Recaps

Xu Qi'an kept the delegation safe from mosquitoes and learned from Yang Yan that a Flood Dragon had ambushed and sunk the ship at Flowing Stone Shoal. The princess consort realized Xu Qi'an had saved them from the attack, but ended the night trembling and wondering who would save her.

• Xu Qi'an gave the soldiers insect-repelling incense, earning their gratitude, while the assistant minister asked how confident he was about the suspected ambush.
• Xu Qi'an considered how to investigate the northern case without alerting the Prince Who Guards the North, then sensed someone approaching.
• Yang Yan arrived and told Xu Qi'an that a Flood Dragon had ambushed them at Flowing Stone Shoal and sunk the ship.
• Xu Qi'an woke the officials, and Yang Yan confirmed that the delegation would have been wiped out if it had stayed on the water route.
• Xu Qi'an ordered Chen Xiao to keep the delegation alert, while the officials praised Xu Qi'an for changing their route.
• The princess consort learned there had been an ambush, felt relieved that Xu Qi'an had saved them, and wondered who would save her.

After the delegation was ambushed by a Fourth-Rank flood dragon, Xu Qi'an suspected the northern barbarians and Demon Race were working together and resolved to gather more information before reaching the Northern Territory. Chu Xianglong led the delegation off the main road toward Jiang Prefecture, but a huge boulder came crashing toward them as they prepared to resume their march.

• Yang Yan reported that a Fourth-Rank black flood dragon had attacked the official ship, and Chu Xianglong identified it as Tang Shanjun.
• Xu Qi'an warned that the northern barbarians might also be lying in wait and realized the secret journey could be meant to guard against enemies within the imperial court.
• Chu Xianglong proposed abandoning carriages and baggage to travel through the mountains toward Jiang Prefecture, and the delegation set out that night.
• The old auntie asked Xu Qi'an whether they would reach the Northern Territory safely, but he refused to promise that the Nightwatchers would protect the princess consort.
• As the party prepared to continue after a brief rest, Xu Qi'an sensed danger and a twenty-foot boulder hurtled down the slope toward them.

Xu Qi'an and the delegation were ambushed by three Fourth Rank northern demons and barbarians, who targeted Yang Yan while Chu Xianglong fled with the princess consort. Xu Qi'an used a Buddhist spell and his Vajra Divine Art to halt the attackers, then rallied the delegation as the battle continued.

• Yang Yan shattered a boulder, and Xu Qi'an spotted a giant, a massive black flood dragon, and a red-dressed snake demon surrounding the delegation.
• Chu Xianglong identified the attackers as Tang Shanjun, Zhaermuha, and Hongling, all Fourth Rank, while Xu Qi'an deduced that an arcanist had helped them locate the delegation.
• Tang Shanjun, Zhaermuha, and Hongling attacked Yang Yan, while Chu Xianglong seized the veiled princess consort and escaped with his guards, abandoning the delegation.
• Xu Qi'an ordered Yang Yan to face Hongling and used a Buddhist commandment spell to make Tang Shanjun halt and drop his aggression.
• Xu Qi'an struck Zhaermuha with his Vajra body, revealing his strength to the delegation, and Chen Xiao rallied the imperial guards to fight beside him.

Xu Qi'an held off Tang Shanjun and Zhaermuha long enough for the officials to escape, then joined the effort to rescue the princess consort. He arrived at the northern experts’ camp, where the white-robed arcanist’s attempt to inspect him with the Qi-Observing Technique ended with blood streaming from his eyes.

