Chapter Summaries

Li Ping'an traveled with the troops, gained insight into opening the heavenly drum, and protected Datou from Old Wolf. As the army approached the front, Li Ping'an felt his breakthrough was near.

• Li Ping'an traveled with the troops for over a month, keeping records and gaining a junior commander's position while seeking insight.
• Old Wolf bullied Datou and took the keepsake his mother had left him, so Li Ping'an told Old Wolf to return it.
• Old Wolf challenged Li Ping'an to fight with real weapons, but Li Ping'an disarmed him and struck his ankle with a bamboo pole.
• Old Wolf returned Datou's keepsake and stopped troubling him and Li Ping'an.
• Li Ping'an continued seeking insight and felt that opening the heavenly drum was close, while Old Ox said the troops were a little over a month from the front.

After half a month of secluded cultivation buried underground, Li Ping'an returned to camp and took charge of the growing work of burying battlefield dead. As he settled back into army life, a distant explosion suggested cultivators had joined the battle.

• Li Ping'an cultivated underground for half a month and raised his Heavenly Drum progress to 10%.
• Old Ox and Li Ping'an returned to camp, where Datou was surprised to find Li Ping'an alive.
• As the fighting intensified, Li Ping'an organized several soldiers to collect and bury the growing number of corpses.
• Li Ping'an earned the soldiers' respect by keeping their work orderly and cooking meals with meat and seasonings from Old Ox's pocket.
• Datou asked Li Ping'an what the Jianghu was, and Li Ping'an offered a reflection before returning to his notebook.
• A rumble sounded from the distant battlefield, and Li Ping'an suspected cultivators had joined the fighting.

Li Ping'an learned campcraft and kept his ragtag army entertained while the fighting intensified around Wildman Slope. When winter came, his army joined two others in an ambush on an enemy supply route, and Li Ping'an charged into his first battle with Datou beside him.

• Li Ping'an watched reinforcements arrive and learned how to set up and defend a camp at Wildman Slope.
• Li Ping'an cooked flavorful meals and found games to entertain his fellow soldiers as the fighting grew more intense.
• Li Ping'an ran out of tea as winter arrived, then received orders to join a surprise attack on the enemy supply route.
• Li Ping'an reassured Datou and led Old Ox on the five-day march to the ambush site alongside two other armies.
• Li Ping'an told Datou to stay close as the enemy force arrived, and their rank charged into battle amid cannon fire and hail.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox survived a disastrous Great Sui ambush by killing the Great Yu cavalry commander and looting his belongings. Back in a cave, Li Ping'an learned that poison he had planted on the commander’s severed head might have struck another target.

• Great Yu’s Black-Armored Cavalry charged the scattered Great Sui troops and slaughtered many of them.
• Li Ping'an slipped through the battlefield and beheaded the tall cavalry commander, then escaped with Old Ox, who carried away the corpse.
• The battered Great Sui survivors regrouped in a cave, where Li Ping'an brewed tea from cakes looted from the dead commander and shared it with them.
• One-Eye examined his younger brother’s corpse, realized the blood on it was poisoned, and called for help.
• Li Ping'an wondered whether the poison had taken effect, and Old Ox praised his sneaky plan.

Li Ping'an sent Datou and the other soldiers toward camp while staying behind at a ruined temple to face One-Eye and his four companions. He revealed his strength by clashing with One-Eye, and their fight continued.

• Li Ping'an led a small group of Great Sui soldiers through the blizzard to a secluded ruined temple, where they warmed themselves and rested.
• One-Eye and four Red Swords tracked Li Ping'an to the temple, while Li Ping'an sensed their approach.
• Li Ping'an woke Datou and the others, gave them Old Ox's map and food, and told them to escape while he stayed behind.
• One-Eye and his companions let the soldiers flee, then entered the temple and confronted Li Ping'an.
• Li Ping'an struck One-Eye with a thunderous punch, and the two exchanged blows without either yielding.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox escaped One-Eye's forces, only to become lost behind enemy lines in Great Yu and repeatedly stumble into military camps. Their misadventures led Great Yu to believe a contingent of Great Sui Ambush Troops was operating in the area.

