Chapter Summaries

Tian Heng punished Yuchi Feihu for demanding to join the front, while Wei Gongyan encouraged him to wait for a chance to earn merit. Wang Ye again urged Tian Heng to send reinforcements to Nanming Prefecture and judged him the duke most likely to support action against the other dukes.

• Tian Heng refused Yuchi Feihu permission to go to the front and ordered twenty strokes for barging into his command tent.
• Tian Heng learned that scouts tracking the Golden Dragon Guard had reached Yunzhou but were bitten by venomous insects before they could report to him.
• Wei Gongyan treated Yuchi Feihu's injuries and encouraged him to rest before seeking a chance to earn military merit.
• A young member of the Wei Household smelled a strong bloody stench coming from the southwest.
• Wang Ye privately urged Tian Heng to send reinforcements to Nanming Prefecture and concluded that Tian Heng was the duke most likely to act.

Wang Ye secured ten thousand troops from Tian Heng and gave him a jade talisman before offering another to Yuchi Feihu. After Wei Gongzhan secretly accepted the talisman and resolved to protect his young lord, Wang Ye used Tian Heng’s command tally to order the troops to withdraw to Jiangnan.

• Wang Ye persuaded Tian Heng to lend him ten thousand troops, and Tian Heng gave him a command tally.
• Wang Ye gave Tian Heng a jade talisman so he could find him if he needed refuge, and Tian Heng kept it after nearly discarding it.
• Wang Ye offered Yuchi Feihu a jade talisman, but Yuchi Feihu rejected it until Wei Gongzhan took it on his behalf.
• Yuchi Feihu threatened to dismiss Wei Gongzhan, who continued following him because his spirit speech warned him of grave danger from the southwest.
• Wang Ye showed Tian Heng’s deputy general the command tally and ordered the troops to withdraw to Jiangnan.

Wang Ye used a military tally to lead Lan Xiang’s troops toward Jiangnan as the court’s monstrous forces attacked the Duke of Qin’s allies. Tian Heng discovered that Wang Ye had taken his own soldiers too, leaving him stranded amid the battle.

• Wang Ye warned Lan Xiang that Golden Dragon Guards transformed into monsters were attacking and persuaded him to withdraw his troops to Jiangnan.
• Tian Heng recognized the danger and ordered two dukes to retreat toward West Sea, but the Eldest Princess struck them with a flaming blade.
• Fifth Master Shen slowed the two dukes with his art, allowing the Eldest Princess to kill them while Tian Heng fled.
• The Eldest Princess confirmed that West Sea had been sealed off and chose not to pursue Tian Heng immediately.
• Tian Heng returned to find his camp empty and learned from Lan Xiang’s note that Wang Ye had taken the troops to Jiangnan.

Tian Heng and Meng Hao tried to organize a retreat after the Black Dragon Guard’s lines collapsed, but Meng Hao betrayed Tian Heng to seize a chance at advancement. Meanwhile, Wei Gongzhan stopped Yuchi Feihu from charging into battle and led him toward Jiangnan, as the Nine Heavens Mirror Valley disaster marked the start of Great Jin’s decline.

• Meng Hao arrived seeking reinforcements and told Tian Heng that the West Sea front had been overwhelmed by powerful living corpses.
• Tian Heng decided to retreat into the West Sea, but Meng Hao pierced his chest and revealed that he had betrayed him to escape a life spent as a deputy.
• Yuchi Feihu tried to rush into battle, but Wei Gongyan restrained him and Wei Gongzhan drugged him with a silver needle.
• Wei Gongzhan persuaded Wei Gongyan to take Yuchi Feihu toward Jiangnan instead of the West Sea, trusting the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review to protect them.
• The Nine Heavens Mirror Valley incident destroyed most of the Golden Dragon Guard and Black Dragon Guard, beginning Great Jin’s decline.

Tian Heng survived Meng Hao’s attack but discovered that he and his deputies had been infected by the living corpses, so he headed for Jiangnan and contacted Wang Ye. Chen Qing met him with medicine to suppress the infection, but left for Nanyang before Tian Heng could receive treatment in Liuzhou.

