Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: Bathing in Blood to Found the Nation (2)

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Heaven Sacrifice Ceremony for the newly founded Huan Kingdom concludes successfully. Yu Qing proclaims Jian Shang as King Huan, announces the kingdom’s new name, era, and calendar, and leads the crowd in cries of loyalty.
• Lord Pingyuan Zhao Sheng immediately recognizes that a mass enfeoffment of officials will follow and urges the surrounding officials to loudly demonstrate their support, hoping to secure rewards and positions.
• As King Huan descends from the sacrificial platform, Ying Xin of the Great Qin Empire orders an emergency operation: King Huan must be assassinated.
• Ying Xin explains that this is the best and perhaps only opportunity to cripple Huan Kingdom. Its officials and heroes are gathered in one place, and non-Otherworlders cannot revive after death.
• Liu Bang’s faction receives the order and initially considers Ying Xin’s decision irrational, since Huan Kingdom has just gained tremendous momentum by successfully founding a nation.
• Zhang Liang deduces the strategic logic: King Huan’s former Great Qin Fruition Rank and national advantages have been weakened by his independence, while Huan Kingdom’s newly established fortune is still inferior to Great Qin’s. Its army is therefore more vulnerable than it appears.
• Liu Bang immediately approves the assassination plan. His forces, including Dragon Guards and martial experts, are ordered to assist Great Qin in attacking King Huan and Huan Kingdom’s officials.
• Liu Bang then quickly departs for the main battlefield, ostensibly to address the coming decisive war against Zhangchu State, but actually to avoid being trapped or killed once Hidden Dragon City descends into chaos.

Character Developments

• King Huan/Jian Shang: Reaches a major turning point by successfully founding Huan Kingdom and establishing himself as an independent king. The ceremony marks his emergence from restraint into open sovereignty, though it also makes him a direct target.
• Ying Xin: Displays political ruthlessness and strategic patience. He had previously delayed action while hoping Jian Shang would fail or remain neutral, but now accepts the need for an extremely dangerous assassination attempt.
• Zhao Sheng: Shows political opportunism and quick judgment by encouraging officials to loudly praise King Huan before the enfeoffment.
• Zhang Liang: Demonstrates his strategic intelligence by correctly identifying the connection between national fortune, Fruition Ranks, and the timing of Ying Xin’s attack.
• Liu Bang: Acts decisively in approving the operation but also reveals his self-preserving nature by abandoning the dangerous mission and returning to the main battlefield.
• Chen Ping and Fan Kuai: Initially react with confusion, but Chen Ping quickly grasps the practical importance of striking before Huan Kingdom consolidates its new capital and army.

Significant Themes

• The cost of nation-building: Huan Kingdom’s glorious founding is immediately followed by the threat of assassination and mass bloodshed.
• Political timing and strategic opportunity: Victory or defeat depends not only on strength but on striking during moments of weakness and transition.
• The instability of power: Founding a nation grants Jian Shang authority and recognition, but it also alters his fortune and exposes him to stronger enemies.
• Sacrifice in the struggle for supremacy: Ying Xin’s statement that “behind every successful general lie ten thousand bleached bones” emphasizes that political achievement requires others to die.
• Public loyalty versus private ambition: The crowd’s enthusiastic praise, Zhao Sheng’s opportunism, and the factions’ secret plots reveal the difference between ceremonial allegiance and genuine motives.
• Self-preservation versus heroism: Ying Xin is prepared to risk everything, while Liu Bang avoids danger, highlighting contrasting leadership styles.

Character Interactions

• Yu Qing and the assembled populace: Yu Qing’s proclamation triggers a massive, almost hysterical wave of cheers for King Huan.
• Zhao Sheng and the officials: Zhao Sheng instructs them to shout their loyalty so they can benefit from the coming enfeoffment.
• Ying Xin and the Qin generals: Ying Xin shocks his subordinates by ordering an assassination after the ceremony, then explains the tactical reasons behind the timing.
• Ying Xin, Liu Bang’s faction, and the Otherworlder Alliance: He seeks cooperation among multiple hostile or competing forces to launch a coordinated attack.
• Zhang Liang, Liu Bang, Chen Ping, and Fan Kuai: Their discussion transforms confusion into understanding, with Zhang Liang providing the key strategic explanation.
• Liu Bang and Zhang Liang: Zhang Liang sees through Liu Bang’s lofty justification for leaving, recognizing that Liu Bang is primarily escaping the danger of being caught in the coming chaos.

Plot and events

• After completing the ceremony that founds the Huan Kingdom, King Jian Shang is warned by Jiang Yao that rival factions have been meeting and may be preparing to strike.
• Jian Shang concludes they are exploiting his changed status, Hidden Dragon City’s open layout, and the crowds gathered for the ceremony. He orders citizens evacuated, regular troops withdrawn, and the palace guarded. Rather than arrest suspected conspirators immediately, he plans to let them attack and capture them together—while joking that their wealth could help fund the new kingdom.
• The royal procession returns toward the palace. The unusual evacuation and thinning crowds unsettle the remaining onlookers.
• Four Loose Immortals guarding Jian Shang detect a large force ahead, but the king orders the procession onward. Five powerful figures then appear in the sky, revealing themselves as Loose Immortals.
• Hua Qiandai identifies two as former Great Qin commanders and explains that the others include figures tied to Liu Bang and the Xiang Clan. She describes how the great factions’ hidden strength is surfacing now that Qin Shi Huang is dead and no single power can restrain them.
• The newcomers confront Jian Shang, calling him an ungrateful Otherworlder and demanding that he either submit to Great Qin or see his kingdom destroyed.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang shows strategic composure and opportunism: he anticipates disorder, prepares a trap, and refuses to let the threat disrupt the procession. The ultimatum, however, places his new kingdom in immediate danger.
• Jiang Yao serves as the king’s discreet adviser, raising the alarm and receiving urgent orders.
• Hua Qiandai demonstrates extensive knowledge of the martial world’s history and power structure, informing Jian Shang and the other guardians about the approaching immortals.
• The four Loose Immortals guarding Jian Shang shift from vigilance to alarm as the scale of the threat becomes clear.
• The five arriving immortals assert Great Qin’s authority directly, turning the anticipated ambush into an open challenge.

Significant themes

• Power after empire: Qin Shi Huang’s death creates a vacuum in which rival factions reveal their long-hidden strength.
• Founding under threat: The Huan Kingdom is barely established before facing a potentially overwhelming assault.
• Strategy and spectacle: Jian Shang uses ceremony and controlled movement as part of his plan, while the attackers use their overwhelming presence to intimidate.
• Unreliable assumptions: The idea that martial power is declining proves false; the world may be entering an era of greater, not lesser, conflict.

