Chapter Summaries

Xu Qingxiao met Mu Nanping, the heir of Yongping, at the Moonwatch Tower and was introduced to Mu Nan'ning, the princess he had encountered in a dream. The chapter ended with Xu Qingxiao and Mu Nan'ning recognizing each other as the room fell silent.

• Xu Qingxiao agreed to meet the heir of Yongping, while Wang Ru went to Wenxuan Tower instead.
• Li Xin led Xu Qingxiao to the Moonwatch Tower, where Mu Nanping welcomed him and praised his scholarly achievements.
• Mu Nanping introduced the woman by the window as his younger sister and scolded her for ignoring their guests.
• Mu Nan'ning turned around, and Li Xin was stunned by her beauty while Xu Qingxiao recognized her from his dream.

Mu Nanping introduced Xu Qingxiao to Mu Nan'ning, who felt he was familiar despite his denial. After explaining the court’s major factions and their disputes, Mu Nanping left Xu Qingxiao with political advice, while Mu Nan'ning suddenly insisted she had remembered where she had seen him.

• Mu Nan'ning stared at Xu Qingxiao and asked whether they had met, but he denied it and praised her beauty as an explanation for his quick answer.
• Mu Nanping raised a toast to their supposed fated connection, then asked Xu Qingxiao about his plans after the prefectural examination.
• Mu Nanping sent Li Xin away and advised Xu Qingxiao to consider entering court, explaining the competing positions of the Duke Who Guards the Nation, Chen Zhengru, the Eastern Enlightenment Society, and Li Yanlong.
• Mu Nan'ning interrupted their discussion and said she had remembered that she and Xu Qingxiao had definitely met before.

Mu Nanning recognized Xu Qingxiao’s mannerisms from a dream and apologized after accusing him of appearing in it and seeing her body. As Xu Qingxiao learned about Great Wei’s four court factions and their conflict over a northern expedition, Mu Nanning invited him to Martial Prosperity Tower, but Mu Nanping redirected her to Wenxuan Tower.

• Mu Nanning said Xu Qingxiao reminded her of someone from her dream and claimed he had seen her body, angering Mu Nanping.
• Xu Qingxiao denied knowing the Dream-Entering Art and demanded to know whether the man in Mu Nanning’s dream had truly been him; she admitted he had looked different.
• Mu Nanping demanded that Mu Nanning apologize, and she offered Xu Qingxiao drinks as compensation.
• Mu Nanping described Great Wei’s military, scholarly, political, and economic factions to Xu Qingxiao, who recognized that their disputes centered on whether to launch a northern expedition.
• Mu Nanning invited Xu Qingxiao to Martial Prosperity Tower as an apology, but Mu Nanping told her to take him to Wenxuan Tower instead.

Xu Qingxiao accompanied Li Xin and the Yongping siblings to Wenxuan Tower, where his literary fame drew a crowd of admiring women. The visit ended with Xu Qingxiao arriving just as Wang Ru praised him as an upright scholar to the courtesans.

• Li Xin reminded Xu Qingxiao to attend a banquet for the new feng shui tower, and Mu Nanping warned Mu Nanning not to spread unsupported claims about Xu Qingxiao.
• Mu Nanping praised Xu Qingxiao's potential as a Confucian statesman and hoped he would spend more time with Mu Nanning.
• The group entered Wenxuan Tower, where Yu'er recognized Xu Qingxiao and a crowd of young women eagerly asked him to sign their booklets.
• Yu'er calmed the crowd and led the group toward Spring Breeze Tower while continuing to speak with Xu Qingxiao.
• Xu Qingxiao found Wang Ru telling the courtesans that he was an upright scholar who had refused to visit, and Wang Ru's hall reacted with surprise when Xu Wangu appeared.

Xu Qingxiao arrived at Wenxuan Tower, where scholars and courtesans eagerly welcomed him. When Mu Nanping failed to answer a courtesan’s question, he asked Xu Qingxiao to compose a poem instead, and Xu agreed as the crowd watched.

