Chapter Summaries

In Kunlun Mountain, an earthquake exposed a living Jiao, while Verdant Green Maiden met King Shang Di Xin as the Zhou army closed in on Lu Tai. Di Xin killed himself in a sacrificial rite, and Verdant Green Maiden set Lu Tai ablaze after collecting his Heart's Blood.

• An earthquake exposed dark teal scales in Kunlun Mountain, and an investigation team discovered a colossal Jiao alive inside the mountain.
• As the Anti-Zhou Army advanced on Lu Tai, Di Xin encountered Verdant Green Maiden and asked whether she had helped Xi Qi.
• Verdant Green Maiden explained that she had intervened in earlier dynastic changes and told Di Xin he was smarter than Xia Jie.
• Di Xin asked Verdant Green Maiden to set Lu Tai ablaze and offer him as a sacrifice so he could curse the Zhou Dynasty to turmoil.
• Di Xin stabbed himself through the heart, and Verdant Green Maiden collected his Heart's Blood and set Lu Tai on fire.

Verdant Green Maiden thwarted three Daoists who tried to capture her for the Art of Immortality and warned Ji Fa that their deal had begun. Years later, as Ji Fa lay dying, she visited him in Hao Jing and he asked whether she had been there for the past three years.

• Ji Fa watched Lu Tai burn and quieted the people calling for a sacrifice to Heaven.
• Three Daoists tried to force Verdant Green Maiden to reveal the Art of Immortality, but she escaped their array, beat them, and told them to relay that their deal had begun.
• The injured Daoists reported Verdant Green Maiden's message to Ji Fa, and Jiang Ziya warned him that he should not have made an enemy of her.
• Ji Fa sacrificed to Heaven outside Chao Ge, and the Zhou Army returned to Xi Qi a month later.
• Verdant Green Maiden watched Shang's Dragon Qi fade and said she would one day become a dragon.
• After Ji Fa had been ill for two years, Verdant Green Maiden visited his bedside; they spoke about the Daoists and she gave him a fruit, and Ji Fa asked whether she had been in Hao Jing for the past three years.

As Ji Fa neared death, he spoke with Verdant Green Maiden about her origins, his reign, and whether immortality was possible. After Ji Fa died, Verdant Green Maiden went to Ying Qiu to tell Jiang Ziya and ask him to teach her divination; when he returned from Hao Jing, he looked grave.

• Ji Fa asked Verdant Green Maiden about her connection to the Yellow Emperor, whether he had been a good king, and whether the Art of Longevity existed before dying in his bedchamber.
• Verdant Green Maiden left Hao Jing for Ying Qiu and told Jiang Ziya that Ji Fa had died of illness half a month earlier.
• Jiang Ziya prepared to travel to Hao Jing, but Verdant Green Maiden asked him to teach her the Art of Divination when he returned.
• Jiang Ziya stayed in Hao Jing for more than a month, then returned to Ying Qiu and found Verdant Green Maiden roasting seafood.
• Verdant Green Maiden offered Jiang Ziya some seafood and asked why he looked so grave.

After Jiang Ziya returned from quelling the Rebellion of the Three Guards, Green Maiden’s fortune-telling became so popular that she abandoned her stall, and the two resumed their easy companionship in Ying Qiu. As winter arrived, Jiang Ziya prepared for Great Zhou’s plan to build a new capital by the Luo River, while Green Maiden complained about the cold and urged him not to overwork.

• Jiang Ziya worried about the young Crown Prince and the vassal lords, but Green Maiden told him not to dwell on the matter and continued studying divination.
• When the Rebellion of the Three Guards broke out, Jiang Ziya led Qi State’s army to join Duke of Zhou, and Green Maiden predicted that he would return safely.
• While Jiang Ziya was away, Green Maiden opened a free fortune-telling stall, gained widespread fame, and then vanished when the crowds became unbearable.
• After Jiang Ziya returned, Green Maiden joked about robbing his tomb someday and asked him to arrange food before inviting him to catch fish.
• As the first heavy snow fell, Jiang Ziya explained that Great Zhou planned to build a new capital beside the Luo River, and Green Maiden warned him against doing too much himself.

