Chapter Summaries

Kang Shi and Chu Yao prepared to defend Yonggu Pass, but worried that Kang Shi’s Way of the Scholar could endanger Shen Tang. A Literary Scholar slipped into the pass with news from Yan Xingning, whose reported death devastated Kang Shi, and learned that Shen Tang was the governor Yan had admired.

• Kang Shi proposed using “Fight with Your Back to the River” to help defend Yonggu Pass, but Chu Yao warned that the Way of the Scholar could affect Shen Tang in Ten Crows, so they agreed to use it only as a last resort.
• Chu Jie and Zhao Feng rallied the generals and soldiers at Yonggu Pass, and scouts reported that the Ten Crows' troops would arrive in two days.
• Kang Shi caught a Literary Scholar sneaking through the National Border Barrier, and the man explained that Yan Xingning had sent him to obtain a Defense Map of Ten Crows and stir up conflict among its princes.
• The Literary Scholar told Kang Shi that Yan Xingning was likely dead, leaving Kang Shi grief-stricken over the loss of his old friend.
• After reaching the military camp, the Literary Scholar learned that Shen Tang had come to reinforce Yonggu Pass and said Yan Xingning had often praised her.

Xun Zhen joined Chu Jie’s forces and proposed using gold to summon the dead soldiers of Yonggu Pass to defend it from the Ten Crows. Chu Yao agreed to fund the plan on Shen Tang’s behalf, accepting responsibility if she objected.

• Kang Shi praised Shen Tang’s governance of Heyin Commandery, and Xun Zhen grew impressed by her abilities.
• Kang Shi introduced Xun Zhen to Chu Jie and the others, and Xun Zhen revealed his name and credited Yan An for their past success against the Ten Crows.
• After hearing that the Ten Crows might attack Yonggu Pass within two days, Xun Zhen offered a plan that required gold as an external source of power.
• Xun Zhen asked for five thousand taels of gold, and Chu Yao explained that Shen Tang’s finances were strained; Xun Zhen said future good fortune could also cover the cost.
• Xun Zhen proposed summoning the heroic spirits of soldiers who had died defending Yonggu Pass, and Chu Yao agreed to the expense on Shen Tang’s behalf.

Xun Zhen grew closer to Kang Shi while considering Shen Tang’s forces, but learned that Kang Shi’s cousin Yuan Liang shared the name of a man he bitterly resented. The chapter left Kang Shi alarmed that Xun Zhen’s enemy was the very person needed to guard the pass.

• Chu Yao accepted responsibility for acting before reporting, easing the crisis over the commoners inside the pass.
• Xun Zhen tasted Shen Tang’s wine and learned from Kang Shi that she entrusted its yearly production to Xu Xie for sale.
• Xun Zhen praised Shen Tang’s concern for the common people, while Kang Shi resolved to recruit him into her service.
• Kang Shi described Chu Yao, Gu Chi, Jiang Sheng, and himself, then mentioned his cousin Yuan Liang.
• Xun Zhen reacted furiously to Yuan Liang’s name and explained that a man with the same name had turned his son against him.
• Kang Shi realized Xun Zhen regarded Qi Shan as an enemy, even though they needed him to guard the pass.

Qi Shan prepared Longwu Commandery for the Ten Crows’ invasion and decided to let disobedient rich households face the consequences of the war. At Yonggu Pass, the Ten Crows’ army arrived in broad daylight, unsettling the defenders despite their renewed confidence.

• Tu Rong reported that wealthy households in the towns and counties beyond Yao were refusing to evacuate and prepare for war.
• Qi Shan refused to use force against the rich households, deciding that any who stayed behind could suffer the consequences if the enemy broke through.
• Qi Shan continued working through the night to prepare Longwu Commandery’s defenses.
• At Yonggu Pass, the defenders learned that the Ten Crows’ army had arrived, but was advancing in broad daylight rather than attacking at night.

Chu Jie and the scholars confronted an eighty-thousand-strong Ten Crows army whose chaotic-looking ranks concealed a dangerous military formation. Kang Shi recognized it as a rumored eight-gate formation and vowed to break it, while a Ten Crows warrior challenged Chu Jie to a duel.

• Chu Jie learned that the Ten Crows were openly attacking with eighty thousand troops and crushed his paperweight before leading the generals to the wall.
• Xun Zhen, Chu Yao, and Kang Shi examined the enemy's disordered ranks and suspected that the Ten Crows were concealing a military formation.
• Xun Zhen recalled Xingning's warning about Ten Crows formations, while Chief Clerk Yu said the troops had previously used only familiar, simple formations under Su Shi Yilu.
• Kang Shi revealed that the Ten Crows' royal court had reportedly unified the tribes with a powerful formation and identified the enemy's ranks as a deadly array of eight gates and eight arrays.
• Kang Shi vowed to break the formation, and a Ten Crows warrior emerged to challenge Chu Jie to a duel.

