Chapter Summaries

Hu Xiaotian accidentally absorbed all of Huo Shengnan’s internal power when she tried to calm his turbulent qi, and revealed that the Void Art was driving him toward qi deviation. After learning he might have only six months to live, Huo Shengnan remembered another possible solution.

• Huo Shengnan told Hu Xiaotian she planned to leave Kang Capital because she did not want to spend her life wearing a mask and feared her growing feelings for him.
• Hu Xiaotian’s inner breath surged out of control, and Huo Shengnan tried to help before his Dantian absorbed all her internal power and left her faint and weak.
• Hu Xiaotian carried Huo Shengnan to her room, where she explained that she had learned to use the Sun-Shooting Scripture to guide arrows with internal power.
• Hu Xiaotian told Huo Shengnan that he had been taught the sinister Void Art, had accumulated enormous amounts of internal power, and might die within six months if he could not control or disperse it.
• Huo Shengnan worried over Hu Xiaotian’s condition and said she remembered another possible way to help him.

Hu Xiaotian and Huo Shengnan tried to find a way to save him through the Sun-Shooting Scripture, but spent the night together instead. The next morning, Yang Lingqi arrived in dire straits to seek refuge with Hu Xiaotian, who welcomed him and introduced him to Huo Shengnan as Brother Feihong.

• Huo Shengnan explained that Yin Steals Yang could let Hu Xiaotian gain internal power through the methods depicted on the Thin Silk.
• Hu Xiaotian and Huo Shengnan spent the night together, but did not practice Yin Steals Yang.
• Liang Dazhuang told Hu Xiaotian that Yang Lingqi had come looking for him, and Hu Xiaotian hurried to meet his old friend.
• Yang Lingqi explained that he had come to seek refuge, and Hu Xiaotian arranged food, hot water, and clean clothes for him.
• Huo Shengnan joined Hu Xiaotian and Yang Lingqi at breakfast, and Hu Xiaotian introduced her as his senior fellow disciple, Brother Feihong.

Hu Xiaotian encouraged Yang Lingqi to regain his confidence and discussed how Great Kang might survive its crisis, before Li Yuncong visited him at home. Hu Xiaotian concealed his hostility toward Li Yuncong and claimed he was in serious trouble.

• After Yang Lingqi cleaned up, Hu Xiaotian told Huo Shengnan about his misfortunes and said he would try to improve Yang Lingqi’s injured right hand.
• Hu Xiaotian reassured the insecure Yang Lingqi that his painting had helped him and urged him to grow strong enough to control his own fate.
• Yang Lingqi predicted chaos and argued that Great Kang could revive by opening sea routes to bring in grain and supplies.
• Hu Xiaotian considered Yang Lingqi’s advice about helping Great Kang while securing his own future, but Liang Dazhuang announced that Li Yuncong had come to visit.
• Li Yuncong brought ginseng and bird’s nest for Hu Xiaotian, who hid his anger and told him he was in serious trouble.

Hu Xiaotian learned that Murong Feiyan was confined at the Imperial Mausoleum and confronted Li Yuncong about his deceptions and the Void Art. Li Yuncong warned him against opposing Hong Beimo, and the chapter ended with Li Yuncong offering to take Hu Xiaotian’s pulse.

• Li Yuncong told Hu Xiaotian that Murong Feiyan was supervising construction at the Imperial Mausoleum and that Baobao worked for the Heavenly Secrets Bureau.
• Hu Xiaotian questioned Li Yuncong about the fake emperor, the Void Art, and why Li Yuncong had concealed its risks.
• Li Yuncong explained that Hong Beimo had sought the missing Cinnabar Cauldron Chapter of Heaven and Earth Unveiled, which His Majesty believed might reveal a way to prolong life.
• Li Yuncong warned Hu Xiaotian that opposing Hong Beimo would be dangerous and suggested his help depended on Hu Xiaotian’s honesty.
• Hu Xiaotian asked whether Li Yuncong could neutralize the mutant true qi inside him, and Li Yuncong offered to take his pulse.

