Chapter Summaries

Lin Su traveled toward Huichang with Zhou Mei, who revealed that she had followed him on her father’s orders and learned why he had provoked Qu Feiyan. At Blood Rain Pass, Lin Zheng received permission to return home for his marriage, and Lin Su learned that his eldest brother would arrive in five days before heading to Xixin Temple with Zhou Mei.

• Lin Su discovered that Zhou Mei had been following him to protect him, and she asked him to sing in exchange for joining him.
• Lin Su told Zhou Mei that Qu Feiyan had killed her brother with the literary realm Myriad Laws Return to Origin and promised to use Qu Feiyan as the blade’s edge within six months.
• Ding E received the Ministry of War’s reply allowing the Border Commander to decide whether Lin Zheng could leave the pass, and Lin Zheng departed for home with thirty-six riders.
• Zhou Mei described the three towers associated with Lin Su, and Lin Su invited her to visit Xixin Temple after their ferry reached Huichang.
• Lin Su caught a letter-bearing wild goose and learned that his eldest brother would return home in five days, then walked with Zhou Mei to Xixin Temple.

Lin Su sought the Old Monk’s guidance about Merfolk Beauty, then returned to the Lin Family, where Prefect Yang announced his extraordinary honors and the Zhang Family’s destruction. The chapter ended with Lin Su revealing that his eldest brother would return from Blood Rain Pass in four days.

• Lin Su asked the Old Monk about Merfolk Beauty, and the Old Monk advised him to seek the Cosmos Mirror in the Bronze Hall on Wudao Mountain in Burial Province.
• Zhou Mei asked where Lin Su’s former companion was, and the Old Monk answered that he did not know; afterward, Zhou Mei parted from Lin Su and went to see Yishui North Bank and the Haining Riverbank.
• Prefect Yang told Madam and the Lin Family that Lin Su had won 1,300 Azure Lotuses, become the First Grandmaster of Azure Lotus, received the Literary Way Azure Wood Token, and pioneered arithmetic.
• Prefect Yang reported that Zhang Wenyuan had been dismissed and the Zhang Family’s males had all perished, while stressing that Lin Su had been holding a Dao Discussion when the family was exterminated.
• Lin Su returned to the manor, and Madam told him about Prefect Yang’s news and asked him to worship with her.
• Lin Su postponed the worship ceremony and told Madam that his eldest brother would return from Blood Rain Pass in four days.

Lin Su completed the lavender perfume and wrote a new ci while the people of Yishui North Bank celebrated the income from their harvest. The chapter ended as Lin Zheng and the Thirty-Six Generals of the Lin Family returned to Haining after ten years away.

• Lin Su completed the thirty-third stratagem and worked toward finishing the Thirty-Six Stratagems before Qu Feiyan could recover and threaten him.
• The people of Yishui North Bank harvested lavender and sold it to Uncle Deng, while Lin Su worried whether the flowers could be made into perfume.
• Lin Su refined the lavender into a new perfume, confirmed it worked, and wrote the new ci tune "Spring Resentment" for it.
• The people learned Lin Su had bought their flowers despite his uncertainty and proposed building him a living shrine, but Uncle Deng stopped them.
• The Lin Family and people of Haining gathered at the docks to welcome Lin Zheng and the Thirty-Six Generals home after ten years away.

Lin Zheng reunited with his family in Haining, and the three Lin brothers honored their father before relatives from the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate arrived to assess the Lin Family and confirm the marriage alliance. Yao Qianlu was impressed by the family's standing and warm welcome, and the delegation entered Osmanthus Hall to meet them.

• Lin Zheng and the Thirty-Six Generals reunited with their families at Haining's docks, and Lin Su welcomed seven familyless men into the Lin Family.
• Lin Su told Lin Zheng and Lin Jialiang about his role in the upheaval in Ancient Nanyang Kingdom and admitted he had exterminated the Zhang Family's men.
• The three Lin brothers honored their father at his grave during Qingming Festival, and Lin Zheng described his success at Blood Rain Pass and his advancement to the Martial Zenith Realm.
• Yao Qianlu and a delegation from the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate arrived in Haining to visit their relatives and investigate the Lin Family ahead of the marriage alliance.
• The townspeople warmly welcomed the delegation, and Yao Qianlu judged the Lin Family's reputation and Literary Way foundation to be genuine.
• Madam Lin and the three Lin brothers welcomed Yao Qianlu's party, which entered Osmanthus Hall as Yao Qianlu continued observing the household.

