Recaps

Qin Lu prepared the dragon egg to refine into an Infant Embryo Fruit, then disguised himself as a Devil Path cultivator and traveled toward the Seven Emotions Cult. He seized control of the Yin Corpse Sect and became known as Old Devil Lu.

• Qin Lu sealed the dragon egg in ten-thousand-year mystic ice with a nether soul Dao principle to refine it over more than ten years.
• Qin Lu stripped the cavern of its mystic ice and cold spring, then disguised himself as a Devil Path cultivator and left for the southwest.
• Qin Lu traveled through the Devil Path sea region for three months and observed the factions’ brutal use of mortals and corpses.
• Qin Lu killed the Yin Corpse Sect’s Dao Foundation ancestor and took over the sect as its grand patriarch.
• The Yin Corpse Sect’s disciples accepted Qin Lu as their new ancestor, and outsiders began calling him Old Devil Lu.

Neighboring devil-cultivator forces agreed to attack the Yin Corpse Sect and lure out Qin Lu, hoping to kill him with help from Yang Fan of the Seven Emotions Cult. Meanwhile, Qin Lu finished forging the Frost Extreme Great Spear and gave it to the Soul Frost Ghost King, strengthening his sect’s defenses.

• Old Daoist Gu told the other cultivators that Old Devil Lu had overwhelmed the Yin Corpse Sect’s defenses and apparently killed Old Ghost Xuan Shi, warning them not to provoke him.
• The gathered cultivators debated whether Xuan Shi was dead and whether their forces could defeat Old Devil Lu, then Yang Fan’s fellow disciple proposed bringing the Dao Foundation Ninth Layer cultivator into a joint hunt.
• The cultivators agreed to attack the Yin Corpse Sect directly to force Old Devil Lu into battle, though each had private motives for joining.
• Qin Lu completed the Third-Tier Lower Grade Law Treasure Frost Extreme Great Spear from ten-thousand-year profound ice and spirit metals.
• Qin Lu gave the spear to the Soul Frost Ghost King, whose strength rose to rival a Dao Foundation Sixth Layer cultivator.

Qin Lu used Old Daoist Gu as bait to draw Yang Fan and six other Dao Foundation cultivators to Yin Corpse Island, where his forces engaged them in battle. After Yang Fan’s Soul-Capturing Ding clashed with Qin Lu’s sword strike, Qin Lu prepared to attack again.

• Qin Lu revealed that he had planted a Soul Seed in Old Daoist Gu and used him to lure Heart Fear Yang Fan, one of the Seven Emotions Cult’s remaining holy sons.
• A week later, Yang Fan arrived at Yin Corpse Island with six other cultivators, and Old Daoist Gu set up a formation around the island.
• Yang Fan summoned his Soul-Capturing Ding, while Flying Zombie Old Monster and the brute joined the attack.
• The three Ghost Kings and the Azure Giant Centipede engaged the attackers, leaving their battles at a stalemate.
• Yang Fan sent his enlarged ding crashing toward the island’s center, and Qin Lu met it with his Extreme Dao: Heaven Cleaving strike.
• Qin Lu’s sword light and Yang Fan’s ding collided, and Qin Lu gathered his sword intent to attack again.

Qin Lu defeated Yang Fan with his completed Soul, Sword, and Wood Dao Principles, then devoured Yang Fan’s soul and broke through to the Dao Foundation Eighth Layer. He turned his attention to the remaining fighters, while Old Daoist Gu blocked their escape as a puppet.

• Qin Lu unleashed his Extreme Dao sword strike, splitting Yang Fan’s bonded Soul-Capturing Treasure Ding and gravely wounding him.
• Yang Fan used his Fear Intent Dao Principle against Qin Lu, but Qin Lu broke free of its illusion and declared that Yang Fan had lost.
• Qin Lu pulled Yang Fan’s soul from his body, refined and swallowed it, and advanced to the Dao Foundation Eighth Layer.
• Qin Lu reached for the fighters battling the ghost kings, sending them into a panic after they witnessed Yang Fan’s defeat.
• Old Daoist Gu blocked the fighters’ escape as a puppet, and the Ghost Fire Ghost King killed the vicious man and extracted his soul.

Qin Lu used the Seeking Dao Alliance to reshape the Eight Immortals Sea’s power balance while the righteous factions fought among themselves. The Seeking Dao Alliance recruited widely, and Qin Lu sought to exploit the resulting chaos for his Qin Clan.

