Recaps

Zeng Anmin visited Zhang Lun’s home and connected the clues surrounding his death to the map theft. He concluded that Prince Jiang's Estate had ordered the theft and framed his father, then tried to enter Zhang Lun’s silent home.

• Wang Deli told Zeng Anmin he was sealing the home of the attendant who stole the Dragon Survey Map, but had found no clues about who ordered the theft.
• At Zhang Lun’s door, Zeng Anmin realized Zhang Lun had not been killed over the Shuidu Order and reconsidered the Xuanjing Division emblem he had drawn before dying.
• Zeng Anmin deduced that Wang Lin had killed Zhang Lun to silence him after Zhang Lun witnessed the attendant conspiring with someone.
• Zeng Anmin concluded that Prince Jiang's Estate had ordered the Dragon Survey Map theft and framed his father.
• After receiving no answer at Zhang Lun’s door, Zeng Anmin ordered Qi Dachun to break it down.

Zeng Anmin found Zhang Lun’s mother dead by suicide and learned how deeply she had grieved her son’s murder. After burying them together, he abandoned his return to the Academy, while Zeng Shilin remained unaware of the tragedy and Huzi said he missed his father.

• Qi Dachun broke into Zhang Lun’s home, where Zeng Anmin found Zhang Lun’s mother hanged and judged her death a suicide.
• Zeng Anmin recalled how Zhang Lun’s mother had struggled to support her talented son, then lost hope after learning that his killer had died.
• Zeng Anmin found cat-shaped buns in the pot and told Qi Dachun he would not return to the Academy.
• Zeng Anmin buried Zhang Lun and his mother together, taking Zhang Lun’s annotated copy of “Yi Zi” with him.
• At the Governor’s Mansion, Uncle Qi told Zeng Shilin that Zhang Lun’s murderer had not been found, and Huzi told his grandfather that he missed his father.

Zeng Anmin returned home and shocked everyone by declaring he would leave the Academy, then revealed that he had already opened his Purple Mansion. Father was left stunned by the Vast Righteous Qi shining from his son’s fingertip.

• Father and Zeng Shilin told Huzi that Zeng Anmin might return home within a year, and Huzi eagerly waited for him.
• Zeng Anmin arrived and reunited with Huzi, who said he had missed him and complained that Grandpa had promised Father would stay away for a year.
• Dachun told the household that Zeng Anmin would no longer attend the Academy, prompting Uncle Qi to accuse Dachun of lying and slap him.
• Father demanded to know why Zeng Anmin had quit the Academy, and Zeng Anmin replied that Father had told him he could return after opening his Purple Mansion.
• Zeng Anmin revealed dense milky-white radiance from his fingertip, and Father recognized it as Vast Righteous Qi.

Zeng Anmin revealed that he had opened his Purple Mansion, startling his father, Zeng Shilin, who hid his delight after sending him off to dinner. At Prince Jiang’s Estate, Mr. Qi used a divination array to uncover the identity of the Black Cat Martial Artist.

• Zeng Anmin showed his father that he had opened his Purple Mansion, and his father urged him to cultivate patiently before retreating to his study.
• Zeng Shilin secretly celebrated his son’s talent after Zeng Anmin left with Huzi and Aunt Lin.
• Prince Jiang and Mr. Qi discussed the Spiritual Artifact used to kill Wang Lin and decided to investigate it through the Profound Formation Division.
• Prince Jiang ordered Mr. Qi to use the Ask Heaven array despite the danger to his lifespan.
• Mr. Qi completed the divination, bled from the mouth, and told Prince Jiang that he had identified the Black Cat Martial Artist.

Prince Jiang and Mr. Qi learned that Zeng Anmin had reached the Seventh Rank of the Confucian Path, while Zeng Anmin told his father he wanted to join the Xuanjing Division to confront corruption. Zeng Shilin initially rejected the idea, but secretly appointed him a Left Clerk of the Xuanjing Division.

