Chapter Summaries

Xia Fan finished recruiting women from Shangyuan’s brothels and prepared to leave after the Crown Prince’s ascension ceremony. When he and Fang Xiandao noticed the streets had become unnaturally empty, a masked sorcerer’s warning sent them toward a southern exit, leaving them unsure whether it was help or a trap.

• Xia Fan concluded his recruitment session, having gathered intelligence, sorcery records, magical-artifact blueprints, and more than a dozen teachers for Yancheng.
• Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao noticed that the street outside the brothel was deserted despite the late hour and the lit lanterns.
• A frightened servant delivered a note telling Xia Fan to leave through the southern side exit and hide the servant in the woodshed.
• Xia Fan suspected a trap but decided to follow the warning and told Fang Xiandao to prepare his strongest combat sorcery art.
• The servant described the route to the southern exit, and Xia Fan led Fang Xiandao downstairs.

Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao escaped the Azure Brothel with Yan Qing’s help as the Bureau of Military Affairs moved against them. Yan Qing revealed why the Second Prince suspected Xia Fan, and the group’s escape was interrupted when Yu Linglong arrived with searchers.

• Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao broke through a sealed door and followed Yan Qing through a narrow passage into another residential quarter.
• Yan Qing said the Second Prince had evidence that Ning Wanjun contacted Xia Fan before the examination and had sent Fangshi to watch Wanjing Building.
• Yan Qing explained that she had helped Li and the others leave because Li’s identity as a Fox Demon would be exposed if the Bureau captured her.
• Xia Fan challenged Yan Qing over the Bureau’s methods and asked whether she would still support the Second Prince if he tried to kill Li.
• A search party appeared at the alley, and Yan Qing hid Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao before confronting Yu Linglong.

Yan Qing helped Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao escape Shangyuan City while Yu Linglong discovered evidence that someone had hidden near Yan Qing and chose to conceal it. After the carriage passed through the gate, Yan Qing was attacked by a sword-wielding assailant.

• Yan Qing dismissed Yu Linglong's squad and helped Xia Fan leave the alley undetected.
• Yu Linglong returned to the alley, used her shadow to reconstruct Yan Qing's stance, and found fresh footprints behind her.
• Yu Linglong covered the footprints and refused to report Xia Fan's presence to the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Yan Qing arranged a carriage for Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao and urged them to leave Da Qi and protect Li.
• Xia Fan and Fang Xiandao departed through Shangyuan City's gate, and Yan Qing turned back toward Wanjing Building.
• Yan Qing sensed a chilling presence and saw a white sword slash toward her neck.

Yan Qing was confronted by Bai Zhan and Ning Qianshi after helping Xia Fan escape, then arrested for refusing to explain her reasons. Ning Qianshi decided against pursuing Xia Fan before the Enthronement Ceremony and Seven Stars Summit, leaving him free to flee toward Shenzhou.

• Bai Zhan wounded Yan Qing with a poisoned sword, and Ning Qianshi arrived with an Evil Spirit made from the dead messenger servant to expose her role in Xia Fan’s escape.
• Ning Qianshi accused Yan Qing of betraying the Bureau of Military Affairs, but she insisted she remained loyal and refused to reveal why she had helped Xia Fan.
• Yan Qing surrendered without resisting, and Ning Qianshi’s guards shackled her and took away her Azure Blade.
• Bai Zhan urged action against Xia Fan, but Ning Qianshi judged that he had already fled and postponed the search because of the Enthronement Ceremony and Seven Stars Summit.

Xia Fan and his companions regrouped outside Shangyuan City and prepared to evade pursuit, but they learned Yan Qing had been ambushed by Fangshi. Fang Xiandao divined that Yan Qing was still alive, though her life would remain in grave danger over the next few months.

• Captain Shi Zhong explained the escape routes he had prepared and said he would identify the safest one by morning.
• Xia Fan told the group that Yan Qing had helped him, while Luo Qingqing said she had saved them too.
• Gungun alerted Li that Yan Qing’s secret message had been exposed and she had been attacked by Fangshi.
• Fang Xiandao used Yan Qing’s warning note to divine her condition and found that she was alive but her future looked perilous.

Xia Fan and his companions decided to stay in Shangyuan City and rescue Yan Qing during the Enthronement Ceremony. As Li monitored the Bureau of Military Affairs from a pagoda, Xia Fan discovered that a high-ranking official had arrived at the prison, complicating their plan.

