Chapter Summaries

A mysterious sky-wide screen appeared across multiple historical timelines and showed that Aisin Gioro Puyi abdicated in 1912, ending the Qing Dynasty and China’s imperial system. The emperors and ministers reacted with shock, while Ying Zheng and Liu Che wondered whether Aisin Gioro came from the Xiongnu and what the revelation meant for their dynasties.

• Ying Zheng and Liu Bang asked their ministers about the strange light curtain, and several rulers across other timelines treated it as an auspicious sign.
• The screen showed that Puyi issued the abdication edict on February 12, 1912, and that Yuan Shikai became provisional president a month later.
• Kangxi and Qianlong were shocked to learn that the Qing Dynasty would fall, while Kangxi questioned whether there would be emperors in the future.
• Ying Zheng wondered how many generations Great Qin would last and speculated about Aisin Gioro’s origins; Zhao Gao urged him to find and eliminate the lineage’s ancestor.
• Liu Bang and Lü Zhi considered whether Aisin Gioro was a Xiongnu surname, while Liu Che ordered another northern expedition and an investigation into the name.
• Cao Cao and other strategists inferred that a president held supreme military and political authority, while Taizong of Tang, Taizu of Song, and other rulers felt relieved that the revelation did not condemn their accessions.

A video about Puyi and the fall of the Qing Dynasty prompted Ming rulers to vow to destroy the Jianzhou Jurchens, while Qing emperors reacted angrily to the comments. A second video revealed how Du Fengzhi’s diary exposed late Qing officials’ corrupt tax practices and how officials drove away a governor who tried to collect taxes fairly.

• After the first video ended, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered a campaign to wipe out every Jurchen tribe, and Lan Yu and other Ming generals volunteered to lead it.
• Zhu Di supported another northern campaign, Zhu Jianshen considered repeating his court-plowing campaign, and the Chongzhen Emperor feared that he would bring about the Great Ming’s fall.
• Kangxi, Yongzheng, Qianlong, and Jiaqing reacted angrily to the comments about Puyi and the Aisin Gioro clan.
• The second video identified Du Fengzhi as a late Qing official whose diary exposed how local officials overcharged people for grain taxes and pocketed the difference.
• The video explained that Jiang Yili tried to collect grain taxes at market prices, but the viceroys of Liangguang and Minzhe joined forces and drove him out.

The account of Du Fengzhi’s brutal tax collection provoked outrage across the dynasties, prompting rulers to condemn corruption and order investigations. The heavenly screen then showed Zuo Ruotong surviving the Threefold Reversal and taking physical form in the air, leaving viewers convinced they had witnessed an immortal.

• The heavenly screen described how Du Fengzhi’s agents extorted taxes through beatings, hostage-taking, and arson, while ordinary people were driven toward rebellion.
• Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di condemned Du Fengzhi, while officials from other dynasties reacted to the account and Zhang Jiao agreed that hardship could drive people to rebel.
• Ying Zheng ordered a tour of the country to inspect the commanderies and counties, and Li Shimin ordered Wei Zheng to investigate similar abuses in the Tang.
• The heavenly screen announced the completion of Zuo Ruotong’s Threefold Reversal and showed Wu Gensheng seemingly dispersing Zuo Ruotong’s body.
• Sichong stopped the Three-One disciples from approaching as Zuo Ruotong’s empty robes floated and Innate Qi gathered into his body.
• Zuo Ruotong appeared standing in the air, and viewers across the dynasties hailed him as an immortal and prayed for his blessing.

A heavenly-screen video showed Zuo Ruotong reaching the Three-One Sect’s third level, prompting awe and hopes of immortality across the dynasties. Wu Gensheng challenged the limits of Reverse Rebirth, leaving Zuo Ruotong to consider whether a path with only three levels could truly reach heaven.

• People across the dynasties revered Zuo Ruotong’s transformation into qi, while emperors and Daoists hoped to obtain his immortal art.
• Sichong and the Three-One Sect disciples wept and celebrated as they recognized Zuo Ruotong’s third-level Threefold Reversal.
• Li Muxuan knelt before Zuo Ruotong, mourning that he had never become his disciple.
• Sichong tried to drive Wu Gensheng away, but Zuo Ruotong separated him from the pair with a wave of qi and approached Wu Gensheng.
• Wu Gensheng praised Reverse Rebirth as unrivaled among extraordinary abilities but said it could not reach heaven.
• Wu Gensheng argued that a path limited to three levels could not be the road to heaven, asking what would happen after someone reached the third level.

