Chapter Summaries

Xu Qingxiao spared a million surrendered soldiers by assigning them to forced labor, obtained a medicine king from the Female Emperor, and ordered the Third Army to end its stalled campaign against the Western Border Tribes. The Marquis of Quzhou used Xu Qingxiao’s Poison Pills on ten major waterways, expecting to cripple the tribes and clear the way for the next campaign.

• Xu Qingxiao ordered the million prisoners of war returned to Great Wei, dispersed among the provinces for labor, and placed under strict guard.
• Xu Qingxiao asked the Female Emperor for a medicine king, and she gave him the Seven-Star Wish-Fulfilling Medicine King; he later secured a promise of Foundation Establishment Pills and requested poison from the Pill Deity Ancient Scripture.
• Xu Qingxiao received ten Poison Pills, ordered the Marquis of Quzhou to finish the campaign against the Western Border Tribes within three days, and dispatched reinforcements and plans for the armies to unite against the Chen Kingdom.
• The Marquis of Quzhou received Xu Qingxiao’s letter and Poison Pills, then explained the plan to poison the Western Frontier’s water sources to the Marquis of Yangdu and the Marquis of Chongping.
• The Marquis of Quzhou secretly poisoned ten major waterways, expecting the Poison Pills to weaken or kill as many as a million members of the Foreign Races.

The Marquis of Quzhou’s army crossed the Western Frontier with almost no losses after Xu Qingxiao’s plan to poison its waterways forced the tribes to flee. As the armies gathered outside the Chen Kingdom, Xu ordered the vassal kings to send troops, then used the Great Wei Gazette to condemn those who refused.

• The Marquis of Quzhou delayed the Emperor’s Army while the poisoned waterways weakened the tribal forces and forced their people to prepare to migrate.
• Yu Yi realized the waterways had been poisoned, understood that the army’s delay concealed the plan, and concluded the Western Frontier battle was already won.
• The Emperor’s Army marched through the Western Frontier, defeated scattered enemy forces, and joined the Great Wilderness Army and the Qilin Army outside the Chen Kingdom.
• The Chen Kingdom’s ruler prepared for war and expected Great Wei’s vassal kings to rebel while its armies were occupied.
• Xu Qingxiao ordered the vassal kings to send half their troops to the Chen Kingdom; Prince Huaining urged cooperation followed by a planned mutiny, while the kings disputed how to respond.
• After most vassal kings refused, demanded payment, or offered limited support, Xu Qingxiao published a Gazette headline denouncing their reluctance to fight.

Xu Qingxiao used public outrage to force the vassal kings to send three million reinforcements, then ordered a relentless assault on the Chen Kingdom. After Great Wei’s forces breached a city, the Marquis of Sheyang announced that cities refusing to surrender would be slaughtered, and the chapter ended as the army began killing Chen civilians.

• Xu Qingxiao’s Gazette article stirred public anger against the vassal kings, and Prince Huaining recognized how effectively Xu Qingxiao had harnessed public sentiment.
• The Prince of Sunan agreed to dispatch troops after learning that the Prince of the West’s soldiers and their families had resisted his refusal to send reinforcements.
• The vassal kings assembled three million soldiers, bringing Great Wei’s force against the Chen Kingdom to 5.7 million, and Xu Qingxiao ordered the armies to prepare for a decisive attack.
• After Chen civilians used Heavenly Thunder Talismans to kill or wound 30,000 Great Wei soldiers, Xu Qingxiao demanded that the vassal reinforcements arrive and ordered the attack to begin once they had assembled.
• The Great Wei Army launched a costly assault on the Chen Kingdom’s gates, broke through, and began advancing into the city.
• The Marquis of Sheyang announced that cities refusing to surrender would be slaughtered, and the Great Wilderness Army began killing Chen civilians as the ruler of the Chen Kingdom watched in disbelief.

Xu Qingxiao ordered the Great Wei Army to massacre Chen Kingdom’s cities, rejecting peace talks and continuing the invasion despite warnings that the act would bring worldwide condemnation. After Great Wei destroyed ten cities, the Tuxie Dynasty issued an imperial edict demanding the army stop, Xu Qingxiao be punished, and the Female Emperor issue an Edict of Self-Blame, or face war.

