Chapter Summaries

Chen Qing planned to recruit soldiers and farmers to prepare Liuzhou for the growing living-corpse threat, while Zhou Haitao began organizing funds and staff. In Liuzhou, Liu Yiqi urged disgraced officials to blame Chen Qing for Spirit Deer County’s fall and hinted that he would deal with witnesses.

• Chen Qing told Zhou Haitao that Liuzhou’s food stores were inadequate for feeding refugees properly and said he wanted to recruit more people.
• Chen Qing explained that he planned to recruit both soldiers and farmers, promising protected farmland and land allocations, and gave Zhou Haitao funds to hire clerks and other officials.
• Chen Qing warned Zhou Haitao to watch the scholars formerly employed by Gu Beiquan and agreed with his suspicion of Liu Yiqi.
• Li Chong complained that Chen Qing was treating Spirit Deer County’s officials like refugees, and Liu Yiqi insisted Chen Qing was responsible for the county’s fall.
• Gu Beiquan questioned whether the court would believe their account, but Liu Yiqi dismissed the rescued people as witnesses and said he would handle the academy teachers.
• Gu Beiquan reconsidered his association with Liu Yiqi as the two vengeful ghosts behind him watched the group with matching malice.

Chen Qing discovered that Xiao Kai’s giant spirit worms could provide both farm labor and meat, and Ma Erniang introduced their meat to hungry refugees in Liuzhou City. As the meat won over the crowd, Liu Yiqi appeared at a teahouse where Master Yang and other teachers were eating.

• Bluebird reported on South Mountain’s believers and spirit-beast breeding, including Xiao Kai’s rapidly reproducing meat worms.
• Chen Qing inspected the worms, praised their size and soil-loosening strength, and decided their meat could help feed people.
• Zhou Haitao recruited soldiers in Liuzhou City, while Gu Bei wondered how the authorities would supply meat to the growing force.
• Ma Erniang served fried worm meat to the recruits and refugees, and Master Yang’s enthusiastic tasting convinced the crowd to try it.
• Master Yang brought worm meat to the teachers at a teahouse, where Liu Yiqi arrived and offered to share wine.

Liu Yiqi tried to poison the masters with Ten Yin Powder, but Master Yang identified the poison and exposed his Liu Clan origins. After Liu Yiqi attacked under the influence of two resentful spirits, Chen Ye intervened, while Master Yang slipped away and was recognized by a mysterious woman as Mr. Five Poisons.

• Liu Yiqi poured poisoned rice wine for the masters, hoping to cause chaos and seize control of Liuzhou.
• Master Yang remembered a warning, identified Ten Yin Powder, and recognized Liu Yiqi as a member of the Liu Clan.
• Liu Yiqi attacked Master Yang as two resentful spirits drove him into a frenzy, but Chen Ye appeared and pursued the spirits.
• Gu Bei and his men shackled Liu Yiqi and took him to face a trial after Gu Beiquan accused him.
• Master Yang wandered away in confusion, and a beautiful woman stopped him and called him Mr. Five Poisons.

A Li confronted Master Yang about the poison inside her, but a black-eyed presence appeared from his throat and both he and a false Chen Qing vanished. In Liuzhou, Chen Qing held a public hearing for Liu Yiqi and exposed the case as an opportunity to explain the strange apparitions, summoning the Day-Roaming God to testify.

• A Li questioned Master Yang about poisoning her, but black mist and a terrifying eye emerged from his throat before he collapsed.
• A figure resembling Chen Qing appeared, noticed A Li’s rapidly enlarged belly, and vanished along with Master Yang; A Li realized the figure was not Chen Qing.
• Chen Qing convened court and heard Gu Beiquan accuse Liu Yiqi of trying to poison teachers and seize control of Liuzhou.
• Liu Yiqi claimed evil spirits had compelled him, while Chen Qing noticed his concealed satisfaction and judged that the spirits had not caused his scheme.
• Chen Qing told the crowd the apparitions were disaster-stricken people from Spirit Deer County and summoned Liuzhou’s Day-Roaming God as a witness.

Chen Qing judged Liu Yiqi for his role in the deaths of two women, while Chen Ye revealed the City God’s authority over Liuzhou’s dead and prompted grieving refugees to seek contact with their families. Murong Yunji then shocked Chen Qing by revealing that Shen Yiyun, their second brother, was dead.

