Chapter Summaries

Xu Qi'an received a booklet of cultivation spells from the three great scholars and tested a Qi-Observing Technique while on night patrol. After glimpsing strange Qi around the capital, he looked toward the Star Observation Tower and fell from the roof in agonizing pain.

• Xu Qi'an patrolled the inner city with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao, who warned him about the dangers of rooftop patrols and explained the compensation for a fallen Copper Gong.
• Xu Qi'an visited his family, then Xu Xinnian gave him a booklet of spells compiled by Master Mubai, Master Youping, and another great scholar.
• Xu Qi'an began his night shift and told Song Tingfeng that his Heaven and Earth One-Saber Slash had immense power but left him briefly weakened.
• Xu Qi'an burned a page from the booklet and used the Qi-Observing Technique, seeing colored Qi throughout the capital and a fleeting emerald-green wisp at the Imperial Music Bureau.
• Xu Qi'an looked toward the Directorate of Astronomy's Star Observation Tower, screamed, and fell from the restaurant roof as Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao rushed to help him.

Xu Qi'an accidentally injured his eyes by using the Qi-Observing Technique on the Star Observation Tower, then learned that Earl Pingyuan had been murdered. He discovered that Earth Book holder Number Six was the killer and offered to help if Number Six explained why he had killed the earl.

• Xu Qi'an used the Qi-Observing Technique to look at the Star Observation Tower and suffered severe eye pain after inadvertently looking at the Director.
• A red signal alerted Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao to a nearby search, and they split up with Xu Qi'an to patrol the area.
• A Copper Gong told Xu Qi'an that Earl Pingyuan had been killed and the criminal had escaped after wounding two Nightwatchers.
• Number Six asked the Earth Book holders for help escaping the Nightwatchers and arcanists searching the inner city.
• Number Six admitted that he had killed Earl Pingyuan, while Number One refused to help him.
• Xu Qi'an offered to consider helping Number Six if he explained why he had killed Earl Pingyuan and warned him not to lie.

Xu Qi'an used a Confucian spell and a prepared room to help Number Six evade the Nightwatchers after learning why he had killed Earl Pingyuan. The search party approached Xu Qi'an, leaving his effort to protect Number Six unresolved.

• Number Six told the Heaven and Earth Society that Earl Pingyuan had sponsored a trafficking ring, and that he killed the earl after learning his missing junior brother might be among its victims.
• Xu Qi'an agreed to help Number Six, arranged a room at the Green Book Inn, and sent him a page bearing the spell One Leaf Obscures the Eyes.
• Number Six concealed his presence with the spell, changed into a monk's robe, and reached the inn while Xu Qi'an watched from a rooftop.
• Xu Qi'an noticed Nightwatchers and Directorate of Astronomy arcanists nearing him as they searched for the killer.
• Jiang Lyuzhong led the search party, and one of the white-robed arcanists spotted Xu Qi'an and urgently ordered the others to go down.

Xu Qi'an helped Number Six evade the Nightwatchers, while his alchemical reputation astonished his colleagues and the Directorate of Astronomy's arcanists. The Earth Book holders learned that Number Three was a Confucian disciple, and Number Five offered information about the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons.

• The Directorate of Astronomy's white-robed men greeted Xu Qi'an with deference, and the Nightwatchers learned that Song Qing praised him as his teacher in alchemy.
• Jiang Lyuzhong ordered men to search the street and decided to find out who commanded Xu Qi'an so he could transfer him to his own unit.
• Xu Qi'an, Song Tingfeng, and Zhu Guangxiao searched the Green Book Inn, where Xu Qi'an secretly confirmed that Number Six was hidden on a roof beam.
• Xu Qi'an contacted the Earth Book holders, and Number Six revealed that Xu Qi'an had given him a Confucian spell that concealed his presence.
• Number One deduced that Number Three was likely an outstanding Cloud Deer Academy disciple, while the Earth Book holders welcomed having a Confucian scholar among them.
• Number Five claimed to know the history of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons, and Xu Qi'an asked him to exchange information.

