Recaps

Aaron went to Alum Tower to spread rumors that might reach the Emperor, while Song Gongbao arranged a meeting with Wang Shishi through Young Master Yan. When Aaron saw Pearl being thrown out and stripped of her belongings, he intervened.

• Aaron visited Alum Tower, learned that Wang Shishi was not receiving ordinary guests, and chose to drink and play games with two courtesans instead of paying to seek an audience.
• Song Gongbao arrived disguised as a merchant with Young Master Yan, bribed Madam Li, and secured permission to present a poem to Wang Shishi.
• Aaron heard a commotion outside and learned that the brothel's servants were driving out the sick courtesan Pearl and taking her belongings.
• Aaron called out to stop the servants, drawing the attention of the onlookers.

Aaron treated Pearl at the brothel by growing Pear-and-Fire Jujubes, which cured her grave illness and amazed the onlookers. His display caught the attention of a young lady, who asked for him to be invited in.

• Aaron persuaded Pearl to accept his treatment after Madam Li offered to let him take her away.
• Aaron planted a pear and a jujube, which rapidly grew into fruit-bearing trees before the astonished crowd.
• Brother Tianru accused Aaron of being a fraud and planned to expose him, but he and his companion were stunned by the trees.
• Pearl ate Aaron’s fruit and was instantly healed, then thanked him tearfully.
• A maid told the young lady that Aaron had cured Pearl, and the young lady ordered him invited in.

Aaron used the pear and jujube trees and Pearl’s recovery to spread his reputation as a Daoist with miraculous powers, then accepted Pearl as his servant. After visiting Wang Shishi and giving her a jujube for her sick sister, Aaron returned to Great Vajra Temple, where Wushan questioned whether his Daoist arts were real.

• Aaron refused requests for more immortal fruit and left Alum Tower, while guests speculated that he was the Tiger-Riding Daoist.
• Pearl followed Aaron to Great Vajra Temple and became his servant after Little Jade frightened her at the entrance.
• When Wang Shishi invited Aaron to meet her, he went with Pearl and gave her a jujube for her frail younger sister.
• Aaron spent the night with Wang Shishi and recited a verse praising her as he walked back to Great Vajra Temple.
• Aaron gave Roast Meat Monk a jujube and declared that their old favors were settled.
• Wushan asked Roast Meat Monk whether Aaron’s Daoist powers were real, and Roast Meat Monk said the jujube could be tested.

The Emperor agreed to summon Aaron, the Void Spirit Master, to the Thousand Autumn Banquet after hearing of his miraculous Pear-and-Fire Jujubes, despite ministers’ objections. As Aaron prepared to attend, Fire Cloud Master admitted his mistake to an Exalted Bright Way elder, while Wushan wondered whether Buddhist Dharma might also manifest in the capital.

• The Emperor heard that Aaron could cure illness with Pear-and-Fire Jujubes and ordered him invited to the Thousand Autumn Banquet.
• Tong Jing and other ministers objected to inviting a Taoist, but Jia Yan proposed testing Aaron before the court, and the Emperor agreed.
• Five Bright Master delivered the imperial invitation to Aaron at Great Vajra Temple, and Aaron accepted it while coldly watching the departing old Daoist.
• Fire Cloud Master confessed to an Exalted Bright Way elder that he had underestimated others and tried to monopolize the latent dragon’s destiny; the elder admitted he could not understand Aaron’s fate or Daoist arts.
• Wushan told Abbot White Brow that the Fire Jujube worked like a miracle, and he wondered whether Buddhist Dharma could also manifest in the capital.

At the Thousand Autumn Banquet, Aaron was summoned before the Emperor and challenged by officials and Daoists who called him a fraud. He challenged an imperial True Person to demonstrate his arts before the Son of Heaven, and the Emperor watched with interest as the gathering demanded proof.

