Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun persuaded the Agriculture Hall and Hall of Punishment to support his plans while carefully avoiding a political entanglement with the War Hall. He then began questioning the Ritual Hall elders about the origins of ritual and the title Son of Heaven.

• Fang Yun persuaded the Agricultural School to promote divine crops, combine agriculture with craftsmanship, and send an elder to the Western Sage Pavilion to witness a new Sacred Way.
• He Qionghai invited Fang Yun to the War Hall, but Fang Yun declined and promised the elders access to weapon-forging materials; He Qionghai sent his attendant back to the He Clan after the attendant criticized Fang Yun.
• Fang Yun reflected that establishing military academies could look like an attempt to build military power, so he planned to avoid the War Hall and meet only at the Western Sage Pavilion.
• Fang Yun spent the night persuading the Hall of Punishment elders to support his plan, using a constitution as leverage and treating the Public Security Academy and Legalist Academy as secondary matters.
• Fang Yun greeted the Ritual Hall elders respectfully, asked where ritual originated, and then questioned why kings and emperors were called the sons of Heaven.

Fang Yun persuaded the Ritual Hall’s council elders to support his reforms by promising to elevate ritual’s role in government and give it authority over laws and regulations. The elders agreed to cooperate, while requiring a Grand Academician to monitor the reforms and report back to them.

• Fang Yun argued that sovereigns derived their authority from the people and should require the Ritual Hall’s investiture.
• Fang Yun promised to establish a Principal First Rank Ritual Chancellor in Jing Kingdom and place the Ministry of Rites beneath the Grand Secretariat.
• Fang Yun explained that he wanted to expand specialized colleges and showed the council elders his agreement with the Legalist School.
• Fang Yun proposed granting the Ritual Chancellor and Ministry of Rites legislative authority, along with the power to draft regulations that upheld ritual propriety.
• The Ritual Hall’s council elders unanimously agreed to cooperate, requiring a Grand Academician to oversee the reforms and report to them.

Fang Yun went to the Sacred Academy’s Treasury Court to deposit rare treasures and insisted that experts and official witnesses appraise them. The chapter ended with him entering the Treasure Vault Branch as Fan Chuichang went to seek Saint Zong’s avatar to impose a gag order.

• Fang Yun settled matters at the Ritual Hall and arranged to meet the head of the Lü Saint House, who offered to bring the Mid-Summer Annals of The Lüshi Chunqiu to Kong City.
• Fang Yun arrived at the Treasury Court, where Fan Chuichang and its officials welcomed him, and he requested witnesses from the academy’s halls and institutes for the treasure transfer.
• Fang Yun explained that the items included treasures requiring specialized appraisal and that even a Craftsmen School Great Scholar with a Lu Ban Ruler would struggle to weigh them.
• Fan Chuichang gathered more than three hundred renowned scholars to assess the treasures, but Fang Yun said a Half-Sage’s avatar should impose a gag order because some items were beyond Fan Chuichang’s clearance.
• Fan Chuichang went to the Eastern Sage Pavilion to ask Saint Zong’s avatar for help, while Fang Yun entered the Treasure Vault Branch.

Fang Yun presented Star Script fragments from Burial Saint Valley to the Sacred Academy’s language experts, offering to train anyone who could decipher them as a disciple of the Star Shepherd Clan. As the treasures he had brought were appraised, the elders predicted he would receive the title of Military Merit Void Sage and debated whether he might one day establish a new Sacred Way.

• More than three hundred masters rushed to greet Fang Yun, and he told them to wait until Grand Academician Fan secured a gag order before he answered questions about Burial Saint Valley.
• Fang Yun took out two bone fragments bearing Star Script and invited anyone who could comprehend the writing to become a disciple of the mysterious race, then let the language experts study the fragments.
• Fang Yun greeted elders from the various halls and academies while his treasures awaited appraisal under Sacred Academy procedures.
• Zhang Zangxiang told Fang Yun that the Four Saints Pavilion would likely consider granting him the title of Military Merit Void Sage once his treasures entered the treasury.
• Wu Jiu and the Great Scholars discussed the possibility of Fang Yun’s household rising to Half-Sage status, and Wu Jiu bet that he would run naked around Kong City if Fang Yun established a new Sacred Way.

