Recaps

Shen Tang learned that Zheng Qiao had scattered the National Seals to provoke the factions into fighting, then left Qi Cang to carry out his final scheme. As the seals ignited conflict across Ganzhou, Chu Yao and Xie Qi discovered that Zheng Qiao had also trapped former Xin Country officials in a pit to be buried alive.

• Shen Tang rejected Qi Cang's offer to inspect the stone carvings, tested him, and vowed to set the chaotic world right before leaving with her companions.
• Ning Yan recalled that Zheng Qiao had carved the bird and fish as a gift for his mother, and Qi Cang later released Zheng Qiao's hidden message directing the last National Seal to a new recipient.
• The scattered National Seals appeared across Ganzhou, making their bearers sense one another and stirring hostility among the factions.
• Kang Shi ordered his force to withdraw while Huang Lie assembled troops to hunt for the other seals.
• Chu Yao and Xie Qi learned that Zheng Qiao had imprisoned former Xin Country officials and planned to bury them alive as a sacrifice after his death.

Xie Qi and Chu Yao rescued Xin Country’s former officials from being buried alive, and Luan Xin discovered that one of the survivors was his adopted nephew, Ah Cheng. The rescue ended with Luan Xin recognizing a haggard former colleague and confronting him as Ah Cheng backed away.

• Xie Qi offered to save the fleeing officials, and Chu Yao agreed after learning their captors were nearby.
• Xin Country’s former officials discussed Zheng Qiao’s declining fortunes and speculated that Shen Tang had tricked the enemy out of Cunshan City.
• Chu Yao’s troops reached the burial pit, drove off the guards, and pulled the surviving officials out before giving them food.
• Luan Xin recognized the scholar as Ah Cheng, his adopted nephew, who had believed Luan Xin was dead and told him his mother offered incense for him.
• Luan Xin used his literary qi to stop a haggard man from slipping away, then confronted the former colleague as Ah Cheng recognized him as his elder brother.

Luan Xin confronted the man who had crippled him and buried him alive after he insulted Luan Cheng. He then explained Luan Cheng’s complicated birth and arranged protection for his sister, while Shen Tang’s allies weighed their next move in dangerous Ganzhou; the chapter ended as Kang Shi encountered an enemy.

• Luan Xin kicked his former tormentor into a pit and ordered his men to bury him alive after the man insulted Luan Cheng.
• Luan Xin told Luan Cheng that his mother had been coerced by his biological father and that the man had insisted she give birth to his only biological child.
• Luan Xin asked Chu Yao to provide an escort for his sister, and Chu Yao agreed that the journey was risky.
• Gu Chi told Chu Yao he watched Luan Xin because Luan Xin’s loyalty could lead him to harm himself.
• Chu Yao’s group discussed whether to avoid Ganzhou’s conflict or confront their opponents as Kang Shi worried about reuniting with Shen Tang’s forces.
• Gongxi Chou urged Kang Shi to flee before enemies found them, but Kang Shi suddenly pulled the reins, and Gongxi Chou realized they had run into trouble.

Kang Shi and Gongxi Chou fought off an ambush by forces that turned out to be Shen Youli’s enemies, while Chu Yao’s group decided to seize a nearby granary. Shen Tang’s party failed to find them and traveled disguised among refugees, where they witnessed allied soldiers preying on civilians; the chapter ended as one of the soldiers dragged away a pregnant woman.

• Kang Shi and Gongxi Chou defended their outnumbered troops against a cavalry charge and discovered their attackers were forces allied with Shen Youli’s enemies.
• Xie Qi urged Chu Yao’s group to seize a nearby granary, and they agreed before their former allies could claim it.
• Shen Tang’s party arrived after Chu Yao’s group had left and decided to head toward Chaoli Pass to reunite with them.
• Shen Tang, Jiang Sheng, and the others disguised themselves among refugees to avoid patrols searching Ganzhou.
• Shen Tang’s group watched allied soldiers extort refugees, then saw a soldier drag away a pregnant woman after knocking down her husband.

