Chapter Summaries

Xu Qingxiao’s boastful saying at Bailu Academy was mistaken for a declaration of lofty ambition, and the scholars and three Masters praised him for his talent. The chapter ended when officers announced that a demon was slaughtering people outside Southern Yu Prefecture and called on the three Masters to help subdue it.

• Xu Qingxiao emerged from the library tower and accidentally declared that without him the Confucian Dao would have endured an eternal night, stunning the gathered scholars and three Masters.
• Master Liu, Master Qi, and Master Chen praised Xu Qingxiao’s words, while the scholars accepted his apology and began calling him Xu Wangu.
• Wang Ru brought Xu Qingxiao to the three Masters, where he introduced himself as Zhou Ling’s student and politely discussed his Timeless Verse, Man Jiang Hong.
• Xu Qingxiao told the Masters that he had reached the ninth rank after only twenty-seven days of study, leaving them speechless and ashamed of their slower progress.
• A constable arrived and told the three Masters that a demon was slaughtering innocent people outside Southern Yu Prefecture, asking them to join forces against it.

Li Xin warned Xu Qingxiao that Cheng Lidong had accused him of practicing unorthodox arts and sought permission to arrest and torture him. Xu Qingxiao learned the Prefectural Lord had limited Cheng Lidong to a secret investigation, but as Xu headed back to prepare for the examination, he encountered Cheng Lidong.

• The Masters left the Bailu Academy after the head constable announced that a demon had emerged, and Li Xin privately took Xu Qingxiao to his residence.
• Li Xin told Xu Qingxiao that Cheng Lidong had accused him of practicing unorthodox arts and asked the Prefectural Lord to have him arrested and interrogated under torture.
• Xu Qingxiao angrily demanded a confrontation, while Li Xin explained that his father had forbidden Cheng Lidong from arresting, detaining, or interrogating him without evidence.
• Li Xin advised Xu Qingxiao that earning an examination title could protect him and revealed that the top thirty-three candidates across Great Wei's prefectural examinations might receive titles this year.
• Li Xin invited Xu Qingxiao to a banquet after the Prefectural Examination, and Xu Qingxiao accepted before returning to his lodgings.
• Xu Qingxiao resolved that Cheng Lidong had to die, then spotted Cheng Lidong on the street.

Xu Qingxiao met Cheng Lidong, who tried to persuade him to cooperate over the mysterious item Wu Yan had left behind and a treasure connected to it. Xu Qingxiao rejected him and left, while both men resolved to kill the other, leaving their confrontation inevitable.

• Xu Qingxiao encountered Cheng Lidong, who led him to an ancestral residence to speak privately.
• Cheng Lidong asked whether Xu Qingxiao had Wu Yan's item, and Xu Qingxiao charged him ten taels each time he answered that he did not have it or did not know what it was.
• Cheng Lidong revealed that the item was connected to a treasure and offered to help conceal Xu Qingxiao's Unorthodox Arts in exchange for cooperation.
• Cheng Lidong promised they could rise to power together, but Xu Qingxiao refused and left after their allotted half quarter-hour ended.
• Cheng Lidong decided to seek evidence against Xu Qingxiao, while Xu Qingxiao concluded that Cheng Lidong had to disappear.

With the Prefectural Examination nearing, Xu Qingxiao devised a way to protect Doctor Zhao from Cheng Lidong and asked Li Xin to keep Cheng under watch. Outside Southern Yu Prefecture, Master Liu and other scholars confronted a giant Serpent Demon, which fled when Master Liu used his Righteous Haoran Qi to intimidate it.

• Xu Qingxiao reasoned that Cheng Lidong could exploit Doctor Zhao to threaten him, so he decided to secure the doctor's safety and prevent Cheng from leaving Southern Yu Prefecture.
• Xu Qingxiao visited the Prefectural Lord's Residence and asked Li Xin to keep Cheng Lidong under watch until Xu left the prefecture; Li Xin agreed and told the gatekeepers to keep the visit secret.
• Xu Qingxiao returned to the inn, relieved but still uneasy, and prepared to enter the Literary Palace to share news with the handsome man.
• A giant Serpent Demon rampaged through the mountains outside Southern Yu Prefecture, but Master Liu's Righteous Haoran Qi frightened it into fleeing.
• Master Chen and Master Qi also shouted from other parts of the prefecture as the local constables prepared to act.

