Chapter Summaries

Wu Junji learned that Jixia Academy could erase Great Zhou’s debt of thirty-three gold mines if he attended, and he agreed to go despite its political dangers. The chapter ended with him encountering Chen Yu again and choosing to ignore him, still unable to bear his presence.

• Emperor Zhou explained that Wu Junji and his summoned general needed protection, while Wu Junji considered how fortune and demons might affect his plans for Great Zhou.
• Wu Junji presented Emperor Zhou with three five-year plans, but Emperor Zhou told him he would have to attend Jixia Academy.
• Emperor Zhou revealed that Great Zhou owed other countries the equivalent of thirty-three gold mines and could cancel the debt if Wu Junji attended the academy.
• Wu Junji agreed to go to Jixia Academy to recover the debt and learn about the demons, and Emperor Zhou marked his forehead with a protective Flood Dragon sign.
• Wu Junji left the study and encountered Chen Yu, whom he ignored despite feeling unsettled by his return.

Wu Junzheng panicked when Consort Dong told him he would attend Jixia Academy with the Crown Prince, Wu Junji, and his jealousy of their father's affection deepened. Hoping to get ahead of Wu Junji, he asked his mother about his grandfather's ancestral red cord, a mystical object, and the chapter left him fearing that Wu Junji might prevent his younger brothers from being born.

• Wu Junzheng resisted going to Jixia Academy and accused Wu Junji of turning their father against him.
• Consort Dong reassured Wu Junzheng that Wu Junji would attend the academy too and praised her son as healthy and strong.
• Wu Junzheng asked Consort Dong which son she would love more if Wu Junji and Wu Junzheng were both hers, and she said she wished the Crown Prince had been born in her womb.
• Wu Junzheng decided he should strike first against Wu Junji, then asked Consort Dong to inquire about his grandfather's ancestral red cord.
• Consort Dong explained that the red cord was a family heirloom said to have been blessed at the Great Light Sound Temple, and Wu Junzheng refused her offer to summon Master Tianxuan.
• Wu Junzheng thought about his unborn imperial brothers and feared Wu Junji might keep them from ever being born.

Chen Yu recalled how he had set out to use and humiliate Wu Junji, the Crown Prince, but gradually became devoted to him instead. Wu Junji’s suffering, resilience, and eventual death left Chen Yu conquered by the faith he had placed in him.

• Chen Yu approached Wu Junji intending to make the Crown Prince his puppet, then tried to break him by stripping away his support and humiliating him.
• After ten days in prison without food, Wu Junji crawled back to the Crown Prince's Palace rather than accept Chen Yu's charity, then patiently rebuilt his position.
• Wu Junji poisoned a banquet of twenty-seven officials involved in the usury scheme, leaving Chen Yu burdened by guilt over their deaths.
• Wu Junji’s later actions and sacrifices—including seizing the emperor, quelling unrest, and laboring over paperwork—steadily eroded Chen Yu’s pride and won his allegiance.
• Wu Junji died with his hatred unresolved in the Dragon-Subduing Palace, and Chen Yu realized that he, not Wu Junji, had been conquered and tamed.

Emperor Zhou warned Chen Yu about the Red Cord and tempted him with its ability to link minds, while secretly ordering that Chen Yu be killed if he used it. As Wu Junji prepared to leave for Jixia Academy, he bickered with Emperor Zhou over the cost of his elaborate meals and threatened to eat back the twenty-five mountains of gold the emperor had lost.

• Emperor Zhou praised Chen Yu, then explained that the Red Cord could steal fortune or link minds in one direction and taught him how to use it.
• Chen Yu accepted the Red Cord, tempted by the chance to learn why Wu Junji disliked him, while recognizing Emperor Zhou's warning could be a trap.
• After Chen Yu left, Emperor Zhou ordered someone in the empty hall to kill him if he used the Red Cord.
• Wu Junji spent his days walking turtles and indulging in elaborate meals as his departure for Jixia Academy approached.
• Emperor Zhou complained about the cost of Wu Junji's food, and Wu Junji stormed off, threatening to eat back the twenty-five mountains of gold the emperor had lost.

Emperor Zhou reluctantly sent Wu Junji to Jixia Academy, promising to wear the belt his son had given him every day. On the journey, Wu Junji told Chen Yu to stay away, as Chen Yu's presence reminded him of the humiliation he had endured.

• Emperor Zhou hesitated to send Wu Junji to Jixia Academy, but accepted that they could not turn back.
• Wu Junji nestled into Emperor Zhou's arms and reminded him to wear the belt he had given him.
• Emperor Zhou promised to wear the belt every day before covering Wu Junji's eyes and parting from him.
• Emperor Zhou left to meet Master Tianxuan, while Chen Yu accompanied Wu Junji toward Jixia Academy.
• Wu Junji told Chen Yu to stay away, then closed his eyes as he wrestled with the shame and self-loathing Chen Yu's presence stirred.