Fang Yun began transferring the divine medicinal plants he had brought back from Burial Saint Valley into the Treasury Court’s vault, annotating them for appraisal and cultivation. The immense and continuing haul astonished the gathered experts as he practiced the Heavenly Constancy Soul-Splitting Technique.

• Fan Chuichang invoked the Eastern Sage’s Three Seals of Silence and led Fang Yun and the others into the treasure vault.
• Fan Chuichang explained how Fang Yun should sort and annotate the treasures, and Fang Yun said he would start with delicate medicinal plants.
• Fang Yun opened a temporary vault labeled “Medicines” and used the Treasury Talisman to annotate the plants as they poured from his Heaven-and-Earth Shell.
• Fang Yun split off an independent strand of divine sense using the Heavenly Constancy Soul-Splitting Technique while he worked.
• The experts marveled at the vast quantities of rare plants, including Saint Body Fruits, dragonblood grass, dragon saint grass, and black-poison trees.
• After two hours, medicinal plants were still streaming into the temporary vault.

Fang Yun organized his donations to the Sacred Academy, sorting divine medicinal plants, materials, treasures, and unknown items while reserving some for himself and his allies. He then honored his agreement with Yun Yangzhao by presenting treasures for the Cloud Family and the Sacred Academy, including the Wolf-Head Sacred Hammer.

• Fang Yun sent rare divine medicinal plants to Fan Chuichang's Heaven-and-Earth Shell and kept portions to cultivate in the Bloodmang Realm and share with the Dragon Race and Ancient Demons.
• Fang Yun established temporary treasuries for Divine Materials, treasures, Miscellaneous Items, and Unknown Items, donating materials and weapons while retaining certain items and privileges.
• Fang Yun asked the Sacred Academy to notify him when it deciphered unknown items so he could decide whether to donate or reclaim them.
• Fang Yun gave the Cloud Family treasures intended for its descendants and presented two items Yun Yangzhao had entrusted to him for the Sacred Academy.
• Fang Yun revealed that one of Yun Yangzhao's items was the Half-Sage Wolf-Head Sacred Hammer, then put it away to protect those below the Great Scholar rank from its Sacred Might.

Fang Yun presented the Wolf-Head Sacred Hammer and Ancestral God Statue to the Sacred Academy, revealing that he had seized the hammer and Stone Fetus Blood Egg from the Demon Barbarians. He then donated another Half-Sage treasure to support the families of scholars killed in battle, though his unstable cultivation left observers uncertain of his strength.

• A treasure-appraisal master recognized the Wolf-Head Sacred Hammer and connected its arrival with the missing Stone Fetus Blood Egg.
• Fang Yun explained that he had exchanged treasures with Yun Yangzhao and seized the Wolf-Head Sacred Hammer and Stone Fetus Blood Egg from the Demon Barbarians.
• A Grand Academician linked Fang Yun's claim to the Luan Mang Clan's advance toward Two Worlds Mountain and the Plague Lord's devastation of the Demon Barbarians.
• Fan Chuichang accepted the Wolf-Head Sacred Hammer for the Sacred Academy, and Fang Yun also handed over the Ancestral God Statue.
• Fang Yun donated a damaged Half-Sage treasure and asked that its military merit be divided among the families of scholars killed in Burial Saint Valley and the Three Valleys Battle.

Fang Yun finished sorting the treasury’s treasures and presented the Sacred Academy with a plan to weaken the Demon Realm through temperature-driven ecological disasters. The gathered officials praised him as the greatest human since Confucius.

• Fang Yun donated surplus treasures to the Sacred Academy, kept some Half-Sage treasures for his forces, and arranged compensation for the Zixia Clan for retaining the Zixia Brush.
• Fang Yun spent three days completing the treasury inventory despite others’ concern for his health, then went to the Western Sage Pavilion.
• Fang Yun explained how rising temperatures had caused Vampire Mosquito outbreaks in Ancient Demon history by killing their natural predators, blue-pattern snails.
• Fang Yun proposed raising and later lowering the Demon Realm’s temperature to spread pests and diseases that would weaken the Demon Barbarians.
• Chen Ben and the assembled officials praised Fang Yun, with Chen Ben declaring that no one like him had appeared since Confucius.

