Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou work through the night to disrupt Emperor Zhetian’s resentment-gathering scheme. The resentment still appears, but now dissipates within moments, confirming that Yang Qing’s countermeasure is working.
• Yang Qing realizes the Sacred Emperor may detect the interference. Soon, Emperor Zhetian appears in the body of Gongsun Ze, though Bu Er seems unaware of his arrival.
• Emperor Zhetian confronts Yang Qing for secretly sabotaging his plans. Yang Qing calmly challenges his authority, arguing that a ruler’s orders do not automatically make everything right.
• Yang Qing rejects the idea that his clan exists solely to serve the Eastern Splendor Royal Family, pointing out that the Yang clan’s own history offers no evidence of such an obligation.
• As Emperor Zhetian’s anger and killing intent rise, Yang Qing reveals that repeated use of the Teleportation Art consumes Innate Power. He deduces that the Emperor lacks the time and strength to deal with him now.
• Emperor Zhetian admits he cannot handle Yang Qing at present and says he will wait to see what else Yang can do.

Character developments

• Yang Qing remains composed and defiant in the face of overwhelming power. He shifts from quietly opposing the Emperor’s plan to openly questioning royal authority, while using his knowledge of the Emperor’s limits to protect himself.
• Emperor Zhetian is shown to be both formidable and constrained: his control over Gongsun Ze’s body appears complete, but his use of teleportation has costs and his attention is occupied elsewhere.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou gain confidence as their overnight work produces visible results.

Significant themes

• Power versus justice: Yang Qing disputes the notion that authority alone makes an order right.
• Resistance and autonomy: He challenges the assumption that the Yang clan—and its members—exist only to serve the royal family.
• The limits of strength: Even a near-unstoppable ruler must manage finite resources.
• Identity and consent: Gongsun Ze’s willingness to yield his body contrasts with Yang Qing’s insistence on controlling his own fate.

Character interactions

• Yang Qing’s calm, provocative exchanges frustrate Emperor Zhetian and turn a confrontation into a contest of nerve and knowledge.
• Yang Qing and the Emperor embody opposing views of authority: the Emperor demands obedience, while Yang insists subjects can reject unjust claims.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou work together to carry out Yang Qing’s countermeasure, though neither appears to realize the Emperor has arrived.

Plot points and events

• After a devastating earthquake, Emperor Zhetian proposes a deal to Yang Qing: Yang and his two companions are to organize relief for displaced people, providing shelter and food.
• The emperor presents the task as a duty tied to Yang’s identity as a descendant of the Yang clan, whose purpose is to serve the people.
• Yang recognizes that the offer is also a way for the emperor to keep him occupied and out of the way while addressing a larger problem. He doubts the emperor’s promise to spare them, since their lives remain entirely in the emperor’s hands.
• Yang refuses the assignment, arguing that the emperor’s promise offers no real protection. He even challenges the emperor to kill them outright rather than dress coercion up as mercy.

Character developments

• Yang Qing remains wary and defiant. Though he sympathizes with the earthquake victims, he refuses to accept a bargain he sees as hollow or manipulative. His courage and refusal to submit continue to unsettle the emperor.
• Emperor Zhetian shows an unexpected interest in Yang, partly because Yang’s resistance makes him a rare and engaging opponent. He also reveals concern for his suffering subjects, but frames his demand as an order and expects obedience.
• Bu Er and their companion remain in danger alongside Yang, with their survival bound to his decisions.

Significant themes

• Power and coercion: The emperor’s offer sounds merciful, but Yang sees that the emperor still controls their fate.
• Duty versus self-preservation: Yang is connected to a clan duty to protect the people, yet rejects being forced into service under false promises.
• Defiance and individuality: Yang’s refusal distinguishes him from the emperor’s usual obedient subjects.
• Public suffering and responsibility: The earthquake’s devastation prompts a debate over who should help the displaced and why.

Character interactions

• The emperor tests Yang with an offer that combines practical relief work, an appeal to clan duty, and the promise of temporary survival.
• Yang answers with pointed questions and a blunt refusal, exposing the imbalance behind the supposed bargain.
• Their exchange reveals mutual awareness: the emperor knows Yang is unusually difficult to control, while Yang understands that the emperor’s apparent goodwill may conceal self-interest.

Plot points and events

• Emperor Zhetian appoints Yang Qing as City Lord of Xiangyang, presenting the post as a command rather than an offer. Yang Qing accepts, though he regards it as a constraint rather than an honor.
• Gongsun Ru delivers the decree and warns Yang Qing to accept his fate and not disappoint the emperor. Yang Qing makes clear he has no intention of becoming Zhetian’s obedient servant; he sees conflict between them as inevitable.
• Yang Qing recognizes that the appointment also gives him authority to help Xiangyang’s people. Though the city was devastated by an earthquake, the City Lord’s Mansion and nearby wealthy district remain untouched.
• On taking office, he discovers that less than one million taels remain in the prefectural treasury, compared with the usual reserve of more than ten million. He suspects the former City Lord fled with most of the funds.
• Yang Qing sends Bu Er to locate the former City Lord and his remaining associates, while he and Jiang Zhizhou set out to solicit donations for disaster relief.