Hu Xiaotian bargained with Li Yuncong for a way to strengthen his meridians against the mutant true qi threatening his life, and Li Yuncong taught him the Bodhi No-Mind Zen Method. Hu Xiaotian then revealed a carefully edited account of the Heavenly Dragon Temple events, leaving Li Yuncong troubled by the stolen Void Art and the Fake Emperor’s death.

• Li Yuncong examined Hu Xiaotian’s pulse and explained that tempering his meridians offered the most feasible way to prevent qi deviation.
• Hu Xiaotian proposed cooperating with Li Yuncong, who agreed to teach him a secret meditation method in exchange for information about the Heavenly Dragon Temple.
• Li Yuncong taught Hu Xiaotian the Bodhi No-Mind Zen Method after dropping his demand that Hu Xiaotian become his disciple, asking him to keep the lesson secret.
• Hu Xiaotian told Li Yuncong that the Fake Emperor had searched for Heaven and Earth Unveiled and that Unenlightened had questioned Abbot Tongyuan about books stolen from the temple.
• Hu Xiaotian said Unenlightened killed the Fake Emperor and revealed that the stolen books included the Great Hand Seal, the Bodhi No-Mind Zen Method, and the first half of the Void Art.
• Li Yuncong reacted grimly when Hu Xiaotian asked whether the stolen Void Art was the one Li Yuncong had taught him.

Hu Xiaotian visited Hong Beimo at the Heavenly Secrets Bureau to see Baobao, and Hong Beimo admitted that he had ordered an attempt on Hu Xiaotian’s life. Hong Beimo claimed the decision had served Great Kang’s interests and had been authorized by Long Xuan'en, then left Hu Xiaotian to meet Baobao.

• Hu Xiaotian brought tea to the Heavenly Secrets Bureau and met Hong Beimo at the Stargazing Pavilion.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Hong Beimo to let him see Baobao, and Hong Beimo agreed to have Baobao brought to him.
• Hong Beimo admitted that he had ordered Hu Xiaotian’s assassination because he believed Hu Xiaotian’s actions in Great Yong had harmed Great Kang.
• Hong Beimo said his actions were reported to Long Xuan'en and revealed that the Xu Family of Jinling had refused the emperor’s request for help.
• Hong Beimo told Hu Xiaotian that Long Xuan'en had changed his mind about killing him, then rose to leave as Baobao arrived.

Hu Xiaotian reunited with Baobao at the Heavenly Secrets Bureau, where they discussed why she needed to remain there and warned each other about Hong Beimo’s influence. Baobao cautioned Hu Xiaotian about the bureau’s hidden power and Hong Beimo’s work at the Imperial Mausoleum, then angrily twisted his injured thigh after he admitted he might suspect her.

• Hu Xiaotian watched Baobao arrive at the Stargazing Pavilion, and she embraced him before biting his shoulder and kissing him.
• Baobao laughed at Hu Xiaotian’s bald head, and the two teased and kissed each other.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Baobao to leave the Heavenly Secrets Bureau, but she said staying would protect her and let her serve as his inside contact.
• Baobao warned Hu Xiaotian that Hong Beimo was more formidable than Ji Feihua and that the bureau’s inner circle remained beyond her reach.
• Baobao told Hu Xiaotian that Hong Beimo was overseeing changes to the Imperial Mausoleum after the Emperor had fifty craftsmen killed.
• When Baobao asked whether Hu Xiaotian would suspect her, he said yes, and she twisted his injured thigh in anger.

Hu Xiaotian left the Heavenly Secrets Bureau after speaking with Baobao, then met Princess Yongyang at the Divine Strategy Office, where they discussed the Xu Family’s defiance of the emperor and the growing conflict around the Imperial Mausoleum construction. He pledged to stand with Qiqi and urged her to address the forced labor, leaving her planning to speak with His Majesty.

• Hu Xiaotian told Baobao he had to visit Princess Yongyang, and she questioned his relationships with Qiqi and Lin Wan.
• Hong Beimo recognized that Baobao liked Hu Xiaotian, promised not to interfere, and warned her that Princess Yongyang seemed to treat him differently.
• Hu Xiaotian arrived at the Divine Strategy Office and learned Qiqi wanted to visit Madam Hu when she returned.
• Hu Xiaotian told Qiqi that Hong Beimo had said the Xu Family of Jinling rejected the emperor’s demands, and Qiqi assured him the Hu Family would not be punished.
• Hu Xiaotian promised to stand with Qiqi if the Imperial Court clashed with the Xu Family and said he had recruited several capable people.
• Hu Xiaotian warned Qiqi that forced labor for the Imperial Mausoleum was stirring public resentment, and Qiqi said she would speak with His Majesty.

