Chapter Summaries

Xuan and Liguang Dihao fused, becoming a vastly stronger Liguang Dihao who broke through to the peak of the Xuanji Realm. Later, Pangu and Xiao Xuan discussed his preparations and the powerful Dao-severing figures emerging in the Three-Thousandth Chaos.

• Xuan and Liguang Dihao agreed to reunite, and their avatars merged with them.
• After ten thousand years, the fused Liguang Dihao broke free of one hundred and fifty Dao shackles and evolved his inner world to peak Heavenly Dao level.
• Chu and Hongjun succeeded in their breakthroughs, and the Immortal Daoist attained Dao Severing and renamed himself Immortal True Lord.
• Pangu and Xiao Xuan discussed how Liguang Dihao had split himself, refined the half connected to Xiao Xuan, and likely fused the Chaos Pearl into his dantian.
• Xiao Xuan and Pangu noted the Dao-severing potential of Xiao Wu, Xiao Yuan, Xiao Jing, Houtu, and Wu Lingtian, and Pangu observed that Immortal True Lord no longer seemed inclined to resist the Three-Thousandth Chaos.

Chu and the Undying Daoist attained the Supreme Dao, prompting celebrations at the Human Ancestral Land as Chu warned that greater realms and a coming war awaited them. The gathering was interrupted when a battle-ready emperor appeared in the River of Time and Space and clashed with another powerful expert.

• Two supreme beings played chess across the River of Time and Space, reshaping the laws and the universe with each move.
• Chu and the Undying Daoist passed their tribulations and attained the Supreme Dao, and the Human Race celebrated their breakthroughs.
• Chu told Fuxi and the gathered experts that greater enemies threatened the realms and that he and the other newly advanced experts would enter prolonged seclusion to prepare for war.
• Xiao Yu, Chen Hua, and the others learned that their Hunyuan cultivation was only an early step toward becoming powerful.
• A blurry, crown-wearing emperor emerged from the River of Time and challenged his opponent to fight, and the two experts unleashed their powers against each other.

Xiao Xuan and Pangu repelled Holy Venerable and another powerful outsider, while Pangu explained that they came from the 2,986th Chaos. Pangu warned Hongjun and the others that powerful enemies surrounded them, including experts who had severed more than a thousand Great Dao laws.

• Xiao Xuan and Pangu fought two unfamiliar experts, and Pangu shattered one opponent’s body and sent Holy Venerable flying into the River of Time.
• Pangu withdrew to cultivate atop the forty-nine-grade Chaos Green Lotus, while Xiao Xuan absorbed the destructive energy left by the battle.
• Hongjun, Liguang Dihao, Chu, and Immortal True Lord discussed the fighters’ power, and Liguang Dihao revealed that he and Xuan had merged after being born as one.
• Immortal True Lord explained that he had fought the two before and accepted that his former rule and strength could not compare with theirs.
• Pangu appeared before Hongjun and the others as a thought and said his true body was in seclusion comprehending the Dao.
• Pangu said the attackers came from the 2,986th Chaos, where an expert had severed more than a thousand Great Dao laws, and warned that top-ranked Chaoses might contain beings beyond Dao Severance.

Xiao Xuan continued conquering other Chaoses and severing Great Dao shackles until he became the strongest cultivator across the heavens. After an immeasurable span of time, he severed every shackle, attained the Eternal Great Dao, and left the other cultivators powerless before him.

• Pangu revealed that three thousand Chaoses existed and that Hong Huang guarded a passage against invasion, prompting its powerful cultivators to enter seclusion.
• Xiao Xuan defeated the Sacred Venerable and absorbed the Chaos under his rule, then steadily overcame other Chaoses and used their origins to advance.
• Xiao Xuan severed 2,999 Dao shackles and reached the Chaos ranked two hundredth, surpassing the strongest experts of the other Chaoses.
• After tens of billions of years and more, Xiao Xuan realized that all Daos and laws were thoughts, while truth, the self, and Wuji remained unified.
• Xiao Xuan spoke the word “Mortal,” stripping cultivators across the heavens of their cultivation and rendering them frail.
• Xiao Xuan declared that he had removed all shackles and created the Eternal Great Dao, and the others paid respects to him as the Great Dao Venerable.

