Chapter Summaries

After receiving an A-grade evaluation for the first ring mission, Zhao Xing began the second mission, which sent him to investigate fifty-two folk temples in Anping Prefecture and decide whether they should remain. He concluded that the temples were dangerous wild-god worship and should be destroyed, while preparing to examine the evidence behind each case.

• Zhao Xing reviewed the first mission and judged that his sentences had been justified, while recognizing that Yang An had handled the affair with skill and restraint.
• The Earth Mirror awarded Zhao Xing an A grade for inspecting the Divine Might Army and issued the second mission, Anping Prefecture Temples.
• Zhao Xing learned that he had to investigate fifty-two temples worshipping Yin Gods, whose growth threatened Great Zhou's limited and tightly controlled system of divine titles.
• Zhao Xing studied the history of Yan Guang Temple and considered how folk worship, powerful families, and borderland influences had encouraged the rise of unofficial gods.
• Zhao Xing concluded that the wild gods and their temples should be treated as Evil Gods and obscene cults and destroyed.

Zhao Xing traveled to Anping Prefecture to assess fifty-two privately established temples and recommend whether they should be kept or removed. He argued that all should be destroyed, and Wei Xuancheng was impressed by his first reason as Zhao Xing prepared to explain the rest.

• Zhao Xing and Long Xiao discussed inviting Yin gods and the risks and costs of borrowing their power.
• After arriving in Anping Prefecture, Zhao Xing learned that Wei Xuancheng would guide him during an evaluation of fifty-two private temples.
• Zhao Xing recommended removing Yan Guang Temple and said all fifty-two privately established temples should be removed.
• Zhao Xing argued that maintaining the temples had consumed vast resources and labor from the people over two hundred years.
• Wei Xuancheng praised Zhao Xing's analysis and asked him to continue with his second and third reasons.

Zhao Xing earned a Grade A for recommending that all fifty-two illicit temples be demolished, then received the Third Ring Mission appointing him Waterways Magistrate of Cloud City County. He and Long Xiao headed toward the flood-prone commandery-level county, where Zhao Xing anticipated both authority and danger.

• Zhao Xing argued that all fifty-two temples should be uprooted, and Gong Ming recommended him for a Grade A rating.
• Wei Xuancheng led priests to demolish Yan Guang Temple, confronted Yan Kuan, and moved to seize the Yin Spirit worshipped there.
• Zhao Xing received his Grade A through the Earth Mirror and left Anping Prefecture with Long Xiao.
• The Military Realm issued Zhao Xing the Third Ring Mission, temporarily appointing him Waterways Magistrate in Cloud City County to protect the harvest from flooding.
• Zhao Xing told Long Xiao that his new Lower Seventh Rank appointment placed him only two ranks below Long Xiao, and he looked forward to exercising his authority in Cloud City.

Zhao Xing traveled to Cloud City to take up his temporary post as a seventh-rank Waterways Magistrate and met his superior, Tantai Ming, along the way. When he arrived at the Cloud City Ministry of Agriculture, only three officials greeted him, and he asked where the rest of the staff were.

• Zhao Xing crossed the Azure Wave River and observed the unstable weather and harsh terrain between Great Zhou and the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture.
• Zhao Xing visited Tantai Ming, received his temporary appointment certificate and official attire, and judged his new superior’s manner favorably.
• Zhao Xing and Long Xiao flew to Cloud City, where Zhao Xing declined to conduct an incognito inspection because the city was on war readiness.
• Only Zhang Zhong, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian came to welcome Zhao Xing at the Ministry of Agriculture.
• Zhao Xing asked where the Ministry of Agriculture’s other officials were, and Zhang Zhong invited him inside to explain.

Zhao Xing arrived at the understaffed Cloud City Ministry of Agriculture and learned that years of foreign invasions had left the post neglected. He inspired his officials with promises of the court’s support, then gave Bao Wenshan pills and began treating his old wounds.

• Zhao Xing used his power to clear the snow from the Ministry of Agriculture and found that almost all its officials were absent.
• Zhang Zhong explained that the Ministry had only twenty-one officials in actual posts, and Bao Wenshan described Cloud City’s repeated invasions and chronic neglect.
• Zhao Xing promised that Cloud City would become a strategic town as the court expanded south, while Long Xiao praised Zhao Xing’s background and revealed his own rank as a sword cultivator.
• Zhao Xing urged the officials to work diligently and examined Bao Wenshan, discovering that battle wounds had badly damaged his organs.
• Zhao Xing gave Bao Wenshan two Return Origin Pills and two Five Viscera Pills and used his vital energy to help restore him.

