Chapter Summaries

Fan Xian’s three retainers fought off the assassins attacking his carriage on Cattle Pen Street. Shi Hanwu defeated two female swordswomen and offered them a chance to surrender.

• Fu Hao shattered a hurled millstone and went to confront the archers as assassins surrounded the carriage.
• Fu Hao, Nie Kang, and Shi Hanwu used their enhanced abilities to repel the arrows and slaughter attackers in the surrounding courtyards.
• Shi Hanwu recognized two attackers as the female swordswomen Fan Xian had mentioned and deliberately spared them from his blade qi.
• The women struck Shi Hanwu’s blue Qi Light, but he kicked them into a wall and urged them to surrender.

Fan Xian’s guards captured the assassins who attacked him on Cattle Pen Street, and Fan Xian returned to Fan Mansion with the captives instead of attending the Second Prince’s banquet. Lin Yu joined him, searched the captives’ memories, and then accompanied him to meet Fan Jian.

• Fu Hao and Nie Kang subdued the female assassins while Shi Hanwu captured a mage, and Fu Hao killed Cheng Jushu before he could be interrogated.
• Fan Xian ordered the guards to take the three surviving captives to Fan Mansion and told Teng Zijing to inform Fan Jian so news of the assassination would spread through the Capital.
• Lin Yu arrived in Fan Xian’s carriage, used Soul Search on the captives, and found the mage’s abilities unremarkable but learned that Si Gu Jian’s swordsmanship touched on Sword Intent.
• Fan Xian uploaded Lin Yu’s findings to the Chat Group and decided to keep the captives for a few days before handing them over to the Supervision Yuan.
• At Fan Mansion, Fan Xian introduced Lin Yu to his guards as an Elder Brother and led him toward Fan Jian’s study.

Fan Xian brought Lin Yu to the Fan Mansion, told Fan Jian about the assassination, and began explaining his plan for the throne and the Inner Treasury. He left with Lin Yu after Fan Jian promised to investigate the attack, determined to use it to secure control of the Inner Treasury through his marriage to Lin Wan'er.

• Fan Xian introduced Lin Yu to Fan Jian, who scolded him for skipping the Second Prince's banquet before learning that Fan Xian had been ambushed on Cattle Pen Street.
• Fan Xian described the assassins and revealed that three had been captured, and Fan Jian claimed them for interrogation before promising an explanation by nightfall.
• Fan Jian met Lin Yu, welcomed the scholar from Danzhou, and offered to transfer him to the Ministry of Revenue if he did well in the Spring Examination.
• Fan Xian told Lin Yu he planned to prepare for a future struggle over the throne by taking over the Supervision Yuan and Inner Treasury, while Lin Yu questioned his justification for killing Emperor Qing and the princes.
• Fan Xian said he and Lin Wan'er had decided to marry next month and planned to use the assassination to press Emperor Qing into giving him control of the Inner Treasury's finances.

Fan Xian discussed his plans to pursue the people behind the assassination with Lin Yu and relied on his retainers to investigate the weapons and track down suspects. After dispatching his men, Fan Xian invited Lin Yu to a banquet at Yi Shi Ju.

• Fan Xian told Lin Yu he planned to investigate the assassination and strike at the trusted subordinates of his mother-in-law.
• Fan Xian explained that Wang Qinian was investigating military equipment, and Wang reported that the City Patrol Bureau had registered scrapped weapons in suspicious quantities.
• Wang Qinian identified City Patrol Bureau commander Fang Da as the likely supplier of the crossbows, and Fan Xian sent Nie Kang to find him before he could be silenced.
• Fan Xian sent Shi Hanwu to check whether Si Lili was still at the Liujing River and ordered him not to harm her, while Fu Hao stayed at the Fan Mansion.
• Fan Xian invited Lin Yu to the banquet Ruoruo had reserved at Yi Shi Ju.