Xu Qi'an learned about the fallen Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons and its surviving princess while investigating his unusual windfalls, then searched the Nightwatchers’ archives for more information. As the court reacted to Earl Pingyuan’s murder, Xu Qi'an went to Righteous Qi Tower to make a report to Wei Yuan.

• Number Five told the Earth Book group that the Empress of Ten Thousand Demons had been a Half-Step Martial God and that her surviving daughter led the kingdom’s remnants.
• Daoist Jinlian explained that merit brought broad good fortune rather than specifically causing someone to find silver, leaving Xu Qi'an unsure what his own luck meant.
• Number Six passed through the city gate’s increased security and returned to Nourishing Life Hall, where he helped feed its residents and met a black dog that spoke haltingly.
• The court condemned the Nightwatchers over Earl Pingyuan’s murder, while Xu Qi'an heard that Earl Pingyuan had secretly trafficked in abducted people.
• Xu Qi'an searched the archives and learned that the Empress of Ten Thousand Demons was a Nine-Tailed Heavenly Fox, but the more restricted files were beyond his clearance.
• Xu Qi'an visited Wei Yuan at Righteous Qi Tower and asked him to dismiss his attendants so he could report something in private.

Xu Qi'an confessed to Wei Yuan that he had helped Number Six escape, earning Wei Yuan’s trust and a mission to uncover Number One. After warning Number Six and deepening his standing in the Heaven and Earth Society, Xu Qi'an returned to Spring Breeze Hall, where an unfamiliar Silver Gong announced that he was transferring him away from Li Yuchun.

• Xu Qi'an told Wei Yuan that Number Six had killed Earl Pingyuan and explained how he had helped Number Six evade detection.
• Wei Yuan cautioned Xu Qi'an about the Heaven and Earth Society, forgave his actions, and ordered him to continue undercover and identify Number One.
• Xu Qi'an warned Number Six that the Nightwatchers might have found a lead against him, then hinted to the Heaven and Earth Society that Cloud Deer Academy had a mole in the Nightwatchers' office.
• Number Six thanked Xu Qi'an, while Number One questioned how Xu Qi'an had learned confidential information and ignored his probe.
• An unfamiliar Silver Gong told Li Yuchun that Xu Qi'an would be transferred to work under him, and Li Yuchun exploded.

Gold Gong Jiang tried to recruit Xu Qi'an for the Earl Pingyuan murder investigation, but Li Yuchun and Yang Yan refused to surrender him. The dispute ended with Jiang and Yang preparing to settle the matter in the Nightwatchers' training grounds.

• Tao Man tried to take Xu Qi'an from Spring Breeze Hall, but Li Yuchun refused and told him to report back to Jiang Lyuzhong.
• Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao's colleagues learned that Xu Qi'an had been summoned by Jiang, while Jiang reviewed Xu Qi'an's record and decided his investigative skill and ties to the Directorate of Astronomy would be useful.
• After Tao Man reported Li Yuchun's refusal, Jiang Lyuzhong decided to go to Spring Breeze Hall himself.
• Li Yuchun informed Yang Yan that Jiang was trying to recruit Xu Qi'an, and Yang Yan hurried to stop the transfer.
• Jiang and Yang met at Spring Breeze Hall, refused to yield, and agreed to settle the dispute by fighting at the training grounds.
• Xu Qi'an went with his colleagues to watch the two Gold Gongs fight.

Xu Qi'an watched Yang Yan and Jiang Lyuzhong fight over his transfer, while Nightwatchers speculated about why he mattered so much. After Wei Yuan revealed Xu Qi'an's A-plus aptitude, Jiang Lyuzhong demanded another fight to claim him and threatened to tell the other Gold Gongs.

• News spread that Yang Yan and Jiang Lyuzhong had fallen out over transferring Copper Gong Xu Qi'an, and the two Gold Gongs began fighting at the training grounds.
• Xu Qi'an watched the two martial artists exchange blows for more than two hours before returning to patrol duty.
• Wei Yuan advised Yang Yan and Jiang Lyuzhong about their training, then declared that the transfer dispute was settled because neither had won.
• Jiang Lyuzhong asked why Yang Yan valued Xu Qi'an so highly, and Wei Yuan showed him Xu Qi'an's A-plus aptitude evaluation.
• Jiang Lyuzhong demanded another fight to take Xu Qi'an and threatened to tell the other Gold Gongs, prompting Wei Yuan to rebuke him.