• Xu Qi'an ordered Chen Xiao, the imperial guards, and the officials to retreat while he fought Tang Shanjun and Zhaermuha with Dean Zhao Shou’s spellbook.
• Xu Qi'an used the spellbook to defend himself and attack the two Fourth Ranks until the red-dressed woman signaled their withdrawal, then told Yang Yan to find the delegation while he rescued the princess consort.
• Tianlang ambushed Chu Xianglong with arrows, captured the real princess consort among the maidservants, and fatally wounded Chu Xianglong.
• Hongling killed the false princess consort by draining her life, while the northern experts questioned the captured maidservants about the real princess consort’s identity.
• The white-robed arcanist arrived and proposed stripping the maidservants to identify the princess consort, but Xu Qi'an appeared and challenged the northern experts.
• The white-robed arcanist used the Qi-Observing Technique on Xu Qi'an, screamed as blood poured from his eyes, and urged the others to flee while asking them to take him along.

Xu Qi'an, controlled by Shenshu, killed the four northern experts and the other survivors, then questioned their souls about the ambush on the consort. He learned that her spiritual essence could help the Prince Who Guards the North advance, and that the mysterious arcanist Xu Shengzu had revealed her secret to the barbarians; the chapter ended with Xu Qi'an asking whether they had caused the bloodbath across three thousand li.

• Hongling recognized the danger in Xu Qi'an, but Zhaermuha attacked while Tianlang and Tang Shanjun prepared to fight.
• Shenshu took control of Xu Qi'an, killed Zhaermuha, Tianlang, Tang Shanjun, and Hongling, then Xu Qi'an killed Chu Xianglong and the white-robed arcanist.
• Xu Qi'an used the Yin-Gathering Array to summon the dead experts' souls and learned that Xu Shengzu had informed the barbarians about the consort.
• Zhaermuha's soul revealed that the Prince Who Guards the North needed the consort's rare spiritual essence to reach the third rank.
• Hongling's soul repeated the spiritual-essence claim and recited a poem about the consort that Xu Qi'an had previously heard from Fuxiang.
• Xu Qi'an connected Xu Shengzu to the court's mysterious arcanist and suspected the Supervisor was playing a hidden game against him before asking whether the barbarians caused the bloodbath across three thousand li.

Xu Qi'an questioned the captured souls and learned that the northern Barbarian and Demon Races knew nothing about the alleged border massacre, while Chu Xianglong believed it was a plot against the Prince Who Guards the North. After rescuing the old auntie and sparing the maidservants, Xu Qi'an discovered that the auntie’s bead bracelet had caught his attention and forcibly slipped it off.

• Xu Qi'an questioned Zhaermuha, Tianlang, Tang Shanjun, and Chu Xianglong, finding that only Chu Xianglong believed the supposed massacre was a court scheme against the Prince Who Guards the North.
• Xu Qi'an learned that Chu Xianglong planned to keep him under watch or house arrest and that he considered the Prince Who Guards the North a loyal commander, not a would-be rebel.
• Xu Qi'an questioned the deranged arcanist Xu Shengzu, placed the souls in Li Miaozhen's sachet, stored their corpses in the Earth Book Fragment, and spared the maidservants.
• The old auntie woke beside Xu Qi'an's campfire, doubted his identity, then recognized him after he recalled their earlier encounters.
• The old auntie ate Xu Qi'an's roasted rabbit and insisted the dead princess consort had been a pitiful woman.
• Xu Qi'an asked to inspect the old auntie's bodhi bead bracelet, dragged her back when she resisted, and slipped it off amid her screams.

Xu Qi'an revealed that he had recognized the Consort of the Prince Who Guards the North and traveled with her toward Sanhuang County to investigate the mysterious massacre. Meanwhile, Yang Yan's delegation reached Wan Prefecture, where officials denied that a bloodbath over three thousand li had occurred.

• Xu Qi'an returned the consort's bracelet after seeing her true face, then told her he had suspected her identity since the prince's estate and confirmed it aboard the official ship.
• Xu Qi'an and the consort camped apart from the delegation, and he explained that they would go to Sanhuang County to contact a Nightwatchers agent and gather intelligence.
• Xu Qi'an and the consort traveled by mountain paths for five days while Yang Yan's delegation entered Wan Prefecture.
• Prefect Niu met Yang Yan's delegation and claimed the Barbarian Race had raided border villages but that no bloodbath over three thousand li had taken place.
• Censor Liu challenged Prefect Niu's denial, noting that reports from the Prince Who Guards the North described only repelled border incursions.

