Chapter Summaries

Emperor Longchang authorized Meng Yuanbai to lead a sweeping tax investigation after Prince Deshun exposed Prince Dexin and Prince Kang’s resistance to an audit. Wang Shouzhe then recruited Meng Yuanbai to Prince An’s side and hinted that the investigation should track unexplained funds, leaving Meng poised to uncover deeper schemes.

• Prince Deshun argued that imperial properties had to pay taxes and proposed audits of several princely mansions and ducal estates, while other clans conducted self-examinations and repaid missing taxes.
• Emperor Longchang gave Meng Yuanbai the Azure Dragon Sword Command Token and ordered him to lead the tax investigation, threatening anyone who obstructed it.
• Emperor Longchang explained to Old Yao that Wang Shouzhe’s counterattack had helped him commit to tax reform and that Prince Kang would have to prove his worth as a potential Imperial Son.
• Meng Yuanbai hurried to the Realm-Stabilizing Ducal Estate and asked Wang Yuchang to take him to Wang Shouzhe.
• Meng Yuanbai apologized to Wang Shouzhe and pledged to support him, while Wang Shouzhe promised to introduce him to Prince An.
• Wang Shouzhe advised Meng Yuanbai to watch for unexplained large sums entering and leaving accounts, and Meng Yuanbai eagerly agreed to pursue the financial traces.

Prince Kang scrambled to contain the tax investigation, while Wang Shouzhe’s probe exposed widespread corruption and won Prince An support among the common people. The chapter ended with Zhao Zhikun captured and ready to identify the mastermind behind the smuggling and treason case, leaving Emperor Longchang to realize Prince Kang could be removed from the Imperial Son contest.

• Prince Kang learned that his mansion had evaded at least eighty percent of its taxes, and Jiang Zhuyi advised him to cooperate publicly while exposing other clans’ tax evasion and rallying allies against Prince An.
• The tax investigation spread through Guilong City, bringing down aristocratic families and imperial clansmen as commoners praised Prince An, Prince Deshun, and the Great Qian Wang Clan.
• Emperor Longchang reviewed reports of corruption and condemned Wang Shouzhe’s investigation, believing it had alienated aristocratic families and improved Prince Kang’s chances against Prince An.
• Meng Yuanbai reported that Prince Kang’s mysterious funds matched the timing and amounts in Zhao Zhikun’s smuggling and treason accounts, and Emperor Longchang accused him of making a reckless charge.
• Little Jizi reported that Chen Jinglong and Chen Jinghu had captured Zhao Zhikun, who was willing to reveal the mastermind behind the smuggling and treason case.
• Emperor Longchang realized Wang Shouzhe had used the tax investigation as a feint to bring down Prince Kang and leave Wu Mingyuan as the only viable Imperial Son.

Emperor Longchang received Zhao Zhikun’s testimony naming Prince Kang as the mastermind behind the smuggling and treason scheme, and ordered his arrest. After Prince Kang was stripped of his Quasi-Imperial Son status, Emperor Longchang summoned Wang Shouzhe to the palace, while Prince An tried to recruit him for the Southern Frontier campaign.

• Chen Jinglong and Chen Jinghu brought Zhao Zhikun before Emperor Longchang, who read his testimony implicating Prince Kang in smuggling and treason.
• Emperor Longchang ordered Chen Jinglong to seal Prince Kang’s Mansion and detain those involved, while Meng Yuanbai and Chen Jinghu continued the investigation.
• Imperial Guards arrested Prince Kang as he tried to flee, and Prince Dewei stripped him of his Quasi-Imperial Son status on behalf of the Imperial Clan Office.
• Prince Kang’s Mansion surrendered, and its residents were detained or imprisoned while Prince Kang and Zhao Yijing were placed under house arrest.
• At Four Seasons Garden, Prince An tried to recruit Wang Shouzhe as his military strategist, but Wang Shouzhe refused and teased him about taking vegetables and fruit.
• Xiao Xiangzi delivered Emperor Longchang’s decree summoning Wang Shouzhe to the palace, and Wang Shouzhe accepted before borrowing the produce Prince An had picked.