Chen Yu became Wu Junji’s summoned general, gaining the ability to act as a durable puppet controlled by the Crown Prince. After testing his control over Chen Yu, Wu Junji gave him one last chance to leave before warning him that staying would lead to certain death.

• Chen Yu offered Wu Junji a Red Cord that would let the Crown Prince sense his thoughts, and Wu Junji tied it around his wrist with a drop of blood.
• Wu Junji shared his fortune with Chen Yu, awakening Chen Yu’s ability as a puppet who could not disobey his lord’s commands.
• Wu Junji ordered Chen Yu to lie on the floor and eat a dirt-covered apple, but found the act dull.
• When the carriage arrived, Wu Junji stepped over Chen Yu and told him to leave or face a road to certain death.

Wu Junji entered Jixia Academy and discovered that its students and staff were demons who viewed him as prey. After the Academy’s guide separated him from Chen Yu, Wu Junji was left isolated in the harsh Zhou dormitories as lunchtime began.

• Wu Junji entered Jixia Academy with Chen Yu, while Nanny Wang and Eunuch Qian remained outside the gates.
• Wu Junzheng used his heavenly eye to see that many Academy residents were demons, but he followed Wu Junji to the Zhou dormitories.
• A guiding scholar led Wu Junji and Wu Junzheng through the dormitories and explained their strict rules and inferior status.
• The guiding scholar and three men attacked Chen Yu, while the scholar held a blade to Wu Junji’s neck and forced Chen Yu to surrender.
• The Academy’s men took Chen Yu away, leaving Wu Junji alone in the Zhou dormitories as the lunch bell rang.

Wu Junji endured the demons’ abuse when he came to the dining hall seeking food, while Wu Junzheng’s idealized image of him shattered. Wu Junzheng unleashed his imperial fortune against the demons and fled in tears, leaving Wu Junji to claim the cooking pot as his bowl.

• Wu Junji found no bowl among his belongings and carried a spittoon to the dining hall for food.
• The cook spat into Wu Junji’s spittoon, then the demons surrounded him, tore at his clothes, and humiliated him.
• Wu Junzheng broke down as he realized Wu Junji had once been a beggar and could endure losing his status more easily than he could bear to watch.
• Wu Junzheng smashed the spittoon into the cook and used his red flood dragon fortune to subdue all thirty-one demons.
• Wu Junzheng dressed and groomed Wu Junji, then ran away sobbing that he hated him.
• Wu Junji climbed onto the table and decided to eat from the pot.

Wu Junji learned that Great Zhou had traded away his human emperor fortune and resolved to build achievements inside the Academy by compiling the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia. He recruited Wu Junzheng to help him confront the demons, ending with the two agreeing that skinning them was an option.

• The Lord of Changbai Mountain planned to take Wu Junzheng's General Summoning while insisting he would not harm Great Zhou's second prince.
• Wu Junzheng told Wu Junji that his General Summoning had been taken, and Wu Junji concluded that the Retired Emperor and Emperor Zhou had sold them both to the Demon Domain.
• Wu Junji explained that his human emperor fortune needed achievements to become usable and began writing the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia as his path to gaining them.
• Wu Junzheng returned after failing to find Ruan Yuan and confirmed that Imperial Grandfather had sold him off too.
• Wu Junji said he would do what he had done before, and Wu Junzheng accepted that skinning the demons would work.

Wu Junji sensed a Peach Blossom Demon among the injured demons in the Zhou dormitory while writing the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia and drawing out a tiny strand of human emperor fortune. He left for evening study with Wu Junzheng, hinting that they would eat meat that night as the demons' carnival began.

• Wu Junzheng noticed a peach-blossom scent around Wu Junji, who suspected a Peach Blossom Demon was nearby.
• Wu Junji considered the demons' injuries and the threat they would pose after recovering, deciding they had to die.
• Wu Junji wrote ten thousand characters of the Peaceful People's Encyclopedia and drew out a small strand of human emperor fortune.
• Wu Junzheng worried about Wu Junji's injured hands, and Wu Junji said they would eat meat that night.
• Wu Junji headed with Wu Junzheng to evening study at Yuesi Pavilion, where the demons' carnival began.

Wu Junji and Wu Junzheng were captured and tormented by White King and the other demon heirs, who wanted Wu Junji’s human emperor fortune. Wu Junji negotiated a deal to trade it for their help against Zhou She’s beasts and Jixia Academy, then used his dangerous vulnerability to pain to make the demons handle him cautiously.

