Chapter Summaries

Lin Feng and Lin Su continued navigating the dream while disguised as one another, and Lin Su brought the Twelfth Prince’s head back to the army. At a celebration banquet, Lin Feng was stabbed by Gongyi under Gu Chi’s direction, revealing that Lin Su’s plans had been outmaneuvered.

• Xun Zhen learned that Lin Su had killed the Ten Crows’ Twelfth Prince and took the headless corpse, while Lin Su refused his offer to help deal with Lin Feng.
• Lin Feng’s classmate admitted he had followed her because he wanted to find Anzhi, and Lin Feng and Lin Su explained how they had entered the dream at different points in their pasts.
• Lin Su rejoined the army with Lin Feng and her classmate, where he encountered Luan Xin and Gu Chi and introduced Lin Feng as his elder brother.
• Gu Chi arranged a banquet to celebrate Lin Su’s achievement, and Lin Feng attended while suspecting that Lin Su was setting a trap.
• As Lin Feng toasted with Lin Su and Gu Chi, Gongyi stabbed her through the heart, and Gu Chi praised Gongyi’s assassination while Lin Su realized he had been caught off guard by Gu Chi’s hidden advantage.

In the dream, Gu Chi exposed Lin Su’s identity and explained why he had planned to kill him, while Lin Feng arrived to save Gu Chi from being deceived. After Lin Su and Lin Feng were killed in the dream, Lin Feng woke in the water and ordered her people to leave and send a letter to Minister Luan.

• Gu Chi told the wounded Lin Su that he had suspected him after Lin Su became wary of him, then revealed that Luan Xin had used his Way of the Scholar to uncover Lin Su’s identity.
• Lin Feng arrived disguised as Lin Su, and Gu Chi explained that he and their ruler had decided to eliminate Lin Su after learning he was an outsider.
• Lin Su revealed that the scene was a dream and that he had intended to use Gu Chi to kill Lin Feng, then admitted he had killed the fellow student because of the Perfection Ritual.
• Lin Su dissolved after dying, and Luan Xin stabbed Lin Feng to end her dream; Lin Feng refused Gu Chi’s offer to behead her and waited for death.
• Lin Feng woke after nearly drowning, drew her sword, ordered her people to leave, and told them to write to Minister Luan.

Lin Feng survived Lin Su’s attempt to extract information through a dream and ordered Tu Rong to kill him, while Shen Tang prepared to investigate his ties to the Assembly of Gods. Lin Su’s companion was killed after trying to persuade Wei Shou to defect, and Lin Su learned that pursuers had reached the area.

• Lin Feng recalled that Lin Su had attacked her through a dream, and Tu Rong found Lin Su’s blood on an embroidery frame in her courtyard.
• Lin Feng told Tu Rong to search for Lin Su and kill him if he could not be captured; Tu Rong found several bribed agents in the camp, but Lin Su escaped.
• Shen Tang ordered Yuan Liang to investigate whether Lin Su was connected to the Assembly of Gods and set aside the captured agents for the Sacrifice Flag.
• Wei Shou arrived with a box containing the head of Lin Su’s companion, who had tried to persuade him to defect.
• Lin Su hid near the meeting place and concluded that his companion had been killed; a ghostly figure then warned him that Lin Feng’s pursuers had arrived nearby.

Lin Su escaped Tu Rong and headed for Kang Country to find Qi Yuanliang, while Shen Tang uncovered Central Branch intelligence about Kang Country’s troop deployments. As Qi Country prepared for war, news of an uprising and plague in Tianqing Commandery sent Cui Zhi rushing to protect his former wife’s family.

• Lin Su learned that Lin Feng had fought fiercely in the dream, then recalled how she had killed three people and tried to frame him.
• After escaping a search party, Lin Su was wounded by Tu Rong’s arrow, hid by a river, and set out north for Kang Country to find Qi Yuanliang.
• Tu Rong told his subordinates not to inform Lin Feng that Lin Su had escaped.
• Shen Tang complained to Cui Zhi that she had been assigned poor troops and learned that the Central Branch had sent accurate intelligence about Kang Country’s deployments.
• Cui Zhi gave the Kang Country defense map to the Qi Country Sovereign, who told him that rebellion and plague had devastated Tianqing Commandery and that troops were already being sent to quell the unrest.
• Cui Zhi rushed to leave after learning that his former wife’s family was in Tianqing Commandery, while the Qi Country Sovereign asked whether he feared Cui Hui would go there herself.

