Chapter Summaries

Mo Yun reunited with Ning Wanjun in Jinxia City and learned that the princess had kept her plans secret for reasons she could not yet reveal. As Mo Yun agreed to stay and help Ning Wanjun study mathematics, she found a strange book whose formulas she could not understand.

• Qiuyue brought Mo Yun to Ning Wanjun after Mo Yun washed and changed.
• Ning Wanjun welcomed Mo Yun warmly, and Mo Yun asked why she had left the Capital Region without saying goodbye.
• Ning Wanjun said she had needed to prevent information from leaking and told Mo Yun she would learn the reason later.
• Mo Yun asked whether she and Ning Wanjun were still friends, and Ning Wanjun affirmed that she and Qiuyue were both her friends.
• Mo Yun decided to remain in Jinxia City and offered to help Ning Wanjun study mathematics.
• Mo Yun examined Ning Wanjun's unusual book and discovered that she could not understand its formulas.

Mo Yun read Xia Fan’s arithmetic book and recognized that its axioms and rigorous reasoning made it far more than a collection of calculations. Ning Wanjun took her to meet Xia Fan, bringing her to the seaside salt field he was overseeing.

• Mo Yun began reading Xia Fan’s arithmetic book to find flaws in it, but became absorbed for an hour.
• Mo Yun realized the book’s axioms and logical derivations offered a new way of thinking and called it extraordinary.
• Ning Wanjun told Mo Yun that Xia Fan was a fifth-rank Lingbu Official and agreed to take her to meet him.
• Mo Yun spent the night studying the book, and the next day Ning Wanjun took her to the seaside.
• Ning Wanjun explained that Xia Fan was overseeing construction of a new Salt Field that would produce Sea Salt.

Xia Fan’s experimental salt field produced its first crystals, proving that the sun-drying method worked. Ning Wanjun visited the ponds with Mo Yun, an official from the Ministry of Works, and the chapter ended with the princess eager to inspect the salt.

• Eunuch Li tasted the crystals in the crystallization pond and was relieved that Xia Fan’s salt field had succeeded.
• Xia Fan explained to Li why salt crystallized in the pond and described improvements needed before expanding production.
• Ning Wanjun introduced Mo Yun to Xia Fan as an official from the Mechanical Bureau of the Ministry of Works.
• Mo Yun questioned Xia Fan about his arithmetic book, and Xia Fan said its contents had simply been in his head.
• Ning Wanjun asked about the trials, and Xia Fan invited her to see the first batch of salt.

At the Salt Field, Xia Fan explained how he could refine the coarse salt, while Mo Yun learned that Ning Wanjun intended to keep the salt-making method secret from the imperial court. Mo Yun then showed Xia Fan a working Bronze Quadruped Beast and asked him to help solve a problem with the Mechanical Bureau’s research.

• Ning Wanjun and Xia Fan discussed the coarse salt at the crystallization pond, and Xia Fan offered to make refined salt by filtering and recrystallizing it.
• Mo Yun suggested that the salt ponds could enrich the Qi State’s treasury, but Ning Wanjun warned her that Jinxia City’s salt-making technique must remain secret.
• Mo Yun asked to speak with Xia Fan, then offered to exchange information about the Ministry of Works’ research for what she had seen at the Salt Field.
• Mo Yun placed a Bronze Quadruped Beast on the sand and activated it with qi, showing Ning Wanjun and Xia Fan that it could walk.
• Mo Yun explained that the Mechanical Bureau had built larger Mechanical Beasts but still faced a key practical problem, and she asked Xia Fan to help solve it.

Xia Fan examined the Ministry of Works’ Bronze Quadruped Beast and identified flaws in its gears, balance, and remote control. He proposed changing its form into armor that enclosed a human operator, giving Mo Yun a new direction for her research.

• Mo Yun demonstrated the Bronze Quadruped Beast and explained that it swayed and toppled when enlarged for military use.
• Xia Fan noticed the model’s worn gears and suggested designing them with the principle of the Involute.
• Xia Fan explained that remote operators could not respond to uneven terrain quickly enough to keep the beast balanced, and Mo Yun admitted he was right.
• Xia Fan said the quadruped form could not solve the problem and proposed a human-shaped machine that could enclose its operator.
• Mo Yun realized the operator could serve as the machine’s balance and respond directly to the ground and terrain.

