Recaps

Yang Xuan learned that his brother had been captured and his father had vanished after confronting Wu Wang, while his mother left Green Cloud Mountain with Yang Si. Five years later, Sun Changsheng recognized something unusual in Yang Xuan’s strength and offered to take him as a disciple on his master’s behalf.

• Yang Xuan rescued Yang Si from demon wolves and brought her to Yang Jin and Zhao Yao, where she revealed that the Crimson Soul Demon Lord had captured her brother.
• Yang Jin went to Crimson Soul Mountain to rescue his son, but Wu Wang swallowed him and flew toward the Great Heng Dynasty.
• The Land God told Zhao Yao that Yang Xuan had died and that Yang Jin was waiting in the capital, then fled after revealing that the Prince Consort was alive.
• Zhao Yao left Green Cloud Mountain with Yang Si, while Yang Xuan stayed behind to wait for his parents.
• Five years later, Yang Xuan demonstrated his extraordinary strength at Monkey Mountain, and Sun Changsheng discovered that his body bore patterns resembling those of a ghost god.
• Sun Changsheng offered to accept Yang Xuan as his disciple on his master’s behalf and teach him to cultivate blood qi and acupoints.

Zhou Yi discovered Shan City’s unusual devotion to the Heavenly Emperor and identified its county magistrate, Zhou Ziming, as a promising source of merit. Meanwhile, Yang Xuan trained under Sun Changsheng, learned that his mother was a descendant of the Heavenly Emperor, and revealed his own Witch Clan heritage before asking for help reaching the Witch God Temple.

• Zhou Yi entered Shan City under a false Daoist identity, earned merit, and learned that the county magistrate required people to invoke the Heavenly Emperor in daily courtesies.
• Zhou Yi watched county magistrate Zhou Ziming resolve complaints with supernatural insight and decided to seek his promotion to gain a share of his merit.
• Sun Changsheng taught Yang Xuan to cultivate qi and blood, and Yang Xuan trained until he could rival a Golden Core body cultivator.
• Sun Changsheng revealed that Yang Xuan’s mother descended from the Heavenly Emperor’s direct line and was a possible future ruler of the Divine Continent.
• Sun Changsheng told Yang Xuan that his parents were safe in a blessed land, and Yang Xuan decided to travel to Great Yong’s capital to find them.
• Yang Xuan revealed his Gou Mang Witch Clan bloodline and innate gift for accelerating plant growth, then asked Sun Changsheng to help him reach the Witch God Temple for its baptism.

Yang Xuan entered the Witch God Temple’s deadly trial while Sun Changsheng barred all rivals for over fifty years until Yang Xuan secured the inheritance. Meanwhile, Zhou Yi became a Transformation God Lord, confronted an inner demon born from his sense that all things were fleeting, and returned to cultivation after discovering it weakened with time.

• Yang Xuan entered the Witch God Temple and began fighting strange birds in a primeval forest beneath ten suns as he headed toward a distant mountain.
• Sun Changsheng guarded the temple’s hundred-mile boundary, killed intruders, and drove the Celestial Court to withdraw while Yang Xuan completed the trial over more than fifty years.
• The Witch God Temple vanished, and Sun Changsheng realized Yang Xuan had obtained the inheritance.
• Zhou Yi’s Primordial Spirit left his body after he advanced to the Transformation God Realm, and he resolved to settle old scores once he became a Human Immortal.
• Zhou Yi welcomed the Celestial Court’s Orthodox Gods, then recognized his detachment from the fleeting mortal world as an inner demon that resisted scriptures and travel.
• Zhou Yi spent five hundred years in secluded cultivation and found that the inner demon had weakened, so he planned to cultivate to the peak of Spirit Transformation.

Yang Xuan endured the Witch God Temple’s mountain trial, claimed the Witch God Heart, and inherited the power and memories of the Gou Mang Witch Clan. Beneath the altar, he awakened Zu Xing, who revealed how outsiders entered the world and how the Witch Clan was ultimately destroyed.

