Chapter Summaries

Zhao Cheng used a Sacred Words Slip to compel Fang Xun’s disciple Li Shun to retrieve Lu Tinglan’s armor from the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound. The slip’s vision unexpectedly showed Li Shun receiving the respect of the Sage’s followers, but the indoctrination still appeared to succeed, leaving him eager to enter the tomb despite knowing he would never return.

• Fang Xun questioned how Li Shun could bring Lu Tinglan’s armor out of the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound and worried about sending him into danger.
• Zhao Cheng revealed a Sacred Words Slip and explained that it could make even powerful people obey, then Fang Xun summoned Li Shun.
• Zhao Cheng tested Li Shun’s understanding of Confucian teachings, praised his answers, and showed him the slip.
• Li Shun ignored Zhao Cheng’s command within the slip’s vision and approached the Sage, whose followers bowed to him as though he were their teacher.
• The vision shattered, leaving the Sacred Words Slip nearly spent, and Zhao Cheng asked Li Shun about his mission.
• Li Shun declared that he would enter the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound to find Lu Tinglan’s armor and accepted that he would die there.

Li Shun pretended to be controlled by Zhao Cheng’s Sacred Words Slip while weighing whether to enter the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound. He decided to go, and Zhao Cheng brought him to the towering wall at the center of Imperial Tomb Commandery.

• Zhao Cheng questioned Li Shun and accepted his solemn vows, then told him to rest and keep the matter secret.
• Fang Xun and Zhao Cheng discussed the Confucian School’s political struggles, the need to obtain Lu Tinglan’s armor, and Martial Uncle Dong’s chances of breaking through.
• Zhao Cheng told Fang Xun that Shen Qinghe had exposed Yin Fengshuo’s role in spreading rumors about him, earning the governor a major demerit.
• Li Shun used the [Fang Xun] puppet to interact with Zhao Cheng and realized that the Sacred Words Slip had not brainwashed him.
• Li Shun considered the danger of entering the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound, weighed his options, and decided to go.
• On the fifth day of the seventh month of the Tomb Calendar, Zhao Cheng brought Li Shun to the center of Imperial Tomb Commandery, where they faced a towering earthen-yellow wall.

Li Shun entered the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound to retrieve a mysterious object, learning that magic and cultivation did not work there and that time passed differently. After following a guiding branch across a lake, he reached a city standing in the water.

• Zhao Cheng presented Emperor Gan's handwritten decree to Elder Mu, who recognized Li Shun's Mu Clan blood and swallowed him into the burial mound.
• Elder Mu struck Zhao Cheng for sending the child into danger, and Zhao Cheng waited outside for Li Shun to return.
• Inside the burial mound, Elder Mu directed Li Shun to find an object and gave him a branch that pointed the way.
• Li Shun discovered that he could not use spells or absorb Primordial Qi, while Square Inch Space remained accessible.
• Elder Mu told Li Shun that one year in the burial mound equaled one day outside, and Li Shun set out through its lifelike but lifeless landscape.
• The lake parted to reveal a path for Li Shun, and after about seventy days of travel he reached a city standing in the water.

Li Shun explored the eerily preserved Zhanghua City and heard echoes of its past, when the Yu Kingdom prepared to attack and General Lu Tinglan met an enemy commander inside the city. The conversation revealed the commander's confidence and the danger of fighting within the marsh city, leaving Li Shun listening as the visitors discussed how to defeat its defenders.

• Li Shun entered Zhanghua City and found an empty settlement whose shops and streets remained clean as voices replayed the day before an invasion.
• Li Shun heard residents discuss the Yu Kingdom's million-strong army and praise General Lu Tinglan, who carried Wu Peng's bloodline.
• Following Elder Mu's branch, Li Shun reached a northern tavern, where the past conversation resumed and a door closed in the present.
• Lu Tinglan confronted an enemy commander who had entered Zhanghua City with two companions to gather intelligence, and warned that battle could flood the city and endanger its million residents.
• Lu Tinglan left after the commander had Shao Qian record and then erase a boast about his visit, and the group discussed killing Zhanghua City's three Celestial Phenomenon Realm defenders.

