Chapter Summaries

Qi Shan took the aging Su Shang to Dong Dao, who found that her vomiting and poor appetite came from being fed stale ingredients by the Qi residence’s kitchen staff. Qi Shan ordered the embezzlers sent to the authorities, and the scandal sparked public debate and led censors to criticize his household and lavish spending on cats.

• Qi Shan brought Su Shang and a kitten to the Medical Office, where Dong Dao examined Su Shang and found no parasites or other illness beyond old age.
• Dong Dao visited the Qi residence and discovered that kitchen staff had kept the fresh ingredients meant for the cats and substituted stale food; Qi Shan ordered an investigation and sent the staff to the authorities.
• Dong Dao found parasites in several other cats but no way to extend Su Shang’s lifespan, while news of the embezzlement spread through the Royal Capital and divided public opinion.
• A censor impeached Qi Shan for failing to manage his household, and another accused him of extravagant spending on cats; Qi Shan defended his choices before the officials.

Qi Shan defended his cat-raising and the Charity Hall, then used the law to deter parents from abandoning children for profit. As Kang’s troops prepared to march on Kunzhou, Fang Yan and Chao Lian considered how to serve without drawing Gu Ren’s former subordinates into suspicion of factionalism.

• Qi Shan countered the Censorate’s criticism by pointing out that he supported one hundred and eighteen abandoned infants as well as his cats.
• Shen Tang spread news of the Charity Hall, and more parents abandoned baby girls there, prompting Qi Miao and the attendants to care for them.
• Qi Shan had people who abandoned children despite being able to raise them punished under Kang law, and the number of new cases fell.
• Qi Miao told Kang Nian she would keep rescuing infants because she could not risk leaving them to neglectful parents.
• As troops set out for Kunzhou, Fang Yan told a former subordinate that he planned to join the medical office while Chao Lian would enlist from the ranks, avoiding reliance on Gu Ren’s former comrades.

Fang Yan declined his former subordinate’s offer of protection, while he and Chao Lian invited Lin Chao to join their plans for the Northern Desert campaign. Meanwhile, Qi Shan sought Jimò Qiu’s help to extend Su Shang’s life, then recruited Jimò Qiu for the campaign by mentioning a dangerous enemy, prompting Gongxi Chou to rush home.

• Fang Yan tactfully refused his former subordinate’s offer to shelter him and warned him to be cautious about their past connection.
• Fang Yan and Chao Lian contacted Lin Chao, who agreed to discuss joining their plans, while they chose not to involve Jimò Qiu because of the risks to his identity.
• Qi Shan brought Su Shang to Jimò Qiu and asked whether the cat’s life could be extended; Jimò Qiu explained that a Gu Worm could do so, with the risk that Su Shang would starve if Qi Shan died.
• Qi Shan told Jimò Qiu that his younger brother was heading to the Northern Desert and mentioned a powerful enemy there; Jimò Qiu pledged the Jimò Clan’s support and asked whether the enemy was a young man.
• Gongxi Chou hurried back after hearing the news and called out to Jimò Qiu.

Jimò Qiu agreed to accompany Gongxi Chou to the Northern Desert front, insisting that protecting his younger brother and helping the people mattered more than payment. After learning that Gongxi Chou had charged the Sacred Object a commission, Jimò Qiu beat him, while Shen Tang learned that Jimò Qiu was already joining the campaign and asked about the military situation.

• Gongxi Chou warned Jimò Qiu against trusting Qi Zhongshu, but Jimò Qiu scolded him for his disrespect and demanded to know why he had hidden the danger in the Northern Desert.
• Gongxi Chou admitted he had taken a paid commission to fight, while Jimò Qiu said he would help the Sovereign without payment and wanted to protect his brother.
• Gongxi Chou agreed to let Jimò Qiu accompany him, provided Jimò Qiu stayed by his side rather than fighting on the front line.
• Gongxi Chou told Jimò Qiu that Shen Tang was the clan’s Sacred Object, and Jimò Qiu activated a formation and beat him for charging her a commission.
• Qi Shan told Shen Tang that Jimò Qiu had agreed to accompany the army after hearing the Northern Desert was restless, and Shen Tang asked about the military situation there.

