Chapter Summaries

Zeng Anmin took charge of the Imperial City Department Southern Commander's Department and used his strength and threats to establish authority over its agents. After the agents dispersed, he pressed Dongfang Sheng to reveal where Sima Nan had really gone.

• Zeng Anmin arrived at the Southern Commander's Department and asked Dongfang Sheng where Director Sima was; Dongfang Sheng said Sima Nan had gone on patrol.
• Zeng Anmin warned the assembled agents against disobeying him or neglecting their duties, then promised benefits to those who worked with him.
• Dongfang Sheng scolded the agents for waiting for his lead instead of following Zeng Anmin's order to disperse.
• Zeng Anmin privately challenged Dongfang Sheng to tell the truth about Sima Nan's whereabouts, and Dongfang Sheng's expression changed.

Zeng Anmin learned that Sima Nan had gone to the Northern Commander's Department to challenge Bai Ziqing over Commander Xiang's unsolved death. He arrived at the Life and Death Arena as Bai defeated Sima, and Bai threatened him after Sima accused the Bai Family of being involved in the case.

• Zeng Anmin questioned Dongfang Sheng about Sima Nan's absence and learned that Sima had gone to confront the Northern Commander's Department over the stalled investigation into Commander Xiang's death.
• Zeng Anmin headed to the Northern Commander's Department, saying he would not let his subordinate suffer a loss there.
• Zeng Anmin and Dongfang Sheng arrived to find Bai Ziqing standing over a defeated Sima Nan on the Life and Death Arena.
• Dongfang Sheng explained that the arena allowed Imperial City Department members to settle disputes, with life and death left to fate.
• Sima Nan accused Bai Ziqing and the Bai Family of being connected to Commander Xiang's death, and Bai threatened him with the White Frost Sword.

Zeng Anmin stopped Bai Ziqing from killing Sima Nan and revealed that he had become the Southern Commander. After clearing up the misunderstanding, Zeng Anmin agreed to investigate the case of Xiang Wangxian, which implicated the Bai Family.

• Zeng Anmin leaped onto the Life and Death Arena to stop Bai Ziqing from striking Sima Nan, and the assembled commanders called him Second Master.
• Bai Ziqing sheathed his sword and pulled Zeng Anmin behind him protectively, confusing Dongfang Sheng.
• Zeng Anmin explained that he had come because of Sima Nan and revealed to Bai Ziqing that he had become the Southern Commander.
• Bai Ziqing rejoiced that Zeng Anmin was still in the capital and invited him for drinks, while Dongfang Sheng warned Sima Nan to curb his reckless temper.
• At the office, Bai Ziqing asked Zeng Anmin to help with Xiang Wangxian's case, and Zeng Anmin agreed to investigate it.

Zeng Anmin began investigating Xiang Wangxian’s murder after Bai Ziqing admitted the case had stalled. Bai explained that the Princess’s water domain could counter Xiang Wangxian’s fire domain, making her a suspect, though her motive remained unknown.

• Zeng Anmin urged Bai Ziqing to begin investigating immediately, and Bai admitted he had planned to seek help only when three days remained before the deadline.
• Sima Nan apologized to Zeng Anmin for cursing him before they met, then hurried away with Dongfang Sheng.
• Bai Ziqing took Zeng Anmin to the Secret Archives Repository and provided the case files, explaining that his investigation had led to a dead end.
• Bai recounted that Xiang Wangxian’s body had been found in an alley about four hours after the murder, with signs of a brief fight.
• Bai listed several powerful potential killers and said the Princess was especially suspicious because her water domain countered Xiang Wangxian’s fire domain; Zeng Anmin asked what motive she could have had.

Bai Ziqing told Zeng Anmin how his investigation of Xiang Wangxian’s death led to a human trafficking case involving the Bai Family, making him a prime suspect. Zeng Anmin’s deductions made Bai Ziqing realize Bai Zihua may have been framed to conceal a direct descendant’s crimes.

