Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun defeated the nine jade dragons, seized the Imperial Jade Seal, and established his own sacred way, crippling the Miscellaneous School Sacred Way. The dragons fled, Zong Ganyu lost consciousness in regret, and Jing Kingdom celebrated Fang Yun’s victory.

• The Miscellaneous School Sacred Way collapsed, shattering scholars’ literary guts and causing a Great Scholar to die; Zong Ganyu watched helplessly from the Eastern Sage Pavilion.
• The Law Beast defeated the nine jade dragons and tossed the weakened Imperial Jade Seal into Fang Yun’s embryonic new sacred way, where its powers stabilized and strengthened it.
• Zong Ganyu realized his actions had doomed the Miscellaneous School, then lost consciousness as a Medical School Great Scholar rushed to treat him.
• The dragons recognized Fang Yun’s new sacred way and fled, while the Western Sea dragons abandoned their attempt to block the river and Ao Wufeng led them away.
• Jing Lord Zhao Yuan, the empress dowager, Jing Kingdom’s officials, and its people celebrated Fang Yun’s success; then a vast shadow appeared in the sky.

Fang Yun’s new Sacred Way absorbed the School of Diplomacy’s Sacred Way and drew scholars from the Miscellaneous School, revealing itself as the political way. The chapter ended with Political Science topping the Literary Ranking and its publication announced for the next day.

• The Legalist Sacred Way Torrent lost a tenth of its power to Fang Yun’s new Sacred Way, while Legalist scholars accepted the change without harm.
• The School of Diplomacy Sacred Way was swallowed whole, and its scholars began advancing as they accepted Fang Yun’s new Sacred Way.
• Elderly Miscellaneous School scholars in Jing Kingdom switched to the new Sacred Way, recovering their Literary Palaces and advancing in rank.
• A Fang Party scholar recognized the new Sacred Way as the political way, and Political Science rose to first place on the Literary Ranking.
• The Sacred Academy’s Classics Institute and other institutions announced that editions of Political Science would go on sale the following day.

The Kong Family and the Ritual Hall debated whether to oppose Fang Yun as the Confucian Sacred Way changed, with the Kong Family divided over whether his actions threatened the Human Race. The chapter ended with Kong Yingnian rejecting the campaign against Fang Yun and demanding to know what wrongdoing justified it.

• The Confucian Sacred Way grew purer and more concentrated despite losing much of its volume, leaving scholars and saints uncertain about what the change meant.
• The Kong Family's scholars reconsidered taking action against Fang Yun because the Confucian Sacred Way and the wills of its saints had not retaliated against him.
• Yun Luo and the Ritual Hall elders asked the Kong Family to reclaim the Confucian Sacred Way and oppose Fang Yun, while the family head remained asleep and undecided.
• Kong Lingtai argued that the Kong Family was not entitled to interfere, recalling that Confucius had allowed the other schools to divide the Confucian Sacred Way.
• Kong Yingnian warned that suppressing Fang Yun could weaken the Human Race before the Demon Realm's invasion, and rejected the campaign against him as unjustified.

At a Kong Family meeting, Yun Luo argued that Fang Yun’s Political Way threatened the Confucian School, but Kong Yingnian explained that Fang Yun had grounded Political Science in Sage Kong’s political thought. The clan remained divided until its sleeping head warned that the Confucius Gate would not open unless Sage Kong was angered.

• Kong Siyuan and Yun Luo debated whether Fang Yun or the Miscellaneous School was responsible for the Confucian School’s troubles, and Yun Luo urged the Kong Family to demand that Fang Yun fold Political Science into the Confucian School.
• Yun Luo warned that a Political Way independent of Confucianism could cause nations to abandon the Confucian Sacred Way.
• Kong Yingnian relayed Fang Yun’s explanation that Sage Kong pursued a higher Way, and that Political Science distinguished practical political methods from Confucian political thought.
• Kong Yingnian assured the clan that Political Science traced the Political Way to Sage Kong’s ideas, prompting the Kong Family members to relax.
• Kong Yingnian proposed holding another clan meeting after everyone read Political Science, while Yun Luo urged immediate action; the sleeping head of the Kong Family then declared that the Confucius Gate would not open unless Sage Kong was angered.