Character developments

• Yang Qing remains resolute and fearless. He accepts the appointment not out of loyalty to Zhetian, but because the position can help him aid the people and pursue his own plans. He continues to prepare for a seemingly hopeless future confrontation with the emperor.
• Gongsun Ru acts as Zhetian’s trusted messenger and enforcer, viewing obedience as unavoidable and urging Yang Qing to show gratitude.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou support Yang Qing: Bu Er is assigned to investigate the former City Lord, while Jiang accompanies Yang Qing to seek aid.
• The Prefectural Soldiers initially dismiss Yang Qing as a scholarly, ineffective newcomer, unaware that he will challenge their expectations.

Themes

• Duty versus obedience: Yang Qing accepts responsibility for the city without submitting inwardly to the emperor.
• Courage and agency: He acts despite the odds, refusing to let fear determine what he attempts.
• Power and exploitation: The missing treasury funds suggest that officials have profited from public hardship, while disaster victims urgently need help.
• Compassion and practical leadership: Yang Qing focuses first on relief and rebuilding rather than status or prestige.

Character interactions

• Yang Qing and Emperor Zhetian exchange courteous but pointed words: Zhetian commands, while Yang Qing signals that their relationship remains adversarial.
• Gongsun Ru presses Yang Qing to be grateful and compliant; he rejects her view that his fate is beyond his control.
• Bu Er questions the value of the City Lord post, and Yang Qing explains its practical usefulness.
• Yang Qing’s first dealings with the Prefectural Soldiers are shaped by their contempt for him, setting up a coming clash with those accustomed to acting unchecked.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Newly appointed City Lord Yang Qing begins addressing Xiangyang City’s severe decline. Rather than demanding money from its wealthy merchants, he asks them to help track down the former City Lord, who fled with public funds. He explains that the money is needed to rebuild the city, and many merchants agree to assist.
• Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou summon the Prefectural Soldiers, but the soldiers initially refuse to recognize his authority, viewing him as a prisoner of the Sacred Emperor.
• Yang Qing asserts that his appointment letter carries the Emperor’s command. When one soldier openly defies him, Jiang Zhizhou kills the man on Yang Qing’s order. Yang Qing then warns the others to perform their duties, appealing both to their families’ suffering and to the consequences of further obstruction.
• The soldiers submit and accept their assignments, allowing the city’s recovery efforts to begin without further delay.
• Meanwhile, a supernatural cloud of dark smoke—formed from the people’s growing resentment and aura of death—gathers above the City Lord’s Mansion. Yang Qing and his companions can see it, but the city’s residents cannot.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing shows himself to be pragmatic and politically astute: he wins merchants’ cooperation without directly taxing them, then uses force and firm authority to bring the soldiers into line. Though he cannot be sure his efforts will avert the looming danger, he is committed to trying.
• Jiang Zhizhou supports Yang Qing decisively, first confronting the hostile soldiers and later carrying out Yang Qing’s lethal warning. He is also anxious about the supernatural threat and asks whether their efforts will succeed.
• The Prefectural Soldiers shift from contempt and defiance to obedience, largely out of fear, though Yang Qing also reminds them that their own families are among those suffering.
• The wealthy merchants move from cautious skepticism to cooperation after Yang Qing explains his rebuilding plan.

Significant themes

• Leadership through practical action: Yang Qing seeks cooperation and assigns concrete work rather than relying on title alone.
• Authority and coercion: His legitimacy is challenged, and he secures compliance through a mixture of moral appeal and lethal force.
• Responsibility amid uncertainty: Yang Qing cannot promise that helping the people will solve the larger crisis, but believes improving their lives is worthwhile regardless.
• Collective suffering and consequences: The city’s misery manifests as a growing supernatural threat, underscoring the cost of neglect and delay.

Plot points and events

• As Xiangyang recovers from an earthquake, City Lord Yang Qing oversees reconstruction, prioritizing the neglected southwestern district, where the poorest residents live.
• While checking on the Prefectural Soldiers, Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou discover a small underground chamber beneath a ruined temple. Inside is a finely made, half-arm’s-length Seven-Story Golden Pagoda covered in unfamiliar raised inscriptions.
• Yang Qing cannot read the writing and suspects it comes from a culture beyond the Eastern Radiance Ancient Kingdom. He worries the discovery may conceal a secret unknown to the royal family—and that news of it could reach his superiors.
• The three return to the chamber at night to investigate. They find no clues beyond the pagoda’s base.
• Yang Qing asks Jiangli to examine the base. Jiangli reveals it is made of rare incense stone powder and warns that blades would destroy it. Aromatic vinegar can expose what is inside—but Jiangli advises Yang Qing not to look.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing shows compassion by directing repairs toward the poor district, but the pagoda’s discovery makes him cautious and anxious. He trusts only Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou, relying on their discretion and help.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou act as loyal, careful confidants: they keep the discovery secret, report it to Yang Qing, and help search the chamber.
• Jiangli provides specialized knowledge about the unusual base, offering a way to reveal its contents while ominously warning against doing so.