Zuo Ruotong tested Threefold Reversal with Wu Gensheng, lost his cultivation, and became an old man, while emperors watching the heavenly screen considered the promise of longevity. A new video began examining what determines a dynasty’s lifespan, starting with the Xia Dynasty and its early conditions.

• Zuo Ruotong thanked Wu Gensheng for telling him the truth and chose to complete the test despite his heartache.
• Wu Gensheng activated Divine Spirit and clasped Zuo Ruotong’s hand, dispersing his cultivation and breaking the qi barrier.
• Zuo Ruotong staggered to his chair as an old man and told Wu Gensheng and the others to leave.
• Emperors watching the heavenly screen inferred that Threefold Reversal could grant longevity and reacted with anger to later generations’ irreverence toward imperial authority.
• A video asked what determines a dynasty’s lifespan, and Ying Zheng and Yang Jian wondered how long their dynasties would last.
• The video explained that early Xia-era systems were undeveloped, the population was small, and rebellion was unlikely unless a monarch oppressed the people, citing Jie of Xia.

A heavenly screen traced the rise and fall of Chinese dynasties, prompting rulers across different eras to react to their own kingdoms’ predicted fates. It left the emperors debating the causes of dynastic collapse, with the people’s support and the end of feudal rule raised as concluding points.

• The heavenly screen explained that the Shang Dynasty fell amid internal conflict and the Zhou Dynasty rose through conquest and enfeoffment.
• Ying Zheng learned that Hu Hai would succeed him and Great Qin would fall in its second generation, so he angrily demanded answers and ordered Liu Bang found.
• Yang Jian praised his own measures for winning popular support, then grew furious when the screen said Great Sui would also fall in its second generation and demanded that the crown prince be brought to him.
• Liu Bang welcomed the prediction that Great Han would last more than four hundred years, while Lü Zhi wondered whether Emperor Wu of Han was Ying'er's descendant.
• Li Shimin recognized that powerful regional military governors would weaken Great Tang and said the future could be changed; Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Gou also reacted to the screen’s account of Song’s military weakness.
• The screen summarized the later dynasties’ falls and argued that governance, popular support, and changing historical conditions shaped dynastic survival, while feudal dynasties were ultimately destined to disappear.

A later-generation account challenged the view that the Qin Dynasty fell because Ying Zheng was tyrannical, citing Qin laws and reassessing the charges of burning books and burying Confucian scholars. Ying Zheng heard praise for his unification and lasting legacy, but the chapter ended with a question about whether modern divisions into more than 200 countries betrayed him.

• Liu Bang, Mencius, Zhu Yuanzhang, and Zhu Di reflected on whether winning popular support and ruling with virtue determined who held the realm.
• Ying Zheng wondered how later generations would judge him as a ruler after Great Qin fell in its second generation.
• A later-generation account cited Shuihudi bamboo slips describing Qin laws and argued that the account of harsh punishments for delayed troops was false, angering Chen Sheng and Wu Guang.
• The account said Ying Zheng's lasting infamy came from banning private schools and burning histories and texts, while the buried victims were fraudulent alchemists rather than Confucian scholars.
• Ying Zheng accepted praise for unifying the realm, establishing commanderies and counties, and shaping China's boundaries, while Li Si defended his actions.
• The account linked Qin's dependence on Ying Zheng to the chaos after his death and ended by asking whether a world divided into more than 200 countries betrayed him.

The sky screen showed later generations’ portrayals of Ying Zheng in The Legend of Qin and The Forgotten River, prompting viewers across different dynasties to debate his character, reputation, and achievements. The chapter ended with them recognizing that the anime’s Sword of the Son of Heaven passage drew on Zhuangzi’s Discourse on Swords, rather than being a historical quote from Ying Zheng.

• Emperors from different eras reacted to comments praising the First Emperor of Qin, with Liu Che questioning Sima Qian about his records and Zhu Yuanzhang envying Ying Zheng’s reputation.
• The sky screen displayed scenes and dialogue portraying Ying Zheng’s unification, ambitions, and eventual mortality, while viewers debated his rule and legacy.
• A little princess and her mother admired Ying Zheng’s handsome appearance in The Forgotten River, and viewers compared the later portrayals of the First Emperor.
• Viewers connected the Sword of the Son of Heaven speech to Zhuangzi’s Discourse on Swords and concluded that later creators had adapted the passage, rather than quoting the historical Ying Zheng.

