Chapter Summaries

At the sect master's birthday banquet, Qiaoqiao helped expose Elder Chang's affair and received a jade token promising three treatments from Madam Chang, the Apricot Medical Immortal. As the group headed to the banquet, Bai Fu gave Fu Fengyuan hope that his damaged meridians might recover, while Qiaoqiao stayed close to her master.

• Sword Lord Qingyun stopped Madam Chang from cutting Elder Chang and persuaded her to leave his punishment to the sect rules.
• The Law Enforcement Hall took Elder Chang away, and Madam Chang thanked Qiaoqiao with a white jade token promising to treat three people for her.
• Sword Lord Qingyun recognized Qiaoqiao as the trial's first-place disciple before the group set off for the birthday banquet.
• Bai Fu called Fu Fengyuan over and examined his wrist, then told him to wait calmly for a turning point.
• Qiaoqiao encouraged Fu Fengyuan by pointing to Yue Tingxi's unexpected path to becoming Xiaoyaozi's successor.
• Bai Fu called Qiaoqiao to his side, and she obediently went to him.

Mu Ye arrived at the Flowing Cloud Sect’s birthday banquet, where Qiaoqiao presented a gift and heard the story of Sword Lord Qingyun’s devotion to Mu Liuyun. Qiaoqiao then remembered that Qingyun was a hypocrite and rotten to the core, leaving the gathered disciples eager to learn what he had done.

• A wastrel told Mu Ye that Qiaoqiao had beaten him and that Fu Fengyuan had Ethereal Peak backing him, prompting Mu Ye to go find them.
• Qiaoqiao presented Ethereal Peak’s gift to Mu Liuyun, who encouraged her to try something, while Mu Ye arrived and respectfully greeted his mother.
• Ning Shuang told Qiaoqiao and the others that Mu Liuyun had once been married to Sword Lord Qingshuang and that Qingyun had stayed beside her after his death.
• Qiaoqiao questioned how Elder Chen could have embezzled eighty million Spirit Stones if Qingyun was as upright as people said.
• Qiaoqiao remembered that Qingyun was a hypocrite and condemned him in her thoughts, startling the disciples who heard her.

At the birthday banquet, Ethereal Peak’s disciples reacted to Qiaoqiao’s thoughts revealing that Sword Lord Qingyun had murdered his sworn brother and switched the sect master’s son with his own. When Mu Ye tried to poison Fu Fengyuan, Qiaoqiao intervened and revealed that Fu Fengyuan was the sect master’s biological child, leaving him stunned.

• Mu Liuyun visited Ethereal Peak’s table with Sword Lord Qingyun and Mu Ye, while the disciples struggled to hide their disgust at Qingyun’s alleged crimes.
• Mu Ye offered Fu Fengyuan a cup of wine that Wen Zhi noticed had been tampered with.
• Qiaoqiao took the cup and declared in her thoughts that Fu Fengyuan was the sect master’s real son, whom Qingyun had abandoned in the mortal realm.
• Fu Fengyuan stood abruptly after hearing Qiaoqiao’s revelation, drawing the sect master’s attention as Mu Ye assumed he was upset about Qiaoqiao intervening.

Qiaoqiao proposed a sword match with Mu Ye, but Bai Fu sent Fu Fengyuan to fight in her place. Fu Fengyuan unexpectedly cleared his meridians and defeated Mu Ye, leaving everyone stunned as he began to recover.

• Qiaoqiao challenged Mu Ye to a sword match, offering to drink the cup if she lost and having her senior brother drink it if she won.
• Bai Fu ordered Fu Fengyuan to face Mu Ye, and Fu Fengyuan accepted despite believing he had little chance.
• Qiaoqiao encouraged Fu Fengyuan with storybook lines, and he shouted the response before the duel began.
• As Fu Fengyuan exchanged blows with Mu Ye, icy Spiritual Qi cleared his blocked meridians, awakening his sword intent and a golden dragon image.
• Fu Fengyuan defeated Mu Ye with the seventh form of the Ethereal Sword, then spat out stagnant blood and felt unprecedentedly at ease.

