Chapter Summaries

After learning that the Zhou Army’s new formation could not be overcome, Wen Zhong insisted on leading a night raid despite Zi Shou’s objections. Zi Shou granted permission after Wen Zhong pledged his possessions, and the chapter ended with Yang Ren arriving with Fei Zhong and You Hun.

• Zi Shou asked Wen Zhong about the auspicious light that had appeared in the Zhou Army, and Wen Zhong judged the new Daoist to be no great threat.
• Shen Gongbao warned that the Zhou Army’s Pure Ultimate Formation Diagram could make its next formation nearly impossible for the Shang Army to break.
• Zi Shou and the generals urged Wen Zhong to avoid battle, but Wen Zhong argued that the Zhou camp’s recent relocation offered a chance to raid it.
• Wen Zhong insisted on leading the night raid and offered pledges until Zi Shou finally granted permission.
• A messenger reported that Yang Ren had arrived with Fei Zhong and You Hun under guard, and Zi Shou ordered them brought in.

Zi Shou restored Fei Zhong and You Hun to their posts and appointed them military advisers, while Yang Ren recognized the move as a way to mislead Zhou and protect morale. Yang Ren then revealed that he had come to impeach the Second Prince, Yin Hong, for three crimes, but had not yet named them.

• Yang Ren escorted Fei Zhong and You Hun, accused of taking bribes and perverting the law, before Zi Shou and received orders to help with military affairs.
• Zi Shou postponed judgment on Fei Zhong and You Hun until after the war, restored them to their former posts, and appointed them Right and Left Military Advisers.
• Yang Ren reasoned that the appointments would conceal the scandal from Shang soldiers and mislead Zhou, while Wen Zhong and Lu Xiong retained command of the army.
• Yang Ren told Zi Shou that he had come to impeach the Second Prince, Yin Hong, and announced that he would charge him with three crimes.

Zi Shou heard Yang Ren accuse Yin Hong of misrule, demolishing Chaoge’s walls, and opposing the people, but privately celebrated his son’s actions as a chance to gain Foolishness Value. He endorsed the people’s petition and ordered a message sent to Chaoge to punish Yin Hong, while secretly intending to let him continue unchecked.

• Yang Ren accused Yin Hong of neglecting his duties as regent and demolishing the walls of New City and Chaoge to ease travel.
• Yang Ren said Yin Hong sold the demolished stones to nobles and claimed Daji and the empress supported him, thrilling Zi Shou.
• Yang Ren denounced Yin Hong for acting against the people and presented a Petition of the People bearing many commoners’ signatures.
• Zi Shou read the petition, recognized that Yin Hong had forced through the wall demolitions despite popular resistance, and decided not to interfere.
• Zi Shou marked the petition with the words “the people’s wishes,” sealed it, and ordered Yang Ren to send his command to Chaoge to punish Yin Hong.

Zi Shou fled Sishui Pass for Chaoge, intending to tear down the Great Wall and gain Foolishness Value. He left an old woman to misdirect a pursuing Zhou spy, while Fei Zhong and You Hun discovered his disappearance just as Wen Zhong arrived.

• Zi Shou appointed Yang Ren a general, then returned to his tent and decided to abandon Sishui Pass rather than let Wen Zhong raid the Zhou camp.
• Zi Shou changed into ordinary clothes, slipped out of camp, and rode toward Chaoge, planning to tear down the Great Wall for Foolishness Value.
• Zi Shou stopped an old woman for directions and threatened her until she pointed him the wrong way, believing he was a Zhou general and misleading him to protect Great Shang.
• Fei Zhong and You Hun found Zi Shou's tent empty and panicked about being left behind with their bribery and embezzlement exposed.
• Wen Zhong requested an audience with Zi Shou, leaving Fei Zhong and You Hun terrified.

Wen Zhong discovered that Zi Shou had slipped away and sent Chong Yingbiao and the Dark Phoenix Guard after him, while Zi Shou wandered into a village and learned that soldiers had seized a farmer’s wheat. Zi Shou approached an army camp and realized its soldiers were wearing Zhou Army armor.

• Wen Zhong found a straw dummy in Zi Shou’s tent, whipped Fei Zhong and You Hun, and told Chong Yingbiao that Zi Shou had headed west with a plan to defeat the Zhou Army.
• Chong Yingbiao led the Dark Phoenix Guard out of Sishui Pass and questioned an old woman, who pointed them toward the road Zi Shou had taken.
• Zi Shou entered a village, asked an old man for directions, and heard that soldiers had taken his family’s wheat.
• Zi Shou headed toward the nearby army camp, suspected the people in charge of provisions had seized the villagers’ grain, and noticed the soldiers wore Zhou Army armor.