Emperor Longchang received Wang Shouzhe at Lakeside Cottage, first venting his resentment by repeatedly defeating him at chess. Over dinner, Longchang invited Shouzhe to assess his rule, and Shouzhe’s blunt criticism left the Emperor overwhelmed and eager to end the discussion.

• Emperor Longchang made Wang Shouzhe wait while fishing, then summoned him and Prince An to Lakeside Cottage.
• Wang Shouzhe brought Longchang fruits and vegetables, and Longchang repeatedly crushed him at chess before inviting him to dinner.
• Longchang asked Wang Shouzhe for his honest opinion, and Shouzhe criticized his military spending, wars, and approach to domestic administration.
• Wang Shouzhe also faulted Longchang’s appointments and his failure to discipline the imperial clan, until Old Yao claimed the Emperor’s soul injury had flared up.
• Wang Shouzhe offered to write down his critique and stay in the capital for further consultations, leaving Longchang privately horrified.

Wang Shouzhe explained why the War of the Imperial Sons had forced him to act, then discussed rewards and state policy with Emperor Longchang. The Emperor ultimately offered him the Divine Power Spirit Treasure shield Safety, which eagerly accepted Wang Shouzhe as its master.

• Emperor Longchang offered to make Wang Shouzhe the Imperial Son, but Wang Shouzhe refused and complained that Prince Kang had forced his clan into the War of the Imperial Sons.
• Emperor Longchang acknowledged Wang Shouzhe’s difficulties and proposed that he and Prince An draft plans for using increased tax revenues to develop the economy and improve people’s livelihoods.
• Wang Shouzhe asked for a True Method inheritance as his reward, but Emperor Longchang refused and searched for another suitable reward.
• Old Yao brought out the Divine Power Spirit Treasure Safety, and Emperor Longchang offered it to Wang Shouzhe.
• Safety tested Wang Shouzhe’s cautious approach to combat, embraced his dual-shield strategy, and chose him as its master.

Wang Shouzhe received Emperor Longchang’s Divine Ability shield, attended the Changning Wang Clan’s ancestral rites, and helped Ancestor Longyan begin inheriting the Profound Ice Lifeng True Method while Prince Kang’s case was settled. As Wang Shouzhe traveled home, a powerful expert’s divine sense locked onto his Flying Carriage, signaling another likely confrontation.

• Wang Shouzhe accepted Treasure Shield Safety, who took the name Liu Safety and began teaching Wang Tank the principles of protecting their master.
• Wang Shouzhe and Wu Mingyuan drank together until dawn while discussing domestic matters, and Emperor Longchang left disappointed by their lack of ambition.
• Wang Shouzhe attended the Changning Wang Clan’s first ancestral rite at the Realm-Stabilizing Ducal Estate and watched Ancestor Longyan enter the Profound Ice Lifeng True Method inheritance site.
• Meng Yuanbai and the investigators confirmed Prince Kang’s guilt, and Emperor Longchang’s officials stripped Wu Chengsi of his titles and sentenced him to the cannon fodder camp.
• Prince Dexin urged Wu Chengsi to regain his resolve, claiming that a chance to reclaim the position of Imperial Son might remain.
• As Wang Shouzhe traveled toward Longzuo with Wang Anye, Wang Yingxuan, and Wang Lilong, Ancestor Longyan sensed that a powerful expert had locked onto their Flying Carriage.

Wang Shouzhe lured Prince Dexin’s Gu Master into an ambush, where the Wang Clan’s allies and treasures defeated his vicious insects and captured him. The family gathered the spoils and prepared to return to Ping'an Town, while Wang Yingxuan spotted the terrified bear in its cave.