Yao Qianlu’s party discovered the Lin Family’s wealth came from its own luxury goods and household inventions, and Lin Zheng secured a lucrative trade agreement that advanced his marriage to the County Princess. Meanwhile, Hong Ying, Hong Ye, and Xing'er secretly traveled toward Haining, with the Princess Consort having been coaxed into letting Hong Ye go.

• Yao Qianlu and his companions were astonished by the Lin Family’s jade-floored hall, fine food, luxury goods, and modern household conveniences.
• Xiao Xue showed the visiting maids the Fire Demon Stone kettle, Flush Toilet, automatic faucets, perfume, and soap, and told them the Lin Family made its own luxury products.
• After Lin Zheng arrived, the Lin and Yao Families agreed on large quotas of Baiyunbian Wine, perfumes, porcelain, and soap, giving the Yao Family a major source of profit.
• Yao Qianlu and the Lin Family advanced the marriage arrangements and decided to complete the rites together on Mid-Autumn Festival.
• Hong Ying, Hong Ye, and Xing'er traveled by boat toward Haining in disguise, while Hong Ye revealed that she had persuaded the Princess Consort to let her accompany her elder sister.

Hong Ying and Hong Ye explored Haining and learned how Lin Su had transformed the refugee riverbank, while Lin Su completed two of the final Thirty-Six Stratagems by drawing on historical examples. When he realized completing the last one could trigger a public breakthrough into the Literary Path Realm, he flew away into the night to conceal it.

• Hong Ying, Xing'er, and Hong Ye visited Haining Refugee Riverbank and discovered how Lin Su had turned it into a thriving home for hundreds of thousands of people.
• During seven busy days of wedding preparations and business, Lin Su contemplated how to complete the final three stratagems without violating his principles.
• Lin Su realized he could derive stratagems from historical cases rather than enact them himself and wrote Beauty Trap and Borrowing a Corpse to Revive the Soul onto his Literary Mountain.
• Lin Su prepared to write Flight is Best but realized finishing the Thirty-Six Stratagems could make him enter the Literary Path Realm in Haining and reveal his breakthrough.
• Lin Su flew into the night, and Qiu Shui Hua Ping told the women she could not keep up with him.

Lin Su broke into the literary path with an unprecedentedly broad Dao, then returned to the Lin Family West Courtyard to celebrate. As the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate prepared to send Lin Family goods to Nanyang, Mo Qing told Feng Wu about Lin Su's achievements, prompting Feng Wu to set out for Haining.

• At the Thousand Island Archipelago, Lin Su completed the Thirty-Six Stratagems and forged a forty-li-wide literary Dao, formally breaking into the literary path.
• Lin Su demonstrated his new power by splitting an island with the word “Sever,” then returned to the Lin Family West Courtyard and embraced Sister Chen, Cui Ying, and Luyi.
• On a boat outside Lin Manor, Hong Ying promised to help Hong Ye speak to her mother-in-law and Lin Su about Hong Ye's feelings.
• At Haining Academy, Mo Qing spoke with Feng Wu and told her about Lin Su's Azure Wood Token, arithmetic discussion, new perfume and ci poem, and musical compositions; Feng Wu decided to travel to Haining.
• At Haining Wharf, the Lin Family and Haining citizens gathered as a ship carrying goods for Nanyang prepared to depart with the Marquis of Zhenbei's Estate's marriage party.

Lin Su bid farewell to Hong Ye with a Seven-Colored Poem containing a private promise, then traveled by ship to Beichuan to lure Zhao Xun into making an assassination attempt. After surviving a poisoned wine and a sudden attack from his maidservant, he confronted her about whether she belonged to Dark Fragrance or Wujianmen.

• Hong Ye disguised as a scholar asked Lin Su for a poem, and he wrote her a farewell verse promising to meet again when osmanthus bloomed.
• Lin Su left for Beichuan by ship, while Zhou Mei joined him and learned he was using himself as bait to draw out Zhao Xun.
• Lin Su traveled aboard a Hundred Fragrances Tower ship, where Zhou Mei watched over him as passengers and maidservants admired him.
• That night, Xiao Xiang offered Lin Su wine, and he recognized that it contained poison.
• Xiao Xiang attacked Lin Su with a blade-like fingernail, but he struck her dantian and stopped her true qi from circulating.
• Lin Su asked the defeated Xiao Xiang whether she was Dark Fragrance or Wujianmen.

Lin Su and Zhou Mei exposed a Dark Fragrance assassination plot aboard the ship, and Lin Su extracted intelligence before letting Hu Yuexiang escape. After arriving in Beichuan County, they entered a county dominated by the Zhao Family, where magistrate Zeng Shigui hoped an imperial inspector might bring change.

