Chapter Summaries

Tuoluo Tuohan persuaded the tribal chiefs to renew the war against Great Yan, despite Hadu’s objections. Hadu recognized the danger of the assignment he received and resolved to seek advice on the Hero Network.

• Tuoluo Tuohan summoned the chiefs of the Third, Fourth, Seventh, and Eighth Tribes and urged them to attack Great Yan.
• Shi Pan, Tetugen, and Duowei supported the war, while Hadu warned that the tribes needed time to recover; Tuoluo Tuohan persuaded Hadu to yield.
• Hadu reflected that the Hero Network had helped him understand Tuoluo Tuohan’s ambitions and avoid earlier traps, and he decided to keep going online for advice.
• Tuoluo Tuohan appointed Hadu commander of the expedition and ordered him to draw Great Yan’s anti-bandit forces toward the border; Hadu accepted the dangerous assignment.

Hadu used the Hero Network to uncover the Great Khan’s spies and began planning to build his own power. After watching the Eastern Cold war council, Wenren Sheng decided to enter the struggle for supremacy himself, aiming to gain the authority and resources needed to face the Dragon God.

• Hadu found spies in his residence, including a woman who had borne him a son, and consulted a Scholar about how to respond to the Great Khan.
• Hadu rejected the Scholar’s advice to keep a low profile and planned to train his warriors through raids on Great Yan while invoking righteousness and legitimacy to restrain the Great Khan.
• Wenren Sheng observed the Eastern Cold war council and concluded that the Dragon God, whom he suspected was the Anomaly Snake Woman, could threaten him.
• Wenren Sheng decided to compete for supremacy over the realm, judging that an emperor could command more resources than even the greatest martial artist.
• Wenren Sheng considered Wang Mang’s rise through virtue and reputation as he began planning his own path to power.

Wenren Sheng went to the Ninth Hall to confront the deranged Teaching Master, who was testing whether members’ heads were ripe by tapping them and killing those he judged ready. He introduced himself as the Teaching Master’s teacher, and the frightened members backed up his claim to save a young man from being killed.

• Wenren Sheng decided to begin his plan by targeting the Saintly Teaching and headed from the Twelfth Hall to the Ninth Hall, followed by Zhao Han.
• Quan Tianyi tapped the heads of Ninth Hall members and prepared to split open a young man’s skull to test his judgment.
• Chen Left Envoy argued that the young man was unripe, but Quan Tianyi decided that he still needed to cut him open to verify the theory.
• Zhao Han barked in alarm as Quan Tianyi reached for the young man, and Wenren Sheng ordered him to stop.
• Wenren Sheng claimed to be Quan Tianyi’s teacher, and Chen Left Envoy and the other members supported the story to keep the young man alive.

Wenren Sheng stopped Quan Tianyi from cracking open Incense Master Chen to test whether he was ripe, then became Quan Tianyi’s teacher and began organizing the Saintly Teaching. Zhao Han investigated how Quan Tianyi became obsessed with watermelons as Wenren Sheng asked the gathered members to consider who their enemies and friends were.

• Wenren Sheng used Quan Tianyi’s own reasoning about hunger to persuade him that a watermelon could declare whether it was ripe, preventing him from harming Incense Master Chen.
• Quan Tianyi recognized Wenren Sheng as his teacher, and Wenren Sheng ordered the members of the Ninth Hall to introduce themselves and bring supplies for a lesson.
• Wenren Sheng explained the Saintly Teaching’s structure and learned that many Ninth Hall members had been oppressed or transferred there by other halls.
• Zhao Han discovered that Quan Tianyi’s watermelon obsession began after he was tricked into buying unripe watermelons and worsened as he cultivated the Heavenly Fiend Blood Concealment Art.
• Wenren Sheng asked the members what they lived for and who their enemies and friends were, prompting them to think that Quan Tianyi was their enemy and Wenren Sheng their friend.

Wenren Sheng used a spiritual-imprint technique to purify Quan Sect Leader and the Ninth Hall’s people, turning them into obedient followers through watermelon lessons. The next morning, people from across the Eighteen Palaces listened in, while Holy Maiden Quan Shayun questioned whether his method was a mind-bewitching technique.

• Wenren Sheng asked the Ninth Hall members about their goals, enemies, and friends, then used a watermelon lesson to persuade them to empty their minds and remain unripe.
• Wenren Sheng spent an hour using spiritual imprints to clear away the group’s distracting thoughts and make them repeat lessons about studying and improving.
• Zhao Han realized that Wenren Sheng had hypnotized the group to gather loyal subordinates, and he explained that his technique suppressed distracting thoughts.
• The news that Wenren Sheng could restrain Quan Sect Leader spread through the Eighteen Palaces, drawing listeners to his lesson the next morning.
• Quan Shayun arrived at the Ninth Hall and wondered whether Wenren Sheng’s technique was mind-bewitching or a method of purifying the mind.

