Chapter Summaries

Zeng Anmin used the lost Protective Buddha Lotus to save Master Hongji from Decay Qi, then returned to the Duke's Mansion close to a fourth-rank breakthrough. There, he learned that Huzi was studying a secret Daoist chess manual, which reminded him of someone from his memories.

• Zeng Anmin discovered the Protective Buddha Lotus in his necklace's inner world and recited its incantation to the barely conscious Master Hongji.
• Master Hongji's Merit Golden Light formed a lotus that entered his body, dispelled the Decay Qi, and restored his health.
• Emperor Jianhong welcomed Zeng Anmin's safe return, praised Master Hongji and Fa'an Temple, and told Zeng Anmin to return to court for a reward.
• At the Duke's Mansion, Zeng Anmin realized the Buddhist Destiny had brought his cultivation close to a fourth-rank breakthrough.
• Zeng Anmin found Huzi struggling with chess and learned from Zeng Rongyu that he was studying the Daoist Sword Sect's secret Dao Heart Chess Manual.
• Zeng Anmin suddenly remembered someone who loved playing chess against himself.

Zeng Anmin realized Emperor Jianhong was probing him and suspected the Emperor had orchestrated the earlier events. After Emperor Jianhong assigned Zeng Shilin to command the southern campaign and sent Zeng Anmin to Xiliu for disaster relief, father and son returned to the Duke's Mansion and considered rebellion.

• Zeng Anmin recalled his first meeting with Emperor Jianhong and wondered whether the Emperor's frequent chess games meant something.
• Emperor Jianhong summoned Zeng Shilin and Zeng Anmin to the Imperial Study, where he questioned Zeng Anmin about his archery and what he had learned on Daoist Master Jiyuan's Heavenly Stairway.
• Zeng Anmin concealed his suspicions and told Emperor Jianhong he had discovered nothing beyond illusions and patterns on the Heavenly Stairway.
• Emperor Jianhong asked Zeng Shilin about the Southern Mountains and appointed him commander of the campaign against Myriad Demon Mountain, while assigning Zeng Anmin to disaster relief in Xiliu.
• Back at the Duke's Mansion, Zeng Shilin agreed that Emperor Jianhong had arranged the earlier schemes, and Zeng Anmin proposed that they rebel.

Zeng Anmin and Zeng Shilin discussed delaying rebellion until the Holy Dynasty weakened, while learning that founding a state required a Dragon Vein. Guanglingzi revealed that he had seen an ownerless Dragon Vein in Xiliu, where Zeng Anmin was headed for disaster relief; the chapter ended as the Ancestral Dragon Diagram moved through Zeng Anmin’s meridians, bringing him closer to Third Rank Combat Power.

• Zeng Anmin proposed founding a state in the Southern Mountains, but Zeng Shilin argued they should build their strength and wait for Emperor Jianhong to die before moving against the Holy Dynasty.
• Zeng Shilin explained that a state needed a Dragon Vein and fortune to establish national destiny, and Guanglingzi revealed he had seen an ownerless Dragon Vein five years earlier.
• Zeng Shilin left to welcome Master Hongji, while Zeng Anmin learned that Hongji would accompany him to Xiliu for disaster relief after his Buddhist Seal there lost contact.
• Guanglingzi revealed that the Dragon Vein he had seen was in Xiliu, and Zeng Anmin agreed he would have to make the journey.
• The Ancestral Dragon Diagram left Zeng Anmin’s Sea of Consciousness and traveled through his meridians, bringing him closer to Third Rank Combat Power.

Zeng Anmin watched his father depart to lead the Southern Mountains campaign, then questioned the court’s delay in preparing disaster-relief supplies for Xiliu. When barbarian Crown Prince Wu Jia arrived in the capital and met Zeng Anmin alongside Wuxin Daoist, Zeng Anmin greeted him with an unexpected question.

• Zeng Anmin saw Zeng Shilin depart with the expeditionary army and noticed tension between Princess and Qin Wanyue.
• Dongfang Sheng told Zeng Anmin that the court had prepared only half the disaster-relief funds, prompting Zeng Anmin to suspect Emperor Jianhong did not want to provide relief.
• Huang told Dao he wanted to meet Zeng Anmin and join the Heavenly Dao Alliance, while Nan warned Zeng Anmin to be cautious around Huang.
• Barbarian Crown Prince Wu Jia told the Barbarian King he planned to meet Dao, and the Barbarian King struck him with his belt before allowing him to go into the city.
• Wuxin Daoist brought Wu Jia to meet Zeng Anmin, who asked the young-looking barbarian prince whether he liked drinking beast milk.

