Recaps

Lu Ming led his group into Nanming Prefecture and assessed Chen Qing’s enormous barrier as a likely bluff, while Mu Hongqing prepared to intervene if Chen Qing failed. After entering the city, Lu Ming sent Zhou Hanyang to wait and went off to kill Minister Hong, the court representative whose presence stood in the way of commanding fifty thousand troops.

• Lu Ming said Chen Qing’s immense barrier was probably a bluff because he had taken over Nanming Prefecture only a month earlier, while Mu Hongqing examined it and found its energy pure with no apparent weaknesses.
• Mu Hongqing resolved to help Chen Qing if needed, then take Chen Ying away if he failed to control the situation; if he succeeded, Mu Hongqing would entrust Chen Ying to him and return to the capital.
• Lu Ming posed as a merchant at the city checkpoint, where a soldier warned him that slavery was forbidden, refused most of his wine as a bribe, and advised him to worship the Sea God for cheaper ship escorts.
• Mu Hongqing recalled Lu Ming’s many different faces and his cruel treatment of his mutilated younger sister at the ducal estate.
• Lu Ming told Zhou Hanyang to find an inn and wait for word, then left alone; Mu Hongqing said Lu Ming was going to kill Minister Hong, whose survival would prevent the duke from gaining control of fifty thousand troops.

Chen Qing gathered the factions in Nanming Prefecture to discuss the Ancient Dragon Palace, announcing that it would open in one month and revealing some of its powers and treasures. The meeting ended with the attendees weighing the promise of cooperation against the risks of entering the Dragon Palace.

• Shen Laoda and the other guests praised Chen Qing’s tea, which replenished spiritual energy without apparent side effects.
• Chen Qing announced that the Dragon Palace would open in one month, and the West Sea scholar explained that the failing Nine Heavens Mirror Valley seal was causing the mist to thin.
• The eldest princess and Minister Pang questioned Chen Qing’s information and his willingness to cooperate, while the Duke of Wei asked what the Dragon Palace offered.
• Chen Qing showed the guests the West Sea spring and explained that it helped maintain the world’s water balance against terrifying creatures beyond the heavens.
• Chen Qing claimed the Dragon Palace held medicine that could revive the dead and a Dragon Transformation Secret Technique that could turn all things into dragons and grant them eternal life.

Chen Qing explained that the Dragon Palace’s awakening could unleash ten thousand flood dragons and proposed that the factions cooperate to stop them. He offered to help them find Dragon Transformation Secret Realms without competing for immortality or dragon transformation, but ended by questioning whether the dragons themselves had taken the secret medicine.

• Chen Qing said immortality came at an unknown cost and told the gathered leaders he wanted something in the Dragon Palace other than its secret medicine.
• He warned that ten thousand flood dragons would lock down the water to awaken the dragons, whose revival could devastate Great Jin, and said someone transformed into a dragon could order the flood dragons to stop.
• Chen Qing offered to find Dragon Transformation Secret Realms for the factions and proposed that each of the four sides choose one of the Dragon Palace’s four gates and claim realms found in its corresponding sea.
• Chen Qing split into four identical copies and offered to enter a spell pact promising he would not seek immortality or dragon transformation.
• When the eldest princess called him timid for avoiding the secret medicine, Chen Qing replied that he was cautious because he did not know its cost and asked whether the dragons had taken it themselves.

The eldest princess negotiated a binding pact with Shen Laowu in exchange for helping him become a dragon, while Minister Pang revealed the Dragon Palace rumors to aristocratic families. The chapter ended with Minister Pang transforming into a beautiful woman and confronting Lu Ming about the scent of other women on him.

• The eldest princess questioned Shen Laowu about Chen Qing’s claims and learned he had concealed the ten thousand flood dragons.
• The eldest princess offered to help Shen Laowu become a dragon if he swore not to harm the Central Plains, gave her half the flood dragons, and obeyed her inside the Dragon Palace.
• Shen Laowu accepted the conditions and reminded the eldest princess that she had promised to bear him a son.
• Minister Pang told descendants of more than a hundred aristocratic families about Chen Qing’s claims and warned them not to conceal information or underestimate the ancient world’s dangers.
• Minister Pang returned to his room, transformed into a beautiful woman, and embraced Lu Ming.
• The woman accused Lu Ming of carrying the foul stench of other women.

