Recaps

Zhao Mu took the throne and assigned eunuchs to secure the palace and consolidate his rule, while Tang Mingyuan was tasked with restoring the late Emperor’s tax reforms. At the Palace of Earthly Tranquility, Zhou Yi pursued the escaped Empress Dowager and ordered a crackdown on the Three Yang Sect as he sought a way to counter ghosts.

• Zhao Mu ascended the throne, sent Zhou Yi to deal with the Empress Dowager, and gave Eunuch Yuan authority to guard the palace and command the artillerymen.
• Zhao Mu assigned eunuchs to summon officials, strip King Who Pacifies the West of his military authority, and bring Zhao clan elders to support his accession.
• Tang Mingyuan urged Zhao Mu to restore the late Emperor’s tax system, and Zhao Mu made him Censor-in-chief, placed him in the Grand Secretariat, and granted him the Son of Heaven Sword while retaining the power to use the Surveillance Bureau.
• Zhou Yi found that the Empress Dowager had escaped, killed a eunuch who reported the news, and ordered the others to hunt down the Three Yang Sect and seize its cultivation texts.
• Eunuch Yuan confronted Zhou Yi at the palace, and Zhou Yi chose to leave rather than risk upsetting the balance of power.
• Eunuch Yuan went to inspect the palace gates and ordered an old eunuch to monitor Eunuch Su’s food, threatening to punish his clan.

After Zhao Mu took the throne, officials entered the palace under heavy scrutiny as the new court began purging suspected rivals and consolidating power. The Feng family escaped the capital and planned to seek military backing in the north, hoping to return later.

• Eunuchs accused Vice Minister Cui of carrying a dagger and killed him, then used the same trick to beat Vice Minister Qi to death.
• Zhao Mu received the officials in the Hall of Diligent Governance, accepted Yang Si’s proposed era name Tianshun, and warned that anyone linked to the rebels could be arrested and executed.
• Zhou Yi reported that King Who Pacifies the West had fled, and Zhao Mu ordered him to pursue the Feng family and monitor officials under the pretext of hunting rebels.
• King Who Pacifies the West and Feng Ze prepared to flee toward the northern frontier, where they intended to offer a Cannonball to the King Who Pacifies the North in exchange for a general’s post.

After Emperor Tianshun restored Emperor Zhengtong’s institutions, Zhou Yi returned to lead the Surveillance Bureau and pursued the Three Yang Sect. He also maneuvered around the emperor’s growing network of godsons, hoping the next roving official would be assigned to the Surveillance Bureau.

• Emperor Tianshun restored Emperor Zhengtong’s institutions, while Tang Mingyuan strengthened the new policies and backed the Surveillance Bureau’s power.
• Zhou Yi celebrated his return with his godsons and ordered Li Chao to interrogate prisoners until they revealed the Three Yang Sect’s hideout.
• Li Chao reported that an Innate Grandmaster had been hunting the Three Yang Sect, and Zhou Yi ordered him to keep questioning the prisoners.
• A eunuch told Zhou Yi that Emperor Tianshun had made Little Lu a godson and assigned him as a roving official at the Ministry of Revenue.
• Zhou Yi ordered his men to help Little Lu expose corrupt officials while secretly recording his every word and deed.
• Zhou Yi noted that the emperor had assigned eight godsons to roving posts and wondered whether the ninth would be sent to the Surveillance Bureau.

Emperor Tianshun’s failure to father an heir led Xiao Wuzi to arrange for a woman outside the palace to become pregnant, earning the emperor’s favor. Years later, Zhou Yi learned that Xiao Wuzi had been named an Eastern Depot operative and suspected that the court’s apparent harmony concealed a struggle for power.

• Emperor Tianshun lamented that he had no heir, while Xiao Wuzi secretly knew that an ancestor’s yin baleful chill had extinguished the emperor’s dragon essence.
• Xiao Wuzi proposed finding fertile women outside the palace, and Emperor Tianshun ordered Eunuch Yu to arrange it discreetly.
• By the third year of Tianshun, Tang Mingyuan’s reforms and military victories had expanded Qing Kingdom’s territory as the court’s factions maintained a tense balance.
• In the fourth year of Tianshun, Xiao Pingzi told Zhou Yi that the Three Yang Sect Leader and Holy Maiden had escaped after Eunuch Liu leaked news of the Eastern Depot’s operation.
• Zhou Yi learned that Xiao Wuzi had become Emperor Tianshun’s godson and that a woman arranged through his idea was pregnant; he then questioned whether the emperor truly wanted to rule with folded hands.

