Chapter Summaries

Lin Hao and his companions celebrated their Martial Examination results at the Eagle-Raising Banquet, where officials offered the new Juren posts and revealed a major farming policy. Lin Hao left wary of the consequences of replacing rice fields with mulberry and planned to seek another opportunity with Feng Jing.

• Lin Hao, Liu Tong, Hou Lecheng, and Yang Xing received notice that they had passed the Martial Examination, with Lin Hao first, Liu Tong fourth, Hou Lecheng ninety-third, and Yang Xing ninety-eighth.
• Lin Hao congratulated Hou Lecheng and encouraged Yang Xing, while the crowd celebrated Dam Market’s four successful candidates.
• Feng Zihan arrived at Deer-Cry Garden and reflected on the gap between his abilities and Lin Hao’s.
• Lin Hao arrived at the banquet with Liu Tong and the others, and the candidates rose together to greet him before Governor Zhang and Commandant Feng arrived.
• Governor Zhang toasted the new Juren and announced that Replace Rice with Mulberry was national policy, with vacancies at the Textile Bureau for candidates willing to help implement it.
• Lin Hao grew wary of converting half the fertile farmland in Two Rivers and Two Provinces to mulberry and resolved not to get involved before meeting Feng Jing privately.

After the Eagle-Raising Banquet, Lin Hao secured Commander Feng’s backing and a nominal position as an Embroidered Uniform Guard Salt Affairs Banner Commander, then registered for missions involving the Qingkou Lin Family and the Way of the Celestial Masters. Equipped with his new authority and official seal, he planned to travel south of the Yangtze to pursue a Salt License and investigate the Lin Family.

• Lin Hao met Feng Jing in his carriage, where Feng praised his martial talent and offered support in obtaining future cultivation inheritances.
• Lin Hao declined a Six Fan Gate position and chose a nominal Embroidered Uniform Guard Salt Affairs Banner Commander post, hoping its authority would help with his salt-trading plans.
• Feng Zihan accompanied Lin Hao to the Hexi headquarters, where Thousandhousehold Officer Zhang registered him without delay.
• Lin Hao accepted missions to gather information about the Way of the Celestial Masters near Dam Market and find clues about the Qingkou Lin Family’s salt affairs account book.
• A clerk told Lin Hao that the Lin Family’s imperial favor dated back to a Salt Transport Commissioner who had served Prince Li and protected his family before dying.
• Lin Hao examined his new Embroidered Uniform Guard seal and mounted constable tokens, then planned to travel south of the Yangtze for the Salt License and further investigations.

Lin Hao returned to Dam Market as the Martial Examination’s Provincial Examination Laureate, where the town celebrated him and three other successful candidates. Meanwhile, Liu Xun returned to Dingyuan Martial Arts School and asked its masters to recruit local fighters, including the new Martial Juren, for his official business.

• Captain Qin brought Lin Hao and the others aboard his sand boat and learned that Lin Hao had won the provincial laureateship, Liu Tong had placed fourth, and Hou Lecheng and Yang had also passed.
• Wu Deshui, County Commandant Wu, Master Chang, and a cheering crowd welcomed the candidates at the dock, where Lin Hao reunited with Zhao Xiaowen and Nie Yi.
• Dam Market celebrated the four successful candidates with public feasts, while Zhang Zhi and Zhang Cheng at Dingyuan Martial Arts School lamented the contrast with the Wu and Evergreen schools.
• Liu Xun returned to Dingyuan Martial Arts School with two Embroidered Uniform Guard Cavalry officers and asked Zhang Zhi and Zhang Cheng to gather local fighters, including the four new Martial Juren, to help with his investigation.
• Zhang Zhi agreed to find a way to fulfill Liu Xun’s request despite worrying that it would drain the school’s goodwill and resources.

Lin Hao received and tested a five-layer Dragon-Head Heavy Armor that greatly improved his defense and granted him a powerful, difficult-to-control dragon aura. After showing off his new strength, he was summoned to meet the visiting head of the Dingyuan Martial Arts School, whose business he suspected might involve Hundredhousehold Officer Liu.