Cui Zhi left the campaign to reach Tianqing Commandery after learning that his former wife, Cui Hui, had gone there to rescue her family. He arrived to find the commandery devastated by rebellion and epidemic, then headed for Clear Water Convent to find his mother-in-law.

• Cui Zhi confronted the Sovereign of Qi about the crisis in Tianqing Commandery and refused to stay at the campaign, recommending Mei Meng take his place.
• Cui Zhi left with several hundred private troops, while the Sovereign of Qi tried to suppress news of his departure.
• Shen Tang suggested Cui Zhi might be retreating strategically, and Qi Cang wondered whether he had secretly backed both sides.
• Cui Zhi learned that an epidemic had overwhelmed Tianqing Commandery and that Cui Hui had used his seal to take a third of the medicinal stores before going there.
• Cui Zhi reached the ruined commandery and ordered his party to proceed to Clear Water Convent.

Cui Zhi reached Qingshui Convent and learned that Cui Hui’s mother had been killed while defending refugees from bandits. He stayed with Cui Hui as Eternal Life Cult followers gathered below the mountain, then agreed to treat their plague-stricken patients but refused to hand over the medicinal herbs.

• Cui Zhi reached the convent after learning that Cui Hui and her mother might be in danger, and the guards let him pass.
• Cui Zhi learned that the abbess had died from wounds sustained while defending the convent during a bandit raid.
• Cui Hui told Cui Zhi how her mother had spent her final days haunted by past killings and had died after protecting the convent’s refugees.
• Cui Zhi stayed beside Cui Hui and refused to leave the day after arriving, despite the war and the danger below the mountain.
• More than two thousand people gathered below the mountain, and Eternal Life Cult followers sent an envoy to request medicinal herbs.
• Cui Zhi refused to give the cultists the herbs but offered to treat their sick, and the envoy asked to pay respects at the abbess’s grave.

Cui Zhi escorted a Literary Scholar from the Eternal Life Cult to Clear Water Nunnery, where they discussed rebellion and the suffering that drove ordinary people to it. At the mourning hall, the scholar recognized Cui Hui as Ke Wu, demanded to know who lay in the coffin, and collapsed after learning the deceased had wished to remain unnamed.

• Cui Zhi questioned the Literary Scholar about serving the Eternal Life Cult, and the scholar said people rebelled because they had been driven beyond what they could endure.
• The Literary Scholar grew pale and suffered heart pain on the mountain path, then asked Cui Zhi about his mother-in-law's death.
• Cui Zhi brought the scholar to the mourning hall and explained that his mother-in-law had cared for abandoned women, infants, and sick refugees.
• The scholar wept before the coffin and reacted intensely when Cui Zhi explained that the deceased had requested no spirit tablet so she could atone as an unnamed person before King Yama's Palace.
• Cui Hui entered, and the scholar recognized her as Ke Wu, demanded to know who was in the coffin, and then spat blood while questioning what it meant to be an unnamed person.

Cui Zhi discovered that the grieving scholar was Cui Xiao, his father-in-law and the long-estranged husband of the abbess in the coffin. After Cui Hui recounted her mother’s final days, Cui Xiao confronted the loss and revealed that his pursuit of power had drawn him into something dangerous.

• Cui Zhi subdued Cui Xiao’s literary energy as grief threatened to injure him, and he realized the scholar resembled his brother-in-law and Ke Wu.
• Cui Hui ordered mourning clothes for the newly arrived man, and her brother recognized him as their father, Cui Shanxiao.
• Cui Zhi identified Cui Xiao as Kangguo’s Supervising Censor and recalled investigating his covert involvement in plots against Kangguo.
• Cui Hui blamed Cui Xiao for arriving too late to see his wife, then told him the story of their mother’s death.
• Cui Xiao bowed repeatedly before the coffin, opened it, and mourned the woman he had lost while realizing she had been the person who cared about him most.
• Cui Xiao admitted that he had mistaken his attachment for ambition and had become involved in something he should not have.

