Chapter Summaries

Dongying spy Inoue reported to Tamayori Hime Kantsuki that Zhao Qingxu’s network had collapsed, prompting them to target Qiankun Academy’s divine-artifact blueprints instead. As rumors and foreign agents stirred the capital, Li Yan and his companions continued developing their weapons and crafts at the academy.

• Tamayori Hime Kantsuki struck Inoue for failing to uncover news, then ordered him to pursue the divine-artifact blueprints at Qiankun Academy.
• Inoue gathered rumors about the divine artifact at a teahouse and spotted foreign merchants and agents seeking information about the academy.
• Emperor Xiao Qixuan backed the divine artifact, while merchant interests and political factions shifted around its development.
• Wan Baiqiao offered to improve Li Yan’s Thousand Thoughts armguard with her Kesi Thunder Pattern technique and said Tao Fengchun could repair the Five Directions Fengdu Banner poles.
• Sha LiFei presented a method for nourishing firearms with blood, and Zhao the Craftsman and Zhou Bai Xiao considered whether it could establish a new cultivation lineage.

At Qiankun Academy, Li Yan’s companions settled into their new roles while craftsmen reforged his armguard and worked on Sha LiFei’s firearm. Li Yan searched for rare materials to finish the armguard and improve the firearm, and the first lead came from Golden Swallow Gate.

• Zhao the Craftsman proposed developing iron-cased ammunition with Zhou Bai Xiao’s help, and Sha LiFei eagerly agreed to risk his life using the weapon.
• Li Yan and his companions spent several peaceful days at Qiankun Academy as Wang Dao Xuan studied alchemy, Long Yan'er studied ancient insects, and Zhao the Donkey and his wife joined the academy’s mapping project.
• Wan Baiqiao reforged Li Yan’s Thousand Thoughts armguard, which strengthened his Yin Thunder techniques but frayed when it stored his more powerful Yang Thunder.
• Li Yan learned that the armguard and Sha LiFei’s firearm needed materials that Qiankun Academy could not supply, so he sought help from Yan Jiuling and then Lin Yu.
• Lin Yu said the materials might be found in the imperial palace’s secret vault, while Li Yan contacted his connections and received the first news from Golden Swallow Gate.

Li Yan met Crown Prince Xiao Jingheng, who offered him Thunderfall Profound Gold, a Spiritual Material suited to his needs. Chen Wenxian then invited the Twelve Yuan Chen to help salvage a sunken Royal Fleet, while explaining that the Emperor’s gift hinted at his hopes for the Crown Prince’s future.

• Zhao Wan Fang told Li Yan that the Crown Prince had invited him to Su Estate and shared news of turmoil and opportunity in the south.
• Su Yu introduced Li Yan to Crown Prince Xiao Jingheng, who presented Thunderfall Profound Gold as a gift for Li Yan’s service to the imperial court.
• Li Yan questioned the Crown Prince’s motives, and Xiao Jingheng rebuked Lu Ling for speaking rudely to him.
• Chen Wenxian invited the Twelve Yuan Chen to join the Royal Fleet in searching for sunken treasure ships in a dangerous stretch of sea where salvage crews had vanished.
• After the Crown Prince and his party left, Chen Wenxian told Xiao Jingheng that the Emperor’s gift indicated he was paving the way for the Crown Prince to gain Li Yan’s support.

Crown Prince Xiao Jingheng received Chen Wenxian’s advice on managing the Imperial Family Fleet, while Li Yan investigated Zhao Qingxu and returned to the academy to forge artifacts. As foreign experts gathered in the capital, the academy completed Li Yan’s new bracer and repaired his banner, while Sha LiFei worked on a firearm.

• Chen Wenxian advised Xiao Jingheng to avoid involvement in the Steam Engine and focus on rebuilding the Imperial Family Fleet.
• Li Yan discussed Zhao Qingxu with Su Yu, revealed that Zhao Qingxu was a reincarnated demon, and learned that the academy might be a smokescreen for his true objective.
• Su Yu’s Earth Immortal ancestor explained how a demon could be reborn as a human and suggested Zhao Qingxu might be pursuing something enormous.
• Li Yan, Zhao the Craftsman, Wu Ba, and the academy’s artisans forged the Thousand Thoughts bracer from Thunderfall Profound Gold and repaired the Five Directions Fengdu Banner.
• Sha LiFei and Zhao the Craftsman forged a sturdy gun barrel and firing pin, while experts from foreign lands began entering the capital.

