Recaps

Wang Luojing earned the Gongsun Clan’s admiration after helping control the insect plague, and Wang Shouzhe recognized the great value of her Spirit Insect Master talent. After Luojing finished stabilizing the Gongsun farms, she urged Shouzhe to travel to the Yingxiu Lu Clan before the plague worsened there.

• Wang Liuyu gave Wang Luojing a ten-Qian Gold banknote, and Wang Shouzhe encouraged her to accept it.
• Gongsun Qiang proposed a match between Wang Luojing and Xiao Yan, but Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Hui rejected the idea and stressed Luojing’s value as a Spirit Insect Master.
• Wang Shouzhe and the Gongsun family discussed how Luojing could help clans control pests and earn substantial income.
• The next day, Wang Luojing tamed and released Insect Kings at the Gongsun farms, then warned Wang Shouzhe that they needed to visit the Yingxiu Lu Clan soon.
• Wang Shouzhe recalled his close ties to the Yingxiu Lu Clan through his late mother, Lu Mengxue, and his aunt, Wang Liuling.

Wang Shouzhe escorted Wang Luojing toward the Yingxiu Lu Clan, but his party found signs of an injured fugitive in a border forest. After his retainers captured the man, Wang Shouzhe chose to take him to the Lu Clan for investigation, and the captive revealed he had more valuables hidden away.

• Wang Shouzhe and Wang Luojing set out for Yingxiu by way of Shanyang, with Wang Shouzhe warning his retainers to stay alert in the forest.
• Wang Zhong found blood and a scrap of costly cloth near a stream, then tracked the injured person into the forest with Wang Yong and Wang Wu.
• The retainers captured a rogue cultivator, who claimed bandits had wounded him and offered his possessions as ransom.
• Wang Shouzhe ordered that the captive be taken to the Lu Clan for investigation and promised to return his belongings if he was innocent.
• The captive turned pale and begged not to be taken to Yingxiu, offering to reveal other hidden possessions if Wang Shouzhe released him.

Wang Shouzhe captured a rogue cultivator who had taken part in a robbery and brought him to the Yingxiu Lu Clan instead of claiming the stolen goods. After reuniting with his uncle Lu Zhengjie and reaching the Lu residence, he found Lu Xiaoxiao and Wang Luojing glaring at each other.

• A rogue cultivator confessed to robbing a merchant household and offered Wang Shouzhe the stolen goods in exchange for his life.
• Wang Shouzhe refused to pursue the loot, explaining that the Wang Clan must uphold its principles and avoid offending the Lu Clan.
• Lu Zhengjie met Wang Shouzhe on the road, and Wang Shouzhe handed over the captured criminal for interrogation and recovery of the stolen property.
• Lu Zhengjie escorted Wang Shouzhe to the Yingxiu Lu Clan residence, where Lu Xiaoxiao rushed into his arms.
• Wang Luojing claimed to feel unwell, and she and Lu Xiaoxiao exchanged hostile looks.

Wang Shouzhe visited the Yingxiu Lu Clan with Wang Luojing, where he met his relatives and arranged for Luojing to help with an insect-eradication operation. Before he could join the work, Ancestor Mingsheng summoned him, leaving him uneasy about the reason.

• Lu Xiaoxiao and Wang Luojing argued over who Wang Shouzhe favored more, and Xiaoxiao ran off crying when he refused to promise her an expensive Amethyst Spirit Bee honeycomb.
• Wang Shouzhe and Wang Luojing met Lu Clan Leader Lu Zhengxiong and Wang Liuling in the ancestral residence, where they exchanged greetings and shared Ice Crystal Dew Drink and Spirit Food.
• Wang Shouzhe arranged for Wang Luojing to cooperate with the Lu Clan in an insect-eradication operation modeled on the Shanyang Gongsun Clan's method.
• Before Wang Shouzhe could join the operation, Ancestor Mingsheng summoned him, and Wang Shouzhe wondered whether Lu Xiaoxiao had complained about him.

Wang Shouzhe visited Ancestor Mingsheng, who gave him five hundred Qian Gold after Lu Xiaoxiao asked for an Amethyst Spirit Bee Honeycomb. He learned that Lu Xiaoxiao had talent for formations, then asked Ancestor Mingsheng questions about cultivation before leaving with his doubts clarified.

