Chapter Summaries

Chen Buyu and the military households rebelled in drought-stricken Dachang County, killing the county officials and fleeing into the mountains with refugees. Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan continued settling refugees on Star Moon Island and rejected a celebration for his sixtieth birthday.

• Chen Buyu shot County Deputy Chen Tong and County Magistrate Zhao Yuankai as starving refugees stormed the county office and looted its stores.
• Chen Ding'an distributed stolen money and grain to the refugees, then led two or three thousand military households and refugees into the mountains as bandits.
• Yang Zhengshan instructed the youths on Star Moon Island in martial arts and spoke with an elderly refugee about his family’s new farmland and plans to teach at a village school.
• Yang Zhengshan returned home, where Yu Qingyi told him Mingcheng had asked whether he wanted to celebrate his sixtieth birthday.
• Yang Zhengshan refused a grand birthday celebration, saying he would wait until he turned a hundred.

Yang Zhengshan received Zhu Changxing of the Dihuo Island Zhu Family, traded for Earth Fire Steel weapons, and strengthened ties with the family through talks on trade and cultivation. While Yang Zhengshan settled into a quiet life on Star Moon Island, floods struck Shanhe Province, and Emperor Yanping demanded answers from the court about rebuilding the Ru River embankments.

• Yu Qingyi told Yang Zhengshan that Yang Mingcheng might come to Star Moon Island and that Yang Zhengxiang was gravely ill, so Yang Zhengshan wrote to Mingcheng asking him to return home and pay respects if the old clan chief died.
• Zhu Changxing visited Yang Zhengshan to congratulate him on taking charge of Star Moon Island, and Yang Zhengshan ordered thirty Earth Fire Steel weapons from the Zhu Family.
• Yang Zhengshan and Zhu Changxing exchanged cultivation insights during the seven-day visit, after which Zhu Changxing departed and Yang Zhengshan toured the Four Cardinal Islands and left Spirit Spring Water for their residents.
• Heavy rain caused the Ru River to burst its embankments in Shanhe Province, flooding the region and drowning countless commoners.
• Emperor Yanping asked Yang Ziheng about repairing the riverbanks, and Yang Ziheng reported that the plan required one hundred thousand laborers, four million taels of silver, and one hundred fifty thousand shi of grain.

Amid court turmoil over the Ru River embankment disaster, Liang Chu resigned and withdrew from public life, while the Yang family’s members continued to break through to the Innate Realm and gather on Star Moon Island. Years later, Yang Zhengshan took his grandson Yang Chengan fishing and brought him home to apologize to Yang Ruoshi.

• Officials blamed Jiang Wei and others for the Ru River embankment collapse, but the morning court ended without addressing relief or repairs.
• Liang Chu told Liang Shengze about the disorder at court, then resigned and focused on cultivation.
• Yang Mingcheng reached the Innate Realm, passed his title to Yang Chengye, and moved his family to Star Moon Island.
• Over the following years, many members and associates of the Yang family reached the Innate Realm and settled or planned to retire on the island.
• Yang Zhengshan took Yang Chengan fishing, made him promise to apologize to Yang Ruoshi, and carried him back to Star Moon Island.

Yang Wanqing brought her son Qu Chengyuan to Star Moon Island so Yang Zhengshan could train him, and she told the family that Bashu rebels were worsening unrest and shortages in Southern Frontier Town. Yang Mingzhi then reported that the Martial God Hall had gone to war with the Great Yue Dynasty, prompting plans to profit from rising trade prices while staying out of the conflict.

• Yang Zhengshan welcomed Yang Wanqing and Qu Chengyuan, then agreed to keep the boy on Star Moon Island and teach him martial arts.
• Yang Wanqing told Yang Zhengshan that Bashu rebels had spread unrest into nearby regions, disrupted trade routes, and driven salt prices higher in Southern Frontier Town.
• Yang Mingzhi returned from a trading voyage and announced that the Martial God Hall had gone to war with the Great Yue Dynasty.
• Yang Mingzhi explained that the conflict had raised prices for armaments, medicinal herbs, and grain, and said the Yang Family Trading Firm was preparing to ship goods for greater profits.
• Yang Zhengshan told Yang Mingzhi to discuss the trade with Yang Minghao and warned him to focus on business without getting involved in the war.