Lu Ming and his wife discussed his losses and their last gamble against the Pang Family, while Chen Qing waited for Lu Ming to make a move. With the alliance meeting approaching and the barrier’s time running short, Chen Qing worried that he lacked the leverage to force the four sides to make peace.

• Lu Ming’s wife confronted him about the widow who had sheltered him, then warned that he faced grave consequences if his latest scheme failed.
• Lu Ming explained that he believed Chen Qing was the true Reincarnator and planned to use the young man’s rapid rise as an opportunity.
• Lu Ming’s wife said she would target Minister Pang and even the crown prince, while reproaching Lu Ming for abandoning their son and misjudging Xiao Mingyue.
• Chen Ying reported that Lu Ming had made no move, and Chen Qing wondered what other card the duke might be holding.
• Chen Qing worried that the barrier would expire before he could secure the alliance and persuade all four sides to cease hostilities.

A mother brought her young daughter from Yunzhou to Liuzhou for the Yin-Yang Academy entrance exam while Earth Serpent women tracked them, intending to capture them after the exam. Meanwhile, Chen Qing learned Minister Pang demanded Yuchi Peng and fifty thousand troops, and began planning to pressure the court with a banquet.

• The mother and daughter entered Liuzhou after the gate guards verified the girl's eligibility for the academy exam and praised her achievement.
• A scarred Earth Serpent woman confirmed the mother and daughter had arrived, but withdrew from the city gate after sensing its wolf-headed door god watching her.
• The Earth Serpent leader ordered her women to wait until the exam ended, expecting the pair to return by an ordinary cargo boat where they could attack.
• Chen Ying told Chen Qing that Minister Pang demanded Yuchi Peng and the release of fifty thousand troops.
• Chen Qing questioned whether Lu Ming had made an agreement with Minister Pang, learned the formation could last only a few more days, and ordered a banquet to apply pressure.

Yun Yu'e learned that Yun Ke'er had ranked among the top five in Yunzhou and discussed which academy would suit her daughter. When Yun Ke'er saw blue-green rings at the entrance, Shen Yuan declared that the Heaven Academy would take her without an examination and ordered her to come to Nanming Prefecture.

• A registration scholar told Yun Yu'e that Yun Ke'er ranked among Yunzhou's top five, especially in mathematics, and encouraged her to apply to the Yellow Academy.
• Pan Kai interrupted Zhuo Lang's attempt to steer Yun Ke'er toward the Yellow Academy and promoted the Mystic Academy's fields as a better fit for a girl.
• Yun Ke'er pointed at the entrance and said she could see many blue-green rings there.
• Shen Yuan arrived, confirmed Yun Ke'er could see the rings, and said the Heaven Academy would take her without an examination and bring her to Nanming Prefecture immediately.

Shen Yuan discovered that Ke'er could see spiritual-energy flows, a rare aptitude that made her valuable to the Heaven Academy’s formation project in Nanming Prefecture. Yun Yu'e agreed to accompany her daughter, while a group of women in black celebrated their departure from the city.

• Shen Yuan used Dean Chen’s order to claim Ke'er for the Heaven Academy and explained that her unusual sight revealed the Spirit Energy Sensing talent needed by formation masters.
• Shen Yuan assured Yun Yu'e that Ke'er would be protected in Nanming Prefecture, and Yun Yu'e insisted on accompanying her daughter.
• Shen Yuan agreed to let Yun Yu'e travel with them and said they had to leave immediately for the Sky Canopy project.
• Shen Yuan gave the Mystic Academy the Heaven Academy’s unused recruitment places, set a limit of three hundred recruits for the Yellow Academy, and warned both students against recruiting without proper screening.
• A woman in black reported that Yun Yu'e and Ke'er had left the city.

