Chapter Summaries

Xiao Mo settled into life with Qin Siyao while helping the Qin Kingdom recruit talented guest officials and assemble his future staff. The chapter ended with Qin Jingyuan rejecting Ji Yue’s kindness and lying drunk in the snow after she retreated in tears.

• Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao spent their days together at Frost King's Manor, where she moved in next door and filled the residence with furnishings and plants.
• The Qin Kingdom's Lord issued rules for recruiting guest officials, and Xiao Mo recommended Bai Qi, Zhang Yi, and Baili Xi, who in turn recommended Jian Shu.
• Xiao Mo recruited Xiao Yang, Xiao Fu, Xiao Dashi, and former Iron Tiger Army comrades to serve among his future personnel.
• Ji Yue arrived in the Qin Kingdom six months before her wedding and met Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao, who found her kind and elegant.
• After Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao left, Qin Jingyuan rejected Ji Yue when she tried to cover his shoulders with her cloak, called her a pawn, and drank alone in the snow.

Qin Siyao read Peanut’s romance novel and became flustered while imagining a future with Xiao Mo. Their quiet visit was interrupted when a maid announced that Lian Li had arrived with a letter from General Xiahou, leaving Qin Siyao glaring at Xiao Mo.

• Peanut fled Qin Siyao’s offer of spicy chicken, and Qin Siyao read Peanut’s romance novel instead.
• Qin Siyao imagined holding hands and having children with Xiao Mo, then went to see him as he cultivated.
• Xiao Mo finished meditating, and Qin Siyao praised his improving cultivation while nervously watching his hand.
• A maid announced that Lian Li had come with a letter from General Xiahou after passing his test.
• Xiao Mo recognized Lian Li’s name, and Qin Siyao gave him a resentful look.

Lian Li joined Qin as Xiao Mo’s deputy general and gave him a handmade Marriage Jade Pendant for his wedding to Qin Siyao. As snow fell over Qingxiang Garden, Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao walked hand in hand, with Siyao asking to admire the plum blossoms a little longer each time he suggested they return.

• Qin Siyao secretly listened as Xiao Mo welcomed Lian Li to his courtyard.
• Lian Li explained that she had come to serve Qin after hearing of Xiao Mo’s ambition to bring peace to the world, and Xiao Mo appointed her deputy general.
• Lian Li gave Xiao Mo a handmade Marriage Jade Pendant for him and Qin Siyao before leaving.
• Qin Siyao offered to accept Xiao Mo taking Lian Li as a secondary wife, but Xiao Mo said he could love only her.
• Xiao Mo invited Qin Siyao to see the plum blossoms at Qingxiang Garden, and they walked hand in hand through the falling snow.
• When Xiao Mo repeatedly suggested they head back, Qin Siyao kept asking to look at the plum blossoms a little longer.

Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao visited Qin Jingyuan and Ji Yue, where they discussed the princes’ marriage and the shifting politics of Qin Kingdom. After Ji Yue helped Qin Siyao find the courage to change how she addressed Xiao Mo, the couple called each other husband and wife for the first time.

• Qin Siyao visited Qin Jingyuan with New Year gifts and her cooking, while Xiao Mo observed the polite but uneasy relationship between Qin Jingyuan and Ji Yue.
• Qin Jingyuan tasted Qin Siyao’s dishes, praised her improvements, and sent Ji Yue to show her the Green Glass Carp; Xiao Mo watched a bird faint after eating the eggplant.
• Qin Jingyuan told Xiao Mo that Qin Kingdom’s future depended on him, then sparred with him before Qin Siyao stopped them.
• Qin Siyao claimed five fish and several treasures from Qin Jingyuan, then left with Xiao Mo while Qin Jingyuan’s cheerful expression faded and he rejected Ji Yue’s attempt to comfort him.
• On the walk home, Qin Siyao recalled Ji Yue’s advice and asked Xiao Mo to play a game in which he answered whenever she called his name.
• Qin Siyao called Xiao Mo “H-husband,” and Xiao Mo answered, “my wife.”

