Chapter Summaries

Cheng Xi oversaw a successful new ironmaking process at the Mount Li Workshop, but the iron revealed a trace of Gonggong’s Essence Blood. After attackers sabotaged the workshop with cursed poison fire, Cheng Xi secretly extinguished it and the damage exposed a dangerous essence-blood crystal in the furnace lining.

• Cheng Xi directed Gongshu Sheng and the artisans through a data-guided blast-furnace smelt that produced unusually pure, tough iron.
• Cheng Xi noticed a ghostly blue glimmer in the iron, and the system identified a possible link to Gonggong’s Essence Blood.
• Black-clad intruders poisoned the coke yard and air inlets, setting off corrosive green flames that threatened to destroy the workshop.
• Cheng Xi secretly froze the cursed fire and used a Jade Talisman’s Spirit Rain to clear the poison while concealing his actions.
• Gongshu Sheng found a glowing Gonggong’s Essence Blood crystal embedded in the furnace lining, and the system warned Cheng Xi that ancient beings might have sensed it.

Cheng Xi contained the rampaging Gonggong's Essence Blood Crystal, then learned from Moon Goddess that Xing Hun and other forces were pursuing deeper secrets beneath Mount Li. A scan revealed a loosening underground seal containing a Dragon Aura presence that opened a golden eye and seemed to look directly at him.

• The Azure Crystal unleashed a freezing surge that trapped nearby artisans, but Cheng Xi used a Negative Entropy Field to suppress it and seal it in a lead box.
• Cheng Xi studied the crystal and worried that its ability to draw in and contaminate water could threaten the Lingqu flood-control project.
• Moon Goddess warned Cheng Xi that Xing Hun's Dark Chen had orchestrated the attack and forged the 'Mo' token to sow conflict between Qin and the Mohists.
• Moon Goddess said Mount Li held older secrets and warned Cheng Xi about the Primordial Water Vein, the river, and a Gaze from Underground.
• Cheng Xi scanned Mount Li's earth veins and glimpsed a sealed underground lake, where a crack opened in an amber crystal and a golden pupil stared at him.

Cheng Xi used a sound technique to weaken the disturbances caused by a sealed being beneath Mount Li and Gonggong’s remnant will in the Wei River. The Kongtong Seal Phantom then suppressed his power, but Cheng Xi challenged it with the Kindling Fire Imprint and helped calm the disaster, leaving his conflict with Lu Buwei and the Human School openly irreconcilable.

• Cheng Xi sensed a cold eye beneath Mount Li, and its awakening triggered violent tremors while Gonggong’s remnant will stirred the Wei River.
• Cheng Xi played an invisible zither, using reverse resonance to weaken the underground disturbance and yang-charged sound waves to disperse the dark-blue water pythons.
• The Kongtong Seal Phantom appeared above Xianyang Palace and suppressed supernatural power, disrupting Cheng Xi’s efforts to control the disaster.
• Cheng Xi used Chaos Energy and the Kindling Fire Imprint to challenge the seal’s authority, then struck a contaminated node beneath the Wei River and helped calm the river and tremors.
• Cheng Xi realized his conflict with Lu Buwei and the Human School could no longer be reconciled, while Xing Hun watched from the Yin Yang School Secret Hall and welcomed the movement of the pieces.

Cheng Xi rebuilt Mount Li Workshop and proved his Jing River diversion canal worked, winning public and court acclaim. Secretly, he used an underground channel to contact the sealed presence beneath Mount Li, while an ominous celestial sign convinced Lu Buwei to move against him.

• Cheng Xi compensated the workshop's dead and wounded, posted public data and safety rules, and accelerated reconstruction and river surveys.
• Cheng Xi opened the experimental diversion canal, whose measured flow irrigated dry land and stabilized the Jing River; Gongshu Sheng reported that the full project could irrigate forty thousand qing.
• Cheng Xi secretly routed an underground channel near Mount Li's seal and used rune bricks and his essence blood to establish brief contact with the ancient presence below.
• Lu Buwei saw the Taiwei stars shine unusually bright and linked the omen to Cheng Xi's growing influence, resolving to eliminate him.
• Cheng Xi sensed the underground presence's lingering mark and recognized that the final confrontation with Lu Buwei was approaching.

Cheng Xi advised Ying Zheng to use a locust plague in Han to break the surviving Han people's resistance and distract the Six States while Qin pursued a divide-and-conquer strategy. The plague struck harder than expected, and Han envoys begged Qin for aid as Xing Hun's interference threatened to spark a political crisis.

