Chapter Summaries

The Tenth Rank Left Shu Chang woke from a dream after breaking through in cultivation, while Shen Tang learned that Qi Shan and the others had been exposed and prepared to target Yiru. Meanwhile, He Buzuo’s disguised force crossed into Luxia Prefecture with three captive Literary Scholars, and Chao Lian’s reinforcements reunited with Fang Yan and the defenders of Shang Nan.

• Jimò Qiu told the Tenth Rank Left Shu Chang that he was trapped in a dream, and Shu Chang woke after a breakthrough in cultivation.
• Shen Tang learned that He Shu was the likely source of the attack on Shu Chang and resolved to move against Yiru while assuring him that Gongyi and the others would return safely.
• He Buzuo’s army entered desolate Luxia Prefecture in disguise, and he lamented the abandoned fields and the suffering of its people.
• The young woman recognized that He Buzuo had drugged the food meant for her group and accused him of dropping his pretense; He Shu accepted them as sacrifices regardless of whether they fled.
• Chao Lian and Fang Yan reunited with the commander of Shang Nan, who welcomed them emotionally before Fang Yan ordered preparations to defend the pass.

Chao Lian and Fang Yan discovered that Shang Nan Commandery was dangerously short of troops because Zhechong Mansion soldiers had deserted, while local clans refused to help Kang. Fang Yan seized soldiers from the clans and began isolating them, as one old friend wondered how Shen Tang had learned of the plot so quickly.

• Chao Lian advised the commander to treat his soldiers with respect as they entered the prosperous, expanded city of Shang Nan.
• Chao Lian and Fang Yan found that the actual garrison was much smaller than the records claimed, and the commander revealed that many Zhechong Mansion soldiers had deserted.
• The commander explained that Shang Nan's prominent families resented Kang's rules and would not provide troops, though he doubted they had caused the desertions.
• Fang Yan declared that anyone with treasonous intent could be executed, then took Chao Lian with him to gather troops from the local families.
• Fang Yan took nearly all seven hundred men from an old friend's estate and warned that a stable world mattered more than the clans' short-term profit.
• Fang Yan's troops took positions throughout the city to prevent the families from coordinating, and the old friend wondered how Shen Tang had found out and sent Fang Yan.

Fang Yan discovered that forged military orders had secretly transferred Shang Nan's defenders, just as unnatural thunderclouds gathered over the commandery. He Shu sacrificed three captives to invoke his power, but realized they had escaped, and turned his attention to taking Shang Nan.

• Fang Yan seized guards from the great clans and uncovered evidence that soldiers had been secretly transferred under forged orders bearing the defender's seal.
• Fang Yan questioned Ding Dazhong's family and learned that several soldiers had been summoned away for a secret mission, while the defender and other officials denied knowing about it.
• Black thunderclouds gathered over Shang Nan, lightning struck the city's barrier, and Fang Yan ordered the army onto alert as the streets fell into chaos.
• He Shu brought the girl and two companions to a sacrificial altar and, after she refused to reveal her identity, shot her with a flaming arrow to ignite the sacrifice.
• He Shu's power activated and the thunderclouds moved toward Shang Nan, but he realized the three captives had escaped and said that taking the commandery was what mattered.

Qi Shan and his companions learned that He Shu and He Xin were two brothers sharing one body, and they hurried toward Shang Nan as He Xin warned of hidden forces backing the attack. The city’s defenses came under increasingly powerful lightning strikes, and Chao Lian shattered one bolt before a morale-forged arrow flew toward the next.

• Qi Shan confirmed that He Shu was his friend, then led Cui Xiao, Luan Xin, and a mysterious young man onward.
• The young man revealed himself as He Shu, courtesy name Buzuo, and Qi Shan explained that He Shu and He Xin were brothers who shared one body.
• He Xin described He Shu’s hatred of aristocratic clans and explained that Qi Shan had enabled the brothers to act separately.
• He Xin warned that the Assembly of Gods’ Southwest Branch and other forces were interfering in the battle for Shang Nan.
• Thunderclouds gathered over Shang Nan, and lightning strikes battered the city’s defenses as the four companions rushed toward it.
• Chao Lian shattered a descending bolt with his spear, dodged the next strike, and a morale-forged arrow shot upward.

