Chapter Summaries

Li Shun and Feng Guan hid beneath their home when Xiang Kingdom survivors attacked Cold Mountain Town, but the attackers found and killed them while searching for the Cold Mountain Venerable. After Li Shun’s death, a figure resembling him invoked a command that reversed time, awakening him in his bed.

• Feng Guan warned Li Shun that Xiang Kingdom survivors were attacking Cold Mountain Town, and Li Shun led him into a hidden underground chamber.
• Feng Guan used a School of Novelists technique to scout with an ant and learned that the Black-Armored Army had been wiped out and the attackers were searching for the Cold Mountain Venerable.
• The Xiang leader tore open the chamber, burned Li Shun and Feng Guan to ashes, and left them unnoticed among the casualties.
• A translucent figure resembling Li Shun appeared at the scorched pit and declared, “Each day, I reflect upon myself three times!”
• The world stopped and time reversed, and Li Shun awoke in his bed.

Li Shun reflected on surviving the previous day’s deadly attack and examined the mysterious Square Inch space that housed his tireless puppet and two damaged statues. Determined not to spend the rest of his life trapped as a laborer in Cold Mountain County, he resolved to seize the rising disorder and pursue a way to change his fate.

• Li Shun used Three Reflections Upon Myself to review the previous day, when flames had nearly killed him.
• Li Shun inspected Square Inch and saw that his puppet had cultivated over a hundred stalks of Cold Mountain Grass.
• Li Shun fed more than ten stalks of Cold Mountain Grass to the half-statue, stabilizing it after its divine ability had reversed time and saved his life.
• Li Shun recalled that the Xiang Kingdom remnants had attacked the Cold Mountain County yamen and that his decision to spy with Feng Kuan had exposed them.
• Li Shun considered his age, his years trapped in Cold Mountain County, and the possibility of expanding Square Inch by taking in more puppets.
• Li Shun resolved to leave his confined life behind and pursue longevity, expand Square Inch, and gather heroes amid the growing disorder.

Li Shun learned about the rare Cold Mountain Venerable and the rewards once given to a laborer who cultivated one, then prepared a plan involving ninety Image-Recording Coins. He convinced Feng Guan to help by making him confront his age and the chance to change his fate.

• Li Shun traded Cold Mountain Grass leaves to Zhou Xunzhen for information about the Cold Mountain Venerable and another passage from the Book of Imperial Exegesis.
• Li Shun learned that a laborer who cultivated a Cold Mountain Venerable had once been promoted four ranks and freed from corvée labor, and suspected that a new one had drawn Xiang Kingdom remnants to Cold Mountain County.
• Li Shun read about Great Qian's currency reforms and reflected on the taboo history recorded in the Book of Imperial Exegesis.
• Li Shun secretly bought ninety Image-Recording Coins and brought them to his hut.
• Li Shun asked Feng Guan to help distribute the coins, then showed him his aged reflection and urged him to seize an opportunity to change his fate.

Li Shun used Image-Recording Coins and a gnat to observe the Xiang Kingdom remnants’ attack on Cold Mountain County and uncover their search for the Cold Mountain Venerable. After Jin caught the gnat and found Li Shun’s hiding place, he revealed himself as Xiong Jin and engulfed Li Shun in flames.

• Li Shun persuaded Feng Guan to plant Image-Recording Coins around Cold Mountain County, then activated them from an underground cave to watch the anticipated attack.
• An eight-armed demon god led the Xiang Kingdom remnants in destroying the county yamen, and Li Shun recognized several familiar faces among them.
• Li Shun used the Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation Technique to strengthen a gnat and sent Feng Guan to guide it into the ruins and observe the remnants’ search.
• The remnants found the Cold Mountain Venerable at a concubine’s house, and Jin burned the woman before declaring that Great Qian would perish.
• Jin sensed and crushed the spying gnat, tracked it to Li Shun and Feng Guan’s cave, and identified himself as Xiong Jin, a descendant of Great Xiang’s imperial house.
• Xiong Jin poured flames over Li Shun, engulfing him.