Zeng Anmin declined Wuxin and Wu Jia’s invitation to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance and warned them to keep its secrets safe. He then departed for Xiliu to lead a disaster-relief mission, where Sai Chuxue’s concealed affection for him became apparent to Liu Shishi.

• Wuxin and Wu Jia visited Zeng Anmin, offered him a goldstone gift, and invited him to join the Heavenly Dao Alliance.
• Zeng Anmin refused to join but warned Wuxin and Wu Jia that powerful factions might target them to learn about the Heavenly Dao Diagrams.
• Zeng Anmin set sail for Xiliu with relief funds and elite troops, accompanied by Liu Shishi, Sai Chuxue, and Sun Chuanfang.
• Sun Chuanfang discussed the relief route with Zeng Anmin, while Sai Chuxue watched him coldly and declined the tea he poured for her.
• After Zeng Anmin left to investigate unidentified vessels, Liu Shishi teased Sai Chuxue about wanting to marry him.

Zeng Anmin’s disaster relief fleet pursued and boarded a bannerless flotilla on the Heng River, only to discover it was a tribute-wine fleet from drought-stricken Xiliu. After the inspection revealed the crew’s losses and hardship, Zeng Anmin went to meet the young master and noticed the fragrance of his Golden Elixir.

• Dongfang Sheng and the Imperial City Department Investigators chased the bannerless flotilla for a day and night, then boarded it and subdued its crew.
• Zeng Anmin questioned Old Man Guan, who explained that the fleet belonged to Xuanlun Mountain Villa and had fled because river bandits had repeatedly attacked its tribute-wine shipment.
• The Investigators searched the ships and confirmed that they carried only tribute wine, while fewer than three hundred guards remained from the nearly thousand who had left Xiliu.
• Zeng Anmin reflected on the hardship endured by the boatmen and headed to the ship carrying the young master.
• Zeng Anmin met Guan Qingliu, saw the Golden Elixir in his hand, and remarked on its fragrant smell.

Zeng Anmin struggled to buy grain for Xiliu’s famine relief, discovering that Xuanlun Mountain Villa had also been purchasing supplies. After reaching the drought-stricken region with only 120,000 shi, he learned that Xuanlun Mountain Villa’s grain fleet had disappeared.

• Zeng Anmin learned from Dongfang Sheng that Xuanlun Mountain Villa had ties to the Great Sage Dynasty’s Great Ancestor and was led by Guan Hanfeng, one of only four living Second Rank Heaven Realm Martial Artists.
• Zeng Anmin found that Qiuling Prefecture’s grain had been bought up in advance, purchased the remaining ten thousand shi at an inflated price, and continued through several prefectures where supplies were similarly scarce.
• Dongfang Sheng and Sima Nan discovered that the competing grain fleet belonged to Xuanlun Mountain Villa and was also bound for Xiliu to provide disaster relief.
• Zeng Anmin ordered Dongfang Sheng and Sima Nan to seek grain by land, then continued toward Xiliu with only 120,000 shi aboard his ships.
• After seeing Xiliu’s severe drought, Zeng Anmin reassured a local official that Xuanlun Mountain Villa’s grain was on its way, but the official told him the villa’s fleet had disappeared.

Zeng Anmin rationed Xiliu’s dwindling relief grain with sand so it would last until Sima Nan’s convoy arrived, explaining his desperate plan to Sun Chuanfang. As Sima Nan’s convoy was ambushed by two Fourth Rank attackers, Liu Shishi intervened and revealed her suspicion that Xuanlun Mountain Villa was involved.

• Zeng Anmin learned that river bandits had hijacked Xuanlun Mountain Villa’s grain ships and that hundreds of thousands of disaster victims were crowded around Fengyang Prefecture City.
• Zeng Anmin ordered the porridge reduced to one meal a day and mixed with sand, then explained to Sun Chuanfang that the rationing would stretch the grain until Sima Nan’s shipment arrived.
• Sun Chuanfang agreed to shoulder the pressure from the Emperor if Sima Nan’s grain reached Xiliu in ten days.
• Sima Nan hurried his grain convoy toward the Heng River, but an ambush killed Little Qianzi and two Fourth Rank attackers nearly killed Sima Nan.
• Liu Shishi blocked a fatal strike against Sima Nan and said Zeng Anmin had been right to suspect that Xuanlun Mountain Villa’s people were involved.

Liu Shishi and Sima Nan defeated the attackers who tried to seize the relief grain, capturing their leaders and linking their methods to Xuanlun Mountain Villa. As the city’s grain supply dwindled, Zeng Anmin revealed that he suspected the Villa’s fleet was part of a scheme and concluded that the enemy had an informant in the relief party.