• Aaron attended the Thousand Autumn Banquet at Gen Mountain and was summoned from his seat in the corner to the palace hall.
• A censor demanded that Aaron kneel before the Emperor, while a Daoist official accused him of ignorance and said his Daoist certificate was bought.
• Aaron admitted he had never read the Daoist classics but declared that the Great Dao rested within his heart.
• Aaron challenged a purple-robed True Person to demonstrate his methods and answer whether they could work and grant longevity.
• The True Person argued that Daoist arts could not function before the Son of Heaven, and the Emperor showed interest in seeing Aaron prove himself.

Aaron demonstrated miraculous fruit before the court, earning the emperor’s favor and the title of True Person Tongling Yuanmiao, Attendant to the Imperial Presence at Chonghe Hall. After returning to his lodgings, he tested his newly unlocked Sword Control Technique and planned to use his position to gain more power, while the emperor discovered signs of renewed health the next morning.

• Aaron grew Pear Jujubes and Fire Jujubes before the court, and a Fire Jujube healed a young eunuch’s deep palm wound.
• Despite ministers demanding Aaron’s execution, the emperor ate a Fire Jujube and appointed him True Person Tongling Yuanmiao, earning Aaron 10,000 Destiny Points and unlocking the Sword Control Technique.
• Tong Jing and Purple Stone True Person discussed Aaron’s ability to use Daoist arts before the throne and feared that his presence would destabilize the realm.
• Aaron returned to his courtyard, told Pearl to prepare to move into his new residence, and practiced controlling a dagger with the Sword Control Technique.
• Aaron planned to expand his influence by undermining the Exalted Bright Way and gaining the emperor’s trust through longevity medicine.
• The emperor discovered that his white hair had turned black and learned from Imperial Physician Gong that his pulse was strong and his chronic ailments had vanished.

Aaron moved into his imperial residence and received three imperial bestowals in one day, including gifts, treasure, and eight palace maids. He learned that the emperor was rewarding him to win his help with the Pear-and-Fire Jujube immortal tree, and promised to visit the palace the next day to pick its fruit.

• Aaron arrived at his new residence with Pearl, appointed Kou San as steward, and put Pearl in charge of the maids and his inner chambers.
• Eunuch Ma delivered an imperial edict with robes, money, and other gifts, which Aaron ordered Kou San to record and store.
• Eunuch Ma returned with medicinal ingredients, gold, and silver, then came a third time with eight palace maids and an oral decree.
• Eunuch Ma asked why the emperor and palace attendants could not benefit from the Pear-and-Fire Jujube immortal tree’s fruit, and Aaron promised to pick fruit for the emperor the next day.
• Eunuch Ma explained that civil officials had threatened to resign over Aaron, so the emperor had increased his rewards while seeking his help.

Aaron visited the Emperor at Gen Mountain Palace Garden and blamed the loss of the Fire Jujube tree’s efficacy on Qian Tianru, securing the censor’s demotion. The Emperor still sought longevity, while Eunuch Ma doubted Aaron’s favor could last.

• Aaron arrived at Gen Mountain Palace Garden, where Qian Tianru denounced him as a demonic Daoist over the palace maids.
• Aaron learned that officials believed a Daoist who accepted palace women should castrate himself and suspected someone at court had arranged the gift to undermine him.
• Aaron told the Emperor that the Fire Jujube tree had lost its efficacy because Heaven disapproved of petty men at court.
• Aaron named Qian Tianru as the petty man, and the Emperor demoted him two ranks and sent him to serve as a county deputy magistrate.
• Eunuch Ma obeyed the decree but privately predicted that Aaron’s sudden rise would eventually end in a sudden fall.

Aaron rejected Jia Yan’s offer of an alliance and sought to establish his authority as scholars rallied around the disgraced Qian Tianru. After Qian Tianru was bitten by a dog and contracted rabies, Aaron refused to save him, while the Exalted Bright Way worried that the emperor’s improving health could disrupt Great Song’s fate.