• Bai Ziqing admitted he had no alibi for the night Xiang Wangxian died and had visited the imperial city that evening.
• Bai Ziqing revealed that Xiang Wangxian had been investigating Bai Zihua for trafficking people, and that Bai Ziqing himself had arrested him.
• Zeng Anmin connected the trafficking case to Xiang Wangxian’s death and identified Bai Ziqing as a possible killer acting to protect the Bai Family.
• Bai Ziqing denied killing Xiang Wangxian and said the Emperor had summoned him that night, but he could not provide evidence.
• Zeng Anmin suggested Bai Zihua had been offered as a scapegoat, and Bai Ziqing admitted that this was likely true.

Zeng Anmin visited Bai Zihua in prison to uncover whether the Bai Family was behind the human-trafficking case. Using his Illusory Eye to make Bai Zihua believe he was speaking to the dead Xiang Wangxian, Zeng Anmin learned that Bai Zihua had traded away his clansman's nephew and claimed he was only a minor participant.

• Zeng Anmin dismissed the case files and decided to question Bai Zihua, while Bai Ziqing denied that the Bai Family was involved.
• Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing went to the Imperial City Department's Imperial Prison, where Bai Zihua was confined in a private cell and refusing food.
• Zeng Anmin sent Bai Ziqing outside and used his Illusory Eye to make Bai Zihua see Xiang Wangxian and believe he was in the underworld.
• Bai Zihua pleaded that abducting his clansman's nephew had been a misunderstanding and said he had traded the boy away without seeing him again.
• Zeng Anmin concluded from Bai Zihua's words that the Bai Family's direct line had not participated in the case.

Zeng Anmin interrogated Bai Zihua and learned that a man in black had coerced him into trafficking children born on Ten Spiritual Day, leading Zeng Anmin to suspect a connection to the Dao Sect. He and Bai Ziqing left the prison to pursue the mastermind, and Zeng Anmin hinted he might have a way to find him.

• Zeng Anmin threatened Bai Zihua with the Ghost Messengers until Bai Zihua confessed that a man in black had poisoned and coerced him into kidnapping children for nine years.
• Bai Zihua said the man required children born on Ten Spiritual Day who were under eight and virgins, and that he always came to conduct the transactions himself.
• Zeng Anmin told Bai Ziqing that the trafficking could be linked to the Dao Sect and its research into Bizarre Qi.
• Bai Ziqing suggested asking Wuxin Daoist for help, but Zeng Anmin said the captured Fu Sect Master might know more and that they first needed to find the man who poisoned Bai Zihua.
• Zeng Anmin admitted he had no plan, then said he might try something.

Zeng Anmin questioned Guanglingzi about the Dao Sect’s knowledge of people born on Ten Spiritual Day and learned they were used in secret arts and pill-making. Guanglingzi revealed that only the Dao Sect knew these uses, leaving Zeng Anmin with a crucial secret as he continued investigating the disappearances.

• Zeng Anmin told Bai Ziqing to investigate past cases of children disappearing on Ten Spiritual Day and bring the clues to him.
• Zeng Anmin returned to the Duke of Qi's Mansion and reflected on the connection between Ten Spiritual Day, Xiang Wangxian, and Bai Zihua.
• Zeng Anmin summoned Guanglingzi and asked what the Dao Sect knew about people born on Ten Spiritual Day.
• Guanglingzi explained that such people were used as catalysts for secret arts, ingredients for pills, or recruited into the Dao Sect for their talents.
• Guanglingzi described the legendary Enlightenment Pill and said it required the flesh and blood of a Heaven-Aversion Person to prevent the recipient from dying.
• Guanglingzi told Zeng Anmin that the Dao Sect’s knowledge of these uses was a top secret that he had shared with no one else.

Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing investigated the pattern of Ten Spiritual Day child disappearances and searched the Imperial City Department’s archives for a clue to the mastermind. Their findings narrowed the possible suspects to three powerful figures, including Zeng Anmin’s father.