• Yang Xuan climbed hundreds of thousands of weight-adding steps, reached the summit, and discovered he was the only contender for the inheritance.
• Yang Xuan merged with the Witch God Heart, replaced his blood with Witch God blood, and gained the Gou Mang lineage’s memories and combat skills.
• Yang Xuan tore up the altar, found a cavern beneath it, and descended to a statue of the Witch God Zu Xing.
• Zu Xing awakened and told Yang Xuan that the Mending Heaven Sect’s founder, Hunyuan, had brought humans into the world through the Heaven Leak.
• Zu Xing recounted how Hunyuan recruited outside powers and how the Demon Race betrayed the Witch Clan, leading to its destruction.

Yang Xuan emerged from a thousand years of cultivation in the Witch God Temple with a perfected vital blood technique and learned that his mother was imprisoned in the Celestial Court. He and Sun Changsheng set off to rescue her, while Zhou Yi divined supreme good fortune and continued cultivating in seclusion.

• The statue explained to Yang Xuan that the Mending Heaven Sect drained the world's origin through cultivation and ascension, and that karmic sin required a supreme treasure to suppress.
• The statue gave Yang Xuan the Heavenly Pillar's remnant branch and ordered him to cultivate, grow the Witch Clan, and pass on its bloodline.
• The statue helped Yang Xuan develop vital blood cultivation that transformed his whole body, then dissipated after urging him to adapt and continue the technique.
• Yang Xuan emerged from the Witch God Temple after a thousand years and learned from Sun Changsheng that his mother was imprisoned in the Celestial Court while his father had become the capital's City God.
• Sun Changsheng and Yang Xuan flew toward the Celestial Court to rescue Yang Xuan's mother, while Zhou Yi drew an oracle slip indicating supreme good fortune and returned to cultivation.

Yang Xuan and Sun Changsheng attacked the Celestial Court to find Yang Xuan’s imprisoned mother, Zhao Yao, and fought the gods after the Heavenly Emperor denied them access. They reached the Hall of Celestial Glory, where the Heavenly Emperor revealed Zhao Yao was at the Heavenly Pool, but the Demon Suppression Tower halted Sun Changsheng’s attack.

• At a Celestial Court assembly, the Heavenly Emperor set new policies for Dao Academies, Orthodox God appointments, and the purge of demonic cultivators.
• Sun Changsheng and Yang Xuan broke through the Celestial Court’s formations and demanded to see Yang Xuan’s mother, Zhao Yao.
• After the Heavenly Emperor denied that Zhao Yao was there, Sun Changsheng and Yang Xuan fought the Celestial Court’s True Gods, and Sun Changsheng shattered the formations with his cudgel.
• Sun Changsheng and Yang Xuan entered the Hall of Celestial Glory, where the Heavenly Emperor said Zhao Yao was cultivating at the Heavenly Pool and claimed Yang Xuan as his descendant.
• Yang Xuan attacked the Heavenly Emperor, and Sun Changsheng joined him as the gods intervened and summoned the Demon Suppression Tower, stopping Sun Changsheng’s cudgel.

Sun Changsheng and Yang Xuan defeated the Heavenly Emperor, secured Zhao Yao’s release, and left Yang Xuan ruling Peach Mountain as the God of War. After ten thousand years of cultivation, Zhou Yi celebrated his birthday, only to learn that his registered disciple had helped cause a new Celestial Court upheaval and increased Zhou Yi’s karmic sin.

• Sun Changsheng and Yellow Ox helped Yang Xuan overcome the Heavenly Emperor and the gods, and Yang Xuan forced the Emperor to release Zhao Yao.
• At Zhao Yao’s request, Yang Xuan accepted investiture as the God of War, claimed Peach Mountain as his territory, and departed with her and Sun Changsheng.
• The surviving gods spread news of the Celestial Court battle, while the Heavenly Emperor expanded the Celestial Court’s forces and cultivators began openly doubting its authority.
• After his inner demons vanished, Zhou Yi cultivated for another century, reached perfection in Spirit Transformation, and celebrated his ten-thousandth birthday at Spring Breeze Pavilion.
• Yellow Ox told Zhou Yi that his registered disciple had become one of the Witch Clan and fought alongside Sun Changsheng in the Celestial Court, causing Zhou Yi’s karmic sin to grow to three oxen.