After hibernating through winter, Verdant Green Maiden traveled with the Qi State Artisans to the Luo River to buy property near the new capital. At the construction site, Ji He mistook her for a daughter of the Imperial Clan of Jiang Qi and let her stay without paying rent.

• Verdant Green Maiden woke in early spring, returned with half a deer, and told Jiang Ziya she wanted to travel to the new capital to buy property.
• Jiang Ziya said the craftsmen were leaving in half a month, and Verdant Green Maiden joined the Qi State Artisans on their journey to the Luo River.
• Verdant Green Maiden told fortunes for the craftsmen in exchange for wild rabbits as the group traveled for a month to the construction site.
• Verdant Green Maiden approached Ji He at the site and asked how long Luoyi would take to build.
• Ji He introduced himself as the man in charge of building Luoyi and mistook Verdant Green Maiden for a daughter of the Imperial Clan of Jiang Qi.
• Verdant Green Maiden offered Ji He Coin Shells for rent, but he let her stay for free, and she gladly accepted.

Verdant Green Maiden watched Ji He cast a bronze vessel bearing an early inscription of “Central Realm,” then saw him leave Luoyang after his promotion. As growing demands from neighbors drove her to leave, Yao Jiang arrived and asked her to accept him as a disciple.

• Ji He told Verdant Green Maiden that Luoyi was complete and that the king had rewarded him, then asked her opinion about casting a bronze vessel.
• Ji He brought Verdant Green Maiden the finished vessel and recited its inscription, while she recognized the words “Central Realm” and predicted the vessel would become a treasure that safeguarded the realm.
• After King Zhou Ji Song moved people to Luoyi, Ji He was transferred back to Hao Jing; he bid farewell to Verdant Green Maiden and later stopped sending letters.
• Verdant Green Maiden grew weary of neighbors seeking blessings and matchmaking, and she packed her belongings to leave Luoyang.
• Yao Jiang met Verdant Green Maiden at her door, introduced himself, and asked her to accept him as her disciple.

Verdant Green Maiden’s refusal to take Yao Jiang as a disciple led him to found Tian Yuan Palace and hunt her, while she turned his followers into wolf food. After hearing of King Ji Man’s expedition to seek the Queen Mother of the West, she wondered whether that Immortal could teach her to become a dragon and spoke to Jiang Ziya’s grave.

• Yao Jiang begged Verdant Green Maiden to accept him as a disciple, but fled when she revealed her snake form.
• Yao Jiang returned with a mob to search Verdant Green Maiden’s home, but the neighbors defended her and she left Luoyang.
• Yao Jiang founded Tian Yuan Palace and organized a search for Verdant Green Maiden, who lured its cultivators into Xiao Mountain to feed the wolves.
• Tian Yuan Palace halted its search as legends spread of the Queen Mother of the West in Kunlun Mountain.
• King Ji Man led the Western Six Divisions on an expedition to seek immortality, and Verdant Green Maiden wondered if the Queen Mother could teach her to become a dragon.
• Verdant Green Maiden sat by Jiang Ziya’s grave outside Hao Jing and called on him to show himself.

Verdant Green Maiden followed King Mu of Zhou’s party toward Kunlun, where she discovered Yao Jiang alive and surrounded by Deathly Aura. She reached the mountain first, found no Jade Pond or Queen Mother of the West, and cracked open an egg that hatched into Qing Niao, who said she had been waiting for her.