Shen Tang and her companions traveled with refugees, killing bandits who preyed on them and witnessing the suffering caused by the chaos. After reaching a camp for the night, they met a disheveled scholar whose clothes had been stolen but who still carried a fan.

• Shen Tang secretly killed a squad of bandits as they tried to assault a pregnant woman, while Wei Shou disposed of their bodies.
• Shen Tang, Jiang Sheng, and Ning Yan encountered another bandit group, killed the soldiers who threatened them, and had Wei Shou remove the bodies and clean up the blood.
• The companions continued through the refugee crowd and discussed the rising death toll and the harm caused by Zheng Qiao's legacy.
• A disheveled middle-aged scholar asked to warm himself by their fire, and Jiang Sheng questioned why he carried a fan despite having lost his clothes.

Jiang Sheng recognized the middle-aged scholar Cui as a former retainer of Wu Xian, and the scholar later offered to hide the National Seal from the wounded Qian Yong. Shen Tang tried to take the seal, but it rejected her before Cui concealed it with his Way of the Scholar, helping Qian Yong and his surviving soldiers escape.

• Jiang Sheng read Cui’s bad fortune and learned that he had served under Wu Xian, while Shen Tang suspected he might have recognized them.
• Cui disappeared during the night as Qian Yong and his wounded soldiers fled their pursuers with the National Seal after a disastrous battle with Zhang He’s forces.
• Cui found Qian Yong and offered to take the National Seal, but Shen Tang emerged and Qian Yong threw it to her instead.
• The National Seal transformed into a small dragon but rejected Shen Tang, and Cui offered to take care of it.
• Cui used his Way of the Scholar to bind the little dragon to his knife fan, allowing Qian Yong and his soldiers to escape more easily.

Shen Tang escaped Zhang Yongqing’s pursuit with Qian Yong and his scattered troops, while Chu Yao’s force moved Zheng Qiao’s grain toward Cunshan City. Kang Shi’s National Seal fused with another seal, and he learned that floods had devastated much of Yanzhou as his army traveled toward the Miao River.

• Shen Tang helped Qian Yong and his men recover, then disguised them as refugees and led them away from Zhang Yongqing’s forces.
• Zhang He searched the area where Qian Yong’s National Seal had vanished but found only blood and armor fragments.
• Chu Yao’s force moved Zheng Qiao’s hidden grain into Cunshan City and planned to transport it across the Miao River before shifting toward Yanzhou.
• Gongxi Chou brought Kang Shi a National Seal, and it fused with Kang Shi’s seal after two small dragons emerged and merged.
• Kang Shi’s scouts reported that floods had inundated nine of Yanzhou’s ten commanderies, and Kang Shi said Longwu Commandery should avoid the worst effects.

Refugees fleeing Yanzhou learned that Sibao Prefecture offered relief, paid work, and a path to renting farmland, while officials worked to keep village groups together. At the Household Administration Office, Lin Feng identified a practical obstacle to expanding cotton cultivation: the lack of a way to separate seeds from harvested cotton.

• Widow Zhuo brought a group of refugees to a clerk, who registered them and issued bamboo slips that let them claim rations and seek work.
• Widow Zhuo explained Sibao Prefecture's paid labor, temporary housing, and farmland rental system, easing the refugees' fears about settling there.
• The village head learned that the government tried to settle refugees with their fellow villagers and agreed to consider making Sibao their home.
• Shen Zhi asked Lin Feng about cotton seeds, and Lin Feng said the planned expansion of cotton farming raised the problem of removing seeds from the harvest.
• Lin Feng recalled that harvesting cotton was manageable, but no one could feasibly remove its seeds by hand, so the government needed a specialized tool.

Lin Feng searched for farming-tool designs and spent the evening with Shen Zhi before meeting a penniless traveler named Bei outside the Revenue Office. Lin Feng let Bei sleep there for the night, and Bei said she had come to Xiaocheng to seek guidance from a master smith and could earn money somehow.

