Chapter Summaries

Xia Fan and his allies fought off Olina’s guard knights, forcing the Ambassador to reveal her dragon form and unleash a devastating blast. Olina fled through a secret passage, but Yan Qing said the Bureau of Military Affairs had already trapped her outside, while Ning Qianshi praised Xia Fan’s performance.

• Xia Fan lured a guard knight into the air and struck him with amplified lightning, while Du Yelong defeated another knight with the Hundred-Flower Dance.
• Yan Qing kept Olina from casting spells as Xia Fan and the others turned the fight in their favor.
• Olina transformed into a huge Dragon and fired a black fireball, causing an explosion that injured everyone in the chamber.
• Olina returned to human form and fled through the secret passage as Ning Qianshi chose to check on his allies rather than pursue her.
• Yan Qing said He’er had arranged a Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare outside, and Ning Qianshi praised Xia Fan and said he qualified for exceptional admission to the core members.

Xia Fan learned that Ning Qianshi had arranged the operation and that his performance had earned him a place among the Bureau of Military Affairs' core members. After narrowly avoiding a confrontation over his disguised companions, he joined the battle outside the Record Department Main Hall, where the Second Prince awaited Olina’s next move.

• Ning Qianshi explained that he had tasked Xia Fan with directing events and said Xia had passed an assessment to become a core member of the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Ning Qianshi asked to meet Xia Fan’s companions, and Xia introduced the three disguised women as people he had chosen from Jinxia City.
• Yan Qing nearly recognized Li but stopped herself and urged everyone to leave the underground hub.
• Xia Fan saw Qian and Yu Linglong attacking Olina in Dragon form, wearing her down so they could capture her alive.
• Olina raised her neck and called out in an unfamiliar speech, and Ning Qianshi waited to see whether a Deity would protect her.

Olina unleashed Divine Art during her battle with the Bureau of Military Affairs, but Feathered Garment "Qian" defeated her and Ning Qianshi ordered her imprisoned for interrogation. As Xia Fan tried to leave, Ning Qianshi revealed that the grand ceremony had begun, and cavalry bearing the character "Xu" arrived outside.

• A gash in the sky empowered Olina, who unleashed golden flames that killed Sorcery Artists and guards and damaged nearby buildings.
• Ning Qianshi explained Divine Art and discussed how the different arts could eventually be understood within a unified framework.
• Feathered Garment "Qian" fought through Olina's flames using extraordinary regeneration and beat her until she returned to human form.
• Ning Qianshi had guards pin Olina with spears, broke one of her fingers, and ordered her taken to the dungeon for questioning.
• When Xia Fan asked to leave, Ning Qianshi told him the grand ceremony had begun, and cavalry carrying banners marked "Xu" arrived outside Bureau Headquarters.

Ning Qianshi revealed that the Bureau of Military Affairs had gathered to reunite the Six States, then led its sorcerers and the Black Cavalry into Shangyuan Palace to defeat the Imperial Guard. After capturing the Crown Prince, Ning Qianshi declared that the divided states would become one kingdom.

• Ning Qianshi told Xia Fan that the Bureau of Military Affairs' members had willingly joined its cause, and He'er offered to calculate Xia Fan's strengths and future.
• After scouts reported that the palace gates were sealed and Imperial Guard units were in the streets, Ning Qianshi ordered the Xu State cavalry to replace their banners with those of the Black Cavalry Army.
• Ning Qianshi ordered the Black Cavalry to advance on Shangyuan Palace, and the army and Bureau sorcerers overcame the Imperial Guard by the following noon.
• Ning Qianshi and Xia Fan entered the Crown Prince's Eastern Palace, where they found Ning Weiyuan waiting.
• Ning Qianshi admitted that he had planned for nine years and declared that the Six States would reunite as one kingdom.

Ning Qianshi explained that the Bureau of Military Affairs had long been working to unite the six states against the rising powers of the Western Pole, whose Yao rulers wielded Divine Arts through their connection to the Deity. He revealed that Ning Weiyuan would still ascend the throne, while the Bureau would be governed collectively by the Seven Stars of the Six States.

• Ning Qianshi told Ning Weiyuan that the plan to unite the states had been underway for decades and that Feng and Qi forces were now acting in Mao State as they had in Qi.
• Ning Qianshi explained that the Bureau of Military Affairs had purged its internal opposition after the Wanjing Building incident and that Ning Weiyuan's attempt to use the Commanding Art against their father had not changed his resolve.
• Ning Qianshi warned Xia Fan and the others that the Western Pole had grown powerful, that most of its Qi Sense Users could use Divine Arts, and that its ruling class was predominantly Yao.
• Yan Qing shattered Ning Weiyuan's tea bowl before he could drink the poison inside, and Ning Qianshi said he had never intended to kill him or their father.
• Ning Qianshi promised that Ning Weiyuan could still become emperor, while the Bureau of Military Affairs would replace a single leader with collective deliberation by the Seven Stars of the Six States.

