Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun negotiated an alliance with Jing Kingdom’s Five Great Families, offering them valuable resources in exchange for their full support within the kingdom. After the families sealed the alliance, their public declaration backing his reforms caused the Lineages blockading the palace to scatter.

• Fang Yun offered the Five Great Families mining rights, cities in the Bloodmang Realm, and discounted divine treasures in exchange for their unconditional support within Jing Kingdom.
• The five families privately deliberated, then Zhang Hu, the Chen Sage Family, Sage Cui’s Aristocratic Family, the Gongyang Family, and the Ban Gu Aristocratic Clan each agreed to ally with Fang Yun.
• Fang Yun and the five family heads sealed their alliance with blood before the Temple of Sages.
• Fang Yun gave banquet guests treasures from Burial Saint Valley and secretly granted the Chen Sage Family additional treasures effective for Half-Sages.
• The Five Great Families jointly declared their support for the Anti-Thug Office’s Anti-Thug Campaign and Jing Kingdom’s reforms.
• The Lineages blockading the palace gates dispersed within an hour of the declaration.

Feng Zimo and Fang Shouye arrested the lineages blockading government offices across the Jing Kingdom, while the Hall of Punishment exposed Qing Kingdom spies and other conspirators behind the Ding Prefecture Rebellion. The revelations culminated in news that a Jing official had been bought by the rebel species.

• Feng Zimo and Fang Shouye decided to arrest the lineages gathered outside the Yueyang Prefectural Office, and Fang Shouye led soldiers disguised as bailiffs to surround them.
• The crowd attacked a bailiff and blamed the government, but Feng Zimo declared the protesters to be Qing Kingdom spies and ordered their arrest.
• Officials across the Jing Kingdom arrested everyone blockading government offices and detained them for interrogation.
• The Hall of Punishment revealed that Qing Kingdom spies, including Ding Prefecture's deputy magistrate, had incited officials to oppose the court.
• The Hall of Punishment reported that great-family members had organized thugs to commit violence during the Ding Prefecture Rebellion, and that a Subordinate Seventh Rank official had been bought by the rebel species.

Prince Kang realized the Hall of Punishment could make him a scapegoat for the Ding Prefecture chaos and hoped the Jian Family or Fang Yun might save him. Gao Mo and He Qionghai arrived at his residence and ordered him to come to the Hall of Punishment for colluding with Rebel Species.

• Prince Kang berated an aide for encouraging him to oppose Fang Yun and join the Qing Kingdom and great families in the Ding Prefecture chaos.
• Prince Kang concluded the Hall of Punishment, War Hall, Fang Yun, and other powers had reasons to punish him regardless of whether he had colluded with Rebel Species.
• Prince Kang said he would seek the Jian Family's help or beg Fang Yun for forgiveness if he had no other choice.
• Gao Mo and He Qionghai descended into Prince Kang's courtyard with Grand Academicians and ordered Prince Kang to accompany them to the Hall of Punishment.
• Prince Kang admitted guilt, offered the Sacred Academy everything belonging to his residence, and pleaded for his descendants to be spared; Gao Mo promised not to pursue his illegitimate sons living elsewhere.

The Hall of Punishment arrested Prince Kang and forced the Qing Kingdom and Gu Kingdom to accept the humiliating Ding Prefecture Treaty. As the Qing Kingdom erupted in protest, Fang Yun laid out a plan to draw its young people to the Jing Kingdom and shape their loyalties through education and cultural influence.

• He Qionghai ordered Prince Kang taken into custody as the Hall of Punishment and War Hall stormed his residence and arrested its members.
• The Hall of Punishment announced that Prince Kang had aided the Rebel Species and warned that it might investigate Qing Kingdom officials.
• The Qing Kingdom and Gu Kingdom signed the Ding Prefecture Treaty, accepting heavy payments and restrictions on their dealings with the Jing Kingdom.
• Scholars across the Ten Kingdoms condemned the Qing Kingdom and Gu Kingdom, while Qing Kingdom protesters demanded war against the Jing Kingdom.
• Fang Yun told the Jing Kingdom's leaders to use part of the indemnity to educate Qing Kingdom students and cultivate their loyalty to the Jing Kingdom.