• Tian Heng woke after escaping Meng Hao and realized that his wound was still bleeding and his deputies’ eyes had turned scarlet.
• Tian Heng found Wang Ye’s jade talisman and used it to contact him while retreating toward Jiangnan.
• Wang Ye sent Chen Qing to meet Tian Heng, and Chen Qing arrived with elite troops from Liuzhou.
• Chen Qing identified venomous insects in Tian Heng and his deputies and gave them medicine that temporarily suppressed the infection.
• Chen Qing said Tian Heng would need to return to Liuzhou for treatment, but he had to take reinforcements to Nanyang, leaving Tian Heng astonished.

Yuchi Feihu and his two guards reached Liuzhou City, where they found refugees entering under the protection of unusually powerful soldiers and saw signs that the city was secure and well supplied. After keeping their identities hidden, they were recognized by Shen Yuan, the former magistrate of Whitewater County.

• Wei Gongzhan advised Yuchi Feihu to assess Liuzhou before trusting Vice Minister Wang, and Yuchi Feihu defended him from Wei Gongyan’s demand for family punishment.
• Yuchi Feihu, Wei Gongzhan, and Wei Gongyan reached Liuzhou City and saw nearly a thousand powerful soldiers escorting refugees through its gates.
• Wei Gongzhan disguised the three as refugees, and the soldiers told them that they would be safe inside Liuzhou City.
• The three joined a refugee line and saw Liuzhou distribute thick rice porridge and nourishing meat while guards enforced order.
• Wei Gongzhan spotted a scholar following them, and the man approached and identified himself as Shen Yuan, the former magistrate of Whitewater County.

Shen Yuan told Yuchi Feihu and the Wei brothers how Chen Qing had taken control of Liuzhou, recruited an unusually capable army, and won the residents’ loyalty with generous provisions and supernatural claims. When the three sought a way to investigate the city from within, Shen Yuan revealed that admission to Liuzhou’s Yin-Yang Academy could grant residency, leaving them stunned.

• Shen Yuan told Yuchi Feihu and the Wei brothers that Chen Qing had confiscated county magistrates’ official seals and recruited Liuzhou’s soldiers from common people.
• Shen Yuan explained that Liuzhou offered recruits household registration, homes, and regular meals, while other refugees received less generous provisions.
• The men saw the silver-armored Day Wandering God appear in the sky as Shen Yuan described the gods and Underworld stories spread in Liuzhou.
• Wei Gongzhan told Shen Yuan that the court had sent reinforcements to Jiangnan and asked where the earlier force led by General Hong and Wu You had gone.
• Shen Yuan named three routes to Liuzhou residency, including joining the army, leasing farmland on Great Azure Mountain, and entering the Yin-Yang Academy.
• Yuchi Feihu and the Wei brothers reacted in astonishment when Shen Yuan said the academy’s recruitment began the next day.

Yuchi Feihu’s group split up to infiltrate Liuzhou, sending Shen Yuan to investigate its supposed Yin-Yang Academy. Wang Ye diverted Lan Xiang’s troops to Yangzhou, where they learned the city’s million residents had become living corpses, and headed for a nearby county town to see how Liuzhou’s rescue effort was proceeding.

• Yuchi Feihu assigned himself and Wei Gongyan to try out for the Tiger Guard Army, sent Wei Gongzhan to gather intelligence at Great Azure Mountain, and ordered Shen Yuan to enroll in the Yin-Yang Academy.
• Shen Yuan agreed to investigate the academy for the court, though he secretly felt excited by the prospect.
• Wang Ye convinced Lan Xiang that Yangzhou was a safer place to shelter the troops than Nanming Prefecture or Nanyang City.
• Lan Xiang’s forces landed at Yangzhou harbor and quickly destroyed the living corpses there.
• Wang Ye warned Lan Xiang that all one million people in Yangzhou City had become living corpses and explained that Liuzhou troops were rescuing people in the surrounding countryside.
• Wang Ye led Lan Xiang’s troops toward a nearby county town, urging them to arrive before dark.

