Chapter Summaries

As Miscellaneous School scholars abandoned Jing Kingdom in protest against Fang Yun, Ji Wu and Guan Che published a manifesto accusing him of ten crimes. Sheng Boyuan and officials from several offices then demanded that peace negotiations resume, threatening to resign or leave Jing Kingdom if Fang Yun stayed.

• Fang Yun claimed illness and skipped the Grand Court Assembly, where most Miscellaneous School officials resigned or withdrew their projections and left Jing Kingdom.
• Jing Kingdom scholars' departures flooded the Discourse Ranking, and public criticism of Fang Yun grew as more scholars blamed him for halting negotiations and driving out the Miscellaneous School.
• Ji Wu and Guan Che published a manifesto listing ten accusations against Fang Yun and urged scholars to overthrow his rule.
• Sheng Boyuan called for peace negotiations to resume and threatened to leave Jing Kingdom if Fang Yun remained; several officials from different offices seconded his motion.
• A Subordinate Sixth Rank official from the Left Prime Minister's Office also supported Sheng Boyuan, astonishing Xu Changgeng, Li Zhixiao, Dong Yueqian, and others who recalled that Fang Yun had promoted him.

Fang Yun blocked the court’s attempts to force him into negotiations with the Miscellaneous School as its severance of scholars from the Sacred Way began. A discovery then enabled even Academy Students and Licentiates to create Literary Treasures, transforming their potential use in warfare while the conflict remained unresolved.

• After Sheng Boyuan led officials to the Sacred Academy, the Miscellaneous School refused to negotiate with anyone but Fang Yun, and Fang Yun vetoed the court’s resolution requiring him to attend.
• Sheng Boyuan’s attempt to impeach Fang Yun failed, and on the fifth day the Miscellaneous School severed its scholars’ connection to the Sacred Way, shattering Literary Guts across the Jing Kingdom.
• An elderly Academy Student accidentally created a Literary Treasure by infusing his inkstone with Literary Qi, and his son reported the discovery to the county magistrate, who informed Fang Yun.
• Fang Yun sent the findings to the Eastern Sage Pavilion, whose team investigated the discovery at the Academy Student’s home.
• The Sacred Academy announced that Academy Students and Licentiates could create Literary Treasures, that ordinary people could use treasures made by Licentiates, and that Literary Treasures’ lifespans had doubled.
• Miscellaneous School scholars mocked Fang Yun over the discovery, while new scholars began filling government positions in the Jing Kingdom.

As Jing Kingdom faced the Miscellaneous School’s Sacred Way Suppression, Fang Yun continued reforms while officials deadlocked over whether to force him to negotiate. On the eve of the punishment, Sheng Boyuan threatened to resign, and the Empress Dowager ordered Zhang Poyue to bring Fang Yun to court.

• Fang Yun filled vacant posts in the Ministry of Finance and Jing Kingdom Bank with carefully balanced recruits as factions avoided opposing him.
• The Miscellaneous School gathered Great Scholars and Grand Academicians in Kong City, while other halls failed to stop the impending Sacred Way Suppression.
• Jing Kingdom’s officials argued daily over whether Fang Yun should be compelled to negotiate, but Fang Yun stayed away from court and continued his reforms.
• On the night before Sacred Way Suppression, Sheng Boyuan threatened to leave Jing Kingdom unless Fang Yun came to Heaven-Serving Hall within one shichen.
• The Empress Dowager ordered Zhang Poyue to invite Fang Yun to court and threatened to expose his boasts if he returned without him.

Sheng Boyuan resigned from the Jing Kingdom government and left to pursue the Sacred Way, followed by many officials and Miscellaneous School scholars. As the people across the kingdom prayed and waited, the Miscellaneous School Sacred Way Suppression descended upon Jing Kingdom, leaving everyone feeling sluggish.

