Chapter Summaries

Yan Sheng struggled to contain unrest in his camp while Liu De and Kong Daqian plotted to expand their rebellion. Liu De captured Anling City with help from its people, and Dragon Shattering Heaven surrendered.

• Yan Sheng gave both sides in the barracks brawl fifty strokes, while Xie Liancheng complained that he was being blamed despite winning the battle.
• Kong Daqian urged Liu De to seize Anling City by joining an assault from outside with an uprising inside the city.
• Liu De agreed and gathered his soldiers and supporters to march on Anling City.
• The people of Anling City rose up as Liu De's army attacked, making the city easy to capture.
• Dragon Shattering Heaven surrendered, and Liu De celebrated his victory over the defending general.

After learning that Anling City had fallen and Dragon Shattering Heaven had defected, Yan Sheng summoned Xie Liancheng and weighed whether to attack the rebels or defend Black Stone City. Unable to stomach the betrayal, Yan Sheng chose to send out troops despite the risk to his capital.

• Yan Sheng learned that Dragon Shattering Heaven had surrendered to the rebels and ordered Xie Liancheng to come to him.
• Yan Sheng told Xie Liancheng that Anling City had fallen and asked him to lead troops against the rebellion.
• Xie Liancheng reminded Yan Sheng that the centaur mercenaries in Yellow Sand City threatened Black Stone City if its forces departed.
• Yan Sheng considered attacking with his limited troops but realized that committing enough soldiers to retake a city would leave Black Stone City undefended.
• Yan Sheng chose to send out troops anyway, determined to punish Dragon Shattering Heaven for betraying him.

Zhou Xu’s officers debated why Yan Sheng would risk abandoning Black Stone City to suppress the rebellion, and White Butcher concluded that Yan Sheng needed to punish Dragon Shattering Heaven to deter further defections. Zhou Xu agreed but hinted that White Butcher had missed another reason, leaving the discussion open.

• Zhou Xu told his generals that Yan Sheng was preparing to lead troops against the rebellion and asked them to assess the move.
• Shi Lei wondered whether Yan Sheng’s preparations were a trap, but Zhou Xu explained that the centaur forces near Black Stone City would detect any ambush and that the city could still be seized if Yan Sheng left.
• Shilke and the other officers judged that abandoning Black Stone City would be foolish because Zhou Xu’s forces could take it with little risk.
• Zhou Xu redirected their attention to Dragon Shattering Heaven’s surrender and asked them to consider how it affected Yan Sheng’s control over his other cities.
• White Butcher argued that Yan Sheng needed to kill Dragon Shattering Heaven to deter Long Aotian and Long Xiaotian from defecting and to prove he could still suppress the rebellion.
• Zhou Xu agreed with White Butcher’s reasoning but said he had left out another point.

Zhou Xu realized Yan Sheng’s move toward West Mountain City or Anling City could create a dangerous strategic position, so he ordered his campaign to begin earlier than planned. Yan Sheng abandoned Black Stone City with a five-thousand-man army, leaving the city in unrest as he marched toward West Mountain City.

• Zhou Xu explained how Yan Sheng could link up with Long Xiaotian or Long Aotian by taking West Mountain City or Anling City, making further advances risky.
• Zhou Xu decided to launch his operations ahead of schedule, despite having originally planned to wait until the following year.
• Yan Sheng increasingly relied on Xie Liancheng as he prepared to face a siege, while Xie Liancheng remained unmoved by his dependence.
• Over seven days, Yan Sheng’s forces stripped Black Stone City of resources and forcibly conscripted able-bodied men, swelling the army from just over three thousand to five thousand.
• Yan Sheng left Black Stone City with his army and supplies, ignoring the unrest that followed and marching toward West Mountain City.

Yan Sheng’s main army encountered Zhuo Ge’s centaurs, while Xie Liancheng secretly coordinated with them and concealed his betrayal. As Yan Sheng rallied his troops against an approaching black-armored cavalry force, the enemy closed in for a charge.

• After five days of marching, Yan Sheng resolved to kill Dragon Shattering Heaven to deter the other Dragon Generals from rebelling.
• Zhuo Ge’s centaurs attacked Yan Sheng’s army, and Xie Liancheng led the cavalry out to meet them.
• While fighting, Zhuo Ge told Xie Liancheng that the king planned to ambush Yan Sheng’s army and cripple it before it could take West Mountain City or Anling City.
• Xie Liancheng agreed to keep his identity secret and drew the opposing cavalry farther away as the centaurs retreated.
• Yan Sheng spotted a black-armored cavalry force approaching and used his Truth Rune to steady his soldiers and order an infantry defense.
• The black-armored cavalry charged toward Yan Sheng’s army, shouting, “Vow of the Vanguard!” and “Only death, never surrender!!!”

