Chapter Summaries

Shen Yan told the Shen Family elders that Shen Yuan had joined Chen Qing’s forces and demonstrated extraordinary powers, then learned that Shen Yuan was returning to the capital before the Double Ninth Festival. As the family hurried to bring its children home, Shen Yu accepted Fourth Master Fang’s offer to match him with his daughter.

• Shen Yan explained that Shen Yuan had defeated elders from four families and could draw formations in midair, prompting Shen Qingfeng to worry about the danger to the Shen Family.
• Shen Qingfeng ordered the family to close its doors to visitors and bring its children home from the Yin-Yang Academy.
• Shen Yan revealed that Shen Yuan’s letter, delivered three days earlier, said he would return to the capital before the Double Ninth Festival, which was the next day.
• Steward Zhou tried to take Shen Yu home from the academy, but Fourth Master Fang stopped them and invited himself to the family banquet.
• Fourth Master Fang proposed that Shen Yu meet his daughter as a prospective match, and Shen Yu eagerly agreed.

Shen Yu drew marriage offers from the Fang Family and Li Family, while Shen Yan and Madam Zheng argued over their neglect of Shen Yuan and the danger facing the Shen Family. At the capital, Seventh Master Shen revealed the families’ shared ancestry and told Shen Yuan he would oversee the coming scheme.

• Second Master Li offered to visit the Shen Family and suggested Shen Yu consider his youngest daughter, while a student named Brother Jiang warned that one mistake could spell disaster for the family.
• Shen Yan blamed Madam Zheng for ignoring Shen Yuan’s letters, and she defended herself by recalling the pressure she faced as a sorcerer’s wife.
• Madam Zheng asked whether Shen Yuan’s situation would affect Shen Yu’s marriage, and Shen Yan’s rebuke revived her fear of losing her place in the household.
• Shen Yuan arrived at the capital with Wei Gongzhan, who planned to bring his mother back to Jiangnan.
• Seventh Master Shen told Shen Yuan that the Jiangnan Shen Family descended from a legitimate descendant who escaped the Shen Family ancestor’s dragon transformation, then declared Shen Yuan responsible for overseeing their scheme.

Shen Yu returned to find the Shen Family overwhelmed by prominent guests who had gathered because of Shen Yuan, and learned that his eldest brother could perform Void Formation Drawing. The chapter ended as Shen Yuan arrived and dismissed the technique as basic.

• Madam Zheng told Shen Yu that Shen Yuan had caused a crisis involving secret inheritances and formations, and Shen Yu grew irritated with her.
• Shen Yu snapped at Madam Zheng and left her frightened, while she remembered how he had once been a gentle child.
• Shen Yan struggled to host the many prominent guests, who praised Shen Yu and teased him as a prospective son-in-law.
• Fourth Master Fang revealed that Shen Yuan could perform Void Formation Drawing, stunning Shen Yu and drawing everyone's attention to the eldest son.
• Shen Yuan arrived and said that Void Formation Drawing was a basic technique known to nearly every junior at Heaven Academy.

Shen Yuan returned to the Shen Family and faced a crowd of powerful sorcerers who demanded that he demonstrate Void Formation Drawing. He used the Azure Dragon Formation’s energy to trap and seal Du Kangnian, then left after asking whether everyone had seen enough.

• Shen Yu tried to explain Shen Yuan’s supposed insolence to Du Kangnian, but Du Kangnian ignored him and questioned Shen Yuan about Void Formation Drawing.
• Shen Yuan refused to demonstrate until Madam Zheng told him to obey his elders, then agreed and warned Du Kangnian that the display might strain him.
• Five days earlier, Shen Yuan practiced using the Azure Dragon Formation at Great Azure Mountain and executed it flawlessly ten times under Chen Qing’s supervision.
• Shen Yuan drew a Demon-Sealing Formation in the void, stopped Du Kangnian from escaping, and sealed him inside a thumb-sized crystal.
• Shen Yuan withdrew the Azure Dragon energy, asked whether everyone had seen enough, and took his leave after bowing to Madam Zheng.

