Recaps

Chen Qing trapped the emperor in a world that manipulated emotions, but the emperor recognized the demon golem’s influence and questioned Chen Qing about it. Outside, a hidden woman expertly changed the imperial army’s formations, allowing it to withdraw in order as the battle continued.

• The emperor told Chen Qing he suspected something nearby was manipulating emotions and recalled that his attack on Ziyue had been irrational.
• Quefeng watched the imperial army near collapse and hesitated over whether he had chosen the wrong side, until the command token lit up.
• The woman commanding the imperial army ordered a risky formation change, and the troops executed it smoothly while retreating.
• Kagura and the Four Saints Army’s soldiers watched the imperial formation change with astonishment, while Chen Qing praised the woman’s talent to the emperor.
• The emperor identified the demon golem’s ability to magnify negative emotions and asked Chen Qing if he had known about it.

The emperor confronted the King of Qin, who had been impersonating Chen Qing, and learned that Bai Hua had become his hidden trump card after Chen Qing and the Federation conspired against him. The King of Qin asked what the emperor intended to do, leaving their next move—and the demon statue behind the emperor’s power—unrevealed.

• The emperor revealed that he had recognized the King of Qin beneath Chen Qing’s face and recalled the help the King of Qin had once given him.
• The King of Qin described how Chen Qing and the Federation’s leaders had lured him into a trap, and the emperor acknowledged Chen Qing’s skill.
• The emperor asked whether the King of Qin’s final trump card was the demon statue he had concealed.
• The King of Qin explained that Bai Hua had tempted him into a contract, giving him a fallback against the ancient players if his original plan failed.
• The King of Qin stood and asked what the emperor intended to do, while wondering which demon statue had given the emperor his power.

Chen Qing woke in hiding after advancing to King Level and told Shen Qi what he had witnessed through Ziyue, including Old Celestial Master Zhang’s death and the King of Qin’s trump card. He then remembered Ziyue’s warning that the King of Qin might have a backup, and realized Bai Hua knew how a data life-form could make one.

• Shen Qi woke Chen Qing in a chaotic space fragment where they had been hiding from the experts outside.
• Chen Qing explained that his spirit had been with Ziyue while his body and mind lay dormant, and that he had seen most of what happened outside.
• Chen Qing told Shen Qi that Old Celestial Master Zhang had died and that the celestial phenomenon had been the King of Qin’s trump card, not Chen Qing’s doing.
• Chen Qing recalled Ziyue suggesting that the King of Qin might have a backup, despite Chen Qing’s certainty that he was dead.
• Chen Qing remembered that Bai Hua was the original prototype of a data life-form and might know how the King of Qin could have made a backup.

Ziyue survived the battle and realized the King of Qin might have kept Bai Hua as a hidden backup, while questioning whether Chen Qing was really Pu Yunchuan. Chen Qing recalled Bai Hua’s dangerous ability and decided to intervene before everyone died.

• Ziyue woke surrounded by the Four Saints Army and learned the high priest had killed fewer than twenty thousand of the imperial court’s retreating Ghost Army.
• Ziyue suspected the King of Qin had concealed Bai Hua and wondered whether Chen Qing was Pu Yunchuan, the demon’s original designer.
• Chen Qing recalled Wang Ye’s intelligence that Pu Yunchuan had helped create the data world and might still be alive.
• Chen Qing remembered Bai Hua’s ability and refused Shen Qi’s suggestion to wait before intervening.

The King of Qin persuaded the emperor to cooperate against the Four Great Guilds and Kagura, while proposing a plan to capture the Ancient Demon Clan’s captain of the guards. The emperor agreed to the first condition but remained wary of the King of Qin and his mysterious golem.

• The King of Qin and the emperor argued over their past conflict before agreeing that the Four Great Guilds and Kagura posed a greater current threat.
• The emperor agreed that Kagura must not take any of the Four Saints’ heirs.
• The King of Qin explained that he wanted Ziyue to gain command of the Four Saints Army and proposed killing the captain of the guards first.
• The King of Qin asked the emperor to persuade Quefeng to kill the isolated captain, promising to restore Quefeng and free the emperor if the plan succeeded.
• Outside the painting, Ziyue sensed danger and saw the golem watching her.