• Mr. Qi sensed that a young, high-born person nearby had reached the Sheng Pin Realm, and Prince Jiang identified him as Zeng Anmin.
• A secret letter from Shuidu Academy revealed that Zeng Anmin had entered the Seventh Rank Purple Mansion Realm within five days, alarming Prince Jiang and Mr. Qi.
• Zeng Anmin told Zeng Shilin that Prince Jiang's Estate was involved in the Zhang Lun case and that he wanted to join the Xuanjing Division.
• Zeng Shilin rebuked Zeng Anmin for defending the Black Cat Martial Artist and ordered him out of the study.
• After Zeng Anmin left, Zeng Shilin wrote an appointment admitting him as a Left Clerk of the Xuanjing Division.

On his first day as Left Clerk at the Xuanjing Division, Zeng Anmin was shown his office and assigned a long-stalled murder case involving a powerful ship merchant. He suspected that Xu Yunfeng, the clerk who handed him the case, served Prince Jiang's Estate.

• Zeng Anmin studied Zhang Lun's annotated Yi Zi and dismissed the poem at the end as little more than doggerel.
• Zeng Anmin left for his first day at the Xuanjing Division and briefly made peace with his father, who advised him to behave himself.
• Xu Yunfeng welcomed Zeng Anmin, showed him the Left Clerk's Office, and explained that he was responsible for order along the riverside area.
• Xu Yunfeng handed Zeng Anmin a three-month-old case file about Jin Taiping's nephew killing his aunt.
• Zeng Anmin concluded that Xu Yunfeng was likely aligned with Prince Jiang's Estate and had deliberately given him a difficult case.

Zeng Anmin found flaws in the case against Shen Jun and reopened the murder investigation, suspecting the file concealed a larger secret tied to Prince Jiang's Estate. After questioning Shen Jun, he decided to verify his account at the Jiaofang Division.

• Zeng Anmin examined Shen Liu's case file and noticed it omitted Shen Jun's motive and did not explain why he went to the Jiaofang Division after Madam Shen's death.
• Zeng Anmin visited the Imperial Prison, ordered Shen Jun released from his cell, and announced that he would reopen the case.
• Shen Jun denied killing his aunt and said she tried to seduce him in the Spirit Hall, after which he left and went to the Jiaofang Division.
• Shen Jun named Courtesan Shiyi as the woman he visited, so Zeng Anmin summoned Dachun and set out for the Jiaofang Division.

Zeng Anmin investigated Shen Jun’s aunt’s murder by going to question Courtesan An Shiyi at the Jiaofang Division. He forced his way into her pavilion and discovered his father, Zeng Shilin, was the distinguished guest with her.

• Zeng Anmin reasoned that Shen Jun might have been framed by relatives who wanted control of Jin Taiping's Fleet, and decided to question An Shiyi.
• Zeng Anmin brought two squads of Red-robed Guards to the Jiaofang Division and demanded to see An Shiyi.
• Yun Niang tried to delay Zeng Anmin, explaining that An Shiyi was with a distinguished guest, but he refused to leave.
• Zeng Anmin and Dachun pushed into An Shiyi's Flower Pavilion, where Zeng Anmin found his father, Zeng Shilin.
• Zeng Shilin asked Zeng Anmin what he was doing there.

Zeng Anmin questioned An Shiyi about Shen Jun and began suspecting Xuanjing Division Right Clerk Xu Yunfeng instead. Back at the Xuanjing Division, he encountered Commander Wang Deli showing off his extraordinary archery and boasting about An Shiyi.

• Zeng Anmin questioned An Shiyi about whether Shen Jun had visited her three months earlier, and she recalled that he arrived in a hurry near the end of the Rabbit Hour.
• An Shiyi said no one else had asked her about Shen Jun, leading Zeng Anmin to question why Xu Yunfeng had never investigated her and to shift his suspicion toward him.
• Zeng Anmin left An Shiyi's room and teased his father, who remained inside with her, while Dachun mistakenly thought they had come to see the courtesan together.
• Zeng Anmin returned to the Xuanjing Division and watched Wang Deli shoot an arrow that hit the bullseye and smashed the target.
• Wang Deli bragged about his archery and told Zeng Anmin that he had once been with An Shiyi, prompting Zeng Anmin to compare him to his father.