• Lin Feng and Shen Zhi searched the Revenue Office's farming-tool books and blueprints but found nothing useful, while Lin Feng waited for the office's fifty-tael reward offer to draw out a solution.
• Shen Zhi treated Lin Feng to dinner, a massage, a bath, and two plays at Xiaocheng's popular theater.
• On her way back to the Revenue Office, Lin Feng found Bei studying a notice and let her stay in a dormitory for the night after learning she had no money or lodging.
• Bei told Lin Feng she had come to seek guidance from a master smith and planned to visit the shelter the next day.
• When Lin Feng suggested copying texts for money, Bei said her handwriting was poor, then struck her wooden chest and claimed she had another way to earn money.

Northern Lady Monarch made a cotton gin overnight and won the Revenue Office’s fifty-tael reward. Lin Feng learned that she was searching for a smith named Bai and invited her to stay until Bai Su returned from war, then asked about her craft inheritance.

• Lin Feng sent cotton and supplies to Northern Lady Monarch after she asked for them, and Northern Lady Monarch mistook Lin Feng for a woman.
• Northern Lady Monarch used the cotton and timber to build a small gin that separated cotton fibers from seeds.
• After enjoying breakfast at the Revenue Office, Northern Lady Monarch presented the gin to Lin Feng and demonstrated how it worked.
• Lin Feng praised the device, paid Northern Lady Monarch the reward, and offered to introduce her to Bai Su when he returned from war.
• Northern Lady Monarch agreed to stay at the office and told Lin Feng that her skill came from her sect, whose teacher had died and whose only successor was herself.

Lin Feng welcomed Bei Jiu into the Household Administration and gave her access to tools and books that inspired her to join the government and pursue cultivation. After discovering that Lin Feng and Shen Zhi were women, Bei Jiu decided to become a true Mohist, and Lin Feng agreed to help her.

• Lin Feng housed Bei Jiu, praised the cotton gin’s potential to help the common people, and prepared a workshop, tools, and books for her.
• Bei Jiu eagerly studied Mo Jing and Tian Gong Kai Wu for three days before asking Lin Feng if she could accept her offer.
• Lin Feng introduced Bei Jiu to Qi Shan and Shen Zhi, and Bei Jiu accepted work improving farm tools for the Household Administration.
• Shen Zhi and Lin Feng’s gender surprised Bei Jiu, who resolved the next day to cultivate and become a true Mohist.
• Lin Feng agreed to help Bei Jiu begin cultivating.

Zhai Huan summoned Zhai Le back to the capital and revealed that his health was failing and he intended to make Zhai Le his successor. He also suggested that Zhai Le’s infant daughter might inherit her father’s mantle, while Zhai Le learned that Zhai Huan had vomited blood and was running out of time.

• Zhai Le returned to the capital after receiving a secret summons from Zhai Huan and went home before visiting the palace.
• Zhai Huan told Zhai Le that his old injury had flared up and that their cousins had concealed his illness amid a succession struggle.
• Zhai Huan declared that he intended to choose Zhai Le as his successor, but Zhai Le resisted because he did not want to rule.
• Zhai Huan said Zhai Le’s younger daughter had cultivation aptitude and might inherit her father’s mantle, then slipped back into the palace to avoid alerting his enemies.
• Madam Zhao told Zhai Le that Zhai Huan had vomited a basin of blood, and three nights later Zhai Le received another secret summons to the palace.

Zhai Le returned to the palace during a coup and found Zhai Huan alive but near death. After refusing to execute their captured relatives, Zhai Le accepted Zhai Huan’s final decree and the National Seal, and Zhai Huan died after entrusting his unfinished plans to Zhai Le and his allies.

• Zhai Le entered the bloodstained palace and discovered that Zhai Huan’s brothers had launched a coup and been captured.
• Zhai Huan revealed that he had summoned Zhai Le as his successor, while the captured brothers argued that they were more entitled to the throne than Zhai Xiaofang.
• Zhai Huan pressed Zhai Le to decide whether to execute the conspirators and their families, but Zhai Le refused and begged his elder brother to live.
• Zhai Huan issued his final decree, entrusted the State of Qu and the National Seal to Zhai Le, and asked the young scholar and generals to support him.
• Zhai Huan spoke to the empty space where he believed A Jing was waiting, then died as Zhai Le cried out beside him.