Fang Yan organized Shang Nan’s defenses against a growing lightning assault, then drew the powerful families into the fight by poisoning their estates. Qi Shan, He Xin, and Cui Shanxiao arrived as reinforcements, and Cui Xiao prepared to confound the attackers’ aim.

• Fang Yan coordinated ballista crews and Chao Lian to break the lightning bolts, while one Martial Gall Warrior intercepted a strike that slipped through.
• The enemy increased the number and spread of its attacks, leaving the defenders short of soldiers and ballistae as the city barrier weakened.
• Fang Yan’s old friend found poisonous mushrooms in his courtyard and sent most of his family’s able-bodied youths to defend Third Pass City, urging other families to do the same.
• Fang Yan’s old friend reached the wall, helped strengthen Fang Yan with a Word Spirit, and discussed the threat posed by the enemy and Shen Youli.
• Qi Shan, He Xin, and Cui Shanxiao arrived on the wall, and Cui Xiao asked Qi Shan to lend him literary energy before using a Word Spirit to hide himself from the attackers.

Cui Xiao used the Way of the Scholar to halt the lightning, but the backlash left him badly hurt until Yun Ce arrived and froze the falling bolt. Qi Shan learned that Yun Ce had been ambushed by soldiers from Shang Nan Commandery, and He Xin raised the possibility that Qi Shan himself could have devised the disguise behind the scheme.

• Cui Xiao stopped the lightning with the Way of the Scholar, then staggered and spat blood as the thunderclouds resumed their attack.
• Qi Yuanliang and the others blocked the blast, while Yun Ce arrived and froze the lightning and its shock wave in a massive ice sculpture.
• Cui Xiao accused Qi Yuanliang of letting him suffer backlash, and Yun Ce explained that disguised enemy soldiers had ambushed him on the way to Shang Nan.
• Qi Shan and the others realized the ambush had caused Yun Ce's troops and Shang Nan's forces to kill one another, a trap that would benefit Gao Country.
• He Xin ruled out He Shu as the plotter and suggested that the convincing disguise might have been one Qi Shan could create.

Qi Shan investigated the forged military order and suspected Mei Jinghe of involvement, while Yun Ce received reinforcements at the city. Mei Meng tried to escape, but Lü Jue and Wu You blocked her, and Cui Hui woke under Ning Yan’s care.

• Qi Shan concluded that the scheme likely came from the Southwest Branch and told Luan Xin to investigate Mei Jinghe, whom He Xin recognized as Mei Meng.
• Yun Ce welcomed the arriving army led by the Master Craftsman of the Directorate of Imperial Manufactures and ordered the city gates opened.
• Cui Hui confronted Mei Meng, who knocked her unconscious and left Fugu to meet her people.
• Lü Jue ambushed Mei Meng’s convoy, but she escaped using an illusion and continued onward.
• Wu You stopped Mei Meng’s carriage and refused to let her pass.
• Ning Yan woke Cui Hui, who mistook her for a beautiful dream figure before learning she was awake.

Ning Yan learned that Mei Meng had escaped with Qi Cang and suspected Mei Meng had used Qi Shan’s Way of the Scholar. On the road, Mei Meng rejected the idea that Shen Youli had broken the shackles on women’s cultivation for her, insisting she would perfect her own Way of the Scholar and prove others could follow that path.

• Ning Yan helped Cui Hui recover, told her Mei Jinghe had escaped, and revealed that Qi Cang had protected her while Wuyou was struck at a vital point.
• Ning Yan kept Wuyou’s final message about Qi Yuanliang’s Way of the Scholar secret and concluded Mei Meng had used Qi Shan’s Way of the Scholar.
• Qi Cang told Mei Meng that a booklet suggested Shen Youli’s rise had broken the shackles on women’s cultivation and that Mei Meng might not need to risk perfecting her Way of the Scholar.
• Mei Meng argued that Shen Youli’s path could not be copied and vowed to become a Literary Scholar through her own efforts, so others could prove they could do the same.
• Qi Cang mused that Shen Youli was about to face two Eternal Life Cult figures and said he wanted to watch Mei Meng perfect her Way of the Scholar.

