Chapter Summaries

As Ting Gu’s authority collapsed in the Mental Sea, Silver Blood Society members maneuvered to choose a new president, with the major families rejecting one another’s young heirs. The gathering ended with Jing Zhengwei nominated, and Le Yu realized the proposal was a trap targeting the Jing Family.

• The members dragged Ting Gu’s black will down in the Mental Sea when he tried to make someone take the blame, and the elite merchants recognized that only the major families could wield the presidency’s authority.
• Silver Blood members proposed young heirs from the Ting, Luo, Quan, and Lan Families, but their family heads each discredited the candidates.
• Le Yu asked Jing Shou why the society recommended only young men, and Jing Shou explained the custom and the merchants’ reasons for preferring young presidents.
• After other prominent young heirs were dismissed, Silver Blood Member B declared that only Jing Zhengwei was worthy of the presidency.
• Le Yu rejected the nomination aloud, but realized that it was a trap aimed at the Jing Family.

Le Yu tried to avoid becoming president of the Silver Blood Society, but Ting Gu explained why the president had to lead negotiations with the Coastal Army after the assassination attempt. The Society forced its top ten merchant associations to send direct heirs, including Ting Chaozao, and made their heirs’ survival the condition for inheriting leadership.

• Le Yu realized the other merchant associations wanted to exploit the Jing family’s unstable succession and refused their efforts to make him president.
• Ting Gu explained that the president had to negotiate with the Coastal Army if the assassination failed, and argued that Le Yu was suited for the role.
• Le Yu nominated Ting Chaozao instead, but the other members supported the suggestion only briefly.
• Ting Gu ordered each of the top ten merchant associations to send a direct heir to negotiate, with survivors inheriting leadership and unwilling families forfeiting half their industries.
• Ting Gu warned Le Yu that if Jing Zhengtang returned alive, Le Yu would have to surrender the Jing family headship; the assembly approved the plan by 79 votes to 9.

Le Yu and Qin Leyin discussed how the Silver Blood Society would respond to Lan Yan’s assassination demand, and Qin Leyin revealed Ting Gu’s elaborate plan to expand the Ting family’s power. He urged Le Yu to join the mission, which he believed the other families’ heirs would also attend.

• Qin Leyin told Le Yu that he now controlled the Qin family and wanted to cooperate with him.
• Le Yu and Qin Leyin discussed why sending family heirs to the assassination mission could leave them powerless even if they survived.
• Qin Leyin said he would join the mission and expected the other merchant associations to send their heirs.
• Qin Leyin explained that Ting Gu had staged the volunteer dispute to persuade the other families to send discarded heirs alongside Ting Chaozao.
• Qin Leyin said Ting Chaozao could recruit the heirs by promising them leadership if they returned alive, potentially making the nine associations’ leaders loyal to the Ting family.

Le Yu and Qin Leyin discussed Ting Gu’s plan to exploit the Coastal Army’s attack and argued that a direct heir must join the mission to break his scheme. Jing Zhengtang refused to go, leaving Le Yu to decide whom to send, while Qin Leyin urged him to pursue change from the top down; the chapter ended with Qing Lan overhearing Le Yu say he preferred her.

• Qin Leyin argued that Ting Gu would risk everything to seize control of the Silver Blood Society and that surviving the mission could cost the Ting family its presidency.
• Le Yu suggested sending Jing Zhengtang’s third brother instead, but Qin Leyin urged him to use his position to achieve a more peaceful result.
• Jing Zhengtang refused to join the mission, saying he feared dying and would not leave Feiwei alone.
• Qin Leyin praised Jing Zhengtang’s self-awareness and urged Le Yu to consider changing society from the top down before leaving.
• Mi Die teased Le Yu about his interest in women, and Le Yu said he still preferred Qing Lan as Qing Lan arrived at the study door.

