Sipei.
• Meng Sipei fought a ninth-rank Mystic Emperor in black robes while Jiang Beiran used a Black Umbrella and a copper coin to break one Formation Eye.
• The formation quickly restored itself, and Jiang Beiran chose to leave when another powerful guardian arrived, telling Meng Sipei to escape on her own.
• Meng Sipei used her Mirror Flower Water Moon bronze mirror to escape, and the two guardians discussed defending the other Formation Eye.
• Jiang Beiran found Meng Sipei hiding beneath a pine tree, learned how her mirror worked, and told her to keep walking while he followed her.

Jiang Beiran questioned the ghost of a murdered fishing-village resident, uncovered how a peddler manipulated the villagers into worship and fed them gu, and found the hidden barrier beneath the peddler’s house. Inside, he recognized the barrier as the formation’s true second Formation Eye and wondered whether Meng Sipei had a special constitution.

• Jiang Beiran confirmed that the weeping young man was a ghost, promised him revenge, and had Meng Sipei bury his wife.
• The young man explained that a peddler won the village’s trust, made the villagers worship a supposed Great Immortal, and fed them powders and insects that caused their deaths.
• The young man recounted how the peddler tortured him and took him underground, then led Jiang Beiran and Meng Sipei to the peddler’s house.
• Jiang Beiran deciphered the positions of twelve ornaments and opened a hidden space beneath the house.
• Jiang Beiran recognized the space as a self-contained barrier and the true second Formation Eye, then wondered if Meng Sipei’s success came from a special constitution.

Jiang Beiran retrieved the sacrificial heart needed to break the second Formation Eye while Meng Sipei fought off the formation-layer, a Mystic Sect Realm expert. Yin Jianghong arrived to join the battle, and Jiang Beiran purified the heart and began reversing the formation as the formation-layer prepared a new attack.

• Jiang Beiran opened the drained corpse and retrieved its beating purple heart from among the gu insects.
• Meng Sipei transformed into a phoenix to fight the arriving Mystic Sect Realm expert, but he struck her down and poisoned her when she shielded Jiang Beiran.
• Yin Jianghong arrived and kicked the formation-layer away, then clashed with him while Jiang Beiran drew Meng Sipei's poison into himself and recovered using Breathing Technique.
• Jiang Beiran purified the heart over purple charcoal, used a copper toad and paper crane to identify the formation's Eight Gates, and told Meng Sipei to destroy a row of gu eggs and place a Talisman there.
• The formation-layer realized Jiang Beiran was reversing his formations, roared in fury, and swallowed a green Gu insect.

Jiang Beiran used the green Gu’s attraction to his blood to stop the formation setter’s transformation, then helped break the barrier and disappeared. Yin Jianghong later found Jiang Beiran alive beneath rubble, and Jiang Beiran claimed a masked expert had rescued him.

• The formation setter swallowed a green Gu, transformed into a powerful monster, and severely wounded Yin Jianghong.
• Jiang Beiran cut his palm, drawing the Gu out of the formation setter and causing the monster to collapse; Yin Jianghong then killed the setter.
• Jiang Beiran treated Meng Sipei, warned Yin Jianghong not to take the setter alive, and broke the barrier with Meng Sipei’s help.
• After the barrier fell and the miasma began to disperse, Meng Sipei could not find Jiang Beiran or Yin Jianghong.
• Yin Jianghong searched the battlefield and found a weakened Jiang Beiran alive beneath rubble; Jiang Beiran said a masked expert had hidden and treated him.

Jiang Beiran woke from his feigned rest and heard Ji Qinglin propose an alliance against Yin Jianghong, then agreed to it only to learn what had happened between them. Meanwhile, Meng Sipei reported how the masked senior helped break the miasma formation, and Ji Qinglin suggested inviting Jiang Beiran to the leaders’ council.

• Jiang Beiran pretended to wake in the evening, and Ji Qinglin privately told him he knew his secret before asking him to join forces against Yin Jianghong.
• Jiang Beiran agreed to Ji Qinglin’s proposal in exchange for hearing his history with Yin Jianghong, then openly admitted he would tell Yin Jianghong about their conversation.
• Ji Qinglin declined to explain their past and left Jiang Beiran’s tent, while Meng Sipei ignored the Lan Province cultivators gathered to greet her.
• Wan Anqing found Meng Sipei exhausted and took her to meet Yin Jianghong and Guan Shi'an, where she described how the masked senior helped her find the Formation Eye and break the miasma formation.
• After Wan Anqing took Meng Sipei to recuperate, Ji Qinglin joined Yin Jianghong, Guan Shi'an, and Wan Anqing and proposed calling Jiang Beiran to the council.

