Chapter Summaries

Fan Dazhi fought Jin Caiyun in the arena, countering her Water-Fire Soul-Destroying Formation before she trapped him with the Soul-Seizing Art. A phantom black cat broke the illusion, leaving Jin Caiyun badly injured by the backlash as Fan Dazhi asked if she was all right.

• Jin Caiyun bound Fan Dazhi with liquor-soaked silver threads and ignited them with ghostly flames, but Fan Dazhi used the Dui Trigram to extinguish the formation and affect her with his smile.
• Jin Caiyun enveloped Fan Dazhi in mist and used her Soul-Seizing Art to draw him into an illusion of famine, hunger, and tempting food.
• Jin Caiyun's illusion urged Fan Dazhi to kneel and admit defeat, but a gigantic phantom black cat appeared and interrupted her technique.
• Fan Dazhi returned to the arena and saw Jin Caiyun collapse after the backlash injured her mind and spirit.
• Fan Dazhi asked Jin Caiyun whether she was all right as she coughed blood.

The Knowledge and Practice Institute’s selection tournament ended with He An, Fan Dazhi, Gu Qingzhou, Feng Chun, and Qiu Fengqi victorious, and He An gave his Spirit-Returning Pill to Han Chanjuan. In Luoyang, Emperor Chen ordered Tong Huan to accelerate canal construction and implied that the Imperial Preceptor would no longer be allowed to interfere.

• Fan Dazhi won his match after Jin Caiyun fell from the platform, and Gu Qingzhou defeated Li Chengfang with the Golden Plume Sword.
• Qiu Fengqi won the final pairing, and the tournament’s five victors each received a Spirit-Returning Pill.
• He An gave his pill to Han Chanjuan, and they shared an affectionate meal together.
• Emperor Chen told Tong Huan to press ahead with canal excavation and waterway dredging despite officials’ objections.
• Emperor Chen said the Imperial Preceptor would be allowed to rest from now on, leaving Tong Huan chilled by the implication.

Emperor Chen revealed his plan to abolish the academies and establish Imperial Examinations, while Bi Yunfei tried to gain cultivation talent by taking Fan Dazhi’s Spirit-Returning Pill. The pill failed to awaken his talent, and the chapter ended with Bi Yunfei approaching He An to ask a favor.

• Emperor Chen told Tong Huan that he would merge the Knowledge and Practice Institute with Dragon Gate Academy if it lost the Qingming tournament, then abolish the academies and establish Imperial Examinations.
• Bi Yunfei treated Fan Dazhi to roast lamb and persuaded him to give up his Spirit-Returning Pill.
• Bi Yunfei swallowed the pill, experienced sharper senses and a stronger body, but remained unable to sense Heaven and Earth Primordial Energy.
• Bi Yunfei retested his cultivation talent and found that he still could not cultivate, leaving him furious and despairing.
• Bi Yunfei waited for He An, then approached him as he walked with Han Chanjuan and said he had a favor to ask.

Bi Yunfei failed to cultivate after taking Gu Qingzhou’s Spirit-Returning Pill and grew bitter toward He An. A message promising him another pill brought him to the Gathered Worthies Pavilion, where he was summoned inside.

• Bi Yunfei asked He An for a Spirit-Returning Pill, but He An said he had given his pill to Han Chanjuan; she later offered Bi Yunfei her pill, which He An refused to take back.
• Bi Yunfei visited Gu Qingzhou, who gave him the Spirit-Returning Pill he had brought back after Ding Wenruo rejected it.
• Bi Yunfei swallowed the pill, waited seven days without sensing primordial energy, and blamed He An for his failure to cultivate.
• Cui Mengshu told Bi Yunfei that someone wanted to meet him at the Gathered Worthies Pavilion and was offering him a Spirit-Returning Pill.
• Bi Yunfei arrived at the Grand View Tower that night and knocked on the pavilion door after hearing someone invite him in.

Cui Zhixia tried to recruit Bi Yunfei by offering him Spirit-Returning Pills and a promising government career, while secretly discussing the coming Qingming tournament with his father. Bi Yunfei accepted the pills and Cui Zhixia’s hospitality, and Cui Zhixia and Cui Yizhong ended the chapter confident that Dragon Gate Academy would defeat the Knowledge and Practice Institute.