Zeng Anmin brought Shen Jun and the Xuanjing Division’s Red-robed Guards to Shen Manor to investigate the murder of Madam Liu Shen and clear Shen Jun of suspicion. The search found no secret passage, and Xu Yunfeng challenged Zeng Anmin’s impartiality as he assessed the evidence.

• Zeng Anmin led the Red-robed Guards into Shen Manor, where Shen Jun’s maidservant Zhenzhu greeted him.
• The Shen Family let the investigators search the Spirit Hall, while Zeng Anmin questioned Shen Jun about the manor’s weapons and martial arts.
• Zeng Anmin questioned the two servants who had guarded the Spirit Hall; they repeated that no one but Shen Jun entered and that they heard nothing clearly.
• The Red-robed Guards found no hidden passage, mechanisms, or signs of recent construction in the Spirit Hall.
• Zeng Anmin reasoned that Shen Jun and the servants had little opportunity or motive, but Xu Yunfeng challenged his assessment and urged him to remain neutral.

Zeng Anmin rejected Xu Yunfeng’s accusation against Shen Jun and deduced that Shen Liu had faked his death and murdered Madam Liu Shen. Xu Yunfeng resisted opening Shen Liu’s grave, leaving the truth to be tested by an examination of the coffin.

• Xu Yunfeng accused Shen Jun of murdering Shen Liu to take over the fleet, but Zeng Anmin argued that Shen Jun had no reason or ability to kill Madam Liu Shen.
• Zeng Anmin concluded that the murderer had to be a ranked martial artist and identified Shen Liu, supposedly inside the coffin, as the killer who had faked his death.
• Zeng Anmin proposed that Shen Liu had killed Madam Liu Shen after she seduced Shen Jun and that Shen Liu had feigned death to protect his family from someone powerful.
• Xu Yunfeng mocked Zeng Anmin’s theory and refused to let him open the grave, while Zeng Anmin challenged him to examine the coffin.

Zeng Anmin cleared Shen Jun after discovering Shen Liu’s coffin was empty, then ordered a search for Shen Liu and suspected Xu Yunfeng had tried to use him to kill Shen Jun. At Prince Jiang’s Estate, Prince Jiang and Mr. Qi learned Xu Yunfeng had ruined their plans and decided to eliminate him.

• Zeng Anmin had the coffin opened and found it empty, confirming that Shen Jun was innocent and Shen Liu had faked his death.
• Shen Jun offered to accept punishment in Shen Liu’s place, but Zeng Anmin rejected his appeal and ordered the search for Shen Liu.
• As he rode back to the Xuanjing Division, Zeng Anmin realized Xu Yunfeng had likely tried to make him condemn Shen Jun and suspected the case was connected to Prince Jiang’s Estate.
• Prince Jiang and Mr. Qi discussed how the Profound Formation Division’s denial had ended their trail through Black Cat Martial Artist’s weapon.
• Prince Jiang read a secret letter about Xu Yunfeng’s failure, and he and Mr. Qi agreed that Xu Yunfeng had to be dealt with cleanly.

Zeng Anmin questioned Shen Jun about Shen Liu’s disappearance and arranged to search a place called Wild Mountain. After inspecting a ship belonging to Prince Jiang’s Estate, Zeng Anmin was confronted by a masked assassin who looked just like the Black Cat Martial Artist.

• Zeng Anmin questioned Shen Jun, who said Shen Liu might be hiding on Wild Mountain, and ordered Shen Jun to guide him there the next day.
• Zeng Anmin left Wangxian Tower and decided that solving the Shen Family case could help his father gain a powerful subordinate force.
• Zeng Anmin ordered Red-robed Guards to inspect a ship from Prince Jiang’s Estate and found soap and Sulfur Stones but nothing suspicious.
• A masked assassin killed a nearby Red-robed Guard with a throwing dagger and advanced on Zeng Anmin carrying a blade identical to his own.