After the Göktürks’ decade-long war with Great Zhou ended, Princess Tai’an Li Wanyi reviewed intelligence about their peace delegation while keeping her identity as the Big Dipper Pavilion’s master secret. At a banquet in Chang’an, Shibi presented Wu Zetian with a sacred pearl, and Wu Zetian announced a marriage alliance with Khan Jili.

• An unknown being reflected that it could not advance beyond its final step and vanished after transforming into a Dao Fruit; a nine-story tower appeared and disappeared afterward.
• After Qudulu died, Jili inherited the Göktürk khanate, and Modu’s pro-war faction resumed hostilities against Great Zhou until Jili sent Shibi to negotiate peace.
• Li Wanyi read intelligence that the Göktürk delegation had entered Chang’an and destroyed the paper slip.
• At a banquet in the Hall of Two Principles, Shibi offered Wu Zetian the Göktürks’ five-colored Many-Treasure Pearl as a gift from Jili.
• Wu Zetian announced that Princess Yiyang would marry Jili and promised the Göktürks thirty beauties, jewels, and five hundred horses.

A false Göktürk delegation left Chang'an after Wu Zetian was assured it posed no threat, while Princess Yiyang was assassinated during her departure. Wu Zetian learned that the real delegation had already been slaughtered and ordered a hunt for the impostors, then received news that Princess Yiyang and her escort had also been killed.

• Wu Zetian agreed to let the supposed Göktürk delegation depart and ordered Princess Yiyang to leave at once.
• Masked assassins killed Princess Yiyang’s Yu Forest Guards and escort, while a green-robed masked man killed the last surviving guard.
• Youqin told Li Wanyi that Princess Yiyang and the guards protecting her were dead, and that the Göktürk delegation had been wiped out days earlier.
• Zhang Jianzhi informed Wu Zetian that the real Göktürk delegation had been killed ten days earlier and that Li Yuanfang was missing, prompting Wu Zetian to order the fake delegation captured.
• Hu Jinghui reported that Princess Yiyang and her entire escort had been assassinated, and that their bodies had been brought to the palace gates.

After Princess Yiyang and the Turkic delegation were murdered, Wu Zetian ordered Di Renjie summoned to the capital to investigate. In Pengze County, Di Renjie exposed a wife’s murder and reunited with Li Xiao, who had come to see the prosperous county and consider opening an inn.

• Hu Jinghui presented Princess Yiyang’s jade bracelet, and Wu Zetian confirmed her identity as Zhang Jianzhi warned that the killings could trigger war with the Turks.
• Wu Zetian ordered an edict summoning Di Renjie to the capital to solve the case.
• Di Renjie examined Zhou Er’s wife’s staged hanging and used the torn clothes, scratches, hoe, and stool to prove Zhou Er had strangled her and hung her body.
• Zhou Er collapsed and was taken away by the constables after Di Renjie exposed his crime.
• Li Xiao arrived in Pengze County, praised Di Renjie’s success in improving the county, and said he was considering opening an inn there.

Liu Jin reunited with Jin Mulan and revealed that the list they sought was written on his back, while Di Renjie investigated Li Yuanfang’s movements and suspected someone had forced him to Lingzhou. Di Renjie and Di Chun continued toward the capital, discussing the burdens and purpose of high office.

• Liu Jin met Jin Mulan in a cave on Xiaolianzi Mountain and learned that Youzhou remained under her control.
• Liu Jin revealed the list by having the maidservant apply medicine to his scarred back, exposing its characters on his skin.
• Di Renjie reviewed the case documents and noticed that Li Yuanfang had appeared in Lingzhou after killing the Turkic delegation.
• Di Chun suggested that no one had forced Li Yuanfang to go to Lingzhou, prompting Di Renjie to consider that someone might have compelled him.
• Di Renjie and Di Chun discussed official life, and Di Renjie said an official’s rank mattered less than his willingness to serve the people.