Key events

• Duke Wuyun Wu Huo and Duke Wushan Ren Bi, backed by other powerful allies, confront King Jian Shang and demand that he swear allegiance to Great Qin or face destruction.
• Jian Shang argues that he honored his pact with Great Qin’s late emperor, while the new emperor’s repeated pressure has forced him to defend his kingdom. His advisers Gan Lan and Hua Qiandai urge caution, believing their forces are badly outmatched.
• Ren Bi escalates the insult, threatens the Huan Kingdom, and demands Jian Shang kneel and surrender an arm. Jian Shang refuses, dismisses Ren Bi as a mere servant, and orders an attack.
• Jian Shang uses Star-Sealing Origin-Locking against Ren Bi. The duke abruptly falls from the sky and crashes into a building, though the cause and his fate are unclear.
• Jian Shang’s four Loose Immortal allies unleash their signature techniques as the opposing group scrambles to respond. At the same time, an ambush begins: arrows and crossbow bolts rain down on the procession and the surrounding crowd.
• Jian Shang uses Eternal Heavenly Wilderness to halt the barrage briefly, then activates his newly acquired King’s Edict, stopping the arrows again as the chapter ends.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang moves from measured defiance to open confrontation. Though aware that his kingdom may lose, he refuses to accept public humiliation, choosing resistance over submission and inspiring his allies to act.
• Gan Lan and Hua Qiandai initially counsel restraint, but once Jian Shang gives the order, they and the other Loose Immortals immediately fight for him.
• Ren Bi is domineering and contemptuous, treating Jian Shang as insignificant; his sudden fall disrupts his show of power and shocks everyone present.
• Wu Huo, Qili Ji, and Xiang Jie hesitate amid competing loyalties and the danger of opposing King Wu of Qin. Xiang Jie’s faction would prefer Jian Shang dead, but fears King Wu’s authority.
• The sudden ambush turns the confrontation into a wider battle, endangering both the royal procession and bystanders.

Significant themes

• Dignity versus survival: Jian Shang rejects the pragmatic advice to yield, deciding that some humiliations are worse than death.
• Loyalty and sovereignty: The dispute centers on whether Jian Shang owes obedience to Great Qin or has the right to rule independently.
• Power and uncertainty: The apparent imbalance between the two sides is disrupted by Jian Shang’s mysterious technique and the coordinated ambush.
• Leadership through action: Jian Shang’s refusal to surrender prompts his allies to commit themselves, even when the odds look poor.

Key events

• A massive arrow and crossbow volley strikes Hidden Dragon City. The Huan King, Jian Shang, uses Eternal Heavenly Wilderness and Freeze to neutralize the projectiles aimed at him and his guards, though many people beyond his protection are killed.
• Jian Shang orders a counterattack, urging civilians to leave the buildings and head for the city gates, where Huan troops can protect them. Assassins pour into the streets, turning the crowded capital into a large-scale battle.
• Jian Shang holds his position before his carriage, fighting off powerful attackers with the Scarlet Firmament Divine Sword. His presence steadies Huan morale.
• Duke Wushan Ren Bi breaks through the defenders despite having most of his power sealed by Jian Shang’s Star-Sealing Origin-Locking technique. Qiu Li, Tian Mang, and Yang Ning are sent to stop him, but Ren Bi overwhelms the defenders and advances toward the king.
• Major figures from several rival factions—including Overlord Flower Hu Fei—arrive to join the assault on Jian Shang. He faces them without retreating, even though the Loose Immortals above are gradually losing ground.
• At the Penglai Commerce Association, Elder Nangong Yu asks the Young Mistress for permission to kill Jian Shang secretly, arguing that the king has insulted Penglai. She has not yet responded.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang remains composed and resolute under mounting danger. He balances protecting himself, directing the defense, and limiting casualties, refusing to call on the army’s full power if doing so would cost too many Huan lives.
• Qiu Li, Gao Gong, and Tian Mang try to shield Jian Shang and urge him to retreat, but he insists on holding his ground. Qiu Li and Tian Mang later risk themselves against Ren Bi; Tian Mang is badly struck, while Qiu Li uses his speed to delay the duke.
• Hua Qiandai and the other Huan Loose Immortals are increasingly pressured by their opponents, making Jian Shang’s position more desperate.
• Hu Fei approaches Jian Shang with conflicted feelings but joins the attack, saying she has no choice.
• Nangong Yu seeks authorization to violate Penglai’s ancestral rules, showing how the kingdom’s political hostility extends beyond the battlefield.

Significant themes

• Leadership and sacrifice: Jian Shang stays visible at the heart of the fighting and prioritizes the kingdom’s survival, even while his options narrow.
• The cost of war: Civilians are swept into the conflict, and the immense crowds of the capital make the bloodshed especially catastrophic.
• Power and constraint: Jian Shang can suppress one Loose Immortal, but doing so drains his strength and leaves him unable to control the larger battle. His power is significant, yet politically and strategically limited.
• Loyalty, rivalry, and divided allegiance: Former or competing allies join the assault, while Penglai considers intervening for its own prestige—leaving Jian Shang increasingly isolated.

Plot points and events

• Dongfang Shi, the secretive leader of the Penglai Commerce Association, watches the battle and struggles with the association’s ancestral rule against joining conflicts over dominion. Nangong Yu urges her to act against Jian Shang, arguing that the Huan King has insulted Penglai and poses a future threat. Dongfang initially defends the rule, then agrees to a covert action to protect the association’s prestige.
• Jian Shang withstands a coalition of Innate Realm attackers with the protection of his armor and royal robe, then cuts down dozens with Sword Suppresses the World. Their deaths leave valuable manuals behind, prompting nearby Otherworlders to scramble for the loot.
• A Ravenous Wolf commander reports that the royal palace is under severe attack. Jian Shang realizes opportunists are exploiting the chaos and wrestles with the innocent lives already lost. He orders most troops and citizens to evacuate and fight their way out, while he uses the Investiture of the Gods Hall to protect the palace.
• As the Hall descends and the fighting continues, Duke Wushan Ren Bi breaks through the Yellow Turban Strongmen. The other attackers withdraw, leaving Ren Bi to challenge Jian Shang alone.
• Ren Bi taunts Jian Shang and reveals that he knows the name of the forbidden technique used to seal his power: Star-Sealing Origin-Locking. Jian Shang is startled by this knowledge, and the chapter ends as their confrontation is about to begin.

Character developments and interactions

• Dongfang Shi reveals her ambition to expand Penglai’s influence, but remains wary of openly violating its traditions. Her decision to act secretly shows her balancing personal ambition with loyalty to the association’s long-standing rules.
• Nangong Yu acts as a persuasive ally of Penglai’s radical faction, pressing Dongfang to retaliate while promising secrecy.
• Jian Shang demonstrates overwhelming martial strength, but also moral unease over the deaths of civilians and soldiers. Despite that hesitation, he concludes that he must defend himself and orders an evacuation to limit further casualties.
• Ren Bi is portrayed as physically imposing and arrogantly confident, even with most of his power sealed. His knowledge of Jian Shang’s technique suggests he knows more about the king—and his methods—than expected.
• The besiegers’ relationship with Jian Shang shifts from a coordinated assault to opportunistic retreat when Ren Bi takes over the confrontation. Jian Shang, in turn, refuses to be intimidated by Ren Bi’s taunts.

Significant themes

• Tradition versus ambition: Dongfang Shi’s choice tests Penglai’s prohibition on political involvement.
• Power and its limits: Jian Shang dominates ordinary experts, but Ren Bi’s Loose Immortal presence exposes a far greater level of strength.
• The cost of conflict: Jian Shang’s reflections emphasize that victory brings innocent deaths and painful moral choices.
• Greed amid chaos: Some Otherworlders abandon the battle to seize loot from the fallen, while attackers target the palace for its presumed wealth.