The delegation kept its northward journey slow while Xu Qi'an secretly investigated the princess consort’s disappearance and traveled with her through the mountains. At the relay station, a spy serving the Prince Who Guards the North questioned the officials about the attack and Xu Qi'an, while the princess consort remained with him on the trail.

• Prefect Niu denied knowing anything about the Northern Territory, and the delegation’s officials agreed that drawing the Prince of Huai’s attention would help protect Xu Qi'an’s secret investigation.
• Yang Yan suspected Xu Qi'an had rescued the princess consort, sent ten imperial guards to escort the maids back to the capital, and kept the princess consort’s whereabouts from the delegation.
• Xu Qi'an urged the princess consort to bathe at a waterfall, but she refused and later pelted him with stones as they continued along the mountain trail.
• Li Yuanhua arrived at the relay station with two hundred soldiers and a masked earth-grade spy, who questioned the delegation about the princess consort and the attack.
• The female spy asked Constable Chen and the Assistant Minister about Xu Qi'an’s recent deeds and character, and the Assistant Minister dismissed him as a callow brat.

Yang Yan questioned a masked agent about the missing princess consort while the agents concluded that Chu Xianglong had likely fled with a decoy and the real princess consort was taken by the northern tribes. Meanwhile, Xu Qi'an disguised himself as Xu Erlang and continued traveling with the princess consort, then received a message from Daoist Jinlian and contacted Li Miaozhen as he neared the Northern Territory.

• Yang Yan exchanged questions with the female agent, learned that Chu Xianglong had rendezvoused with her, and said he did not know where the princess consort or Xu Qi'an were.
• The female agent met a male agent at the Wan Prefecture Garrison, and they reasoned that Tianlang had ambushed the delegation and that the real princess consort was likely hidden among the maids before being captured.
• The male agent ordered Xu Qi'an's portrait circulated and instructed his people to watch Yang Yan and the delegation.
• Xu Qi'an disguised himself as Xu Erlang, ordered the princess consort to prepare a pheasant, and told her they would reach Sanhuang County before dusk.
• Xu Qi'an received a message from Daoist Jinlian asking him to block the others, then replied to Li Miaozhen that he would reach the Northern Territory that day and asked what she had found.

Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen investigated the supposed bloodbath across three thousand li, and Xu Qi'an advised her to seek out the hidden complainant through Chu Prefecture's martial world. Meanwhile, Xu Qi'an and the princess consort reached Sanhuang County, where he entered using a stolen travel permit and revealed that the Prince of Huai's men knew he had gone north.

• Li Miaozhen reported that grain prices in Chu Prefecture remained stable and that she had found no evidence of a large-scale bloodbath or occupied cities.
• Xu Qi'an reasoned that the roadside victim had likely carried evidence for local officials, and urged Li Miaozhen to travel incognito as the Flying Swallow Heroine to find the person behind the complaint.
• Xu Qi'an and the princess consort shared a meal at an impoverished farmhouse, and Xu Qi'an gave the family a small piece of silver.
• Xu Qi'an and the princess consort reached Sanhuang County, where Xu Qi'an used a stolen travel permit to get past the guards.
• After entering town, Xu Qi'an told the princess consort that the Prince of Huai's men knew he had gone north, but did not know she was with him.

Xu Qi'an investigated tightened security in Sanhuang County and met Cai'er, a Nightwatchers covert agent, at a brothel. Her intelligence about Xikou Commandery being sealed off and Sanhuang County’s month-old inspections left him suspecting a hidden crisis.