After Zhai Huan died, Zhai Le mourned him, took the throne, and began consolidating power while keeping his cousins under control. The story then shifted to Wu Xian’s group in the northwest, where Zhao Feng was absent from a tense gathering.

• Zhai Le mourned Zhai Huan and chose the heaviest mourning garments, then threatened his half-brothers before ordering them to keep vigil.
• Zhai Le visited Zhai Huan’s father, who told him that Zhai Huan had passed the throne to him because he was the only one capable of keeping the cousins alive.
• Zhai Le took power, managed the government with help from Zhai Huan’s officials, and later confined his cousins while promoting other members of the Zhai clan.
• Wu Xian noticed Zhao Feng’s empty seat at a gathering, and Qin Li said Zhao Feng had taken leave because he was unwell.
• Someone questioned whether Zhao Feng was truly ill or simply resentful and unwilling to attend.

Qin Li sided with Zhao Feng after Zhao Feng vowed to avenge his subordinate, agreeing that they would act against the man responsible despite the danger to their ties with Wu Xian. Elsewhere, Gu Ren mourned two sworn brothers killed in battle and faced calls to restrain his revenge against Huang Xiguang.

• Qin Li defended Zhao Feng against a Tianhai man, and Wu Xian stopped their confrontation before ordering Qin Li to check on Zhao Feng.
• Zhao Feng told Qin Li that Wu Xian’s promise of an explanation would likely be forgotten and vowed to kill the man whose delay had caused his subordinate’s death.
• Qin Li agreed to help Zhao Feng pursue revenge later, warning that he would sever ties with Wu Xian if the matter remained unresolved.
• Zhao Feng pledged his loyalty to Qin Li, who said Wu Xian could not stop them once they acted.
• Gu Ren grieved over two dead sworn brothers, while Chao Lian vowed to kill Huang Xiguang and his sixth brother urged him not to charge into battle.

After Third Brother and Seventh Brother died, Gu Ren entrusted his family to Chao Lian, then led his remaining sworn brothers and their army out of the mountains to confront Huang Lie. Chao Lian woke to find Thirteen beside him and two fresh graves nearby, with Gu Ren and the others gone.

• Chao Lian grieved over Third Brother and Seventh Brother, while Gu Ren told him to care for their family and Thirteen before knocking him unconscious.
• Gu Ren and the others buried Third Brother and Seventh Brother, honored them with wine, and decided to fight Huang Xiguang rather than surrender.
• Gu Ren led the army out of the mountains carrying nine coffins, and Huang Lie saw their white banners and understood they had refused to submit.
• Gu Ren and Huang Lie confronted each other as their opposing martial auras took the shape of dragons.
• Chao Lian woke beside Thirteen, who asked where Gu Ren and the others were, and saw the two fresh graves nearby.

Chao Lian discovered that Shao Chong had yielded control to the blood-eyed Gu Worm and joined him in rushing to save their brothers. Meanwhile, Shen Tang confronted a white-clad double who claimed to embody her evil thoughts, while Qian Yong and the others watched in shock.

• Chao Lian mourned Qi Chen and Zhu Wen, but Shao Chong insisted on accompanying him to the battlefield.
• Shao Chong revealed that he had awakened the Gu Worm by surrendering his body to its blood-eyed manifestation, which then flew with Chao Lian toward the battle.
• Qian Yong recovered from his injuries and encountered Shen Tang dressed in flowing white clothes among the refugees.
• A second, rough-clothed Shen Tang arrived, and she and her companions recognized the white-clad woman as an impostor.
• The white-clad Shen Tang summoned a copy of the Kind Mother Sword and declared that she was Shen Tang’s adult self and the embodiment of her evil thoughts.

Shen Tang learned that her evil-thought incarnation would eventually have to fight her, then crossed into Yanzhou amid news of an epidemic caused by a disastrous flood. Meanwhile, Luan Xin learned that Huang Lie’s forces had defeated Gu Ren’s troops, though three of Gu Ren’s group had survived.