• Verdant Green Maiden ignored Turtle Elder’s repeated warning not to go west after a fallen leaf changed her divination result.
• Verdant Green Maiden followed King Mu of Zhou’s party from a distance after sensing Deathly Aura above his carriage.
• King Mu of Zhou Ji Man asked Yao Jiang about reaching Kunlun and promised to help him destroy the Green Snake Demoness if he gained immortality.
• Verdant Green Maiden recognized Yao Jiang among the party and fled farther ahead rather than risk meeting him.
• Verdant Green Maiden reached Kunlun Mountain, found no Jade Pond or Queen Mother of the West, and cracked what she thought was a stone.
• A green bird hatched from the egg, introduced herself as Qing Niao, and told Verdant Green Maiden she had been waiting for her.

Verdant Green Maiden tricked Yao Jiang and Ji Man on Kunlun, then escaped with the Qing Niao and named the bird Hong Luan. She returned to Qi Mountain to hibernate, and when she woke in spring, Hong Luan could not find her.

• Verdant Green Maiden and the Qing Niao impersonated Kunlun immortals and made Yao Jiang and Ji Man kowtow before Yao Jiang recognized her as the Snake Demon.
• Ji Man ordered his guards and the Western Six Divisions to search Kunlun for Verdant Green Maiden, but she escaped with the Qing Niao.
• Verdant Green Maiden named the Qing Niao Hong Luan as they traveled east toward Qi Mountain.
• Verdant Green Maiden returned to Qi Mountain, hibernated through winter, and asked Hong Luan to wake her in spring.
• Hong Luan sealed Verdant Green Maiden's cave against hunters, but when spring came and she returned, Verdant Green Maiden was gone.

Verdant Green Maiden reunited with Hong Luan and learned that Ji Man had returned from his Western Expedition and was hunting women in green. After repeatedly beating Ji Man, she frightened him with the legend of the Banished Immortal, prompting him to rule Great Zhou diligently for decades.

• Verdant Green Maiden returned to find Hong Luan waiting with fruit, and the two set off for Hao Jing together.
• At Hao Jing, Verdant Green Maiden learned that Ji Man had returned and summoned the people after his quest for immortality.
• Verdant Green Maiden discovered that Yao Jiang had died on the journey home and that Ji Man had ordered a hunt for women dressed in green.
• Verdant Green Maiden and Hong Luan sneaked into the Royal Palace and beat Ji Man, then she beat him again after he ordered his ministers to prioritize catching her.
• Verdant Green Maiden took Ji Man to Ji Fa's grave and invoked the royal legend of the Banished Immortal, leaving Ji Man convinced he might be Great Zhou's last ruler.
• Ji Man returned to the palace, hid what had happened, and ruled diligently for decades before meeting King Wu with a clear conscience.

After the fall of Western Zhou, Verdant Green Maiden rescued Bao Si from the ruined palace and settled with her in a remote valley. When Bao Si died, Verdant Green Maiden spent more than a hundred years honoring her promise to bury her with her parents, then continued east.

• Quan Rong soldiers sacked Hao Jing, and Ji Gong Sheng died in the Royal Palace.
• Verdant Green Maiden comforted Bao Si, led her away from the palace, and settled with her in a mountain valley.
• More than ten years later, Bao Si heard that Ji Yijiu had become ruler and laughed, then fell seriously ill the following year.
• Bao Si asked Verdant Green Maiden to bury her with her parents, and Verdant Green Maiden promised to do so.
• More than a hundred years later, Verdant Green Maiden used Turtle Elder's divination to find Bao Si's parents' grave and moved Bao Si's remains there.
• Hong Luan scattered stolen rice over the grave as an offering, and Verdant Green Maiden headed east.

Verdant Green Maiden returned to her overgrown valley, where a rumor of ghosts gave it the name Ghost Valley. Expecting visitors, she adopted the name Gui Gu Zi, but Hong Luan accidentally revealed herself to Pang Juan and Sun Boling before their planned third visit.