• Wang Shouzhe arrived at Yingxiu Rising Moon Pavilion and found Lu Xiaoxiao complaining to Ancestor Mingsheng about not receiving an Amethyst Spirit Bee Honeycomb.
• Lu Xiaoxiao asked Ancestor Mingsheng for five hundred Qian Gold to buy a honeycomb, and Ancestor Mingsheng gave the money to Wang Shouzhe to support the Wang Clan.
• Ancestor Mingsheng told Lu Xiaoxiao she had talent for formations and promised to find her a master if she worked toward becoming a first-rank Formation Master.
• Wang Shouzhe asked Ancestor Mingsheng numerous cultivation questions for more than two hours, while Lu Xiaoxiao fell asleep listening.
• Wang Shouzhe thanked Ancestor Mingsheng for answering his questions and took his leave.

Wang Shouzhe received the Bee Taming Notes from Ancestor Mingsheng, cultivated through the night, and learned that Wang Luojing had helped contain the insect plague. After returning to Changning Guard, he met Manager Qian, who feared the consequences of Wang Shouzhe’s scheme, and promised him a chance to earn great merit and advance.

• Ancestor Mingsheng gave Wang Shouzhe the Bee Taming Notes as a gift for the Wang Clan’s new Spirit Insect Master, then praised Lu Xiaoxiao’s Li Fire Physique.
• Wang Shouzhe cultivated through the night at the Lu Clan guest residence and made progress toward the seventh level of the Qi Refining Realm.
• Wang Zhong reported that Wang Luojing had controlled several Nine-Star Insect Kings and helped suppress the insect plague.
• Lu Zhengjie told Wang Shouzhe that the massacre case had been solved and that the Town Guardian Office had awarded him fifty Qian Gold.
• Wang Shouzhe gave the Bee Taming Notes to Wang Luojing, left her with guards and Lu Clan protection, and rode back to Changning Guard.
• Manager Qian confronted Wang Shouzhe over the trading firm’s role in his scheme, and Wang Shouzhe promised him a great merit that could help him advance.

Wang Shouzhe offered Qian Xue'an the findings about the Honey Insect plague and its drug resistance in exchange for an alliance, giving Qian a chance to earn enough merit to seek a breakthrough into the Spirit Platform Realm. After they signed a pact, they discussed the Qian Clan Trading Firm’s leverage over Pest-Exterminating Powder as the plague threatened harvests and grain supplies.

• Qian Xue'an revealed his peak ninth-level Qi Refining cultivation and explained that he needed great merit to win family support for attempting the Spirit Platform Realm.
• Wang Shouzhe and Qian Xue'an agreed to a secret alliance and signed a fair pact that either could end by paying ten thousand Qian Gold.
• Wang Shouzhe gave Qian Xue'an documents explaining Honey Insect drug resistance and how to research a new Pest-Exterminating Powder.
• Qian Xue'an said the aristocratic families would need to pay heavily for the powder because the plague threatened to cut production by sixty to seventy percent.
• Qian Xue'an explained that grain-price laws made the worsening harvest especially dangerous for commoners, while Longzuo faced an inevitable grain shortage.

Wang Shouzhe negotiated with Qian Xue'an to turn the Qian Clan Trading Firm’s broken contract into a major payout and a supply of grain, while planning how the Wang Clan could store it. He sent retainers to carry out preparations, believing the locust disaster might become a turning point for the clan.

• Qian Xue'an advised Wang Shouzhe to demand ten thousand Qian Gold and grain worth three thousand Qian Gold to cancel the trading contract, and Wang Shouzhe agreed while barring sales of Pest-Exterminating Powder to the Ping'an Zhao and Liu Clans.
• Qian Xue'an staged an angry departure to make the dispute look genuine, and Wang Shouyi later reassured Wang Shouzhe that trials of new live-fish equipment were succeeding.
• Wang Shouzhe considered how to store the enormous grain supply and identified the Wang Clan Main Residence’s empty buildings and waterways as useful resources.
• Wang Shouzhe wrote two letters and sent Wang Zhong and Wang Yong to deliver them and remain to help, then reflected that the locust disaster could reverse the Wang Clan’s decline.