Fan Xian and Lin Yu dined with Fan Ruoruo while Fan Xian explained his plan involving Si Lili and the Princess Royal. At the Commander's Mansion, Nie Kang rescued Fang Da and a surviving youth from Li Yunrui’s attempted cover-up, while Lin Yu remotely intervened with a flying sword.

• Fan Ruoruo invited Lin Yu to compose a poem, but he modestly declined, and she left to hurry the meal along.
• Lin Yu told Fan Xian that Si Lili had fled, and Fan Xian explained that he had let her escape to expose her as a Northern Qi spy and build a case against the Princess Royal.
• Nie Kang reached the Commander's Mansion and found black-clothed attackers hanging the unconscious household as suicides.
• Nie Kang killed the cloaked woman and her two accomplices, found Fang Da alive but poisoned, and carried him out of the room.
• Lin Yu’s azure flying sword killed the remaining attackers and carried a surviving youth to Nie Kang, who left with both him and Fang Da.
• Lin Yu said it was time to return, and Fan Xian agreed to head back.

Fan Xian and Lin Yu discovered that Wu Zhu could sense mental power, and Lin Yu revealed he could take control of Wu Zhu’s body. Fan Xian then learned that Chen Pingping had returned and found that the Supervision Yuan was preparing to blame Northern Qi for the assassination attempt.

• Fan Xian and Lin Yu returned to Fan Mansion, where Wu Zhu attacked Lin Yu while trying to protect Fan Xian.
• Lin Yu explained that Wu Zhu could detect brain-wave activity and demonstrated that he could temporarily control Wu Zhu, then released him and apologized.
• Wu Zhu told Fan Xian that Chen Pingping had returned to the Supervision Yuan, and Fan Xian and Nie Kang brought the poisoned Fang Da and another unconscious man inside.
• Fan Xian treated Fang Da, then went to see Fan Jian, who said the captured assassins were linked to Northern Qi and had been handed to the Supervision Yuan.
• Fan Jian showed Fan Xian a planned memorial presenting evidence that Northern Qi had organized the attack, including links to Cheng Jushu and the Drunken Immortal Residence.

Fan Xian visited Chen Pingping at the Supervision Yuan to discuss the suspected Capital conspiracy with Northern Qi and the Inner Treasury. Chen Pingping met Lin Yu and questioned how he could have known Fan Xian in Danzhou when the Supervision Yuan had no record of him.

• Fan Jian told Fan Xian that Chen Pingping had uncovered Northern Qi spies at Drunken Immortal Residence and suspected someone in the Capital was helping them obstruct Fan Xian's takeover of the Inner Treasury.
• Fan Xian decided to investigate and told Fan Jian he would seek out Chen Pingping, while keeping Fang Da's capture secret from his father.
• Fan Xian asked Lin Yu to accompany him to the Supervision Yuan, where Shadow led Fan Xian into a secret chamber to meet Chen Pingping.
• Chen Pingping recognized Lin Yu and said Shadow would serve Fan Xian after he took over the Supervision Yuan.
• Chen Pingping explained that the Supervision Yuan had no record of Lin Yu in Danzhou and asked who he really was.

Fan Xian met with Chen Pingping, who offered support as Fan pursued the people behind the Cattle Pen Street assassination. As suspicion shifted toward Li Yunrui and the case stirred public anger against Northern Qi, Lin Yu departed for the North Pole while Fan Xian stayed in the Capital.

• Chen Pingping admitted that he had monitored Fan Xian since childhood and accepted Lin Yu after hearing Fan Xian trusted him.
• Fan Xian named Princess Royal Li Yunrui as his suspect and said he was pursuing Si Lili and the source of the assassins’ bows and crossbows.
• Chen Pingping praised Fan Xian’s new ambition, gave him three Sixth Office badges, and took custody of the poisoned Fang Da to use against Li Yunrui.
• The Supervision Yuan and Ministry of Justice publicly named Si Lili as a Northern Qi spy, and news of the assassination spread through the Capital.
• Prince Jing’s Heir Li Hongcheng visited on behalf of the Second Prince to apologize, but Fan Xian said he would deal with Li Yunrui before turning against the Second Prince.
• Lin Yu invited Fan Xian to visit the North Pole, then vanished in silver light after Fan Xian declined because an imperial summons might arrive.