Le Yu considered Qin Leyin’s proposal that he become president of the Silver Blood Society and guide change from within, realizing that his ambitions had shifted from stirring up trouble and escaping to shaping the future. He ended the chapter by telling Qing Lan that he truly liked her more.

• Le Yu weighed Qin Leyin’s plan to make him president of the Silver Blood Society and use the position to support White Night and the working class.
• Le Yu recognized that he no longer wanted to make a quick score and slip away, and that he could no longer deceive himself about his changed desires.
• Qing Lan admitted she was happy because Le Yu had said he liked her more than Mi Die.
• Le Yu teased Qing Lan by mentioning Mu Qingmei, his younger sister, and the Jing Family, then crumpled a manuscript bearing someone’s name and threw it away.
• Le Yu told Qing Lan, “I really do like you more.”

Le Yu realized that his feelings for Qing Lan and his concern for others had made him want to settle down and build a home rather than leave in search of the Well of Gods and Devils. He and Qing Lan confessed their feelings, and he prepared to face the coming danger in Profound Candle Prefecture, while Qing Lan revealed she had put an aphrodisiac in his tea.

• Le Yu hugged Qing Lan and told her he liked her, naming the trust, support, and confidence he admired in her.
• Qing Lan explained that she had learned Battle Cards, supported Le Yu, and managed the newspaper because she cared about him.
• After hearing that Le Yu planned to do something dangerous, Qing Lan asked him to return safely, and he revealed that he wanted to stay and build a family with her.
• Le Yu and Qing Lan described the peaceful life they wanted together and agreed they wanted to spend their lives side by side.
• Le Yu thought he had been poisoned, and Qing Lan admitted she had put an aphrodisiac in his Honey Five-Flower Tea.

Le Yu spent the morning with Qing Lan before meeting Qin Leyin at Harmonious Garden to prepare for negotiations with the Coastal Army. The merchant heirs debated the families’ refusal to send direct heirs, and Ting Chaozao declared that he was also a victim.

• Qing Lan persuaded Le Yu to stay in bed longer before he left to answer Qin Leyin, and the two arranged to meet later.
• Le Yu met Qin Leyin at Harmonious Garden, where Qin teased him about his morning and asked whether he wanted to meet Qin Leyin’s younger sister.
• Qin Yueyang announced the arrival of the other merchant heirs, and Luo Zhen complained that the Zhao, Zhou, Fang, and Li families had sent collateral relatives instead of direct heirs.
• The heirs discussed how the families had weighed the risks of sending direct heirs and the Ting family’s plan to win over collateral relatives.
• Le Yu asked how the negotiators could escape the military camp if the assassination succeeded, and Ting Chaozao said he was also a victim.

Ting Chaozao told the Nine Great Merchant Guilds that his brother Ting Wanjian had become a From-Yang General, raising suspicions that the Ting family was using him to manipulate their choices about the dangerous negotiation delegation. Unable to determine whether Ting Gu wanted the delegation to die or return safely, Le Yu proposed that the guilds strike first and wipe out the Ting family.

• Ting Chaozao revealed that Ting Wanjian had become a From-Yang General and that Ting family troops were joining the Heyang Army.
• Ting Chaozao said he believed his brother would become the Ting family head and that he might be a sacrificial pawn sent on a dangerous mission.
• The guild leaders joked that they would not risk their own lives, then asked Ting Chaozao to help them find a way out of the deadlock.
• Qin Leyin suspected Ting Gu might have let Ting Chaozao bring them information to make them send branch-family members on the delegation.
• After considering both the possibility that the delegation would die and that it would return safely, Le Yu proposed that the Nine Great Merchant Guilds unite and strike first against the Ting family.

Le Yu and the other Silver Blood heirs rejected the idea of destroying the Ting family by force and decided to join the dangerous negotiation team, hoping to protect their families and seize power. After the others left, Qin Leyin revealed that Ting Gu had no secret leverage over Lan Yan and proposed that he and Le Yu either kill the White-Haired Assassin to win Lan Yan’s trust or join him in assassinating Lan Yan.