Fang Yun’s ecological strike plan was elevated to the Sacred Academy’s First Sequence, and Western Sage Liu Xie took personal charge of its execution. After thanking Fang Yun and sending him away, Liu Xie prepared to erase the assembly’s memories and protect the secret plan.

• Fang Yun explained how ecological disasters could gradually weaken the Demon Barbarians, while the human Sages and schools supplied the power and methods to carry out the strike.
• Hua Ziqing, He Qionghai, and other scholars praised Fang Yun’s plan, and Liu Zhiyao announced that it would become the Sacred Academy’s First Sequence under a new secret hall called Stop Progress.
• Fang Yun encouraged the assembly, saying they would create a brighter future even if they never saw it themselves.
• Western Sage Liu Xie arrived, praised Fang Yun, and announced that he would personally oversee the ecological strike and send Fang Yun monthly reports.
• Liu Xie bowed to Fang Yun and transported him back to the treasury courtyard, while Fang Yun realized the Sages would erase the assembly’s memories and keep him away from the plan to protect it.

Fang Yun returned to the Jing Kingdom's political arena by inviting Xiang Prefecture's senior officials to a banquet at the Governor-General's Office. His allies recognized that he meant to take charge of the court, while the Left Prime Minister learned of his move and welcomed the chance to oppose him.

• Fang Yun learned the complete Heavenly Constancy Soul-Splitting Technique, visited the Heroine Society, and said that the present was merely the darkness before dawn.
• Fang Yun paid tribute at Peng Zouzhao's grave, returned to the Governor-General's Office, and invited Xiang Prefecture's officials of the Seventh Rank and above to a banquet.
• Dong Wencong and Fang Shouye persuaded the officials to attend and privately concluded that Fang Yun intended to enter the court and take charge of it.
• Fang Shouye and Dong Wencong accepted that their fortunes were bound to Fang Yun's, while Dong Wencong suspected Fang Yun's plans concerned the Sacred Way or something beyond his own Saint Enfeoffment.
• The Left Prime Minister heard that Fang Yun was returning to politics and laughed, believing Heaven had given him an opportunity.

Fang Yun’s banquet invitation unsettled Jing Kingdom’s political factions and triggered urgent maneuvering in the capital. After the Empress Dowager summoned Jiang Hechuan to the palace, he returned with news that she wanted to make him Left Prime Minister, apparently to counter Fang Yun.

• Fang Yun’s invitation to Xiang Prefecture’s officials stirred the court’s unresolved conflict over the vacant Left Prime Minister position.
• The chapter described how the Fang Party controlled several provinces but remained excluded from powerful posts in the capital.
• Cai He and other associates of Fang Yun faced demotions or sidelining, while Zhang Poyue used intimidation to resist exclusion.
• Officials gathered at Jiang Hechuan’s residence, waiting for him after he was urgently summoned to the imperial palace.
• Jiang Hechuan returned after midnight and said the Empress Dowager wished to promote him to Left Prime Minister.

Cao Dean learned that Empress Lü intended to appoint Master Clear Sky as Left Prime Minister and traveled to Xiang Prefecture, where Fang Yun was hosting a banquet. The next day, Cao Dean and officials across the Jing Kingdom demanded that Fang Yun be appointed Left Prime Minister, threatening to resign or retire if refused.

• Cao Dean learned that Empress Lü wanted Master Clear Sky appointed Left Prime Minister, angering the Cao Party officials gathered at his residence.
• Cao Dean announced that he would travel to Xiang Prefecture to seek treatment, and his officials realized he intended to meet Fang Yun.
• Sai Zhixue headed to Yueyang City after learning Zhang Poyue had already left for Xiang Prefecture.
• Fang Yun hosted a peaceful banquet for officials, serving food and wine that helped many guests advance in strength.
• Cao Dean, Sai Zhixue, Zhang Poyue, and officials from Mi Prefecture and Xiang Prefecture submitted memorials demanding Fang Yun's appointment as Left Prime Minister.

