Chapter Summaries

Gu Yuan broke free of an illusion and defeated the evil serpent and the scarred man at Nine Geese Village, but a fissure swallowed him and the others. Trapped beneath Nine Geese Mountain, he drew a map of the labyrinth from memory while Qi Yueli followed it, as a black-robed figure prepared to create a Nine-Clawed Evil Dragon.

• Gu Yuan rejected the illusion of Qi Yueli and used his Orthodox Yang Sword to defeat the evil serpent and the scarred man, freeing the Mystic Shadow Guards.
• The scarred man revealed that he had another plan, and a fissure opened beneath the altar, pulling everyone into the depths of Nine Geese Mountain.
• Qi Yueli condemned the use of human sacrifices to raise dragons and leaped into the fissure after the others.
• Gu Yuan recalled the labyrinth map from his past experience and drew it in his diary while trying to locate himself.
• Qi Yueli read Gu Yuan's diary, recognized it as a map, and followed it through a dragon-patterned door toward the labyrinth's center.
• A black-robed figure held two dragon cores and declared his plan to create a Nine-Clawed Evil Dragon and take revenge on Qi Yueli.

Qi Yueli confronted the black-robed man raising sinful dragons beneath Nine Geese Mountain, but after overpowering him, she was engulfed by evil miasma that began corrupting her mind. As Gu Yuan raced toward the maze’s center and Lu Ling rescued Mystic Shadow Guards, Qi Yueli lost consciousness and seemed to see Gu Yuan at the entrance.

• Qi Yueli arrived at the maze’s center and challenged the black-robed man, who revealed he was raising dragons with human sacrifices.
• Gu Yuan discovered he had taken the wrong route, defeated ambushing Heavenly Calamity Sect assassins, and hurried toward the maze’s center.
• Lu Ling rescued Mystic Shadow Guards with the help of her gu worms and followed their trail through the maze.
• Qi Yueli destroyed the two sinful dragons and overwhelmed the black-robed man, who revealed that he knew she was the empress of Great Qi.
• The black-robed man used the Sinful Dragon Pearls to restore his dragons, then shattered one and released evil miasma that entered Qi Yueli’s body.
• As the miasma disrupted Qi Yueli’s true essence and clouded her mind, she thought she saw Gu Yuan at the entrance.

Gu Yuan killed the black-robed man with Scorching Yang Flame and tried to save Qi Yueli from the evil miasma, but her confusion led to an intimate encounter that Lu Ling accidentally interrupted. Qi Yueli fled with her diary, leaving Gu Yuan to decide he would help her again in Qi Capital and keep what happened between them unspoken.

• Gu Yuan burned away the evil miasma attacking him and killed the black-robed man with his Scorching Yang Flame, while the dragon pearl disappeared.
• Gu Yuan caught the afflicted Qi Yueli and tried to treat her, but she mistook him for a betrayer and pinned him down.
• Gu Yuan surrounded them both with Scorching Yang Flame, and Qi Yueli kissed and bit him while their clothes burned away.
• Lu Ling entered the labyrinth and was blasted away by a surge of true essence as the entrance gate shut; Qi Yueli took Lu Ling's outer robe and left with her diary.
• Gu Yuan resolved to help Qi Yueli clear the remaining evil miasma in Qi Capital and not mention what happened unless she did.

Gu Yuan gathered the survivors in the maze and led them to the Heavenly Calamity Sect’s hidden treasure vault, openly claiming some of its riches for himself. Meanwhile, Qi Yueli suppressed the evil corruption in her body and worried about what Gu Yuan would think if he learned that she was Lin Yao.

• Lu Ling clung to Gu Yuan after someone stole her clothes, and Gu Yuan explained that a mysterious expert had defeated the evil dragon and mastermind.
• Gu Yuan asked Lu Ling to use her gu insects to gather the maze’s survivors, then identified Ren Rumo as the likely culprit behind the incident.
• Gu Yuan showed the Mystic Shadow Guards how to open a hidden door and found the festival tribute alongside the sect’s treasure hoard.
• Gu Yuan ordered the guards to record the treasures but said he would embezzle several piles of rare artifact-making materials, leaving Lu Zhaoming, Lu Ling, and Shangguan Weiming stunned.
• Qi Yueli suppressed the remaining evil corruption, recalled kissing Gu Yuan, and wondered whether he would stay by her side if he discovered she was Lin Yao.

Hong Ni questioned the story behind her loyalty to Xiao Chen while Lü Luo tasked her with stealing the Mo Clan Mechanism Book from Meixiang. After Gu Yuan returned and gave away the bandit treasure, Qi Yueli accepted his actions without protest, leaving Gu Yuan baffled and heading to the palace to seek her forgiveness.

• Hong Ni recalled a letter claiming Xiao Chen had arranged the Mu Clan massacre to make her serve him, and she decided to investigate the truth.
• Lü Luo gave Hong Ni a hairpin and told her that Xiao Chen wanted them to approach Meixiang and take the Mo Clan Mechanism Book.
• Gu Yuan distributed treasure recovered from the bandits to the people at the Qi Capital’s city gate, while Shangguan Weiming and Dong Wuj iu worried he had acted without the empress’s permission.
• Qi Yueli calmly accepted Gu Yuan’s actions and granted Zhao Sheng and the others three days’ leave.
• After hearing that Qi Yueli had not punished him, Gu Yuan ordered the distribution to continue and went to the palace to beg her forgiveness.