Xiao Mo defeated Bai Qi in a spear spar and provided him with supplies and guidance before Bai Qi left to join the Northern Wilderness Army. Xiao Mo then told Qin Siyao he planned to undergo tribulation and enter the Nascent Soul Realm before New Year, and she promised she would always wait for him to return.

• Xiao Mo defeated Bai Qi in a spear spar and gave him pills, body-tempering prescriptions, Foundation Establishment Pills, and the Xiao Family's Overlord Spear Technique.
• Bai Qi told Xiao Mo he was leaving for the Northern Wilderness Army, and Xiao Mo promised to look after Bai Qi's mother and little sister.
• Xiao Mo warned Bai Qi to control his killing intent before Bai Qi took his leave.
• Xiao Mo told Qin Siyao he planned to undergo tribulation and enter the Nascent Soul Realm before New Year because his cultivation could no longer remain suppressed.
• Qin Siyao worried about Xiao Mo's breakthrough but supported him and promised she would always wait for him to come home.

Xiao Mo underwent a Nascent Soul tribulation outside the Qin Kingdom’s Imperial Capital and survived the legendary Ten-String Tribulation, revealing himself as the Frost King. Afterward, he reunited with Qin Siyao, who said she would pursue Ascension only if he did.

• Xiao Mo began his Nascent Soul tribulation in a basin while Qin Siyao and Peanut watched from outside.
• After Xiao Mo endured nine bolts of lightning, a legendary Ten-String Tribulation gathered, and Peanut explained its danger to Qin Siyao.
• A zither-bearing manifestation of the Great Dao tested Xiao Mo with armies, demons, flood dragons, and deities, but he countered its final golden spear with his own.
• Xiao Mo completed his breakthrough, and his Manifestation of Law revealed to the Imperial Capital that the Frost King had reached the Nascent Soul realm.
• Xiao Mo reunited with Qin Siyao, who said she would seek Ascension only if he did, because life without him would have no meaning.

After Xiao Mo entered the Nascent Soul stage, he celebrated New Year's Eve with Qin Siyao, Zhou Ruoxi, and Cuicui. They welcomed the new year together in the Qin Kingdom's Imperial Capital beneath the fireworks.

• Xiao Mo refused the congratulatory gifts sent by officials, accepting only those from the Qin Kingdom's Lord.
• Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao decorated Frost King's Manor, then went to the Xiao Royal Mansion to celebrate with Zhou Ruoxi and Cuicui.
• Qin Siyao joined Zhou Ruoxi and Cuicui in preparing dinner while Xiao Mo carved a Formation to keep the food warm.
• Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao shared New Year's blessings with Zhou Ruoxi and Cuicui over dinner before heading to the Imperial Capital's lantern festival.
• Xiao Mo, Qin Siyao, Zhou Ruoxi, and Cuicui watched fireworks together as the new year began.

Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao spent the New Year visiting family, while the Qin Kingdom recruited talent and entrusted Li Bin with controlling Shu Land’s floods. The chapter ended with Xiao Mo questioning the Qin Kingdom’s Lord’s decision to grant Qin Jingyuan a fief bordering the Jin Kingdom, since Qin Jingyuan was married into its royal family.

• Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao visited Xia Qingke, then went to the palace and spent the day paying respects to the Qin Kingdom’s Lord, Empress Shi, and the princes.
• On the second day of the New Year, Xiahou Nan and Lian Li visited Xiao Mo, who decided to buy a residence beside his manor for their discussions.
• After the Lantern Festival, Qin Siyao cultivated diligently and reached the late stage of the Dragon Gate Realm.
• The Qin Kingdom’s Lord recruited Li Bin, a spy from the Zheng Kingdom, and sent him to Shu Land to oversee flood control and build a great weir.
• The Qin Kingdom’s Lord granted Qin Jingyuan the title of King Jing and a fief bordering the Jin Kingdom, prompting Xiao Mo to wonder whether the Lord feared his son might rebel.

After Qin Jingsu was named Crown Prince, Qin Jingyuan left the capital for his fief, entrusting Qin Siyao to Xiao Mo. As Xiao Mo and Qin Siyao waited for their wedding, a hawk delivered news that the Yan and Chu Kingdoms had massed troops at the border and intended to invade.