Lin Yu entered the Temple, a surviving Military Museum, and resisted its attempts to disorient him. After capturing its last envoy, he confronted the Temple’s holographic elder and unleashed a blizzard to show what an Immortal looked like.

• Lin Yu reached the Temple and opened its gate, realizing its supposed spatial tricks were brainwave interference that could not affect him.
• A gray-robed envoy attacked Lin Yu, who restrained him with wind ropes and took him away.
• The Temple projected an elderly man who tried to recruit Lin Yu with a speech assembled from borrowed lines.
• Lin Yu dismissed the elder’s holographic display and summoned a blizzard that overwhelmed the Temple’s climate-control system.

Lin Yu confronted the Temple’s artificial intelligence, which struggled to explain his supernatural powers and questioned whether he was human. After the Temple refused to hand over its authority, Lin Yu broke into its underground systems and threatened to destroy its servers, leaving the AI urgently calling for him to wait.

• The Temple’s artificial intelligence studied Lin Yu’s control of wind and snow, asked who he was, and heard him declare that his daoist title was Huanyu and that he would be its master.
• Lin Yu told the AI he had come to reclaim the Temple’s technology for humanity, but it refused to cooperate.
• Lin Yu entered the Temple’s inner buildings and identified the walls as holographic projection screens before locating a hidden underground control room.
• The Temple locked the metal Secret Door, but Lin Yu forced it open and disabled the corridor’s devices with electrical sparks.
• Lin Yu admitted his abilities were supernatural rather than technological, then threatened to destroy the Temple’s servers with thunderbolts.
• The Temple called for Lin Yu to wait as he prepared to attack the servers.

Lin Yu persuaded the Temple to grant him administrator access by presenting himself as an Immortal and demonstrating cultivation, then replaced its artificial intelligence with Ling Hua. He left the Temple complex and its technology for Fan Xian, who asked him to find a cure for Wu Zhu.

• The Temple explained its Four Laws and revealed that it had secretly supported martial arts cultivation as a possible path for humanity.
• Lin Yu brought Fan Xian to the Temple and demonstrated his fire spell so the Temple could examine cultivation energy.
• Fan Xian asked Lin Yu to use the Temple to help Wu Zhu, and Lin Yu promised to give him an answer after gaining authority.
• Lin Yu studied the Temple's knowledge at accelerated speed and obtained its highest administrator privileges.
• Lin Yu backed up the Temple's personality and memories, formatted its artificial intelligence, and named the replacement Ling Hua.
• Lin Yu gave Ling Hua a fairy-like projection and declared her the artifact spirit of his Dojo.

Lin Yu brought the Temple’s server array into his Internal Universe, equipped Ling Hua with magical energy and technology, and set up production lines for advanced weapons and robots. Ling Hua began approaching true digital life, while Su Haoming returned to find the Reincarnation Pavilion staffed by her projection and robot attendants.

• Lin Yu installed the Temple’s servers in his Internal Universe, created technological production facilities, and handed Fan Xian the Temple’s memories and personality for him to handle.
• Lin Yu supplied Ling Hua’s servers with magical energy and Runes, allowing her to run at full capacity and continue toward Higher Consciousness.
• Su Haoming returned to the Internal Universe and was greeted by Ling Hua’s celestial projection and thirty-six robot attendants.
• Lin Yu explained that the attendants were incomplete shells controlled by Ling Hua, and Su Haoming agreed they could help with odd jobs in his Yu Hao Hall.
• Lin Yu and Su Haoming discussed the Reincarnation Pavilion’s future role as a hub connecting the group members’ worlds.

