Chapter Summaries

Pei Ye discussed human nature, the Way of Heaven, and swordsmanship with Li Mingqiu and his classmate Changsun Jue at the Imperial College, then escaped the crowd gathered to see him. He later met Xu Chuo, who urged him to publish Cui Zhaoye’s Sword Review and make his name at the Winter Sword Gathering in Chang'an.

• Changsun Jue explained the Confucian debate on human nature and the Way of Heaven, and Pei Ye concluded that the Sword Dao was humanity's sword, not the Way of Heaven.
• After class, Changsun Jue helped Pei Ye slip out through a back door to avoid the crowd waiting for him, then asked him about his sword training.
• Qi Zhaohua teased Pei Ye about Changsun Jue as they traveled to the Cultivation Literature Academy, where Pei Ye went to meet Xu Chuo.
• Xu Chuo thanked Pei Ye for helping settle the West Pool affair and recalled how she and Yue Muzhou had discussed him.
• Xu Chuo urged Pei Ye to have Cui Zhaoye’s Sword Review published, build his foundations, and make a name for himself at the Winter Sword Gathering in Chang'an before she arranged a position for him.

Xu Chuo told Pei Ye how the Taiping Transport Gang’s case would unfold and explained the deeper leads involving Yang Juhu, the King of Yan’s Residence, and the Phantom Tower. Pei Ye’s swordsmanship earned lavish praise in Cui Zhaoye’s Sword Review, and the chapter ended with Xu Chuo questioning his request for reimbursement of medical fees.

• Xu Chuo explained that the Taiping Transport Gang would be destroyed, Lu Yugu dismissed, and Di Jiu installed as Jingzhao Prefect under Bian’s protection.
• Xu Chuo told Pei Ye that Yang Juhu and Wang Biehe might serve a secret objective for the King of Yan’s Residence, while the gang’s money had also supported Yu Sicheng and the Phantom Tower.
• Xu Chuo discussed the requirements for Pei Ye to learn the Four Qi Jade Candle Sword and reminded him to finish his punishment copying.
• Xu Chuo and Pei Ye drank flower wine while waiting for the special edition of Chang'an Sword Affairs to arrive.
• Cui Zhaoye’s Sword Review praised Pei Ye’s sword and ranked him among the three swordsmen who still astonished her.
• Pei Ye presented Xu Chuo with a bill for his treatment at the Mount Tai Medicine Lodge, and she challenged him for seeking private care after she had arranged an imperial physician.

After spending the night drinking and playing games with Xu Chuo, Pei Ye left the Cultivation Literature Academy with a costly bottle of wine and learned she had written a new poem beside his verse. He sold the wine to Qu Xin, bought books to send home to Fenghuai Martial Arts Hall, and prepared letters to go with them.

• Pei Ye and Xu Chuo competed at pitch-pot while drinking, and Xu Chuo won by one arrow before they played Finger Sword until dawn.
• Xu Chuo asked Pei Ye for a poem, and after he left, he noticed her freshly written poem on the wall beside his verse.
• Pei Ye left the academy with the remaining bottle of wine, then sold it to Qu Xin for twenty taels after bargaining over its value.
• Pei Ye bought two crates of books and asked Qu Xin to send them through Jadeite Mountain to Fenghuai Martial Arts Hall.
• Pei Ye wrote several letters to accompany the books and told Qu Xin he would bring more books and money to send later.

Pei Ye completed his study of the Jadeite Sword Theory, advanced his Sword Ladder world into spring, and received two new sword arts from Qiu Jizi. He then returned to the Taiping Wharf, where Xie Chuantang revealed that the Taiping Transport Gang’s hidden inner hall had handled cargo, and a dockworker’s testimony offered a new lead.

• Pei Ye learned that the wine and pills contained qilin blood that strengthened his Chi Flame Source, then annotated the Jadeite Sword Theory and completed its First-Month Northern Rain art.
• Pei Ye visited Qiu Jizi and obtained two new sword arts; back at the courtyard, he named it the Residence of the Tang Three Swordsmen.
• Pei Ye spent two peaceful days at the Sword Cultivation Academy before returning to Taiping Wharf after Xie Chuantang reported progress in the case.
• Xie Chuantang told Pei Ye that the Taiping Transport Gang’s inner hall had vanished in the raid and had handled loading and unloading rather than Winter Prison or Qiu Tianyu’s security.
• Xie Chuantang gave Pei Ye the testimony of Zhang Ercai, a long-serving dockworker whose observations might explain what happened at the wharf.