Zhou Yi investigated the strange coincidences surrounding Yang Xuan, reunited with his brothers, and returned to Kunlun Grotto-Heaven, where he negotiated with the Jianmu Tree and reclaimed the Spirit Ginseng Child. The chapter ended with a mysterious Daoist killing You Mountain’s mountain god after the Hun Yuan Green Lotus appeared, determined to keep it from Green Cloud Mountain.

• Zhou Yi used the Heaven Severing Art and suspected the Old Man Heaven was arranging fateful coincidences around him.
• Zhou Yi invited Sun Changsheng and Yang Xuan to Moyun Cave, where the four brothers shared wine and discussed the Witch Clan, the Heavenly Pillar, and the Jade Dew Art.
• Zhou Yi and the yellow ox found Kunlun Grotto-Heaven beneath the East Sea and reunited with the Spirit Ginseng Child, Qingfeng, and Mingyue.
• Zhou Yi offered the Jianmu Tree a thousand years of lifespan in Creation Jade Dew, and the tree accepted it.
• The Hun Yuan Green Lotus emerged at You Mountain, and a mysterious Daoist killed the mountain god to prevent the lotus from reaching Green Cloud Mountain.

Yang Xuan exposed Jing Lingzi’s theft of the Hun Yuan Green Lotus and massacre at You Mountain, prompting the Celestial Court to attack the Mending Heaven Sect. When Jing Lingzi summoned Iron Crown Immortal, the ancestor reclaimed the treasure, punished the Celestial Court, and appointed Zhou Yi as the sect’s leader for a thousand years.

• Yang Xuan showed the Celestial Court Jing Lingzi’s crimes, and the Heavenly Emperor ordered the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of War, and Grand Duke Department to retrieve the Hun Yuan Green Lotus.
• Jing Huazi led one hundred thousand heavenly soldiers to surround Heaven Mountain, while Zhou Yi and his companions watched from a distance.
• Jing Lingzi attacked Jing Huazi, prompting the Celestial Court forces to storm the Mending Heaven Sect and destroy its protective formation.
• Jing Lingzi sacrificed himself to summon an ancestral master, and Iron Crown Immortal descended, seized the green lotus, and sealed Jing Huazi’s mana for five thousand years.
• Iron Crown Immortal gave the Hun Yuan Green Lotus to Zhou Yi and appointed him leader of the Mending Heaven Sect for one thousand years, and Zhou Yi accepted.

Zhou Yi became the Mending Heaven Sect Leader after Iron Crown Immortal warned him about the Celestial Court and the Immortal Realm. He chose to remain in the mortal world after mending heaven, while the Heavenly Emperor faced growing opposition and a demand to discuss appointing a Crown Prince.

• Iron Crown Immortal gave Zhou Yi the Hun Yuan Green Lotus, promised the sect immortal artifacts, and warned him that the Heavenly Emperor might be the Chosen One.
• Zhou Yi took charge of the Mending Heaven Sect and arranged for his sworn brothers to protect him and support the sect.
• Zhou Yi weighed ascending against remaining in the mortal world and decided to abandon ascension for now and eventually mend heaven.
• Zhou Yi held a grand sect leader celebration, prompting rumors that the First Celestial Master had reincarnated and renewed conflict with the Celestial Court.
• Zhou Yi studied the sect's cross-realm summoning method and recited cultivation scriptures to the green lotus.
• Facing the Mending Heaven Sect's growing influence, the Heavenly Emperor considered flipping the table, while Yu Chanzi requested a discussion about appointing a Crown Prince.

Yang Xuan pressed the Heavenly Emperor to establish Zhao Yao as Crown Prince while Zhou Yi mourned old friends and watched the Celestial Court’s factions turn against the emperor. After the Hun Yuan Green Lotus produced a three-inch-tall child who called himself Green Lotus, he escaped to You Mountain, where Master Bai spotted him and planned to refine him into pills.