Mei Meng considered the danger of relying on her Sovereign while the burly man warned her to keep military power in her own hands. Shen Tang seized the chance to attack Tianhai, and Ning Yan returned with news that Mei Jinghe was preparing to perfect her Way of the Scholar in Gao Country by staging a successful usurpation.

• The burly man warned Mei Meng that military power, not personal loyalty, secured a ruler’s position, but Mei Meng said she had no choice but to trust her Sovereign.
• After Ning Yan reported that the intelligence about Tianhai was mostly true, Shen Tang attacked, captured several counties, and intercepted Wu Xian’s reinforcements.
• Shen Tang complained about the drawn-out campaign and worried over Gu Chi’s poor health as he trained and drank tonics.
• Ning Yan returned from Northern Province, said she had recovered, and revealed that she had a lead that gave her a ninety percent chance of perfecting her Way of the Scholar.
• Ning Yan told Shen Tang that Mei Jinghe had fled with Qi Yanqing and planned to perfect her Way in Gao Country by raising a traitor who would successfully steal a state and then executing him.
• Shen Tang realized that Mei Jinghe’s plan might involve her helping to overthrow Wu Xian.

Shen Tang and Ning Yan discussed how to thwart Mei Jinghe’s Perfection Ritual, while Ning Yan trained in heavy armor in preparation for a reversal that could force Literary Scholars into battle. Wu Xian, pressured by Gao Country’s Tianhai faction after Zhao Feng threatened their ancestral graves, sent Shen Tang a challenge, leaving the armies on the verge of a confrontation.

• Shen Tang decided to tell Wu Xian about Mei Jinghe’s plans only when his forces were collapsing, and Ning Yan explained that the ritual would fail if Wu Xian lawfully transferred the throne before Mei Jinghe could kill him.
• Ning Yan received heavy armor, a massive blade, and Shen Tang’s illustrated combat booklets, then trained under Bai Su for two days to prepare for fighting after the reversal.
• Wu Xian sent Shen Tang a challenge after Zhao Feng’s actions around Tianhai’s ancestral graves alarmed Gao Country’s officials and pressured them to demand an attack to retake the commandery.
• Wu Xian agreed to send out troops after the Tianhai faction confronted him, while an inconspicuous scholar dismissed the officials as rabble.

Wu Xian’s confrontation with his followers ended in murder, and he challenged Shen Tang to fight at Wei Gorge, where she learned the battlefield contained an ancient Mass Grave. Jimò Qiu and Gongxi Chou recognized the site from their clan’s history, and both armies prepared to battle there despite the danger and the terrain’s advantage to Gao Country.

• The National Teacher insulted Wu Xian’s followers, and Wu Xian rebuked a man who challenged him before the man walked away in anger.
• The man was found dead with a sword through his neck, but Wu Xian suppressed objections to the claim that he had committed suicide.
• The National Teacher played a supernatural chess game against an unseen opponent and lamented that Wu Country’s old enemies had taken over the human world.
• Shen Tang learned that Wu Xian had chosen Wei Gorge, an ancient battlefield whose history included a Mass Grave and reports of black mist and vengeful spirits.
• Jimò Qiu and Gongxi Chou recognized Wei Gorge as the place where their ancestor had found and filled in the Mass Grave, prompting Shen Tang to worry about what might emerge during the battle.
• Jimò Qiu explained that Wu Xian had chosen the site because many Wu Country troops were buried there, and Shen Tang said her side could summon other dead as reinforcements.

Shen Tang sent Qian Yong to taunt Gao Country’s forces, and Qian Yong exposed damaging gossip about Wu Xian before killing a general who challenged him. He humiliated Wu Xian by kicking the man’s head back toward the enemy army, and Wu Xian asked the National Teacher to take the field.

• Shen Tang agreed to let Qian Yong lead the verbal challenge after Gu Chi reminded her of the consequences of insulting Wu Xian herself.
• Qian Yong revealed scandalous stories about Wu Xian’s family and questioned the Tianhai Wu clan’s claimed ancestry, angering Wu Xian and his ministers.
• Wu Xian’s trusted general charged Qian Yong, who defeated him by revealing his concealed strength and killed him.
• Qian Yong kicked the dead general’s head back toward Gao Country’s army and said the act repaid old grievances against the Wu clan.
• Wu Xian smashed his armrest and asked the National Teacher to take the field, but the National Teacher suggested watching a little longer.