• Shen Tang agreed to prepare for a future fight with her evil-thought incarnation and let the incarnation return to her dantian.
• Shen Tang’s group learned that refugees were fleeing an epidemic in Yanzhou, which had followed a flood caused by the Alliance Army’s botched river crossing.
• Qian Yong told Shen Tang that Kang Jishou and Gu Ziyi had warned against the crossing, while Huang Xiguang and Zhang Yongqing had suffered comparatively little damage.
• Shen Tang and her group crossed the river at night and sent scouts to learn what had happened in Yanzhou and Ganzhou.
• Luan Cheng told Luan Xin that the Luan family matriarch was safe and would reach Yanzhou, then reported that Huang Lie’s troops had defeated Gu Ren’s forces.
• Chu Yao reacted to news of Gu Ren’s defeat and learned that Huang Lie had a Sixteenth Rank Grand Shang Zao under his command.

Shen Tang learned that Huang Lie had killed Gu Ren, whose forces had fought a desperate battle to avenge their fallen brothers. Yun Ce left Chu Yao’s camp and sought news of the battle, where a refugee recounted Gu Ren’s final stand against Huang Lie’s forces.

• Shen Tang confirmed that Huang Lie had killed Gu Ren, and Jiang Sheng reported that Gu Ren had brought nine coffins and fought to the death.
• Luan Cheng and Luan Xin discussed the threat Huang Lie posed and planned to move grain to Chaoli Pass while waiting for Shen Tang to return.
• Yun Ce overheard Luan Cheng worry that refugees might be used as food, then said goodbye to Chu Yao and left with provisions.
• Yun Ce entered a city occupied by Huang Lie’s forces and heard a refugee describe Gu Ren’s battle.
• Gu Ren challenged Huang Lie’s forces, and his sworn brothers burned their Martial Spirits to attack the Black-clothed Martial Artist.

Gu Ren’s outnumbered army fought Huang Lie’s forces as the six-armed War God weakened and the sworn brothers fell. Chao Lian and Shao Chong joined the battle, and Gu Ren led a final charge toward Huang Lie after the giant collapsed.

• Gu Ren’s Word Spirit formed a giant that struck Huang Lie’s vanguard, while Gu Ren’s Sixth Brother exhausted himself drawing out the soldiers’ potential.
• The Black-clothed Martial Artist killed Gu Ren’s brothers, and Huang Lie ordered his forces to overwhelm the fading giant.
• Chao Lian and Shao Chong arrived; Shao Chong attacked the Black-clothed Martial Artist in the grip of evil thoughts.
• The giant collapsed under the assault, and Gu Ren charged Huang Lie with his remaining soldiers as arrows struck him.
• Huang Lie offered a thousand taels for Gu Ren’s head, and Gu Ren roared a challenge as he prepared to fight to the death.

Gu Ren summoned heavenly lightning by self-destructing, while Shao Chong’s tribulation lightning fused with it and created a vast destructive sphere that swallowed the battlefield. Huang Lie survived but suffered heavy losses, and the chapter ended with Shaobai finding a body that still had a thread of life.

• Gu Ren charged Huang Lie’s forces and summoned heavenly lightning, while another bolt targeted the savage Shao Chong and the Black-clothed Martial Artist.
• The two lightning strikes fused into a black sphere that annihilated everything in its path, leaving a giant crater and destroying Gu Ren and many soldiers.
• The Black-clothed Martial Artist survived Shao Chong’s poisoned claws but needed to enter seclusion, while Huang Lie mourned his losses and reconsidered his plans against Wu Zhaode and Shen Youli.
• Yun Ce left a teahouse after hearing the storyteller claim that Gu Ren and his brothers had ascended, then decided to meet Huang Lie.
• Far away, Shaobai dug a burial pit for corpses that had fallen through a rift, then brought his teacher a body with a pulse; the old man sensed a thread of life in its Heart Meridian.

