Chapter Summaries

After the Qian army defeated the Wu forces at Qixia City, its commanders secured the city and arranged for the people to return. In Sunset City, Ye Fan and Chen Yunye began selling the village’s bamboo wares, while Xiao Changlin and Xiao Feng went looking for people to treat.

• Guo Youshan fled with his personal guards, and Chahar ordered Qin Shan to reorganize the troops and escort the prisoners while he rode to Qixia City with 10,000 men.
• Ling Tianhan’s soldiers killed Yuan Shiji and found Fang La exhausted after the fighting; surrounded Wu soldiers surrendered after hearing that Guo Youshan had fled.
• Chahar joined Ling Tianhan and Fang La, and the Qian commanders learned that more than 30,000 Wu soldiers had been captured, though the Qian army had also suffered heavy losses.
• The Qian commanders celebrated their victory, cleared the battlefield, searched for fleeing Wu soldiers, and arranged for the protected common people to return.
• Ye Fan and Chen Yunye set up a stall near Sunset City and sold their first bamboo basket to a passing woman.
• Xiao Changlin led Xiao Feng, who carried the medicine chests, toward a nearby settlement to practice medicine.

Ye Fan went to Sunset City to find a buyer for the village’s bamboo wares and struck a deal with Pharmacist Bai to expand the herb garden and keep its source secret. Pharmacist Bai also agreed to buy all the bamboo wares, and Ye Fan returned to tell Chen Yunye.

• Ye Fan left Chen Yunye at their unsold stall and went to the Treasure Hall to ask for Pharmacist Bai.
• Pharmacist Bai asked Ye Fan to increase the herb garden’s production and offered to cover expansion costs and labor.
• Ye Fan agreed to expand the garden on the condition that Pharmacist Bai never ask about its location or workers and kept its supply source secret.
• Ye Fan asked Pharmacist Bai to buy the village’s bamboo wares, offering to deduct their cost from the medicinal herbs, and Bai agreed.
• Ye Fan returned to Chen Yunye, told him the pharmacy would take all their wares, and the two loaded them onto a cart to deliver to the city.

Ye Fan sold the village’s bamboo wares to Pharmacist Bai and secured a large repeat order, then shared the earnings with the villagers. After learning that fighting was taking place near Wuling City, he slipped into the Inner World at night, determined to head toward the front.

• Ye Fan learned that guards from the grand governor’s residence were buying medicinal herbs for battles at Wuling City and Qixia City.
• Ye Fan told Chen Yunye that Pharmacist Bai had paid twenty taels and ordered more bamboo wares, then asked him to manage production while Ye Fan handled deliveries.
• Ye Fan returned to the village, where Xiao Feng and Xiao Ke’er reacted to the sale, and the group gave the earnings to the old village chief.
• Ye Fan considered having the villagers grow medicinal herbs and sought a way to use the Spring of Life without drawing attention.
• Guo Youshan lamented his defeat and the loss of nearly his entire army before collapsing, while his attendants tried to comfort him.
• That night, Ye Fan slipped into the Inner World and then quietly left home, eager to reach Wuling City.

Ye Fan reached Wuling City and found the Qian defenders still holding off the Wu army despite a prolonged siege. He secretly added water from the Spring of Life to more than ten wells to help the wounded, then left the defenders to continue protecting the city.

• Commander Wan Que asked Commander Cao about the lack of news from Qixia City, and Commander Cao told him to wait two more days.
• Wu Pojun suggested requesting reinforcements, but Yan Fengxiao angrily ordered him to find another way to take Wuling City.
• Wu Pojun obeyed and ordered his troops to attack Wuling City again.
• Ye Fan approached Wuling City inside his Inner World and saw that its defenders were still keeping the Wu soldiers outside the gates.
• Ye Fan surveyed the wounded soldiers and resolved to grow more medicinal herbs.
• Ye Fan found more than ten guarded wells and secretly introduced water from the Spring of Life into each one.

Ye Fan watched the Wu army’s assault on Wuling City and heard its generals call for the deputy general to report General Yan’s reckless command. He later followed Commander Zha’s returning relief army after Qixia City’s victory, while news of the triumph reached the Qian capital and the army stopped to rest.

• Ye Fan watched the Wu soldiers attack Wuling City and heard subordinate generals urge Deputy General Wu to petition against General Yan’s costly orders.
• Commander Zha told Qin Shan that Qixia City was secure and led the relief army back toward Wuling City.
• A messenger brought news of the Qian army’s victory at Qixia City to the capital, where the Qian Emperor ordered the Ministry of War to prepare commendations.
• Ye Fan recognized Chahar leading Sunset City’s troops and followed the army as it traveled back.
• Commander Zha halted the troops so the soldiers and horses could rest and eat before resuming their march.

