Chapter Summaries

Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou’s efforts began weakening the resentment, drawing Emperor Zetian to confront Yang Qing. Yang Qing defied the Sacred Emperor and exposed his limits, and Emperor Zetian chose to watch him for now rather than deal with him directly.

• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou worked through the night and saw the resentment appear briefly before dissipating.
• Yang Qing noticed Emperor Zetian materializing nearby while Bu Er remained unaware.
• Emperor Zetian accused Yang Qing of defying his orders and sabotaging his plans, but Yang Qing calmly challenged the Royal Family’s claim over the Yang Clan.
• Yang Qing explained that repeated use of the Teleportation Art consumed Innate Power and said Emperor Zetian had no time to deal with him.
• Emperor Zetian admitted he could not spare the time and said he would observe Yang Qing’s other abilities.

Emperor Zetian offered Yang Qing and his companions a chance to live longer if they helped resettle the people devastated by the earthquake. Yang Qing rejected the request and questioned the value of the emperor’s promise, leaving their lives in Emperor Zetian’s hands.

• Emperor Zetian proposed sparing Yang Qing, Bu Er, and their companion for the time being if they stayed out of his way.
• Yang Qing asked what Emperor Zetian wanted from them, and the emperor ordered him to arrange food and shelter for earthquake victims.
• Emperor Zetian reminded Yang Qing of the Yang clan’s duty to protect the people, but Yang Qing said they lacked the authority and resources to do so.
• Yang Qing refused Emperor Zetian’s request, doubting that the emperor’s promise to spare them meant anything.
• Emperor Zetian offered to let Yang Qing live a few more years, and Yang Qing told him to kill them quickly instead.

Yang Qing accepted Emperor Zetian’s appointment as City Lord of Xiangyang City, despite seeing it as a shackle, and moved into the City Lord’s Mansion. After discovering that most of the disaster-relief treasury silver was missing, he began investigating the former City Lord and prepared to seek alms for the earthquake victims.

• Gongsun Ru delivered Emperor Zetian’s appointment decree, and Yang Qing accepted the City Lord position while privately anticipating a future fight with the emperor.
• Prefectural Soldiers escorted Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou to the City Lord’s Mansion after the rain eased.
• Yang Qing found less than a million taels of treasury silver remaining, far below the usual reserve of more than ten million.
• Yang Qing told Bu Er to track down the former City Lord’s remaining associates and establish his whereabouts.
• Yang Qing took a roster and left with Jiang Zhizhou to solicit alms for Xiangyang City’s earthquake victims.

Yang Qing visited Xiangyang City’s wealthy merchants and mobilized the Prefectural Soldiers to begin repairing the city’s problems. He remained uncertain whether his efforts could ease the growing resentment gathering over the City Lord’s Mansion.

• Yang Qing persuaded wealthy merchants to help search for the former City Lord and recover the stolen money, promising to use it to rebuild Xiangyang City.
• Jiang Zhizhou dragged a defiant Prefectural Soldier before Yang Qing, who threatened the man for rejecting the Sacred Emperor’s appointment.
• Jiang Zhizhou killed the soldier with a stomp, and the remaining Prefectural Soldiers agreed to follow Yang Qing’s orders.
• Yang Qing assigned the Prefectural Soldiers their tasks and watched them leave to carry them out.
• Jiang Zhizhou worried that the growing cloud of resentment above the City Lord’s Mansion would overwhelm their efforts, but Yang Qing resolved to improve the people’s lives regardless.

After finding a Seven-Story Golden Pagoda with inscriptions nobody could read, Yang Qing searched the ruined temple where it was discovered. Jiangli revealed that the pagoda’s base concealed something that could only be exposed with vinegar, but advised Yang Qing not to look.

• Yang Qing learned that Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou had found a Seven-Story Golden Pagoda in an underground chamber beneath a ruined temple.
• Yang Qing examined the pagoda’s unfamiliar inscriptions and took Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou to inspect the chamber.
• The three found only the pagoda’s base, and Yang Qing searched it for clues.
• Yang Qing asked Jiangli to inspect the base, and Jiangli identified its material as incense stone powder and said aromatic vinegar would reveal what was inside.
• Jiangli advised Yang Qing not to uncover the base’s contents.

Yang Qing and his companions uncovered inscriptions in the Underground Palace that revealed the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s history and the cost of inheriting its extraordinary lifespan. Jiangli told them they had already become Immortal Thunder Kingdom people, and Yang Qing decided to seek more treasure.