Li Shun uncovered a conversation suggesting Emperor Gan, Elder Wei, and Shao Qian had once been close, and learned Lu Tinglan may have deliberately taken Duanmu Qiuche’s arrow to turn a battle. He found Lu Tinglan’s Wu Peng Armor and suspected Emperor Gan had guided him there, leaving him to decide whether to deliver it to Duanmu Qiuche.

• Li Shun recalled a conversation from years earlier in which a young man discussed damaging Zhanghua City’s walls and fleeing before his elder brother discovered them.
• Li Shun connected Elder Wei, Shao Qian, and the Great Yu commander-in-chief to Emperor Gan, and wondered what had turned their childhood closeness into enmity.
• Li Shun followed Elder Mu’s branch to a residence and overheard Lu Tinglan explain that he had set aside his armor because it could not protect Zhanghua City’s people.
• Li Shun found the Wu Peng Armor and concluded that Lu Tinglan had deliberately allowed Duanmu Qiuche’s arrow to pierce him to shift the battle’s morale.
• Li Shun suspected that delivering the armor could shatter Duanmu Qiuche’s Dao Heart, and wondered whether Emperor Gan or his decree had guided him to it.

Li Shun used the branch to command the Wu Peng Armor, then wore it to cross the Cloud-Dream Marsh and return to Elder Mu in less than two days. After Elder Mu consumed the armor, Li Shun discovered a hidden legacy inside Square Inch Space: Wu Peng's Primordial Ten Blessings, Azure Wood Invocation.

• Li Shun pointed the branch at the Wu Peng Armor, dispelled its black mist, and watched the armor assemble itself around him.
• Li Shun experienced a vision of an ancient divine mountain and the nine towering figures, then gained immense strength from the armor.
• Li Shun raced back across Zhanghua City and Cloud-Dream Marsh, completing the seventy-day journey in less than two days.
• Elder Mu transformed into a tree and swallowed the Wu Peng Armor, then returned to his stooped human shape without answering Li Shun's question about his surname and the Mu Clan's blood.
• Li Shun entered Square Inch Space and subdued the dark silhouette, which dissolved and revealed Wu Peng's legacy, Primordial Ten Blessings: Azure Wood Invocation.

Li Shun learned the origins and nature of Wu Peng's Azure Wood Invocation, then spent a year mastering its chants while keeping silent vigil beside Elder Mu. Elder Mu sent him to explore the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound, and after fourteen years of travel, the Tree Horse brought him back to the wall where Elder Mu waited.

• Li Shun learned that Wu Peng's Azure Wood Invocation drew upon Heaven and Earth's vitality and that only one person could inherit each of the Primordial Ten Blessings at a time.
• Li Shun practiced the Invocation's chants in Square Inch Space, where they accelerated the growth of Cold Mountain Grass, and mastered all thirty-six melodies over half a year.
• After another half year, Elder Mu told Li Shun to explore the burial mound and created a Tree Horse to carry him away.
• Li Shun traveled with the Tree Horse for fourteen years, crossing the burial mound's varied landscapes, discovering eight writing systems, and seeing no other living people.
• The Tree Horse returned Li Shun to the wall where Elder Mu waited.

Li Shun learned that Emperor Gan, Mu Wujiu, had trapped his own Mu Clan relatives in the Imperial Tomb as tomb keepers. Elder Mu hinted that a future chance might let Li Shun escape, then asked him to find someone if he got out.

• Li Shun told Elder Mu that the burial mound’s timeless, empty scenery was dull, prompting Elder Mu to laugh and call him better than Mu Wujiu.
• Elder Mu revealed that Mu Wujiu was Emperor Gan and that the tomb keepers were all descendants of the Mu Clan, whom the emperor had relocated to the Imperial Tomb.
• Elder Mu explained that the burial mound allowed entry but not exit, but suggested its restrictions could fail if the mound were damaged, and urged Li Shun to stay alive.
• Li Shun reflected on his fourteen years in the burial mound, the changes in the Square Inch Space, and the unresolved events in Imperial Tomb Commandery.
• Elder Mu asked Li Shun to find someone for him if Li Shun ever escaped.

