Chapter Summaries

Qian joined Jinxia City, and Yu Linglong received Xia Fan’s welcome as one of its people. As the Qi State allied army entered Shenzhou ahead of schedule, Jinxia mobilized its forces while Qian prepared to seek a peaceful resolution.

• Qian declared that he would join Jinxia City to help it surpass the Bureau of Military Affairs, and Xia Fan welcomed him.
• Xia Fan welcomed Yu Linglong into Jinxia City, relieving her doubts about whether he considered her one of his people.
• Ning Wanjun announced that the armies in Binshui County had entered Shenzhou through Jiujiang, and Qian offered to approach their commanders and try to stop the war.
• Ning Wanjun ordered Jinxia’s forces to mobilize; its main army deployed between Anshen City and Baihe City, while Xia Fan led a mobile Fangshi squad.
• The Qi State allied army split into five routes after entering Shenzhou, and nearly sixty thousand troops advanced southeast along Jiujiang toward Jinxia City.

Ning Wanjun and the Staff Department assessed the Bureau of Military Affairs’ swift advance toward Jinxia, while an unexplained failure in Fang Xiandao’s divination deepened her concern. The next day, Qian appeared before the enemy army as Jinxia’s river force took position to support the Feathered Garments and delay the advance.

• Staff Officer He explained that the enemy’s flanking forces were clearing a corridor for its sixty-thousand-strong main force, and Ning Wanjun asked the Staff Department to assess the deployment.
• Ning Wanjun and He Guicai questioned why Bai Zhan had chosen a swift attack instead of consolidating his power, and He Guicai wondered whether the World Chess Game had guided him.
• Ning Wanjun recalled that Fang Xiandao’s divination had shown only Chaos for both Jinxia and the Bureau of Military Affairs, and she decided not to tell her subordinates.
• Ning Wanjun prepared to commit everything to ending the war as the enemy’s main force approached Jinxia.
• The next day, Qian appeared before the Bureau of Military Affairs’ army while Fann and Qian Yan positioned four fast Ice Boats to cover the Feathered Garments’ retreat and slow the enemy advance.

Qian tried to warn Ning Qianshi about Bai Zhan and Fei Nian’s betrayal, but discovered that the Second Prince had allied with Bai Zhan and created a Painting Person to discredit him. As Qian fled, Fann’s forces began Plan Two, sending Shuttle Torpedoes downriver toward the Bureau of Military Affairs’ main camp.

• Qian approached the central army and asked to speak with its commander, prompting a scout captain to report his arrival.
• Qian saw Ning Qianshi accompanied by a Painting Person resembling himself and realized the Second Prince had sided with Bai Zhan.
• Ning Qianshi demanded Qian surrender, so Qian knocked a scout down and rode toward the river while General Yuan ordered troops to pursue him alive.
• Fann declared the negotiations over and instructed the Jinxia forces to proceed with Plan Two, assigning Qian Yan to cover Qian.
• Fann’s troops launched Shuttle Torpedoes from Ice Boats, and the small mechanical craft sped downriver toward the main camp.

Jinxia City's explosive boats struck the army's riverbank camp as Qian Yan used an Electromagnetic Gun to break the sorcerers' pursuit of Qian. Qian escaped by ship, and news of the failed meeting spread across Shenzhou by radio.

• Jinxia City's Ice Boats exploded beside the army's ships, damaging the riverbank fleet and alarming the central army.
• Qian Yan aimed her Electromagnetic Gun from a treetop and killed the leading sorcerer and horse pursuing Qian.
• Qian Yan shot down more pursuers until the surviving sorcerers fled, prompting the heavy cavalry commander to stop the chase and return to camp.
• The Elves withdrew with Qian aboard a ship and sped downstream toward Jinxia City.
• News of the failed meeting with the Bureau of Military Affairs' army spread across Shenzhou by radio.

Ning Wanjun’s Jinxia Army reached Wangjiang and prepared to exploit divisions in the Bureau of Military Affairs’ camps for a surprise attack. She ordered the assault to begin at daybreak, with herself leading the attack on the more heavily guarded southern camp.

• Wu Lie reported that the enemy’s northern camp had fewer tents and weaker fire precautions, while the southern camp was more orderly and heavily guarded.
• Qiuyue and Ning Wanjun concluded that the two enemy camps were poorly coordinated and likely divided by a rift between their commanders.
• Ning Wanjun recalled how Xia Fan’s literacy program helped Jinxia soldiers understand orders and stay together during night marches.
• Ning Wanjun ordered the army to prepare for a dawn assault and chose to lead the attack on the southern camp herself.