Plot points and events

• Ren Bi reveals that the Great Qin Empire intends to reclaim Jian Shang’s Cosmic Star Tribulation, and claims that the seemingly secure Cosmic Star Tribulation Hall is not truly under Jian Shang’s control. The surrounding factions realize they may have misjudged the Hall’s importance and Huan King’s protection.
• Ren Bi offers Jian Shang generous terms on behalf of King Wu of Qin: surrender the Cosmic Star Tribulation, its Hall, and the Scarlet Firmament Divine Sword, then swear allegiance. Jian Shang suspects the offer reflects a hidden vulnerability rather than simple mercy.
• Jian Shang concludes that King Wu of Qin may have been forced into seclusion by Qin Shi Huang, despite being called the First Emperor’s teacher. His taunt appears to expose Ren Bi’s unease.
• Ren Bi attacks. Jian Shang counters with Sword Pointing at the Heavenly Emperor, confident the divine sword can overcome Ren Bi’s physical strength.
• Ren Bi reveals his true counter: Cosmic Heaven-Sealing Hand, a Primordial Immortal Art. Its starlit hand catches the Scarlet Firmament Divine Sword and strips Jian Shang of his connection to it.
• Ren Bi celebrates the success, claiming his lord anticipated the moment and that the new art can surpass or counter Cosmic Star Tribulation. The chapter ends with him vowing to kill Jian Shang.

Character developments

• Jian Shang shifts from alarm at Ren Bi’s knowledge to wary confidence as he deduces the conflict between King Wu of Qin and Qin Shi Huang. That confidence collapses when the sword is seized.
• Ren Bi moves from taunting and negotiation to open violence. His confidence rests on a concealed technique and the belief that King Wu’s plans have anticipated Jian Shang’s defenses.
• King Wu of Qin remains offstage, but Ren Bi’s revelations portray him as powerful, strategically prepared, and hostile to Qin Shi Huang’s legacy.
• The watching factions are shaken as they reconsider whether Huan King’s apparent safeguards—and their own assumptions about them—were misplaced.

Significant themes

• Power and hidden counters: Even renowned treasures and supposedly secure strongholds can be vulnerable to deeper knowledge and stronger techniques.
• Legacy and rivalry: The confrontation reflects a larger struggle between King Wu of Qin and Qin Shi Huang, with Jian Shang and Ren Bi standing as their representatives.
• Confidence versus uncertainty: Jian Shang’s deductions briefly restore his composure, but the sudden loss of his sword demonstrates how quickly apparent advantage can vanish.
• Loyalty, rule, and fortune: King Wu’s offer links Jian Shang’s submission and the Huan Kingdom’s fortune to the Great Qin Empire’s ambitions.

Character interactions

• Ren Bi repeatedly taunts Jian Shang, revealing what he knows and pressing him to surrender.
• Jian Shang tests Ren Bi’s claims with questions, then provokes him by suggesting King Wu was driven into seclusion by Qin Shi Huang.
• Their verbal contest turns into a direct duel: Jian Shang strikes with his divine sword, while Ren Bi captures it with the Cosmic Heaven-Sealing Hand.
• The watching allies and rival factions react to the revelations, but do not intervene.

Key plot points and events

• Ren Bi, Duke Wushan and one of the Three Lords serving King Wu of Qin, attacks Jian Shang after the Scarlet Sky Sword is immobilized. Jian Shang catches Ren Bi’s supposedly overwhelming punch with one hand, revealing extraordinary physical strength.
• Jian Shang explains that he prefers using a sword because he considers it merciful; then he repeatedly swings Ren Bi into the ground and nearby buildings, devastating the street.
• Ren Bi survives the beating. He drains life essence from two living people and more than a hundred corpses using the Great Wilderness Imperishable Body, rapidly restoring himself.
• Ren Bi attributes Jian Shang’s strength to the Cosmic Star Tribulation, but believes his own regenerative art will prevail. He charges again, and the two crash through buildings as the surrounding battle resumes.
• The Otherworlder Alliance’s surviving Apex fighters realize their forces have been nearly wiped out: of nearly forty manor-lord-level fighters, only six remain and another is near death. They fear that Jian Shang has inherited Qin Shi Huang’s formidable body.
• The fight between Jian Shang and Ren Bi falls quiet, leaving onlookers unsure who won. Elsewhere, Sea Dragon King Gan Lan is suddenly struck by a hidden attack and falls. A streak of cold light then targets Hua Qiandai, who dodges and warns the others to watch for ambushes.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang displays immense, previously concealed physical power and a cruelly sardonic sense of humor. The struggle exhausts his body, though he remains composed and continues fighting.
• Ren Bi shifts from arrogant certainty to fear and disbelief when Jian Shang catches his punch. His regenerative technique restores him, and his determination drives him back into combat.
• The Otherworlder leaders, including Xuanyuan Wumeng and Overlord Flower, are shaken by Jian Shang’s strength and increasingly regret having made him an enemy.
• Hua Qiandai, Dian Gang, and Xu Tian are forced to reassess their fight after Gan Lan is attacked; their position becomes much more dangerous.

Significant themes

• Hidden power and mistaken assumptions: Jian Shang’s low cultivation rank conceals extraordinary physical strength.
• Endurance versus overwhelming force: Ren Bi’s regenerative body withstands terrible punishment, setting up a clash between persistence and raw power.
• The cost of war: Fighters and civilians alike are caught in the destruction, and Ren Bi’s recovery comes through grotesque exploitation of the dead and dying.
• Fear and shifting confidence: The Alliance’s initial attempt to corner Jian Shang gives way to shock, dread, and regret.

Key plot points and events

• Huan King Jian Shang kills Lord Wushan Ren Bi with his bare hands, stunning both armies. The system rewards him with Ren Bi’s incomplete Great Wilderness Imperishable Body, the Heaven-Grade Cosmic Heaven-Sealing Hand, a pill, and prestige.
• Jian Shang uses Star-Sealing Origin-Locking to stop a hidden attacker’s God-Slaying Thorn from killing Iron-Masked Divine Seer Dian Gang. The assault exposes a concealed Loose Immortal but does not reveal their identity.
• With three Loose Immortals on each side, the aerial battle resumes while the larger armies clash across Hidden Dragon City. Jian Shang cuts through ordinary troops, though his individual kills cannot alter the overwhelming imbalance.
• The Penglai Commerce Association declares itself neutral and protects its trading house from both sides. Its elite guards hold off intruders, while nearby fighting leaves extensive destruction.
• Suspecting the Association may be connected to the hidden attacker—and hoping to obtain the coveted Quiet Night Thoughts—Jian Shang publicly accuses it of interfering in the war. The Association’s prolonged silence leaves him wondering whether his calculated bluff has accidentally hit the truth.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang proves both devastatingly powerful and politically opportunistic. He worries about the hidden Loose Immortal and the city’s evacuation, but also views the invading force as a potential source of wealth for rebuilding. He ultimately chooses a risky accusation as leverage against the Penglai Commerce Association.
• Ren Bi’s death removes the effect of his Cosmic Heaven-Sealing Hand and returns Jian Shang’s sealing power, which he uses to protect Dian Gang.
• Dian Gang and Xu Tian face an apparent fatal attack from Duke Wuyun Wu Huo; Jian Shang’s intervention prevents Dian Gang from being struck, and Qiu Li is sent to rescue the fallen Gan Lan.
• Hua Qiandai continues using her speed to keep the Huan Kingdom’s Loose Immortals in the fight, even as she is pressed by repeated attacks.
• The Penglai Commerce Association insists on neutrality, but Jian Shang’s accusation—and its lack of immediate response—makes its role seem uncertain.