• Bu Er poured vinegar over the buried foundations, revealing inscriptions like those on Yang Qing’s golden pagoda.
• Jiangli read the inscriptions aloud after enhancing Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou so they could understand its words.
• Jiangli explained that the Immortal Thunder Kingdom had never been meant to exist and that its people suffered from long lives and difficulty having children.
• Jiangli recounted how the kingdom’s last survivor built the Underground Palace to preserve its treasures and history.
• Jiangli told Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou that finding the Treasure Vault had made them Immortal Thunder Kingdom people, exposing them to danger from those seeking their blood.
• Yang Qing accepted that they could not undo the change and proposed searching for more treasure.

Yang Qing and his companions searched the Underground Palace for the formation that would open its true entrance, guided by Jiangli’s account of a seemingly unrelated love story. Yang Qing recognized the story’s clue in a fissure on the pagoda base, and Bu Er’s strike revealed a hidden world beneath it.

• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou searched the tiny Underground Palace but found no formation before dawn approached.
• Jiangli recalled a story about a poor young man and a woman whose love ended because he never confessed his feelings.
• Yang Qing realized that the story’s separation might point to a crack and asked the others to search for one.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou found a fine fissure in the pagoda base, and Yang Qing asked Bu Er to strike it with his sword.
• Bu Er struck the fissure, revealing that a hidden world lay beneath it.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou entered the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace through a bronze Time Gate, but found only an empty stone passage. They discovered their footprints on the paving—and then a child-sized fourth set appeared among them.

• Bu Er opened the crack in the ground and revealed an ancient bronze door, which Jiangli identified as the Time Gate leading into the Underground Palace.
• Jiangli explained that the Time Gate could freeze time and that evolving their blood might make them gods, while Yang Qing said they needed power to survive.
• Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou pushed the heavy bronze door open and entered before it closed behind them.
• The three men walked through a vast, empty space and found no treasure or traps, leaving Jiangli confused.
• Yang Qing noticed their footprints on the stone paving, and he and his companions realized they should not have left tracks while walking normally.
• Yang Qing spotted a faint fourth set of footprints, about half the size of theirs, and stopped Bu Er from speaking.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou followed Wood into the valley of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom's Underground Palace, where Wood presented Yang Qing with the Sacred Bone Token. They learned it could command beasts, but Yang Qing refused to claim it simply for its power, leaving Wood's plan thwarted.

• Wood revealed himself after Yang Qing noticed a fourth trail of footprints, then led Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou into a valley.
• Wood brought the three to his courtyard and handed Yang Qing a stone that Jiangli identified as the Sacred Bone Token.
• Jiangli explained that the token came from an ancient ruler's rib and could command beasts, though its power had diminished over time.
• Wood described the token's power and waited for Yang Qing and the others to become greedy, but they showed little interest.
• Yang Qing asked Wood why they should take something that did not belong to them.

Yang Qing rejected Wood’s attempts to give him the Sacred Bone Token and explored another courtyard with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou. They discovered Heavenly Fragrance Divine Dew in a flower painting, and Wood was shocked that they had obtained it.

• Yang Qing refused Wood’s offer of the Sacred Bone Token and left the courtyard with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.
• Wood followed Yang Qing, brooding over his clan’s destiny and the old ancestor’s warning.
• Yang Qing entered a spotless courtyard drawn to its sunflowers, which reminded him of his lost homeland, Western Chu.
• Yang Qing found fragrant droplets on a peony in a painting and shook the flower to share them with Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou.
• Bu Er expelled foul qi and felt lighter after receiving the dew, and the three bowed to the painting before leaving.
• Wood watched them depart in shock, realizing they had obtained Heavenly Fragrance Divine Dew.

Yang Qing refused to accept the Sacred Bone Token just to meet Wood’s clansmen, forcing Wood to lead him and his companions to the Hidden Clan. The group passed through a concealed well entrance and reached the clan’s homes, which stood above a vast wetland.

• Yang Qing questioned Wood about his companions and started to leave when Wood insisted he accept the Sacred Bone Token first.
• Wood relented and led Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou to a well on the shaded side of the hill.
• Wood revealed that his Hidden Clan lived beneath the well and raised a wooden bucket to carry them down.
• Bu Er opened a concealed stone door, and the group passed through another door that dusted them with the clan’s cleansing powder.
• Yang Qing and his companions discovered that the Hidden Clan’s houses stood on tall wooden posts above wetlands.

