Chapter Summaries

Emperor Jingde declared Jia Huan guilty of seven crimes and ordered the court to destroy his family and forces before his expected arrival. He arranged an overwhelming military response and planned to witness Jia Huan’s execution the next day.

• Emperor Jingde proclaimed Jia Huan’s seven crimes and ordered the charges recorded throughout Great Qian.
• Emperor Jingde overruled Yang Taiyue and ordered the Jia family estates’ destruction to be followed by the desecration of their ancestral graves.
• Emperor Jingde summoned Wang Ziteng and five Ancestral Hall Guardians, ordering the guardians to kill Jia Huan and troops to encircle his followers.
• Emperor Jingde ordered Wei Yongzhong and Qin Zhong to arrest the Jia clan’s relatives and remove them from the Capital.
• Emperor Jingde went to Fengyi Palace, confident that the next day’s execution would demonstrate his unquestionable authority.

Jia Baoyu celebrated his expected promotion as the Jia Family was arrested and marched from the capital under an imperial decree. As the family left, officials and crowds honored Jia Huan’s achievements, while the condemned faced an uncertain journey beyond the city gates.

• Wang Ziteng instructed Jia Baoyu to help arrest the Jia clan and promised to hide the bodies of those he killed so he could gain a promotion.
• Madam Wang eagerly prepared to visit the palace and oversee the Ghost Marriage, convinced that Baoyu’s future was assured.
• Commanding Commissioner Qin led Embroidered Uniform Guards and palace guards to arrest the Jia Family, while Wei Yongzhong checked the prisoners and ordered them out of the capital.
• Chief Grand Secretary Yang Taiyue and other officials burned paper offerings for Jia Huan as the condemned Jia Family passed the mansion ruins.
• Jia Baoyu taunted his departing relatives and declared that he would rise in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, while Jia Zheng cursed him.
• Concubine Zhao and Wang Xifeng collected paper offerings along the road and joked about having wealth and a sedan chair in the underworld.

Jia Huan confronted the five Ancestral Hall Guardians to escort the prisoners to the State-and-Altars Imperial Prison, but Jiang Wu defeated him with one punch. After Jia Huan used Prison Eyes to kill the prisoners, the Guardians found themselves unable to approach him as thunder and rain erupted beneath the sunny sky.

• Jia Huan arrived with more than ten thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards and ordered his men to hold their positions while he bound the prison carts with an iron chain.
• Jiang Wu stepped forward and struck Jia Huan, shattering his rain-curtain fist and leaving him badly injured.
• Jiang Wu called for a blade and Wei Yongzhong ordered the Jia Family prisoners prepared for Lingchi, while Jia Huan insisted he would complete his duty.
• Jia Huan activated Prison Eyes and killed all the criminals bound by his chain, earning their portraits on his panel.
• Jiang Wu advanced toward Jia Huan, but the five Guardians could not get close as sudden thunder and torrential rain filled the sky, and Jiang Wu's power drained when he tried to strike.

Jia Huan confronted the five Ancestral Hall Guardians as strange visions filled the sky, revealing power beyond their understanding. He killed Jiang Wu with one punch, leaving the other guardians facing him and the battle unresolved.

• Emperor Jingde celebrated the report that Jiang Wu had defeated Jia Huan, then interpreted thunder, rain, snow, and a waterfall-like vision as Heaven’s approval.
• Qin Zhong and the Embroidered Uniform Guards believed Jia Huan was dead, while Jia Baoyu resolved to rely on strategy rather than martial strength.
• Celestial beasts appeared over the capital, and a brief image of a blood-soaked man sparked hope in Concubine Zhao, Lin Daiyu, and Xue Baochai.
• The five guardians moved to attack the prison carts, but Jia Huan made the visions vanish and descended to face them.
• Jia Huan broke through the guardians’ oppressive power and struck Jiang Wu, whose head exploded and body split apart.