• Li Ping'an used the White Jade Capital to smash through One-Eye and four swordsmen, then fled with Old Ox as reinforcements arrived.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox hid in a cave on Great Yu territory, where they met a black bear who was Xiong Da's younger brother and shared his food.
• Li Ping'an cultivated overnight while Old Ox studied a map, and they set out west to escape.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox returned after accidentally reaching an enemy base, then tried another route through a Great Yu camp's formation and triggered its alarm.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox kept fleeing through Great Yu camps, and reports spread that Great Sui Ambush Troops were active behind enemy lines.

As enemies searched the mountains, Li Ping'an and Old Ox fled and ambushed two pursuers on a snowy night. They escaped the reinforcements, but a magic treasure reached Li Ping'an as Old Ox carried him into the forest.

• Black Bear studied the Nirvana Sutra that Li Ping'an had taught him while Li Ping'an remembered how Changqing's instruction had helped him suppress the Sharira's energy.
• Li Ping'an sensed enemy spiritual perceptions searching the mountains and hurried out with Old Ox, leaving Black Bear behind.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox ambushed two men on the mountainside, killing the tall, thin man and severely wounding the old man.
• Old Ox warned Li Ping'an that reinforcements were coming, and Li Ping'an escaped with him down the mountain as enemies pursued them.
• An enemy hurled a magic treasure at Li Ping'an, and two round beads reached within inches of his face.

Li Ping'an and Old Ox escaped a massive search and stumbled into an enemy Spirit Stone mine, where they tried to infiltrate it. Jing Yu also entered the mine on a mission and was exposed after Li Ping'an gave him a bogus password.

• Li Ping'an and Old Ox fled through a day of fighting, rested in an abandoned village, and healed and ate while a search force expanded to twenty thousand people.
• Liu Yun learned that Great Yu was searching the mountains and sent Jing Yu and Huailu Academy disciples to destroy an enemy Spirit Stone mine.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox emerged near the Xieshan Spirit Mine, confirmed they were in Great Sui territory, and decided to infiltrate the mine.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox broke through the mine's formation, knocked out a Great Yu soldier, and took his uniform so Li Ping'an could gather information.
• Jing Yu approached disguised Li Ping'an and demanded the password, and Li Ping'an gave a ridiculous phrase that Jing Yu mistakenly accepted as correct.
• A patrol challenged Jing Yu, who repeated Li Ping'an's phrase and was declared a spy, then stared at Li Ping'an in confusion.

Jing Yu’s attempt to scout the Xieshan Spirit Mine ended in injury after he was given a false password, and he learned someone else had already destroyed the mine. Three months later, Li Ping'an traveled through the forest with Old Ox, satisfied that his raid had contributed to his country.

• Jing Yu was exposed while scouting, fought his way out, and fled from a large force of cultivators and martial artists.
• Three days later, Aliya told the injured Jing Yu that an unknown attacker had destroyed the Xieshan Spirit Mine and completed his mission.
• Jing Yu blamed the person who gave him the false password and the person who stole his mission, then wrote Li Ping'an an angry letter.
• Three months later, Li Ping'an rode Old Ox through a distant forest and reflected that destroying the spirit mine had made his battlefield trip worthwhile.

Li Ping'an reached Great Yu’s Capital City by mistake and settled in to observe the city while cultivating. Years later, news of Great Sui’s victory at the Battle of Guihua prompted him to reflect that the skies were about to change, and he set out with Old Ox to meet someone.

• Li Ping'an cultivated on Old Ox’s bamboo raft until his Turtle Breath Technique reached a new realm.
• Li Ping'an learned that Old Ox had brought him to Great Yu’s Capital City, chased the ox with a stool, then decided to stay and explore.
• Li Ping'an lived in the Capital City for years and recorded his arrival in his travel notebook as an intentional infiltration of the enemy camp.
• Great Sui defeated Great Yu at the Battle of Guihua after a vast, seven-day battle commanded by Empress Liu Yun.
• Li Ping'an recalled Liu Yun’s words, said the skies were about to change, and left with Old Ox to meet someone.

Li Ping'an tried to exchange over three thousand unprocessed Spirit Stones from a government-run mine through a Black Market merchant, but the merchant panicked when he recognized the official markings and drove him away. Li Ping'an and Old Ox considered returning to Great Sui, then decided they might refine the stones themselves.