Significant themes

• Power and fear: Ren Bi’s death demonstrates how dramatically one fighter’s strength can shift morale.
• Strategy amid chaos: Jian Shang balances battlefield action with plans for evacuation, reconstruction, and political leverage.
• Neutrality and suspicion: The Association’s claim of impartiality is unsettled by the hidden attacker and its silence.
• Ruthlessness and self-interest: Jian Shang reframes mass violence as an opportunity to fund the rebuilding of his capital, revealing his pragmatic, morally flexible outlook.

Chapter Summary:

Driven to Rage from Humiliation

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jian Shang suspects that the hidden Loose Immortal who attacked Sea Dragon King Gan Lan may belong to the Penglai Commerce Association. Although he initially doubts this, he decides to accuse the association anyway.
• Shopkeeper Ji, a representative of Penglai in Hidden Dragon City, firmly denies the accusation. Jian Shang recognizes that Ji’s reaction seems genuine, but he refuses to retreat after publicly committing himself.
• Jian Shang orders the Yellow Turban Strongmen and his guards to destroy the Penglai Trading House and declares the entire Penglai Commerce Association wanted throughout the Huan Kingdom.
• The order shocks everyone, since the Huan Kingdom is already at a severe disadvantage and Penglai has traditionally remained neutral in worldly conflicts.
• Jian Shang personally leads the assault. Using the Scarlet Sky Sword and his strongest sword technique, Sword Suppresses the World, he kills or defeats numerous Penglai guards and six Innate Realm experts.
• The Huan Kingdom’s forces join the attack, overwhelming the Penglai guards. The other factions and the Otherworlder Alliance largely hold back, watching the conflict unfold.
• Just as Jian Shang reaches the trading house, Ximen Tian, a Loose Immortal elder of the Western Gate Clan, appears and attempts to stop the massacre.
• Jian Shang publicly condemns Penglai for violating its ancestral neutrality and warns that its wealth and political influence will make it a target for rulers everywhere. He declares that Penglai will eventually perish because of its actions.
• Ximen Tian realizes the broader political danger of Jian Shang’s accusations: Penglai could lose the trust that allowed it to become the world’s foremost trading house.
• Nangong Yu, another Penglai Loose Immortal and the person who secretly attacked Gan Lan, arrives enraged. His appearance confirms Jian Shang’s suspicions and reveals that Penglai really was behind the earlier ambush.
• The chapter ends as Nangong Yu prepares to attack Jian Shang, unleashing a terrifying flame-based aura.

Character Developments

• Jian Shang: Becomes increasingly ruthless and prideful. Though he originally intended to frame Penglai merely to force it to surrender Quiet Night Thoughts and obtain compensation, his anger and humiliation push him into a full-scale confrontation. He commits completely once the attack begins, refusing to back down even after realizing the danger.
• Shopkeeper Ji: Shows shock and indignation at Jian Shang’s accusation, making Jian Shang briefly question whether Penglai is truly responsible. Their past acquaintance creates a moment of guilt and hesitation in Jian Shang.
• Ximen Tian: Initially confrontational, he becomes shaken when Jian Shang exposes the political consequences of Penglai’s behavior. His confidence gives way to confusion and weak attempts at conciliation.
• Nangong Yu: Is revealed as the hidden attacker responsible for the earlier incident involving Gan Lan. Furious at being exposed and humiliated, he abandons restraint and prepares to fight Jian Shang personally.
• Gao Gong and the Huan guards: Initially hesitate at Jian Shang’s extreme order, but follow him decisively once he attacks, demonstrating their loyalty.
• The Penglai guards: Shift from organized defense to panic as Jian Shang and the Huan forces overwhelm them.

Significant Themes

• Pride and humiliation: Jian Shang’s decision is driven as much by wounded pride as by strategy. Once he publicly accuses Penglai, retreat would mean losing face.
• Political legitimacy and public opinion: Jian Shang deliberately projects his accusations across the battlefield, turning a private dispute into a public condemnation of Penglai. His rhetoric threatens the association’s reputation and future survival.
• The danger of neutrality being broken: Penglai’s power rests on its longstanding rule of avoiding worldly struggles. By intervening secretly, it risks losing the trust and tolerance of every ruler.
• Escalation and irreversibility: A small hidden action develops into open war because neither side can afford to admit weakness or accept blame.
• Power versus wealth: Jian Shang argues that no ruler will tolerate an immensely wealthy, semi-independent organization operating within its territory if its intentions appear hostile.
• Unintended consequences: Jian Shang begins by planning to manipulate and exploit Penglai, but the truth of Nangong Yu’s involvement transforms his bluff into a genuine and dangerous conflict.

Character Interactions

• Jian Shang and Shopkeeper Ji clash publicly, with Jian Shang accusing Penglai and Ji defending its neutrality.
• Jian Shang’s guards, especially Gao Gong, question his order but ultimately support his decision and join the assault.
• Jian Shang confronts Ximen Tian verbally, using the elder’s presence as evidence that Penglai has violated its principles. Ximen Tian is unable to provide a convincing defense.
• Jian Shang and Nangong Yu exchange hostile challenges. Their confrontation is both personal and political, as Nangong Yu’s actions have exposed Penglai to condemnation and Jian Shang refuses to yield.
• The surrounding factions remain mostly passive, observing the clash and allowing Penglai and the Huan Kingdom to weaken one another.

Key plot points and events

• Nangong Yu arrives with Ximen Tian, and her overwhelming killing intent makes the Huan Kingdom’s position look hopeless. Jian Shang prepares to escape if necessary.
• Zhao Ji appears with Ying Tianlong and Zhangsun Yu—each now a Loose Immortal. She challenges Nangong Yu’s claim that she was merely “teaching the younger generation,” accusing her of ambushing opponents and expecting them to endure abuse.
• Nangong Yu backs down under Zhao Ji’s pressure. Dongfang Shi arrives with two other powerful elders and declares the incident a misunderstanding; Zhao Ji secures a promise that the association will not retaliate.
• Jian Shang refuses to accept that settlement. He describes the Huan Kingdom’s losses and challenges the Penglai Commerce Association’s four elders to a wager: if they kill him within Hidden Dragon City, the Huan Kingdom will submit to the association; if they fail, they must pay one million Diamond Coins and surrender Quiet Night Thoughts and Nangong Yu’s life.
• Before Zhao Ji can respond, Great Qin officials kneel and formally address her as empress dowager, reminding her of her ties and responsibilities to the empire.