Ziyue ordered the Ancient Demon Clan to retreat, then discovered that a golem had replaced her and made everyone unable to see her. Chen Qing returned to the palace, leaving both sides waiting to see whom he would support.

• Ziyue judged that seizing the Vermilion Bird Palace by force was too dangerous and ordered the Ancient Demon Clan to withdraw to the Azure Dragon Palace.
• The real Ziyue realized the golem had taken her place, leaving her invisible to everyone around her and too weak to escape.
• Ziyue suspected that the golem was avoiding looking at her and wondered when Chen Qing would return.
• Chen Qing appeared on the palace’s central fragment, delighting the West Sea Army and drawing the attention of both sides.
• Kagura and the others recognized that Chen Qing’s choice of ally could decide the battle.

Chen Qing left Shen Qi to steady the West Sea Army and flew toward the Vermilion Bird Palace, where Bai Hua’s threat awaited him. As Chen Qing approached the Four Saints Army, he realized Bai Hua was far more dangerous than the others understood.

• Kagura, the Ancient Demon captain of the guard, and the West Sea Army watched Chen Qing, but he flew toward the Vermilion Bird Palace instead of joining them.
• Shen Qi reassured the West Sea Army that Chen Qing had gone to rescue General Tian Heng, though he privately worried about Chen Qing’s final-sounding instructions and Bai Hua’s danger.
• In the world within the painting, the emperor told the King of Qin that Chen Qing cared for others, while the King of Qin admitted he feared Chen Qing might stop Bai Hua.
• Chen Qing approached the Four Saints Army and questioned whether he should risk confronting Bai Hua, whose weaknesses he had never designed.

Chen Qing realized Bai Hua had copied Ziyue and feared the monster could infiltrate the Ancient Demon Clan by replacing people. He explained the limits and weaknesses of its copying ability and recognized that Ziyue could still be saved by exposing the copy’s flaws.

• Chen Qing stopped the Four Saints Army and asked to see the gravely injured Ziyue.
• Chen Qing recalled that Bai Hua could observe and copy people, and could eventually consume entire worlds.
• After the priest brought him to Ziyue, she said the monster had vanished and might be hiding among them.
• Chen Qing realized that the Ziyue before him was Bai Hua’s copy.
• Chen Qing reasoned that copies could be exposed by finding flaws, giving him hope that the real Ziyue could be rescued.

Ziyue endured the monster’s despair-inducing emotional manipulation while Chen Qing concealed that he could still remember the creature and tested the impostor. The chapter ended with Chen Qing asking whether Ziyue was truly the Blood Demon princess or the woman he had known before.

• Ziyue recognized that the monster was amplifying her despair, bit her tongue, and forced herself to stay conscious and stand.
• Chen Qing noticed the creature’s reaction and deduced that Ziyue had resisted its emotional manipulation, while hiding that he knew about its abilities.
• Chen Qing and the impostor discussed keeping soldiers at the central hall to buy time while the captain of the guard remained in critical condition.
• Chen Qing asked whether the person before him was really the Blood Demon princess or the woman he had known, stunning Ziyue, Bai Hua, and the eavesdropping soldiers.
• Bai Hua cautiously asked why the distinction mattered, and Chen Qing said he needed to know the truth about the person to whom he had opened his heart.

Chen Qing exposed the weakness in Bai Hua’s ability to replace Ziyue, turning the Four Saints Army’s uncertainty into growing suspicion. The priest recognized that Bai Hua was not Ziyue, leaving the impostor exposed.

• Bai Hua gave an ambiguous answer about whether he was Ziyue or the Reincarnator, and the Four Saints Army reacted with surprise and doubt.
• The emperor and the King of Qin observed Chen Qing’s challenge, while Ziyue realized that Bai Hua’s ability might have a weakness.
• Chen Qing and the war priest said Bai Hua’s answer did not sound like Ziyue, prompting more people to scrutinize him.
• Chen Qing explained that suspicion magnified every inconsistency in Bai Hua’s impersonation and undermined his ability.
• Bai Hua tried to redirect attention toward rescuing the captain of the guard, but the priest interrupted and declared that he was not Her Highness.

