Chapter Summaries

Fang Yun held off repeated Demon Realm assaults with Marching to War, helping the Pearl River Army defend Two Worlds Mountain without losing a soldier for three days. After the army rotated out, Wang Li challenged Gou Bao over his prediction that the Pearl River Army would be annihilated, and Gou Bao left in silence.

• Fang Yun’s Marching to War summoned three weapons that slaughtered demon barbarians and broke the first hundred-marquis assault.
• The Pearl River Army’s generals urged Fang Yun to retreat when a second hundred-marquis assault began, but he stayed and said they could seek a Great Scholar’s aid if he ran out of Literary Qi.
• Fang Yun kept casting Marching to War through three days of repeated attacks, and the Pearl River Army lost no soldiers.
• The Pearl River Army rotated off the walls, while other armies benefited from the demons concentrating their attacks on Fang Yun’s forces.
• Wang Li confronted Gou Bao over his prediction that the Pearl River Army would be annihilated, and Gou Bao hurried away in silence.

After the Pearl River Army completed three days of fighting without a single casualty, Fang Yun reviewed the armies’ losses and learned how their military merit could be spent. The army left the wall proud of its achievement as the Demon Sea Tactic continued.

• The generals discussed Zhang Longxiang’s battle poem and compared him with Void Sage Fang, while debating the Literary World’s politics and the Four Great Talents.
• Qu Tong and Jie Bingzhi gave Fang Yun the battle statistics, and he praised the Main Force Army, the Saint Origin Army, and the Heavenly Water Army while noting the heavy losses suffered by the weakest army.
• Fang Yun’s generals celebrated the Pearl River Army’s record of three days of fighting with no deaths, and Fang Yun warned them not to grow arrogant.
• Fang Yun asked how long the Demon Realm’s Demon Sea Tactic would last, and Jie Bingzhi said it usually continued for three to seven days.
• Jie Bingzhi reminded Fang Yun that the army could exchange military merit for supplies and suggested he obtain a Great Scholar Literary Treasure Brush.

The Pearl River Army continued to outperform the Qishan Army in the military merit contest as both faced brutal fighting on the Boundary Mountain City Wall. When the Qishan Army approached collapse, Chu sent just over a hundred reinforcements, leading Fang Yun to suspect they included several Grand Academicians.

• After the Demon Realm abandoned the Demon Sea Tactic, the armies resumed conventional assaults, and the Qishan Army dwindled to ninety thousand soldiers.
• Wang Li and Zhang Qingfeng confronted Gou Bao over their military merit wager, and Gou Bao confirmed that an army forced to withdraw would lose early.
• The eight remaining Literary World armies took up positions on the wall, where Fang Yun summoned ten thousand War-Poem Cavalry and continued to direct the defense without fighting directly.
• The Pearl River Army rotated in its second force while the Qishan Army lost thirty thousand men, leaving only a little over sixty thousand exhausted soldiers.
• Jie Bingzhi told Fang Yun that Chu had sent just over a hundred reinforcements for the Qishan Army, and Fang Yun realized they were likely high-ranked scholars including at least three Grand Academicians.

Fang Yun faced Gou Bao and the Chu scholars’ challenge, insisting that the Pearl River Army would finish first in the Military Merit Register. The Chu scholars unleashed State Duke Chang’s thunder poem against the demon barbarians, and its lightning also struck the Pearl River Army’s section of the wall.

• Jie Bingzhi told Fang Yun that the King of Chu’s reinforcements had been permitted to fight despite the wager, and Fang Yun declared the Pearl River Army would take first place in the Military Merit Register.
• The Jing Commandery Prince arrived with Chu’s leading scholars, and Gou Bao renewed his wager with Fang Yun while taunting him about his estate.
• Fang Yun insulted Gou Bao and the Chu scholars, prompting Gou Bao, Marquis Minghai, and State Duke Chang to accuse him of arrogance and rebellious ambitions.
• Grand Academicians from other kingdoms defended Fang Yun and invited him to leave Chu, while Fang Yun said the Zhang Household’s affairs would be settled by its own people.
• State Duke Chang cast Thunder Chant, killing the demon barbarians on the wall with a vast lightning strike that also hit the Pearl River Army’s section.

