Chapter Summaries

Zhang Mingshu, Zhao Xiaojie, Mu Yeran, Hong Liuyao, and Phantom Cat killed the Gan Family Ancestor, while Princess Xiao’s forces defeated the Tian Family. The allies regrouped to seize Gan Family Town and prepare to take Wu Family Town.

• Zhang Mingshu, Zhao Xiaojie, Mu Yeran, and Hong Liuyao wore down the Gan Family Ancestor until Zhang Mingshu’s Dream Shatter disrupted his Divine Soul and Zhao Xiaojie severed his head.
• Phantom Cat pursued the Gan Family Ancestor’s surviving Divine Soul, and Hong Liuyao shattered the Spiritual Item protecting it so Phantom Cat could swallow it.
• Zhang Mingshu sent Zhao Xiaojie and Mu Yeran to support Princess Xiao, but learned that her forces had already defeated the Tian Family.
• Zhang Mingshu decided to join forces at Gan Family Town before dividing the troops to take Wu Family Town, while the defeated Gan Family cultivators lost their will to fight.
• Zhang Mingshu kept Hong Liuyao and Mu Yeran with Zhao Xiaojie and led the remaining forces to the Gan Family’s ancestral valley to await Princess Xiao.

After Wu Family Ancestor died, Zhao Xiaojie and the Star Moon Squad took control of Wu Family Town while Zhang Mingshu organized the allied forces and planned raids against nearby factions. They prepared for the Ding Family’s response as they waited for reinforcements, with Zhang Mingshu especially wary of the Ding Family’s Spirit Transformation Realm Ancestor.

• Wu Family members panicked after Wu Family Ancestor’s death and feared that rival families would seize their assets.
• Zhao Xiaojie led Hong Liuyao, Mu Yeran, and the Star Moon Squad into Wu Family Town and captured the main residence with little resistance.
• Zhao Xiaojie warned the Wu Family members not to resist, and the surrendering cultivators and Martial Artists were subdued after several Foundation Establishment Realm resistors were killed.
• Zhang Mingshu coordinated with Princess Xiao’s side, organized new squads, and arranged for the Gan and Wu Families’ resources and recruits to support further operations.
• Zhao Xiaojie prepared to raid the remaining Lu Family and Li Family factions while Zhang Mingshu planned to draw out the Ding Family’s powerful cultivators.
• Zhang Mingshu remained cautious about the Ding Family’s Spirit Transformation Realm Ancestor and waited for reinforcements as the Ding Family’s forces approached.

The Ding Family switched allegiance to Princess Xiao and revealed Cangzhou and other hidden passages linking the Secret Realm to the outside. Princess Xiao cautiously accepted their intelligence, returned to the mountain stronghold, and reassigned forces while keeping watch on the Ding Family.

• The Ding Family negotiated with the County Princess while Zhao Xiaojie’s raid on the Li Family and Lu Family met no resistance because they had been ordered not to fight.
• Zhao Xiaojie and Zhang Mingshu held their restless forces back and awarded merits while the camp awaited the County Princess’s arrangements.
• Jiang Guyu arrived to discuss matters with Zhang Mingshu as Fuding Sect placed its support behind Princess Xiao.
• Ding Muyun explained that the Ding Family had switched allegiance because it judged resistance futile and wanted to secure Yingzhou’s defenses and access to Cangzhou.
• Ding Guangzhi and Ding Muyun revealed several hidden routes into the Secret Realm, including passages through Cangzhou and the Yanmenguan and Juyongguan Secret Realms.
• Princess Xiao returned to the mountain stronghold, summoned Zhang Mingshu and the others, and reassigned personnel while guarding against the Ding Family.

After the Ding Household yielded, Princess Xiao reorganized her forces to secure Yingzhou and investigate Cangzhou before deciding where to expand next. Zhang Mingshu led a disguised elite squad toward Cangzhou, relying on his ability to read celestial and spiritual-energy changes as the mission began.

• Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Xiaojie advised Princess Xiao to stabilize Yingzhou and treat the Ding Household cautiously, and she assigned Zhang Mingshu to reconnoiter Cangzhou and Zhao Xiaojie to strengthen intelligence in Yingzhou.
• Xiao Lingying demanded that Ding Guangzhi come to the stronghold in person to prove the Ding Household's sincerity, while the bandits organized their forces to occupy and govern Yingzhou.
• Princess Xiao and Zhang Mingshu discussed the risks of entering Cangzhou and agreed to test the Ding Household's loyalty while proceeding carefully.
• Zhang Mingshu set out for Cangzhou with a plain-clothed elite squad, using his observations of the stars, clouds, terrain, and Spiritual Energy to anticipate dangers.
• Zhang Mingshu assigned Pang Qingming and Fu Jingzhe to scout ahead as the squad advanced through the mountains.