• Verdant Green Maiden and Hong Luan chased away people picking fruit in the valley, then argued after Verdant Green Maiden tricked Hong Luan into picking her a fruit.
• Hong Luan reported that rumors of ghosts had spread, and Verdant Green Maiden asked her for feathers to buy new clothes before announcing her stage name, Gui Gu Zi.
• Pang Juan and Sun Boling knelt outside Ghost Valley and paid their respects to the Immortal twice.
• When Pang Juan and Sun Boling prepared to leave and gather gifts, Hong Luan stopped them and mistakenly thought they were abandoning their visit.
• Hong Luan learned that Pang Juan and Sun Boling intended to return with gifts, then awkwardly suggested they go prepare them first.

Verdant Green Maiden took Pang Juan and Sun Boling as disciples in Ghost Valley, teaching them conduct and military strategy before graduating them through Temple Calculation. Pang Juan left to pursue his ambitions, while Sun Boling stayed behind, and Verdant Green Maiden asked him why he had not left.

• Hong Luan brought Pang Juan and Sun Boling’s gifts to Verdant Green Maiden, who invited them into Ghost Valley and accepted them as her disciples.
• Verdant Green Maiden put the boys to work maintaining the valley, and Pang Juan worried that they were not learning practical skills.
• Verdant Green Maiden began teaching the disciples Military Strategy, drawing on her long experience of warfare.
• After years of study and repeated Temple Calculation contests, Pang Juan and Sun Boling finally drew with Verdant Green Maiden and were declared ready to graduate.
• Pang Juan left Ghost Valley to seek success in the Warring States, while Sun Boling declined to go with him and returned to Verdant Green Maiden.
• Verdant Green Maiden asked Sun Boling why he had not left the valley.

Sun Boling finally defeated Verdant Green Maiden in their Temple Calculation and left Ghost Valley for Da Liang despite her warning not to meet Pang Juan. Pang Juan welcomed him as a retainer, then privately questioned him about what he had learned from Gui Gu Zi.

• Verdant Green Maiden ate Hong Luan's prized fruit, then made up for it by traveling to find her a better one.
• Sun Boling repeatedly lost Temple Calculations to Verdant Green Maiden until her advice helped him develop his own approach, and he finally won.
• Sun Boling decided to leave Ghost Valley and meet Pang Juan in Da Liang, but Verdant Green Maiden warned him not to go or meet his senior brother.
• Sun Boling accepted Pang Juan's invitation, and Verdant Green Maiden acknowledged that she could not change history.
• Pang Juan welcomed Sun Boling to Da Liang and offered him a place as his retainer.
• Pang Juan met Sun Boling alone and asked whether Gui Gu Zi had taught him new Military Strategy or other arts.

Pang Juan framed Sun Boling for betraying Wei, had him punished and renamed Sun Bin, and left him mad and begging in Da Liang. A year later, Verdant Green Maiden found him and drove off his guards before taking him to get food.

• Pang Juan moved Sun Boling to a house outside Daliang City, where Wei Wuzu found forged letters to the Qi State beneath his bed.
• Pang Juan announced the King's Command sentencing Sun Boling to Knee Punishment and Ink Punishment, then stripped away his name and called him Sun Bin.
• Sun Bin was abandoned in Daliang, went mad, and was watched by Pang Juan's men as the city avoided him.
• Verdant Green Maiden arrived in Da Liang a year later and recognized the beggar as Sun Boling, though he insisted he was Sun Bin.
• Verdant Green Maiden fought off the men guarding Sun Bin and hauled him away to get something to eat.

Verdant Green Maiden rescued Sun Boling from Pang Juan’s abuse and confronted her former disciple in Da Liang. She left the city with Sun Boling, while Pang Juan feared his rival might one day threaten him.

• Verdant Green Maiden brought Sun Boling to an eatery, fed him, and discovered he could barely manage to eat.
• Pang Juan arrived intending to confront the people who had approached Sun Boling, but recognized Verdant Green Maiden and knelt to greet his master.
• Verdant Green Maiden insisted on taking Sun Boling away, and Pang Juan reluctantly agreed to prepare a carriage.
• Pang Juan angrily accused the proprietor of being a Qi State Spy, then dismissed the arrest after Hong Luan pecked him on the head.
• Pang Juan worried that Sun Boling could become his greatest threat as Verdant Green Maiden traveled east with him and stopped at a riverbank.