Chu Jie and Su Shi Yilu fought at Yonggu Pass, where Chu Jie discovered that his rival was distracted by grief over the Twelfth Prince’s death. Chu Jie exploited Su Shi Yilu’s anger with a fire-and-oil attack, then revealed that he had built up three accumulations of his Will of the Martial Artist.

• Chu Jie leaped from the city wall and clashed with Su Shi Yilu, sensing that his rival was in poor condition.
• Su Shi Yilu, consumed by grief and resentment over the Twelfth Prince’s death, attacked Chu Jie with unusual fury.
• Chu Yao and Chief Clerk Yu watched the duel as Chu Jie invoked Fire Burns the Linked Camps and used waterskins of black liquid to ignite Su Shi Yilu.
• Chu Jie pressed his advantage with a barrage of attacks, leaving Su Shi Yilu blackened and singed but protected by heavy shields.
• Chu Jie showed the three dragon patterns on his arm and announced that he had accumulated three boosts from Die in Battle Without Retreating.

Chu Jie fought Su Shi Yilu at Yonggu Pass, and Chu Yao worried that Chu Jie’s Martial Artist’s Will could be exploited and kill him. After Chu Jie wounded Su Shi Yilu, Zhao Feng entered the battle, while Shen Tang dug tunnels as part of a parallel plan to strike the Ten Crows indirectly.

• Chief Clerk Yu explained that Chu Jie had awakened his Martial Artist’s Will after surviving the fall of the Chu State, and Chu Yao warned that its escalating power could kill him if the enemy evaded his attacks.
• Chu Yao learned that Chu Jie could activate at most seven dragon patterns and decided that the battle had to end before the seventh appeared.
• Su Shi Yilu endured Chu Jie’s increasingly powerful strikes until the fifth dragon pattern badly wounded him, then retreated.
• Zhao Feng charged onto the battlefield and intercepted the next Ten Crows general before he could attack Chu Jie.
• Shen Tang dug tunnels, choosing a covert approach instead of attacking the Ten Crows’ royal capital directly with her small force.

Shen Tang and her advisers planned how to attack the weakened Ten Crows capital despite their small force. They settled on digging a network of tunnels beneath the city, collapsing them during a surprise assault, and following up with fire.

• Jiang Sheng explained that a direct siege risked reinforcements trapping their two thousand troops, and proposed bluffing at one gate while attacking another.
• Shen Tang suggested attacking from the air, but Gu Chi explained why Martial Gall Warriors could not easily fly high enough to do so.
• Shen Tang proposed digging underground tunnels to reach the capital unseen.
• Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng suggested digging several large, intersecting tunnels beneath the capital and collapsing them during the attack.
• Gu Chi proposed following the collapse with [Fire Burns the Camp] to strike the Ten Crows.

Lin Feng returned after carrying out her mission, and Shen Tang celebrated her success before learning about a mysterious Literary Scholar she had encountered. The commanders revised their attack plans and sped up the tunnel digging, while the Ten Crows' army arrived at Yonggu Pass half a month later.

• Shen Tang welcomed Lin Feng back with an enthusiastic hug and promised to reward her for her achievements.
• Jiang Sheng explained that the army was digging a tunnel toward the Ten Crows' capital, despite problems with ventilation, water veins, and structural stability.
• Lin Feng told Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng about the mysterious Literary Scholar who had taken the Twelfth Prince's headless corpse.
• Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng decided to revise their military formation and shorten the tunnel-digging schedule to prepare for a swift, forceful attack.
• Half a month later, the Ten Crows' army arrived at Yonggu Pass after nightfall.

Xu Quan and Bai Su led more than five hundred infiltrators into Ten Crows' royal capital, where they prepared to strike as an upheaval began. Jiang Sheng's literary qi triggered an underground explosion that sent fire and sparks raining across the city.

• Xu Quan and Bai Su emerged from concealed tunnels near the slave market with more than five hundred fighters.
• Shen Tang had allowed Bai Su to join the dangerous mission after she insisted on proving herself through battle.
• Bai Su killed a slave guard while Xu Quan and the others waited for the signal to attack.
• Xu Quan sensed the upheaval beginning, and black-and-white literary qi filled the tunnels beneath the city.
• Outside the royal city, Jiang Sheng used Scattered Like Stars and Chess Pieces and ordered the colossal dragon to be cut apart.
• The tunnels collapsed as flames erupted from the ground, and a pillar of fire burst into colorful sparks that spread across the sky.