Zhang Ercai and Erlang witnessed a secret nighttime shipment of iron vats containing dangerous creatures, leading Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang to pursue the merchant ship Southern Golden Wind. Pei Ye joined Xie Chuantang on a fast ride from the capital, carrying Xu Chuo’s instructions to stop the ship and investigate its smuggling.

• Zhang Ercai recalled how he and Erlang discovered an immense ship unloading sealed iron vats at the forbidden west bank, where something inside the vats clawed at the metal lattice.
• Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang learned that the ship was the Southern Golden Wind, which had left the capital seven days earlier after its cargo records revealed unexplained capacity.
• Xie Chuantang told Pei Ye that Di Jiu had contacted Tongjun, who provided two fast horses and approved bringing Pei Ye along.
• Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang rode west along the Feng River and Wei River to catch the ship, while Pei Ye read Xu Chuo’s request to stop it and investigate the smuggling.

Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang inspected the Southern Golden Wind, a Fengshui Dock ship suspected of carrying prohibited goods. When Pei Ye demanded to see a hidden fourth level, Fengshui Dock’s crew surrounded him, and he vanished into white feathers.

• Pei Ye identified Fengshui Dock as the operator of the ship, while Niu Shaoyi waited at Yang Family Ferry for Little Zhang.
• Xie Chuantang and Pei Ye boarded the Southern Golden Wind and ordered Chen Renzhong to lower its sails for inspection.
• Chen Renzhong showed Xie Chuantang the manifest and defended the listed cargo as Pei Ye searched the ship’s three known levels.
• Pei Ye insisted the ship had a fourth level, but Chen Yingfeng denied it as Fengshui Dock’s crew gathered around him.
• Pei Ye recognized that Chen Yingfeng knew his identity, drew his sword, and disappeared into white feathers before the crew.

Pei Ye discovered that the Southern Golden Wind concealed a submerged compartment filled with iron vats built to hold living creatures, and found evidence that one had broken free. As he investigated the damage, Xie Chuantang questioned Chen Renzhong about the ship’s delayed departure from the capital.

• Pei Ye and Black Cat found a hollow iron spike and a concealed compartment beneath the ship’s third level, which Pei Ye opened by melting through its iron floor.
• Pei Ye met Zhang Piaoxu, who had been secretly investigating the ship, and Zhang Piaoxu followed him into the submerged compartment despite being told to leave.
• Pei Ye examined the empty iron vats and found blood, claw marks, and signs of a violent struggle throughout the compartment.
• Pei Ye discovered a reinforced gold vat that had been broken open from within and recovered a fragment of a scale from inside it.
• Pei Ye noticed the compartment had been installed inside the ship after its construction, while Black Cat spotted objects tied to the supports.
• Xie Chuantang confronted Chen Renzhong about the ship’s eight-day delay in port, and Chen Renzhong asked whether she had ever failed an assignment from her superiors.

Pei Ye was trapped underwater with Chen Renzhong after Fengshui Dock blew up its own ship, leaving him unable to use his sword effectively in the currents. Black Cat was separated from him in another watery realm and fought two Water Hui while Pei Ye remained alone against Chen Renzhong.

• Chen Renzhong destroyed the ship with hidden gunpowder and confronted Pei Ye in the flooding secret cabin.
• Pei Ye escaped the cabin and dropped into the lake, but a giant scaled creature swept Black Cat away.
• Chen Renzhong pursued Pei Ye underwater, where the currents disrupted his sword control and left him struggling against the heavy saber.
• Black Cat encountered two Water Hui and fought them with its blue flames as it searched for a way through the isolated waters.
• Pei Ye caught a piece of wreckage for support, but Chen Renzhong broke through his defenses and struck him again.