Li Shun used what he had learned in the previous reflections to prepare for the coming attack on Cold Mountain County, then arranged for Feng Guan to spy on suspected rebels. After sending Feng Guan to report them, Li Shun cast a duplicate of himself out of the Square Inch space, leaving his true body severely weakened.

• Li Shun recalled that Xiong Jin, a descendant of Great Xiang, would seize Cold Mountain Venerable during an assault on Cold Mountain County.
• Li Shun exchanged for a fragment of the Book of Imperial Exegesis and drew resolve from the story of Jiang Tai'e's humble beginnings.
• Li Shun persuaded Feng Guan to investigate Liang Zhou, and Feng Guan used a Novelists' insect to spy on Liang Zhou and Sun Bo.
• After hearing suspicious talk from Liang Zhou and Sun Bo, Feng Guan set off to report them to Foreman Sun, while Li Shun stayed behind.
• Li Shun fused with the puppet in the Square Inch space and used Casting the Elephant into the Human World to summon a mist-shrouded double, exhausting his true body.

Li Shun used a puppet to investigate while he and Feng Guan were taken into custody after reporting a rebel plot. County Magistrate Fang Xun learned that Xiong Jin planned to attack at three that afternoon and pursued a secret plan to claim the credit, while Li Shun prepared for interrogation as Sun Wu’s guards arrived.

• Li Shun endured splitting his soul to send a puppet into the world, then followed Sun Wu to the county office while the puppet watched over the hidden Cold Mountain Venerable.
• Fang Xun and Cheng Yishu learned from Liang Zhou and Sun Bo that Xiong Jin would lead a surprise attack at three, and Fang Xun devised a plan to claim the resulting merit.
• Fang Xun ordered Sun Wu to interrogate Li Shun and Feng Guan harshly, then contacted his teacher through a ritual incense mirror to report Xiong Jin’s planned attack.
• As guards approached, Li Shun gave Feng Guan Cold Mountain Grass and urged him to endure the interrogation and tell the whole truth.
• Sun Wu’s guards broke into the side room and took Li Shun and Feng Guan away.

As Xiong Jin launched his attack on Cold Mountain County, Li Shun prepared to risk unleashing the complete stone statue and sent his substitute puppet to retrieve the magistrate’s wife. The yamen’s formation held against Xiong Jin’s first assault, while the county descended into chaos and the puppet entered the woman’s residence.

• Feng Guan and Li Shun endured torture, but Li Shun’s main consciousness remained in the Square Inch Space and worried that Xiong Jin’s attack would destroy the yamen.
• Li Shun failed to activate [Three Reflections Upon Myself] and considered releasing the complete stone statue, whose killing intent forced him back before it fell silent again.
• Xiong Jin appeared over the Cold Mountain County yamen and attacked, but a defensive formation protected the compound.
• Great Xiang rebels emerged across Cold Mountain County, setting fires and killing people as fighting spread through the city.
• Li Shun’s substitute puppet reached a residence and persuaded the magistrate’s wife to open the gate by claiming he had been sent to escort her to safety.

Fang Xun deduced why the Xiang Kingdom rebels sought Cold Mountain Venerable, and a golden arrow from the Sacred Capital captured Xiong Jin. Li Shun stole the treasure during the chaos, while the woman escaped in disguise.

• Li Shun tried to steal the brocade case containing Cold Mountain Venerable from the woman, but a golden streak arrived before either could take it.
• Fang Xun confronted Xiong Jin outside the Cold Mountain County yamen and inferred the treasure was intended for a junior with Xiang Kingdom imperial blood.
• A golden arrow from Fang Xun's Martial Uncle struck Xiong Jin and sealed him inside a golden cocoon, which constables carried to Cold Mountain Prison.
• The woman discovered that Li Shun and the brocade case had vanished, then disguised herself as an ordinary middle-aged woman and fled.
• Li Shun recalled his puppet and stored Cold Mountain Venerable in his pocket dimension before constables brought the captive Xiong Jin into the prison.