• Li Ping'an met a Black Market merchant in Great Yu's Capital City and offered to trade his unprocessed Spirit Stones under the name Jing Yu.
• The merchant examined the stones and noticed official markings showing they came from a government-run spirit mine.
• Li Ping'an revealed he had three thousand Spirit Stones, and the terrified merchant refused the deal and hurried him out.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox ate mutton and discussed how the merchant's refusal made it unlikely anyone else would buy the stones.
• Li Ping'an considered returning to Great Sui but decided they might refine the Spirit Stones themselves.

Li Ping'an helped a struggling lamb-soup stallholder, then spent half a year studying pill refinement to remove impurities from Spirit Stones. His first attempt exploded, leaving him with a ruined roof and no idea what had gone wrong.

• Li Ping'an listened as Wang Lao'er described his hardships, then secretly left him money and altered the medicine for his sick wife.
• Wang Lao'er’s wife recovered over the following days, and Li Ping'an received a Benevolent Healer reward.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox gathered old pill-refining books and studied behind closed doors for half a year.
• Li Ping'an tried refining a Spirit Stone in a secondhand furnace, but the furnace exploded and the stone became entirely impurities.
• Li Ping'an wondered where he had gone wrong as he heard a crack beneath him.

Li Ping'an sought a dependable way to learn pill refining and traveled through a blizzard to become Fengyangzi's disciple. Fengyangzi praised Li Ping'an as a great talent but offered him a job sweeping floors instead, leaving Li Ping'an speechless.

• Li Ping'an's house collapsed during an experiment, so he and Old Ox left to look for a more reliable method.
• Wang Yushu traveled through the snow to meet Fengyangzi and saw Li Ping'an catch and replant a tree blown over by the wind.
• Wang Yushu met Li Ping'an, who said he had also come to learn pill refining.
• Fengyangzi accepted Wang Yushu as a disciple after learning he was Prince Jing'an's son.
• Fengyangzi called Li Ping'an a great talent but said he was better suited to sweeping floors.

Over three months, Li Ping'an learned from Fengyangzi while their school grew and its disciples came and went. When Great Sui's army attacked Guxiao Pass, Fengyangzi and his disciples went to war, leaving Li Ping'an and Old Ox behind.

• Fengyangzi traded lessons in pill refining and spirit medicines for installments of Li Ping'an's writing, while Li Ping'an and Old Ox recorded his knowledge and taught the new disciples to cook.
• Wang Yushu asked Li Ping'an whether he planned to stay at the school forever, then left to enlist as Great Sui's army advanced on Guxiao Pass.
• Great Yu's disciples answered the call to defend the country, and many, including Wang Yushu, died in battle.
• Fengyangzi mourned his disciples, accepted Li Ping'an as a nominal disciple, and left for the battlefield, declaring, "If the nation falls, there is only death!!"
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox remained at the school and decided to refine pills and record their experience.

As Great Sui’s forces captured Great Yu’s Guxiao Pass, Li Ping'an and Old Ox stayed secluded to study alchemy and produced their first improved pills. With the capital growing dangerous and Fengyangzi away at the battlefield, Li Ping'an ended the chapter drinking with Old Ox and wondering whether Great Sui would win.

• Great Sui’s army captured Guxiao Pass after Wen Yuan, Wen Wu, and the defenders of its strongholds died resisting.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox studied alchemy together, and Old Ox helped him tend the Pill Fire as he refined medicine.
• After three days of work, Li Ping'an and Old Ox produced pills with fewer impurities than his previous attempts.
• A young man came seeking Fengyangzi as a master, and Li Ping'an told him Fengyangzi had gone to the battlefield and offered to pass along his address.
• As unrest and attacks spread through the capital, Li Ping'an and Old Ox drank wine and ate roasted meat while Li Ping'an asked whether Great Sui would win.

As Great Yu’s defenses collapsed and Great Sui advanced toward Capital City, Li Ping'an refined Spirit Stones, mourned Fengyangzi, and took Lu Renjia in as Fengyangzi’s successor. With a city massacre looming, Li Ping'an claimed he might use his connections to protect their sect.