At Mu Liuyun’s birthday banquet, Qiaoqiao exposed Mu Ye’s poisoned wine and claimed he was not Mu Liuyun’s biological son, turning the gathering against him. Mu Liuyun ignored Mu Ye and stared at Fu Fengyuan, while Bai Fu stepped in to protect Qiaoqiao and Wen Zhi confirmed the wine was poisoned.

• Qiaoqiao urged Mu Ye to drink the wine he had poisoned for Fu Fengyuan and accused him of being a fake young sect master.
• The guests were shocked by Qiaoqiao’s claims, and Mu Ye denied them before looking to Mu Liuyun for reassurance.
• Mu Liuyun ignored Mu Ye and stared intently at Fu Fengyuan, making Mu Ye suspect Fu Fengyuan’s identity.
• Mu Ye’s killing intent rose toward Qiaoqiao, but Bai Fu stepped between them and frightened him with his presence.
• Sword Lord Qingyun offered to drink the wine for Mu Ye, but Wen Zhi tested it with a silver needle and declared it poisoned.
• Xiao Tingyu accused Mu Ye of poisoning the wine because he feared his identity would be exposed.

Mu Liuyun learned that Fu Fengyuan carried the Radiant Dragon Bloodline and began to believe he was her son with Sword Lord Qingshuang. Sword Lord Qingyun and Mu Ye tried to deflect suspicion, but Ning Shuang called for a blood relationship test, which Qingyun agreed to.

• Mu Liuyun recognized Fu Fengyuan’s Radiant Dragon Bloodline and asked who his parents were.
• Sword Lord Qingyun claimed Fu Fengyuan was his elder brother’s child, while Qiaoqiao insisted he was Mu Liuyun and Sword Lord Qingshuang’s son.
• Mu Ye panicked at the possibility of Fu Fengyuan taking his place, then accused Ethereal Peak of framing him and denied knowing about the poisoned wine.
• Fu Fengyuan defended Qiaoqiao, and Bai Fu showed his support for her.
• Ning Shuang proposed testing the blood relationship, and Sword Lord Qingyun agreed, assuring Mu Ye that he knew whose child Mu Ye was.

Qiaoqiao used the Zhaowu Mirror to expose Sword Lord Qingyun tampering with the blood test that had appeared to prove Mu Ye was Mu Liuyun’s son. The evidence led Mu Liuyun to suspect that Mu Ye was Qingyun’s child and that Qingyun had deceived her for years.

• Mu Liuyun and Mu Ye gave blood to the Blood-Drinking Gu, which glowed red after Sword Lord Qingyun secretly interfered with the test using Spiritual Qi.
• Mu Ye celebrated the result and accused Qiaoqiao of slandering him, while Qingyun urged that she be questioned.
• Qiaoqiao showed the Zhaowu Mirror’s record of green wood Spiritual Qi entering the basin, and Bai Fu enlarged the image for everyone to see.
• The spectators recognized the Spiritual Qi as Qingyun’s Vitality Sword Qi, and Qiaoqiao declared that Qingyun had tampered with the test to hide that Mu Ye was his son.
• Mu Liuyun noticed Mu Ye’s closeness to Qingyun, became shaken by the revelation, and accused Qingyun of tampering with the Gu insect.

Qiaoqiao exposed that Sword Lord Qingyun had fathered Mu Ye and murdered his elder brother, Sword Lord Qingshuang, to place his own son in the Flowing Cloud Sect’s succession. Qingyun confessed and was subdued, while Mu Liuyun confronted him over her husband’s murder.