• Cheng Xi used a game theory model to urge Ying Zheng to consolidate Qin's gains and divide Zhao, Wei, and Chu, while exploiting a predicted locust plague in Han.
• Ying Zheng approved preparations for the plague, including sealing Han's borders, stockpiling supplies, and sending Black Ice Platform agents to spread rumors.
• A Black Ice Platform Centurion carrying bribes and a secret letter to Wei was killed by a force Cheng Xi identified as belonging to Xing Hun's Yin Yang School.
• The system detected evil-energy guidance in the locusts, and the plague devastated Han while Qin's blockade and rumors deepened the famine.
• Starving Han nobles pleaded with Ying Zheng to accept their submission, while Ying Zheng and Cheng Xi feared Xing Hun could use the stolen materials to provoke Wei and revive the Vertical Alliance.

Cheng Xi broke Xing Hun’s attack on Xianyang Palace and countered Wei’s accusations by proposing immediate relief for Han refugees and an investigation into poisoned supplies. Ying Zheng approved the relief measures, but the stolen evidence against Qin remained unresolved as the court adjourned.

• Xu Jia accused Qin of abandoning Han during the locust plague and presented stolen materials as evidence that Qin had bribed Wei officials, threatening a Vertical Alliance against Qin.
• Demonic locusts attacked Xianyang Palace and used a spiritual assault to target Ying Zheng and Cheng Xi, while sparing Lu Buwei and his followers.
• Cheng Xi used bronze gongs and reflected sunlight to disrupt the locust swarm and weaken its spiritual attack, injuring Xing Hun through backlash.
• Cheng Xi accused unknown conspirators of framing Qin and poisoning relief supplies, then proposed opening granaries and border porridge stations for Han refugees.
• Lu Buwei publicly supported Cheng Xi’s proposal to distance himself from the suspected plot, and Ying Zheng ordered relief to begin and an investigation into the poisoned grain and clothing.

Cheng Xi helped Ying Zheng restore Qin’s reputation and weaken Lu Buwei, but discovered that Qin’s growing power was hastening the awakening of the sealed Ancestor Dragon. After learning of Xing Hun’s plan to unleash a disaster in Wei, Cheng Xi sought Xunzi’s help, then learned that Ying Zheng was already seeing the Dragon Soul in his dreams.

• Cheng Xi supervised transparent relief stations, earning the refugees’ gratitude and thwarting spies sent by Xing Hun.
• Ying Zheng investigated the poisoned grain and epidemic clothes, punished implicated officials, and transferred some of the Chancellor’s financial auditing authority to the Office of the Lesser Treasury.
• Cheng Xi detected rising activity beneath Mount Li and linked the Ancestor Dragon’s awakening to Ying Zheng’s growing authority, while identifying signs of Xing Hun’s influence on an omen pointing toward war with Wei and Chu.
• A maidservant trusted by Moon Goddess delivered intelligence that Xing Hun planned to use a Wei sacrificial site and Gonggong’s power to cause a vast disaster.
• Cheng Xi secretly wrote to Xunzi, hoping his influence could help stop Xing Hun’s scheme without Qin intervening openly in Wei.
• Ying Zheng summoned Cheng Xi and described a recurring dream of a giant golden eye beneath the darkness, confirming that the Ancestor Dragon was influencing him.

Xunzi used his lecture on the Way of Heaven to disrupt the Yin Yang School’s attempt to unleash a catastrophic flood at Shuimi Terrace. Cheng Xi’s effort to project future threats left him in a protective coma, and Lu Buwei seized the chance to launch an attack on him and the Mount Li Workshop.

• After receiving Cheng Xi’s warning about the rising danger at Shuimi Terrace, Xunzi traveled to Daliang to investigate.
• Xunzi lectured on “On Heaven” at Shuimi Terrace, neutralizing the evil formation and dimming the spirit jades holding Gonggong’s Essence Blood.
• Cheng Xi sensed that the crisis had passed, then overused the system while projecting future threats and fell into a 72-hour protective coma.
• Ying Zheng visited Cheng Xi, dreamed again of the golden vertical pupils, and awoke with a stronger will to control and destroy; he sensed a call from Mount Li.
• Lu Buwei learned that Cheng Xi was unconscious, crushed a jade talisman to contact Xing Hun, and ordered an attack on the Mount Li Workshop and Cheng Xi.

