Chapter Summaries

Xu Changsheng examined the books Ye Luoxue brought him and discovered a Star-Picking Tower ranking booklet. He learned the leading names on the Great Yu rankings and wondered whether the Divine Maiden Sect could recruit the highest-ranked beauties.

• Ye Luoxue delivered books to Xu Changsheng, dressed again as a female general, and left while limping away.
• Xu Changsheng checked his Accumulation Over Time Talent panel and saw Ye Luoxue’s progress had reached 13/50.
• Xu Changsheng sorted the books and found a booklet from the Star-Picking Tower listing rankings for Great Yu.
• Xu Changsheng read that Qi Zhaoyue ranked first on the Heavenly Pride Heaven Ranking and saw Qi Tianqi atop the experts ranking.
• Xu Changsheng read the Great Yu Rouge Beauties Ranking, which named Tianyi Fan Yin first, Xu Qingci and Qi Lanxing second, Zhu Xiaoliang third, Qi Zhaoyue fourth, and Ye Luoxue eighth.
• Xu Changsheng wondered whether the Divine Maiden Sect could recruit any of the top-ranked beauties.

At the Divine Maiden Sect’s founding ceremony, Qi Zhaoyue met Zhu Xiaoliang, the Heaven Sect’s young disciple, and challenged her about why she had come. Zhu Xiaoliang struggled to answer, while Qi Zhaoyue privately planned to use the opportunity to help her improve her cultivation.

• Ye Luoxue presided over the Divine Maiden Sect’s founding ceremony while Qi Zhaoyue watched from a nearby peak with Qi Lanxing.
• Qi Zhaoyue told Qi Lanxing she stayed out of sight to observe the visitors, and Qi Lanxing eagerly anticipated her Master’s return.
• Zhu Xiaoliang arrived through an Eight Trigrams formation and greeted Qi Zhaoyue and Qi Lanxing.
• Qi Zhaoyue and Zhu Xiaoliang exchanged polite greetings while privately showing wariness toward each other.
• Qi Zhaoyue asked Zhu Xiaoliang whether she had come to help the sect or investigate Qi Zhaoyue’s cultivation, leaving Zhu Xiaoliang flustered.
• Qi Zhaoyue privately decided she would help Zhu Xiaoliang improve her cultivation.

Qi Zhaoyue offered Zhu Xiaoliang a secret way to reach the Dao Comprehension Realm in three months, requiring her to keep everything she experienced in the secret realm confidential. As the founding ceremony ended, Qi Lanxing grew suspicious of the secret, and a dark figure appeared beside Qi Zhaoyue.

• Qi Zhaoyue decided to give Zhu Xiaoliang the Divine Maiden Sect’s first spot in the Lotus Grotto-Heaven and offered to explain her rapid cultivation progress.
• Qi Zhaoyue promised Zhu Xiaoliang she could reach the Dao Comprehension Realm in three months by staying in a secret realm, then required her to swear a Heavenly Dao Contract to keep its secrets.
• Zhu Xiaoliang agreed to keep the secret even from her master, Bai Yuer, and left to submit her name for the sect’s founding ceremony.
• Qi Lanxing complained that Qi Zhaoyue had excluded her from the secret realm, then privately resolved to find out what would happen after the hour of the Rat.
• The founding ceremony ended as a dark figure appeared silently beside Qi Zhaoyue.

Qi Zhaoyue ordered eight mediocre recruits executed to warn other forces against sending unsuitable spies, then inspected four notable women who had joined the Divine Maiden Sect. The chapter ended with her asking the frail Fanyin whether she had a surname.

• Qi Zhaoyue crossed out eight names in Ye Luoxue’s recruitment booklet and ordered the recruits executed.
• Ye Luoxue killed the eight women, then reported to Qi Zhaoyue after the blood was cleared from the square.
• Qi Zhaoyue greeted the new recruits and recognized Zhu Xiaoliang, Xu Qingci of White Deer Academy, and Meng Weiyi of White Emperor City.
• Qi Zhaoyue turned to the timid Fanyin and asked whether she had a surname.