• Qiaoqiao urged Mu Liuyun and Sword Lord Qingyun to test their blood with the Blood-Drinking Gu, and the results showed that Mu Ye was Qingyun’s child but not Mu Liuyun’s.
• Qiaoqiao revealed that Qingyun had abandoned Mu Ye’s birth mother and killed Qingshuang to make Mu Ye the young sect master.
• Qingyun attacked Qiaoqiao with Sword Qi, but Bai Fu deflected it, and Mu Liuyun and Elder Yao restrained him and sealed his cultivation.
• Qingyun confessed to killing Qingshuang and cursed Mu Liuyun, claiming he had acted to secure the sect for their child.
• Mu Liuyun told Qingyun coldly that he had killed her husband as Qingyun tried to justify his actions as love.

Mu Liuyun killed Sword Lord Qingyun after his crimes were exposed, and Qiaoqiao received praise and a reward for saving the Flowing Cloud Sect. A sudden Devil Cultivator invasion interrupted the celebration, leaving Qiaoqiao fighting three attackers with her newly mastered sword form.

• Mu Liuyun snapped Sword Lord Qingyun’s neck, and the sect praised Qiaoqiao for uncovering his treachery.
• Bai Fu told the elders that Qingshuang had revealed the truth in a dream and explained Fu Fengyuan’s bloodline awakening.
• Elder Yao gave Qiaoqiao five hundred thousand Spirit Stones, while the elders offered to guide Fu Fengyuan in cultivation.
• Mu Ye fled in despair but was strangled by Devil Qi emerging from a spatial rift.
• Devil Cultivators invaded the Flowing Cloud Sect, and Qiaoqiao drove back three attackers with Descending Flower Rain.

Qiaoqiao and the Flowing Cloud Sect fought off the Devil Cloud Sect’s invasion until the Devil Master arrived, demanding to know who had killed his daughter. Bai Fu intervened when the Devil Master attacked Qiaoqiao, and the two powerful masters began battling above Flowing Cloud Peak.

• Qiaoqiao fought Devil Cultivators while Shen Ji and Xiao Tingyu protected her, and she noticed suspicious elders and a familiar figure on the battlefield.
• The Devil Master emerged from the spatial rift and demanded to know whether Qiaoqiao had killed his daughter, Ziling.
• Shen Ji claimed responsibility for killing Ziling, but Qiaoqiao admitted she had arranged to send the Devil Heart to the Devil Master and asked whether he had eaten it.
• The enraged Devil Master struck at Qiaoqiao, knocking Shen Ji aside, but Bai Fu appeared and blocked the attack.
• Bai Fu challenged the Devil Master, and they fought more than a hundred moves in the air while the cultivators watched.

After Bai Fu drove off the Devil Master, Qiaoqiao drew attention to a possible breach in the Flowing Cloud Sect’s mountain-protecting formation. She called out Peak Master Yue as he tried to leave, leaving him under suspicion of being the Devil Sect’s insider.

• Bai Fu defeated the Devil Master, who retreated after deciding he could not kill Qiaoqiao while Bai Fu was present.
• The Flowing Cloud Sect members blamed Qiaoqiao for provoking the Devil Master, but Bai Fu reminded them that the Devil Sect had long coveted the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp.
• Bai Fu pointed out that the mountain-protecting formation should have prevented the Devil Master from opening a spatial rift, raising fears that someone inside the sect had sabotaged it.
• Qiaoqiao asked Peak Master Yue where he was going, making the birthday banquet crowd turn to watch him.
• Peak Master Yue froze as everyone focused on him, recalling his recent disgrace and his attempt to slip away after hiding during the attack.

At the Flowing Cloud Sect Master's birthday banquet, Mu Liuyun exposed Yue Su’s betrayal, and Bai Fu’s soul search uncovered more demonic sect moles. The demonic sect’s attack was repelled, and the sect began taking steps to root out its traitors and reorganize.

