Chapter Summaries

Olina Okan shared a meal with Yu Shuangxue and Xintao, accepted their offer to teach her cooking, and reflected on how warmly they treated her. In Baihe City, Yan Qing assessed Ning Wanjun’s growing power before spotting two Bureau of Military Affairs sorcerers pursuing a black shadow.

• Olina ate three bowls of noodles and much of the fish, then offered to repay Yu Shuangxue and Xintao for the food.
• Olina explained that her attempts to cook rice had failed because she boiled the water before adding the rice.
• Yu Shuangxue and Xintao offered to teach Olina cooking and pastries, and Olina accepted.
• Yan Qing observed that Ning Wanjun had taken control of Shenzhou and used pay to recruit and retain troops in Baihe City.
• Yan Qing noticed two men chasing a black shadow and recognized their jade plaques as marks of high-ranking sorcerers from the Xu State’s Bureau of Military Affairs.

Yan Qing tracked two Xu State sorcerers into a dark alley and discovered they had been killed by the person they were pursuing. She encountered that person at the far end of the alley and saw their inhuman, golden-and-black eyes.

• Yan Qing followed the two Xu State sorcerers through the city using her silver bracelet's tracking art.
• The tracking art abruptly lost the target's aura, and Yan Qing continued into the alley to investigate.
• Yan Qing used her web of chains to find the two sorcerers dead, with signs they had been overwhelmed before they could fight back.
• Yan Qing's web reached a figure whose presence stopped the chains and filled her with a sense of danger.
• The figure asked whether Yan Qing had come to catch them too, and Yan Qing saw their inhuman eyes.

Yan Qing confronted Lady Chi, a powerful Yao who had killed two trackers trying to capture her. After learning Lady Chi had exposed herself while saving people from a fire and was journeying to Jinxia City, Yan Qing heard her unusual purpose for traveling from Penglai Island.

• Lady Chi asked whether Yan Qing had come to capture her, and Yan Qing said she did not know the two fallen trackers and would not attack unless necessary.
• Lady Chi explained that she had killed the trackers because they threatened her life, then revealed her small, youthful human form and her four human attendants.
• Lady Chi's attendants accused Azure Blade of helping people only to hunt down a Yao who had saved them from a fire.
• Yan Qing said she had a Yao friend and was no longer a Fangshi of the Bureau of Military Affairs, which prompted Lady Chi to share her origins and destination.
• Lady Chi said she had traveled from Penglai Island through the various states for five years and was heading to Jinxia City to find herself a suitable husband.

Yan Qing traveled toward Jinxia City with Chi and her Yao companions, learning that Chi sought a human husband to restore Penglai Island’s bond with the mortal world. As the group reached Jinxia, Chi revealed that she was a Dragon and began transforming into her true form.

• Yan Qing joined Chi’s group on the journey to Jinxia, agreeing to keep watch on each other as they traveled.
• Kong Xuanzi told Yan Qing that Chi sought a human husband to rebuild the Yao’s connection with the mortal world and prevent another betrayal.
• Yan Qing learned that Chi’s companions had mistaken Xia Fan for Jinxia’s ruler and hoped he might be a suitable husband for Chi.
• After about a week of travel, the group spotted Jinxia City and saw Olina Okan flying toward them with a familiar rider.
• Chi mocked the Western Pole Dragon as a winged lizard, declared that she was a Dragon, and transformed into golden light.

Xia Fan measured Olina and tested her ability to carry him in flight, learning about dragon longevity and bloodlines along the way. During the test, they encountered a mysterious golden, wingless dragon that vanished into the sky.

• Xia Fan measured Olina and questioned her about dragons’ lifespan and reproduction, and Olina warned him against dealing with Elves.
• Olina agreed to carry Xia Fan for fifty taels of silver after he promised not to force her.
• Xia Fan secured himself in a saddle and had Olina fly around the wilderness outside Jinxia to test her carrying capacity and speed.
• A golden, wingless dragon crossed their path, startled Olina, and sped upward through wind and snow until it disappeared.

Xia Fan met Chi, the True Dragon from Penglai Island, at the Department of Military Affairs and pledged Jinxia City’s support for equal rights for humans and Yao. The meeting left Chi considering whether the city could help fulfill her wish to live alongside humans.