Qi Zhaoyue accepted the orphan Fanyin as her first personal disciple after recognizing her extraordinary beauty and aptitude, then prepared to take Zhu Xiaoliang to a secret realm. As the lotus gate opened, Qi Zhaoyue anticipated what awaited Zhu Xiaoliang inside.

• Fanyin told Qi Zhaoyue she had no cultivation and hoped joining the Divine Maiden Sect would keep her from going hungry.
• Qi Zhaoyue expelled the disciples who had mocked Fanyin and promised to choose talent regardless of lineage or background.
• After seeing Fanyin's face, Qi Zhaoyue named her first personal disciple and sent Ye Luoxue to take her away and clean her up.
• That night, Qi Zhaoyue wondered whether Fanyin was the legendary Tianyi Fan Yin and considered what she could demand from Xu Changsheng when she brought Fanyin to the Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
• Zhu Xiaoliang arrived eager to enter a secret realm that could help her reach the Dao Enlightenment Realm within three months, and Qi Zhaoyue opened a silver gate inside a lotus.

Xu Changsheng perfected the Lone Star Slashes the Moon Saber Instruction, cleaved a spatial fissure in Lotus Grotto-Heaven, and planned to pass his insights to Ye Luoxue indirectly. After reviewing the cultivation realms, he saw Qi Zhaoyue arrive with Zhu Xiaoliang, who questioned why they had come to Qi Zhaoyue’s grotto-heaven.

• Xu Changsheng used a bamboo saber to unleash Moon Slaying, opening a brief spatial fissure before the bamboo shattered.
• Xu Changsheng realized he had nearly perfected the Lone Star Slashes the Moon Saber Instruction and planned to offer Ye Luoxue pointers after she demonstrated it.
• Xu Changsheng reviewed the cultivation realms and wondered whether the White Jade World could be someone’s grotto-heaven before dismissing the idea.
• Qi Zhaoyue arrived in Lotus Grotto-Heaven with Zhu Xiaoliang through a silver heavenly gate.
• Zhu Xiaoliang asked why Qi Zhaoyue had brought her to the grotto-heaven instead of a secret realm, and Qi Zhaoyue said her way to improve cultivation was there.

Qi Zhaoyue brought her uninformed junior sister Zhu Xiaoliang to Xu Changsheng in the Hall of Longevity, after imparting basic knowledge about her Divine Yang Sacred Physique. Xu Changsheng began teasing Qi Zhaoyue and insisted she demonstrate their cultivation method for Zhu Xiaoliang, leaving Qi Zhaoyue mortified as the demonstration began.

• Qi Zhaoyue asked Zhu Xiaoliang whether Bai Yuer had taught her about relations between men and women, and learned that Zhu Xiaoliang knew nothing about them.
• Qi Zhaoyue used spiritual power to place knowledge about sealing and refining Zhu Xiaoliang's Divine Yang Sacred Physique into her mind.
• Qi Zhaoyue led Zhu Xiaoliang into the Hall of Longevity, where Xu Changsheng greeted them and pulled Qi Zhaoyue onto his lap.
• Qi Zhaoyue told Xu Changsheng that Zhu Xiaoliang would stay in the Lotus Grotto-Heaven for three months and asked him to guide her gently.
• Xu Changsheng told Qi Zhaoyue to demonstrate their cultivation method for Zhu Xiaoliang, and Qi Zhaoyue hesitated, embarrassed to do so in front of her junior sister.

Xu Changsheng persuaded Qi Zhaoyue to give him a Tang-style straight saber, and she disclosed to Zhu Xiaoliang that Xu Changsheng had the Divine Yang Sacred Physique. The chapter ended as Qi Zhaoyue began to explain that the ancient records about the physique might be wrong.

