Chapter Summaries

Chen Ye survived an ambush on the stone bridge and used planted evidence to accuse the Cui and Wang Clans of treason. He ordered the Imperial Guard to raid their residences, and Tong Lei cornered Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi as they tried to escape.

• White-clad deathsworn attacked Chen Ye’s imperial carriage on Changning Bridge, but Chen Ye killed several with throwing knives while the Imperial Guard surrounded and slaughtered the attackers.
• Tong Lei reported the rebels’ defeat, and Imperial Guard soldiers produced waist tokens bearing the marks of the Cui and Wang Clans.
• Chen Ye declared Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi traitors and ordered Tong Lei to raid their households and kill anyone who resisted.
• Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi awaited news at the Cui residence until the Imperial Guard attacked and broke through its gates.
• Tong Lei caught Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi as they fled toward a secret passage and announced that Chen Ye had ordered them taken to the imperial prison.

Chen Ye purged corrupt court officials, used confiscated wealth to aid the people and prepare the capital’s defenses, and took control of the government. When the steppe army arrived before the city, he faced the impending siege from its walls.

• Tong Lei executed Cui Lang and took Wang Yuanzhi into custody.
• Chen Ye condemned Cui Lang and Wang Yuanzhi publicly, then ordered investigations into Li Jun and other named officials.
• Chen Ye released the women summoned for pill refinement and used the clans’ confiscated wealth for military equipment and grain relief.
• Chen Ye reinforced the capital’s walls, expanded the Imperial Guard, and recruited volunteers to defend the city.
• A courier reported that Anding Prefecture had fallen and the steppe army was nearing the capital.
• Chen Ye climbed the gate tower as Yelü Boyang urged his riders to seize the city’s riches, and the steppe army roared before the walls.

After seven days of siege, Chen Ye’s defenders faced dwindling supplies while Yelü Boyang grew anxious about his army’s provisions and patience. Chen Ye infiltrated the steppe camp in disguise and headed toward its supply stores to create chaos.

• Tong Lei reported that the defenders had suffered more than three thousand casualties and could hold out for only five more days without replenished supplies.
• Chen Ye ordered the ministries to replenish military stores and rotated reserves onto the wall, while his Thief Saint class and stealth skills advanced.
• Yelü Boyang grew increasingly worried about the siege’s duration and his army’s dwindling provisions, and decided they could not wait any longer.
• After nightfall, Chen Ye sneaked out of the city and killed a lone steppe soldier near the rear of the camp.
• Chen Ye used Bone Alteration to copy the dead soldier’s appearance, put on his clothes, and approached the heavily guarded area where the army stored its provisions and baggage.

Chen Ye infiltrated the steppe camp, set its grain and fodder ablaze, and attacked Yelü Boyang before Imperial Guards under Tong Lei launched their assault. Amid the resulting chaos, Chen Ye struck Yelü Boyang again as the khan tried to retreat.

• Chen Ye disguised himself as a drunken soldier, killed a general with a throwing knife, and ignited the camp's grain and fodder with firebombs.
• Yelü Boyang ordered his troops to control the chaos and put out the fire, then confronted Chen Ye when he noticed the disguised assassin's gait.
• Chen Ye wounded Yelü Boyang with a poisoned throwing knife and vanished, while the wolf-head banner was cut down and soldiers believed their khan was dead.
• The steppe army broke into panic, and Imperial Guards led by Tong Lei poured out from the capital to attack the camp.
• As Yelü Boyang retreated under guard, Chen Ye stabbed him in the back of the neck with a short blade.

After Chen Ye secretly assassinated Yelü Boyang, Tong Lei’s army routed the steppe forces, and Chen Ye returned to the palace as Emperor Yang Zhao. With his revenge complete and the Boat of the Other Shore offering him a way back, Chen Ye chose to remain and help repair Great Zhao.

• Yelü Boyang’s death caused the steppe army to collapse, and Tong Lei pursued the fleeing soldiers through the night.
• Chen Ye welcomed Tong Lei’s victorious army, rewarded its soldiers, and ordered honors and doubled compensation for the fallen.
• Wu Xiaorui recognized the knife in Yelü Boyang’s neck and realized Chen Ye had secretly carried out the deed before disappearing without claiming credit.
• Chen Ye dismissed the imperial consorts and checked his system, finding that he had maxed out the Thief Ancestor path.
• The Boat of the Other Shore activated and offered Chen Ye a return, but he decided to stay and help the troubled dynasty.