Luo MingZi led a joint ambush at Three Mile Pavilion to catch foreign agents buying stolen Steam Engine blueprints, then learned Prince Hai had supplied them. When a flare signaled trouble, he rushed to find the Commandery Commandant Office’s escort dead on the road.

• Luo MingZi and hidden forces waited at Three Mile Pavilion for Wu Anfu and his foreign buyers to arrive.
• Wu Anfu offered the Steam Engine blueprints to Nanyang and Oirat envoys, who disputed the listed materials and withdrew their payment.
• Luo MingZi’s forces attacked, captured the envoys and Wu Anfu, and killed or subdued the other participants.
• Under threat from spiders, Wu Anfu confessed that Prince Hai had obtained the blueprints and was hiding in the capital.
• Luo MingZi saw a flare and hurried to the road, where he found the escort’s people dead and frozen with strange smiles.

Luo MingZi and Tian Hua investigated the massacre of a convoy carrying artifact blueprints and traced the attack to Dongying agents led by Tamayori Hime Kantsuki. Their findings pointed to Zhao Qingxu using the agents as bait, but his larger objective remained unknown.

• Luo MingZi examined the massacre scene and identified the attackers’ weapons and ghostcraft as signs of Dongying involvement, but the spirit hounds lost their trail near the city.
• Li Yan told an Enforcement Hall Daoist that the Dongying spellcraft resembled shikigami and directed him to Tian Hua for help.
• Tian Hua joined Luo MingZi in interrogating Prince Hai, who explained how You Er had obtained the blueprints and disappeared after the convoy was attacked.
• Tian Hua concluded that You Er’s scheme implicated Zhao Qingxu and identified Tamayori Hime Kantsuki as the Dongying leader behind the attack.
• Luo MingZi ordered searches for missing children and arrests of Dongying merchants, then learned Kantsuki had become a fugitive after Toyotomi Hidetsugu’s execution.
• Tian Hua realized Zhao Qingxu had used the Dongying agents as poisoned bait, but he could not determine Zhao Qingxu’s true plan.

Luo MingZi and Tian Chiliarch investigated the missing infants and discovered that Cui Mazi’s boat may have carried them, while Hong Zhenyue ordered the Cao Gang to hunt him down. Cui Mazi’s trail led to the Dongying agents’ hideout, where You Er asked Tamayori Hime Kantsuki whether he had made his decision.

• Constable Zhang and officials across the capital warned residents about child snatchers and raided suspected traffickers, but found no clear leads.
• Luo MingZi and Tian Chiliarch visited the Cao Gang, where Hong Zhenyue agreed to trace the infants’ route through the Grand Canal.
• Hong Zhenyue learned that Cui Mazi’s boat had been linked to an infant’s cries and ordered the Cao Gang to find him after he fled.
• You Er evaded the search and reached a ruined hideout in the Western Hills, where Tamayori Hime Kantsuki and other Dongying agents gathered.
• You Er asked Tamayori Hime Kantsuki whether he had made his decision, as Immortal Zhao had requested.

Tamayori Hime Kantsuki and his followers escaped their pursuers with You Er’s help and took refuge in a church connected to Zhao Qingxu, where they sensed a terrifying demonic presence. Two days later, Qiankun Academy opened to its first students, and Li Yan recognized that a new era had begun.

• You Er revealed that Zhao Qingxu had recruited him and offered Tamayori Hime Kantsuki a route to safety and a chance to return to Goryeo.
• Tamayori Hime Kantsuki agreed to follow You Er, and the group hid inside grain carts to evade the Commandery Commandant Office and the Enforcement Hall.
• You Er led the group to a church where Tamayori Hime Kantsuki sensed that the demonic soul sealed in Moon Coffin feared the strange presence inside.
• Tamayori Hime Kantsuki and his followers entered the church’s secret cellar, ate the prepared food, and suspected that Zhao Qingxu was a terrifying demon.
• Two days later, Qiankun Academy held its opening ceremony for the first students of the Inquiry of Things Department and the Mysterious Engineering Department.
• Yan Jiuling asked Li Yan what he thought of the gathering, and Li Yan called it a new era.

Qiankun Academy opened with Yan Jiuling proclaiming its principles and the unveiling of Sui Lun True Monarch, whose first rites seemed to stir a response in Li Yan’s Goule. Li Yan received a Heavenly Court mission to protect the new deity, leaving him to wonder what the powers of the Great Luo Dharma Realm intended.