Jiang Beiran joined the leaders’ council, where they discussed the miasma, the powerful outsiders, and the losses suffered by Sheng Kingdom. The meeting ended with Wan Anqing’s disciple Hong Yaxuan recognizing Jiang Beiran as the man who had once saved her family, though she kept her suspicion to herself.

• Yin Jianghong brought Jiang Beiran to the council, where Guan Shi'an and Ji Qinglin praised his warning about the miasma and the leaders discussed striking back at Liang Kingdom.
• Wan Anqing and Yin Jianghong described their encounters inside the miasma, including the masked expert who defeated the formation-layer and the captured outsiders’ warning that they would return.
• Yin Jianghong suspected the outsiders were survivors of the Gu Tribe, and Jiang Beiran deflected the leaders’ request for advice by joking that he would fob them off another way.
• The leaders turned to counting the young people lost in the miasma, and Hong Yaxuan entered the tent to report to Wan Anqing.
• Hong Yaxuan hid her suspicion that Jiang Beiran was the expert who had saved her family and privately wondered whether he was the match her grandmother had foretold.

Jiang Beiran urged Sheng Kingdom’s leaders to investigate the miasma’s source and prepare for another invasion, then relayed their orders to Tai Yingzong. He learned that Yu Manwen had been poisoned and that the Moon-Veiling Sect had suffered casualties.

• Hong Yaxuan reported heavy losses, and Yin Jianghong’s council agreed to recuperate, rebuild, and search for the miasma’s source.
• Jiang Beiran proposed looking for a Formation Technique behind the miasma and preparing antidotes, defensive formations, and training for future attacks.
• Hong Yaxuan secretly followed Jiang Beiran after learning he was Sheng Kingdom’s emperor, wondering whether he was the expert who had saved her family.
• Jiang Beiran visited Lu Yinlong, then gave Zhang Heqing Heart-Protecting Pills for the poisoned Yu Manwen.
• Jiang Beiran relayed the council’s decisions to Tai Yingzong, who agreed to organize a search after handling the Moon-Veiling Sect’s internal affairs.

Yu Manwen recovered from her poison through an unknown intervention, while Jiang Beiran confronted Yin Jianghong about his loyalty and ambitions for Sheng Kingdom. They agreed to keep Jiang Beiran’s supposed trial secret, and Yin Jianghong dismissed Ji Qinglin’s threat as one of his usual probes.

• Zhu Qiyi found Yu Manwen sitting up and circulating qi, then discovered that all traces of poison had vanished despite his inability to cure her.
• Yin Jianghong asked Jiang Beiran whether he would always stand with Sheng Kingdom, and Jiang Beiran said Yin Jianghong already knew his intentions.
• Jiang Beiran told Yin Jianghong that he meant to make Sheng Kingdom the strongest nation and claimed a powerful figure had arranged it as a trial.
• Yin Jianghong agreed to trust Jiang Beiran and keep the matter secret, while Jiang Beiran revealed that Ji Qinglin had wanted him to help kill Yin Jianghong.
• Yin Jianghong said Ji Qinglin often tested people by claiming to know their secrets, though Jiang Beiran still suspected that Ji Qinglin might know something real.

Jiang Beiran investigated the formation behind the miasma with Yin Jianghong, while Dahu chose to remain behind and guard the fishing village. Back at camp, Yu Manwen suspected Jiang Beiran had treated her, Yin Jianghong gave him a cultivation method, and Ji Qinglin pulled him into his tent.

• Jiang Beiran found Dahu still lingering at the fishing village, learned he felt guilty over the villagers’ deaths, and agreed to help him find a way to make contact in the future.
• Jiang Beiran told Yin Jianghong he would study the formation and share his findings, while Yin Jianghong probed him about his abilities and the masked expert.
• Yu Manwen recovered and thanked Zhang Heqing for the Heart-Protecting Pill, then suspected Jiang Beiran had treated her after hearing he was in camp.
• Yin Jianghong gave Jiang Beiran the Yellow Rank Middle Grade Big Dipper Spirit Technique as a thank-you gift, while continuing to test whether he could cultivate.
• Yu Manwen approached Jiang Beiran but postponed asking him about the treatment, and Ji Qinglin then dragged him into his tent for a drink.