The Kong Family refused to intervene against Fang Yun, and the Ritual Hall elders realized their visit had exposed their selfish motives. In the Jing Kingdom, officials celebrated Fang Yun’s new Political Way and the protection it gave their kingdom, while the Ritual Hall considered whether to cooperate with him.

• The Kong Family head’s Sacred Might revealed that Yun Luo and the Ritual Hall elders had prioritized protecting their own hall over the Confucian Sacred Way, so they left without the Kong Family’s support.
• Yun Luo and the elders discussed Fang Yun’s growing influence and whether to keep targeting him or seek cooperation through Jiang Hechuan.
• Wu Jiu argued that Fang Yun’s concept of “principle” might benefit the Ritual Hall, and the elders agreed to vote on their approach after returning.
• Jing Kingdom officials gathered at the Left Prime Minister’s Office to celebrate Fang Yun’s establishment of the Political Way and the protection it offered the kingdom.
• The officials discussed how the Political Way surpassed the Miscellaneous School’s Sacred Way and how the Miscellaneous School’s flawed foundation hindered its development.

Fang Yun completed Political Science, and the Sacred Academy took both versions under its protection as the Political Way grew stronger. After sensing its source and finding sacred might in his Literary Palace, he emerged to find Jing Kingdom’s officials waiting and asking when he would hold the Political Way Literary Assembly.

• Fang Yun finished writing both versions of Political Science, and a rainbow bridge from the Sacred Academy carried them away.
• Fang Yun sensed the sunlike source of the Political Way and realized he could touch it only after becoming a Half-Sage.
• Fang Yun found that Political Science had become a second center in his Literary Palace, filling it with sacred might.
• Fang Yun saw that five Cloud-Patterned Chimes had appeared in his Literary Palace after the founding of the Political Way.
• Fang Yun left his study the next morning to find Jing Kingdom’s officials waiting, while the chief eunuch relayed the empress dowager’s invitation and Cao Dean asked about the Political Way Literary Assembly.

After establishing the Political Way, Fang Yun announced plans for compulsory education throughout the Jing Kingdom and pledged to include girls, using his Sacred Might to secure the officials’ support. He also planned to seek a Sage Edict from the Eastern Sage Pavilion and declared that Jing Kingdom’s benefits would go to those who had stayed through its hardships.

• Fang Yun declined to hold a Political Way Literary Assembly for now and announced five years of state-funded compulsory education, with costs initially covered by Qing Kingdom reparations and state-owned enterprises.
• When Cao Dean and the other officials objected to educating women, Fang Yun insisted that everyone would be included and used the Political Way’s Sacred Might to win their agreement.
• Fang Yun agreed to seek a Sage Edict from the Eastern Sage Pavilion to protect lower-ranked scholars who changed schools, offering to pause the Political Way’s absorption of the Miscellaneous School Sacred Way for six months.
• Fang Yun said he did not blame officials and scholars who had left the Jing Kingdom, but barred them from sharing in its future gains and declared that the people of the Jing Kingdom came first.

After the Jing Kingdom’s victory, Fang Yun rallied officials, ordered Liu Shan and the Miscellaneous School scholars expelled from the capital, and spoke with the empress dowager before presiding over court. Liu Shan woke at the city gate to public humiliation, while the author’s closing note announced upcoming revisions and an irregular update schedule.

• Fang Yun praised the officials for enduring the test and rallied them to declare that they would always win.
• Fang Yun ordered Liu Shan and the Miscellaneous School scholars thrown out of the city and told officials to leave Guan Che alone for now.
• Fang Yun spoke with the empress dowager through the night and stayed in the imperial palace.
• The authorities dumped Liu Shan and the injured scholars outside the southern gate, where passersby learned their identities and spat on them.
• Liu Shan woke, swallowed phlegm and saliva, and vomited; scholars posted the incident on the Discourse Ranking, prompting a revolting nickname for him.
• Fang Yun entered the Heaven-Serving Hall to preside over court, while the author announced revisions, possible schedule changes, and plans for a future book.