• Qin Lu’s ghost kings killed the remaining attackers, and Qin Lu refined their souls into pills while Qing Centipede received a corpse.
• Qin Lu planned to disguise himself behind a new faction after deciding his bait scheme could not work again.
• The Yin Corpse Sect and four other devil path forces merged into the Seeking Dao Alliance, which invited devil path groups to join.
• The Zhengyuan Great War ended with the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect victorious, while the Seeking Dao Sect was destroyed and other powers formed new alliances or withdrew.
• Qin Lu opened inherited Dao Foundation cultivation methods to attract allies and Rogue Cultivators to the Seeking Dao Alliance.

Qin Lu persuaded Haiyue to cooperate with the Qin Clan and helped her leave the Eight Immortals Sea to prepare for her tribulation. After reuniting with other wood demons on Qin Emperor Island and learning Qin Lu was half-demon, Haiyue grew more comfortable with the clan as she began preparing to affirm her Dao.

• Bi urged Haiyue to face her Core Formation tribulation in a secret realm, but Haiyue said she trusted Bi rather than the Qin Clan.
• Qin Lu told Haiyue that he would kill her if they became enemies, and Haiyue agreed to cooperate with the Qin Clan in exchange for mutual life-and-death Dao pacts.
• Qin Lu brought the Vastness Core to the Ten Thousand Reefs Sea Area while Haiyue uprooted her true body, causing a disturbance that revealed the Haitang Demon Plant had vanished.
• Haiyue arrived at Qin Emperor Island and was delighted to meet Little Flower Princess, while Qin Hui's wooden body and Qin Lu's Heart of a Wood Demon eased her distrust of the clan.
• Haiyue began preparing for her tribulation and to affirm her Dao.

Haiyue underwent the Four-Nine Lightning Tribulation in the Boundless Mystic Realm and successfully formed her Demon Core. She emerged as a Demon King, while the author invited readers to suggest titles for her and Ancestor Qin.

• Qin Lu placed the Cold Spring Eye in the lake opposite Haiyue, creating the half-warm, half-cold Two Forms Lake.
• Haiyue released her thousand years of accumulated essence and drew tribulation clouds into the mystic realm.
• Haiyue weathered the first three rounds of lightning, using Haitang Gel to replenish her Dao Principle power during the third.
• Haiyue faced nine bolts of Gui Wood Divine Lightning and used her Bright Moon Treasure Pearl and Sea Tide Dao Principle to withstand them.
• Haiyue endured the final bolt, condensed her Sea Tide Dao Principle into a Demon Core, and became far more powerful.

Haiyue formed a Demon Core, became Demon King Cangyue, and summoned cultivators and living beings to hear her expound the Dao. Three months later, her lecture had helped several Qin Clan members comprehend Dao Rhyme, and the clan stood on the verge of rapid growth.

• Haiyue condensed her true body into a blue flower, while the lingering Dao Principles and flood dragon blood transformed creatures in the Two Forms Lake into new Demon Beast varieties.
• Haiyue chose Cangyue as her honorific title and announced that she would expound the Dao at the Two Forms Lake one month later.
• Countless humans and Demon Beasts celebrated Haiyue's breakthrough, while Qin Lu recognized the vast gulf between Core Formation and Dao Foundation.
• Three months later, Qin Zhuang, Qin Mingdao, and Qin Mingle had comprehended Dao Rhyme after listening to Haiyue's lecture.
• Qin Zhuang planned to attempt a breakthrough within half a year, as other Qin Clan members neared advancement and the clan anticipated a new period of growth.

After reaching the eighth level of Ninefold Yuan Refinement, Qin Lu set the Seeking Dao Alliance against the Rogue Cultivator Alliance and used the conflict to strengthen his position. The Seeking Dao Alliance gained the advantage through public cultivation methods and promises to rogue cultivators, while the wider Eight Immortals Sea watched the proxy war unfold.

• Qin Lu perfected the eighth level of Ninefold Yuan Refinement and planned to destroy the Rogue Cultivator Alliance before turning against the Seven Emotions Cult.
• The Seeking Dao Alliance grew to include at least nine Dao Foundation cultivators as forces left the Sha Spirit Sect and the declining Seven Emotions Cult.
• The righteous, demonic, and neutral factions took sides or held back as the Seeking Dao Alliance and Rogue Cultivator Alliance became proxies in a struggle for control of the Eight Immortals Sea.
• Feng Yao told Qin Lu that the Joyous Union Sect's ancestor had accepted his demands, and Qin Lu agreed to the sect's offer while seeking Dao Foundation cauldrons to advance his cultivation.
• Qin Lu sent cultivators to provoke the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, escalating clashes across dozens of sea regions until Dao Foundation cultivators joined the fighting.
• Qin Lu made seven Dao Foundation inheritances and first-tier immortal arts public and promised cultivation methods to defectors, throwing the Rogue Cultivator Alliance into turmoil.