• Yan Jiuling delivered Qiankun Academy’s opening address and explained its departments as students gathered for the ceremony.
• Yan Jiuling announced that the academy would worship Sui Lun True Monarch of Water and Fire, and the statue was unveiled before the Three Offering Ritual began.
• Li Yan sensed a brief hot-and-cold reaction from the Goule during the rites, then left the ceremony when the Heavenly Official Token began trembling.
• Li Yan entered the Great Luo Dharma Realm through a dream and opened a Heavenly Court edict assigning him to protect Sui Lun True Monarch.
• Li Yan learned that the Heavenly Court would bring Sui Lun True Monarch into the Daoist system and reward him with five Celestial Decrees and five divine astral energies if he completed the mission.

A heavenly oracle stirred the Orthodox Xuan Gate, and sect leaders hurried toward the capital to investigate its connection to Sui Lun True Monarch and Qiankun Academy. At the academy, Li Yan completed the Thousand Thoughts armguard and Sha LiFei successfully bonded a firearm to its firing pin, but new reports revealed that Kong Shangzhao had disappeared.

• Golden Toad Ancestor Wang Daozong recognized a heavenly oracle at Purple Cloud Palace, and Mount Wudang's diviners linked it to a newly enfeoffed god and events in the capital.
• Yu Chanzi and Zhang Siyuan set out for the capital as leaders from many Orthodox Xuan Gate sects responded to the heavenly sign.
• Qiankun Academy's disciples followed demanding routines of plain meals, physical training, and study as they prepared for their future work.
• Li Yan completed the Thousand Thoughts armguard with Tao Fengchun and Wan Baiqiao, then accepted five reforged banner embryos.
• Sha LiFei fused his profound-gold firing pin with his revolving firearm using heart-and-blood refinement, then collapsed and was treated by Li Yan and the others.
• Li Yan received reports that escaped Dongying people had committed several murders and that Kong Shangzhao had suddenly disappeared.

Wang Dao Xuan investigated the disappearance of Kong Shangzhao, Kuai Dayou, and Lin Yu, discovering that the three had secretly researched a three-eyed beast carving and ancient records. His search uncovered an abandoned Nuo God Temple near the Tonghui River, where a dark winter rite had once been performed.

• Li Yan told Wang Dao Xuan that Kong Shangzhao, Kuai Dayou, and Fatty Lin had vanished together, so Wang set out with Wu Ba and Lu San to find them.
• At Kong Shangzhao’s courtyard, Uncle Lin revealed that Lin Yu had brought Kong a damaged beast carving with a third eye and mentioned the ghost market, the Gray Line, and a “Returning Yang One.”
• The Commandery Commandant Office clerk explained that Kong Shangzhao, Lin Yu, and Kuai Dayou had gained access to old government archives and that Kong had spent days researching obscure records.
• Wang Dao Xuan obtained copies of the texts Kong had consulted and found an account of a three-eyed Nuo mask used in an ancient ritual.
• Wang Dao Xuan discovered that an abandoned shrine near the Tonghui River had once housed a Nuo God Temple where people performed a blood-soaked “Opening the Eyes” sacrifice.

Wang Dao Xuan and his companions traced Fatty Lin’s beast-shaped ritual mask to Peach Mountain Wood and learned that Lin Yu, Kong Shangzhao, and Kuai Dayou had sought out the Old Beggar near Tuer Ye Temple. They searched his suspected hideout and were ambushed, but Wang Dao Xuan deflected the attackers’ hidden weapons.

• Wang Dao Xuan found a record linking the mask to the head of the ancient spirit Chief of the Evil Omens and to Peach Mountain Wood, then reasoned that the three missing men had pursued it through the ghost market.
• Wang Dao Xuan decided not to involve the authorities or alert Yan XiaoGe, and planned to investigate Su Garden for clues.
• Zhao Wan Fang told Wang Dao Xuan that the three missing men had visited the Old Beggar, a likely remnant of the Former Dynasty Da Xing’s imperial mystics, and that he had been seen near the abandoned Silt Pond behind Tuer Ye Temple.
• Wang Dao Xuan, Lu San, and Wu Ba searched the Silt Pond and found a concealed opening beneath a broken mat.
• Lu San sensed an ambush, and Wang Dao Xuan used his protective robe and mystical power to deflect three shuriken, prompting Lu San to identify the weapons as Japanese.

Wang Dao Xuan, Lu San, and Wu Ba fought off Dongying attackers and found the wounded Old Ghost of the Capital, who revealed that Lin Yu, Kuai Dayou, and Kong Shangzhao had entered the Nine Gates Yin Ruins. After finding the trio’s bodies and learning their souls were trapped inside, Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San entered the ruins to search for them.