Pei Ye adapted to underwater combat by reaching a fleeting state of [Bare Heart, Revealed Blade], while Zhang Piaoxu joined the fight and helped him survive Chen Renzhong’s assault. The falling ship’s bow separated them from Chen Renzhong, giving Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu a chance to escape toward the surface.

• Pei Ye closed his eyes under Chen Renzhong’s assault and briefly entered [Bare Heart, Revealed Blade], evading a sudden concealed bolt and countering the saber.
• Zhang Piaoxu emerged from the shipwreck and accidentally wounded Chen Renzhong with his concealed weapon while Pei Ye learned to move with the currents.
• Black Chi killed one Water Hui and continued fighting the other as Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu faced Chen Renzhong.
• Chen Renzhong attacked Zhang Piaoxu, but Pei Ye rescued him and asked how many bolts remained in his crossbow.
• Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu coordinated a crossbow shot and sword strike, then used the falling ship’s bow to block Chen Renzhong and prepare to swim upward.

Pei Ye used the Hornless Dragon’s help to escape the underwater wreckage, then defeated Chen Renzhong with his swordsmanship above the surface. After the fight, Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu surveyed the sinking Southern Golden Wind and discovered that the explosion had killed or injured many of its crew.

• Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu waited underwater as Chen Renzhong attacked, and Pei Ye used a sudden retreat to bring Zhang Piaoxu toward the lakebed while keeping Chen Renzhong alive.
• The Hornless Dragon burst from the lakebed and carried Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu to the surface, where Chen Renzhong pursued them.
• Pei Ye countered Chen Renzhong’s saber with [Cold Flute], [Drifting Returning Wind], [White Dew], and the spring sword “Poplar Blossoms,” cutting his tendons and forcing him to drop his saber.
• Black Chi bound Chen Renzhong, and Pei Ye and Zhang Piaoxu climbed onto the sinking Southern Golden Wind as it burned and broke apart.
• Pei Ye realized the detonation had killed or injured nearly half of the ship’s more than seventy workers, many of whom had known nothing about it.

Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang investigated the Southern Golden Wind, where Chen Renzhong died after an unseen attacker struck and Xie was wounded. Back in Jingzhao Prefecture, they linked Zhang Piaoxu’s account of a disturbance aboard a Taiping Transport Gang ship to the missing cargo and concluded that a dangerous scaled creature had escaped in the Divine Capital.

• Pei Ye left Chen Renzhong’s side to rescue people, then joined Xie Chuantang, who reported that Chen Yingfeng had escaped with many account books.
• An unseen attacker sent an icicle of Profound Qi through Pei Ye’s fire barriers and Xie Chuantang’s saber, killing Chen Renzhong and piercing Xie’s shoulder as she questioned him about a black carriage covered in Buddhist paintings.
• Pei Ye suspected Fengshui Dock’s master, He Changge, was responsible for the attack, while He Changge encountered Zhu Gaoyang, who detained him and demanded information about He Wujian.
• On the return journey, Xie Chuantang questioned Zhang Piaoxu, who described a noisy incident aboard a ship near the Taiping Transport Gang in the middle of the tenth month.
• At Jingzhao Prefecture, Pei Ye, Xie Chuantang, Di Jiu, and Li Zhao discussed the gang’s cargo and concluded that a dangerous scaled creature had escaped after reaching the Divine Capital.

Pei Ye and Xing Zhi investigated the escaped scaled creature, deducing that it could leave the canal and travel over land, while an Immortal Platform painter revised its portrait. On the way home, Pei Ye reflected on his sword technique, and Black Cat revealed that the strange place she had been taken seemed separated from him only by a membrane, leaving the giant python’s existence uncertain.

• Xing Zhi identified traces of He Changge’s Profound Arts and concluded the scaled creature was intelligent, powerful in water, and difficult to track.
• Pei Ye reasoned that barriers confined the creature’s route through the canal and that it must be able to cross dry land to remain in the city.
• An Immortal Platform painter used Zhang Piaoxu’s description to paint the creature, then added hind limbs after Xing Zhi shared their deduction that it could travel on land.
• Pei Ye left the search and told Black Cat that using [Bare Heart, Revealed Blade] had unexpectedly helped him, much as an earlier struggle with the 'Cicada Sparrow Sword' had.
• Black Cat said the place she had been dragged into had felt close to Pei Ye, separated from him by a membrane, and Pei Ye asked whether the huge python had truly existed.