• Zeng Anmin concluded that the child-trafficking mastermind likely had ties to the Dao Sect and substantial influence in the capital.
• Bai Ziqing brought Zeng Anmin records of child-trafficking cases, and Zeng Anmin found that Ten Spiritual Day children had disappeared in a monthly pattern for most of the past nine years, with one year of interruption.
• Zeng Anmin reasoned that the mastermind knew the Bai Family well and proposed investigating official transfers and political upheavals from the year the pattern broke.
• Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing searched the Imperial City Department’s archives overnight for officials connected to events five years earlier.
• Zeng Anmin narrowed the remaining suspects to Director Ji Qing, Dean Shi, and his father, Zeng Shilin.

While investigating Xiang Wangxian’s murder, Zeng Anmin connected Ji Qing to the Zhongyuan Count’s Estate Massacre and concluded that Ji Qing had taken the Xi Huang Diagram. He rushed to tell the Princess, who demanded an explanation after hearing his claim.

• Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing narrowed their suspicions in the child trafficking investigation to Shi and Ji Qing, but could not explain how Ji Qing might have killed Xiang Wangxian from the Northern Territory.
• Bai Ziqing mentioned Ji Qing’s role in Yinwu Exterminates Demons, prompting Zeng Anmin to realize the campaign had ended in the same year as the Zhongyuan Count’s Estate Massacre.
• Zeng Anmin concluded that Ji Qing had confiscated the Zhongyuan Count’s estate and taken the Xi Huang Diagram, and that Xiang Wangxian had been killed for discovering traces of it.
• Zeng Anmin rode to the palace and told the Princess that the Xi Huang Diagram was in Ji Qing’s hands.
• The Princess snapped her comb and demanded that Zeng Anmin explain his claim.

Zeng Anmin tried to persuade Princess that his feelings for her were genuine rather than a bargain for the Xi Huang Diagram. After he began to leave, Princess stopped him, leaving their agreement unresolved.

• Princess offered Zeng Anmin anything he wanted, including herself, if he helped her obtain the Xi Huang Diagram.
• Zeng Anmin recalled risking his life to protect Princess during the battle at Qinghai Bay and described how his feelings for her had grown.
• Princess called Zeng Anmin an idiot, and he took her response as a sign that she cared for him.
• Zeng Anmin claimed Princess shared his feelings, then said he would send her every clue about the Xi Huang Diagram and started to leave.
• Princess told Zeng Anmin to wait as he reached the door.

Zeng Anmin rejected the Princess’s demand for an immediate marriage but persuaded her to wait until after the demon-slaying campaign, then explained why he suspected Ji Qing had the Xi Huang Diagram. The Princess contacted Dean Shi to check whether Ji Qing had recently left the northern border, and Dean Shi said he had not seen him for some time.

• The Princess offered to marry Zeng Anmin if he married her properly, severed ties with Qin Wanyue and Sai Chuxue, and never returned to the Southern Dynasty, but he refused to promise.
• Zeng Anmin pulled the angry Princess into an embrace, and she bit his shoulder before agreeing to postpone marriage discussions until after the demon-slaying campaign.
• The Princess questioned Zeng Anmin’s martial arts progress, and he revealed he had reached the Fourth Rank Peak and was nearing a breakthrough.
• Zeng Anmin told the Princess that Ji Qing likely possessed the Xi Huang Diagram and might have killed Xiang Wangxian before returning to the northern border.
• The Princess used a Transmission Talisman to ask Dean Shi whether Ji Qing had recently left the northern border, and Dean Shi said he had not seen Ji Qing for some time.

Zeng Anmin realized Ji Qing might be gathering children born on Ten Spiritual Days and sent agents to search for him, but then discovered Huzi was born on such a day and had gone missing. Racing to West Mountain, Zeng Anmin was ambushed by Ji Qing, who revealed a green tail after their first clash and recognized that Zeng Anmin possessed the Xi Huang Diagram.

