Recaps

The emperor watched as Wutu Gu’s overwhelming presence humiliated Great Jin’s martial officials before Chen Qing arrived late through the crowd. The emperor and Wutu Gu recognized that the scholar was not the fake they had expected, leaving the contest’s true stakes uncertain.

• Xiao Mingxue told the emperor she trusted Chen Qing to win and vowed to become strong enough to make him see marrying her as the best bargain in the world.
• Wutu Gu walked toward the fighting platform, forcing spectators and military officers to look away or cough up blood; Yuchi Peng endured until Wutu Gu reached the platform.
• The empress dowager challenged the emperor over Great Jin’s humiliation, while the emperor argued that strength and victory mattered regardless of their source.
• After the eunuch called for the King of Qin twice, Chen Qing arrived late by squeezing through the crowd instead of emerging from the pavilion.
• The emperor and Wutu Gu realized that Chen Qing was not the fake they had expected and watched him with sudden seriousness.

Chen Qing arrived to fight Wutu Gu, while the emperor and empress dowager watched from the stands. After Chen Qing caught Wutu Gu’s opening punch, he revealed that he was maintaining a barrier around the arena himself, even as he fought.

• The emperor questioned Chen Qing’s unexpected appearance, while the empress dowager concealed what she knew and Xiao Mingxue said she planned to go to Jiangnan with her husband if he won.
• Chen Qing confronted Wutu Gu over the Ghost Temple and his treatment of the Southern Barbarians, declaring that he would never sacrifice anyone.
• Wutu Gu launched a lightning-fast punch, but Chen Qing caught it with one hand, and their clash shattered the court’s barrier.
• A new barrier contained the dust and debris around the arena, and Wutu Gu realized Chen Qing was casting it while fighting him.

Chen Qing fought Wutu Gu while maintaining a barrier around the training ground, revealing strength that made Wutu Gu unleash his Dragon Transformation Technique. Wutu Gu attacked the barrier to exploit Chen Qing’s apparent concern for the people outside, and the emperor immediately called him an idiot.

• Wutu Gu recognized Chen Qing’s ability to fight while using barrier arts and unleashed his Dragon Transformation Technique.
• Chen Qing identified Wutu Gu’s transformation as a Dragon Transformation Technique and wondered what breed he was.
• Chen Qing taunted Wutu Gu while dodging his attacks and maintaining the barrier, impressing the onlookers.
• Wutu Gu decided to strike the barrier, believing it was Chen Qing’s weakness.
• Chen Qing smiled as Wutu Gu charged the barrier, while the emperor called him an idiot.

Chen Qing trapped Wutu Gu with a barrier, then accepted the emperor’s claim that such a victory was dishonorable and chose to fight with a sword instead. He drew Xiao Mingyue’s Phoenix Cry and challenged Wutu Gu to withstand three moves, leaving Wutu Gu confident that he could survive them.

• Wutu Gu charged Chen Qing’s barrier, but Chen Qing trapped him in a tiny space and compressed it to palm size.
• Chen Qing called on the emperor to declare the winner, but the emperor dismissed his warlock methods as dishonorable for a martial duel.
• Chen Qing released Wutu Gu and expanded the barrier across the arena, alarming the fighters, warlocks, and emperor.
• Chen Qing said he would use traditional methods and drew Xiao Mingyue’s sword, Phoenix Cry.
• Chen Qing claimed he knew only Xiao Mingyue’s three moves and promised to concede if Wutu Gu withstood them; Wutu Gu accepted the challenge with renewed confidence.

Chen Qing defeated Wutu Gu with one of the three sword moves taught to him by the Grand Princess, exposing the weakness of Wutu Gu’s ancient trident technique. After winning, Chen Qing asked the emperor to honor his edict and return his wife to him.

• Wutu Gu built up his momentum while Chen Qing waited calmly, then charged at him.
• Chen Qing struck with a single exquisite sword move that reduced Wutu Gu to a skeleton.
• Chen Qing explained that Wutu Gu’s trident technique was outdated and praised the combat skills of the Central Plains.
• Wutu Gu crumbled after the barrier shattered and regretted not using the weapon and skills he had mastered.
• Chen Qing stepped down from the platform and asked the emperor to return his wife under the imperial edict.