The Qishan Army aggressively stole the Pearl River Army’s military credit, forcing Fang Yun’s troops to spend their wall shifts studying while the rankings narrowed. Just as the Qishan Army drew nearly level, the Demon Realm Main Force Army appeared before the city, and Fang Yun recognized that it was powerful but not one of the famed Thirteen Demon Armies.

• The Qishan Army assigned its academicians to kill the Demon Barbarians in front of the Pearl River Army, while Fang Yun ordered his own troops not to interfere.
• The Qishan Army expanded its attacks across several stretches of wall, and the Ministry of War declined to punish it for pursuing military merit.
• The Pearl River Army began borrowing books and studying during its shifts, while the Qishan Army climbed the Military Merit Register and the Pearl River Army fell.
• On the ninth day of the tenth month, the Qishan Army reached eighty-fourth place and the Pearl River Army dropped to eighty-second.
• The attacking Demon Barbarians withdrew, and the Demon Realm Main Force Army marched out of Demon Barbarian City.
• Fang Yun recognized the elephant emblem on the army’s Blood-Qi Demon Banner and concluded that it was an ordinary demon army, not one of the Thirteen Demon Armies.

The Mammoth Army approached Two Worlds Mountain with boulders and siege supplies delivered through a newly formed Sea Eye, prompting memories of the Realm-Suppressing Elephant Army’s devastating tactics in the first battle. Chen Ben convened an urgent council to seek a countermeasure, leaving the scholars challenged to devise a plan and earn military credit.

• Fang Yun identified the approaching force as the Colossus Legion’s Second Army, five hundred thousand strong, and saw Armored Ox carts carrying enormous boulders behind it.
• Jie Bingzhi explained how the Realm-Suppressing Elephant Army had used boulders during the first Battle of Two Worlds Mountain and how the Demon Realm had created another Sea Eye to supply its siege forces.
• Fang Yun learned that the only previously viable way to stop the Realm-Suppressing Elephant Army had been a suicidal assault, which the Human Race’s sages had rejected.
• Chen Ben sent an urgent Sacred Academy order convening a temporary Boundary Mountain council for Hanlin Academicians, Grand Academicians, and Great Scholars.
• A Great Scholar briefed the council on the Mammoth Army, past battles, and twenty-three possible counterstrategies.
• Chen Ben invited the scholars to find a way to defeat the enemy and promised lasting military credit and possible rewards from the Sacred Academy.

With the demon barbarians preparing a boulder assault on Two Worlds Mountain, Fang Yun rejected the Pearl River Army generals’ calls for a reckless attack and ordered the troops to prepare their defenses. He then asked Gou Bao to send scholars to help break the incoming boulders, offering the Qishan Army all the military merit.

• Chen Ben invoked the honor of entering the Qilin Pavilion to inspire the gathered soldiers, while Gou Bao looked resentfully at Fang Yun.
• The demon barbarians advanced and the Mammoth Army assembled boulders eight li from Two Worlds Mountain.
• Pearl River Army generals urged Fang Yun to attack, but he challenged them to devise a plan that could destroy the Mammoth Army and return safely.
• Jie Bingzhi explained that the city’s long-range stone-throwing mechanisms were costly and that defensive mechanisms were needed against stronger enemy forces.
• Fang Yun ordered the seventy thousand soldiers to defend against the boulders using their drill training.
• Fang Yun asked Gou Bao to send Hanlin Academicians and Grand Academicians to help shatter the boulders, offering the Qishan Army all the military merit.

The Mammoth Army launched relentless waves of boulders at the Two Worlds Mountain City Wall, forcing the human defenders to adapt as their Literary Qi and morale began to falter. Fang Yun watched the battle and studied both sides’ tactics while the bombardment continued.

• The Pearl River Army mocked the Qishan Army for refusing to take over its section of the wall as the Mammoth Army approached.
• A Barbarian King sounded a giant horn that strengthened the demon barbarians and made the humans feel sick, until a Great Scholar dispelled their discomfort.
• The Mammoth Army hurled its first wave of boulders, and the human scholars destroyed them with prepared War Poetry.
• The Mammoth Army immediately launched further waves, forcing scholars to use Lip Spears and Tongue Swords, while Craftsmen School mechanisms and War-Poem Soldiers cleared boulders from the wall.
• Fang Yun observed the bombardment and defenses while the prolonged attack drained the humans’ Literary Qi, caused casualties, and frightened the soldiers.