Crown Prince Ning Weiyuan and Second Prince Ning Qianshi discussed their sister Ning Wanjun’s growing influence in Jinxia City and agreed to undermine her ambitions by targeting her military ties. Three days later, a secret letter was sent to Da Qi’s western frontier.

• Ning Qianshi told Ning Weiyuan that Ning Wanjun had struck a local martial underworld gang without the local authorities’ knowledge and had support from the Bureau of Military Affairs and disciplined followers.
• Ning Weiyuan concluded that government protests would not seriously punish Ning Wanjun, while Ning Qianshi argued that she intended to gain power beyond her enfeoffment.
• Ning Qianshi proposed extinguishing Ning Wanjun’s ambitions by severing her ties to the border army unit she had served in.
• Ning Weiyuan and Ning Qianshi discussed General Ba Xingtian, and Ning Qianshi offered to handle any actions that risked exposure.
• Three days later, someone sent a secret letter to Da Qi’s western frontier.

Luo Qingqing accompanied the Fourth Prince, Ning Chunan, to an opera and a drinking party, where he pressed her to speak candidly and drink with him. After leaving the noisy gathering to stand watch, she spotted a black-clad figure who looked like her senior brother.

• Ning Chunan pressured Luo Qingqing to choose an outing, then threatened a maid with a hairpin before relenting when Luo agreed to see an opera and drink one cup.
• Ning Chunan challenged Luo Qingqing over her refusals and asked her to answer him sincerely, explaining that he had few people in the palace he could speak with besides his mother.
• Ning Chunan took Luo Qingqing to watch an opera and later to a Flower Boat drinking party with his companions.
• Luo Qingqing reluctantly drank one cup, rejected Ning Chunan's attempt to offer her another, and went outside to stand guard by the ship's rail.
• Luo Qingqing spotted a black-clad, bamboo-hatted figure whose back reminded her of her senior brother.

Ning Chunan celebrated that Luo Qingqing had agreed to drink with him, believing he could gradually make her submit to him. A note alleging that she had risked others for another mage spread through the room, and he left without answering her as she guarded the door.

• Ning Chunan's companions praised him for getting Luo Qingqing to drink with them, while he privately looked forward to possessing her.
• Chao Zhong received a note claiming Luo Qingqing had endangered candidates during the Scholar Examination for a male mage and opposed the Luo Family's leader.
• Ning Chunan read the note and demanded to know who had sent it.
• The guests began whispering about Luo Qingqing's alleged affair and mocking Ning Chunan for not knowing.
• Ning Chunan stormed out toward the ferry, leaving Luo Qingqing's question unanswered.

Xia Fan studied Mo Yun’s Heavenly Motion Instruments and learned how she had developed the Xingxuan technique from a basic Kun Technique. He tested Mo Yun’s new leg support frame, finally getting it to lift his foot with controlled movement.

• Xia Fan examined Mo Yun’s Heavenly Motion Instruments and learned that they converted qi into kinetic energy through Sorcery Art constructs.
• Mo Yun explained that she had created the Xingxuan technique by improving the Ding Tian Technique, with inspiration from scholars’ observations of the stars.
• Xia Fan realized that changes he had made to the Flowing Light Spell during his experiments had created a new Zhen Technique.
• Mo Yun showed Xia Fan a wooden leg support frame fitted with Heavenly Motion Instruments and strapped him into it for testing.
• Xia Fan channeled qi into the frame, corrected its movements after Mo Yun’s guidance, and managed to lift his foot.

Xia Fan and Mo Yun tested a wooden leg driven by a Heavenly Motion Instrument and discussed the promise of Mechanical Beasts and the secrets needed to build them. Mo Yun later realized Ning Wanjun was urging her to leave Jinxia, and she accepted the request.

• Xia Fan praised Mo Yun’s wooden Mechanical Beast prototype and imagined how a humanoid design could become a mobile combat platform.
• Mo Yun explained that few sorcerers could make Heavenly Motion Instruments and offered to share the Ministry of Works’ construction secrets in exchange for Xia Fan explaining involutes.
• Mo Yun returned to the sleeping palace and told Ning Wanjun that Xia Fan was different from other people.
• Ning Wanjun suggested Mo Yun return to the Capital Region because her continued stay in Jinxia could cause problems.
• Mo Yun understood that Ning Wanjun wanted her to leave and agreed to return.