Hu Xiaotian reunited with his parents after returning to the capital, while Hu Buwei worried that the Xu Family’s refusal to lend grain could bring trouble from the Emperor. A letter from Old Madam Xu revealed that she could not safely lend grain but had offered Great Kang a trade route instead.

• Xu Fengyi met Hu Xiaotian and his companions at the Fifteen-Li Pavilion, and he brought her to Shuijing'er Alley to reunite with Hu Buwei.
• Hu Xiaotian introduced his companions to Xu Fengyi, including Huo Shengnan disguised as Huang Feihong, whose manner made Xu Fengyi briefly suspicious.
• Hu Xiaotian reassured Xu Fengyi about her estrangement from the Xu Family, while Hu Buwei warned that Great Kang’s grain shortages and the Xu Family’s refusal could provoke the Emperor.
• Hu Buwei opened Old Madam Xu’s letter and learned that lending grain would expose the Xu Family to attack, but she had offered Great Kang a trade route to pursue.

Hu Xiaotian told Hu Buwei that the family should secure the sea route on the nautical chart and use the chance to strengthen themselves, then went to Qiqi with a proposal to solve Great Kang’s grain crisis. He showed her a route from the Kang Capital to Haizhou and out to sea, but had not yet explained his plan.

• Hu Xiaotian persuaded Hu Buwei to tell Princess Yongyang about the chart and proposed that Hu Buwei open the sea route while Hu Xiaotian built up the Divine Strategy Office.
• Hu Xiaotian visited Qiqi at the Purple Orchid Palace and stopped her from meeting Xu Fengyi, saying he wanted to spare his mother worry and formalities.
• Hu Xiaotian explained that Great Kang’s grain shortage was worsened by neighboring kingdoms refusing to trade, and that the Xu family risked retaliation if it helped.
• Hu Xiaotian unfolded the navigation chart for Qiqi and traced a route from the Kang Capital to Haizhou and out to sea, saying Great Kang could rely on itself.

Hu Xiaotian learned that the Xu Family would secretly support a grain trade route from Luosong and sought to use the voyage to free his parents from imperial control. As Xiao Tianmu volunteered to lead the expedition, Hu Xiaotian also admitted his doubts about serving the failing Great Kang dynasty.

• Qiqi understood that Old Madam Xu had offered a trade route through the Hu Family to seek the Imperial Court's forgiveness, and Hu Xiaotian urged her to keep the matter secret.
• Hu Xiaotian reunited with Zhou Mo and heard his account of the search for Long Xiyue, including the possibility that she had sailed to the Fragrant Kingdom.
• Hu Xiaotian explained the proposed Luosong grain route to Zhou Mo and Xiao Tianmu, revealing his plan to use it to free his parents from imperial control.
• Zhou Mo offered to accompany Hu Xiaotian's father, but Xiao Tianmu volunteered to lead the voyage with Zhan Peng, Gao Yuan, and other men while Zhou Mo stayed in the Kang Capital.
• Hu Xiaotian told Xiao Tianmu that he had lost hope in Great Kang under Long Xuan'en, and Xiao Tianmu urged him to make plans for the dynasty's likely downfall.

Hu Xiaotian disguised himself as a laborer at the Imperial Mausoleum to search for Murong Feiyan, but he became entangled in the workers’ growing unrest. As Luo Shifeng urged the laborers toward rebellion, a soldier singled out Hu Xiaotian.

• Hu Xiaotian joined the exhausted laborers under the alias Huo Yuanjia and stopped soldiers from beating Chunsheng and his father.
• Hu Xiaotian and Luo Shifeng helped move a huge boulder, then shared the laborers’ meager meal during their break.
• Chunsheng described how most of the workers from his village had died, and Luo Shifeng proposed that the laborers band together and escape.
• Luo Shifeng pressed Hu Xiaotian to take a side, while Hu Xiaotian worried that a rebellion would distract him from finding Murong Feiyan.
• A soldier pointed at Hu Xiaotian and ordered him to come out.