Ning Qianshi forced Ning Weiyuan to accept a puppet emperorship as the Bureau of Military Affairs pursued the Six-State Alliance. He then revealed to Xia Fan the Bureau’s secret history: King Yong had opened a strange Gate of Heavenly Dao, which may have led to Yong State’s fall.

• Ning Qianshi persuaded Ning Weiyuan to remain emperor and announce the Six-State Alliance and the Bureau of Military Affairs’ new authority.
• Ning Weiyuan warned that the Qi Sense Users’ pursuit of goals without regard for sentiment could eventually provoke a backlash.
• Ning Qianshi explained to Xia Fan that the Bureau planned to replace civil officials with Qi Sense Users trained for government roles.
• Ning Qianshi told Xia Fan that King Yong had opened the Gate of Heavenly Dao, which released an ominous presence unlike the gate described in earlier records.

Ning Qianshi and the others explained how King Yong’s pursuit of Chaos turned him into something like an Evil Spirit, leading to the Black Gate and the Yong Dynasty’s fall. They revealed that surviving Black Gate Cult members were searching for Listeners and might use them to locate King Yong’s hidden mausoleum.

• Ning Qianshi told Xia Fan that King Yong used Chaos to transform himself, retained his consciousness, and summoned the Black Gate.
• Ning Qianshi explained that King Yong’s experiments on sorcerers and Listeners alarmed those who knew the truth, and that King Yong eventually died as the Yong Dynasty split into six states.
• Qian and Yan Qing explained that the Bureau of Military Affairs restricted knowledge of Listeners to monitor them and thwart surviving Black Gate Cult members.
• Feathered Garment revealed that King Yong built seven mausoleums, one of which held his records about the Black Gate and the Heavenly Dao.
• Qian warned that the Black Gate Cult was seeking Listeners because they might hear the location of King Yong’s true mausoleum.

Xia Fan returned from the palace and told his companions and Ning Wanjun that the Bureau of Military Affairs planned to unite the Six States, while he remained committed to returning to Jinxia. Yan Qing then arrived at Wanjing Building and asked to see Li.

• Ning Qianshi told Xia Fan that he was already recognized as a core member of the Bureau of Military Affairs, whose goal was to unite the Six States and fill the power vacuum left by the noble clans.
• Xia Fan returned to Wanjing Building, gathered his companions, and relayed the palace's developments to them and Ning Wanjun through the Sound Transmission Device.
• Ning Wanjun reacted with alarm to the possible end of Qi State, and Xia Fan told her that the Bureau of Military Affairs had framed the border army and that he would return to Jinxia.
• Xia Fan ended his conversation with Ning Wanjun when Li warned him that Azure Blade had arrived, then found Yan Qing at the door.
• Yan Qing told Xia Fan that she had come to see Li.

Yan Qing used a wooden hairpin and her chains to confirm that Li was the surviving child of Li Mengyun. She revealed that she and Li Mengyun had first been friends and later become enemies, leaving their past relationship unexplained.

• Yan Qing visited Xia Fan and asked to speak with Li, but Li chose to stay with him.
• Yan Qing showed Li an old wooden hairpin, and Li recognized its marks as bite marks from her childhood.
• Yan Qing's chains bound and pierced Li's palm, then sensed her blood and aura before releasing her.
• Li demanded to know who owned the hairpin, and Yan Qing identified its original owner as Li Mengyun, Li's mother.
• Yan Qing explained that her Weaving Lock recognized Li's bloodline and said she and Li Mengyun had been friends before becoming enemies.

Yan Qing told Li and Xia Fan about Li Mengyun’s role in the Wanjing Building Incident and the convoy that supposedly killed her and her child. Yan Qing offered to take Li as her disciple, but Li refused and revealed her fox ears, showing Yan Qing that she was a demon.

• Yan Qing explained that Li Mengyun had sided with the Son of Heaven to protect her child during the Wanjing Building Incident, then was sent under guard to Xu State after the Son of Heaven’s defeat.
• Yan Qing said Evil Spirits attacked the convoy in Gao State and that investigators found the wreckage but no survivors or clear clues; she believed Li Mengyun and her child had died.
• Li rejected Yan Qing’s claim that her mother had been foolish, while Yan Qing admitted she regretted not recognizing Li Mengyun’s distress and offering help.
• Yan Qing offered to make Li her disciple and teach her the arts Li Mengyun had mastered, but Li refused because she had already found where she belonged.
• Li removed her cloth cap and revealed her furry ears to Yan Qing and Xia Fan, exposing that she was a demon.