• Xu Qingxiao arrived at Wenxuan Tower, surprising Wang Ru and exciting the gathered scholars and courtesans.
• Li Xin calmed the crowd, while Xu Qingxiao tried to explain that he felt embarrassed by their praise.
• Mu Nan'ning asked Miss Yu'er how to enter a private chamber, and learned that visitors had to answer the courtesans’ poetic questions.
• Mu Nan'ning chose Miss Mingxin’s question, “What could soothe lovesick longing?”, and asked Mu Nanping to write a poem.
• After Mu Nanping failed to compose an answer, he passed the challenge to Xu Qingxiao, who agreed to try as everyone watched.

Xu Qingxiao impressed the scholars and courtesans of Wenxuan Pavilion with a lyric declaring that lovesickness had no cure, then asked Mu Nanping about the Embroidered Guard. After learning that the powerful organization had little influence at court and faced political retaliation, Xu Qingxiao became more eager to join it.

• Xu Qingxiao completed his mysterious medicine-based lyric, explaining that its impossible ingredients meant lovesickness had no cure, and the crowd praised his composition.
• A scholar recited a clumsy lyric of his own, while Mu Nanning asked whether the winning poem would earn entry to the courtesan's chamber.
• The courtesan invited Xu Qingxiao inside, but he asked her to entertain Mu Nanning first and left with Mu Nanping to discuss court affairs.
• Xu Qingxiao asked Mu Nanping about the Embroidered Guard and learned that it could investigate, arrest, and interrogate under the Empress's authority.
• Mu Nanping explained that the Embroidered Guard was politically isolated and risked retaliation from powerful officials, making Xu Qingxiao even more interested in joining it.

Xu Qingxiao read Wu Yan’s case file and discovered his connection to the White Robe Sect, whose members and associates faced execution. Realizing he could not safely avoid their contact, he devised a plan to pose as Wu Yan’s covert operative and use the sect to deal with Cheng Lidong, leaving to investigate before making contact.

• After Mu Nanping left, Li Xin brought Xu Qingxiao Wu Yan’s case file, and Xu Qingxiao suggested that Li Xin visit Cheng Lidong to obtain his hair.
• Xu Qingxiao climbed into his inn room and read the file, discovering that Wu Yan belonged to the White Robe Sect.
• Xu Qingxiao realized that avoiding Wu Yan’s contact could make the White Robe Sect suspect him, while informing the court would also bring danger.
• Xu Qingxiao rejected sending Cheng Lidong to meet the sect because Cheng Lidong might ally with them against him.
• Xu Qingxiao planned to pose as Wu Yan’s covert operative, give the White Robe Sect a copy of the booklet, and use them to eliminate Cheng Lidong.
• Xu Qingxiao decided to return to Ping'an County, investigate the situation, and then contact the White Robe Sect.

Xu Qingxiao left Southern Yu Prefecture for Ping'an County to investigate Wu Yan's booklet and the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art, while Cheng Lidong decided to pursue the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure by another means. In Great Wei's palace, the empress read Xu Qingxiao's peerless essay, the Great Wei Pacification Policy, and was astonished by its proposals for restoring the state.

• Xu Qingxiao stayed hidden at the inn before slipping out of Southern Yu Prefecture at midnight to return to Ping'an County and investigate the booklet Wu Yan had given him.
• Cheng Lidong watched Xu Qingxiao leave and, despite fearing the consequences of following him, resolved to keep pursuing the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure by a different approach.
• In Yangxin Hall, the empress received and read Xu Qingxiao's Great Wei Pacification Policy, which addressed the dynasty's crises and proposed a Great Wei Money House to fund development.
• The empress was particularly struck by the essay's plans for building roads, lending people's deposits to local administrations, and punishing officials or commoners who abused the system.
• The empress cried, "Good!" as a woman kneeling in Yangxin Hall looked on in astonishment.

After reading Xu Qingxiao’s Nation-Pacifying Strategy, the empress praised it but concealed its true purpose by declaring it an essay establishing a doctrine and sealing it away. Her decree protected Xu Qingxiao from court opposition while making his name stir scholars across Great Wei.