Fang Xun interrogated Xiong Jin, then discovered that Yu Niang and the brocade box containing Cold Mountain Venerable had disappeared. After the Black-Robed Envoys took Xiong Jin away, Fang Xun ordered Wu Kuang to trace a scrap of cloth found at Yu Niang’s residence.

• Li Shun realized that Great Qian had captured Xiong Jin alive, while Fang Xun ordered Li Shun and Feng Guan released and secretly tortured Xiong Jin for information.
• Fang Xun found Yu Niang missing and the brocade box containing Cold Mountain Venerable gone, and his tracking spell failed to find a trail.
• Fang Xun discovered a piece of gray cloth in Yu Niang’s courtyard and suspected the thief had left it behind.
• The Black-Robed Envoys arrived in Cold Mountain County and took custody of Xiong Jin, while their leader praised Fang Xun’s achievement and promised to support his return to the Sacred Capital.
• Fang Xun gave Wu Kuang the gray cloth and ordered him to identify its source; Wu Kuang returned that afternoon with the information.

Fang Xun concluded that an unknown thief had stolen the Cold Mountain Venerable, while Li Shun patiently worked to break its seal and received a modest reward for his role in the case. Feng Guan then appeared transformed into a seventeen-year-old after learning a secret royal method, and revealed its name to Li Shun as the story ended.

• Fang Xun suspected that an unseen accomplice, rather than Sun Bo, had stolen the Cold Mountain Venerable, and accepted its loss because he expected a promotion.
• Li Shun used the stone statue in the Square Inch space to slowly weaken the seal on the Cold Mountain Venerable's box.
• The imperial decree rewarded Li Shun with three hundred thousand coins, a residence, and ten years of corvée exemption, while Feng Guan received a noble title and other privileges.
• Li Shun secretly sent his puppet to fill in the underground passage before he moved to his new residence.
• Feng Guan visited Li Shun in the form of a vigorous young man and explained that a method taught by the county magistrate had restored his youth.
• Feng Guan warned that the method was a secret art created by Great Qian's emperor, then whispered its name: "Borrowing lifespan from heaven, twelve eternal lives!"

After Feng Guan earned a noble title, he was ordered to return to his distant hometown, where Xiang Kingdom remnants killed him and his escorts. Li Shun reversed time and warned Feng Guan of the danger, then proposed seeking the county magistrate’s protection.

• Feng Guan celebrated his new courtesy name and noble rank, then confessed to Li Shun that he feared leaving Cold Mountain County for Yunguan County.
• Li Shun advised Feng Guan to stay cautious, and Feng Guan departed with two postal envoys on the seventeenth day of the second month.
• Li Shun learned that Xiang Kingdom remnants had killed Feng Guan and both escorts in revenge for Feng Guan’s role in foiling their operation.
• Li Shun reversed time and returned to the morning of Feng Guan’s departure.
• Li Shun warned Feng Guan that Xiang Kingdom remnants might attack him and suggested asking the county magistrate for protection.

Li Shun secured a heavily armed escort for Feng Guan, then used Threefold Self-Reflection to ensure Feng departed safely. As Yu Niang turned back toward Cold Mountain County with jealous thoughts of Fang Xun, Li Shun continued repairing the statue and moved into his new residence, wary of surveillance.

• Li Shun persuaded Feng Guan to seek protection from County Magistrate Fang Xun, who ordered Cheng Yishu to escort him home with the Black-Armored Army.
• After Feng Guan departed safely, Li Shun activated Threefold Self-Reflection and repeated the events, sending him home under the same escort.
• At the Cold Mountain Commandery border, Yu Niang heard of Fang Xun's rise and, consumed by jealousy, turned back toward Cold Mountain County.
• Li Shun spent eighteen more stalks of Cold Mountain Grass repairing the statue and noted that the Cold Mountain Venerable's frost seal was nearly undone.
• Li Shun received his official rewards, including an independent residence, and moved in while deciding to keep his puppet hidden in case the house was monitored.