• Chen Ye appeared as the Day Wandering God and revealed that the two vicious ghosts were women from a pleasure house whom Liu Yiqi had pushed toward living corpses during the disaster.
• Liu Yiqi exposed that Gu Beiquan and the other officials had stood by without intervening, and Chen Qing ordered Liu stripped of his scholarly honors and imprisoned pending a petition for his execution.
• Chen Ye took the women’s souls away to face punishment in the Underworld, and Chen Qing explained the City God’s role to the crowd.
• Refugees pleaded to see their deceased relatives, so Chen Qing offered to take them to the newly built City God statue to make their requests.
• Murong Yunji appeared and asked Chen Qing to help her see Shen Yiyun, then revealed that their second brother was dead.

Chen Qing arranged for Liuzhou residents to see their dead relatives across the river between yin and yang and explained how virtue and offerings could extend the dead’s underworld lifespans. He then investigated Shen Yiyun’s gruesome death, and Thousand-Faced Fox arrived claiming poison had killed him.

• Chen Qing manifested the Underworld in the City God temple, where grieving residents saw their deceased loved ones across the river and heard that the dead could not return to life.
• Zhou Haitao explained that virtue, good deeds, and family offerings could extend a deceased person’s underworld lifespan, prompting Liuzhou residents to worship and establish memorial tablets.
• Chen Qing asked Wei Gongcheng to check whether Shen Yiyun had reached the Underworld, but Shen Yiyun’s name was absent from the register of souls arrested by Chen Ye.
• Chen Qing, Wei Gongcheng, and Murong Yunji examined Shen Yiyun’s shriveled corpse on North Street and wondered who had killed him.
• Thousand-Faced Fox arrived and said Shen Yiyun had died from poison.

Chen Qing learned that Mr. Five Poisons was in Liuzhou City and may have been involved in the deaths of the King of Qin and A Li’s companions, but A Li’s account placed Yang Rui'an away from Shen Yiyun’s murder. The chapter left Chen Qing suspecting another poisoner was active in the city.

• Chen Qing questioned A Li about her rapidly growing pregnancy, then followed her into his gray Underworld space to hear what she had to say.
• A Li told Chen Qing that Mr. Five Poisons had appeared in the city and identified him as Yang Rui'an, the elderly teacher Chen Qing knew.
• A Li explained that she and other reincarnated demons had fought alongside the King of Qin, were betrayed after his death, and believed Mr. Five Poisons had killed him.
• A Li said the King of Qin had stopped a catastrophe that Chen Qing suspected was the Earth Spirit Revival, but no one had found him since Mr. Heavenly Secrets located them ten years earlier.
• A Li recounted seeing Yang Rui'an on North Street when Shen Yiyun was killed, leading Chen Qing to doubt that Yang had committed the murder and suspect another poisoner in Liuzhou City.

Liuzhou recruited five thousand soldiers after learning that death led to the underworld, while Chen Qing worried about Shen Yiyun’s mysterious death and Shen Laojiu’s disappearance. He then visited the demonizing Xu Hu and promised to save him, realizing Xu Hu could become his first true Battle God.

• Fatty Zhou registered five thousand new soldiers as Wei Gongcheng observed that the underworld had made people less afraid of death.
• Wei Gongcheng planned to build a small town for the underworld administration and considered how to turn merit into resources for his work.
• Chen Qing suspected that someone had poisoned Shen Yiyun and secretly taken control of Shen Laojiu, and he ordered Chen Ying to investigate the body and stay with Murong Yunji.
• Chen Ying told Chen Qing that Xu Hu was increasingly becoming a demon, so Chen Qing went with Murong Yunji to see him.
• Xu Hu asked whether he was about to die, and Chen Qing promised he would survive, deciding that Xu Hu could become his first true Battle God.

Chen Qing completed Xu Hu’s demonic transformation and invested him as the Tiger Might General of the Earth Division, making him a powerful Battle God. Xu Hu embraced his new strength, reunited with his wife, and began recruiting soldiers for the Tiger Guard Army.