• Cui Zhixia invited Bi Yunfei to the Grand View Tower and offered him five Spirit-Returning Pills to help him cultivate.
• Cui Zhixia promised Bi Yunfei a path to high office through the Cui Family and left him to consider the offer with two singing girls.
• Bi Yunfei swallowed one Spirit-Returning Pill, hid the others, and drank with the women despite their earlier disdain for him.
• Cui Yizhong warned Cui Zhixia not to underestimate the Qingming tournament between Dragon Gate Academy and the Knowledge and Practice Institute.
• Cui Zhixia burned a secret report and told Cui Yizhong that the Institute’s candidates were weak, prompting father and son to laugh at Gu Qingzhou and the Institute.

Cui Zhixia and Cui Yizhong plotted to cripple Gu Qingzhou and secure the Dragon Gate Academy’s victory in the Qingming Tournament, while assessing the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s selected fighters. At the institute, Cheng Zi Ya tried to teach Fan Dazhi to fight, and Wei Zhilin revealed his mastery of calligraphy as he copied the Record of Knowledge and Practice.

• Cui Zhixia proposed using the tournament rules to cripple Gu Qingzhou, and Cui Yizhong warned him not to risk killing a duke.
• Cui Zhixia assessed He An, Qiu Fengqi, Feng Chun, and Fan Dazhi, deciding He An was the Dragon Gate Academy’s greatest concern and that winning the tournament could lead to the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s collapse.
• Cheng Zi Ya questioned Fan Dazhi about fighting, then ordered him to punch his abdomen; Fan Dazhi’s weak blows frustrated him.
• Cheng Zi Ya had He An demonstrate a powerful punch, which shook the ground and impressed him.
• Wei Zhilin copied the Record of Knowledge and Practice and displayed his extraordinary skill in cursive calligraphy.

Wei Zhilin and Cheng Zi Ya discussed Fan Dazhi’s hidden abilities and the approaching Qingming Tournament, while Wei worried about the Dragon Gate Academy’s threats. That evening, Ding Wenruo received a rain parcel and a love letter signed by Gu Qingzhou, leaving her sorrowful.

• Wei Zhilin received a confidential letter as Cheng Zi Ya complained that Fan Dazhi and the other trainees were unprepared for the Qingming Tournament.
• Wei Zhilin argued that Fan Dazhi’s victories despite his low cultivation and his powerful divine sense showed he had unusual abilities.
• Wei Zhilin reviewed the Dragon Gate Academy’s selected disciples and warned that He An and the others needed protection from possible attacks.
• Ding Wenruo brooded over He An’s empty seat while Han Chanjuan appeared lost in thought during the rainy evening.
• A steward delivered Ding Wenruo rain gear, pastries, and a letter in which Gu Qingzhou confessed his longing for her.

The Knowledge and Practice Institute and Dragon Gate Academy began their martial contest before Emperor Chen and a vast crowd in Luoyang. After the first match was drawn, Qiu Fengqi stepped onto the platform to face Hong Shan.

• The court prepared Luoyang and the Ministry of War Drill Ground for the tournament, which Emperor Chen attended in person.
• A junior eunuch announced that the contest would be decided by the best of three matches, with a royal plaque and one hundred thousand taels of silver for the victor.
• Wei Zhilin and Cui Taichu drew lots for the first match, and Liu Daxia misread Hong Shan's name as Three Joined Mountains, provoking laughter and an argument with Qin Lie.
• Emperor Chen stopped Liu Daxia and Qin Lie from fighting and ordered the contest to continue.
• Zhantai Ming announced Hong Shan against Qiu Fengqi, and Qiu Fengqi walked onto the fighting platform.

Qiu Fengqi fought Hong Shan in a fierce sword match, revealing the power of the True Martial Scripture and Phoenix Dances Across the Nine Heavens against Hong Shan’s Tide-Watching and Rain-Listening Sword Arts. The battle continued at full intensity, while the onlookers debated the stakes and Wei Zhilin admitted victory would be difficult.