Li Shun tested whether the authorities were surveilling his new residence, then visited Zhou Xunzhen to ask about the Twelve Longevity Realms. Zhou gave him a cryptic clue about the method’s purpose, leaving Li Shun with a new lead.

• Li Shun covered the walls of his residence with treasonous slogans to provoke any surveillance the authorities might have placed there, but no one came.
• Li Shun examined the mysterious L-County Thousand-Bristle brush and discovered a crystal inside it that produced ink.
• Li Shun went to Jixia bookstore and asked Zhou Xunzhen for exact information about Borrowing Longevity from Heaven, Twelve Longevity Realms.
• Zhou Xunzhen refused to reveal the method, but accepted five leaves of Cold Mountain Grass in exchange for a clue.
• Zhou Xunzhen wrote that the Emperor had used the method to subdue the Hundred Schools.

Li Shun used repeated reflections to investigate the Black-Armored Army’s sudden return, but his inquiries led to his arrest and torture for prying into military secrets. Back in a new reflection, he prepared for the looming danger by ordering his puppet to dig a deeper tunnel, while sensing that the mist-covered region in the [Square Inch] might soon open.

• Zhou Xunzhen warned Li Shun that the words “The Gathering Storm” carried centuries of bloodshed behind them and lamented the dangers of the mortal world.
• Li Shun saw Black-Armored cavalry rushing toward the county yamen, then tested for surveillance by writing treasonous verses; nothing happened.
• In his Second Reflection, Li Shun read about Great Qian’s official roads and saw the Black-Armored cavalry returning with grave expressions, prompting him to investigate secretly.
• Constable chief Wu Kuang accused Li Shun of prying into military secrets, had him seized, and sent him to Cold Mountain Prison for brutal torture.
• In his Third Reflection, Li Shun returned safely to his residence and ordered his puppet to dig a deeper tunnel as he prepared for danger.

Li Shun expanded the [Square Inch] space while watching Cold Mountain County’s unusual security measures. Changle Marquis arrived in the county, where she revealed her interest in the captured descendant of the former Xiang Kingdom royal family.

• Li Shun pushed through the white mist in the [Square Inch] space and began opening a stable new area for another puppet.
• Li Shun noticed increased inspections and plainclothes constables in Cold Mountain County and suspected an important visitor was coming.
• Cheng Yishu returned to Cold Mountain County after safely escorting Feng Guan to his homeland.
• Changle Marquis arrived in Cold Mountain County in a grand procession, and Li Shun watched her pass through the streets.
• At a banquet, Changle Marquis told Fang Xun that she had come to see the captured descendant of the former Xiang Kingdom royal family, and Fang Xun recounted the capture.

Fang Xun tried to court Changle Marquis by bringing her treasured swords, but she demonstrated that swords could no longer harm people and dismissed him. When he returned to the county yamen, he learned that Yu Niang had come back pregnant.

• After the banquet, Changle Marquis turned her sedan into a huge flying manor and settled above the county yamen, while Li Shun continued keeping a low profile.
• Fang Xun grew fixated on winning Changle Marquis's favor and gathered two treasured swords to present to her.
• Changle Marquis explained that swords had once been the sovereign of weapons, then stabbed Fang Xun and watched the blade shatter harmlessly against him.
• Changle Marquis restored the sword and dismissed Fang Xun after lamenting that it had once been able to kill.
• Wu Kuang told Fang Xun that Yu Niang had returned and was waiting at the county yamen gates, visibly pregnant.

Fang Xun ordered Yu Niang brought to his residence and treated well after realizing her pregnancy could threaten his promotion. Li Shun watched the fourth area of Square Inch open, learned how it could take in and refine puppets, and began considering how to find a valuable target.