• Qin Cuihua presented Lin Hao with the five-layer heavy armor she had made with help from Zhao Xiaowen and Nie Yi, while Wu Deshui congratulated him on becoming provincial examination laureate.
• Lin Hao put on the armor, tested his movements, and discovered that equipping it stacked its Dragon might trait and made his aura difficult to control.
• Lin Hao used the Thunderclap Breathing Technique to rein in the dragon might and found that the armor could withstand powerful hidden-force blows.
• Lin Hao returned to Zhao Xiaowen and urged her to train, and she teased him about what she would do once she reached hidden force.
• Nie Yi told Lin Hao that the head of the Dingyuan Martial Arts School had come to visit and wanted to see him, prompting Lin Hao to wonder whether Hundredhousehold Officer Liu was involved.

Liu Xun gathered Dam Market’s fighters to help investigate missing mounted guards and suspicious activity, while concealing part of what he knew. Wu Deshui decided to join the investigation despite sensing danger, and Lin Hao agreed to go willingly.

• Zhang Zhi asked Wu Deshui to help Liu Xun, and Lin Hao agreed to join in exchange for buying one hundred mu of farmland from the Dingyuan Martial Arts School.
• Lin Hao told Wu Deshui that Liu Xun’s assignment might involve trouble, so Wu Deshui advised him to report the matter and prepare for complications.
• Liu Xun assembled local fighters at the Dingyuan Martial Arts School but failed to bring Yin Saide and the Grain Transport Gang.
• Liu Xun told the gathered fighters that missing mounted guards and problems in several villages had prompted his investigation, though Lin Hao and Wu Deshui sensed he was withholding information.
• Wu Deshui told Lin Hao to invite Yin Saide and send urgent letters warning that the Way of the Celestial Masters might not be behind the incidents.
• Wu Deshui chose to help protect their home territory, and Lin Hao agreed to go because he wanted to, not for Liu Xun.

Lin Hao joined Wu Deshui, Liu Xun, and a force of martial artists and Embroidered Uniform Guards to investigate villages threatened by an evil cult. They discovered that Penggao Village had fallen under the Elysium Cult’s influence, and the chapter ended as hidden attackers fired arrows into the battle.

• Yin Saide gave Lin Hao a salt license slip and agreed to follow him in secret while warning him about strange fragrances and shadows.
• Wu Deshui explained the Elysium Cult’s mind-controlling white lotus powder and the Shadow Fiend Cult’s ability to impersonate people, including their vulnerability to attacks on their shadows.
• Wu Deshui, Lin Hao, Liu Tong, Qin Sicheng, Liu Xun, and more than a hundred others left Dam Market to investigate three remote villages.
• At Penggao Village, the group found abandoned fields and villagers who suddenly rushed out in a fearless frenzy, shouting praises to the White Lotus Mother.
• Liu Xun identified the attackers as followers of the Elysium Cult and ordered the group to fight while searching for hidden cult experts.
• Archers concealed around the village fired at Liu Xun, the Embroidered Uniform Guards, and the martial artists.

Liu Xun, Wu Deshui, Lin Hao, and their forces fought through two Elysium Cult villages and found the third, Guanghan Stronghold, abandoned, with signs its villagers had fled into the mountains. As the exhausted group chose to spend the night there before searching the mountains, Lin Hao’s concern for Dam Market eased after Wu Deshui explained that he had arranged its defenses, and Lin Hao gained fresh insight into his Force Gathering.

• Liu Xun, Wu Deshui, Lin Hao, and the Dam Market fighters repelled an Elysium Cult ambush and slaughtered the cultists and controlled villagers in the first village.
• Liu Xun explained to Yang Xing that victims were rarely cured and urged the group to destroy the cult and hurry onward.
• The group reached a second village engulfed in flames and killed the burning villagers as they attacked.
• Liu Xun and Wu Deshui suspected the cult had fled with Guanghan Stronghold’s skilled hunters, and the exhausted group agreed to rest there overnight before searching the mountains.
• Wu Deshui reassured Lin Hao that Dam Market was guarded, prompting Lin Hao to let go of some worry and gain a little insight into his Force Gathering.

Lin Hao’s night watch in Guanghan Stronghold turned into a surprise attack by the Shadow Fiend Cult, whose members copied people and struck through their shadows. After Lin Hao killed two Shadow Fiends and the group fought off an ambush, the surviving enemies remained nearby as heavy rain began.

