Recaps

Xia Fan helped Jinxia City strengthen its administration, communications, and steel production while Luo Qingqing joined Ning Wanjun’s cause. As refugees fled the war and new officials arrived, Hong Siqi accepted a role in the Affairs Bureau.

• Xia Fan served shaved ice to Fang Xiandao and explained refined salt, while Fang Xiandao described the conditions under which the Fang family might give an outsider a Living Dead.
• Luo Qingqing told Xia Fan about Luo Tang and Luo Changtian’s deaths and her plan to confront the royal family, then agreed to meet Ning Wanjun, who confirmed her intention to rebel against the imperial family.
• Ning Qianshi uncovered the Fei Clan’s forbidden experiments, defeated Fei Chuxiang and Fei Qing, and declared the surviving Fei Clan disciples liberated.
• Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing tested her Flying Sword, discovered its ability to heat iron, and named her Sorcery Art Dragon Scale, while Ning Wanjun learned that Gao State had invaded Qi State.
• Xia Fan persuaded Ning Wanjun to expand Jinxia’s influence through Bureau of Military Affairs branches, trained officials, and Evil Spirit prevention, then demonstrated radio communication using the Xunyin Technique.
• Fang Yu ordered Fang Yanni to take Qian Yan to Jinxia City to investigate the Bureau’s interest in Living Dead, while Hong Siqi arrived and learned how the General Affairs Bureau had gained popular support.
• Mo Yun and Xia Fan used Luo Qingqing’s Dragon Scale to produce steel in a new furnace, and Ning Wanjun assigned the newly arrived Prefect Hong Siqi to help Xia Fan settle refugees fleeing Leizhou.

Xia Fan established the Academy and expanded Jinxia’s public institutions while Liu Ruyan escaped Zuiqing Pavilion to become a probationary official. As the Fang family and other powers confronted the danger surrounding Immortal Art, Xia Fan turned to designing air rifles for the princess’s army.

• Zhou Sheng tried to undermine the Affairs Bureau’s new policy, while Liu Ruyan sought a position there and refused his demand to become his kept woman.
• Li rescued Liu Ruyan from Zuiqing Pavilion, and Xia Fan appointed her as a probationary official and prepared her to teach at the Academy.
• Hong Siqi organized refugee arrivals into orderly camps and work crews, while Xia Fan created a Grain Department and enlisted the Tree Boat’s support for Jinxia’s construction.
• Scholars plotted to discredit Liu Ruyan, but unfamiliar lessons and Xia Fan’s demonstration of a powered Biplane undermined their challenge to the Academy.
• Qian Yan identified Xia Fan as a hidden Wild Listener and warned him that the Bureau of Military Affairs concealed information about Listeners and their dangerous Immortal Arts.
• Ning Qianshi attacked the Luo family for Immortal Art, while Yan Qing and Du Yelong found that the Fang family had scattered to avoid being found.
• Xia Fan moved into a new residence with Li, and Li reflected on the troubles of being Yao while naming the Cat Spirit Feihua.
• Xia Fan proposed compressed-air rifles to address Jinxia’s shortage of materials for gunpowder weapons, and Mo Yun urged him to test the design.

Xia Fan traveled to Shangyuan City to investigate the Bureau of Military Affairs and the Crown Prince’s assassination attempt, then led his companions into the Bureau’s Record Department. They uncovered an Immortal Arts storehouse, where Xia Fan found a record whose complex diagram he thought he could understand.

• Xia Fan tested the air-powered rifle, welcomed the displaced Fang family to Jinxia City, and learned that the Living Dead could help with seafood transport.
• After news of the Emperor’s abdication and the Crown Prince’s imminent enthronement, Xia Fan accepted an invitation to the Bureau of Military Affairs ceremony and traveled to Shangyuan City with his companions.
• Xia Fan attended the Lantern Banquet, where a shadow attacked Ning Weiyuan and an assassin was identified as Zhang, a newly promoted Myriad-Edge.
• After Xia Fan was released from questioning, Xin Wu asked him to investigate the assassination, and Xia Fan decided to enter the Record Department before anyone could alter its records.
• Xia Fan, Li, Qian Yan, and Luo Qingqing infiltrated the Bureau and descended into its trapped underground passages, where they encountered and killed a lightning-wielding Xingshi.
• The group reached the Record Department’s Bottom Level Hub, set up a Sound Transmission Device, and searched for records and clues about Li’s master.
• Xia Fan and his companions discovered an Immortal Arts storehouse containing preserved consciousnesses, and Xia Fan said he might understand one of the complex diagrams.

Xia Fan helped the Bureau of Military Affairs defeat Olina and seize power, while learning the history of King Yong and the Black Gate. As the Bureau investigated Li’s past, Xia Fan prepared to return to Jinxia and recruited Yu Shuangxue and Xintao to build a new life there.

• Xia Fan and his companions misdirected Olina’s search for the Heavenly Dao, then helped Ning Qianshi capture her after she attacked the Record Department Hub and transformed into a Dragon.
• Ning Qianshi led the Black Cavalry and Bureau sorcerers to take Shangyuan Palace, then persuaded Ning Weiyuan to announce the Six-State Alliance and the Bureau’s new authority.
• Ning Qianshi told Xia Fan that King Yong had opened the Black Gate, while Qian and Yan Qing explained that the Black Gate Cult sought Listeners who might reveal the location of King Yong’s true mausoleum.
• Yan Qing identified Li as Li Mengyun’s daughter, learned that Li was a Fox Demon, and chose not to report her to the Bureau.
• Fei Nian traced a false personnel identity to Ning Wanjun and concluded she had altered Xia Fan’s examination results to restore his rightful ranking.
• Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun he would return to Jinxia and recruited women from Wushuang Pavilion to teach there, assuring Yu Shuangxue that Jinxia would protect their independence and rights.
• Yu Shuangxue and Xintao accepted Xia Fan’s offer, reclaimed their savings, and burned their contracts before preparing to leave for Jinxia.