• Zhang Poyue failed to meet Fang Yun and urged Sheng Boyuan to remain in office rather than resign.
• Sheng Boyuan removed his official hat, resigned, and vowed not to return to Jing Kingdom unless he became a Great Scholar.
• More than twenty high-ranking officials resigned, while countless Miscellaneous School scholars fled Jing Kingdom with their families.
• People across Ji County, Ning'an County, and Jade Sea City prayed for Fang Yun and Jing Kingdom as the kingdom waited for the suppression.
• Dark clouds gathered over Jing Kingdom, and the Sacred Way Suppression descended, merging into the land and making everyone's movements sluggish.

Fang Yun revealed that he had used the Miscellaneous School’s suppression of Jing Kingdom to purge its corrupt and incompetent officials as part of his reforms. He entered the court assembly in restored strength and left the officials facing a choice between following him and losing control of the kingdom.

• The Miscellaneous School Sacred Way suppressed Jing Kingdom, weakening its government and threatening to make the kingdom splinter into rebellion.
• Fang Yun arrived at the ongoing court assembly in strong health, startling the officials who had seen him appear gravely ill.
• The Empress Dowager challenged Fang Yun for remaining, and he defended his reforms as necessary to heal Jing Kingdom.
• Fang Yun disclosed that he had borrowed the Miscellaneous School’s power to drive incompetent and corrupt officials from the court.
• The officials realized Fang Yun’s party now dominated Jing Kingdom and that no one there could remove him unless Sage Chen intervened.

As Liu Shan prepared to return to the capital, Qing Kingdom's leaders planned to use the Sacred Way Suppression to invade Jing Kingdom and seize Little Jiangdong. They intended to attack Taihe Prefecture at dawn in three days, after Jing Kingdom's Sword of the Realm was suppressed.

• Liu Shan emerged from Falling Waterfall Valley with more than a hundred followers and decided to return to the capital by ship in three days.
• Qu Mingchen, Xi Shi, and Gong Yuan'an met in Changfeng City, where Xi Shi announced Qing Kingdom's plan to seize Taihe Prefecture during the Sacred Way Suppression.
• Xi Shi said Qing Kingdom would portray the invasion as a response to Jing Kingdom's scholars seeking help against Fang Yun and claimed Qing's forces were prepared to win.
• Gong Yuan'an and Qu Mingchen agreed to the plan, and Xi Shi set the attack for dawn three days later.

Ao Wufeng rallied the Western, Southern, and Northern Sea Dragon Palaces to reclaim the Yangtze River and challenge Fang Yun, while Fang Yun proposed a sweeping alliance with the Legalist School to resist the Miscellaneous School. The dragons prepared to exploit Jing Kingdom’s weakened National Fortune, and the officials considered Fang Yun’s proposed reform.

• Ao Wufeng urged the Three Seas Dragon Palaces to seize the Yangtze River and Water Hall, but Ao He and Ao Chuan warned that Fang Yun’s Two-Dragon Seal made him too powerful to confront.
• Ao Wufeng revealed his own Two-Dragon Imperial Seal and an incarnation of Ao Zhou, convincing the other Dragon Emperors that they could reclaim the Flood Dragon Sage Palace.
• Ao Wufeng explained that the dragons planned to cut off the Yangtze’s source after Jing Kingdom’s National Fortune was suppressed, then move east and take the Flood Dragon Sage Palace.
• In Heaven-Serving Hall, Fang Yun asked the Empress Dowager and officials to cooperate fully with the Legalist School and reform Jing Kingdom to resist the Miscellaneous School Sacred Way.
• The Empress Dowager cautioned that the Legalist School’s past excesses had contributed to the Qin Dynasty’s fall, while Fang Yun argued that the school had changed and was necessary to oppose the Miscellaneous School.

Fang Yun persuaded the Empress Dowager to pursue governance in accordance with the law and draft a constitution, even though the Legalist School could not directly resist the Miscellaneous School's Sacred Way Suppression. The Empress Dowager authorized him to prepare a draft within three days, while several officials suspected the reform would bring changes beyond the Sacred Way.