• Yang Xuan and Yu Chanzi urged the Heavenly Emperor to establish a Crown Prince, but the emperor postponed the matter after Yang Xuan warned him to step down.
• Yang Xuan told Yang Jin and Zhao Yao that the Heavenly Emperor had prolonged his life through a secret bloodline art, and Yang Jin learned that Patriarch Xuan Yu had died.
• Zhou Yi offered incense for Xuan Yu, then returned to Heaven Mountain and reflected on finding a reliable method of reincarnation for his friends.
• The Heavenly Emperor froze every creature in the Heavenly Pool and vowed to sell the world after Heaven ignored his complaints.
• Over the years, more True Gods backed Zhao Yao as Crown Prince, and the Heavenly Emperor was forced to approve Three Immortals Sect’s freedom from the immortal registry system.
• The Hun Yuan Green Lotus produced Green Lotus, who escaped through the void to You Mountain, where Master Bai found him and said he would make pills from him.

Bai Suixin captured Qinglian and spent a century refining him into a pill, but Qinglian escaped with the Heaven Severing Sect’s treasures and scriptures while Bai Suixin attended the Celestial Court’s vote to name Zhao Yao Crown Prince. Years later, Jizhen mistook Qinglian’s refusal to become Buddhist for consent and carried him off to Spirit Mountain, only to realize he had taken on another troublesome disciple.

• Bai Suixin captured Qinglian on You Mountain and imprisoned him in a pill furnace, where he refined Qinglian with spiritual treasures for a hundred years.
• Bai Suixin left his cave estate to vote at the Celestial Court, and Qinglian broke out, looted the cave estate and Scripture Pavilion, and fled.
• The gods voted to establish Zhao Yao as Crown Prince, and the Heavenly Emperor announced that she would succeed him after his death.
• Bai Suixin returned to find his cave estate empty, then resolved to seek compensation from the Mending Heaven Sect and take more from the Celestial Court treasury.
• Ten years later, Qinglian returned to You Mountain to reclaim his immortal blood, but Jizhen captured him and carried him toward Spirit Mountain.
• Jizhen realized that Qinglian was a hot potato and regretted taking him in as a disciple.

Jizhen converted Green Lotus into the Buddhist monk Zhaoguang, but Zhaoguang escaped and hid inside a blood cocoon at You Mountain. Centuries later, the cocoon emerged in a burst of divine light, killing Li Wei and revealing the signs of a Human Immortal heavenly tribulation.

• Jizhen used Spirit Mountain’s relics to convert Green Lotus, who advanced to Spirit Transformation while secretly strengthening his mana.
• After a century of conversion, Green Lotus pretended to embrace Buddhism, escaped while Jizhen supported a thousand-year rotation of the Heavenly Emperor, and returned to You Mountain to merge with the immortal blood origin.
• Jizhen discovered Green Lotus’s escape and went into seclusion at the Celestial Court, while the Heavenly Emperor agreed to pass the throne to Zhao Yao after a thousand years.
• Centuries later, miner Li Wei discovered the hidden blood cocoon at You Mountain and waited for it to emerge, hoping to claim its power.
• The cocoon cracked, its divine light killed Li Wei and swept across You Mountain, and the mountain god recognized the heavenly signs as a Human Immortal tribulation.

Azure Lotus survived his tribulation and attacked the Celestial Court to avenge the old grudges that had brought him to the brink of death. With help from Sun Changsheng and Yellow Ox, he forced Yuanding to abdicate in favor of Crown Prince Zhao Yao, leaving Yuanding under effective house arrest at the Heavenly Pool.