Significant themes

• Recovery and inequality: The earthquake exposes the city’s neglect of its poorest residents, prompting Yang Qing to address it.
• Hidden history and cultural loss: The pagoda’s unknown inscriptions challenge assumptions about what survived the ancient kingdom’s fall.
• Trust and secrecy: Yang Qing must protect a potentially momentous discovery with only a small circle of trusted allies.
• Curiosity and danger: The promise of something concealed inside the base is paired with Jiangli’s warning, building suspense over whether knowledge is worth pursuing.

Key events and revelations

• Jiangli identifies Golden Pagoda Inscriptions buried beneath the Underground Palace. Despite its warning, Yang Qing decides to uncover their meaning.
• Bu Er pours vinegar over the foundations, dissolving the covering soil and revealing inscriptions like those on Yang Qing’s golden pagoda.
• Jiangli reads the inscriptions aloud, with Yang Qing temporarily enabling Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou to understand it.
• The inscriptions reveal the history of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom: it was never meant to exist, yet emerged unexpectedly in history. Its people possessed extraordinarily long lives—usually over two hundred years—but could scarcely have children and found their longevity a torment rather than a gift.
• The kingdom’s people hid within the area now occupied by Xiangyang City. Eventually, only one survivor remained. To ensure the kingdom would not be forgotten, he gathered its wealth, treasures, and records in an underground palace.
• The survivor’s final message declares that whoever finds the treasure vault becomes a person of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom. Jiangli says Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou have already met this condition.
• Their new status brings danger: others may seek their unusual blood, and its scent may eventually be detectable by skilled physicians. Returning the golden pagoda will not undo what has happened.
• Yang Qing accepts the implications with characteristic boldness and suggests they continue searching for treasure.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing ignores Jiangli’s warning, eager to uncover the inscriptions. Once told that he and his companions have inherited the kingdom’s condition, he responds with curiosity and opportunism rather than fear.
• Jiangli acts as translator and guide, explaining both the kingdom’s tragic history and the risks the group now faces. Its imitation of Yang Qing’s mannerisms adds a playful note.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou are excited to understand Jiangli directly, but the revelations leave them stunned.
• Yang Qing and Jiangli discuss the peril of immortality: a gift to outsiders may be a curse to those forced to endure it.

Significant themes

• Immortality as burden: Endless life can mean exhaustion and despair, especially when paired with isolation and the loss of ordinary family life.
• Memory and legacy: The last survivor builds the vault so that the kingdom will be remembered, even though its people were weary of living.
• Unintended consequences: Discovering the vault grants the group a lasting identity and exposes them to dangers they cannot simply reverse.
• Greed and survival: Yang Qing’s final response suggests that even grave revelations may lead him to pursue opportunity rather than retreat.

Key plot points and events

• Jiangli’s account of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom seems unbelievable, but the golden pagoda and matching inscriptions convince Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou that the kingdom truly existed.
• The group suspects another recorded Treasure lies near the Underground Palace. They search the tiny chamber repeatedly but find neither the Treasure nor the formation needed to open its true entrance.
• With dawn approaching, they risk losing their chance to investigate—and fear that Emperor Zhetian could exploit the kingdom’s secrets if he learns of them.
• Jiangli recalls an apparently unrelated inscription: a tragic story about a poor young man and a woman who loved him but never confessed their feelings, eventually parting forever.
• Yang Qing realizes the story may contain a symbolic clue. After cracking the pagoda base by accident, he links the “rift” between the lovers to a physical crack. The group finds a fine fissure in the base, and Bu Er strikes it with his sword. A crisp sound reveals that a hidden space lies beneath it.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing leads the investigation, trusting Jiangli’s judgment and persistently searching for a pattern. His irritation at the approaching dawn gives way to a sudden insight.
• Jiangli recalls the story and explains why its presence in the inscriptions must matter, even though they initially have only a feeling that it is connected. Their expressive, increasingly human manner briefly prompts Yang Qing to wonder whether time with the group has changed them.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou help search the chamber; Bu Er is skeptical of the story’s relevance but readily acts when Yang Qing identifies the fissure.
• The group’s cooperation turns an obscure story into a practical lead.

Significant themes

• Trust and secrecy: The companions accept Jiangli’s extraordinary account, while guarding the kingdom’s existence from powerful outsiders.
• Communication and regret: The lovers’ failure to express their feelings transforms a possible happiness into lifelong separation.
• Interpretation and discovery: An apparently irrelevant story provides a symbolic key, showing that meaning can be hidden beneath ordinary details.
• Time and urgency: The approach of dawn puts pressure on the group to uncover the entrance before they must leave.