Xu Qingxiao told the handsome man in the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace about the Great Sage’s first disciple, prompting the man to identify himself by instinct as Zhaoge. On the eve of the Prefectural Examination, Xu Qingxiao prepared his ideas while Chen Xinghe resolved to prove his own talent, and the group arrived at the crowded examination hall.

• Xu Qingxiao told the handsome man that the Great Sage’s first disciple was named Zhaoge and had sacrificed himself to seal a Peerless Demon.
• The man declared that he was Zhaoge, though he admitted he had not recovered his memories and was relying on instinct.
• Xu Qingxiao addressed him as Brother Zhaoge, and Zhaoge promised to look for a way to resolve Xu Qingxiao’s trouble with the unorthodox art.
• Xu Qingxiao spent the night considering how to write about national security, deciding to focus on economics rather than the Northern Expedition.
• Chen Xinghe collected Xu Qingxiao and the other scholars before the exam and privately resolved to demonstrate his talent to his junior brother.
• Xu Qingxiao and the group reached the Southern Yu Prefectural Examination Hall, where a large crowd had gathered.

Xu Qingxiao arrived at the Southern Yu Prefectural Examination and was mobbed by scholars seeking his autograph before entering the examination hall. The examination began with the topic “Secure the Nation,” leaving Xu Qingxiao wondering whether to use his Literary Artifact brush.

• Scholars from Beilin County praised Xu Qingxiao’s Man Jiang Hong and asked him for autographs, drawing hundreds of people around him.
• Chen Xinghe hoped someone would ask for his autograph, but a scholar instead asked him to obtain Xu Qingxiao’s signature.
• Chief examiner Zhao Yuan ordered the crowd quiet and instructed the gates to open at the hour of the Rabbit.
• Xu Qingxiao entered the examination hall with Chen Xinghe and received writing supplies before being assigned the seventh seat in Room A.
• As the hour of the Dragon arrived, Zhao Yuan announced the examination topic: “Secure the Nation.”

During the Prefectural Examination, Xu Qingxiao wrote a bold strategy for securing Great Wei by restoring the people’s livelihoods and establishing a state-centered banking system. He completed a more than ten-thousand-character essay, then something extraordinary happened as he set down his brush.

• Xu Qingxiao considered the topic of securing the nation while Zhao Yuan wondered whether he could write a strong essay.
• Xu Qingxiao began his essay, arguing that Great Wei needed to restore its finances and the people’s livelihoods before pursuing further wars.
• Xu Qingxiao warned that poverty and unrest could bring about a change in the Mandate of Heaven, then proposed a state-controlled banking system.
• Xu Qingxiao described how banks could fund roads and local construction, with loans repaid from future tax revenue.
• Xu Qingxiao completed his twenty-seven-sheet essay and set down his brush, when something extraordinary happened.

Xu Qingxiao’s Nation-Pacifying Strategy triggered a white rainbow manifestation and five peals from the Literary Palace’s Sacred Bell, marking it as a peerless essay that benefited the nation and its people. Righteous Haoran qi flowed into him, advancing him to the Eighth Rank, while scholars gathered outside the examination hall and argued over who would recruit him.

• Xu Qingxiao finished his strategy essay, and its paper shone as a white rainbow pierced the clouds above the examination grounds.
• Li Guangxin and people across Southern Yu Prefecture witnessed the manifestation, while three masters rushed toward the city after sensing it.
• The Sacred Bell in Great Wei’s Literary Palace rang five times, and the emperor ordered an investigation into the essay’s author.
• Righteous Haoran qi from the Literary Palace poured into Xu Qingxiao and filled his literary pool with purple qi.
• Master Liu tried to contact his teacher to claim Xu Qingxiao as a student, but Masters Qi and Chen tried to stop him, and Li Guangxin was rebuked when he intervened.
• Xu Qingxiao advanced to the Eighth Rank after twenty-nine days of study, leaving the examiners and examinees stunned.