Zhang Mingshu’s squad crossed from Yingzhou into Cangzhou, where he suspected the region was an ancient formation simulating the Age of Dharma Decline. Investigating a strange light beneath a well, he found a passage that led back to Yingzhou far from their entry point, and he decided to return to the squad.

• Zhang Mingshu found a weak point in the barrier near Yingzhou and led the squad through into the barren land of Cangzhou.
• Zhang Mingshu studied Cangzhou’s stars with an ancient Star Compass and suspected the region was an ancient Heaven and Earth Great Formation simulating the Age of Dharma Decline.
• Pang Qingming found fresh footprints in an abandoned village, and Fu Jingzhe led the squad to investigate them.
• Zhang Mingshu discovered a light beneath a dried-up well and descended into it while Pang Qingming, Fu Jingzhe, and the others waited above.
• Zhang Mingshu followed a rune-covered passage to a doorway that returned him to Yingzhou’s southernmost point.
• Zhang Mingshu decided to go back through the passage to check on Pang Qingming and Fu Jingzhe and investigate how the distant locations were connected.

Zhang Mingshu discovered that the tunnel connected Yingzhou to Cangzhou and sent teams to investigate the region and its people. After learning about an isolated city sustained by a single Spiritual Vein, he arrived there to assess the settlement and its defenses.

• Zhang Mingshu reported the tunnel’s location to Pang Qingming and Fu Jingzhe, then assigned teams to explore Cangzhou and search for the secret realm’s true entrance.
• Fu Jingzhe returned with news of farmland, a village, and an ancient city whose residents were exiles living under the End Dharma restrictions.
• Zhang Mingshu learned that the city’s residents depended on a Spirit Field and a nearby Spiritual Vein, while bandits roamed the surrounding region.
• Pang Qingming returned through the tunnel after ten days and reported that Ding Guangzhi had gone to pay his respects to the County Princess.
• Zhang Mingshu entered the city, visited the Spirit Planter Master, and had Pang Qingming and Fu Jingzhe patrol the settlement and inspect its population.

Zhang Mingshu learned from Feng Nuoman that Cangzhou was an impoverished land of exile, isolated by a sealing formation and controlled by Yingzhou. He sought the County Princess’s support and began planning ways to improve the region, while Feng Nuoman and the other cultivators considered whether to submit to her rule.

• Feng Nuoman explained that Cangzhou’s scarce Spiritual Energy could support only a few cultivators, and that its people survived through shared labor and hunting.
• Feng Nuoman told Zhang Mingshu that powerful figures had diverted Cangzhou’s rivers and reduced its rainfall, while Yingzhou restricted the local cultivators and periodically inspected the region.
• Zhang Mingshu sent the County Princess his assessment and general plan, requesting people and resources.
• The seven mountain cultivators revealed that Cangzhou had been sealed after an attempted merger of secret realms, and that a passage beneath a well once connected it to Yingzhou.
• Feng Nuoman and the other cultivators asked for two days to discuss whether they would come under the County Princess’s rule, while Zhang Mingshu ordered a terrain and Water Vein survey and considered bringing in water and opening gaps in the formation.
• Ding Guangzhi’s arrival presented Princess Xiao with a sudden challenge and opportunity.

Princess Xiao gained control of Yingzhou and Cangzhou, while Zhang Mingshu organized Shucheng and prepared to return to her command. The chapter ended with Princess Xiao planning to help Si Tianxing take Zhuozhou as rival forces advanced across the secret realm.

• Ding Guangzhi betrayed the Mo Family ancestor during an attempted attack on Princess Xiao, allowing her to claim Yingzhou and the Mo Family's submission.
• Ding Guangzhi and Mo Jianyang diverted a river toward Zhang Mingshu's city, but Zhang Mingshu's earlier evacuations prevented needless deaths; Princess Xiao named the city Shucheng and gave it to him.
• Princess Xiao kept the secret passage concealed, sent generals to guard the newly acquired provinces, and planned to assist Si Tianxing in taking Zhuozhou.
• Zhao Siqi brought the remaining troops into the secret realm, and Zhang Mingshu directed them to Shucheng to help manage and defend the territory.
• Zhang Mingshu put Zhao Siqi in charge of Shucheng, began establishing villages and a defensive perimeter, and returned to Princess Xiao's command with the family helpers while his relatives stayed behind.