Key plot points and events

• Bu Er pulls a bronze ring from a crack in the ground, revealing an enormous bronze door—an extraordinary sign of the vanished Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s former wealth and power.
• Jiangli identifies it as the legendary Time Gate, which supposedly freezes time and marks the first step toward becoming a citizen of the kingdom. Combined with an evolution of their blood, its people could become “gods.”
• Yang Qing and his companions enter despite not knowing what awaits them. The heavy door closes behind them.
• Beyond it, they find a vast, empty space, with none of the legendary treasures and no visible traps.
• Yang Qing notices that their ordinary steps have left footprints in the stone. Then a fourth, much smaller set appears among theirs—apparently belonging to a child. He stops the others before they can speak.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains pragmatic: becoming immortal or divine matters less than finding enough power to survive the Sacred Emperor. He leads the group onward but grows wary when the chamber’s emptiness and footprints defy explanation.
• Bu Er reaffirms his loyalty, saying he will follow Yang Qing regardless of whether they remain human. He helps Yang Qing and Jiang Zhizhou force the door open.
• Jiangli explains the Time Gate’s legend but becomes confused when the supposedly treasure-filled palace proves empty.
• Jiang Zhizhou joins Yang Qing and Bu Er in opening the door and reacts with them to the strange footprints.
• The three companions act cooperatively, sharing the effort of entering the gate and investigating what follows.

Significant themes

• Survival versus choice: The companions’ possible transformation is less a free decision than a desperate response to the threat they face.
• Loyalty and companionship: Bu Er’s commitment to Yang Qing persists regardless of the consequences.
• Mystery and deceptive appearances: The celebrated Underground Palace is empty, while inexplicable footprints suggest an unseen presence.
• The passage of time and mortality: The Time Gate’s promise of frozen time and godlike existence challenges what it means to be human.

Plot points and events

• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou discover that someone has been following them. The short, mysterious figure introduces himself as Wood and says he was curious because no one had entered the area for years.
• Wood recognizes that the group knows about the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace and leads them to a valley settlement, then to his small courtyard.
• Yang Qing notices that Wood leaves no footprints—and that the tracks behind the group have vanished—hinting that Wood or the place has unusual properties.
• Wood gives Yang Qing a small, bone-like object: the Sacred Bone Token. Jiangli identifies it as a legendary relic made from the rib of an ancient ruler. It can command beasts, though its power has diminished over generations.
• Wood expects the group to covet the token, but Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou remain composed. Yang Qing questions why they should take something that does not belong to them.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing shows caution and self-control, noticing Wood’s strange lack of footprints and resisting the temptation of the token’s immense power.
• Wood appears shrewd and experienced, testing the visitors’ reactions and seemingly hoping greed will prompt them to claim the relic. Their indifference surprises him.
• Jiangli breaks its usual composure, excitedly explaining the token’s history and potential power: combined with the Immortal Thunder descendants’ blood, it might help Yang Qing challenge the Sacred Emperor.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou remain observant and restrained, mirroring Yang Qing’s lack of greed.
• Wood’s offer creates a subtle contest of intentions: he probes the group, while Yang Qing refuses to treat the token as an entitlement.

Significant themes

• Power and temptation: The token promises extraordinary dominion, but its appeal also suggests a hidden cost or test.
• Integrity and restraint: Yang Qing’s refusal to seize what is not his contrasts with Wood’s expectation that people will act from greed.
• Mystery and hidden history: Wood’s strange presence, the vanished footprints, and the token’s ancient origin establish the Underground Palace as a place of supernatural secrets.

Plot points and events

• Wood repeatedly tries to persuade Yang Qing to accept the Sacred Bone Token, but Yang Qing refuses and prepares to leave. Wood follows, admitting that the visitors are now effectively masters of the Underground Palace and asking what they seek.
• Yang Qing says they have little choice in what they must obtain. He remains wary of Wood, whose possession of the long-lost token suggests an unusual background.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou enter a spotless courtyard filled with sunflowers. Inside, they discover that droplets fall from a flower in a painting. The cool dew clears Yang Qing’s thoughts and expels foul qi from Bu Er, leaving him feeling lighter. Yang Qing thanks the painting’s absent owner, and the three depart.
• Wood watches in astonishment: they have received what he recognizes as heavenly fragrance divine dew.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains composed and difficult to tempt. He distrusts Wood’s sudden ingratiation and is cautious about being drawn into larger conflicts. The sunflowers stir grief for Western Chu, his lost homeland, and the past he cannot let go.
• Wood shifts from confidence to anxiety when his usual offer fails. Though resentful and bound by the Yin Clan’s ambitions, he continues after Yang Qing, apparently troubled by an ancestral warning.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou follow Yang Qing’s lead, share in the dew’s benefits, and join his respectful bow to the painting.
• Yang Qing and his attendants treat the painting—and, by implication, its vanished owner—with gratitude and reverence, in contrast to Wood’s fixation on power.