• Lin Hao took over the second night shift and watched from the courtyard wall while Yellow Chief Banner Officer organized the defenses.
• When two returning guards’ shadows moved strangely, Lin Hao attacked and exposed them as Shadow Fiends, saving Dai Fu from a copy attacking through his shadow.
• The commotion woke the group, and Zhang Zhi killed Zhang Cheng before a Shadow Fiend emerged from Zhang Cheng’s shadow; other infiltrators attacked people and fled amid arrows from hidden sentries.
• Liu Xun and Wu Deshui counterattacked the hidden archers, but several people were wounded and the Shadow Fiends escaped into the darkness.
• Lin Hao sensed the Shadow Fiends still watching the group as thunder rolled and heavy rain began.

As the Shadow Fiend Cult surrounded the ancestral hall, Liu Xun suspected the cults intended to destroy the Lake-Blocking Dam, and Wu Deshui led the defenders into the courtyard to fight. Lin Hao unleashed his Dragon Might, destroyed his shadow fiend and its three Hidden Force protectors, and returned to the firelight with his force more condensed.

• Liu Xun suggested the evil cults had targeted Dam Market to attack the Lake-Blocking Dam, prompting the defenders to rally to protect their homes and families.
• Liu Xun and Wu Deshui urged the group to hold the ancestral hall until daybreak, then Wu Deshui led them into the rain to clear the courtyard of shadow-controlled villagers.
• After the villagers were killed, Zhang Zhi and a duplicate Liu Xun emerged from the darkness, revealing that the defenders' shadows had been exposed to the cult.
• Lin Hao faced shadow fiends of Liu Tong, Yang Xing, and Master Chang while his own duplicate appeared, but he unleashed his Dragon Might and destroyed them all with a single attack.
• Lin Hao returned to the firelight after killing his shadow fiend, and his force became more condensed.

Lin Hao and the Embroidered Uniform Guards fought the Shadow Fiend Cult after Lin Hao killed his own shadow fiend, but the arrival of an Elysium Divine Envoy's shadow forced Yin Saide to take him on. Liu Xun then revealed a secret imperial mission to breach the Lake-Blocking Dam and ordered the guards to kill everyone from Dam Market, leaving the battlefield in chaos.

• Lin Hao killed Liu Tong's shadow fiend, then learned the Shadow Fiend Cult had captured an Elysium Divine Envoy and made his shadow fiend into a formidable opponent.
• Yin Saide arrived after killing his own shadow fiend and engaged the Elysium Divine Envoy, while Lin Hao and the others attacked the remaining shadow fiends.
• Lin Hao, Wu Deshui, and Liu Xun attacked Liu Xun's shadow fiend, who revealed that Liu Xun had come to breach the Lake-Blocking Dam on orders from the eunuch director.
• Liu Xun produced a secret decree authorizing the dam breach and ordered the Embroidered Uniform Guards to kill everyone from Dam Market.
• Some Embroidered Uniform Guards obeyed Liu Xun and turned their weapons on their former allies as the slaughter began.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard turned on the fighters from Dam Market, and Lin Hao killed the real Liu Xun before helping Wu Deshui defeat Liu Xun’s shadow fiend. The survivors remained surrounded and badly wounded, while Master Chang died beside Hou Lecheng as the battle with the Guard continued.

• Banner Commander Zhang, Dai Fu, and Yellow Chief Banner Officer attacked their former allies from Dam Market under the sovereign’s orders, leaving the outnumbered fighters in mortal danger.
• Wu Deshui and Lin Hao attacked the two Liu Xuns; Lin Hao drew the real Liu Xun into a duel and killed him with his curved blade, though Liu Xun wounded him in return.
• Lin Hao rushed to help Wu Deshui, and together they killed Liu Xun’s shadow fiend as it declared that the Embroidered Uniform Guard would still win.
• Wu Deshui drove back dozens of Embroidered Uniform Guards to protect the remaining Dam Market fighters, while Lin Hao saw that Qin Sicheng had lost an arm and Hou Lecheng and Master Chang were gravely wounded.
• Master Chang lamented that he had come to die at the hands of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and then died beside Hou Lecheng.

Lin Hao slaughtered the Embroidered Uniform Guards who had killed his allies, then feared Yin Saide had fallen in his fight with an Embrace the Elixir expert. The chapter ended with Yin Saide limping back alive as dawn broke.

• Lin Hao stopped Yang Xing from charging and attacked the Embroidered Uniform Guards with a woven bamboo strip.
• Lin Hao broke through the guards’ saber formation and killed Company Officer Huang and the rest of the contingent, including Dai Fu.
• Lin Hao realized the fighting around Helmsman Yin’s position had gone quiet and feared Yin Saide had been defeated.
• Lin Hao prepared to face the remaining Embrace the Elixir expert and told Wu Deshui and Liu Tong how to support him.
• Yin Saide returned alive, battered and leaning on his great halberd, as the rain stopped and dawn approached.

