Chapter Summaries

Lin Su used War Poems and a new bamboo flute to overcome Reverse Flow Pass, then entered the Military School sea eye. His progress gave Wei Xinyu new hope that Great Cang could still earn the sea-eye reward.

• Lin Su was swept down Reverse Flow Pass until his War Poems transformed his azure lotus into a sword and carried him upstream.
• Lin Su recovered his literary qi in short bursts, overtook several elders, and made one Painter School elder lose control and get swept away.
• Lin Su caught up with Li Guihan, then played his flute and used its new seven-tone Musical Way to speed both their boats through the reverse current.
• Lin Su crossed Reverse Flow Pass alongside Li Guihan and Feng Wu, and Wei Xinyu realized Lin Su could earn one hundred azure lotuses by entering a sea eye.
• Li Guihan entered the Daoist School sea eye, Feng Wu invited Lin Su to join her in the Musician School sea eye, and Lin Su chose the Military School sea eye instead.

Lin Su used stratagems to seize the Heart of the Sea, ending the Azure Lotus Dao Discussion and earning three hundred azure lotuses as he stood atop Azure Peak. The leaders opened the Peak Azure Lotus Dao Discussion, and Lin Su agreed to discuss the Dao.

• Lin Su fought his way through the Sea Eye using a succession of stratagems as the other participants struggled to endure the Outer Sea, Inner Sea, and Reverse Flow Pass.
• Wu Xinyue, Li Xiangran, and Mo Qing emerged from the Sea Eye and raced toward the Heart of the Sea, while Wu Xinyue blocked his pursuers with a Painting Realm.
• Lin Su used Hide the Sky and Cross the Sea and Creating Something from Nothing to mislead the three Literary Realm masters with a false Heart of the Sea, then seized the real one.
• The Sea of Learning transformed into a mountain, and Lin Su stood at its peak with three hundred azure lotuses as the Dao Discussion ended.
• Li Tiren invited Lin Su to hold the Peak Azure Lotus Dao Discussion, and Lin Su accepted before the mountain transformed into the Dao Discussion Stage.

Lin Su chose to discuss painting and delivered the One Painting Theory, earning 999 green lotuses and knocking the Painting Sage Sacred Family from its longstanding position as the peak authority. His performance lifted Great Cang to first place overall, while Feng Wu and Li Guihan realized that Great Cang’s officials had likely put Lin Su on the roster as part of a scheme to ruin him.

• Mo Qing questioned whether Lin Su could discuss mathematics, and Li Guihan challenged her lingering belief that he had solved the Circle-Square Problem by luck.
• Lin Su announced that he would discuss painting, then criticized the Painting Sage Sacred Family’s deviations from the Painting Sage’s teachings while presenting his One Painting Theory.
• Lin Su’s discussion produced green lotuses and moved the audience, but he abruptly paused before continuing and ending the discussion.
• Lin Su’s discussion generated 999 green lotuses, setting a new Azure Lotus Dao Discussion record and surpassing the Painting Sage Sacred Family’s best result.
• Great Cang finished first with 1,326 green lotuses, and Feng Wu and Li Guihan discussed how Lin Su’s exclusion from earlier rounds suggested officials intended to discredit and destroy him.

After the Azure Lotus Dao Discussion ended, Lin Su uncovered the conspiracy behind the attack on him and used Du Song’s attempted murder to kill him and implicate the Crimson Kingdom. Lin Su left the capital alone, while Li Guihan remained behind, worried about his safety.

• Lin Su told Li Guihan that Wu Xinyue’s lethal Painting Realm had belonged to someone else, and she suspected someone in their team had helped arrange the ambush.
• Chu Feng invited Lin Su to stay in the capital, but Lin Su delayed answering as Du Song and the Crimson Kingdom team arrived.
• Lin Su used Borrowing a Knife to Kill, prompting Chu Feng’s guard to decapitate Du Song and accuse the Crimson Kingdom of attempting to assassinate the Prince.
• Li Tiren ordered the Crimson Kingdom team seized, while Chu Feng pretended to be injured and the incident became a diplomatic crisis.
• Lin Su revealed that Du Song had used a Soul Annihilation Strike against Wang Junyu and had also tried to kill him during the Dao Discussion.
• Lin Su refused Li Guihan’s offer to travel home with her and headed toward the Ten Thousand Mile Cloud Piercer.

Lin Su left the Great Cang delegation after its unprecedented Azure Lotus Dao Discussion victory, while the Emperor celebrated the result and rival powers reacted to their losses. Lin Su then arrived at Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate to visit Hong Ye, but the guard turned him away, so he left a manuscript and went to seek lodging at Golden Rock Temple.