• Qiu Fengqi and Hong Shan exchanged rapid sword strikes, and the arena’s stone pillars raised a barrier to contain their clashing energy.
• Hong Shan unleashed the Tide-Watching Sword Art, but Qiu Fengqi countered with a forceful attack that nearly struck Hong Shan in the face.
• Hong Shan’s sword sent Qiu Fengqi flying, but Qiu Fengqi recalled his Iron Sword with its chain and stood his ground.
• Hong Shan used the Rain-Listening Sword Art to turn raindrops into cutting blades and wounded Qiu Fengqi.
• Qiu Fengqi summoned a true martial battle soul and unleashed Phoenix Dances Across the Nine Heavens, filling the arena with flames as Hong Shan disappeared amid countless sword-like rain strands.
• Xin Wuming and Cui Taichu discussed the fighters, while Cheng Zi Ya worried about the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s chances and Wei Zhilin said victory would be difficult.

Hong Shan defeated Qiu Fengqi in the first round with a concealed prosthetic arm and a hidden blade, giving Dragon Gate Academy the lead over the Knowledge and Practice Institute. After the academies exchanged lots for the second round, Ke An was matched against Li Feixing.

• Hong Shan used a prosthetic arm to deceive Qiu Fengqi, then stabbed him with a small sword and won the first round.
• He An, Gu Qingzhou, Han Chanjuan, and the other students treated Qiu Fengqi's wounds as the crowd reacted to Dragon Gate Academy's victory.
• The ministers argued over the result, while Wei Zhilin explained Hong Shan's Rain-Watching Sword Intent and trick to Cheng Zi Ya.
• Cui Taichu proposed exchanging the academies' vases, and Emperor Chen approved the idea.
• Cui Taichu's first three selected lots crumbled into powder, so he drew the remaining lot as Wei Zhilin's selections were also submitted.
• Liu Daxia announced that Ke An would face Li Feixing in the second round.

He An defeated Li Feixing in their drawn match, overcoming his freezing techniques and discovering a clue to the Immortal-Slaying Finger. He left Li Feixing grievously wounded and revealed that his blade strike was payback for Qiu Fengqi.

• He An fought Li Feixing, using the Cloud-Riding Hand and Graceful Swan Swordsmanship to withstand his saber attacks while wounding him with spiraling true qi.
• Li Feixing unleashed a wave of saber energy, but He An countered with the Primal Unity Ruyi Art, caught the blade, and broke it before striking Li Feixing's face.
• Li Feixing used the Profound Yin Ultimate Way and Ice Baleful Energy Needles to freeze He An, who shattered the frost and glimpsed how to advance the Immortal-Slaying Finger past the Heavenly Well Acupoint.
• He An tore apart Li Feixing's robe, drew a broken saber blade to himself, and stabbed Li Feixing in the left chest before kicking him down.
• He An told Li Feixing that the blade strike was payback for Qiu Fengqi.

The Knowledge and Practice Institute and Dragon Gate Academy prepared for their decisive third match after He An’s victory, while Cheng Zi Ya humiliated Xin Wuming. Wei Zhilin chose the sleeping Fan Dazhi to face Cui Zhixia, and their match began with Fan protesting that he had no weapon.

• Pang Longcheng stopped the students and townsfolk from brawling by surrounding them with Feathered Forest Guard soldiers.
• Cheng Zi Ya overpowered Xin Wuming in a handshake and left with Wei Zhilin, while Cui Taichu urged Xin to wait until their side won the contest.
• Zhantai Ming announced that each academy had to choose an eligible disciple for the final match, and Cui Zhixia challenged the Knowledge and Practice Institute.
• Wei Zhilin secretly ordered Feng Shaotang to send Fan Dazhi, who was asleep and had to be carried and shoved onto the platform.
• Cui Zhixia began attacking Fan Dazhi with his sword, and Fan dodged before demanding that the match stop because he was unarmed.

Fan Dazhi used hidden weapons, an unusual body-protection technique, and comic distractions to withstand Cui Zhixia’s sword talisman attacks and turn the duel around. Cui Zhixia, wounded and enraged, charged at Fan Dazhi with overwhelming force.