Xu Wa and Captain Shi Zhong’s unit attacked Wangjiang Town under cover of a heavy rainstorm, using Dragon Roar strikes to illuminate their advance. They breached the North Camp and cleared the streets and buildings, but encountered enemy spellcasters inside a residence.

• Captain Shi Zhong ordered his two-hundred-man unit to advance silently and avoid firing until they could identify their targets.
• Rain fell as Xu Wa spotted the defenders withdrawing from Wangjiang Town’s gates and watchtowers.
• Dragon Roar lightning struck the town as Captain Shi Zhong ordered the attack, and Xu Wa advanced with the hidden troops.
• Xu Wa and three comrades entered the main street, shot enemies emerging from tents, and joined the effort to clear the town.
• Xu Wa saw Jinxia troops fighting a determined enemy group inside a residence and went to help them.
• An enemy spellcaster sent an earth spike through three Jinxia soldiers at the courtyard entrance.

Xu Wa’s squad broke through the enemy’s defenses and killed the Gen Technique user responsible for the deaths of three comrades. Meanwhile, Xuanwu and the Nine Heavens Thunder Envoy prevented the enemy from reinforcing its positions, and the Jinxia Army captured Wangjiang Town by daybreak.

• Xu Wa led his squad into the building from the second floor, killed Lord Zhang, and helped force the enemy troops downstairs.
• Xu Wa and two teammates fired down into the entry hall, allowing the Jinxia Army to seize the entrance as the defenders surrendered.
• Xu Wa pursued and killed the Gen Technique user who had blocked the main entrance and killed three of his comrades.
• Xuanwu smashed through the southern defenses while Xia Fan and Chi kept the enemy’s main camp from sending reinforcements.
• Chi watched Xia Fan and the Nine Heavens Thunder Envoy suppress the enemy and took pride in fighting alongside him.
• The Jinxia Army finished capturing Wangjiang Town at daybreak, with more than twenty thousand enemy soldiers taken prisoner.

Qian learned that Jinxia's forces had defeated the Yazhou army and were transporting thousands of prisoners back to the city. As Qian struggled to understand Jinxia's unusual treatment of captives, Qian Yan told him that few chose to go home and that Xia Fan understood people exceptionally well.

• Xu Sanchong's forces ambushed a Yazhou army unit, killing more than three thousand and capturing twenty-five hundred before returning to Anshen City.
• Qian saw thousands of prisoners aboard Flat Ice Boats and learned from Qian Yan that they had been captured by the Bureau of Military Affairs' army.
• Qian reflected on the Bureau of Military Affairs' defeat and the gap between its knowledge and the artifact weapon he had seen.
• Qian Yan explained that prisoners without special crimes could settle down, work, enlist, or go home with travel money.
• Qian questioned why Jinxia transported prisoners back instead of releasing them on the spot, and Qian Yan said few chose to go home and praised Xia Fan's ability to read hearts.

Hong Siqi addressed more than five thousand prisoners at the western outskirts camp, promising them full meals and introducing Jinxia’s policies through stories. A tale about a conscripted soldier’s ruined family struck the prisoners so deeply that Hong Siqi interrupted the performance to prevent unrest.

• Ding Pan told Hong Siqi the platform was ready, and Hong Siqi noticed it resembled an execution scaffold and ordered it decorated.
• Hong Siqi reassured the prisoners that they would receive full meals until they were freed from prisoner status.
• Hong Siqi introduced a Tea House Storyteller and two female musicians to present stories compiled by the Propaganda Department.
• The performers told stories about a conscripted soldier, an Azure Brothel woman, and Huo Ying, an official who died protecting the mines.
• The prisoners wept as the first story described a soldier returning from war to find his family and home devastated.
• Hong Siqi interrupted the performance when the grief among the prisoners threatened to turn into a riot.

Hong Siqi explained Jinxia City’s generous settlement, employment, and family relocation policies to five thousand prisoners, urging them to register as residents. Many prisoners eagerly agreed, while the rest were given half a month to decide before receiving travel expenses to return home.

• Hong Siqi asked the prisoners what they thought of the three stories, and they questioned whether Jinxia’s promises were true and what lives awaited them there.
• Hong Siqi confirmed the stories were based on real events, said Jinxia could employ even a hundred thousand newcomers, and explained that only a small portion of applicants would pass the Jinxia Army’s assessment.
• Hong Siqi described the army’s pay and protections, then listed civilian jobs and explained that workers had to register as official residents of Jinxia.
• Hong Siqi displayed a household registration document that would cancel the prisoners’ imperial contracts and grant them Jinxia status, prompting many to volunteer immediately.
• Hong Siqi promised assistance and settlement compensation for relocating the prisoners’ families, then offered everyone half a month to decide and travel expenses if they chose to return home.