Pei Ye visited Qu Xin for treatment, then discovered that the fifty-tael banknote he had borrowed from Qi Zhaohua was counterfeit and reported the suspected theft to Xie Chuantang. The authorities had also recovered a crucial shackle lock from the wreck, and Pei Ye turned his attention to the investigation.

• Black Cat told Pei Ye that water hui were legendary Spirit Profound creatures, and she recalled encountering a male and female one.
• Pei Ye visited Qu Xin for medical treatment, and she admitted she had deliberately left a conspicuous scar on his chest.
• Pei Ye tried to exchange the banknote from Qi Zhaohua at a bank, where the manager identified it as counterfeit.
• At the Canal Transport Office, Xie Chuantang showed Pei Ye a spirit-patterned lock recovered from the shackles in the Fine Iron Vat.
• Pei Ye reported the suspected theft of his money, and Xie Chuantang accepted the case.
• Xing Zhi suggested the theft may have happened while Pei Ye was out, and Pei Ye asked whether the lock had come from the intact shackles.

Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang realized the scaled monster had likely been carried into the wards by a human accomplice, and traced the lead to Zhang Piaoxu’s home on Drooping Willow Street. They entered the street under cover, where a group of boys were sparring, but Zhang Piaoxu had disappeared.

• Xing Zhi explained that the scaled monster may have opened its lock by controlling water without Spirit Profound, and Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang searched the suspected wards without finding it.
• Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang deduced that the monster had entered the city with human help, possibly transported openly in a cart, and identified Drooping Willow Street as a lead.
• Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang discovered Zhang Piaoxu had vanished after his statement was recorded, so Xing Zhi marked Drooping Willow Street and officers quietly surrounded its approaches.
• Pei Ye, Xie Chuantang, and Xing Zhi entered Drooping Willow Street and found adolescent boys gathered around a fight.
• After Dongzi lost a sparring match to Tianhu, he accepted the result and declared himself Tianhu’s little brother.

Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang found the scaled creature hiding in Zhang Piaoxu’s water vat and discovered it was a frightened young mermaid. After confronting Zhang about the stolen silver and seeing Qu Xin’s party depart, Pei Ye left the Divine Capital with the mermaid traveling in a vat beside him.

• Pei Ye and Xie Chuantang followed claw marks and water trails into Zhang Piaoxu’s home, where Pei Ye fought off the mermaid’s razor-sharp water attack.
• Pei Ye, with Xing Zhi’s help, opened the water vat and found a small mermaid inside.
• Zhang Piaoxu arrived and pleaded for Pei Ye to put the mermaid down, then admitted he had spent all the silver he stole on three crossbow bolts.
• Pei Ye told Zhang to cooperate with Xie Chuantang’s questioning and delivered his planned purchases to Qu Xin before her party left westward.
• Pei Ye received an invitation to speak with the Cultivation Literature Academy and left in a carriage carrying the mermaid in a water vat.

Pei Ye brought the captured mermaid to Xu Chuo, and they discussed the long-running smuggling operation and the mysterious Phantom Tower. The mermaid revealed her name as Xiye, and Xu Chuo planned to have someone take Pei Ye to the tower, though the visit’s timing remained unsettled.

• Pei Ye brought the mermaid to Xu Chuo, who explained that merfolk were rarely found even by cultivators and discussed possible motives behind their capture.
• Xu Chuo connected the Phantom Tower’s poem about merfolk treasures to the unknown person behind the operation and offered to arrange for someone to take Pei Ye there.
• The mermaid called out that she was hungry, so Black Cat fetched perch from the lake for her to eat.
• Pei Ye proposed naming the mermaid, but Xu Chuo understood her to say that her name was Xiye.
• Xu Chuo kept Pei Ye for lunch, and he asked when she would arrange his visit to the Phantom Tower.