Zeng Anmin escaped an assassin’s attack by diving into the river and killed him underwater with a Hand Axe, preventing the assassin from exposing his martial arts identity. As the people celebrated the Black Cat Martial Artist’s apparent victory, Zeng Anmin struggled to stay submerged and avoid being recognized.

• Zeng Anmin leaped into the river to escape the Black Cat Hood assassin’s strike, and the assassin followed him underwater.
• Zeng Anmin waited for the assassin to approach, then used his Hand Axe to sever the assassin’s Cold Blade and take off his left arm.
• The wounded assassin tried to reach the surface and reveal Zeng Anmin’s identity, but Zeng Anmin dragged him back underwater and cut his throat.
• The people on shore saw blood spread across the river and cheered, believing the Black Cat Martial Artist had killed a corrupt official.
• Zeng Anmin fought the urge to surface and swam onward to keep his identity hidden.

Zeng Anmin broke through to the eighth rank underwater, chose an entry that protected him from soul and spiritual attacks, and escaped the river. Meanwhile, Zeng Shilin ordered a massive search for him and a crackdown on Prince Jiang’s Estate, and Zeng Anmin encountered Red-robed Guards in the city.

• Zeng Anmin’s Martial Arts Aura surged under the pressure of the battle and lack of oxygen, condensing into a Martial Pill and advancing him to the eighth rank.
• Zeng Anmin chose the Unyielding Martial God entry, which made him immune to soul and spiritual attacks.
• Zeng Anmin found a cave hidden behind a scale-covered boulder but dismissed it and continued swimming until he surfaced far from Liangjiang Prefecture City.
• Zeng Shilin ordered officials to search for Zeng Anmin, shut down Prince Jiang’s Estate businesses, and bring three thousand Southern Garrison Soldiers to search the river.
• Zeng Anmin entered the city as soldiers and Red-robed Guards mobilized, then called to a passing squad to ask for a horse, startling a familiar guard.

Zeng Anmin returned alive to the Governor's Mansion after disappearing, while his family feared he had been killed by the Black Cat Martial Artist. He told Zeng Shilin that the Black Cat Martial Artist had saved him, leaving the household stunned.

• Wang Daoyuan was overjoyed to see Zeng Anmin alive and gave him his horse.
• Uncle Qi whipped Dachun for failing to stay by Zeng Anmin's side, but Zeng Shilin stopped him and mourned his missing son.
• Aunt Lin learned that auxiliary troops were searching the river for Quanfu and collapsed in grief.
• Uncle Qi told Zeng Shilin that the Broken Blade matched the weapon used by the Black Cat Martial Artist to assassinate Wang Lin.
• Zeng Shilin vowed that Prince Jiang's Estate and the Shen Family would pay if anything happened to Zeng Anmin.
• Zeng Anmin returned to the mansion alive and said the Black Cat Martial Artist had saved him, shocking Uncle Qi and drawing a fierce reaction from Zeng Shilin.

Zeng Anmin learned that his father had placed him in the Clerk’s Office to protect Shen Jun, then used his immunity to resist his father’s Heart Inquiry. After connecting Prince Jiang’s Estate to the Profound Formation Division, sulfur, and Shen Liu’s disappearance, Zeng Anmin prepared to close the net.

• Zeng Shilin explained that he had assigned Zeng Anmin to protect Shen Jun from Prince Jiang’s Estate and gave him a powerful firearm from the Profound Formation Division.
• Zeng Shilin used Heart Inquiry to ask where the Black Cat Martial Artist had gone, but Zeng Anmin resisted and pointed vaguely at a map before pretending to faint.
• Qi Dachun said he had been ordered to stay beside Zeng Anmin, who teased him about Prince Jiang’s Estate and then reasoned that it was preparing a rebellion.
• Zeng Anmin connected Prince Jiang’s Estate to the Profound Formation Division through the disguised assassin’s short blade and to gunpowder through sulfur found on its ship.
• Zeng Anmin concluded that Prince Jiang’s Estate had used Shen Liu to find a place to hide materials and had tried to kill Shen Jun and then Zeng Anmin to conceal its plans.
• Shen Jun and Wang Daoyuan arrived to see Zeng Anmin, who told Qi Dachun to accompany him to close the net.