Wei Yuan explained why Xu Qi'an served under Yang Yan, while Xu Pingzhi and Xu Qi'an unexpectedly encountered each other after spending the night at the Imperial Music Bureau. They returned home together and hid their outing from Auntie with mandarin peel.

• Wei Yuan told the Gold Gongs that Li Yuchun suited Xu Qi'an as a superior because he could guide and test him without clashing with his character.
• Jiang Lyuzhong explained that the Directorate of Astronomy's Qi Observers treated Xu Qi'an with great respect, and that Song Qing called him his teacher.
• Xu Qi'an visited Fuxiang at the Imperial Music Bureau, and the two spent the night together.
• Xu Qi'an and Xu Pingzhi spotted each other at the Imperial Music Bureau's stables, then left separately before Xu Pingzhi caught up with his nephew.
• Xu Qi'an accused Xu Pingzhi of neglecting Auntie, and Xu Pingzhi rubbed mandarin peel on himself to conceal where he had been.
• Xu Qi'an and Xu Pingzhi returned home with mandarins, and the family passed around one sour fruit before giving the bag to Xu Lingyin.

Xu Qi'an went to the Directorate of Astronomy to fulfill his promise and lecture its alchemists, while Wei Yuan and the eldest princess arrived to consult the Director about suspected demons in the capital. The chapter ended with the visitors learning that Xu Qi'an’s lecture had drawn nearly everyone in the tower to the seventh floor.

• Chu Caiwei visited Xu Qi'an and told him that Senior Brother Song wanted him to repay his debt by lecturing the Directorate of Astronomy’s alchemists.
• Xu Qi'an prepared lecture notes, while Xu Lingyin ate all of Chu Caiwei’s pastries and left her aggrieved.
• Xu Qi'an met Song Qing at the Star Observation Tower and declined to help him obtain a death-row prisoner for his grafting research.
• Xu Qi'an began teaching alchemical knowledge to forty-six white-robed arcanists on the seventh floor.
• Wei Yuan and the eldest princess arrived at the tower; Wei Yuan said a saltpeter mine in Taikang County had been emptied and suspected remnants of the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Demons.
• A white-robed arcanist told Wei Yuan and the eldest princess that Xu Qi'an’s lecture had drawn the other arcanists to the seventh floor.

Xu Qi'an lectured the Directorate of Astronomy’s arcanists on the foundations of Alchemy and its potential scope, impressing Song Qing with his insights. The Eldest Princess and Wei Yuan watched from the seventh floor, and Xu Qi'an resumed his lecture after Wei Yuan acknowledged him.

• The Eldest Princess and Wei Yuan recognized that the visiting lecturer, Young Master Xu, was Xu Qi'an and watched him from outside the room.
• Xu Qi'an praised Song Qing, then explained that Alchemy included distinct fields such as medicine, materials, and the study of living things.
• When an arcanist objected that life lay outside Alchemy, Xu Qi'an defended Song Qing’s research direction and asked why materials from one field could not be refined into another.
• Song Qing silenced the room and urged Xu Qi'an to explain, sensing that his question pointed to a profound idea.
• Xu Qi'an spotted Wei Yuan, worried that he had shown off too extravagantly, then took Wei Yuan’s nod as reassurance and returned to his lecture.

Xu Qi'an taught the Directorate of Astronomy’s arcanists about the periodic table and cells, earning their gratitude and impressing the Eldest Princess and Wei Yuan. After Wei Yuan brought him to meet the Director, the Director promised Xu Qi'an a gift.

• Xu Qi'an explained the periodic table of elements and told Song Qing that cells were the key to Living Creature Alchemy.
• Xu Qi'an gave Song Qing a booklet containing his notes, and the white-robed arcanists bowed to thank him for teaching them.
• Xu Qi'an greeted the Eldest Princess and thanked her for recommending him to the Nightwatchers.
• Wei Yuan took Xu Qi'an to meet the Director, then played a game of Go with him while discussing dangers and political concerns facing Great Feng.
• The Director recalled Wei Yuan’s abandoned cultivation and his past offer to make him a disciple, then promised Xu Qi'an a gift.