As insect damage threatened Changning Guard’s harvest and drove up food prices, Wang Shouzhe expanded the Wang Clan’s salted-fish production and arranged to move a huge reserve of old grain. He met Gongsun Qiang outside the city and revealed that the shipment would total fifty or sixty thousand dan.

• Wang Shouyi reported the surge in salted-fish sales, and Wang Shouzhe ordered the clan to raise prices, ration public sales, and expand production to more than two thousand dan that month.
• Wang Shouzhe gave Wang Shouyi authority to mobilize the clan’s workers and guards, while warning him to keep the accounts in order.
• Wang Shouzhe received Qian Xue'an’s letter confirming their agreement and traveled in disguise to meet Wang Zhong outside the city.
• Wang Zhong reported that Gongsun Qiang had arrived with the requested heavy-duty carriages.
• Wang Shouzhe told Gongsun Qiang that he planned to transport fifty or sixty thousand dan of old grain, stunning him.

Wang Shouzhe arranged for the Qian Clan to repurchase Pest-Exterminating Powder in exchange for sixty thousand dan of aged grain, then organized a concealed route to transport it to Fenggu Farm. The grain reached temporary storage, but the effort exposed serious weaknesses in the Wang Clan’s transport network.

• Wang Shouzhe took Gongsun Qiang to Jucai Manor, where Qian Xue'an completed the repurchase of the Pest-Exterminating Powder for ten thousand Qian Gold and sixty thousand dan of grain.
• Gongsun Qiang brought twenty carriages and eighty mine slaves to load the grain, and Qian Xue'an offered thirty additional Qian Clan carriages for rent.
• Wang Shouzhe and Gongsun Qiang loaded the grain onto fifty carriages and used a concealed cove and a human relay to transfer it onto boats at the An River.
• Wang Shouzhe crossed the river with the fleet and arranged for Fenggu Farm laborers to carry the grain through Fenggu Sluice into temporary storage.
• Wang Shouzhe recognized that the Wang Clan needed private docks, a ship lock, and stronger water and carriage transport systems.

Wang Shouzhe returned to the Wang Clan Main Residence with a shipment of grain and considered how Zhuwei Lake might be developed for fish farming. There, he found Gongsun Hui and Wang Luotong ready to help manage the clan, and the grain was unloaded through the united efforts of the household.

• Wang Shouzhe studied Zhuwei Lake's shallow, silty waters and weighed the challenges of fish farming and the risks of introducing new production techniques.
• Wang Shouzhe arrived at the rear-yard dock, where Gongsun Hui explained that she had returned to help with the clan's affairs and had begun clearing the storerooms.
• Wang Shouzhe congratulated Wang Luotong on reaching the Qi Refining Realm, Third Layer, after receiving a Lesser Foundation-Cultivating Pill from the clan treasury.
• Gongsun Hui directed the household to unload the grain, while Wang Luotong worked alongside the retainers and servants at Wang Shouzhe's signal.

Wang Shouzhe told Gongsun Hui how he had secured money and grain by exploiting advance information about an insect plague, then discussed reforms to the clan’s succession and resources. When Wang Zongwei’s mother, Madam Xu, arrived, Shouzhe went out to greet her warmly, leaving the dispute over her son unresolved.

• Wang Shouzhe left the grain transport route in Wang Luotong’s hands and brought Gongsun Hui to his courtyard for tea.
• Wang Shouzhe explained that he had obtained money and grain from the Qian Clan Trading Firm by acting on advance knowledge of an insect plague, and Gongsun Hui was shocked by the risk he had taken.
• Wang Shouzhe told Gongsun Hui that he planned to change the clan’s succession system and make Wang Zongwei earn back his share of resources through an unspecified process.
• Gongsun Hui warned Wang Shouzhe to consider the feelings of Wang Zongwei’s relatives, while Shouzhe insisted that neither his own word nor anyone else’s would be enough to restore the boy’s share.
• Madam Xu arrived to see Wang Shouzhe, and he went out to welcome her as his sister-in-law.

Wang Shouzhe welcomed Xu warmly when she came to plead for their son, Wang Zongwei, and kept the family dispute from escalating. As Wang Shouxin arrived and saw Xu suddenly behaving calmly, he wondered what sorcery Fourth Brother had used.