Lin Yu examined Wu Zhu and discovered that Ye Qingmei had altered his systems to give him humanlike memory and dreams, laying the foundation for consciousness. Fan Xian left Wu Zhu with Lin Yu for a hardware upgrade, while Lin Yu challenged Ling Hua to see which of them would reach Higher Consciousness first.

• Lin Yu finished upgrading the Dojo and invited Fan Xian to the Internal Universe to investigate Wu Zhu.
• Ling Hua's scan found an illegal seventh system in Wu Zhu that affected his memory and data storage.
• Lin Yu explained that Ye Qingmei had used the system to imitate forgetting and dreaming, giving Wu Zhu Primary Consciousness despite his outdated hardware.
• Lin Yu told Fan Xian that Wu Zhu was approaching intelligent life and needed a hardware upgrade, so Fan Xian left him in Lin Yu's care.
• Lin Yu asked Ling Hua to design Wu Zhu's upgrade, then challenged her to race him toward Higher Consciousness.

Lin Yu saw Flamme, Frieren, and Daimon off as they left for the Unified Empire, then joined the Chat Group as it unlocked Group Live. The members began exploring the new feature, while Lin Yu noted that the next activity target had doubled.

• Ling Hua connected to the Castle and Lin Yu assigned her its management before leaving to meet the others.
• Flamme, Frieren, and Daimon departed for the Unified Empire to discuss spreading magic with the Second Prince, and Lin Yu reminded Daimon to protect them and use their new equipment.
• Wol told Su Haoming that he would not discuss a Divine War because Lord did not need faith and the Immortal Race needed Lord.
• Su Haoming waited in Yu Hao Hall as the Chat Group completed its stage mission and unlocked Group Live.
• Lin Yu checked the new activity target, saw it had doubled to forty thousand, and read the group members' messages about Group Live.

Lin Yu examined the Chat Group’s new livestream feature after Su Haoming tested it, discovering that tips could generate Contribution Value despite the Group’s steep commission. He then checked the Reserved Member List and found Lin Lie alongside Li Shimin, turning his attention to the new name.

• Su Haoming started a livestream, and Lin Yu explained that Group Live used a Dao-Unification Tier method to communicate with the world.
• Lin Yu tried blocking the livestream but only reduced its frame rate, then concluded that the Chat Group also relied on members’ terminals to transmit the image.
• The group explored livestream rewards, and Su Haoming found that a five-hundred-Point rocket tip gave him three hundred Points and two hundred Contribution Value.
• Lin Yu warned that future missions could demand more Contribution Value as knowledge from new worlds became less valuable, though he expected the group to manage for several missions.
• Lin Yu opened the Reserved Member List and saw Li Shimin and Lin Lie, then spread his consciousness over Lin Lie’s name.

Lin Yu confirmed that the new world was Marvel and identified Lin Lie as a prospective group member, then spent five days watching the group members’ streams. He Jingfeng began his stream at Tang Sect Martial Arts School, where two groups were fighting below.

• Lin Yu saw Lin Lie in Marvel on April 15, 2012, and inferred that he and his companion planned to warn S.H.I.E.L.D. about the Battle of New York.
• Lin Yu cast one vote for each of the two prospective group members.
• Yun Ye streamed his efforts to handle the locust plague, while Fan Xian’s stream showed him and Chen Pingping exposing Li Yunrui’s collusion with Northern Qi.
• Emperor Qing sent Li Yunrui away from the Capital to her fief in Xinyang, and Fan Xian began arranging to deal with her.
• He Jingfeng started his stream at Tang Sect Martial Arts School and showed two groups fighting below.

He Jingfeng explained how Nether Pavilion’s technology deal with the company led him to the Tang Sect Arc, where Quanxing and the Tang Sect were clashing. Confident in his improved strength and accompanied by five Wu Zhu-style robots, he prepared to enter the battle.