Fang Yun protected the Pearl River Army from the Mammoth Army’s boulder barrage, but the Human Race struggled as elite demon forces stormed the wall and casualties mounted. On October seventeenth, Fang Yun submitted a battle plan to Chen Ben that depended on an untested method requiring the Sacred Academy’s help.

• Fang Yun used the True Dragon Ancient Swords to shatter incoming boulders and keep the Pearl River Army’s casualties low.
• After four hours of bombardment, the demon barbarians’ Main Force Army attacked the wall, and many of them climbed up under cover of the boulders.
• Fang Yun let Qishan Army commanders take battle merits while ordering the Pearl River Army to rest, and the humans eventually drove the attackers off the wall.
• As the fighting continued and human losses grew, Fang Yun searched for a way to counter the Mammoth Army’s boulder throwing.
• On October seventeenth, Fang Yun submitted a battle plan to Chen Ben and said its crucial, untested method required the Sacred Academy’s help.

Fang Yun proposed a plan to destroy the Mammoth Army, with the crucial method requiring the Sacred Academy’s power. After a trial with the Western Sage Pavilion, he returned without revealing the outcome, while tensions rose between the Pearl River and Qishan Armies.

• Fang Yun explained that Grand Academicians could attack the Mammoth Army while distracting its protectors, but the plan required a way to destroy the army within five breaths.
• Fang Yun said he might solve the crucial problem with the Sacred Academy’s cooperation, and Chen Ben arranged a trial with an elder of the Western Sage Pavilion.
• Fang Yun left with Western Sage Pavilion members after the armies rotated, then returned hours later without disclosing what had happened.
• The Literary World armies changed to two days of fighting followed by one day of rest, and the Qishan Army surpassed the Pearl River Army in military merits.
• The Qishan Army displayed twenty-one mechanical devices, prompting anger among Pearl River Army officers, and observers noticed something strange when the armies returned to the wall on October twenty-fifth.

Fang Yun and the human forces launched a planned assault with 109 Grand Academicians against the Mammoth Army, but powerful Demon Kings and Barbarian Kings countered their attacks. The Grand Academicians’ strike faltered as the defenders unleashed Sage Aspect Strike and Celestial-Aspect Strike.

• Fang Yun saw a group of veteran Grand Academicians arrive at Two Worlds Mountain, many nearing advancement to Great Scholar.
• More than a hundred Grand Academicians secretly prepared war poetry, then flew from the wall toward the Mammoth Army.
• The Demon Kings and Barbarian Kings gathered to defend the Mammoth Army as the Grand Academicians approached.
• The 109 Grand Academicians unleashed their Literary Platforms, war poems, and Lip Spears and Tongue Swords against the defenders.
• The Demon Kings and Barbarian Kings invoked Sage Aspect Strike and Celestial-Aspect Strike, shattering much of the human assault and forcing its attacks aside.

Fang Yun and the humans watched as the Grand Academicians lured the demon forces into a trap, and hundreds of thousands of hidden war-poem soldiers wiped out nearly the entire Mammoth Army. The Grand Academicians returned unharmed to Two Worlds Mountain, where the humans celebrated their unprecedented victory as the demon barbarians vowed revenge.

• The Grand Academicians appeared to flee after their attacks barely harmed the Mammoth Army, while Hu Qing unleashed fiery tails and Luo Jingting protected the army with divine light.
• Hundreds of thousands of camouflaged war-poem soldiers appeared inside the Mammoth Army and killed every Elephant Demon General and Elephant Demon Commander in a surprise attack.
• The Demon Kings and Barbarian Kings avoided wide-area attacks that would harm the remaining elephant demons, but the war-poem soldiers continued their assaults as the camp descended into chaos.
• The battle ended with only five hundred and thirty-two Elephant Demon Marquises and seven Elephant Demon Kings surviving; the other elephant demons were dead, and all hundred and nine Grand Academicians escaped unharmed.
• The demon barbarians howled for revenge, while the humans on Two Worlds Mountain celebrated the Grand Academicians' victory.