After Shen Yuan’s shocking display at the Shen Family banquet, the gathered spellcaster families kept up a show of cordiality while the Shen elders tried to understand his abilities and intentions. They concluded that Madam Zheng was the only person they could rely on to reach him, and Shen Yan went to fetch her.

• In Nanming, Chen Qing reassured Chen Ying that Shen Yuan’s spell formations gave him an advantage, while Shen Qi’s mastery made him a formidable ally.
• At the banquet, the guests praised Shen Yuan after his attack on Du Kangnian, and Shen Yu remained stunned by his elder brother’s abilities.
• Shen Yan brought Shen Yu to the inner hall, where the Shen elders learned that the guests were staying despite the tense situation.
• Shen Yan explained that Shen Yuan had been close to Madam Zheng as a child but grew distant after she neglected him over his lack of spell aptitude.
• The old master criticized Shen Yan’s handling of the household and ordered Madam Zheng summoned, reasoning that Shen Yuan felt more toward her than toward his father.
• Shen Yan agreed to fetch Madam Zheng because the family had no other way to reach Shen Yuan.

Madam Zheng confronted Shen Yan and Shen Yu after realizing they wanted her to pry Shen Yuan’s secrets from him, and she demanded a spell-binding covenant to secure her position as mistress of the Shen Family. Meanwhile, Shen Yuan received Seventh Master Shen’s praise, but their conversation stopped when someone arrived, leaving Shen Yuan visibly conflicted.

• Shen Yu urged Madam Zheng to use Shen Yuan’s respect for her to uncover the secret behind his new abilities.
• Madam Zheng challenged Shen Yu and Shen Yan about their motives and asked whether Shen Yan would protect her if she failed.
• Shen Yan admitted he had considered removing Madam Zheng as mistress and offered to preserve her position if she persuaded Shen Yuan to hand over his things.
• Madam Zheng demanded a spell-binding covenant guaranteeing her position and requiring Shen Yan to cripple his spells if he broke it.
• Seventh Master Shen praised Shen Yuan’s timing and spell talent, then warned him that someone was coming.
• Shen Yuan saw the arriving person through Seventh Master Shen’s Thousand-Eye Technique and reacted with complicated feelings.

Shen Yuan confronted Madam Zheng about the Shen Family’s attempt to obtain his methods, then comforted her as she revealed why she had distanced herself from him. He invited her to leave the Shen Family and go with him to Jiangnan, and they set off to speak with the family.

• Madam Zheng accused Shen Yuan of deliberately forcing her to beg for his methods, and he agreed to hand them over if she truly wanted him to.
• Shen Yuan challenged Madam Zheng about the Shen Family’s promise to make her matriarch, and Shen Yan interrupted their conversation before he angrily ordered her out.
• Shen Yuan tended Madam Zheng’s wounded hand, and she broke down, admitting that fear of Shen Yan had driven her to distance herself from her son.
• Madam Zheng said she no longer wanted the matriarch’s position, and Shen Yuan explained that the Shen Family’s spell contract would not protect her.
• Shen Yuan invited Madam Zheng to come with him to Jiangnan and helped her get up so they could speak with the Shen Family.

Shen Yuan negotiated with the Shen Family elders over revealing Jiangnan Academy’s void formation drawing, while arranging for Madam Zheng to remain matriarch and leave with him for Jiangnan. He left the family intrigued by the academy but warned Shen Yu that entry depended on having the aptitude to qualify.

• Shen Yuan entered the inner hall with Madam Zheng and asked for Shen Yu to join them before they left for Jiangnan the next day.
• Shen Yuan explained his rapid cultivation by citing Jiangnan’s rich spiritual energy and demonstrated void formation drawing with ice jade.
• Shen Qingfeng asked Shen Yuan to pass the formation method to the Shen Family, and Shen Yuan agreed on the conditions that Madam Zheng keep her position as matriarch and accompany him to Jiangnan.
• Shen Yuan said Shen Family disciples who mastered his teachings could qualify to enter Jiangnan Yin-Yang Academy, then warned Shen Yu that family status alone would not grant admission.