• Wang Shouzhe explained to Wang Anye that he had baited Prince Dexin’s forces to draw out and defeat the prince’s strongest available attack.
• A Gu Master sent by Prince Dexin pursued the Flying Carriage with Bone-Eating Insects, so Wang Shouyong led it to a secluded valley away from the Qingbei Corridor.
• Wang Lixian, Wang Lilong, and Ancestor Longyan fought the Gu Master’s vicious insects as Wang Shouzhe coordinated their defense.
• Wang Anye summoned Seventh Sister, whose legion-flag power strengthened the Wang Clan’s forces and helped them suppress the Red-Tailed Centipede.
• The Gu Master tried to sneak up on Wang Shouzhe, but Wang Shouzu struck him and the Wang Clan captured him and his surviving insects.
• Wang Shouzhe and Wang Shouyong gathered the spoils and prepared to leave, while Wang Yingxuan found the bear hiding in its cave.

Wang Shouzhe’s group captured the half-step Saint Gu Master Wabake and foiled Prince Dexin’s attempt to kill him, while the Wang Clan returned to Ping'an Town and began a new period of growth. Thirty years later, Wang Shouzhe reached the sixth-layer Sacred Body and the ninth level of the Celestial Realm, leaving him close to the Purple Mansion Realm.

• Wang Anye stopped Wang Shouyong from killing a juvenile Earth Giant Bear, and the group took it aboard the Flying Carriage alongside the captured Wabake.
• Wabake confessed that he had allied with Prince Dexin, who had sent him to eliminate Wang Shouzhe, and Wang Shouzhe left his options for dealing with the Southern Frontier Barbarian Gu Tribe open.
• Prince Dexin learned that Wang Shouzhe had survived and Wabake had been captured, so he canceled the next phase of his plan and ordered his people to lie low.
• Wang Shouzhe’s group returned to the Wang Clan Main Residence, where Liu Ruolan disciplined the five wolf cubs and the Earth Giant Bear before sending them to Clan School.
• Over the next thirty years, the Wang Clan developed Ping'an Town and built the foundations of a Spirit Gathering Array around Wang Lixian, while Wang Shouzhe cultivated beside the Tree of Life.
• Wang Shouzhe broke through to the sixth-layer Sacred Body and the ninth level of the Celestial Realm, bringing him close to the Purple Mansion Realm.

Wang Shouzhe and Ancestor Longyan rushed to the Baidao Zhong Clan to bid farewell to Zhong Xingwang, who died after a long life. Ancestor Longyan revealed that she had reached the Purple Mansion Realm, then left to hunt a Sixth Rank evil flood dragon, while Emperor Longchang traveled incognito toward Changning Guard to inspect Wang Shouzhe’s domain.

• Wang Lixian asked Wang Shouzhe for half a year away from Clan School, but he refused and began tutoring her with test papers.
• After learning that Zhong Xingwang was dying, Wang Shouzhe and Ancestor Longyan traveled to Zhongshan Island, where the Zhong Clan and visiting guests welcomed them.
• Wang Shouzhe examined Zhong Xingwang and found that his lifespan was exhausted; Zhong Xingwang shared his last wish that Ancestor Longyan reach the Purple Mansion Realm and live safely.
• Ancestor Longyan privately saw Zhong Xingwang before he died, then departed to kill the Sixth Rank evil flood dragon near Baidao Guard and asked the Zhong Clan to keep her breakthrough secret.
• Emperor Longchang, Old Yao, and Wu Xuening traveled incognito down the An River as Emperor Longchang questioned the cost of the Wang Clan’s flood-control embankment and prepared to inspect Wang Shouzhe’s territory.

Emperor Longchang traveled incognito to Wang Clan territory, hoping to find fault with Wang Shouzhe, but the clan’s prosperous towns and generous relocation policies frustrated his search. After fleeing a capture squad, he sneaked into the Wang Clan School and erupted when he found his five wolf cubs being punished for cheating.

• Emperor Longchang criticized Wang Shouzhe’s Great Wild Marsh project and argued with merchants who defended the Wang Clan’s achievements.
• At New Peace Ferry, Dongfang Cangqiong vouched for Emperor Longchang and warned him to obey Wang Clan rules.
• Emperor Longchang questioned relocated households but found that most praised the Wang Clan’s compensation, while the few complainers seemed unreasonable.
• When Wang Clan security surrounded their inn, Emperor Longchang escaped into Ping'an Town, leaving Old Yao and Wu Xuening to surrender.
• Emperor Longchang sneaked into the Wang Clan School, found his five wolf cubs being punished for cheating, and demanded that the teacher fetch Wang Shouzhe.