Significant themes

• Power and temptation: The Sacred Bone Token could provoke upheaval, but Yang Qing refuses to value it above all else.
• Fate and entanglement: Yang Qing senses that some forces are best left untouched, even as events seem beyond his control.
• Memory and loss: The sunflowers connect him to a homeland he can no longer return to.
• Humility and unexpected blessings: The group receives the divine dew through attentive discovery and gratitude, not ambition.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing realizes Wood is withholding information about his companions. When Wood insists they must accept a Sacred Bone Token before meeting the Hidden Clan, Yang Qing refuses and starts to leave.
• Wood, visibly torn and anxious, gives in and leads Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou to the shadowed side of the hillside.
• He reveals that his people live beneath a well. A concealed mechanism raises a bucket, carrying the group down to a hidden entrance.
• After they pass through two stone doors, a medicinal powder falls over them. Wood explains it is a cleansing ritual and a precaution against bringing anything harmful into the clan’s secluded home.
• Beyond the entrance, the visitors find wetlands with the Hidden Clan’s houses raised on tall wooden supports. The discovery hints that further surprises lie ahead.

Character developments

• Yang Qing stays cautious and decisive. He recognizes Wood’s evasiveness, refuses to be pressured into accepting the token, and uses his willingness to walk away to make Wood reveal the way forward.
• Wood appears conflicted and distrustful, but ultimately chooses to guide the visitors rather than lose them.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou remain alert, inspecting the unfamiliar mechanisms and following Yang Qing’s lead.

Significant themes

• Trust and coercion: Yang Qing refuses to comply with a demand when its purpose is unclear.
• Secrecy and isolation: The Hidden Clan’s concealed dwelling and rare contact with outsiders reflect its guarded way of life.
• Custom and caution: The cleansing powder represents the clan’s efforts to protect its people and uphold its traditions.

Character interactions

• Yang Qing confronts Wood about the missing clansmen; Wood initially avoids answering.
• Yang Qing’s decision to leave forces Wood to choose between keeping his secret and guiding the group.
• Wood explains the clan’s cleansing ritual, while Yang Qing accepts the custom and continues inside.

Key plot points

• Wood leads Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou through the wetlands, where members of the Hidden Clan emerge and surround them.
• They pass an old stilt house marked by an eagle flag with its eyes covered in black cloth, then meet the clan’s gaunt, unsettling Chief.
• The Chief’s voice briefly clouds Yang Qing’s mind, and he suddenly reaches to seize him. Jiang Zhizhou blocks the attack; the clash shows both Jiang’s strength and the Chief’s formidable power.
• Wood tells the Chief that the visitors came by way of the Underground Palace and that Yang Qing refused the Sacred Bone Token. The revelations—and the fact that Yang Qing’s group had exposed Wood’s concealment—change the Chief’s view of them.
• Wood’s failure to remain undetected means he can no longer serve in covert roles and, having returned, cannot go back aboveground.
• The Chief brings the visitors to his sparsely furnished hut. Yang Qing senses his blood responding to something inside, along with a subtle aura of danger, but sees nothing unusual. The Chief says the clan would not have summoned them this way if it had another choice.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing remains composed despite the Chief’s mental pressure and the hostile welcome. His refusal of the Sacred Bone Token earns the clan’s attention, while his unexplained reaction inside the hut creates new uncertainty.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou protect Yang Qing. Jiang directly intercepts the Chief’s attack, demonstrating that the visitors are not easy targets.
• Wood is frustrated that his concealment was discovered and faces the personal cost of losing his covert duties. He nevertheless presents the group’s credentials to the Chief.
• The Clan Chief shifts from testing Yang Qing with hostility to treating him as a potentially significant visitor, though his motives remain unclear.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and exposure: Wood’s identity and career depend on concealment; being discovered permanently changes his role.
• Strength and judgment: The Chief tests the newcomers, but their ability to resist him complicates his assessment.
• Hope and sacrifice: Wood wonders whether the visitors may offer the Hidden Clan hope, while Yang Qing’s refusal of the token signals unusual resolve.
• Foreboding and hidden purpose: The covered eagle’s eyes, the Chief’s unsettling abilities, and Yang Qing’s reaction to the hut hint at secrets not yet revealed.

Plot points and events

• The Hidden Clan patriarch explains that his people originated with the Immortal Thunder Kingdom and share its long-lived bloodline. After the kingdom fell, that bloodline became a dangerous secret: outsiders might target the clan to seize its power.
• The clan has remained hidden for centuries, but its Concealment Formation is weakening, putting its safety at risk.
• The patriarch says Yang Qing’s ability to understand the Underground Palace’s inscriptions means he may help avert the clan’s crisis. He also reveals that Yang Qing carries the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s inherited bloodline, though it has not yet awakened; the Hidden Clan may be able to help awaken it.
• The patriarch proposes that Yang Qing could help oppose the Sacred Emperor, whose plans have been unfolding for centuries. Yang Qing suspects the Emperor has already anticipated their actions, but recognizes the Hidden Clan is not aligned with Emperor Zhetian.
• The patriarch invites Yang Qing and his companions to stay overnight, postponing further discussion until morning.