Jiang Beiran discussed Sheng Kingdom’s future with Ji Qinglin, who argued that the kingdom needed an unconventional path to power: Mysterious Mechanism Island. Ji revealed he was afraid to enter it now, but planned to use that threat as a hidden card if Sheng Kingdom faced ruin.

• Ji Qinglin offered Jiang Beiran wine, but Jiang refused and bluntly told him not to pressure him to drink.
• Ji Qinglin asked Jiang Beiran about Sheng Kingdom’s future, and Jiang proposed consolidating its forces and pursuing diplomacy.
• Ji Qinglin proposed challenging Mysterious Mechanism Island, whose rare survivors had returned as powerful cultivators while hundreds of thousands of others had vanished.
• Ji Qinglin argued that cautious plans would leave Sheng Kingdom dependent on stronger powers, while Jiang Beiran said both he and Yin Jianghong believed they could make Sheng Kingdom supreme.
• Ji Qinglin admitted he feared entering Mysterious Mechanism Island and intended to go only if Sheng Kingdom faced a crisis, using the possibility of his return to deter its enemies.

Wan Anqing arranged for Hong Yaxuan to deliver a belated congratulatory gift to Jiang Beiran, while Jiang Beiran avoided drinking with Ji Qinglin and witnessed the Mystic Emperor’s drunken rampage. Back at the palace, Jiang Beiran questioned Su Xiuyu about his conduct and received the items he had requested.

• Wan Anqing praised the emperor’s insight and assigned Hong Yaxuan to deliver a congratulatory gift to the imperial palace, while Meng Sipei encouraged her to pursue the person she desired.
• Jiang Beiran declined Ji Qinglin’s invitation to drink, and Ji Qinglin got drunk, attacked a cultivator, and was dragged away by Yin Jianghong.
• Jiang Beiran returned to the palace, reassured Mu Yao that the crisis in Taihe County had been resolved, and told her what had happened inside the miasma.
• Su Xiuyu reported that he had observed the miasma and had told his sect master that Sheng Kingdom’s trouble would soon be resolved.
• Jiang Beiran reprimanded Su Xiuyu for failing to contact him upon returning to Sheng Kingdom, then accepted the requested items Su Xiuyu brought.

Jiang Beiran prepared to leave the palace’s affairs to Mu Yao, then returned to Returning Heart Sect and reunited with Senior Brother Lu Bogui. They caught up over tea, exchanged gifts, and discussed Lu Bogui’s breakthrough to Mystic Spirit.

• Jiang Beiran praised Su Xiuyu for bringing precious materials, then told Mu Yao he would leave the imperial palace’s affairs to her while he was away.
• Jiang Beiran gave the Six-Tailed Fox a large supply of crystals before flying southeast toward Returning Heart Sect.
• Jiang Beiran found Mo Xia waiting with the Yinglong Chessboard, but postponed their game after discovering a note from Lu Bogui inviting him to visit.
• Jiang Beiran met Lu Bogui at Flying Feather Hall, reassured him that Hall Master Zhou was safe, and accepted his gifts of Essence Pills and protective soft armor.
• Jiang Beiran gave Lu Bogui the Big Dipper Spirit Technique after explaining how he had received it from Sect Leader Yin, and Lu Bogui accepted it.
• Jiang Beiran and Lu Bogui spent the afternoon catching up, with Lu Bogui explaining that he had recently broken through to Mystic Spirit.

Jiang Beiran hosted a game of Simulated Jianghu for Shi Fenglan, Yu Manwen, and Xiao Duo, then left the game board with Shi Fenglan before preparing to enter seclusion. He entrusted tasks to Wu Qingce and Gu Qinghuan and went to inspect the spirit-rich residence in Jinyao Town, deciding it was suitable for his plans.

• Shi Fenglan used a Life-Extending Pill to preserve a game event until she could obtain the required Hundred Flowers Jade Dew Pill, while Yu Manwen drew the Mysterious Girl companion card.
• Shi Fenglan and Yu Manwen battled in Simulated Jianghu, and Yu Manwen activated Mysterious Girl's second form to save Sword Fairy before Shi Fenglan escaped with an item card.
• Shi Fenglan won the game after encountering several fortuitous events, and Jiang Beiran left Simulated Jianghu with her as a reward for passing a test.
• Jiang Beiran told Wu Qingce and Gu Qinghuan to handle matters on lists while he entered seclusion, and he declined Wu Qingce's request to watch the upcoming sect competition.
• Jiang Beiran accompanied Gu Qinghuan to inspect the residence in Jinyao Town and decided its abundant spiritual qi made it the place he wanted.