Zi Shou’s forces ambushed Ji Gao’s detachment at Chencang, killing Ji Gao and routing the Zhou troops, while Chong Yingbiao credited the victory to the king’s foresight. Zi Shou returned to Sishui Pass as San Yisheng arrived to challenge the Shang army, and Yang Ren volunteered to talk him into surrendering.

• Ji Gao requisitioned grain at Chencang and prepared to eat the best wheat before Chong Yingbiao ambushed and killed him.
• Chong Yingbiao and the Dark Phoenix Guard routed Ji Gao’s Zhou detachment, then reported that it had been sent to contact the Qiang and help surround Great Shang.
• Chong Yingbiao praised Zi Shou’s supposed master plan, while Zi Shou realized he had taken the wrong road and ordered his forces back to Sishui Pass.
• Jiang Ziya sent San Yisheng to engage the Shang army, and Wen Zhong received word that he had reached the pass.
• Zhang Guifang wanted to fight San Yisheng, but Shen Gongbao warned that the returned Shang defector possessed magic arts.
• Yang Ren offered to give a speech that would expose San Yisheng’s disloyalty and make the Zhou troops surrender.

Yang Ren confronted San Yisheng before Sishui Pass and killed him with an argument that exposed the contradictions in his loyalties. As Yang Ren returned inside the pass, Wen Zhong led a Shang attack, and Jiang Ziya ordered the Zhou Army to engage.

• Yang Ren challenged San Yisheng’s claims of immortal authority and forced him to confront his conflicting allegiance to Shang and Zhou, causing San Yisheng to spit blood and lose cultivation.
• San Yisheng denounced King Zhou and proclaimed the Mandate of Heaven belonged to Zhou, while Yang Ren praised the Shang emperor and urged San Yisheng to surrender.
• The Zhou soldiers’ unspoken doubts shook San Yisheng, who suffered a fatal surge of essence blood and fell dead beneath his horse.
• Yang Ren returned through the gates of Sishui Pass, while Jiang Ziya waited for Ji Gao to contact the Qiang.
• Wen Zhong led Shang troops in an assault, and Jiang Ziya ordered the Zhou Army to form ranks and kill Wen Zhong.

Zhang Youren led more than a hundred thousand slaves out of Xiqi toward Chaoge, surviving a journey aided by mysterious miracles. He reached Chaoge with the newly freed people, only to find its city walls gone.

• Zhang Youren led the slaves in escaping Xiqi, where he had endured the same harsh treatment they suffered.
• When the group went hungry, Zhang Youren found grain scattered on the ground after they had begun eating red earth.
• Zhang Youren used miraculous grass to cure children sickened by eating dirt.
• Birds filled the Qi River with stones, and Mount Qi vanished overnight, clearing the way for the escapees.
• As the group traveled, miraculous events brought new waterways, shade, and fires that guided them toward Chaoge.
• Zhang Youren arrived in Chaoge with the former slaves and found the city walls missing, while an old woman mistook them for famine refugees.

Zhang Youren arrived in Chaoge with refugees and learned how the Second Prince had torn down the city walls and the Great Wall to encourage settlement and trade. As Li Jing questioned Zhang Youren and the former slaves, their answers led him to realize that law must transcend public opinion, and he underwent a sudden enlightenment.

• Zhang Youren learned from a vegetable seller that the Second Prince had demolished Chaoge's walls and used the stone to fund construction that gave refugees homes and work.
• Zhang Youren discovered that the Great Wall had also been torn down and that people from the former frontier had come to Chaoge as New Chaoge People.
• Zhang Youren found Li Jing overseeing the aftermath of the demolition and learned that Lord Zhang had changed his name to Zhang Kui.
• Li Jing asked Zhang Youren and the former slaves why they had fled instead of resisting, and their answers revealed that they had never considered their treatment abusive.
• Li Jing connected the moth flying into a flame with reforms that challenged convention, concluded that law must transcend public opinion's limitations, and began to glow with enlightenment.

After Wen Zhong died at Juelong Ridge, Zi Shou received the Grand Tutor’s final message and remembered his vow to rule All Under Heaven. He ordered the Shang army to attack Zhou, while Shen Gongbao’s half of the Investiture List burned and the Dark Phoenix’s purple qi remained over the Central Plains.

• Zi Shou learned that Wen Zhong had pursued the Zhou army to Juelong Ridge and led the full Shang army there to rescue him.
• Wen Zhong sent his Azure Jade Talisman to Zi Shou before dying in battle and challenging Yuanshi to a deadly contest.
• Zi Shou received Wen Zhong’s message and saw visions of his vows to defy Heaven and defend the Human Race.
• Zi Shou crushed the talisman, declared that he would destroy Zhou, and ordered the Shang forces to attack.
• The Shang soldiers performed the Ten-Thousand Dance, summoning Xing Tian, while Zi Shou ordered Shen Gongbao to hold the Zhou army.
• Shen Gongbao’s half of the Investiture List burned, and the Dark Phoenix’s purple qi endured over the Central Plains.