Elder Mu confirmed Li Shun’s imperial ancestry, gave him a blood seal, and directed him to seek the Marquis of Changxin in Dai State. After ten more years in the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound, Li Shun entered the Mortal Descent stage of cultivation.

• Li Shun agreed to help Elder Mu, who drew his blood and identified him as a descendant of Mu Wuque and Emperor Gan’s clan.
• Elder Mu transformed the blood-red tree into a seal proving Li Shun’s status as a hundredth-generation imperial descendant.
• Elder Mu sent Li Shun to Dai State to find the Marquis of Changxin and warned him that the seal could bring danger as well as protection.
• Elder Mu fell silent, and Li Shun waited in the burial mound as another ten years passed.
• Li Shun sensed his body change and realized he had left the Longevity Realm and entered Mortal Descent.

Li Shun learned that Mu Wujiu had built the sealed Imperial Tomb to evade Heaven’s Lifespan Demand, then Elder Mu drew him into the dead tree as Jiang Chongguang and Han Sushu entered the tomb. Li Shun escaped into the living world, where he struggled against its vitality, and watched Jiang Chongguang and Han Sushu flee on a black horse.

• Li Shun asked Elder Mu whether hiding in the sealed Imperial Tomb could avoid Heaven’s Lifespan Demand, and Elder Mu explained Mu Wujiu had built it for that purpose.
• Elder Mu began to explain the tomb’s preserved echoes before sensing intruders, transforming into a tree and pulling Li Shun into its trunk.
• Li Shun overheard Han Sushu and Jiang Chongguang use the First Mountain Bronze Seal to enter the tree and search for the Great Xiang Witch Soul.
• Wrapped in Elder Mu’s branches, Li Shun passed unnoticed by Han Sushu and Jiang Chongguang and emerged from the sealed earth.
• Li Shun retched and collapsed as the living world’s sounds and vitality overwhelmed his altered body.
• Han Sushu and Jiang Chongguang burst from the tree and escaped on a black horse, while Jiang Chongguang cried out in surprise upon seeing Li Shun.

Li Shun escaped the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound with Elder Mu’s blood seal and used it to command the Blood Armored Guards, then confronted Fang Xun and severed their master-disciple ties. He returned home and told Li Qing what had happened, leaving Li Qing furious at Emperor Gan and proposing that Li Shun take the throne.

• After twin suns appeared over Imperial Tomb Commandery, Li Shun tried to speak with Elder Mu, received no answer, and left the burial mound.
• Li Shun showed the Mu Clan Blood Seal to the Blood Armored Guards, forcing them to kneel and follow him to the East Mountain Town yamen.
• Li Shun accused Fang Xun of conspiring with Zhao Cheng to send him into the burial mound, declared their ties severed, and left Fang Xun to write Zhao Cheng a letter.
• Li Shun returned home and told Li Qing how Elder Mu had recognized him and given him the blood seal.
• Li Qing said Emperor Gan deserved to die and urged Li Shun to become emperor, while Li Shun told him to watch his words.

Li Shun visited Elder Wei to learn about the voices he had heard in the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound, then began training in Elder Wei’s Emperor-Slaying Sword technique. The lesson ended with Li Shun injured and Elder Wei warning that he would never kill Emperor Gan if he let murderous intent rise in his heart.

• Li Shun told Li Qing that his imperial bloodline could make him a target, then left to visit Elder Wei.
• Li Shun watched Elder Wei perform a sword technique so powerful that its pressure soaked him in cold sweat.
• Elder Wei confirmed that he had been the young man named Wei in Li Shun’s phantom voices, alongside Mu Wujiu and Si Shaoqian.
• Elder Wei began teaching Li Shun the twenty-eight forms of the Emperor-Slaying Sword, guiding his movements with the Sword Branch.
• Li Shun unleashed the final form’s accumulated killing intent and was struck by the Sword Branch, spitting blood.
• Elder Wei said the final form’s killing intent had to remain hidden and warned Li Shun that murderous thoughts would prevent him from killing Emperor Gan.