• Cao Dean realized Fang Yun was using the Legalist School to advance his plans, but decided to continue following him.
• Fang Yun explained that governing in accordance with the law meant the whole court would follow the law, rather than letting the Legalist School monopolize it.
• Fang Yun proposed an independent Grand Judicial Court and said the Jing Kingdom should gradually establish a constitution as the basis for its laws.
• A Legalist official explained that disagreement among the Hall of Punishment's elders prevented the Legalist School from directly opposing the Miscellaneous School's Sacred Way Suppression.
• Fang Yun admitted he had no guaranteed plan and said that even failure could help those who came after him.
• The Empress Dowager authorized Fang Yun to draft a constitution within three days, and several high-ranking officials sensed the reform would have broader consequences.

Fang Yun presented his draft Jing Kingdom Constitution to senior officials, balancing the monarch’s ceremonial authority against the Grand Secretariat’s growing power. The meeting ended with Yang Xuwen reluctantly dropping his objection to a provision making men and women equal before the law.

• Fang Yun convened the Empress Dowager, Yang Xuwen, Gao Mo, and other senior officials to review a constitutional draft he had already prepared.
• The officials read articles that gave legislative power to the Grand Secretariat while retaining the monarch’s approval of laws, appointment of senior officials, and authority over grand rites.
• The Empress Dowager denounced the sixth article, which assigned the Grand Secretariat responsibility for governing while the Son of Heaven presided over rites.
• Yang Xuwen objected to the article declaring men and women equal, and Fang Yun countered that women should at least receive equality before the law.
• Yang Xuwen silently accepted Fang Yun’s compromise and continued reading the draft.

Fang Yun and the officials worked through the Jing Kingdom’s draft constitution, while the Empress Dowager was excluded from their divine-sense discussions. Once they reached the disputed provisions, she challenged Article Six, and Fang Yun defended transferring governmental authority to the Grand Secretariat.

• Fang Yun proposed rapid divine-sense exchanges and set aside disputed provisions while the officials refined the rest, leaving the Empress Dowager unable to participate.
• Fang Yun and the officials compromised on requirements for prime ministers and retained top-down selection of officials after debating the rules.
• The officials worked through the night and into the next day, reaching agreement on most provisions; the Empress Dowager approved them despite her exhaustion.
• Fang Yun began discussing the disputed provisions, and the Empress Dowager firmly opposed Article Six, which assigned rites to the Son of Heaven and government to the Grand Secretariat.
• Fang Yun argued that the Jing Kingdom belonged to its people and defended the Grand Secretariat as a safer governing authority than a single monarch.

Fang Yun confronted the empress dowager over the constitution and the future of the Jing Kingdom, then compromised by giving Zhao Yuan a role in the Grand Secretariat. The empress dowager also asked Fang Yun to teach Zhao Yuan in the palace for three months, leaving him to consider her final request.

• Fang Yun warned the empress dowager that he was not afraid of being branded a regicide and said she had forced his hand.
• The empress dowager knelt and clung to Fang Yun's leg, begging him to spare her and Zhao Yuan.
• Fang Yun proposed creating the position of Ritual Chancellor and allowing the sovereign to hold it alongside his other duties.
• The empress dowager asked Fang Yun to teach Zhao Yuan in the imperial palace for three months, and Fang Yun objected that his government work kept him busy during the day.

Fang Yun agreed to teach Zhao Yuan for three months as Jing Kingdom prepared to establish its Constitution. The Constitution’s enactment let the Legalist School seize part of the Miscellaneous School’s Sacred Way, prompting Xi Shi’s army to threaten Ding County and Liu Shan to continue toward the capital.

• The Empress Dowager asked Fang Yun to stay in the palace and teach Zhao Yuan for three months, and Fang Yun agreed.
• As dark clouds covered Jing Kingdom, Fang Yun announced that its Constitution had formally been established.
• The Legalist School’s Sacred Way treasures joined forces with the Heaven-Slaying Sword, split off one percent of the Chaos River, and absorbed it, while the black great seal was driven skyward.
• In Qing Kingdom, Xi Shi realized the Miscellaneous School’s Sacred Way had been seized and ordered his army to leave Ding County’s blades unsealed for three hours after occupying it.
• Liu Shan saw the Sacred Way split and declared that he would still go to the capital and take everything back for the Miscellaneous School.