Zhang Mingshu’s group joined Zhao Xiaojie’s forces in Mozhou as Xiao Lingying consolidated Yingzhou and devised new rules for governing her territories. She planned to replace hereditary fiefs with appointed administrators, separate cultivators from mortal affairs, and develop Cangzhou for settlement.

• Zhang Mingshu led his group north to join Zhao Xiaojie’s forces and officially entered Mozhou.
• Xiao Lingying’s forces secured Yingzhou’s advantage, while local resources and incoming troops were reorganized for governance and combat.
• Xiao Lingying concluded that the old system of granting fiefs to Lineages needed to be replaced with rules for her two prefectures.
• Xiao Lingying recorded Yingzhou’s Spiritual Veins and spirit lands and outlined separate duties for cultivators and those handling mortal affairs.
• Xiao Lingying planned to appoint city lords and town guardians for fixed terms, preventing Lineages from monopolizing local offices.
• Xiao Lingying reserved fiefs for Cangzhou and planned to settle cultivators’ families there while keeping cultivators and mortals under separate management.

Zhao Siqi prepared Shucheng for a suspected bandit attack while the city’s residents reclaimed land and built infrastructure. When Tie Meng’s bandits approached the city at night, Zhao Siqi’s defense struck down the first climbers, leaving the assault underway.

• Zhao Siqi cultivated in Shucheng as its residents and workers reclaimed surrounding land under Zhang Mingshu’s plan to establish a modest foundation in Cangzhou.
• Shi Beihan warned Zhao Siqi that suspicious exiles were gathering and might attack Shucheng.
• Zhao Siqi ordered Shi Beihan to withdraw patrols and defenses along the route, then invited the attackers to come to her.
• Tie Meng led a band of exiled cultivators and Martial Artists toward Shucheng, intending to seize the city and make himself its ruler.
• Tie Meng’s men began climbing the city wall, but an unseen defender sent them flying back and killed them.

Zhao Siqi and Baishi Village’s forces sprang a trap on Tie Meng’s bandits and fought to wipe them out. As Zhao Siqi and Chong Li cut down the bandit leaders, the battle turned against the attackers, and Zhao Siqi resolved to leave none alive.

• Tie Meng realized Zhao Siqi had surrounded his bandits, but he ordered them to charge the city wall anyway.
• Zhao Siqi activated the prepared formations and confronted Tie Meng, using her spells and swordsmanship to hold him at bay.
• Chong Li ambushed and killed two bandit leaders, badly damaging the bandits’ morale.
• Shi Beihan and Dongfang Buqi joined the battle, using their demonic spirits to ambush and kill bandits.
• Shucheng’s returning cultivators and Martial Artists joined Baishi Village’s disciplined Town Guard in fighting the bandits.
• Zhao Siqi decided to kill every bandit who had refused the County Princess and Zhang Mingshu’s previous offers to surrender.

After Zhao Siqi defeated Tie Meng and crushed Cangzhou’s local bandit forces, she began reorganizing Shucheng and planning its recovery. Xiao Lingying helped stabilize the local economy by sending new Silver Coins, while Zhao Siqi faced the challenge of governing the region and preparing for threats still ahead.

• Zhao Siqi defeated Tie Meng, then ordered the battlefield cleared and the corpses burned to prevent Evil Cultivators from using them.
• Zhao Siqi began resettling Shucheng’s crowded population, reclaiming land along the river, and planning aid, workshops, and cultivation screenings.
• Zhao Siqi arranged for Shi Beihan’s team to survey Cangzhou, establish intelligence networks, and prepare geographical records for future enfeoffment.
• Zhao Siqi worried about the Sky-Toppling Observatory’s influence over her Lineage and the danger posed by Zhao Wuji.
• Zhao Siqi asked Xiao Lingying for help with Shucheng’s fragile currency system, and Xiao Lingying sent Silver Coins to reward those who had served in battle and replace the crude currency over time.