Li Shun learned that Wei Wuqi had once failed to assassinate an emperor, and Wei agreed to teach him the Emperor-Slaying Sword Technique for seven days. After Wei warned that no concealment method could hide Li Shun from Mu Wujiu at his prime, Li Shun left wondering whether Emperor Gan’s injuries from the Four Saints Entering the Capital explained his growing absence.

• Wei Wuqi restored Li Shun’s circulation and agreed to teach him the Emperor-Slaying Sword Technique each afternoon for seven days.
• Wei Wuqi used a branch to show Li Shun a sword strike that overwhelmed his mind with despair and nearly drove him to suicide.
• Li Shun asked about Elder Mu, and Wei Wuqi said Mu’s life was bound to the Imperial Tomb Burial Mound and insisted Li Shun learn before leaving.
• Li Shun asked whether the Empty Boat, Self-Erasure method could hide him from Emperor Gan, and Wei Wuqi said no concealment method could fool Mu Wujiu at his peak.
• Wei Wuqi dismissed Li Shun and told him to return the next day; Li Shun left considering whether Emperor Gan’s wounds from the Four Saints Entering the Capital had kept him from appearing.

Li Shun sought Wei Wuqi’s advice and continued learning the Emperor-Slaying Sword while Fang Xun repeatedly visited to apologize. After six days of being turned away, Fang Xun still waited outside Li Shun’s home as Wei Wuqi remarked that he was not entirely without merit.

• Li Shun went to Wei Wuqi for advice, then began daily sword lessons with him.
• Fang Xun received Zhao Cheng’s letter, which urged him to apologize to Li Shun and suggested avoiding him if he refused reconciliation.
• Fang Xun visited Li Shun’s home to apologize, but Li Shun shut the door on him and Li Qing drove him away.
• Fang Xun returned each day, and the townspeople’s gossip shifted from mockery toward sympathy for his repeated apologies.
• On the sixth day of the eighth month, Wei Wuqi told Li Shun to stop the lessons and said Fang Xun was not entirely without merit.

Wei Wuqi revealed that Emperor Gan’s gaze had left a trace on Li Shun and explained that a dying Sage of the School of Names had warped the emperor’s senses. Li Shun reconciled with Fang Xun and returned to the Spring-Autumn Brush Lineage, but an investigation into the breached Imperial Tomb Burial Mound placed him under restricted custody.

• Wei Wuqi told Li Shun that he had helped him because he sensed a trace of Emperor Gan’s gaze on him.
• Wei Wuqi explained that a Sage of the School of Names had altered Mu Wujiu’s perception and warned Li Shun to keep the secret.
• Li Shun welcomed Fang Xun into his home, ending their estrangement and returning to the Spring-Autumn Brush Lineage.
• An investigating censor arrived from the Sacred Capital, suspended East Mountain Town’s officials, and made Li Shun the focus of the burial mound inquiry.
• Li Shun told the censor for the third time that he had nothing to do with the breach and watched as his freedom remained restricted.

Li Shun endured a prolonged interrogation by Censorate Inspector Cao Xiu, who suspected he was hiding a secret but chose not to press the matter amid court politics. Two days later, an imperial edict abolished Imperial Tomb Commandery and reopened its lands, transforming the region’s future.

• Cao Xiu questioned Li Shun about the Imperial Tomb until late at night, and Li Shun concealed Wu Peng's inheritance while answering.
• Cao Xiu reviewed the Heart-Illuminating Lamp's recordings and concluded that Li Shun's calm behavior suggested he was hiding something.
• Cao Xiu discussed the political purpose of the investigation with Jichuan and decided they should continue doing their assigned duties without getting entangled.
• An imperial edict abolished Imperial Tomb Commandery, ended its construction and repairs, removed its forbidden status, and returned its lands to their original commanderies and counties.
• The people of Imperial Tomb Commandery reacted with shock, relief, and reflection as the edict's announcement dispersed the clouds over the region.