• Lang Xi and the other demons attacked Wu Junji, but his human emperor fortune remained steady despite their attempts to frighten and injure him.
• Wu Junji pretended to cry and offered the demons his fortune in exchange for killing the beasts in Zhou She, the Retired Emperor, Emperor Zhou, and everyone at Jixia Academy.
• Wu Junji refused to give up his fortune without a deal, and the demon heirs agreed to target Zhou She’s beasts while keeping Wu Junzheng as a hostage.
• White King squeezed Wu Junji until he was in pain, so Wu Junji slammed his head into White King’s and fainted, prompting the demons to fear heavenly punishment.
• Wu Junji woke and warned the demons that whoever hurt him would be responsible if he died, making them cradle him carefully while Xiong Yu kept Wu Junzheng captive.

At Yuesi Pavilion, Wu Junji provoked the five Demon Heirs by exposing their lack of authority, then offered White King a wisp of human emperor fortune. After absorbing it and growing stronger, White King rejected Night Reading’s rules and embraced the power to kill his own subjects.

• White King brought Wu Junji to Yuesi Pavilion and told him to wait until after Night Reading to fulfill their agreement.
• Wu Junji mocked the Demon Heirs as powerless puppies, provoking Xiong Yu to attack until White King kicked him aside.
• Wu Junji warned that killing the Human Emperor carried heavenly punishment and said he would take one of them down with him, making the demons hesitate.
• Wu Junji offered White King a wisp of human emperor fortune, which White King swallowed, gaining strength and stature.
• White King declared that he would pursue human emperor fortune instead of obeying Night Reading rules, while Wu Junji insisted that power entitled a ruler to decide who lived and died.

Wu Junji manipulated the Demon Heirs into killing demons at Yuesi Pavilion by promising them Human Emperor Fortune and future protection. As the killings continued, Wu Junzheng watched in horror, while Wu Junji revealed that he planned to make the killers depend on him for shelter and advancement.

• The White King became inspired by Wu Junji’s apparent authority and vowed to kill whoever Wu Junji wanted.
• Wu Junzheng realized Wu Junji had twisted the rules to provoke the Demon Heirs and make them believe killing their own kind was justified.
• At Yuesi Pavilion, Wu Junji named demons from Zhou She, and the White King and the other Demon Heirs killed them.
• Wu Junji silently asked Wu Junzheng what he wanted to eat as he watched the demons’ bodies fill the floor.
• Wu Junji told 88 that, once the Demon Heirs finished killing, they would have to rely on him for shelter and the promised rewards.

At Yuesi Pavilion, Wu Junji confronted Ruan Yuan and offered the Lord of Changbai Mountain a deal to establish a Demon Court before swearing a great oath to unite humans and demons under his rule. His vow stirred the human emperor fortune, and Emperor Zhou ordered the Northern Army to surround the imperial palace.

• Ruan Yuan arrived at Yuesi Pavilion after the demon heirs had slaughtered many demons, and Wu Junji rebuked him for trying to shift blame onto the crown prince.
• Wu Junji tortured the surviving Chicken Demon and offered the Lord of Changbai Mountain a deal: he would establish a Demon Court in exchange for a promise.
• Wu Junji swore to bring prosperity to the Demon Domain and common people, unite the Nine Provinces, and use human emperor fortune to command the Demon Domain.
• Heavenly thunder struck Yuesi Pavilion as Wu Junji's human emperor fortune surged across a hundred thousand miles, horrifying the Demon Domain and Great Zhou's court.
• Emperor Zhou realized Wu Junji had made a dangerous great vow and ordered Eunuch Qian to mobilize the Northern Army and surround the imperial palace.

Wu Junji sealed a grand vow that bound Great Zhou’s national fortune to him, then used its power to confront the Academy and the demons who sought his fortune. As the demons attacked him, a pink dragon appeared and swallowed a hundred of them.

• Wu Junji’s grand vow awakened Great Zhou’s Human Emperor Fortune, and Ruan Yuan warned that failure could bring down the nation.
• Wu Junji declared that he would make the rules for demons at Jixia Academy and killed the Chicken Demon cook with the fortune’s power.
• Ruan Yuan excused the demons’ actions and evaded responsibility for Wu Junzheng’s captured summoned general, while the Lord of Changbai Mountain promised an explanation.
• Wu Junji and Wu Junzheng left with a pheasant corpse, but the demons attacked after Wu Junji said he would eat it.
• A pink dragon with a severed tail swallowed a hundred attacking demons at Wu Junji’s imperial command.

Emperor Zhou arrived at Jixia Academy and found Wu Junji bloodied, cold, hungry, and abused, then unleashed his fury on the people and demons he blamed. He destroyed the Academy and slaughtered its occupants while Wu Junji clung quietly to him.