Shen Tang learned that divisions in the Northern Desert court had delayed its plans to mobilize, thanks in part to Kang Country’s long-term infiltration through Tuocheng’s border market. She decided to lead an imperial expedition against Gong Cheng and asked who would accompany her.

• Jiang Sheng reported that the Northern Desert was assembling troops but its court was divided over whether to go to war.
• Shen Tang recalled how Kang Country had taken control of much of Tuocheng by disguising soldiers as craftsmen repairing the city.
• Shen Tang described how she recruited a shrewd female merchant to use money and commercial influence to infiltrate the Northern Desert.
• Jiang Sheng said the Northern Desert’s factions had delayed its response by several days, giving Kang Country time to prepare.
• Shen Tang asked who would join her on the imperial expedition, which was aimed at Gong Cheng.

In Kunzhou, a tea-house proprietress questioned Gong Cheng about Shen Tang’s past and learned that he saw her as exceptionally persevering. The proprietress explained that Shen Tang’s pacification of Kunzhou had saved her twice, then began recounting how her youthful choices led to exile in another person’s place.

• Tea-house patrons wondered why the usual pro-Royal Court voices and quarrels had vanished, unaware that Northern Desert agents and the Rebel Army’s forces in Kunzhou had been rooted out.
• Gong Cheng secretly met the tea-house proprietress, who scolded him for coming to Kunzhou during wartime while he admitted that he felt bored and depressed.
• The proprietress asked Gong Cheng what Shen Tang was like, and he said he could not judge her from their shallow acquaintance but believed she had tremendous perseverance.
• The proprietress said Shen Tang had saved her twice by taking her through exile in another person’s place and later pacifying Kunzhou, allowing her to settle and run the tea house.
• The proprietress began describing her former life as a protected daughter of a prominent family and her youthful relationship with a young man of comparable standing.

The madam recalled how she had fled her arranged marriage with her beloved, only to lose her family and endure years on the run before meeting Gong Cheng. After warning Gong Cheng about the Inner Assembly and incoming Northern Desert reinforcements, she disappeared when her tea house was robbed.

• The madam recounted how she fled her wedding with her beloved, then learned the Shen Clan had been exterminated and the Gong Clan exiled; she and her beloved survived years of hardship before he died.
• Gong Cheng visited the madam’s tea house, accompanied her to burn offerings at her dead husband’s grave, and questioned her about the National Seal and the missing Inner Assembly.
• The madam told Gong Cheng that the Inner Assembly had been unreachable for ten years and warned him to be more concerned about the Outer Assembly.
• The madam refused to explain her identity, told Gong Cheng to avoid her while a personal campaign was underway, and warned that the Northern Desert would soon receive difficult outside reinforcements.
• The next day, a regular customer found the tea house ransacked and the madam missing.

Gong Cheng returned from Kunzhou and met the mysterious senior who had come to aid the Northern Desert against the Assembly of Gods. The senior questioned him about the Gongxi Clan, then ordered him to come along to attack Tuocheng despite the army not having orders to move.

• The authorities failed to find the missing teahouse proprietress, while Gong Cheng returned to his tent after searching for her.
• Liu Guan confronted Gong Cheng about his absence and his visit to Kunzhou, and he warned her to stay away from the proprietress and tell Weng Zhi to focus on the current priority.
• A silver-robed, white-haired stranger appeared before Gong Cheng and asked whether he was the successor of the man at Dragon Tomb Mountain.
• The stranger asked about the late senior’s final words and learned that Gong Cheng had fought the two remaining members of the Gongxi Clan, including Gongxi Chou and the clan’s High Priest.
• Gong Cheng told the stranger that Gongxi Chou served the Kingdom of Kang and would likely fight in the coming battle, and the stranger decided they could settle matters with the Gongxi Clan then.
• The stranger ordered Gong Cheng to accompany him to Tuocheng and said they should kill everyone there, even though the army had not received orders to strike camp.