• Aaron refused Jia Yan’s proposal to join forces and dismissed his concerns about the Exalted Bright Way.
• Qian Tianru’s supporters praised his integrity as he departed for Lingnan, and Aaron watched as a stray dog bit him.
• Purple Stone True Person and Fire Cloud Master feared the emperor’s possible longevity would alter Great Song’s Mandate of Heaven, then learned Qian Tianru had rabies.
• Aaron denied responsibility for Qian Tianru’s injury when scholars confronted him, and he refused Xiahou Ying’s plea for a healing jujube.
• Aaron told Pearl he suspected the scholars might use any jujube he gave them to frame him, then joked that he should have poisoned one.

Aaron told the Emperor he could refine a Longevity Pill that would extend his life by a hundred or two years, then used the promise to secure a promotion. The Emperor made Aaron a third-rank True Lord, leaving Aaron protected for now but at risk once the pill was due.

• The Emperor asked Aaron, Purple Stone True Person, and Great Wisdom Chan Master whether immortality existed, and Aaron claimed a Longevity Pill made it possible.
• Aaron called Purple Stone True Person and Great Wisdom Chan Master false Daoists, while Great Wisdom Chan Master distinguished Buddhism from their supernatural arts.
• The Emperor rewarded Purple Stone True Person and Great Wisdom Chan Master, then Aaron offered to refine a life-extending pill within three months.
• Aaron said he wanted only to promote the Daoist tradition, and the Emperor decreed that he be titled Tongling Yuanmiao True Lord.
• Aaron accepted the promotion, believing the promised pill would keep the Emperor from killing him until it was ready.

After deceiving the emperor with promises of a Longevity Pill, Aaron used his new rank as True Lord to suppress Purple Stone True Person and returned to his residence to stage the pill-refining effort. Two months later, he sensed a crisis at the palace and saw the weak true dragon split apart and shatter.

• Aaron rebuked Purple Stone True Person for speaking disrespectfully and used his official fortune to make the Daoist suffer a backlash.
• Aaron encountered Roukang Imperial Princess in the imperial garden and wondered whether the emperor might intend to make her his wife.
• The emperor sent Aaron valuable materials, and Aaron sealed his residence while spreading the impression that he was refining a Longevity Pill.
• Tong Jing and Wen Ruoming discussed their resentment toward Aaron and the emperor’s rumored plan to marry Roukang Imperial Princess to him.
• Two months later, Aaron used spiritual vision to see the imperial palace’s weak true dragon split into four and shatter into five pieces.

After learning that the Emperor had died, Aaron fled the capital, killing the assassins and Daoist pursuers sent after him. Days later, the court executed Jia Yan, stripped Aaron of his title, and issued a warrant for him, leaving the regents and Tong Jing in control.

• Aaron divined that the Emperor had died, packed his imperial rewards, and set out with Little Jade after killing Pearl, whom he suspected of being a tracking spy; Kou San and the other servants stayed behind.
• Aaron and Little Jade fought off a band of deathsworn soldiers in the rain, then Aaron used the Sword-Riding Art to kill three sword masters and Purple Stone True Person, along with hidden crossbowmen.
• The court announced that the Emperor had died after falling into the water, placed the young eldest prince on the throne, and appointed the Grand Empress Dowager and three regents to govern.
• The regents executed Jia Yan and several others at Vegetable Market Gate, while the court revoked Aaron's title and issued a warrant for him.
• Aaron read the proclamation in disguise and considered how Tong Jing's command of the Imperial Guard could strengthen his position under the regents.

Aaron attacked Tong Jing at the Military Affairs Office, killing Wen Ruoming and then defeating Tong Jing’s guards and Daoists. He killed Tong Jing despite knowing that the realm might descend into chaos, and showed no sign of heavenly backlash.

• Tong Jing dismissed Wen Ruoming’s proposal to use the Hu people to restrain the frontier army and complained about the scholars’ impractical counsel.
• Aaron pursued Wen Ruoming into Tong Jing’s residence and killed him with a sword through the back.
• Tong Jing’s elite guards, archers, and Daoists confronted Aaron, but Aaron killed them with flying needles and swords.
• Aaron stabbed Tong Jing in the heart after Tong Jing pleaded for mercy, then explained that he had killed him because Tong Jing had wanted him dead.
• Aaron sensed the imperial palace, reflected that he faced no heavenly backlash, and predicted that Tong Jing’s death would leave the realm in chaos.

