Chapter Summaries

Liu Di found gold while panning with Friedrich, who repeatedly tried to claim it for himself. After spotting a river mussel, Liu Di opened it and discovered a bulging pearl sac inside.

• Magic Child estimated that one of Liu Di's abilities would arrive in twelve hours.
• Liu Di found a small piece of gold, and Friedrich snatched it, claiming he would keep it safe.
• Liu Di found a second piece of gold, which Friedrich also pocketed before digging fruitlessly at Liu Di's spot.
• Liu Di noticed a pile of river mussels, and Friedrich warned that pearls were extremely rare and likely worthless.
• Liu Di chose an old, undersized mussel and opened its shell, revealing a bulging pearl sac.

Liu Di revealed that his pearl contained gold, and Friedrich used the discovery to convince hundreds of gold prospectors to pay for directions to supposed gold sites. The prospectors set off with Friedrich’s fake blessed feathers while Liu Di watched in disbelief.

• Liu Di showed Friedrich and the prospectors that the pearl held a smooth, golden core, and the crowd began to regard him as an Eastern powerhouse.
• Friedrich returned Liu Di’s two gold nuggets and announced that Liu Di had discovered ten gold-bearing sites along the river, asking prospectors for twenty percent of any gold they found.
• Friedrich defended his offer by saying prospectors would pay only if they found gold, and a group of Indian-African prospectors agreed to try it.
• Friedrich handed out feathers he claimed were blessed by Liu Di, directing prospectors to use them to locate gold; he admitted to Liu Di that he had torn one from a Gypsy dancer’s skirt.
• Hundreds of prospectors claimed the feathers and rushed to Friedrich’s designated locations as he sat back and watched with a grin.

Friedrich earned gold by charging prospectors for feathers that improved their panning, then took Liu Di to the Gold Prospector Bar. He claimed he would appraise Liu Di’s Pearl Devourer but instead used it to bargain with Tanaji, leaving its value uncertain.

• Friedrich scolded the prospectors into following the feathers’ changing directions and collected nearly twenty ounces in commissions as teams found gold.
• Friedrich earned thirty-five ounces of gold dust, and he let three unsuccessful teams keep their feathers for another day.
• Friedrich brought Liu Di to the Gold Prospector Bar, where Liu Di noticed the black feathers on Tanaji’s skirt.
• Friedrich and Liu Di drank tequila, and Friedrich asked to appraise the Pearl Devourer.
• Friedrich took the pearl outside, used it to lure Tanaji upstairs, and returned nine minutes later without an appraisal.
• When Liu Di asked what the pearl was worth, Friedrich held up three fingers and said, "Three times."

After losing the Undying Eye, Liu Di listened as Friedrich described the Hexi Cowboys and their leader, Yellow-Eyed Viper, who had survived thirty-seven games of Deadly Revolver. The Magic Child judged Yellow-Eyed Viper’s luck practically impossible, as the cowboys entered the Gold Prospector Bar.

• The Gypsy Woman sold the pearl she had swindled, which eventually became known as the Undying Eye and entered an auction in China.
• Friedrich admitted that he had reached his limit after three drinks, while Liu Di vowed to reclaim the pearl’s value from Friedrich’s descendants.
• Friedrich praised Eastern civilization and persuaded Liu Di to help him a little longer.
• More than a dozen Hexi Cowboys entered the Gold Prospector Bar, and Friedrich identified their leader as Yellow-Eyed Viper.
• Friedrich explained that Yellow-Eyed Viper had built his power by challenging influential cowboys to Deadly Revolver and had survived thirty-seven games without injury.
• Liu Di considered the odds of Yellow-Eyed Viper’s survival, and the Magic Child declared that such luck was practically impossible.

Yellow-Eyed Viper confronted Friedrich and Liu Di at the bar, forcing Friedrich into a deadly Revolver challenge over the Eastern Master. Friedrich refused to wager Liu Di and stood up to Viper, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Liu Di realized that people who gambled Revolver with Yellow-Eyed Viper were bound to lose, while Friedrich tried to dismiss the danger.
• Yellow-Eyed Viper entered the bar seeking the Eastern Master who could supposedly find underground gold, and Friedrich recognized the threat.
• Yellow-Eyed Viper threatened an Island Nation man, but Friedrich tried to redirect him before Viper revealed he knew Friedrich was an agent.
• Friedrich offered Yellow-Eyed Viper most of his commission for protection, but Viper challenged him to Deadly Revolver, wagering the Eastern Master.
• Friedrich refused to put Liu Di at risk and stood between him and the others, declaring that he would not accept Viper's challenge.