After Cui Hui shared her mother's final words, Cui Xiao kept vigil and buried his elder sister, then abducted his former son-in-law Cui Zhi. He brought Cui Zhi back to his allies, but his own damaged meridians and Dantian revealed the cost of what he had done.

• Cui Hui told Cui Xiao that her mother had forgiven him and understood why he had pursued status for their family.
• Cui Xiao, Cui Zhi, and Cui Hui's brother kept vigil, buried Cui Xiao's elder sister, and found a message on Cui Xiao's Knife Fan saying he had borrowed Cui Zhi.
• Cui Xiao ambushed Cui Zhi, sealed his Dantian and voice, and carried him past the mountain checkpoints.
• Cui Xiao brought Cui Zhi to his allies and said they could use the Cui clan Patriarch to weaken or restrain the clan.
• Cui Xiao coughed up blood, and his old friend discovered that his meridians, Dantian, and Heart Meridian were damaged; Cui Xiao said he had done it to himself.

Cui Xiao kept Cui Zhi prisoner while Cui Hui left without him, and the two men exposed how much each had already maneuvered to protect the Cui family and their own interests. Cui Xiao then used Cui Zhi’s authority as head of the Assembly of Gods’ Southwest Branch to intensify the rebellion, while other players began watching for a chance to seize the spoils.

• Cui Xiao refused to release Cui Zhi, and Cui Hui left after he warned her that she could no longer conceal her secrets from her husband.
• Cui Xiao revealed that Cui Zhi’s hidden operatives had failed to find him and forged a letter, then admitted he knew Cui Zhi led the Assembly of Gods’ Southwest Branch through Qi Yuanli.
• Cui Zhi revealed that he had long suspected Shen Youli’s side was working against Qi Country and had deliberately stayed silent while preparing safeguards for the Cui family.
• Cui Xiao and Cui Zhi argued over their plans, with Cui Zhi explaining that the Cui family could survive whether Qi Country or Kang Country won.
• Cui Xiao used Cui Zhi’s authority to help the Eternal Life Cult rebellion spread, while some observers noticed the strange developments and waited for an opportunity to replace the Cui family.

Lin Su visited Qi Shan in Fengluo to investigate whether the Assembly of Gods' records on cloning could help bring his dead friend back. Qi Shan explained that cloning could not restore the dead man's memories, but Lin Su showed him a Qi Clan jade pendant that appeared to belong to Qi Shan's own lost friend.

• Lin Su questioned a grain-shop owner about Kang's low grain prices and learned that licenses and government rules regulated grain sales.
• Lin Su reached Lin Feng's residence but left without meeting his fourth uncle, Lin Chao, then accepted an invitation to visit Qi Shan.
• Lin Su told Qi Shan that he was investigating records about cloning to find a way to revive his dead close friend.
• The ghostly young man revealed that he was Lin Su's dead friend, and Qi Shan explained that cloning would create a newborn without the deceased's memories.
• Lin Su showed Qi Shan a twin-fish jade pendant bearing the Qi Clan crest, which Qi Shan recognized as belonging to his lost close friend.

Qi Shan confronted Lin Su over Tan Qu’s jade pendant and learned that Lin Su’s mysterious friend had given it to him, possibly with knowledge of Yuan Liang’s remains. After discovering the records on cloning techniques could not help him revive Qi Shan, Qi Shan found Lin Anzhi named as a spy and ordered Lin Su placed on the nationwide wanted list.

• Qi Shan grabbed Lin Su by the throat after recognizing Tan Qu’s jade pendant, and Lin Su revealed that he suspected Qi Shan was actually Tan Qu using Qi Shan’s identity.
• Lin Su’s illusion forced Tan Qu to relive memories of young Qi Shan, but Tan Qu rejected it and Qi Shan returned to reality.
• Lin Su said a mysterious friend had given him the pendant and hinted that the friend might be connected to the dragon and Yuan Liang’s remains.
• Qi Shan showed Lin Su his collection of cloning research and explained that the technology belonged to a previous human civilization and could not be reproduced in the present era.
• Qi Shan found Lin Anzhi named in a front-line report as a spy in the Central Branch and ordered Lin Su put on the nationwide wanted list.