• Fan Dazhi scattered iron caltrops and horse-stopping spikes, but Cui Zhixia swept them aside with his sword and qi.
• Cui Zhixia revealed his sword talisman way and attacked Fan Dazhi with black talisman lines, but Fan Dazhi’s golden runes protected him from harm.
• Fan Dazhi stalled Cui Zhixia with a fart, then used fireballs and a palm over Cui Zhixia’s mouth to disorient him.
• Cui Zhixia discovered a horse-stopping spike embedded in his foot and pulled it out, leaving his foot bleeding.
• Cui Zhixia surged toward Fan Dazhi in a rage.

Fan Dazhi defeated Cui Zhixia in the decisive match, securing the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s victory over the Dragon Gate Academy. Emperor Chen retaliated against the Cui Family, while Fan Dazhi became a celebrated hero at the institute.

• Fan Dazhi endured Cui Zhixia’s attacks, then used strange techniques to knock him unconscious and win the third match.
• Zhantai Ming announced the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s victory, and its students celebrated as Cui Zhixia was carried away.
• Zhao Qin reported the tournament result to Emperor Chen, who elevated Lady Wang to Noble Consort and cut the Cui Family’s imperial merchant business share by seventy percent.
• Old Patriarch Cui fainted after receiving the imperial decree, plunging the Cui Family into fear and chaos.
• The Knowledge and Practice Institute students praised and fêted Fan Dazhi, while Zhuge Guagua and Mei Chuxi eagerly sought to become his disciples.
• Fan Dazhi basked in the attention and began to feel increasingly pleased with himself.

Cui Zhixia predicted that Emperor Chen would move against the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s faction and urged Cui Yizhong to investigate its officials, while suggesting the family could provoke Western Liang if their influence waned. Western Liang then invaded Lanzhou in force, prompting Emperor Chen to dispatch Cui Canyun and Liu Ben with two hundred thousand troops.

• Cui Zhixia lamented his defeat by Fan Dazhi, and Cui Yizhong promised to arrange revenge.
• Cui Zhixia explained that Emperor Chen might target the Knowledge and Practice Institute’s officials and predicted Cui Yizhong could become prime minister.
• Cui Yizhong agreed to secretly gather evidence against the faction’s officials and considered contacting Prince Kan Cheng if the emperor turned away from the Cui Family.
• Fang Yizhi, wounded at the front in Yongdeng County, detected approaching cavalry and sounded the alarm as Western Liang raided the border.
• An express dispatch announced that fifty thousand Western Liang Cavalry led an army of two hundred and fifty thousand toward Lanzhou.
• Emperor Chen appointed Cui Canyun commander-in-chief and Liu Ben deputy commander, sending them with two hundred thousand troops to reinforce Lanzhou.

Fang Yizhi and Ruan Dashui defended Yongdeng County against a fierce Western Liang siege, but the defenders suffered heavy losses and Fang was injured by a mysterious attacker. Mo Tailai identified the attacker’s strange power as Blazing Yang True Qi, linked to the long-dead Yang-Stealing True Lord, while Fang feared Yongdeng would fall if the enemy attacked again.

• Fang Yizhi and Ruan Dashui watched Western Liang deploy heavy siege engines and formations of catapults, bed crossbows, and cavalry against Yongdeng.
• Ruan Dashui organized the defenders as Western Liang launched a bloody assault, and Great Chen troops fought back with arrows and boiling oil.
• Fang Yizhi confronted a lean, dark-skinned Western Liang soldier, whose strange energy injured him before Ruan Dashui and nearby soldiers forced the attacker to retreat.
• After Western Liang withdrew, Fang Yizhi told Ruan Dashui that Yongdeng might not withstand another attack, and Ruan sent him to Mo Tailai for treatment.
• Mo Tailai recognized the energy in Fang Yizhi’s arm as Blazing Yang True Qi and explained that it belonged to the Yang-Stealing True Lord, a notorious expert slain a century earlier.

Fang Yizhi evacuated Yongdeng’s civilians while Mo Tailai and Ruan Dashui stayed to defend the city against the Western Liang Army. After Yongdeng fell, Ruan Dashui was mortally wounded, and he asked Mo Tailai for fish as he died.

