Recaps

Xu Qi'an solved the tax-silver robbery and a merchant's murder, then used a poem to bring Xu Xinnian into the favor of Cloud Deer Academy's scholars. After Xu Qi'an rescued Xu Lingyin from Young Master Zhou, the Ministry of Justice seized him, while Xu Xinnian sought help from Zhang Shen and Li Mubai.

• Xu Qi'an woke in prison, learned Xu Pingzhi faced exile over the missing tax silver, and asked Xu Xinnian to obtain the case file.
• Xu Qi'an deduced that the escort had carried counterfeit silver, demonstrated the sodium trick with Caiwei's Law Artifact, and earned the Xu Household's pardon.
• Xu Qi'an reunited with his family and stopped Xu Xinnian from hanging himself, then helped uncover that Yang Zhenzhen and Zhang Xian had staged Zhang Yourui's murder as a burglary.
• Xu Qi'an searched for ways to make money, tested his strange luck, and gave Xu Xinnian a farewell poem for Layman Ziyang.
• Xu Xinnian recited Xu Qi'an's poem at Cloud Deer Academy, won Layman Ziyang's purple jade pendant, and revealed that Xu Qi'an had written it, prompting Li Mubai and Zhang Shen to seek him as a disciple.
• Xu Qi'an rescued Xu Lingyin from Young Master Zhou's rearing horse, killed the horse, and beat Zhou and his attendants after they attacked him.
• The Ministry of Justice took Xu Qi'an away despite Xu Pingzhi's protest, while Song Qing studied the Alchemy book and Xu Xinnian asked Zhang Shen and Li Mubai to help save Xu Changning.

Xu Qi'an escaped Zhou Li’s attempted framing, gained allies at the Bureau of Astronomy and Cloud Deer Academy, and uncovered Vice Minister Zhou’s role in the stolen tax silver. After Xu Qi'an’s words cracked the academy’s revered stele, he moved to investigate Zhou Li through Fuxiang, ending when a carriage occupant stopped to address him.

• Li Mubai, Zhang Shen, and Song Qing secured Xu Qi'an’s release, and Xu Qi'an struck Zhou Li with a cangue before challenging the old man who had threatened him.
• Xu Qi'an learned that Zhou Xianping had backed the tax silver theft and told Xu Pingzhi and Xu Xinnian to investigate Zhou Li while keeping the Xu family ready to flee.
• Xu Qi'an composed a poem urging diligence in study, earning the great scholars’ praise and inspiring Cloud Deer Academy students.
• At Cloud Deer Academy, Xu Qi'an inscribed a maxim on the Sub-Sage’s stele, cracking it and breaking Xu Xinnian’s mental shackles.
• Zhao Shou and the scholars kept the stele incident secret, while the Eldest Princess ordered the Nightwatchers to investigate Xu Qi'an.
• Xu Qi'an arranged for the Xu women to stay at Cloud Deer Academy, then joined Xu Pingzhi and Xu Xinnian in planning to provoke Zhou Li and learn more through Fuxiang.
• Xu Qi'an went to Yongkang Street, won the Daoist priest’s pitch-pot game blindfolded, and heard someone in a departing carriage call for it to stop.

Xu Qi'an enlisted the Directorate of Astronomy's help to frame Zhou Li, secured the Xu family's safety, and joined the Nightwatchers. His first investigation uncovered a saltpeter mine, while messages through his jade mirror drew him into an Earth Sect conflict that Wei Yuan moved to intercept.

• Xu Qi'an acquired a jade mirror from an old Daoist and won Fuxiang's attention with a plum-blossom poem under the alias Yang Ling.
• Xu Qi'an learned of Zhou Li's earlier assault on Zhang Yuying and enlisted the Directorate of Astronomy's arcanists to help frame him for her abduction, leading to Zhou Li's exile and Vice Minister Zhou's dismissal.
• Li Yuchun questioned Xu Qi'an about the frame-up, revealed that the interrogation had been a test, and recruited him into the Nightwatchers on the Eldest Princess's recommendation.
• Xu Qi'an earned Wei Yuan's Upper first-class assessment in the aptitude trials and entered the Qi refining realm with Li Yuchun's help.
• Xu Qi'an uncovered a saltpeter mine on Mount Dahuang and helped Song Tingfeng, Zhu Guangxiao, and Lü Qing kill the salamander demon that had attacked the workers.
• Xu Qi'an spent the night with Fuxiang, returned to his family, and received messages through the jade mirror from Number Nine seeking Jinlian.
• Xu Qi'an bound the Earth Book fragment with his blood, received Number Six's warning against Number Nine, and reported the exchange to Wei Yuan.
• Wei Yuan arranged a decoy trade, Yang Yan destroyed the Earth Sect leader's body, and a merit formation around an old Daoist trapped the fleeing Yin Spirit before Xu Qi'an was summoned to Duke Wei.

Xu Qi'an joined the Heaven and Earth Society, helped Number Six evade capture, and gained favor with the Directorate of Astronomy while continuing to serve the Nightwatchers. During the imperial ancestral rites, cries from Mulberry Lake triggered the Nation-Guarding Divine Sword, leaving Xu Qi'an and the Society suspecting a hidden secret beneath the lake.

• Daoist Jinlian invited Xu Qi'an to join the Heaven and Earth Society and explained that its purpose was to kill his corrupted junior brother Zilian.
• Xu Qi'an joined the Society as Number Three, learned about its members and the troubles in Yunzhou, and reported what he knew to Wei Yuan.
• Xu Qi'an chose Heaven and Earth One-Saber Slash, then used the Qi-Observing Technique and accidentally hurt his eyes by looking at the Director.
• Number Six confessed to killing Earl Pingyuan over the earl’s trafficking ring, and Xu Qi'an helped him hide from the Nightwatchers and arcanists.
• Xu Qi'an resisted Jiang Lyuzhong’s attempt to transfer him, lectured Song Qing’s arcanists on alchemy, and received a dark-gold saber from the Supervisor.
• While guarding the ancestral rites at Mulberry Lake, Xu Qi'an heard cries for help that no one else could hear and shouted for them to stop, awakening the Nation-Guarding Divine Sword.
• Emperor Yuanjing continued the rites after the disturbance, while Xu Qi'an and the Heaven and Earth Society suspected that Mulberry Lake concealed a secret and Wei Yuan warned his subordinates not to investigate.