• The Great Wei Army massacred civilians and soldiers in Chen Kingdom’s first city, while the Marquis of Sheyang ordered the Qilin Army and Emperor’s Army to attack the second city.
• In the Hall of Literary Splendor, Xu Qingxiao confirmed his orders to keep massacring cities, rejecting Chen Zhengru’s warnings and Chen Kingdom’s offer of peace talks.
• Minister Lin persuaded the Sulong King that Xu Qingxiao’s actions would invite intervention, while a prince of the Tuxie Dynasty told the Sulong King to let Great Wei destroy ten cities before Tuxie intervened.
• The Great Wei Army captured and massacred ten cities, and the ruler of Chen Kingdom ordered his forces to keep resisting after learning that Tuxie would delay its intervention.
• As Great Wei prepared to attack the eleventh city, the Tuxie Dynasty broadcast an imperial edict demanding an end to the slaughter and threatening war against Great Wei.

After the Tuxie Dynasty declared war, Xu Qingxiao urged Great Wei to fight, and the Female Emperor answered with an Imperial Edict accepting the challenge and vowing never to negotiate peace. Great Wei’s people united behind her, creating a Dragon of Popular Will, while Tuxie’s Emperor Amuzhen reversed course and ordered peace negotiations to avoid a ruinous war.

• Xu Qingxiao rejected the officials’ calls to withdraw from the Chen Kingdom and argued that retreat would let Tuxie impose heavy reparations and weaken Great Wei.
• Tuxie Emperor Amuzhen declared war on Great Wei and sent a million troops to aid the Chen Kingdom, expecting Great Wei to seek peace within three days.
• At court, Xu Qingxiao urged the Female Emperor to answer Tuxie’s challenge and recited a poem that formed an Eternal Poem, affirming his loyalty to Great Wei.
• The Female Emperor issued a national-fortune Imperial Edict declaring war on Tuxie, forbidding peace negotiations, and appointing Xu Qingxiao to command the campaign.
• Great Wei’s people rallied behind the Female Emperor, and their united support formed a Dragon of Popular Will that left the vassal kings and Foreign-Race Kingdoms in despair.
• Amuzhen realized Great Wei would fight to the bitter end, rebuked Youta and Yelü Mu, and sent them to negotiate peace, abandoning the Chen Kingdom and the other Foreign-Race Kingdoms.

Great Wei’s victory forced the Hundred Kingdoms to surrender and the Tuxie Dynasty to seek peace, while Xu Qingxiao rested before taking charge of the negotiations. He then ordered the foreign envoys received at an inn and gave Tuxie’s envoys only a private room, as schemes against Great Wei continued behind the scenes.

• The Chen Kingdom surrendered after Great Wei’s army reached its fifteenth city, and Great Wei’s forces took control of its principal cities while halting the slaughter.
• The Tuxie Dynasty sent Yelü Mu and Youta to negotiate peace, and the Female Emperor let Xu Qingxiao rest while officials prepared to reward him with the title Marquis of Pacification.
• The Masked Man assured Prince Huaining that Great Wei’s growing strength would serve their plan to steal its national fortune, while Scholar Peng drew Zhang Ning into agreeing to pay any price to ruin Xu Qingxiao.
• The Female Emperor ordered Xu Qingxiao’s marquisate and residence arranged, and instructed Wang Xinzhi not to disturb him before the peace talks.
• After waking at Shouren Academy, Xu Qingxiao agreed to attend the negotiations and ordered the foreign envoys received at an inexpensive inn, while Tuxie’s envoys were assigned a private room.

Xu Qingxiao negotiated with the Tuxie Dynasty and forced it to agree to a billion-tael silver payment, then presented ten severe surrender terms to the envoys of the foreign nations. He left them one day to accept, while Great Wei’s officials recognized the enormous gains his demands could bring.