Shen Yuan negotiated with the capital’s spellcaster factions, offering their youngsters places at Liuzhou Yin-Yang Academy in exchange for techniques while protecting the academy’s exchanges from being resold. Back at the Shen Family, Shen Yu was assigned to pursue valuable arts at the academy, while Shen Yuan doubted the family’s prodigies would master its demanding foundations.

• Shen Yuan shattered Du Kangnian’s Demon-Sealing Formation and explained that Liuzhou Yin-Yang Academy would recruit capital youths through monthly examinations and voluntary technique exchanges.
• Shen Yuan demonstrated the Azure Dragon Eighteen Formations and said exchanged techniques would not be offered to others without permission.
• The spellcaster factions agreed to send suitable youngsters to the academy, with the imperial court serving as an intermediary and the academy taking responsibility for their safety.
• Shen Yan told the Shen Family’s third-generation members that Shen Yuan had secured their family access to the Azure Dragon Secret Transmission for those who performed well.
• Shen Yan tasked Shen Yu with leading the effort to obtain valuable techniques, while Shen Yuan privately doubted the family prodigies could succeed in the academy’s examinations.

Shen Yan discovered that Shen Yuan’s new spell-formation lessons favored the practical mathematics and principles that elite spellcasters had neglected, while Shen Yu could not understand them. After seeing Shen Xue solve a difficult formation problem, Shen Yan realized Shen Yuan had been warning him that the Shen family had misjudged talent.

• Great families’ spellcasters studied Shen Yuan’s materials, and their younger generations who were skilled in miscellaneous disciplines learned them more readily than gifted combat spellcasters.
• Shen Yu accused Shen Yuan of sabotaging the Shen family’s youngsters, but Shen Yan realized his son had never learned the mathematical and foundational subjects behind the lessons.
• Shen Yan remembered Shen Yuan warning him that Jiangnan Academy judged talent differently and that he should observe carefully before risking the family’s future.
• Shen Yan found Shen Xue absorbed in the materials and saw that she had used spell mathematics to solve a problem in the Three Origins Formation.
• Shen Yan understood what Shen Yuan had meant by his warning.

The capital’s great families began selling Jiangnan goods and recruiting tutors as they prepared for Shen Yuan’s spell formation assessments. Shen Qingfeng learned that Shen Yuan had arranged for Mr. Bai Hua to teach the Shen children, while Fourth Master Fang hurried to seek the same teacher.

• The capital’s warlock families shifted their court stance, sold rune stones and other Jiangnan goods through their shops, and recruited experts in mathematics and other disciplines.
• Shen Yan and Shen Qingfeng worried that the Shen Family lacked teachers and that only Shen Xue and Shen Liang might be ready for the first assessment.
• Shen Qingfeng received Shen Yuan’s letter saying that Mr. Bai Hua of Liuzhou would return to the capital and had agreed to teach the Shen children.
• Fourth Master Fang learned that teachers in Jiangnan would not leave and decided to visit the Bai Family with gifts when Mr. Bai Hua reached the capital.

Chen Qing told Chen Ying that Shen Qi had found the Lu Household empty in the capital and that Mu Hongqing had vanished, while Jiangnan’s sciences were beginning to spread through the great families’ pursuit of teachers. In the capital, Bai Hua found influential visitors waiting at his son’s modest home and decided to visit the Shen Family, suspecting Shen Yuan had arranged his teaching job to keep him there.

• Chen Qing told Chen Ying that Shen Qi had found the duke’s residence empty and that Mu Hongqing had disappeared, and he promised to seek news and offer help if possible.
• Chen Qing explained that the great families were buying Jiangnan goods and hiring science teachers so their heirs could learn the new fields and compete for future markets.
• Chen Qing reasoned that Mu Hongqing had probably run into trouble because he would not have left Chen Ying without preparation if he had expected to be away.
• Bai Hua arrived at his son’s home with his wife and young son, saw servants of great families waiting with visiting cards, and realized they were likely seeking teachers of miscellaneous studies.
• Bai Hua chose to visit the Shen Family and suspected that Shen Yuan had arranged a teaching job for him because he knew the great families might try to recruit him.

Bai Hua visited the Shen Family and discovered Shen Xue’s exceptional mathematical talent, then proposed a marriage alliance as the price of tutoring the family’s children. He left Shen Qingfeng and Shen Yan facing his demand, warning that many other families wanted to hire him.