• Xia Fan chose to help rescue Yan Qing, and Li, Luo Qingqing, Fang Yanni, Qian Zhi, Qian Yan, and Fang Xiandao agreed to stay in Shangyuan City.
• Luo Qingqing and Xia Fan identified the Enthronement Ceremony as their best cover, while Gungun was assigned to locate Yan Qing and Qian Yan offered knowledge of the old ceremonial layout.
• Li climbed the Buddhist Pagoda, set up a radio station, and reported that the Bureau's compound was packed with guards and sorcerers.
• Xia Fan saw a black-and-gold carriage carrying a likely high-ranking Bureau member arrive at the prison, raising the chance that the rescue would face a Sentinel or Feathered Garment.

Xia Fan and his companions watched the Bureau of Military Affairs prison as they prepared to act during the Enthronement Ceremony, but the arrival of a possible Fourth Prince complicated their plans. Inside, Yu Linglong visited the tortured Yan Qing and urged her to stop protecting Xia Fan, but Yan Qing refused to yield.

• Xia Fan rejected Li’s suggestion to call off their plan despite the possibility that a high-ranking practitioner guarded the prison.
• A lavish imperial carriage arrived, and Xia Fan suspected its passenger was the Fourth Prince, Ning Chunan; he told Luo Qingqing she could do what she wanted if the man was indeed Ning Chunan.
• Yu Linglong entered the prison cell where Yan Qing was bound and badly injured, after Shadow used her voice to frighten the jailer into opening the door.
• Yu Linglong questioned Yan Qing about hiding her aid to Xia Fan from the Second Prince and warned that the Bureau’s interrogation would grow more brutal.
• Yan Qing refused to confess or be persuaded, insisting that her wounds did not matter.

Yu Linglong blocked Fourth Prince Ning Chunan from approaching the prisoners after suspecting his intentions toward Azure Blade, just as an explosion shook the prison from the direction of the imperial palace. Earlier, Qian Yan waited in the West District while studying Shangyuan’s old drainage system.

• Yu Linglong spoke with Yan Qing in the prison, and Yan Qing explained that experience had taught her the meaning of holding to her principles.
• Ning Chunan arrived to visit Olina Okan, but Yu Linglong warned him that the prison held a dangerous prisoner and stopped him when she noticed his cruel interest in Azure Blade.
• An explosion shook the prison, and Yu Linglong realized the tremor had come from the imperial palace during the Enthronement Ceremony.
• A quarter of an hour earlier, Qian Yan pretended to wait for her parents in the West District while examining a drainage channel whose layout she remembered from a century before.

Qian Yan triggered Xia Fan’s plan by releasing a burning tinder onto the drainage canals, setting off a chain of explosions beneath White Tiger Avenue during the enthronement procession. As the crowd and palace procession fled in panic, Qian Zhi released a second Ice Boat near the imperial palace.

• Qian Yan diverted the stored sewage back toward the main canal and sent a burning tinder cotton downstream on an Ice Boat.
• Qian Yan stayed near White Tiger Avenue to see what Xia Fan’s preparations would do instead of immediately leaving the city.
• The tinder ignited the overheated canal, causing a chain of explosions that tore up White Tiger Avenue and sent vapor and debris skyward.
• The crowd, palace maids, and guards fled as the explosions advanced toward the imperial palace.
• Qian Zhi released another Ice Boat closer to the imperial palace as the blasts began.

Ning Qianshi investigated explosions that devastated White Tiger Avenue and then struck the imperial palace during the Enthronement Ceremony, while Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing used the chaos to enter the Bureau of Military Affairs' prison. The chapter left them at the prison entrance after Xia Fan silently incapacitated its guards.

• Ning Qianshi found White Tiger Avenue torn open by a spell and sent Bai Zhan and Yun Shang Jushi to investigate.
• A second explosion erupted beneath the palace wall, injuring soldiers and spreading panic inside the imperial palace.
• Li spotted the Bureau of Military Affairs' troops and nearby ritualists moving toward the palace, and Xia Fan decided to proceed with the prison break.
• Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing entered the Prison Courtyard after Luo knocked out its gate guards, while snakes and scorpions dealt with the watchtower sentries.
• Xia Fan used the Guichen Shock Technique to incapacitate the guards at the Bureau of Military Affairs' prison entrance.

Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing broke into the Bureau of Military Affairs’ prison to rescue Yan Qing and recover Azure Blade, following Gungun’s guidance underground. Yu Linglong recognized Xia Fan and chose to protect his rescue attempt rather than capture him.

• Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing stormed the prison, defeated its guards, and followed Gungun’s directions toward the underground cells.
• Luo Qingqing destroyed an arrow fired from the dark passage and struck at a hidden attacker, but the pair continued deeper after the opponent vanished.
• Yu Linglong recognized Xia Fan despite his disguise and lowered her bow instead of joining Shadow’s attack.
• Yu Linglong decided to let Xia Fan reach Yan Qing and ordered Shadow to watch the entrance while she stayed behind to ensure their meeting.

Xia Fan returned to Shangyuan City to free Yan Qing from the Bureau of Military Affairs, while Li monitored the authorities’ movements from above Tianfu Street. Yan Qing accepted his help and escaped with him, though she refused to pledge loyalty to the Third Princess.

• After explosions shook the Enthronement Ceremony, Yan Qing remained imprisoned while Yu Linglong went to investigate and the Fourth Prince disappeared.
• Xia Fan and his companions entered the prison to rescue Yan Qing, and Xia Fan found her in her cell.
• Xia Fan used the Zhen Technique to melt the shackles’ pins and free Yan Qing.
• Li warned Xia Fan by Sound Transmission Device that powerful sorcery practitioners were heading toward the East District.
• Xia Fan told Yan Qing that Li was monitoring the Bureau of Military Affairs and urged her to leave before Li’s efforts were wasted.
• Yan Qing said she would not pledge loyalty to the Third Princess, then took Xia Fan’s outstretched hand and left with him.

Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing escaped the prison amid explosions that diverted the Bureau of Military Affairs, then pursued a riskier escape plan to reach Okan. They found Ning Chunan preparing to torture the Archipelago Nation Ambassador, and Luo Qingqing attacked the Fourth Prince.

• Yan Qing’s injured feet forced Xia Fan to support her as he explained that the explosions were meant to draw the Bureau of Military Affairs toward West City and cover the prison break.
• Li warned that troops were converging on the East District, so Xia Fan chose the riskier escape route and asked whether Okan was imprisoned there.
• Xia Fan, Luo Qingqing, and Yan Qing moved deeper into the prison while Luo Qingqing rushed ahead to find the final cell.
• They found Ning Chunan beside the chained Archipelago Nation Ambassador, with a jailer and warden begging for mercy.
• Luo Qingqing slashed Ning Chunan’s cheek with a Dragon Scale blade and told him she had come for him.

Luo Qingqing killed Ning Chunan to avenge Luo Tang, Luo Changtian, and the justice he had trampled, then encountered a mysterious white door that vanished at her touch. Meanwhile, Xia Fan reached the badly injured Olina and asked whether she wanted to escape.

• Luo Qingqing took Ning Chunan to an empty cell and stabbed him for the maid and Luo Changtian.
• Luo Qingqing beheaded Ning Chunan for Luo Tang, then killed him with a final strike for the justice and order he had violated.
• Luo Qingqing saw Luo Tang and Luo Changtian depart, then discovered a white door that disappeared when she touched it.
• Xia Fan intimidated the jailer into handing over the keys and went to Olina's cell.
• Xia Fan asked Olina whether she wanted to leave the prison.

Xia Fan persuaded Olina to escape with him and freed her from the prison, then led the weakened Olina and Yan Qing toward the exit with Luo Qingqing. At the prison entrance, Azure Blade Bai Zhan attacked, and Yan Qing warned that his Kun Technique let him strike through walls and across great distances.

• Xia Fan told Olina that the Bureau of Military Affairs had made him a wanted man, and Yan Qing confirmed he had come to rescue her.
• Olina doubted Xia Fan's promises, but he argued that escaping was better than remaining in prison, and she agreed to go with him.
• Xia Fan freed Olina and gave her medicinal rice cakes, then he and Luo Qingqing supported her and Yan Qing toward the prison entrance.
• Yan Qing sensed an attack and shoved herself and Xia Fan aside as a sword nearly struck them.
• Yan Qing identified their attacker as Azure Blade Bai Zhan and explained that his Kun Technique let him attack with his sword across long distances and through walls.

Xia Fan and his companions broke out of the prison, but Qian and Bai Zhan cornered them in the courtyard. Xia Fan unleashed the Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder to cover their escape, and lightning engulfed the courtyard.