• Xu Qingxiao met with Yelü Mu and Youta, rejected Tuxie’s initial peace offer, and demanded three conditions, including a billion taels of silver in aid.
• When Yelü Mu balked at the payment, Xu Qingxiao used a letter bearing the words “Chuyuan Dynasty” to suggest Chuyuan would support Great Wei in a war, and Yelü Mu agreed to pay.
• Xu Qingxiao left the Tuxie negotiations to Chen Zhengru, Gu Yan, and the other ministers, then addressed more than four hundred foreign envoys.
• Xu Qingxiao announced ten surrender terms, including ruler abdications, troop reductions, Great Wei garrisons, annual tribute, and privileges for Great Wei officials and merchants.
• After the envoys protested, Xu Qingxiao said he was notifying them rather than negotiating and gave them one day to accept before Great Wei’s army acted.
• Gu Yan heard the terms and realized that Great Wei could gain a vast fortune if the foreign nations agreed.

After Great Wei ended the war and rewarded Xu Qingxiao with a hereditary marquisate, he presented the Female Emperor with a five-part national strategy to unify Central Province and guide Great Wei’s future development. The court accepted it as national policy, and Xu Qingxiao was appointed chief examiner for the first imperial examination of the Wuchang Era.

• Great Wei forced most foreign vassal states to accept its treaty terms, crushed resistance through their neighbors, and concluded peace with the Tuxie Dynasty.
• The Female Emperor ennobled Xu Qingxiao as the hereditary Marquis of Pacification and established the School of the Mind as orthodox scholarship for the imperial examination.
• After spending nearly a month writing his five policy guidelines, Xu Qingxiao brought them to court and proposed a strategy to unify Central Province.
• The Female Emperor and court officials read Xu Qingxiao’s proposals on military equipment, agriculture, trade, popular welfare, and recruiting talent, then approved them as Great Wei’s national policy.
• The Female Emperor ordered Xu Qingxiao to further develop the strategy, continue as Deputy Minister of State Affairs, and serve as chief examiner for the coming imperial examination.

Xu Qingxiao learned that the Great Wei Literary Palace planned to leave the dynasty, threatening a crisis that the Female Emperor believed only a new Sage could counter. He left the palace resolved to pursue sagehood if necessary, while remaining wary of Scholar Peng’s plans.

• The Female Emperor appointed Xu Qingxiao chief examiner for Wuchang’s imperial examination and ordered his policy manuscripts secured in the ancestral temple.
• Outside the Female Emperor’s bedchamber, Xu Qingxiao urged Li Xian to earn a higher eunuch rank within a year before he would support him.
• The Female Emperor warned Xu Qingxiao that Scholar Peng had likely been planning a serious move against him and urged him to stay alert.
• The Female Emperor revealed that the Great Wei Literary Palace intended to break away, which could devastate Great Wei’s national fortune, and asked Xu Qingxiao to become a Sage within six months.
• Xu Qingxiao proposed slaughtering the Confucians, but the Female Emperor rejected the idea, explaining that killing many Confucians would bring a Sage’s curse and other calamities.
• After leaving the palace, Xu Qingxiao feared the Literary Palace might depart within months and vowed to force his way to sagehood and destroy its members if that happened.

Xu Qingxiao presented the ministers with plans to develop Great Wei through talent recruitment, military reform, engineering, law enforcement, and foreign trade, while Chen Zhengru warned him that Scholar Peng might strike during his investiture. Li Guangxiao urged the Female Emperor to marry Xu Qingxiao, and Scholar Peng recruited Zhang Ning into Sage Zhu's Lineage as his scheme advanced.

• Xu Qingxiao proposed establishing the Gathered Worthies Hall to recruit capable people regardless of background, then outlined plans to expand and reform Great Wei's armies and establish the Military Works Camp and Heavenly Craft Pavilion.
• Xu Qingxiao assigned the Ministry of Punishment to suppress crime and harmful rumors, the Ministry of Revenue to expand Great Wei's influence through foreign trade, and promised Wang Xinzhi that the Ministry of Rites would oversee a major future undertaking.
• Chen Zhengru warned Xu Qingxiao that Scholar Peng might attack him at his investiture, and Xu Qingxiao asked Chen Zhengru to take him to Confucian Xun to learn about becoming a sage.
• Li Guangxiao urged the Female Emperor to marry and bear an heir, proposed Xu Qingxiao as a suitable husband, and inferred from her reaction that she had feelings for him.
• Scholar Peng received a message in the Heavenly Prison, questioned Zhang Ning, and heard him pledge loyalty to Sage Zhu's Lineage; Scholar Peng then told Zhang Ning he could become a Heaven-and-Earth Grand Confucian within ten years.