Ning Wanjun feared Mo Yun had left after discovering her plans, but Mo Yun returned after resigning from the Six Ministries and promised to stand by her. Ning Wanjun revealed that she sought revenge on the royal family for her mother’s death, and Mo Yun learned the reason behind her resolve.

• Qiuyue told Ning Wanjun that Mo Yun had left, and Ning Wanjun admitted she had sent Mo Yun away to keep her out of danger and avoid being abandoned.
• Mo Yun returned from the Jinxia City prefectural office after submitting her resignation and asked to stay in Jinxia City.
• Mo Yun told Ning Wanjun she would stand by her as a friend, and Ning Wanjun confessed that she wanted revenge against the royal family.
• Ning Wanjun explained that the consorts had falsely accused her mother, Consort Qing, and that the Emperor's order to abort her pregnancy led to her death.
• Ning Wanjun said she intended to destroy the royal family's hopes of succession, and Mo Yun told her that her mother's death was not her fault.

Mo Yun pledged to support Ning Wanjun’s plans in Jinxia and explained how Xia Fan’s salt production could help secure the city. She decided to establish a new Ministry of Works, convinced that his Arithmetic Book could transform Mechanism Art.

• Mo Yun told Ning Wanjun that she would remain by her side rather than help others oppose her.
• Ning Wanjun outlined her plan to secure Jinxia and then target Shenzhou, saying mass-produced sea salt could break the Wang family’s influence.
• Mo Yun worried that Xia Fan had not been told about the larger plan, but Ning Wanjun trusted that he would not be swayed by imperial status.
• Mo Yun said she would continue researching Mechanical Beasts and build a new Ministry of Works in Jinxia.
• Mo Yun praised Xia Fan’s Arithmetic Book and vowed to teach recruits its methods and Mechanism Art.

Wen Xingyuan asked Wang Qingzhi to use the Wang family's Sea Bandits to stage an attack on Jinxia City so he could remove Xia Fan from the Bureau of Military Affairs. Wang Qingzhi agreed to arrange the raid, while a masked man revealed that the Wang family was helping his group obtain salt.

• Wen Xingyuan found Wang Qingzhi in place of Wang Yi'an and learned that Wang Qingzhi now made decisions for the Wang family.
• Wen Xingyuan threatened the Wang family over its ties to Sea Bandits and asked them to stage an attack on Jinxia City.
• Wen Xingyuan explained that the attack would let him claim emergency authority and remove Xia Fan from the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Wang Qingzhi warned that the Donghai Gang could not take the city and demanded two days to delay the garrison and allow the bandits to withdraw.
• Wen Xingyuan agreed to give Wang Qingzhi two days and left, telling him to prepare the operation himself.
• A masked man emerged after Wen Xingyuan left and noted that Wang Qingzhi and Wang Yi'an had helped his group obtain a large quantity of salt.

Wang Qingzhi hired an overseas power to kill Princess Guangping during the planned sea bandit chaos, while Xia Fan investigated how to standardize Sorcery Arts Talismans. His experiments showed that talisman crafting depended on understanding the meaning of its patterns, and Li demonstrated the Calming Heart technique on Shanhui.

• Wang Qingzhi told the masked man that Princess Guangping must die, and the man warned that a powerful master protected her.
• Wang Qingzhi agreed to pay three times the salt in exchange for the man's help, and the man promised to send another group.
• Xia Fan gathered five Talismans in the villa courtyard to investigate whether their strokes could be replaced with more intuitive diagrams.
• Li explained that Talisman crafting required understanding a Sorcery Art's manifestation and interpreting the patterns on a sample.
• Li used the Calming Heart Talisman on Shanhui, who slowed down and flopped onto the ground with his belly exposed.

Xia Fan developed a new way to express sorcery in talismans and successfully used it to create a stronger lightning spell. His discovery suggested that shared standards could let sorcerers communicate and improve techniques across disciplines, though his framework remained experimental.

• Xia Fan studied the differences between existing talisman seals and began drawing a new design.
• Li told Shanhui to leave Xia Fan alone while he researched sorcery.
• Xia Fan's talisman produced a stronger purple lightning arc than the existing Flowing Light Spell.
• Li examined Xia Fan's unfamiliar seal, and he explained that it was based on a voltage-boosting circuit.
• Xia Fan realized that standardized symbols could make sorcery research and improvements understandable across disciplines and regions.