• Liu Shishi used her Cold Soul Sword to wound the two Fourth Rank Martial Artists, while Sima Nan fought them and helped defeat the black-clad attackers.
• Liu Shishi sealed the two leaders’ cultivation and captured them; Sima Nan identified their Golden Wheel Seven Revolutions technique as Xuanlun Mountain Villa’s secret art.
• Ten days later, Sun Chuanfang warned Zeng Anmin that the city’s grain was nearly gone and rumors of embezzlement had stirred panic among the disaster victims.
• Liu Shishi returned and reported that attackers had tried to rob the grain, that Sima Nan had nearly died, and that she had captured several people.
• Zeng Anmin explained that the unbannered Xuanlun Mountain Villa fleet had deliberately delayed the relief party to compete for grain, and Sun Chuanfang realized the enemy had an informant within their party.

Zeng Anmin investigated the grain ambush and questioned captured attackers, but one captive's head exploded when Heart Inquiry exposed a spell protecting him. As Zeng Anmin wondered whether the attack was tied to Xuanlun Mountain Villa and worried about Sai Chuxue's worsening fever, Master Hongji returned with clues confirming Zeng Anmin's guess.

• Zeng Anmin explained that he had leaked the land-route grain plan to draw out the people behind the spies, while Sun Chuanfang and he considered who might be responsible.
• Sima Nan brought grain into Xiliu by the only passable water route, and the disaster victims received thick porridge as Sun Chuanfang questioned whether Dongfang Sheng had leaked the plan.
• Zeng Anmin questioned the captured twins, but Left's head exploded when Heart Inquiry revealed a spell preventing him from answering.
• Zeng Anmin ordered Sima Nan to torture Right, learned nothing useful from the other captives, and noticed that the Dao Star in his Sea of Consciousness had flickered.
• Liu Shishi told Zeng Anmin that Sai Chuxue still had a high fever, and Master Hongji arrived with clues confirming Zeng Anmin's guess.

Zeng Anmin learned that two Second Rank experts had secretly sealed Xiliu’s passes, deepening the mystery behind the disaster and its victims. As his breakthrough accelerated to just two days away, an awkward bodily change at the Huiyin Acupoint embarrassed him in front of Liu Shishi and Sai Chuxue.

• Master Hongji told Zeng Anmin that the boulders blocking Xiliu’s passes had been moved by at least two Second Rank experts on the day of the Earth Dragon Overturns.
• Zeng Anmin reconsidered his theory that Emperor Jianhong had arranged the blocked passes to sabotage his disaster relief, but could not determine the attackers’ real purpose.
• After Master Hongji left, Zeng Anmin discovered that his cultivation had reached the Zusanli acupoint and estimated that he would break through to Fourth Rank within five days.
• Liu Shishi and Sai Chuxue found Zeng Anmin boasting to himself, and Sai Chuxue remained cold toward him despite feeling better.
• Another acupoint opened while Zeng Anmin spoke with the women, speeding his expected breakthrough to two days away.
• The new change affected the Huiyin Acupoint, leaving Liu Shishi and Sai Chuxue blushing as Zeng Anmin realized they had noticed.

Zeng Anmin learned that Sai Chuxue had sacrificed thirty years of her lifespan to use the Ask the Heavens Formation for his sake, and the two reconciled. As Liu Shishi recounted the Profound Formation Division’s history, Sai Chuxue revealed that the formation had shown her nothing, leading Liu Shishi to suspect someone inside the division had blocked its reading.

• Liu Shishi revealed that Sai Chuxue had used the Ask the Heavens Formation to search for the river bandits and grain, paying thirty years of her lifespan.
• Zeng Anmin confronted Sai Chuxue about her sacrifice, recalled the wooden compass she had given him, and reconciled with her.
• Liu Shishi told Zeng Anmin that Shen Qiu had been framed by Shen Nian and Emperor Tongzheng, and that Shen Qiu died before Master Xu learned the truth.
• Sai Chuxue said the Ask the Heavens Formation had shown her only a blank expanse, and Liu Shishi concluded that someone had used a Profound Formation Division secret art to hide the heavenly secrets.

Zeng Anmin reassured Sai Chuxue, discussed Xiliu’s relief efforts with Sun Chuanfang, and prepared for rain and more grain to ease the famine. As he neared Third Rank Combat Power, he asked Empress Gu Xiangnan to explain the breakthroughs from Third Rank to Second Rank and from Second Rank to First Rank, and she agreed.