Xu Qingxiao learned from Confucian Xun what he needed to become a Heaven-and-Earth Grand Confucian and a Sage, then entered the palace for his marquis investiture ceremony. As the ceremony began, a messenger rushed from the Heavenly Prison with news that Confucian Zhang had killed himself.

• Xu Qingxiao received ingredients for the Fifth-Rank Realm-Breaking Pill and discussed the costly ingredients needed for higher-rank pills with the Pill Deity Ancient Scripture.
• Prince Huaining learned from his elder brother that the Great Wei Literary Palace planned to break away within three months and that Xu Qingxiao might face trouble at his enfeoffment.
• Xu Qingxiao visited Confucian Xun with Chen Zhengru and learned that becoming a Heaven-and-Earth Grand Confucian required understanding the heavenly mandate, while the path to sainthood required renewed achievements and the literary qi of the world.
• Xu Qingxiao continued pondering his core principle as guests arrived in the Capital for his investiture, and Chen Xinghe asked him to judge the upcoming imperial examinations impartially.
• Xu Qingxiao bathed, dressed in his marquis’s robes, and began the ceremonial procession from the East Straight Gate as the Capital gathered to watch.
• A panicked messenger ran from the Heavenly Prison to the Ministry of Punishment, repeatedly announcing that Confucian Zhang had killed himself.

On the day Xu Qingxiao received his marquis title, Scholar Peng used Zhang Ning’s death in prison to incite scholars against him and challenge the Female Emperor’s authority. The chapter ended as someone called the Female Emperor a benighted ruler, and Xu Qingxiao’s gaze turned cold.

• Zhang Ning was found dead in the Heavenly Prison with the word “wronged” written in blood, while Confucians Fang and Cao prepared to use the scandal against Xu Qingxiao.
• The Female Emperor learned of Zhang Ning’s death as Xu Qingxiao completed his investiture ceremony and accepted the title of Marquis of Pacification.
• Xu Qingxiao asked the Female Emperor to exempt Great Wei’s people from grain taxes for three years, and she granted his request.
• Scholar Peng accused Xu Qingxiao of causing Zhang Ning’s death and other crimes, prompting scholars in the Capital and beyond to denounce him and demand punishment.
• The Female Emperor insisted the matter would be discussed the next day, but a scholar called her a benighted ruler, and Xu Qingxiao’s gaze turned cold.

Xu Qingxiao faced Scholar Peng’s attempt to expose his Unorthodox Art by turning a million scholars and the Eight-Jade Sage Ruler against him. As the Female Emperor and Chen Zhengru struggled to protect him, Xu Qingxiao understood Heaven’s mandate, and the Literary Bell rang eight times as Literary Qi poured into the Capital.

• The scholars denounced Xu Qingxiao and demanded that he be punished or kill himself, while the Female Emperor and Duke of An tried to stop the confrontation from escalating.
• Xu Qingxiao ordered the Eight Gates Capital Troops to detain the scholars, but Scholar Peng summoned their collective will to activate the Eight-Jade Sage Ruler and expose Xu Qingxiao’s supposed Unorthodox Art.
• The Female Emperor offered to resolve Zhang Ning’s death, but the scholars refused; Chen Zhengru tried to detain them and was struck down by the Sage Artifact after Peng Yuan intervened.
• The common people formed a shield of Popular Will to protect Xu Qingxiao as he contemplated his past choices and sought to understand Heaven’s mandate.
• Taizu’s Long Saber countered the Sage Artifact, and Xu Qingxiao declared that he had understood Heaven’s mandate as the Great Wei Literary Bell rang and Literary Qi descended over the Capital.

Xu Qingxiao proved his innocence when the Eight-Jade Sage Ruler failed to expose his demonic nature, then turned his fury on Peng Yuan and the scholars who had accused him. The chapter ended with Xu Qingxiao calling Peng Yuan out to die by his hand.