Zeng Anmin led Shen Jun, Qi Dachun, and Wang Daoyuan to Water Cloud Island to search for Shen Jun’s uncle. They discovered Prince Jiang’s armed men forcing hundreds of laborers to work, but an enigmatic old man intercepted them as they tried to leave.

• Zeng Anmin recruited Wang Daoyuan to accompany him and Shen Jun on an investigation outside Liangjiang Prefecture City.
• The four traveled by boat to Water Cloud Island, where Shen Jun believed his uncle might be hiding.
• Zeng Anmin and the others secretly surveyed a valley and saw hundreds of laborers guarded by armed soldiers carrying Firearms.
• Zeng Anmin ordered the group to retreat without alerting the valley’s occupants.
• An unfamiliar elderly man appeared on the river in a small boat and told them to stay as his guests.

Zeng Anmin confronted Qi Linxian and revealed how he had uncovered Prince Jiang's Estate's schemes and suspected Wang Daoyuan of betrayal. As Wang Daoyuan attacked, Wang Deli killed him with an arrow from a boat, while Zeng Shilin arrived and questioned whether Zeng Anmin had planned for his father to be involved.

• Qi Linxian arrived by boat and declared that he had come to kill Zeng Anmin.
• Zeng Anmin explained how Qi Linxian had manipulated the Shen Jun case and tried to frame the Black Cat Martial Artist.
• Zeng Anmin revealed that he had used himself as bait and suspected Wang Daoyuan of serving Prince Jiang's Estate since the Zhang Lun case.
• Qi Linxian ordered an attack, and Wang Daoyuan lunged at Zeng Anmin as Qi Dachun and Shen Jun tried to protect him.
• Wang Deli shot Wang Daoyuan through the neck from a boat on the river.
• Zeng Shilin arrived with Wang Deli and asked whether Zeng Anmin had included his father in his calculations.

Zeng Shilin stopped Qi Linxian’s escape, and Wang Deli captured him before leading the soldiers to seize evidence of Prince Jiang’s Estate plotting rebellion. As Zeng Shilin ordered the prisoners taken away, a mysterious voice demanded Qi Linxian.

• Qi Linxian tried to escape using an Instantaneous Movement Array, but Zeng Shilin’s Confucian Law dispelled the formation and left him powerless.
• Wang Deli captured Qi Linxian, and Zeng Shilin questioned Zeng Anmin about the Black Cat Martial Artist and explained how sparing Wang Daoyuan had helped expose Prince Jiang’s Estate.
• Zeng Anmin told Zeng Shilin that evidence lay in a gorge, and Wang Deli led soldiers up the mountain to secure it.
• That night, Zeng Shilin’s forces cleared Prince Jiang’s Estate’s people from the island and found several hundred Firearms in the gorge.
• Zeng Shilin ordered the workers and guards bound, but a mysterious voice suddenly demanded that Qi Linxian be handed over.

Sai Chuxue of the Profound Formation Division took Qi Linxian away after Zeng Shilin allowed her to claim him, and she gave Zeng Anmin a jade pendant as thanks. Zeng Shilin explained the Division’s influence and planned to move against Prince Jiang’s Estate, then confronted Zeng Anmin about resisting his Heart Inquiry.

• Sai Chuxue arrived and said her master had ordered her to take Qi Linxian back to the Profound Formation Division.
• Zeng Shilin recognized Sai Chuxue as Master Xu’s seventh disciple and permitted her to take Qi Linxian.
• Sai Chuxue used her compass to store the unconscious Qi Linxian, then gave Zeng Anmin her jade pendant as thanks for capturing him.
• Zeng Shilin told Zeng Anmin that the Profound Formation Division’s influence could lend weight to accusations against Prince Jiang.
• Zeng Shilin said they would return, surround Prince Jiang’s Estate, and await the Imperial Decree, then asked Zeng Anmin why his Heart Inquiry had not affected him.