Emperor Longchang tried to rescue five wolf students and Wang Lixian from the Clan School, but the teacher’s lessons convinced him they still needed to study. Meanwhile, Wang Shouzhe learned that a supposed spy had torn open space to escape and realized Emperor Longchang had been sneaking around Wang territory.

• Emperor Longchang insisted that the Clan School teacher let him take charge of Wang Dalang and the other four wolf students, but the wolves stayed put because they were being punished.
• Emperor Longchang tried to help Wang Lixian with arithmetic, then examined the wolves’ test papers and realized he understood even less than they did.
• The Clan School teacher showed Wang Lixian how mathematics could improve her battle plans, while Emperor Longchang told the wolves to keep studying and admitted that their teacher knew best.
• Wang Shouzhe declined Imperial Prince An’s request to help govern, then received a report that a suspicious person had torn open space to escape during an attempted arrest in Xinping Town.
• Wang Shouzhe concluded that Emperor Longchang was the supposed spy and wondered whether he should reconsider marrying into the Wu Clan.

Emperor Longchang invited himself to stay with the Wang Clan after claiming Wang Lixian as his honorary granddaughter, while Wang Anye returned from sea to find Wang Ansong interrogating Wu Xuening and Old Yao. Wu Xuening revealed that she was an imperial princess and Wang Anye’s friend, but Wang Ansong accused her of impersonation just as Anye arrived.

• Wang Shouzhe met Emperor Longchang at Zhuwei Lake and learned that the emperor had decided to stay with the Wang Clan to teach Wang Lixian.
• Emperor Longchang insisted that his stay was a holiday and that he would remain strictly sovereign and subject with Wang Shouzhe.
• Wang Anye returned to Xinping Town aboard Wang Zongkun after a successful trip out to sea.
• Wang Ansong interrogated Wu Xuening and Old Yao aboard Patrol Ship No. 003 about their arrival and suspected involvement in a rebellion.
• Wu Xuening identified herself as an imperial princess and a friend of Wang Anye, but Wang Ansong accused her of being a spy and pretending to know his brother.
• Wang Anye called to Wang Ansong from outside the patrol ship, leaving Wu Xuening worried that he would see her in disgrace.

Wang Anye captured Wu Xuening while she was disguised as a spy, then learned she was the imperial princess after she accused him of owing her marriage responsibility. Meanwhile, Emperor Longchang settled into Wang Shouzhe’s secluded retreat and gave the valley and residence new names.

• Old Yao broke Wu Xuening’s shackles and shook Patrol Ship No. 003, allowing her to escape, but Wang Zongkun used Spatial Confinement to stop her.
• Wu Xuening broke free with her Divine Ability Spirit Treasure, but Wang Anye struck her into the river and, with Wang Zongkun’s help, caught and tied her up.
• The water washed away Wu Xuening’s disguise, and Wang Anye recognized her; she then claimed their underwater struggle and an old childhood kiss meant he had to take responsibility for her.
• Wu Xuening pressed Wang Anye about marrying her, while Wang Zongkun encouraged her and Wang Ansong and Old Yao watched in surprise.
• Emperor Longchang decided to stay near Lixian, naming the valley Immortal Abiding Valley and Wang Shouzhe’s wooden residence Immortal Abiding Residence.

Wang Shouzhe and Emperor Longchang discussed the delayed Southern Frontier campaign while Prince Dexin secretly prepared to exploit it against Imperial Prince An. After years of postponements, Longchang finally issued an imperial decree ordering the campaign to begin, prompting Dexin to activate his plot.