Zhou Yi let Eunuch Wu take up his post in the Eastern Depot while publicly presenting himself as ready to retire, and the resulting power vacuum fueled widespread extortion. When Wu visited the Eastern Depot, he asserted his authority after learning officials had impeached him and asked to borrow its dragon robe; the chapter ended with an author’s note about illness and writing plans.

• Zhou Yi rejected Xiao Pingzi’s plan to frame Eunuch Wu and said he would obey any order from Emperor Tianshun, while privately wishing to spend his remaining years in peace.
• Word of Zhou Yi’s apparent decline spread through the capital, and eunuchs began abusing their authority to extort officials, merchants, and commoners while Eunuch Yuan was in seclusion.
• After Noble Consort Shu became pregnant, Emperor Tianshun granted Eunuch Wu the title of Marquis Enze, and Wu took up his post in the Eastern Depot without entering it at first.
• Eunuch Wu and Zhou Yi exchanged exaggerated courtesies and sat together in the Eastern Depot’s main hall, where Wu praised Zhou’s portrait and tested the rumors that Zhou meant to retire.
• After the Secret Records Bureau chief reported that twenty-two officials had impeached him, Eunuch Wu declared that opposing his title meant defying the emperor and asked Zhou Yi to lend him the Eastern Depot’s dragon robe.

Minister Lu and his family were arrested after Eunuch Sun framed them with a dragon robe and armor, while a wounded woman fleeing Eastern Depot pursuers reached a poor couple’s courtyard. The old midwife discovered that the unconscious woman was pregnant.

• Minister Lu refused to seek Eunuch Yu’s help for Zhang Shi’s imprisoned family, explaining his support for Chancellor Tang’s new policies and his opposition to the Nine Attendants.
• Eunuch Sun led Eastern Depot Imperial Bodyguards into the Lu residence, killed a maid, accused Minister Lu of plotting rebellion, and arrested the Lu Family.
• A woman in blue robes fled a eunuch steward and his Imperial Bodyguards, who accused the Lu Family of secretly raising troops.
• The eunuch steward struck the woman with a poisoned flying claw, but she threw explosive balls that badly wounded the pursuers and escaped.
• The wounded woman collapsed in an elderly couple’s courtyard, where the old midwife examined her and found that she was carrying a baby.

After Minister Lu and his family were executed for treason, Zhou Yi confronted Tang Mingyuan with evidence that officials were abandoning the new policies and urged him to take control of their fate. Tang resolved to fight for the policies and avenge the Lu Family, while Zhou agreed to let him purge the palace attendants involved, including Eunuch Sun.

• Minister Lu and his descendants were executed as a cheering crowd watched, and Tang Mingyuan struggled to contain his grief.
• Zhou Yi met Tang Mingyuan at the execution grounds and gave him a list of officials who had defected from the new policies to the Six Ministries' roving officials.
• Zhou Yi argued that officials abandoned their ideals when their own lives and fortunes were at risk, and urged Tang to hold power in his own hands.
• After seeing Minister Lu's young grandson beheaded, Tang Mingyuan resolved to fight for the new policies and avenge the Lu Family.
• Tang demanded that every palace attendant involved in the case be punished, naming Eunuch Sun; Zhou agreed and said Sun would top the list.

Tang Mingyuan worried about joining forces with Zhou Yi but chose to remain in the capital and quietly prepare, while Emperor Tianshun rewarded his political concessions and celebrated military victories. The chapter ended with Liu Yu secretly coordinating Noble Consort Shu’s expected delivery with the Director of the Eastern Depot.

• Tang Mingyuan confided his fears to Su Yun'er, who advised him to stay wary of Zhou Yi and keep his family in the capital.
• Tang Mingyuan yielded to the Nine Attendants as Eunuch Lu imposed head taxes on newborns, while Emperor Tianshun rewarded Tang Mingyuan and ennobled Eunuch Lu.
• Tang Mingyuan promoted Minister Zeng to Deputy Chief Minister and sent a letter to General Xie in the Southern Frontier.
• General Xie defeated the barbarian king, and Emperor Tianshun celebrated the victory by executing the captive king and declaring himself heaven's mandate.
• After snow damaged the spring crops, Emperor Tianshun made Noble Consort Shu empress and ordered Liu Yu to monitor her pregnancy.
• Liu Yu told the Director of the Eastern Depot that Noble Consort Shu would give birth around midnight ten days later, concealing that his estimate was accurate to within fifteen minutes.