Qi Shan and Tan Qu were trapped in the Gongxi Clan’s strange forest, then welcomed into the hidden settlement while Tan Qu recovered. After leaving, they found themselves lost again in the mountains and surrounded by wolves.

• Qi Shan and Tan Qu woke injured in a forest of living plants, failed to find a way out, and were led to the Gongxi Clan’s hidden settlement by A Nian.
• The High Priest confirmed that the clan’s ancestors had dragged them into the forest, gave them medicine, and asked A Nian to host them while Tan Qu recovered.
• Qi Shan and Tan Qu joined A Nian at the clan’s Singing Festival, where Tan Qu obtained meteorite iron and repaid a girl by offering to paint her portrait.
• Several Gongxi Clan youths visited Tan Qu and Qi Shan at night to court them, and A Nian later teased Tan Qu about the erotic poses in his paintings.
• After Tan Qu healed and his new sword was finished, A Nian escorted the pair out early to protect them from an insistent clan member.
• Qi Shan and Tan Qu became lost on the unfamiliar mountain path and found themselves in a wolf pack’s territory.

A Northern Desert master recounted how war had shaped his life and urged Gong Cheng to pursue his goal without concern for labels, then summoned him to meet. At the border fortress, Chu Jie and Bai Su learned that the sovereign was approaching and a formidable Yun-surnamed martial artist had joined the Northern Desert, possibly Yun Ce’s teacher.

• The newcomer told Gong Cheng about his wife’s captivity, killed her and the household she lived in, and took her daughter away before setting the estate ablaze.
• After his adopted granddaughter died and her child was entrusted to him, the newcomer recalled how the late Lord had persuaded him that living and ending war through force could atone for slaughter.
• The newcomer criticized Gong Cheng’s reluctance to serve the Northern Desert fully, and Gong Cheng said he only wanted to protect his remaining relatives.
• The newcomer ordered Gong Cheng to meet him at the third watch two days later, and Gong Cheng shattered ice that had covered his hand after the 20th Rank Che Hou departed.
• Bai Su told Chu Jie that Jiang Xiandeng had foreseen trouble for the main army, the sovereign was secretly heading to the border fortress, and a powerful Yun-surnamed martial artist had joined the Northern Desert.
• Chu Jie and Bai Su suspected the new martial artist was Yun Ce’s teacher, and Bai Su said they would have to fight him even if he was a 20th Rank Che Hou.

Lin Feng offered Su Shi Yilu a chance to seize a military achievement, then redirected his troops toward a Northern Desert supply route while revealing that Kang Country had covert surveillance in place. Shen Tang reached the pass before the main army and prepared to face Yun Ce, whose forces had begun advancing before their full mustering was complete.

• Su Shi Yilu whipped an exhausted Wuzhou soldier, and Lin Feng defended his discipline while refusing to be provoked by his taunts.
• Lin Feng received a military order and sent Su Shi Yilu with three thousand elite troops toward a lightly defended pass to intercept a Northern Desert supply shipment.
• Lin Feng explained that her intelligence came from Gu Worms planted on animals, with Kang Country using records and informants to anticipate Northern Desert movements.
• Shen Tang and her party reached the pass ahead of the main army, where Chu Jie reported that the Northern Desert had advanced toward Tuocheng and would likely attack within three days despite still gathering troops.
• Shen Tang sensed Yun Ce's ice-and-snow technique nearby, stopped Chu Jie from advancing, and prepared to meet the Northern Desert's trump card.

Shen Tang’s forces weathered a supernatural storm before a white-haired powerhouse and Gong Cheng arrived at the pass. The newcomer recognized Qin Shaoyou’s aura in Jimò Qiu and learned that Jimò Qiu had received Qin Shaoyou’s cultivation through a forced Anointing.