Zhao Xing treated Bao Wenshan, gave Cloud City officials a chance to settle old shortages, and asserted his authority at the Heavenly Craft Workshop. He pressed Ling Yuan over the workshop’s missing equipment and flood-control projects, then gave him three months to make up the shortfall.

• Zhao Xing eased Bao Wenshan’s injuries and gave him four fourth-tier pills, then ordered Zhang Zhong, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian to prepare detailed Cloud City records and settle current treasury shortages within seven days.
• Zhao Xing visited Cloud City’s Heavenly Craft Workshop by flying boat, where Ling Yuan and the other officials greeted him deferentially after he displayed his rank and authority.
• Zhao Xing ordered the workshop’s available Official Eighth Rank officials to gather and questioned Ling Yuan about required and completed waterworks devices and flood-control projects.
• Ling Yuan admitted that the workshop had implemented only more than twenty-three thousand six hundred waterworks devices, one storage lake, three Pingjiang Canals, and twelve dams.
• Zhao Xing gave Ling Yuan and the gathered officials three months to make up the shortfall and warned that he would not accept a fourth refusal.

Zhao Xing uncovered how Cloud City County Magistrate Shao Wanjie had diverted Heavenly Craft Workshop’s supplies and personnel while enriching himself, and armed Ling Yuan with fifty powerful Flying Dharma Protector Straw Figures. After learning Shao Wanjie was protected by the Liang King’s faction, Zhao Xing prepared to report him, but Shao Wanjie invited him to a banquet first.

• Zhao Xing ordered Ling Yuan to audit Heavenly Craft Workshop’s accounts and resume producing military equipment, then gave him fifty Flying Dharma Protector Straw Figures imbued with Long Xiao’s sword qi.
• Ling Yuan revealed that only a third of the workshop’s allotted materials had reached Cloud City and that many staff members had been sent to mine in the Phoenix Cry Mountain Range.
• Bao Wenshan told Zhao Xing that Shao Wanjie had controlled Cloud City’s departments, manipulated supplies and taxes, and risen through the ranks with powerful backing from the Liang King’s faction.
• Zhao Xing recalled his past service under the Liang King and decided to report Shao Wanjie rather than meet him first.
• Shao Wanjie invited Zhao Xing to a welcoming banquet, but Zhao refused and said he was too busy fitting Shao Wanjie’s crimes into a memorial.

Zhao Xing used Tantai Ming’s instructions to move against Shao Wanjie, infiltrated his residence, and secretly replaced him with an Illusionary Form Straw Puppet while Long Xiao took the real Shao Wanjie to the temple. Military Realm observers watched the operation and wondered where Zhao Xing had learned such practiced methods.

• Zhao Xing broke the adviser Fang Wen’s legs, forced him to write a statement against Shao Wanjie, and promised to protect his family.
• Zhao Xing sent the testimony to Tantai Ming, who advised him to arrest Shao Wanjie if necessary but not interrogate him.
• Zhao Xing recruited Long Xiao to help arrest Shao Wanjie and went to the residence, where they found illegally stationed barbarian soldiers.
• Shao Wanjie welcomed Zhao Xing with bribes while relaxing with two cat-eared women, but Zhao Xing killed the steward who presented the gifts.
• Zhao Xing knocked out Shao Wanjie and the two women, created a puppet duplicate, and sent Long Xiao to deliver the real Shao Wanjie to the Cloud City temple.
• Three Military Realm observers watched Zhao Xing’s actions and questioned how he had acquired such practiced skills.

After Shao Wanjie was exposed and arrested, Zhao Xing waited for reinforcements so he could prepare Cloud City against Southern Barbarian attacks and pursue military merit. Xia Jing and the rest of Zhao Xing’s old team arrived, and the prefectural city promised Cloud City ten years’ worth of overdue supplies.