Wood brought Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou into the Hidden Clan and introduced them to its Clan Chief, who recognized the significance of their journey through the Underground Palace and Yang Qing's refusal of the Sacred Bone Token. After inviting them into his hut, the Clan Chief acknowledged that the clan would not have brought them there this way if it had had another choice, while Yang Qing sensed danger inside.

• Wood led Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou through the wetlands as Hidden Clan members gathered around them.
• The Clan Chief attacked Yang Qing, but Jiang Zhizhou blocked his strike and forced him back.
• Wood told the Clan Chief that the guests had come through the Underground Palace and that Yang Qing had refused the Sacred Bone Token.
• Wood explained that Yang Qing and his companions had exposed his concealment, leaving him unable to return to his former duties aboveground.
• The Clan Chief brought the three guests into his hut, where Yang Qing felt his blood stir and sensed an elusive danger.
• The Clan Chief said he would not have invited them there in this manner if the Hidden Clan had another choice.

Yang Qing learned that the Hidden Clan had ties to the Immortal Thunder Kingdom and needed his help to save their people from exposure. The Old Clan Chief revealed that Yang Qing carried the kingdom’s dormant bloodline inheritance, but Yang Qing remained wary of the clan’s intentions as they went to rest.

• Yang Qing asked why the Hidden Clan had drawn them into the search for the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s Underground Palace.
• The Old Clan Chief explained that the Hidden Clan descended from the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s people and faced disaster if its bloodline was exposed when its Concealment Formation failed.
• The Old Clan Chief said Yang Qing could help resolve the clan’s crisis and hinted that the Hidden Clan could aid him against the Sacred Emperor.
• The Old Clan Chief revealed that Yang Qing had inherited the Immortal Thunder Kingdom’s bloodline, which had not yet awakened, and asked whether he wanted to unify the world.
• Yang Qing said he only wanted to restore peace and would see his own entanglement through to the end; the Old Clan Chief then sent him and his companions to rest.
• At the stilt house, Yang Qing told his companions they could trust some of the Old Clan Chief’s words, but that the clan expected something in return.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou joined the Old Clan Chief in a blood ritual to awaken their Divine Bloodlines. The Old Clan Chief collapsed after sacrificing his blood, leaving the three awakened and newly bound to the Hidden Clan’s hopes.

• Wood served Yang Qing, Bu Er, and Jiang Zhizhou breakfast and took them to the Old Clan Chief.
• The Old Clan Chief used his bloodletting knife to raise their stone platform high above the water.
• The Old Clan Chief explained that the three had inherited the Divine Bloodline and that the ritual would awaken it.
• The Old Clan Chief asked Yang Qing to look after the Hidden Clan as he bled to complete the sacrifice.
• The Old Clan Chief collapsed, and inscription-like patterns appeared on the three visitors, confirming that their Divine Bloodlines had awakened.

After the Old Clan Chief died, Yang Qing accepted the Sacred Bone Token and the responsibility of saving the Hidden Clan. Wood agreed to accompany him outside, but first insisted they visit the Immortal Thunder Kingdom's Treasure Vault to retrieve something essential.

• The Old Clan Chief collapsed after awakening the Divine Bloodlines of Yang Qing, Bu Er, and their companion, and the Hidden Clan members carried his body away.
• Wood gave Yang Qing the Sacred Bone Token and explained that the clan had only one month left to live and regarded Yang Qing as their last hope.
• Yang Qing agreed to do what he could for the Hidden Clan, whose members dispersed after accepting his decision.
• Wood told Yang Qing that the clan could not safely appear before the world, then agreed to leave with him and his companions.
• Wood revealed that the Hidden Clan knew the location of the Immortal Thunder Kingdom's Treasure Vault and said Yang Qing had to take one particular item from it.

Wood explained that the Hidden Clan needed the Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl to escape its deadly bloodline and said it lay somewhere in the Immortal Thunder Kingdom Underground Palace beneath the Lake. Yang Qing and his companions entered the filthy water with Wood, beginning their search before their Water-Repelling Garments expired.