The Vanguard Iron Cavalry routed Yan Sheng’s army, while Yan Sheng escaped using a teleportation scroll. Zhou Xu’s forces reached Black Stone City and called on its rebels to surrender to Great Zhou.

• The Vanguard Iron Cavalry charged Yan Sheng’s five thousand soldiers, causing conscripts and regular troops to flee as the centaurs defeated Xie Liancheng’s cavalry.
• Yan Sheng saw the approaching officer, hid in his carriage, and used a beast-skin scroll to teleport away.
• Zhou Chongshan found the carriage empty, then called on the defeated soldiers to surrender; Zhuo Ge and Xie Liancheng helped secure the captives.
• Zhou Xu’s infantry reached Black Stone City, where Zhou Xu sent Shilke to urge the rebels to submit, warning them that Yan Sheng had taken the city’s supplies.

The people of Black Stone City debated whether to surrender to Great Zhou, and a frail young man persuaded them that opening the gates was their safest choice. The city surrendered, Shi Lei's infantry entered, and the people watched as the king arrived with an imposing retinue.

• As Shilke called for Black Stone City to open its gates, the people argued over surrender, dwindling supplies, and their inability to resist Great Zhou.
• A frail young man urged the people to submit, citing the danger of a siege and rumors that Great Zhou treated people humanely.
• After one person agreed to surrender, others followed, and Black Stone City opened its gates.
• Shi Lei led Great Zhou's infantry into the city, leaving the rebel soldiers awed and uncertain whether to kneel.
• A horn announced the king's arrival, and the people watched the armored king and his mounted retinue enter the city.

After taking Black Stone City, Zhou Xu met the frail young man who had helped the rebels submit and learned he was named Huo Qubing, a former citizen of Great Han. Zhou Xu used Eye of Insight to examine him.

• The young man recognized Zhou Xu as Great Zhou’s king, knelt, and led the rebels at the city gates in pledging their submission.
• Zhou Xu ordered Shi Lei to take over Black Stone City’s defenses and had Shilke search the city lord’s residence.
• Zhou Xu questioned the ill young man, who explained that Yan Sheng had conscripted the rebels’ leaders and that he was not their leader.
• The young man introduced himself as Huo Qubing and described his family’s former wealth and his parents’ deaths.
• Zhou Xu, intrigued by Huo Qubing’s name and its historical significance, activated Eye of Insight to inspect his attribute panel.

Zhou Xu discovered Huo Qubing’s extraordinary talent despite his severe frailty and recruited him into his service. Huo Qubing recounted the fall of the Great Han and the history of other countries, leaving Zhou Xu concerned about how short people’s lives were in this world.

• Zhou Xu examined Huo Qubing’s attributes and recognized his exceptional administrative talent, intelligence, and spirit despite his many ailments.
• Zhou Xu offered Huo Qubing a position in his service, and Huo Qubing accepted and pledged his life to the Great King.
• Zhou Xu helped Huo Qubing up from the ground and invited him to sit because of his frailty.
• Huo Qubing explained how the Great Han declined through succession struggles and an incompetent final emperor before Yan Sheng conquered it.
• Huo Qubing described the long histories of other countries, and Zhou Xu resolved to take better care of his health after learning their God Chosen rulers had short lifespans.

Zhou Xu arranged for the frail Huo Qubing to stay at the city lord's residence and sought treatment for his congenital weakness and winter cold. The arrival of Zhang Jingyan, Huo Qubing's longtime physician and close family friend, revealed an unexpected connection between them.

• Zhou Xu offered Huo Qubing a room at the city lord's residence and arranged for him to receive medical care.
• Zhou Xu considered Huo Qubing's congenital deficiency and hoped Ye Yan could eventually treat it.
• An army physician diagnosed Huo Qubing with a winter cold and prescribed medicine, planning to check on him in three days.
• A personal guard brought in Zhang Jingyan, whom Huo Qubing recognized as his uncle and longtime physician.
• Huo Qubing explained that Zhang Jingyan's grandfather had been Great Han's Imperial Doctor and that their families had been close for generations.