Yang Mingzhao had spent five years supporting Chen Buyu and the refugees in Three Arrow Valley, where he had become chief under the alias Yang Zhao. When Chen Buyu proposed taking a county seat and rebelling, Yang Mingzhao tried to dissuade him, unaware that his view of the Imperial Court's strength was outdated.

• Yang Mingzhao first met Chen Buyu after Chen and his bandits tried to rob him, and he later helped villagers who had been driven from their homes by government runners.
• Over the next five years, Yang Mingzhao supplied Chen Buyu's people and became the chief of their growing settlement in Three Arrow Valley.
• Yang Mingzhao ordered Old Han and Ma Yan to buy salt, cotton cloth, farming tools, and cattle for the valley's residents.
• Chen Buyu told Yang Mingzhao that the valley was running out of room as more refugees arrived.
• Chen Buyu suggested taking a county seat to rebel, but Yang Mingzhao argued that rebellion had no future and that the Imperial Court was too powerful.

Yang Mingzhao began preparing to train men in Three Arrow Valley but left for Star Moon Island to seek more resources. In the Spirit Spring Space, Yang Zhengshan ate lotus petals, comprehended Dao Intent, and witnessed the space expand into a vast world.

• Yang Mingzhao explained the dangers of rebellion, then agreed with Chen Buyu to train soldiers and investigate conditions before taking action.
• Yang Mingzhao ordered Deng Xing to train the village’s young men, assigned Chen Buyu to assist, and directed Lu Bo to buy livestock and poultry.
• After half a month in Three Arrow Valley, Yang Mingzhao departed with Han Lin and Yang Ze for Star Moon Island, leaving Ma Yan, Lu Bo, Li Dagui, and Deng Xing behind.
• Yang Zhengshan ate petals from the pond’s lotus flowers and experienced a mysterious connection to heaven and earth as rain fell inside the Spirit Spring Space.
• The space expanded dramatically, forming mountains, a lake, rivers, and new terrain; Yang Zhengshan recognized that his cultivation had advanced through his Martial Supremacy Dao Intent.

Yang Zhengshan comprehended the Way of Heaven and Earth, expanded his plans for the transformed space, and left Star Moon Island with Yu Qingyi to travel. In their absence, Yang Mingzhao returned home and began considering what he could do without his parents watching over him.

• Yang Zhengshan realized the lotus petal had helped him comprehend the Way of Heaven and Earth, though he still needed to study how to harness its Dao Intent.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi explored the space's new terrain and planned to gather plants and animals during a long journey.
• Yang Zhengshan entrusted Star Moon Island's affairs to Yang Mingcheng and Yang Mingzhi, then left with Yu Qingyi.
• Yang Mingzhao returned the day after his parents departed and learned they would be away for at least a year.
• Yang Mingzhao reunited with Zhu Yaoyuan and their children, stayed home for three days, and then began making plans.

Yang Mingzhao gathered money, supplies, pills, and weapons for a trip to Da Rong, recruiting Wu Zheng to join him. Zhu Yaoyuan mistook his preparations for evidence that he was keeping another woman and running away, but Yang Mingzhao reassured her and stayed with her for the night.

• Yang Mingzhao borrowed wine, tea, silver, and pills from Green Mist, Red Cloud, Yang Mingzhi, and Wang Mingzhe.
• Yang Mingzhao persuaded Wu Zheng to join him on a trip to Da Rong, promising they would find fights in Bashu.
• Yang Mingzhao searched his storage room for useful weapons and packed valuables to sell during the trip.
• Zhu Yaoyuan confronted Yang Mingzhao, suspecting he was leaving to keep another woman, and asked to go with him.
• Yang Mingzhao explained that he was handling a matter, swore he would not take a mistress, and reassured Zhu Yaoyuan before they spent the night together.

Yang Mingzhao traveled toward Kuizhou Prefecture while Emperor Yanping’s sudden collapse prompted him to name Chen Zhaojun regent and offer advice for ruling. As news of the emperor’s grave illness spread, the hidden Shenyang Sect considered its next move and chose to wait.