The sky screen explained how Qing emperors seized control of Confucian interpretation from scholar-officials, freeing imperial power from its last major restraint. Qing rulers celebrated their dynasty’s achievement, while Confucian scholars and rulers of other dynasties reacted with anger and envy.

• The sky screen said that scholar-officials had traditionally interpreted Confucianism and used its moral authority to constrain emperors.
• It described how Kangxi denounced prominent Neo-Confucian scholars and asserted the emperor’s authority to determine correct Confucian interpretation.
• Comments condemned Qing Confucianism as servility and argued that the Eight Banners’ military power helped Qing emperors suppress scholar-officials.
• Emperors of other dynasties envied the Qing’s control of Confucian interpretation but realized they could not readily imitate it.
• Cixi praised Great Qing, while other Qing emperors wondered who Sun Dianying was and why the comments called him a national hero.

A sky-screen video compared Emperor Wu of Han’s costly conquest and settlement of northern lands with Emperor Taizong of Tang’s lower-cost policy of ruling the Göktürks while preserving their customs. It left Li Shimin embarrassed and led Song rulers and officials to blame the Tang for later northern threats and their failure to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

• The sky screen said Emperor Wu of Han’s campaigns killed more than half of the Xiongnu’s fighting-age population and turned the Hexi Corridor into a major Han settlement.
• The video contrasted this with Emperor Taizong of Tang’s decision to retain and settle many Göktürks without assimilating them, despite Wei Zheng’s opposition.
• It recounted how Jiesheshuai and more than forty Göktürks attacked Jiucheng Palace in the thirteenth year of Zhenguan, frightening Li Shimin.
• The video argued that Tang’s policy left hidden dangers, while Han’s costly expansion created more permanent gains.
• Li Shimin’s officials reacted to the video, and Song rulers and officials blamed the Tang for later northern threats and their inability to recover the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun.

A heavenly video condemned the Sima Household for five historical sins, from Sima Yi's betrayal of Cao Shuang to the devastation caused by the Jin dynasty's civil wars and the Five Barbarians. The emperors and common people watching reacted with anger and fear, while ordinary people lamented the suffering of life in an age of chaos.

• The video accused Sima Yi of breaking his oath to Cao Shuang, exterminating Cao Shuang's and He Yan's clans, and destroying trust in the Sima Household; Liu Xiu condemned the betrayal, and Cao Cao's men reacted with alarm.
• The video condemned Sima Zhao for killing Emperor Cao Mao in the street without granting him a posthumous title, prompting emperors across the ages to denounce or debate the act.
• The video accused the Sima Clan of putting family interests first, indulging in wealth, and promoting enfeoffment, which it said helped bring misery and the dynasty's downfall.
• The video blamed the War of the Eight Princes for renewed chaos, mass suffering, and the collapse of Western Jin's military strength.
• The video linked the Sima Household to the Yongjia Disaster, the flight of nobles south, the devastation of the Han people in the north, and centuries of division.
• Common people said they wanted peace and feared the violence and abuses that came with an age of chaos.

The later generations debated why Sima Zhao spared the court historians and why Zhong Hui rebelled, while Sima Zhao angrily watched fabricated accounts about his murder of an emperor spread. The discussion left the emperors wary of unofficial histories and Zhao Kuangyin protesting his comparison to Zhong Hui.

• Later generations argued that Sima Zhao could not kill the court historians because unofficial accounts would spread even wilder stories about the emperor’s death.
• Fabricated unofficial histories claimed Sima Zhao killed or assaulted the emperor, and Sima Zhao grew furious as readers enjoyed them.
• Emperors of successive dynasties called for unofficial histories to be stamped out so scandalous stories about them would not circulate.
• Later generations debated Zhong Hui’s rebellion, arguing that his vast army, status, and achievements left him little choice but to rebel against Sima Zhao.
• People compared Zhong Hui’s possible success to Zhao Kuangyin, who objected that the rebellion had nothing to do with him.