Fang Yun’s Constitution helped the Legalist School seize power from the Miscellaneous School, prompting the Hall of Punishment to rally Legalists in Jing Kingdom. The Miscellaneous School planned to use the Lü Marquis Seal against Jing Kingdom, and Fang Yun arranged a secret meeting with Gao Mo to discuss the threat.

• The Contest of Sacred Ways revealed that the Constitution was draining power from the Miscellaneous School and strengthening the Legalist School, which saw Fang Yun as the key to its future.
• The Hall of Punishment announced that its Great Scholars and most of its personnel would travel to the Jing Kingdom Capital to study constitutional establishment and attend a Sacred Way Literary Assembly.
• A report on the Discourse Ranking said that Miscellaneous School elders had met with the Hall of Punishment, then left seeming to have achieved their basic objective.
• Fang Yun received a secret message warning that the Miscellaneous School would use the Imperial Jade Seal, now known as the Lü Marquis Seal, against Jing Kingdom.
• Fang Yun contacted Gao Mo, who told him that Hall of Punishment elders would arrive in the capital that afternoon for a secret discussion.

Fang Yun confronted the Hall of Punishment elders over their agreement to let the Miscellaneous School use the Lü Marquis Seal against the Jing Kingdom. Though they urged him to endure the attack and promised him a future role in the Legalist School, he remained determined to resist.

• Fang Yun questioned the Hall of Punishment elders about their agreement with the Miscellaneous School and learned they would protect him but not the Jing Kingdom.
• Gao Mo explained that the Miscellaneous School had offered the Legalist School permission to trial constitutions and had threatened it through the Eastern Sage Pavilion.
• Fang Yun condemned the elders for abandoning the Jing Kingdom, while they argued its destruction would not prevent his rise to sagehood.
• Han Yulong warned Fang Yun that resisting the Lü Marquis Seal could expose him to deadly Sacred Way power.
• Gao Mo urged Fang Yun to retreat and offered him the first elder position in a new Law Hall, but Fang Yun insisted he still wanted to try.

Fang Yun negotiated with the Legalist elders for an Amnesty Talisman and learned that they would protect only him, not Jing Kingdom. He told Jing Kingdom’s officials that the Miscellaneous School was preparing to use its full strength against the kingdom.

• Fang Yun offered to explain the Constitution to the Legalists in exchange for an Amnesty Talisman, and Gao Mo agreed to provide one.
• Fang Yun rejected the Miscellaneous School’s proposal to abandon Jing Kingdom in exchange for help rebuilding it after he attained Saint Enfeoffment.
• At a meeting with the Empress Dowager and Jing Kingdom’s Grand Secretariat Councillors, Fang Yun said the Legalists would leave the capital after the Sacred Way Literary Assembly.
• Fang Yun clarified that the Legalists would protect only him, leaving Jing Kingdom without their full support.
• Fang Yun confirmed that the Miscellaneous School was preparing to use its full power to suppress and seal Jing Kingdom.

Fang Yun told the court that the Miscellaneous School would let Jing Kingdom’s people migrate to the Bloodmang Realm, and he promised to preserve the imperial house and rebuild Jing Kingdom there if the kingdom fell. Jing officials began preparing a secret evacuation as Liu Shan delayed his voyage so he would reach the capital after the Legalist School’s Sacred Way Literary Assembly.

• The Empress Dowager asked Fang Yun how he would counter Liu Shan and the Miscellaneous School, and Fang Yun said Liu Shan would not reach the Golden Throne Hall.
• Zhang Poyue and Cao Dean said Jing Kingdom’s officials were relying on Fang Yun, while the Empress Dowager learned that the Chen Family could not safely intervene.
• Fang Yun told the court that the Miscellaneous School would permit Jing Kingdom’s people to relocate to the Bloodmang Realm, and he promised to rebuild Jing Kingdom there if needed.
• Zhang Poyue proposed moving Jing Kingdom’s people and wealth to the Bloodmang Realm, and the Empress Dowager ordered officials to prepare the evacuation secretly.
• Officials in Qing Kingdom and the Dragon Races chose to wait, while Liu Shan ordered his ship to slow down so he would enter the capital after the Legalist School’s assembly.