After surviving the destruction of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and the shadow fiends, Lin Hao and Yin Saide turned the secret plan to breach the dam into a political crisis backed by powerful local interests. As investigators arrived in Dam Market, Lin Hao recognized Commander Feng among the officials sent to handle the case.

• Lin Hao treated Qin Sicheng’s severed arm while Yin Saide learned that the Embroidered Uniform Guard had attacked them and that Hou Lecheng had died.
• Yin Saide and Wu Deshui concluded that the court would have to appease them if they reported the secret order to breach the dam, and they planned to contact their powerful allies.
• Lin Hao and the survivors killed the remaining shadow fiends, burned the bodies in the ancestral hall, and returned to Dam Market to report the deaths and the alleged plot.
• Yin Saide told County Commandant Wu and the local gentry about the secret order, prompting them to agree to submit a joint memorial and prepare to defend their interests.
• Lin Hao rested, discovered the properties of his new secret-edict accessory, and improved his Thunderclap Sword before investigators arrived several days later.
• At the Grain Oversight Office, Lin Hao recognized Commander Feng among the officials sent to investigate the affair.

The court rewarded Lin Hao and the others for defeating the cult, while Yin Jinzhong suggested the Western Depot may have orchestrated the betrayal and warned that the Embroidered Uniform Guard would take the blame. As Dam Market recovered, Yang Xing set out to gain experience, Qin Sicheng reached hidden force despite losing an arm, and Lin Hao prepared to leave for the South of the Yangtze after securing farmland near the evacuation point.

• Feng Commandant awarded titles and silver to the six survivors, and declared that the families of the dead Embroidered Uniform Guards would be exiled to Lingnan.
• Yin Jinzhong speculated that the Western Depot and Wang Gui might have issued the secret decree, and said the Grain Transport Governor's Office would protect the survivors for now.
• Lin Hao supported Yang Xing's decision to travel and gave him Yi Feng's address, while Wu Deshui urged Lin Hao to approach the Metropolitan Examination without acting rashly.
• Qin Sicheng emerged from recovery having entered hidden force, and Lin Hao encouraged him to keep exploring the world despite his lost arm.
• Lin Hao arranged the purchase of four or five hundred mu of farmland near the evacuation point and assigned Zhou Feng, Zhao Xiaowen, and Nie Yi to manage it.
• Lin Hao prepared to leave for the South of the Yangtze, and Zhao Xiaowen reminded him to stay safe and that he would always have a home in Dam Market.

Lin Hao arrived in Qingkou Prefecture and chose to spend the night aboard Spring Full House’s pleasure boat. There he met the disgraced painter Gong Zichun, recognized him as the artist behind the Hundred Beauties Painting, and agreed to buy a new painting as the old master revealed his unusual force.

• Lin Hao reached Qingkou’s docks aboard his ship and arranged for Qian Tong to oversee the other two vessels and their crews.
• Lin Hao hired an attendant to guide him to Spring Full House, the pleasure boat he chose for a quiet meal and overnight stay.
• Lin Hao saw Gong Zichun being driven off the boat and recognized the old painter’s name as the creator of the Hundred Beauties Painting.
• Gong Zichun offered Lin Hao a painting in exchange for a night aboard, and Lin Hao agreed to provide food while warning him not to spend recklessly.
• Gong Zichun spoke of the effort behind the Hundred Beauties Painting, and Lin Hao sensed the painter’s force before agreeing to let him paint something new.

Lin Hao dined with Gong Zichun on a pleasure boat, where Cui Hao’s men tried to seize the old painter for a gathering. Lin Hao exposed his Embroidered Uniform Guard credentials and accepted Cui Hao’s apology money, then sensed Cui Hao’s concealed killing intent and suspected he had uncovered a major target.

• Gong Zichun told Lin Hao about his lost daughter and began painting a picture for him.
• Cui Hao’s men barged into Lin Hao’s room to fetch Gong Zichun, and Lin Hao knocked three of them into the river.
• Lin Hao questioned how Cui Hao had learned where he was and showed his Embroidered Uniform Guard seal.
• Cui Hao panicked, dismissed the onlookers, and offered Lin Hao a hundred-tael silver note as an apology.
• Lin Hao sensed killing intent from Cui Hao despite his conciliatory manner and wondered whether he had stumbled upon a major target.