• Lin Su left the Cloud-Breaking Shuttle, and Wei Xinyu reported to the Emperor that Great Cang had won 1,326 Azure Lotuses, with Lin Su claiming 1,300 of them.
• The Emperor rewarded Wei Xinyu and the other Grandmasters equally, while Zhang Juzheng and Qu Wendong concluded that Lin Su had been responsible for Great Cang's triumph.
• The Red Kingdom faced a diplomatic dispute with the Ancient Nanyang Kingdom, and Wu Xinyue received six months to kill Lin Su and recover his treasure or face punishment.
• Lin Su arrived at Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate, where Hong Ye and Xing'er discussed whether he would keep his promise to visit.
• A guard refused to announce Lin Su to Hong Ye, so Lin Su left a manuscript for her and went to seek lodging at Golden Rock Temple.

Lin Su arrived at Golden Rock Temple after sending Hong Ye an essay that revealed his identity as the Azure Lotus Dao Discussant, and he explained to Li Guihan that he had come to reunite his elder brother Lin Zheng with Hong Ying. The next morning, Li Guihan reported that powerful monks at the temple lost control during the night, revealing why the temple refused overnight guests.

• Hong Ye recognized Lin Su’s handwriting and realized that the scholar who had sent her the essay was the Azure Lotus Dao Discussant.
• Lin Su met Li Guihan at Golden Rock Temple, forced his way past the gate monk, and secured lodging after the abbot intervened.
• Li Guihan explained that Golden Rock Temple housed former generals seeking redemption after the slaughter of eighty million people in Tanzhou.
• Lin Su told Li Guihan that he had come to help his elder brother Lin Zheng meet Hong Ying, who was imprisoned and promised to another man.
• Li Guihan inspected the temple with the Jade Cicada overnight and discovered that a Sky Peering Realm monk had erupted with Killing Intent and required four eminent monks to restrain him.

Lin Su visited Golden Rock Temple and used an argument about history and sacrifice to ease the guilt of a monk who had killed eighty million people. As Lin Su and Li Guihan left the temple, a veiled Young Lady arrived and caught Lin Su’s attention.

• Lin Su learned that the out-of-control monk was a Sky Peering Realm expert and went with Li Guihan to investigate him.
• Lin Su and Li Guihan ate a vegetarian breakfast, then found the middle-aged monk meditating in a nearby room.
• Lin Su argued that everyday life involved killing living things and that judging the monk’s massacre required looking at its historical consequences.
• The monk accepted Lin Su’s account of Tanzhou’s peace and prosperity, while Lin Su and Li Guihan debated whether the massacre could have been avoided.
• A small sedan chair arrived at the temple, and Lin Su was momentarily stunned when he saw the beautiful Young Lady who stepped out.

Lin Su met Princess Hongying in the Chan Incense Courtyard and revealed that he had come to Nanyang to help his elder brother, Lin Zheng, reunite with her Second Sister. Hong Ye agreed to help despite warning that their cross-border marriage was nearly impossible.

• Xing'er led Hong Ye to the Buddha Hall and then to the Chan Incense Courtyard, where she met Lin Su.
• Lin Su explained that Hong Ye’s words had inspired his essay, then wrote out the ci “What Is Love in This World” at her request.
• Hong Ye asked whom the ci was written for, and Lin Su said it was for his elder brother Lin Zheng and sister-in-law, Princess Hongying.
• Lin Su admitted that he had come to visit the Prince’s Household because he had promised Lin Zheng he would seek out Princess Hongying.
• Hong Ye realized Lin Su had not come for her, but offered to help his brother and Second Sister, while warning that their marriage was nearly impossible.

Lin Su uncovered a possible conspiracy behind the Former Emperor’s abdication and the deaths of his heirs while investigating the Ancient Nanyang Kingdom’s palace records with Li Guihan’s Jade Cicada. He left with evidence suggesting the Current Majesty orchestrated the Tanzhou massacre to seize the throne.

• Lin Su told Hong Ye that Southern Chu Hermit might protect Marquis of Zhenbei’s Estate and set out to seek his help.
• Lin Su questioned whether the Former Emperor’s abdication had concealed a larger plot after learning that all the Former Emperor’s children had died thirteen years earlier.
• Lin Su persuaded Li Guihan to use the Jade Cicada to search the imperial Library Pavilion’s secret palace records.
• Lin Su noticed that Consort Xiang had entered the Former Emperor’s palace before his five children died and was later elevated by Prince Kai.
• Lin Su connected the children’s deaths to the Tanzhou crisis and concluded that the Current Majesty had engineered the killings, massacre, and abdication to take the throne.

