Chapter Summaries

Xia Fan returned to Jinxia City with Li and his companions, then reunited with Ning Wanjun at Fengyang Mountain Villa. He left the others to their plans and brought an unconscious passenger to the Villa.

• Xia Fan and Li arrived at Jinxia City, where Xia Fan dismissed the escort squad and said goodbye to Fang Xiandao and the others.
• Luo Qingqing decided to seek a place to cultivate and said she would go to Fengyang Mountain Villa the next day to see Luo You'er.
• Xia Fan learned that someone unconscious remained aboard the ship and decided to bring her to the Villa.
• Xia Fan arrived at Fengyang Mountain Villa and found Ning Wanjun waiting angrily at the gates.
• Xia Fan brushed snow from Ning Wanjun's hair and told her he had returned, and Ning Wanjun quietly welcomed him back.

Xia Fan recounted the journey back to Ning Wanjun, then discussed Yan Qing’s departure, the Gate of Heavenly Dao, and the possibility of immortality. The chapter ended with Xia Fan explaining that Sorcery Arts might renew the body by unlocking its capacity to replace damaged cells.

• Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun how they rescued Azure Blade and escaped the Bureau of Military Affairs, and explained the strengths and limits of his simultaneous Thunderclaps.
• Li said Yan Yi had left the group after they entered Shenzhou to walk the final stretch alone, and Xia Fan explained why Yan Qing wanted to approach Jinxia City independently.
• Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun that Yan Qing had made a magical artifact for Li, which would summon her if Li needed help.
• Xia Fan and Ning Wanjun discussed the Gate of Heavenly Dao, and Xia Fan argued that they should gather information without relying on it to solve their problems.
• Ning Wanjun suggested that King Yong had sought the Gate for immortality, and Xia Fan explained how Sorcery Arts might enable continuous bodily renewal.

Xia Fan explained to Ning Wanjun how sorcery might one day make immortality attainable, then was put to work reviewing Jinxia City's year-end reports. The figures showed rapid population growth alongside rising employment and expanding institutions, leaving Xia Fan confident that the city should keep developing despite its strains.

• Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun that sorcery could eventually enable anyone to achieve immortality through microscopic research into the human body.
• Ning Wanjun had Qiuyue bring Xia Fan a towering pile of reports, while Li slipped away and Ning Wanjun left him to review them.
• Xia Fan read the reports and learned that Jinxia City's permanent population had exceeded two hundred thousand, with most newcomers coming from nearby towns and cities.
• Xia Fan saw that Eunuch Li and Hong Siqi had warned that housing, food, and funds were becoming strained, but he decided not to slow the city's growth.
• Xia Fan noted that employment was nearing fifty percent and that the Mechanical Bureau and Academy were rapidly expanding.

Xia Fan explained why Jinxia could not safely solve its budget deficit by printing paper currency, then proposed expanding the city's control across Shenzhou to secure revenue and prepare for conflict with the Bureau of Military Affairs. Ning Wanjun and her subordinates agreed to launch the campaign during the winter.

• Xia Fan argued that Jinxia's growing expenses and monthly deficits should be addressed without halting projects or raising taxes, and explained why the city was not ready to issue paper currency.
• At a meeting with Ning Wanjun and her subordinates, Xia Fan proposed obtaining silver from within Shenzhou rather than relying on uncertain overseas tribute.
• Xia Fan announced that Jinxia would send its army to seize surrounding cities and towns and replace their local governments during the winter.
• Ning Wanjun enthusiastically supported the plan, noting that the captured governments and local elites could yield substantial wealth.
• Xia Fan said the campaign would test the Air Rifles and Mechanical Beasts, install prepared officials to preserve order, and bring Shenzhou under Jinxia's control before the Bureau of Military Affairs attacked.

Olina woke in Jinxia City after Xia Fan had treated her injuries and, after eating a meal, learned that he expected her to leave. His offer to pay her travel expenses made her confront the possibility that she had lost her Lineage status and could no longer support her younger brother’s studies.

• Olina woke after eleven days unconscious and discovered that Xia Fan had bandaged her injuries and brought her to a snowy city.
• Olina tried to escape through the window but collapsed from hunger and weakness before she could jump.
• An attendant alerted Xia Fan, who brought Olina a bowl of pork bone broth that she eagerly ate.
• Xia Fan asked when Olina planned to leave and offered to subsidize her journey back to the Western Pole.
• Olina realized that her envoy post and Lineage status were gone, leaving her uncertain how she and her younger brother would live.