The Exalted Bright Way’s masters discussed Void Spirit Master’s power and the sect’s disrupted plans to transfer Great Song’s dragon qi. When military fortune collapsed, they suffered a severe backlash and the Grand Master foresaw the Hu people invading before Great Song could prepare.

• Purple Tone reported that Purple Stone had confirmed Void Spirit Master killed him and possessed an unmatched sword-controlling art within thirty zhang.
• The Grand Master revealed that the Exalted Bright Way had planned to exploit a future Hu invasion to split Great Song’s dragon qi and preserve part of the realm.
• The Grand Master ordered the sect to avoid involvement in the court’s change of dragon qi, while Purple Thunder argued they should kill Void Spirit Master to break free of their tribulation.
• The True Persons saw the court’s military cloud qi collapse, and the young dragon lost its strength as black serpents and tigers spread through the capital’s fortune.
• The Grand Master and the four True Persons vomited blood from the backlash, and the Grand Master warned that the Greedy Wolf Star heralded an early Hu invasion and Great Song’s coming ruin.

Poison Dragon and the Daoists recognized that Great Pine’s collapse was near and moved to advance their chosen hidden dragons. Chen Zitong was drawn toward military service after Azure Pine identified him as a future leader, while the emperor’s death left the south poised for rebellion.

• Poison Dragon decided to build his power in Jiangzhou Prefecture and planned to kill the hidden dragon backed by the Five Nights Sect.
• True Person sent Azure Pine to help the Daoists’ sixteen-year-old hidden dragon rise quickly as Great Pine’s mandate weakened.
• Azure Pine met Chen Zitong and predicted that he would soon become prominent, while Chen Zitong sought spirit fruit for his ill father, Chen Hong.
• Chen Zitong cut down a plum tree with a single saber stroke, and the Phoenix Soaring Army’s military commissioner offered him a scribe-clerk position.
• Chen Hong learned that the emperor had died and suspected the military commissioner was preparing to become a regional warlord.
• Azure Pine watched Chen Zitong’s fortune stir and planned to place future generals and strategists around him as the realm descended into chaos.

After fleeing the capital, Aaron tested the newly unlocked Bean-Sowing Soldier Summoning by resurrecting his pursuers as loyal Six Jia Divine Soldiers. He sent Zhan Da and the other soldiers to fight another pursuing force, leaving their combat strength to be tested.

• Aaron reflected that he needed a system of loyal followers to gain more fate points and considered using Bean-Sowing Soldier Summoning to seize the throne.
• A divine constable led constables and Hound through the forest to hunt Aaron, but Aaron killed them with his flying swords.
• Aaron used red beans to resurrect the corpses, discovered the soldiers obeyed him absolutely, and named their leader Zhan Da.
• Aaron tested the resurrected soldiers' obedience and concluded they were suited to physical labor and ordinary soldiering but not complex command.
• When eagle scouts spotted another group of pursuers, Aaron ordered Zhan Da to lead the soldiers and wipe them out.

Aaron used the Six Jia Divine Soldiers to ambush and destroy a squad pursuing the demonic Taoist. After refining the fallen constables into fifty-three soldiers, he considered how rapidly he could raise an army but resolved to use only the corpses of enemies and bandits.

• A squad of soldiers mistook Constable Zhan and his men for allies, but the constables attacked and fought with unnatural fearlessness, killing and wounding many soldiers.
• Zhan Da killed the deputy squad leader, but the squad leader beheaded him; Aaron then killed the squad leader and routed the fleeing soldiers with his flying sword.
• Aaron assessed the Six Jia Divine Soldiers as powerful but vulnerable to severe injuries, hunger, and disease, and noted that their tactics were inflexible.
• Aaron spent fate points to refine Zhan Da and the other usable corpses, creating a squad of fifty-three Six Jia Divine Soldiers.
• Aaron imagined how he could raise a huge army by refining the dead, then rejected the idea as evil and decided to use only the corpses of enemies and bandits.