• Lin Su used Timeless War Ci Poetry to withstand a Void-Peering assassin while Zhou Mei killed him from behind.
• Lin Su compelled Xiao Xiang, whose real name was Hu Yuexiang, to reveal her role as a Dark Fragrance altar master and the organization’s extensive network, then let her escape.
• Lin Su and Zhou Mei discussed Dark Fragrance as their ship continued toward Central Province, and they reached the Central Province dock on the third day.
• Lin Su and Zhou Mei flew into Beichuan County, where most residents suffered under the Zhao Family’s control.
• Constable Li told Zeng Shigui that Constable Yang Dong had released Zhao Yong, and Zeng lamented the Zhao Family’s ability to evade the law.
• Zeng Shigui said Beichuan might have hope if an imperial inspector other than Li Zhiyuan came to investigate.

Lin Su joined Zeng Shigui and Li Zhiyuan in Beichuan to investigate the Zhao Family’s abuses against villagers driven from Yu Ping Mountain. After hearing the villagers’ grievances, Lin Su questioned why the fertile mountain had remained legally undeveloped for centuries, leaving the investigation with a new mystery.

• Lin Su reunited with Zeng Shigui, heard about Beichuan’s problems, and went with him to meet Li Zhiyuan in the Black Mud Swamp.
• Lin Su saw Li Zhiyuan hunting crocodiles and met his family in the impoverished settlement.
• Lin Su invited the villagers to report their grievances, and they recounted the Zhao Family’s extortion, violence, and forced evictions while Zeng Shigui recorded their accounts.
• Li Zhiyuan and Zeng Shigui warned that the Zhao Family knew how to avoid legal punishment, and Lin Su asked who legally owned Yu Ping Mountain.
• Lin Su noted that the fertile mountain had remained wilderness despite Beichuan’s long history and repeated land surveys, raising doubts about how it could still be ownerless.

Lin Su uncovered the danger at Black Pool and killed its Sixth Realm demon king with six Literary Way words, freeing the Black Marsh villagers from the demons. He then refined the demon core, advanced his martial cultivation, and learned the Zhao Family had sent reports to allies while Zeng Shigui and Li Zhiyuan searched for records that might establish who owned Yu Ping Mountain.

• Zeng Shigui revealed that a fire had destroyed the County Office's original survey records, and he and Li Zhiyuan hurried there to search for surviving clues about Yu Ping Mountain.
• Lin Su learned that Black Pool had claimed generations of villagers and went there with Zhou Mei to confront the demon king hiding beneath its waters.
• Lin Su used six Literary Way words to expose the demon king, kill it, reclaim its demon core, and clear the Demonic Mist from Black Pool.
• Lin Su told the arriving villagers they could take the giant black fish corpses for food, and the villagers celebrated while searching the shore for their dead relatives' remains.
• At an inn, Lin Su refined the demon core overnight and advanced to the Late Stage Peering into Humanity, while Zhou Mei reported that the Zhao Family had sent letters north and east and that the inn waiter served them.

Lin Su and his allies uncovered evidence that the Zhao Family had tried to seize Yu Ping Mountain and discovered a surviving heir of Yu Yu Mountain Villa who might possess its deed. Lin Su set out for Mount Wutai to find the heir, while the Zhao Family’s surveillance continued and Zhou Mei accompanied him openly.

• Lin Su used the county archives to learn that Yu Ping Mountain had belonged to Yu Yu Mountain Villa, that Zhao Xun’s family had failed to obtain its deed, and that the villa was later massacred.
• Zeng Shigui and Li Zhiyuan searched for clues to the deed’s location while Lin Su left them to investigate the Demon King’s troubles in the village.
• Li Zhiyuan returned to find that Lin Su had already killed the Black Pool Demon King, and the discovery renewed his resolve to serve the people.
• Lin Su spent three days observing Beichuan and the Zhao Family’s fruit and wine businesses while Zhao Family constables followed him.
• Zeng Shigui and Li Zhiyuan found that the villa’s eldest young master had survived and become the monk Shan Ji at Golden Light Temple on Mount Wutai.
• Lin Su departed for Mount Wutai, where Zhou Mei revealed herself and warned him not to call her Little Demoness.

Lin Su visited Golden Light Temple with Zhou Mei to obtain the deed to Yu Ping Mountain, and he persuaded Master Shan Ji by reciting the Diamond Sutra. Shan Ji gave him the deed, but Lin Su's attempt to write the scripture shattered his Precious Brush, and he discovered something unexpected in his Literary Mountain.