• Qin Jingyuan married the Jin Kingdom's Grand Princess in a grand ceremony attended by the Jin Kingdom's Empress and Prime Minister.
• The Qin Kingdom's Lord named Qin Jingsu heir apparent, and Qin Jingyuan prepared to leave for his fief.
• Qin Jingyuan gave Qin Siyao the last Green Glass Fish and said farewell to her and Xiao Mo, asking Xiao Mo to care for her.
• After Qin Jingyuan departed, Qin Siyao cooked for cats, dogs, chickens, and ducks while she and Xiao Mo waited for their wedding.
• A white-feathered hawk brought Xiao Mo a message that the Yan and Chu Kingdoms had massed troops at the border and planned to invade.

After the Qin Kingdom ordered Xiao Mo to lead an army against Chu, Qin Siyao prepared for his departure and tried to accept another postponement of their wedding. On the eve of his journey, she returned to his room because she could not sleep and asked if she could look at him for the rest of her life.

• The Qin Kingdom's Lord ordered Xiao Mo to lead the Northern Wastes army against Chu and Chang An to lead troops against Yan.
• Qin Siyao packed Xiao Mo's belongings and comforted him about their postponed wedding before he left the next day.
• Xiao Mo nourished the Ten Fierce Spear with spiritual energy and went to sleep.
• Qin Siyao slipped back into Xiao Mo's room and watched him while he pretended to sleep.
• Xiao Mo woke and asked why Qin Siyao was there, and she confessed that she wanted to look at him before he left.
• Qin Siyao asked Xiao Mo if he would let her look at him for the rest of her life.

Xiao Mo left Si Yao and led a million soldiers to Fengyu City, where he defeated Dragon Abyss’s Chu army and forced it to retreat. With Chu forces attacking on multiple fronts, Xiao Mo assigned Bai Qi, supported by Lian Li and Zhao Guang, to face Wu Qi.

• Xiao Mo left the Frost King's Manor after asking Peanut to care for Si Yao, then gathered his companions outside the Imperial Capital and marched to Fengyu City.
• Xiao Mo took command of Fengyu City’s forces and joined them with the Northern Wilderness Army, bringing his army to one million soldiers.
• Xiao Mo led a sortie that routed Dragon Abyss’s army, pursued it for twenty li, and attacked its camp that night, forcing Dragon Abyss to retreat to Liaocheng.
• Gongsun Shi sent forces led by Zhaoyang and Wu Qi to attack Xia City and Tiansi City while Dragon Abyss kept Xiao Mo occupied.
• Xiao Mo sent Xiahou Nan to confront Zhaoyang and appointed Bai Qi, with Lian Li and Zhao Guang as deputies, to deal with Wu Qi.

Bai Qi led Qin’s army to a costly victory over Wu Qi at Tiansi City, breaking the Chu formation and forcing a retreat. He then vowed to repay the Frost King’s kindness by destroying Wu Qi’s army and conquering Nanshan Kingdom.

• Xiao Mo appointed Bai Qi commander and sent him with Li Jing and Zhao Guang to Tiansi City with nine hundred thousand troops.
• Bai Qi chose to meet Wu Qi’s approaching Chu army in a direct battle outside Tiansi City.
• Bai Qi countered Wu Qi’s cavalry maneuvers and used light infantry and Snow-Treading Dragon Cavalry to break into the Chu army’s central formation.
• Wu Qi ordered a retreat after the Chu formation fell into disarray, and Bai Qi limited pursuit to avoid further losses.
• After surveying the battlefield, Bai Qi declared that he would destroy Wu Qi’s army, invade Nanshan Kingdom, and repay the Frost King with an entire kingdom.

Xiao Mo coordinated the invasion of the Nanshan and Chu kingdoms, while Bai Qi conquered Nanshan at a terrible cost and was recalled to the capital. As Xiao Mo and Xiahou Nan advanced into Chu, news arrived that Second Prince Qin Jingyuan had rebelled.