• Xu visited Wang Shouzhe with a basket of fresh ingredients and nervously sought his help over Wang Zongwei.
• Wang Shouzhe served Xu spirit tea, ordered an extravagant family meal, and said they would discuss Wang Zongwei’s situation together.
• Wang Shouzhe arranged thin slices of Spirit-Horn Yak meat and Red-Scaled Eel for an unfamiliar cooking method.
• Wang Shouxin arrived and angrily rebuked Xu, who retorted that she had to protect their son’s future.
• Wang Shouzhe stopped their quarrel and invited them to sit and eat, and Xu immediately became obedient, leaving Wang Shouxin astonished.

Wang Shouzhe hosted Wang Shouxin’s family, then proposed a clan sequence and merit system that would make younger members earn their resources, including giving Wang Zongwei a chance to improve. He won Wang Shouxin and Madam Xu’s support, and began asking Gongsun Hui to manage the system’s records.

• Wang Shouzhe toasted Wang Shouxin, Madam Xu, and Gongsun Hui, thanking them for their service and care for the clan.
• Madam Xu asked Wang Shouzhe to spare Wang Zongwei, and he proposed ranking clan members under thirty by character and achievement and awarding resources through merit points.
• Wang Shouzhe argued that Wang Zongwei’s spoiled upbringing had kept him from advancing, and suggested stripping his resources so he would have to earn them himself.
• Wang Shouxin agreed to give Wang Zongwei one last chance, while Wang Shouzhe promised to intervene if the young man still failed to improve.
• After Wang Shouxin and Madam Xu returned home, Wang Shouzhe asked Gongsun Hui to establish and manage the Clan Merit records.

Wang Shouzhe reviewed the Ping'an Wang Clan’s enormous expenses and the industries and grain reserves that could help it recover. He finished a handmade clan-management panel and began checking its industry details.

• Gongsun Qiang and Wang Dinghai completed the grain transport mission, and Gongsun Qiang paid Wang Shouzhe for three thousand dan of old grain.
• Wang Shouzhe continued cultivating and worked through the clan’s accounts, discovering the high costs of his own supplies and the clan’s personnel.
• Wang Shouzhe assessed the clan’s industries and anticipated that the insect plague and his preparations would bring the Wang Clan substantial profits.
• Wang Shouzhe built a crude system panel listing the clan’s members, industries, retainers, servants, and finances.
• Wang Shouzhe tapped the clan-industries entry and opened the details in his handmade notebook.

Wang Shouzhe weighed how to use the clan’s limited resources to strengthen its long-term foundations and protect it, then went to meet Ancestor Longyan after she summoned him. He entered Longyan Residence and found her standing by the pavilion railing with her hair now completely white.

• Wang Shouzhe reviewed the Fishing Brigade’s finances and considered its profit targets alongside the risk of overfishing.
• Wang Shouzhe assessed whether the clan’s resources should go toward a Spirit Platform Realm expert, expanding industries, cultivation, or treating Ancestor Longyan.
• Wang Shouzhe concluded that none of those options could be easily funded and kept healing Ancestor Longyan as a backup priority.
• Gongsun Hui sent Xia He to summon Wang Shouzhe to Longyan Residence at Ancestor Longyan’s request.
• Wang Shouzhe entered the courtyard and saw Ancestor Longyan standing by the pavilion railing, her hair entirely white.

Wang Shouzhe learned that Ancestor Longyan wanted to travel to Baidao Guard and began arranging a discreet, comfortable journey for her. He summoned Xu Zhirou and Wang Lici, but left Lici terrified by announcing that he would test her lessons.

• Ancestor Longyan praised Wang Shouzhe's recent actions and asked him to accompany her to Baidao Guard.
• Wang Shouzhe accepted and planned a secret route that would account for Ancestor Longyan's frail condition and need for care.
• Wang Shouzhe summoned Xu Zhirou to serve as Ancestor Longyan's attendant and invited Wang Lici as well.
• After chatting with Xu Zhirou, Wang Shouzhe praised Lici's diligence and announced that he would test her lessons.
• Wang Lici panicked, fearing the test after remembering how strictly Wang Shouzhe had treated her elder brother.