Jia Huan killed Jiang Wu and defeated the four Ancestral Hall Guardians, proving overwhelmingly stronger than the martial arts world’s greatest fighters. With the Rongguo Mansion women safe and the guardians helpless, the Embroidered Uniform Guards began absorbing their power as the coup’s battle continued.

• Jia Huan killed Jiang Wu with one punch, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards hailed him as mighty and invincible.
• Jiang Yi and the three remaining guardians unleashed violet thunder and their full strength against Jia Huan.
• Jia Huan walked through the thunder, destroyed the guardians’ attacks, and defeated all four, leaving them bloodied and helpless.
• Wei Yongzhong ordered the Jia Family women killed, but the Crane Daoist broke his disguise and defended them from the palace experts.
• Jia Huan struck down the palace experts attacking the prison carts, then the Embroidered Uniform Guards began absorbing the fallen guardians’ power.

Emperor Jingde and Empress Yin learned that Jia Huan had survived, slain one Ancestral Hall Guardian, and crippled the other four, overturning their plans to punish him and his loved ones. As the emperor ordered the Capital Camp to prepare for battle and headed to the Ancestral Hall, Empress Yin rushed to find him.

• Emperor Jingde announced Qin Zhong's appointment and abolished Court Deliberations, then presented the supernatural waterfall in the sky as an auspicious omen.
• Emperor Jingde imagined Jia Huan being tortured, but a Brush-Holder Eunuch reported that Jia Huan had created a manifestation of heaven and earth, killed one Guardian, and crippled four others.
• Emperor Jingde beat the Brush-Holder Eunuch, ordered twelve gold-token commands for the Capital Camp, and set out for the Ancestral Hall.
• Empress Yin and Madam Wang celebrated what they believed was Jia Huan's defeat and prepared for the Ghost Marriage.
• A Palace Maid reported Jia Huan's victory, and Empress Yin struck Madam Wang with a hairpin before ordering her procession to the Ancestral Hall.

Emperor Jingde learned that the Ancestral Hall guardians could not defeat Jia Huan without sacrificing their source of power, while Jia Huan rallied his troops and announced a march into the Forbidden City. The chapter ended as the court received his declaration and Jia Baoyu furiously denounced him.

• Emperor Jingde ordered Jiang Huji to explain Jia Huan’s strength, and Jiang Huji said the guardians could defeat him only by sacrificing two of their own and consuming the Heaven and Earth Source Spring and Dragon Vein.
• Jia Huan tortured Wei Yongzhong to death, reunited with his family, and reassured them after saving them from execution.
• Fifteen thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards arrived, and Jia Huan rallied thirty thousand men to march into the Forbidden City and purge evil around the sovereign.
• The Experiences Office distributed Jia Huan’s declaration accusing the Demon Empress of corrupting Emperor Jingde and announcing his march to the Golden Throne Hall.
• Jia Baoyu read the declaration and denounced Jia Huan as a traitor, convinced the court would crush him.

Emperor Jingde mobilized the Capital Camp against Jia Huan after Jia Huan issued a proclamation accusing him of patricide and calling for a purge of the ruler's side. As Wang Ziteng prepared to defend Desheng Gate, Jia Huan led twenty-seven thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards toward the vast army, setting the two forces on the brink of battle.

• Emperor Jingde ordered rewards for the Capital Camp and insisted that Jiang Huji in the Ancestral Hall could stop Jia Huan if he fled the Capital Region.
• Qin Zhong announced that Jia Huan had rebelled, and officials read Jia Huan's proclamation accusing Emperor Jingde of murdering Emperor Liezong and calling for a purge of the ruler's side.
• Emperor Jingde raged at the accusation, ordered an edict promising titles and rewards for Jia Huan's death or injury, and went to the Empress Dowager to demand that she clear his name.
• The Empress Dowager rebuked Emperor Jingde for framing Jia Huan and destroying the Jia Family's estates, ancestral shrine, and graves; Emperor Jingde forged an edict on her behalf and left.
• Wang Ziteng rallied the Capital Camp's generals at Desheng Gate, promised them imperial rewards, and led them to prepare for the approaching Embroidered Uniform Guard.
• Jia Huan led twenty-seven thousand armored Embroidered Uniform Guards toward Desheng Gate and stepped into the air to face the Capital Camp's army.