Hong Siqi recruited captives to settle in Jinxia City by offering paid guidance through his new school. Outside Baihe City, Ning Wanjun learned that the Bureau of Military Affairs' main force was still advancing toward Jinxia and ordered her army to destroy its isolated border troops.

• Hong Siqi told the captives they could take half a month to decide whether to stay in Jinxia City and offered optional, paid training at his small school.
• Hong Siqi explained that the school charged twenty percent of each month's wages in three stages, and many captives rushed to sign up.
• Five days later, He Guicai reported to Ning Wanjun that the enemy's advance had been delayed by naval mines and that the Bureau of Military Affairs had shown no reaction to its border army's defeat.
• Ning Wanjun and He Guicai discussed whether the enemy's border troops were bait while Jinxia forces rapidly defeated the flanking armies.
• Ning Wanjun ordered her forces to wipe out the isolated Border Route Army troops.

The generals of the Ten-State Allied Army protested Ning Qianshi’s orders as their campaign faltered, while Bai Zhan used the World Chess Game to determine that conventional tactics gave them no chance of victory. As Fei Nian kept the purpose of his plan to himself, Du Yelong remained imprisoned and secretly fashioned a wooden weapon.

• Ning Qianshi’s personal guard refused the generals’ request to change the plan or meet with him, and the generals reluctantly returned to their duties.
• Bai Zhan told Fei Nian that the World Chess Game gave the Bureau of Military Affairs no chance of victory through conventional tactics.
• Bai Zhan explained that Jinxia’s weapons, communications, and reinforcements neutralized the allied army’s advantages, leaving its flanking forces to serve the next stage of the plan.
• Fei Nian declined to hear the plan in advance because he wanted to enjoy watching it unfold, leaving Bai Zhan wondering why Fei Nian was helping him.
• Du Yelong carved a crude wooden sword while imprisoned, relying on it as his only possible weapon.

Du Yelong planned to free himself and rescue Wei Huang, but Ji Wuwang discovered his improvised wooden sword and foiled the escape attempt. Before leaving, Ji secretly gave Du a note revealing that the Painting Person had entered the Bronze Ruins with him.

• Du Yelong pieced together that Wei Huang was being held nearby and planned to break free, defeat Ji Wuwang, and escape with her through the Jiujiang.
• Ji Wuwang entered Du Yelong's tent and noticed wood shavings on his shackles.
• Du Yelong tried to grab his wooden sword, but Ji stopped him and snapped the weapon in two.
• Ji pretended the wooden sword was harmless and left, secretly slipping a paper ball into Du Yelong's robe.
• Du Yelong read Ji's note, which said that the Painting Person had entered the Bronze Ruins with him.

Ning Wanjun’s commanders planned to crush the Bureau of Military Affairs’ left wing without inflicting heavy casualties on Shenzhou’s local troops. Xia Fan proposed using leaflets and a song to persuade the Shenzhou Army to defect, leaving the plan poised for a dangerous test.

• Ning Wanjun chose to target the converging border troops before the central army could threaten the Left Flank Army’s retreat.
• He Guicai warned that Jinxia needed to capture prisoners and avoid killing too many Shenzhou locals.
• Xia Fan proposed scattering leaflets to stir homesickness among the Shenzhou Army and exploiting its separation from the Jinzhou Army while marching.
• Ning Wanjun realized they could strike the middle of the marching force and split it, but Qiuyue warned that their seven thousand troops risked being trapped between the enemy.
• Xia Fan said they would wait for signs of defection and use a song to confirm it.

Xia Fan and Ning Wanjun put a plan to use Chi’s singing to persuade the enemy army to surrender into motion. While Xia Fan washed Ning Wanjun’s hair, she showed him her vulnerability as a sign of trust and spoke about their future if she became ruler of Qi.

• He Guicai and Ning Wanjun agreed to try Xia Fan’s plan of using Chi’s song to persuade the enemy army to surrender, with a night attack as a fallback.
• Ning Wanjun kept Xia Fan behind and asked him to wash her hair in her tent.
• As Xia Fan washed her hair, Ning Wanjun explained that letting him hold her vulnerable neck was a sign of trust.
• Ning Wanjun warned that victory could make her ruler of Qi and Xia Fan too important to reward, and said she wanted to prevent them from growing estranged.
• Xia Fan joked about retiring, but Ning Wanjun insisted he could not escape his responsibility before fulfilling his own wish.