• Wang Anye gave generous rewards to the patrol squad, while Wu Xuening and Wang Ansong exchanged gifts and Anye refused Ansong's request for Spirit Stones.
• Emperor Longchang pressed Wang Shouzhe about the Southern Frontier campaign, and Shouzhe explained that Imperial Prince An was delaying until the region could be conquered and governed safely.
• Prince Dexin learned through Luo Yuqing that the campaign preparations were nearing completion and ordered his followers to prepare a plan against Imperial Prince An.
• Over the next five years, Wu Xuening and Princess Yiluo joined the Wang Clan School as visiting students, while Longchang grew impatient with the campaign's repeated delays.
• Ten years into Longchang's stay with the Wang Clan, Wang Shouzhe presented a memorial asking him to issue an imperial decree, and Longchang ordered the army to march within half a year.
• After learning that the decree had mobilized the army for a march in three months, Prince Dexin ordered his followers to enact their plan against Imperial Prince An.

The Wang Clan’s decades-long development program had made the Southern Frontier Barbarian Gu Tribe prosperous but dependent on its grain, allowing Great Qian’s expeditionary army to advance with little resistance. As Imperial Prince An and Wang Shouzhe prepared their true objective, Prince Dexin and his allies plotted to frame Shouzhe as a demonic fiend and rally the army against him.

• Asang and the girls of Golden Mushroom Stronghold discussed their improved lives, their silk production, and their hopes of visiting Great Qian.
• Great Qian’s expeditionary corps, commanded by Imperial Prince An and overseen by Xiao Limo, advanced into the Southern Frontier and camped near Gu God Stronghold.
• Wang Shouzhe explained how the Wang Clan’s development program had transformed the Barbarian Gu Tribe and weakened its ability to resist by making it reliant on imported grain.
• Imperial Prince An told Fairy Tianyan and Wang Shouzhe that the campaign’s most important objective mattered more to him than claiming the Great Emperor’s throne.
• Prince Dexin urged Xiao Limo to exploit the campaign, while Luo Yuqing proposed accusing Wang Shouzhe of being a demon who had bewitched the Emperor and Imperial Prince An.
• Prince Dexin embraced the plan and declared the rallying cry, “Cleanse the Sovereign’s Side! Execute Shouzhe!”

Wang Luojing and Saintess Dai prepared to carry out their plan to secure a new future for the Holy Gu Tribe, while Great Qian's army remained outside Gu God Stronghold. At the Saintess succession ceremony, Imperial Prince An and Wang Shouzhe arrived as the tribe’s leaders gathered.

• Granny Aya overheard young girls discussing Wang Luojing, former Candidate Saintess Ya’s accusations, and the threat of war, then sent them away for punishment.
• Saintess Dai told Wang Luojing that she backed her succession because Wang Shouzhe and Imperial Prince An had earned her trust, and Wang Luojing delivered Wang Shouzhe’s message that the time had come to close the net.
• Ten days later, the Holy Gu Tribe gathered for Wang Luojing’s inheritance ceremony as Elder Ga and former Candidate Saintess Ya attended despite opposing her succession.
• Imperial Prince An arrived at the ceremony with Wang Shouzhe and his retinue, drawing wary attention from the gathered tribespeople and admiration from the young women.

Wang Luojing’s succession ceremony began as Saintess Dai transferred the Holy Gu Tribe’s inheritance, but Elder Ga incited opposition before Jing could bond with the Heavenly Silkworm. As Jing defended her succession and the elders took sides, Prince Dexin’s allies prepared to seize Gu God Stronghold and make one decisive move.

• Imperial Prince An, Wang Shouzhe, and their powerful guard arrived for Wang Luojing’s Saintess succession ceremony, while Emperor Longchang secretly posed as one of the guards.
• Saintess Dai completed the ancestral rite, then severed her contract with the Heavenly Silkworm so Wang Luojing could attempt to become its new master.
• Elder Ga interrupted the inheritance ceremony, accusing Wang Luojing and Great Qian of conspiring to enslave the Holy Gu Tribe and stirring a crowd to demand that Imperial Prince An leave.
• Wang Luojing defended her succession by describing the tribe’s improved living conditions, and Elder Chan, Elder Qi, and other elders publicly supported her.
• Outside Gu God Stronghold, Prince Dexin, Luo Yuqing, and Wabake agreed that Wabake’s allies would take control of the gates while Prince Dexin’s forces attacked.