Wei Gongzhan registered to farm on Great Azure Mountain and met Shen Yuan, who told him that masters had emerged from the City God's statue. At the temple, Wei Gongzhan recognized the statue's mask as belonging to a childhood role model from the Wei Household, leaving him wondering whether the resemblance was a coincidence.

• Zhou Haitao registered Wei Gongzhan to farm on Great Azure Mountain and directed him to find Master Lü at the academy.
• Wei Gongzhan met young men who had been rejected from the Tiger Guard Army and learned they had turned to farming rather than keep living off free food in Liuzhou.
• Wei Gongzhan encountered Shen Yuan, who described the academy's four divisions and said he had seen masters emerge from the City God's statue.
• Shen Yuan took Wei Gongzhan to the City God's temple, where Wei recognized the statue's mask as the one worn by a boy from the Wei Household who had served the Yuchi Household's master.

Wei Gongcheng and Master Shen San discussed the Ancient Insects’ plot and the soldiers who escaped to Jiangnan, while Yuchi Feihu settled into camp and befriended Di Yun. Di Yun called bloodline users who relied on their powers “bloodline trash,” leaving Yuchi Feihu stunned.

• Wei Gongzhan questioned whether an Underworld existed in Liuzhou, then left to join the expedition to Great Azure Mountain as Shen Yuan warned him to stay cautious.
• Wei Gongcheng told Master Shen San that the Ancient Insects had planned to parasitize Great Jin’s bloodline descendants and that Wang Ye had saved many of Tian Heng’s soldiers by bringing them to Jiangnan.
• Yuchi Feihu warned Wei Gongyan not to reveal his bloodline, but Wei Gongyan dismissed the warning and kept feeling watched.
• Yuchi Feihu joined Di Yun for dinner and gave him the name Huang Feihu, pleased that Di Yun praised his combat skills.
• Di Yun said that anyone who relied on bloodline power after losing was bloodline trash, leaving Yuchi Feihu speechless.

Yuchi Feihu watched the recruits’ demonstration preparations and learned that veterans like Di Yun were training ordinary soldiers for an urgent reinforcement mission. When Wei Gongyan challenged Di Yun and unleashed his bloodline, Di Yun stopped his saber and urged him to use his full strength.

• Yuchi Feihu practiced before dawn and spoke with Di Yun, who explained that the day’s demonstration would introduce recruits to the veterans’ training.
• Wei Gongyan dismissed the veterans as ordinary troops, while Di Yun announced that selected recruits would join units sent as reinforcements within five days and receive priority for blessings.
• Wei Gongyan mocked the demonstration and asked whether recruits had to use their full strength, prompting Di Yun to challenge him for his unit-leader position.
• Wei Gongyan activated his Wind Serpent Bloodline and attacked Di Yun, but Di Yun’s saber held firm against his strike.
• Di Yun taunted Wei Gongyan for using only part of his bloodline and told him to try using his full strength.

Di Yun defeated Wei Gongyan during the military selection and declared that all nine squads rejected him, revealing how powerful Liuzhou’s soldiers had become. Yuchi Feihu and the watching nobles recognized that Chen Qing’s Divine Path Style could create a force capable of challenging the bloodline aristocratic families.

• Di Yun shattered Wei Gongyan’s saber, twisted his wrist, and criticized his poor use of his agility-focused bloodline.
• Di Yun explained that he had let Wei Gongyan send him flying the previous day to protect nearby spectators, then announced that his First Squad rejected him.
• All nine squads rejected Wei Gongyan, sending him to basic training reserves for reassessment in one month or possible dismissal.
• Di Yun identified himself as a level-four fighter and demanded that soldiers demonstrate their abilities, while his veterans celebrated their new standing.
• Yuchi Feihu realized Liuzhou’s soldiers possessed a kind of power unlike demonic bloodlines and were different from Great Jin’s troops.
• Wei Gongcheng and Master Shen San discussed Di Yun’s rapid growth and the possibility that Chen Qing could raise ordinary fighters into a force threatening the bloodline aristocratic families.