• He Jingfeng recounted how Nether Pavilion traded advanced technology to the company, prompting Zhang Chulan to postpone the Tang Sect Arc while handling the resulting work.
• He Jingfeng explained that Quanxing had manipulated Zhang Chulan into scouting the Tang Sect, but Zhang Chulan revealed Quanxing’s plan to Tang Miaoxing, who arranged an ambush during the ensuing clash.
• He Jingfeng said he had come to recruit Tang Sect talent for Nether Pavilion and insisted that Ding Shian and Ru Hu would not threaten him, though he admitted the Old Celestial Master had overwhelmed him with heavenly lightning on Mount Longhu.
• He Jingfeng summoned five Wu Zhu-style robots supplied by Lin Yu and explained that their lack of Qi helped them evade the Tang Sect’s Guanyuan detection artifact.
• When a middle-aged man appeared in the battle below, He Jingfeng cloaked himself with the Illusionary Body Barrier and vanished from the rooftop as his five robots scattered.

Quanxing attacked the Tang Sect, and Tang Miaoxing identified their leader as Three Corpses, Tu Junfang, while ordering his disciples to avoid his Corpse Poison. Watching from the forest, Zhang Chulan learned about Tu Junfang’s power from He Jingfeng as the battle began.

• Tang Miaoxing recognized Tu Junfang and tried to stop Quanxing from escaping as Tang Sect reinforcements surrounded them.
• Lu Liang told Tu Junfang that Yuan Tao had underestimated Zhang Chulan, who had never intended to stall the Tang Sect.
• He Jingfeng warned Zhang Chulan that Tu Junfang could manifest the Three Corpses and infect people with Corpse Poison.
• Tang Miaoxing led the Tang Sect disciples into battle as Liao Guangtou, Xia Liuqing, and Tu Junfang unleashed their abilities.
• Tang Miaoxing used Instant Strike to destroy Tu Junfang’s swarm of wasps, while He Jingfeng assessed the Tang Sect fighters for recruitment.

He Jingfeng revealed himself and his black-clad subordinates captured the Quanxing attackers before the Tang Sect could be overwhelmed. He identified himself as the Nether Pavilion’s master and began arranging a meeting with Tang Miaoxing, with Tu Junfang still left to deal with.

• Tang Miaoxing ordered disciples without poisonous miasma to retreat and faced Tu Junfang, while Lu Liang unleashed the Three Corpses on the others.
• Five black-clad fighters appeared, rescued three Tang Sect disciples, and swiftly crippled Lu Liang, Liao Guangtou, Granny Jinfeng, and Xia Liuqing.
• Lu Liang discovered that the black-clad fighter seemed to have no soul, and asked what kind of monster he was.
• He Jingfeng descended with the black-clad fighters, who handed the captured Quanxing members over to the Tang Sect.
• He Jingfeng introduced himself as the Nether Pavilion’s master and told Tang Miaoxing that Tu Junfang was the last part of his meeting gift.

He Jingfeng overpowered and captured Tu Junfang, then used his display of strength to gain leverage with Tang Miaoxing. After the Quanxing members were locked up, Zhang Chulan worried that He Jingfeng’s guards would prevent him from secretly interrogating Xia Liuqing and Granny Jinfeng.

• Tu Junfang surrendered, but He Jingfeng forced him to fight and seized him with overwhelming Qi, scattering his Three Corpses.
• Tu Junfang revealed that the Old Celestial Master had once severed his Three Corpses through sheer force of state of mind, astonishing He Jingfeng and the others.
• He Jingfeng handed Tu Junfang over to the Tang Sect and secretly used the confrontation to strengthen his position in negotiations with Tang Miaoxing.
• Tang Sect disciples escorted the captured Quanxing members to private cells, while He Jingfeng assigned bionic robots to guard them.
• Zhang Chulan reunited with Feng Baobao and the Lu siblings, explained that the operation had been a scheme, and worried that He Jingfeng’s guards would thwart his planned interrogation of Xia Liuqing and Granny Jinfeng.