Chen Qing broke A Li free from the Snake Queen’s manipulation, and she watched him confront the emperor and empress dowager in the martial arena. After the emperor approved Chen Qing’s marriage to Xiao Mingxue, Chen Qing calmly agreed to meet the scoundrels in the capital, while the emperor realized he had lost contact with something he secretly relied on.

• Chen Qing reminded A Li that she could face her memories and help change the world, and she recovered her resolve.
• A Li watched Chen Qing in the martial arena and recognized his sincere determination.
• Chen Qing told the empress dowager that Princess Mingyue had entrusted her sword to him and that the man she loved had killed her.
• The empress dowager praised her daughter’s judgment, and Xiao Mingxue warmly agreed that her mother had chosen well.
• The emperor declared that Xiao Mingxue would become Chen Qing’s princess consort and offered to bring the capital’s scoundrels before him.
• The emperor tried to contact something in secret, but it did not respond, leaving him uneasy.

The emperor found the former empress transformed into a monster and learned that Chen Qing had disrupted the Ghost Temple’s power. Earlier, Chen Qing had told the empress dowager that he understood the force behind the emperor’s schemes and promised to protect Princess Mingxue.

• The emperor went to the former empress’s palace and found the palace maids dead and the empress devouring their remains in monstrous form.
• The empress told the emperor that Chen Qing had prevented him from using the Ghost Temple’s abilities and pointed out spreading cracks around its sealed core beneath the palace.
• Chen Qing met the empress dowager, who explained how Ao Zhen had disappeared after making her move in the great hall.
• Chen Qing identified the Mother and Child Ghosts Temple and linked the emperor’s power to the Snake Mother and the Ghost Domain.
• Chen Qing assured the empress dowager that he would keep Princess Mingxue safe.

Chen Qing explained how King Xiang used the Mother and Child Ghosts Temple to create a ghost army and reasoned that the emperor’s forces had trapped Ao Zhen in a prepared space. He suspected Snake Mother was behind the trap, but worried that King Chujiang might be working with her.

• Chen Qing told Wang Ye and the empress dowager that the Mother and Child Ghosts Temple used children’s resentment to create powerful ghosts for King Xiang’s army.
• Wang Ye reflected on how his own upbringing among kind humans had made him unlike his murderous brethren.
• The empress dowager questioned Chen Qing about Ao Zhen’s disappearance, and he explained that the emperor’s method likely relied on a fragile spatial trap and a powerful attacker to keep Ao Zhen contained.
• The empress dowager said the resurrected empress had grown quieter over the past month, and Chen Qing concluded that Snake Mother had likely spent that time preparing the trap for Ao Zhen.
• Chen Qing reasoned that rescuing Ao Zhen could turn the situation around, but wondered whether King Chujiang was Snake Mother’s ally and whether he posed a second trap.

Ao Zhen was trapped by Snake Mother in the Mother and Child Ghosts Temple, while Chen Qing located her through a voice transmission and sought the imperial palace’s plans. He suspected the true main temple was hidden in the Xiao Household’s ancestral temple and was targeting the imperial family’s dragon veins to steal their fortune.

• Ao Zhen confronted Snake Mother, who revealed she had helped shape Ao Zhen’s history and explained that she only needed to keep Ao Zhen trapped.
• Ao Zhen realized Snake Mother’s temple had isolated her, leaving her allies outside without their strongest fighter.
• Chen Qing contacted Ao Zhen by voice transmission and learned they were likely within a thousand zhang of each other.
• Chen Qing asked the empress dowager for the imperial palace’s design plans, arguing that the true main temple was inside the palace.
• Chen Qing reasoned that the Ghost Domain was targeting the imperial family to plunder the fortune of the Central Plains’ dragon veins.