• Chen Qing waited for the Ancient Insect’s transformation of Xu Hu to finish, then praised his resolve and promised to reunite him with his wife.
• Chen Qing appointed Xu Hu Tiger Might General of the Earth Division, and Xu Hu ascended amid golden light as Liuzhou’s people watched in awe.
• Xu Hu knelt before Chen Qing, grateful for his new life and the chance to pursue the military ambitions he had abandoned decades earlier.
• Chen Qing confirmed Xu Hu’s exceptional aptitude, while Xu Hu reassured his wife and stepped outside to address the crowd.
• Xu Hu called for soldiers to join his campaign against demons, and Chen Qing announced recruitment for three thousand members of the Tiger Guard Army.
• Old Wolf and Wei Gongcheng watched the recruitment begin, while Wei Gongcheng welcomed the prospect of Chen Qing’s system giving mortals a path to power.

Nanming Prefecture’s defenders struggled against the living corpse horde as Mu Hongqing discovered that wooden birds could cross the fog and carry messages. Outside Jiangnan, the Duke of Qin questioned whether Mu Hongqing’s letter was genuine and proposed sending Lord Wang Ye, Deputy Chief Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, to investigate.

• Zhou Hanyang learned that Nanming had fewer than ten thousand soldiers left, while Mu Hongqing confirmed that no new living corpses had emerged from the river.
• Mu Hongqing explained that clearing the corpses quickly seemed to bring more from the river, and that a wooden bird had carried a message to Qizhou, where officials had stabilized the situation.
• Zhou Hanyang urged Mu Hongqing to contact the court, but Mu Hongqing warned that a reply from within the fog might not be genuine.
• Outside Jiangnan, Shen Yinian received Mu Hongqing’s letter and ordered messenger birds prepared to gather intelligence.
• The Duke of Qin warned that the letter could be a trap and suggested sending Lord Wang Ye, if the emperor would allow him to leave the capital.

The emperor made the crown prince choose whether to send Wang Ye into the West Sea fog to aid Jiangnan, despite the risk posed by Liu Yu’s technique. After the crown prince chose to send him, the emperor ordered him and Hong Lie to leave with Wang Ye that night, while secretly preparing for the emperor’s-star child expected to be born in Jiangnan.

• The sorcerer families sent the emperor a message as they weighed whether Wang Ye could be sent to Jiangnan without putting him at risk.
• The emperor asked the crown prince to decide whether to send Wang Ye into the fog, then revealed that Liu Yu’s technique would harm him if Wang Ye were harmed.
• The crown prince chose to send Wang Ye, reasoning that the realm’s needs outweighed the risk to his father, and accepted responsibility for the decision.
• Wang Ye emerged from hiding, agreed with the crown prince’s choice, and the emperor ordered the crown prince and Hong Lie to accompany him to Jiangnan that night.
• After they left, the emperor’s mysterious sorcerer confirmed that Thousand-Faced Fox’s unborn child bore the signs of an imperial star, and the emperor declared he would take the gamble.

Chen Qing told Chen Ying that the pregnant fox was a sealed Thousand-Faced Fox carrying a fetus with the Xiao Household’s Golden Crow Bloodline, and warned that an unknown killer might strike when she gave birth. Outside the fog, the crown prince arrived with Wang Ye to plan an investigation, then learned a child of the imperial bloodline was about to be born in Liuzhou.

• Chen Ying brought Chen Qing a letter from Mu Hongqing, who had discovered that the fog could not seal off inanimate objects and asked for news from Liuzhou.
• Chen Qing revealed that the concubine was a sealed Thousand-Faced Fox and that her abnormal pregnancy might end in premature childbirth, warning Chen Ying to watch for the person who killed Shen Er.
• Chen Qing began teaching Chen Ying something from the Azure Dragon Inheritance so she could prepare for the danger around the fox’s delivery.
• The crown prince arrived outside the fog with the Duke of Qin and Wang Ye, who agreed to test whether his wooden-puppet body could enter and leave the fog to gather intelligence.
• The Duke of Qin named Liuzhou as another critical location, and the crown prince recalled a letter claiming that a child of the imperial bloodline was about to be born there.

Wang Ye entered the fog-covered Jiangnan region alone after proving his puppet body could pass through the formation, then began investigating the living corpses and their commanders. At Nanming Prefecture, he received reports of increasingly powerful monsters and privately asked Mu Hongqing about the Thousand-Faced Fox’s pregnancy, leaving Mu to realize the Emperor had not told Wang Ye the full truth.