• Shen Qingfeng and Shen Yan warmly welcomed Bai Hua, whose reputation had risen because of the changes in Jiangnan.
• Shen Xue impressed Bai Hua by discussing advanced mathematics, and he tested her knowledge for an hour before praising her talent.
• Shen Yu mocked Shen Xue for currying favor with a teacher of miscellaneous studies, while Shen Xue urged the other concubine-born children to seize their chance to compete.
• Bai Hua privately asked Shen Qingfeng whether Shen Xue was betrothed and proposed that she marry his younger son in exchange for his wholehearted instruction of the Shen Family.
• Bai Hua warned Shen Qingfeng that other families were eager to invite him if the Shen Family refused his condition.

Bai Hua defended his blunt approach to the Shen Family, while Shen Xue agreed to marry the Bai Family’s second son. She then asked what spell formulas she could take with her and pass on to her children, leaving Shen Yan stunned.

• Bai Hua told Madam Bai that the Bai Family’s contributions to mathematics justified his demands of the Shen Family.
• Madam Bai warned Bai Hua not to alienate Shen Xue, and he said he would not let such a talented prospect slip away.
• Shen Yan asked Shen Xue whether she would accept the marriage proposal from the Bai Family, and she agreed.
• Shen Xue explained that she would need support from her birth family after marrying out, and Shen Yan promised the Shen Family would nurture her.
• Shen Xue asked how many of the Shen Family’s spell formulas she could take and whether her future children could inherit them, shocking Shen Yan.

Shen Xue realized her father would not protect her from Shen Yu and resolved to enter Jiangnan Academy and take her mother away. Meanwhile, Shen Yuan brought Madam Zheng to Jiangnan and watched her begin to recover from life in the Shen Family.

• Old Master Shen and Shen Yan agreed to Shen Xue's request that any children of hers talented in the Shen techniques could take the Shen surname and return to the family.
• At the Shen Family school, Shen Yu and other children mocked Shen Xue over her marriage, and Shen Xue rebuked Shen Yu for his poor technique-calculation results.
• Shen Yu unleashed the Ghost King's Curse at Shen Xue, but Old Master Shen arrived in time, struck him down, and ordered him confined for one day.
• Shen Xue saw Shen Yu's resentment and concluded that Shen Yan valued him more than her, so she resolved to enter Jiangnan Academy and take her mother with her.
• On a boat to Liuzhou, Shen Yuan reassured Madam Zheng about life in Jiangnan and privately judged Shen Yan for continuing to favor Shen Yu.

As the four alliances’ truce stabilized the Central Plains, the Northern Wolf Kingdom sent an impressive group of young spellcasters to take Jiangnan Academy’s entrance examination. The Duke of Wei’s heir grew alarmed by the north’s enthusiasm for natural sciences, while capital families also assembled their candidates, including the Shen Family’s poorly performing leader, Shen Yu.

• The Duke of Wei’s heir received Murong Bingyun and the Northern Wolf Kingdom’s carefully selected young candidates, but treated them with open hostility.
• Murong Bingyun said the candidates had studied natural sciences and were eager to take Jiangnan Academy’s rigorous examination.
• The heir recognized Yunke Chen among the northern youths and realized the Northern Wolf Kingdom was investing far more seriously in the academy than Central Plains families were.
• A spellcaster praised Murong Bingyun’s humility while the heir resolved to discuss the north’s rapid progress with his father.
• Capital families dispatched candidates for the examination, though most had to rely on peripheral relatives with stronger scientific foundations.
• The Shen Family kept Shen Yu, whose assessment results were the worst, as leader of its contingent.

Young members of the Shen Family traveled to Liuzhou for Jiangnan’s assessment, where Shen Xue worried that her family had wasted precious examination slots on Shen Yu and other sorcery scions. After Shen Yu insulted a Fighter Army soldier, the ship reached the bustling docks, and Shen Yu resolved to win Chen Qing’s favor.