Ye Fan secretly restored the exhausted Sunset City army and returned to his Inner World to cultivate medicinal herbs for the Qian troops. When an Earth Vein tremor revealed the Star Art, he began practicing the star-based cultivation method.

• Ye Fan spread Spiritual Qi over the Sunset City army, helping the soldiers and their horses recover, then departed as they continued their march.
• In the Wu capital, the Wu Emperor raged over Guo Youshan’s defeat while Chancellor Cao and Liang Zhongda argued over whether to withdraw or continue the war.
• Ye Fan returned home, entered his Inner World, and began cultivating more medicinal herbs to support the Qian army.
• An Earth Vein tremor split a mountain and revealed a glowing book called the Star Art, which Ye Fan summoned and studied.
• Ye Fan cultivated the Star Art, drawing in starlight and growing stronger as he sensed a connection between himself, the stars, and the world.

Guo Youshan reached Cloud Mountain Fortress after the destruction of his two-hundred-thousand-man army, while Yan Fengxiao and Chen Haoran prepared to respond to the crisis. Ye Fan tested the Star Art’s new powers, and the chapter ended with Chen Haoran proposing that the three armies join forces.

• Guo Youshan arrived at Cloud Mountain Fortress with fewer than a thousand survivors, and Chen Haoran arranged for him to rest.
• Yan Fengxiao learned of Guo Youshan’s defeat and hurried to Cloud Mountain Fortress while Chahar’s army approached Wuling City.
• Ye Fan used the Star Art to travel instantly to Sunset City and the Endless Mountains, where he saw the ruins of Hundred Stars Village.
• Yan Fengxiao confronted Guo Youshan over his defeat, and Guo asked to serve as a mounted archer to avenge his fallen soldiers.
• Chen Haoran met Yan Fengxiao and asked him to let Chen’s hundred and fifty thousand troops pass through Wuling City toward Sunset City.
• Chen Haoran began proposing that the three armies join forces.

Chen Haoran persuaded Yan Fengxiao and Guo Youshan to unite their armies and attack Wuling City, while Ye Fan set out to deliver bamboo wares to Sunset City. He waited for Qi Dazhu to help transport the goods after experimenting unsuccessfully with growing a Tree of Life branch in his Inner World.

• Chen Haoran proposed that the three armies unite and offered to lead the vanguard against Wuling City.
• Yan Fengxiao agreed to combine the armies, and Guo Youshan accepted their decision.
• Ye Fan left the village with a cartload of bamboo wares after reassuring his family and neighbors.
• Ye Fan used his Star Art to travel to the woods outside Sunset City, then entered his Inner World while waiting for the city gates to open.
• Ye Fan tried to grow a Tree of Life branch but gave up when it barely sprouted.
• Ye Fan spotted Qi Dazhu and his companions approaching the city gates and called out to them.

Ye Fan hired Qi Dazhu and other villagers to transport a huge load of medicinal herbs, and offered to examine Xiao Liuzi’s injured leg. As Yan Fengxiao’s army advanced toward Wuling City, its defenders prepared for a siege, while Ye Fan’s caravan reached the city gate where Ma Yuan was on duty.

• Ye Fan showed Qi Dazhu and his companions a massive pile of medicinal herbs, and Qi Dazhu arranged for fellow villagers to help carry them.
• Ye Fan learned that Xiao Liuzi had a lingering leg injury from an attack in Phoenix Cry Village and offered to try to treat it.
• Yan Fengxiao led 150,000 troops toward Wuling City, and Commander Cao ordered the city’s defenses strengthened against the approaching forces.
• Xiao Liuzi returned with several villagers, and they loaded the first batch of herbs onto handcarts under Qi Dazhu’s direction.
• Ye Fan led the carts toward Wuling City, where Ma Yuan was speaking with a city defense squad leader as the caravan waited for inspection.

Ye Fan and the villagers were stopped at Sunset City's gate when Ma Yuan harassed them and wrecked their medicinal herbs. Commander Bai investigated the incident, dismissed Ma Yuan, and ordered the damage repaired before Ye Fan's group continued into the city.

• Ye Fan and the villagers presented their medicinal herbs for inspection at the city gate, but Ma Yuan recognized Xiao Liuzi and stopped them.
• Ma Yuan took Qi Dazhu's copper coins, threw them to the ground, and ordered the soldiers to unload the carts; he then scattered the herbs and overturned a handcart.
• Commander Bai arrived and heard Fourth Uncle's complaint and Yang Sheng's account of Ma Yuan's actions.
• Commander Bai dismissed Ma Yuan and ordered Yang Sheng to have the herbs put back in order; Bai Yu apologized and promised compensation.
• Ye Fan and the villagers continued into the city, while Ma Yuan threatened Xiao Liuzi after being thrown out.