The Jing Kingdom expanded its academies and drew Craftsmen School talent to Jade Sea City, prompting the kingdoms to negotiate shared workshops and technology exchange. The final verdict on the Ding Prefecture Rebellion brought executions and the destruction of 106 lineages, while the Anti-Thug Office offered remaining guilty lineages a chance to confess.

• The Jing Kingdom offered Qing Kingdom students places in its modern academies, with their expenses deducted from reparations, as five specialized academies prepared to open.
• Fang Yun and the Jing Kingdom used generous terms to recruit Craftsmen School scholars to Jade Sea City, and the other kingdoms eventually agreed to joint workshops and technology sharing.
• The Jing Kingdom announced the final verdict on the Ding Prefecture Rebellion, sentencing Prince Kang's household and many officials and rioters to execution or other severe punishments.
• The Anti-Thug Office named 106 Jing Kingdom lineages for severe penalties, including executions and banishments, and declared that the lineages had effectively vanished.
• The Anti-Thug Office offered remaining lineages leniency for voluntary confessions, prompting some lineage heads to confess or kill themselves.

After the Anti-Thug Campaign crushed Jing Kingdom’s major lineages, Cao Dean asked Fang Yun what had enabled the ruthless reform and how far he would have gone if it failed. Fang Yun revealed that he had been willing to rally the people to purge Jing Kingdom for the sake of the Human Race’s survival, and he left Cao Dean facing the consequences of that resolve.

• Cao Dean confronted Fang Yun over the Anti-Thug Office’s harsh campaign and suspected that Fang Yun had driven the Hall of Punishment to act.
• Fang Yun hinted that elders above the court had approved the reform, but refused to reveal classified details.
• Cao Dean estimated that the campaign had faced a substantial risk of failure, and Fang Yun said success and failure had each been equally likely.
• Fang Yun told Cao Dean that if the campaign had failed, he would have called on commoners and scholars to overthrow Jing Kingdom’s wealthy magnates and corrupt officials.
• Fang Yun argued that the Human Race had to remove entrenched obstacles and progress faster than rival races to survive.
• Fang Yun said he would destroy all of Jing Kingdom if necessary to secure the Human Race’s progress, and declared that he would not look back once he had drawn his sword.

After Fang Yun’s crackdown, Jing Kingdom launched sweeping economic and social reforms that drew attention from the other nations. The Ritual Hall then challenged the reforms as violations of ritual law, and the Grand Secretariat ordered Jing officials to cooperate only when its operations did not disrupt government work.

• Fang Yun and the Hall of Punishment completed the crackdown on local tyrants, while Jing Kingdom announced free farming tools and Armored Oxen, northern development, and incentives for sea exploration.
• Other nations sought Jing Kingdom’s farming technology and considered maritime ventures, but Jing’s rules and Fang Yun’s influence over the Dragon Race limited their options.
• Fang Yun and Jing Kingdom’s officials enacted broad reforms supporting agriculture, industry, and commerce, accelerating the kingdom’s development.
• The Ritual Hall announced an investigation into Jing Kingdom’s reforms, and rumors spread that it had considered using the Three Rites Fire against Fang Yun.
• Ritual Hall officials arrived across Jing Kingdom, and the Grand Secretariat instructed local officials to cooperate unless the officials’ demands disrupted government operations.

Ritual Hall officials struggled to gather support against Fang Yun’s reforms as Zong Weixiong observed Ning'an City and heard residents debate women’s growing public roles. The chapter left Zong listening as a young man challenged an old man’s claims about propriety.

• Ritual Hall officials anticipated resistance and began cautiously, surveying government offices and asking people about Fang Yun’s reforms.
• Zong Weixiong explored Ning'an City, noticed its residents’ energy and rapid pace, and reconsidered his hostility toward Jing Kingdom’s drive to improve.
• Zong Weixiong listened in a teahouse and learned that Fang Yun was widely admired, while many women supported his reforms and some men opposed their increased status.
• An old man and other patrons criticized women working and appearing in public, and a young man argued that their objections had no basis in law.
• The young man compared the old man’s beliefs to the Demon Barbarians’ view of humans and challenged whether he regarded women as people or objects.

