Chapter Summaries

Lin Ke practiced dancing to improve his agility and discovered that his movements let the plum tree absorb moonlight. Later, writing two characters connected to his previous life filled him with spiritual energy and gave him Qi Induction, drawing Butcher Zhang, Li Chungang, and Wang Lin to his room.

• Lin Ke practiced dancing in the moonlight, improving his agility and causing the plum tree to absorb moonlight whenever he danced.
• Lin Ke wrote the characters “Ma” and “Ke,” triggering powerful surges of spiritual energy that overwhelmed him.
• Lin Ke realized the characters had given him Qi Induction and sensed a new kind of qi he did not know how to use.
• Butcher Zhang, Li Chungang, and Wang Lin appeared in Lin Ke’s room, and Li Chungang recognized that Lin Ke had achieved Qi Induction.

Lin Ke explained that his power was reform, born from his reflections on stillness, motion, and the world’s cycles of change. Wang Lin revealed that many people had tried to protect Li Chungang after his disgrace, then concealed the room as she questioned Lin Ke about his power.

• Butcher Zhang, Li Chungang, and Wang Lin examined Lin Ke and could not identify the unusual qi within him.
• Lin Ke said he had dreamed of another world beneath the Plum Tree, and the three accepted his account.
• Lin Ke named his power reform and explained that it meant change, motion, and continued innovation.
• Wang Lin used a Spatial Art to conceal the room and recognized Li Chungang’s past as the Blood-Handed Butcher.
• Wang Lin told Li Chungang that many people had fought to protect him after his disgrace, leaving him stunned.
• Lin Ke described how his observations of the world led him to believe that the Sage Emperor and Confucius needed a world full of vitality and change.

Lin Ke explained that his Reformer School’s first realm was the Old-Clearing Realm, where he would study widely and clear away harmful old ideas to build the power of reform. His teachers offered books and instruction, and Li Chungang suggested that Lin Ke study the teachings of the hundred schools.

• Lin Ke told Butcher Zhang, Li Chungang, and Wang Lin that he had created the Reformer School but did not know how to advance beyond the first realm.
• Lin Ke named his first realm the Old-Clearing Realm and explained that he would accumulate the power of reform by removing harmful old ideas and drawing on doctrines from across the schools.
• Li Chungang offered Lin Ke his history books, while Wang Lin told him that the Painting Path required practice and observation.
• Butcher Zhang offered to teach Lin Ke the Martial Path, and Li Chungang explained the dangers posed by Mohist and Gongshu mechanisms and concealed weapons.
• Li Chungang, Wang Lin, and Butcher Zhang explained how other schools nurtured their aura, and Li Chungang advised Lin Ke to read the teachings of the hundred schools.

Lin Ke tested his power of reform with Confucian lightning, the Coiling Dragon Bracelet, and the Martial Path, impressing Li Chungang, Wang Lin, and Butcher Zhang. The three agreed to teach him together, with Wang Lin insisting she be the head teacher.

• Lin Ke used his power of reform to spit violet-blue lightning at Li Chungang, who dismissed it, while Butcher Zhang noted it had mid-first-realm strength.
• Wang Lin lent Lin Ke the Coiling Dragon Bracelet, and he successfully infused it with his power of reform.
• Lin Ke copied Butcher Zhang’s horse stance and punch, producing a small gust with his power of reform.
• Wang Lin and Li Chungang argued over who should be Lin Ke’s head teacher, while Butcher Zhang proposed that all three teach him together.
• Lin Ke invoked Confucius’s principle of education without discrimination, and the three accepted the idea of teaching him as a group.

Lin Ke explained that the Reformer School would seek to treat all people and classes equally while prioritizing the rights of those with servile status. Wang Lin and the others accepted his principles, and he prepared to continue cultivating despite the slower progress his path would bring.

• Wang Lin suggested that Lin Ke’s Reformer School might cooperate with the Eclectic School, but Lin Ke rejected the comparison and described his guiding principle as serving all under heaven.
• Lin Ke argued that no class was wholly good or evil and that reforms should balance everyone’s interests rather than favor one group at another’s expense.
• Lin Ke said the immediate focus of reform should be protecting people with servile status, and Li Chungang and Butcher Zhang reflected on how they had overlooked their own families’ hardships.
• Wang Lin warned Lin Ke that cultivating qi in the Old-Clearing Realm would be harder on his principled path, and Lin Ke said he understood.
• Wang Lin put away her Painting Artifact and left, prompting Butcher Zhang and Li Chungang to speculate that she had remembered the positions her parents or master once held.