Xia Fan and Ning Wanjun agreed that he should keep shaping Jinxia City rather than abandon it, and the Affairs Bureau launched a propaganda effort aimed at the Shenzhou Army. As Hu Wan prepared to besiege Baihe City, Li and Olina Okan dropped flyers over his camp.

• Ning Wanjun told Xia Fan she hoped he would change problems he encountered instead of walking away, and promised to support him.
• Luo You'er organized the Propaganda Department and Yu Shuangxue to create homesickness-focused flyers for local Shenzhou Army soldiers.
• Jinxia bookshops printed five thousand flyers, and Li and Olina Okan flew west with the first batch.
• Hu Wan ordered advance pay and a hundred-tael gold reward for the first soldier to enter Baihe City.
• Li and Olina Okan scattered the flyers over the Bureau of Military Affairs camp, drawing the soldiers' attention.

Jinxia used papers, pictures, and a folk song about homesickness to weaken the Shenzhou Army’s morale as Hu Wan prepared to attack Baihe City. When the song reached the battlefield, it overwhelmed the troops’ emotions and sent the Shenzhou soldiers into chaos.

• Hu Wan ordered the camp sealed and the distributed papers confiscated after discovering their messages about soldiers’ families and a provocative drawing.
• Hu Wan increased patrols, but news of the papers spread through the Shenzhou Army, and he later placed its troops at the front of the main force.
• Scouts spotted five thousand Jinxia soldiers approaching, and Hu Wan chose to send cavalry against them while the main force moved to take Baihe City.
• The Western Pole Dragon appeared, and a mournful folk song descended from it, stirring painful memories in Hu Wan and Olina.
• Olina broke into sobs, and her cry shattered the soldiers’ remaining restraint, throwing the Shenzhou troops into chaos.

The Jinxia Army charged the Left Flank Army while Chi’s song unsettled the defenders and strengthened Jinxia’s resolve. The Xuanwu Army broke the enemy cavalry’s assault, as Hu Wan learned the Shenzhou Army was fleeing toward Baihe City.

• Hu Wan used Amplification Talismans to steady the Jinzhou Army and ordered its commanders to prepare for battle.
• Ning Wanjun led the Jinxia charge, confident that Chi’s song would inspire Jinxia’s soldiers rather than weaken them.
• The Shen-Jin Allied Forces fired Iron Cannons at the Xuanwu Army, but only one shell struck a Xuanwu and damaged its shield arm.
• Hu Wan ordered his cavalry to charge, but the Xuanwu Army and its air rifles devastated the riders.
• Hu Wan’s personal guard reported that the Shenzhou Army had begun fleeing toward Baihe City.

The Jinzhou Army used Sorcery Arts and explosives to halt the Xuanwu Army’s Mechanical Beasts, while Ning Wanjun directed her forces through the fight. Hu Wan trapped Ning Wanjun’s Suzaku in a swamp, but Wu Lie spotted the caster and warned her.

• The Shenzhou Army fled toward Baihe City, and Hu Wan ordered his sorcerers to attack the Mechanical Beasts while the Jinzhou Army held formation.
• The Xuanwu Army charged into the Jinzhou ranks, and Li Technique Masters set several Mechanical Beasts ablaze, forcing their drivers to flee as soldiers killed one elf pilot.
• Ning Wanjun ordered the Xuanwu Army to regroup around Suzaku and advance toward the rear right while covering one another.
• Hu Wan used Kan Technique, Return to Hai—Valley Bind, to swamp the Mechanical Beasts, then ordered soldiers to bombard them with Zhentian Thunder.
• Hu Wan targeted Ning Wanjun and trapped Suzaku in a large swamp, but Wu Lie spotted him casting and warned her.

Ning Wanjun killed Hu Wan, and the Jinxia forces routed the fifty-thousand-strong Jinzhou Army outside Baihe City. As the survivors fled, Bai Zhan revealed himself among them and released the souls he had been waiting to use against Xia Fan.

• Qiuyue’s Mechanical Beast fell into Hu Wan’s swamp, but Ning Wanjun used it as a foothold to leap at Hu Wan and stomp him into the earth.
• Hu Wan’s death and exploding Zhentian Thunders threw the Jinzhou ranks into chaos as the Jinxia Left Flank Army attacked with Air Rifles and Black Monsters.
• Xia Fan led a thousand Jinxia troops in a flanking assault, while Li’s strengthened illusion technique terrorized the Jinzhou reserves.
• Shanhui, Luo Qingqing, Tsi Qing, and the other fighters joined the attack, and the Jinzhou Army’s commanders and soldiers fled or surrendered.
• Bai Zhan, disguised as an ordinary soldier, opened a bottle of souls and declared that he had been waiting for Xia Fan.