Gu Jinsheng struggled to gather support for the Rogue Cultivator Alliance as it prepared for a decisive war against the Seeking Dao Alliance. After the two sides declared a battle for six months later, they began arming themselves, with the Seeking Dao Alliance creating corpse-puppet sea vessels and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance seeking equipment from righteous sects.

• Gu Jinsheng learned that White Crane Island had refused to meet his envoys, while several other island leaders demanded that he lift restrictions on the Eight Immortals Sea Area after reaching Core Formation.
• Gu Jinsheng discovered that Fellow Daoist Niu had also refused to join, choosing to follow Layman Bai He's decision, and he doubted his outmatched alliance could defeat the Seeking Dao Alliance.
• A week later, the Rogue Cultivator Alliance challenged Qin Lu's side to a battle to the death in the Sea and Sky Sea Area, to take place in half a year.
• The Seeking Dao Alliance prepared for naval combat by turning hunted whale demons into corpse-puppet warships and adapting refined corpses and ghosts for fighting at sea.
• The Rogue Cultivator Alliance, unable to match the Seeking Dao Alliance's manufacturing skills, sought warships and weapons from the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect and other righteous sects.

The Seeking Dao Alliance and the Rogue Cultivator Alliance gathered their forces in the Sea and Sky Sea Area and began their battle. Qin Lu ordered his troops to fight while retreating, then met the enemy leaders head-on as Qing Centipede fought two great demons.

• The Seeking Dao Alliance assembled twenty Dao Foundation combatants, while the Rogue Cultivator Alliance gathered thirty and advanced with a much larger army.
• Gu Jinsheng’s allies urged him to begin the attack, and the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect elder sent the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s fleet forward.
• Qin Lu ordered the water corpses to attack the warships and told his forces to feign weakness, fight flexibly, and retreat according to plan.
• Six Dao Foundation cultivators, including Gu Jinsheng, and two Third-Tier Demon Beasts surrounded Qin Lu to target the Seeking Dao Alliance’s leader.
• Qin Lu shattered a Dao-principle barrier with a punch, while Qing Centipede fought two Demon Beasts and suppressed them with its dragon might.

Gu Jinsheng and Qin Lu unleashed their Dao Principles in a climactic battle as Qin Lu reached the Dao Foundation Ninth Layer. While the two alliances resumed their war, the Qin Clan arrived with a fleet and powerful fighters, bringing its strength into the conflict.

• Gu Jinsheng summoned the Chiwen Beast and his Vast Sea Dagger-Axe to wield the Vast Sea Dao Principle against Qin Lu.
• Qin Lu countered with the Soul Wood and Nether Soul Dao Principles, his Heaven Burial treasure, and the three ghost kings, then advanced to the Dao Foundation Ninth Layer.
• The two alliances paused to watch the battle before their forces resumed fighting across the sea, sky, and ships.
• A fleet of Qin-bannered warships rose from beneath the sea with more than a thousand cultivators and the Qin Clan's leaders aboard.
• Qin Hui, Qin Zhuang, Qiao Mei, Black Dragon, and Qin Zhao joined the Qin Clan's other fighters as nine Dao Foundation-level combatants charged into the battlefield.

Great Qin joined the battle against the Rogue Cultivator Alliance, and its forces began turning the tide across the Dao Foundation and Qi Condensation battlefields. Qin Lu and the Qin Clan’s fighters pressed their enemies, while Qin Mingle’s music and Qin Mingyue’s formations helped dominate their sections of the battlefield.

• Black Dragon and Qing Centipede fought two deep-sea behemoths while Huang Liang, Lu Ming, Qiao Mei, Xie Yongnian, Wu Yan, Qin Hui, and Bi wielded their Dao Laws across the battlefield.
• The arrival of nine Dao Foundation cultivators raised the Seeking Dao Alliance’s morale, and the balance shifted as cultivators began falling and suffering injuries.
• Qin Lu faced many enemies alone and pressed them harder as the pressure on him eased.
• Qin Clan cultivators and Third-Tier warships attacked the Rogue Cultivator Alliance’s Qi Condensation forces, tearing open their formation and exchanging fire across the sea.
• The Qin Clan’s second- and third-generation cultivators fought across the battlefield, with Qin Mingle using guqin music to support allies and slay enemies, while Qin Mingyue led cultivators in a battle formation.