Lin Ke accepted Butcher Zhang as his senior disciple and learned that Li Chungang had placed himself under Threefold Silence to protect the Reformer School’s secrets. As Lin Ke tried to sleep, another master arrived unexpectedly.

• Butcher Zhang asked to join Lin Ke’s Reformer School as his senior disciple and completed the bowing ceremony, leaving Lin Ke nearly unconscious.
• Lin Ke explained that the two characters on his paper came from an unfinished book, and Butcher Zhang left, pleased that he would someday read it.
• Li Chungang returned and accepted Threefold Silence, which prevented him from revealing the Reformer School’s secrets.
• Li Chungang told Lin Ke he would place the others under Threefold Silence, then vanished to find them.
• As Lin Ke prepared to sleep, his beautiful maiden of a master arrived and warned him to restrain his lust.

Wang Lin told Lin Ke she was leaving and gave him a Black Spirit Whistle, then Butcher Zhang revealed he had passed a message to the Sage Emperor. Lin Ke’s night of repeated visits continued as Li Chungang became his second disciple and another visitor arrived.

• Wang Lin teased Lin Ke, claimed she was a distant relative of the Dao Venerable, and said she would be away for an uncertain length of time.
• Wang Lin gave Lin Ke the Black Spirit Whistle and demonstrated that blowing it sent out a mysterious fluctuation, then left after secretly sketching his pose.
• Butcher Zhang returned, told Lin Ke he had passed the message to the Sage Emperor, and left without explaining his secret further.
• Li Chungang returned and became Lin Ke’s second disciple, while Wang Lin later gave Lin Ke instructions about his comics.
• After counting seven visits from Wang Lin and the others that night, Lin Ke invited yet another visitor inside.

Lin Ke agreed to let Ning Caichen stay in his courtyard in exchange for daytime work and guarding the gate at night, while allowing him to absorb moon essence. Meanwhile, the comics sold on Chaoyang Street were hailed as a wholly new Painting Path, prompting powerful figures to search for its creator.

• Ning Caichen asked Lin Ke to let him live in the courtyard, and Lin Ke agreed on the condition that he work during the day and guard the gate at night.
• Ning Caichen explained that moon essence helped plant spirits gather spiritual energy, and Lin Ke allowed him to absorb it during his dancing practice.
• After Lin Ke went to sleep, Ning Caichen cautiously approached the plum blossom tree and told it that, as Lin Ke's mother, it was not allowed to hit him.
• Comics grew more famous on Chaoyang Street, and Painting Path Great Confucians declared them an entirely new Painting Path.
• Powerful figures and clans began searching for the comics' creator, speculating that figures such as Gu Kaizhi or Yan Liben might have pioneered the new path.

Lin Ke met the young Wu Daozi, who came seeking to learn the new Comics Path from its founder. After Lin Ke revealed his identity and admitted he could not teach traditional painting, Wu Daozi asked to become his disciple and study comics.

• Lin Ke sold comics throughout the day, restoring his strength with the power of reform between customers.
• Wu Daozi introduced himself and asked the Doraemon Cat to help him meet Lin Ke, then waited in the back courtyard.
• After finishing work, Lin Ke removed his costume and revealed that he was Lin Ke.
• Wu Daozi explained that he wanted to learn comics to establish a new painting path and bowed, asking Lin Ke to accept him as a disciple.

Lin Ke took Wu Daozi as his disciple, invited him to live in his courtyard, and taught him the principles of comics. Wu Daozi discovered a new direction for the Painting Path as Lin Ke revealed that color would be his trump card in the painting contest with Qi Ye.

• Lin Ke accepted Wu Daozi as his disciple and offered him a room beside his own, then assigned him to sell comics by day and practice drawing at night.
• Lin Ke explained that comics relied on clear expression for artists and an engaging reading experience for readers.
• Wu Daozi listened to Lin Ke’s lessons and realized that simple comic drawings opened up a completely different Painting Path.
• Lin Ke introduced the idea of adding color and explained how painting pigments had developed.
• Lin Ke revealed that he planned to choose color as his subject in the painting contest with Qi Ye.

Lin Ke showed Wu Daozi Pokémon and invited him to become the chief disciple of the comics way, which Wu Daozi accepted despite his servile status. As Lin Ke’s comics and milk tea spread through the Capital City, Qi Ye and his teacher discussed the looming contests and planned to reclaim the Heaven-Approved Bamboo Staff.