Gao Shengyang received a Video Playback System, used his Emotion Points to learn Triple Reverse Rebirth, and began broadcasting videos to historical worlds. The video portrayed Zhong Hui’s rebellion, while the chapter left Gao Shengyang testing his new power in a world where he knew of no supernatural opponents.

• Zhong Yao told Cao Cao that he knew of no Zhong Hui in the Yingchuan Zhong Clan and suggested Zhong Hui might be unborn or from a collateral branch.
• Gao Shengyang learned that his videos had earned him 138.69 million Emotion Points from historical worlds.
• Gao Shengyang spent 1.1 million Emotion Points to learn Triple Reverse Rebirth through its third stage and transformed his body into Innate Primordial Qi.
• Gao Shengyang instructed the system to resume automatically broadcasting short videos while he practiced his new power.
• The heavenly screens showed a video recounting Zhong Hui’s rise, rebellion, and failed attempt to claim Shu for the Zhong name.

The sky screen revealed that Zhao Tuo served as the First Emperor of Qin’s secret envoy to seek the elixir of immortality, later founded the Kingdom of Nanyue, and lived to 103. The newly unearthed tomb on Xianggang Mountain appeared to be an imperial tomb from the Han dynasty, possibly Zhao Tuo’s.

• Zhong Yao said his clan would be better off if Zhong Hui had never been born, while Zhong Hui watched the sky screen and realized Jiang Wei had wanted to take advantage of his rebellion.
• Generals and commoners across the dynasties reacted to an anime portrayal of Zhong Hui, with the music stirring soldiers and his appearance attracting women.
• The sky screen explained that Qin-era signs in the mountains near Guangzhou led the First Emperor to send Tu Sui south, with Zhao Tuo secretly tasked with monitoring the campaign and searching for an elixir.
• The sky screen said Zhao Tuo stayed in Lingnan after Qin collapsed, declared himself ruler of Nanyue, and lived to 103, prompting Ying Zheng and other emperors to wonder if he had found the elixir.
• The sky screen described Sun Quan’s failed attempt to rob Zhao Tuo’s tomb and suggested the newly unearthed Xianggang Mountain tomb might belong to the Nanyue ruler.

The heavenly screen traced the clues in a Guangzhou tomb to Zhao Tuo, raising questions about an elixir of immortality and the name Zhao Mo. Viewers then invented unofficial histories in which Zhao Tuo gained immortality and repeatedly replaced himself with his descendants, leaving the truth unresolved.

• The heavenly screen identified the tomb as most likely Zhao Tuo’s, citing its Qin-style weapons, Changle Palace vessel, and other finds.
• The screen described a jade dew-collecting cup and a strange Persian-style silver medicine box, reviving speculation about an elixir of immortality.
• Archaeologists uncovered a jade seal bearing the name Zhao Mo, prompting viewers to question who he was and why the tomb was attributed to Zhao Tuo.
• A commenter invented an unofficial history in which the elixir left Ying Zheng and Zhao Tuo took it, and Ying Zheng objected to the story’s second half.
• Commenters proposed that Zhao Tuo could have hidden his immortality by killing sons or grandsons and taking their identities, with Zhao Mo possibly serving as one of his stand-ins.

A sky screen presented later generations’ sympathetic view of Zhang Jiao and the Yellow Turban Uprising, prompting ordinary people to rally behind him and emperors to fear the threat to imperial authority. It then began a discussion of why Daoism could not compete with Buddhism, blaming emperors’ fear of another Zhang Jiao.

• The sky screen described Zhang Jiao as a healer who rose up for the oppressed and asked whether he had acted for the people or for his own ambitions.
• Comments called the Yellow Turban movement an uprising and criticized the Han court, Cao Cao, and other rulers for allowing disasters and massacres to devastate the population.
• Liu Bang, Liu Heng, Liu Xun, Liu Xiu, and other emperors were shocked by the slogans calling for the Han to fall and by the reported population decline.
• People vowed to follow Zhang Jiao, declaring that they would fight rulers who did not treat them as people, while emperors feared the sky screen would undermine their authority.
• The sky screen began discussing Daoism’s rivalry with Buddhism and said emperors suppressed Daoism because Zhang Jiao’s uprising had shown its potential threat.

The sky screen discussed Daoism’s relationship with imperial power and Zhang Jiao before showing dances by later-age girl groups and male idols. The ancient viewers reacted with fascination and outrage, while Gao Shengyang gained emotion points from the videos.