Emperor Tianshun planned to consolidate his power, court Commander Xie, and eventually move against the northern frontier and the Eastern Depot. While Noble Consort Shu’s childbirth unfolded under a plot to eliminate the birth mother, she secured the infant’s place as Crown Prince and killed Lǜyù after the strange delivery raised suspicions.

• Emperor Tianshun heard Lu Wei’s report on court factions and ordered him to leave the dissenting ministers alone.
• Emperor Tianshun decided to consider rewarding Commander Xie with a marquisate and a mission to inspect the northern border, but delayed sending word.
• Emperor Tianshun chose to visit Yi Chun Palace and its beauties instead of going directly to Noble Consort Shu.
• When the birth mother went into labor, Lǜyù told the midwife that Empress had ordered the Crown Prince to have only one mother, and the midwife began cutting the infant from the unconscious woman.
• A strange gust extinguished the lamps; when they were relit, the woman was dead and a newborn Crown Prince lay beside her with his umbilical cord already cut.
• Noble Consort Shu killed Lǜyù with a poisoned dagger after Lǜyù reported the unexplained delivery, declaring that she cared only about becoming Empress and Empress Dowager.

Zhou Yi told Tang Mingyuan that he had arranged for a newborn Lu Family descendant to replace Noble Consort Shu’s daughter, and nine bells announced Emperor Tianshun’s death. The ministers recognized the infant as heir, but the succession was immediately tested when Commander Xie entered with Prince Rui’s severed head.

• Zhou Yi revealed that Noble Consort Shu’s newborn son was a stolen infant descended from the Lu Family, and Tang Mingyuan agreed he could inherit the throne.
• Nine bells tolled, confirming Emperor Tianshun’s death after his indulgence with Noble Consort Shu.
• Tang Mingyuan declared that Noble Consort Shu’s infant should inherit the throne, while officials debated whether she should rule as regent or the child should be replaced by an imperial-clan heir.
• Commander Xie entered the Hall of Diligent Governance with Prince Rui’s severed head and reported that he had killed him for attempting to enter the palace amid the chaos.

After Prince Rui’s coup failed, Noble Consort Shu secured the infant Emperor Taichang’s succession and began sharing power among court officials. Eunuch Wu’s plans to make his child emperor collapsed, and Director Zhou had him arrested, while Zhou learned that Wu had never been castrated.

• Prince Rui died during his attempt to storm the palace, and Marshal Xie helped Noble Consort Shu secure recognition for the newborn Emperor Taichang.
• Tang Mingyuan proposed the reign title Taichang, and the Empress Dowager assigned him, Marshal Xie, and Minister Xu to handle Emperor Tianshun’s funeral.
• Eunuch Wu learned that the infant legitimate son had become emperor and destroyed the jade pendant containing his ancestor’s spirit, rejecting the restoration of Great Shang.
• Eunuch Wu’s ancestor revealed that Wu’s child was a princess, and Wu decided to flee before Director Zhou could investigate him.
• Eunuch Fu arrested Eunuch Wu and delivered him to Director Zhou, who ordered him executed and learned from the coroner that Wu had never passed through the castration chamber.

Emperor Taichang attended court for the first time as the Empress Dowager presided over a dispute involving a fabricated drought report and Eunuch Lu. Zhou Yi secured Lu’s release and won influence over the Six Ministries’ clerks, while Tang Mingyuan vowed to continue investigating the Six Attendants.

• At Emperor Taichang’s first court session, Assistant Director Jiang requested disaster relief for an alleged drought in Liang Province, and the Empress Dowager approved sending funds and grain.
• Vice Minister Li accused Jiang of fraud after pointing out that Liang Province was in its rainy season, and officials presented charges against Count Angong, Eunuch Lu.
• Tang Mingyuan recommended that Eunuch Lu be tried by the Ministry of Justice, but Zhou Yi argued that he should be investigated privately by the Eastern Depot.
• The Empress Dowager accepted Zhou Yi’s proposal, and Eunuch Lu was taken away for an investigation that was expected to end with a token fine.
• After court, Tang Mingyuan told Minister Du that he would keep investigating the Six Attendants, while Zhou Yi celebrated his growing influence over the Six Ministries.

Eunuch Hai and the Three Yang Sect’s Holy Maiden brought a coalition of Martial Grandmasters to the capital to kill Zhou Yi and seize the secret of immortality. Warned by Tang Mingyuan, Zhou Yi turned away from their trap but was ambushed by Hunter King and surrounded by eight Grandmasters.