• Yan Qing reunited with Li outside the Department of Military Affairs and explained that she did not know why Chi had come to Jinxia City.
• Yan Qing recalled that Chi had recognized Xia Fan but had hesitated to meet him after learning he had rescued Yan Qing from prison.
• Xia Fan received Chi and Kong Xuanzi in the main hall while Ning Wanjun spoke to them through a loudspeaker from the front lines.
• Ning Wanjun entrusted Xia Fan with representing her, and Chi realized she could hear and answer the princess remotely.
• Xia Fan told Chi that Jinxia City welcomed both humans and Yao and would punish anyone who broke the law equally.
• Kong Xuanzi was moved that Chi had found an independent place where her wish might be realized.

Xia Fan learned why Chi had come to Jinxia City: she hoped to settle somewhere that needed a Dragon, while protecting Penglai Island’s people from the Bureau of Military Affairs. Kong Xuanzi traced how the rise of Qi Sense Users weakened the Dragons’ role and revealed that King of Wei’s court turned against them after hearing that Dragon parts could prolong life.

• Xia Fan asked Chi about her purpose and offered to help relocate Penglai Island’s people, but Chi explained that she wanted to settle somewhere that needed a Dragon.
• Chi said she was the last Dragon on Penglai Island, where more than ten thousand people lived, and Kong Xuanzi recounted how Dragons had once protected the Wei Dynasty.
• Kong Xuanzi explained that Chu State’s recruitment of Qi Sense Users gave it advantages in farming and disaster response, diminishing the Dragons’ importance.
• Kong Xuanzi revealed that Dragon rain rituals involved child sacrifices, though the children were raised on Penglai, and said rumors against the Dragons grew as Wei suffered defeats and rising taxes.
• Kong Xuanzi said the King of Wei, sick and unable to find a cure, turned his attention to Dragons after a rumor claimed their blood and hearts could extend life by a hundred years.

Chi recounted how the death of her ancestor Zhu led to the dragons withdrawing from the world, then offered to use her powers to improve Jinxia’s climate and agriculture. Xia Fan explained that the city had already addressed those needs and offered to show Chi and Kong Xuanzi its new saltworks and farmland.

• Chi told Xia Fan that King of Wei lured Zhu into the palace and killed him, triggering a flood and a retaliatory attack that killed the king and another dragon.
• Chi explained that her grandmother sealed Penglai Island behind an array after the disaster, and that the Bureau of Military Affairs was now trying to undo it.
• Xia Fan welcomed Chi and her people to Jinxia City and said the city needed everyone who could help build it.
• Chi offered to regulate the climate and provide Jinxia with timber and grain, but Xia Fan said the city had already developed new saltworks and farmland.
• Xia Fan proposed showing Chi and Kong Xuanzi the new facilities, and Chi asked him to take them there immediately.

Chi and Kong Xuanzi toured Jinxia, where Chi tested how people reacted to her Yao horns before Xia Fan showed them the city's vast saltworks. The visitors saw that Jinxia produced salt in abundance, leaving them impressed by its scale and low price.

• Chi wondered whether she knew enough about Xia Fan to pursue marriage and decided to observe him longer.
• Chi uncovered her horns and found that people in the street mostly reacted with curiosity rather than fear or disgust.
• Xia Fan led Chi, Kong Xuanzi, and their group to Jinxia's new Salt Field and explained that it supplied Shenzhou's needs.
• Chi and her attendants found salt in the sand and criticized the apparent waste, while Kong Xuanzi learned that Jinxia's coarse salt cost far less than salt elsewhere.
• Xia Fan showed them the steaming plant, where workers boiled brine without visible fires, and the salt storage area filled with towering piles.

Xia Fan showed Chi how the Zhen Technique heated Jinxia City's salt ponds and explained that the principles were taught at Jinxia Academy. He then led the Penglai visitors to farmland where winter wheat grew in sandy soil and Mechanical Beasts pulled huge plows, leaving Chi to witness the city's cooperation between humans and demons.

• Xia Fan demonstrated how electric current heated a copper wire and explained that the Flowing Light Spell heated the salt ponds through embedded wires.
• Chi asked whether the method was a closely guarded secret, and Xia Fan said its principles were taught at Jinxia Academy.
• Xia Fan led the visitors to Jinxia City's farmland, where winter wheat grew beneath the snow in sandy soil.
• The Penglai visitors watched giant Mechanical Beasts pull massive plows and harrows across newly reclaimed land.
• Chi noticed overseas members of the Demon Race operating the beasts, and High Priestess Sainiya greeted Xia Fan and discussed the operators' training.

Chi’s visit to Jinxia City showed her that the city no longer needed the Dragons’ traditional gifts, undermining her plan to restore Penglai’s former role. Kong Xuanzi urged her to consider settling in Jinxia for her own sake, and Chi was left to weigh that possibility.