Liu Di challenged Yellow-Eyed Viper to a Deadly Revolver wager, knowing the outlaw used hidden powder and his unusual vision to track the bullet. After Yellow-Eyed Viper survived his first shot, Liu Di fired twice and left him stunned.

• Liu Di persuaded Yellow-Eyed Viper to wager his gold against Liu Di’s life, and Yellow-Eyed Viper agreed to use Friedrich’s revolver.
• Liu Di chose the fourth bullet, and Yellow-Eyed Viper loaded it, spun the cylinder, and took the first shot, which clicked without firing.
• Magic Child explained that Yellow-Eyed Viper used moth powder visible to his Four-Color Vision to track the bullet’s chamber.
• Yellow-Eyed Viper handed Liu Di the revolver and taunted him into aiming at his thigh.
• Liu Di calmly pulled the trigger twice, and both shots clicked without firing.
• Yellow-Eyed Viper demanded to know how Liu Di fired twice, and Liu Di pointed out that he had never been limited to one shot.

Liu Di used the threat of Deadly Revolver to persuade Yellow-Eyed Viper to abandon their deadly game and partner with him to find gold. The partnership left Liu Di with access to Viper’s territory, while Friedrich lamented the cost of Viper’s celebration.

• Yellow-Eyed Viper prepared to fire the next shot, believing the chamber held the bullet that would kill him.
• Liu Di proposed that he and Yellow-Eyed Viper join forces to prospect for gold and split their earnings.
• Yellow-Eyed Viper agreed to postpone Deadly Revolver and partner with Liu Di.
• Yellow-Eyed Viper declared that drinks and dancers were on him, delighting the crowd.
• Friedrich asked how Liu Di had gained Viper’s territory so easily, then complained about being drained after the celebration began.

Friedrich’s feather scam was exposed when gold prospectors discovered they had found gold without the supposed magic feather, and Yellow-Eyed Viper turned on him. Liu Di was still missing as Viper pressed a pistol to Friedrich’s forehead.

• Friedrich claimed Liu Di had gone into the mountains to inspect the terrain, then led Yellow-Eyed Viper and his men after him.
• Friedrich and Viper found Yorick and a crowd of prospectors waiting by the river, angry about the feather scam.
• Yorick revealed that his simple-minded brother had kept Friedrich’s real black feather in his nostril while the group found gold using a fake feather.
• The prospectors accused Friedrich and Liu Di of fraud, while Yorick’s brother repeatedly blew the feather from his nose and stuffed it back in.
• Viper demanded an explanation from Friedrich and, suspecting Liu Di had fled, cocked his pistol and pressed it to Friedrich’s forehead.

Liu Di used a staged display of supernatural power to produce a massive block of gold and convince Friedrich and the Gold Prospectors that he was a divine being. After directing Friedrich to build a business and urging the crowd to respect Eastern people, Liu Di left through a time vortex, while Friedrich guessed wildly about his identity.

• Liu Di manipulated the river and hillside, making gold rise from the ground as the Gold Prospectors watched in awe.
• Liu Di formed the gold into a block over five meters tall and told Friedrich to split it up.
• Friedrich said he would keep digging for gold, then proposed opening a Gold Prospector bar, but Liu Di told him to build a business empire instead.
• Liu Di ordered the crowd to respect and help Eastern people, and they promised to obey.
• Liu Di threw the Time Halberd and stepped into a vortex, leaving the crowd to wonder who he was.
• Friedrich guessed that Liu Di might be from the island nation or Korea and vowed to keep his descendants close to those countries.

Liu Di and Magic Child discussed the Time Halberd’s rapid upgrade and the possibility that the world was created like a program. Their speculation was interrupted when Gu Tian appeared in the River of Time and attacked Liu Di for abducting Gu Fan.

• Magic Child announced that it had reached Sequence Three after only three days and described how correcting history revealed more of the world's code.
• Liu Di and Magic Child considered whether advanced artificial intelligence could create independent universes and whether their own world had been created by a supercomputer.
• Liu Di remarked that no one could witness the River of Time with him, but an old man arrived in a boat and climbed onto the shore beside him.
• The old man introduced himself as Gu Tian, said Gu Fan was among his descendants, and declared that he had come to beat Liu Di to death for abducting her.
• Gu Tian struck the air with his cane, making the River of Time tremble and his boat bob as if caught in a storm.

Liu Di learned that the old man came from Four-Dimensional Village, whose people could observe the past but not change it, and heard how they had helped humanity repel enemies. The old man showed Liu Di a four-dimensional projection of a golden-robed man destroying a dangerous New Human.