• Mo Tailai ordered Fang Yizhi to escort the elderly, children, women, and infirm to Lanzhou with five hundred elite soldiers, and Fang Yizhi obeyed.
• Mo Tailai and Ruan Dashui prepared to defend Yongdeng as the Western Liang Army attacked, and Ruan Dashui declared he would fight to the end.
• Kan Cheng praised Han Zhan’s father after Western Liang forces captured Yongdeng, then ordered Tie Tuo'er to intercept the civilians heading toward Lanzhou.
• Li Tingli was struck by an arrow while organizing the city’s defense, and Mo Tailai fought Western Liang soldiers and their experts on the walls.
• Western Liang troops used talismans, smoke, and siege crossbows to ambush Mo Tailai and Ruan Dashui, and two javelins pierced Ruan Dashui’s chest.
• Mo Tailai caught the dying Ruan Dashui, who recalled their childhood fishing and asked to eat fish.

Mo Tailai fought to avenge Ruan Dashui at Yongdeng City, then detonated his dan foundation as the city fell to Western Liang. Later, Fang Yizhi prepared Dragon Pool Ravine to defend fleeing civilians as Western Liang cavalry approached.

• Mo Tailai remembered his life with Ruan Dashui, laid his dead friend down, and vowed to kill the Western Liang soldiers surrounding them.
• Mo Tailai slaughtered scores of Western Liang soldiers before hidden experts wounded him and a dark, wiry soldier struck him with a throwing knife.
• Mo Tailai detonated his dan foundation, killing nearby Western Liang experts and blasting hundreds of soldiers as Yongdeng City fell on the third day of the fourth month.
• Fang Yizhi spotted the pursuing Western Liang forces and ordered the Iron Guard Squad to escort the civilians while the other soldiers prepared to defend Dragon Pool Ravine.
• Fang Yizhi poisoned the stream, positioned rocks, and set small flags in the ravine before the Western Liang cavalry charged toward his troops.

Fang Yizhi’s small force used Dragon Pool Ravine’s defenses and Mother-and-Child Thunderclap Bombs to inflict heavy losses on Dituo’er’s pursuing Western Liang cavalry while escorting civilians to safety. The Western Liang riders followed the surviving Great Chen soldiers into a misty forest, where a distant scream halted their advance.

• Dituo’er led five thousand Western Liang cavalry against Fang Yizhi’s few hundred soldiers, who held their position behind barricades and trenches while the Iron Guard Squad escorted the civilians away.
• Fang Yizhi’s soldiers fired volleys of arrows and then threw Mother-and-Child Thunderclap Bombs, killing or wounding hundreds of Western Liang riders and horses.
• Dituo’er ordered his troops to flank the Great Chen position and capture its supposed Knowledge and Practice Institute expert, but Fang Yizhi’s soldiers withdrew into the forest.
• Wounded riders and horses went berserk in the shallows, attacking one another and causing further chaos as Dituo’er’s forces tried to pursue the Great Chen troops.
• Dituo’er’s cavalry dismounted and split into two groups to search the misty forest, where a piercing scream made them tighten their formation.

Fang Yizhi’s ambushes trapped the Western Liang cavalry in the forest, first making two forces fight each other before driving the survivors into a venomous wilderness. Dituo’er ordered a retreat as snakes and giant spiders attacked the army, while unseen threats stirred in the darkness.

• Hanisha’s cavalry turned back after discovering their comrades were being killed by hidden Great Chen soldiers, then fought Fang Yizhi and his scouts on the narrow road.
• Fang Yizhi covered his men’s withdrawal with Mother-and-Child Thunderclap Bombs and escaped as Hanisha’s troops advanced into the dark.
• Hanisha mistook Dituo’er’s approaching Western Liang force for Great Chen ambushers, and the two armies fought each other until they recognized their own men.
• Dituo’er combined the battered survivors and continued the pursuit through thickening mist, where venomous snakes and fist-sized spiders attacked the cavalrymen.
• Dituo’er shouted for the army to retreat as strange sounds, beating wings, and hisses rose from the darkness.