Chen Qing explained that the Xiao Household’s imperial bloodline and ancestral temple could anchor spirits and help the Ghost Domain invade the mortal world. The empress dowager realized the emperor may have spent years corrupting the Xiao Household’s dragon vein and arranging for relatives to die, while Chen Qing turned to finding the true ancestral temple to rescue Ao Zhen.

• The empress dowager recalled the emperor’s puzzling decision to establish the capital at Jing Pass and his refusal to spend money repairing the imperial mausoleum.
• Chen Qing explained that the imperial family’s fortune and ancestral temple could let the Xiao Household’s spirits remain in the mortal world as earthbound spirits.
• Chen Qing said the emperor could corrupt the dragon vein, open the gates between yin and yang, and command an army of Xiao Household ghost generals.
• The empress dowager erupted in fury and suspected the emperor had arranged the suspicious deaths of Xiao Household relatives to create ghost generals.
• Chen Qing said the simple mausoleum beside the capital was likely fake and that they needed to find the Xiao Household’s true ancestral temple to rescue Ao Zhen.

Ao Zhen chose to conserve her strength and trust that Chen Qing might find her, while the Snake Queen withdrew rather than risk a fight. Beneath the empress’s bedchamber, Chen Qing and Wang Ye discovered that the imperial palace’s arrangement pointed to a plan to sacrifice the empress as a vessel for the Snake Mother from the beginning, and they prepared to act.

• Ao Zhen sealed her pores and entered meditation instead of making a desperate escape, deciding to trust Chen Qing’s help.
• The Snake Queen waited for Ao Zhen to attack, then withdrew to avoid risking her body and went toward the Court of State Ceremonial’s guesthouse.
• Chen Qing and Wang Ye followed the Chen Household map to a sinister location beneath the empress’s bedchamber.
• Chen Qing explained that the Palace of Earthly Tranquility occupied the imperial palace’s strongest fortune point, identifying it as the site of the Xiao Household’s ancestral tomb and the Ghost King Temple.
• Chen Qing concluded that the emperor had arranged for the empress to become the Snake Mother’s vessel from the beginning, and he urged Wang Ye to start before their single opportunity passed.

Chen Qing and Wang Ye waited for Snake Mother to leave A Li alone, then used Shen Qi’s surveillance spell to break into the Ghost Temple. Snake Mother sensed the intrusion and hurried back, only to find the seal broken and an attack already incoming.

• Chen Qing told Wang Ye that Snake Mother would visit A Li before dawn to destroy her will, and explained why A Li’s pregnancy made her vulnerable.
• Chen Qing recalled Heavenly Secrets’s revelation that reincarnators could only have children with one another, and that his own parents were reincarnators while his siblings were adopted.
• Chen Qing and Wang Ye watched Snake Mother leave the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, then waited for their chance to act.
• Chen Qing activated Shen Qi’s surveillance spell in A Li’s room, and Wang Ye used Flying Star to charge with him into the Ghost Temple.
• Snake Mother sensed the intrusion while tormenting A Li, but continued until A Li collapsed before hurrying back to the Ghost Temple.
• Snake Mother found that the intruder had broken the seal, and fierce streaks of light and a dragon’s roar attacked her from both sides.

Chen Qing confronted Snake Mother in the Mother and Child Ghosts Temple and provoked King Xiang’s will to reveal the temple’s location to Ao Zhen. As Ao Zhen restrained Snake Mother despite her poisoned bone sword, Chen Qing began using Ao Zhen’s space-shattering secret technique.

• Snake Mother was surprised that Chen Qing had found the hidden temple, and the two traded accusations about their treatment of their subordinates and family.
• Chen Qing revealed that the temple’s black liquid contained the spirits of sacrificed children and provoked King Xiang, causing the liquid to recede and then boil.
• Snake Mother attacked Chen Qing with her Divine Wind Technique, and Ao Zhen shattered space to arrive and block her sword with her bare hand.
• Snake Mother’s poisoned bone sword began incapacitating Ao Zhen, but Chen Qing explained that he had deliberately told her to grab it because he knew the sword’s connection to Snake Mother’s flesh and bone.
• Chen Qing summoned an azure wind sword and revealed that he could use Ao Zhen’s secret technique too.