Hu Xiaotian searched the Imperial Mausoleum camp for Murong Feiyan and discovered that the laborers planned to revolt that night. He found Murong Feiyan just as an explosive attack devastated the command camp, leaving her and Jiang Shaoli injured.

• Hu Xiaotian disarmed a guard who tried to ambush him, learned Murong Feiyan was in the southeastern camp, and knocked the guard unconscious before hiding.
• Hu Xiaotian watched Luo Shifeng kill the guard, disguise himself in the guard's clothes, and reveal that the laborers planned to revolt that night.
• Hu Xiaotian made his way toward the command camp and saw guards bring in a bloodied captive accused of inciting rebellion.
• Murong Feiyan stopped Jiang Shaoli from executing the captive and criticized the treatment of the laborers, but the captive declared that the guards would die that day.
• An accomplice fired a flaming arrow at the captive, triggering an explosion that killed several warriors and injured Jiang Shaoli and Murong Feiyan.

Hu Xiaotian rescued Murong Feiyan from Jia Anshuang during the laborers’ uprising at the Imperial Mausoleum and carried her out of the chaos. They reunited in the woods and rode away together, leaving the uprising and its consequences unresolved.

• Jia Anshuang attacked Jiang Shaoli, but Murong Feiyan knocked his arrow aside and saved him.
• Hu Xiaotian blocked Jia Anshuang’s saber strike against Murong Feiyan, then killed Jia Anshuang’s horse with a thrown iron rod.
• Hu Xiaotian carried Murong Feiyan through the air and glided past the fighting laborers to escape the Imperial Mausoleum construction site.
• Murong Feiyan saw the uprising engulfing the command camp and worried that it would implicate her birth father.
• Hu Xiaotian reunited with Murong Feiyan in the woods, summoned Little Gray, and rode with her toward the main road.

Hu Xiaotian and Murong Feiyan reached the outskirts of the Kang Capital as news spread that rebels had burned the Imperial Mausoleum and fled toward the Northwest. Long Xuan'en ordered a ruthless pursuit, while Hu Xiaotian stayed with Murong Feiyan as they faced the consequences of the rebellion.

• Hu Xiaotian disguised Murong Feiyan with a Human-Skin Mask and learned that more than twenty thousand troops were marching from the Capital toward the Imperial Mausoleum.
• Murong Feiyan worried that she and her father, Murong Zhan, would be punished, and Hu Xiaotian comforted her as she fell asleep in his arms.
• Long Xuan'en erupted in anger over the mausoleum rebellion and summoned Murong Zhan and Hong Beimo to explain the disaster.
• Hong Beimo reported that the underground palace was probably undamaged and noted that Murong Feiyan had served in the outnumbered Imperial Mausoleum Guard.
• Zhou Ruiyuan warned that the fifty thousand rebels might join Guo Guangbi in Xingzhou, but Long Xuan'en assigned Su Yuchi to stop them and ordered the rebels killed on sight.

Qiqi challenged Long Xuan'en's plan to slaughter the fleeing laborers and learned that he had staged the appearance of a tyrant to protect her and prepare her to govern Great Kang. She also arranged a covert grain-trade mission and devised a plan to steer the laborers away from Great Kang.

• Zhou Ruiyuan and Wen Chenghuan discussed Long Xuan'en's Kill Order as Qiqi arrived and asked Zhou Ruiyuan to wait for her.
• Qiqi confronted Long Xuan'en over the rebellion and the order to kill the fifty thousand laborers, and he explained that he wanted her to restore the people's trust and lead Great Kang.
• Long Xuan'en revealed that he suspected Hong Beimo's ambitions and had pretended to seek immortality to keep Hong Beimo from becoming wary.
• Qiqi told Long Xuan'en that the Xu Family of Jinling had secretly offered a trade route for grain, and they agreed to send Hu Buwei with ships under cover of a pirate-suppression mission.
• Qiqi proposed letting the laborers enter Xingzhou and blocking their eastern and southern routes so they would flee toward Great Yong or Western Sichuan; Long Xuan'en ordered Su Yuchi to follow her plan.