• Lin Ke showed Wu Daozi the colorful Pokémon comic, and Wu Daozi recognized its comics path and beast-riding principles.
• Lin Ke offered Wu Daozi the position of chief disciple of the comics way, and Wu Daozi accepted after Lin Ke dismissed his servile status as irrelevant.
• Doraemon Cat and Pokémon became popular throughout the Capital City, prompting people to read late into the night and increasing lamp-oil consumption.
• An elderly man read Doraemon Cat and worried that the comics and Cloud Dance Rainbow Tea threatened Qi Ye’s chances in the contests.
• Qi Ye criticized Lin Ke’s status but stopped when his teacher rebuked him for disrespecting His Majesty.
• Qi Ye’s teacher urged him to ignore the comics’ growing fame and said they would find a way to take back the Heaven-Approved Bamboo Staff.

As rumors about Lin Ke and Qi Ye spread through the Imperial Capital, Lin Ke's novel shop opened and drew crowds eager to hear and buy his story. An old woman then offered Lin Ke a thirty-seventy publishing split and threatened his safety if he refused.

• Rumors about Lin Ke and Qi Ye multiplied as Lin Ke's novel shop opened in the Imperial Capital.
• Chen An stopped his story at a cliffhanger, then told the crowd that Young Master Lin Ke had written the novel and limited how much he could share.
• Listeners praised Lin Ke and crowded into the shop to buy novels and comics, while Pan Jinlian and Pan Xiaowu guarded against trouble.
• An old woman offered Lin Ke thirty percent of the proceeds while claiming her group could distribute his books throughout the Divine Land.
• The old woman invoked her powerful connections and warned that Lin Ke's servile status could make his wealth dangerous to carry at night.

Lin Ke refused the Eclectic School’s publishing offer because he rejected its proposed revenue split and editorial control. Li Chungang urged him to publish while the public’s interest in the recipient of Sacred Approval remained strong.

• Lin Ke rejected the old woman’s offer after learning the Eclectic School expected a thirty-seventy split and warned that publishing outside Chaoyang Street could be difficult.
• Lin Ke refused to join the Eclectic School and insisted on an equal split, offering to give it priority consideration for his future works.
• Wu Daozi escorted the old woman out of the Immortal Realm Painting Studio’s rear courtyard.
• Li Chungang arrived and offered to help Lin Ke find someone to print his books and comics.
• Li Chungang advised Lin Ke to publish while the attention surrounding his Sacred Approval could help his works spread.
• Lin Ke told Li Chungang that the Eclectic School wanted a thirty-seventy split and the power to dictate changes to his works.

Lin Ke rejected the Eclectic School’s attempt to buy his novels and learned that Chen Pingping, the legendary storyteller Yu Ping'an, had only three months to live. Chen Pingping offered to mobilize Storytellers to spread Lin Ke’s books, and Lin Ke agreed to give them half the revenue.

• Li Chungang agreed with Lin Ke that they did not need to work with the Eclectic School.
• Chen An brought his recovering father, Chen Pingping, to see Lin Ke about the Eclectic School’s offer.
• Li Chungang recognized Chen Pingping as the legendary storyteller Yu Ping'an, and Chen Pingping revealed that his wounded soul would fail within three months.
• Chen Pingping said the Novelists' School patriarch Yu Chu was still alive and offered to have Storytellers promote Lin Ke’s novels.
• Lin Ke offered Storytellers half the revenue from every book they sold, saying he was a novelist and a storyteller too.

Lin Ke discussed splitting his book earnings and learned that his accessible novels and comics could help readers gather qi and influence children’s education. After explaining why he did not want young people to lose themselves in fiction, he was interrupted by news that inspectors had arrived at the Immortal Realm Painting Studio.

• Lin Ke rejected a seventy-thirty split, and Chen An was startled when Lin Ke proposed sharing the proceeds equally with Storytellers across the land.
• Chen Pingping and Li Chungang explained that readers could gain qi from Lin Ke’s accessible works, which offered paths such as comics, beast-taming, invention, and mechanics.
• Li Chungang warned that the Rites Department’s Children’s Education Bureau could ban Lin Ke’s books and comics from schools and lecture halls, especially because Lin Ke’s father was the Minister of Rites.
• Lin Ke said young people should read in moderation and prioritize real-life learning, family, and experiences over spending all day with books and comics.
• Wu Daozi came in from the front of the Immortal Realm Painting Studio and told Lin Ke that someone had arrived to inspect them.