Fang Yun introduced final reforms at the Jing Kingdom’s Grand Court Assembly and announced that he would focus on consolidating them. As Political Science went on sale across the Human Race, the Political Way gained followers at a remarkable rate, leaving Fang Yun the foremost figure beneath the Sages.

• Fang Yun proposed compulsory education and other reforms, then said he would suspend further reforms to let the Jing Kingdom settle.
• Readers across the Ten Kingdoms crowded Literary Academies to buy both editions of Political Science, while officials and soldiers maintained order.
• Scholars read Political Science in droves, and its accessible vernacular edition drew in readers beyond the scholars.
• Fang Yun observed the Political Way grow rapidly stronger as scholars, especially Jing Kingdom Licentiates and Academy Students, switched to it.
• The Discourse Ranking focused on the Political Way, and Fang Yun was recognized as the foremost figure beneath the Sages of the Myriad Worlds.

After the Demon Realm resumed its assault, the Human Race repelled it while Qing Kingdom faced ruin over its military losses and unpaid compensation. Pang Jue urged the Qing Lord to cede territory to Fang Yun to prevent him from invoking Political Way Sacred Way Suppression.

• The Eastern Sage issued an edict protecting scholars who changed their Sacred Way, and many scholars adopted the Political Way.
• The Demon Realm ended its ceasefire and attacked Two Worlds Mountain, where the Human Race routed its forces without using the Dragon Might War Gear.
• The Qing Lord and his officials confronted the destruction of two armies and Qing Kingdom’s inability to pay compensation to the families of fallen scholars.
• Pang Jue warned that Fang Yun’s Political Way Suppression Seal posed a greater threat than the army losses and volunteered to lead a peace delegation.
• Pang Jue proposed ceding territory to Fang Yun, and the Qing Lord blamed his ministers before Pang Jue rebuked him for avoiding responsibility.

The Qing Kingdom panicked after Jing demanded compensation, while Fang Yun led negotiations over a harsh new treaty. The Qing delegation balked at ceding territory, but Fang Yun pointed out that the Qing Kingdom had already lost access to its river and sea routes.

• The Qing Kingdom struggled to respond to Jing’s demand for compensation as many Miscellaneous School officials were recovering or abandoning their discipline.
• The Qing Kingdom agreed to deliver compensation and sent a delegation led by Pang Jue to negotiate in Jing’s capital.
• Fang Yun demanded that negotiations conclude before dawn, and Wang Han read out Jing’s proposed treaty.
• The treaty demanded that Qing cede Sea Prefecture, Ling Prefecture, Yong Prefecture, and all prefectural districts on the Yangtze’s southern bank, while imposing extensive trade and political concessions.
• Pang Jue objected that the territorial demands would cripple Qing, but Fang Yun replied that Qing had already lost its river and sea routes.

Fang Yun pressured Qing Kingdom into signing a treaty that ceded Sea Prefecture and leased five riverside cities to Jing Kingdom. After the negotiations, he received urgent news that major relics and a Literary Star Fragment had appeared in the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land.

• Fang Yun told Pang Jue to die when Pang refused to cede territory, while Cao Dean stepped in to calm the peace talks.
• Officials from both kingdoms negotiated other treaty provisions, setting aside territorial concessions until they reached agreements on schools, labor recruitment, trade, and taxation.
• Fang Yun stormed out when Qing Kingdom offered only Yong Prefecture, and Cao Dean warned that the Political Way Suppression Seal could be imposed if negotiations failed.
• Pang Jue agreed to cede Sea Prefecture and lease five riverside cities for a hundred years, and the two sides signed the Sea Prefecture Treaty.
• Jing Kingdom's national fortune surged as Qing Kingdom's weakened, and the Grand Secretariat held a victory banquet.
• Ao Qingyue sent Fang Yun urgent news that the Brush Elder, Zhuge Liang's Half-Sage Former Residence, Sage Burial Valley treasures, and a Literary Star Fragment had appeared in the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land.