Li Yuanfang secretly met Di Renjie and denied conspiring to kill the Göktürk delegation, then began recounting the attack that left him a fugitive. His story reached the moment he saved Shibi Khan from a snake after escaping the massacre.

• Di Chun encountered Li Xiao as Li Xiao hurried to Di Renjie’s room.
• A wounded young man appeared before Di Renjie, who identified him as Li Yuanfang, the fugitive accused of murdering the Göktürk delegation.
• Li Yuanfang denied the accusation and said Di Renjie had been ordered to investigate the delegation’s murder.
• Li Yuanfang recounted how black-clad attackers slaughtered the delegation at Shihe River, and how he escaped with Shibi Khan.
• Li Yuanfang and Shibi Khan hid in an abandoned fortress, where Li Yuanfang cut down a snake that dropped from a tree.

Li Yuanfang recounted how Viper killed Shibi Khan, wounded him, and left him to be framed for the murder of the Turkic delegation. Di Renjie suspected the plotters wanted him drawn into danger, and a Qianniu Guards general arrived with an order to return to the capital.

• Viper confronted Li Yuanfang while Shibi Khan fled with the Many-Treasure Pearl, then a rider killed Shibi Khan and the pearl fell from his bundle.
• Li Yuanfang fought Viper, who wounded him and let him escape after praising his skill.
• Di Renjie examined Viper’s embroidered handkerchief and learned that Li Yuanfang had been framed and steered toward him.
• Di Renjie and Li Xiao suspected the plotters intended to kill them both, and Di Chun announced the arrival of Qianniu Guards with an imperial edict.
• A Qianniu Guards general ordered Di Renjie to return to the capital immediately, and Di Renjie questioned the general about his origins before agreeing to prepare.

Di Renjie and his allies survived an ambush by fake imperial envoys and uncovered a plot to kill both him and Li Yuanfang. They avoided returning to the post station, while the assassins gathered in the forest discovered the bodies and began pursuing them.

• Di Renjie, Li Xiao, and Li Yuanfang exposed the fake imperial envoys’ attack and killed the archers and Qian-Niu Guards waiting in ambush.
• Li Xiao stopped a surviving guard’s hidden weapon, but Li Yuanfang killed the guard before he could reveal how many assassins were stationed outside the county town.
• Di Renjie explained that the supposed imperial envoys were impostors and that the plot aimed to frame Li Yuanfang and erase the investigation’s remaining clues.
• Di Renjie refused to return to the post station, fearing the attackers would endanger its guards, and proposed using the cicada-sheds-its-shell stratagem.
• A black-clad chief and his assassins found the corpses in the county town and pursued Di Renjie, insisting that he must not escape.

Di Renjie, Li Xiao, and Li Yuanfang escaped their attackers and secretly reached the outskirts of Chang'an. Believing a traitor was close to Wu Zetian, Di Renjie avoided the palace while the court prepared for war, then found a scrap of white silk at a burned kiln.

• Di Renjie, Li Xiao, and Li Yuanfang rose from their staged deaths and fled the city after the assassins left.
• Wu Zetian explained the danger of the Göktürk conflict to Wu Sansi and insisted that only Di Renjie could solve the murder case.
• Zhang Jianzhi reported that impostor Qianniu Guards had abducted Di Renjie and that the real guards were dead.
• Wu Zetian, believing Di Renjie had been killed, ordered Wang Xiaojie to lead an army against the Göktürks.
• Di Renjie told Li Yuanfang that a traitor was near the emperor and found a scrap of white silk in a burned kiln outside Chang'an.

Di Renjie confronted Li Xiao about his hidden purpose, then used evidence linking Viper to the delegation murders and the pottery-kiln fire to investigate the motive behind the attack. He and Li Yuanfang concluded that Viper had infiltrated Chang'an to pursue an unknown objective, and began considering what the kiln contained.

