Recaps

Li Mubai and Zhang Shen raced to the Ministry of Justice to demand Xu Qi'an's release, while Song Qing and Bureau of Astronomy disciples arrived with the same demand. Minister Sun discovered Xu Qi'an had no official arrest record and learned Director Huang had ordered his arrest.

• Li Mubai and Zhang Shen transformed their horses and carriages with Confucian magic, racing through the sky as Xu Xinnian recognized their fifth-rank Virtue abilities.
• Xu Qi'an reflected on his imprisonment and his need for authority and strength before guards took him away for what they called his last meal.
• Li Mubai and Zhang Shen arrived at the Ministry of Justice and asked Minister Sun to release their disciple, Xu Qi'an.
• Song Qing led Bureau of Astronomy disciples into the Ministry of Justice and also demanded Xu Qi'an's release.
• Minister Sun found no arrest record for Xu Qi'an, and an official identified Director Huang as the person who had ordered the arrest.

Minister Sun ordered Xu Qi'an released after Li Mubai exposed Director Huang’s attempt to help Young Master Zhou. Zhou then tried to force Xu Qi'an to sign a false confession, but a blue-robed official arrived and ordered the jailers to take him away.

• Li Mubai invoked the sage’s words, causing Director Huang to confess that he had arrested Xu Qi'an to help Young Master Zhou.
• Minister Sun ordered Xu Qi'an’s release, and the jailers brought him into the interrogation room where Zhou Li waited.
• Zhou Li threatened Xu Qi'an with torture and tried to force him to sign a confession accusing him of attacking Zhou Li and conspiring with Xu Pingzhi.
• A blue-robed official entered, dismissed Zhou Li’s authority over the prisoner, and ordered the jailers to take Xu Qi'an away.

Xu Qi'an was released from the Ministry of Justice after the Bureau of Astronomy and two great scholars intervened, then struck Zhou Li with a cangue before leaving. Outside, Xu Xinnian and Second Uncle Xu met him, while Li Mubai and Zhang Shen invited him to join Cloud Deer Academy as a Confucian disciple.

• Xu Qi'an emerged from prison and revealed to Young Master Zhou that he was the supervisor's newest disciple as the Bureau of Astronomy's members gathered to demand his release.
• Minister Sun confirmed that the Bureau of Astronomy and the great scholars Li Mubai and Zhang Shen had come for Xu Qi'an, leaving Young Master Zhou and the thin old man stunned.
• Song Qing and the others secured Xu Qi'an's release, but Xu Qi'an stopped and smashed Zhou Li over the head with a cangue.
• Xu Qi'an challenged the thin old man to crush him like an ant, and the old man stayed frozen in front of the gathered officials and scholars.
• Xu Xinnian and Second Uncle Xu arrived, and Xu Xinnian thanked his teacher and Master Mubai for helping Xu Qi'an.
• Li Mubai and Zhang Shen invited Xu Qi'an to study the Confucian Dao at Cloud Deer Academy and offered to take him as a disciple.

Xu Qi'an accepted Li Mubai and Zhang Shen’s invitation to visit Cloud Deer Academy, then learned that Zhou Xianping backed the men behind the tax silver theft. He realized Zhou Xianping’s son had likely targeted him to take revenge for solving the case.

• Xu Qi'an agreed to visit Cloud Deer Academy after realizing Li Mubai and Zhang Shen wanted his poems, while Zhang Shen ordered Xu Xinnian to copy the sages’ sayings three hundred times.
• Xu Qi'an learned from Xu Xinnian that Virtue Realm Confucians could manipulate laws with their words, then asked Xu Xinnian to promise to use a grand phrase about his future Diaochan.
• Xu Qi'an went to the Star-Gazing Tower with Song Qing and met Chu Caiwei, who told him that Lu Changzhi and Zheng Xin had swapped the tax silver.
• Chu Caiwei revealed that Zhou Xianping was the men’s backer, and Xu Qi'an concluded that Zhou Xianping’s son had staged the confrontation to kill him in revenge for solving the tax silver case.

Xu Qi'an learned that Chu Caiwei could see his pale-red fate mixed with black Qi, then visited the Bureau of Astronomy and watched Song Qing successfully make fake silver. The alchemists credited the breakthrough to Xu Qi'an’s presence and asked him to explain it.