• Azure Lotus survived the final Lightning Tribulation, accepted ownerless spiritual treasures that weakened it, and vowed to repay those who had helped him.
• Azure Lotus attacked the Celestial Court, defeated Yang Xuan and the gods who tried to stop him, and demanded vengeance for the Celestial Court’s past actions.
• Yuanding expelled Bai Suixin and Jizhen from the Celestial Court, but Azure Lotus rejected the offer and demanded either the destruction of the Hall of Celestial Glory or Yuanding’s replacement.
• Azure Lotus drained the Deification Roll’s providence and battled Yuanding, who gained the upper hand with the protection of his incense treasure wheels.
• Sun Changsheng and Yellow Ox intervened, helping Azure Lotus smash Yuanding into the ground and forcing him to abdicate.
• Yuanding named Crown Prince Zhao Yao the new Heavenly Emperor and agreed to remain at the Heavenly Pool while Azure Lotus and his allies governed.

After Yuanding’s abdication, Zhou Yi helped the new Celestial Court manage his loyalists while suspecting that Yuanding might open a passage to the Divine Realm. Decades later, Yuanding opened the Gate of the Gods, but Sun Changsheng intervened and defeated him before he could offer the world to the Divine Realm.

• Zhou Yi ordered Yang Xuan to kill some of Yuanding’s imprisoned loyalists, arrest some, and release the rest, while he continued tending the Jianmu Tree.
• Yuanding persuaded a group of aging True Gods to help open the Gate of the Gods, promising them breakthroughs and rewards from the Divine Realm.
• Ten years after the new Heavenly Emperor’s ascension, Yuanding’s believers had been rounded up, and decades later the Cultivation World had largely stabilized under the new Celestial Court.
• Yuanding and the True Gods opened the Gate of the Gods, and a deity beyond it agreed to make Yuanding a subordinate god in exchange for the world.
• Sun Changsheng smashed the Gate of the Gods shut and fought Yuanding while the other True Gods withdrew; the Demon Suppression Tower then sealed Yuanding’s soul, and Sun Changsheng took away the altar and gate.

Zhou Yi obtained the Gate of the Gods and considered using reincarnation to explore other worlds, while he and Sun Changsheng planned to return to Nine Provinces and confront the Heavenly Corpse Old Devil. As the Jianmu Tree grew, Zhou Yi watched the Celestial Court withdraw from mortal affairs, leading to war and decline, until the Immortal Gate reopened.

• Sun Changsheng brought Zhou Yi the altar and Gate of the Gods, which Zhou Yi examined as a means of opening passages between worlds.
• Zhou Yi considered using the Reincarnation Sutra to send split souls into other worlds and asked Sun Changsheng to help him fight the Heavenly Corpse Old Devil in Nine Provinces.
• Zhou Yi hastened the Jianmu Tree's growth, while Innate Spiritual Objects appeared and the yellow ox collected them before the Celestial Court could arrive.
• After ruling for a thousand years, Zhou Yi abdicated in favor of Qinglian, who later withdrew the Dao Academies and the Celestial Court from mortal society as resources dwindled.
• War and population decline spread after the Celestial Court vanished, and Zhou Yi delayed its return until the Cultivation World's cultivators had largely died away.
• Five hundred years later, a god announced that the Immortal Gate had reopened and that anyone with spiritual roots could enter Dao Academies.

Over sixteen thousand years, Zhou Yi watched the mortal world and Celestial Court change while he cultivated and grew the Jianmu Tree on Heaven Mountain. After gathering ten Innate Spiritual Objects, he passed the Human Immortal tribulation and reached the Human Immortal realm.

• The Immortal Gate reopened, and the Celestial Court established Dao Academies that admitted only people with Dual Spirit Roots or better.
• Zhou Yi continued casting the Jade Dew Art to grow the Jianmu Tree while the yellow ox helped Zen Master Shengyun become Heavenly Emperor and later supported Ziyangzi's succession.
• The Spirit Ginseng Child mourned Que Yuan's death after he attempted the heavenly tribulation, then vowed to cultivate until she could bring him back from reincarnation.
• Ziyangzi became the sixth Heavenly Emperor and launched a severe crackdown on corrupt gods before abdicating after little more than a century.
• After consuming ten Innate Spiritual Objects, Zhou Yi used his Myriad Laws Divine Light to withstand the lightning tribulation and become a Human Immortal.