Pei Ye agreed to co-write Xu Chuo’s new story, then went to the Imperial College, where Changsun Jue introduced him to a heated debate about Heaven’s mandate and virtue. The chapter left Pei Ye considering how virtue might change with a person’s heart and choices.

• Xu Chuo invited Pei Ye to help write her short love story, Swinging Rope, and he eagerly agreed.
• Pei Ye left Xu Chuo’s home with wine and an October National Gazette before driving himself to the Imperial College.
• Changsun Jue welcomed Pei Ye, gave him copied lesson notes, praised his swordsmanship, and asked to hear about future matches.
• Pei Ye attended Li Mingqiu’s lesson on “Yi and Ji” and noticed its discussion of Heaven’s mandate echoed ideas from earlier lessons.
• Changsun Jue explained the college debate over Li Mingqiu’s “Discourse on Virtue” and proposed that virtue was inborn but could be preserved or lost through one’s choices.

Pei Ye spoke with Changsun Jue about the political stakes behind scholarly debates, then met Cui Zhaoye, who interviewed him for Chang'an Sword Affairs about his swordsmanship and teachers. He revealed that Ming Qitian had shaped his understanding of the sword, leaving Cui Zhaoye to recognize the Glaze Sword Master's deep influence on him.

• Changsun Jue told Pei Ye that debates over ancient texts reflected present political struggles and could soon erupt throughout the Divine Capital.
• Changsun Jue introduced Pei Ye to Cui Zhaoye, who asked to write a profile of him for Chang'an Sword Affairs.
• Cui Zhaoye questioned Pei Ye about his sword training, and he described the Snowy Night Flying Goose Sword Form created by an elder in his family.
• Pei Ye explained that Zhu Gaoyang had helped him study the Compendium of Six Dynasties Swordcraft after Ming Qitian identified weaknesses in his sword path.
• Pei Ye called Ming Qitian the only bright moon on his Sword Dao, and Cui Zhaoye concluded that the Glaze Sword Master had deeply influenced him.

Pei Ye learned that Cui Zhaoye had deduced the Jadeite Sword’s deeper principles and shared her radical idea of reversing the usual sword-cultivation relationship. He agreed to test a path in which the sword’s intent shaped the practitioner, and Cui Zhaoye immediately took him to the Sword Cultivation Academy to begin.

• Cui Zhaoye explained that Pei Ye’s Flying Feather Immortal could reach a deeper life-and-death cycle, and she offered to share an unprecedented theory of the sword.
• Cui Zhaoye described her lifelong study of sword manuals and argued that conventional sword cultivation made people reshape themselves to serve the sword’s pursuit of perfection.
• Pei Ye understood her proposed reversal from “subject-sword-object” to “object-sword-self” and agreed that the idea was worth testing.
• Cui Zhaoye invited Pei Ye to explore the new path with her, and they toasted their partnership while Changsun Jue watched.
• Cui Zhaoye took Pei Ye to the Sword Cultivation Academy and continued explaining how swords could convey a person’s intent and enter another’s Mindscape Realm.

Cui Zhaoye introduced her theory of [Sword State] and tried to help Pei Ye discover its meaning through his sword arts. The experiment triggered Pei Ye’s instinctive sword response when Yang Zhenbing thrust at his throat, nearly striking Changsun Jue with the sword he sent flying.

• Cui Zhaoye explained her ambition to write a comprehensive classic on sword cultivation and named her proposed new path [Sword State].
• Pei Ye brought Cui Zhaoye and Changsun Jue to the Sword Field, where they met Yang Zhenbing practicing late at night.
• Cui Zhaoye described how sword state would let a swordsman draw meaning from the sword and transform their own heart, then asked Pei Ye to examine the feelings in his sword arts.
• Pei Ye entered the realm of his remembered sword arts as Cui Zhaoye guided him to seek their shared meaning.
• Cui Zhaoye signaled Yang Zhenbing to startle Pei Ye, and Yang Zhenbing thrust toward his throat.
• Pei Ye’s sword instinctively flew from his hand; Yang Zhenbing deflected it, but the blade embedded in the wall above Changsun Jue, leaving everyone stunned.