• Xu Qi'an noticed soldiers checking lone adult men for disguises and told the princess consort that the Prince Who Guards the North’s forces were taking the threat seriously.
• Xu Qi'an left the princess consort at their inn and went to the Elegant Sound House, where he sought out the Nightwatchers agent Cai'er.
• Xu Qi'an used the covert code and his waist token to identify himself to Cai'er, then asked about unusual events and large-scale warfare.
• Cai'er reported that a merchant had said government troops had sealed off Xikou Commandery and its three counties, closing all official roads.
• Xu Qi'an learned that Sanhuang County’s strict inspections had been in place for a month and became more suspicious.

The author discussed volume two’s slower, character-focused approach, the difficulty of writing tightly plotted investigations, and the preparation for the Northern Territory case. He left off exhausted but confident that the case outline was nearly finished and that the story would soon reach a major turning point.

• The author said he had written two-thirds of volume two and noted that reader subscriptions rose during showing-off scenes but fell during slice-of-life chapters.
• The author explained that volume two spent more time building characters and laying groundwork, and teased a major eruption and turning point at its end.
• The author blamed padded chapters during the Thousand-Li Blood Massacre Case on not having worked out its clues and details beforehand.
• The author said the Northern Territory case outline was nearly complete and described it as a chain of interlocking cases that also set up later events.
• The author admitted that the work left him mentally drained and exhausted.

Xu Qi'an headed toward Xikou Commandery to investigate the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre and planned to ambush a Prince Who Guards the North spy for information. Meanwhile, the imperial delegation arrived in Chu Prefecture City but could not access the border army’s deployment records without Xu Qi'an’s authority, and Xu Qi'an noticed suspicious men near his tea shelter.

• Xu Qi'an decided to travel to Xikou Commandery, questioned whether to bring the princess consort, and made Cai'er sleep on the floor while he took the bed.
• A masked man leading armored troops stopped Xu Qi'an in Sanhuang County, questioned his identity and martial arts, then rode on after Xu Qi'an concealed his strength.
• Xu Qi'an concluded that the masked man was likely one of the Prince Who Guards the North’s spies and decided to capture him for information about the massacre.
• Fuxiang received a message through a black incense stick saying she could return to her clan once matters in the Northern Territory were settled.
• The imperial delegation reached Chu Prefecture City, where Zheng Xinghuai agreed to provide local government correspondence but said only the chief investigator could request border army deployment records.
• Xu Qi'an waited with the princess consort at a roadside tea shelter outside Sanhuang County, hoping to ambush a departing spy, and noticed several men acting suspiciously nearby.

Xu Qi'an and the princess consort witnessed an ambush on the Prince Who Guards the North's agent, and Xu Qi'an revealed his mastery of the Indestructible Vajra Divine Art to defeat the Azure Face barbarians. After identifying the princess consort and asking about the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre, Xu Qi'an exposed the agent's lies and seized him by the throat.

• The princess consort gave food and ten copper coins to an old beggar and his grandson, who had fled after barbarians destroyed their village.
• Xu Qi'an followed the Prince Who Guards the North's agent and watched three Azure Face barbarians ambush him; one barbarian attacked Xu Qi'an and the princess consort.
• Xu Qi'an revealed his golden, shaved head, killed the attacking barbarian, and pursued and killed the two who fled.
• Xu Qi'an introduced himself to the agent and identified the disguised woman as the princess consort, while the agent wrongly assumed Xu Qi'an planned to use her as leverage.
• The agent claimed to know nothing about the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre and urged Xu Qi'an to go to an army camp, but Xu Qi'an used his Qi-Observing Technique to expose his lies and grabbed his throat.

Xu Qi'an learned that the Prince Who Guards the North had committed the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre to advance his cultivation and resolved to find the massacre site and stop him. The chapter ended with a mysterious middle-aged man preparing to head north and warning Cai'er not to return if he died.