Zhou Yi celebrated his breakthrough to the Human Immortal Realm, tested his strength against Sun Changsheng, and held a grand feast before Sun Changsheng and Qinglian ascended. Ten years later, Zhou Yi matured the Jianmu Tree and used it to mend the heavens, leaving the world sealed against further ascension and his karmic burden erased.

• Zhou Yi announced a feast to celebrate his breakthrough, then discussed who would ascend with the yellow ox, Sun Changsheng, Yang Xuan, Qinglian, and the Spirit Ginseng Child.
• Zhou Yi and Sun Changsheng exchanged spells, and Sun Changsheng admitted defeat after their battle reached a stalemate in mana.
• One year later, Zhou Yi hosted a three-year Human Immortal Grand Ceremony at Heaven Mountain, where gods, cultivators, and mortals feasted together.
• Ten years later, Sun Changsheng and Qinglian tore through space and ascended to the Immortal Realm, leaving Zhou Yi sorrowful at their departure.
• Zhou Yi used Creation Jade Dew to mature the Jianmu Tree, whose purple qi sealed the leak in the heavens and restored the world's barrier.
• Zhou Yi found that he could no longer break the void or ascend, then received enough merit to erase his karmic burden.

Zhou Yi repaired the heavens, refined a compass to send a divided soul into another world through reincarnation, and set off for the Nine Provinces to seek revenge. A message from the compass arrived during his journey, revealing that his divided soul had suffered nine short lives and was on its tenth reincarnation.

• Heaven rewarded Zhou Yi with three branches of its origin, which he gave to the Spirit Ginseng Child, used to nurture a divided soul, and swallowed to refine a protective treasure.
• Zhou Yi spent over a thousand years creating a compass that could send the divided soul through the void to another world and open an ascension passage there.
• After launching the compass, Zhou Yi arranged for Yang Xuan to guard the Celestial Court and departed westward with the yellow ox and Spirit Ginseng Child.
• Zhou Yi reached the East Sea and traveled toward the Nine Provinces by boat, estimating the journey would take three or four hundred years.
• A hundred years later, Zhou Yi received a message reporting the divided soul’s first ten lives in the Vast Continent, including nine brief and tragic reincarnations.

After being sold into the palace as a eunuch, Zhou Yi endured a year of study and hunger in the Directorate of Palace Attendants. His teacher then introduced the Ephemeral Bloom Manual, the palace martial art that would determine where the eunuchs served.

• Zhou Yi awoke after his castration and learned he had been assigned to the Directorate of Palace Attendants.
• Little Xi took Zhou Yi to the eastern duty quarters, where he registered, ate porridge, and began learning characters.
• Zhou Yi struggled with his lessons and was punished with hunger, then spent the following months studying until he could read fluently.
• After teaching Zhou Yi and the other newcomers for a year, the old eunuch wrote the name Ephemeral Bloom Manual on the wall and explained its rapid cultivation and the roles strength would earn them.

Zhou Yi learned that the Ephemeral Bloom Manual consumed lifespan, watched Little Xi die after being forced to test a poisoned pill, and discovered that he was not aging like the other cultivators. He decided to hide his condition with disguise ointment, borrowing money from Little Zheng and Little Yuan as he continued cultivating for the sake of his parents.

• Zhou Yi suspected the teacher had concealed the Ephemeral Bloom Manual’s cost, then found Little Xi dying from a poisoned Longevity Golden Pill and watched him die.
• Little Zheng and Little Yuan revealed that Little Xi had been targeted after earning His Majesty’s praise, and Zhou Yi began doubting the warmth of palace relationships.
• Zhou Yi studied the manual but avoided cultivation until he chose to train hard so he could earn a posting and help his parents.
• After half a year of cultivating, Zhou Yi realized his classmates had aged while he had not, and feared the emperor might use him to refine pills.
• Zhou Yi asked Little Yuan about disguise techniques, and Little Zheng and Little Yuan agreed to lend him silver for ointment in exchange for future repayment and favors.