• Wood told Yang Qing that the Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl could let the Hidden Clan live normally for ten years and allow it to have normal descendants.
• Yang Qing realized the Hidden Clan had likely served as a barrier protecting the Immortal Thunder People, and Wood confirmed the Pearl was inside the Underground Palace beneath the Lake.
• Wood explained that the Pearl could change its appearance, but would sense Yang Qing's awakened Immortal Thunder Kingdom bloodline.
• Wood gave Yang Qing and his two companions Water-Repelling Garments and warned they had only a quarter of an hour to reach the passage entrance.
• Wood led them into the Lake, and Bu Er slipped an extra filth-warding garment over Yang Qing before they plunged beneath the surface.

Yang Qing, Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Wood entered the Immortal Thunder Kingdom Underground Palace to search for the Spirit-Communing Pearl, while Wood warned them of legends about surviving Immortal Thunder Kingdom people. After exploring many preserved cave dwellings, they found one that Bu Er said was different.

• Yang Qing, Bu Er, Jiang Zhizhou, and Wood found the palace entrance underwater, left their Water-Repelling Garments behind, and entered.
• Wood warned the others to stay close and explained that legends spoke of Immortal Thunder Kingdom people still living in the palace.
• Wood told them that the lake had once turned clear on the Mid-Autumn Festival of every leap year, revealing silhouettes walking along its bed, though it had not done so for years.
• The group reached a settlement of preserved caves and inspected their simple furnishings without touching anything.
• After searching several similar caves, Bu Er noticed that one cave was different.

Yang Qing and his companions discovered that a cave marked with an inscription led to another realm, where a wasteland had suddenly become a recently harvested Wheatfield. As indistinct figures began harvesting invisible wheat around them, Yang Qing realized they had entered a dangerous situation.

• Bu Er, Yang Qing, and Jiang Zhizhou examined a cave with swaying gauze curtains and a faint light, but their tests revealed no obvious formation or trap.
• Yang Qing noticed an inscription above the cave and reasoned that the light beyond it marked a passage; Bu Er searched nearby caves and confirmed that none had the same inscription.
• Bu Er scouted through the cave and found it quiet, so Yang Qing and the others followed him into another realm.
• The group emerged into a Wheatfield where Bu Er had seen wasteland less than an incense stick earlier, and Yang Qing found freshly cut stalks with wet roots.
• Indistinct figures carrying curved sickles approached and repeatedly harvested wheat that was not there, leaving Yang Qing and his companions facing an unexplained danger.

Yang Qing and his companions discovered that cutting the silk ribbons caused strange ears of wheat to grow, and the Immortal Thunder Kingdom people began eating them and approaching with red eyes. Yang Qing identified them as the Underground Palace’s Living Dead and prepared to confront them to reach whatever lay beyond the Wheatfield.

• Jiang Zhizhou suspected the strange harvesters were people from the Immortal Thunder Kingdom, while Wood recalled that his ancestor had reached the far end of the Wheatfield.
• Yang Qing proposed cutting the silk ribbons to test whether they concealed a mechanism, and Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou cut away a large section.
• Ears of wheat grew across the field, and Bu Er cut off two for Yang Qing, who found red beadlike grains inside that dissolved into water.
• The harvesters discarded their sickles, ate the ears of wheat, and approached Yang Qing and his companions with vivid red eyes.
• Wood recognized the approaching figures as Immortal Thunder Kingdom people, and Yang Qing concluded they were Living Dead guardians and destroyers of the Underground Palace.
• Yang Qing said they would have to deal with the Living Dead to explore beyond the Wheatfield, then reached out and lightly patted one of them.

Yang Qing discovered that his bloodline could make the wooden-looking Immortal Thunder Kingdom people disappear, while Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou subdued others who blocked the cave entrance. As they searched for the Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl, Wood realized the group might have encountered the Yin-Yang Person.

• Yang Qing struck a wooden-looking man, who vanished, and suspected his bloodline was responsible when another disappeared the same way.
• Yang Qing concluded that the trapped people shared his ancestry and told Bu Er they could not wipe them all out.
• The red-eyed people retreated to the silk-hung cave and blocked its entrance, prompting Yang Qing to suspect one of them carried the Spirit-Passing Treasure Pearl.
• Bu Er and Jiang Zhizhou thrust their swords at the wooden-looking people, who dropped to their knees without resisting.
• Yang Qing demanded that the kneeling people reveal the pearl's location, but they stared blankly at him.
• Wood pulled Yang Qing toward the wheat field and warned that the group might have encountered the Yin-Yang Person.