Lin Su and Li Guihan discovered that the Imperial Consort bore Misty Rain Pavilion’s Eight-Petaled Azure Lotus and suspected the Heart-Cutting Cult’s leaders had taken control of the Ancient Nanyang Kingdom. At Golden Rock Temple, Huixin passed a night without his usual affliction, and Lin Su returned to speak with the monk in white.

• Lin Su and Li Guihan used the Jade Cicada to search Zhaoyi Palace and found an Eight-Petaled Azure Lotus tattoo on the Imperial Consort.
• Lin Su connected the mark to Misty Rain Pavilion and, with Li Guihan, concluded that its people may have led the Heart-Cutting Cult and gained control of the Ancient Nanyang Kingdom.
• Hong Ye visited her imprisoned sister Hong Ying, recited a Ci poem written by Lin Su, and told her that Lin Su planned to seek a Ci Poetry Grandmaster’s help in proposing marriage on Lin Zheng’s behalf.
• Lin Su and Li Guihan watched Huixin at Golden Rock Temple, where he passed the night without his usual episode.
• At dawn, Lin Su met the monk in white and said he had returned to correct a mistake from the previous day.

Lin Su confronted a white-clothed monk with evidence that he was the missing Former Emperor, then traveled with Li Guihan to Ci Capital to visit the Southern Chu Hermit. At the end, Lin Su announced himself from outside Willow Cotton Slope, interrupting the Hermit's meeting with Chu Feng and the Third Princess.

• Lin Su accused the Nine Families of exploiting Tanzhou and linked Consort Xiang to Misty Rain Pavilion, prompting the white-clothed monk to react after Lin Su left.
• Li Guihan questioned Lin Su's disclosures, and he explained that the monk's guilt and pierced left ear suggested he was the Former Emperor.
• Lin Su and Li Guihan reached Ci Capital and walked along Green Cloud Road toward Willow Cotton Slope to show respect to the Southern Chu Hermit.
• At Seeking Worthies Pavilion, two scholars ignored Lin Su and Li Guihan while playing chess, and Li Guihan suggested they might expect a bribe.
• The Southern Chu Hermit praised Chu Feng for winning 107 Azure Lotuses while the Third Princess flirted with the prince.
• Lin Su loudly announced his visit, interrupting the Southern Chu Hermit's conversation with Chu Feng and the Third Princess.

Lin Su persuaded Southern Chu Hermit to help arrange a marriage for Lin Su’s brother by revealing that he knew the truth behind Southern Chu Hermit’s claim to poetic fame. At Marquis of Zhenbei’s Estate, Southern Chu Hermit and Mu Renqing arrived with competing marriage proposals, leaving the Prince to hear both sides.

• Lin Su presented Southern Chu Hermit with a manuscript of “Butterflies Love Flowers: Baiji Plain” bearing Original Sacred Light, exposing that Lin Su was its original author and that Southern Chu Hermit’s reputation as a ci poetry grandmaster rested on a stolen work.
• Lin Su promised not to disappoint Southern Chu Hermit if he helped arrange a marriage for Lin Su’s brother, and Southern Chu Hermit agreed to accompany him to Marquis of Zhenbei’s Estate.
• Southern Chu Hermit left with Lin Su and Li Guihan, while Sanniang lured Chu Feng inside and Hong Ye later disguised herself as a maidservant to sneak out.
• Marquis of Zhenbei welcomed Southern Chu Hermit with a grand reception, but Mu Renqing and the Heir Apparent of Prince of Hejian’s Estate soon arrived to formalize a marriage alliance with Marquis of Zhenbei’s household.
• Mu Renqing presented the Prince with a ceremonial invitation for the proposed marriage alliance, and Southern Chu Hermit announced that he had also come to arrange a marriage between the two households.

Lin Su defended his elder brother Lin Zheng’s marriage proposal against the Heir Apparent of Prince of Hejian, revealing that the Lin family had two Sacred Jinshi and arguing that the County Princess should have a say in her marriage. Southern Chu Hermit proposed a poetry contest to decide the matter, leaving Elder Mu and the Marquis of Zhenbei to consider the challenge.