• The third phantom ordered more manpower sent to Zhao Xing, including Xia Jing as county commandant, while Zhao Xing and Long Xiao waited in Shao Wanjie’s residence as officials investigated his accomplices.
• Officials from above arrived in Cloud City and arrested Shao Wanjie’s associates, leaving Zhao Xing worried about the lack of staff needed to govern and prepare defenses.
• Zhao Xing received a roster listing 513 martial personnel, including Xia Jing, Zhang Jie, Chen Fang, and Hu Bing, and went out to welcome them.
• Xia Jing reunited with Zhao Xing and joked that his appointment as county commandant would help prevent floods; Zhao Xing welcomed the other arrivals and invited them into the city.
• Wang Ji, Han Bing, Che Shihai, Cao Shuang, Yuan Yang, and Zhang Yi arrived in later groups, and Tantai Ming announced that Cloud City would receive ten years of overdue supplies.

Zhao Xing gathered Cloud City's officials to coordinate their missions and made flood control the city's top priority. Three thousand li south, Zhao Ke learned that the Hana Tribe shamans had one month to unleash heaven's wrath on the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture, with Cloud City as their target.

• Zhang Yi chaired a meeting where Cloud City's leaders shared their missions and agreed their goals were broadly aligned.
• Yuan Yang, Wang Ji, and the others described their duties, while Zhao Xing argued that flood control and protecting Cloud City had to come first.
• Xia Jing revealed that Duan Ren had once served his family, convincing the group that Duan Ren would hand over control of administrative affairs.
• In Phoenix Cry Mountain, the Azure God Envoy ordered Zhao Ke and the Hana Tribe shamans to bring heaven's wrath upon the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture within one month.
• Zhao Ke studied the map, compared it with a Great Zhou map, and identified Cloud City as the disaster strike's target.

Zhao Xing organized Cloud City's defenses against the Southern Barbarian Witches, installing formations and coordinating the city's offices. As Cloud City completed its preparations, Zhao Ke's group secretly sent fifty Queen Insects downstream toward the city.

• Zhao Xing ordered Ling Yuan to finish installing Water Clarity Pure Origin Formations at the river entrances to protect Cloud City from Insect Witch attacks.
• Zhao Xing explained the Ten Insect Calamities to Long Xiao and gave him a book about Insect Witches so he could prepare for the coming war.
• Zhang Yi and Shen Mingyu used ghost laborers to dig through a mountain, and Zhao Xing discussed conserving incense offerings to keep them working longer.
• The offices of Cloud City pooled their personnel and supplies, rapidly restoring the city's defenses as the fourth month began.
• Zhao Ke led ten Human Witches of the Hana Tribe to the Azure Wave River and sent fifty concealed Queen Insects downstream toward Cloud City.

Zhao Xing and Xia Jing discovered that Insect Witches were infiltrating Cloud City with queen locusts, and Zhao Xing moved to stop the attack and warn others. The chapter ended with the two men pursuing the Insect Witches as the Military Realm’s kings watched their progress and noted changes in the Creation Disc’s war simulation.

• Zhao Ke sent queen insects toward Cloud City, but whirlpools and black mud trapped the dharma boats at the Mei River inlet and cut off contact with several insects.
• Zhao Xing and Xia Jing examined the captured nests and identified Bloodsucking Queen Locusts, then found Sword Poison Queen Locusts at another tributary.
• Zhao Xing recognized the attack as part of the Ten Locust Calamity and ordered Xia Jing to gather the Martial Office so they could locate and kill the Insect Witch.
• Zhao Xing and Xia Jing agreed to warn nearby commanderies and counties, while Zhao Xing sent private messages to Agriculture Officials in Ten Suns Grotto Heaven.
• The Heaven Derivation King, Rahu King, and Ling De King observed Zhao Xing’s actions and discussed a brief surge of Insect Witch activity in the Creation Disc’s war simulation.
• Zhao Xing and Xia Jing set out after the Insect Witch, who was twenty li away.

Zhao Xing’s cloud paths helped the team locate and overwhelm a group of insect shamans, capturing Zhao Ke for interrogation. On the way back, Zhao Xing learned that the third-stage mission was complete and his temporary seventh-rank junior position had become official, making promotion possible.

• Zhao Xing used his cloud network to find ten insect shamans, and Xia Jing and Wang Ji prepared the martial artists, Sky Nets, and God-Breaking Crossbows for an attack.
• The Sky Nets and crossbow volleys killed most of the shamans, while Zhao Ke survived by using his insect box and Illusion-Form Insects.
• Yuan Yang used Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles to stop Zhao Ke from committing suicide, and Zhao Xing identified him as a Hana Tribe leader or chief’s son under the Golden Feather Royal Court.
• Zhao Xing assigned Chen Fang to translate for Zhao Ke and ordered the team to keep him alive for interrogation about the tribe’s location.
• Zhao Xing received a Military Realm message confirming the third-stage mission’s completion and his official seventh-rank junior status.