• Chu Jie warned Shen Tang that the approaching enemy’s might was already affecting the pass, while the soldiers raised alarms and took shelter from the freezing wind and icicles.
• Jimò Qiu used Divine Blessing—Winter Wood, Spring Splendor to grow a vast tree wall that shielded the pass from the storm.
• A white-haired figure arrived with Gong Cheng, and Shen Tang taunted them as they approached.
• The newcomer questioned why Jimò Qiu carried Qin Shaoyou’s aura, and Gongxi Chou explained that Qin Shaoyou was an enemy of the Gongxi Clan.
• Jimò Qiu said Qin Shaoyou had passed on his cultivation through Anointing unwillingly because the Gongxi Clan had raised him as a controllable Gu Worm.

Jimò Qiu and Shen Tang revealed that Yun Da was a Gongxi Clan Gu Worm, provoking him into attacking the pass with an army of ice dragons. Gongxi Chou and Shen Tang fought back with Jimò Qiu’s support, while Jimò Qiu said their side could outlast Yun Da by drawing power from the earth.

• Jimò Qiu told Yun Da that he was a living Gu Worm raised by the Gongxi Clan, and Yun Da summoned a crystalline spear in fury.
• Yun Da gathered snow into a hundred ice dragons, then awakened them by touching the eye of one dragon with his spear.
• Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou attacked the ice dragons, while Gong Cheng held back and Yun Da’s blizzard repeatedly restored the shattered dragons.
• Jimò Qiu called forth a woman-shaped phantom, and his vitality strengthened Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou as they joined forces against Yun Da.
• Gongxi Chou endured Yun Da’s spear strike and smashed his forehead into Yun Da’s head, while Shen Tang struck with the Kind Mother Sword and thunder.
• Jimò Qiu explained that Yun Da borrowed power from wind and snow while he drew on the earth, and said their clan’s god needed time to get serious.

Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou used Qi Shan’s support and a coordinated attack to force Yun Da out of the sky and into the trap below. As Gong Cheng intervened to protect Yun Da, he challenged Shen Tang to continue their unfinished fight.

• Qi Shan gave Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou the Five Virtues of the General, strengthening them against Yun Da.
• Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou attacked Yun Da together, while Shen Tang distracted him with taunts and Gongxi Chou drove him toward the ground.
• Shen Tang created a net of tears in the sky and used a powerful palm strike to send Yun Da plunging into the grasping plants below.
• Gong Cheng stopped Gongxi Chou from attacking Yun Da and challenged Shen Tang to resume their previous fight.

Gongxi Chou transformed into a giant python and battled Gong Cheng, while the defenders discussed his rapid rise and the Gongxi Clan’s divine favor. The fighting continued as Yun Da remained trapped in a growing mass of trees, and Qi Shan worried that Shen Tang had emerged from her battle without a scratch.

• Gongxi Chou’s strengthened halberd attack failed to get past Gong Cheng, and his Martial Gall Totem roared apart the surrounding ice dragons.
• Gongxi Chou transformed into a colossal horned python and blocked Gong Cheng’s attack, while Chu Jie and Qi Shan questioned how a Seventeenth Rank Chariot Officer could achieve such a transformation.
• Jimò Qiu explained that Gongxi Chou had received five portions of clan fortune and attributed his unusual strength to the gods’ favor, then offered Chu Jie a Divine Statue.
• Gong Cheng revealed an Eighteenth Rank Da Shuchang form as a horned eagle, and Chu Jie and Qi Shan judged him a formidable opponent who could become stronger if he survived.
• Chu Jie asked about Shen Tang, and Qi Shan said she was fine while observing that Yun Da was trapped inside a growing mass of trees and realizing that he himself was completely unharmed.

Shen Tang fought Yun Da inside the strange layered cave while a childlike voice took control of her body and argued with her. The child revealed that she had cut Shen Tang’s bond with Qi Shan so he would not suffer her injuries, leaving Shen Tang panicked about how Qi Shan would react afterward.

• Chu Jie tried to reassure Qi Shan that Shen Tang was safe, while Jimò Qiu’s silence revealed that she had been injured and lost blood.
• Yun Da blasted through layer after layer of the cave before Shen Tang ambushed him, and the two began fighting through its collapsing passages.
• Shen Tang used the cave walls and Jimò Qiu’s concealment to evade Yun Da, taunting him as she attacked from hiding.
• Shen Tang’s voice shifted between her own and a childish voice, and the two argued while continuing to fight Yun Da.
• The childish voice revealed that she had severed Shen Tang’s bond with Qi Shan to protect him from her injuries, and Shen Tang screamed at the thought of explaining it to him.