In a restaurant discussion, a young man and others defended Fang Yun’s policies that raised women’s standing and argued over Ning’an’s growing focus on wealth. Zong Weixiong accepted their reasoning, leaving the debate unresolved but more thoughtful.

• A young man challenged an old man’s claim that women should obey men, while a wealthy gentleman argued that power determined who had the final say.
• Zong Weixiong cited women’s rising status in Ning’an and said Void Sage Fang had encouraged it, silencing the restaurant and prompting the old man to complain about Fang Yun.
• A Licentiate explained that women taking lighter jobs after the Battle of Ning’an helped free men for heavier work and military service.
• Zong Weixiong questioned Ning’an’s focus on money, and the old man defended the city’s prosperity after its earlier poverty.
• The young man argued that people judged wealth according to character rather than money itself, and Zong Weixiong agreed.

Zong Weixiong investigated Ning'an and came to believe Fang Yun’s reforms served the Human Race, so he reported honestly to the Ritual Hall despite its plans to punish Fang Yun. The Ritual Hall’s investigations largely supported Fang Yun, while the Academy of Literary Trust announced it would suspend cooperation with Jing Kingdom’s Miscellaneous School scholars and investigate them.

• A young Ning'an man argued that his people valued money as a means to improve their families’ lives, and the teahouse crowd proudly agreed.
• A Licentiate learned that Ning'an County was recruiting him for a paid post that would not delay his Imperial Examination.
• Zong Weixiong concluded that Fang Yun’s reforms were beneficial and that supporting the Ritual Hall’s punishment would betray his conscience, so he sent the Hall an honest report.
• The Ritual Hall received investigation reports that mostly praised Fang Yun or found no clear wrongdoing, frustrating grand scholars who had intended to punish him.
• The Academy of Literary Trust suspended cooperation with Miscellaneous School scholars in Jing Kingdom and announced an investigation that could expel officials who had abandoned their Sacred Way.

The Miscellaneous School threatened to expel Jing Kingdom’s officials from its Sacred Way, potentially paralyzing the government and weakening the kingdom. At a grand court assembly, officials began weighing the threat and the Miscellaneous School’s likely demands before its delegation reached Xiang Prefecture.

• The Empress Dowager convened a grand court assembly after Jing Kingdom’s officials learned that the Academy of Literary Trust might expel them from the Miscellaneous School.
• Officials considered how expulsion and Sacred Way Suppression could collapse government operations and harm Jing Kingdom’s National Fortune.
• Huang Zongyu urged the Empress Dowager and the ministers to treat the Miscellaneous School’s threat with utmost caution.
• The Empress Dowager said the first group of Miscellaneous School officials would reach Xiang Prefecture in about ten days, giving Jing Kingdom that time to form a plan.
• Sheng Boyuan proposed that the Miscellaneous School’s priorities were lifting Qing Kingdom’s siege and revising the Ding Prefecture Treaty.

Sheng Boyuan outlined the Miscellaneous School’s demands and warned that Sacred Way Suppression could plunge Jing Kingdom into chaos. As officials argued over the school’s motives, Fang Yun exposed the underlying demand that Jing Kingdom submit to Qing Kingdom.

• Sheng Boyuan listed the Miscellaneous School’s likely demands, including lifting the blockade, revising treaties, Fang Yun admitting fault, and clearing dust-covered literary guts.
• Sheng Boyuan warned that Sacred Way Suppression could destabilize Jing Kingdom, and rebuked Bo Han for invoking Sage Chen.
• Sai Zhixue argued that the Miscellaneous School would not impose suppression without Saint Zong’s approval, while Sheng Boyuan cautioned that Jing Kingdom’s reforms had favored other schools.
• Di Jianmin blamed Fang Yun for the conflict and urged Jing Kingdom to accommodate Qing Kingdom, drawing angry reactions from officials.
• Fang Yun agreed pointedly with Di Jianmin, then said Qing Kingdom wanted Jing Kingdom to submit and cast him as guilty for resisting.