• Eunuch Hai and the Holy Maiden discussed their plan to lure Zhou Yi to Prince Sheng’s residence, where gunpowder and several Martial Grandmasters awaited him.
• An Eastern Depot spy recognized Eunuch Hai, and the Director learned that the carriage had gone to Prince Sheng’s residence.
• Zhou Yi set out with the Eastern Depot forces, but Tang Mingyuan’s messenger delivered a note warning him of immortality, so Zhou Yi changed course and revealed where the hidden girl was staying.
• Hunter King shot Zhou Yi with Sunset Arrows, and Vajra Immortal and Tyrant Blade Huo Zong appeared to join the attack.
• Qingyang, the Holy Maiden, Eunuch Hai, True Spirit, and Great Master Benxin joined the other attackers, surrounding Zhou Yi with eight Martial Grandmasters.

Zhou Yi fought off the Martial Grandmasters who ambushed him for the promise of immortality, revealing immense strength and four additional true-qi arms. Wounded and furious that the Capital Garrison had not appeared, he prepared to escape.

• Vajra Immortal attacked Zhou Yi, but Zhou Yi transformed into a giant and sent him crashing through buildings.
• Huo Zong, the True Spirit Grand Master, the Three Yang Sect, Eunuch Hai, and others launched coordinated attacks on Zhou Yi.
• The True Spirit Grand Master shot Zhou Yi with an arrow and collected drops of his blood, believing it was the blood of immortality.
• Vajra Immortal repeatedly blocked Zhou Yi while Huo Zong and the True Spirit Grand Master attacked from behind.
• Zhou Yi grew four true-qi arms and tore off Huo Zong's right arm and much of the True Spirit Grand Master's thigh and waist.
• Wounded by the attackers and with no Capital Garrison in sight, Zhou Yi drew the Sunset Arrow and prepared to leave.

Zhou Yi fought nine Martial Grandmasters while trying to escape the capital, but Eunuch Yuan intervened and helped him break through the pursuit. Zhou Yi fled into the mountains and vanished, while the volume neared its end.

• Zhou Yi tried to flee toward the western gate, but He Chongxiao repeatedly blocked him with Golden Silk nets as the Grandmasters wounded him.
• At the western palace gate, Tang Mingyuan and Eunuch Lu discussed Zhou Yi’s fate and Tang’s determination to preserve his reforms.
• Eunuch Wei killed Hunter King at Miaojue Temple and took his Sunset Bow.
• Eunuch Yuan ambushed He Chongxiao, tore off his foot, and prevented him from obstructing Zhou Yi.
• Zhou Yi escaped the capital and ran for three days and nights until the pursuing Grandmasters exhausted their true qi, then disappeared into the mountains.

Zhou Yi lived in seclusion at Heavenly Pool under the identity of Fisherman Yianbo, and news that his nine clans had been exterminated helped him complete the Emotionless Sword Art and break through to the Innate realm. Before entering seclusion to refine his True Qi, he accepted Gu Xiao and Gu Yun as disciples and gave them martial arts to cultivate.

• Gu Xiao and Gu Yun visited Zhou Yi at Heavenly Pool and told him that an expert had threatened to exterminate the Eastern Depot Chief's clan.
• Zhou Yi learned that his nine clans had already been exterminated, which lifted his emotional restraint and helped him complete the Emotionless Sword Art.
• Zhou Yi used the icy qi of Heavenly Pool to break through to the Innate realm.
• Zhou Yi told Gu Xiao and Gu Yun he would enter seclusion, and Gu Xiao begged him not to cast them aside.
• Zhou Yi accepted Gu Xiao and Gu Yun as disciples after warning them that his grudges could implicate them.
• Zhou Yi gave Gu Xiao the Formless Sword Qi and Gu Yun the Indestructible Golden Body to cultivate while he was in seclusion.

Zhou Yi emerged from a decade of secluded cultivation to find that the Northern Garrison Army had annihilated Marshal Xie's forces and forced the imperial court into a costly peace. At Heavenly Pool, he discovered a tomb erected by Gu Xiao and learned that the martial world believed him dead.

• Zhou Yi warned Gu Xiao and Yun to avoid evil, claimed he was entering dangerous seclusion, and sank beneath Heavenly Pool to cultivate.
• Years later, Zhang Liang and Feng Ze trapped Marshal Xie's imperial army in Snow Wolf Valley, where explosives, an avalanche, and artillery destroyed the force.
• Zhang Liang ordered the Northern Garrison Army to press south and negotiate for territory and compensation rather than continue fighting.
• The court's account reported that the Northern Garrison Army won a major victory, Marshal Xie died, and the court ceded land and paid fifteen million taels of silver.
• Zhou Yi broke through the frozen lake, found a tomb marked for Fisherman Yianbo, and wondered why Yun was not named on its stele.