The empress dowager and Sheng Boyuan struggled to find a candidate for Left Prime Minister who could block Fang Yun without provoking the court or aristocratic clans. Their plan to persuade Jiang Hechuan was thrown into doubt when a Sacred Academy envoy went to offer him a council elder position in the Ritual Hall.

• Sheng Boyuan assured the empress dowager that Jiang Hechuan was the best choice for Left Prime Minister and rejected Li Wenying, Cao Dean, and Liu Shan as alternatives.
• Sheng Boyuan warned that abolishing the Left Prime Minister position could bring a purge of the sovereign’s entourage or tear Jing Kingdom apart.
• Sheng Boyuan offered to visit Jiang Hechuan and persuade him to accept the appointment, even at the cost of his life.
• A palace eunuch reported that a Sacred Academy envoy had gone to the Jiang Residence to offer Jiang Hechuan a council elder position in the Ritual Hall.
• The empress dowager blamed Fang Yun, and Sheng Boyuan realized that Fang Yun had arranged the move in advance.

Fang Yun became Jing Kingdom’s Left Prime Minister and asserted his authority by demanding the palace’s main gates open to welcome him with rites befitting a Void Sage. The chapter ended with him taking his place at the head of the officials in Heaven-Serving Hall.

• Sheng Boyuan persuaded the empress dowager to feign compliance with Fang Yun while waiting for his injuries to worsen, and she agreed to a limited restoration of Liu Party officials.
• Jiang Hechuan left for the Sacred Academy, and Fang Yun returned to Spring Garden; at court, the empress dowager approved Fang Yun’s appointment as Left Prime Minister and permitted five Liu Party officials to transfer to posts of the same rank.
• Fang Yun was formally appointed Left Prime Minister, and scholars debated his decision to leave the Sacred Way for office amid his grave injuries.
• Fang Yun arrived at the palace in his Marquis Wu Chariot, where Cao Dean, Zhang Poyue, Li Wenying, and other officials greeted him.
• Fang Yun waited before the palace’s main gate until the emperor ordered it opened and welcomed him with the rites due a Void Sage.
• Fang Yun entered the palace and took his place at the head of the officials in Heaven-Serving Hall.

Fang Yun formally assumed the post of Left Prime Minister and began learning how the Jing Kingdom’s Grand Secretariat operated. The chapter left him asking what happened when the ruler disagreed with the Grand Secretariat’s recommendations on a memorial.

• Fang Yun asked the Jing Lord to lend him three officials familiar with the Grand Secretariat and the Ministries of Personnel and Rites, and the Jing Lord granted his request.
• Fang Yun left court with Cao Dean and a seal-bearing eunuch, who guided him through the history and structure of the Grand Secretariat.
• Fang Yun acknowledged Liu Shan’s governing ability despite his treason, and Cao Dean praised Fang Yun for saving the Jing Kingdom from the Qing Kingdom.
• Fang Yun told the officials and clerks in the Pavilion of Literary Depths to keep working instead of saluting him, making that his first rule as prime minister.
• Fang Yun asked how a matter proceeded if the ruler rejected the Grand Secretariat’s proposed handling of a memorial.

Fang Yun learned how the Grand Secretariat operated and sought Cao Dean’s guidance on his new role as Left Prime Minister. The next morning, he met three officials anxious to prove themselves and gave them gifts while beginning to reorganize the office.

• The eunuch in charge of the seal explained the Harmonious Proclamation Accord, Edict Rejection, and rules for secret memorials to Fang Yun.
• Fang Yun asked Cao Dean for advice, and they held a private discussion in the Left Prime Minister’s study until sunset.
• A rumor spread that Fang Yun had given Cao Dean more than ten divine fruits, including three Longevity Fruits.
• Fang Yun arrived at the Pavilion of Literary Depths early and questioned Li Zhixiao, Xu Changgeng, and Dong Yueqian about why they had come early.
• Fang Yun gave the three officials wooden boxes and asked them to summon Sai Zhixue, Cai He, and Chen Xibi after nine o’clock.
• Fang Yun ordered the Grand Secretariat to use Military Time, and Xu Changgeng said the Left Prime Minister’s Office already used it.