Mo Yun visited Xia Fan and Li, revealing her fondness for small animals as she played with Shanhui. After Shanhui crashed into Xia Fan’s worktable, a glowing Talisman made the empty Mechanical Beast move and charge at Mo Yun.

• Mo Yun told Xia Fan she would live in Jinxia and asked to learn arithmetic and Mechanism Art from him.
• Mo Yun apologized to Li for making her hide her ears and tail, then asked to touch them; Li declined and let her pet Shanhui instead.
• Mo Yun explained that she had kept birds and dogs in the Mo Clan and had found comfort in them when she was unhappy.
• Shanhui ran in widening circles, crashed into Xia Fan’s worktable, and knocked it over.
• A purple fluorescent Talisman flickered beside the Mechanical Beast, which began moving and charged at Mo Yun.

Xia Fan, Li, and Mo Yun investigated the Soul Gathering Talisman after it caused the Mechanical Beast to move on its own, and Xia Fan suspected it had been driven by an Evil Spirit’s consciousness. Mo Yun rebuilt the prototype while Xia Fan experimented with new Talisman designs, but his attempts failed.

• The Mechanical Beast suddenly moved toward Mo Yun, and Li transformed into a giant fox and broke its legs to stop it.
• Xia Fan picked up the faded Soul Gathering Talisman and explained its connection to Evil Spirits and the Bureau of Military Affairs.
• Mo Yun considered how the Talisman might let ordinary people use Mechanism Art, but Xia Fan warned that an Evil Spirit may have controlled the Mechanical Beast.
• Xia Fan assigned Shanhui dirty, exhausting work until Mo Yun finished repairs, but Mo Yun instead kept him in Shiba Inu form for occasional petting.
• Xia Fan tested Talisman frameworks based on chemical formulas and physical laws, but none of his experiments worked.

Xia Fan’s handbook and investigations helped strengthen the Bureau of Military Affairs and Princess Guangping’s influence in Jinxia City, alarming the prefectural officials. At a secret meeting, Wang Qingzhi poisoned the officials and revealed that he intended to use their deaths to create an emergency and seize their heads.

• Xia Fan compiled a guide to identifying and surviving Evil Spirits while the Command Department investigated old cases and arrested four criminals.
• Princess Guangping’s public appearances boosted her popularity as the Bureau of Military Affairs clashed with Jinxia’s government offices.
• Wang Qingzhi told the gathered officials that an emergency could let a Bureau of Military Affairs Fangshi fill a vacant post and target Xia Fan.
• Wang Qingzhi proposed staging a Sea Bandit attack, then revealed that he wanted to borrow the officials’ heads.
• Prefect Xiao and the other officials collapsed after being poisoned, and Wang Qingzhi watched them die.

Wang Qingzhi ordered the deaths of Jinxia’s officials to protect the Wang family and discussed the political forces that would bury the truth. At a watchtower near the eastern shore, Tian Shi discovered a mysterious woman who said she had stopped to cast a divination.

• Wang Qingzhi told Lu Shiye to kill most of the captured officials and drug the Duyou and Gongcao into madness, disguising their fates as consequences of the Sea Bandit raid.
• Wang Qingzhi explained that the officials were doomed to face punishment and that their deaths would prevent them from implicating the Wang family under interrogation.
• Lu Shiye pledged his loyalty to Wang Qingzhi, who said his aging father would understand once the matter was settled.
• Tian Shi gambled with the other guards at the stone watchtower while they joked about his pregnant wife.
• After a thud sounded above them, Tian Shi climbed onto the roof and found a neatly dressed woman, who said she had come to cast a divination.

Fang Xiandao warned Tian Shi that a major upheaval was coming, and Tian Shi soon spotted ships moving across the sea. After reuniting with Qian Zhi, Fang Xiandao chose to stay and witness the coming storm firsthand.

• Fang Xiandao told Tian Shi that he stood at the eye of a storm and advised him to seek shelter before leaping from the watchtower and escaping.
• Tian Shi spotted several ships moving across the sea and shouted to Wu Laoda that something was approaching.
• Fang Xiandao sprained his ankle after landing on uneven ground, and Qian Zhi found him and said she had been sent to accompany him.
• Fang Xiandao learned that Qian Zhi had dealt with someone who tried to harm him while he was on the tower.
• Fang Xiandao decided to remain in the unsettled area, explaining that he wanted to observe the changes directly as the wind began to rise.