Shen Yuan discovered that the academy’s Dao texts contained groundbreaking arcane knowledge and learned from Chen Ying that low spiritual power would not prevent him from specializing in spell formations. At dinner, he dismissed Gu Beiquan’s belief that Chen Qing would restore the former officials to office and warned him to enjoy the food while he could.

• Shen Yuan spent days absorbed in the academy’s books after initially doubting their value, and Chen Ying praised his arithmetic talent.
• Chen Ying told Shen Yuan that the academy’s spell formation methods relied on objects or formations rather than people, so low spiritual power would not be a major obstacle.
• Shen Yuan helped organize the Dao texts and then devoted nearly all his time to reading them.
• Gu Beiquan and other former officials approached Shen Yuan at dinner and claimed Chen Qing would soon need to restore them to government service.
• Shen Yuan asked Gu Beiquan about his examination scores, learned he had ignored the arcane subjects, and advised him to eat well before being sent back to North Street.

Shen Yuan ignored Gu Beiquan and focused on discussing spell formations with Cui Yang before Chen Ying announced the Yin-Yang Academy’s specialized admissions criteria. When scholars protested that the academy sidelined the classics, Gu Beiquan realized it was intended to train sorcerers and angrily accused Chen Qing of driving scholars out of Liuzhou.

• Shen Yuan arrived at the assessment announcement and chose to speak with Cui Yang about improving his theory rather than join Gu Beiquan and the other jinshi.
• Chen Ying announced the Heaven, Earth, Mystic, and Yellow Academies and explained their different subjects and admission requirements.
• Chen Ying said that results in the meaning of the classics did not count toward the main rankings because the academy was not meant to train jinshi.
• Gu Beiquan and other degree-holding scholars saw their poor rankings and questioned the academy’s purpose and fairness.
• Gu Beiquan inferred that the Yin-Yang Academy planned to train sorcerers, then accused Chen Qing of letting military men dominate Liuzhou and driving scholars away.

Chen Ying expelled Gu Beiquan and his companions after exposing their dependence on Liuzhou’s protection, while the academy’s teachers accepted Chen Qing’s plan to expand practical studies. Wei Gongcheng and Master Shen San then discussed the Dragon Palace inheritance and wondered whether Chen Qing could withstand the powerful families who would come to claim it.

• Chen Ying rejected Gu Beiquan’s criticism of Liuzhou and pointed out that its warriors and sorcery had kept him and the refugees alive.
• Chen Ying used a gust of wind to carry Gu Beiquan and his companions out, and the gathered scholars wondered whether they could learn sorcery at the academy.
• Wei Gongcheng observed that the teachers did not object to Chen Qing’s plan to promote engineering and other practical fields before establishing studies in politics and law.
• Master Shen San asked whether the Daoist archives linked to Princess White Jade’s inheritance were trustworthy, and Wei Gongcheng explained that they were only the Dragon Palace’s outer inheritance.
• Wei Gongcheng revealed that Nine Heavens Mirror Valley held a key to the Dragon Palace, whose secrets of immortality would attract Great Jin’s emperor and powerful families.
• Wei Gongcheng wondered whether Chen Qing had enough strength to compete for the Dragon Palace inheritance against the world’s great powers.

Wei Gongzhan settled into the easy, unusual farming life on Great Azure Mountain, where he learned about its spirit crops and grew fond of his neighbors. When he returned to Liuzhou City for an appointed meeting, he learned Yuchi Feihu’s unit would soon leave for Yunzhou, and the group began discussing what was wrong with Liuzhou.

• Wei Gongzhan used fat worms to plow his fields and spent his free time with the mountain’s farmers, while tending a plot of Red Treasure Fruit.
• Wei Gongzhan accepted wine from Brother Li to deliver to Tiger Guard Army soldiers and carried another flask for his relatives in Liuzhou City.
• Wei Gongzhan reached the city and refused Wei Gongyan’s attempt to take the wine, then asked where Yuchi Feihu was.
• Yuchi Feihu arrived from training and told Wei Gongzhan that his unit would leave for Yunzhou the next day to provide aid.
• Shen Yuan joined Yuchi Feihu, Wei Gongzhan, and Wei Gongyan for their meeting and asked what Yuchi Feihu thought of Liuzhou.
• Yuchi Feihu said that something was seriously wrong with Liuzhou.