Xu Qi'an received a dark-gold saber from the Supervisor and arranged to meet Chu Caiwei after the emperor’s ancestral rites. That night, he realized Wei Yuan had quietly helped Number Six, while the Heaven and Earth Society mistakenly credited Number Three.

• The Supervisor forged a dark-gold saber for Xu Qi'an, who thanked him and arranged for Senior Brother Song to add a hilt.
• Xu Qi'an invited Chu Caiwei to dinner, and she agreed to visit his home after the emperor’s ancestral rites.
• The Eldest Princess asked the Supervisor about the empire’s troubles, but he fell asleep; Chu Caiwei called Xu Ningyan a talent and said she found him interesting.
• Master Hengyuan returned to Nourishing Life Hall and learned the court had paid its overdue funds and repaired the buildings.
• Number Six told the Heaven and Earth Society that Nourishing Life Hall had received unexpected help, and the members assumed Number Three had arranged it.
• Xu Qi'an stayed silent as the others praised Number Three, then deduced that Wei Yuan had located Number Six and helped Nourishing Life Hall.

Xu Qi'an joined Lü Qing to investigate the murder of a Gold Guard squad leader on Three Waters Street. He concluded that the killer was someone the victim knew and feared or respected, and spotted a dent on the victim’s forehead that might reveal the true cause of death.

• Xu Qi'an reassured Xu Lingyin about the pimple on her face, then went on daytime patrol with Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao.
• The three Nightwatchers visited an entertainment house, where Xu Qi'an asked his colleagues about the upcoming ancestral sacrifice at Mulberry Lake.
• Lü Qing encountered the three on the street and asked them to join her investigation of a murder on Three Waters Street.
• At the victim’s house, Xu Qi'an questioned the widow and inspected the Gold Guard squad leader’s body in his study.
• Xu Qi'an reasoned that the victim had known and feared or respected his killer, then found a shallow dent on the victim’s forehead.

Xu Qi'an investigated Liu Han’s murder and suspected it was connected to his work guarding the imperial city, but the questioning produced no clear lead. With the imperial ancestral rites taking priority, Xu Qi'an was assigned to guard Mulberry Lake as the ceremony approached.

• Xu Qi'an determined that Liu Han had been killed instantly by a blow to the head, then advised investigating nighttime travel permits, patrols, and Liu Han’s associates.
• Liu Han’s wife recalled that he had recently spoken of taking his family away from the capital, leading Lü Qing and Xu Qi'an to suspect he had taken a bribe and been silenced.
• Xu Qi'an proposed questioning Liu Han’s superior, Hundred Household Zhou, who denied seeing suspicious activity and showed no signs of lying under the Qi-Observing Technique.
• The Nightwatchers set the case aside because the emperor’s ancestral rites were imminent, and Xu Qi'an was assigned to guard Mulberry Lake.
• Xu Qi'an reflected on Mulberry Lake’s legend of the founding emperor receiving a divine sword from Black Tortoise as he watched the ceremony platform.

Xu Qi'an attended Great Feng’s ancestral worship ceremony at Mulberry Lake and secretly followed a probing exchange in the Earth Book chat group about who among its members was present. As the ceremony continued, he heard a chilling voice from the lake begging to be saved.

• Before dawn, Xu Qi'an, Song Tingfeng, and Zhu Guangxiao discussed visiting the Imperial Music Bureau after the ceremony, and Xu Qi'an admitted Mulberry Lake made him uneasy.
• Emperor Yuanjing led the imperial family and court officials to Mulberry Lake, where the ancestral worship preparations began.
• Xu Qi'an secretly checked the Earth Book chat and saw Number Two probe whether Number One and Number Three were attending the ceremony; Number Four revealed he had once been a high-ranking official.
• Number Two and the other members speculated about Number Three’s identity, while Number Four and Number Six defended him.
• Xu Qi'an again sensed danger from Mulberry Lake and heard a voice calling, “Save me,” which his colleagues could not hear.