Aboard a ship, Shen Yuan explained the Heaven Academy’s powers and prospects to Yun Yu'e as her daughter Ke'er traveled toward Nanming Prefecture. Chen Qing learned that Ke'er had the Spirit Eye he needed, then discovered Chen Ying’s master had called the Duke of Qin’s principal wife a demon.

• A woman in black suspected Chen Qing’s people had taken Yun Yu'e and Ke'er for their connection to their master, and ordered the news reported to Madam.
• Shen Yuan demonstrated a Blade Formation to Yun Yu'e and urged her to let Ke'er join Heaven Academy despite her being a girl.
• Chen Ying told Chen Qing that a girl with an innate Spirit Eye was on her way to Nanming Prefecture, then revealed the girl was Yun Yu'e’s daughter.
• Chen Qing ordered Yun Yu'e and Ke'er brought in separately and asked that Yun Yu'e be watched for contact with Lu Ming.
• Chen Ying said her master had called the Duke of Qin’s principal wife a demon, startling Chen Qing.

Chen Qing learned that Lu Ming’s wife had helped the Lu Household rise and sent Chen Ying to meet Tian Heng and protect her and her daughter’s ship. At Nanyang’s harbor, Tian Heng celebrated the Sea God Faction’s successful East Sea trade before receiving Chen Qing’s urgent summons to Nanming.

• Chen Ying told Chen Qing that the King of Qin had arranged Lu Ming’s marriage and that Lu Ming’s wife had played a crucial role in the Lu Household’s growth.
• Chen Qing ordered Chen Ying to contact Tian Heng, escort Lu Ming’s wife and daughter, and keep them protected after they reached the city.
• Tian Heng reflected on the Sea God Faction’s growth and the benefits of divine power as merchant ships returned safely to Nanyang.
• Tian Heng learned that the East Sea voyage had brought back a ship full of jadeite and celebrated the profitable trade.
• Tian Heng received an urgent message from Chen Qing ordering him to hurry to Nanming and meet Chen Ying.

Tian Heng and his deputy generals chose to remain loyal to Chen Qing as he prepared to confront Lu Ming, despite their former ties to the Duke of Qin. Meanwhile, Madam Lu punished her followers for failing to capture a mother and daughter and gave them two more days to complete the task.

• Tian Heng concluded that Chen Qing had encountered complications involving Lu Ming and asked his deputy generals where their loyalties lay.
• Lan Xiang and the other deputy generals declared that they would follow Chen Qing rather than Lu Ming.
• Tian Heng ordered his men to call Chen Qing their liege, and they agreed.
• Minister Pang, possessed by Madam Lu, questioned her followers about their failure to capture the mother and daughter alive.
• Madam Lu killed the group's leader and ordered the remaining women to complete the task within two days.

Chen Qing hosted the faction leaders at a banquet, using fine wine and conversation to probe Minister Pang while keeping the tense standoff in Nanming Prefecture from breaking. Minister Pang’s natural behavior deepened Chen Qing’s suspicion that he had been replaced by a demon, leaving Chen Qing searching for a way to expose him before acting.

• Chen Qing welcomed the faction leaders to Wangjiang Tower after the barrier over Nanming Prefecture had held for two days.
• Chen Qing served red ginseng wine from Great Azure Mountain, impressing the guests with its ability to warm their blood and qi.
• Minister Pang reacted badly to the wine, then joked about Prince Consort Fei and the Grand Princess, relaxing the banquet’s atmosphere.
• Chen Qing realized Minister Pang’s wit and natural manner made his suspected replacement difficult to expose.
• Chen Qing wondered whether a human-skin ghost or another method had allowed a demon to replace Minister Pang.

Chen Qing tried to secure a ceasefire until the Dragon Palace opened, but Minister Pang and the eldest princess pressed him to wait until its location was confirmed in ten days. The eldest princess planned to use a woman from the Lu Household to test Chen Qing, while his barrier over Nanming Prefecture had only three days left.