• Sainiya introduced herself to Chi and the Penglai guests as the High Priestess of the Noah Tree Boat, and she warmly embraced Chi after learning she was a Dragon.
• Xia Fan credited the elves’ Spirit Tree Seeds with helping crops grow in sandy reclaimed fields, while Chi could not find a chance to explain why she had come.
• After returning to their lodging, Chi felt isolated as she realized Jinxia City had found ways to solve problems that Dragons once addressed.
• Chi remembered her plan to bind a ruler to Penglai through marriage, but concluded that the elves’ agricultural aid had weakened her best bargaining chip.
• Kong Xuanzi reminded Chi that the Dragons’ first agreement with humans had been made to find a peaceful home, and suggested she could settle in Jinxia for herself.

Pang Ting discovered a dead stranger in a Green Shuttle tangled in Noah’s fishing grounds and concluded that Imperial pursuers had entered the West Sea. He urged Sainiya to sail Noah away from Jinxia temporarily, but she questioned whether they should abandon their alliance with the princess.

• Pang Ting inspected Noah’s recovery and trade goods as Diller Bolton arrived with news of a Green Shuttle caught in Thorn Algae.
• Pang Ting found an unfamiliar dead pilot whose wounds showed he had been shot with a musket, and ordered someone to notify Sainiya that Noah might need to sail.
• Pang Ting told Sainiya that another Tree Boat and Imperial pursuers were likely nearby and proposed sailing south toward the unexplored Twilight Sea.
• Sainiya questioned leaving Jinxia and relying on the alliance, while Pang Ting argued that Jinxia could not defend Noah from Imperial forces and that leaving would protect both sides.

Sainiya and Pang Ting warned Xia Fan that The Empire was pursuing fleeing Tree Boats, and Xia Fan proposed joining forces with Noah to rescue captured Elves. Sainiya accepted his offer, and they planned to use a recovered Green Shuttle to locate the Tree Boat that had produced it.

• Pang Ting told Sainiya that Noah was prepared to sail, but the unknown dangers of the Twilight Sea made its route uncertain.
• Sainiya and Pang Ting visited Xia Fan and explained that The Empire might be pursuing another fleeing Tree Boat in the East Sea.
• Xia Fan argued that the captured Elves could still be rescued and proposed that Noah work with Jinxia rather than flee south.
• Sainiya thanked Xia Fan and agreed to follow his instructions, accepting his broader interpretation of their alliance pact.
• Sainiya explained that a Green Shuttle could resonate with the Tree Spirit that produced it, and Xia Fan proposed using the recovered shuttle to find its source.

Sainiya sent a ten-person reconnaissance team, including Heim Shaman and Tier, to locate the captured Tree Boat and report back to Jinxia. Meanwhile, Tural toured the Tree Boat now controlled by The Empire, where Islanders were being captured and numbered, and prepared to inspect its Tree Spirit.

• Sainiya urged the warriors to stop fleeing and help Islanders held by The Empire, then asked for volunteers to search for the enemy Tree Boat.
• Ten volunteers were selected, and Sainiya assigned Heim Shaman and Tier to accompany them because they could operate Jinxia's communication device.
• Tural arrived at the captured Tree Boat aboard the Invincible with Captain Feilin Carter and Mage Songxing, and asked to see the Tree Spirit.
• Songxing explained that her mentor wanted Tree Spirit Seeds, bark, a root stalk, and two Elves who could control the seeds' growth.
• Tural observed Islanders being bound and fitted with numbered earrings, and reflected on the Empire's victory and the fugitives who had escaped.

Tural and Songxing discussed how to force a new Elf elder to connect with the Spirit Tree, while Zhuofulan and her younger brother hid from the occupying soldiers. Their desperate escape seemed impossible until a Green Shuttle surfaced and its two occupants encountered them.

• Tural and Feilin Carter found the dead Elf elder hanging from a branch in the Spirit Tree hub.
• Songxing explained that a cooperative Elf could become the new elder and suggested using prisoners’ families to pressure them.
• Tural ordered Feilin Carter to bring in all nearby prisoners.
• Zhuofulan hid with Zhuoka as enemy soldiers searched nearby, and she despaired over their hunger and lack of refuge.
• A Green Shuttle rose from the sea and attached itself to the Tree Boat’s roots.
• Two drenched figures emerged from the shuttle and came face-to-face with Zhuofulan and Zhuoka.