Chen Qing exposed Bai Hua's disguise as Ziyue, triggering Bai Hua's rage and destabilizing the world inside the painting. As the painted world began to collapse, Chen Qing saw a chance to kill Bai Hua by turning his power against him.

• Someone shouted that Bai Hua was not Her Highness Ziyue, and Bai Hua's terrifying aura made the gathered Ancient Demons recoil.
• Chen Qing realized Bai Hua's emotional manipulation had amplified his suspicion and caused him to reveal himself.
• Bai Hua transformed into his true black-and-white form, and Chen Qing revealed that he had planted the shout in a bubble.
• Bai Hua lunged at Chen Qing, while the emperor, the King of Qin, and Ziyue sensed the painted world becoming unstable.
• Chen Qing explained that Bai Hua's rage was boiling the world inside the painting and believed the resulting power could become fatal to Bai Hua.

Chen Qing recovered memories about his role in early data-lifeform research while the Four Saints Army fought the boiling monster. He warned Ziyue that the monster could soon break through King Level, leaving them with only a short window to kill it.

• A group of investors questioned Mr. Pu about using game data to simulate a data lifeform, and he defended the game as an ideal testing environment.
• Ziyue broke out of the melting world in the painting and shouted to Chen Qing, interrupting his dangerous absorption in fragmented memories.
• Chen Qing recalled that a wealthy capitalist had recruited him to research data lifeforms before his death, and he wondered whether he had helped create a prototype.
• The Ancient Demon Clan's war priest and the Four Saints Army surrounded the monster, but it killed more than a hundred soldiers while fighting without tiring.
• Chen Qing explained that the monster drew endless energy from its world in the painting and warned that it would break through King Level within half a quarter of an hour.

Ziyue learned that the monster could replenish its stamina and qi and blood through the world in its painting, making the army unable to defeat it in a prolonged fight. Chen Qing revealed that their only chance was for the imprisoned emperor of the Xiao Household to escape and kill it before it broke through the seal within fifteen minutes.

• Chen Qing explained that the monster could restore its stamina from spirit lands copied into its painted world and that the world’s ink served as its blood.
• Chen Qing admitted that he and Ziyue could not defeat the monster before it broke through the seal in fifteen minutes.
• Chen Qing said the emperor of the Xiao Household could kill the monster quickly, but only if he escaped his prison.
• Chen Qing revealed that liquefying the painted world temporarily prevented the monster from using its other abilities and could disrupt the emperor’s prison.
• Ziyue learned that the emperor had to escape within fifteen minutes, before the monster broke through the seal, and that he might not regain King Level strength in time.

The emperor deduced that the King of Qin’s demon statue had a weakness because the painted world was collapsing as it fought the army. The King of Qin admitted he had been stalling, and the emperor concluded the statue’s strange power conflicted with its seemingly endless stamina.

• The emperor watched the demon statue fight and discussed its strength with the King of Qin, who explained that the East Sea Dragon Palace had not given him the army or support he needed.
• The emperor mocked the King of Qin for failing to build a force like Chen Qing had in Jiangnan, and the King of Qin blamed Chen Qing’s rise on unusual luck and circumstances.
• The emperor accused the King of Qin of deliberately stalling and pointed out that the painted world’s distant scenery and part of the King of Qin’s teacup were disappearing.
• The emperor reasoned that the demon statue could not use its strange ability while attacking freely with inexhaustible stamina, and the King of Qin acknowledged that he had seen through the situation.
• The King of Qin recognized that underestimating the emperor had been the greatest mistake of his life.

The emperor escaped the collapsing realm after the King of Qin failed to stop him, then descended into the battle outside the painting to confront Bai Hua. Chen Qing judged that the emperor was physically at his limit and had little time to defeat Bai Hua before the seal activated.