Di Jianmin denounced Jing Kingdom and Fang Yun, then killed himself after publishing an essay blaming them for the conflict with Qing Kingdom. The court ordered an investigation into his lineage and debated peace talks with the Miscellaneous School, but no one had yet been chosen to lead them.

• Di Jianmin argued that Jing Kingdom should yield to Qing Kingdom and that Fang Yun should resign, prompting officials to call for his imprisonment.
• Di Jianmin’s Literary Qi surged, and Fang Yun failed to suppress him before his head exploded; Fang Yun ordered the Di Lineage confined for investigation.
• Di Jianmin’s essay, Discourse on Jing, appeared on the Discourse Ranking and accused Fang Yun and Jing Kingdom of endangering the Human Race.
• Yang Xuwen and Cao Dean defended Fang Yun as Jing Kingdom’s bottom line, while Sheng Boyuan warned that the Ritual Hall might side with the Miscellaneous School.
• The Empress Dowager asked whether the ministers supported peace talks, and Sheng Boyuan proposed a Temporary Peace Talks Office.
• Zhang Poyue challenged Sheng Boyuan to lead the negotiations, and Cao Dean suggested that someone from the Miscellaneous School preside with help from a specialist in diplomacy.

Fang Yun rejected the Miscellaneous School’s peace talks and forced an official who insulted him to slap himself before leaving Heaven-Serving Hall. The Demon Realm’s sudden ceasefire gave the Miscellaneous School and the Sacred Academy a chance to target Jing Kingdom, leaving the officials bracing for a political assault.

• Huang Zongyu and other officials argued that Miscellaneous School members should not lead peace talks, while Fang Yun refused to preside over them or support them.
• When a Miscellaneous School official insulted Fang Yun and tried to resign, Fang Yun stopped him and ordered him to slap himself twenty times before leaving.
• Fang Yun said the Grand Secretariat would vote on the peace talks and that he would respect its decision if more than two-thirds approved.
• Cao Dean announced that the Demon Realm had declared a temporary ceasefire and withdrawn its forces from Two Worlds Mountain.
• Cao Dean warned that the ceasefire removed the Sacred Academy’s pretext for restraining the Miscellaneous School, which could now strike Jing Kingdom before the Demon Realm attacked again.

Fang Yun explained why the Demon Realm’s new tactics could weaken its Sacred Way and hinted that he had prepared for resistance to his reforms. Zhang Poyue revealed that Fang Yun had chosen both allies and opponents to shape the course of events, leaving the officials stunned by the scale of his strategy.

• Fang Yun argued that the Demon Realm’s adoption of other races’ Sacred Ways would create problems because its foundation lacked the Human Race’s capacity for learning and adaptation.
• Fang Yun explained that the Military Barbarian Sage had been abandoned by the Demon Realm’s sages after trying to transform its Sacred Way, and said he would finish his preparations before carrying out reforms.
• Sheng Boyuan challenged Fang Yun’s position, but Zhang Poyue urged him to examine the situation through the School of War’s principles.
• Zhang Poyue explained that Fang Yun had personally chosen both allies and opponents in his reforms so that events would not turn entirely against him.
• Sheng Boyuan refused to believe the conclusion, while Zhang Poyue insisted that events had never moved in the direction most unfavorable to Fang Yun.

Fang Yun debated whether he would accept punishment if the Miscellaneous School used Sacred Way Suppression against the Jing Kingdom, insisting he would not apologize for others’ mistakes. He left the court facing Sheng Boyuan’s furious denunciation and a rupture between them.

• Fang Yun warned that the Demon Realm’s truce might conceal preparations for future attacks and that the Ritual Hall and Miscellaneous School would continue targeting him and the Jing Kingdom.
• Sheng Boyuan asked whether Fang Yun would accept punishment to protect the Jing Kingdom if the Miscellaneous School imposed Sacred Way Suppression.
• Fang Yun argued that the Jing Kingdom could recover from the loss of officials, but without him it would already have perished.
• Sheng Boyuan urged Fang Yun to pretend to apologize and use his knowledge of the Hundred Schools to evade consequences without harming himself.
• Fang Yun refused to apologize for mistakes he had not made, and Sheng Boyuan accused him of selfishness and severed their ties.
• Fang Yun told Sheng Boyuan that there had never been kindness or righteousness between them.