• The empress ordered Zhao Wan'er to seal Xu Qingxiao’s peerless essay in the Literary Palace and forbid anyone from reading it without permission.
• After briefly deciding to summon Xu Qingxiao and name him first in the prefectural examination, the empress changed course and said his essay established a doctrine, ordering it sealed and postponing his summons.
• The empress reasoned that implementing Xu Qingxiao’s Nation-Pacifying Strategy could provoke court factions and endanger him, so she disguised its practical impact as a scholarly doctrine.
• The great scholars in the Literary Palace debated how a new doctrine could exist alongside Sage Zhu’s teachings, but obeyed the decree and refrained from reading the essay.
• The imperial decree spread across Great Wei, and scholars circulated conflicting rumors about whether Xu Qingxiao had upheld Sage Zhu’s doctrine or established a new one.

Xu Qingxiao returned to Ping'an County and used his Dream-Entering Divine Ability to question County Magistrate Li about the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art. He concluded that Wu Yan had a hidden White Robe Sect contact in the county and, after reviewing recent events, identified a figure who might be the contact.

• Xu Qingxiao rode to Ping'an County and asked Zhou Ling to prepare materials and investigate Bright Moon Mountain.
• Xu Qingxiao entered County Magistrate Li's dream and learned that Zhang Ming had found the Unorthodox Art, which was later destroyed in a fire.
• Xu Qingxiao learned that the art appeared on the first day of the third month and Wu Yan arrived the next day, leading him to suspect a hidden White Robe Sect contact in Ping'an County.
• Xu Qingxiao reasoned that the contact and Wu Yan might not know each other's identities and planned to pose as a White Robe Sect disciple to gain information.
• After reviewing events in Ping'an County for an hour, Xu Qingxiao recognized a figure he suspected might be the contact.

Xu Qingxiao suspected Chief Constable Chen was a White Robe Sect sleeper agent and used the Dream-Entering Divine Ability to learn the sect’s password. After they exchanged the password at the inn, Chief Constable Chen followed Xu Qingxiao upstairs to talk privately.

• Xu Qingxiao left a White Robe Sect contact signal at the Ping'an Inn and waited for Chief Constable Chen to appear.
• Chief Constable Chen came to the inn and recited a password, but Xu Qingxiao did not know the response and let him leave without speaking.
• Xu Qingxiao entered Chief Constable Chen's dream and tricked him into revealing the password's response.
• Xu Qingxiao returned to the inn the next morning and exchanged the correct password with Chief Constable Chen.
• Xu Qingxiao went upstairs, and Chief Constable Chen followed him.

Xu Qingxiao met Chief Constable Chen, who mistook him for the White Robe Sect’s hidden lord and revealed that he had spent decades investigating the Martial Emperor’s lost treasure. Xu Qingxiao learned the likely clue to its location and opening, then left Chen copying the sect’s rules while considering the treasure’s connection to two opposing Unorthodox Arts.

• Xu Qingxiao removed his hat, and Chief Constable Chen recognized him before concluding that he was the White Robe Sect’s hidden lord.
• Chief Constable Chen revealed that he believed Xu Qingxiao had summoned him to discuss the Martial Emperor’s lost treasure.
• Xu Qingxiao learned that Chen suspected Autumn-Gazing Mountain was the Bright Moon Mountain mentioned in the treasure clue.
• Xu Qingxiao reproached Chen for delaying contact with Wu Yan, then ordered him to copy the sect’s rules as punishment.
• Xu Qingxiao inferred that the treasure’s yin-and-yang clue meant its key required practicing two Unorthodox Arts simultaneously.

Xu Qingxiao weighed whether to cultivate the Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art for the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure, but chose to advance to the ninth rank first. With Zhaoge's help, he endured the Golden Crow's murderous intent and forged the great sun sacred body, leaving him vastly stronger and surrounded by internal qi.

• Xu Qingxiao read the White Robe Sect's rules and ranks, then considered forging a sect master's token to bluff his way past its members.
• Xu Qingxiao decided to postpone seeking the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure and advance to the ninth rank before departing for Southern Yu Prefecture.
• Xu Qingxiao met Zhaoge in the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace, and Zhaoge told him to let the Golden Crow's murderous intent grow before suppressing it.
• Xu Qingxiao released the Golden Crow's murderous intent, nearly lost control, and then used the Golden Crow Body Tempering Art and Righteous Haoran Qi as Zhaoge pinned the Golden Crow down.
• Xu Qingxiao absorbed the Golden Crow Divinity and forged the great sun sacred body, gaining internal qi and a dramatic increase in strength.