After ending his long seclusion, Zhou Yi learned that Gu Family Village had moved to the capital and that the Northern Garrison Army occupied the region. He visited Tang Mingyuan in the Heavenly Prison, warned him that Emperor Taichang threatened his daughter Tong Tong, and left Tang resolved to fight back.

• Zhou Yi found the ruins of Gu Family Village and learned from a soldier that the Gu family had moved to the capital.
• Zhou Yi gathered news of the past sixteen years, learned that Xie had died, and traveled to the capital without contacting the Eastern Depot spies.
• Zhou Yi entered the Heavenly Prison at night and reunited with Tang Mingyuan, who had been imprisoned after taking the blame for the northern campaign's defeat.
• Zhou Yi agreed to check whether Tong Tong was safe and warned Tang Mingyuan that Emperor Taichang might kill her once Tang was no longer useful.
• Tang Mingyuan resolved to protect Tong Tong and began studying the Ghost Immortal Longevity Sutra.

Zhou Yi visited his former disciple Gu Xiao in the capital, only to learn that Gu Xiao had betrayed him and killed Yun'er. Zhou Yi survived Gu Xiao’s firearms attack and killed him, then returned to Xiao Xiang House while preparing to lure out a greater enemy.

• Zhou Yi visited Heavenly Prison, then gathered information at Xiao Xiang House and learned that Gu Xiao lived near the imperial palace.
• Gu Xiao reported his arrests to Emperor Taichang, then met Zhou Yi at home and claimed that Tang Mingyuan had killed Yun'er.
• Gu Xiao lured Zhou Yi into an ambush, bombarding his study with cannons and firearms in an attempt to kill him.
• Zhou Yi survived the attack, fought through the bullets with Sword Qi, and killed Gu Xiao as he tried to flee.
• Zhou Yi returned to Xiao Xiang House, found that killing Gu Xiao had advanced his Emotionless Sword Art, and resolved to wait for the enemy he had baited.

Zhou Yi, disguised as Fisherman Yianbo, joined Old Lu and Luo Shuo in a plot against Director Zhou, then revealed himself and attacked them. He killed Luo Shuo and apparently destroyed Old Lu’s ghost body, while other martial world experts gathered to scheme over the rumors of immortality.

• Old Lu offered Fisherman Yianbo the Ghost Immortal Longevity Sutra in exchange for joining a plan to lure Director Zhou out, and Luo Shuo agreed to help avenge his master.
• Zhou Yi pretended to accept the alliance, then attacked Old Lu with his Sixteen-Foot Golden Body and shattered the skulls protecting him.
• Old Lu’s ghost body broke into scattered smoke, and Zhou Yi unleashed Sword Qi to slaughter the fleeing wisps.
• Luo Shuo attacked Zhou Yi and tried to escape as blade light, but Zhou Yi blasted him down and crushed him to death.
• Zhou Yi took Luo Shuo’s blade manual and left the ruins of Xiao Xiang House, while a group of martial world elders discussed killing him to obtain immortality.

After mastering the supreme art of becoming one with the blade, Zhou Yi grew alarmed by how effortlessly his martial comprehension had advanced since reaching the Innate Realm. He returned to the imperial palace and found Little Liang alive in the Scripture Pavilion, leaving Little Liang to bring him the finest martial arts manuals.

• At the Imperial Mausoleum, Zhou Yi read the blade manual and unexpectedly mastered the art of becoming one with the blade, then realized his martial cultivation had become strangely effortless.
• When a gray-clothed elder challenged him for trespassing, Zhou Yi killed him with blade light and flew toward the capital, troubled by the change in himself.
• Several days later, Zhou Yi entered the Scripture Pavilion as sword light and tested the old eunuch who was sorting its books.
• The old eunuch revealed himself as Little Liang, knelt before Zhou Yi, and explained that years of reading had coincided with his steadily improving martial cultivation.
• Zhou Yi recognized that Little Liang was nearing the Innate Realm and ordered him to bring out the finest supreme arts.

Zhou Yi strengthened his martial arts, reunited with Zhou Ping'an, and learned how his adopted son had gained power by helping defeat the Xie family. Their conversation turned to Gu Xiao and the emperor’s origins, ending with Zhou Ping'an asking why Zhou Yi had not placed a Zhou descendant on the throne.