• Liu Shishi ruled out Shen Nian as the spy, while Sai Chuxue confessed she wanted to keep looking at Zeng Anmin after losing thirty years of lifespan; Zeng promised to restore it.
• Sun Chuanfang stressed that officials must treat the people’s suffering as urgent, then agreed to escort Liu Shishi to receive Dongfang Sheng’s grain.
• Zeng Anmin thanked Abbot Hongji for preparing to summon rain and discovered that only one acupoint remained before he reached Third Rank Combat Power.
• Gu Xiangnan was shocked when Zeng Anmin told her he was one step from Third Rank, then explained how to refine and fuse his domain to reach it.
• Zeng Anmin asked Gu Xiangnan to explain the next two martial arts breakthroughs, and she agreed to share the Jiang State Imperial Family’s records.

Zeng Anmin learned how Dragon Veins could help a martial artist evade the Lightning Tribulation, then set out with Guanglingzi to find one in Xiliu Grand Canyon. At Guanglingzi’s cave, he received the Dao Ancestor God’s inheritance, broke the Ancestral Dragon Diagram’s third restriction, gained the Power of Space, and advanced to Third Rank Combat Power, choosing an entry that began enhancing his new space ability.

• Nan explained that advancing to Second Rank required tempering the flesh and turning a Domain into Law, while reaching First Rank required refining Law and flesh before surviving the Lightning Tribulation; she promised to use Jiang State’s Dragon Vein to protect Zeng Anmin.
• Zeng Anmin decided to seek a Dragon Vein in Xiliu Grand Canyon and secretly left with Guanglingzi, who led him to his concealed cave to collect array materials.
• Zeng Anmin’s Dao Star resonated with the Dao Ancestor God’s statue, drawing him into its Jade Talisman and granting him three Daoist arts while breaking the Ancestral Dragon Diagram’s third restriction and revealing the Power of Space.
• Zeng Anmin and Guanglingzi continued toward the Dragon Vein, and Zeng Anmin advanced to Fourth Rank Realm with Third Rank Combat Power before choosing Lucky One to enhance a newly acquired martial arts ability.
• The Golden Finger began enhancing Zeng Anmin’s Power of Space, and he discovered that his new combat power let him fly.

After reaching the Third Rank, Zeng Anmin discovered that the Dragon Vein had already been refined and connected the theft to Xuanlun Mountain Villa, Shen Nian, and Emperor Jianhong’s plan to help Wang Dong advance. Realizing the plan could be restored by attacking Dongfang Sheng’s grain convoy, he rushed to warn Liu Shishi and Dongfang Sheng.

• Zeng Anmin tested his new Third Rank abilities, demonstrating sustained flight and rapid healing, then joined Guanglingzi to search for the Dragon Vein.
• At the mountain hollow, Zeng Anmin and Guanglingzi found fragments of the tools used to refine the Dragon Vein, and Guanglingzi concluded it had been refined less than a month earlier.
• Zeng Anmin recalled the Chapter of Seven Emotions inheritance and deduced that someone was using disaster victims’ despair to advance a Second Rank cultivator toward the First Rank.
• Zeng Anmin linked the scheme to Shen Nian, Emperor Jianhong, Wang Dong, and Xuanlun Mountain Villa, concluding that Shen Nian had refined the Dragon Vein to conceal the plan and hide the heavenly lightning.
• Zeng Anmin realized that destroying Dongfang Sheng’s grain convoy could renew the refugees’ despair, so he drew Guanglingzi into his Sea of Consciousness Space and sped off to intervene.

Zeng Anmin raced south with inexhaustible Martial Arts Aura as Guan Tiansheng attacked the grain convoy carrying relief supplies. After Guan Tiansheng massacred the convoy and prepared to kill Liu Shishi, Dongfang Sheng, and Sun Chuanfang, a young voice interrupted Liu Shishi’s failed escape array.

• Zeng Anmin flew south at full speed, using the replenishing power of the Ancestral Dragon Diagram to accelerate.
• Dongfang Sheng and Sun Chuan-ting led the grain convoy toward the Heng River, while Liu Shishi sensed a looming danger.
• Guan Tiansheng appeared and used his pressure to freeze the convoy, then unleashed a golden dragon that swallowed the people, carts, and provisions into a fissure.
• Sun Chuanfang demanded to know what crime the victims had committed, and Guan Tiansheng declared the three survivors traitors and raised his hand against them.
• Liu Shishi activated the Instantaneous Movement Array, but Guan Tiansheng suppressed it, and a young voice greeted her as Junior Sister.