The Ten Crows capital was devastated by an earthquake and fires, giving Shen Tang’s outnumbered force the chance to launch a surprise assault. The chapter left Xianyu Jian and Shen Tang leading a charge through the enemy camp while the defenders struggled to organize.

• An earthquake shook the Ten Crows capital, and falling sparks set the city ablaze as buildings collapsed and civilians and soldiers fled.
• After the shaking stopped, a thousand fire-tailed cows charged through the camp, trampling soldiers while an enemy Martial Gall Warrior shattered a hastily built defense.
• Shen Tang directed the Fire Bull Formation, while Jiang Sheng and Gu Chi caused the earthquake and Xianyu Jian commanded the main force.
• Xianyu Jian and his soldiers followed the cows into the disorganized enemy camp, attacking before its ten thousand defenders could gather.

Shen Tang led a devastating Fire Bull Formation charge through the Ten Crows’ camp while Xianyu Jian cut down the enemy command banner. As the defenders struggled to stop her, Xu Quan, Bai Su, and Lin Feng attacked the capital’s wealthy district, beginning a decapitation operation against the Ten Crows’ elite.

• Shen Tang directed more than a thousand fire bulls into the enemy camp, with Martial Gall Warriors supporting the charge.
• Xianyu Jian leaped from a bull, split the enemy command banner, and fought off the defenders.
• The Ten Crows’ Literary Scholars tried walls, trenches, caltrops, and cheval de frise, but Shen Tang’s forces broke through each obstacle.
• Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng observed the attack and used chaos in the inner city to cover the operation.
• Xu Quan, Bai Su, and Lin Feng led their troops against the Ten Crows’ prosperous district, targeting its rich and noble residents.

Xu Quan, Bai Su, and the others raided Ten Crows' capital, killing many nobles and high officials while looting the treasury, then regrouped with Shen Tang after the victorious operation. Just as Shen Tang asked for a reward, Lin Feng arrived with news that something terrible had happened.

• Xu Quan and Bai Su led the assault through Ten Crows' inner city, targeting likely nobles and high officials while sparing women, children, and the weak.
• The attackers overcame scattered resistance and reached Ten Crows' treasury, then carried its gold, silver, and jewels through a surviving underground passage.
• Tribal reinforcements arrived at dawn to find the capital's core district destroyed, while Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng killed a fleeing prince and took his head.
• Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng reunited with Shen Tang, who celebrated their haul and proposed setting aside five thousand taels of gold as compensation for herself.
• Lin Feng suddenly called to Shen Tang with a terrified warning that something terrible had happened.

Shen Tang discovered that five thousand taels of gold had vanished through the Word Spirit “When a thousand gold pieces are spent, they return,” and concluded Kang Jishou had somehow caused it to help defend Yonggu Pass. The chapter then returned to the battle, where the Great King of Ten Crows was furious after an unknown Martial Gall Warrior disrupted his army’s plans.

• Lin Feng showed Shen Tang that some of the gold had risen into a golden mist and disappeared, while the rest remained in the chests.
• Lin Feng counted the missing gold and reported that five thousand taels had vanished, matching the amount Shen Tang had recently requested.
• Gu Chi and Jiang Sheng recognized the disappearance as the effect of “When a thousand gold pieces are spent, they return,” and Shen Tang blamed Kang Jishou’s “Lose Every Bet.”
• Shen Tang decided the money was worth spending if it helped Kang Jishou protect Yonggu Pass, then ordered Lin Feng to inventory the remaining wealth and prepare to return.
• At Yonggu Pass, the Great King of Ten Crows raged after Chu Jie escaped their planned attack and an unknown Martial Gall Warrior revealed hidden strength.

Zhao Feng held off the Ten Crows' general while Chu Jie recovered and discussed Shen Tang's shortage of powerful Martial Gall Warriors with Chu Yao. The battle ended with Zhao Feng killing the general, while Chu Yao pressed Chu Jie to decide whether to serve Shen Tang.

• Zhao Feng blocked the Ten Crows' general from pursuing Chu Jie and fought him while using the Will of the Martial Artist to track his movements.
• Chu Jie recovered with help from Chief Clerk Yu and Chu Yao, then praised Zhao Feng's strength and noted he would eventually return to Wu Xian.
• Chu Yao told Chu Jie that Shen Tang needed a strong Martial Gall Warrior like Zhao Feng, and said Chu Jie should decide after the battle whether to join her.
• Chu Jie questioned whether Shen Tang could attract and pay soldiers, while Chu Yao insisted that her forces would prevail.
• Zhao Feng struck the Ten Crows' general from his horse and killed him with a blow to the head.