• Le Yu suggested killing the question setter and destroying the Ting family, but the others rejected the plan as too dangerous for the Silver Blood Society’s order.
• After an hour of discussion, the heirs decided to go to the negotiations themselves and use their influence in the Heyang Army to deter the Ting family.
• Luo Zhen and the others left to discuss the plan with their family heads, while Qin Leyin kept Le Yu behind for a private conversation.
• Qin Leyin told Le Yu that Lan Yan had not met with the Ting family and that Ting Gu had no known way to control him.
• Qin Leyin proposed that they kill the White-Haired Assassin, Chen, to gain Lan Yan’s trust, or work with the assassin to kill Lan Yan.

Le Yu discovered that Wen Hong had mistaken him for Qing Lan and believed Qing Lan was the White Night informant Yin Yinyin. He confirmed the mistaken identity, leaving Wen Hong convinced that Qing Lan was Yin Yinyin.

• Le Yu and Qing Lan listened to a storyteller recount a distorted version of White Night's attack on Lan Yan.
• Le Yu spotted Wen Hong leaving and found the contact mark and route map she had left for Yin Yinyin.
• Le Yu followed the map to an alley and spoke to Wen Hong from behind a wall.
• Wen Hong said she wanted to help Yin Yinyin escape Jing Zhengwei, whom she believed had been abusing her.
• Wen Hong deduced that Qing Lan was Yin Yinyin, and Le Yu confirmed it.

Le Yu tested Qing Lan’s resolve during an argument, while Wen Hong told Yin Minghong and Mu Qingmei that White Night might cooperate with Jing Zhengwei if he returned and became president of the Silver Blood Society. The group identified Qing Lan as the presumed “Yin Yinyin” and prepared an escape route to Flame Capital in case Jing Zhengwei died, though Mu Qingmei remained unconvinced.

• Le Yu provoked Qing Lan into asserting that she would not tolerate being treated as a backup choice, then praised her for standing up for herself.
• Yin Minghong explained that he was reforming the tobacco factory and felt torn between his loyalty to White Night and Jing Zhengwei’s trust in him.
• Wen Hong briefed Yin Minghong and Mu Qingmei on the Coastal Army threat and said White Night might cooperate with Jing Zhengwei if he returned alive and became Silver Blood Society president.
• Yin Minghong offered to persuade Jing Zhengwei or take his place, but Wen Hong explained that only Jing Zhengwei could negotiate with Lan Yan and become president.
• Wen Hong asked Rongyao to arrange a secret route to Flame Capital for a beautiful young woman, then said the request came from “Yin Yinyin” in case Jing Zhengwei died.
• Mu Qingmei concluded that Qing Lan was “Yin Yinyin,” but she still doubted that Qing Lan was the real identity behind the name.

Yin Guyue discussed the people of Profound Candle Prefecture and their growing discontent with Xia Lingo while they waited in Copper Bell Town for the Silver Blood Society’s representatives. Xia Lingo suggested that awakened people might still break the system trapping them, and Yin Guyue stayed to keep talking.

• Yin Guyue brought Xia Lingo to the balcony and pointed out the children watching the Coastal Army in Copper Bell Town.
• Xia Lingo explained that the Coastal Army had killed the plantation owners and guards and distributed their grain to keep civilians safe and maintain the army’s honor.
• Yin Guyue argued that the youth newspaper made Profound Candle Prefecture’s poor unhappy by teaching them to resent their lives and imagine a more equal world.
• Xia Lingo challenged Yin Guyue’s belief that ordinary people could do nothing and smashed the iron railing, saying the Radiant People had light.
• Yin Guyue asked Xia Lingo to keep chatting while they waited for the Silver Blood Society’s representatives, then admitted he usually badmouthed Lan Yan when Lan Yan did not need him.