Jia Huan calmed the Embroidered Uniform Guards as they faced the Capital Camp, while Wang Ziteng refused to attack and Emperor Jingde grew furious at the delay. The chapter ended with the emperor ordering the rebels’ families arrested and threatening them with execution.

• Jia Huan used Heaven and Earth Essence to calm the anxious Embroidered Uniform Guards and prepared them for a decisive charge.
• Water Skimmer reported that the reinforcements from the north and south were growing anxious.
• Wang Ziteng ordered the Capital Camp to fire at the rebels, but the arrows fell short, and he refused to advance for fear of Jia Huan’s schemes.
• Emperor Jingde demanded that Wang Ziteng attack, but the ministers warned him not to repeat the mistakes made against Northern Mang and the White Lotus Cult.
• Emperor Jingde accepted Wang Ziteng’s decision to hold position and ordered the rebels’ families arrested and sentenced to Lingchi.

Jia Huan led the Embroidered Uniform Guards against Wang Ziteng’s vastly larger Capital Camp army, using thunder and divine-beast phantoms to break the enemy’s morale. He charged through their defenses and ended the chapter with a punch that crushed the Martial Arts Titan and struck down nearly six hundred divine archers.

• Jia Huan shattered a white waterfall with a punch, summoning lightning and thunder that unnerved the Capital Camp soldiers.
• Jia Huan manifested a hundred and eight divine beast phantoms, while Wang Ziteng struggled to steady his troops.
• Jia Huan urged the Embroidered Uniform Guards to keep charging, then led them toward the Capital Camp alone.
• The Capital Camp’s martial practitioners trapped Jia Huan in a poison-filled net and unleashed volleys of arrows and crossbow bolts.
• Jia Huan broke the net, dispersed the poison, and charged through the missiles with a devastating punch.
• Jia Huan struck the Martial Arts Titan and drove his punch through nearly six hundred divine archers.

Jia Huan led the embroidered-uniform cavalry through the Capital Camp’s left flank, using his overwhelming martial power and the guards’ united saber formations to break the army. As the defenders routed, Wang Ziteng fled toward the Forbidden City but found Jia Huan standing atop the tower.

• Jia Huan struck down six hundred master archers and opened a path through the Capital Camp’s left flank while the embroidered-uniform cavalry charged without stopping.
• Jia Huan rallied the Eight Hundred Vajras, and four thousand Embroidered Uniform Guards unleashed Burial Annihilation against more than ten thousand armored soldiers.
• The embroidered-uniform cavalry swept forward as repeated saber attacks shattered the Capital Camp’s morale and drove its soldiers into a rout near Desheng Gate.
• Wang Ziteng learned that the army was collapsing and ordered the commanders to retreat to the Forbidden City so the Ancestral Hall’s hidden reserves could suppress Jia Huan.
• Wang Ziteng and the generals left the camp and saw Jia Huan standing atop the tower, drenched in blood.

Jia Huan defeated the Capital Camp and killed Wang Ziteng, then announced his case to the soldiers and secured their surrender. With the fighting ending and Desheng Gate under his control, he ordered his forces to seize the Capital’s Nine City Gate and advance on the Forbidden City.

• Jia Huan crushed the resisting Martial Arts Titans, wounded Wang Ziteng, and tortured him to death for betraying the Jia Family.
• Jia Huan ordered the captured nobles sent to the Imperial Prison and announced Wang Ziteng’s death to the Capital Camp.
• Jia Huan defended his service to the state, condemned the tyrant and Demon Empress, and called on the soldiers to lay down their weapons.
• Capital Camp soldiers surrendered in growing numbers, while Jia Huan ordered the remaining commanders to Desheng Gate and the troops to tend to the wounded.
• Scholar Twin Whips and the Kirin Office’s disguised operatives reunited with Jia Huan, who ordered his forces to seize Desheng Gate, take control of the Capital’s Nine City Gate, and advance on the Forbidden City.