• The old man hurt his back while trying to strike Liu Di, and Liu Di set his lumbar vertebrae back into place.
• The old man conjured a chessboard and told Liu Di that he was from Four-Dimensional Village, where Gu Fan had been the village beauty.
• The old man revealed that Four-Dimensional Village existed in a separate dimension and that its people could project themselves into the past but could neither travel to the future nor interfere with history.
• The old man explained that four-dimensional beings could observe people in great detail and appear at times synchronized with reality, which had allowed them to help humanity repel enemies.
• The old man showed Liu Di a past encounter in which a golden-robed man projected himself into the 1980s and turned a corrupt New Human into bloody mist.

Liu Di learned that Gu Fan’s father, Village Chief Gu Beijiang, forbade her from being with him and intended to erase him, but he vowed to grow beyond the fourth dimension and bring her back. The straw-cloaked old man returned to Four-Dimensional Village and ordered Gu Beijiang to leave Liu Di alone, saying he wanted to see whether Liu Di could reach the village.

• The straw-cloaked old man showed Liu Di a scene of Gu Beijiang forbidding Gu Fan from leaving the village or dating Liu Di, and threatening to erase him.
• The old man said he had come to watch the situation and beat Liu Di, but Liu Di declared that he would become a five-dimensional being and take Gu Fan away.
• The old man won their chess game with a rule-breaking “Sniper Horse,” then praised Liu Di’s ingenuity and told him not to let Gu Fan down.
• The old man revealed that Gu Fan had secretly guided Liu Di and given him opportunities she had gathered over many years in the timeline.
• Liu Di concluded that the old man had come to kill him because he was the only being in Four-Dimensional Village to evolve into the fifth dimension.
• The old man confronted Gu Beijiang in the village ancestral hall, struck him with his cane, and ordered him to settle down while he waited to see whether Liu Di would reach the village.

After reflecting on Gu Fan’s plans for him, Liu Di entered a new timeline to correct history. He arrived in the thriving Western Han capital of Chang’an, during Emperor Yuan of Han’s reign.

• Liu Di and Magic Child discussed the old man in the straw raincoat and how Gu Fan had arranged training opportunities for Liu Di.
• Liu Di vowed to become worthy of respect in Four-Dimensional Village and set off with Magic Child through the River of Time.
• Liu Di emerged in an ancient-looking alley and wondered whether he had traveled to a film studio.
• Liu Di found a bustling street where a fortune-teller announced that Emperor Yuan of Han was offering sacrifices to his ancestors.
• Liu Di recognized the city as Chang’an during the Western Han dynasty and felt reverence for its prosperity.

Liu Di wandered through the prosperous Han dynasty and encountered a striking blue-haired woman who defeated the lecherous painter Mao Yanshou. She introduced herself as Wang Qiang, courtesy name Zhaojun, and Liu Di realized she was the legendary Wang Zhaojun.

• Liu Di marveled at the Han dynasty’s prosperity and recalled its renowned historical figures and achievements.
• Liu Di admired the era’s hanfu, then noticed a beautiful blue-haired woman and briefly wondered how she compared with Gu Fan.
• Mao Yanshou tried to grope the woman while claiming he was screening her for the emperor’s palace.
• The woman kicked Mao Yanshou into a wall, struck him again, and sent him fleeing with a warning.
• The woman thanked Liu Di for intending to help and introduced herself as Wang Qiang, courtesy name Zhaojun.
• Liu Di recognized her as the famed Wang Zhaojun, associated with Zhaojun’s Journey Beyond the Frontier.

Liu Di realized Wang Zhaojun’s portrait may have been falsified after she beat the painter Mao Yanshou, and he went with her to learn more while worrying that correcting history could alter her fate. He accepted her invitation to stay at her home, where he became increasingly flustered by her attentions.

• Liu Di connected Wang Zhaojun’s harsh treatment of Mao Yanshou to the possibility that the painter would falsify her portrait and keep her out of the palace.
• Wang Zhaojun mistook Liu Di’s concern for romantic interest and invited him home to eat.
• Liu Di learned that Wang Zhaojun’s parents had died fighting the Xiongnu and that she lived alone, hunted, and played the pipa.
• Wang Zhaojun served Liu Di roasted game and jasmine wine, then offered him a place to rest.
• Liu Di went to the side room and found that gaps in the wooden wall let him see Wang Zhaojun reclining in the neighboring room.

Emperor Yuan of Han rejected Mao Yanshou’s grotesque portrait of Wang Zhaojun but sent her to the Discard Palace instead of ordering her execution. That night, Liu Di tried to calm himself with Qi Gong, then recited poetry that stirred a sorrowful image in Zhaojun’s mind.