• Yang Mingzhao left Star Moon Island with Wu Zheng, guards, and seven young men, exchanged his silver notes in Songhe Prefecture, and continued west by river.
• Emperor Yanping woke after fainting and ordered Chen Zhaojun to act as regent while Chen Zhaoxuan went to Daizhou.
• Emperor Yanping advised Chen Zhaojun on court appointments, warned him about the Imperial Merchants, and told him to summon Yang Zhengshan if needed.
• Emperor Yanping issued decrees naming Chen Zhaojun regent and sending Chen Zhaoxuan to his fief, and news of his grave illness spread throughout Da Rong.
• Lin Fu'an learned that Emperor Yanping was gravely ill and told the Shenyang Sect to wait before acting.

Yang Mingzhao gathered supplies and began building a rebel force in Three Arrow Valley, despite Wu Zheng’s doubts and the soldiers’ poor training. He organized seven hundred recruits into units and assigned commanders, leaving his uprising underway as Chen Hengchang and the Shenyang Sect prepared for their own chance to act.

• Lin Fu'an ordered Chen Hengchang to prepare to raise troops in Jiujiang Prefecture.
• Chen Hengchang learned that Emperor Yanping was gravely ill and the Crown Prince had assumed regency, but he chose to wait for the Shenyang Sect’s signal while preparing his followers.
• Yang Mingzhao brought supplies and two hundred long sabers to Three Arrow Valley, then asked Wu Zheng and seven young men from Star Moon Island to join his rebellion.
• Wu Zheng agreed to stay in the stockade, though he said he would capture Yang Mingzhao and take him home if Madam sent word.
• Yang Mingzhao reorganized seven hundred recruits into seven sentries under Deng Xing and Han Lin, appointed Zhao Kai and the other Star Moon Island youths as commanders, and made Ma Yan administrative officer.

Yang Mingzhao discussed how to build a government and improve commoners’ lives after taking county towns, focusing on land reform while considering how to avoid alienating martial forces. The group agreed they could begin with their current strength, though they might eventually face the imperial court and powerful local factions.

• Yang Mingzhao assigned Ma Yan to train scholars and asked Wu Zheng to take Chen Buyu as a nominal disciple.
• Yang Mingzhao said their purpose was to improve commoners’ lives, and Zhang Mo proposed distributing land, reducing burdens, building waterworks, and encouraging farming.
• Yang Mingzhao proposed issuing land deeds and re-registering fields after taking county towns, but Li Dagui warned that seizing land from martial forces could make them enemies.
• Li Dagui suggested giving martial artists preferential treatment and allowing them to do business so they could obtain cultivation resources and support the new regime.
• Yang Mingzhao recognized that the imperial court, local gentry, and martial forces could all oppose them, while Yang Ze argued they could start by occupying one or two counties and deal with greater challenges later.

Yang Mingzhao and his allies chose Taiping County as their first target and began preparing to take it in a month. Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan visited Snow Spirit Palace and traded spirit fruits and pills for the Spirit Attachment Pill recipe, though the tiny Cloud Berries and Cold Pine Fruits left him suspecting he had been swindled.

• Yang Mingzhao agreed with Deng Xing's proposal to attack Taiping County first and ordered preparations, including training soldiers and stockpiling materials.
• Ma Yan organized valley residents into offices to register households and farmland, while Lu Bo and Li Dagui traveled to arrange warehouses and purchase supplies.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi reached Snow Spirit Palace after traveling through Lisheng Dynasty and the Snow Plains, bringing gifts for Xue Qiao'er.
• Yang Zhengshan asked Granny Xue for the Spirit Attachment Pill recipe and revealed his ability to wield thunder after she deduced he had begun comprehending Dao Intent.
• Yang Zhengshan offered spirit fruits and True Origin Pills, and Snow Spirit Palace exchanged the recipe and four kinds of spirit fruit for his goods.
• Yang Zhengshan saw that the Cloud Berries and Cold Pine Fruits were tiny and wondered whether Granny Xue had swindled him.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi visited the Snow Spirit Palace and the northern towns before Yang Mingzhao began his planned uprising in Taiping County. After Yang Mingzhao struck a city-gate yamen runner, his forces launched their attack across the county city.