• Xu Qi'an killed the Prince of Huai's black-robed spy and summoned his soul, which revealed that the prince had slaughtered people to strengthen his martial blood and Qi.
• The spy's soul identified Que Yongxiu and the Prince of Huai's Heaven-rank secret agents as the only people who knew where the massacre occurred.
• The Azure Face barbarians revealed that they were searching for the massacre site to seize its blood essence, and Xu Qi'an inferred that mysterious arcanists were helping their chief pursue the prince's fortune.
• Xu Qi'an stored the bodies and souls, escaped with the princess consort, and told her he intended to find the massacre site, stop the prince, and kill him if possible.
• At Elegant Sound House, Cai'er confirmed that she had given Xu Qi'an information about Xikou Commandery, and a middle-aged man told her to leave Sanhuang County before he headed north.

Xu Qi'an learned that the Prince Who Guards the North planned to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people to advance, and he set out to sabotage the scheme while hiding the princess consort. In Chu Prefecture, Yang Yan investigated the massacre as a mysterious woman revealed that she liked Xu Qi'an and the white-robed man insisted the Barbarian Race needed a Second Rank.

• Xu Qi'an learned from Shenshu that the Prince Who Guards the North needed the refined life essence of several hundred thousand people and that Shenshu could not confidently kill him.
• Xu Qi'an decided to investigate Xikou Commandery, conceal his identity with Shenshu's Undying Body, and secretly protect the princess consort.
• Yang Yan and the officials found no irregularities in Chu Prefecture's correspondence, so Yang Yan sent Constable Chen to gather information and went to meet Que Yongxiu with Censor Liu.
• The mysterious woman met the white-robed man in the mountains and demanded to know the Director's plans in exchange for helping him.
• The woman said she liked Xu Qi'an and offered to stop the Prince Who Guards the North from advancing, but the white-robed man insisted that the Barbarian Race must gain a Second Rank.

The white-dressed woman sent the demons into Chu Prefecture while Yang Yan and Censor Liu failed to obtain the Chu Guard’s deployment records from Que Yongxiu. Xu Qi'an encountered the demon army on the road, and it recoiled when he revealed his Vajra Divine Art.

• The white-dressed woman ordered the demons to gather in Chu Prefecture and await orders while she and the sorcerer discussed finding evidence of the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre.
• Xu Qi'an carried the princess consort west and joked with her before they encountered a massive demon army in a valley.
• Que Yongxiu refused to let Yang Yan and Censor Liu inspect the Chu Guard’s deployment records and provoked Yang Yan by demanding he kneel.
• Yang Yan told Censor Liu that Que Yongxiu had been trying to provoke them into a fight and that Xu Qi'an had wisely left the delegation.
• The demon army threatened to eat Xu Qi'an and the princess consort, so Xu Qi'an revealed his Vajra Divine Art and caused the demons to panic.

Xu Qi'an and Monk Shenshu subdued a demon army and learned that the remnants of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons were searching Chu Prefecture for the site of the Prince Who Guards the North's Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre. The chapter then shifted to Jili Zhigu learning of a prisoner with information about the massacre, while Li Miaozhen returned to North Mountain Commandery.

• Xu Qi'an let Monk Shenshu suppress the attacking demons, then questioned their leader and learned they belonged to the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons and planned to join their princess in attacking the Prince Who Guards the North.
• Monk Shenshu spared the demons because he hoped the Nine-Tailed Princess might help restore his memories, and Xu Qi'an warned them not to prey on humans.
• A twin-sabered Azure Face barbarian told Jili Zhigu that his tribe had captured a prisoner who claimed to know where the Prince Who Guards the North had slaughtered people and refined their blood essence.
• Li Miaozhen arrived outside North Mountain Commandery with a convoy, returning to her role as the Flying Swallow Heroine.

Li Miaozhen built her reputation in North Mountain Commandery while investigating the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre, and Susu’s suggestion led her to suspect that a powerful arcanist had concealed the truth. Meanwhile, Zhao Jin revealed that his lord was Zheng Xinghuai, the Chu Prefecture administrative commissioner and the sole survivor of the Prince of Huai’s massacre.