• Emperor Yuan of Han inspected portraits selected by Mao Yanshou and recoiled at Wang Zhaojun’s appearance.
• Mao Yanshou urged Emperor Yuan of Han to execute Wang Zhaojun and her family, but the emperor refused and ordered her portrait sent to the Discard Palace.
• Liu Di struggled to control his desire while lying beside Zhaojun, then climbed onto the roof to practice Qi Gong.
• Zhaojun came outside and saw Liu Di reciting poetry on the roof.
• Liu Di recited Bai Juyi’s verses about Wang Zhaojun, and Zhaojun imagined a lonely beauty traveling through the borderlands.

Liu Di used Magic Child and the Time Halberd to evade Mao Yanshou’s attempt to kill him and repeatedly slap him. When Mao Yanshou’s soldiers attacked, Zhaojun returned and defeated them, then confronted Mao Yanshou.

• Liu Di introduced himself to Zhaojun as Liu Xiu, and she praised his name.
• Mao Yanshou arrived with soldiers and demanded that Zhaojun be taken to his residence for training, but Liu Di stood in his way.
• An armored horseman attacked Liu Di, who escaped through a black vortex using Magic Child and the Time Halberd.
• Liu Di traveled through time to slap Mao Yanshou repeatedly, then faced the soldiers as they charged.
• Zhaojun shot the leading horseman, defeated the soldiers, and stepped on Mao Yanshou’s hand.

Liu Di watched Zhaojun drive off Mao Yanshou’s men, then accompanied her through Chang’an as Chanyu Huhanye arrived. Zhaojun said she would accept a marriage alliance to end the wars, while Emperor Yuan of Han offered Huhanye palace women to choose from.

• Zhaojun easily defeated the soldiers and told Mao Yanshou she would never enter the palace.
• Zhaojun gave Liu Di a set of hanfu, and he changed before joining her for a walk through the city.
• Liu Di and Zhaojun watched Chanyu Huhanye’s procession enter Chang’an, and Liu Di asked what she thought of him.
• Zhaojun said she would willingly marry into the Xiongnu if doing so could end the wars, adding that no one in Chang’an would ask her to stay.
• Emperor Yuan of Han welcomed Huhanye’s submission and offered him portraits of palace women so he could choose a bride.

Chanyu Huhanye chose Wang Zhaojun from a stack of deliberately unflattering portraits, prompting Emperor Yuan of Han to order her summoned for an imperial marriage. When Imperial Guards arrived to take her to the palace, Zhaojun refused to change her clothes or wear makeup, insisting her natural appearance represented the Han dynasty.

• Emperor Yuan of Han presented Chanyu Huhanye with portraits of women, and Chanyu Huhanye chose the robust-looking portrait of Wang Zhaojun.
• Emperor Yuan of Han ordered Wang Zhaojun summoned and told his attendants to dress her as well as possible, while Mao Yanshou grew grim.
• Liu Di and Zhaojun returned to their cottage, where Liu Di looked at a paper kite before Imperial Guards arrived with the marriage decree.
• Zhaojun agreed to go with the guards but refused their ceremonial clothes and makeup, arguing that her true appearance represented the Han dynasty.
• When the Imperial Guard threatened to kill Zhaojun for defying the decree, she challenged him to decide whose head he would carry to the emperor.

Zhaojun and Liu Di walked into Han Palace while imperial guards, ministers, and beasts tried to intimidate them, only for Liu Di’s abilities to turn the displays of force against their wielders. At the third checkpoint, Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan let Zhaojun pass without a formal bow, and a young boy recognized Liu Di from his dreams while holding an unusual bamboo toy.

• Zhaojun refused the carriage and asked Liu Di to accompany her into the palace on foot, while Magic Child reported that Liu Di had received Ye Yun’s plant-control ability.
• Liu Di and Zhaojun arrived at Han Palace, where a vicious general and mounted guards tried to intimidate them by striking their broadswords against the ground.
• Liu Di used Thousand Forces to unleash a murderous aura that startled the warhorses and scattered the cavalry.
• Zhaojun refused to curry favor with the ministers at the second checkpoint, and Liu Di’s aura made their tigers prostrate themselves in terror.
• Zhaojun greeted Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan with a nod rather than a formal bow, and the empress made no demands of her.
• A boy beside Empress Dowager Xiaoyuan called Liu Di someone from his dreams, and Liu Di noticed the boy held a bamboo toy resembling a modern bamboo dragonfly.