• Xu Qingxiao became a Heaven-and-Earth Grand Confucian and used popular will to block the Sage Artifact’s attacks, then offered the gathered scholars a chance to leave.
• Peng Yuan tried to provoke Xu Qingxiao into accepting the Sage Artifact’s judgment, while Xu Qingxiao ordered scholars punished, stripped several hundred of their Confucian ranks, and had Shen Ru arrested.
• Xu Qingxiao agreed to the judgment on the condition that the scholars accept punishment if he proved innocent, and they agreed before the Female Emperor and officials.
• The sacred light entered Xu Qingxiao, but his Heaven and Earth Literary Palace absorbed it and suppressed his demonic seed; he remained unchanged through the two-hour wait.
• Peng Yuan accused Xu Qingxiao of tampering with the Sage Artifact, and Xu Qingxiao challenged him to come and die by his hand.

Xu Qingxiao killed Peng Yuan after the Great Wei Literary Palace failed to persuade him to relent, then used the Haoran Literary Bell to strip hundreds of thousands of scholars and several Grand Confucians of their Confucian Ranks. As the Literary Palace fully awakened the Eight-Jade Sage Ruler to kill him, the Female Emperor ordered Sage Zhu’s Lineage wiped out.

• Xu Qingxiao rejected the Great Wei Literary Palace’s offer and demanded that Peng Yuan abolish his Confucian Rank before the deadline.
• Xu Qingxiao beheaded Peng Yuan, provoking the Literary Palace’s Grand Confucians to awaken the Eight-Jade Sage Ruler.
• Xu Qingxiao called upon the Haoran Literary Bell and stripped hundreds of thousands of scholars of their Confucian Ranks, then shattered the ranks of several Grand Confucians.
• The Eight-Jade Sage Ruler attacked Xu Qingxiao with a Literati’s Sword, but the Haoran Literary Bell blocked it as the Literary Palace gathered power for a full awakening.
• The Female Emperor ordered Sage Zhu’s Lineage wiped out after the Literary Palace committed to an all-out battle.

The Female Emperor used her imperial authority to protect Xu Qingxiao, force Sage Zhu's Lineage to apologize, and defend his wartime actions. After publicly revealing the Literary Palace's plans to secede and ending the investiture, she summoned Xu Qingxiao privately, where she suddenly vomited blood.

• The Female Emperor ordered Sage Zhu's Lineage eradicated from Great Wei after the battle and condemned the Literary Palace for falsely accusing Xu Qingxiao of demonic corruption.
• She ordered the Duke of An to slap Confucian Cao and threatened the scholars with execution unless they answered for their accusations and apologized to Xu Qingxiao.
• Confucian Fang, Confucian Cao, Jiang Ru, and the gathered scholars bowed and kowtowed to Xu Qingxiao, who accepted their apology; the Female Emperor then dismissed the matter and punished Xu with seven days of vegetarian meals for his wartime killings.
• When Jiang Ru challenged the punishment and demanded answers about Zhang Ning's death, the Female Emperor defended Xu Qingxiao and showed a projection of the devastation that would follow if Great Wei spared the city and surrendered soldiers.
• The Female Emperor publicly disclosed that the Great Wei Literary Palace planned to leave Great Wei, then stripped the troublemaking scholars of their honors and barred their families from serving as officials in the Capital for three generations.
• The Female Emperor took Xu Qingxiao aside to discuss urgent matters, then vomited blood, shocking him.

The Female Emperor told Xu Qingxiao that Great Wei’s declining national fortune was tied to the Literary Palace’s planned departure and that she had bound her life to the National Fortune Cauldron. Xu Qingxiao offered to become a Sage and purge the Literary Palace, while Confucian Cao prepared a campaign against Great Wei and dismissed the possibility of Xu attaining Sagehood; Xu ended the chapter writing, “A way to break the deadlock.”