Character developments

• Jian Shang moves from preparing to flee to making a seemingly reckless, high-stakes challenge. His insistence on justice suggests he has a plan, though his confidence astonishes even his allies.
• Zhao Ji demonstrates formidable authority and composure, stopping Nangong Yu without resorting to a fight. Her return also reveals that she and her companions had been in Hidden Dragon City but stayed out of the conflict until the Huan king needed support.
• Nangong Yu is forced to suppress her rage and retreat when confronted by Zhao Ji and the association’s leadership.
• Dongfang Shi shifts from smoothing over the conflict to wary calculation when Jian Shang proposes the wager.

Character interactions

• Zhao Ji openly confronts Nangong Yu, while Dongfang Shi reins Nangong Yu in and negotiates with Zhao Ji.
• Jian Shang challenges Dongfang Shi directly, rejecting her attempt to dismiss the attack as a misunderstanding.
• Hua Qiandai and the other Huan Kingdom supporters react with alarm to Jian Shang’s proposal.
• Great Qin’s officials appeal to Zhao Ji’s identity as empress dowager, signaling that her imperial obligations may affect her response.

Significant themes

• Power and deterrence: Reputation, alliances, and political standing matter alongside personal strength.
• Justice versus political compromise: Zhao Ji secures a truce, but Jian Shang refuses to let diplomacy erase the Huan Kingdom’s losses.
• Courage or calculated risk: Jian Shang’s wager appears absurdly dangerous, leaving open whether he is reckless or has an unseen advantage.
• Duty and identity: The chapter ends by emphasizing the tension between Zhao Ji’s independence and her responsibilities to Great Qin.

Plot and events

• Zhao Ji interprets the crisis between the Great Qin Empire, the Huan Kingdom, and the Penglai Commerce Association. She signals that she will not stop Qin from attacking Huan if it has the strength, but will oppose Penglai if it tries to bully the weak.
• Dongfang Shi suspects Jian Shang has a powerful advantage hidden in the Investiture of the Gods Hall. Realizing he has engineered the confrontation to obtain two treasures, she gives him Quiet Night Thoughts and the Calamity-Crossing Death-Averting Pill rather than accept a wager that could destroy Penglai’s four elders.
• Zhao Ji takes Ying Xin, Wu Huo, and several other Qin officials away, ostensibly at Jian Shang’s request. Jian Shang immediately resumes the battle, using the city’s fortune to suppress Lord Xi Huang while his allies pursue or attack the other Loose Immortals.
• Fighting rages through the night and into the next day. The Huan forces are nearly destroyed: fewer than five thousand Yellow Turban Strongmen remain, and Jian Shang’s companions disappear one by one. Gao Gong urges Jian Shang to flee, then vanishes in a pillar of light, leaving Jian Shang alone amid the enemy army.
• With enormous rewards announced for his death, Jian Shang laughs and recites a defiant verse about a hero whose blood may run dry but whose spirit brings flowers to bloom.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Ji shows political judgment and restraint, protecting Great Qin’s officials while avoiding direct intervention in Huan’s conflict with its enemies.
• Dongfang Shi proves cautious rather than reckless. She recognizes the danger behind Jian Shang’s confidence and chooses to surrender the treasures instead of risking her elders’ lives. Jian Shang secures his prizes, though their exchange leaves her furious.
• Jian Shang is revealed as a calculating, audacious ruler: he provokes the confrontation to obtain what he wants, then turns decisively to battle. Even when isolated and apparently doomed, he refuses to show fear.
• Gao Gong demonstrates fierce loyalty, sacrificing his chance to escape in order to protect Jian Shang. The other Huan allies fight the Loose Immortals, while the Qin officials’ removal leaves Qin’s forces without clear leadership.

Themes

• Strategy over brute force: Dongfang Shi’s retreat and Jian Shang’s maneuvering show that reading an opponent can matter more than fighting.
• Loyalty and sacrifice: Gao Gong’s final act highlights devotion to his king.
• Defiance amid defeat: Jian Shang’s laughter and song turn impending catastrophe into a statement of courage and enduring legacy.
• Power and political calculation: Each faction weighs its influence, risks, and interests before acting.

Plot points and events

• Jian Shang fights alone against overwhelming numbers of Otherworlders, singing a fierce, regretful song as he cuts through them. The battle lasts through a full day and night, leaving him badly exhausted amid heaps of corpses.
• The faction leaders watch from a distance. Some mock Jian Shang’s apparent defeat, while others grudgingly admire his courage. Song Zutian hopes Jian Shang will survive long enough to seek revenge, so that his retaliation will turn more Otherworlders against him.
• Yun Feng discovers that the Otherworlders’ Log Out option is disabled. She realizes the Huan Kingdom’s million-strong army has likely sealed the city—and suspects Jian Shang has prepared a trap. Though she considers warning the others, she stays silent.
• The Princess Residence leaders reject the accusation that Jian Shang is a traitor and decide to withdraw. When they learn all four city gates are sealed, Ying Ying orders members to climb the walls or move far from the battle before logging out. Yun Feng silently doubts that logging out will work anywhere.
• During the prolonged fight, Jian Shang’s personal Karma reaches 200,000, advancing his Infinity Swallowing Heaven Armor to Earth Grade. As he prepares to escape, he hears the approach of a large cavalry force and realizes the next phase has begun.

Character developments and interactions

• Yun Feng is torn between her past connection to Jian Shang and her current position among his enemies. Her discovery of the disabled logout function confirms her suspicion that the city’s siege is part of a larger plan, but she chooses not to disclose it.
• Ying Ying comforts Yun Feng, then firmly leads the Princess Residence’s withdrawal, refusing to pursue the factions’ bounty.
• Lan Ying and Qingyang insist that being enemies does not make Jian Shang a traitor. Their defense clashes with Song Zutian’s cynicism and with Qingyang’s admission that he has benefited from Jian Shang’s generosity while attacking his troops.
• Song Zutian reveals that his real aim is to provoke Jian Shang into a cycle of revenge that will ruin his reputation and deepen the Otherworlders’ hostility. Yan Wuji cautions him when his remarks risk undermining the alliance’s public justification.
• Jian Shang shifts from seemingly unstoppable fury to painful exhaustion, but remains determined to endure until the Huan Kingdom’s forces arrive.

Significant themes

• Revenge and its consequences: Song Zutian wants retaliation to become a weapon against Jian Shang, while Yun Feng expects his response to be ruthless.
• Loyalty, betrayal, and hypocrisy: Characters debate whether Jian Shang is a traitor, while their own actions—including exploiting his past generosity—complicate their claims.
• The limits of apparent power: The Otherworlders’ inability to log out overturns their belief that they can simply escape the conflict.
• Endurance and sacrifice: Jian Shang’s day-long stand is both heroic and costly, underscoring the difference between physical strength and the limits of the body.