• Mu Liuyun questioned Yue Su about traces of the Flowing Cloud Spring Source, and he tried to flee before she and the others restrained him.
• Yue Su confessed his hatred for Ethereal Peak and the Flowing Cloud Sect, then revealed signs of demonic madness as Mu Liuyun questioned who had helped him enter the forbidden grounds.
• Bai Fu performed a soul search on Yue Su and identified several elders who had colluded with the demonic sect; Elder Yao led the pursuit, and the conspirators were captured.
• The demonic sect withdrew after Immortal Venerable Wanghan wounded the Devil Master, giving the Flowing Cloud Sect time to rebuild its formation and hunt down its remaining moles.
• Mu Liuyun acknowledged Fu Fengyuan as young sect master and stripped Elder Chang of his position as head elder of the main peak.
• Fu Fengyuan coughed and told Mu Liuyun that someone had kicked him earlier.

Qiaoqiao saw the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp after Mu Liuyun granted her the chance as a reward for her service to the sect. Her Dao-comprehension session ended with no apparent breakthrough, though an unnoticed bead formed in her Dantian.

• Fu Fengyuan exposed Wu Fang and the other wastrels’ past misdeeds, and Mu Liuyun had the Enforcement Hall disciples take them away after they apologized to Qiaoqiao.
• Mu Liuyun brought Qiaoqiao to the teleportation array and allowed her to view the Flowing Cloud Divine Lamp.
• Shen Ji revealed that he had given Qiaoqiao the opportunity he had earned through a past service to the sect.
• Qiaoqiao entered the space around the divine lamp, made a wish to form her core, and experienced a vision of cold, darkness, pain, and hatred.
• The divine lamp’s light briefly brightened again, and a star fell into Qiaoqiao and formed a tiny bead in her Dantian, but she left believing she had gained nothing.

Qiaoqiao learned she would only serve as a reserve in the upcoming sect competition, then found herself without her senior sisters to accompany her to Flying Kite City’s lantern festival. Bai Fu took her there, where they discovered the blazing light came from a phoenix summoned by the Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.

• Shen Ji told Qiaoqiao that Ethereal Peak would send its disciples as reserves to the sect competition, and she resolved to win first place.
• Xiao Tingyu and Wen Zhi each messaged Qiaoqiao to say they could not join her at the lantern festival.
• Bai Fu offered to accompany Qiaoqiao, and they flew together to Flying Kite City on his spirit sword.
• Qiaoqiao feared the city was on fire when she saw its crimson glow, but Bai Fu flew them closer to investigate.
• The Pavilion Master of the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion summoned a fiery phoenix above the city, prompting the citizens to celebrate and worship him.

Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao encountered Song Wuya during the Flying Kite City lantern festival, where Song Wuya offered Qiaoqiao a phoenix lantern and hinted at a changed fate. As Bai Fu took Qiaoqiao through the festival, Devil Cultivators ambushed her, and he killed them with a flash of sword intent.

• Song Wuya summoned a spiritual phoenix, revealed himself to Bai Fu, and invited him to talk, but Bai Fu responded with killing intent.
• Song Wuya turned the phoenix into a lantern for Qiaoqiao, who declined the gift and left with Bai Fu.
• Song Wuya watched them go and wondered how things would turn out for Qiaoqiao this time.
• Qiaoqiao shopped at the lantern festival, while Bai Fu reacted when a vendor mistook him for her dao companion.
• Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao stopped for wontons, where Bai Fu asked the stallholder to use less chili.
• Devil Cultivators ambushed Qiaoqiao, and Bai Fu destroyed their Devil Qi and killed them with sword intent.

Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao spotted Wen Zhi with Liu Xiu, whom Qiaoqiao recognized from her dream as a man who would exploit and deceive her senior sister. Bai Fu stopped Qiaoqiao from confronting him, and the chapter ended as Liu Xiu ingratiated himself with Bai Fu while Qiaoqiao silently exposed his lies.

• Bai Fu killed three Devil Cultivators without spilling the wonton broth, impressing the onlookers.
• Qiaoqiao recognized Liu Xiu beside Wen Zhi and remembered that he would use Wen Zhi as a substitute for the Glazed Sea sect leader.
• Bai Fu prevented Qiaoqiao from rushing at Liu Xiu and urged her to trust Wen Zhi and wait to see what happened.
• Wen Zhi noticed Bai Fu and Qiaoqiao, and Liu Xiu persuaded her to approach and greet Bai Fu.
• Liu Xiu introduced himself to Bai Fu, privately scorned Qiaoqiao, and then tried to flatter Bai Fu as Qiaoqiao thought about how he had only just met Wen Zhi.