• Li Miaozhen returned to North Mountain Commandery after leading jianghu fighters against barbarian cavalry and used the rewards to feed refugees.
• Susu proposed that memories of the massacre might have been erased, prompting Li Miaozhen to suspect the Supervisor could have hidden the event.
• Zhao Jin secretly told Li Miaozhen that his lord wanted to meet her and knew about the Prince of Huai’s slaughter of the common people.
• Yang Yan and Censor Liu questioned Zheng Xinghuai, who argued that a massacre on that scale could not have been concealed and explained the resistance to the delegation as loyalty to the Prince of Huai.
• Li Miaozhen questioned Zhao Jin in a dream, and he identified Zheng Xinghuai as his lord and the only survivor of the massacre.

Li Miaozhen told Xu Qi'an that Zheng Xinghuai had witnessed the Prince Who Guards the North’s massacre of Chu Prefecture City, and Xu Qi'an hurried to meet her in North Mountain Commandery. After reuniting, they prepared to meet Zheng Xinghuai, with Xu Qi'an confident the meeting was unlikely to be a trap.

• Li Miaozhen questioned Zhao Jin, learned that Zheng Xinghuai was behind his warning, and asked Daoist Jinlian to connect her privately with Xu Qi'an.
• Li Miaozhen told Xu Qi'an that Commander-in-Chief Que Yongxiu had massacred Chu Prefecture City while the Prince Who Guards the North was away, and that Zheng Xinghuai had escaped and gone into hiding.
• Xu Qi'an reasoned that the massacre could have been concealed through an elaborate deception, then knocked out the princess consort and placed her in the Earth Book Fragment before setting off for North Mountain Commandery.
• Xu Qi'an flew north using a Confucian School spell, reached Li Miaozhen’s inn, and reunited with her despite arriving with a painful crick in his neck.
• Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen agreed to meet Zheng Xinghuai, and Xu Qi'an told her he did not think the meeting was a trap.

Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen learned how Zhao Jin uncovered the truth about the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre and set out to meet the real Zheng Xinghuai. As they fled on Li Miaozhen’s flying sword, a Fourth Rank martial artist attacked them with a pursuing arrow.

• Xu Qi'an reasoned that Zheng Xinghuai had sought Li Miaozhen’s help to expose the Prince Who Guards the North’s massacre, and Zhao Jin confirmed that he had sent messengers who vanished after leaving Chu Prefecture.
• Zhao Jin revealed that Chu Prefecture City appeared untouched after Zheng Xinghuai witnessed Que Yongxiu’s troops massacre it, and Xu Qi'an decided to meet the real Zheng Xinghuai.
• Li Miaozhen introduced Xu Qi'an as the delegation’s lead investigator, earning Zhao Jin’s trust and admiration.
• Xu Qi'an warned that the Prince Who Guards the North’s spies might be watching them, so Li Miaozhen took Xu Qi'an and Zhao Jin away on her flying sword.
• A powerful arrow struck at the fleeing trio, and Li Miaozhen identified their attacker as a Fourth Rank martial artist.

Xu Qi'an, Li Miaozhen, and Zhao Jin escaped a Fourth-Rank spy and reached Zheng Xinghuai’s mountain hideout, where Xu Qi'an learned the survivors’ account of the Chu Prefecture massacre. He asked Li Miaozhen to use Empathy on Zheng Xinghuai, and the spell pulled them into his memories.

• Li Miaozhen evaded the black-robed Fourth-Rank archer’s attacks, while Xu Qi'an burned a page to briefly suppress the man’s urge to fight and help the group escape.
• Zhao Jin identified the pursuer as a Heaven-grade spy and guided Li Miaozhen and Xu Qi'an to a hidden valley.
• Li Han verified their identities, and Zheng Xinghuai welcomed Xu Qi'an and Li Miaozhen into the cavern where his remaining retainers were hiding.
• Li Miaozhen released Qian Youyi’s remnant soul, and Wei Youlong explained that Qian had died helping Zheng Xinghuai’s group after the massacre.
• Zheng Xinghuai described the massacre and his fear that the Prince Who Guards the North could silence anyone who exposed it; Xu Qi'an confirmed he was investigating the case.
• Li Miaozhen began one-sided Empathy with Zheng Xinghuai, and a vortex formed from his talisman swallowed her and Xu Qi'an.