• Wu Kuang told Fang Xun that Yu Niang had publicly claimed to be carrying his child, and Fang Xun struck and kicked him before realizing she had concealed the pregnancy with the Yin-Yang Secret Art.
• Fang Xun decided to protect his reputation until his transfer order arrived and ordered Wu Kuang to invite Yu Niang into the residence and treat her well.
• Li Shun wondered why Yu Niang had returned and stirred up Cold Mountain County, then turned his attention to the expanding Square Inch space.
• The fourth area of Square Inch fully opened, and Li Shun learned that willing people or those he personally killed could be refined into puppets there.
• Li Shun concluded that the puppet resembling him was the original Li Shun, whom he had replaced, and suspected the two stone statues had entered Square Inch willingly.
• Li Shun considered how to fill the vacant puppet slot, deciding he might need to exploit turmoil as he had when plotting against Cold Mountain Venerable.

Changle Marquis asked Fang Xun to help locate the wandering Cold Mountain Soul beneath Cold Mountain by using laborers skilled at finding Cold Mountain Grass. Fang Xun privately summoned twenty-three such laborers, including Li Shun, to the county yamen.

• Changle Marquis warned Fang Xun not to betray his pregnant wife before revealing she had a favor to ask.
• Changle Marquis explained that Cold Mountain's extreme yin came from an ancient fallen being whose soul wandered beneath the mountain.
• Changle Marquis said Cold Mountain Grass grew wherever the Cold Mountain Soul's aura appeared and asked to borrow laborers skilled at cultivating it to track the soul through the abandoned mine.
• Fang Xun agreed and ordered Sun Wu to identify laborers with reliable Cold Mountain Grass deliveries over the past twenty years.
• Fang Xun had Sun Wu privately bring all twenty-three laborers on the list to the county yamen, where Li Shun arrived among the frightened group.

Changle Marquis sent Li Shun and the other laborers into a mine to search for Cold Mountain Grass, using their robes and accompanying music attendants to form a hidden underground red web. Ten days later, Li Shun resisted going deeper into the mine, raising suspicion from his music attendant.

• Changle Marquis served the laborers a restorative feast and gave them Langhuan Blaze Robes before ordering them to search a mine for Cold Mountain Grass.
• Li Shun realized the mine likely held a secret connected to the distribution of Cold Mountain Grass and concealed his thoughts from Changle Marquis.
• The laborers entered the mine with music attendants, while their robes left red threads that formed a web beneath Cold Mountain and relayed discoveries to Changle Marquis.
• After ten days, Li Shun claimed his back hurt and pointed out that he and his attendant had already found five or six stalks of Cold Mountain Grass.
• The music attendant accused Li Shun of staying near the mine's outer passages, and he questioned why they needed to go deeper.

Yue Shi carried Li Shun deep into the Cold Mountain Mine Cave, where they discovered rare Cold Mountain plants and a frozen green figure that the Changle Marquis revered as her ancestor. Si Zhanqing used the cave’s yin force to produce golden liquid in a gourd, then returned to Cold Mountain County as the cold began to fade.

• Yue Shi carried Li Shun deeper into the mine, where the growing cold nearly overwhelmed him until she gave him a medicinal pill.
• Li Shun guided Yue Shi to a Cold Mountain Lord, which he collected with the Farmer's Spirit-Splitting Life-Birthing Art after she permitted him to take it.
• Yue Shi led Li Shun to a green-lit passage, where the maids gathered and summoned the Changle Marquis.
• Si Zhanqing sent the laborers away, entered the icy passage, and paid respects to the green figure she called her ancestor.
• Si Zhanqing chanted with a green gourd and gathered golden liquid produced by the cave’s yin force.
• Three days later, Si Zhanqing returned to Cold Mountain County as the cold aura began to disperse, and Fang Xun asked what should be done with the laborers.