Cheng Xi awakened from Forced Dormancy and refined a small portion of Gonggong’s Essence Blood to regain strength and glimpse the Law of Water. As Xing Hun’s killing formation attacked Mount Li, the Ancestor Dragon’s roar disrupted it, but the Dragon then fixed its attention on Cheng Xi and the Gonggong aura he carried.

• The Human Race Kindling Fire Imprint helped Cheng Xi awaken, and he opened the lead box holding Gonggong’s Essence Blood to replenish his energy.
• Cheng Xi endured the Essence Blood’s violent energy and will, using the Chaos Space to refine a small portion and gain initial understanding of the Law of Water.
• Xing Hun’s disciples activated a Yin Yang Absolute Array over the workshop, threatening Cheng Xi and the people inside.
• The Ancestor Dragon’s roar shook Mount Li and disrupted several pillars of the formation, causing backlash to the Yin Yang School Disciples.
• The Ancestor Dragon sensed Gonggong’s aura on Cheng Xi and fixed its attention on him with a desire to devour him.

Cheng Xi broke Xing Hun’s Yin Yang Absolute Array by coordinating a ballista bombardment with an ice-and-fire attack, while the underground Ancestor Dragon’s Soul reacted violently. Ying Zheng arrived and used the Qin King's Seal to soothe the Dragon Soul temporarily, leaving Cheng Xi wary of its eventual awakening and Lu Buwei’s scheme.

• Cheng Xi ordered Gongshu Sheng to bombard three energy nodes with the Flame Sun Ballistas, then hurled an unstable sphere of ice-and-fire energy at the disrupted formation.
• Cheng Xi’s attack tore open the Yin Yang Absolute Array, and the underground Dragon's Roar killed and incapacitated Yin Yang School Disciples.
• Ying Zheng arrived with his royal guard, condemned the attack, and ordered his men to search for the surviving Yin Yang School Disciples.
• Cheng Xi told Ying Zheng that the underground power might be guided, and Ying Zheng used the Qin King's Seal to send it a soothing trace of kingly aura.
• The Ancestor Dragon’s Soul responded with faint dependence and reduced hostility, while Cheng Xi recognized that the calm was temporary.

Lu Buwei secretly provoked Chu nobles into attacking Mount Li, where the Ancestor Dragon’s Soul unleashed devastating dragon breath against the invaders. Ying Zheng ordered an invasion of Chu as Mars appeared to confirm a dire omen, while Cheng Xi recognized Xing Hun’s scheme to shift blame and push Qin toward war.

• Lu Buwei sent a blood-red jade talisman to Chu nobles and fed them false intelligence to incite an attack on Mount Li.
• Chu private soldiers and Jing Man witch priests raided Qin supply points and settlements, then advanced on the core workshop and its earth veins.
• The Ancestor Dragon’s Soul erupted from Mount Li, vaporizing the Chu attackers who had breached the workshop’s defenses.
• Ying Zheng ordered Qin’s armies to assemble for a retaliatory invasion of Chu, despite Cheng Xi’s concerns that the attack was meant to provoke them.
• Mars stopped above Chu and its light briefly fell on Lu Buwei, while Cheng Xi recognized traces of Xing Hun’s formation shifting blame and encouraging war.

Cheng Xi persuaded Ying Zheng to delay the invasion of Chu by presenting a data-driven strategy, which the Qin King's Seal and the Ancestor Dragon's Soul appeared to endorse. As Qin began weakening Chu by covert means, Cheng Xi discovered that Xing Hun had redirected a celestial threat toward Yongcheng and the forces of Zhao Ji and Lao Ai.

• Cheng Xi presented a strategic simulation showing that delaying the attack, securing Qin's rear, and harassing Chu would improve the odds of victory.
• The Qin King's Seal resonated with the simulation, and Ying Zheng postponed the campaign and ordered preparations for a later invasion.
• Cheng Xi proposed economic warfare, espionage, and crop sabotage against Chu, and Ying Zheng gave him authority over the operation.
• Cheng Xi detected that the blood-red Mars omen had shifted toward Yongcheng and found a familiar stellar fluctuation there.
• Cheng Xi's simulation revealed a glimpse of Lao Ai worshipping a star-deity statue resembling Xing Hun, suggesting Xing Hun was targeting Qin's internal forces.

Cheng Xi and Meng Tian crushed Lao Ai’s rebellion in Yongcheng by destroying Xing Hun’s Star Altar and disrupting its Evil Formation. After the Ancestor Dragon’s Soul showed interest in Cheng Xi’s power, the System warned that Xing Hun’s real target was the Gonggong ruins in Wei.