• Zeng Anmin deduced that Ji Qing might be in the capital seeking children born on Ten Spiritual Days, and persuaded the Princess to search without involving the Emperor.
• Zeng Anmin visited the Profound Formation Division, learned that Huzi had been missing for a day, and asked Liu Shishi to find him when she returned.
• At dinner, Zeng Anmin saw Huzi's Eight Characters on the garment Concubine Lin was sewing and realized Huzi had been born on a Ten Spiritual Day.
• Zeng Anmin learned that Huzi was last seen at West Mountain and rushed out of the city, suspecting Ji Qing was there.
• Ji Qing ambushed Zeng Anmin with a spear, then attacked him after saying Huzi would return once Zeng Anmin was dead.
• Zeng Anmin blocked Ji Qing's strike with his axe, and Ji Qing revealed a green tail and declared that the Xi Huang Diagram was in Zeng Anmin's hands.

Zeng Anmin fought Ji Qing with his Divine Artifact axe but was overwhelmed by the Third Rank warrior’s domain and spear. At the brink of death, Zeng Anmin awakened the Ancestral Dragon Diagram’s time attribute, froze time around Ji Qing, and brought his axe down.

• Zeng Anmin used his four-attribute power and Divine Artifact axe to trade blows with Ji Qing, but his strongest strike only wounded Ji Qing’s shoulder.
• Ji Qing recovered and prepared his true Prairie Fire Hundred Slashes as Zeng Anmin, exhausted, waited for the fatal attack.
• When Ji Qing’s spear reached him, Zeng Anmin awakened the milky-white fifth attribute in the Ancestral Dragon Diagram and realized it controlled time.
• Zeng Anmin’s white domain stopped time within its ten-zhang range, leaving Ji Qing frozen with his spear against Zeng Anmin’s chest.
• Zeng Anmin raised his axe and struck the motionless Ji Qing, making a cross-rank attack that could kill a Third Rank Martial Artist.

After killing Ji Qing, Zeng Anmin found Huzi safe at Fa'an Temple and questioned the abbot about the rescue. The abbot revealed Huzi’s affinity for Buddhism, praised Zeng Anmin’s Aura of a Unifier, and asked him to look after Yingchen as the abbot’s Great Tribulation approached.

• Zeng Anmin killed Ji Qing, failed to find the Xi Huang Diagram among his remains, and left before Wang Dong arrived to investigate.
• Zeng Anmin searched West Mountain for Huzi, heard the abbot of Fa'an Temple summon him, and rode to the capital while considering why Ji Qing had tried to kill him.
• Zeng Anmin found Huzi and Yingchen playing at Fa'an Temple; Huzi said a fierce man with a long spear had abducted him.
• Zeng Anmin met the abbot, who said he had encountered and rescued Huzi and explained that Huzi possessed a Pure Wisdom Root.
• The abbot told Zeng Anmin that Dongfang Cang had spoken of his Aura of a Unifier, then asked him to look after Yingchen as the abbot's Great Tribulation approached.

Zeng Anmin learned that the old monk had given Huzi pills to counter the Malevolent Qi left by Ji Qing, and the monk asked him to donate their price to drought-stricken Xiliu. Back at the Duke's Mansion, Zeng Anmin noticed the medicine resonated with his Vast Righteous Qi, much like Dongfang Cang's altar had.

• The old monk gave Zeng Anmin a porcelain bottle of pills and explained that Huzi had absorbed Ji Qing's Malevolent Qi.
• Zeng Anmin agreed to pay a thousand taels of gold, but the old monk asked him to give the money to the drought victims in Xiliu instead.
• Zeng Anmin bowed to the old monk, and Yingchen said he and Huzi were still good friends despite the pills having been meant for him.
• At the Duke's Mansion, Zeng Anmin gave Huzi the second pill as the black qi tightened around the boy's neck.
• Zeng Anmin sensed that the pill resonated with his Vast Righteous Qi and recalled a similar feeling at Dongfang Cang's altar on the Night of the Blood Moon.

Zeng Anmin told Zeng Shilin how he had uncovered Ji Qing’s crimes and killed him using the Power of Time, then demonstrated that power. The demonstration froze Zeng Shilin and rapidly withered a flower, but it also drained all of Zeng Anmin’s Martial Arts Aura.