Wen Zhi left with Liu Xiu after Qiaoqiao refused to let him speak with Bai Fu alone. At the lantern festival, Bai Fu conjured Qiaoqiao a dazzling transforming lantern, and she gave him an extravagant feather hat.

• Qiaoqiao refused Liu Xiu's request to speak with Bai Fu alone, and Wen Zhi went with Liu Xiu to discuss a Pill Formula.
• After Wen Zhi and Liu Xiu left, Qiaoqiao asked Bai Fu whether he would attend the sect tournament, but he said he had important matters to handle.
• Qiaoqiao wanted a lantern that could transform, so Bai Fu conjured one that changed from a rabbit into a snow lotus, a flying dragon, and a dragon maiden.
• Qiaoqiao gave Bai Fu a hat woven from ten years' worth of A Xue's shed feathers and offered to put it on him.

Qiaoqiao and her companions traveled toward the Central Province to compete in the Four Immortal Sects Tournament, but bandits ambushed their carriage along the way. When their leader demanded to know who her senior brother was, Qiaoqiao turned to Shen Ji to ask whether he had a title.

• Qiaoqiao, Xiao Tingyu, and Wen Zhi rode in a Radiant Spirit Carriage driven by Shen Ji toward the tournament hosted by the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion.
• Shen Ji warned Qiaoqiao about the powerful Golden Core competitors from the other three immortal sects, while Qiaoqiao thought she might enjoy discovering their secrets.
• A bandit arrow and horse-trapping formation halted the carriage, and mountain bandits surrounded it to rob the passengers.
• Qiaoqiao admired the bandit leader's broadsword and asked whether he knew who her senior brother was.
• The bandit leader challenged Shen Ji's standing, so Qiaoqiao asked Shen Ji whether he had a title; Shen Ji hesitated to reveal it.

Shen Ji and Qiaoqiao stopped a band of rogue cultivators who tried to rob their carriage, only to discover Xiao Tingyu was traveling with them. Qiaoqiao confiscated the bandits’ weapons, valuables, and clothes, leaving them humiliated as they fled.

• Shen Ji attacked the rogue cultivators, while Qiaoqiao loudly announced his extravagant title and threw off his aim.
• Qiaoqiao took control of the bandits’ trapping formation and trapped them as Xiao Tingyu stepped out of the carriage.
• Qiaoqiao claimed the leader’s saber and demanded the bandits hand over their valuables, with Xiao Tingyu backing her up.
• Qiaoqiao ordered the bandits to surrender their clothes as well, leaving them in their underwear.
• Qiaoqiao mocked the leader’s figure, and the humiliated bandits fled with their leader coughing blood.

At Envy Fish City, Wen Zhi reunited with Liu Xiu, who invited her to meet other healers gathered to investigate a mysterious epidemic. Xiao Tingyu and Shen Ji heard Qiaoqiao’s inner voice reveal that Liu Xiu had ulterior motives and an old lover nearby, but they were left guessing whether she meant the Glazed Sea’s holy maiden Liu Yu or Elder Bing.

• The Yaoling carriage reached Envy Fish City, where a guard said an epidemic had forced the city gates to close.
• Liu Xiu recognized Wen Zhi and offered to introduce her to the medical cultivators gathered in the city.
• Xiao Tingyu heard Qiaoqiao’s inner voice say Liu Xiu had come for a secret rendezvous with his old lover, not to treat the illness.
• Liu Yu, the Glazed Sea’s holy maiden, arrived with her disciples, prompting Xiao Tingyu and Shen Ji to wonder if she was Liu Xiu’s lover.
• Qiaoqiao’s remarks about the lover’s age made Xiao Tingyu and Shen Ji suspect either Liu Yu or the stern Elder Bing.