• Li Yuanfang told Di Renjie that Li Xiao’s martial arts appeared to be at the grandmaster level, while his own were first-rate.
• Li Xiao reported that the Emperor would visit Yuanjue Temple in two days, and Di Renjie questioned him about his hidden identity and purpose.
• Li Xiao said he was acting to protect himself and survive, promised his plans would not harm Di Renjie or the realm, and then left.
• Di Renjie compared Viper’s snake-embroidered handkerchief with the silk found at the kiln and concluded that Viper had carried out both the delegation massacre and the pottery-kiln fire.
• Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang ruled out provoking war and seeking profit as Viper’s motives, and concluded that the false delegation had entered Chang’an to conceal an unknown objective focused on the kiln.
• Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang began investigating what the pottery kiln contained and why Viper would burn it down after attacking it.

Di Renjie deduced that the false delegation murdered Princess Yiyang to smuggle a mysterious person out of Chang'an, while Li Wanyi warned Jin Mulan to abandon her ambitions and stay hidden. Three days later, at Yuanjue Temple, Wu Zetian asked why Guanyin Pavilion was locked after the abbot’s cryptic remarks about her troubled heart.

• Di Renjie and Li Yuanfang concluded that the false delegation burned the kiln to hide whether they had rescued a mysterious person, then killed Princess Yiyang to escape in her sedan chair.
• Jin Mulan learned that Yu Feng had failed to find Li Yuanfang and ordered Serpent Spirit’s members to destroy their traces and retreat to Youzhou.
• Li Wanyi, disguised as Li Xiao, warned Jin Mulan that she could not defeat Di Renjie and urged her to abandon her plans before Wu Zetian used her exposure to purge the Li imperial clan.
• At Yuanjue Temple, the abbot made cryptic remarks about Wu Zetian’s troubled heart, and Li Wanyi pointed out that his words spelled Di.
• Wu Zetian asked why Guanyin Pavilion was locked, and the abbot replied that he dared not say.

Wu Zetian reunited with Di Renjie at Guanyin Pavilion and learned his explanation of the secret plot surrounding Liu Jin and the false Turkic delegation. Di Renjie warned that a traitor inside the court had leaked confidential information, and he told Wu Zetian he already had a plan to find them.

• The abbot led Wu Zetian into Guanyin Pavilion, where Di Renjie revealed himself and greeted her.
• Wu Zetian and Di Renjie reunited warmly, then Di Renjie asked about the mysterious person held in an earthen kiln outside the capital.
• Wu Zetian explained that Liu Jin possessed a list of people tied to an earlier rebellion, and that she had secretly moved him to a kiln after staging his execution.
• Di Renjie presented Wu Zetian with a memorial and concluded that the false Turkic delegation had come to rescue Liu Jin.
• Di Renjie warned Wu Zetian that someone at court had leaked the delegation's itinerary, Liu Jin's location, and his own summons; he said he already had a plan to identify the traitor.

Wu Zetian recalled Wang Xiaojie, reinstated Di Renjie, and assigned Li Yuanfang and Hu Jinghui to help him investigate the Göktürk delegation massacre. Meanwhile, Li Er escaped Youzhou Prison during a farmers’ revolt, leaving Governor Fang Qian to learn that the spy had vanished.

• Wu Zetian ordered Zhang Jianzhi to recall Wang Xiaojie, restore Di Renjie to office, send him to Northern Capital Taiyuan, and rescind Li Yuanfang’s arrest warrant.
• Wu Zetian assigned Hu Jinghui to protect Di Renjie, who was to depart north the following day with Li Yuanfang and Hu Jinghui.
• Soldiers took the shackled Li Er from his cell to the execution ground, where the executioner prepared to behead him.
• Farmers stormed Youzhou Prison to rescue their fellow villagers, and Li Er broke free of his cangue, killed the execution party, and escaped.
• The farmers freed more than a dozen condemned prisoners and disappeared into the night.
• A general reported the prison break to Fang Qian, who learned that Li Er had escaped amid the chaos.