Jiang Beiran moved his base to a self-contained barrier, whose abundant spiritual energy came at the cost of expensive Mid-Grade Spirit Stones. After arranging new sales and returning to the imperial palace, he found Mu Yao and Kong Qianqian had kept things running while he was away.

• Jiang Beiran used his Mystic Void Flying Star Compass to inspect his residence and spent three months creating a self-contained barrier in its garden, while Xiong Ba kept Chunya from entering the forbidden area.
• Jiang Beiran learned that the barrier produced dense spiritual energy but consumed Mid-Grade Spirit Stones, and he tasked Gu Qinghuan with selling better pills and spiritual artifacts for higher prices.
• Jiang Beiran flew to the imperial palace and ordered Kong Qianqian to receive one hundred strokes for stealing food.
• Jiang Beiran met Mu Yao in the Imperial Study, asked about the palace and whether her Big Father had questioned her about him, and learned that he had only asked where Jiang Beiran had gone.

Jiang Beiran learned that the new policies were succeeding in Lulin and Yangchong Counties but could not yet be expanded kingdom-wide. Yan Guangqing tested Li Fucheng’s talent for formation techniques and offered to take him as a disciple, and Li Fucheng accepted.

• Jiang Beiran explained to Mu Yao that Sheng Kingdom lacked the resources to expand the new policies to every county.
• Kong Qianqian reported that Hong Yaxuan had repeatedly tried to deliver a congratulatory gift to Jiang Beiran in person.
• Li Fucheng told Jiang Beiran that he had established connections in Liang Kingdom, and Jiang Beiran said Sect Master Yan likely wanted to teach him formation techniques.
• Yan Guangqing arrived to collect the Six-Tailed Fox and used a bell to test Li Fucheng’s ability to sense a hidden Langya Formation.
• Yan Guangqing offered to take Li Fucheng as his disciple, and Li Fucheng knelt and accepted.

Yan Guangqing accepted Li Fucheng as his disciple and offered to back Jiang Beiran’s Sheng Kingdom if the emperor could impress him. After Jiang Beiran released the Six-Tailed Fox and returned to the Returning Heart Sect, Lu Yinlong asked him to plan how to develop the sect’s newly expanded territory, and Jiang Beiran arranged a meeting with Yin Jianghong and Tai Yingzong.

• Yan Guangqing gave Li Fucheng formation books and talisman treasures, then challenged Jiang Beiran to prove his ambition and promised to support Sheng Kingdom if Jiang Beiran showed him something new.
• Jiang Beiran asked Yan Guangqing to release the Six-Tailed Fox, and the fox fled before briefly returning to lick Jiang Beiran’s cheek.
• Jiang Beiran reprimanded Li Fucheng for inviting him to study his master’s books and sent him away to focus on his own duties.
• Jiang Beiran returned to the Returning Heart Sect and told Lu Yinlong that Sheng Kingdom should prioritize stabilizing its people before pursuing further development.
• Lu Yinlong showed Jiang Beiran the additional territory the Returning Heart Sect had gained and asked him to plan its development.
• Jiang Beiran wrote to Yin Jianghong and Tai Yingzong, then received an invitation to meet at the Moon-Veiling Sect.

After three months in seclusion, Jiang Beiran returned to the Moon-Veiling Sect, where he addressed counterfeit silver notes and sensed a terrifying distant baleful aura. New system options warned him to find several rare treasures and refine an Imperial Gu within three years, leaving him preparing others to manage state affairs while he faced an approaching crisis.

• Jiang Beiran explained how Mulberry Paper, micro-patterns, watermarks, and other measures could make silver notes harder to counterfeit.
• Yin Jianghong, Tai Yingzong, and Protector Cang rushed outside after sensing a powerful baleful aura, and Jiang Beiran received six options requiring rare treasures and an Imperial Gu within three years.
• Yin Jianghong left to investigate the aura while Jiang Beiran and Tai Yingzong discussed the new policies, both distracted by what they had sensed.
• Jiang Beiran returned to the imperial palace and gave Mu Yao books to help her handle the new policies, reassuring her that he was not leaving.
• Kong Qianqian told Jiang Beiran that Hong Yaxuan had come again to deliver congratulatory gifts, and he arranged for her to wait at Forest Moon Palace.