Yuchi Feihu explained how the Battle God's blessing power strengthened fighters and could be passed from powerful fighters to others, while Tian Heng's group witnessed Chen Qing's recruits gaining strength at an astonishing pace. Tian Heng asked Chen Qing whether he knew Yu Xiaopang, then left with an old memory stirring in his mind.

• Yuchi Feihu demonstrated that Battle God's blessing power could be released to manipulate elemental forces and said it strengthened the body and widened the meridians.
• Yuchi Feihu revealed that high-level fighters could produce the power themselves and distribute it to others.
• Tian Heng observed Chen Qing leading more than a thousand new recruits to retake a county town after rapidly conquering two others.
• Chen Qing told Tian Heng that humanity would rely on itself to face future calamities, and Tian Heng asked whether he knew Yu Xiaopang.
• Tian Heng received no recognition from Chen Qing, entered the city, and remembered someone making a similar promise about humanity's future.

Shen Laoqi weighed whether the Shen Family should side with Chen Qing, while Chen Qing warned Shen Lao'er that the ancient worms were preparing to escape their failing formation. The worms would soon become vulnerable during their escape, and Chen Qing ended by telling Shen Lao'er that the group would have to rely on him.

• Shen Shiyi saw that Jiyun County had been rebuilt and repopulated quickly, while Chen Qing's forces had grown rapidly.
• Shen Laoqi said the Shen Family would wait to see how far Chen Qing could develop before deciding whether to cooperate with him.
• Chen Qing told Shen Lao'er that the ancient formation was failing and the ancient worms would soon attempt to escape by shedding their skins.
• Chen Qing explained that the worms needed enough vessels to protect them while their true bodies were weakened, and an ancient worm possessing Shen Laoliu questioned how Chen Qing knew their secret.
• Chen Qing warned that the eldest princess's forces and the West Sea worms were nearing their goals, then told Shen Lao'er the group would have to rely on him.

Yuchi Feihu departed for Yunzhou with the rescue team, while Wei Gongzhan headed to Great Azure Mountain and encountered Hei Yun. Hei Yun revealed that he had narrowly avoided reviving at the Duke of Qin’s camp after a mysterious attack, but his attempt to revive in the capital had triggered something terrifying.

• Yuchi Feihu left for Yunzhou and told Wei Gongzhan and Wei Gongyan to stay alert around Shen Yuan while they gathered intelligence at Great Azure Mountain.
• Wei Gongzhan hurried to Great Azure Mountain to explain the wine he had shared with the neighborhood men and encountered Hei Yun.
• Wei Gongzhan introduced himself to Hei Yun, who recognized him as a former attendant of Yuchi Feihu.
• Yuchi Feihu told Hei Yun that the Golden Dragon Guard had attacked the army and become living corpses, surprising Hei Yun.
• Hei Yun explained that he had died in a mysterious attack and had avoided reviving at the Duke of Qin’s camp after sensing danger.
• Hei Yun activated a second straw doll in the capital, but something terrifying happened as he began to revive.

Hei Yun recounted how an unknown hunter had pursued him through his straw-figure rebirths, driving him to flee to Liuzhou. There, he asked Wei Gongzhan to investigate two dangerous women imprisoned in Great Azure Mountain, leaving Wei to approach them cautiously.

• Hei Yun recalled that he had survived many assassinations through his straw substitutes, but someone had killed him at the West Sea and a terrifying presence had tracked him after he rebirthed in the capital.
• Hei Yun fled his spirit’s refuge by activating a straw figure in Liuzhou, where Wei Gongzhan found him near Great Azure Mountain.
• Hei Yun asked Wei Gongzhan about Liuzhou and learned that the region had remained relatively peaceful despite major events elsewhere.
• Hei Yun instructed Wei Gongzhan to sound out a little girl and a beautiful woman imprisoned in a valley on Great Azure Mountain’s rear slope, warning him not to trust the girl or meet the woman’s gaze.