Chen Qing drove Snake Mother from Ghost Mirror after crippling her, then explained to Ao Zhen why he had let the Jiangnan delegation die and revealed he had saved A Da’s spirit. Snake Mother later told the emperor that Chen Qing would not kill him, while warning that Earth Spirit Revival would bring other factions into motion.

• Chen Qing struck at Snake Mother, forcing her to pull out the Sword of the Spine and flee through the mirrors rather than risk his attack.
• Chen Qing refused to pursue Snake Mother, explaining that King Xiang’s will had blocked her access to Ghost Mirror and that destroying more mirrors could awaken him.
• Ao Zhen learned Chen Qing had deliberately let the Jiangnan delegation die to make Snake Mother lower her guard, and Chen Qing admitted he had secretly retrieved A Da’s spirit body.
• Chen Qing sent Ao Zhen with Wang Ye to the empress dowager and went to save the tortured fox demon, prompting Ao Zhen and Wang Ye to call him interesting.
• Three double-hours later, Snake Mother told the emperor that Chen Qing would not kill him because doing so could cause her to unleash King Xiang.
• Snake Mother warned the emperor that Earth Spirit Revival would set other factions’ agents in motion, then agreed to tell him about some of those factions.

Before Wang Ye left, Chen Qing explained how ancient factions had prepared pawns for their future revival and why the Heavenly Python Palace would become a crucial prize. The chapter left Wang Ye aware that the coming struggle over the palace’s rapid production of giant pythons could make the world far more chaotic.

• Wang Ye asked Chen Qing what Liu Yu meant when he said former pawns would soon move across the world as their chessboard.
• Chen Qing explained that ancient factions had left pawns behind to secure resources for their revival, and that some factions were more certain to return than others.
• Chen Qing said the Dragon Palace and the Ghost Domain were already beginning to revive, then identified the Heavenly Python Palace as theoretically the world’s strongest faction.
• Chen Qing explained that Heavenly Python mothers produced thousands of fast-growing offspring, using weaker young snakes to make Blood Essence Stones and accelerate the evolution of monsters that could feed stronger pythons.
• Wang Ye learned that the Heavenly Python Palace’s immense production made it a likely target for ancient factions and their descending pawns.

The Snake Queen reported to powerful figures in the void about King Xiang and the Heavenly Python Palace, while the emperor revealed he had been contacted by another faction and chose to negotiate with them. On the journey to Jiangnan, Chen Qing learned that survivors remained in the north and received an unexpected invitation to meet at Jade Cool Mountain.

• The Snake Queen defended her handling of King Xiang and told the beings in the void that the Heavenly Python Palace and three guilds were pursuing a plan in the Northern Wasteland.
• The emperor declared that another faction had also invited him and said he was choosing between them and the Snake Queen’s group.
• A powerful voice accepted the emperor’s right to choose and asked him to identify who had contacted him.
• Xiao Mingxue told Chen Qing that the Duke of Wei’s second son had reported that many people in the north had been rescued from the giant snakes.
• A mysterious voice appeared in Chen Qing’s carriage and asked him to meet at Jade Cool Mountain after leaving the capital.

Chen Qing met Wang Shiyu, a fellow examinee who revealed he was a Divine Martial agent and that major guilds had secretly taken control of factions within the Heavenly Python Palace. Wang Shiyu invited Chen Qing, King of Qin, to cooperate with White Plain Hall.

• Chen Qing recognized Wang Shiyu, a fellow from the Confucius Temple who had become the Duke of Wei's son, and questioned his identity.
• Wang Shiyu said guilds had been investigating Chen Qing because he could remember Thousand-Faced Fox, and asked why he was unaffected by its abilities.
• Chen Qing learned that Wang Shiyu belonged to Divine Martial and had been planted in the north through the Duke of Wei's relationship with a snow woman.
• Wang Shiyu explained that three guilds secretly controlled factions in the Heavenly Python Palace, including Divine Martial's White Plain Hall.
• Wang Shiyu invited Chen Qing, King of Qin, to work with White Plain Hall.