• The great families sent more than three hundred young candidates to Jiangnan, and the Shen Family’s six candidates shared a ship divided between Shen Yu’s group and Shen Xue’s group.
• Shen Xue worried that Shen Yu’s poor assessment results did not justify taking one of the family’s six examination slots, while she feared failure would leave her vulnerable to him.
• A Fighter Army soldier explained that Jiangnan’s ships were faster than those described in old records, but Shen Yu rudely ordered him to leave.
• The soldier warned Shen Yu to mind his manners, and Shen Xue silently criticized Shen Yu’s arrogance while fearing his retaliation.
• The ship arrived at Liuzhou’s crowded, prosperous docks, where Shen Yu decided he would win Chen Qing’s favor and prove his worth.

Shen Yu tried to impress Murong Bingyun and the Northern Wasteland group outside Liuzhou, but his ignorance of practical studies and spell formations became obvious. The chapter ended with Shen Yang revealing that Void Formation Drawing was a basic topic, leaving Shen Yu stunned as the crowd laughed.

• Shen Yu arrived at Liuzhou with Shen Xue and Shen Yang and was astonished by the city's towering walls.
• Murong Bingyun approached after hearing Shen Yang analyze the walls, and Shen Yu tried to use the meeting to connect with the Murong Family.
• Murong Bingyun asked Shen Yu about architecture and other fields of study, but Shen Yu could not answer and dismissed them as useless miscellaneous studies.
• Shen Yu claimed that the young scions had come to learn Void Formation Drawing, prompting laughter from the surrounding people.
• Murong Bingyun drew a basic formation in the air, and Shen Yang told Shen Yu that the technique appeared in chapter four of Fundamentals of Spell Formations.

Shen Yuan discovered that he had missed the Void Formation Drawing principles Chen Qing had published, while Murong Yunbing reflected on Liuzhou’s prosperity and the Northern Wolf Kingdom’s need to build rather than conquer. Chen Qing foresaw that the coming Spiritual Energy Revival could devastate the Ancient Desolation Kingdom and threaten Murong Yunbing’s hopes for his country.

• Shen Yuan confronted Shen Xue after learning that Void Formation Drawing had been included in Chen Qing’s basic spellcraft treatise, and Shen Xue realized his poor grounding in spell calculations had kept him from understanding it.
• Shen Xue blamed Shen Yuan’s arrogance and neglect of practical studies for his ignorance and resolved to pass the assessment and remain in Jiangnan.
• Murong Yunbing told Beiyu that Liuzhou’s prosperity came from the work of many talented people, and argued that the Northern Wolf Kingdom needed to build prosperity before it could hope to conquer the Central Plains.
• Seventh Master Shen praised Murong Yunbing’s vision, while Chen Qing cautioned that even exceptional people might not overcome the forces shaping their era.
• Chen Qing anticipated the Dragon Palace’s opening and the arrival of version 2.0, warning himself that the Spiritual Energy Revival would empower demons and awaken a threat capable of devastating the Northern Wolf Kingdom.

With the entrance examination approaching, Murong Bingyun urged the northern youths to choose academies that would help them develop Liuzhou, and Shen Xue sought a safer path away from Shen Yu. Shen Yu applied to the Heaven Academy, but after learning about its difficult formation courses and Jiangnan’s abundant spiritual energy, he became determined to stay at Jiangnan Academy.

• Murong Bingyun explained that Jiangnan’s academies worked together in a cycle of agriculture, engineering, and spell research, then chose the Mystic Academy’s Academy of Engineering.
• Murong Bingyun’s younger sister planned to apply to the Heaven Academy, while Beiyu chose the Yellow Academy and other youths considered the Mystic Academy’s medical school.
• Shen Xue decided to apply to the Mystic or Earth Academy because Shen Yu’s worsening temper made her fear for her safety.
• Shen Yu arrived at the Heaven Academy registration desk, enjoyed Azure Cloud Jade tea, and told the attendant he was from the capital.
• The attendant recognized Shen Yu from the city-gate incident and warned that he likely lacked the formation knowledge needed for the Heaven Academy examination.
• After hearing that students could meditate in places with far denser spiritual energy, including Great Azure Mountain, Shen Yu resolved to stay at Jiangnan Academy.