• Zeng Shilin sensed blood on Zeng Anmin and learned that he had killed Ji Qing, the Great Sage Dynasty’s renowned God of War.
• Zeng Anmin explained that he had awakened the Power of Time and used it, along with the Ancestral Dragon Diagram, to defeat Ji Qing.
• Zeng Anmin fed Huzi a pill, dispersing the black aura surrounding him and easing his condition.
• Zeng Anmin recounted how his investigation of Xiang Wangxian’s death led him to Ji Qing and the trafficking of children born on Ten Spiritual Day.
• Zeng Anmin demonstrated the Power of Time on a flower, freezing Zeng Shilin and making the flower wither rapidly, but exhausting all his Martial Arts Aura.

Zeng Anmin discussed how to consolidate control of the Imperial City Department with Zeng Shilin, who urged him to pursue the Director’s vacant post. The next day, Xiang Donglai accused the dead Ji Qing of trafficking children and murdering his son, while Zeng Shilin asked whether he had evidence.

• Zeng Shilin asked Zeng Anmin to use his power over time to make him younger, but Zeng Anmin explained that the ability had nearly exhausted him and depended on a lucky surge from the Ancestral Dragon Diagram.
• Zeng Shilin urged Zeng Anmin to expand his control of the Imperial City Department and proposed recommending Bai Ziqing as its next Director if Bai could reach Third Rank.
• Zeng Anmin asked how to investigate Ji Qing’s residence, and Zeng Shilin told him to prepare the Southern Commander’s Department to raid it the next day.
• Xiang Donglai knelt before Emperor Jianhong and accused Ji Qing of abandoning his post, killing an imperial official, trafficking children, and murdering Xiang Donglai’s son to conceal the crime.
• Zeng Shilin, standing among the court officials as Duke Wenqing, asked Xiang Donglai whether he had evidence.

Zeng Anmin and Bai Ziqing were summoned to court to answer for the investigation into Xiang Wangxian’s murder. Zeng Anmin claimed Ji Qing had confessed to him, then stunned the court by saying he had killed Ji Qing himself, and asked to explain.

• Xiang Donglai accused Ji Qing of murdering his son and claimed the Imperial City Department had thirty-two kinds of evidence.
• Emperor Jianhong summoned Bai Ziqing and Zeng Anmin to explain who had investigated the case.
• Bai Ziqing said Zeng Anmin had solved the case in three days, prompting Emperor Jianhong to demand a detailed account.
• Zeng Anmin said Ji Qing had confessed to him and then declared that he had killed Ji Qing.
• Emperor Jianhong ordered Zeng Anmin to speak, and Zeng Anmin prepared to explain.

Zeng Anmin explained that he killed Ji Qing through power his father had placed in him, and Emperor Jianhong accepted the explanation and rewarded those who helped solve the case. The court also appointed Zeng Shilin Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince and ordered Xiang Donglai to serve in the Northern Territory, while Xiang Wangxian's son became the Crown Prince's Study Companion.

• Zeng Anmin told Emperor Jianhong that Ji Qing had abducted his nephew and died when the power Zeng Shilin had planted in him struck back.
• Zeng Shilin confirmed his son’s account, refused to reveal his sect’s secret method, and offered to have his master explain it; Emperor Jianhong declined.
• Emperor Jianhong rewarded Zeng Anmin, Zeng Shilin, and Bai Ziqing, appointed Zeng Shilin Grand Tutor of the Crown Prince, and ordered Ji Qing’s household confiscated.
• Emperor Jianhong directed Bai Ziqing to oversee the confiscation and asked Xiang Donglai whether he accepted the judgment for his son’s death.
• Emperor Jianhong ordered Xiang Donglai to serve as a general in the Northern Territory and appointed Xiang Wangxian’s son Crown Prince’s Study Companion under Zeng Shilin.
• As the court session ended, Zeng Anmin inwardly complained about his reward, and Zeng Shilin told him to return to the residence and wait.