Wang Shouzhe arranged a secret river journey to East Port with Ancestor Longyan, Xu Zhirou, and Wang Lici. As the ship set out along the An River, Wang Shouzhe learned that the powerful Flood Dragon Trading Firm had begun as a gang backed by influential clans.

• Wang Shouzhe chose Xu Zhirou and Wang Lici to accompany Ancestor Longyan, then departed with them by boat before dawn.
• Wang Lici recited an essay to Ancestor Longyan, who praised her as the group traveled to Fenggu Sluice.
• Wang Dinghai met the party at the sluice and took them aboard a borrowed river ship bound for East Port.
• Wang Dinghai told Wang Shouzhe that he had borrowed the ship from a friend at the Changning Branch of the Flood Dragon Trading Firm.
• Wang Dinghai warned Wang Shouzhe that the Flood Dragon Trading Firm had grown out of the Flood Dragon Gang and had agreements with powerful local clans.

Wang Shouzhe traveled down the An River with Wang Dinghai, considering the region’s marriage alliances and the Wang Clan’s prospects. Near East Port, the Donggang Chen Clan sent a ship to welcome them, likely carrying Chen Fangjie, who was soon to become Wang Shouzhe’s brother-in-law.

• Wang Shouzhe reflected on how marriage alliances divided the aristocratic clans and how the Wang Clan maintained ties with its allies.
• Wang Dinghai showed Wang Shouzhe the Zhao Clan’s fishing fleet and reported that the Wang Clan’s concealed Moving Zithers had been catching large quantities of fish at night.
• Wang Shouzhe told Wang Dinghai to release small fish, and Wang Dinghai agreed to have the boatmen return them to the river.
• Wang Shouzhe and Wang Dinghai continued downriver toward East Port, where Wang Shouzhe considered the prosperity and strength of the Donggang Chen Clan.
• A ship bearing the Donggang Chen Clan’s golden Flag Bird banner signaled to Wang Shouzhe’s boat and came out to welcome the Wang Clan guests.

Wang Shouzhe arrived at East Port and secured passage for his party to Baidao Guard aboard a Donggang Chen Clan merchant ship. After the group boarded, he arranged for Ancestor Longyan to rest and called Wang Lici aside to speak with her.

• Chen Fangjie welcomed Wang Shouzhe and warned him that Baidao Guard was remote and less orderly than Changning Guard.
• Wang Shouzhe asked the Chen Clan to arrange passage to Baidao Guard, and Chen Fangjie booked three cabins on a merchant ship departing that afternoon.
• Wang Shouzhe visited Chen Clan Leader Chen Dewei, who thanked the Wang Clan for warning them about the Honey Insect plague.
• Chen Fangjie gave Wang Shouzhe a booklet about Baidao Guard and arranged for Chen Fanghua to assist the party aboard the Junyao.
• Wang Shouzhe's party boarded the ship, and he asked Xu Zhirou to help Ancestor Longyan rest before calling Wang Lici into a neighboring cabin to talk.

Wang Shouzhe arrived at Baidao Guard with his party after learning about its powerful clans, weak government control, and secretive Jinsha Black Market. As he traveled toward Jinsha Island’s inner city, he worried about Ancestor Longyan’s likely plans and began learning how the Donggang Chen Clan profited from maritime trade.

• Wang Shouzhe made Wang Lici take two books to study and confiscated all five packets of her candied fruit.
• Wang Shouzhe read Chen Fangjie’s booklet and learned about Baidao Guard’s clans, lawlessness, and Jinsha Black Market.
• Wang Shouzhe suspected Ancestor Longyan had come to the Black Market and resolved to speak with her after they disembarked.
• The Junyao docked at Jinsha Island, where Chen Fanghua arranged lodging, transport, and guidance for Wang Shouzhe’s party.
• Chen Fanghua explained that the Chen Clan traded grain and daily goods for seafood and oyster lime, which it transported inland for profit.

Wang Shouzhe learned that Ancestor Longyan planned to sell the Turtle Scale Treasure Shield and sacrifice herself to eliminate the Zhao and Liu Clan’s Spirit Platform ancestors, clearing a path for the Wang Clan. He accepted that plan only if no other options remained and revealed his own plan to reach the Spirit Platform Realm and let Longyan resolve matters with her teacher herself.