Character developments

• Yang Qing remains wary and direct, rejecting a long account of the clan’s history and questioning what the patriarch expects from him. He refuses the temptation of world domination, saying he wants only to restore peace and resolve the conflict tied to his own past.
• The patriarch presents himself as a cautious, strategic potential ally. He shares enough of the clan’s predicament to recruit Yang Qing, but appears to keep some of the clan’s capabilities and intentions hidden.
• Yang Qing’s companions remain mostly quiet, though one asks whether the patriarch can be trusted. Yang Qing answers that some of his claims may be true, but that help always carries a price.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: The clan’s exceptional bloodline is both a source of strength and a cause of danger; wealth and influence may ultimately bring suffering rather than fulfillment.
• Trust and hidden motives: The patriarch’s offer may be genuine, but Yang Qing understands that the clan likely expects something in return.
• Fate versus agency: The Sacred Emperor’s long-running plans make the characters feel like pieces on a chessboard, yet Yang Qing insists that because the conflict involves him, he must help bring it to an end.
• Ambition and responsibility: Yang Qing rejects ruling the world and frames his power as a means to restore order, while acknowledging that peace can never be guaranteed forever.

Character interactions

• Yang Qing presses the patriarch for a concise explanation of the clan’s connection to the Underground Palace, keeping the conversation focused on practical matters.
• The patriarch tries to persuade Yang Qing by linking his inherited bloodline to the clan’s survival and to the fight against the Sacred Emperor.
• Yang Qing challenges the patriarch’s assumptions about ambition and the future, while the patriarch questions whether Yang Qing can truly resist the pull of power.
• Later, Yang Qing reassures his companion that the patriarch may be truthful in part, but advises waiting until morning to learn what the Hidden Clan really wants.

Key plot points and events

• The morning after arriving, Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou are served a meal by Wood, who then takes them to meet the Hidden Clan’s chief.
• The chief leads them to a small stone platform surrounded by water. Using a bloodletting knife stained with centuries of blood, he spills his own blood onto the platform and drives the blade into it.
• The platform rises more than a hundred feet, revealing that the ritual site is connected to hidden land beneath the water.
• The chief cuts the three visitors’ arms, then makes a much deeper cut in his own. Their blood activates an ancient pattern on the platform.
• He explains that the three have already received the rare divine bloodline by entering the Underground Palace. The ritual will awaken it, making them descendants of that bloodline.
• As the chief loses strength, he asks them to look after the Hidden Clan, whose survival depends on future generations awakening the bloodline.
• The chief collapses as the ritual completes. Brief inscription-like marks appear on the three visitors’ foreheads and then on their palms: their divine bloodlines have awakened.

Character developments

• Yang Qing remains composed during the ritual but worries about the chief’s severe blood loss. He already intends to help the Hidden Clan, though not out of obligation.
• The clan chief reveals both the purpose of the Hidden Clan and the personal cost of preserving it. He knowingly gives his life to awaken the visitors’ bloodlines and secure his people’s future.
• Wood acts as a courteous guide and appears to know more about the chief’s plans than he can yet disclose.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou support Yang Qing and the chief when the platform shakes and take part in the blood ritual alongside Yang Qing.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and survival: The chief’s death is the price of giving the Hidden Clan a chance to endure.
• Inherited destiny: The divine bloodline links the three outsiders to the clan’s long-term fate.
• Duty and compassion: Yang Qing’s decision to help is voluntary rather than repayment, emphasizing genuine concern over obligation.
• Hidden history and revelation: A seemingly isolated people and mysterious ritual are tied to the ancient Underground Palace and the Immortal Thunder Kingdom.

Character interactions

• Wood welcomes the visitors with food and conveys the chief’s summons.
• The chief guides the three through the ritual, explaining their role and entrusting his people’s future to them.
• Yang Qing watches the chief’s condition with concern, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou physically steady the group during the platform’s movement.

Key plot points and events

• The old Hidden Clan chief dies after awakening the divine bloodlines of Yang Qing and his two companions. The platform carrying them descends only after his collapse.
• Wood gives Yang Qing the Sacred Bone Token, a whistle that can summon a hundred beasts but cannot be used by an ordinary person. The late chief had chosen Yang Qing to inherit it.
• Yang Qing is effectively the Hidden Clan’s new chief, though he does not accept the title. The clan has only about a month left to live unless it can escape its inability to endure light.
• Wood explains that the Hidden Clan sees Yang Qing and his companions as its last hope. Yang Qing agrees to do what he can, partly out of gratitude to the old chief and because his newly awakened power and the token may help him face the Sacred Emperor.
• The group expects a dangerous fight outside, where the Sacred Emperor’s forces may be waiting. Wood can leave with them, but first insists they visit the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Treasure Vault to retrieve something essential.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing accepts a responsibility he never sought, taking the token and promising to help the Hidden Clan. He remains wary of the Sacred Emperor and the unknown dangers ahead.
• Wood shifts from guardian of the token to protector of Yang Qing. His grief for the old chief is joined by determination to guide Yang Qing to the Treasure Vault.
• The Hidden Clan mourns its chief but invests its hope in Yang Qing. Its members disperse, prepared to follow his instructions despite their desperation.