Olina asked Xia Fan for money to cover five years of tuition for her clansman, and he offered to arrange the funds in exchange for her working for the princess of Qi State. Olina accepted the employment offer and demanded a contract and an advance on her pay.

• Olina asked Xia Fan to lend her three thousand Golden Kern to pay rent and her clansman's tuition, explaining that the Bureau of Military Affairs had left her without access to her savings.
• Xia Fan questioned Olina about the Western Pole's ambitions and the Sun God, and she said the deity had awakened a hundred years earlier.
• Xia Fan offered to arrange the tuition in installments if Olina repaid the money and interest through work for the princess of Qi State.
• Olina accepted the offer and insisted that Xia Fan sign a contract and give her an advance on her first installment.

Magistrate Qian and Baisha County’s powerful families discussed how to undermine the Affairs Bureau and suppress Madam Pan’s case, then plotted to use a mine inspection to intimidate its investigators. A letter from the Jinxia City Affairs Bureau instead gave Qian an ultimatum to surrender by the next morning or face an assault.

• Registrar Zhang bragged that he had sabotaged the Affairs Bureau’s household survey by encouraging beggars to demand salt and falsify information.
• Fei Zhuang revealed that Madam Pan had gone to the Affairs Bureau over the Fei Family’s murder of her relatives and the magistrate’s cover-up.
• Magistrate Qian and Fei Zhuang planned to take Madam Pan and the Affairs Bureau’s people to the mine, where they intended to cause one fatal accident to frighten the others.
• Tang Luming delivered a letter from the Affairs Bureau, and Magistrate Qian read its demand that he surrender by the hour of the Snake the next morning or face an attack by the Jinxia Arrest Force.

Princess Guangping camped with five hundred troops outside Baisha County to stage a military exercise and investigate Madam Pan’s grievance. Magistrate Qian learned that a large force was moving north of the county and prepared to defend the city.

• Ning Wanjun welcomed Tang Luming and the Affairs Bureau group, confirmed that her letter had reached the magistrate, and promised to pursue Madam Pan’s grievance if it proved to be a miscarriage of justice.
• Magistrate Qian learned that the Affairs Bureau’s people had left town and debated whether the threatened Arrest Squad was real or a deception.
• Magistrate Qian, Registrar Zhang, Tang Yingzhi, and Fei Zhuang arranged to gather over a thousand men, weapons, and two Qi Sense Users to defend Baisha County.
• Scouts returned with reports of a large force moving through the countryside north of Baisha County.

Magistrate Qian and Registrar Zhang underestimated the approaching force, believing it was a small group that could not stay in the snow for long, and Qian prepared Baisha City’s defenses. Ning Wanjun advanced on the city with five Mechanical Beasts and the first assault wave, leaving the defenders shocked by the enormous silhouettes on the horizon.

• Registrar Zhang estimated the hidden force had only three hundred to a thousand men and could remain in the snow for no more than three days.
• Magistrate Qian dismissed the threat and decided to await the attackers at Baisha City’s North Gate.
• Qian deployed the city’s defenders, assigned command to Registrar Zhang, and watched from the lookout tower with Fei Zhuang and Tang Yingzhi.
• Four or five enormous black silhouettes appeared in the distance, puzzling the defenders as they realized they might not be people.
• Ning Wanjun drove her Mechanical Beast, Suzaku, toward Baisha City as four Xuanwu Type A Mechanical Beasts led the first assault wave in ten columns.

Ning Wanjun led the Mechanical Beasts and Jinxia Artillery Regiment into their first battle against Baisha City, where the Xuanwu Type As shrugged off enemy bolts and the cannons opened fire. The chapter left Registrar Zhang stunned as chained cannon shot tore through the city wall and its defenders.

• Ning Wanjun ordered the five Mechanical Beasts to advance toward Baisha City while Qiuyue and Aili warned that the defenders had spotted them and were preparing crossbows.
• At three hundred paces, Ning Wanjun ordered the Xuanwu Type As to deploy as cover, and the enemy's bolts sparked harmlessly against their armor.
• Aili's Xuanwu dropped its cannon rack, allowing the Jinxia gunners to position and load the seized cannons behind the Mechanical Beasts.
• The gunners fired chained shot toward Baisha City's North Gate, and Registrar Zhang recognized the weapons as cannons.
• Cannon fire smashed into the city wall, sending chained iron balls through the defenders and leaving Registrar Zhang bloodied and stunned.