• Xu Changsheng teased Qi Zhaoyue and asked her for a Tang-style straight saber so he could practice in the Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
• Qi Zhaoyue agreed to give Xu Changsheng a saber after he accepted her condition, while Zhu Xiaoliang watched them.
• Qi Zhaoyue asked Zhu Xiaoliang whether she knew of the Divine Yang Sacred Physique, which was linked to the legendary Day the Heavens Tilted.
• Qi Zhaoyue told Zhu Xiaoliang that Xu Changsheng possessed the Divine Yang Sacred Physique and that it had helped her cultivation advance over ten years.
• Zhu Xiaoliang questioned how Xu Changsheng could have the physique when ancient texts recorded only one instance, and Qi Zhaoyue replied that the records were not necessarily accurate.

Qi Zhaoyue urged Zhu Xiaoliang to use Xu Changsheng’s Divine Yang Sacred Physique to gain cultivation and save her mother, then left the decision to her. Zhu Xiaoliang agreed to seek Xu’s help, and after their awkward first kiss, he led her off to bathe.

• Qi Zhaoyue showed Zhu Xiaoliang her increased cultivation, reminded her that her mother was waiting in Northern Liang, and left her to choose whether to use Xu Changsheng’s power.
• After Qi Zhaoyue departed, Xu Changsheng asked Zhu Xiaoliang if she had decided, and she agreed to let him help her gain cultivation so she could save her mother.
• Xu Changsheng pointed out that Zhu Xiaoliang and Qi Zhaoyue had taken his cultivation and locked him in the Lotus Grotto-Heaven, prompting Zhu Xiaoliang to apologize and beg for his help.
• Xu Changsheng told Zhu Xiaoliang to open her mouth, poured wine for her, and kissed her; she nervously bit his lip and drew blood.
• Xu Changsheng teased Zhu Xiaoliang for biting him, then told her they were going to bathe, leaving her blushing and flustered.

Xu Changsheng bathed Zhu Xiaoliang in a spirit spring and explained a more efficient way to improve her cultivation. He carried her toward the room to begin their cultivation together.

• Xu Changsheng invited the nervous Zhu Xiaoliang into the spirit spring and undressed her before carrying her into the water.
• Xu Changsheng kissed Zhu Xiaoliang beneath the surface, and they later surfaced to catch their breath.
• Xu Changsheng combed and washed Zhu Xiaoliang's hair as she relaxed in his embrace.
• Zhu Xiaoliang asked how they would improve her cultivation, and Xu Changsheng explained the method to her.
• Xu Changsheng carried Zhu Xiaoliang toward the room to help her cultivate.

After spending the night with Zhu Xiaoliang, Xu Changsheng inspected her talents and used his free random copying opportunity. The draw ended with a mysterious golden seal-script technique, leaving him ecstatic over his jackpot.

• Xu Changsheng asked the exhausted Zhu Xiaoliang whether her cultivation had improved, but she fell asleep without giving him a clear answer.
• Xu Changsheng opened Zhu Xiaoliang's talent panel and saw that she possessed the Heavenly Heart Dao Body and Dominance and Captivity Sword Heart, both ranked SSS.
• Xu Changsheng reflected on Qi Zhaoyue's resolve and potential before deciding to draw one of Zhu Xiaoliang's talents.
• Xu Changsheng spun the system's wheel and watched it stop, then saw lines of golden seal script appear before him.
• Xu Changsheng recognized that he had hit the jackpot and reacted with wild joy.

Xu Changsheng drew the SSS-grade Dominance and Captivity Sword Heart and realized he could develop its cyclical power of flourishing and decline in his own way. The next morning, Zhu Xiaoliang woke embarrassed by the previous night, then sensed her cultivation with a delighted smile.

• Xu Changsheng inspected the Dominance and Captivity Sword Heart and understood that it was a flexible realm rather than a fixed technique.
• Xu Changsheng sensed the sword heart’s power of time and cycles, and considered how to combine it with his saber instruction.
• Xu Changsheng tested the talent by growing vines from the bed and using them to suspend the sleeping Zhu Xiaoliang.
• Zhu Xiaoliang woke at dawn, recalled the previous night, and blushed as Xu Changsheng teased her about her dream.
• Xu Changsheng asked Zhu Xiaoliang to check her cultivation, and she sensed her spiritual power before breaking into a delighted smile.