Zhao Xing broke through to Seventh Grade through his own cultivation, received his permanent Lower Seventh Rank, Junior appointment, and learned that the war was expanding across the Five Great Grotto Heavens and Four Great Royal Courts. He used Zhao Ke’s skin and soul to create a disguised puppet, then led his forces into Phoenix Cry Mountain to attack the Hana Tribe.

• Zhao Xing descended underground, absorbed earthly fiend energy, and broke through to the Seventh Grade Earthly Fiend Realm while advancing his Yin Yang True Self Scripture.
• Cao Shuang and the Cloud City agricultural officials celebrated completing their Third Ring Missions, while Xia Jing warned that the court would soon open the Pacifying Barbarians Merit List.
• Zhuang Ziqing told Zhao Xing that forty-nine armies from the Five Great Grotto Heavens were training against the Four Great Royal Courts and 108 major tribes, and Chen Shijie sent him casualty records.
• Zhao Xing received his permanent Lower Seventh Rank, Junior appointment at Heaven's Heart Palace, gaining two layers of golden light beneath his Fate Soul and sixty years of additional lifespan.
• Zhao Xing killed Zhao Ke and used his skin and soul to make a disguised puppet, intending to follow the Hana Tribe and earn military merit.
• On April 11, Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, and the forces of the Five Offices entered Phoenix Cry Mountain Range and found the Hana Tribe's hiding place three hours later.

Zhao Xing and Xia Jing’s forces destroyed several Southern Barbarian tribes, allowing Zhao Xing to complete the Nine Ring Mission and earn promotion to Official Seventh Rank. After they withdrew from a suspected trap, the Three Kings reviewed their progress and wagered on whether the two would become among the first new marquises.

• Lun Jing’s Hana Tribe was overwhelmed by Zhao Xing’s forces, and Xia Jing defeated Lun Jing in one move before the tribe surrendered and its warriors were killed.
• Zhao Xing completed his Fourth Ring Mission at the Hana Tribe, then completed his Fifth and Sixth Ring Missions as his forces destroyed the Wa Luo and Golden Horn tribes.
• Zhao Xing returned to Cloud City and was promoted to the upper tier of Lower Seventh Rank, then resumed the campaign and helped destroy two more tribes.
• Zhao Xing and Xia Jing sensed that a force was tracking them and ordered an immediate retreat before a bone-white ship searched the abandoned settlement.
• The Three Kings reviewed Zhao Xing and Xia Jing’s rapid completion of the Nine Ring Mission and wagered a Seventh Order Divine Soldier on whether they would be among the first to become marquises.

After returning from the Nine Ring Mission, Zhao Xing sold his spoils and spent weeks studying at the Four Great Academies, comprehending several high-level arts and improving his spells. The Pacifying Barbarians Merit List opened while he was cultivating, and the chapter ended as Lu Bang announced Zhao Xing was emerging from the Primordial Dao Field.

• Zhao Xing sold his Southern Wilderness spoils at the Yang City Arsenal for 165,462 points, then parted ways with Long Xiao.
• Zhao Xing comprehended Five Elements Mist Concealment and Startling Thunder Transformation at the Solar Terms Monuments, while Ge Jinsong and Cheng Qingming offered to buy him secret arts.
• Zhao Xing studied at the Earth Vein Hall and comprehended the high-grade Earthly Fiend Thunder, Netherwind of the Fiend, and Volcano Art spells.
• Lu Bang advised Zhao Xing to study the All Things Growth Chart alongside the Yin Yang True Self Scripture and lent him a fifth-tier reproduction of the chart.
• The Pacifying Barbarians Merit List opened while Zhao Xing remained in the Primordial Dao Field, and Lu Bang told Long Xiao that Zhao Xing was about to emerge.

After emerging from seclusion, Zhao Xing joined the Divine Might Army as Equitable Transport Magistrate of No. 92 Granary City and headed into the Southern Wilderness with Long Xiao. On the way, Zhao Xing spotted a concealed Netherflame Warship and pursued it with Long Xiao, intending to intercept its attack on Great Zhou supply cities.