• Two street loafers tried to extort Li Ping'an, but he sent Old Ox after them.
• As shortages worsened, Li Ping'an and Old Ox refined two hundred Spirit Stones, then learned Fengyangzi had died in battle.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox built Fengyangzi a cenotaph, and Li Ping'an accepted Lu Renjia as Fengyangzi’s disciple.
• Great Sui captured Guxiao Pass, and Empress Liu Yun ordered the slaughter of surrendered soldiers and Great Yu cultivators.
• After rumors spread that Great Sui would massacre Capital City, Lu Renjia asked Li Ping'an what they should do, and Li Ping'an said he might use his connections to spare their sect.

As Great Sui’s army advanced toward the capital, Li Ping'an and Old Ox remained in Great Yu’s besieged city while the court and powerful families prepared for the dynasty’s possible fall. After Lu Renjia reported that the army had surrounded the city and that his family had secured protection, Li Ping'an considered whether Liu Yun would massacre its people.

• Liu Yun ordered the ancient locust tree, said to have been planted by Great Yu’s founding emperor, chopped down as her army marched toward the capital.
• Li Ping'an and Old Ox returned to playing funeral music for meals and later watched the city grow tense as soldiers drove conscripted laborers through the streets.
• Old Ox estimated that Great Sui’s cavalry would reach the capital in half a month, but several days later Lu Renjia reported that the army had already surrounded the city.
• Lu Renjia explained that Great Yu’s emperor remained in the capital while the crown prince had gone south, and warned that Liu Yun might massacre the city if it fell.
• Lu Renjia told Li Ping'an that a Great Sui general had promised to protect his family and that he hoped to keep their sect safe as well; Li Ping'an calmly accepted the news and went to the kitchen.

Great Sui captured Great Yu's Capital City after a brutal siege, and Li Ping'an tried to protect his home and preserve his school amid the ensuing chaos. Lu Renjia arranged for Great Sui soldiers to guard their pill-refining workshop and brought Li Ping'an to meet the general who had offered his family protection.

• Li Ping'an foresaw the city's fall, celebrated the New Year with Lu Renjia and Old Ox, and left food for starving residents after someone tore down their couplets for the flour paste.
• Great Sui's attack interrupted the New Year festivities, and the army later broke through the Capital City's defenses as Liu Yong led troops inside and Liu Yun reflected on Great Sui's victory.
• Bandits and rogue cultivators rampaged through the fallen city, but Li Ping'an quietly dealt with two intruders who targeted Fengyangzi's residence.
• Lu Renjia arrived with Great Sui guards, explained that a general had ordered them to protect the workshop, and told Li Ping'an the general wished to meet him.
• Li Ping'an set out with Lu Renjia and Old Ox to meet the general, saying that preserving their school was what mattered most.

General Ai forced Li Ping'an to refine pills at the Lu Residence while secretly ordering that he be killed regardless of whether he completed the task. Li Ping'an delayed the work and concealed his skill as Lu Renjia wrestled with whether to risk helping him.

• Lu Renjia introduced Li Ping'an to his father and General Ai, who ordered Li to refine pills and promised to protect his sect.
• Li Ping'an moved his pill-refining equipment to a courtyard in the bamboo grove and began making the requested pills under guard.
• General Ai told a guard to kill Li Ping'an whether or not he finished the pills by the deadline.
• Li Ping'an deliberately slowed his work and left impurities in the pills to avoid being assigned further tasks.
• Lu Renjia turned back after his father warned him to stay away, deciding that he could not abandon his senior brother.

Li Ping'an told Lu Renjia he intended to sacrifice himself to save their lineage, while secretly planning to fake his death. In the occupied city, Liu Yong recognized Li Ping'an’s handwriting on discarded couplets and hoped he could persuade the Empress to cancel the planned slaughter.

• Li Renjia entered the guarded Bamboo Forest and warned Li Ping'an that General Ai planned to kill him after the pills were finished.
• Li Ping'an said he knew of the threat and intended to use the pills and his life to save their lineage, leaving Lu Renjia to carry it on.
• After Lu Renjia left, Li Ping'an revived the guards and continued refining pills with Old Ox, believing his plan to fake his death was nearly perfect.
• Liu Yong reflected on his military career and the Empress’s order to slaughter the city in half a month.
• Liu Yong gave food to three starving children beside their dead mother and recognized Li Ping'an’s handwriting on a pair of discarded Spring Festival couplets.
• Liu Yong realized Li Ping'an might be able to persuade the Empress to spare the city and excitedly asked where the couplets came from.