As Imperial Tomb Commandery began its transition back to Great Qian’s ordinary system, Wei Wuqi announced that he would leave and urged Li Shun and Li Qing to venture beyond the tomb. Officials arrived from Sacred Capital to oversee the commandery’s rebirth, and Wei Wuqi departed, leaving Li Shun to witness the upheaval and pursue the matter entrusted to him.

• Wei Wuqi told Li Qing and Li Shun he would leave because Imperial Tomb Commandery was about to change, and he reflected on how its residents had grown accustomed to life there.
• Wei Wuqi urged Li Qing to leave the tomb and temper himself in the wider world, then told Li Shun to pursue the matter Mu— had entrusted to him and mentioned Dai State and Marquis Changxin.
• Wei Wuqi advised Li Shun and Li Qing to remain in Imperial Tomb Commandery long enough to witness its return to Mystic Yellow Heaven and the restoration of normal Yin and Yang rhythms.
• Officials in purple robes arrived from Sacred Capital to oversee the commandery’s rebirth under Emperor Gan’s decree, while the central sealed earth would remain guarded by Blood Armored Guards.
• Wei Wuqi departed after reciting a heroic poem, while Li Shun and Li Qing watched him go.

Li Shun planned to buy property in East Mountain Town, expecting Imperial Tomb Commandery’s reconstruction to bring major growth. The court established a new commandery and appointed Fang Xun East Mountain Pacification Commissioner, while Yin Fengshuo grew alarmed at Fang Xun’s rising prominence.

• Li Shun told Li Qing to look for vacant plots and properties in East Mountain Town, saying he would find a way to provide the money.
• Sun Chengyou explained that Imperial Tomb Commandery would become Old Tomb, divided into eight Pacification Offices and 108 counties.
• Sun Chengyou told Fang Xun that he would keep his post as East Mountain Warden under the new title East Mountain Pacification Commissioner, thanks in part to Duanmu Qiuche’s support.
• Sun Chengyou asked Fang Xun to take him to meet the imperial clansman who had received Six Visits to the Disciple Gate.
• Yin Fengshuo realized that Fang Xun’s growing fame might signal a threat and decided to write to his master.

Sun Chengyou explained that Li Shun could help address Linchuan Commandery’s centuries-long drought because of his Mu Clan bloodline. He left Li Shun free to decide whether to travel there, while Fang Xun agreed to persuade him.

• Sun Chengyou offered to prepare travel documents for Li Shun, who said he wanted to see the world after the Imperial Tomb’s reorganization.
• Sun Chengyou suggested Li Shun visit Linchuan Commandery, then told Fang Xun that the commandery had suffered windless, rainless conditions since the emperor’s phantom image remained at the meeting of ten rivers.
• Sun Chengyou explained that Linchuan had failed to invite the phantom image into a specially built grotto-heaven and had begun seeking someone whose bloodline connection might draw it away.
• Sun Chengyou told Fang Xun not to force Li Shun to go, and Fang Xun promised to persuade his disciple.

Li Shun and Li Qing secured property in East Mountain Town as Imperial Tomb Commandery was reorganized, while Fang Xun learned his old enemy Yin Fengshuo would become his superior. On the appointed day, golden hands tore away Imperial Tomb Heaven’s illusion and revealed Great Qian’s true sky.

• Li Shun decided that the brothers had bought enough properties and told Li Qing that he had earned the money from an abandoned mine and rewards from his master.
• An imperial document reestablished eight Town Pacification Bureaus, appointed Fang Xun East Mountain Town Pacification Commissioner, and ordered household registration and a three-year tax exemption for the original residents.
• Sun Chengyou told Fang Xun that Yin Fengshuo would govern Former Tomb Commandery after Diwu Fei vouched for him, and warned that Yin might use impending official-system reforms against Fang Xun.
• On the twenty-second day of the second month, golden hands tore apart Imperial Tomb Heaven’s phantom, exposing the true sky of Great Qian and bringing sunlight and a moisture-rich wind into the commandery.