• Chu Caiwei explained how sorcerers used Qi-Watching and Healers’ ability to perceive fate, then saw that Xu Qi'an’s fate was pale red with black Qi.
• Xu Qi'an learned that a Ministry of Revenue official had impeached Vice Minister Zhou, but the emperor had set the memorial aside and two witnesses had killed themselves.
• Xu Qi'an invited Chu Caiwei to his home to try his cooking after she struggled to calculate the meal’s cost.
• Song Qing followed the experimental steps Xu Qi'an had supplied, and the Bureau of Astronomy’s alchemists successfully refined silver-like lumps from salt.
• Song Qing asked Xu Qi'an what had made the experiment succeed, and Xu Qi'an urged him to identify the key himself.

Xu Qi'an helped Song Qing and the Bureau of Astronomy's Alchemists understand voltage, then promised to share his secret alchemy manual in exchange for payment. At the Changle County yamen, Xu Lingyue learned how much the constables respected her brother and begged Xu Pingzhi to save him.

• Song Qing concluded that the failed alchemy technique had depended on the intensity of the lightning strike, and Xu Qi'an named the relevant measure voltage.
• Xu Qi'an explained voltage with a comparison to flowing water, and Song Qing and the other Alchemists eagerly accepted his explanation.
• Xu Qi'an promised to share his secret alchemy manual with the Bureau of Astronomy, insisting that its knowledge and his guidance required equivalent exchange.
• At the Changle County yamen, Head Constable Wang told Xu Lingyue that Xu Qi'an had refused to keep money taken from others and had earned the constables' respect.
• Xu Pingzhi and his son returned to the yamen and found Xu Lingyue and her younger sister safe, and Xu Lingyue begged her father to save Xu Qi'an.

After Xu Ningyan helped resolve the Zhou family affair with the support of Li Mubai and the Bureau of Astronomy, County Magistrate Zhu and Xu Lingyue realized his influence had grown. At the Star-Gazing Tower, Xu Ningyan proposed a new direction for Song Qing’s alchemy and received a powerful military crossbow, whose nature he wondered about.

• Xu Xinnian told County Magistrate Zhu that Xu Ningyan had brought in Li Mubai and the white-robed members of the Bureau of Astronomy to help settle the matter, astonishing the magistrate and Xu Lingyue.
• Xu Lingyue connected Li Mubai’s help to Xu Ningyan’s farewell poem for Xu Xinnian but remained puzzled about his ties to the Bureau of Astronomy.
• Xu Ningyan followed Song Qing into a secret chamber at the Star-Gazing Tower and saw a cat fused with a tree, which Song Qing had transformed through alchemy.
• Xu Ningyan suggested crossbreeding creatures and starting with plants, prompting Song Qing to eagerly ask for more details.
• Song Qing offered Xu Ningyan three gifts and described a military crossbow that could pierce some Qi Refining Realm defenses and threaten Spirit Refining Realm experts for three shots; Xu Ningyan asked if it was a Law Artifact.

Xu Qi'an learned about Law Artifacts and traded an alchemy technique to Song Qing for three of them, then encountered Duke Wei and his two companions at the Star-Gazing Tower. At the Xu residence, Lü'e urged Auntie to make winter clothes for Xu Qi'an, but Auntie refused before the steward announced that the master had returned.

• Song Qing explained how Formation Masters inscribed formations on Alchemists' creations to make Law Artifacts, and Xu Qi'an received a weapon, a heart-protecting mirror, and Bone-Eroding Heart-Scorching.
• Xu Qi'an taught Song Qing about plant grafting, exciting the alchemist, and left the Star-Gazing Tower carrying the three Law Artifacts.
• Xu Qi'an encountered Duke Wei and two young men on the stairs, felt hostility from the feminine young man, and continued on his way.
• Song Qing told Duke Wei that Xu Qi'an was a genius of alchemy who had taken the wrong path in cultivation.
• Lü'e asked Auntie to make winter clothes for Xu Qi'an, but Auntie refused, and the steward announced the master's return.