Fang Qian failed to find Li Er after he escaped and punished a general who criticized his misrule. Meanwhile, Di Renjie and his companions entered Youzhou disguised as traveling physicians, leaving them to rest at a tea stall.

• Fang Qian learned that the search for Li Er and the farmers who freed him had failed, then berated his generals.
• A general blamed the uprising on Fang Qian's plan to execute petitioning villagers, so Fang Qian had him thrown into prison.
• Wu Yizhi reported that Li Er was nowhere to be found, and Fang Qian agreed to report the escape.
• Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang, and Hu Jinghui reached Youzhou's heavily guarded southern gate and presented travel permits as traveling physicians.
• Hu Jinghui confronted the guards over an inspection, but Di Renjie defused the dispute by pretending Hu was his son and paying the captain.
• Di Renjie led Li Yuanfang away from passing soldiers and suggested that they rest at a tea stall.

Di Renjie arrived in Youzhou with Li Yuanfang, Hu Jinghui, and Li Xiao, where he learned that the prefect had taken villagers hostage after a prison break. He explained that Youzhou was central to the delegation murder investigation, but the group’s next move remained unknown when an inn waiter interrupted them.

• Di Renjie, Li Yuanfang, and Hu Jinghui met Li Xiao at a roadside tea shack near Youzhou.
• Di Renjie saw a soldier torment a thirsty elderly prisoner and learned that the prefect had seized Great Willow Tree Village’s elderly people and women as hostages.
• Di Renjie and his companions checked into an ordinary inn in Youzhou City.
• Di Renjie told Li Yuanfang, Hu Jinghui, and Li Xiao that clues linking Youzhou to the delegation murder included a forged Qianniu Guard’s accent, the masked attackers, and Liu Jin’s capture there.
• Di Renjie explained that the memorial rites in Taiyuan had been intended to distract their opponents, just before an inn waiter entered with wash water.

Di Renjie insisted on investigating the people’s suffering in Youzhou and spared Li Er after he broke into the inn, believing he had a message. The next morning, Di Renjie and his companions reached Great Willow Tree Village, where they found a frightened woman hiding in a water vat.

• Di Renjie ordered Li Yuanfang, Li Xiao, and Hu Jinghui to accompany him into the countryside to investigate Governor Fang Qian’s rule.
• Li Er broke into Di Renjie’s room at night, fought Li Yuanfang and Hu Jinghui, and escaped after Di Renjie stopped them from pursuing him.
• Li Xiao suggested that Li Er was following the group to learn whether Di Renjie was working with Fang Qian and might help with the case.
• Fang Qian learned that Di Renjie had been appointed Commander-in-Chief of Youzhou and worried about the unrest and Li Er’s disappearance.
• Di Renjie and his companions went to Great Willow Tree Village, found it deserted, and discovered a woman hiding in a water vat.
• Di Renjie reassured the woman that they were travelers, and she called for Xiao Ling to come out.

Di Renjie helped the starving villagers of Great Willow Tree Village and learned that corrupt officials had denied them relief and confiscated their land after they returned from captivity. Meanwhile, Wu Yizhi sent a letter for Jin Mulan with a convoy, and Di Renjie became determined to confront the officials responsible for the villagers’ suffering.

• A mother told Di Renjie that government troops had seized villagers, while the men had fled into the mountains to join the rebellion.
• Di Renjie pretended to be the local Earth God, and the woman gathered the surviving villagers for him.
• Fang Qian instructed Wu Yizhi to warn his contacts to be careful, and Wu Yizhi delivered a letter for Jin Mulan to Ma Wu at Tianbao Silver Bank.
• Li Yuanfang and Li Xiao distributed steamed buns to the dozen or so elderly people, women, and children gathered in Great Willow Tree Village.
• An old villager explained that the Göktürks had forced villagers beyond the pass, after which officials imprisoned them, withheld relief funds, and confiscated their land.