Fang Yun refused to admit fault to secure peace with the Miscellaneous School, and the Grand Secretariat voted overwhelmingly to approve peace talks. Though Fang Yun accepted the result, he withdrew his office from the negotiations, while Sheng Boyuan insisted it take the lead.

• Sheng Boyuan urged Fang Yun to admit fault or accept trading away other interests, but Fang Yun and Zhang Poyue condemned the proposal.
• Fang Yun agreed that Yang Xuwen could preside over an anonymous Grand Secretariat vote on peace talks.
• The vote passed with 193 members in favor, 39 opposed, and 17 abstaining; the Jing Lord affirmed that the Grand Secretariat’s decision would stand.
• Yang Xuwen formally declared that the Jing Kingdom would pursue peace talks with the Miscellaneous School and record the vote for Sacred Academy verification.
• Fang Yun said his office would not participate in the talks because he had opposed them, but Sheng Boyuan insisted that the Left Prime Minister’s Office take the leading role.

Fang Yun refused to join the Temporary Peace Talks Office, while Jing’s officials debated how to handle the Ritual Hall and proceeded with peace preparations without him. He continued governing through the Left Prime Minister’s Office, renamed his residence Bell Garden, and promoted exchanges with other peoples under rules that put Jing citizens and customs first.

• Fang Yun rejected Sheng Boyuan’s request to join the Temporary Peace Talks Office and left the Heaven-Serving Hall.
• Sheng Boyuan warned the court that the Ritual Hall might strike alongside the Miscellaneous School, but Cao Dean argued that the court should let the matter take its course.
• The empress dowager dismissed most officials, and the remaining court leaders discussed setting up the Temporary Peace Talks Office; the Grand Secretariat formed it the next day.
• The Anti-Thug Office began a fifth, secret review of cases while public anxiety grew over pressure from the Ritual Hall and the Miscellaneous School.
• Fang Yun renamed Spring Garden Bell Garden, prompting conservative scholars to denounce him, and continued his work despite their attacks.
• Fang Yun promoted exchanges with other regions and peoples, setting rules that required equal treatment for Jing citizens and respect for Jing customs.

Fang Yun drafted a decree to abolish human trafficking, slaveholding, and exploitative employment in Jing Kingdom, arguing that these practices held back innovation and economic growth. He finished revising the draft and resolved to push the powerful toward reform for the sake of the Human Race.

• Fang Yun weighed the risks of leaving inter-racial exchanges to either the bureaucracy or private merchants and decided the government had to lead while the people supplied the driving force.
• Fang Yun reflected on the obstacles to reform and concluded that refusing to act or not knowing how to act posed the greatest danger to Jing Kingdom.
• Fang Yun began drafting a decree to abolish human trafficking, slaveholding, and unequal employment relationships.
• Fang Yun explained that slaveholding discouraged investment in technology and reduced domestic consumption, while freeing slaves could strengthen the Human Race.
• Fang Yun revised the draft and resolved to press landowners and great lineages forward with the reforms.

Fang Yun pushed through the abolition of slavery by breaking the lineages’ resistance, while Jing Kingdom’s peace talks with the Miscellaneous School turned into a pressure campaign against the kingdom. The chapter left Jing Kingdom’s officials debating whether Fang Yun should admit fault in exchange for concessions.

• Fang Yun forced officials who leaked the slavery proposal to resign, persuaded the Grand Secretariat to enact abolition laws, and used appointments to Prefectural Councils of Governance to split the lineages’ opposition.
• The Temporary Peace Talks Office prepared for negotiations without Fang Yun’s help, and the Academy of Literary Trust agreed to meet Jing Kingdom’s delegation at the Sacred Academy.
• After ten days of talks, the Miscellaneous School revealed that its investigations were a pretext for imposing harsh new conditions on Jing Kingdom.
• The Miscellaneous School expelled Negotiation Bureau officials who protested its demands and offered major concessions only if Fang Yun publicly admitted his mistakes and promised not to oppose its Sacred Way.
• Jing Kingdom convened a grand court assembly to discuss the Miscellaneous School’s offer, with officials of the seventh rank and above attending in person or by projection.