Gu Yuan collected valuable artifacts from Great Qi’s treasury while Qi Yueli learned from his diary that he planned to undermine her and pursue immortality. After Jiaozhou’s heir apparent was found dead in the capital, Gu Shu was detained, and Gu Yuan went to investigate the unexplained murder.

• Gu Yuan accepted a reward from the state vault and took more than ten valuable artifacts and all the artifact-making materials.
• Qi Yueli read Gu Yuan’s diary and learned of his plans involving immortality, the provinces, and the approaching Heavenly Longevity Festival.
• Duan Tianya reported that Jiaozhou’s heir apparent had been murdered without visible injuries or a known cause of death, and Qi Yueli ordered an investigation completed within three days.
• Qi Yueli learned that Shangguan Ling, Xiao Chen’s two companions, and Gu Shu had visited the heir apparent before his death, and she authorized Duan Wuya to ask Gu Yuan for help.
• Meixiang told Gu Yuan that the Mystic Shadow Guard had detained Gu Shu, so he set out with her to examine the heir apparent’s death.

Gu Yuan investigated the Jiaozhou heir’s unexplained death and used the Witch God Sacrificial Art to reveal signs that witchcraft had killed him. The discovery left Duan Tianya and the others stunned when Gu Yuan admitted that the method itself was witchcraft.

• Gu Yuan arrived at the Jiaozhou heir’s residence and learned that Empress had assigned him to help Duan Tianya investigate the murder because Gu Shu was involved.
• Zhao Long told Gu Yuan that the heir had no wounds or internal injuries and that Shangguan Ling, Hong Ni, Lü Luo, and Gu Shu had visited him before his death.
• Gu Yuan claimed the heir had left clues, obtained the Witch God Sacrificial Art from his system, and summoned Duan Tianya to the room.
• Gu Yuan used clean water and the Witch God Sacrificial Art to reveal marks left by the heir’s struggle, concluding that witchcraft had killed him.
• Duan Tianya asked Gu Yuan to teach him the technique, and Gu Yuan admitted that it was witchcraft, alarming everyone present.

Gu Yuan investigated Long Ye’s death and uncovered signs implicating Shangguan Lin, whom he recognized as the disguised Miss Shangguan. After reassuring Qi Yueli about Gu Yuan’s alleged witchcraft, Duan Tianya left him to investigate alone; Gu Yuan ended by proposing an alliance with Shangguan Lin and demanding that Ruzhou raise an army in rebellion when he commanded it.

• Gu Yuan used a talisman to reveal traces at the scene and identified the emblem of the Shangguan family, then insisted on visiting Shangguan Ling alone.
• Duan Tianya reported to Qi Yueli that Gu Yuan believed witchcraft had killed Long Ye, but Qi Yueli trusted Gu Yuan and dismissed concerns about the forbidden art.
• Qi Yueli reflected on the return of witchcraft and planned to visit Gu Yuan that night to address her lingering affliction.
• Gu Yuan met Shangguan Lin and suggested that she and Long Ye had been expected to become engaged before Long Ye’s death.
• Gu Yuan revealed that he knew Shangguan Lin was actually Miss Shangguan and asked what she had discussed with Long Ye.
• Gu Yuan offered to help resolve Ruzhou’s internal strife and told Shangguan Lin that he wanted Ruzhou to raise an army in rebellion when necessary.

Gu Yuan revealed his witchcraft to Shangguan Lin and asked the Shangguan family to support his future rebellion, while investigating Long Ye’s murder. The pair learned that someone was using the name of Great Li to target the heirs of the Nine Provinces, and a second black silk message arrived for Shangguan Lin.

• Gu Yuan showed Shangguan Lin his witchcraft and argued that the Gu family needed to rebel to escape the empress’s coming investigation.
• Shangguan Lin agreed to relay Gu Yuan’s proposal to her father, then explained that Long Ye had received a black silk message before his death.
• Shangguan Lin revealed the message calling for the destruction of Qi and the slaughter of the Nine Provinces’ heirs, marked with the character for “one.”
• Gu Yuan told Shangguan Lin that Long Ye had been killed by spirit-seizing witchcraft and warned that she would be the next target.
• A maid delivered an anonymous letter to Shangguan Lin, and Gu Yuan found a second black silk message marked with the character for “two.”

Gu Yuan deduced that the sorcery killings were meant to turn the people against the empress, then searched Shangguan Lin’s belongings for the medium used to target her. He found black energy on the replacement tassel of her sword and realized the attack was about to begin.

• Gu Yuan explained that the black silk was meant to provoke the empress into searching for a killer while the heirs kept dying, weakening her support among the people.
• Gu Yuan suspected that Qingzhou’s companions had given Long Ye a sorcery medium, and Shangguan Lin realized her death was intended to let the killers present both pieces of silk to the empress.
• Gu Yuan asked Shangguan Lin about new items she had received, and she mistakenly handed him an intimate undergarment before taking it back in embarrassment.
• In an underground chamber, a black-masked man assured a white-masked young master that Junior Brother Zi, a Great Shaman, would kill the heir of Ruzhou with sorcery.
• Gu Yuan examined Shangguan Lin’s sword and saw black energy on its replacement tassel, identifying it as the medium and sensing that the attack was imminent.