After Xu Qi'an rescued Xu Lingyue and Xu Lingyin, his family learned what had happened and Auntie showed her gratitude by including him in the winter clothes. Xu Qi'an returned home and told Xu Pingzhi and Xu Xinnian that Vice Minister Zhou was behind the tax silver case.

• Auntie learned that Xu Qi'an had saved Xu Lingyue and Xu Lingyin and been taken to the Ministry of Justice, then worried over him and ordered a winter garment made for him.
• Xu Qi'an returned to the residence, reflected on ways to gain power, and decided to rely on the Bureau of Astronomy and Cloud Deer Academy while investigating the tax silver case.
• Xu Qi'an teased Xu Lingyin as she practiced martial arts, then joined the family for dinner, where Xu Lingyue offered to make his winter clothes.
• Xu Qi'an called Xu Pingzhi and Xu Xinnian to the study and revealed that Vice Minister Zhou was the mastermind behind the tax silver case.

Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian discussed how to respond after learning Vice Minister Zhou was behind the tax silver case and had retaliated against the Xu family. They agreed that Zhou Li could be the pressure point, but Xu Qi'an said he had a further line of thought to offer.

• Xu Qi'an told Xu Pingzhi and Xu Xinnian that Chu Caiwei had identified Vice Minister Zhou as the mastermind behind the tax silver case.
• Xu Xinnian concluded that the emperor’s inaction likely reflected political factionalism and that Vice Minister Zhou’s rivals might pursue him during the Capital Evaluation.
• Xu Qi'an reasoned that Zhou Xianping had needed the stolen silver to address a shortfall connected to the Capital Evaluation.
• Xu Xinnian proposed targeting Zhou Li so the vice minister’s political enemies could use his son’s misconduct against him.
• Xu Qi'an said he could not give them a ready-made solution but could offer a line of thought, and Xu Pingzhi urged him to explain.

Xu Qi'an set Xu Xinnian and Xu Pingzhi to gather information on Zhou Li while he searched for a way to protect the Xu household. The next morning, he shared awkward and affectionate moments with his siblings before leaving home.

• Xu Qi'an explained that they should investigate Zhou Li before making plans, then assigned Xu Xinnian to gather information and Xu Pingzhi to watch the Zhou Residence.
• Xu Qi'an told Xu Xinnian that the family could flee the capital if necessary, and the brothers bickered over their shared bedding.
• Xu Lingyue opened her window and unexpectedly saw Xu Qi'an in the courtyard, then discussed how much kinder he had become with her maid, Lan'er.
• Xu Qi'an visited Xu Lingyin and taught her that boys grew up naughty while girls became crybabies.
• Xu Lingyin gleefully called herself a troublemaker, and Xu Qi'an quietly shut the door and left without breakfast.

Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian rode to Cloud Deer Academy, hoping to ask it to shelter the women of the Xu family from retaliation over the tax silver case. At the academy, its great scholars discussed how to revive students’ interest in the spring examination, but none could think of an effective approach.

• Xu Qi'an paid the breakfast stallholder extra after realizing the man was afraid to charge a yamen underling.
• Xu Qi'an got leave from County Magistrate Zhu, and Xu Xinnian prepared a scholar's robe for their visit to Cloud Deer Academy.
• The cousins rode toward Clear Cloud Mountain, and Xu Qi'an asked Xu Xinnian about the Sage and the Sage's lifespan.
• Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian planned to seek the academy's protection for the women of the Xu family against possible retaliation by the vice minister of revenue.
• Li Mubai, Zhang Shen, and Chen Tai discussed the academy students' waning interest in examinations and considered using poetry to encourage them.

Xu Qi'an sought the three great scholars' help protecting the women of the Xu Household from Vice Minister Zhou, and agreed to compose a poem to earn their support. His poem impressed the scholars, leaving them silently studying the verses.

• Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian visited Zhang Shen, Li Mubai, and Chen Tai to ask for the Xu women to stay safely at the academy.
• Chen Tai offered to protect the women if Xu Qi'an composed a poem on the subject of exhorting people to study that satisfied all three scholars.
• Xu Qi'an considered a famous poem but decided it might offend the Cloud Deer Academy, then asked Xu Xinnian to write down his own verses.
• Xu Xinnian wrote Xu Qi'an's poem about studying diligently while young and regretting delay in old age.
• The three great scholars hurried to the table and stared silently at the finished poem.