Qian Yong’s insults humiliated Gao Country’s officials, but his attack on the National Teacher failed, and the National Teacher unleashed a power that overturned heaven and earth. Shen Tang witnessed the transformation and heard several tearing sounds as time resumed.

• Wu Xian tried to persuade the National Teacher to act against Shen Tang, then felt a strange force pull at his soul when he looked at the National Teacher’s ring.
• Qian Yong exposed Gao officials’ scandals and provoked them, while Shen Tang and her companions reacted to his shameless insults.
• Qian Yong charged the white-haired National Teacher, but his Martial Qi Incarnation was hurled into the ground, so he retreated to his ranks.
• The National Teacher invoked “Invert Heaven and Earth” and “Life and Death Change Masters,” reversing the sky and earth and freezing time for everyone but Shen Tang.
• When time resumed, Shen Tang’s martial armor had vanished, and she heard several tearing sounds.

When the Eternal Life Cult’s Attendant reversed civil and military roles, the armies discovered that the Way of the Scholar and Will of the Martial Artist had switched as well. Both sides regained their footing, and the Gao Country camp challenged Kang to fight.

• Gu Chi realized everyone could hear his thoughts after he became a Martial Gall Warrior, and Shen Tang confronted him about his thoughts concerning Bai Su, whom he called Shaoxuan.
• Yu Zi accidentally unleashed a surge of martial aura that killed her horse, then summoned an armored steed and discovered her transformed ability could seize martial aura from colleagues and enemies.
• Ning Yan urged Yu Zi to control her new power, while Chu Yao used Martial Gall Word Spirits to steady the confused soldiers.
• Wei Shou lamented his changed physique and questioned Chu Yao about his Will of the Martial Artist, which Chu Yao said he could use.
• The Gao Country and Kang camps stabilized, and the Gao Country soldiers challenged Kang to battle.

Wu Xian’s forces began their planned battle against Shen Tang, but Gu Chi’s uncontrolled thoughts gave Yu Zi an advantage in her duel with a Gao general. When Wu Xian countered by signaling the general, Gu Chi abruptly changed his mental narration, leaving the duel’s outcome unresolved.

• Wu Xian worried that someone had leaked Gao Country’s plans, but the National Teacher urged him to press on and Wu Xian authorized a trusted subordinate to clear the way for him.
• Yu Weiheng rode out to challenge Gao Country’s transformed scholar, while Shen Tang and her commanders watched her struggle against his greater fighting experience.
• Chu Yao and Gu Chi devised a way to help Yu Zi, and Gu Chi’s detailed thoughts predicted the Gao general’s moves so she could exploit openings.
• Yu Zi abandoned technique and fought wildly, eventually cutting the Gao general’s neck; his suspiciously poor defense made Wu Xian’s men accuse him of betrayal.
• The National Teacher explained that Gu Chi’s thoughts ran a beat ahead of the duel, and Wu Xian used war drums to warn the Gao general to counter Yu Zi.
• Gu Chi changed his thoughts to a comic story about Lin Daiyu and Zhen Guanxi, interrupting his battle commentary as the duel continued.

Gu Chi’s absurd inner stories distracted the Gao Country general and helped Yu Zi defeat and capture him in their duel. Shen Tang’s side prepared to send another champion forward as Chu Yao and Ning Yan volunteered.

• Lin Daiyu beat Zhen Guanxi to death after hearing how he had tormented an elderly woman and her son, while Gu Chi embellished the tale with increasingly outrageous stories about her and Jia Baoyu.
• Gu Chi’s melodramatic story about a tangled family romance repeatedly distracted the Gao Country general, allowing Yu Zi to gain the upper hand in their fight.
• Yu Zi switched weapons, drove the general back with spear thrusts, then summoned her horse and dragged him across the battlefield with a bladed whip.
• Shen Tang intercepted an arrow aimed at Yu Zi, and Yu Zi declared victory after the enemy general was choked unconscious and captured.
• Chu Yao and Ning Yan volunteered for the next duel while Lin Feng considered joining but held back.