• Chen Qing considered what kind of demon could be impersonating Minister Pang and ruled out A Li and the monsters on Yin-Yang Road.
• The eldest princess revealed Chen Qing's connection to the Xiao Household and invited the factions to discuss his proposal to cease hostilities.
• Minister Pang questioned Chen Qing's motives and demanded proof that the Dragon Palace would open as promised, and Chen Qing said its signs would appear in ten days.
• The eldest princess and the other representatives agreed to delay finalizing the alliance until the Dragon Palace's location was confirmed, forcing Chen Qing to accept despite his barrier having only three days left.
• Prince Consort Fei questioned the eldest princess's treatment of Chen Qing, and she explained that she wanted to expose his limits and would use a woman from the Lu Household to test him.

Tian Heng raced his ship toward Liuzhou after learning that Lu Ming’s principal wife might threaten someone important, and he prepared his men to face the feared assassin. On the ship carrying Yun Yu'e and Ke'er, Ke'er sensed something dangerous outside.

• Tian Heng accelerated his ship with divine power after Chen Ying’s message revealed that Lu Ming’s principal wife might attack someone important who had already left Liuzhou.
• Tian Heng told his deputy generals about the woman’s brutal history and admitted that their families could be vulnerable to her revenge.
• Tian Heng declared that he believed their lord could reclaim the Tian Household and said the woman would no longer be a threat if she died there.
• Yun Yu'e worried that Ke'er had eaten too much, but Ke'er insisted that something outside the ship was troubling her.

Shen Yuan took the little girl's fear of a watching presence seriously and warned Yuchi Feihu to guard the ship. Yuchi Feihu sensed two trusted guards had vanished and rushed toward Yun Yu'e and her daughter, where an unseen speaker addressed him at close range.

• The little girl told Shen Yuan that something outside was watching her and meant her harm, and Shen Yuan reassured her that Huang Feihu could protect her.
• Shen Yuan found Yuchi Feihu talking with Yuchi Hong Lie and urged the general to take the possibility of danger seriously.
• Yuchi Feihu sensed that the two guards outside Yun Yu'e and her daughter's cabin had disappeared and ordered Yuchi Hong Lie to protect Shen Yuan.
• Yuchi Feihu rushed toward the cabin, then froze when a teasing voice spoke beside his ear.

Yuchi Feihu fought the mysterious woman in black to protect Yun Yu'e and her daughter, enduring severe poisoning and fatal wounds long enough to rescue the girl. Chen Ying arrived four hours later to find him unconscious with the child in his arms, while Tian Heng identified the attacker as a woman from the Lu Household.

• The woman in black captured Yun Yu'e and her daughter, and her subordinates returned with the severed heads of Yuchi Feihu's deputy commanders.
• As a massive warship approached, Yuchi Feihu seized the woman's snake tail and held on despite his wounds to delay her escape.
• Yuchi Feihu used his backward flight to attack the women holding the captives, killing one and falling into the river with the girl while Yun Yu'e remained behind.
• The woman in black escaped with her subordinates after threatening to remember Yuchi Feihu.
• Four hours later, Chen Ying found Yuchi Feihu unconscious and clutching the girl, while Tian Heng said the attacker was a vicious woman from the Lu Household.

After Yuchi Feihu was rescued from Madam Lu’s attack, Chen Qing investigated how she could have returned to Nanming Prefecture so quickly and found no clues aboard her boat until he discovered a porcelain bottle that should not have existed in this world.

• Chen Qing healed Yuchi Feihu enough to put him to sleep, promised to avenge his subordinates, and sent Night Wandering Gods to recover their souls for questioning.
• Tian Heng said Madam Lu had attacked Yuchi Feihu, but Chen Qing could not reconcile her escape with Minister Pang still appearing to be in his quarters.
• Chen Qing and Tian Heng searched the monsters’ chartered boat and found no clear evidence, while Chen Ying noticed a foul smell aboard.
• Using Old Wolf’s scent-tracking ability, Chen Qing traced the stench to a fine porcelain bottle that poured out an immense amount of filthy water.
• Chen Qing recognized the bottle as a Flying Star Bottle and realized it was only half-designed in his old drawings, so it should not have existed in this world.