Registrar Zhang ordered Baisha City’s forces to charge the Jinxia Arrest Force, hoping their numbers would overcome the attackers’ weapons. Ning Wanjun’s infantry cut down the advancing soldiers with air rifles and grapeshot, then followed her as she led the Mechanical Beast toward the city.

• Registrar Zhang ordered Baisha City’s gates opened and offered ten taels of silver for every enemy head.
• Wu Shuang led more than two hundred private soldiers out of the city, and seven or eight hundred men joined the charge.
• Ning Wanjun kept Suzaku back and prepared her infantry squad to meet the attackers.
• The Jinxia infantry fired their air rifles from behind Suzaku’s armored plates, killing many charging soldiers.
• The cannons fired grapeshot at close range, breaking the private soldiers’ morale and sending them fleeing.
• Ning Wanjun ordered the infantry to follow her into the city as Suzaku strode after the retreating soldiers.

Ning Wanjun led Suzaku through the fleeing defenders and smashed through Baisha City's north gate. Yuanshi tried to stop her, but her spear broke his Vajra Dharma Image and struck him into the ground.

• Ning Wanjun drove Suzaku ahead of the other Mechanical Beasts, scattering the enemy as she pursued the city gate.
• Yuanshi told Registrar Zhang that Yanzi Wu Shuang was dead and urged him to retreat, while he stayed behind to repay the Fei Family and face the enemy.
• Registrar Zhang fled toward the nearest street without warning the other defenders.
• Ning Wanjun raised Suzaku's shield against the arrows and smashed through the north gate.
• Yuanshi confronted Ning Wanjun with his Vajra Dharma Image, but her spear shattered it and struck him and his staff into the ground.

Ning Wanjun captured Baisha City with no casualties, and Xia Fan received reports of its reorganization, convictions, and resources. As Xia Fan ordered reforms and relief for the city, Ning Wanjun had already advanced north to Anshen City.

• Ning Wanjun took Baisha City's county yamen and ordered Magistrate Qian to confess concealed murders and wrongful cases.
• Qiuyue reported that the army had suffered no casualties, and Ning Wanjun praised the Mechanical Bureau's weapons and tactics.
• Three days later, Xia Fan learned that the Affairs Branch had substantiated eighty-seven wrongful convictions, arrested Fei Family and Tang Family members, and confiscated silver and grain.
• Xia Fan ordered public punishment for two negligent Affairs Bureau workers, grain distribution, and a crackdown on gangs in Baisha City.
• Ning Wanjun moved north and arrived beneath Anshen City a day earlier.

Jinxia City’s Affairs Bureau announced that Yao were born from humans and should have the same rights as ordinary people, stirring public debate. At the Academy, Luo Heng taught a lesson on qi and reflected on how his cautious choices had helped him survive Great Desolation Evil Night.

• Residents learned that the Affairs Bureau was seeking printing, paper-making, and dye-workshop partners for a new publication.
• The Affairs Bureau announced that Yao were fundamentally different from other Evil Spirits and would enjoy ordinary people’s rights if they obeyed the law.
• Jinxia residents argued over the announcement, then took it more seriously after learning Prefectural Assistant Xia had personally written it.
• Luo Heng taught Academy students about classifications of qi and methods for perceiving it.
• Luo Heng remembered that he had secretly left the Bureau of Military Affairs before Great Desolation Evil Night, while the newly promoted Fangshi who stayed there were killed.

Luo Heng taught ordinary children about qi and doubted the value of the Academy’s lessons, but a classroom exercise revealed that several students could sense qi. By the end of testing, seven of the fourteen volunteers had been confirmed as Qi Sense Users.

• Luo Heng accepted Xia Fan’s offer to become an Academy instructor, though he regretted teaching children who were not Qi Sense Users.
• Luo Heng answered his students’ questions about qi and recalled Xia Fan’s explanation that the Academy taught knowledge to change how people viewed the world.
• Luo Heng guided the students through a qi-sensing meditation and brought out the Lingtai to check their claims.
• The Lingtai’s needle moved for Aduo and then for several other students who tried it.
• Luo Heng confirmed that seven of the fourteen students who volunteered were Qi Sense Users.