Chen Qing explained to Xiao Mingxue and Chen Ying why he might work with Wang Shiyu: Jiangnan could replace the capital if a coming catastrophe shattered the realm. He revealed that the Arctic would soon thaw and release ancient threats, making the north a crucial battleground and prize.

• Chen Qing told Xiao Mingxue that Wang Shiyu’s trustworthiness was separate from whether they should cooperate with him.
• Chen Qing explained that Jiangnan could not become a second capital during peaceful times, despite its prosperity and commercial strength.
• Chen Qing predicted that a catastrophe would begin in the north within half a year, weakening the imperial capital and bringing back an age of divided rule.
• Chen Qing revealed that the Arctic landmass and surrounding sea were larger than the four seas, though its extreme cold had kept people away.
• Chen Qing warned that the Arctic would soon thaw and release ancient threats, and that whoever controlled what lay within could dominate the realm.

Chen Qing told Jiangnan’s leaders that the north’s Earth Mothers could awaken deadly Heavenly Pythons and produce vast armies, making an invasion too risky. He revealed that the northern factions were divided and that Wang Shiyu had proposed cooperation, leaving Jiangnan to decide whether to pursue the alliance.

• Xu Hu urged Chen Qing to launch an attack on the north, but Chen Qing said Jiangnan could not defeat it.
• Chen Qing revealed that the north had more than a hundred Earth Mothers, and that ten could be sacrificed to awaken a Void Giant Python.
• Chen Qing warned that a female Flying Void Giant Python could produce over ten thousand second-rank offspring, though the north lacked the resources to feed them yet.
• Chen Qing rejected an immediate attack, explaining that an outside threat could unite the northern factions and that Jiangnan faced enemies elsewhere as well.
• When the others asked about the north’s internal divisions, Chen Qing said Wang Shiyu had approached him to propose cooperation and that the decision would determine Jiangnan’s survival.

Chen Qing explained the three factions of the Heavenly Python Palace and the limits of their paths to Shen San, Shen Qi, and the others. He left them with the warning that neither perfecting the body nor perfecting the spirit could grant eternal life.

• Chen Qing said the Heavenly Python Palace had three factions, White Plain, Azure Marsh, and Black Witchcraft, which united against outside enemies but competed among themselves.
• Chen Qing explained that Black Witchcraft used blood spells to compress and strengthen snake bodies, allowing powerful Flying Giant Pythons to hunt beyond the heavens.
• Shen Qi asked why the Heavenly Pythons returned to the mortal world, but Chen Qing changed the subject and continued describing the factions.
• Chen Qing said Wang Shiyu belonged to the White Plain school, whose members cultivated Yang Gods by nourishing their souls with the power of their snake bodies.
• Chen Qing explained that White Plain spirit bodies still depended on preserved flesh and that repeatedly cleansing it would eventually exhaust the spirit body.

Chen Qing and Chen Ying recruited northern refugees for a dangerous mission to gather intelligence in the Northern Wasteland and help lure a powerful White Su School Yang God into a trap. The refugees accepted after Chen Ying promised Jiangnan household registration and benefits for their descendants, while Chen Qing committed to a gamble that could greatly strengthen Jiangnan or destroy it.

• Chen Ying offered the northern refugees a choice between waiting for reassignment and joining a mission to the north, and the refugees asked her to honor her promises.
• Chen Qing considered the plan to use the Murong Family to disguise northern agents as merchants and gather intelligence in the Northern Wasteland.
• Chen Qing recognized that Wang Shiyu intended to lure a peak Earth Spirit Yang God into the mortal world and trap it for its spiritual energy and body.
• Chen Qing weighed the risk of losing Jiangnan against the potential to gain powerful resources and secret arts, and decided he could not afford to stay out of the conflict.
• Chen Ying promised the refugees and their descendants Jiangnan household registration, housing, education, and land for those who registered as farmers.
• The northern merchant agreed to make the journey, and the refugees behind him joined in.