• The Female Emperor showed Xu Qingxiao Great Wei’s insubstantial National Fortune Cauldron and explained that its collapse would bring disasters and kill her because she had bound herself to it.
• The Female Emperor explained that Confucian Haoran qi suppressed Heaven-and-Earth Evil Spirits, and that the Literary Palace’s departure would weaken Great Wei and bring calamities.
• Xu Qingxiao refused to join Sage Zhu’s Lineage to become a Sage and asked whether the Female Emperor would purge the Literary Palace if he succeeded; she agreed, while warning him not to force the matter.
• Daoist Wuchen warned that using Immortal Sect disciples to stabilize Great Wei could entangle them in imperial authority, but the Female Emperor chose to prepare for the Literary Palace’s departure.
• Confucian Cao told Sage Zhu’s Lineage’s Grand Confucians to spend three months turning public opinion against the Female Emperor and Xu Qingxiao, and they dismissed the possibility that Xu could attain Sagehood.
• Xu Qingxiao wrote “A way to break the deadlock” at Shouren Academy.

Xu Qingxiao weighed how to counter the Great Wei Literary Palace’s planned secession, then spent New Year’s Eve celebrating with the people and composing poems. The chapter ended with Li Fan and the other children setting off firecrackers at the Literary Palace as an urgent memorial arrived in the Capital.

• Xu Qingxiao estimated that the Great Wei Literary Palace would secede in about three months and wrote plans to stockpile grain and suppress demons, while concluding that becoming a Sage was the only way to truly avert disaster.
• After Shouren Academy was emptied and the New Year began, Xu Qingxiao walked through the Capital, greeted the townspeople, and named a newborn Cijiu.
• Xu Qingxiao gave Li Fan five hundred taels of silver and instructed him to gather children to set off firecrackers outside the Great Wei Literary Palace.
• At West Street, Xu Qingxiao composed a festival poem that filled the Capital with literary qi, then drank with the crowds and recited several Eternal Poems.
• Jiang Ru tried to compose a poem at the Literary Palace, but Li Fan and the children bombarded the grounds with firecrackers, injuring a Grand Confucian and enraging the scholars.
• Xu Qingxiao left West Street after drinking and reached Peach Blossom Nunnery as a swift horse brought an urgent memorial into the imperial palace.

Xu Qingxiao spent the New Year relaxing with Luo Baiyi, then advanced his Martial Dao to the Fifth Rank. As he left to meet Lord Gu about the grain yield results, the Unorthodox Art’s demonic seed sensed a terrifying presence in a hemp-clad old man.

• The Female Emperor requested aid from the Supreme Immortal Sect and the Great Cang Talisman Sect to suppress demons gathering in the Chen Kingdom, then ordered rumors about Xu Qingxiao’s night at the Peach Blossom Nunnery contained.
• Xu Qingxiao visited Luo Baiyi, shared wine and food with her, and fell asleep while she massaged him; after waking, he asked Miss Liu to arrange for Luo Baiyi’s freedom.
• Xu Qingxiao returned to his residence and used pills to advance from the Seventh Rank to the Fifth Rank of the Martial Dao over seven days.
• A hemp-clad old man returned to Great Wei’s Capital and secretly informed the Female Emperor that Great Wei’s First-Rank martial artist had come back.
• After perfecting his Fifth-Rank cultivation, Xu Qingxiao headed out to meet Lord Gu about the grain yield results, but stopped when his demonic seed grew afraid of the hemp-clad old man.

Xu Qingxiao met Wu Ming, a First-Rank martial artist who discovered his flawless Martial Dao physique and repeatedly tried to take him as a disciple, but Xu Qingxiao refused. After learning that demons troubled the Chen Kingdom, Wu Ming seized Xu Qingxiao and insisted on taking him to witness the might of a First-Rank martial artist.

• Wu Ming examined Xu Qingxiao and was astonished to find that he had reached the fifth rank of the Martial Dao in less than a year with flawless foundations.
• Wu Ming revealed that he was a First-Rank martial artist and offered to take Xu Qingxiao as his disciple, but Xu Qingxiao refused and hurried to the Ministry of Revenue.
• Xu Qingxiao reviewed Great Wei’s bumper grain forecasts with Gu Yan and advised the Ministry of Revenue to report any unusual rice plants to him.
• The Female Emperor summoned Xu Qingxiao to the palace, where Wu Ming again offered to teach him, but Xu Qingxiao refused despite knowing Wu Ming’s identity.
• After learning about the demon unrest in the Chen Kingdom, Wu Ming caught Xu Qingxiao outside the palace and insisted on showing him the might of a First-Rank martial artist.