Fang Yun reviewed intelligence about the upheaval in Burial Saint Valley and decided to travel to the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land to pursue the Brush Elder and a Literary Star Fragment. He left the chapter preparing to contend with Lei Tingyu, whose control of the Sea-Cliff Alliance and crimes against the Merfolk Tribe posed a serious threat.

• Fang Yun studied reports that poisonous mist and Fierce Spirits had appeared around Mount Ten Thousand Deaths after a drastic change in Burial Saint Valley.
• Fang Yun connected the upheaval to the Brush Elder and a Half-Sage Former Residence appearing in the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land.
• Fang Yun ranked the Brush Elder as his top prize, ahead of the Literary Star Fragment, the Merfolk treasury, and the Half-Sage Former Residence.
• Fang Yun decided to go to the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land to seek the Brush Elder and the Literary Star Fragment.
• Fang Yun recalled that Lei Tingyu had stolen the Merfolk Tribe's Nine Dragons Token and treasures, then used his influence to unite the humans of the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land.

Fang Yun learned that the Merfolk Tribe guarded the Dragon Race Secret Vault and that Lei Tingyu was slaughtering them to seize it, so he decided to travel to the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land. After arranging for Jing Kingdom to be governed in his absence and preparing in the Bloodmang Realm, Fang Yun arrived at the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land through the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace's Star Gate.

• Fang Yun connected the Merfolk Tribe's legendary vault to its role as a hidden branch of the Dragon Race and suspected the Lei Family had plotted to exploit Lei Tingyu's exile.
• Fang Yun worked to stabilize Jing Kingdom, briefed the empress dowager and high officials, and left a Literary Qi double in Spring Garden to announce his secluded cultivation.
• Fang Yun gathered his people in the Bloodmang Realm, visited Yang Yuhuan and Mountain Bearer, and took Little Meteor with him.
• Fang Yun used the Eastern Sea Dragon Palace's Star Gate to reach the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land and emerged from an abandoned Sea Eye near its coast.

Fang Yun followed the Bloodfish to a hidden Merfolk refuge and sought an audience with their clan chief. The Merfolk remained wary because of past Human Race violence, but Fang Yun’s imperial seal and command of water began to convince them he had come to help.

• The Bloodfish led Fang Yun across the sea and down into a deep ocean trench, where he found three armed Merfolk.
• Jiao Yue and the other Merfolk treated Fang Yun as a potential enemy despite his Bloodfish mark, until he showed them the Two-Dragon Imperial Seal.
• Jiao Yue explained that the clan chief had relocated to avoid the Human Race and traitors, then contacted her through a Message Dolphin.
• After waiting for the clan chief’s reply, Fang Yun identified himself by his official titles, and Jiao Yue agreed to lead him to her.
• The Merfolk tested their pace as they swam, then grew more convinced of Fang Yun’s claims when he kept up effortlessly through calm water.

Fang Yun encountered a force from the Sea-Cliff Alliance while traveling with three Merfolk and revealed his overwhelming dragon might to subdue them. He made the two octopus Great Demon Kings serve as his transport and ordered them to lead him to the Merfolk chief.

• Fang Yun stopped the three Merfolk when he heard laughter from the aquatic plants, and more than a thousand water demons emerged to surround him.
• The two octopus Great Demon Kings said the Sea-Cliff Alliance had learned of Fang Yun's arrival from the Merfolk Tribe and demanded that he come with them for identity verification.
• Fang Yun said he would visit the alliance after rescuing the Merfolk Tribe, then challenged the two Great Demon Kings to serve as his transport.
• Fang Yun unleashed his dragon might and displayed the Two-Dragon Imperial Seal, terrifying the water demons and killing more than a hundred of them with his pressure.
• The two octopus Great Demon Kings agreed to serve Fang Yun, who ordered them to lead him to the Merfolk chief.