• Xiao Mo received reports that Xiahou Nan and Bai Qi had defeated the Chu armies, then ordered Xiahou Nan to advance through Nanshan and attack Chu while Bai Qi conquered Nanshan.
• Xiao Mo and Xiahou Nan invaded Chu as Bai Qi seized much of Nanshan, and Wu Qi died after a crushing defeat.
• Bai Qi lured Kong Quan's allied Nanshan and Chu forces into a valley, where they surrendered, and buried roughly four hundred thousand soldiers alive.
• Bai Qi captured the Nanshan capital, exterminated the ruler's household and court officials, and was recalled to the capital, where he was named Lord Wu'an.
• Xiao Mo and Xiahou Nan advanced into Chu as cities surrendered, until Xiao Mo received an urgent report that Second Prince Qin Jingyuan had rebelled.

Xiao Mo continued his advance toward Chu’s capital despite news of Qin Jingyuan’s rebellion, following the Qin ruler’s orders. In the capital, Empress Shi and Qin Siyao struggled to accept the rebellion, while Qin Jingsu left to suppress it; at King Jing’s Mansion, Qin Jingyuan rejected his wife Ji Yue as Jin’s army approached.

• Xiao Mo ordered his forces to continue toward Chu’s Imperial Capital before Guanzhong fell, citing the Qin ruler’s command.
• Empress Shi pleaded with the Qin ruler to believe Qin Jingyuan had not rebelled, but he declared Jingyuan a traitor.
• Qin Jingsu told Qin Siyao that Jingyuan had rebelled and that he was leaving the capital to put down the rebellion.
• Qin Jingyuan told Ji Yue to return to Jin, then left her alone after knocking her tea to the ground.
• Ji Yue gathered the broken teacup and wept, saying she was his wife too.

Qin Jingyuan welcomed Yan Liuyun and the Jin commanders to Luzhou with a lavish feast, while Ji Yue endured Yan Liuyun’s attempt to rekindle their relationship. The chapter left Ji Yue in tears beside her husband, torn by the danger surrounding their imperial family.

• Qin Jingyuan led Ji Yue out to greet Yan Liuyun and welcomed the Jin army into Luzhou, while the city’s people looked on with contempt.
• Qin Jingyuan hosted Yan Liuyun and the other Jin commanders at a lavish banquet and invited them to stay at King Jing’s Mansion.
• After Qin Jingyuan retired to bed, Yan Liuyun secretly entered Ji Yue’s courtyard and declared his devotion while predicting Qin’s downfall.
• Ji Yue rejected Yan Liuyun, warned she would tell Qin Jingyuan if he approached her again, and sent him away.
• Ji Yue returned to her husband, stroked his face, and wept over the conflict between her roles as daughter and wife.

Qin Jingyuan’s Jin Kingdom allies rapidly conquered Jinzhou, while their commanders mocked him as useless. Ji Yue defended him with a sword dance, but Qin Jingyuan later told her their marriage was only in name, leaving him privately touched and bitterly amused by her loyalty.

• Qin Jingyuan and the Jin Kingdom’s forces marched through Luzhou into Jinzhou, where most commanders surrendered and the cities fell quickly.
• At a victory banquet, a deputy commander urged Qin Jingyuan to perform a sword dance, and Ji Yue instead danced with his sword and shattered the commander’s cup with a threatening strike.
• Qin Jingyuan apologized for Ji Yue’s behavior, while Yan Liuyun dismissed the incident and invited everyone to continue drinking.
• After the banquet, Gai Jing cursed Qin Jingyuan as a man living off his wife, and Yan Liuyun listened in silence.
• In their tent, Qin Jingyuan asked Ji Yue whether she thought him useless, then told her not to spend her authority protecting him because their marriage was only in name.
• Ji Yue insisted that she was his wife, and Qin Jingyuan lay awake replaying her defense with a faint, mocking smile.

After four months of failed assaults on Huai Mountain Pass, Qin Jingyuan persuaded Yan Liuyun to lead the Jin army through Black Beast Forest using pills that repelled its poisonous miasma. As the 700,000 soldiers departed, Qin Jingyuan stayed behind after secretly sealing Ji Yue in a protective formation and leaving her a letter.