Zhou Yi secured a guard post at Jiangxue Pavilion and became Eunuch Xu’s godson, then began reporting what he heard about Emperor Hongwu. Little Zheng taught him the Breath Listening Technique, which Zhou Yi trained until he could hear across nearly the entire Imperial Garden, though his discoveries were mostly illicit meetings among palace attendants and maids.

• Zhou Yi bought disguise ointment, studied palace survival rules, and passed his training assessment, where Eunuch Xu assigned him to Jiangxue Pavilion and took him as a godson.
• Zhou Yi declined Little Kang’s hundred-tael bribe, then visited Eunuch Wen, who rebuked him and ordered him away.
• After Zhou Yi began guarding Jiangxue Pavilion, Emperor Hongwu visited, and Zhou Yi glimpsed his face and overheard fragments about the northern frontier and foreign tribes.
• Little Yun collected Zhou Yi’s report and a reward, while Little Zheng warned Zhou Yi to give Little Yun a share to avoid trouble.
• Little Zheng taught Zhou Yi the Breath Listening Technique, and Zhou Yi used it over the next two years to listen across the Imperial Garden, mostly hearing attendants and maids meeting in secret.

Zhou Yi used palace gossip to win Eunuch Xu’s favor, then let Little Yun take the South Sea Pearl Eunuch Xu had given him without paying. He returned to the dormitory with another grievance in his private ledger and began imagining that he might someday rise to Eunuch Chu’s lofty position.

• Zhou Yi overheard Little Lu report Yaohua Palace’s news about Consort Hua seeking the title of Prince Wei for the Fifth Prince, then passed the information to Eunuch Xu.
• Eunuch Xu rewarded Zhou Yi with a South Sea Pearl from Consort Yuan after hearing the report.
• Little Yun claimed the pearl was worth a great deal and took it from Zhou Yi without paying, so Zhou Yi recorded the debt in his ledger.
• Zhou Yi returned to the Bing Third Dorm and heard Little Zheng and Little Yuan discuss Eunuch Chu’s plan to leave his post and guard the imperial mausoleum.
• Zhou Yi recalled Eunuch Chu’s great status and privately imagined that he could one day take his place.

After Eunuch Chu fell in a failed coup tied to the Deposed Crown Prince, Zhou Yi watched the palace purge spread and reconsidered his reliance on patrons. He chose to pursue martial cultivation, but his ambition grew to include secretly controlling the emperor.

• Little Zheng and Little Yuan told Zhou Yi that rumors linked Eunuch Chu's downfall to the Deposed Crown Prince's attempted palace coup, and they planned to seek promotion amid the vacant positions.
• Zhou Yi offered to help Little Zheng and Little Yuan approach His Majesty, hoping their success might benefit him as well.
• Over the following weeks, the purge killed at least a thousand eunuchs and palace maids, and Zhou Yi feared that his ties to Eunuch Xu or the Second Prince could ruin him.
• Zhou Yi decided to cultivate the Ephemeral Bloom Manual without limit so he could become powerful through his own martial skill.
• Zhou Yi imagined manipulating the succession and secretly controlling His Majesty, then tried to suppress the thought as his greed continued to grow.

Zhou Yi observed Emperor Hongwu rebuff Consort Yuan after she called an old crabapple tree old, and concluded that the Second Prince’s prospects were weakening. After reporting the incident to Eunuch Xu, Zhou Yi encountered the Empress and returned to find Little Yuan packing to leave.

• Zhou Yi watched Emperor Hongwu leave Consort Yuan after she described the crabapple tree as too old to bloom.
• Zhou Yi reasoned that the Second Prince’s mother had angered the emperor and decided he needed a new patron.
• Zhou Yi reported the incident to Eunuch Xu, who ordered Little Yun to gather the others to discuss how to please Emperor Hongwu.
• Zhou Yi encountered the Empress on his way back to Barracks Bing Six and avoided attracting her attention.
• Zhou Yi found Little Yuan packing his luggage and addressed him as Eunuch Yuan.