Xu Qingxiao forged the great sun sacred body, tested his strength in the Martial Gate, and learned the Golden Crow demonic seed could recover and advance within half a year. Meanwhile, scholars from Bright Dawn Academy arrived in Southern Yu Prefecture to challenge his thesis, and their dispute escalated when they summoned a Sixth Rank Orthodox Confucian.

• Xu Qingxiao tested himself against the Spirit-Testing Pillar, endured an hour of attacks, and received an assessment of grade A strength, physique, and speed but rudimentary martial techniques and awareness.
• Zhaoge told Xu Qingxiao to examine the Demon and Monster Compendium, where he discovered the Golden Crow would recover in half a year and advance to the Seventh Rank; Xu Qingxiao then received its Golden Crow True Flame and Golden Crow Dragon-Slaying Divine Abilities.
• Xu Qingxiao worried that he might not reach the Seventh Rank in time, and Zhaoge promised to consider how the Literary Palace could deal with the demonic seed.
• Scholars from Bright Dawn Academy traveled to Southern Yu Prefecture to ask whether Xu Qingxiao's Thesis Article continued a sage's ideas or established a new one, but they could not find him.
• Rumors that Xu Qingxiao looked down on Bright Dawn Academy enraged its scholars, who invited a Sixth Rank Orthodox Confucian to Southern Yu Prefecture.

Xu Qingxiao mastered the Golden Crow Dragon-Slaying Divine Ability and advanced to the ninth-rank Meridian Condensation Realm by using the Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art. After visiting Zhou Ling and learning that Bright Moon Mountain was Autumn-Gazing Mountain, he set out to find the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure.

• Wan Anguo rebuked Bright Dawn Academy's students for resenting Xu Qingxiao and planned to question him about his Thesis Article at the Southern Yu Prefecture banquet.
• Xu Qingxiao comprehended the Golden Crow Dragon-Slaying Divine Ability and chose to advance through an unorthodox art to claim the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure.
• Zhaoge derived the complete Taiyin Meridian Condensation Art, and Xu Qingxiao used it to form a qi vein and enter the ninth rank as the Heaven and Earth Literary Palace suppressed the Flood Dragon Demonic Seed.
• Xu Qingxiao learned from the Demon and Monster Compendium that the Taiyin Flood Dragon would reach seventh rank in six months, then traveled to visit Zhou Ling.
• Xu Qingxiao told Zhou Ling that Bright Moon Mountain was Autumn-Gazing Mountain, bid him farewell, and headed there to seek the Martial Emperor's Legacy Treasure.

Xu Qingxiao entered the Martial Emperor’s legacy treasure and discovered that the Pill Deity Ancient Scripture was a sentient Immortal Dao Pill Furnace. After learning the Martial Emperor had a hidden son, Xu Qingxiao planted a false account on the altar wall to manipulate the White Robe Sect and left for Southern Yu Prefecture.

• Xu Qingxiao waited on Autumn-Gazing Mountain for the White Robe Sect’s second hidden agent, then opened the secret realm and was knocked unconscious by its entrance.
• Xu Qingxiao found a chest and learned from the parchment that the treasure was the Pill Deity Ancient Scripture, which could provide pill formulas and refine pills.
• The Pill Deity Ancient Scripture revealed that it was a sentient Pill Furnace, explained that it could refine pills using ten equivalent sets of ingredients, and asked Xu Qingxiao to wait four hours for a personal Realm-Breaking Pill assessment.
• Xu Qingxiao learned that the Female Emperor was not the Martial Emperor’s only child and carved a fabricated account onto the stone wall, presenting himself as the hidden prince’s protector and heir.
• Xu Qingxiao left the secret realm at dawn and headed for Southern Yu Prefecture.