• Lin Su overheard scholars discussing his reputation and pulled Zhou Mei away before she could reveal his identity.
• Lin Su challenged the Little Monk's reasoning and gained an audience with Master Shan Ji, who refused to discuss worldly matters.
• Lin Su argued that ignoring worldly suffering was itself wrong, then offered money and recited the Diamond Sutra to move Shan Ji.
• Shan Ji gave Lin Su the deed to three hundred thousand mu of land including Yu Ping Mountain, calling it the first cut of the Zen gate.
• Lin Su tried to write the Diamond Sutra on golden paper, but his Precious Brush shattered, and he saw a brush in his Literary Mountain.

Lin Su completed the Diamond Sutra at Golden Light Temple, then fled before the monks could recruit him. He returned to Yu Ping Mountain with officials and constables to enforce the land deed against Zhao Zhengyan, but Yang Dong’s intervention turned the punishment into a farce.

• Lin Su finished the Diamond Sutra, causing Buddhist wonders across Golden Light Temple and Thousand Mile Dongting, and Shan Ji offered him entry into the Buddhist fold.
• Lin Su refused Shan Ji’s offer and escaped with Zhou Mei, then said he would return to Beichuan to deal with Zhao Xun’s father.
• Lin Su led Li Zhiyuan, Zeng Shigui, and the constables to Zhao Mansion, where Constable Li forced the gates open and Zeng Shigui used his Official Seal to disable the armed men resisting them.
• Lin Su showed Zhao Zhengyan the deed to Yu Ping Mountain and ordered him to leave under the Great Cang Law.
• When Zhao Zhengyan refused, Lin Su ordered thirty strokes of the law staff, but Yang Dong volunteered to take them in his place.
• Yang Dong received the first ten strokes, which the constables deliberately delivered without causing serious injury, and Zeng Shigui grew furious.

Lin Su forced the Zhao Family to leave Yu Ping Mountain and ordered its officials and constables punished, freeing the mountain for the displaced villagers. After the Zhao Family left the land in ruins, Lin Su began planning its redevelopment using Haining Riverbank as a model.

• Lin Su crippled Yang Dong with a judicial staff, then confronted Hexi Prefect Li Han and Second-Rank Official Zhao Xun when they tried to intervene.
• Lin Su rejected Zhao Xun’s offer of compensation and demanded that the Zhao Family leave Yu Ping Mountain; Zhao Xun yielded and agreed to move the family out by dawn.
• Lin Su dismissed the Beichuan constables, while news of the Zhao Family’s departure brought the Black Marsh villagers joy and hope of returning to the mountain.
• Tens of thousands of villagers arrived at Yu Ping Mountain, where they found that the Zhao Family had demolished its buildings, filled its wells, and destroyed its fruit trees.
• Lin Su proposed rebuilding Yu Ping Mountain according to Haining Riverbank’s renovation plan and asked Zeng Shigui to guide the work.

Lin Su planned Yu Ping Mountain’s development with Zeng Shigui and Li Zhiyuan, then taught Li Cuixiang how to graft plum branches onto peach trees. He and Zhou Mei flew toward the capital on the mysterious Weiyang Brush, whose immense capacity for literary aura left Lin Su wondering about its secrets.

• Lin Su, Zeng Shigui, and Li Zhiyuan planned Yu Ping Mountain’s settlements, roads, and flower plantations, and Lin Su waived the villagers’ land rent.
• Lin Su told Li Zhiyuan that Yishui North Bank had earned a great deal from perfume, while privately reflecting on his plans against the Zhao Family.
• Lin Su found Li Cuixiang tending felled peach trees and taught her to graft plum branches onto them.
• Lin Su left Zeng Shigui and Li Zhiyuan to oversee Yu Ping Mountain’s development, with construction materials supplied on credit.
• Lin Su and Zhou Mei flew toward the capital on the Weiyang Brush, and Lin Su discovered it could absorb vast amounts of literary aura and travel at extraordinary speed.
• Zhou Mei urged Lin Su to sing a love song, but he declined and lay down to sleep.

Lin Su learned from Zhou Zhang that Zhao Xun served the Crown Prince and that officials were targeting his second brother, Lin Jialiang, in retaliation for Lin Su’s Azure Wood Token. After returning to the Inspectorate Department, Lin Su discovered that Chen Dong had been assigned to investigate Lin Jialiang and confronted him with a pointed reminder of how he had handled Zhao Xun.