Lin Hao rejected Cui Hao's invitation, then discovered that Cui Hao and the Cui family were involved with the Elysium Cult and intended to kill him. After killing Cui Hao and his guards, Lin Hao returned to his Sand Ship and sent messages to Old Yin as a precaution.

• Lin Hao refused Cui Hao's banquet invitation, posed for Gong Zichun, and gave the painter wine laced with a sleeping medication.
• Cui Hao had the scholars at his banquet drugged with Sleep-Inducing Incense Powder and ordered Zhixin and Rubing to use Elysium Incense on them.
• Cui Hao left in disguise with two Hidden Force Martial Master guards, intending to arrange Lin Hao's death and investigate his assignment.
• Lin Hao ambushed Cui Hao and his guards in an alley, killed the guards, questioned Cui Hao about the Elysium Cult, and beheaded him.
• Lin Hao returned to his Sand Ship and told Qian Tong to send messages to Old Yin at Dam Market.

Lin Hao avoided suspicion in the investigation into Cui Hao’s murder by persuading the local Embroidered Uniform Guard commander that he was a protected newcomer on a nominal posting. After taking the Cui Family’s compensation and arranging a free room for Gong Zichun, Lin Hao left the docks and found the Laifu Inn, where Yi Feng had directed him to stay.

• Constables, Cui Ping, and Hundred-household Commander Wang questioned Lin Hao about Cui Hao’s murder, but Lin Hao claimed he had spent the night aboard the boat and demanded the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s involvement.
• Lin Hao privately told Hundred-household Commander Wang that he held a nominal posting and had only sought spending money from Cui Hao, then hinted that his secretive past and title made him someone the Guard had been told to protect.
• Hundred-household Commander Wang cleared Lin Hao, and Lin Hao showed his Wind-Catching Constable seal before offering to return Cui Hao’s silver; Cui Ping instead gave him another hundred-tael note as compensation.
• Lin Hao accepted a free private room on the pleasure boat, invited Gong Zichun to stay there, and left after telling him he might be gone for several days.
• Lin Hao walked through Qingkou and followed Yi Feng’s letter to the inexpensive Laifu Inn.

Lin Hao learned about Qingkou's salt merchant families and the suspected Cui Family–Elysium Cult connection, then accepted Wang Chao's generous offer of Salt Licenses while seeking a way to investigate the Lin Residence. The chapter left him planning to use Yang Xing's identity to enter the Lin household and locate its Evacuation Item.

• Yi Feng briefed Lin Hao on Qingkou's four chief salt merchant families, their influence, and the Wang Family's ties to the Transport Commissioner.
• Lin Hao warned Yi Feng that the Cui Family might be colluding with the Elysium Cult and told him to pass information through Yin Saide rather than investigate alone.
• Yi Feng told Lin Hao that Zhang Shuwen's team had come to Qingkou to repay debts and that the Lin Family was recruiting guards after repeated Lizardmen attacks.
• Uncle Fu welcomed Lin Hao to the Wang Residence, where Wang Chao offered him Salt Licenses for three boats and promised to handle potential trouble with the Cui Family.
• Wang Chao explained that the Lin Family might soon relinquish its chief-merchant position, and Lin Hao decided to use Yang Xing's identity to enter the Lin Residence and search for its Evacuation Item.

Lin Hao used Yang Xing’s identity to join the Lin Residence as a retainer, impressing its stewards with his Martial Juren certificate and martial skills. As the family considered cultivating him, Chu Yanming learned of the handsome young newcomer and saw him as a rival for the Lin family’s young lady.

• Lin Hao registered as a guard under Yang Xing’s name and revealed his Martial Juren certificate to Instructor Qi.
• Instructor Qi tested Lin Hao’s Hidden Force and brought him to Steward Zhang, who verified his background and welcomed him as a retainer.
• Hua An and Wen Tailai discussed their plans to seek opportunities at the Lin Residence and the Salt Gang.
• Steward Zhang and Uncle Lin investigated Yang Xing’s background and considered nurturing him amid unrest within the Lin family.
• Chu Yanming heard that Yang Xing was seventeen, handsome, and accomplished in Hidden Force, then angrily regarded him as a rival for the young lady.