Jing Zhengwei and the other Silver Blood heirs arrived at the Coastal Army camp in Tongling Town to meet General Lan. After one heir wet himself from fear, several delegates stayed behind in the caravan while seven heirs went forward to be reviewed.

• Yin Guyue received the eleven Silver Blood heirs and questioned their claim to represent the Society, while Jing Zhengwei argued that their family influence made them valuable to the Coastal Army.
• Jing Zhengwei failed to recognize Xia Lingo, the Coastal Army's military operations adviser, and the group prepared to enter the camp.
• A young Zhou family heir collapsed and wet himself from fear, so Qin Leyin explained his weakness and had him sent back to the caravan.
• Delegates from the Zhao, Fang, and Li families chose to stay behind, leaving Ting Chaozao and five other heirs to make decisions for their families.
• Ting Chaozao named the seven heirs who would meet General Lan, and Xia Lingo recorded their names and merchant houses for review.

Le Yu and the Silver Blood Society delegation passed security and met Lan Yan at his military camp, where they discussed the Coastal Army and White Night over dinner. The meal ended with an ambush: a daggerfish released hidden daggers, Chen Chenchen caught one, and the factory plunged into darkness under the Veil of Discord.

• Yin Guyue inspected the delegation and let Chen Chenchen pass after soldiers found his purple veil and saw his dyed black hair.
• Yin Guyue led Le Yu and the others through the heavily guarded camp and explained that Lan Yan was unifying the three coastal armies under Vortex ranks.
• Lan Yan welcomed the delegation at the factory dining table and delayed business discussions until after the meal.
• Le Yu resolved to work with Chen Chenchen to kill Lan Yan, while Lan Yan discussed the merchant guild and compared White Night to Chuan Yun chasing the sun.
• An attendant struck the daggerfish, sending hidden daggers flying; Chen Chenchen caught one as the factory went dark and the Veil of Discord activated.

Le Yu used his knowledge of the Veil of Discord to decide to help assassinate Lan Yan, but the attack failed when Lan Yan captured Chen Chenchen in the darkness. The chapter ended with Lan Yan revealing that he had practiced Hidden Sword Combat Arts.

• Le Yu deduced that the Veil of Discord created absolute darkness, disrupted minds, and strengthened Radiance attacks, then decided to assist in killing Lan Yan.
• As Chen Chenchen activated the veil, Le Yu hurled chopsticks at Lan Yan with fused combat arts and pretended not to fear the darkness.
• The lights returned to reveal that the veil had driven soldiers and Silver Blood Society members to panic and self-harm.
• Yin Guyue killed the disguised assassin, while Lan Yan caught Chen Chenchen's dagger and pinned him against the table.
• Lan Yan told the stunned onlookers that he had practiced Hidden Sword Combat Arts.

Lan Yan revealed that Hidden Sword Combat Arts altered practitioners’ sense of pain rather than their bodies, and explained a second method that stored flowing light in a kidney. After killing Chen Chenchen and receiving the Silver Blood Society’s apology, Lan Yan confronted Young Master Jing over the wound he had inflicted.

• Le Yu described the standard Hidden Sword training, and Lan Yan revealed that the supposed Hidden Sword organ was a lie meant to help apprentices endure the pain of flowing light.
• Lan Yan explained that Sword Hiders became immune to pain through the brutal Ten-Day Flowing Light ordeal, while their bodies could hold flowing light without any special organ.
• Lan Yan revealed that practitioners could store flowing light in one kidney to preserve their hair color and lifespan, but the method required another combat art and even more intense pain.
• Lan Yan explained that ordinary Sword Hiders were trained to use flowing light imprecisely, making them less suited to this second method but effective against White-Haired Assassins.
• Ting Chaozao and the Silver Blood Society apologized to Lan Yan, who killed Chen Chenchen and said he had expected them to send assassins.
• Lan Yan pulled a chopstick from his shoulder, told Young Master Jing that he had surprised him by managing to wound him, and left Le Yu alarmed.