Qiqi questioned Zhou Ruiyuan about the emperor’s Kill Order against the fifty thousand laborers and Great Kang’s worsening food crisis, then said she would seek a solution to the famine. After Hu Xiaotian returned to the Kang Capital, he learned that Imperial Guards had taken his parents and was summoned to King Yongyang’s Residence.

• Qiqi rebuked Zhou Ruiyuan for failing to challenge the emperor and asked for his assessment of the laborers’ revolt.
• Zhou Ruiyuan warned that executing the fifty thousand laborers would deepen popular resentment and said Great Kang’s grain might last only until autumn.
• Zhou Ruiyuan explained that drought, excessive rain, and Great Yong’s pressure on neighboring states threatened Great Kang with famine, and Qiqi promised to seek a solution.
• Qiqi told Zhou Ruiyuan she would imprison Hu Buwei and his wife to pressure the Xu Family.
• Hu Xiaotian returned to the Kang Capital with Murong Feiyan and learned from Liang Dazhuang that Imperial Guards had taken his parents on King Yongyang’s orders.
• Quan Dean summoned Hu Xiaotian to King Yongyang’s Residence, and Hu Xiaotian went with him after sending Murong Feiyan to his home.

Qiqi confronted Hu Xiaotian about the trade mission to Luosong and decided to send his father, Lord Hu, while keeping Hu Xiaotian and his mother in Great Kang. The two went out to eat together, where their teasing turned into a sharp exchange about Qiqi’s temper and Hu Xiaotian’s loyalty.

• Qiqi told Hu Xiaotian she would send Lord Hu to Luosong because his trade experience made him better suited to the voyage.
• Hu Xiaotian learned that his parents were being held in the Imperial Prison and that Qiqi would not let him visit them yet.
• Qiqi assured Hu Xiaotian that his parents would not be harmed and said she had other tasks for him in Great Kang.
• Qiqi invited Hu Xiaotian to eat at Little Jiangnan, and the two walked there with Quan Dean and guards following at a distance.
• Hu Xiaotian complimented Qiqi’s looks, and she teased him about his willingness to speak honestly to her.
• Qiqi threatened to cripple Hu Xiaotian and make him witness his family’s misfortunes, while he called her vicious.

Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi discussed the Imperial Mausoleum uprising, Great Kang’s mounting troubles, and the fate of Hu Xiaotian’s parents. After leaving Little Jiangnan, they encountered Zhu Dali, whose insults provoked Hu Xiaotian into accepting his challenge.

• Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi watched Imperial Guards patrol the capital and discussed the uprising of fifty thousand laborers at the Imperial Mausoleum and the emperor’s Kill Order.
• Qiqi confided in Hu Xiaotian about Great Kang’s crises and revealed that she had taken his parents into custody to protect them and conceal the Xu Family’s plans.
• Hu Xiaotian asked Qiqi to free his parents if his father established a maritime trade route, but Qiqi questioned whether she could trust his character.
• Hu Xiaotian and Qiqi recognized Zhu Dali begging outside Little Jiangnan, and Qiqi scolded him for idling instead of serving his country.
• Zhu Dali insulted Hu Xiaotian and demanded a fair fight, and Hu Xiaotian warned him that he might suffer for his words.

Hu Xiaotian defeated Zhu Dali in their duel and brought the unconscious beggar back to the Minister's Residence. He then went to Murong Feiyan's former home, where he witnessed her surprise attack on her father, Murong Zhan, and heard her accuse him of coming to arrest her for a reward.

• Hu Xiaotian let Zhu Dali punch him twice, then knocked him flying with the Tiger-Subduing Dragon-Seizing Hand when Zhu Dali attacked his face.
• Zhu Dali admitted Hu Xiaotian was his Master before collapsing, and Hu Xiaotian had him taken to the Minister's Residence to recover.
• Hu Xiaotian learned Murong Feiyan had gone to her former home and rode there to find her offering incense before her mother's spirit tablet.
• Murong Zhan arrived at the house, and Murong Feiyan attacked him with her sword, but he disarmed her with a flick of his finger.
• Murong Feiyan confronted Murong Zhan and asked whether he had come to arrest her for an Imperial Court reward.