• Xing Hun’s Star Altar in Lao Ai’s residence unleashed a curse across Yongcheng, driving citizens mad and empowering the rebels.
• Cheng Xi presented the formation’s weaknesses to Ying Zheng, who sent him and Meng Tian to suppress the rebellion while protecting civilians.
• Cheng Xi used Bronze Mirror Formations and calming soundwaves to weaken the curse, then sent Meng Tian to attack the remaining nodes.
• Cheng Xi destroyed the altar’s idol and defeated its defenders, collapsing the Evil Formation and clearing the blood-red sky over Yongcheng.
• The Ancestor Dragon’s Soul demanded Cheng Xi’s power, and Cheng Xi broke their connection.
• Xing Hun revealed his plan pointed toward Wei, and the System detected a dangerous spatial fluctuation near Daliang resonating with Gonggong’s Essence Blood.

Cheng Xi raced to Daliang and discovered Xing Hun was using star power to unleash Gonggong’s remnant energy at Shuimi Terrace. After Cheng Xi tried to contain the danger, Xing Hun redirected the destructive torrent toward Zhao and Qin, leaving Cheng Xi injured as it surged toward the border.

• Cheng Xi reached Daliang, where King of Wei refused to see him, and presented Xunzi with evidence that Xing Hun was causing the threat at Shuimi Terrace.
• Xunzi believed Cheng Xi but warned that the Wei court would be difficult to convince, so Cheng Xi ordered Black Ice Platform agents to purify water and warn civilians while Xunzi organized evacuation efforts.
• Cheng Xi went to the Qi River and used Gonggong’s power to build black-ice dams and redirect the river, disrupting the star-power storm around Shuimi Terrace.
• Xing Hun intensified the star-power beam, then bound the gathered energy into a torrent and sent it north toward Zhao and Qin instead of letting it devastate Wei.
• Cheng Xi’s final defense slightly weakened the torrent but shattered under its impact, and Cheng Xi was thrown backward bleeding as the torrent continued toward Zhao’s border cities and Qin’s Hexi region.

Cheng Xi tried to stop Xing Hun's destructive torrent from reaching the Zhao-Qin border, while the Ancestor Dragon's intervention helped avert the disaster. The torrent vanished, but Xing Hun's curse seeped into the Dragon Soul, leaving its fate uncertain.

• Cheng Xi warned Meng Tian of the torrent's path and ordered evacuations and Ice Condensing Crossbow Bolt attacks to slow it.
• Cheng Xi entered the river and used Chaos Space and the Extreme Cold Law of Water to absorb and divert the torrent's energy.
• The Ancestor Dragon sent a Dark Gold barrier across a thousand li, blocking the torrent's fiercest impact and buying time for Cheng Xi and the evacuation.
• Cheng Xi and the Dragon Breath Barrier weakened the torrent until it dissipated less than ten li from Pishi City.
• A trace of dark-blue starlight attached itself to the barrier and seeped underground toward the Ancestor Dragon, while Cheng Xi collapsed before he could stop it.
• Xing Hun revealed that he had planted a curse in the Dragon Soul and vowed to make it his Star Slave.

After Xing Hun’s curse infiltrated the Ancestor Dragon’s Soul, Cheng Xi built a resonance array that let Ying Zheng’s Qin King’s Seal channel the Human Race Kindling Fire and restrain the curse. The Dragon Soul began to recover, but Xing Hun became fascinated by Cheng Xi’s newly revealed Chaos power and shifted his attention to him.

• Ying Zheng sent relief and diplomatic overtures to Zhao, pressured Wei to expel the Yin Yang School, and concealed the Dragon Soul’s disturbance from Qin’s people.
• After waking, Cheng Xi used his memories of the curse and the Ancestor Dragon’s energy to direct Gongshu Sheng and other craftsmen to build a resonance array centered on the Human Race Kindling Fire Imprint.
• Cheng Xi placed the array on a Mount Li Earth Vein Node, and Ying Zheng lent him the Qin King’s Seal to bridge the array’s power into the depths.
• The array sent Human Dao power through the earth veins, melting back Xing Hun’s Star Mark curse and calming the Ancestor Dragon’s Soul, though Cheng Xi collapsed from exhaustion.
• Ying Zheng sensed the Dragon Soul’s complicated response to Cheng Xi’s power, while Xing Hun realized the curse had been restrained and saw Cheng Xi’s star shine with Chaos power.
• Xing Hun decided Cheng Xi was a more interesting target than the sealed dragon.