Fang Yun revealed that his transmissible battle poem, “Triumphant Song,” had enabled a silent, concealed assault that nearly annihilated the Mammoth Army. After the victory, he explained why the Qishan Army had been kept from the operation, leaving its leaders publicly disgraced while the allied armies celebrated the poem.

• Zhang Qingfeng asked Fang Yun to reveal the poem, and Fang Yun descended from the sky as Bai Jizu directed everyone to check the rankings.
• Fang Yun named the poem “Triumphant Song,” which appeared on both the Grand Academician Literary Ranking and the Discourse Ranking.
• A Hanlin Academician explained how the poem’s four aspects—concealment, invisibility and speed, camouflage, and silence—had enabled the surprise slaughter.
• Grand Academicians from the six kingdoms complained that they had been excluded, and Fang Yun apologized while saying the Western Sage Pavilion had feared traitors in the Literary World.
• The allied armies mocked Gou Bao and the Qishan Army, while Fang Yun ordered Zhang Qingfeng to exchange their merits for fifty more mechanical constructs.

After Zhang Longxiang’s war poem helped humanity defeat the demon barbarians, the Literary World’s forces celebrated the Pearl River Army’s rise in the military rankings. The chapter ended with scholars anticipating the deadline for Gou Bao to fulfill his agreement with Zhang Longxiang.

• Humanity held a defensive literary assembly on Two Worlds Mountain, where scholars reviewed the city’s defenses and discussed the Battle of Bi and Shen.
• The demon barbarians attacked again the next morning, while the Literary World’s troops received five days of leave and a lighter fighting schedule.
• Tens of thousands of Literary World soldiers gathered to see the Pearl River Army rank tenth in military merit, while the Qishan Army remained seventy-third.
• Scholars praised Zhang Longxiang for raising the Pearl River Army’s standing and criticized Gou Bao for opposing him.
• The scholars recalled that Zhang Longxiang and Gou Bao’s three-month agreement would come due on the fourth day of the eleventh month, when Gou Bao would have to donate his family fortune to Two Worlds Mountain.

While Fang Yun remained in secluded study, his enemies plotted to provoke him into a literary contest with Zhang Longxiang as the human race grew stronger after the Literary Star Rift. Fang Yun continued writing History of the Ancient Demons and studying the Craftsmen School’s sacred way to condense a Lu Ban Ruler.

• Scholars at Bakuong Mountain planned to keep elevating Zhang Longxiang’s reputation and provoke Fang Yun by threatening his family and Ning'an City, then defeat him through military poetry.
• The Literary Star Rift’s influence helped the human race advance, including Zhang Poyue, Fang Shouye, and several other figures who rose in rank or took on new posts.
• Ning'an and Ji County became major examination centers, while Fang Yun’s schools in Jiangzhou and Mi Prefecture drew the children whose intelligence had been awakened by his Thunderous Sacred Voice.
• Officials learned that many gifted Jiangzhou children were studying at Fang Yun’s schools, alarming the Left Prime Minister’s faction.
• Fang Yun devoted himself to writing History of the Ancient Demons and consulted Craftsmen School scholars at Two Worlds Mountain about condensing a Lu Ban Ruler.

As the northern fighting slowed and Metropolitan Graduate admissions expanded, Fang Yun led the Pearl River Army to take over the wall from the humiliated Qishan Army while preparing for a larger Demon Barbarian assault. The chapter left Fang Yun visibly exhausted after going without sleep for over a month.

• Winter slowed the fighting across the Saint Origin Continent, while Niu Shan won renown for tearing an Ox Barbarian King apart in single combat.
• Fang Yun read about the expanded Metropolitan Graduate admissions and led the Pearl River Army to the city wall.
• The Pearl River Army relieved the Qishan Army, whose soldiers were ashamed of their poor reputation and Gou Bao's coming obligation to donate the Gou Household's fortune.
• Fang Yun anticipated a major Demon Barbarian attack that could decide the Battle of Bi and Shen and lead into the Second Battle of Two Worlds Mountain.
• Su Lun asked Fang Yun how long he had gone without sleep, and Fang Yun admitted it had been a little over a month.