Shen Tang battled Yun Da inside the cavern, using fire, poison-laden branches, and her sword to keep pursuing him. Yun Da broke free by attacking the formation from within, and Gongxi Chou launched himself at him as Qi Shan realized Shen Tang had been injured and drew his sword.

• Shen Tang used her burning blood to form a fire dragon, then trapped Yun Da amid poisonous branches and pursued him through the cavern.
• Gong Cheng and the ice dragons repeatedly struck the enormous lump with icy arrows until it cracked and released Yun Da in a pillar of blue light.
• Gongxi Chou heard Gong Cheng suggest Shen Tang might have died and charged toward Yun Da, while Gongxi Chou said he had judged wrong.
• Jimò Qiu recovered from the backlash caused by the formation's destruction, and Chu Jie reassured him about the formation's defeat.
• Qi Shan sensed that Shen Tang had been injured, dismissed Chu Jie's guess that the blood belonged to the enemy, and drew his sword.

Qi Shan’s crisis over Shen Tang’s apparent loss of faith left him injured, while Shen Tang’s battle against Yun Da ended with the enemy retreating. Shen Tang regained control and tried to convince Qi Shan that Goodness, not she, had caused her bloodied appearance.

• Chu Jie stopped Qi Shan from acting in a moment of despair, and Qi Shan later spat blood after his qi and meridians fell into disorder.
• Shen Tang kept distracting Yun Da with chatter while the three-year-old Goodness fought him and exploited the poison that had disrupted his timing.
• Yun Da adjusted to the poison, withdrew with Gong Cheng, and used Gongxi Chou as a stepping stone during his escape.
• Goodness noticed that Jimò Qiu was alive, then yielded control of Shen Tang’s body back to her.
• Shen Tang ordered the guards to patrol and watch the enemy, then saw Qi Shan and insisted that Goodness had caused her bloodied state before stabbing herself in the thigh.

Shen Tang injured herself to reassure Qi Shan that she still trusted him, then explained that Three-Year-Old Goodness had controlled her body and severed their connection. After learning of violence against Kang women and their children in the Northern Desert, Shen Tang promised to remember the matter and told Qi Shan their bond remained precious to her.

• Shen Tang stabbed her thigh to show Qi Shan that she had not stopped trusting him, and the Xinglin Physician treated both their wounds.
• Shen Tang asked the Xinglin Physician about her life and approved of her raising three orphaned Northern Desert sisters.
• The Xinglin Physician told Shen Tang that Northern Desert tribes were killing Kang women who had married into their communities and their children.
• Shen Tang told the Xinglin Physician she would remember the killings and later invited Qi Shan to talk.
• Shen Tang explained that Three-Year-Old Goodness had controlled her and severed Qi Shan's connection, then promised that she would take responsibility and continue to trust him.

Shen Tang and Qi Shan resolved their crisis of trust, while Yun Da reported to the Northern Desert leaders that Kang Country had repelled his attack with help from Shen Tang and the Great Priest of the Gongxi Clan. The Northern Desert leaders considered their limited prospects as Yun Da warned them against overreaching.

• Shen Tang feared Qi Shan would answer her evasively, but Qi Shan revealed that he had drawn his sword to take his own life when he thought she no longer trusted him.
• Shen Tang and Qi Shan reconciled, then joked about future historians and readers interpreting their relationship romantically.
• Northern Desert scouts reported that Yun Da and Gong Cheng had failed to defeat Chu Jie, leaving the leaders stunned.
• Yun Da entered the camp and told the Northern Desert leaders that Shen Tang had personally joined the battle and that the Great Priest of the Gongxi Clan was assisting Kang Country.
• Yun Da rejected Tudege's suggestion to exploit the Great Priest's weaknesses and warned that the Northern Desert lacked the strength to pursue more than taking Kang Country and holding the northwest.