• The emperor inferred that Bai Hua could not retain his previous ability, and the King of Qin attacked him with a swift sword strike.
• The emperor stopped the King of Qin’s blade with his muscles, melted the treasured sword with his heat, and warned that he would fight to the death if attacked again.
• The emperor flew away, and the King of Qin hesitated to strike as he watched him escape.
• The emperor descended in flames and attacked Bai Hua, forcing him to dodge while the gathered fighters watched.
• Chen Qing told Ziyue that the emperor’s chances were slim according to the data, since his body was near its limit and Bai Hua’s seal would activate soon.

The emperor and Bai Hua prepared to fight to the death after Bai Hua offered him a chance to retreat. As the emperor launched his attack, Bai Hua revealed that he had copied the Two Aspects, and Chen Qing declared the emperor had lost.

• The emperor and Bai Hua recognized each other as threats and prepared for a decisive clash while the Four Saints Army backed away.
• Bai Hua offered to spare the emperor if he withdrew, but the emperor refused and gathered his Golden Crow Flame into a final attack.
• Bai Hua transformed the surroundings into a black-and-white painting and revealed his copied Two Aspects ability.
• Ziyue recognized the Two Aspects, and Chen Qing explained that Bai Hua could copy abilities he had seen and painted.
• Chen Qing said the emperor had lost because brute force could not break through the Two Aspects.

Chen Qing used Ziyue’s future power to reverse Two Aspects and bring the emperor back from death. As the emperor faced Bai Hua again, Ziyue asked whether he could win, and Chen Qing bet that he would not lose.

• Bai Hua’s Two Aspects dissolved the emperor’s power and reduced him to dust, while Kagura and the captain of the guards recognized the monster’s threat.
• The captain declared that he would risk his life to stop Bai Hua, and Kagura let him go as Bai Hua turned to face him.
• Chen Qing used Star Shifting to reverse Two Aspects and restore the emperor, leaving everyone shocked.
• Chen Qing explained that he had borrowed a measure of Ziyue’s future space-time abilities, and Ziyue asked if the emperor could win.
• Chen Qing told Ziyue that he bet the emperor would not lose.

After Chen Qing rewound time to save the emperor, the emperor faced Bai Hua again and claimed he could defeat him. The emperor’s repeated punch shattered Bai Hua’s Two Aspects and body, while Chen Qing prepared a formation to stop the monster from escaping.

• Chen Qing used a time-reversal technique that restored the emperor to life and also returned Bai Hua’s spent energy.
• Bai Hua dismissed the emperor’s confidence and prepared to use Two Aspects again.
• The emperor provoked Bai Hua into activating Two Aspects, then threw the same powerful punch as before.
• Chen Qing inscribed a spatial formation, telling Ziyue that Bai Hua would try to escape if he lost.
• The emperor’s punch shattered Two Aspects and Bai Hua’s body.

Chen Qing explained how the emperor had defeated Bai Hua by remembering the fixed origin point of Two Aspects, then confronted the surviving King of Qin over whether his copied body was truly himself. After the King of Qin left, the exhausted emperor approached Chen Qing and asked to talk.

• Chen Qing explained that the emperor had broken Two Aspects by striking its fixed Taiji origin point, which he had remembered from the earlier attempt.
• Bai Hua was destroyed as Two Aspects shattered and the painted world collapsed, releasing Tian Heng and the other captives.
• Chen Qing used a spatial array to pull the released group to safety, but the King of Qin evaded it.
• Chen Qing challenged the King of Qin's identity as a copied backup and threatened to restore power to the King of Qin in the Federation, unsettling him into leaving.
• Ziyue questioned whether Chen Qing would really reactivate the Federation's King of Qin, and Chen Qing said it was a last resort.
• The exhausted emperor approached Chen Qing and proposed that they talk, and Chen Qing agreed.

Chen Qing persuaded the weakened emperor to help him retrieve his two students, while Kagura proposed an alliance with the captain of the guards. As they considered their next moves, a colossal python approached Azure Star and swallowed its moon.

• Chen Qing told the emperor that Xiao Mingyue had entrusted him with Fei Jun and asked for help retrieving his two students from Jiangnan Academy.
• The emperor agreed to help Chen Qing once, declaring that afterward their bond as sovereign and subject would be severed and they would owe each other nothing.
• Kagura refused to fight Chen Qing and warned the captain of the guards that Ziyue and Chen Qing could threaten him.
• Kagura offered to cooperate with the captain of the guards, who asked how they would work together.
• A giant python encircled Azure Star and swallowed the moon.