Zeng Anmin struggled to advance in the Confucian Path until his memories helped him form a personal insight. He broke through to the Sixth Rank Gentleman Realm, leaving both himself and Zeng Shilin stunned.

• Zeng Anmin accused Zeng Shilin of conducting a Heart Inquiry on him and threatened to tell his late mother about it and Zeng Shilin's visit to the Jiaofang Division.
• Zeng Anmin admitted he had made no progress since entering the Purple Mansion Realm, and Zeng Shilin warned him not to rush his advancement.
• Zeng Shilin explained that a Confucian cultivator advanced through personal insight and that Vast Righteous Qi gained greater influence after entering the Gentleman Realm.
• Remembering an essay from his previous life, Zeng Anmin reflected on how life experience could reveal the meaning of words he had once memorized.
• Zeng Anmin spoke the line, "Desiring to buy osmanthus and share wine upon the road, yet it could never be like the wandering days of youth," and azure qi formed the sentence in his sea of consciousness.
• Zeng Anmin realized he had reached the Sixth Rank Gentleman Realm, while Zeng Shilin stared at him in shock.

After Prince Jiang's Estate was seized, Zeng Anmin met Shen Jun to discuss a business partnership and learned that Princess Wencheng of Jiang Kingdom had claimed his poem as her own. He realized Nan might be Princess Wencheng and began plotting to use that discovery for profit.

• Zeng Shilin ordered Lin Rong and Wang Deli to surround and seize Prince Jiang's Estate, then sent evidence of Prince Jiang's rebellion to the capital.
• Zeng Anmin arrested Right Clerk Xu Yunfeng and prepared a secret weapon while seeking a way to earn money after his father cut off his funds.
• Zeng Anmin met Shen Jun at Wangxian Tower, where Shen Jun thanked him for saving his life and clearing his younger brother of suspicion.
• Zeng Anmin began to propose a business partnership with Shen Jun, but a neighboring conversation interrupted them.
• A man recited a poem attributed to Princess Wencheng, and Zeng Anmin recognized it as the poem he had given Nan.
• Zeng Anmin connected Nan to the Jiang State Imperial Family and planned to exploit her identity for money.

Zeng Anmin won Shen Jun’s friendship and proposed a partnership to sell his Flavor Supreme seasoning across the Great Sage Dynasty. Shen Jun insisted on giving Zeng Anmin sixty percent of the profits, and they agreed to begin the venture.

• Zeng Anmin told Shen Jun he wanted to befriend him for his character, not merely for Jin Taiping’s profits.
• Zeng Anmin introduced Flavor Supreme by adding it to soup, and Shen Jun was astonished by how much it improved the taste.
• Shen Jun tested the seasoning on braised fish and recognized its potential as a business.
• Zeng Anmin proposed opening restaurants across the dynasty before selling the seasoning to ordinary households, with himself contributing the formula.
• Shen Jun insisted Zeng Anmin take at least sixty percent of the profits, and Zeng Anmin accepted.

After sharing dinner with Huzi and Aunt Lin, Zeng Anmin entered the Dragon Survey Map’s group chat and confirmed that Nan was Princess Wencheng. He asked her to provide the Jiang State Imperial Family’s ultimate art, “Phoenix Cry Nine,” for a friend facing a martial arts bottleneck.

• Zeng Anmin returned to the Governor’s Mansion and agreed to eat with Huzi after the child pleaded to have dinner with both parents.
• Huzi tricked Zeng Anmin into giving up his chicken drumstick, then took the remaining drumsticks from the plate.
• Zeng Anmin entered his Purple Mansion space and greeted the Dragon Survey Map group members.
• Huang told Bei that his father was beating him to improve his combat experience ahead of the Barbaric Mystery Realm.
• Nan apologized for revealing Bei’s poem and offered to help him with something he needed.
• Zeng Anmin asked Princess Wencheng to provide the Jiang State Imperial Family’s ultimate art, “Phoenix Cry Nine.”