• The sky screen explained how emperors’ religious beliefs strengthened either Buddhism or Daoism, and viewers debated Zhang Jiao’s relationship to Daoism.
• Ancient viewers argued that Daoism had once enjoyed imperial favor and noted that several emperors had tried to suppress Buddhism.
• The playback system showed a girl group dancing, leaving people across the dynasties amazed and causing many men’s noses to bleed.
• Gao Shengyang gained more emotion points as further dance videos drew bachelors to watch and helped brothels attract more customers.
• The system played a 2024 DJ version of “Ask” featuring male idols, prompting women to marvel and the old Confucian scholar and butcher to condemn the performers as unmanly.

A sky-screen discussion imagined how history’s founding emperors would confront rulers who lost their dynasties, prompting several emperors to react to revelations about their descendants. Zhu Yuanzhang began criticizing the Chongzhen Emperor, and the chapter ended before his imagined confrontation was finished.

• The First Emperor of Qin realized that Hu Hai had killed the old ministers and his brothers, while Hu Hai blamed the sky screen for causing trouble.
• Liu Bang’s imagined words comforted Emperor Xian of Han, who wept upon hearing Gaozu’s name.
• Yang Jian learned that Yang Guang, not Yang Yong, had become Emperor Yang of Sui, and Li Shimin remarked that he might better deliver Li Yuan’s imagined words himself.
• Zhao Kuangyin’s imagined rebuke of Emperor Huizong of Song upset the Song emperors, especially those of the Southern Song.
• Kublai’s imagined reassurance led Emperor Shun of Yuan to wonder whether returning to the grasslands would be pleasant.
• Zhu Yuanzhang began rebuking the Chongzhen Emperor for failing to save the Great Ming after its founding hardships.

The heavenly screen’s comments about Zhu Qizhen, Cixi, and past rulers unsettled emperors across the dynasties, while Zhu Yuanzhang inferred how the Ming throne might pass after his death. The chapter ended with a new discussion of how good looks could shape men’s prospects, citing Gao Huan, Gao Changgong, Zhang Juzheng, and Zhong Kui.

• Chongzhen agreed with the heavenly screen that a ruler could remove troublesome ministers, while Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhu Biao, Li Shanchang, Lan Yu, and Hu Weiyong reacted to its predictions about their fates.
• Zhu Yuanzhang recited the generation names for Zhu Biao’s descendants, realized Zhu Qizhen was not among them, and grew angry when he reached the names for Zhu Di’s line.
• Comments about Cixi described her as a ruler who lost Qing territory and squandered its wealth, prompting her to curse later generations and some Confucian scholars to criticize women in power.
• Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Di reacted to comments about Zhu Qizhen and the succession, while Zhu Yuanzhang inferred that Zhu Yunwen would lose the throne to Zhu Di after Zhu Biao’s death.
• The heavenly screen discussed the advantages of handsome men, saying Gao Huan’s looks helped him marry Lou Zhaojun, Zhang Juzheng’s appearance drew the empress dowager’s attention, and Zhong Kui lost his examination status because he was ugly.

The heavenly screen discussed the Gao family’s appearance and reputation before questioning whether Zhu Di and Zhu Biao had been on good terms. Its account of Yongle-era histories portraying Zhu Biao as inept and treacherous enraged Zhu Yuanzhang, while Zhu Biao denied the accusations.

• The heavenly screen praised Gao Changgong’s beauty and described the Gao family’s reputation for madness, prompting reactions from Li Shimin, Gao Huan, and Yuwen Tai.
• The heavenly screen asked whether Zhu Di and Zhu Biao had been on good terms, and Zhu Biao and Zhu Yuanzhang believed Zhu Biao had treated his younger brother well.
• The heavenly screen cited the Veritable Records of Emperor Taizong of Ming, which depicted Zhu Biao as indecisive and claimed Zhu Yuanzhang had considered deposing him.
• Zhu Yuanzhang angrily rejected the claims and accused Zhu Di of falsifying history to slander his older brother.
• The heavenly screen cited Record of the Jingnan Campaign in Heaven's Name, which accused Zhu Biao of plotting patricide with 3,000 suicide squads.
• Zhu Biao knelt and denied ever plotting against Zhu Yuanzhang, who reassured him and condemned the account.