Wenren Sheng took control of the Saintly Teaching and spent over a month reshaping its members into a disciplined army, while the Holy Maiden and several Hall Masters discussed how to respond. The chapter left the sect’s leadership divided and unable to explain why Quan Sect Leader obeyed Wenren Sheng.

• Wenren Sheng taught the Saintly Teaching’s members his theories, and the Sixth Hall Master challenged him until Quan Sect Leader threatened him into silence.
• Wenren Sheng and Xiao Quan forced the sect’s more than ten thousand members, including the Holy Maiden, through his lectures and training.
• Wenren Sheng organized the sect members into an armored army and drilled them using Qi Jiguang’s Jixiao Xinshu and Lianbing Shiji.
• Zhao Han watched the army train and realized her earlier efforts to prepare against it had been rendered useless.
• Quan Shayun and several Hall Masters met to discuss Wenren Sheng’s seizure of authority, but she admitted that her uncle would not listen to her.

Wenren Sheng led Quan Sect Leader and the Saintly Teaching troops down the mountain to take over Wu Guan County, putting their military and administrative plans into practice. After soldiers stole silver from the treasury, Wenren Sheng ordered them punished and relied on public oversight through the Hero Network, while the Holy Maiden and Hall Masters considered how to separate him from the Sect Leader.

• The Holy Maiden concluded that Wenren Sheng's knowledge of the Heavenly Fiend Blood Concealment Art surpassed the Quan Clan's, and the Hall Masters debated how to deal with him.
• Wenren Sheng chose Wu Guan County as the troops' first pilot site and instructed Quan Sect Leader to prepare the city administration and countryside teams.
• The Saintly Teaching soldiers entered Wu Guan County after someone opened its gates, then took over government offices, the treasury, and street patrols.
• A second inspection found that soldiers had taken one thousand taels of silver from the treasury, and Zhao Han mocked Wenren Sheng over the troops' broken slogan.
• Wenren Sheng ordered the theft handled according to law and made the Hero Network the public's final layer of oversight.

The Heavenly Saint Army established transparent local administration in Wu Guan County Town, and Wang San accused the Liu Family of abusing its power. After an investigation conducted through the Hero Network, the Liu Family was punished under Great Yan law, while Wenren Sheng explained why enforcing the existing laws would also break up much landlords’ holdings.

• The Heavenly Saint Army posted notices in Wu Guan County Town announcing public oversight of taxes, abolition of excessive levies, and open offices outside the County Yamen.
• Wang San challenged Liu Scholar and filed an accusation against the Liu Family with the Patrol Division.
• The Patrol Division collected evidence against the Liu Family, the Supervisory Department verified it, and the public saw the trial results through the Hero Network.
• Master Liu and Liu Scholar were sentenced to death, their accomplices were exiled, and their property was confiscated to compensate the victims.
• Wenren Sheng told Zhao Han that strict enforcement of Great Yan law would divide up much landlords’ land without a separate land-distribution policy.

After capturing Wu Guan County Town and Yu Yang County, Wenren Sheng focused on training people to govern the two counties rather than expanding further. Six months later, the imperial court sought a truce, and Wenren Sheng negotiated three years of noninterference while rejecting an imperial appointment.

• Wenren Sheng turned Wu Guan County's County School into a training academy and taught students practical administration, agriculture, industry, and commerce.
• Wenren Sheng recruited Zhao Han to teach through the Hero Network, and she secured a promise that her investment would be merged into shares.
• Students arrived from among beggars, poor farm families, small merchants, and disgruntled scholars, while weekly exams eliminated those who repeatedly failed.
• Half a year passed without a government army attacking because the court could not gather enough martial arts experts to confront the Saintly Teaching.
• The imperial envoy offered the two counties to the Saintly Teaching, but Wenren Sheng refused an appointment and agreed only to three years of noninterference.

The emperor accepted the Demon Cult’s three-year terms and secretly inspected Wu Guan County in the dream realm. After seeing the Heavenly Saint Army’s fair land ruling and citizens’ willingness to report officials, he wondered how its system could work when his own court lacked money and protection.

• The emperor agreed to endure the Demon Cult’s terms for three years, while ministers weighed whether to flee or wait.
• The emperor flew to Wu Guan County in the dream realm to inspect how local officials handled the rebellion.
• A young Heavenly Saint Army official ruled that a landlord claiming an old deed had to repay 120 years of unpaid grain taxes to the farmers.
• The emperor approved the ruling and blamed corrupt ministers for the Great Yan court’s failures.
• The emperor overheard tavern patrons praise the Heavenly Saint Army’s reporting system, then concluded he could not adopt it because he lacked money and feared assassination.