Fann Sinde and his team reached the Silver Star Tree Boat to rescue its refugees, giving Zhuofulan and Zhuoka food and hope that Noah and Jinxia City could offer them a future. Zhuofulan warned the rescuers that at least twenty pirate ships were with the three Imperial warships they had spotted.

• Fann Sinde confirmed that Zhuofulan and Zhuoka were refugees aboard the Silver Star Tree Boat and told them Noah had sent a rescue team.
• Fann signaled the other Green Shuttles, and eight rescuers gathered beneath the Tree Boat; Boat No. 3 had diverted after being spotted by an Imperial fast ship.
• Fann gave Zhuoka and Zhuofulan Squid Strips and told Zhuofulan that Noah traded with Jinxia City on the mainland.
• Heim contacted Priest and reported that the rescuers had found the refugee Tree Boat, spotted three enemy ships, and lost contact with Boat No. 3.
• Zhuofulan corrected Heim, warning that at least twenty pirate ships accompanied the three Imperial warships.

Xia Fan argued that Jinxia should rescue the Elves by luring Natating’s pursuing fleet into a nearshore battle of annihilation, and Mo Yun showed that the Elves’ cooperation had transformed Jinxia’s production capacity. Ning Wanjun secured the meeting’s support, and the group began planning the battle.

• Xia Fan briefed the meeting on Natating’s fleet of three ships of the line and numerous pirate vessels, which greatly outnumbered the earlier enemy force.
• Hong Siqi suggested withdrawing, but Ning Wanjun opposed abandoning the decision to protect the Elves.
• Xia Fan explained that Jinxia could not pursue the fleet at sea and needed to destroy it in a nearshore battle.
• Mo Yun reported that the New Mechanical Bureau’s output rivaled that of the Ministry of Works’ Mechanical Bureau, crediting the Heavenly Motion Instrument, assembly lines, and the Elves’ contributions.
• Xia Fan explained that rescuing the Elves would bring major benefits to Jinxia, and the meeting accepted his position.
• Ning Wanjun ordered the group to formulate a plan for a nearshore battle of annihilation.

Xia Fan recruited Chi to help repel foreign enemies by carrying people through the air, promising to make her famous in Jinxia City’s first newspaper. Meanwhile, Captain George’s pirate ship spotted a new Tree Boat while pursuing the Elves.

• Chi agreed to carry people in her claws after Xia Fan explained the Affairs Bureau’s summons and offered her newspaper fame.
• Chi said she could irrigate fields and calm storms, though her weather control fell short of an adult dragon’s abilities.
• Captain George’s crew continued searching for the Elves who had fled west three days earlier.
• A lookout spotted a new Tree Boat on the southern horizon, and George confirmed it was not an island.

Pirate Captain George alerted Tural to a second Green Boat, and Tural set out with his fleet to pursue it, leaving the Silver Star Tree Boat under guard. Meanwhile, Fann’s group confirmed the enemy had sailed away, and Heim Shaman received orders from the High Priestess to prepare for the first counterattack.

• George told Tural that he had found another Green Boat, and Tural promised a reward if the report proved true.
• Tural ordered the Silver Star Tree Boat to sail for Silisti once it could move, assigned ships and soldiers to guard it, and prepared Invincible and Angela to pursue the newly discovered Tree Boat.
• Tural sent word for the pirates to choose whether to join the pursuit, and his fleet raised sail that night.
• Tier spotted the enemy ships departing, and Fann told the group to report the news to Jinxia.
• Zhuofulan watched the coordinated surveillance and wondered how Noah’s people had transformed warfare.
• Heim Shaman received the High Priestess’s order to prepare for the first counterattack.

Xia Fan and Ning Wanjun finalized their coordinated ambush plan against the Natating Kingdom and ordered Jinxia’s East District evacuated. As residents prepared to shelter, Yu Shuangxue learned that Xia Fan was revered as one of Jinxia’s guardian gods, while Olina rushed off to join his operation.

• Xia Fan outlined the ambush requirements, communications plan, and coordinated roles for the four radio stations, and Ning Wanjun approved the plan and ordered Hong Siqi to begin evacuating the city.
• The Affairs Bureau announced that Jinxia’s East District was entering combat readiness and directed residents to prepare for temporary shelter.
• Yu Shuangxue and Xintao found their neighbors calm about the evacuation, and the residents praised Ning Wanjun and Xia Fan as Jinxia’s two guardian gods.
• Yu Shuangxue recognized Xia Fan as the man she had met at Wushuang Pavilion and learned that Olina worked for him.
• Olina declined to evacuate, ran into an alley, and launched into the sky in a huge black form toward the East City Wall.