Xu Qi'an heard a mysterious voice calling for help from Mulberry Lake and learned that the lake's divine sword might be involved. As the ancestral worship ceremony continued, the cries overwhelmed him until he shouted for them to stop, and the temple and lake erupted with strange activity.

• Xu Qi'an repeatedly heard cries for help whenever he faced Mulberry Lake and asked the Earth Book group what they knew about it.
• Number Four explained that the founding emperor's divine sword was enshrined in the lake temple and recalled that a crown prince who fell into the lake centuries earlier later drowned there.
• The cries persisted even when Xu Qi'an turned away, leaving him in agony and raising fears that he would suffer the crown prince's fate.
• Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao noticed Xu Qi'an's condition, and Wei Yuan sent Yang Yan to take him away.
• Xu Qi'an finally shouted for the voice to stop, causing the temple to shake as a streak of Sword Qi shot skyward and waves surged across Mulberry Lake.

A burst of Sword Qi disrupted the ancestral rites at Mulberry Lake, but Emperor Yuanjing resumed the ceremony after privately investigating the temple. Xu Qi'an suspected that the disturbance revealed a hidden secret beneath the lake.

• Sword Qi erupted from the Temple of Eternal Suppression of Mountains and Rivers, shaking the platform and scattering its offerings and ancestral tablets.
• Wei Yuan and the other martial artists secured Emperor Yuanjing and the imperial family, but no assassins or casualties were found.
• Xu Qi'an recovered from his strange distress, spoke briefly with Song Tingfeng, and checked that the eldest princess was unharmed.
• The second princess Lin'an teased the eldest princess about Xu Qi'an, and the crown prince told Lin'an to be quiet.
• Emperor Yuanjing inspected the temple and its sword, then ordered the ancestral rites to continue without explaining the disturbance.
• Xu Qi'an returned to his post and suspected that Emperor Yuanjing knew the source of the anomaly and that Mulberry Lake concealed a secret.

After the ancestral rites, Xu Qi'an privately suspected that Mulberry Lake’s cries for help might be connected to the divine sword’s awakening. In the Earth Book group chat, Number Four inferred that Number Three had discovered something about Mulberry Lake, and Xu Qi'an claimed to know inside information without revealing what it was.

• Xu Qi'an and the other Nightwatchers finished their assignment and discussed the divine sword’s disturbance as they returned to the constabulary.
• Xu Qi'an checked the Earth Book group chat, where Daoist Jinlian reported that the Nation-Guarding Divine Sword had awakened during the rites and that Emperor Yuanjing had entered the temple.
• Number One confirmed the sword had fallen dormant again, while Daoist Jinlian and Number Six said they had sensed Demonic Qi near the imperial city.
• Number Two suggested a great demon or demonic expert had approached the capital, but Xu Qi'an knew no First Rank expert had invaded and suspected Mulberry Lake itself was the source.
• Number Four connected Number Three’s earlier questions about Mulberry Lake to the sword’s awakening and concluded that Number Three had begun doubting the accepted history.
• When the group pressed him to explain, Xu Qi'an said he knew inside information that others did not.

Xu Qi'an negotiated a way for the Heaven and Earth Society to trade for his secret about Mulberry Lake, then went with his colleagues to the Imperial Music Bureau. The chapter left him asking to book the entire Shadowed Plum Pavilion.

• Xu Qi'an proposed that the Heaven and Earth Society trade information or gold and silver for his Mulberry Lake secret, with payment allowed on credit while Daoist Jinlian recovered.
• Xu Qi'an revealed that he had heard cries for help from Mulberry Lake, prompting the members to speculate that someone might be imprisoned beneath it and Number One to offer to investigate.
• Song Tingfeng and Zhu Guangxiao urged Xu Qi'an to socialize with their Nightwatcher colleagues, so he invited Copper Gongs to the Imperial Music Bureau and offered to pay.
• Wei Yuan told Yang Yan and Nangong Qianrou that he had a rough idea about Mulberry Lake, warned them not to investigate or discuss it, and ordered them to forget what they had seen.
• Xu Qi'an and nine Nightwatchers arrived at the Shadowed Plum Pavilion, where Xu Qi'an tapped an attendant with his saber sheath and asked to book the whole place.