Lin Su explained that his deception of Qi Shan’s faction was meant to influence Kang and Qu, while revealing his own desire to end the world’s suffering through universal death. Shen Tang received conflicting intelligence about Lin Su, then prepared to move the allied forces as the political situation shifted.

• Lin Su told the phantom that his encounter with Qi Shan’s faction was intended to affect Kang and Qu, and he suspected Qi Yuanliang genuinely wanted Shen Tang to unify the world.
• Lin Su revealed that he hated the world’s injustice and believed everyone’s death would end its suffering.
• Shen Tang investigated Lin Su through the Assembly of Gods’ channels and received conflicting reports, including one claiming he had died years earlier.
• Qin Li warned Shen Tang that Lin Su’s unusual Way of the Scholar could make the report about his death possible.
• Shen Tang set Lin Su’s background aside and told Qin Li that the allied forces were about to make their move.

Mei Meng struggled to command the Southwest Allied Army while Shen Tang’s forces uncovered spies planted among their camp. Shen Tang retaliated with a grisly display and a volley of arrows, ending with Gongyang Yongye stopping the eighth shot and sending a message to Mei Meng.

• Mei Meng warned the allied leaders that Kang could reverse the river wind and ordered spies to identify and kill the Literary Scholars who controlled the weather.
• Mei Meng imposed military discipline after allied leaders resisted her troop assignments, and her spies infiltrated the circles around Qin Li and other Literary Scholars.
• Gu Chi uncovered the spies, who had posed as former Gao Country residents and private slaves of Wu Xian, and Qin Li suspected someone had framed Wu Xian.
• Shen Tang ordered the captured spies used as an example and sent the headless corpses to the Southwest Allied Army’s scouts.
• Shen Tang fired arrows carrying seven heads into the allied camp, and Gongyang Yongye stopped the eighth arrow before it could break the command banner.
• Gongyang Yongye found a slip of paper on the arrow and sent it to Mei Meng.

The Sovereign of Qi dismissed a forged-looking note as Kang Country’s attempt to sow discord, while Luo Yuan’s arrow embarrassed the allied army into action. A sudden attack interrupted Shen Tang and Qi Cang’s fishing plans, and Shen Tang met a fleet led by a young man surnamed Luo who claimed he wanted to join her to oppose Luo Yuan.

• The Sovereign of Qi recognized Mei Meng’s handwriting on the slip but publicly blamed Kang Country for trying to sow discord and called on the officials to answer its threat.
• Luo Yuan shot an arrow toward Kang Country’s camp, shaming the allied army, while Qi Cang and Shen Tang abandoned their night-fishing plans when war broke out.
• Shen Tang learned that more than forty ships bearing the Luo family name had arrived to join Kang Country and ordered Gu Chi to meet their leader.
• Gu Chi and Jimò Qiu identified the young man’s Martial Gall Totem as a merfolk, and Shen Tang asked why he wanted to join her.
• The young man said he had come to oppose Luo Yuan because their ancestors were enemies.

Shen Tang heard Luo Sha’s account of his family’s feud with Luo Yuan and provisionally accepted his offer to join Kang, though she planned to investigate his ties to the Assembly of Gods' Inner Society. Luo Yuan attacked Luo Sha’s underwater scouts, triggering a confrontation near the Kang camp.

• Luo Sha told Shen Tang that Luo Yuan had betrayed his grandfather, and that he sought Luo Yuan’s head to fulfill his family’s dying wishes.
• Luo Sha explained that his clan lived on an overseas island and offered Shen Tang access to verify his story; Shen Tang provisionally trusted him and let his people rest.
• Gongshu Wu revealed that Luo Yuan’s enemies had once been backed by the Assembly of Gods' Inner Society, so Shen Tang planned to have Gongyi investigate Luo Sha.
• Luo Sha sent skilled swimmers to help Kang’s scouts gather intelligence, but Luo Yuan spotted them beneath the river and attacked.
• Luo Yuan killed one of the swimmers, and Luo Sha arrived in time to face him near the Kang camp.