Aaron considered how to fund his soldiers and resolved to challenge Buddhism, Daoism, and Confucianism by entering the struggle for the dragon. Meanwhile, Purple Radiance True Person planned to use Song Gongbao to suppress the rebels, while Exalted Bright Way forced Gongsun Luo to withdraw from the contest over Song Gongbao.

• Aaron calculated the cost of feeding his soldiers and decided he needed to enter the struggle for the dragon to gain influence and fate points.
• Purple Radiance True Person learned that Gao Qiu was struggling to control the Imperial Guard and ordered the Daoist temple to arrange amnesty for Song Gongbao.
• Gongsun Luo discovered that Song Gongbao's dragon vein branched from Great Song's, explaining why Song Gongbao wanted to accept amnesty, and hurried to persuade him to relocate his ancestral graves.
• Purple Jade True Person, Purple Thunder True Person, and Purple Tone True Person confronted Gongsun Luo and defeated his Daoist arts.
• Purple Thunder True Person demanded that Gongsun Luo swear not to interfere in the contest, and Gongsun Luo retreated after swearing the Dao oath.

Aaron returned to his village with an armed escort, planned to buy land and build a school, and dismissed the danger of the court’s pursuit. When Gu Yue asked why he had come home, Aaron said he intended to spread the Dao.

• Three Dog continued tending Fang La’s fields as Aaron arrived in the village with more than fifty armed men.
• Aaron returned to his home, ordered Zhan Da to clean it, and asked village head Fan Tong to help him buy ten mu of wasteland for houses and a school.
• Fan Tong warned his wife not to report Aaron to the authorities, fearing retaliation from Aaron’s guards and the danger of involving the county.
• Gu Yue visited Aaron and was shocked that he had returned despite the court’s hunt for Void Spirit Master.
• Aaron told Gu Yue that he had come home to spread the Dao.

Aaron announced the Supreme Way Sect’s scientific Dao and planned to use its teachings to build a new generation of officials who could displace the old ruling classes. He opened a school to recruit children by promising food, clothing, and a path to immortality, but his rejection of revered sages’ perfection left You Kuan shaken.

• Aaron told Gu Yue that the Supreme Way Sect taught science as a way to discover truth and said he intended to replace the old scholar and landlord classes with officials trained in its principles.
• After a month, Aaron completed a schoolhouse and barracks, and You Kuan agreed to attend his teaching at his mother’s urging.
• Aaron addressed villagers gathered at the schoolhouse, explained practical uses of science, and offered free food, clothing, and instruction to children under thirteen who joined his sect.
• You Kuan asked which lineage and deity the scientific Dao followed, and Aaron said the sect worshipped no statues and treated its members as students.
• Aaron declared that even the ancient sages had faults, leaving You Kuan pale and trembling as he recognized that Aaron would antagonize scholars throughout the land.

Aaron trained the children he had taken in and warned the county magistrate through a nighttime intrusion. Meanwhile, Song Gongbao accepted imperial amnesty and a minor general’s appointment, abandoning his chance to build an independent power as his strategist Wu Xing recognized that his ambition had faded.

• Aaron organized the children’s schooling and martial training, then decided it was time to confront County Magistrate Wei Zun.
• Wei Zun planned to report Aaron to the prefect, but woke with his head shaved and realized Aaron had entered his guarded bedroom as a warning.
• Song Gongbao accepted the imperial amnesty and the title of Tiger Might General, while a Daoist observed his dragon fate collapse into the destiny of a subject.
• Song Gongbao celebrated his appointment and told Wu Xing that he would commit all his elite forces to fighting Tian Ruhua.
• Wu Xing concluded that Song Gongbao had lost his ambition, then wondered whether Great Song truly possessed Heaven’s mandate.