Wang Luojing’s Saintess succession ceremony was interrupted by Wabake’s return and an assault by Prince Dexin and Grand Marshal Xiao Limo, who accused the Wang Clan of serving the Demon Dynasty. As Prince Dexin moved to seize Wang Shouzhe and Wang Luojing, Imperial Prince An proposed a private hearing inside the Blessing of Ancestor Panpan, leaving Emperor Longchang suspicious of Wang Shouzhe’s plan.

• Former Saintess Dai silenced the dispute over Wang Luojing’s succession and threatened to kill Elder Ga if he disrupted the ceremony again.
• Wabake returned after the stronghold gates were breached, condemned Wang Luojing, and reignited the elders’ quarrel.
• Prince Dexin and Grand Marshal Xiao Limo arrived with the Grand Marshal Guard Camp and declared the Wang Clan demonic fiends who had bewitched the Emperor and Imperial Prince An.
• Imperial Prince An ordered the Guard Camp to arrest Prince Dexin, but Xiao Limo claimed the prince had been controlled by the Wang Clan and persuaded the soldiers to follow him.
• Wang Luojing and former Saintess Dai sent the Holy Gu Tribe away, while Wang Shouzhe demanded evidence and Imperial Prince An recorded the events to guard against an unlawful arrest.
• Imperial Prince An proposed that he, Wang Shouzhe, Prince Dexin, and Xiao Limo enter the Blessing of Ancestor Panpan so Dexin could present his evidence privately, while Emperor Longchang wondered what Wang Shouzhe was plotting.

Imperial Prince An trapped Prince Dexin and Grand Marshal Xiao Limo in Panpan's Blessing so their plot would be recorded, exposing their crimes to Emperor Longchang and the assembled guards. Wang Lixian drained the artifact's immortal spirit qi to free the group, leaving Prince Dexin face-to-face with the furious Emperor.

• Imperial Prince An activated Panpan's Blessing and transported himself, Wang Shouzhe, Prince Dexin, and Xiao Limo into its isolated space for their confrontation.
• Prince Dexin threatened Wang Shouzhe and Imperial Prince An, while Wang Shouzhe's concealed Heavenly Secret Image-Recording Disk broadcast his words to the guards outside.
• Prince Dexin revealed that Xiao Limo had murdered Princess Yushuang and helped cause Prince Hao's death, enraging Emperor Longchang as the recording played.
• Wang Shouzhe and Imperial Prince An told Dexin they would leave judgment of Xiao Limo to the Emperor, then Wang Shouzhe asked Wang Lixian to break open the protective space.
• Wang Lixian emerged from the Breath Soil Bracelet and absorbed the space's immortal spirit qi, causing the group to reappear before Emperor Longchang, who confronted Prince Dexin.

Wang Shouzhe exposed Prince Dexin and Xiao Limo’s plots, explained how he had baited Dexin into acting, and uncovered Dexin’s links to South Qin. The Holy Gu Tribe agreed to sever ties with South Qin, while Emperor Longchang learned that Wang Shouzhe had kept yet another safeguard in reserve.

• Emperor Longchang ordered the personal guard battalion to arrest Prince Dexin and Xiao Limo, and Tianyan revealed that she was Zhou Hongye, daughter of the officer framed in Prince Hao’s death.
• Wang Shouzhe explained how he had studied Dexin’s ambitions and deliberately delayed Imperial Prince An’s campaign to push Dexin into acting at Gu God Stronghold.
• Luo Yuqing revealed that she and Wabake had defected to Imperial Prince An, and Dexin collapsed after learning his allies had turned against him.
• Emperor Longchang punished the guard battalion by assigning it to excavate the Dala Grand Canal under Wang Zongan’s command for ten years.
• Wang Shouzhe linked Dexin to South Qin and exposed three South Qin agents hidden in the Imperial Guard camp, prompting Saintess Dai to pledge that they would die there.
• Saintess Dai summoned the supposedly dismissed Holy Gu Silkworm to attack the three agents, and Emperor Longchang realized Wang Shouzhe had concealed another trump card.