• Zhou Yi took the Scripture Pavilion’s supreme manuals and learned from Little Liang that Old Lu had demonstrated aura observation and artifact refinement.
• Zhou Yi met Zhou Ping'an after more than twenty years apart and heard how the Zhou family had risen under his adopted son’s influence.
• Zhou Ping'an admitted that he had warned the King Who Pacifies the North about the court’s plans, contributing to the northern army’s defeat and the Xie family’s downfall.
• Zhou Ping'an explained that Gu Xiao had killed his junior brother after discovering the woman’s connection to the emperor, then claimed the credit and became commander of the Pacification Office.
• Zhou Ping'an revealed his suspicion that the emperor was not of imperial blood, and Zhou Yi confirmed that he had switched the Crown Prince as a child.
• Zhou Ping'an asked Zhou Yi why he had not replaced the emperor with a descendant of the Zhou family.

Zhou Yi advised Zhou Ping'an against seeking the throne directly and urged him to use the Empress’s death and Emperor Taichang’s expected demise to install a new ruler. He then asked Eunuch Yuan to help the Zhou family search for surviving grandmasters, while concealing that he was chiefly hunting Eunuch Hai for a martial art that could restore his manhood.

• Zhou Yi warned Zhou Ping'an that a Zhou descendant on the throne would likely turn against the Zhou family, then outlined how the court’s weakness could be exploited to change rulers.
• Zhou Yi gave Zhou Ping'an a secret command token and ordered him to arrange the Empress’s death so it would appear accidental, then inform Chancellor Tang and wait for Emperor Taichang to die.
• Zhou Yi visited Eunuch Yuan in the palace and revealed his youthful appearance, prompting Eunuch Yuan to recognize him as Little Yi.
• Zhou Yi asked Eunuch Yuan to assist the Zhou family after Emperor Taichang’s expected death and said he wanted to find the grandmasters who survived the battle in the capital.
• Zhou Yi concealed his real goal: finding Eunuch Hai and taking his martial secret art to restore his manhood.

After Emperor Pingkang took the throne, Zhou Ping'an gained power and Zhou Yi hunted down his old enemies, learning that their missing bodies were tied to Eunuch Lu’s ghostly cultivation method. Years later, Zhou Yi tracked down Eunuch Hai and threatened his family unless he surrendered the secret art of yin reaching its extreme and giving birth to yang.

• After the emperor died and Pingkang ascended the throne, Zhou Ping'an became Chief Minister and later Grand Preceptor.
• Zhou Yi attacked Prajna Temple, killed its monks, and forced Vajra Immortal to answer for the absent bodies in his enemies’ tombs.
• Vajra Immortal explained that Eunuch Lu’s method gathered Spirit Souls and transformed practitioners into ghosts to prolong their lives, then Zhou Yi killed him.
• Over the following years, Zhou Yi hunted down the enemies identified by the court’s spies, while rumors spread that he was a god or Buddha.
• In Sishui City, Zhou Yi found Eunuch Hai, whose gambling grandson had exposed the family through pawned palace jewelry.
• Zhou Yi threatened Eunuch Hai’s family and offered to spare one descendant if Eunuch Hai surrendered the secret art of yin reaching its extreme and giving birth to yang.

Zhou Yi killed Eunuch Hai after learning his secret art, then rose to unmatched power as Zhou Ping'an prepared to claim the throne. The chapter ended with Zhou Yi allowing his son to ascend while remaining devoted to martial arts and fishing.

• Eunuch Hai gave Zhou Yi the Extreme Yin Giving Birth to Yang art and asked him to spare his grandson, Yu'er of Ye City.
• Zhou Yi mastered the art, restored his male body, and advanced his martial cultivation before killing Eunuch Hai while promising to spare his grandson.
• During the capital rebellion, Grand Tutor Zhou crushed the revolt, Emperor Pingkang died, and Zhou Ping'an later became Prince Chu and took charge of court affairs.
• Six years later, Zhou Ping'an visited Zhou Yi at Longevity Mountain and reported the emergence of a young Little Sword God in Jiangnan.
• Zhou Ping'an told Zhou Yi that Emperor Long'an intended to abdicate in his favor, and Zhou Yi warned him that people would always come after those in power.
• Zhou Yi gave Zhou Ping'an leave to take the throne, then used his True Qi to create a river in the air for the carp he had caught.