Aaron decided that the Supreme Way Sect must enter the coming upheaval, so he taught its young disciples to make gunpowder-based Palm Thunder. In Jiangzhou, Poison Dragon persuaded Xiao Yang, a county commandant facing arrest, to rebel, and Xiao Yang agreed.

• Aaron judged that Song Gongbao's victory had only delayed the unrest and resolved to involve the Supreme Way Sect in the struggle for power.
• Aaron summoned Tai Chong, Tai He, and Tai Yin, established the Supreme Way Sect, and taught them to make and use Palm Thunder.
• Aaron reflected that gunpowder could bypass the restraints of dragon aura and that the sect's involvement in the coming turmoil could gain it influence and destiny.
• In Jiangzhou, Poison Dragon predicted that Great Song would fall into chaos around the third year of Taiping and met with Xiao Yang at the Drunken Immortal Tower.
• Xiao Yang said the prefectural government planned to move against him and agreed to rebel, while Poison Dragon pledged himself to Xiao Yang.

Poison Dragon urged Xiao Yang to kill Chen Zitong and his family so Xiao Yang could seize River Prefecture’s dragon aura. Meanwhile, Chen Zitong learned that the Phoenix Soaring Army was preparing to attack Void Spirit Master, and Daoist Azure Pine sensed the army’s fate turning ominous as the hidden dragon began to rise.

• Poison Dragon told Xiao Yang that Chen Zitong bore River Prefecture’s dragon aura and had to die for Xiao Yang to contend for the throne.
• Xiao Yang agreed to kill Chen Zitong’s entire family, and Poison Dragon rejoiced at his decisiveness.
• Chen Zitong reviewed reports about Fang La and Void Spirit Master, learning that the Phoenix Soaring Army planned to surround him with two thousand elite troops.
• Chen Zitong received a letter from his father asking him to return home and promised to visit in two days, though an unexplained dread seized him.
• Daoist Azure Pine saw the Phoenix Soaring Army’s military qi surge and foresaw a devastating blow to the army, while sensing that hidden changes remained.

Aaron led his Six Jia Divine Soldiers in capturing Black Wind Stronghold, revived the fallen soldiers and bandit chief, and gained supplies for his growing army. As he planned to establish a regime to fund his troops, he encountered Poison Dragon again after rescuing him from imperial cavalry.

• Zhan Da led Aaron’s five hundred men in an assault on Black Wind Stronghold, where the fearless Six Jia Divine Soldiers overwhelmed the bandits’ defenses.
• Aaron ordered the wounded and prisoners dealt with, killed the surrendered chief, then revived him as Black Two and restored the fallen soldiers with red beans.
• Aaron left one hundred men to occupy the stronghold and took the rest, along with its supplies, while considering how to establish a regime and tax territory to support his growing army.
• Zhan Da’s scouts spotted trouble on the road, and Aaron saw imperial cavalry pursuing Poison Dragon and two companions.
• Aaron used the Iron Hairpin Sword to kill the pursuing cavalry commander and his men, collected their warhorses, and greeted Poison Dragon, who said fate had treated him cruelly.

After Poison Dragon's rebellion failed, Aaron saved him from dying of backlash and brought him and the surviving Xiao family members to Lu Prefecture Market. Aaron seized control of the town, summoned his hidden forces, and took local prominent households hostage for grain, leaving Gu Yue hoping this would help prove his family's innocence.

• Poison Dragon recounted how Xiao Yang's rebellion failed, leaving him with Xiao Zi and Xiao Liang, and explained that the backlash from the failed cause was killing him.
• Aaron gave Poison Dragon a Fire Jujube that temporarily revived him and invited him to return to Lu Prefecture Market.
• Aaron led his disciplined soldiers into Lu Prefecture Market, took over the Patrol Inspectorate, and ordered Black Two to end the disguise and bring in all personnel and supplies.
• Zhan Da brought the town's prominent householders before Aaron, including the astonished Gu Yue.
• Aaron demanded a hundred shi of grain from each household and held the householders hostage, while Gu Yue privately hoped Aaron's treatment of him would clear the Gu Family of supporting the rebels.