Xu Qingxiao’s peerless essay on securing Great Wei brought him to the Eighth Rank, prompting Zhao Yuan to arrange its protection and report it to the court. In the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace, Xu Qingxiao inscribed a song that formed an Eighth-Rank Literary Artifact just as Zhaoge recovered his memories.

• Xu Qingxiao reached the Eighth-Rank Self-Cultivation Realm, and Zhao Yuan bowed to him and his essay.
• Zhao Yuan explained that the peerless essay could affect Great Wei’s national fortune and arranged to seal it for a Grand Confucian to escort.
• Xu Qingxiao went to a quiet room in the Examination Hall, then entered the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace.
• Xu Qingxiao inscribed “Sheep on the Hillside · Reflections on the Past at Tong Pass,” and righteous Haoran qi formed an ancient azure bell as his Eighth-Rank Literary Artifact.
• Zhaoge suddenly announced that he had finally remembered.

After Zhaoge recovered memories of the Martial Dao, he revealed a training ground in the Literary Palace and diagnosed a flaw in Xu Qingxiao’s cultivation, offering to deduce a complete version of his technique. Outside the Palace, Zhao Yuan warned Xu Qingxiao that his literary achievements had attracted the attention of demons and monsters, prompting officials to gather experts to protect him.

• Zhaoge remembered much of the Martial Dao and showed Xu Qingxiao the Literary Palace’s new [Martial Dao Reigns Supreme] door, which could assess strength and manifest opponents from their skin or hair.
• Zhaoge examined Xu Qingxiao’s Golden Crow Body Tempering Art, explained that its incomplete form threatened his foundation, and offered to deduce the complete technique so Xu Qingxiao could cultivate the Sun Saint Body.
• Xu Qingxiao agreed to cultivate the deduced technique and promised not to advance to another Martial Dao realm until Zhaoge finished.
• Xu Qingxiao left the Literary Palace and asked the guards to summon Zhao Yuan after the Prefectural Examination ended.
• Zhao Yuan told Xu Qingxiao that his poems and essay had drawn attention from demons and monsters, and that he had arranged for Martial Dao, Confucian Dao, and Immortal Dao experts to guard him.

Xu Qingxiao learned that demons planned to send a Nightmare Beast after him while he remained awake in Southern Yu Prefecture. Nightmare Demon set out to attack him, secretly intending to use the other demons as scapegoats and claim the credit for himself.

• Zhao Yuan warned Xu Qingxiao that a nightmare demon could invade his dreams and urged him to stay awake until reinforcements arrived from Capital City.
• Zhao Yuan asked Xu Qingxiao to make copies of his peerless essay before leaving him alone.
• Four demons debated how to kill Xu Qingxiao and persuaded Nightmare Demon to infiltrate his mind while they distracted the guards.
• Nightmare Demon agreed to the plan, then revealed he intended to betray the four demons and use them as a diversion while he killed Xu Qingxiao.
• Nightmare Demon began casting the Ancient Nightmare Art, confident Xu Qingxiao could not resist him.

The Nightmare Demon gathered information about Xu Qingxiao by entering scholars’ dreams, then targeted him while he copied his essay. Xu Qingxiao succumbed to unnatural sleep, and the Nightmare Demon entered his dream as his righteous haoran qi formed a Literary Artifact.

• The Nightmare Demon entered a sleeping scholar’s dream and learned details about the prefectural examination.
• The Nightmare Demon entered Chen Xinghe’s dream, endured an hour of complaints about Xu Qingxiao, and left after Chen Xinghe rejected and insulted him.
• The Nightmare Demon confirmed that Xu Qingxiao was twenty and had written an age-defying lyric poem and an unparalleled essay within ten days.
• Xu Qingxiao copied his essay again while considering his Money House proposal and Great Wei’s political and military troubles.
• The Nightmare Demon’s influence made Xu Qingxiao suddenly drowsy, and Xu Qingxiao fell asleep despite resisting for seven and a half minutes.
• The Nightmare Demon entered Xu Qingxiao’s dream as the righteous haoran qi within Xu Qingxiao condensed into a Literary Artifact.