Qing Lan learned that Mi Die planned to retire and heard that Ting's eldest son had returned to Profound Candle Prefecture with an army, raising doubts about the Silver Blood Society's negotiations. At the Coastal Army camp, Lan Yan told the delegation that he had privately agreed with President Ting to choose the Silver Blood Society's next president.

• Mi Die told Qing Lan that she planned to retire, explained the hardships her family faced, and said Jing Zhengwei had changed for the better since Qing Lan arrived.
• Mu Qingmei reported that Ting's eldest son had returned to Profound Candle Prefecture with an army, and Qing Lan worried that the Silver Blood Society's negotiating delegation was doomed.
• At the Copper Bell Town camp, Lan Yan reassured the Silver Blood Society delegation that their wealth made them valuable to the Coastal Army.
• Ting Chaozao offered the Silver Blood Society's support, but Lan Yan said he could not negotiate with the delegation because he had made a private agreement with President Ting.
• Lan Yan revealed that he would choose the Silver Blood Society's next president.

Lan Yan revealed that Ting Gu had arranged for the Coastal Army to choose a new Silver Blood Society president from the delegation, with everyone else to be killed. The heirs scrambled to bargain for their lives while Le Yu resigned himself to his fate.

• Lan Yan told the delegation that only one heir would become president and that the others had to die.
• Lan Yan explained that Ting Gu planned to use the Coastal Army’s attack on the Heyang Army to turn the Ting family into a military clan and leave the Silver Blood Society behind.
• Lan Jianbo and Quan Xin tried to persuade Lan Yan to abandon Ting Gu’s deal, but Lan Yan refused and said he wanted a divided Silver Blood Society.
• Lan Yan gave the six delegates paper and pens to submit their offers, and they began writing to save themselves.
• Le Yu set aside his paper, accepted that he had lost the bet, and closed his eyes as he dared Lan Yan to kill him.

Lan Yan judged the Silver Blood Society leaders’ proposals and chose Jing Zhengwei as the new chairman, while Le Yu secretly planned to use Rebirth Through Death on Lan Yan and take over his identity. Lan Yan summoned Le Yu alone, leaving the other candidates waiting with their fates uncertain.

• Outside the factory, Yin Guyue learned from Xia Lingo that he could not use the purple veil without its owner’s permission, and Xia Lingo bet that the Silver Blood Society leaders would survive because Lan Yan would break his promise for justice.
• Lan Yan told the Silver Blood Society candidates to revise any promises they could not keep, then collected their written proposals while Le Yu deliberately provoked him and prepared to die and reincarnate as Lan Yan.
• Lan Yan selected Jing Zhengwei’s blank answer sheet over the others’ proposals, explaining that it gave him freedom to choose any demands and that Jing had made a stronger impression on him than Qin Leyin.
• Qin Leyin accepted Lan Yan’s decision, and Lan Yan invited Le Yu to accompany him while the remaining candidates waited.

Lan Yan explained that he had chosen Jing Zhengwei to lead the Silver Blood Society because he believed Jing could advance workers’ rights and dismantle the Silver Blood elite. He offered the Coastal Army’s support in exchange for the Silver Blood Society’s wealth, leaving Jing to consider an alliance based on Lan Yan’s belief that justice could ultimately be profitable.

• Lan Yan said he would give Jing Zhengwei decision-making authority and asked whether he believed the world was real.
• Lan Yan revealed that he had chosen Jing as president because of the ideas he saw in the Youth Newspaper and Jing’s sympathy for the lower classes.
• Jing warned that he would favor workers and could not provide the military funds Lan Yan wanted from the common people.
• Lan Yan proposed helping Jing eradicate East Sun District’s wealthy officials and merchants, using their property to fund the Coastal Army while Jing transformed the district.
• Lan Yan said he supported Jing because technological and social changes would eventually empower the lower classes, and he believed justice would bring greater returns.