• Zhao Xing told Long Xiao that his seclusion had helped him master Fleeting Origin and control the baleful energy from his rapid advancement.
• Jia Pu appointed Zhao Xing Equitable Transport Magistrate under Liao Rulong and put him in command of No. 92 Granary City.
• Zhao Xing and Long Xiao crossed into the Southern Wilderness, where Zhao Xing reviewed the merit rankings and saw Great Zhou’s expanding line of cities.
• Zhao Xing detected a faint wake in the Astral Winds and identified it as the trail of a recently passed Netherflame Warship.
• Long Xiao found that the warship’s route led toward several supply cities, and Zhao Xing accelerated the Arrowfish Flying Boat to catch it while Long Xiao prepared to fight.

Zhao Xing and Long Xiao ambushed the Sand Tribe attackers as they assaulted City 109, killing Pati’s brothers and disrupting the Netherflame Warship. Chen Lu helped weaken the attackers’ blood puppets, then approached Zhao Xing to thank him and ask his name.

• Pati prepared to loot City 109 after ordering the Blood Kui to destroy its temple, while Zhao Xing and Long Xiao watched from an invisible flying boat.
• The Blood Kui corrupted the temple and turned priests into Evil God puppets, throwing Chen Lu’s city into chaos.
• Chen Lu invoked True Lord Tian De, who urged him to flee, but stopped him when rain weakened the puppets and an unknown battle drew their attention upward.
• Long Xiao killed Pa Chao with a golden sword, while Zhao Xing’s Soaring Serpent Transformation made Ze Sheng mutate and explode; Long Xiao also slew hundreds of soldiers.
• Pati tried to close the Netherflame Warship’s barrier and escape, but Long Xiao jammed its formation base and boarded the ship as Zhao Xing watched.
• Chen Lu learned from True Lord Tian De that Zhao Xing was a Military Sima Nong, then approached him and asked his name.

Zhao Xing and Long Xiao defeated the Sand Tribe raiders, captured their Netherflame Warship, and brought it to the Ninety-Second City, where Zhao Xing reunited with Wang Ji and Han Bing. Wang Ji and Han Bing were stunned by the captured fifth-tier warship and wondered if Zhao Xing had stolen it.

• Zhao Xing and Chen Lu helped Long Xiao finish off the surviving raiders aboard the Netherflame Warship, and Chen Lu accepted a tenth of the spoils for his wounded and disabled comrades.
• Zhao Xing arranged for Chen Lu to lend him fifty men to operate the warship, then Long Xiao agreed to take a thirty-percent share of the ship and its cargo.
• Zhao Xing learned that Wang Ji had been appointed commanding officer of the Ninety-Second City, and Wang Ji eagerly welcomed his former superior when he arrived.
• Zhao Xing signaled the Netherflame Warship to land, leaving Wang Ji and Han Bing astonished by the captured vessel.

Zhao Xing took command of Ninety-Second City after he and Long Xiao saved City 109 from a Sand Tribe attack, and he reviewed the battle merits and supplies gained from the victory. He began redirecting the Ministry of Agriculture toward materials needed in later campaigns and used seized goods to complete missions, leaving him poised to earn more merits through preparation and farming.

• Zhao Xing explained that he and Long Xiao had seized the Netherflame Warship after rescuing Chen Lu’s forces, and he ordered Wang Ji to take custody of it and compensate Chen Lu’s personnel.
• Han Bing briefed Zhao Xing on Ninety-Second City’s departments, staff, and construction, and Zhao Xing approved Wang Ji’s expansion plan while calling for departmental reports.
• Zhao Xing checked the Military Realm’s ruling: Chen Lu and Li Que lost battle merits for the city’s poor defense, while Zhao Xing and Long Xiao earned merits for defeating the Sand Tribe and saving City 109.
• Zhao Xing decided to prepare the Ministry of Agriculture for future demand for antidotes, medicinal herbs, and fire-resistant materials, anticipating that farming supplies could bring substantial battle merits.
• Wang Ji sorted the seized goods, and Zhao Xing set aside ten percent for Chen Lu, reserved finished equipment for city departments, and allocated mission-related agricultural materials for his own submissions.
• Zhao Xing submitted the seized materials through the Military Realm and received notifications that several Ministry of Agriculture missions had been completed for battle merits.