Verdant Green Maiden sent Sun Boling to Qi and began a year-long break from Ghost Valley before accepting Su Qin as a resident after he offered her sacrificial meat. After three years studying the Vertical and Horizontal Strategy Treatises, Su Qin left to pursue his ambition of uniting the Warring States against Qin.

• Verdant Green Maiden waited by the river with Sun Boling for Hong Luan, then turned away a Qi State Spy who had approached without a proper envoy.
• Hong Luan returned and complained about Pang Juan, and Chunyu Kun arrived to invite Verdant Green Maiden and Sun Boling to Qi.
• Verdant Green Maiden let Sun Boling go with Chunyu Kun, who drove the carriage toward Linzi, and she decided to take a year off.
• Verdant Green Maiden tried to flee when she recognized Su Qin, but accepted his sacrificial meat and gave him the Vertical and Horizontal Strategy Treatises.
• Su Qin studied the treatises in Ghost Valley for three years, then told Verdant Green Maiden he planned to travel the Warring States and persuade them to resist Qin.

After Wei attacked Zhao, Pang Juan withdrew from Handan to defend Da Liang, then pursued the retreating Qi Army into the Ma Ling pass. Sun Boling revealed himself to Pang Juan as the Qi Army surrounded him, leaving the former senior brothers facing each other.

• Su Qin told Verdant Green Maiden that Pang Juan was leading Wei’s attack on Zhao, and she left to collect someone’s body.
• Pang Juan received King of Wei’s order to return to Da Liang because Tian Ji’s Qi Army had besieged the capital, and he withdrew from Handan.
• King of Wei ordered Pang Juan to pursue the Qi Army, and Pang Juan followed it to Ma Ling after hearing that its commander was Tian Ji.
• Verdant Green Maiden spoke with Sun Boling on the cliff, where he confirmed he intended to kill Pang Juan.
• The Qi Army split and surrounded Pang Juan’s force at the Ma Ling pass, and Sun Boling revealed himself to Pang Juan.

Verdant Green Maiden buried Pang Juan and continued toward Ghost Valley with Hong Luan, but Zhang Yi stopped them and asked to become her disciple. She accepted after seeing his generous gifts and drove off with him, joking that she planned to kill him and take his belongings.

• Verdant Green Maiden buried Pang Juan beneath a nameless mountain, while Hong Luan brought her wild fruit to eat.
• Verdant Green Maiden tried to hand Hong Luan over to the person who stopped them, then asked whether she could join his bandit gang.
• Zhang Yi introduced himself and recognized Verdant Green Maiden as the Ghost Valley Master, but she initially refused to take him as a disciple.
• Zhang Yi showed Verdant Green Maiden the generous gifts he had brought, and she immediately agreed to accept him as her disciple.
• Verdant Green Maiden drove Zhang Yi away in his carriage and joked that she would kill him and keep his belongings.

Verdant Green Maiden sent Zhang Yi to Qin with the Zongheng Ce, where he rose to become its Prime Minister while Su Qin pursued the opposing alliance. Years later, Zhang Yi left Qin after King Ying Si died and met his master again outside Hangu Pass.

• Verdant Green Maiden took Zhang Yi to Hangu Pass, gave him the Zongheng Ce, and sent him to Qin to meet his new employer.
• Verdant Green Maiden told Hong Luan she would stop trying to change history, and they left Ghost Valley to travel.
• Zhang Yi became Qin's Prime Minister, while Su Qin's Vertical Alliance failed and he returned to Ghost Valley before disappearing again.
• After Ying Si died, Crown Prince Dang removed Zhang Yi as Prime Minister and declared that Qin would rely on the sword rather than eloquence.
• Zhang Yi left Qin through Hangu Pass and encountered Verdant Green Maiden, who asked whether he had lived his life to the fullest.