During Shengtong Year Eighteen and Nineteen, Xiao Lingying reshaped Yingzhou while allied forces fought across the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm. Si Tianxing’s surprise attack broke Zhuozhou’s defenses, and campaigns elsewhere began producing victories despite intervention by Void Returning Realm cultivators.

• Xiao Lingying purged the Ding Family’s influence in Yingzhou, established a new order, and allowed outside families to settle there while Mozhou’s local families concealed evidence.
• Zhao Xiaojie led the allied forces into Zhuozhou as Zhang Mingshu commanded the vanguard, drawing Zhuozhou’s troops toward them.
• Si Tianxing shifted his main force from Weizhou into Zhuozhou, where Yan Chijia’s daring advance joined Zhao Xiaojie and disrupted the Lu Family’s defenses.
• Zhang Mingshu committed the vanguard to the assault, and Si Tianxing personally broke through the Lu Family’s defensive system, ending his year-long stalemate in less than a month.
• The Langya Wang Family continued attacking the Chi Family in Weizhou, while campaigns in Tanzhou, Jizhou, Yunzhou, Shuozhou, and other regions reported victories.
• Dai Zong sent Void Returning Realm elders to repel Great Cultivators who intervened, while Academy scholars guarded the rear and supported the campaigns.

Zhang Mingshu received offerings from his family during their first ancestral sacrifice under his own Household and sent them Yuan Yang Fruit. Meanwhile, Zuo Wuming and Zhang Xi returned to the academy, while shifting forces in the campaign left Zhang Mingshu too late to respond to the Wang Family’s withdrawal.

• Zuo Wuming and Zhang Xi led the family’s New Year sacrifice, and Zhang Mingshu sensed the ritual through the Life Book.
• Zhang Mingshu sent Yuan Yang Fruit to the family, which collected the offerings after the ceremony.
• Zuo Wuming and Zhang Xi returned to the academy after helping Lü E at home and began traveling back for Zhang Xi’s training.
• The Wang Family gradually withdrew its members from the front line as the Mo Family, Ding Family, and other followers joined the fighting.
• Zhang Mingshu discovered that nearly all of the Wang Family had withdrawn, leaving him no time to react.

The Wang Clan moved south into Wu Prefecture, reshaping the balance of power while the Han Family expanded north. In the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm, the Zhao Kingdom Alliance continued its campaigns, found several routes to the outside world, and prepared for an Academy examination in the Book Mountain Secret Realm.

• The Wang Clan abandoned most of its holdings in the north, passed through Baishi Town and Guangling Prefecture, and settled in Wu Prefecture, leaving a branch in Guangling Prefecture.
• The Han Family moved north into Linhuai Prefecture and part of Xiapi Prefecture as clans from Wu Prefecture migrated north.
• Si Tianxing conquered Zhuozhou and Weizhou, while the Zhao Kingdom Alliance and Northern Liao advanced across other prefectures and drove back Void Returning Realm Great Cultivators.
• Zhang Mingshu returned from vanguard duties to advise Princess Xiao, who developed Yingzhou and Mozhou and coordinated the use of her gold and silver coins with Old King Yan and Young King Yan.
• Princess Xiao, the Zhao Family, Old King Yan, and Si Tianxing found passages from the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm to the outside world through Hejian Prefecture, the Yanmenguan Battlefield Secret Realm, Yan Prefecture, and the Zhongshan Secret Realm.
• Zhang Xi returned home at twelve without passing the xiucai examination, while Zuo Wuming stayed at the Academy to take its Jinshi Realm examination in the Book Mountain Secret Realm.

The author reflected on Volume Two’s pacing, characters, and unfinished plotlines, then outlined the cast’s current cultivation levels and several planned developments. The volume ended with the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm conflict unresolved, while the author hoped to focus Volume Three on the second generation, pirates, islands, the Holy Grail, stone tablets, and the Qushan Secret Realm.

• The author described Volume Two’s slow pacing, limited character development, and difficulty planning the next volume.
• The author listed the main characters’ ages, abilities, and cultivation realms in Year Twenty of Sheng Tong, including Zhang Wushuang’s repeated Spirit Awakening.
• The author explained that the Wang Family had decided to move south because surrounding powers and the loss of control over the Langya Immortal Realm had left it little room to expand.
• Zhang Mingshu opposed sending Zhang Yu to Shucheng because it could divide the family, and she preferred rotating managers and having relatives supervise the city periodically.
• The author outlined the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm conflict, where Old King Yan sought to restore the Yanji City Secret Realm’s Second Heaven and gain its highest authority.
• The author said Volume Three would center on the second-generation characters and might explore pirates, islands, the Holy Grail, stone tablets, the Qushan Secret Realm, and more demon spirits.