Xu Qi'an visited Cloud Deer Academy, where the great scholars praised his poem and explained ways to open a martial artist's Heavenly Gate. His poem was posted on the academy's bulletin board and inspired students to study harder, while the scholars lamented that Xu Pingzhi had sent Xu Qi'an into martial arts instead of Confucian study.

• The great scholars praised Xu Qi'an's poem, and Chen Tai offered Xu Xinnian a chance to study under him and remain in the capital after the spring examinations.
• Xu Qi'an asked the scholars to help open his Heavenly Gate, but they explained that Confucian scholars could not do so and described breathing methods and demon cores as alternative paths.
• Two study attendants posted Xu Qi'an's poem on the academy's bulletin board, where students read it and felt inspired to study diligently.
• The three great scholars concluded that Xu Qi'an had written the poem despite claiming to have abandoned his studies, and regretted that he had learned martial arts instead of cultivating the Confucian Dao.
• Li Mubai condemned Xu Pingzhi for choosing martial arts for Xu Qi'an when he was a child, and the other scholars agreed.

Li Mubai claimed credit for the unsigned poem urging study, provoking Zhang Shen and Chen Tai, while Zhao Shou discussed the empire’s troubles and refused the eldest princess’s call to enter officialdom. The chapter ended with a teacher reporting that Li Mubai, Zhang Shen, and Chen Tai had started fighting.

• Li Mubai added a note claiming that he had inspired the poem urging study, prompting Zhang Shen and Chen Tai to call him a shameless thief.
• The eldest princess asked Zhao Shou about the poem praising friendship, and he told her it had been written by a petty clerk from Changle County.
• The eldest princess urged Zhao Shou to enter officialdom and help repair Great Feng amid political failures, disasters, and threats from neighboring powers.
• Zhao Shou refused, saying the time had not yet come, and asked the eldest princess to leave.
• A teacher rushed in and reported that Li Mubai, Zhang Shen, and Chen Tai had started fighting.

The eldest princess and Zhao Shou discovered that Zhang Shen, Li Mubai, and Chen Tai were fighting over a poem written by Xu Qi'an. The eldest princess learned Xu Qi'an’s identity and asked where he was, while he remained out sightseeing in the mountains.

• Zhao Shou and the eldest princess rushed to the Sage’s Hall after hearing that three great scholars were fighting.
• Zhang Shen and Li Mubai attacked each other with spells recorded in their scrolls, while Chen Tai intervened with a Golden Core.
• The academy’s rules stopped the fight, and Chen Tai revealed that the quarrel concerned a poem written on a low wall.
• Zhang Shen and Li Mubai identified Xu Qi'an as the poem’s author and said he was their disciple.
• The eldest princess praised the poem, considered bringing Xu Qi'an to her residence as an adviser, and asked where he was.
• Chen Tai said Xu Qi'an had gone sightseeing in the mountains, and the students realized he had written the poem.

Xu Qi'an toured Cloud Deer Academy with Xu Xinnian, learned about its Confucian realms and the Sub-Sage’s marriage to a yao, and heard the start of the academy’s historic feud with the Imperial Academy. Xu Xinnian began explaining how a dispute over the crown prince divided the court for six years.

• Xu Xinnian showed Xu Qi'an the waterfall and told him how Qian Zhong shattered Great Zhou’s remaining national fortune before Great Feng was founded.
• Xu Xinnian explained that Cloud Deer Academy’s highest-ranking cultivator was its headmaster, a third-rank Establishing Destiny cultivator, and that Layman Ziyang was close to that realm.
• Xu Xinnian thanked Xu Qi'an for saving their father, Sister Lingyue, and the Xu Household from danger.
• Xu Qi'an learned that the Sub-Sage’s white deer wife had been a yao who listened to the classics, and that the Sage had approved their marriage.
• Xu Xinnian began recounting the two-hundred-year-old dispute over the nation’s foundation, when Renzong’s preferred crown prince faced opposition from Cloud Deer Academy and the officials.