• Wang Dao Xuan froze the mud trap, while Lu San and Wu Ba helped defeat two Dongying ninjas as another escaped through the rain.
• Wang Dao Xuan, Lu San, Wu Ba, and Little White Fox Chu Qi followed the underground military road and found the Old Ghost of the Capital badly wounded in a hidden chamber.
• Wang Dao Xuan revived the Old Ghost of the Capital, who explained that he had sent Lin Yu, Kuai Dayou, and Kong Shangzhao into the Nine Gates Yin Ruins to seek clues about the Mount Taodu Wood.
• Wang Dao Xuan and his companions found Lin Yu, Kuai Dayou, and Kong Shangzhao’s bodies and learned their Yin Souls had remained separated for too long.
• Wang Dao Xuan and Lu San used the Old Ghost of the Capital’s method to enter the Nine Gates Yin Ruins and search for the three missing souls.

Lu San and Wu Ba crossed the shifting dangers of the Nine Gates Yin Ruins and found Lin Yu, Kong Shangzhao, and Kuai Dayou trapped by paper offerings in a Jiaozi Office. After freeing them, Lu San used an ancient soul-summoning dance to destroy the paper offerings, and the group prepared to pursue the clues to the Mount Taodu Wood.

• Lu San and Wu Ba followed a rat demon past the Court of the Imperial Clan patrols and through Chongwen Gate, where they were swept through scenes of a bloody academy and a besieged city.
• Lu San realized the Nine Gates connected them to dangerous fragments of the capital’s past, and he and Wu Ba found the Jiaozi Office emblem on a paper offering outside a dilapidated compound.
• Lu San and Wu Ba entered the Jiaozi Office and found Lin Yu, Kong Shangzhao, and Kuai Dayou controlled by paper offerings attached to their backs.
• Lu San tore the paper offerings from the three men while Wu Ba restrained them, freeing Lin Yu, Kong Shangzhao, and Kuai Dayou from the possession.
• Kuai Dayou revealed that the route to the Nuo God Temple and clues to the Mount Taodu Wood lay behind the accounts office, but a trap blocked the way.
• Lu San performed an ancient Chu soul-summoning dance, causing the flying paper offerings and humanoid shadows to vanish; Kong Shangzhao resolved to continue pursuing the Jianmu trail.

Lu San and the others uncovered a memory of Zhao Qingxu stealing Peach Mountain Wood during the suppression of the Chief of the Evil Omens, then traced the wood to the execution grounds. They arrived to find the post missing and only a huge pit left behind.

• Lu San completed his Nuo Dance, breaking the concealment formation around the Jiazi Office Hall and revealing that Zhao Qingxu had hidden a deeper trap there.
• Lu San and the others opened the carved door and witnessed the past: mystical sect Taoists used heavenly thunder against the beast coffin, then Golden Horde Wolf Country cavalry and demon practitioners attacked the exhausted survivors.
• Zhang HuaiSu, Zhao Changsheng's past life, confronted the dying purple-robed Taoist, while Zhao Qingxu arrived and claimed the charred Peach Mountain Wood.
• Kuai Dayou recognized the wood as the stake at the execution ground by the vegetable market, and Fatty Lin urged the group to retrieve it.
• Lu San and the others reached the execution grounds and found that the post was gone, leaving a huge earthen pit in its place.

Wang Dao Xuan and his companions traced the stolen execution-ground frame to a Western church after breaking the curse binding Shaman Wu. The Commandery Commandant Office and Enforcement Hall surrounded the church, while Tamayori Hime Kantsuki prepared to flee.

• Kuai Dayou questioned local ruffians and learned that Shaman Wu had taken the wooden frame to his home.
• Wang Dao Xuan identified a Grudge-Burial Coin in Shaman Wu’s body and performed a ritual that broke the curse.
• Shaman Wu revealed that a black-robed employer had ordered him to steal the frame, and Kuai Dayou identified the Western Church from the distinctive smell he remembered.
• Wang Dao Xuan’s group informed the Commandery Commandant Office, which sealed off the church’s street with armed soldiers and Enforcement Hall Daoists.
• Tamayori Hime Kantsuki recognized that the street had been cleared and ordered his group to leave, but the assault on the church began before they could escape.

The Commandery Commandant Office and Enforcement Hall raided a church, captured Eastern Lands warriors, and discovered that Zhao Qingxu had not been there. Li Yan suspected Zhao Qingxu was preparing to target the unborn Sui Lun True Monarch, then learned that Eunuch Zhao Wujiu had arrived at Qiankun Academy and requested to see him.