• After seven days of tests showed that Wang Ye could cross the formation but could not bring living people with him, the Duke of Qin overruled objections and authorized him to enter Jiangnan.
• Wang Ye boarded a military vessel, captured living corpses from the river, and reported that they appeared to come from the West Sea and avoided sunlight.
• At Nanming Prefecture, Xu Ming reunited with Zhou Hanyang and Mu Hongqing, who explained that corpse leaders directed the living corpses and that killing too many leaders brought forth stronger monsters.
• Wang Ye agreed to investigate the reports in Nanyang City, then used an imperial decree to speak privately with Mu Hongqing.
• Wang Ye asked whether the bloodline in the Thousand-Faced Fox’s womb was secure, and Mu Hongqing said Master Ziyue was watching over it before realizing the Emperor had not told Wang Ye the truth.

Wang Ye learned that Mu Hongqing did not know about Ziyue and questioned the emperor’s plans for the fox demon’s unborn child before setting out toward Liuzhou. In Liuzhou, Chen Qing expanded his rescue and settlement plans, then hurried to Great Azure Mountain to prepare for the fox’s arrival, despite Chen Ying’s uncertainty about their plan.

• Wang Ye realized Mu Hongqing had not been told about Ziyue, and Mu Hongqing warned him that Master Ziyue might have served the King of Qin and wielded mysterious Heavenly Moon Technique.
• Chen Qing’s Tiger Guard Army rescued around thirty thousand people in half a month, tripling Liuzhou City’s population, while Zhou Haitao reported that recruitment for farmwork on Great Azure Mountain remained difficult.
• Chen Qing offered farmers who contracted land on Great Azure Mountain priority for homes in Liuzhou’s new residential district, then went to the mountain.
• A mysterious figure followed Chen Qing toward Great Azure Mountain but turned back after Chen Qing vanished; Murong Yunji and Wei Gongcheng then discussed how to keep the fox safe there.
• Chen Qing asked Chen Ying how prepared she was to act that night, and she admitted she was only seventy percent certain, but Chen Qing said they could not wait because the fox was near giving birth and Wang Ye was almost there.

Wang Ye entered Liuzhou with a group of rescued civilians and discovered how Chen Qing’s forces defended the city and evacuated people. He then spotted the pregnant A Li, who appeared to signal someone to act as she suddenly clutched her belly.

• Chen Qing ordered Chen Ying to rest for an hour before beginning their plan, while warning that Wang Ye’s speed could thwart it.
• Wang Ye traveled with the Tiger Guard Army and observed its elite soldiers escorting civilians safely toward Liuzhou.
• The Tiger Guard Army and silver-armored gate guards held back thousands of living corpses as the civilians entered the city in order.
• Wang Ye recognized the soldiers’ earth and wind bloodline powers and saw the white wolf apparition guarding Liuzhou.
• Wang Ye spotted the pregnant A Li, who clutched her belly and silently told someone, “Make your move!!”

Wang Ye followed Murong Yunji as she rescued A Li and brought her into Great Azure Mountain, where Chen Qing captured Dugu Ziyue and the others withdrew. As A Li went into labor, Dugu Ziyue revealed that Golden Crow poison threatened both mother and child and offered to deliver the baby, promising A Li she would not hurt her.

• Wang Ye tracked Murong Yunji after she used Divine Wind to carry A Li away, while Dugu Ziyue pursued them with the spell Turbid Moon.
• Murong Yunji reached Great Azure Mountain, where Chen Qing activated the Azure Dragon Barrier; it trapped Dugu Ziyue and forced the other black-robed figures to retreat.
• Chen Qing explained that he had seized A Li to protect the emperor's unborn child, and Dugu Ziyue's group denied killing Shen Yiyun.
• Wang Ye identified Dugu Ziyue as the renowned court spellcaster, while Chen Qing recalled that he might once have seen a proposal for her Heavenly Moon spell.
• A Li went into labor, and Dugu Ziyue warned that Golden Crow poison required a secret method to save mother and child before offering to help and assuring A Li she would not hurt her.

Chen Qing released Ziyue after A Li pleaded with him, while black-robed spellcasters outside the Azure Dragon Barrier plotted to force him out and Shen Laojiu attacked them. Wang Ye revealed that the emperor wanted to recreate the circumstances of the King of Qin’s birth, just as the demon child was born.