The Princess Royal and the other factions received warming jade to travel through Chen Qing’s dangerous, icy array, while Lu Ming learned that Yun Yu’e had been tortured and ordered her captors to end her suffering. He remained certain that the mysterious bottle made his wife impossible to kill.

• The Princess Royal accepted warming jade from Chen Qing’s soldiers and set out through the ice crystals after learning that magical seals protected the buildings.
• Shen Laoda, the Duke of Wei, and Minister Pang’s group also received warming jade, and Minister Pang questioned whether Chen Qing could make it stop working.
• Lu Ming learned that Chen Qing was targeting a little girl with a special constitution and that Yun Yu’e had been tortured with the Ten-Needle Torture.
• Lu Ming struck a servant who defended Yun Yu’e’s captors and ordered them to tell him where she was or put her out of her misery.
• Lu Ming declared that no one could kill his wife as long as the bottle existed.

Chen Qing used a meal of hot pot and chilled fruit wine to expose Minister Pang as a snake demon, revealing that she was Madam Lu in disguise. He then explained to Tian Heng that Madam Lu could escape through replicated Flying Star Bottles, but promised that she and Lu Ming would not survive the next day.

• Chen Qing served the Duke of Wei, the eldest princess, Minister Pang, and the others hot pot with fruit wine chilled by ice.
• Chen Qing explained that Madam Lu had used a Flying Star Bottle to swallow realgar wine and could emerge from any bottle linked to her.
• Chen Qing told Tian Heng that blood sacrifices had enabled Madam Lu to replicate thousands of bottles, which she could use to spy, attack, or escape.
• Chen Qing promised Tian Heng that Lu Ming and his wife would not live past the next day.
• After drinking the wine, Minister Pang turned blue-green, retched up foul black water, and shed her human skin to reveal a snake-demon form.

Chen Qing exposed Madam Lu as a demon and led her into a trap that left her unable to use the Flying Star Bottle. Shen Yiyun killed her, but when she awakened to reincarnate, she found herself somewhere unfamiliar and learned that reincarnation was not under her control.

• Chen Qing revealed Madam Lu's demonic form and struck her out of the restaurant, while the Eldest Princess, the Duke of Wei, and Shen Laoda followed to see what he would do.
• Madam Lu fled toward Lu Ming, but the cold attacking her body drove her back into an empty, freezing room where she realized Chen Qing had laid a trap.
• Madam Lu tried to escape with the Flying Star Bottle, but Shen Yiyun used the Ghost King's Arm to seize and crush her.
• Madam Lu threatened revenge through her Reincarnation Mark, but Shen Yiyun told her that reincarnation in Jiangnan was not hers to decide and killed her.
• Madam Lu awoke in darkness expecting the Yin-Yang Road, but a sinister voice told her that reincarnating was not so easy.

Shen Yiyun confronted Madam Lu in Nanming Prefecture’s newly established Underworld and read the crimes recorded in his register. Meanwhile, Chen Qing tracked down Lu Ming through the frozen formation, then challenged the Duke of Qin to fight him alone.

• Shen Yiyun told Madam Lu that she had entered Nanming Prefecture’s Underworld rather than the Yin-Yang Road, identified her as A Luo, and prepared to punish her for her sins.
• Yun Ke’er used her Spirit Eye to locate the energy clashes caused by Lu Ming’s blood qi, and Chen Ying guided Chen Qing toward him.
• Chen Qing pursued Lu Ming across Nanming Prefecture until Lu Ming stopped among his black-clad subordinates, while the eldest princess and others caught up and watched.
• Lu Ming asked how Chen Qing had captured Madam Lu, and Chen Qing explained that he had used cold inside the Flying Star Bottle to frighten her out of hiding there.
• Lu Ming recognized Xu Hu and asked whether Chen Qing meant to rely on him, but Chen Qing said Xu Hu had other guests and challenged Lu Ming himself.