Lin Ke confronted officials who sought to shut down the Immortal Realm Painting Studio and arrest him, while a Scholar’s Persuasion turned commoners against him. He resisted the attempt to sway his readers and demanded evidence and an arrest warrant, suspecting the officials wanted his Imperially Sanctioned Staff.

• Lin Ke and Li Chungang went to the Immortal Realm Painting Studio after hearing that officials had arrived to investigate it.
• A Children's Education Bureau official announced that the studio would be shut down, comic sales banned, the Hanging Mountain Tea Shop closed, and Lin Ke arrested.
• The official condemned Lin Ke’s works and used Persuasion to incite untrained bystanders against him, while Li Chungang explained that official robes made the influence difficult to dispel.
• Lin Ke tapped his Bamboo Staff against the ground and demanded that the officials produce evidence and laws, asking whether they had come to seize his Imperially Sanctioned Staff.

Lin Ke challenged officials from the Children's Education Bureau and Punishments Department over their unauthorized attempt to seal his shop, while Li Chungang confronted a Great Confucian official. After the officials accused Lin Ke of corrupting children, Lin Ke began to defend his understanding of learning.

• Lin Ke asked what crime justified confiscating his Imperially Sanctioned Staff, and Li Chungang challenged the officials for sealing the shop without legal authority.
• Li Chungang used Great Confucian Resonance to make one official question his actions, but the opposing Great Confucian dispelled its influence.
• Lin Ke tapped the ground with his staff and questioned the officials' right to declare him guilty, drawing support from the crowd.
• The officials accused Lin Ke of undermining moral instruction and children's education with frivolous books and contrivances.
• Lin Ke rejected the accusation that he knew nothing of learning and began, "From my earliest childhood, I loved to learn..."

Lin Ke recited a passage about his hardships and determination to study, drawing on the story of his childhood and a famous essay from his previous life. His recital transformed the celestial manifestation and unleashed an icy wind that the Rites Department official’s disciplinary ruler could not stop.

• Lin Ke described how his mother endured humiliation to raise him and how he had borrowed books and sought instruction despite his harsh circumstances.
• Lin Ke recited and adapted passages from “Preface to Ma Sheng of Dongyang,” presenting his childhood hardships as proof of his commitment to learning.
• Literary qi formed a manifestation of a poor but steadfast student, moving the onlookers and prompting them to compare Lin Ke’s diligence with that of their own children.
• The celestial manifestation changed, releasing icy wind that left the Punishments and Rites Department officials alarmed.
• A Rites Department official identified it as a farewell preface and a Ten-Thousand-Li Chant, but his disciplinary ruler failed to block the wind.

Lin Ke’s recitation of Preface to Ma Sheng of Dongyang spread across the Capital City, drawing academy headmasters into a scramble to recruit him. As scholars argued over their offers, Lin Ke confronted the Children’s Education Bureau official.

• Lin Ke’s cold-wind attack cracked the Children’s Education Bureau official’s skin and broke through the Punishments Department Great Confucian’s seal and Legalist defense before his literary heart healed him.
• Lin Ke’s recitation of Preface to Ma Sheng of Dongyang reached students and residents throughout ten thousand li, inspiring students to return to their studies.
• Fang Yun praised Lin Ke’s work, offered him a rubbing of Xunzi’s Encouragement to Study, and invited him to become his seventh direct disciple.
• White Horse Academy, Vast Sea School, and Clear Stream Academy made competing recruitment offers, then their representatives traded insults across the Capital City.
• Lin Ke ignored the academies’ quarrel and calmly addressed the official from the Children’s Education Bureau.

Lin Ke presented a preface to the Children's Education Bureau, then challenged the Punishments Department to compete with him through comics and novels about criminal investigation. He gained several academy heads as teachers, and the Assistant Director of the Children's Education Bureau arrived as the scene ended.

• Lin Ke presented his preface to the Children's Education Bureau and drew the crowd's praise and ridicule of its officials.
• Lin Ke insulted the Punishments Department and challenged it to a literary contest about criminal investigation and judicial inquiry.
• The Judicial Commissioner Bureau accepted Lin Ke's challenge on behalf of the Punishments Department.
• Lin Ke declared the heads of several academies and schools his teachers, performed the ceremony, and was accepted as their disciple.
• The Assistant Director of the Children's Education Bureau appeared in the distance.