Shao Bai and Lin Si Shu rescued Chao Lian, Chao Qing Zhi, and Shao Chong from a field of corpses after Shao Bai’s blessings restored their Heart Meridians. Chao Lian woke in the central region, learned that the others from his group had died, and asked Lin Si Shu to take him to gather their remains.

• Shao Bai used his blessing to stabilize one survivor’s Heart Meridian, then searched the corpses and found Chao Lian and Shao Chong, whom he recognized from an earlier encounter.
• Shao Bai healed Chao Lian and Shao Chong, and the old man told him to keep the three survivors alive while Lin Si Shu carried them to their cave.
• Lin Si Shu prepared medicine and food for the injured men, while Shao Bai searched for more survivors and found none.
• Chao Lian woke, identified himself as Chao Qing Zhi, and learned from Lin Si Shu that he and his brothers had been transported to the central region and that only three of them survived.
• Chao Lian learned that his big brother had died and that Shao Chong had taken the brunt of the lightning, then asked Lin Si Shu to take him to collect and bury the remains.

Chao Lian recovered enough to bury his brothers and care for Sixth Brother, while Shao Chong remained unconscious and was revealed to be at risk of becoming a murderous menace after failing a cultivation trial. When Shao Chong showed signs of recognizing his brothers, the old man agreed to reconsider saving him, and Chao Lian left to check on Gu Ren’s family and visit Lin Si Shu’s ancestral home.

• Lin Si Shu gave Chao Lian a Gu Worm raised by Shao Bai, which restored his strength and helped his internal injuries heal.
• Chao Lian learned that Shao Bai was the young man he and his brothers had once fought, then found and buried his brothers’ remains with Shao Bai’s help.
• Sixth Brother woke, and he and Chao Lian grieved for their brothers before turning their attention to the still-unconscious Shao Chong.
• The old man said Shao Chong might never wake and would become a danger after failing to overcome his evil thoughts, but Shao Chong recognized Sixth Brother when awakened and showed affection, prompting the old man to reconsider.
• Chao Lian prepared to return to Gu Ren’s widow and children, while Sixth Brother stayed behind to care for Shao Chong.
• Lin Si Shu asked Chao Lian to seek news at his ancestral home in Lingzhou, and Chao Lian left the mountain vowing to bring his brothers home.

Kang Shi captured Chaoli Pass and his forces secured several grain convoys, but Chu Yao’s group failed to arrive with the final shipment. Shen Tang reached the area disguised as a refugee, learned her allies held the pass, and noticed something was wrong as her troops approached.

• Kang Shi captured Chaoli Pass and organized its defenses while worrying about Yanzhou’s flooding, epidemic, and shortages.
• Gongxi Chou ambushed a grain convoy, recognized Xun Ding and Xun Zhen, and learned they were allies bringing supplies.
• Kang Shi received several grain shipments, but Chu Yao’s group failed to arrive, so he sent troops to search their route.
• Shen Tang and her companions, disguised as refugees, were stopped by a patrol near Chaoli Pass, where Shen Tang learned Kang Shi had taken it.
• Qian Yong sensed something was wrong and warned Shen Tang as they approached the pass.

Shen Tang learned that Chu Yao was missing and led two thousand troops toward his last known location. She found enemy forces closing in on Chu Yao’s group, which was preparing to abandon the National Seal, but Luan Xin remembered there might still be hope.

• Kang Shi returned a strengthened National Seal to Shen Tang, who discovered through it that Chu Yao was far from Chaoli Pass and missing.
• Shen Tang mustered two thousand elite troops and set out to find Chu Yao, accompanied by Wei Shou and Gongxi Chou.
• After Shen Tang departed, Qian Yong learned from Old Cui that Shen Tang and Ning Yan were women.
• Shen Tang followed Chu Yao’s aura and found evidence that enemy forces were pursuing his group, while Gongxi Chou went ahead to scout.
• Chu Yao’s troops abandoned their provisions to escape pursuit, and Chu Yao considered abandoning the National Seal until Luan Xin remembered there was still hope.