Zhu Xiaoliang celebrated reaching the ninth realm peak stage and grew closer to Xu Changsheng, who took her along to make lunch. At Mount Qingliang, Qi Zhaoyue summoned the Divine Maiden Sect’s elders and Fanyin to discuss Zhu Xiaoliang.

• Zhu Xiaoliang told Xu Changsheng she had reached the ninth realm peak stage and credited him for helping her advance.
• Xu Changsheng kissed Zhu Xiaoliang, then said he was going to make lunch and agreed to take her with him.
• Xu Changsheng teased Zhu Xiaoliang into calling him “Daddy,” then dressed her and led her toward the kitchen.
• Qi Zhaoyue summoned Xu Qingci, Meng Weiyi, and Fanyin to the sect master’s grand hall.
• Meng Weiyi asked where Zhu Xiaoliang was, and Qi Zhaoyue said the meeting concerned her.

Qi Zhaoyue revealed that she could rapidly raise the cultivation of promising women in the Divine Maiden Sect, and said she had taken Zhu Xiaoliang away to cultivate. Meng Weiyi and Xu Qingci left wondering at the offer’s true purpose, with Xu Qingci suggesting it was a way to attract talent.

• Qi Zhaoyue told Meng Weiyi and Xu Qingci that she could help them reach the eleventh realm within ten to twenty years, at a small price.
• Qi Zhaoyue said Zhu Xiaoliang would reach the tenth realm in three months, after which she would choose between Meng Weiyi and Xu Qingci for the next opportunity.
• Meng Weiyi pledged loyalty to Qi Zhaoyue if she could hope to reach the eleventh realm, while Xu Qingci questioned the cost of the offer.
• Qi Zhaoyue told the women they could reveal what she had said and stressed that aptitude and looks were both required.
• Outside the hall, Xu Qingci described Qi Zhaoyue’s plan as a thousand gold for horse bones, and Meng Weiyi realized that only the three of them and Zhu Xiaoliang would receive the opportunity.

Meng Weiyi explained Qi Zhaoyue’s plan to recruit the Great Yu Dynasty’s finest female cultivators, while Qi Zhaoyue reassured Fanyin that she would help her cultivate after she built her foundations. Qi Zhaoyue then went to meet Xu Changsheng in the Lotus Grotto-Heaven, where he told her to strip.

• Meng Weiyi said Qi Zhaoyue would use Zhu Xiaoliang’s breakthrough to attract talented female disciples from across Great Yu and select the best for cultivation opportunities.
• Meng Weiyi speculated that Qi Zhaoyue might one day become the dynasty’s first woman emperor, but Xu Qingci warned her not to speak recklessly.
• Qi Zhaoyue told Fanyin she would help her build her foundations before letting her absorb the cultivation opportunity, and Fanyin happily agreed.
• Qi Zhaoyue felt the effects of Xu Changsheng’s Law Artifact and entered a gate of light to meet him in the Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
• Xu Changsheng told Qi Zhaoyue to strip, and she questioned him about what he intended to do and whether Xiao Liang was not enough.

Qi Zhaoyue wondered about Xu Changsheng’s changing presence after he punished her, while Xu Changsheng earned 500 Way of Keeping a Low Profile Points for concealing his sword heart. After spending seven days with Zhu Xiaoliang, he realized she seemed to have a daddy complex.

• Qi Zhaoyue examined the marks Xu Changsheng had left and decided to ask him about the change in his presence next time.
• Xu Changsheng reasoned that he had concealed most of his sword heart’s influence from Qi Zhaoyue and received 500 Way of Keeping a Low Profile Points.
• Xu Changsheng checked the shop’s refreshed items, then pulled Zhu Xiaoliang onto the bed for another round.
• Xu Changsheng spent most of the next seven days in the Hall of Longevity with Zhu Xiaoliang.
• Zhu Xiaoliang brought Xu Changsheng a bamboo tube of rice and water, and he praised her for learning how to prepare it.
• As Zhu Xiaoliang cooked the rice, Xu Changsheng concluded that she had a daddy complex.