Key plot points and events

• The Huan Kingdom’s 900,000-strong army closes in on the central battlefield in Hidden Dragon City. Its troops form the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, while the Ironblood Killing Clouds spread across the city and prevent Otherworlders from logging out.
• Recognizing the trap, Liu Bang’s forces begin retreating over the city walls. Zhou Da and the Secret Martial Arts fighters stay behind to target the Huan King, while the Dragon Guards withdraw. Xiang Jie warns the Xiang Clan’s experts, who scatter rather than make a stand.
• Jian Shang orders his allied Loose Immortals to concentrate on Qili Ji. Dian Gang and Xu Tian abandon Xiang Jie to help Hua Qiandai pursue Qili, allowing Xiang Jie to escape the encirclement.
• Jian Shang’s choices reflect a deliberate strategy: remove the strongest threats first and keep the major powers balanced against one another, rather than letting any one faction dominate.
• After being blasted away, Jian Shang is rescued by the arriving Ravenous Wolf Guards. He mounts the Darkgold Wolf King and leads them into a devastating charge against the enemy.
• Fighting alongside the Guards, Jian Shang feels his awareness and strength rise. He realizes that the armies’ formations are producing powerful manifestations in the sky—an eight-trigram cloud, a fire ox, and a golden tiger—and begins to understand the Hegemony System as one that emphasizes collective military strength.

Character developments

• Jian Shang remains resilient under overwhelming attack and shows strategic discipline, prioritizing the balance of power among rival factions. The armies’ manifestations lead him to reconsider how rare formation-based power really is.
• Qili Ji shifts from fighting Hua Qiandai to retreating, then is attacked by three Loose Immortals at once.
• Xiang Jie abandons his chance to attack the Huan King and flees when the danger of the encirclement becomes clear.
• Zhou Da accepts the likelihood of death, remaining behind to carry out the Secret Martial Arts fighters’ planned last stand.
• Ji Xing, now commander of the Ravenous Wolf Guards, arrives with the force that saves Jian Shang from being overwhelmed.

Significant themes and interactions

• Collective strength: The Ironblood Killing Cloud strengthens allies and weakens enemies; disciplined armies can create power beyond that of individual fighters.
• Strategy and survival: Jian Shang manipulates the timing and order of his opponents’ removal, while each faction chooses its own response to encirclement.
• The cost of war: The city is devastated, and the Ravenous Wolf Guards’ arrival turns the battlefield into an even bloodier slaughter.
• Shifting alliances: Dian Gang and Xu Tian leave Xiang Jie to aid Hua Qiandai against Qili Ji, while Jian Shang’s broader aim is to preserve rivalry among the major powers rather than rely on permanent alliances.

Key plot points and events

• Jian Shang realizes the newly activated Hegemony System makes organized formations decisive in the coming struggle for supremacy. He orders the Ravenous Wolf Guards into the Layered Waves Assault Formation, turning their collective strength into a devastating torrent that smashes through the enemy.
• The formation reaches the retreating Otherworlder Alliance. Yan Wuji tries to halt the attack by invoking their status as the China Region’s “hope,” but Jian Shang rejects his claim. He defeats Yan Wuji, kills him with the Heaven-Splitting Claw, and then slays three other renowned Apex Otherworlders in one strike.
• Jian Shang commands his troops to leave no enemy alive, then gives non-enemies of the Huan Kingdom one incense stick to escape. The enormous Investiture of the Gods Hall is descending over the battlefield; Jian Shang intends to use its apparent threat to terrorize the remaining forces, though its slow descent limits its actual destructive power.
• At Zhao Ji’s pavilion, she urges Ying Xin, Wu Huo, and the other Qin officials to leave. They realize she had rescued them from certain death and thank her. Zhao Ji clarifies that she now considers herself Si Panqing, no longer a Qin subject, and helped them only because of old ties, their loyalty, and their usefulness.
• Wu Huo recognizes that Huan’s power has grown enormously and follows Zhao Ji out of danger.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang shifts from tactical awareness to ruthless intimidation. He uses the new formation to overwhelm the enemy, dismisses Yan Wuji’s appeal to national unity, and deliberately cultivates fear of the Huan Kingdom.
• Yan Wuji reveals that his greatest fear is losing the Violet Star River Record, not death itself. His attempt to shame Jian Shang fails, and he is killed.
• Zhao Ji/Si Panqing confirms her break with Great Qin while showing lingering concern for its loyal officials. Her rescue is pragmatic as well as personal, and she makes clear it will not happen again.
• Ying Xin and Wu Huo move from suspicion of Zhao Ji to gratitude after understanding that she had protected them. Wu Huo also recognizes Huan’s rising strength.

Significant themes

• Collective power and military organization: The Hegemony System and formations give disciplined armies a decisive advantage over scattered fighters.
• Power, legitimacy, and national loyalty: Yan Wuji’s claim to represent China’s hope is challenged; the chapter questions whether prominent leaders deserve loyalty simply because of their titles.
• Fear as a weapon: Jian Shang’s threat to drop the vast hall is as much psychological warfare as a practical attack.
• Pragmatism and shifting allegiance: Zhao Ji’s identity and loyalties have changed, while her aid to the Qin officials is rooted in a calculated mix of history, loyalty, and usefulness.
• The changing balance of power: Huan’s surviving Loose Immortals and Jian Shang’s formidable strength signal its emergence as a major power.

Key plot points and events

• As the enormous enemy force flees Hidden Dragon City, Jian Shang’s Ravenous Wolf Guards can kill only a fraction of the retreating troops despite having already slain tens of thousands.
• Jian Shang activates Sky Wolf Howls at the Moon, Horizontal Alliance Grand Art, and the Moonlight Heavenly Wolf Formation. The formation manifests as a colossal, star-studded wolf that descends and merges with the guards.
• Observers are stunned by the formation’s power. Ying Xin believes Jian Shang may possess the rare favor of both the War God and the Army God; Zhao Ji says his military potential was already evident at Bolang Sands.
• The Penglai Commerce Association reassesses its position. Dongfang Shi recognizes that recruiting Jian Shang was unrealistic, but decides cooperation and an alliance may still serve her goals.
• The association’s leaders conclude that the Huan King has turned the battle and founding ceremony into a calculated opportunity: his kingdom has gained vast spoils and resources from the defeated factions.
• Jian Shang estimates that the formation raises the Ravenous Wolf Guards’ overall strength by nearly fifty percent. He then sends the manifested wolf charging into the fleeing enemy.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang shifts from regret over failing to destroy the entire enemy force to confidence in his formation’s power. His command abilities have grown alongside the army’s, rather than being diminished by the spread of formation techniques.
• Ying Xin is shaken and despairing, interpreting Jian Shang’s Army God–like power as a threat to his own political future. Zhao Ji responds calmly, reminding him that Jian Shang’s potential was visible before.
• Dongfang Shi moves from private misgivings about her earlier accommodation with Jian Shang to renewed confidence. She comforts her elders’ concerns, proposes cooperation instead of recruitment, and hopes to profit by helping process the Huan Kingdom’s spoils.
• Ximen Tian and the elders change from resenting Dongfang Shi’s concessions to admiring her foresight. Ximen Tian also recognizes the Huan King’s strategic manipulation of the rival factions.

Significant themes

• The power of formations and collective strength: A disciplined army led by a capable commander can challenge even extraordinary individual fighters.
• Political calculation and opportunism: The Huan King’s apparent risks are revealed as part of a strategy to weaken rivals and acquire resources.
• Changing times: Dongfang Shi’s reflection suggests old traditions and strategies may need to adapt to an increasingly chaotic age.
• The rising balance between individuals and armies: As powerful figures grow more formidable, organized military forces also evolve, making elite troops a greater danger even to Loose Immortals.