Fang Yun continued studying and fighting on Two Worlds Mountain while reading Zhang Jing'an’s letter about the prejudice and bullying he faced at Zhurong Academy. The chapter ended with Gray Robe Du Ling asking Fang Yun to contact Void Sage Fang about a battle poem that could strengthen Jade-Blooded Loyalty.

• Fang Yun refused the Pearl River Army generals’ pleas to rest and continued studying while helping them only when danger arose.
• Fang Yun read Zhang Jing'an’s delayed letter, learning about his son’s mistreatment at Zhurong Academy, his improving exam results, and his plea to raise the Pearl River Army Banner on Two Worlds Mountain.
• Fang Yun encountered Du Ling, who asked whether Fang Yun or Void Sage Fang was better at military verse.
• Du Ling asked Fang Yun to write to Void Sage Fang and ask whether he could compose a transmissible battle poem that strengthened Jade-Blooded Loyalty.

Fang Yun spoke with Du Ling about asking Void Sage Fang to create war poetry that strengthened Jade-Blooded Loyalty, then learned why Du Ling had joined the Gray Robes. Du Ling entered the Pearl River Army and began fighting demons while Fang Yun watched.

• Du Ling urged Fang Yun to ask Void Sage Fang to create a transmissible battle poem that strengthened Jade-Blooded Loyalty and could be used by lower-ranked scholars.
• Fang Yun agreed to relay Du Ling's request, and Du Ling said he wanted to use war poetry in the Pearl River Army and fight demons.
• Jie Bingzhi told Fang Yun that Du Ling's father and grandfather had died in the first Battle of Two Worlds Mountain and that Du Ling had joined the Gray Robes to avenge them.
• Jie Bingzhi asked Fang Yun to stop Du Ling if he recklessly risked his life, but Fang Yun said he would not stand in the way of Du Ling's aspirations.
• Du Ling joined the Pearl River Army and fought with exceptional skill as Fang Yun watched and continued studying.

Fang Yun continued writing the History of the Ancient Demons and preparing for the Battle of Bi and Shen while Two Worlds Mountain awaited a major Demon Barbarian assault. The chapter also showed figures training in the Battle Realm, the Chu king plotting against Zhang Longxiang, and the Bloodmang Army arriving to support humanity.

• Ao Huang struggled through the Battle Realm, fled after encountering a complete Dragon Sage Imprint, and complained about Ao Yuwei’s demands.
• Lei Zhongmo endured the pressure of a Dragon Sage Imprint in the Battle Realm and expected to become a Great Scholar soon.
• The Chu king vowed to destroy Zhang Longxiang if he returned to the Chu Kingdom and prevent anyone from the Zhang Household from becoming a Great Scholar.
• Fang Yun continued writing the fifth volume of the History of the Ancient Demons and used the Pearl River Army and invisible assassins to repel attacks at Two Worlds Mountain.
• Two Worlds Mountain prepared to recruit thirty million soldiers as scholars feared a powerful Demon Barbarian counterattack.
• Wei Huangan and Tan Hemu arrived at Two Worlds Mountain with two hundred thousand Bloodmang Army troops, earning Fang Yun’s approval.

After learning that the King of Chu had arranged for Zhang Jing'an to be beaten and left without proper medical care, Fang Yun secured the boy’s rescue and demanded protection from the Zong and Lei Families. He confronted the Jing Commandery Prince at Two Worlds Mountain with a cryptic question about a winter plum, leaving the Qishan Army and onlookers puzzled.

• Fang Yun received Ma Zhilong’s report that Zhang Jing'an had been beaten unconscious and that Jingzhou’s senior Medical School practitioners had been transferred away.
• Fang Yun asked the Western Sage Pavilion to rescue Zhang Jing'an, then demanded that the Zong and Lei Families move the boy to the Literary World’s Secret Land or make the King of Chu pay.
• A Grand Academician from the Zhang Household treated Zhang Jing'an before his injuries caused lasting harm, and the Zong and Lei Families promised to move him within three days.
• During the next change of guard, Fang Yun confronted the Jing Commandery Prince in front of the Qishan Army and asked whether the winter plum at the Zhang Estate had blossomed before the prince left.