Over five years, Zhang Mingshu, Zhao Xiaojie, and their allies worked to develop Cangzhou and manage growing trade and political divisions in the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm. Zhang Yu grew into a restless young martial artist, while Zhang Xi finally attained the Scholar Realm.

• Fifteen-year-old Zhang Yu reached the Bronze Skin Iron Bones Realm and leaped from a fishing boat into the sea.
• Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Siqi continued handling problems in the secret realm as rival Yan King factions and outside forces tested one another.
• Xiao Lingying stabilized Yingzhou, Mozhou, and Cangzhou, enabling trade to flourish and Cangzhou to grow through new cities, settlements, and agriculture.
• Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Xiaojie struggled to find enough capable officials to manage Shucheng and its six satellite cities, while the Star Moon Squad members advanced into new roles.
• Zhao Xiaojie led repeated explorations into a sealed region of eastern Mozhou and southeastern Zhuozhou, but its thin Spiritual Energy and possible ancient demonic beasts kept the team from venturing far.
• Lü E asked Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Siqi to help manage Zhang Yu after he spent more than half a year in Shucheng, and Zhang Xi attained the Scholar Realm after years of examinations.

The chapter explained how the Zhao Kingdom’s examination quotas and rankings were controlled, while Zuo Wuming returned to Baishi Village to oversee Zhang Xi’s preparations. Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Siqi negotiated with the County Princess over Shucheng’s trade, taxes, and yearly resource quotas as the secret realm’s administration took shape.

• The chapter described how the Imperial Court, academies, and Half-Saints shared control of examinations, with kingdoms holding less authority at higher levels.
• Zuo Wuming returned to Baishi Village after entering the Jinshi Realm and supervised Zhang Xi’s examination preparation while the Zhang Family remained short on local strength.
• As people began leaving the Ancient Yan Kingdom Secret Realm, Zhang Mingshu considered Zhang Yu’s interest in alchemy and the marriages of the girls around Zhang Xi.
• Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Siqi visited the County Princess and arranged for Zhao Xiaojie to manage Shucheng and the Zhang Family’s remaining forces after his return from Yizhou.
• Zhang Mingshu and Zhao Siqi negotiated Shucheng’s trade, tax shares, resource conversions, and Baishi Village’s yearly quota with the County Princess’s officials.

Zhang Yu spent months at sea with fishermen, reflecting on his family’s future and his own responsibilities before deciding to return to Baishi Village. A demonic beast attacked the fishing boat, and Jiang Zhi lu arrived with the Coastal Escort Team to block its second strike.

• Zhang Yu worked alongside the fishermen, learned their skills, and enjoyed life at sea while considering his family’s expectations and the dangers facing the Zhang Family.
• Zhang Yu decided he would return to Baishi Village and stop running from his responsibilities.
• A powerful, unfamiliar demonic beast surged toward the fishing boat and attacked, damaging its hull and throwing Zhang Yu off balance.
• Zhang Yu steadied himself, rallied the frightened fishermen, and prepared to fight the beast with his longsword.
• Jiang Zhi lu arrived with the Coastal Escort Team and blocked the demonic beast’s second attack.

Zhang Yu helped defeat a demonic beast at sea with an alchemical crossbow bolt and recognized how much he still needed to learn. After returning to Baishi Town, Jiang Zhi lu prepared to escort him back to Baishi Village and praised his courage while noting he was not yet an excellent leader.

• Jiang Zhi lu held off the demonic beast while Zhang Yu and the fishermen repaired their boat and prepared a crossbow.
• Zhang Yu spotted the beast approaching underwater and ordered the fishermen to fire an alchemical bolt, killing it.
• Jiang Zhi lu confirmed the beast was dead, praised Zhang Yu, and had its corpse hauled back as a battle achievement.
• Zhang Yu returned to Baishi Town, where the damaged fishing boat entered the shared shipyard for repairs.
• Zhang Yu reflected on his shortcomings and the responsibilities of his household after experiencing the battle.
• Jiang Zhi lu told Zhang Yu he had shown courage and wisdom, but was not yet an excellent leader.