Significant themes

• Duty and inherited responsibility: Yang Qing must confront a burden passed to him through the chief’s death and the token.
• Hope amid generations of failure: The Hidden Clan’s centuries-long struggle may finally have a chance to succeed.
• Sacrifice and mortality: The chiefs have worn themselves out pursuing salvation, and the clan faces extinction.
• Uncertainty and hidden threats: Yang Qing suspects the Sacred Emperor’s true power may be greater than it appears.

Key plot points and events

• Wood explains that the Hidden Clan’s awakened bloodline cannot be concealed without a Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl, leaving its members vulnerable if they venture into the outside world.
• The pearl came from the vanished Immortal Thunder Kingdom, whose people shared the same bloodline but could live freely because they possessed these treasures.
• Yang Qing realizes the Hidden Clan may once have served as bait, drawing danger away from the Immortal Thunder people. After that kingdom disappeared, hostile outsiders overwhelmed the clan, forcing it into isolation and a slow decline.
• The Hidden Clan believes the pearl could give them ten years in a normal environment and allow them to have descendants without the harmful bloodline. Without it, they may have only a month left. This hope rests on an old prophecy, however, and is not certain.
• The pearl is somewhere in the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace beneath the lake. It can change its appearance, but Wood says Yang Qing’s awakened bloodline may help it recognize them.
• Wood supplies Water-Repelling Garments, which work for only fifteen minutes. He leads Yang Qing and his two companions into the lake to reach the palace entrance.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing pieces together the Hidden Clan’s history and recognizes that finding the pearl could matter not only to the clan but also to his own survival and coming struggle against the Sacred Emperor.
• Wood reveals the clan’s desperate situation and guides the group toward its last chance, though his account is partly based on uncertain prophecy.
• Bu Er is disgusted by the filthy lake and worries about Yang Qing, so he adds a garment that protects against filth before they dive.
• Wood directs the mission, while Yang Qing accepts the risk; the companions follow despite their reluctance.

Significant themes

• Survival versus ordinary life: The Hidden Clan does not seek power or immortality; it wants a chance to live normally and protect future generations.
• Exploitation and abandonment: The clan may have been sacrificed as a defensive barrier for the Immortal Thunder Kingdom, then left exposed when that kingdom vanished.
• Hope under uncertainty: The pearl offers a possible reprieve, but its nature makes it difficult to find, and the prophecy behind the plan may be wrong.
• Urgency and sacrifice: With the clan near extinction and the underwater garments’ protection strictly time-limited, the search begins under pressure.

Key plot points

• Yang Qing, Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Wood enter the lake and find the entrance to the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace.
• Wood guides the group using knowledge passed down by the Hidden Clan’s former chief. He warns them not to stray, explaining that the palace’s main danger may be surviving people of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom—not traps.
• The group discusses old legends: Immortal Thunder people supposedly still wander the palace, and on a leap-year Mid-Autumn Festival the lake once became clear enough for Hidden Clan members to see figures moving on its bed. The phenomenon has not occurred for many years.
• They reach a vast settlement of caves, where the Immortal Thunder people lived simply and in harmony with nature. The furnishings remain remarkably well preserved, so the group avoids touching anything while searching for the Spirit-Communing Pearl.
• After several similar caves, Bu Er notices one that appears different, setting up the next discovery.

Character developments and interactions

• Wood acts as guide, revealing both his nervousness and his duty to preserve the Hidden Clan’s knowledge. He is cautious but admits much of what he knows is legend.
• Yang Qing questions Wood’s warnings and presses for practical details, then grows impatient with the slow search through countless caves.
• Bu Er challenges the idea that Immortal Thunder people could still be alive and later identifies a potentially important cave.
• Jiang Zhizhou accompanies the group and, like Bu Er, observes the ruins without disturbing them.

Significant themes

• Inherited responsibility and fading knowledge: The Hidden Clan’s mission depends on traditions handed down through generations, but the old chief’s death has taken some secrets with him.
• Uncertainty and legend: The group cannot tell whether the palace’s supposed inhabitants and lake visions are real or simply stories.
• Respect for the past: The preserved settlement inspires restraint; disturbing its fragile remnants could destroy them.
• Duty amid danger: Wood’s role as guide reflects the burden of protecting his people and helping them find a means of survival.

Key plot points and events

• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou help Yang Qing search the underground palace’s many caves. They find one unusually decorated with swaying gauze curtains and a faint light deep within.
• Their usual tests reveal no obvious formation or trap. Yang Qing initially suggests they leave, but then notices an inscription above the entrance. Since no nearby cave bears similar markings, he concludes this cave is an important passage.
• Bu Er scouts ahead and finds nothing wrong inside. The group follows and emerges into what had been wasteland on his earlier visit—but now appears to be a freshly harvested wheat field.
• Yang Qing examines the loose soil and damp roots, confirming the harvest is recent. As the group realizes something is wrong, indistinct figures carrying sickles approach. They seem unable to see the travelers and repeatedly harvest nonexistent wheat.