• Chen Fanghua explained lihui to Wang Shouzhe, who added developing cement to his clan’s plans, and led the party into Jinsha City to rest.
• Wang Shouzhe privately asked Ancestor Longyan whether she intended to sell the Longyan Sword or the Turtle Scale Treasure Shield, and she said the shield was useless to her.
• Ancestor Longyan revealed that she intended to use her remaining strength to kill the Spirit Platform ancestors of the Zhao and Liu Clans, even if it cost her life.
• Wang Shouzhe proposed striking on his wedding night, but Ancestor Longyan rejected the idea to protect his reputation and told him to deliver her remains to her teacher, Master Binglan.
• Wang Shouzhe accepted her plan as the only option if no other variables existed, then said he had another plan: he would reach the Spirit Platform Realm while Longyan dealt with her own affairs.
• Ancestor Longyan was deeply shocked when Wang Shouzhe told her she could apologize to her teacher herself.

Wang Shouzhe learned the cause and treatment costs of Ancestor Longyan's injuries and remained determined to help her. After calculating the expenses, he concluded the treatment was more manageable than he had expected.

• Ancestor Longyan explained that a cultivator connected to the Yin Sha Sect had wounded her with a Yin Sha Palm fifty years earlier, leaving poison in her body and severe damage to her organs.
• Ancestor Longyan said she needed a Fire Sun Pill every month to suppress the poison, along with ongoing supplies of Spirit Rice, Spirit Food, and Foundation Building Pills.
• Ancestor Longyan explained that beginning in the second year, she would also need a Creation Pill each month to heal her damaged organs, with treatment lasting about ten or eleven years.
• Wang Shouzhe calculated that the first year would cost about 4,100 Qian Gold and that the full treatment would cost around a hundred-odd thousand Qian Gold.
• Ancestor Longyan was baffled when Wang Shouzhe called the treatment costs good, and he told her that the situation was simpler than he had expected.

Wang Shouzhe persuaded Ancestor Longyan to delay her plan to sell the Turtle Scale Treasure Shield while he worked to earn money for her recovery. In Jinsha City, they discovered a rogue cultivator connected to the force that had poisoned her, and Ancestor Longyan killed him and his accomplice in an ambush.

• Wang Shouzhe promised Ancestor Longyan he would find a way to fund her recovery, and she agreed to wait a year before deciding what to do with the Turtle Scale Treasure Shield.
• Wang Shouzhe toured Jinsha City with Chen Fanghua and his family, then noticed Ancestor Longyan reacting strongly to a rogue cultivator selling pearls.
• Wang Shouzhe distracted the pearl seller, sent the others away, and Ancestor Longyan identified the man as connected to the Yin Sha poison that had tortured her for fifty years.
• Wang Shouzhe and Ancestor Longyan devised a plan to vent some of her anger without exposing the Wang Clan to a larger threat.
• That evening, Wang Shouzhe posed as a wealthy rough man and lured the pearl seller and his accomplice into a secluded alley, where Ancestor Longyan killed both with a Spirit Artifact.
• Wang Shouzhe and Ancestor Longyan collected the spoils and disappeared, leaving the two corpses behind.

After Wang Shouzhe’s group avenged Ancestor Longyan by killing two Ghost Domain thieves, they found a Yin Sha cultivation method among the spoils. Ancestor Longyan chose to use it despite its risks, leaving her to study the method and prepare for a faster recovery.

• Wang Zhong delivered the spoils and bait money to Wang Shouzhe, who praised him, ordered him to keep the operation secret, and rewarded him with twenty Qian Gold.
• Wang Shouzhe and Ancestor Longyan found an untitled book explaining how to cultivate Yin Sha power and conceal its aura.
• Wang Shouzhe judged the book to be an elementary method for cultivating outer pawns and warned that using it could limit Ancestor Longyan’s future advancement and conflict with her loyalty to the Purple Mansion Academy.
• Ancestor Longyan decided to cultivate Yin Sha power because it could speed her recovery and save the family resources.
• Ancestor Longyan took the jade gourd, which held stored Yin Sha power, and left to study the cultivation and concealment methods.