Shen Tang assigned Jimò Qiu to the second bout, and Gongxi Chou discovered strange powers while holding his brother’s staff. The Eternal Life Cult’s Black Bone emerged to face Jimò Qiu, revealing a connection to the Gongxi Clan as the duel began.

• Kang Shi and other officials asked to fight, but Shen Tang chose Jimò Qiu for the crucial second bout.
• Gongxi Chou held Jimò Qiu’s staff and saw a divine apparition around Shen Tang, while the staff’s red flower repeatedly bit him.
• Jimò Qiu rode out to face Wu Xian’s chosen fighter, but Black Bone emerged from underground and claimed the match.
• The National Teacher revealed that Black Bone was his nephew, and Black Bone transformed into an armored ghost general before asking Jimò Qiu whether he belonged to the Gongxi Clan.
• Jimò Qiu confirmed he was from the Gongxi Clan, while Gongxi Chou recognized that Black Bone’s armor was made of countless hostile human faces.

Jimò Qiu confronted Wei Cheng, who revealed that he had devoured a former Gongxi Clan High Priest and trapped more than a hundred souls within himself. As Wei Cheng attacked, the former High Priest’s face opened its eyes and began to recite a spell, leaving Jimò Qiu facing an unexpected threat.

• Gongxi Chou saw more than a hundred faces covering Wei Cheng and warned Shen Tang that they hated Jimò Qiu.
• Wei Cheng introduced himself and claimed the woman’s face on his chest belonged to one of Jimò Qiu’s ancestors, who had deceived him.
• Gongxi Chou recognized Wei Cheng’s mace as a former High Priest’s staff, and Wei Cheng revealed that every face on his body belonged to someone he had eaten.
• Jimò Qiu restrained Gongxi Chou with Shackles, challenged Wei Cheng, and blocked his attack from a summoned skeletal warhorse.
• Jimò Qiu judged that Wei Cheng’s power was being suppressed by the souls inside him, but the former High Priest’s face opened its eyes and began reciting a spell.

Jimò Qiu fought Wei Cheng and revealed that his blood was divine power, allowing him to command an army of awakened trees despite lacking a staff. Wei Cheng unleashed black mist and a devastating attack, leaving their battle unresolved.

• Wei Cheng summoned a treant, and Gongxi Chou broke free of Jimò Qiu's restraints when he mistook it for one of his clan's ancestors.
• Jimò Qiu fought Wei Cheng, burned away his thorny vines, and demanded to know whether the woman inside him was still alive.
• Wei Cheng confirmed that she was alive but suffering, then struck Jimò Qiu and shattered his faceplate without killing him.
• Jimò Qiu summoned vines and awakened trees, revealing that his blood itself was divine power.
• Wei Cheng attacked with renewed hunger, spreading black mist across the battlefield and striking with enough force to split the sky.

Wei Cheng unleashed a foul black miasma and released the vengeful ghosts trapped in his bones, but Jimò Qiu summoned a god to break Wei Cheng’s attack and then burned the ghosts away with his spear. Wei Cheng believed he had recovered his full strength and promised to leave Jimò Qiu’s corpse intact, while Shen Tang suspected the fight was far from over.

• Lin Feng surprised Tu Rong by lifting and guarding the Great Banner as Wei Cheng’s killing move shook the battlefield.
• Jimò Qiu called on his god, and a blue-clad phantom appeared to shatter Wei Cheng’s giant beast with one sword strike.
• Wei Cheng spread a corrupting black fog, while Wei Shou raised a wall of literary energy and Chu Yao used his vision to discover over a hundred ghosts inside Wei Cheng’s bones.
• Chu Yao told Shen Tang that the ghosts were likely members of the Assembly of Gods’ Inner Society, and she wondered why one of them, resembling a High Priest, was suppressing the others.
• Wei Cheng broke the ghosts’ restraints and drove them toward Jimò Qiu, who destroyed them with flames from his spear as Wei Cheng prevented their escape.
• Wei Cheng declared that he had finally rid himself of his ailment and would leave Jimò Qiu an intact corpse, while Shen Tang doubted his victory was assured.