Zhou Xu discovered that Zhang Jingyan, a gifted physician descended from the Great Han Divine Physician, could help advance Great Zhou's medicine. After Zhang Jingyan treated Huo Qubing, Zhou Xu encouraged him to share acupuncture knowledge and collaborate with Great Zhou's physician.

• Zhou Xu used Eye of Insight and found that the hungry, exhausted Zhang Jingyan had exceptional medical talent and strong Intelligence and Spirit.
• Zhang Jingyan examined Huo Qubing, diagnosed him with a cold, and prepared to treat him.
• Zhang Jingyan revealed his family's secret acupuncture technique, and Zhou Xu explained that acupuncture was known in his homeland and encouraged its wider use.
• Zhang Jingyan treated Huo Qubing with three needles and wrote him a prescription, then gave him two doses of cold medicine.
• Zhou Xu explained that Great Zhou's physician had also diagnosed Huo Qubing so they could compare findings and improve together, and Zhang Jingyan apologized for doubting his intentions.

The physicians compared their prescriptions, and Zhang Jingyan admired Great Zhou’s medicine and learned about Ye Yan’s Rainforest Medicine Garden. After Zhou Xu promised food relief for Black Stone City, Zhang Jingyan pledged his service to him.

• Zhang Jingyan and Great Zhou’s military physicians compared their prescriptions and discovered that some ingredients were the same under different names, while others were new to one side.
• Zhang Jingyan praised the ingenuity of Ye Yan’s prescription and became eager to visit the Rainforest and discuss medicine with him.
• Zhou Xu reminded Zhang Jingyan to prepare medicine for Huo Qubing, and Zhang Jingyan chose to have him try the new prescription.
• Zhang Jingyan asked Zhou Xu for grain to help Black Stone City’s starving people, and Zhou Xu promised porridge at all four city gates every morning and evening.
• Zhou Xu invited Zhang Jingyan to work for him, and Zhang Jingyan knelt and pledged his service.

Zhou Xu planned how Black Stone City and Yellow Sand City would develop after relocating some civilians. Yan Sheng returned to a secret chamber and was attacked by Li Wenjian, and the two mortally wounded each other.

• Zhou Xu and Shilke arranged porridge distribution and the relocation of civilians from Black Stone City to Yellow Sand City.
• Zhou Xu planned to turn Yellow Sand City into an industrial center and develop Black Stone City around its coal and other mineral resources.
• Yan Sheng appeared in a secret chamber in Black Stone City after his failed operation and vented his anger.
• Li Wenjian attacked Yan Sheng from behind and slashed his windpipe.
• Yan Sheng stabbed Li Wenjian in the chest, and Li Wenjian declared he would wait for Yan Sheng below.

Zhou Xu heard wind beneath his bed and uncovered a hidden tunnel beneath the city lord’s manor. He and Shilke entered the passage and found two corpses in a stone chamber, leaving the cause of their deaths unknown.

• After a long day planning the cities’ future, Zhou Xu heard a muffled wind-like sound beneath his bed and confirmed it came from below the boards.
• Zhou Xu summoned Shilke and guards, and Shilke used Gale Slash to split the bed open, revealing a hidden tunnel.
• Zhou Xu sent a guard down to scout, then followed with Shilke and four elf knights into the passage.
• Shilke detected the smell of blood, and the group found two corpses in the stone chamber, one stabbed through the heart and the other with a slashed throat.

Zhou Xu found Yan Sheng and Li Wenjian dead in a hidden stone chamber and claimed the True Words from Yan Sheng’s corpse. He discovered Yan Sheng’s glowing teleportation scroll, kept it for later study, and realized his own scheme had helped bring about the emperor’s death.

• Zhou Xu searched the stone chamber and used Eye of Insight to inspect two recently killed corpses.
• Zhou Xu identified Yan Sheng and absorbed his True Words, including Boost Morale and Lightning Attack, along with several True Word Characters.
• Zhou Xu found a glowing scroll at Yan Sheng’s waist, suspected it was used for teleportation, and tucked it away without opening it.
• Shilke and the others examined the second corpse, and Zhou Xu recognized him as Li Wenjian, confirming that Li Wenjian had killed Yan Sheng.
• Zhou Xu recalled that he had leaked his theory about Yan Sheng’s fixed-point teleportation and concluded that his plan had helped set the events in motion.

Unable to sleep after the night’s discoveries, Zhou Xu studied his newly acquired True Word Characters and formed a new combination, Secret Peeping Pupil. He suspected it could reveal hidden secrets and prepared to test it on a scroll taken from Yan Sheng’s corpse.