• Yang Zhengshan exchanged ten True Origin Pills for spirit fruits and learned that different fruits could be used to make distinct Spirit Attachment Pills.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi explored the Menghe Mountain Range, observed the divided Wuliang Royal Court, and visited Yang Chengye in Chongshan Town and old friends in Beiyuan Town.
• Yang Mingzhao and Yang Ze rode through Taiping County and saw tenant farmers' poverty before reaching the poorly maintained county city.
• At the city gate, Yang Mingzhao confronted a yamen runner who was threatening a hungry youth and knocked the runner down with his sheathed sword.
• Chen Buyu signaled the uprising, and Yang Mingzhao's men rushed out to attack the county office and overpower the gate guards.

Yang Mingzhao and his men seized Taiping County’s office and wealthy households, then invited the commoners to accuse them publicly. The first accusations brought immediate punishment, while the people began to gather and speak up.

• Li Zhongping fled the county office with a chest of silver, but Li Cheng captured him as Chen Buyu took control of the office and the city gates were closed.
• Lin Baitao ventured out to find treatment for his feverish younger sister, and Doctor Li agreed to examine her after learning that the patrols were allowing people through.
• Yang Mingzhao discovered that Li Zhongping’s silver came from withheld taxes and ordered the officials’ homes and the city’s wealthy households confiscated.
• The young men seized seven or eight wealthy households, suffering casualties while killing more than fifty people during the raids.
• Yang Mingzhao held a public hearing outside the county office and promised to punish anyone accused by the commoners.
• A man accused one of the An family’s sons of beating him, and Yang Mingzhao ordered the son given twenty strokes of the paddle.

Yang Mingzhao seized Taiping County, punished officials and wealthy households, and spent two months registering residents and redistributing land and property. As fleeing gentry appealed to Prefect Su Muye for troops, Su admitted he had no resources to suppress the uprising and chose to do nothing.

• Yang Mingzhao restored a grain shop to its owner, heard accusations against local officials and wealthy families, and ordered executions after the commoners demanded County Magistrate Li Zhongping’s death.
• Yang Mingzhao declared himself County Magistrate, ordered Taiping County’s registers rewritten, and assigned his men to register residents and distribute land to taxable adults.
• Deng Xing and Han Lin reported taking the Patrol Division and destroying the Yan Family, while Yang Mingzhao ordered land allocations across the county and reserved nearby fields for his Three Arrow Valley followers.
• Over two months, Yang Mingzhao’s forces redistributed fields, abolished indentured contracts and usurious loans, and filled the county treasury and granary with silver and grain taken from gentry and landlords.
• Yan Jifei and Huang Hengtai asked Prefect Su Muye to send troops against the uprising, but Su, lacking soldiers, money, and grain, decided to lie flat instead.

Yang Mingzhao consolidated his control of Taiping County while Emperor Yanping died and a devastating drought threw three provinces into chaos. Meanwhile, Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi traveled through Wanshan Ridge and onward to the Yilan Dynasty, deciding to visit the Martial God Hall in search of spirit fruits.

• Yang Mingzhao ordered his followers to strengthen Taiping County by recruiting scholars and soldiers, repairing irrigation, restoring industries and trade, and building local defenses.
• Emperor Yanping died, and Crown Prince Chen Zhaojun became Emperor Jianxing as drought and famine plunged Longyuan, Longxi, and Longnan into disorder.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi saw the drought-stricken lands of Longyuan and left Spirit Spring Water in Wanshan Ridge to help people survive on plants there.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi traveled through Bashu without realizing that their son Yang Mingzhao was rebelling in Taiping County, then crossed into the Dongyu and Yilan dynasties.
• After hearing that the Martial God Hall had two kinds of spirit fruit trees, Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi decided to visit it and look for an opportunity to seize a spirit fruit.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi used Dao Intent Sacred Lotus seeds to cultivate, and Yu Qingyi discovered that her dao intent let her control and accelerate plant growth. They reached Martial God City, where Yu Qingyi claimed they were friends of Chai Wujie to gain an audience, leaving Yang Zhengshan face-to-face with the man he had nearly killed.

• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi cultivated with Dao Intent Sacred Lotus seeds, gaining insights comparable to years of practice in a brief period.
• Yu Qingyi demonstrated her plant-related dao intent by creating vines and accelerating plants, but she exhausted herself trying to affect a Three-Yellow Plum.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi set out for Martial God Hall and were impressed by the size and prosperity of Martial God City.
• At the city gate, Yu Qingyi claimed they were friends of Chai Wujie, and the guards brought them to a reception courtyard.
• Chai Wujie arrived and recognized Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi, while Yang Zhengshan greeted him cheerfully despite their hostile history.

Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi traded spirit fruits with Chai Wujie, then withdrew to refine pills while Da Rong’s drought and banditry worsened. The chapter ended with Zhou Lan confronting a bandit-held Longyang Prefecture whose starving refugees outside the city obstructed an assault.

• Yang Zhengshan exchanged two True Origin Pills and two Three-Yellow Plums for Martial God Hall’s Seven-Orifice Pulse-Clearing Fruit and Dragon Bone Flower, and Chai Wujie agreed to end their past grudge.
• Yang Zhengshan and Yu Qingyi left Martial God Hall, avoided going to Great Yue, and secluded themselves in the Spirit Spring Space to refine pills.
• Yang Zhengshan practiced refining the Jade Bone Ice Heart Pill and Tendon Changing Pill before preparing to attempt the Spirit Attachment Pill.
• As the drought and roving banditry continued into Jianxing’s third year, Zhou Lan led twenty thousand soldiers south to Longyang Prefecture.
• Song Hao reported that refugees gathered outside several nearby counties, and Zhou Lan realized the bandits were using them to prevent her army from attacking the city without endangering the starving people.

Zhou Lan captured Longyuan’s cities but halted her campaign to resettle refugees and seek more grain, while Prince of Great Liang’s powerful rebel army besieged Daizhou. Prince Dai, Chen Zhaoxuan, faced the city’s imminent fall and was urged to escape, but he asked what would happen to the people left behind.

• Zhou Lan recruited refugees to build a camp and feed them, then ambushed and routed over ten thousand roaming bandits as they tried to flee Longyuan.
• Zhou Lan settled refugees by organizing well-digging and farming, took Longyang Prefecture and two more prefectures, then stopped when she lacked grain and troops to continue.
• Yang Chengye and Niu Zhuang agreed to send Zhou Lan three hundred thousand dan of grain and fodder from Chongshan Town.
• Prince of Great Liang ordered his organized army to attack Daizhou City after a twenty-day siege, with thirty catapults ready.
• Chen Zhaoxuan defended Daizhou City alongside its civilians and asked whether reinforcements were coming; Liang Zhiman said none were available and urged him to escape through the north gate.
• Chen Zhaoxuan asked Liang Zhiman what would happen to him if Chen escaped alone.

Chen Zhaoxuan tried to lead his family out of besieged Daizhou City, but his son died and Princess Consort Dai took her own life during the escape. Chen Zhaoxuan died fighting the rebels, while Fang An fled with his daughter toward Shanhe Province; news of the defeat reached Chen Zhaojun, who mourned his brother and felt powerless.

• Chen Zhaoxuan refused to abandon Daizhou City but arranged for his family to escape with guards and servants.
• Chen Zhaoxuan led fewer than a hundred people through the north gate and fought a path northeast through the rebel forces.
• A rebel cavalryman killed Chi'er, and Princess Consort Dai took her own life after urging Chen Zhaoxuan to escape.
• Grief-stricken, Chen Zhaoxuan fought alone until the rebels killed him, while the Prince of Great Liang ordered his body buried.
• Fang An escaped with the unconscious Princess and reached Shanhe Province after three days, while Daizhou City fell and Liang Zhiman died.
• Chen Zhaojun learned of Chen Zhaoxuan's death and mourned his brother, feeling powerless over the worsening situation.