• Lin Su revealed that he had come on behalf of his elder brother Lin Zheng to seek the Second County Princess Hong Ying’s hand, prompting the Marquis of Zhenbei to react with anger toward Lin Zheng.
• Lin Su countered the Great Confucians’ claim that military families were poor households by declaring that he and his second elder brother were both Sacred Jinshi.
• Lin Su argued that the Prince should ask his daughter’s wishes before deciding her marriage, leaving the Marquis of Zhenbei uneasy about choosing without her consent.
• Southern Chu Hermit proposed that Lin Su compete with the Great Confucians through poetry and literary debate, with victory determining whether the Prince would grant the marriage proposal.
• The Great Confucians eagerly awaited Elder Mu’s decision, while the Marquis of Zhenbei welcomed the contest as a way to avoid being blamed for rejecting Prince of Hejian’s alliance.

Lin Su challenged Elder Mu to a poetic meaning chain verse contest and defeated him with a World-Passing Azure Ci Poetry, ending the Hejian Prince's Estate's bid for the County Princess. Hong Ye discovered that Lin Su was the author of Dream of the Red Chamber and was left overwhelmed by his sudden closeness to her family.

• Lin Su agreed to discuss poetry with Elder Mu and proposed that Elder Mu write the first poem, with the contest determining the County Princess's marriage.
• Elder Mu wrote a Seven-Colored Poem about an old man's loneliness, and Lin Su agreed to continue its desolate meaning.
• Lin Su wrote “Tian Jing Sha: Autumn Thoughts,” which manifested as World-Passing Azure Ci Poetry and surpassed Elder Mu's poem.
• Elder Mu accepted defeat and departed with the Heir Apparent and the Hejian Prince's party, ending their contest for the County Princess.
• Hong Ye learned that Lin Su was the author of Dream of the Red Chamber and blushed as she realized he had come close to her family.

After Lin Su helped Prince of Hejian’s Estate abandon its marriage alliance, Marquis of Zhenbei revealed that the Current Majesty was purging the Former Emperor’s allies because he lacked the Imperial Seal. He planned to send his family to Great Cang under the guise of a wedding, but Imperial Guards arrived the next morning and arrested the estate’s direct descendants for alleged rebellion.

• The Prince of Hejian promised to send people to the Lin Family to discuss the County Princess’s marriage, and Lin Su accepted the Prince’s hospitality before returning to Golden Rock Temple.
• Marquis of Zhenbei told Hong Ye that the Former Emperor had kept the Imperial Seal and ordered her and her brothers to escort Second Sister to marry into the Lin Family in seven days as a way to escape the estate’s looming crisis.
• Hong Ying visited Lin Su and confirmed that she would leave to marry into the Lin Family in seven days, leading Lin Su to realize the wedding procession was a refuge plan for Marquis of Zhenbei’s family.
• Li Guihan offered to use her Dao Seal to protect people if necessary, and Lin Su learned that the monks at Golden Rock Temple had all fallen asleep.
• Imperial Guards broke into Marquis of Zhenbei’s Estate with an edict accusing Yao Qianfeng of rebellion; Marquis of Zhenbei accepted the edict, and the guards shackled him, his sons, and more than twenty members of the family.

Lin Su intervened when the Imperial Guards moved to arrest the Marquis of Zhenbei's family and exposed the Nanyang Emperor's alleged crimes, triggering a battle. As the estate's escape was blocked and defeat seemed certain, Huixin revealed himself as the Former Emperor and confronted the current ruler and Commander Cui.

• Hong Ye urged Xing'er to flee with Lin Su while Hong Ying and the shackled members of the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate were marched away.
• Lin Su blocked the Imperial Guards, denounced their actions, and publicly accused the Nanyang Emperor of massacring eighty million people in Tanzhou and eliminating rivals.
• The Nanyang Emperor's edict ordered Lin Su killed, and the Imperial Guards attacked as the Marquis of Zhenbei and Hong Ying fought back.
• Li Guihan tried to use her Dao Seal to save the estate, but a Poet Sage's original manuscript suppressed it and trapped Lin Su and the others.
• Huixin appeared beneath Commander Cui's banner, revealed himself as the Former Emperor, killed Manager Zheng, and declared that he was the ruler.
• Commander Cui attacked Huixin with a devastating sword strike, but Huixin summoned a golden seal from Golden Rock Mountain that shattered the attack and forced Commander Cui to his knees.

The Former Emperor used the Imperial Seal to retake the capital, expose the conspiracy behind the Tanzhou massacre, and purge Chu Shan’s court. Afterward, he offered Lin Su autonomy over Tanzhou, but Lin Su refused and prepared to return to Great Cang.