Character developments

• Yang Qing is cautious and observant. He weighs the cave’s apparent danger against its clues, recognizes the inscription’s significance, and quickly senses that the new landscape presents a serious threat.
• Bu Er is loyal and proactive: despite his unease, he volunteers to scout the passage. His report that the scenery has changed exposes the supernatural anomaly.
• Jiang Zhizhou is methodical, testing the cave with stones and a sword. He notices the inscription too and supports Yang Qing’s decision to enter.
• Wood accompanies the group into the strange field, though he has no individual actions in this chapter.

Character interactions

• Bu Er repeatedly seeks Yang Qing’s guidance and voices his concern about entering the cave.
• Yang Qing explains his reasoning to Bu Er, who verifies that the inscription is unique among the nearby caves.
• Jiang Zhizhou’s observations reinforce Yang Qing’s judgment, while Bu Er’s scouting provides reassurance—until the changed scenery reveals that the danger lies beyond the passage.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The cave seems harmless, yet leads into an uncanny landscape; the field looks ordinary but contains an impossible harvest.
• Perception and illusion: The scenery changes within a short time, and the group cannot tell whether they have experienced a spatial shift or a trick of the eye.
• Caution and interpretation: The travelers must rely on close observation and clues, such as the inscription, while recognizing that familiar tests may not reveal the real danger.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Qing and his companions find a strange wheat field in the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace. People harvest the wheat but appear unable to see the group.
• Wood recalls that his ancestor reached the far side of the field but never entered the world beyond it. The group suspects the field may conceal a route to something important, possibly connected to the search for the Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl.
• Wary of advancing directly, Yang Qing proposes testing whether the silk ribbons in a nearby passage are part of a mechanism. Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou cut many of them while Wood watches the field.
• The field changes: ears of wheat begin growing on the stalks. Their oversized ears contain red, beadlike grains that dissolve into water when dropped. Yang Qing senses danger and discards them.
• The harvesters abandon their sickles, eat the ears whole, and approach the group with glowing red eyes. Wood identifies them as people of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom, somehow still alive after more than a thousand years. Yang Qing judges them to be living dead—both guardians and destroyers of the Underground Palace.
• Convinced that something significant lies beyond the field, Yang Qing prepares to confront them and touches the nearest figure.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing shows caution and strategic thinking, choosing to test the surroundings before entering an unknown danger. Once the field’s inhabitants become hostile, he quickly reassesses the situation and takes the lead.
• Wood contributes knowledge of his ancestor’s exploration and recognizes the figures, but is shaken by the realization that the old legend may be true.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou act decisively, cutting the ribbons to test Yang Qing’s theory. Bu Er also examines the strange wheat and alerts the others to the harvesters’ change in behavior.
• The group’s discussion balances caution against necessity: they know the route ahead is dangerous, but they must continue searching for the treasure.

Significant themes

• The uncertain boundary between legend and reality: the supposedly legendary Immortal Thunder Kingdom people are present in the palace.
• Curiosity versus caution: the group must weigh the promise of discovery against the danger of exploring an unfamiliar place.
• Corruption and decay: the unnatural red grains, their foul smell, and the harvesters’ transformation suggest the palace’s wonders may be tainted or dangerous.
• Entrapment and necessity: with their goal still unmet and no clear way forward, the group feels compelled to face what lies beyond the field.

Key plot points

• Yang Qing lightly strikes one of the strange, wooden-faced men. The man vanishes; when Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou strike others, those men remain. Yang Qing suspects the difference is their newly awakened bloodline.
• He concludes the figures are people of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom, trapped in the underground palace, and that his purer bloodline can make those with weaker bloodlines disappear. Though they pose a threat, he is reluctant to destroy people who share their ancestry.
• The red-eyed figures retreat into a silk-hung cave and block its entrance. Suspecting one of them may have the Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl, Yang Qing asks Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou to test them.
• When the two men draw their swords, the figures immediately kneel rather than fight. They appear weak and perhaps still capable of understanding self-preservation, but they do not respond to Yang Qing’s questions about the pearl.
• Wood suddenly remembers the underground palace’s other legend: the Yin-Yang Person. He pulls Yang Qing away, warning that the group may have encountered it.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Qing acts on his bloodline theory and shows compassion toward the trapped Immortal Thunder people, while remaining focused on finding the pearl and returning to the Hidden Clan members waiting outside.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou follow Yang Qing’s instructions, first trying to strike the figures and then threatening them with swords. Their surprise at the figures’ meekness contrasts with their initial expectation of resistance.
• Wood recognizes the danger the others have overlooked and abruptly interrupts the search, shifting the group’s attention from the pearl to the possible Yin-Yang Person.
• The group’s conversation reveals a tension between their practical need to question the figures and Yang Qing’s reluctance to harm beings who share their bloodline.

Significant themes

• Bloodline and hierarchy: The figures’ reactions suggest that a purer bloodline holds power over a weaker one.
• Compassion versus necessity: Yang Qing wants to avoid wiping out his newly related kin, but time and danger push the group to act.
• Appearance versus reality: The figures look frightening yet are physically weak and submissive; their true nature remains uncertain.
• Knowledge and vigilance: Wood’s recollection shows how easily the group’s focus on their immediate goal can obscure a greater threat.