Zhao Feng defeated two Ten Crows generals, leaving the Ten Crows Great King humiliated and his army’s morale shaken. The Ten Crows began a full assault on Yonggu Pass, where the National Border Barrier rose and challenged anyone who crossed the border.

• Zhao Feng killed the Ten Crows general and taunted the enemy army, prompting the Ten Crows Great King to offer lavish rewards for a challenger.
• A Ten Crows general volunteered for the third duel, while Su Shi Yilu argued with another commander over the choice.
• Zhao Feng defeated the second general after a hundred and eighty moves, killing him and securing the third consecutive duel victory for Yonggu Pass.
• The Ten Crows princes advised attacking Yonggu Pass, and the Ten Crows Great King ordered the army to advance.
• Zhao Feng returned to Yonggu Pass and recognized the Ten Crows’ disciplined formation as the real battle began.
• Kang Shi recognized Yuan Liang’s involvement as the National Border Barrier rose and declared that anyone crossing the border would die.

Xun Zhen urged the defenders of Yonggu Pass to wait rather than send troops out against the Ten Crows, promising that the pass would not fall that day. As the Heroic Spirits were routed, Chu Jie and Zhao Feng charged into battle, while a blue-robed figure appeared in the mountain mist.

• The National Border Barrier summoned a battered force of Heroic Spirits, and the Ten Crows mocked their weakened state.
• Kang Shi and Chu Yao asked Xun Zhen to help, but a secret message prompted him to tell them not to lead troops out yet.
• Xun Zhen hinted that Shen Tang had a powerful weapon and said someone had brought a whetstone, while Chu Yao agreed to wait.
• The Ten Crows attacked the Heroic Spirits and routed them in less than a quarter of an hour as the defenders watched from the walls.
• Chu Jie and Zhao Feng leaped into the enemy ranks, and Xun Zhen and Chu Yao spotted a blue-robed figure in the mountain mist.

At Yonggu Pass, Kang Shi explained Yan Xingning’s hidden power: she could erase reality twice, at the cost of her own life. After the Ten Crows shattered the National Border Barrier, Yan Xingning’s incarnation restored it, and Xun Zhen prepared to act.

• Kang Shi recognized Yan Xingning’s incarnation, Wuyou, and told Chu Yao that her plan favored them but would cost her life.
• Kang Shi recalled Yan Xingning explaining that her Way of the Scholar, Zixu Wuyou, could reject reality twice, using up her own life to spare another’s.
• The Ten Crows concentrated their attacks on the National Border Barrier, shattered it, and began advancing toward Yonggu Pass.
• Wuyou watched the barrier fall, then a new barrier marked with Kang banners rose before the Ten Crows could advance far.
• Xun Zhen leaped to a high place and announced that he would go first.

The restored National Border Barrier summons three thousand Heroic Spirits, giving Yonggu Pass a chance to counterattack the Ten Crows army. Xun Zhen and Chu Yao unleash their own forces against the enemy as Chief Clerk Yu prepares the troops to sortie.

• The National Border Barrier reappeared, and three thousand armored Heroic Spirits charged into the disordered Ten Crows vanguard.
• Chu Yao realized that Shen Tang had accumulated enough National Fortune in Heyin to restore the barrier across dozens of li.
• Chief Clerk Yu ordered Chu Jie's deputy general to lead ten thousand elite soldiers out of Yonggu Pass.
• Xun Zhen summoned his old troops with his Word Spirit and sent illusory Heroic Spirits charging through the Ten Crows army.
• Chu Yao formed giant literary-qi dragons and rode one down toward the Ten Crows vanguard.

Kang Shi joined Chief Clerk Yu in the counterattack at Yonggu Pass as Xun Zhen’s Heroic Spirits and the elite cavalry pressured the Ten Crows. Chu Yao disrupted the enemy vanguard with his Word Spirit and supported Chu Jie and Zhao Feng, then prepared to use Chu Jie’s chariot formation.

• Chief Clerk Yu persuaded Kang Shi to join him in breaking the Ten Crows’ formation.
• Xun Zhen’s Heroic Spirit troops pinned down the Ten Crows’ wings while the three thousand elite heavy cavalry charged their central vanguard.
• Chu Yao disrupted the Ten Crows’ soldiers with unsettling snowflakes and used a foot soldier to shield himself from a volley of arrows.
• Chu Yao cast Five Virtues of the General on Zhao Feng and Chu Jie, who charged the enemy with renewed strength.
• Chu Yao appeared behind Chu Jie and ordered his chariot troops to form a goose formation.