A White Shadow visited Wenren Sheng’s old office on Earth, while in the Great Yan script a brief disturbance from the Seed of Mystery helped him advance to the Innate realm. When Quan Tianyi gouged out his eyes and mastered the highest realm of his art, Wenren Sheng confronted a rebellion by five hall masters and ended it by erasing their memories.

• A White Shadow sat in Wenren Sheng’s unused office on Earth and wondered whether retracing his path could count as a reunion.
• After sensing a brief disturbance from the Seed of Mystery, Wenren Sheng entered seclusion for a month and emerged as an Innate Expert.
• Quan Tianyi gouged out his eyes after Wenren Sheng advised him to seek discerning eyes, and the sect members panicked.
• Five hall masters ambushed Wenren Sheng on the way to Wu Guan County, but the blind Quan Tianyi appeared and dispersed their attack.
• Wenren Sheng stopped Quan Tianyi from punishing the hall masters and struck all five, leaving them with blank expressions and no memories.

Wenren Sheng erased the five Hall Masters’ memories, and Quan Sect Leader led them away as his sons. Outside Wu Guan County, Lieutenant General Yang brought troops to seek work from the demonic cult, then schemed to take their wages for himself.

• Wenren Sheng erased much of the five Innate Experts’ memories, leaving their common-sense memories intact, and Quan Sect Leader led them down the mountain as his sons.
• The Holy Maiden learned the Hall Masters had failed and wondered whether Wenren Sheng would eventually betray the Saintly Teaching.
• Lieutenant General Yang led five hundred troops and two hundred laborers toward Wu Guan County, planning to claim they had come to work rather than fight.
• Three armored men approached the troops, and one offered skilled workers wages well above the market rate for building a new market.
• After hearing the offer, Lieutenant General Yang calculated how much he could make by taking the workers’ wages and leaving them only pocket money.

A laborer accused Lieutenant General Yang Jinliang of taking soldiers’ wages, and the hearing exposed how military pay was siphoned off through customary corruption. Listening outside the yamen, the Emperor realized the Divine Network could let the people supervise officials and help him reclaim control of money and provisions.

• A young laborer reported Lieutenant General Yang Jinliang for forcibly taking most of his wages, and Wenren Sheng instructed the yamen to judge the case under Great Yan Law.
• Three martial arts masters arrested Yang Jinliang, and the Division Chief held a public hearing about the seized wages.
• Yang Jinliang defended the deductions as customary and explained that he passed silver to his superior and colleagues to keep his position and avoid impeachment.
• The Division Chief calculated that a soldier earned twenty taels a year while Yang Jinliang kept fifteen taels before his own bribes, prompting the crowd to accept the practice as normal.
• The Emperor listened outside the yamen and realized that corruption had consumed military funds and that the Divine Network could let the people monitor officials.

The Emperor tried to make county hearings open to the public, but officials united to block the reform. After Sun Changcun offered a way to train soldiers capable of countering martial artists, the Emperor learned that the Eastern Cold people had invaded through the western Great Wall.

• The Emperor proposed letting the public watch county hearings, but court officials condemned the idea and forced him to reconsider.
• The Emperor showed the Empress a county governed by the Heavenly Saint Army, convincing her that officials were diverting most of the court’s revenues.
• The Emperor sought Sun Changcun’s help, and Sun presented the Myriad Hearts United method for soldiers to suppress martial artists.
• The Emperor decided to have Sun train ten thousand elite soldiers and assigned Gao Daban to supervise him.
• A report revealed that the Eastern Cold people had invaded on a massive scale by bypassing the eastern pass and entering through the western Great Wall.
• The Emperor asked whether martial arts experts could stop the invaders, while the ministers concealed that the experts had reached an understanding with the Tartars.

The Emperor’s court debated how to defend against the Eastern Tartars while continuing its campaign against bandits. Wenren Sheng set out with five Innate Experts to fight the Tartars, while Hadu led his raiders toward Tonghui City and chose to bypass it.

• The Emperor approved posting online proclamations and court bulletins, but refused to offer millennium herbs from the imperial treasury or divert troops from the campaign against the bandits.
• Zhao Han begged Wenren Sheng to save people threatened by the Eastern Tartars, and Wenren Sheng said he had already prepared to take five Innate Experts north.
• Wenren Sheng and his group traveled rapidly to Tonghui City, where the meridian-opening experts remained calm as the Tartars ravaged the surrounding area.
• Hadu ordered his men to bypass Tonghui City, explaining to his sons that his army relied on plunder rather than supplies brought from behind.

Tonghui’s martial artists refused to help the garrison fight the Eastern Tartars, but they watched as Quan Tianyi attacked the Tartar camp alone and killed more than four hundred elite soldiers. They identified him as the Demon Cult’s leader and marveled at the power of an Innate Expert.