Zeng Anmin arrived too late to save Sun Chuanfang, who died after revealing that Guan Tiansheng had killed Dongfang Sheng and taken Liu Shishi to Xuanlun Mountain Villa. Zeng Anmin vowed to rescue the disaster victims and punish Guan Tiansheng and Shen Nian, then confronted them at the villa as they prepared to use the Dragon Vein.

• Master Shen appeared beside Guan Tiansheng, and Liu Shishi recognized him as he ordered her to kill the others and go with him.
• Guan Tiansheng killed Dongfang Sheng, then used a technique to force Sun Chuanfang to keep digging through the rubble until he died.
• Master Shen bound Liu Shishi with blue aura, and Guan Tiansheng and Shen Nian returned with her to Xuanlun Mountain Villa.
• Zeng Anmin found the dying Sun Chuanfang, learned what Guan Tiansheng had done, and promised to save the victims and kill Guan Tiansheng and Shen Nian.
• At Xuanlun Mountain Villa, Guan Tiansheng prepared to assault the first rank with the Dragon Vein, but he and Shen Nian sensed Zeng Anmin's arrival.

Zeng Anmin used his temporary First Rank power to torture and kill Guan Tiansheng, destroy a Second Rank Formation Master, and rescue Liu Shishi. After returning with her to Sai Chuxue, he learned that the Formation Master he had killed was Shen Qiu, not the traitor Shen Nian.

• Xuanlun Mountain Villa's residents sensed an oppressive force as Zeng Anmin appeared before Guan Tiansheng and the young Second Rank Formation Master.
• Zeng Anmin revealed his First Rank combat power, and Guan Tiansheng admitted that he had killed Sun Chuanfang and Dongfang Sheng.
• Zeng Anmin tortured Guan Tiansheng, killed the Formation Master, and took the Dragon Vein from his Mustard Seed Space.
• Zeng Anmin ended Guan Tiansheng's suffering, located Liu Shishi, and rescued her from a spatial rift before his temporary power expired.
• Liu Shishi woke beside Sai Chuxue and mistook the captor for Shen Qiu, prompting Zeng Anmin to realize he had killed Shen Qiu rather than Shen Nian.

Zeng Anmin exposed Xuanlun Mountain Villa as the force behind the missing disaster-relief grain and recovered nearly eight million shi from its fleet on the Ganges River. After arranging for the grain to be delivered to Xiliu, he turned his attention to the next step: suppressing the rebellion and attacking the villa.

• Liu Shishi told Sai Chuxue that she had seen her Second Senior Brother, Shen Qiu, and described how Guan Tiansheng had killed Dongfang Sheng and captured her.
• Sai Chuxue revealed that her Ask the Heavens Formation had located the grain on the Ganges River after the heavenly secrets became clear.
• Zeng Anmin learned that Xuanlun Mountain Villa had incited more than two thousand disaster victims to surround the Governor's Mansion, then declared that the villa had seized the relief grain and framed Sun Chuanfang and Dongfang Sheng.
• Zeng Anmin, Liu Shishi, Sai Chuxue, and the Governor of Xiliu sailed to the fleet, where they found nearly eight million shi of grain aboard Xuanlun Mountain Villa's ships.
• The Governor ordered the grain transported to Xiliu, and Zeng Anmin announced that his next step was to suppress the rebellion and bloodbath Xuanlun Mountain Villa.

Zeng Anmin led a small force to storm Xuanlun Mountain Villa and clear Dongfang Sheng and Sun Chuanfang of blame for the stolen disaster-relief grain. After his troops overwhelmed the villa, Guan Ansheng awaited the Old Ancestor’s intervention, but a rotting corpse was brought in instead.

• Governor An Jiuyuan refused to lend troops but revealed his hatred of Xuanlun Mountain Villa and said he had sent a memorial to the capital.
• Zeng Anmin set out for Xuanlun Mountain Villa with Liu Shishi, Sima Nan, Master Hongji, and fewer than two hundred officers, claiming he had the Confucian Sage’s Supreme Treasure.
• Guan Ansheng learned that Zeng Anmin was attacking and ordered the villa’s people to kill the invading force, believing their First Rank Old Ancestor would prevail.
• Liu Shishi and Sima Nan led the assault, while Master Hongji’s Buddhist invocation helped them defeat a Third Rank Martial Artist and push into the villa.
• Zeng Anmin captured Guan Ansheng and demanded that Guan Tiansheng come out, then placed a Jade Ruyi on the table as the alleged supreme treasure.
• A messenger arrived carrying a rotting corpse, leaving Guan Ansheng staring in shock.