Fang Yun hosted the Legalist Sacred Way Literary Assembly in the Jing Kingdom capital, drawing an unprecedented gathering of scholars from across the Human Race. As the assembly began, the chapter also introduced the young leaders of the Fang Faction and their work to spread Fang Yun’s learning.

• Fang Yun explained the Constitution to Legalist scholars at a meeting hosted by the Hall of Punishment, though they felt his account was incomplete.
• The Hall of Punishment held several preparatory Literary Assemblies before the Legalist Sacred Way Literary Assembly began in earnest on the seventh day after the Constitution was established.
• More than three million scholars, including most of the Human Race’s Great Scholars, gathered at Jing Kingdom Academy, while members of the Miscellaneous School led by Liu Shan stayed away.
• The chapter introduced the Fang Faction, a loose alliance of young leaders united in their mission to revitalize the Human Race by studying and advancing Fang Yun’s learning.
• Zhang Zhixing devoted himself to the Craftsmen Sacred Way, while Hua Yuqing abandoned his former Medical Way to research the Surgical Medical Way under Fang Yun’s guidance.

The Fang Faction reunited at the Sacred Way Literary Assembly and discussed the threat the Miscellaneous School posed to Fang Yun and the Jing Kingdom. They resolved to wait for Fang Yun to find a way forward as the assembly officially began.

• Li Fanming teased Han Shoulu about sitting with the Fang Faction, and Yan Yukong cautioned him against speaking carelessly about the Miscellaneous School.
• Han Shoulu explained that the Jing Kingdom’s possible downfall could hinder Fang Yun’s reforms, damage his resolve, and let others seize the fruits of his Sacred Way.
• The Fang Faction agreed it was not strong enough to oppose the Miscellaneous School and would have to wait while Fang Yun faced the crisis.
• Kong Delun noted that Fang Yun’s life was not in danger, and the group turned their attention to the assembly.
• Gao Mo announced that the Legalist Sacred Way Literary Assembly was officially open.

Fang Yun opened the Legalist Sacred Way Literary Assembly with jokes before discussing the origins of law and how primitive social rules developed into laws. He left the audience considering the connection between early customs and the Legalist Sacred Way.

• Gao Mo projected the Book of Lord Shang, which exposed a Metropolitan Graduate as a suspected spy for the Demon Realm, and the Hall of Punishment took him away.
• Gao Mo welcomed Fang Yun to open the assembly, crediting Fang Yun's constitution with helping the Legalist Sacred Way flourish.
• Fang Yun mocked the Miscellaneous School, the Ritual Hall, and the absent Qing Lord, making the gathered scholars laugh.
• Fang Yun began his lecture by explaining that laws arose after states formed to preserve the rule of those in power.
• Fang Yun described primitive rules, such as distributing different amounts of hunting meat, and argued that they were closely connected to later laws.

Fang Yun argued that morality shaped primitive rules and remained essential to just laws and sentencing. He then invoked Han Feizi to urge people to govern according to present realities rather than fear change or blindly imitate the past.

• Fang Yun rejected survival, dispute settlement, and divine gifts as sole explanations for primitive rules, then identified morality as their origin.
• Fang Yun argued that law and sentencing depended on morality, human feeling, and reason, and warned that laws detached from them would bring humanity to ruin.
• Fang Yun distinguished retributive sentencing from crime prevention and argued that either approach ultimately relied on moral judgments.
• Fang Yun quoted Han Feizi to explain that governance should fit the needs of the present rather than copy ancient methods.
• Fang Yun proclaimed that changes in Heaven need not be feared, ancestors need not be treated as models, and others’ words need not deter people.