• Zhou Xu told Shilke to preserve the two bodies so their identities could be confirmed later.
• Zhou Xu lay awake in a new room, excited by his haul of True Word Characters, and realized the strengthened Attack character could enhance related combinations.
• Zhou Xu found that Peep and Secret could form Secret Peeping, but the combination failed because it lacked another character.
• Zhou Xu tried to add eye to Secret Peeping, but pupil displaced it and formed Secret Peeping Pupil instead.
• Zhou Xu activated Secret Peeping Pupil and found that it resembled Eye of Insight while consuming nearly thirty percent more power.
• Zhou Xu reasoned that Secret Peeping Pupil might reveal hidden secrets and took Yan Sheng’s scroll to test it.

Zhou Xu used the Eye of Secret Peeping to identify Yan Sheng’s teleportation scroll and learned how to use it, but probing its formation triggered a painful backlash that left him exhausted. He overslept while Shi Lei and the others began distributing porridge and publicizing migration from Black Stone City, where residents remained reluctant to move to Yellow Sand City.

• Zhou Xu identified the scroll as a one-time, fixed-point teleportation item with a range of one hundred kilometers.
• Zhou Xu unfolded the scroll and learned how to set its coordinates and trigger it with the teleportation password.
• Zhou Xu tried to inspect the scroll’s circular formation, suffered severe pain in his eyes and head, and collapsed into sleep.
• Zhou Xu overslept the next morning while Shilke and the others let him rest and Shi Lei handled city affairs.
• Shi Lei and the soldiers distributed porridge in Black Stone City while explaining the migration, but most residents remained hesitant to move to Yellow Sand City.

After recovering from the backlash of his power, Zhou Xu considered the low response to immigration from Black Stone City and explained why he would limit the first group sent to Yellow Sand City. He left the city’s refugees waiting for now, with the first immigrants set to depart in a week.

• Zhou Xu assessed that his eyes had recovered and his dizziness would likely pass within a few days.
• Shilke reported that only fifty-seven people had applied to immigrate, and Zhou Xu ordered the first group to leave for Yellow Sand City in a week.
• Zhou Xu planned to develop Yellow Sand City by bringing in foremen from Great Zhou and hiring local workers.
• Shilke asked why they did not advertise the jobs to attract more refugees, and Zhou Xu explained that the city lacked enough people to manage a large transfer.
• Zhou Xu warned that too many applicants would face a long wait and might grow resentful, so he chose to keep the current arrangement while Great Zhou provided porridge in Black Stone City.

Zhou Xu’s troops continued winning over Black Stone City’s people, and Zhang Jingyan arrived at the city lord’s residence to examine Huo Qubing. Huo Qubing’s rapid improvement convinced him that Zhou Xu’s blessing had strengthened his constitution, while Zhang Jingyan wondered whether he too had received it.

• Great Zhou’s soldiers served thick porridge, treated civilians kindly, and gradually eased Black Stone City’s fear of them.
• Zhang Jingyan left his home and went to the city lord’s residence, where Zhou Xu welcomed him and he pledged himself to the Great King.
• Zhang Jingyan examined Huo Qubing and learned that Huo’s condition had improved considerably after three days of medicine.
• A Great Zhou physician explained that Zhou Xu’s blessing could strengthen his subjects, and Huo Qubing attributed his improvement to it.
• Zhang Jingyan wondered whether he had also been blessed, and the physician explained that healthy people might not readily notice the effect.

Zhang Jingyan discussed medicine with Great Zhou physicians and wanted to meet Ye Yan, but Zhou Xu explained that Ye Yan was too far away and Zhang Jingyan needed to care for Huo Qubing. Zhou Xu then considered Great Zhou’s expanding territory and focused on plans for its existing cities and southern development.

• Zhang Jingyan eagerly discussed prescriptions with a Great Zhou physician, but their conversation soon surpassed the other physicians’ knowledge.
• Zhang Jingyan asked to meet Ye Yan, and Zhou Xu explained that Ye Yan was at the distant Rainforest Medicine Garden while Huo Qubing still needed Zhang Jingyan’s care.
• Zhang Jingyan apologized after realizing that the journey to Ye Yan would take months and that Great Zhou’s territory was vast.
• Zhou Xu considered how migrants from Yellow Sand City were developing the south and planned to build a border fortress before inland cities.
• Zhou Xu prioritized planning development in the existing cities, where reconstruction could produce results sooner than the southern project.