• The Commandery Commandant Office stormed the church, where cultists attacked and Eastern Lands warriors used escape arts to flee, but the Enforcement Hall stopped them.
• Sanada and his warriors fought the encircling forces, while Tamayori Hime Kantsuki summoned the demon god Tamayori Hime and froze several Taoists.
• Grandmaster Huo Yin struck down Tamayori Hime Kantsuki, and the forces captured the remaining Eastern Lands warriors and killed the demonized cultists.
• Wang Dao Xuan told Li Yan that the church had been corrupted by Liu Yuanheng's demonic qi and that the Eastern Lands warriors had been seeking Steam Engine blueprints; their leader identified Zhao Qingxu's helper as the spy You Er.
• Li Yan suspected Zhao Qingxu was targeting the unborn Sui Lun True Monarch and told Wang Dao Xuan to alert Luo MingZi and guard the divine statue at the academy.
• An academy registrar summoned Li Yan to meet Eunuch Zhao Wujiu, who had arrived and was being received by the Director and Lord Yan.

Eunuch Zhao Wujiu ordered Qiankun Academy to consecrate the Sui Lun True Lord within two days, warning that leaders of the Profound Sect were racing to the capital to claim the divine artifact. Li Yan agreed to help the Imperial Court, while soldiers took control of the academy and the coming conflict over the new god began to gather force.

• Yuan Feng and Yan Jiuling welcomed Eunuch Zhao Wujiu to Qiankun Academy, where he asked to speak with them and Li Yan about the Sui Lun True Lord.
• Eunuch Zhao demanded that the divine statue be completed and moved to the Land and Grain Altar before Zi Hour the day after tomorrow, instead of waiting another month.
• Eunuch Zhao revealed that leaders of the Profound Sect were converging on the capital, and said the Imperial Court had to secure the statue before they could claim its authority.
• Yuan Feng and Yan Jiuling pledged to carry out the accelerated consecration, and Li Yan agreed to stand with the Imperial Court in the dispute.
• Commandery Commandant Office troops took control of Qiankun Academy, led by Grandmaster Huo Yin, while Enforcement Hall members and Wang Jingxiu were escorted out.

Kuai Dayou and Fatty Lin found a possible way to help Kong Shangzhao leave the capital by seeking rare spiritual wood for Lin's ships. Meanwhile, the court rushed resources to Qiankun Academy to forge Sui Lun True Monarch's statue, where Lu Chengye secretly reacted to a piece of Thunderstruck Wood containing a girl's plea for help.

• Kuai Dayou proposed fabricating a case to let Kong Shangzhao travel with the Twelve Yuan Chen, but Fatty Lin rejected the plan as too risky.
• Fatty Lin asked Kuai Dayou to find spiritual wood for his family's ships, and Kong Shangzhao recalled a text mentioning Bohai Twisted Wood near Jinling.
• Emperor Xiao Qixuan redirected vast stores of rare materials to Qiankun Academy, where Tao Fengchun led the urgent construction of Sui Lun True Monarch's statue.
• Li Yan watched over the workshop as the craftsmen prepared to embed the original Steam Engine's core in the statue.
• Lu Chengye inspected the spiritual materials and felt a blasphemous presence in a piece of Thunderstruck Wood, while a girl's voice begged him to save her.

Lu Chengye was forced by his granddaughter’s kidnappers to secretly craft a waist buckle for the Sui Lun True Monarch statue while Zhao Wujiu delayed the Outer Dao leaders on their way to the capital. Zhang Tianshi reached the city and found Zhao’s men and armed troops waiting, leaving him to confront the court’s attempt to control the Xuan Gate.

• Lu Chengye’s granddaughter Hua Niu was abducted, and her kidnappers threatened him into making an Auspicious Clouds Taotie Waist Buckle for the True Lord statue.
• Zhao Wujiu ordered checkpoints and deceptions to delay the Outer Dao leaders, while secretly preparing to execute any cultivator who forced a passage.
• Yu Chanzi accepted a road closure, Qiu Changchun broke through paper-effigy and Gu Art obstacles, Wang Miaoyin slipped past a river inspection, and Chen Kongzi destroyed a poisoned wedding gown before arranging not to arrive first.
• Zhao Wujiu told his chiliarchs that the sect leaders were acting on someone else’s orders and that the court had to seize its opportunity, while Kong Shangzhao worried that investigations had stalled.
• Zhang Tianshi arrived outside the capital and found an old servant directing him to wait at a post station beneath the watch of troops armed with firearms.