• Lin Su met Zhou Zhang, who explained that the Crown Prince profited from the Zhao Family’s official-supply wine and stood behind Zhao Xun and Dark Fragrance.
• Zhou Zhang warned Lin Su that court officials had shifted their retaliation to Lin Jialiang, hoping to intimidate Lin Su’s allies and provoke Lin into violating the Sacred Dao.
• Zhou Mei told Zhou Zhang about Lin Su’s exploits in Beichuan, and her mother appeared to tease her about Lin Su’s interest in her.
• Lin Su returned to the Inspectorate Department, where Li San reported that Chen Dong had orders to investigate Lin Jialiang for embezzlement and treasonous remarks.
• Chen Dong visited Lin Su and described his assignment; Lin Su recounted how he had driven the Zhao Family out of Beichuan, seized its lands, and nearly beaten Zhao Xun’s father.

Lin Su warned Chen Dong that Zhao Xun would soon die, prompting Lei Zheng to send Chen Dong to investigate in Sanping despite his growing fear of Lin Su. After attending Princess Yufeng’s birthday banquet, Lin Su met Bi Xuanji and prepared to go to Sick Garden, where the Sick Young Master lived.

• Lin Su told Chen Dong that a fortune-teller had predicted Zhao Xun would die before the month ended, and Chen Dong left with his smile gone.
• Lei Zheng ordered Chen Dong to set out for Sanping, but Chen Dong delayed long enough to miss the fastest official ship and board a slow one.
• Lin Su spent the day asleep at the Inspectorate Department, then joined Zhang Haoran, Huo Qi, Li Yangxin, and Qiu Mochi for Princess Yufeng’s birthday banquet.
• King Chen sent Princess Yufeng a birthday gift, and His Majesty sent her a Jade Tablet bearing the words “Jade-Pure, Phoenix-Splendor”; Princess Yufeng and Youying suspected it was meant to steady King Chen’s camp and warn Lin Su.
• Lin Su kissed Lu Youwei on the way back from West Mountain, then met Bi Xuanji, who said he had spoken to someone and that they could go.
• Lin Su and Bi Xuanji headed to Sick Garden, a ruined garden frequented by scholars and owned by the Sick Young Master.

Lin Su met Mei Wudong and agreed to help him avenge their families, but not restore the fallen Great Jin. They devised a plan to draw out Consort Xiang by forging her token, and the chapter ended with Zhao Xun murdered and the emperor ordering an investigation.

• Mei Wudong revealed to Lin Su and Bi Xuanji that his legs were healthy and welcomed Lin Su as family.
• Lin Su promised to help Mei Wudong seek revenge but refused to help restore Great Jin.
• Mei Wudong explained Dark Fragrance's hidden hierarchy and the Gu Worm in his brain, which Lin Su could not remove.
• Lin Su proposed forging a Consort Xiang Token to lure Consort Xiang into revealing herself, and Mei Wudong and Bi Xuanji agreed.
• Mei Wudong made a false token, and Bi Xuanji used it to order Azure Dragon to execute Zhao Xun.
• Zhao Xun was found murdered, and His Majesty ordered an investigation.

Lin Su uncovered that the Crown Princess had used Azure Dragon to kill Zhao Xun, then helped Mei Wudong remove a Gu Worm from his brother. Discovering the same jade that held the Gu Worm at Princess Yufeng’s birthday banquet, Lin Su rushed to West Mountain Villa, where Youying confronted him.

• Ouyang Dong replayed Zhao Xun’s murder through Literary Way Power, revealing that the killer had said, “His Highness’s arrangement was to kill you,” while Duan Xingtian recognized the man as Azure Dragon but kept silent.
• The Crown Prince questioned the Crown Princess about Zhao Xun’s death, and she denied ordering the assassination before promising to investigate who had impersonated her.
• Lin Su sent Li San to deliver funeral money to the Zhao Family and told him to cultivate a connection with Du Qingquan to learn Lei Zheng’s preferences.
• Lin Su confronted Azure Dragon and the veiled Consort Xiang, exposed the Crown Princess as Consort Xiang, and Mei Wudong killed her while sparing Azure Dragon.
• Lin Su used the Gu Worm from the Consort Xiang Token to draw the worm out of Mei Wudong’s brain, then realized the jade resembled the pendant gifted to Princess Yufeng.
• Lin Su flew to West Mountain Villa to check whether Princess Yufeng’s pendant contained a mother Gu Worm, and Youying raised her guard when he arrived at her bedchamber.