• Emperor Zhou arrived on Azure Cloud Road, found Wu Junji injured and underdressed, and learned that the Academy had denied him proper food, clothes, and shoes.
• Humans and demons accused Wu Junji of crimes, but Wu Junzheng told Emperor Zhou that the Crown Prince had been fed watery porridge and insulted as a bastard.
• Emperor Zhou ordered the demons killed and threatened to devastate the Demon Domain; the Golden Eagle Guards attacked while the Lord of Changbai Mountain joined the fight in tiger form.
• Ruan Yuan begged Emperor Zhou to spare the students, but Emperor Zhou kicked him away and ordered the assault to continue.
• Emperor Zhou burned Jixia Academy and killed its two thousand eight hundred scholars as Wu Junji kept his eyes closed and clung to him.

Emperor Zhou destroyed Jixia Academy despite Ruan Yuan’s pleas, then rode to the palace with Wu Junji as the Northern Army surrounded it. In the Palace of Eternal Longevity, the Empress Dowager confronted the Retired Emperor over his stolen throne and denied elder brother.

• Ruan Yuan begged Emperor Zhou to spare Jixia Academy’s students, but Emperor Zhou ordered the academy burned and had Ruan Yuan seized.
• Wu Junji remembered how Ruan Yuan had refused to help him in his former life and reflected on his resolve to become emperor.
• Wu Junji bit Emperor Zhou, who soothed him, while Wu Junzheng watched enviously and the foreign heirs and Demon Heirs feared the consequences of the massacre.
• Emperor Zhou sent the foreign heirs and Demon Heirs to the Foreign Guests’ Inn, then rode to the imperial palace with Wu Junji.
• Wu Junji learned that Chen Yang’s Northern Army had surrounded the palace and the Golden Eagle Guards had entered the Imperial City.
• The Retired Emperor cursed the Empress Dowager and Wu Junji, and she accused him of taking the throne from his elder brother, Wu An.

Emperor Zhou discovered that the Retired Emperor had secretly signed a National Pact and beat him until he surrendered the secondary seal. Back at Taiji Palace, he reassured the Crown Prince that he could handle any disaster, even the fall of Great Zhou, and the two reconciled before sleep.

• Emperor Zhou revealed his dragon fortune and confronted the Retired Emperor over the National Pact and the Crown Prince's ordeal at Jixia Academy.
• Emperor Zhou beat the Retired Emperor in a brawl and took a box containing the secondary seal.
• Emperor Zhou brought the injured Crown Prince back to Taiji Palace and asked him to voice his feelings instead of shutting him out.
• The Crown Prince worried that he had caused trouble, so Emperor Zhou promised to settle the consequences and told him to do what made him happy.
• The Crown Prince told Emperor Zhou that he loved him, and Emperor Zhou tucked him in while asking him not to hold a grudge.

After Emperor Zhou’s forces destroyed Jixia Academy, Wu Junji considered using Human Emperor Fortune to create contracts with demons and tested the idea on Turtle Thirteen. Emperor Zhou then appointed Yu Sheng as Wu Junji’s teacher, and Yu Sheng accepted under pressure.

• Emperor Zhou’s armies slaughtered Jixia Academy’s teachers and students and exterminated their families, while he used the Retired Emperor’s self-reproach decree to ease the political fallout.
• Wu Junji sensed that Turtle Thirteen had become more spiritually aware and devised a plan to create new demons bound to him through contracts powered by Human Emperor Fortune.
• Wu Junji tried to channel Human Emperor Fortune through Turtle Thirteen’s tank but failed to establish a contract.
• Emperor Zhou returned from court with Yu Sheng and proposed that the scholar become Wu Junji’s teacher.
• Yu Sheng recalled Jixia Academy’s destruction and tried to refuse, but Emperor Zhou’s silence frightened him into accepting.

Emperor Zhou took Wu Junji through Taiji Palace and told him he would send him to Minglu Academy after destroying Jixia Academy’s powerful families. Wu Junji accepted his father’s ruthlessness, and Emperor Zhou promised to give him whatever power he wanted, leaving Wu Junji unimpressed.

• Emperor Zhou urged Wu Junji not to lose the courage to start over and explained that he had killed those who bullied him at Jixia Academy.
• Emperor Zhou asked whether the Jixia Academy students and their relatives deserved to die, and Wu Junji said they did because his father wanted them dead.
• Emperor Zhou asked whether he was cruel and tyrannical, and Wu Junji called him wise and enlightened.
• Emperor Zhou described how he would have kept Wu Junji close if he had been a girl, and Wu Junji asked whether his father had heard that loving someone meant giving them power.
• Emperor Zhou kissed Wu Junji’s eyelids and promised to give him whatever he wanted, declaring they would guide the realm together.
• Wu Junji rolled his eyes, finding that Emperor Zhou’s questions had erased the feelings he had begun to develop the previous night.