Plot points and events

• A vast Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, formed by 900,000 Huan Kingdom troops, divides the fleeing civilians from more than a million enemy fighters trapped inside Hidden Dragon City.
• A gigantic Sky Wolf, created by over 10,000 Greedy Wolf Guards, tears through the enemy ranks, killing hundreds at a time.
• Enemy fighters rush toward the city walls, but Huan Kingdom formations block their way. Uncoordinated charges are devastated; only rare individuals escape.
• Some factions organize trained troops into battle formations, improving their chances of breaking through—though most remain trapped.
• The Blade Legion assembles more than 1,000 soldiers into the Demon Blade Splitting Heaven Formation. It smashes through several light gates but suffers severe losses, reaching the wall with only 39 survivors.
• Righteous Mohists disciples appear atop the wall and greet the exhausted survivors, with more disciples arriving.

Character developments

• Blade, commander of the Blade Legion and an acquaintance of Jian Shang, takes charge and leads his troops through a desperate breakout. His command helps them advance, but the cost is nearly the whole unit.
• The trained Otherworlder soldiers demonstrate discipline and coordination, contrasting with the largely disorganized enemy forces.
• The Blade Legion’s survivors show uncertainty at the wall, weighing whether to log off or attempt escape, before the Mohists’ appearance shifts the situation.

Significant themes

• Discipline versus numbers: Large forces without training and coordination are easily destroyed; organized formations can achieve what mass charges cannot.
• The cost of survival: Even a successful breakout may demand devastating sacrifices.
• Fortune and desperation: Most escape attempts are nearly hopeless, while trained units gain only a slim chance.
• The chaos of war: The city becomes a landscape of confusion, bloodshed, and mass flight.

Character interactions

• Enemy fighters urge one another to stay calm, form ranks, and cooperate, but their calls often come too late or lack the training needed to succeed.
• Blade rallies the Legion with a clear command, and its members act as a coordinated formation under his leadership.
• At the wall, the Righteous Mohists address the 39 survivors with surprise and admiration, setting up a new encounter.

Key plot points and events

• Trapped in Hidden Dragon City, Blade and thirty-eight surviving Blade Legion soldiers face the Righteous Mohist disciples on the walls. Blade orders a breakout rather than surrender; a volley of crossbow bolts kills nearly half as they climb.
• Elsewhere, the surviving major factions learn that the Huan King has sealed the city with the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, backed by a vast army and guards. They agree that escape requires combining their elite members into formations and breaking through together.
• The Huan King’s terrifying Sky Wolf bears down on their gathering. Demon Empress Ying Ying and Dark Night Lone Star order their factions into battle formations, then abandon thousands of members outside those formations to delay the Sky Wolf while their best fighters flee southwest.
• The abandoned fighters attack the Sky Wolf in desperation, but it tears through them with ease. At the last moment, a woman’s cry of “Xiao Ying” makes it stop. The wolf blows Yun Feng away across the battlefield, apparently saving her. She then kills herself in midair.

Character developments and interactions

• Blade remains a decisive commander, rejecting despair and ordering his men to escape even as their odds collapse. His soldiers show loyalty and courage, with one platoon leader volunteering to stay behind.
• Ying Ying and Dark Night Lone Star prioritize preserving their factions’ strongest members, knowingly sacrificing those unable to join the formations.
• Yun Feng appears resigned to dying and believes Jian Shang has already killed her once. Though Qingyang argues Jian Shang still loves her, she answers with bitter doubt. Her final act is deliberate suicide, expressing resolve rather than regret or relief.
• Qingyang hopes Jian Shang will recognize him and show mercy, but fears he may not get the chance. His exchange with Yun Feng reveals both his bond with Jian Shang and the pain surrounding Jian Shang and Yun Feng’s relationship.
• Jian Shang, present through the Sky Wolf, halts at the sound of the woman’s voice and saves Yun Feng from the battlefield—yet she rejects that chance to live.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and survival: Leaders save their most valuable fighters by abandoning others, while Blade’s unit faces destruction together.
• The human cost of war: Soldiers on all sides are reduced to casualties in a conflict threatening China’s strength before the national war.
• Love, resentment, and irreparable harm: Qingyang describes Yun Feng’s relationship with Jian Shang as deep love turned to fierce hatred; her suicide suggests that his intervention cannot undo their past.
• Powerlessness and resolve: The Sky Wolf makes resistance nearly futile, but Yun Feng retains control over her final choice.

Key plot points and events

• Yun Feng falls into the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, apparently choosing death rather than submit or accept help. Jian Shang is struck by his resolve but presses on.
• Jian Shang’s Sky Wolf Formation crushes the enemy formations and breaks the fleeing Otherworlder elites into scattered fighters. With the Huan King’s forces closing in, the survivors are surrounded and face near-certain defeat.
• Jian Shang suddenly orders the Sky Wolf Formation to disperse, signaling that he intends to take the survivors prisoner rather than slaughter them.
• The surviving faction leaders acknowledge defeat and agree to pay for rebuilding Hidden Dragon City, which their uprising devastated.
• Jian Shang then demands compensation for the Huan Kingdom’s casualties. When the leaders threaten to kill themselves rather than be humiliated, he reveals that his guards have surrounded them to prevent it. He orders all the leaders seized as hostages, intending to demand a much larger payment.
• The Investiture of the Gods Hall crashes down, leveling the ruined district and sweeping away the remaining enemy forces. Its arrival marks the end of the unrest.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang shows both respect and ruthlessness. Yun Feng’s uncompromising choice moves him, but Jian Shang remains a practical commander: he spares the surviving leaders only to capture them and use them as leverage.
• Yun Feng is portrayed as fiercely proud and resolute, willing to sacrifice everything rather than yield.
• Demon Empress Ying Ying, Dark Night Lone Star, and the other leaders shift from desperate flight to negotiation. They admit defeat and accept rebuilding costs, but become fearful when they realize Jian Shang intends to hold them hostage.
• The leaders attempt to bargain and warn Jian Shang that their factions possess far greater strength than the forces already seen. Jian Shang dismisses their threats and asserts control.

Significant themes

• Resolve and sacrifice: Yun Feng’s choice embodies an unbending will, though Jian Shang reflects that strength must be balanced with flexibility.
• Victory and accountability: Defeat requires the Otherworlder factions to answer for the destruction they caused.
• Power and leverage: Jian Shang avoids a costly massacre by capturing the enemy leaders and turning them into bargaining chips.
• The cost of conflict: The uprising devastates Hidden Dragon City, and the final collapse of the hall underscores the scale of the destruction.