• A Li appeared before Chen Qing and warned that she could exist for only a quarter of an hour.
• The black-robed spellcasters outside the Azure Dragon Barrier considered attacking Liuzhou to force Chen Qing out, then discussed using the Purple Phoenix Bangle.
• Shen Laojiu appeared, and the spellcasters realized he had escaped their Heavenly Mystery Lock before he engulfed them in black energy.
• Chen Qing released Ziyue after A Li pleaded with him, despite suspecting the decision went against his own instincts.
• Wang Ye told Chen Qing that the emperor wanted to recreate the King of Qin’s birth, and a cry announced that the child had been born.

Chen Qing learned that the newborn girl carried both Thousand-Faced Fox and Golden Crow bloodlines, while six spellcasters were found dead in the same manner as Shen Lao'er. He sent Wang Ye to investigate a theory involving the Shen Family, and Wang Ye’s return left the crown prince eager to learn whether the emperor intended to raise another imperial heir.

• Chen Qing confirmed the child was a girl and learned through the Mirror Demon that she had Thousand-Faced Fox and Golden Crow bloodlines, with faint signs of an emperor.
• Murong Yunji reported that six spellcasters outside the barrier on Great Azure Mountain had died like Shen Lao'er, and Chen Qing went to inspect their shriveled bodies.
• After hearing Murong Yunji describe the Shen Family’s twelve branches, Chen Qing asked Wang Ye to tell Sixth Master Shen that his second brother was dead and to investigate Chen Qing’s theory in Nanyang City.
• Outside the Jiangnan blockade, officials received word that Wang Ye had gone to Liuzhou City on the emperor’s business, prompting the crown prince to suspect that an imperial child was about to be born.
• A soldier announced that Wang Ye had returned, and the crown prince stood to question him about the emperor’s intentions.

Wang Ye told the crown prince that a pure-blooded imperial heir was in Liuzhou, provoking his fury and suspicion. He then revealed Shen Yiyun’s murder and Chen Qing’s theory about the Shen Family’s Dragon Transformation Technique, and received Shen Yinian’s authority to investigate in Nanyang.

• Wang Ye reported that Nanming Prefecture needed reinforcements, while Liuzhou was stable and should be reinforced by Hong Lie rather than Fei Jun.
• The crown prince privately asked whether someone of the imperial bloodline was in Liuzhou, and Wang Ye confirmed that a child with an exceptionally pure Golden Crow Bloodline was there under Ziyue’s protection.
• The crown prince accused Wang Ye of choosing the wrong side, while Fei Jun feared the revelation would intensify the succession struggle.
• Wang Ye told Shen Yinian that Shen Yiyun and the spellcasters sent to Liuzhou had been killed with poison, and that the Shen Family’s Laojiu was also in trouble.
• Wang Ye asked whether the Shen ancestor was researching the Dragon Transformation Technique, then relayed Chen Qing’s deductions about the technique and Shen Yiyun’s death.
• Shen Yinian gave Wang Ye a jade talisman authorizing him to investigate in Nanyang and warned him to trust no one except Shen Yinian’s fifth brother.

Wu You and Hong Lie arrived in Liuzhou and found the city thriving despite the living-corpse disaster, with disciplined soldiers, abundant food, and a mysterious insect meat specialty. As Wu You demanded control of Liuzhou’s defenses, Chen Qing tested the Azure Dragon Barrier and decided to visit Nine Heavens Mirror Valley to strengthen the city’s defenses.

• Hong Lie and Wu You brought five thousand Black Armor Guards to Liuzhou, where they found farmers returning safely from the fields at noon.
• Wu You observed that Liuzhou’s soldiers seemed like seasoned veterans and its residents remained unusually cheerful and well supplied.
• Zhou Haitao served the reinforcements and farmers rice porridge, buns, and insect meat, explaining that the city had gathered grain from the countryside.
• Wu You asked Zhou Haitao to tell the prefect to return and hand over Liuzhou’s defenses, cooling the mood and drawing Hong Lie’s disapproval.
• Chen Qing tested the Azure Dragon Barrier with Chen Ying and decided to travel to Nine Heavens Mirror Valley for advanced spellcaster classes.