Murong Yunji visited Murong Bingyun in the Underworld, where he had found peace in his scholarly work, and learned that Shen Xue was gaining attention despite her engagement. Meanwhile, the Shen Family relocated from the capital to Jiangnan and began relying on Shen Xue after their wealth proved difficult to transfer.

• Murong Bingyun told Murong Yunji that he no longer resented his death and was content working as a civil judge and studying in the Underworld.
• Murong Bingyun guessed that Murong Yunji was heading north because the Northern Wasteland families had accepted the giant snakes' recruitment, and Murong Yunji resolved to investigate and stop them.
• Murong Yunji warned Murong Bingyun that Shen Xue had earned a recommended place at the Dragon Palace Secret Academy and attracted interest from powerful families, but Murong Bingyun defended her for honoring her engagement to the Bai Family.
• Old Master Shen moved most of the Shen Family from the capital to Jiangnan after learning about the Ghost Temples' sacrifices, selling their businesses and exchanging their remaining resources for jadeite.
• The Shen Family found it difficult to establish themselves in Jiangnan and turned to Shen Xue, while the family elders considered seeking her help because Shen Yuan had not visited them.

Shen Xue returned to the Shen Family and faced pressure to accept a marriage proposal from the Chen Household despite her existing agreement with the Bai Family. She argued that the Bai Family would support her studies, but Shen Yu revealed her closeness with a young Underworld official, leaving the family stunned.

• Shen Yan and the Shen elders welcomed Shen Xue warmly while Shen Yu endured their criticism over his costly efforts to study natural principles.
• Old Master Shen and the second elder urged Shen Xue to consider marrying the Chen Household’s legitimate son as his principal wife.
• Shen Xue reminded the family that she already had a marriage agreement with the Bai Family, and Shen Yan proposed negotiating compensation to end it.
• Shen Xue said the agreement had already become public and argued that the Bai Family would let her prioritize her rune project at the West Sea Dragon Palace.
• Shen Yu accused Shen Xue of being involved with a young man from a Northern Wasteland family who had died and now held a minor post in the Underworld.

Shen Xue defended her feelings for the deceased Young Master Murong while insisting she would honor her marriage agreement with the Bai Family. After the old master rebuked Shen Yu for making unsupported accusations, Shen Xue urged her family to thank Murong and revealed that the court had sent people to the Northern Wasteland.

• The elders confronted Shen Xue about her feelings for the dead Young Master Murong, and she explained that he had saved her life and treated her kindly when she was overlooked.
• Shen Xue denied behaving improperly with Murong and said she intended to honor her agreement with the Bai Family; she challenged Shen Yu to provide evidence for his accusations.
• The old master found Shen Yu's claims unsupported, warned him against damaging Shen Xue's reputation, and ordered him to leave.
• Shen Xue argued that keeping the marriage agreement would preserve the Shen Family's trustworthiness and could benefit them as much as an alliance with the Chen Household, earning the old master's praise.
• Shen Xue agreed to keep her distance from Murong but asked Shen Yan to visit him in gratitude, then explained that the Murong Family was powerful and the court had sent people to the Northern Wasteland.

Xu Bohan and a crowd of northerners set out across the ice road, hoping to secure better futures for their families by returning with useful information. Yuchi Feihong revealed that he intended to recruit these desperate survivors into his army, and he saw the northern lands as his opportunity.

• Xu Bohan left his family behind and headed to the docks, where he joined more than a thousand northerners willing to risk the journey north.
• Xu Bohan reunited with Du, who planned to use the promised rewards to win the favor of a Jiangnan widow.
• The northerners each received a piece of warming jade and set out onto the ice road, unaware that the journey ahead was a road to certain death.
• Murong Yunji questioned whether the desperate northerners could become good soldiers, and Yuchi Feihong explained that he intended to build his own force from them.
• Yuchi Feihong told Murong Yunji that recruiting from the northern lands would be easier than poaching from the north, and he believed his lord's intelligence gave him a chance to succeed.