Yan Qing revealed that Li Mengyun had pretended to betray the Bureau of Military Affairs to hide her Yao daughter, Li, and protect her from discovery. Yan Qing chose not to take Li as her disciple or report her, but warned Xia Fan to get her out of the Capital Region before returning Fangshi exposed her.

• Li told Yan Qing that Li Mengyun had raised and taught her in a bamboo grove without revealing her origins.
• Yan Qing realized that Li Mengyun had sacrificed herself and accepted blame to conceal Li’s existence and keep her safe.
• Yan Qing declined to take Li as her disciple and said she would not report that a Fox Demon was among Jinxia City's party.
• Xia Fan asked why the Bureau of Military Affairs feared Yao, and Yan Qing explained that Yao could challenge Fangshi power if they established stable reproduction.
• Li removed her false skin, and Yan Qing recognized her resemblance to Li Mengyun before warning Xia Fan to get her out of the Capital Region.
• Yan Qing said Li’s father was unknown and told Xia Fan to consider him dead.

Ning Qianshi and Fei Nian investigated the damage to the Record Department and the missing Immortal Art records, while Fei Nian continued searching for clues about Xia Fan’s sudden rise in ranking. A transfer order for Shangguan Cai suggested that someone might have assumed her identity and still be serving in the Jinxia Bureau of Military Affairs.

• A Record Department official told Ning Qianshi that no Immortal Art inheritances or Magic Eyes were missing, but two secret records had vanished.
• Ning Qianshi suspected Olina Okan had melted through the lock with her Li Fire technique, while Xia Fan had delayed her from taking the Magic Eyes.
• Fei Nian reviewed discrepancies in the personnel archive and found a record about Shangguan Cai, a Fangshi supposedly appointed to Leizhou despite still living in Shangyuan.
• A transfer order showed Shangguan Cai had been assigned to Jinxia City, leading Fei Nian to suspect someone had used her identity to take up the post.
• Fei Nian ordered the record keepers to find every document related to Shangguan Cai.

Fei Nian questioned Shangguan Cai about the false identity used to obtain a Bureau of Military Affairs post, hoping the stand-in could explain Xia Fan’s rise in ranking. Shangguan Cai agreed to help identify the woman who bought her appointment papers, while Yan Qing went to check on Olina and Okan before further questioning.

• Fei Nian reviewed Shangguan Cai’s examination and personnel records and ordered his subordinates to bring her in for questioning.
• Fei Nian intimidated Shangguan Cai in the interrogation hall, and she admitted that she had sold her Appointment Decree to a woman who used a middleman.
• Shangguan Cai said the woman had told her to stay hidden for half a year and agreed that she could recognize her again.
• Fei Nian released Shangguan Cai and arranged for her to help identify the woman using composite portraits.
• Fei Nian told Yan Qing that Shangguan Cai might be connected to Xia Fan’s rise in ranking, while Yan Qing went to check on Olina and Okan.

Fei Nian used He'er's Wanxiang Chess Manual to trace the woman who had replaced Shangguan Cai and discovered she was linked to Ning Wanjun. He concluded that the Third Princess had manipulated Xia Fan's Scholar Examination results and likely formed a deeper agreement with him, leaving Fei Nian with suspicions about their relationship.

• Fei Nian questioned He'er with the Wanxiang Chess Manual and learned that the woman tied to Xia Fan's ranking had lived in the Inner City but not in the imperial palace.
• A maid recognized the portrait as Qiuyue, the Third Princess's maid, leading Fei Nian to suspect Ning Wanjun had taken Shangguan Cai's place.
• Fei Nian reviewed records about Jinxia and realized Ning Wanjun might have left the Capital Region before the Scholar Examinations began.
• Fei Nian found Ba Xingtian listed as an inspector for the Qingshan Town Scholar Examination and inferred that Ning Wanjun had used her influence to alter Xia Fan's results.
• Fei Nian concluded that Ning Wanjun's actions had restored Xia Fan to his rightful ranking and that she had likely met and reached an agreement with him earlier than anyone knew.

Xia Fan reassured Ning Wanjun about Li and promised to return to Jinxia City as soon as he could. Concerned about the city’s shortage of teachers, he decided to seek out courtesans in Shangyuan City who might join Jinxia, but his companions misunderstood his plan.

• Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun that Li was recovering and that the Bureau of Military Affairs had no conclusive evidence about her mother’s fate.
• Ning Wanjun asked when Xia Fan would return to Jinxia and listed the city’s growing problems, including a shortage of teachers.
• Xia Fan considered how to recruit literate women who were trapped in brothels and called his companions over to ask about their money.
• Xia Fan said he wanted to visit a brothel, prompting his companions to react with suspicion and alarm.
• Xia Fan explained that he hoped to offer courtesans a future in Jinxia City, where they could go after leaving the brothels.

Yu Shuangxue defended Xintao from Miss Su’s taunts and learned that a strange guest had summoned every girl in turn. Sister Hong then called the remaining girls upstairs, leaving Yu Shuangxue and Xintao to meet the guest.

• Xintao asked Yu Shuangxue to speculate about the strange guest who had summoned ten or twenty girls to his room.
• Several girls mocked Yu Shuangxue’s age and questioned why Wushuang Pavilion kept her.
• Xintao defended Yu Shuangxue and traded insults with Miss Su, who raised a teacup to attack her.
• Yu Shuangxue seized Miss Su’s wrist, smashed the cup against the table, and warned her not to target anyone’s face.
• The girls summoned to the third floor all came back downstairs, and Sister Hong called the remaining girls upstairs.

Xia Fan introduced himself to the women of Wushuang Pavilion and explained Jinxia City before unveiling a citywide recruitment drive for schoolmasters. He ended by saying Jinxia offered an irreplaceable benefit—freedom—stirring Yu Shuangxue deeply.

• Yu Shuangxue followed Xintao into a private room, where she and the other women met Xia Fan.
• Xia Fan introduced himself as a Prefectural Assistant at the Jinxia Bureau of Military Affairs, and the women learned his office was equivalent to a fourth-rank court official.
• Xia Fan described Jinxia City and its history, population, and trade to the gathered women.
• Xia Fan revealed a recruitment initiative open to people of any gender or age who could read and write, and said the most suitable position for the women was schoolmaster.
• When the women worried about traveling to distant Jinxia, Xia Fan said they could have freedom there, and Yu Shuangxue was deeply shaken.

Xia Fan explained to the women of Wushuang Pavilion that Jinxia City offered women equal treatment, freedom to work, and protection under the law, then invited them to become teachers. Yu Shuangxue, moved by his answers, asked whether a woman her age could be accepted and was encouraged to change how she thought of herself.

• The women discussed whether leaving Wushuang Pavilion would make them free, while Yu Shuangxue listened gravely.
• Yu Shuangxue asked Xia Fan whether women could live independently, work publicly, and receive fair treatment, and he assured her Jinxia City protected their rights.
• Xia Fan explained that Jinxia City needed teachers to educate tens of thousands of people and spread understanding of its principles, including freedom.
• Yu Shuangxue asked whether her age of twenty-five made her unsuitable, and Xia Fan said Jinxia valued skilled people of any age.
• Xia Fan encouraged Yu Shuangxue to let go of her old way of referring to herself and call herself “I.”

Xia Fan offered to redeem any Wushuang Pavilion women who chose to leave for Jinxia, setting a price based on their age. Yu Shuangxue and Xintao accepted, and Sister Hong agreed to release them and return their entrusted earnings.

• Xia Fan offered Sister Hong twenty taels for each woman who wished to leave for Jinxia, with two additional taels for every year over fifteen.
• Sister Hong accepted the offer, expecting that none of the women would agree to leave Shangyuan City.
• Yu Shuangxue arrived with her luggage and asked Sister Hong to calculate her redemption price.
• Xintao asked Xia Fan to redeem her too, saying she wanted to accompany Yu Shuangxue and call herself “I.”
• Xia Fan insisted that Sister Hong also return the women’s entrusted earnings, and she agreed to have the accountant tally them.

Xia Fan secured Yu Shuangxue and Xintao’s freedom and arranged for them to travel to Jinxia City. He then told Fang Xiandao he would continue recruiting courtesans in Shangyuan City, hoping the first arrivals would encourage others to follow.

• Xia Fan explained to Yu Shuangxue that he had learned about brothels from Liu Ruyan, now an instructor at the Academy, and promised the Affairs Bureau would pay for Xintao’s classes in Jinxia.
• A servant returned Yu Shuangxue’s savings and gave Xia Fan the women’s deeds of sale, which he handed back to them and said they could destroy.
• Yu Shuangxue and Xintao burned their contracts, and Yu Shuangxue found herself able to imagine a future in Jinxia City.
• Xia Fan arranged for Yu Shuangxue and Xintao to rest at Wanjing Building before a carriage took them from the Capital Region the next day, while he stayed in Shangyuan City.
• Fang Xiandao questioned whether Xia Fan’s recruitment plan would work, and Xia Fan said he would approach other brothels and rely on the first arrivals to inspire more people to travel to Jinxia.