Xu Qi'an challenged the Imperial Academy’s doctrines and wrote a new inscription on the blank stele, declaring that scholars should serve the people and seek peace for future generations. His words shattered Xu Xinnian’s mental shackles and cracked Sage Cheng’s stele, triggering a supernatural disturbance at the Sub-Sage Academy.

• Xu Qi'an explained to Xu Xinnian that the dispute over the state’s foundation was a struggle for power and discussed how scholars could stand equal to imperial authority.
• Xu Xinnian described Sage Cheng’s teachings and the stele that generations of Cloud Deer Academy scholars had failed to refute.
• Xu Qi'an asked Xu Xinnian whether the ruler or the people mattered more, then decided to write on the blank stele.
• Xu Qi'an inscribed, “To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish destiny for the people, to preserve the lost teachings of the sages of the past, and to bring peace to all generations to come!”
• Xu Xinnian felt his mental shackles break as the inscribed stele cracked and the Sub-Sage Academy shook; he fled, and Xu Qi'an ran after him.

After Xu Qi'an’s words cracked the Cheng Sub-Sage’s inscription and released Cloud Deer Academy’s Clear Qi, he and Xu Xinnian fled to avoid becoming entangled in the academy’s political struggle. Dean Zhao Shou and the scholars discovered the inscription’s message, while the Eldest Princess ordered an investigation into Xu Qi'an.

• Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian decided to leave Cloud Deer Academy quietly, fearing that accepting its gratitude would earn the Imperial Academy’s hostility.
• Zhao Shou and the three great scholars saw Clear Qi surge into the sky and hurried to the Sub-Sage's Hall of Learning.
• Zhao Shou realized the Cheng Sub-Sage’s inscription had cracked and read the words Xu Qi'an had written on the stele.
• Zhang Shen and Chen Tai praised the inscription’s principles, while Zhao Shou bowed to it and told the scholars to leave him alone.
• The Eldest Princess learned that the hall had been sealed and ordered the Nightwatchers to report the incident to Duke Wei and investigate Xu Qi'an.

At the Star-Gazing Tower, the Sitianjian supervisor watched the northwest while Chu Caiwei’s chatter ended with her food being irreversibly spoiled. Meanwhile, Xu Qi'an explained his unconventional ideas about thought and learning to Xu Xinnian as they rode toward the capital, leaving Xinnian newly enlightened and irritated by his brother’s teasing.

• The Sitianjian supervisor told Chu Caiwei that alchemical transformations were usually irreversible, after she asked about alchemy, fake silver, and Xu Qi'an.
• Zhao Shou and three great scholars discussed the inscription at the Sub-Sage Academy and concluded that Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian may have been there when it appeared.
• Li Mubai realized he was close to the Establishing Destiny Realm, while Zhao Shou forbade students from entering the Sub-Sage Academy and used Establishing Words to keep the matter secret.
• As the Xu brothers rode toward the capital, Xu Xinnian demanded that Xu Qi'an explain how he had composed a world-shaking maxim.
• Xu Qi'an explained that scholars were constrained by the ideas of their era and suggested that an outsider could help the Confucian School break free of those intellectual shackles.
• Xu Xinnian became convinced by Xu Qi'an’s explanation, then fell silent when his brother mocked him for inheriting the Li family’s genes.

Xu Qi'an visited the Treasure Artifact Pavilion and used his skill at solving character riddles to help two customers buy jewelry at half price, earning silver for himself. He left the shop with the women pleased by their purchases and the shopkeeper stunned by Xu Qi'an’s answers.

• Xu Qi'an returned his rented horse, parted from Xu Xinnian, and went to the Treasure Artifact Pavilion to buy jewelry despite having little silver.
• Xu Qi'an picked up a hard object from the shop floor and put it in his pocket, then learned he could get jewelry for half price by solving character riddles.
• After overhearing two young women struggle with the riddles, Xu Qi'an offered to solve them in exchange for half of the money they saved.
• Xu Qi'an solved the riddle “Clouds part, the moon appears, and flowers play with shadows” with “Neng,” allowing Lian'er to buy a gold hairpin.
• Xu Qi'an solved Lian'er's second riddle, “Peacocks fly southeast,” with “Sun,” and the two women bought jewelry and left satisfied.