Xu Qingxiao repelled a Nightmare Demon in his dream with three Sage Artifacts and learned the location of four seventh-rank demons. After waking, he warned the gathered masters, who set out to hunt the demons, while the Nightmare Demon hid inside Xu Qingxiao's Primordial Spirit.

• The Nightmare Demon entered Xu Qingxiao's dream and revealed that four seventh-rank demons were hiding beneath an ancient pool seventeen hundred li away.
• Xu Qingxiao manifested three Sage Artifacts, wounded the Nightmare Demon, and drove him to use Divine Escape Art.
• The Nightmare Demon escaped into Xu Qingxiao's Primordial Spirit, and Xu Qingxiao woke up among the gathered masters.
• Xu Qingxiao told the masters about the demons, and they assembled a team and set out to attack them.
• The Nightmare Demon remained hidden inside Xu Qingxiao's Primordial Spirit.

Zhaoge’s Literary Palace destroyed the Nightmare Demon when it infiltrated Xu Qingxiao’s Primordial Spirit, while Southern Yu Prefecture’s forces slew four demonic beasts at the Ancient Pool. After learning the demons were defeated, Xu Qingxiao stayed awake copying essays until Zhaoge summoned him to the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace.

• Zhaoge worked on the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art as the Nightmare Demon entered Xu Qingxiao’s Primordial Spirit.
• Zhaoge appeared before the Nightmare Demon, whose Primordial Spirit collapsed and was absorbed by the Literary Palace Demon Compendium.
• Southern Yu Prefecture’s forces attacked the Ancient Pool, where eight scholars, hundreds of Martial Dao experts, and Immortal Dao cultivators killed four seventh-rank demonic beasts.
• Li Guangxin learned that a dead Nightmare Clan member had been found without its Primordial Spirit and ordered the examination compound informed of the demons’ defeat.
• Xu Qingxiao learned the demons had been slain, continued copying essays through dawn, and entered the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace after Zhaoge summoned him.

Xu Qingxiao received the completed Golden Crow Body Tempering Art from Zhaoge and inherited the Nightmare Clan’s Dream-Entering Divine Ability after the Nightmare Demon’s Primordial Spirit entered the Demon and Monster Compendium. He learned that the art could help him form a great sun sacred body, then left to resume copying essays as imperial envoys arrived in Southern Yu Prefecture.

• Zhaoge gave Xu Qingxiao the completed Golden Crow Body Tempering Art and told him that the Nightmare Demon’s Primordial Spirit had scattered into the Demon and Monster Compendium.
• Xu Qingxiao discovered the Nightmare Clan entry and inherited its Dream-Entering Divine Ability, which Zhaoge found impossible for a human to learn.
• Zhaoge explained that the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art’s core was forming a great sun sacred body and advised Xu Qingxiao to nourish his body before subduing the golden crow killing intent.
• Xu Qingxiao left the Literary Palace and resumed copying essays after learning that the Nightmare Demon and four demon beasts had been killed.
• A Dragon Boat carrying the imperial court’s envoys arrived above Southern Yu Prefecture before dawn.

Great Wei’s representatives arrived in Southern Yu Prefecture to meet Xu Qingxiao and collect his essay. After the great scholars praised his character and invited him to their academies, three generals also gave him family tokens and invitations, leaving him with five tokens and an open path to the capital.

• The Great Wei Dragon Boat arrived above Southern Yu Prefecture, and Great Scholar Chen Xin and Great Scholar Zhou Min asked to see Xu Qingxiao.
• A general delivered the emperor’s edict, rewarding Li Guangxin for recognizing Xu Qingxiao’s talent and presenting him with gold, maidservants, and a Cloud Crane Robe.
• Chen Xin and Zhou Min used Heart Appraisal on Xu Qingxiao, praised his character, and collected the hundred copied essays he had prepared.
• Zhou Min invited Xu Qingxiao to White Deer Academy, while Chen Xin offered him a place at Mount Song Academy and gave him a token to visit in the capital.
• Xu Rentian, Li Da, and Zhang Lin each gave Xu Qingxiao a family token and invited him to visit their households.