After Jia Huan’s forces captured Desheng Gate and took control of all nine city gates, Emperor Jingde ordered the Imperial Army to defend Black Tortoise Gate while Jiang Huji prepared a costly ritual to stop the rebels. The chapter left Jia Huan’s family celebrating the news and preparing to return to the Divine Capital, with only the Imperial City still beyond his control.

• The Ministry of War Secretary reported that Cen Bu had defected, the Capital Camp had been routed, its senior officers detained, and Desheng Gate captured.
• Emperor Jingde collapsed in fury and terror, then ordered the Imperial Army to hold Black Tortoise Gate while Jiang Huji vowed to stop Jia Huan at a terrible price.
• Qin Zhong suspected that Emperor Jingde had a final trump card, while Jia Baoyu mourned Wang Ziteng and prayed for Jia Huan to be killed.
• Crane Daoist received a secret letter and told Jia Mu, Jia Zheng, and the others to return to the Divine Capital because it was now safer than their hiding place.
• Crane Daoist confirmed to Wang Xifeng and the others that Jia Huan had taken control of the Nine City Gate.

Jiang Huji sacrificed Jiang Shanhe and Jiang Mingri, then drew on the Ancestral Hall’s origin spring to transform himself and create a vast sea of violet thunder. Convinced that even this left only a fifty-percent chance of defeating Jia, Emperor Jingde ordered him to refine the dragon vein, and Jiang Huji opened its hidden chamber.

• Jiang Huji drained Jiang Shanhe’s power and life, killing him to strengthen himself.
• Jiang Mingri urged Jiang Huji to defend imperial authority, and Jiang Huji killed him as well.
• Jiang Huji immersed himself in the Guardian Hall River and used a secret technique to draw on the origin spring, expanding a sea of violet thunder across the Forbidden City.
• Emperor Jingde ordered Jiang Huji to devour the dragon vein after learning he still had only a fifty-percent chance of victory against Jia.
• Jiang Huji used the silver key to open a hidden passage beneath Taizu’s portrait and entered the chamber containing the dragon vein.

Jiang Huji revealed his godlike power above the Forbidden City, restoring Emperor Jingde’s confidence and rallying the court against Jia Huan. He confronted Jia Huan outside Black Tortoise Gate as the emperor watched, convinced the outcome was already sealed.

• Jiang Huji summoned thousands of violet lightning bolts that turned night into day, astonishing the court and the Imperial City.
• Jia Baoyu and Madam Wang celebrated Jiang Huji’s power, while confined Capital Camp officers regretted surrendering and resolved to fight back.
• Jiang Huji knelt before Emperor Jingde, credited the Jiang Imperial House for his power, and accepted the order to kill Jia Huan beyond the Forbidden City.
• Imperial Army soldiers at Black Tortoise Gate cheered for Jiang Huji to seize Jia Huan and torture him.
• Jiang Huji met Jia Huan above North Imperial Long Street, and Jia Huan sent the Embroidered Uniform Guard away before facing him alone.

Jia Huan defeated Jiang Huji after Jiang summoned the power of heaven and earth, then demanded an audience with Emperor Jingde. The emperor, overwhelmed by fear, ordered his forces to stop Jia Huan as the chapter ended with the throne facing him.

• Jiang Huji used violet thunderbolts and a vast snowfield to gather power for a strike against Jia Huan.
• Jia Huan unleashed Heaven-Rending Divine Revelation, dispelling the snowfield and thunderbolts by removing Heaven and Earth Essence from the area.
• Jia Huan stopped Jiang Huji's holy fist with the Seal of One Hand Shrouding Heaven and drove him into Black Tortoise Gate, leaving him bloodied and unable to move.
• The Embroidered Uniform Guard celebrated Jia Huan as a god among men while Emperor Jingde and his ministers watched in shock.
• Jia Huan requested an audience with Emperor Jingde, who ordered the Imperial Army to resist him.