Xu Changsheng welcomed Ye Luoxue, who brought the Tang horizontal saber and storybooks, and pulled her into an intimate encounter. Afterward, he asked her to demonstrate her saber techniques so he could give her pointers, leaving her skeptical and embarrassed.

• Xu Changsheng wondered whether Qi Zhaoyue had acted on his request for a Tang horizontal saber before a heavenly gate appeared above the Lotus Grotto-Heaven.
• Ye Luoxue arrived carrying an antique Tang horizontal saber, and Xu Changsheng sent Zhu Xiaoliang back to the Hall of Longevity.
• Xu Changsheng pulled Ye Luoxue into his arms, and they spent two hours together.
• Ye Luoxue confirmed that Qi Zhaoyue had sent her with the saber and questioned why Xu Changsheng wanted it.
• Xu Changsheng told Ye Luoxue to demonstrate her saber techniques so he could give her pointers, but she suspected he only wanted to see her undressed.

Ye Luoxue demonstrated all thirteen forms of the Lone Star Slashes the Moon Saber Instruction while Xu Changsheng watched and studied her technique. Afterward, Xu Changsheng kissed her, and Ye Luoxue responded passionately before asking where her saber was.

• Xu Changsheng admired Ye Luoxue and insisted he could give her pointers on her saber technique.
• Ye Luoxue drew Field Paths, and her eyes turned crimson as she displayed the Military School Blood God Physique's Crimson Pupils.
• Ye Luoxue performed all thirteen forms of the Lone Star Slashes the Moon Saber Instruction without using spiritual power.
• Xu Changsheng noticed that Ye Luoxue's saber intent seemed to lack the resolve to face death and wondered why.
• After the demonstration, Xu Changsheng kissed Ye Luoxue, who embraced and kissed him back.
• Ten minutes later, Xu Changsheng released the panting Ye Luoxue, who asked where her saber was.

Ye Luoxue showed Xu Changsheng the Tang saber Qi Zhaoyue had commissioned and told him that Qi Zhaoyue had gone to retrieve the famed saber Dao Slaying. Xu Changsheng demonstrated Lone Star Slashes the Moon, helping Ye Luoxue understand the resolve her saber intent lacked, before she knelt before him to repay him.

• Ye Luoxue gave Xu Changsheng the Tang saber forged from meteoric iron and explained that Qi Zhaoyue had left to find Dao Slaying.
• Xu Changsheng performed all thirteen forms of Lone Star Slashes the Moon and showed Ye Luoxue the resolute intent behind the technique.
• Ye Luoxue understood that her hesitation to risk her life had kept her saber intent from reaching perfection, and she thanked Xu Changsheng for his guidance.
• Ye Luoxue admitted she had misjudged Xu Changsheng and praised his martial talent, saying he might surpass even Qi Zhaoyue.
• Xu Changsheng asked Ye Luoxue to make it up to him, and she knelt before him as he offered to teach her.

Qi Zhaoyue devastated the Holy Sect of the Nether Night, took the saber Myriad Karma Dao-Severing, and killed the sect's elder after declaring that she would eliminate the sect to the roots. In Wangjiang City, Pei Ying recognized Qi Zhaoyue's return to action as a show of strength, while her subordinate wondered whether the saber had truly been her only objective.

• Crowds in Wangjiang City watched Qi Zhaoyue's sword strike cleave a third of Youye Plateau from Mount Mangdang.
• Qi Zhaoyue summoned Myriad Karma Dao-Severing from the Holy Sect of the Nether Night's ancestral hall and took the saber.
• After the sect's elder demanded an explanation for her attack, Qi Zhaoyue said she would cut out the roots of their grudge and killed him with a sword stroke.
• Pei Ying watched from her residence in Wangjiang City and said Qi Zhaoyue had revealed her true strength to the world.
• A white-robed cultivator asked Pei Ying whether Qi Zhaoyue had attacked only to obtain Myriad Karma Dao-Severing.