Xing Hun used Star Fiend Puppets to force Qin to send the Qin King's Seal to a border city, then exploited its absence to accelerate his attempt to control the Ancestor Dragon's Soul. Cheng Xi summoned the heroic spirits of fallen Qin soldiers to hold the city, while a flicker of the Dragon Soul's own Chaos Color briefly disrupted Xing Hun's control.

• Xing Hun revealed that the Star Eclipse Seed was draining the Ancestor Dragon's spirituality and raised corpses across Qin, Zhao, and Wei as Star Fiend Puppets.
• Cheng Xi analyzed the puppets' weaknesses and organized new weapons, coordinated tactics, fire-based purification, and rites to strengthen Human Dao Destiny.
• At a besieged border city, Cheng Xi recited Qin battle songs and the names of fallen soldiers, summoning heroic spirit phantoms that disrupted the puppets and lifted the defenders' morale.
• Ying Zheng sent the King's Banner and Qin King's Seal to the border, where their authority strengthened the heroic spirits and helped contain the puppet assault.
• Xing Hun used the Seal's absence to accelerate his control of the Ancestor Dragon's Soul, but a flash of Chaos Color from within the Dragon Soul caused a momentary delay.

Xing Hun’s attempt to turn the Ancestor Dragon’s Soul into a Heavenly Dao puppet was disrupted when Ying Zheng’s bloodline will activated a Chaos Imprint left by Cheng Xi. The Star Orbit Grand Array collapsed, leaving a hidden seed of chaos in the Dragon Soul and Xing Hun injured and furious.

• Xing Hun completed most of the Heavenly Dao Star Orbit Grand Array, binding the Ancestor Dragon’s Soul with Starlight Chains.
• Ying Zheng felt his connection to the Dragon Soul nearly severed and sent it a furious command through their bloodline bond.
• Ying Zheng’s will activated the Dragon Soul’s Chaos Imprint, which formed a vortex that devoured the Star Orbit Chains and disrupted the array.
• A trace of ancient Chaos Aura escaped, drawing a moment of attention from an unknowable presence in Endless Deep Space.
• The Star Orbit Grand Array ruptured, and the Dragon Soul fell silent with a hidden seed of chaos in its depths.
• Xing Hun suffered backlash, blamed Cheng Xi, and roared his name in rage.

After Cheng Xi awoke to find his Chaos Space strengthened, Ying Zheng’s new suspicion led him to place the Mount Li Workshop under joint oversight. Lu Buwei sent a blood-written plea toward the Deadly Abyss of Return as distant eyes fixed on the source of Cheng Xi’s Chaos Aura.

• Xing Hun suffered law-level backlash from the failed Heavenly Dao Star Orbit Grand Array and sensed the Heavenly Dao had grown wary of him.
• Cheng Xi awoke to find his Chaos Space restored and expanded, while system records identified his Chaos Energy as a high-level external attribute that could reduce the Heavenly Dao’s power at the rule level.
• Lu Buwei accused Cheng Xi and the Mount Li Workshop of causing calamities, and Ying Zheng ordered the workshop’s affairs placed under joint review while granting Cheng Xi a residence in Xianyang.
• Lu Buwei sent a blood-and-soul offering toward the Deadly Abyss of Return to seek aid from a potentially ancient, evil being.
• Eyes formed by galaxies turned toward the point where Cheng Xi’s incompatible Chaos Aura had leaked into the Primordial World.

Cheng Xi unleashed Chaos's First Cry and devoured the Entropy Force Field, easing the pressure on Xianyang but drawing the wrath of the Abyss of Return. As the entropy giant palm descended, Ying Zheng's seal faltered, Lu Buwei attacked Cheng Xi from behind, and Xing Hun moved in to seize him.

• The Entropy Force Field steadily overwhelmed Ying Zheng's Dragon Radiance domain as the Qin King's Seal weakened and Xianyang's citizens felt their life force draining away.
• Cheng Xi actively devoured the entropy around Mount Li Workshop, creating a Chaos Vortex and releasing a law-level fluctuation known as Chaos's First Cry.
• Xing Hun recognized Chaos's First Cry as a power beyond the Heavenly Dao and burned his natal star source to descend on Xianyang and claim Cheng Xi.
• The Abyss of Return's entropy force gathered into a giant palm aimed at Cheng Xi, and Ying Zheng's Qin King's Seal struck it before shattering and leaving Ying Zheng wounded.
• Lu Buwei sacrificed his remaining soul to fire a curse talisman at Cheng Xi, while Xing Hun's star-powered hand reached for him and the entropy giant palm descended again.