Fang Yun gave Xu Changgeng, Dong Yueqian, and Li Zhixiao Sage Aperture-Opening Incense and questioned them about Liu Shan’s former staff. He left them to recommend two people for new Grand Secretariat Secretary posts.

• Fang Yun gave the three men boxes containing Sage Aperture-Opening Incense, and Xu Changgeng sought to enter his tutelage.
• Fang Yun explained that he had obtained abundant Sacred Dragon Ambergris from the Two-Headed Dragon Sage and had contributed only a limited amount through the Sacred Academy.
• Li Zhixiao described how Liu Shan selected and advanced Metropolitan Graduates, while Xu Changgeng, Li Zhixiao, and Dong Yueqian shared Liu Shan’s evaluations of them.
• Fang Yun told the three men to send Liu Shan a letter of thanks before Ghost Festival.
• Fang Yun announced two new Grand Secretariat Secretary positions and asked the three men to recommend suitable candidates.

Fang Yun appointed Xu Changgeng and Li Zhixiao as acting Secretariat Secretaries and ordered the Left Prime Minister's Office to submit detailed personal reports. The chapter left the officials stunned as they faced his demand for a thorough assessment of their work and the office.

• Fang Yun appointed Xu Changgeng and Li Zhixiao as acting Secretariat Secretaries to handle communication and oversee affairs.
• Xu Changgeng tried to impress Fang Yun with a military-style response, but Fang Yun saw through the ploy and looked at him coldly.
• Li Zhixiao recognized Fang Yun's calculated use of rewards and appointments, and judged him more generous and principled than Liu Shan.
• Fang Yun told Li Zhixiao to study the office's affairs and submit a written plan for discussion.
• Fang Yun ordered Xu Changgeng to have every member of the Left Prime Minister's Office submit a report covering their duties, strengths and weaknesses, office problems, expectations, and suggestions for his work.

Fang Yun introduced personal duty reports in the Left Prime Minister's Office, prompting officials across the kingdoms to imitate the measure as he carefully learned the government's workings. After half a month of calm administration, he made several modest personnel transfers, including restoring Cai He to the Ministry of Rites.

• Xu Changgeng, Li Zhixiao, and Dong Yueqian discussed Fang Yun's order to write personal reports and agreed to consider the task carefully.
• Xu Changgeng distributed Fang Yun's report requirements to the Left Prime Minister's Office, and news of the order spread across the Discourse Ranking.
• Right Prime Minister Cao Dean ordered his office to adopt the reports, and the Wu ruler and officials in several regions followed suit.
• Fang Yun handled the office's affairs cautiously, listened to differing views, and met privately with Cai He, Sai Zhixue, and Yu Xingshu.
• After half a month, Fang Yun transferred Sai Zhixue to the Ministry of Personnel and restored Cai He to his former post as Right Vice Minister of Rites.

After half a month, Fang Yun had secured control of the Left Prime Minister’s Office but had not yet mastered the Grand Secretariat. At court, he stunned the officials by accusing Li Wenying of four grave offenses and demanding that he be stripped of office and sent to Two Worlds Mountain for three years.

• Fang Yun appointed former military governor Yu Xingshu deputy minister of the Court of State Ceremonies, arguing that Jing Kingdom needed a firm-handed official with military experience for foreign affairs.
• Fang Yun quietly replaced five minor officials in the Left Prime Minister’s Office with capable officials from Mi Prefecture and Xiang Prefecture, then gained control of the office over half a month.
• On the way to court, Fang Yun told Hu Li that the officials had been too obedient for him to establish his authority through a confrontation.
• At the court assembly, Fang Yun left the civil officials’ ranks and accused Grand General Li Wenying of four grave offenses, surprising Li Wenying and alarming the court.
• Fang Yun blamed Li Wenying for failing to discipline Dai Hongcheng, indulging his household servants, leaving Jing Kingdom exposed to the Barbarian Race, and failing to oppose Liu Shan.
• Fang Yun asked the Jing Lord to remove Li Wenying from office and banish him to Two Worlds Mountain for three years.