• Qin Jingsu and Qin Jingyuan exchanged accusations before Yan Liuyun ordered the Jin army to attack Huai Mountain Pass, where Qin's defenders held firm for four months.
• Jiang Ganling accused Qin Jingyuan of withholding his 150,000 troops, but Yan Liuyun stopped the dispute and asked him for a way to break the stalemate.
• Qin Jingyuan proposed crossing Black Beast Forest with pills made from dragon roar grass and phoenix blood flower, and Yan Liuyun had the formula checked and the pills tested successfully.
• Yan Liuyun learned that General Xiang had surrendered to Xiao Mo and that Bai Qi had routed the Yan army, so he decided the Jin army could not afford to delay.
• Qin Jingyuan wrote Ji Yue a letter, placed it beside her pillow, and used his jade pendant to seal her in a formation that kept her sleeping peacefully.
• Yan Liuyun led 700,000 Jin soldiers toward Black Beast Forest while Qin Jingyuan remained behind with 200,000 troops, then reflected on his wedding and the coming July.

Qin Jingyuan’s ambush devastated Yan Liuyun’s army, but Yan captured him in the Four Symbols Illusionary Diagram. As Qin Jingyuan recalled his childhood, rivalry with Qin Jingsu, and pact against the Jin Kingdom, he activated a Qin imperial talisman that destroyed the diagram and unleashed a fire dragon against Yan and the Jin army.

• Yan Liuyun led seven hundred thousand Jin Kingdom soldiers through Black Beast Forest and into a valley, where Qin Kingdom forces ambushed them with explosive arrows and enchanted boulders.
• Qin Jingsu killed the Jin officer guarding him and led his troops into battle, while Qin Jingyuan charged Yan Liuyun’s returning army and held it back.
• Yan Liuyun defeated Qin Jingyuan and sealed him inside the Four Symbols Illusionary Diagram, where Qin Jingyuan recalled his family, his rivalry with Qin Jingsu, and his decision to ally with the Jin Kingdom so he could win the succession struggle.
• Qin Jingyuan activated a secret imperial golden talisman inside the diagram, causing it to burn to ashes and release a fire dragon that reduced Yan Liuyun and his horse to ashes.
• Qin Jingsu watched the enormous fire dragon plunge toward the ground and block the Jin Kingdom army’s path.

Qin Jingyuan’s risky plan defeated Jin’s forces at Black Beast Forest, but he died from his wounds after telling Qin Jingsu why he had acted and asking whether he had finally won. Ji Yue carried him home and honored his wish to be buried near Luzhou, where she spent the rest of her life beside his grave.

• The Qin Kingdom’s Lord learned that Qin Jingyuan’s life lamp had gone out, while Empress Shi and Qin Siyao felt ominous signs of his death.
• Ji Yue woke in the Jin camp, found Qin Jingyuan’s farewell letter and jade pendant, and ran toward Black Beast Forest.
• Qin Jingsu found Qin Jingyuan gravely wounded after the Qin army routed Jin’s forces and heard his brother explain why he had concealed his plan.
• Qin Jingyuan asked whether he had won before dying, and Qin Jingsu told him he had.
• Ji Yue asked to take Qin Jingyuan home, carried him from the battlefield, and later buried him beside a stream outside Luzhou.
• Ji Yue lived alone near Qin Jingyuan’s grave for years and eventually died beside it.

After the Second Prince died, Xiao Mo and the Qin armies mourned him while conquering Chu and Yan before withdrawing from the unfinished war with Jin. Back home after three years, Xiao Mo witnessed Qin Siyao finally grieve for her brother and promised he would never leave her alone.

• Xiao Mo ordered his soldiers to wear white mourning cloths for the Second Prince, and the Qin armies launched fierce counterattacks against Chu and Yan.
• Xiao Mo captured Chu's capital, Yingdu, and the Chu king died by suicide as the kingdom fell; later, Xiao Mo and King Zhenxi accepted Yan's surrender.
• The Qin Kingdom's Lord ordered the armies to withdraw from Jin and offered reduced taxes and rewards to help pacify Chu and Yan.
• Xiao Mo returned to the Frost King's Manor after three years away and accompanied Qin Siyao to mourn the Second Prince, Qin Jingyuan, at his funeral.
• Qin Siyao broke down in Xiao Mo's arms and asked him to stay alive and never leave her alone, and Xiao Mo promised he would not.