After the grand scholars took the peerless essay to the capital, Xu Qingxiao received a protective seal and learned that they saw both Confucian promise and a military destiny in him. He rested in the examination compound after speaking with its teachers, then considered trying the Dream-Entering Divine Ability.

• Grand Scholar Chen Xin gave Xu Qingxiao a Grand Confucian Seal to guard against demons and dream-entering arts before the scholars departed with the essay.
• Aboard the dragon boat, Grand Scholar Chen Xin and Grand Scholar Zhou Min discussed Xu Qingxiao's character, military aptitude, and potential future as a grand scholar.
• The examination compound released the students after the danger passed, while Xu Qingxiao stayed behind to talk with the teachers until midnight.
• Xu Qingxiao rested in the compound and, just before falling asleep, thought of trying the Dream-Entering Divine Ability.

Xu Qingxiao used his Dream-Entering Divine Ability for the first time and entered the dream of a princess, where he spun an elaborate tale about bestowing immortality. The dreamer, Mu Nan'ning, woke in an inn in Southern Yu Prefecture and looked forward to visiting the pleasure houses after her prefectural examination.

• Xu Qingxiao activated his Dream-Entering Divine Ability and entered a dream, changing his appearance to look like Zhaoge.
• Xu Qingxiao found a woman in a hot spring and claimed he was an immortal sent to bestow immortality upon her.
• Xu Qingxiao invented a story about the princess's heavenly origins and said she had to find a worthy husband before turning thirty to learn the art of immortality.
• The princess told Xu Qingxiao that she loved only women, and he left her dream with a warning not to mistake her father for a suitable man.
• Mu Nan'ning woke in an inn in Southern Yu Prefecture, remembered her strange dream, and celebrated that her examination was over so she could visit the pleasure houses.

After the prefectural examination, Xu Qingxiao planned to investigate Wu Yan's organization, strengthen himself, and prepare for his future at court. Li Xin told him that his father supported him against Cheng Lidong, and Xu Qingxiao asked Li Xin to help obtain Cheng Lidong's hair and hinted at a second, more difficult request.

• Xu Qingxiao planned to visit Changping County to investigate Wu Yan's organization, advance to the Ninth Rank, and learn about the court before entering it.
• Xu Qingxiao left the prefectural compound and met Li Xin and Wang Ru, who praised his new fame and told him that Chen had returned to the inn.
• Li Xin told Xu Qingxiao that Li Guangxin believed him and would send Cheng Lidong away after the examination results were posted.
• Xu Qingxiao asked Li Xin to secretly obtain Cheng Lidong's hair so he could use Hair-Gazing Qi Reading to determine whether Cheng practiced an unorthodox art.
• Xu Qingxiao said his second request might be difficult, but had not yet explained what it was.

Xu Qingxiao asked Li Xin to secretly obtain a copy of the case file on the fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture, and Li Xin agreed. After declining Wang Ru and Li Xin's invitation to Wenxuan Tower, Xu Qingxiao learned that the Heir of Yongping wanted to meet him.

• Xu Qingxiao asked Li Xin for a copy of the case file on the fugitive from Southern Yu Prefecture and asked him to keep the request from his father.
• Li Xin agreed to obtain the file and assured Xu Qingxiao that he trusted his character and believed Cheng Lidong had framed him.
• Wang Ru and Li Xin invited Xu Qingxiao to visit Wenxuan Tower, but Xu Qingxiao said he disliked brothels and did not want to go.
• Two messengers brought Li Xin urgent news, and he told Xu Qingxiao that the Heir of Yongping wanted to meet him.
• Xu Qingxiao grew curious about the invitation and wondered whether the Heir of Yongping might be a commandery princess.