• The garrison commander asked the martial artists to raid the Tartar camp, but Bear Second Brother refused and dismissed the losses among the surrounding people.
• Tiger Old Man urged the others to give the Regional Commander some face, while they agreed to wait until the Tartars were leaving before pursuing them for loot.
• The martial artists spotted six people and eighteen horses outside the Tartar camp as an Innate Expert turned an arrow volley back on the soldiers.
• The expert charged into the camp, deflected arrows with an Aura Shield, and killed more than four hundred Tartars before withdrawing.
• A meridian-opening expert identified the attacker as Quan Tianyi, the Demon Cult’s leader, and the martial artists discussed his seemingly inexhaustible True Energy.

After a martial expert slaughtered more than four hundred of Hadu’s warriors, Tuoluo Tuohan suspended the campaign and turned to the Dragon God’s power as a way to counter Great Yan’s experts. He ordered the tribes to form elite forces under his command, leaving the chiefs wary of his growing control.

• Hadu and his sons considered withdrawing after a Central Plains expert killed more than four hundred of his combat soldiers.
• Hadu reported the losses to Tuoluo Tuohan through the Divine Network, and the Great Khan reassured him that the defeat was not his fault.
• The army priest proposed using Wenren Sheng’s “Myriad Hearts United” method to wield the Dragon God’s power, and Tuoluo Tuohan approved using it on only part of the army.
• Tuoluo Tuohan suspended the attack on Great Yan and ordered Hadu to keep valuables while abandoning the seized women and cloth.
• Tuoluo Tuohan ordered each tribe to contribute elites and White Armor to create an Enemy-Defeating Camp and a Death Squad Camp, consolidating the forces under his control.

After the Heavenly Saint Army drove back the Tartars, Wenren Sheng refused to pursue them, while the army’s reputation attracted scholars and recruits. Zhao Han urged him to begin a campaign, but he remained focused on preparing to unite people against the hidden threat of Snake Woman.

• Tonghui City's Regional Commander secretly ordered the city to spread the Heavenly Saint Army’s reputation after Advisor identified them as rebels.
• Wenren Sheng rejected Seventh Hall Master’s proposal to wipe out the retreating Tartars, and Quan Sect Leader interpreted his cryptic words as a lesson against overprotecting the people.
• Fourth Hall Master warned that the Tartars were preparing an evil art against Innate Experts, and Wenren Sheng said he was already prepared for it.
• Over three months, the Heavenly Saint Army’s reputation spread through the Hero Network, drawing scholars and recruits to its counties.
• Zhao Han pressed Wenren Sheng to begin a campaign, but he refused because he needed to unite people and find a way to deal with Snake Woman.

Tuoluo Tuohan tested a formation that let nearly ten thousand soldiers suppress Innate Experts, then led an invasion toward Tonghui City to prove that martial artists could be defeated. Wenren Sheng arrived with six people to face the army and identified the formation’s weakness as division among its soldiers.

• Tuoluo Tuohan hosted a martial arts tournament and confirmed that the army’s formation could suppress aging Innate Experts.
• Tuoluo Tuohan gathered his forces and marched to Tonghui City, intending to demonstrate that martial arts experts were no longer a match for armies.
• Tonghui’s Regional Commander requested reinforcements from the Heavenly Saint Army through the Divine Network.
• Wenren Sheng arrived at Tonghui with his people as the Tartar army advanced toward them, using the threat to commoners to prevent the six from retreating.
• The army’s formation stirred the Hall Masters’ vital energy and blood, and Wenren Sheng explained that they could break its unity by making the soldiers feel their spoils had been divided unfairly.

Wenren Sheng’s hall masters used the Divine Network to undermine Tuoluo Tuohan’s army before attacking it with overwhelming force. The ten-thousand-strong army collapsed, and Tuoluo Tuohan fled at night while Wenren Sheng gained a major victory.

• A hall master told the Eastern Cold Army that their chiefs took most of the spoils, breaking the giant serpent illusion and freeing the Innate Experts from its pressure.
• Five hall masters attacked from three sides, killing or wounding more than a thousand soldiers before withdrawing to recover their Qi.
• Tuoluo Tuohan rallied his soldiers by recalling their grievances against Great Yan and insisting that he had rewarded them fairly, restoring the serpent illusion in a weakened form.
• A hall master again sowed doubt through the network, and Tuoluo Tuohan’s strategist proposed deafening the soldiers; Hadu objected, so the troops plugged their ears with cotton instead.
• The hall masters continued their verbal attacks, shattered the serpent illusion, and routed the army; Tuoluo Tuohan vomited blood and escaped at night while Wenren Sheng gained enormously.