Fang Yun traveled with Jiao Yue and the water demons toward the scattered Merfolk Tribe, learning how the Sea-Cliff Alliance had driven them to near ruin. He also gathered information about the secret vault, the Literary Star Fragment, and the Poison Desert, leaving him better informed about the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land.

• Fang Yun warned the water demons that he would kill them if they gave him reason to distrust them, and Jiao Yue asked him about trusting the traitors.
• Jiao Yue explained that the Sea-Cliff Alliance had killed the Merfolk Tribe's two Emperor Realm experts, forcing the merfolk to scatter as other water races joined the alliance.
• Jiao Yue said the Merfolk Tribe's legendary secret vault might be connected to a Nine Dragons Token, but the tribe knew little else about it.
• Zhang Lang told Fang Yun that the Literary Star Fragment was in Sea Frontier City and that the Brush Elder and a Half-Sage Former Residence were in the Poison Desert, where a land fragment from Burial Saint Valley had fallen.
• Zhang Lang explained that the Sea-Cliff Alliance had concentrated most of its forces outside the Poison Desert, temporarily easing pressure on the merfolk, and described how humans communicated in the Sea-Cliff Ancient Land.
• Fang Yun questioned Zhang Lang about the region and learned more about its people and customs.

Fang Yun arrived at the Merfolk Tribe’s hidden palace and declared that he had come to save them. The Shark Empress and her people debated how to verify his identity, while Jiao Hu pressed her to use a dangerous Mind-Bewitching Shark Pearl.

• Fang Yun ordered Jiao Yue to announce the Literary Star Dragon Noble’s arrival, and an ancient palace rose from the seabed.
• The Shark Empress emerged in an Imperial Carriage and welcomed Fang Yun, who promised to help the Merfolk Tribe rebuild its power.
• Jiao Hu challenged Fang Yun’s identity and demanded that he swallow a Mind-Bewitching Shark Pearl.
• Jiao Yue and Zhang Lang warned Fang Yun that the pearl could control his mind, while the Shark Empress questioned whether to use another method.
• Zhang Lang explained the Shark Empress’s Heart-Linked Secret Art, but a merwoman warned the newly crowned ruler against using it on an outsider.
• Jiao Hu again urged the Shark Empress to order the pearl test.

Fang Yun confronted the Shark Empress and let her test his identity with the Heart-Linked Secret Art. The art failed against his Literary Palace and became a multicolored shark pearl, while Lei Tingyu prepared to pursue the Half-Sage Former Residence.

• Lei Tingyu learned that a Literary Star Dragon Noble was coming, dismissed the visitor as little threat, and planned to leave for the Poison Desert to claim the Half-Sage Former Residence.
• Jiao Hu accused Fang Yun of being a human agent of the Lei Family, deepening the merfolk’s suspicions.
• Fang Yun asked the Shark Empress for her judgment, and she chose to test him with the Heart-Linked Secret Art.
• The Shark Empress sent a tiny mermaid into Fang Yun’s Literary Palace, where the Literary Palace Coiled Dragon startled it into bursting apart as a multicolored shark pearl.

Fang Yun gained the Shark Empress’s support and was appointed Inspector of the Merfolk Tribe, then used his authority to expose Jiao Hu’s treachery. The chapter left Jiao Hu stripped of his bloodline and transformed into a carp, begging Fang Yun for mercy.

• The Shark Empress privately confirmed Fang Yun’s identity as a Dragon Race envoy and helped him persuade the merfolk by asking him to display his dragon might.
• The Shark Empress sealed the palace and appointed Fang Yun as the Merfolk Tribe’s Inspector with authority to act on her behalf.
• Fang Yun questioned Zhang Lang, who revealed that Jiao Hu had ordered him to attack Dragon Palace reinforcements and produced a Message Dolphin recording.
• Jiao Hu denied the accusation and demanded evidence, but Fang Yun declared his own word sufficient and invoked “Bloodline! Strip!”
• Jiao Hu’s body degenerated into a large carp, and he repeatedly knocked his head against the floor to beg Fang Yun for mercy.