Luo Sha fought Luo Yuan in the river, while Shen Tang and Jimò Qiu watched and prepared for the possibility of a wider battle. Luo Sha revealed that his grandfather had Anointed him before dying, and he prepared to use that gift to settle their blood feud.

• Luo Sha struck Luo Yuan with his fish-tail phantom and smashed him into the riverbed, while Shen Tang ordered her forces to prepare for an enemy attack.
• Shen Tang questioned Jimò Qiu’s description of Luo Sha’s Martial Gall Totem as a mermaid, and Jimò Qiu explained the different ways a warrior could fuse with a totem.
• Luo Yuan taunted Luo Sha about his connection to his grandfather and tried to provoke him into losing control, but Jimò Qiu helped calm Luo Sha before a killing blow landed.
• Luo Yuan mocked Luo Sha for relying on his grandfather’s sacrifice, and Luo Sha revealed that his grandfather had Anointed him before his death.
• Luo Sha raised the river as a weapon and declared that he and his grandfather would kill Luo Yuan together to avenge their clan.

Luo Sha fought Luo Yuan with his corrosive whale-totem stomach acid, but Luo Yuan tore free and Gongyang Yongye arrived to aid him. Shen Tang and her allies prepared to face the two elders, leaving the battle split into separate duels.

• Luo Sha attacked Luo Yuan with a water net laced with corrosive stomach acid, while Shen Tang warned her army to avoid the river.
• Luo Yuan shattered the acid rain and tore through the whale-totem's defenses, injuring Luo Sha before Jimò Qiu healed him.
• Shen Tang challenged Luo Yuan, and Gongyang Yongye appeared to support him after Luo Yuan called for help.
• Gongyang Yongye separated the fighters with his saber and paired himself against Gongxi Chou, leaving Shen Tang to face Luo Yuan.
• Luo Sha tried to reach Luo Yuan, but Gongyang Yongye blocked him and Gongxi Chou attacked Gongyang Yongye from behind.

Gongxi Chou and Luo Sha fought Gongyang Yongye while Shen Tang faced Luo Yuan, whose Will of the Martial Artist unleashed explosive water spheres. Shen Tang detonated the spheres in a chain reaction, and the chapter ended with a mysterious black-and-white creature emerging from the river and drawing Luo Sha’s attention.

• Gongxi Chou and Luo Sha struggled to coordinate against Gongyang Yongye, then divided the battlefield and took turns engaging him.
• Jimò Qiu supported Gongxi Chou and Luo Sha while Shen Tang continued fighting Luo Yuan alone.
• Luo Yuan used his Will of the Martial Artist to summon more than a hundred explosive water spheres and sent them after Shen Tang.
• Shen Tang realized the spheres were limited in number and used arrows to set off a chain of explosions.
• Gongyang Yongye severed the river to protect himself, while Gongxi Chou and Luo Sha buffered the blast with their Martial Gall Totems.
• Luo Sha sensed a hated presence and saw a black-and-white shadow leap from the river, prompting his Martial Gall Totem to approach it.

Shen Tang survived Luo Yuan’s explosion and returned to the river battle, while Kang’s forces fought off a Southwest ambush. The fighting continued as Gongyang Yongye faced Gongxi Chou, Luo Sha, and Yun Ce, and Ning Yan exposed the water ghosts attacking the fleet.

• Bai Su’s orca form drew hostility from Luo Sha’s humpback-whale Martial Gall Totem, and Gongxi Chou learned the feud was merely a habitual reaction.
• Gongyang Yongye attacked Gongxi Chou and Luo Sha, then Yun Ce joined the fight but accidentally disrupted Luo Sha’s attacks with his ice techniques.
• Gongxi Chou returned in human form and struck Gongyang Yongye with his halberd and dark-serpent whip, enraging the veteran general further.
• Jimò Qiu’s spell protected Shen Tang from her jellyfish-bomb explosion, and Shen Tang returned to the tower ship before setting out to confront Luo Yuan.
• Ning Yan discovered Southwest water ghosts clinging beneath a ram, marked them with her Word Spirit, and helped Kang’s soldiers repel their surprise attack.
• Kang Shi told Ning Yan his perfected Way of the Scholar let him repay borrowed luck in installments, though excessive borrowing could still leave him in debt.