Luo Heng struggled to explain why seven students in his class awakened Qi Sense at once, while Xia Fan continued studying the Immortal Art Secret Record and managing affairs at Fengyang Mountain Villa. Xue Zhigeng then reported that the Academy had found twenty-six Qi Sense Users in three days, with the number still rising.

• Luo Heng tested the Lingtai and found it worked normally, but he could not dismiss the possibility of an underlying cause behind seven students awakening Qi on their first attempt.
• Xia Fan settled into a routine at Fengyang Mountain Villa, handling Affairs Bureau matters, consulting Mo Yun, and discussing strategy with Ning Wanjun.
• Li openly walked Jinxia’s streets as a Yao to help people accept Yao, while Shanhui alerted the arrest department to extremists who threatened violence.
• Xia Fan studied the Immortal Art Secret Record, inferred that Nine Nether Fire could cause heat-like or ionizing damage, and began examining its amplification circuits for usable parts.
• Xue Zhigeng visited Xia Fan and reported that the Academy had discovered twenty-six Qi Sense Users over three days, with more appearing.

Xia Fan learned that twenty-six Academy students had awakened the ability to sense qi and suspected the Academy’s curriculum had helped cause it. As more awakenings followed, rumors sparked a citywide rush to enroll children, including those from powerful families.

• Xue Zhigeng reported that twenty-six Academy students had gained the ability to sense qi and gave Xia Fan their names and backgrounds.
• Xia Fan ordered the Bureau to keep the news quiet and leave the students in their regular classes, while adding a practical elective in Yinqi Ruti, Talisman Crafting, and Rune Drawing.
• Xia Fan wondered whether the Academy’s emphasis on rational thought and Gewu had broadened who could awaken, challenging the accepted scope of Innate Nature.
• The Department of Military Affairs received two or three reports of new Qi Sense Users each day, and rumors spread that studying at the Academy increased the chance of awakening.
• Great families rushed to secure places for their children in the Academy’s third enrollment expansion, and universal education gained citywide recognition.

Olina settled into daily life in Jinxia City, where she lived freely but continued working with Xia Fan. A conversation with her young neighbor Xintao made Olina reconsider whether Xia Fan had treated her as badly as she claimed, while Xintao imagined a romanticized story about their relationship.

• Olina drew water from the neighborhood well and greeted Miss Yu and Xintao, her neighbors.
• After Miss Yu left for work, Xintao asked Olina what kind of work she did for Xia Fan.
• Olina called Xia Fan sinister and despicable, but admitted he was the only one who could help her.
• Olina remembered that Xia Fan had kept his promise, brought her to Jinxia, and arranged a chance for her younger clansman to study.
• Xintao imagined Olina as a foreign woman caught in a coercive relationship that had grown into love, and thought the story might pressure Xia Fan to treat her better.

Olina endured a meager breakfast before flying from Jinxia toward the northwest of Shenzhou. At Baihe City, Prefect Jiang prepared to defend against Ning Wanjun’s forces, but Olina’s dragon attack set the western wall ablaze.

• Olina cooked and ate plain rice porridge, resisting the urge to spend her savings on a cook because she planned to send every tael back to the Holy Wing Islands.
• Olina left Jinxia, transformed into her dragon form, and flew northwest over the sea toward Shenzhou.
• Prefect Jiang reassured the officials sheltering in Baihe City that its defenses could withstand Ning Wanjun’s force and revealed that he had placed gunpowder beneath the gates.
• A guard reported that a flying monster was attacking Baihe City’s western wall, and Prefect Jiang saw Olina’s dragon form breathing fire onto its defenses.
• Olina’s flames ignited the defensive equipment and spilled hot oil, engulfing half the western wall in fire within minutes.

Olina helped the Jinxia Army capture Baihe City and completed two more support missions before returning home exhausted and hungry. She rescued Yu Shuangxue from two men outside her residence, and Yu invited her to dinner.

• Prefect Jiang ordered Baihe City's forces to surrender after the princess's troops broke through the gates and Olina's allies disabled the gunpowder defense.
• Olina completed two additional support missions for Ning Wanjun's divided forces and returned to Jinxia City at dusk, drained of magic and hungry.
• Olina found two men harassing Yu Shuangxue outside her residence and slapped them into the snow.
• Yu Shuangxue apologized for Xintao's questions about Olina's background, and Olina said she did not blame her.
• Yu Shuangxue invited Olina to dinner, and Olina headed toward her home before answering.