Xu Qi'an used his riddle-solving skills to get two gold hairpins, then realized someone hostile was following him and prepared for danger at home. The Xu family arranged to send the women to Cloud Deer Academy, while Xu Qi'an’s gift to Xu Lingyue provoked Auntie.

• Xu Qi'an convinced the Treasure Artifact Pavilion shopkeeper to give him two gold hairpins despite having enough silver for only one.
• Xu Qi'an sensed he was being followed and suspected the Zhou Residence, so he armed himself with a military crossbow and heart-guard mirror.
• Xu Qi'an learned that Xu Lingyin had been chasing the family's new geese and laughed when a goose clamped onto her leg.
• Xu Cijiu told Second Uncle Xu that the family’s women would be sent to Cloud Deer Academy the next day, and Xu Qi'an revealed that he had been followed.
• Xu Qi'an gave a gold hairpin to Xu Lingyue instead of Auntie, making Auntie demand that Second Uncle Xu choose between them.

Xu Qi'an's family traveled to Cloud Deer Academy while fearing retaliation from Vice Minister Zhou, and Xu Qi'an secretly gave Auntie a gold hairpin to soothe her anger. Two days after arriving, Xu Qi'an, Xu Cijiu, and Second Uncle Xu gathered to combine what they had learned and plan how to deal with Zhou Li.

• Xu Qi'an gave Xu Lingyue a gold hairpin and Auntie proposed marrying him to Lü'e, but Second Uncle Xu said he would not marry until reaching the Qi Refining Realm.
• Second Uncle Xu gave Auntie a finer gold hairpin from Xu Qi'an, and she was pleased that he had remembered her.
• Second Uncle Xu, Xu Qi'an, and the rest of the Xu Household traveled to Cloud Deer Academy, where Xu Qi'an teased Xu Lingyin by telling her she would have to study there.
• Li Mubai received Xu Qi'an and Xu Cijiu while Zhang Shen was in seclusion, and he agreed to let Xu Lingyin study at the academy.
• Two days later, Xu Qi'an, Xu Cijiu, and Second Uncle Xu met in the study to pool their information and devise a plan against Zhou Li.

Xu Qi'an and Xu Xinnian discussed how to turn Zhou Li against a powerful rival, while Xu Qi'an revealed that Vice Minister Zhou’s political enemy was the Minister of Revenue. They decided they needed more information from Fuxiang at the Imperial Academy of Music, but none of the three men wanted to go.

• Second Uncle Xu reported that Zhou Li had been behaving cautiously, visiting a private residence and spending his time drinking and gambling with officials’ sons.
• Xu Xinnian explained that Zhou Li had few serious conflicts among his classmates but was devoted to Fuxiang, a courtesan at the Imperial Academy of Music.
• Xu Qi'an urged them to keep their plan simple and suggested disguising themselves to beat up an official’s son, prompting him to suspect Zhou Li and escalate their conflict.
• Xu Qi'an told Xu Xinnian and Second Uncle Xu that Miss Caiwei had identified the Minister of Revenue as Vice Minister Zhou’s political enemy.
• Xu Xinnian suggested asking Fuxiang for information, but Xu Qi'an, Xu Xinnian, and Second Uncle Xu each avoided volunteering to visit the Imperial Academy of Music.

Xu Qi'an entered the inner city in disguise and encountered a Daoist priest’s pitch-pot game, where he won all three throws and drew the attention of a carriage’s hidden occupant. The chapter ended as the occupant ordered the carriage to stop.

• Xu Qi'an persuaded Xu Pingzhi and Xu Erlang to postpone visiting the Imperial Academy of Music while he planned to go himself the next night.
• Xu Qi'an borrowed Xu Erlang’s robe, traveled into the inner city, and explored Yongkang Street.
• Xu Qi'an watched soldiers fail to win the Daoist priest’s pitch-pot game, even after their master offered sixty taels of gold for the stall’s prizes.
• Xu Qi'an paid one mace of silver to play and landed all three arrows in the pot while blindfolded.
• The luxurious carriage began to leave, but its occupant called out, "Stop the carriage!"