Jia Huan broke through the Jiao-Locking Formation at Black Tortoise Gate and led his forces into the Forbidden City. He then approached Emperor Jingde and the assembled ministers, leaving the emperor’s hopes of rescue in ruins.

• Lu Lin rallied the Imperial Army and formed the Jiao-Locking Formation against Jia Huan’s forces.
• Jia Huan urged his exhausted Embroidered Uniform Guards to stay calm, then unleashed a devastating punch that destroyed the formation and killed Lu Lin.
• Scholar Twin Whips led the Embroidered Uniform Guards through Black Tortoise Gate, where they slaughtered the remaining defenders.
• Emperor Jingde hoped the armies across Great Qian would come to his aid, but Jia Huan appeared alone and bloodied before him and the ministers.

Jia Huan confronted Emperor Jingde in the Ancestral Hall, forcing him to face the consequences of his attempt to destroy the Jia Family and the Dragon Vein. Emperor Jingde issued an Edict of Self-Blame and offered Jia Huan titles and restored dukedoms, but Jia Huan questioned whether the emperor could still remain on the throne.

• Jia Huan paid respects to the Retired Emperor's portrait, apologized for his failure, and left the Ancestral Hall with a dagger.
• Jia Huan killed gatekeepers Jiang Liu and Jiang Qi, then offered Emperor Jingde the dagger and dared him to execute him.
• Yang Taiyue condemned Jia Huan for humiliating the sovereign, while Jia Huan argued that he was obeying the emperor's command to die.
• Jia Huan shattered the Imperial Carriage and pressed Emperor Jingde to stab him, but the frightened emperor dropped the dagger.
• Jia Huan called on the Court Historians to record Emperor Jingde's attempt to destroy his family and the Dragon Vein.
• Emperor Jingde issued an Edict of Self-Blame and offered Jia Huan a non-hereditary kingship, lifelong command of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and restoration of the Jia Family's dukedoms; Jia Huan questioned whether Jingde could still sit on the throne.

Jia Huan deposed Emperor Jingde, publicly punished Empress Yin, and seized control of the Forbidden City. He ordered the palace secured and summoned the ministers to hear what would happen next.

• Jia Huan leaped past the ministers, declared Emperor Jingde deposed, and ordered him confined by the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
• Jia Huan stopped Chief Grand Secretary Yang from killing himself and had him carried back to his residence.
• Jia Huan presented the ministers with Empress Yin’s letter, then destroyed her Phoenix Carriage and struck her repeatedly.
• Jia Huan ordered the Inner Court directorates to leave and troops to seal the gates, then dragged Empress Yin away and called the ministers to the Court Deliberation Hall the next afternoon.
• Jia Huan killed the Imperial Palace Experts and imperial clansmen who resisted him at the West Garden Palace Wall.

Jia Huan paraded the defeated Empress and Emperor through the capital and imprisoned the Emperor at the Northern Commandant Office. He killed Empress Yin in the Imperial Prison and left laughing after washing the blood from his hands.

• Ouyang Jin told Concubine Zhao that Jia Huan had defeated his enemies and taken control of the Forbidden City.
• Jia Huan dragged the bloodied Empress to the Imperial City's main gate, where officials and nobles condemned him, while the Emperor was wheeled from the Forbidden City on his throne.
• At the Northern Commandant Office, Jia Huan killed Qin Zhong after taunting him, then dragged the Empress into the Imperial Prison.
• Jia Huan ordered Lin Daiyu, Xue Baochai, and Jia Tanchun to sacrifice the Empress alive, but Wang Xifeng led them away before they could witness what followed.
• Empress Yin pleaded for mercy, but Jia Huan tore off her head and smashed it against the wall.
• Jia Huan washed the blood from his hands and face, looked at himself in the mirror, and laughed over having overcome the day's hardships.