Xu Qi'an relived Zheng Xinghuai's memories of the Chu Prefecture City massacre and resolved to punish the Prince Who Guards the North and Que Yongxiu. He set out for Chu Prefecture while barbarian and demon forces mobilized toward the city.

• Xu Qi'an witnessed through Empathy how Que Yongxiu ordered soldiers to massacre civilians in Chu Prefecture City.
• Zheng Xinghuai lost his family during an attempted escape, and Second Young Master Zheng died shielding him from Que Yongxiu's spear.
• Li Han explained that two Fourth Rank experts had sacrificed themselves to secure Zheng Xinghuai's escape.
• Xu Qi'an suspected that a powerful accomplice had concealed the massacre and sent Li Miaozhen to inform the barbarians and the Demon Race.
• Xu Qi'an left the princess consort and his Earth Book Fragment at an inn, promised to return, and departed to confront the Prince Who Guards the North.
• The Azure Face Tribe mobilized its cavalry, a white-robed arcanist informed Zhu Jiu of the location, and a woman in white ordered demon troops to attack Chu Prefecture City.

The Prince Who Guards the North prepared to defend Chu Prefecture City while his secret plan to use the slaughter of 380,000 people to advance to the second rank neared completion. As the city’s dead were revealed, Yang Yan and the delegation realized the atrocity’s purpose and could only hope someone would stop him.

• The Prince Who Guards the North learned that Jili Zhigu’s Azure Face cavalry and Zhu Jiu’s demon army were advancing on Chu Prefecture City, while his blood pill would be ready in six hours.
• Que Yongxiu joined the Prince Who Guards the North, and they prepared to face the approaching armies as the city’s defenders readied their weapons.
• Jili Zhigu charged the walls, and the Prince Who Guards the North met him in the air with a saber strike while the defenders rallied behind their prince.
• The demon army reached the city as the defenders’ attacks disrupted its ranks, and the scarlet python’s golden beam damaged the wall’s protective barrier.
• The civilians of Chu Prefecture City were revealed as dead, with their blood Qi and souls being extracted; Yang Yan identified the city as the site of the Three-Thousand-Li Blood Massacre.
• The delegation condemned the Prince of Huai and feared his advancement to the second rank, while Constable Chen and Censor Liu wished Xu Qi'an could stop him.

The Prince Who Guards the North’s plan to refine a Blood Pill from Chu Prefecture City’s people drew powerful enemies into a battle over the pill. As the Prince’s advantage faltered, Xu Qi'an appeared and drew the Nation-Guarding Sword, leaving the assembled experts stunned.

• Jili Zhigu attacked the city wall while the Prince Who Guards the North and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox moved to seize the Blood Pill, and Yang Yan warned the delegation’s martial artists not to look at it.
• The white-dressed woman reached for the Blood Pill, but Heilian emerged from a black lotus and fought her; the white-robed arcanist realized the city’s formation was not the Shaman God Cult’s work.
• Li Miaozhen learned that Xu Qi'an had gone to Chu Prefecture City and hurried after him, afraid he would repeat his reckless actions in Yunzhou.
• The Prince Who Guards the North revealed the Nation-Guarding Sword and battled Jili Zhigu, Zhu Jiu, and the other experts, while Que Yongxiu welcomed Chu Prefecture City’s destruction as a way to hide his part in the massacre.
• After Zhu Jiu and the Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox helped Jili Zhigu knock the Prince down and dislodge the sword, Xu Qi'an pulled the Nation-Guarding Sword from the ruins and declared that he could use it too.