Xu Qingxiao returned to Southern Yu Prefecture, learned that Bright Dawn Academy had come to challenge him over his essay, and visited Li Xin to learn what had happened. After reading the court’s imperial edict, Xu Qingxiao frowned at how it described his work.

• The Pill Deity told Xu Qingxiao that advancing from the ninth rank with the Great Sun Sacred Body required four rare ingredients for a Realm-Breaking Pill, and Xu Qingxiao asked whether an Unorthodox Art could reach the first rank without its calamity.
• Xu Qingxiao asked whether the Pill Deity could make colorless, odorless poison, and the Pill Deity agreed in exchange for another portion of ingredients.
• Xu Qingxiao reached Southern Yu Prefecture and reunited with Yang Bao, who told him that Bright Dawn Academy’s scholars had arrived and that the court had issued an imperial edict praising his essay.
• Xu Qingxiao went to the Li Residence, where the guards feared that Bright Dawn Academy had harmed him, but he assured them he had come to see Li Xin.
• Li Xin explained that Bright Dawn Academy wanted to discuss Xu Qingxiao’s essay and that its old headmaster, a Sixth-Rank Orthodox Confucian, wanted to ask him about it.
• Li Xin showed Xu Qingxiao a rubbing of the imperial edict, and Xu Qingxiao frowned after reading it.

Xu Qingxiao realized the emperor’s decree was meant to shield him from court factions, then a rumor that Bright Dawn Academy’s students had beaten him sparked a violent clash in Southern Yu Prefecture. After learning that several people faced prison and his letter had not settled matters, he set out with Li Xin to apologize in person.

• Xu Qingxiao concluded that the emperor had labeled his development article a thesis to protect him, and resolved not to discuss establishing a thesis until he gained power and standing.
• Xu Qingxiao accepted Li Xin’s offer to stay at his home, then learned that constables and locals had attacked Bright Dawn Academy’s students after rumors spread that they had beaten him.
• Xu Qingxiao wrote to Bright Dawn Academy’s old headmaster Wan Anguo to explain and apologize, and asked Li Xin to urge the Prefectural Lord to spare the constables if possible.
• Li Xin returned at midnight and reported that twelve students had been injured and twenty people arrested, while Wan Anguo had accepted Xu Qingxiao’s letter without responding.
• Xu Qingxiao decided to visit Bright Dawn Academy and apologize in person, and Li Xin agreed to accompany him.

Xu Qingxiao tried to apologize to Wan Anguo and negotiate a peaceful settlement after Bright Dawn Academy students were beaten, but Wan Anguo refused to meet him and warned him to stay out of the matter. Xu Qingxiao left to visit Yang Bao, Yang Hu, and the others in prison, while the conflict threatened to escalate.

• Wan Anguo rebuked Bright Dawn Academy students for blaming Xu Qingxiao, but vowed to pursue justice for their beating under Great Wei law.
• Xu Qingxiao and Li Xin arrived at Wan Anguo's residence to apologize and seek a peaceful settlement, but Wan Anguo's students rejected the offer.
• Wan Anguo refused to meet Xu Qingxiao and warned that intervening in the case could damage his official career.
• Xu Qingxiao left the residence with Li Xin and asked to visit Yang Bao, Yang Hu, and the others in prison.

Xu Qingxiao visited the imprisoned men who had fought scholars on his behalf and promised to help them, despite Li Xin urging him to stay out of the affair. At the Li Residence, Li Guangxin warned that the men might face lifelong hard labor in exile and that every participant would be investigated.

• Xu Qingxiao and Li Xin visited the imprisoned men, where Yang Bao and Yang Hu said they would accept punishment rather than burden Xu Qingxiao.
• Li Xin explained that the men could face ten years in prison or exile, and Xu Qingxiao urged them to show humility and follow his advice.
• Li Xin warned Xu Qingxiao that the affair had become a serious matter involving the literati, but Xu Qingxiao said he would help because the men had stood up for him.
• At the Li Residence, Xu Qingxiao asked Li Guangxin whether the matter could be settled amicably.
• Li Guangxin warned Xu Qingxiao to stop intervening, saying the men could be exiled for life to hard labor and every participant would be investigated.