Chen Qing challenged Lu Ming to a duel, and their battle revealed that Chen Qing could summon heavenly lightning and withstand Lu Ming’s overwhelming attacks. The chapter ended with the two men locked in a direct contest of strength, neither having yielded a step.

• Lu Ming questioned Chen Qing’s decision to duel him, and Chen Qing declared that he would not lose.
• Lu Ming unleashed his dragon bloodline’s immense power and charged Chen Qing at incredible speed.
• Chen Qing summoned heavenly lightning, but Lu Ming tore through it with his bare hands and pressed forward.
• Lu Ming and Chen Qing met head-on amid a storm that shattered the ground across a thousand feet.
• Xu Hu and the other spectators saw that Chen Qing could match Lu Ming’s strength, with neither man stepping back.

Chen Qing defeated Lu Ming by drawing him into a carefully prepared close-range trap, then tore off both his arms. In the capital, the Lu Household learned that its Dragon Jade had shattered and vowed revenge, ordering Poison Dragon Valley opened.

• Chen Qing used Ghost Child's strength, lightning's pull, and falling ice to keep Lu Ming trapped until he forced him to his knees.
• The eldest princess recognized that Lu Ming's defeat was certain and left to return to the hotpot.
• Chen Qing ignored Lu Ming's demand to identify himself and tore off both his arms, driven by a deep, unexplained revulsion toward him.
• The Lu Household elders discovered that the Dragon Jade had shattered and concluded that Lu Ming, the root of their household's fortunes, was gone.
• The Lu Household's oldest elder ordered its descendants to prepare offerings and open Poison Dragon Valley, vowing retaliation against whoever had crossed them.

The Duke of Wei and Shen Laoda prepared to leave Nanming Prefecture as the eldest princess warned of trouble if Lu Ming died. Chen Qing revealed that Lu Ming was alive in an iron prison among evil spirits, and Lu Ming asked to see Yun Yu'e in exchange for answering questions.

• The eldest princess warned the Duke of Wei that the Lu Household and Poison Dragon Valley might cause trouble if Lu Ming died, and the Duke left after agreeing to attend the Dragon Palace opening.
• Shen Laoda said he would leave Nanming Prefecture after his meal, easing Xu Hu’s concern that the powerful guests might remain as the Ice Star Formation failed.
• Lu Ming awoke in an iron prison surrounded by evil spirits and learned from Chen Qing that the Underworld was real.
• Chen Qing and Lu Ming discussed Chen Qing’s unexplained hatred, the King of Qin, and the Flying Star Bottle, which Chen Qing said should not exist in the world.
• Lu Ming refused to answer Chen Qing’s questions without a show of sincerity and asked to see Yun Yu'e.

Chen Qing explained that Mu Hongqing's loved ones might only recover through the Underworld, and Mu Hongqing left to pursue that possibility. Lu Ming arrived as a yin spirit and went with Chen Qing and Yun Ke'er to see Yun Yu'e, while Chen Qing wondered whether the world was a patched version and who was changing it.

• Chen Qing warned Mu Hongqing that restoring his loved ones' human awareness would be difficult, but said the Underworld's stripping method could help if they were brought to Jiangnan intact.
• Mu Hongqing accepted that he might not see his loved ones again and departed for the capital, asking Chen Qing to negotiate with Zhou Hanyang and the others.
• Lu Ming appeared at the command tent, and Yun Ke'er recognized him as Uncle Lazybones and told him something had happened to her mother.
• Chen Qing insisted that only Yun Ke'er could decide Yun Yu'e's fate, then led her and Lu Ming to see Yun Yu'e.
• Lu Ming revealed that the Flying Star Bottle was one of the Great Snake Kingdom's four great demonic artifacts, prompting Chen Qing to wonder who was patching the world.