• The Former Emperor summoned the Thirty-Six Generals of the Forbidden Palace, took command of the Imperial Guards, and marched with Marquis of Zhenbei to retake the capital.
• Lin Su freed Hong Ye from her shackles, then explained to Li Guihan and Hong Ye that he had predicted the Former Emperor would act because the monks had slept peacefully.
• The Former Emperor defeated the palace defenses, captured Chu Shan, and forced Consort Xiang to confess her role in the Tanzhou massacre and the court’s purge of the princes.
• The Former Emperor issued seven decrees punishing Chu Shan, Consort Xiang’s co-conspirators, five princes, and hundreds of officials.
• The Former Emperor told Lin Su that the Empress had sacrificed herself to preserve the Imperial Seal, and Lin Su learned how the conspiracy had exploited the Empress’s supposed curses.
• The Former Emperor offered Lin Su the governorship of Tanzhou with broad autonomy, but Lin Su refused because of his ties to Great Cang and the burdens he carried.

Lin Su left Ancient Nanyang after helping its emperor uncover Consort Xiang’s crimes, then stayed behind with Li Guihan to visit the Poet Sage Sacred Family’s Li Chang Geng. Meanwhile, Mo Qing arrived in Haining seeking answers about Lin Su, where a hidden guardian stopped her scouting cricket; the chapter ended as Lin Su and Li Guihan noticed something outside their inn.

• The emperor watched Lin Su depart and regretted that he could not persuade him to remain as an official.
• Hong Ying told Lin Su that her father would send elders within a month to discuss their marriage, and Lin Su agreed to explain the arrangement to his family.
• Lin Su told Li Guihan he intended to visit Li Chang Geng at the Poet Sage Pavilion to return the courtesy and resolve their conflict.
• In Haining, Luyi and Sister Chen discussed Lin Su’s absence, while Mo Qing arrived to investigate his inventions and lost contact with her scouting cricket near the Lin Family courtyard.
• Lin Su and Li Guihan woke in a capital inn and looked toward Golden Rock Mountain after Lin Su noticed something that made him pity someone.

Lin Su refused the Nanyang Emperor’s offer of an official post because his roots were in Great Cang, then challenged Li Chang Geng to a poetry contest at the Poet Sage Pavilion. The Heavenly Dao Oath bound them to a wager in which the loser would shatter his literary heart and leave the Literary Altar, and Li Chang Geng prepared to exploit the seemingly easy topic Lin Su had given him.

• Lin Su told Li Guihan that he had refused the Nanyang Emperor’s offer because his roots were in Great Cang, and Li Guihan suspected he wanted to rebel against Great Cang’s Emperor.
• Lin Su and Li Guihan encountered the fallen Heir Apparent of Prince of Hejian and taunted him as his family’s carriage convoy left the capital.
• Lin Su arrived at the Poet Sage Pavilion and publicly called out Li Chang Geng, accusing him of plotting against him and challenging him to a poetry contest.
• Lin Su and Li Chang Geng swore a Heavenly Dao Oath to compete in poetry, with the loser required to shatter his literary heart and withdraw from the Literary Altar.
• Lin Su gave Li Chang Geng the topic of embodying open-hearted righteousness, while Li Chang Geng secretly welcomed the apparently easy prompt and recalled his mission to cripple Lin Su.

Lin Su defeated Li Chang Geng in a literary wager by answering his challenge with a seven-colored poem that he sang as a song, crippling Li Chang Geng’s Literary Way. After Lin Su and Li Guihan departed, the emperor learned that the Buddhist nun seeking an audience was his supposedly dead Seventh Princess, Xingyue; Lin Su and Li Guihan then reached Haining City.

• Li Chang Geng composed a five-colored poem about an upright Great Confucian, but Lin Su said its color rank revealed that Li Chang Geng was only pretending to be open and aboveboard.
• Li Chang Geng challenged Lin Su to include wind, flowers, snow, and moon, evoke Zen, and avoid any mention of Buddha; Lin Su sang a poem that fulfilled the challenge and rose to the seven-colored rank.
• The Heavenly Dao Oath struck Li Chang Geng down for losing the wager, destroying his literary heart, and Lin Su left with Li Guihan through his Dao Seal.
• Wuying Tong Lao told the emperor that the Buddhist nun Xingyue was his Seventh Princess, whom the court had believed dead, and the emperor learned she had arrived to request an audience.
• Lin Su and Li Guihan traveled by Dao Seal to Haining City, where they arrived at Wangjiang Tower.