After ruling Great Zhao for three years and restoring peace and prosperity, Chen Ye returned through the Boat of the Other Shore to Blackwater Lake, where only an instant had passed. He brought back his Nightwalker class and skills, then spotted Zhao Qiu and the other two nearby.

• Chen Ye reflected on the reforms that revived Great Zhao and decided to leave the realm, entrusting his remaining self-awareness to continue ruling.
• Chen Ye activated Return and watched the Boat of the Other Shore grow sturdier as it carried the record of his deeds.
• Chen Ye realized that his impact in each world determined the boat's capacity to carry back classes, skills, and other gains.
• Chen Ye crossed a vast river between worlds and returned to Blackwater Lake at the same moment he had left.
• Chen Ye saw his Nightwalker class and skills on his panel, then spotted Zhao Qiu and the other two aboard a nearby boat.

Chen Ye lured Zhao Qiu and his two followers into remote waters, killed them, and erased the evidence. After turning in two spirit pearls, he returned home and found that the Boat of the Other Shore was ready to activate again.

• Zhao Qiu followed Chen Ye into a remote stretch of water with Zhang Kui and Liu Ba, intending to force him to reveal how he found spirit clams.
• Chen Ye attacked the three men, killing Zhang Kui and Liu Ba before disabling Zhao Qiu.
• Chen Ye searched Zhao Qiu, rejected his offer of hidden treasure, and killed him.
• Chen Ye dumped the bodies, washed away the blood, and left without leaving traces.
• Chen Ye retrieved two ungraded spirit pearls, turned them in at the docks, and checked his system panel at home.

Chen Ye rejected Liu Chan after the Liu Lineage was exiled, then continued searching Blackwater Lake for a high-quality spirit pearl for his next transmigration. He found an eighth-grade spirit pearl inside a giant clam.

• A new group of convicts arrived, and Chen Ye recognized Liu Chan and other members of the fallen Liu Lineage among them.
• Liu Chan begged Chen Ye to take her in, but he shook off her hand and left without helping her.
• Chen Ye decided to seek a seventh- or eighth-grade spirit pearl for his next transmigration while avoiding attention from other convicts.
• Chen Ye explored a deep, secluded part of the lake and pried open a giant spirit clam.
• Chen Ye discovered an egg-sized eighth-grade spirit pearl glowing purple inside the clam.

Chen Ye escaped White Calamity Qi while harvesting a spirit pearl, then used Devour to enter a martial-arts world as a patrol leader in Green Bamboo Mountain. After a month of routine patrols and improving his saber technique, trouble came to the stronghold shortly after the New Year.

• Chen Ye evaded the approaching White Calamity Qi by activating his Nightwalker talent and merging into the darkness.
• Chen Ye selected Devour and transmigrated into a martial-arts world as a minor patrol leader in the Green Bamboo Mountain bandit stronghold.
• Chen Ye inspected his bandit profession, Ferocious Physique talent, and Wind-Cleaving Saber Technique, then joined his men on patrol.
• Chen Ye spent a month patrolling and practicing until his Wind-Cleaving Saber Technique reached level two, while seeking a method to cultivate internal force.
• Shortly after the New Year, before the snow had fully melted, trouble came to Green Bamboo Mountain.

Chen Ye watched Mu Jianqing slaughter the leaders and fighters of Green Bamboo Mountain, then fled and failed to gain admission to a martial arts school in Pingyang Town. He learned that joining the army’s supply convoy could provide food and training in a body-tempering method that produced internal force.

• Mu Jianqing stormed Green Bamboo Mountain alone and killed its chief, Tian Ying, and the stronghold’s defenders.
• Mu Jianqing agreed with Xiao Che and Lin Wan'er to search the stronghold before burning it, while Chen Ye escaped down the mountain.
• Chen Ye avoided nearby towns and traveled to Pingyang Town, where a martial arts school rejected him because of his age and lack of local guarantors.
• Chen Ye found a recruitment notice for laborers transporting provisions to the northern army and asked a man in line why so many people had applied.
• The man told Chen Ye that the army supplied its laborers with enough food and taught them a body-tempering method capable of producing internal force.