Ziyue sought the war priest’s allegiance as she prepared to challenge the captain of the guard and the Ancient Demon elders. After weighing the danger, the priest knelt and pledged to follow her, and Ziyue promised he would not regret it.

• The war priest recalled how Ziyue had been tortured for a century after fusing with a Reincarnator, while the captain of the guard and other elders allowed it.
• The priest suspected Ziyue planned to use the current chaos to kill the captain of the guard and take power, despite the strength of his allies.
• Ziyue asked the priest whether he had concerns and pressed him to choose a side.
• Ziyue offered to let the priest wait until the situation became clearer, but he knelt and declared that he would follow her orders.
• Ziyue promised the priest he would not regret supporting her.

Kagura used the assembled armies to prevent the captain of the guards from leaving, and he ordered his troops to join the Heavenly Python Palace in attacking Ziyue. Ziyue countered by branding him a traitor and ordering her forces to kill him while sparing the guards caught in his scheme.

• Kagura explained that she could not let the captain leave because he might abandon her, and he admitted he was afraid of facing the imperial court alone.
• The captain reflected on his past with Ziyue and the empress, then ordered his guards to form up and kill Ziyue, claiming she had bewitched the high priest and threatened the Ancient Demon Clan.
• The guards questioned the order because it meant fighting alongside their Reincarnator enemies, but the captain insisted that he had reached an agreement with the Heavenly Python Palace.
• Ziyue saw the captain's forces turn against her and ordered her troops to attack him, calling him a traitor bewitched by demons.
• Ziyue instructed her soldiers to kill only the captain and spare the guards, many of whom were their kin.

Ziyue and Chen Qing realized the captain of the guard and Kagura planned to isolate their leaders and launch a decapitation strike. The captain used the Demon Void Mirror to separate himself and Ziyue from the armies, where he revealed that Ziyue's mother had died at her hands.

• Ziyue warned Chen Qing that the captain of the guard and Kagura could use spatial severance to isolate them and kill their commanders.
• Ziyue asked Chen Qing to help her kill the captain, and he agreed despite his unease.
• Kagura demanded the captain's military tally before he used the Demon Void Mirror to pull himself and Ziyue into a separate space.
• Chen Qing recognized the Demon Void Mirror and sensed the Queen's Mark as he tried to locate Ziyue.
• Ziyue confronted the captain, calling him her father, and he accused her of killing her mother.

Ziyue learned that her desperate newborn instincts had caused her to consume her mother’s flesh and understood why the captain of the guard hated her. As he prepared to kill her in the Void Realm, she chose to fight for her life.

• The captain of the guard used the Demon Void Mirror to draw Ziyue into the vast Void Realm and approached her through its layers of space.
• He told Ziyue that she had repeatedly awakened as a newborn, and that her hunger and need for blood essence had led her to eat her mother while struggling to survive.
• Ziyue accepted that the captain’s hatred was understandable, reasoning that her mother must have chosen to save her and that he had remained loyal to her mother’s cause.
• Ziyue refused to give up her life and summoned spell runes to fight the captain.
• The captain regained his composure, unleashed his killing intent, and challenged Ziyue to show how much she had improved.

Kagura explained that Chen Qing had once been the Divine Martial Guild’s strongest warrior and had escaped the Demon Puppet, while Chen Qing entered the Void Realm to find Ziyue. Ziyue struggled against the captain of the guard, and the chapter ended with her spotting an unknown thing behind her.

• Kagura learned from the shadow that Chen Qing had entered the Void Realm and wondered whether he was Pu Yunchuan.
• Kagura revealed that Chen Qing had broken free of the Demon Puppet and had once been the Divine Martial Guild’s strongest warrior.
• Chen Qing used the King Seal to sense Ziyue’s distant location and decided he would need to use his trump card to reach her.
• The captain of the guard repeatedly broke Ziyue’s techniques and drove her close to mental collapse as she struggled to hold out for Chen Qing.
• The captain warned Ziyue to look behind her, and she froze when she saw an unknown thing.