• Luo Qingqing used her dragon scales to cut Bai Zhan's sword and help Xia Fan, Yan Qing, and Olina escape the prison.
• Qian charged into Luo Qingqing, injuring her, while Bai Zhan arrived and prepared to capture Xia Fan.
• Xia Fan ordered Olina to transform and fly east, then scattered copper wire pendants and invoked the Nine Heavens Heavenly Thunder.
• Xia Fan and Yan Qing climbed onto Olina as she spread her wings, while Qian stopped Bai Zhan from drawing his sword too late to prevent the lightning.
• Heavenly Thunder descended and swallowed the prison courtyard.

Xia Fan unleashed a vast thunderstorm over Shangyuan City's East District while helping Olina escape, revealing his power to the imperial palace. The dragon carried Xia Fan and Luo Qingqing through the lightning as the Bureau of Military Affairs forces were caught in the storm.

• At the palace banquet, the Tianquan Envoy sensed the city's qi gathering and spotted dark clouds over the East District.
• A barrage of lightning engulfed the East District, and the Tianxuan Envoy and Tianquan Envoy judged the sorcerer's Zhen Technique to be above Azure Blade level.
• Ning Qianshi recognized the storm as the work of Xia Fan, the Nine Heavens Thunder Envoy, and angrily said his name.
• Xia Fan used the Flowing Light Spell to guide lightning around Olina as she fled with him draped around her neck.
• Luo Qingqing climbed onto Olina's back, and Olina rose into the sky while Bureau of Military Affairs sorcerers and soldiers sought shelter from the lightning.

Shangyuan City residents spread rumors about Xia Fan after the Enthronement Ceremony, while the Bureau of Military Affairs investigated how he had caused the explosions. Ning Qianshi examined a recreated copper-wire trigger and concluded that Xia Fan had most likely become a Listener.

• Shangyuan City residents discussed Xia Fan’s exploits and his visits to Azure Brothels, while a scholar denounced him as a criminal and left after the crowd mocked him.
• The Bureau of Military Affairs reviewed the incident and found that unexplained details suggested some things had slipped beyond its control.
• Qian showed Ning Qianshi a recreated copper-wire ring that Xia Fan had used as a trigger.
• Ning Qianshi learned that Bureau sorcerers had failed to activate Zhen Techniques with the ring and considered whether it concealed a mystery or enabled a method unknown to the Bureau.
• Ning Qianshi concluded that Xia Fan had most likely become a Listener.

Ning Qianshi reviewed the unexplained prison escape, learned that Xia Fan’s group included two Listeners, and ordered a crackdown on Luo Yufei’s sorcerers. As winter’s first snow fell, he resolved to make Xia Fan pay, while Xia Fan was believed to be fleeing toward Shenzhou.

• Qian reported that investigators could not explain the prison explosion, Xia Fan’s long-distance communication, or the iron rods found at the group’s hideout.
• Qian revealed that Luo Qingqing was among the escapees and that her flying blades were likely Immortal Art, making Ning Qianshi fear his sister had two Listeners around her.
• Ning Qianshi ordered Ning Weiyuan to send Luo Yufei to the Cold Palace and told Qian to investigate and deal with the sorcerers who had privately contacted her.
• Qian told Ning Qianshi that Yu Linglong’s child was well but Bai Zhan might be left with permanent facial scars.
• He’er told Ning Qianshi that Lord Tianshu Envoy thanked him for holding the Bureau of Military Affairs together during the Wanjing Building Incident.
• As the Capital Region’s first winter snow fell, Ning Qianshi thought Xia Fan was fleeing toward Shenzhou and vowed to make him pay.

Olina struggled to survive after Xia Fan's group carried her out of Shangyuan City, and they gave her medicine rather than abandon her. In Jinxia City, Ning Wanjun learned that Xia Fan had returned and immediately went out.

• Olina recalled her escape from Shangyuan City, where she crashed into the mountain forest and lost consciousness.
• Xia Fan's group debated whether to leave Olina behind, then gave her medicine as she lay feverish and unconscious.
• Olina drifted into sleep wishing she could go home.
• Ning Wanjun worried over the lack of contact with Xia Fan while trying to manage his unfinished work.
• A guard told Qiuyue that Xia Fan had returned, and Ning Wanjun immediately left the study.