Chapter Summary: “Nine-Dragon City”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Cosmic Star Tribulation Hall—later called the Investiture of the Gods Hall—crashes down over Hidden Dragon City during the Founding Ceremony unrest.
• Its sudden eruption of countless beams of white light annihilates hundreds of thousands of surviving enemy troops. Combined with the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, this ends the rebellion and secures Huan Kingdom’s victory.
• Flower King Peony condemns Jian Shang for destroying the city and killing innocent civilians. Jian Shang rejects her accusation, arguing that the destruction was caused by the oppressive forces who provoked the conflict.
• Jian Shang orders the surviving enemy cultivators captured, their powers sealed by the Righteous Mohists, and their imprisonment used to demand ransom. Early Innate cultivators are valued at 10,000 Diamond Coins each, while stronger cultivators are priced at 50,000.
• The captives, including Lu Wufeng and Dark Night Lone Star, protest that the treatment is humiliating, but Jian Shang ignores them and orders the Founding Ceremony to continue.
• The captured enemies are taken away by the Yellow Turban Strongmen, preventing the Otherworlder Alliance from rescuing them.
• The Investiture of the Gods Hall later rises from the ruins, leaving the royal city almost completely flattened. Huan Kingdom’s forces organize the aftermath: clearing the battlefield, guarding the city, and relocating civilians and guests.
• News of the battle and the hall’s overwhelming power spreads across the world, becoming an event that will be remembered as a legendary display of strength.
• Inside the Investiture of the Gods Hall, Wise Mohist leader Cao Zhizi is brought before Jian Shang. Jian Shang asks him to assist in rebuilding the destroyed royal city.
• Cao Zhizi pledges loyalty to Huan Kingdom and proposes constructing a magnificent city based on the surrounding terrain, the Nine-Dragon Formation, the eight trigrams, and the nine palaces.
• He reveals that the Mohist School’s Myriad Cities Canon describes an ideal city called the Flawless City, also known as Nine-Dragon City—the supreme city suited to Huan Kingdom’s capital.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Jian Shang/Huan King: Demonstrates ruthless authority in crushing the rebellion, but also shows strategic foresight by turning prisoners into a source of ransom and immediately focusing on rebuilding and governance. His friendly reception of Cao Zhizi reveals his ability to shift from merciless conqueror to courteous ruler. However, he remains unfamiliar with the formalities and intellectual traditions expected of a king.
• Flower King Peony: Her anger and horror reveal the moral divide between the defeated forces and Jian Shang. She views the destruction primarily as a crime against civilians, while Jian Shang places responsibility on those who caused the conflict.
• Lu Wufeng and Dark Night Lone Star: Both react indignantly to their capture and intended ransom, insisting that Jian Shang’s treatment violates their dignity. Their protests emphasize the humiliation suffered by the defeated Otherworlders.
• Cao Zhizi: Initially awed and nervous inside the Investiture of the Gods Hall, he gradually becomes confident after Jian Shang receives his pledge favorably. His expertise in Mohist architecture and city planning makes him an important potential servant of Huan Kingdom.
• Jian Shang and Cao Zhizi: Their meeting shifts from formal uncertainty to practical cooperation. Jian Shang asks Cao Zhizi to explain his complicated theories plainly, revealing Jian Shang’s preference for useful understanding over empty displays of knowledge. Cao Zhizi responds by presenting a grand plan for the future capital.

Significant Themes

• The overwhelming power of the state: The Investiture of the Gods Hall symbolizes Huan Kingdom’s near-divine military might and makes the destruction of the rebellion absolute.
• Victory, justice, and morality: Flower King Peony’s condemnation raises the question of whether Jian Shang’s victory is justified when civilians and an entire city are destroyed. Jian Shang counters that the responsibility lies with those who created the crisis.
• Power and humiliation: The ransom system and sealed prisoners demonstrate how victory allows the conqueror to control not only the enemy’s lives but also their dignity and status.
• Destruction and rebirth: Hidden Dragon City is obliterated, but its destruction creates a blank foundation for a new royal capital and a stronger Huan Kingdom.
• The recruitment of talent: Cao Zhizi’s decision to serve Jian Shang shows how the establishment of Huan Kingdom attracts capable figures who previously might not have committed themselves.
• Political legitimacy and kingship: Jian Shang is beginning to transition from a powerful leader into a formal monarch. The chapter highlights both the authority gained by founding a kingdom and his continuing discomfort with royal ceremony.
• Ideal civilization and destiny: The proposed Nine-Dragon City combines geography, mystical formations, Mohist engineering, and political ambition, representing Huan Kingdom’s vision of an enduring, almost immortal dynasty.

Key plot points and events

• Cao Zhizi proposes building Nine-Dragon City, a legendary capital able to activate the Nine-Dragon Barrier, summon nine guardian dragons, shift through the void, and protect those within. Its initial construction will cost about one million Diamond Coins.
• Jian Shang first questions the expense, fearing it could cripple Huan Kingdom’s finances. Once he learns the city can provide extraordinary protection linked to the Divine Land Barrier, he declares it worth the cost and orders construction to begin.
• Jian Shang appoints Cao Zhizi Minister of Nine Dragons, giving him authority over the project and formally bringing the Wise Mohists into Huan Kingdom’s administration. The Righteous Mohists remain outside the government for now.
• A Zhangchu State delegation arrives seeking military aid against imminent collapse. In exchange, Zhangchu offers Jiujiang Commandery, land in Chen Commandery, Shouchun Royal City, 100,000 Diamond Coins, and an alliance.
• Jian Shang immediately promises a northern expedition under Tian Dan, committing a huge force—officially one million elite troops and 100,000 mighty warriors, though the actual numbers are somewhat lower. He reassures Lü Chen that Huan Kingdom can risk sending its main army because its capital is protected by the Investiture of the Gods Hall.
• Jian Shang reveals that he will join the Qin–Chu decisive battle himself, though the army will depart ahead of him.

Character developments and interactions

• Jian Shang shows both cautious pragmatism and bold ambition: he scrutinizes Nine-Dragon City’s cost, then commits once he understands its strategic value. He also moves quickly to aid Zhangchu, balancing generosity with political calculation and an apparent interest in winning over Lü Chen.
• Cao Zhizi is passionately devoted to Nine-Dragon City and delighted by Jian Shang’s approval and his new ministerial appointment. He nearly misjudges the discussion until Murong Yi prompts him to explain the cost.
• Murong Yi tactfully intervenes to keep the proposal grounded in financial reality.
• The Righteous Mohists recognize the city’s immense value but worry about Huan Kingdom’s ability to afford it. They also feel the significance of the Wise Mohists’ formal entry into government while their own group remains outside.
• Lü Chen is astonished by the scale and speed of Jian Shang’s offer. He worries that committing so much force could endanger Huan Kingdom, then accepts Jian Shang’s reassurance and praises his leadership. His concern also reflects genuine respect, despite earlier inability to assist Huan during its upheaval.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus financial limits: A world-changing project may be worth its price, but even a powerful kingdom must weigh its costs.
• Security and state-building: Nine-Dragon City represents more than a capital; it is a protective foundation for Huan Kingdom’s future.
• Political loyalty and integration: Cao Zhizi’s appointment marks the Wise Mohists’ transition into government, highlighting differing roles and relationships among allied groups.
• Alliance, generosity, and strategy: Jian Shang’s aid to Zhangchu is presented as righteous, but it also strengthens Huan Kingdom’s position and may secure Lü Chen’s loyalty.
• The stakes of the coming war: Jian Shang treats the Qin–Chu battle as a decisive struggle for legitimacy and dominion over the world.