The Qin Clan’s forces turned the battle around with the Spirit-Coordinating Dao Soldiers, but the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect entered the fight and slaughtered the Qin Clan’s fighters. Qin Mingyue, Qin Xinmu, Qin Mingdao, and Qin Mingxi fell in battle, while Li Shan escaped after Qin Mingxi sacrificed herself to open a path.

• Qin Mingyue formed the Spirit-Coordinating Dao Soldiers with the Qin Elite Soldiers and deputy commanders, but a Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect elder destroyed the formation with heavenly fire, killing them all.
• Qin Wu killed an enemy while Qin Zhuang helped save him, but Qin Xinmu died protecting Qin Xinzhou, who charged into the enemy ranks seeking revenge.
• Qin Mingdao fought with his venomous insects and Nine-Segment Frost Centipede until a giant sword killed him and his spirit pet.
• Li Shan and Qin Mingxi failed to break through the encirclement, so Qin Mingxi self-detonated to create an escape route for Li Shan.

Qin Lu’s clan suffered heavy losses as the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect joined the battle, while Qin Lu gained the upper hand against the opposing elders. Just as he began to overwhelm Gu Jinsheng, a Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect elder intervened, and Qin Lu called for Haiyue’s help.

• Qin Xinxian, Qin Xinchen, and Qin Xin'an died fighting Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect cultivators.
• Qin Xiao recognized that the demonic path was letting the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect intervene because they feared Qin Lu’s breakthrough.
• Qin Lu killed the Gui Spirit Island patriarch and wounded the Great Void Island patriarch with his Extreme Dao techniques.
• Qin Lu used Extreme Dao: Raging Breath to distract his opponents, then killed the Great Void Island patriarch.
• Qin Lu pressed Gu Jinsheng back while the three great ghost kings held off other enemies.
• A kindly old Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect elder blocked Qin Lu’s strike, and Qin Lu called for Haiyue to help him.

A hidden Core Formation expert’s moonlight strike forced the white-robed old Daoist to seek peace, but True Person Guiling drew the fighters into the Ghost Spirit Space and the battle escalated. True Person Taixuan intervened, and the arrival of other powerful cultivators ended the clash without resolving the factions’ conflict.

• A moonlight attack nearly destroyed the white-robed old Daoist’s defensive Law Treasure, so he apologized to Qin Lu and offered Gu Jinsheng’s head to make peace.
• True Person Guiling arrived with Fairy Joy and pulled the white-robed old Daoist, Qin Lu, and Haiyue into the Ghost Spirit Space to fight.
• Qin Lu told Haiyue to wear down the opponents without killing the old Daoist, and she joined the battle as the three Golden Core cultivators shattered his defenses.
• True Person Taixuan burst into the Ghost Spirit Space with a fire-lotus attack, forcing True Person Guiling to release its occupants as the space collapsed.
• True Person Taixuan and True Person Guiling fought to a standstill, while the white-robed old Daoist lost an arm and a leg; other powerful cultivators arrived to break up the fight.
• True Person Guiling removed the evil spirit Qi from the old Daoist’s wounds, warned him not to cross his path again, and let the confrontation end.

After the battle ended, Fairy Joy betrayed True Person Guiling with a surprise attack, and she and Haiyue joined Qin Lu to destroy his body, though his soul escaped. Qin Lu explained that he had secretly allied with Fairy Joy, leaving the Ghost Spirit Immortal Sect vulnerable while the Qin Clan pursued its inheritance.

• True Person Taixuan killed Gu Jinsheng, apologized to Qin Lu, and withdrew with the righteous cultivators.
• Fairy Joy pierced True Person Guiling's chest and took his heart, revealing her betrayal.
• Fairy Joy and Haiyue combined their Dao Principles and treasures to overwhelm the weakened True Person Guiling.
• True Person Guiling's body was destroyed, but his soul escaped into the Ghost Spirit Space.
• Qin Lu told Haiyue that he had secretly arranged a wager and alliance with Fairy Joy a month earlier.

After the righteous forces withdrew, Qin Lu claimed the Soul-Returning Gourd and harvested the battlefield’s souls, greatly strengthening his ghost forces and himself. He preserved the souls of his fallen descendants in a Nether Soul Dao Bead and prepared to take them home.

• Fairy Joy concealed herself after exchanging a nod with Qin Lu, while Haiyue asked whether the heavy loss of life had been worth it.
• The war ended with the righteous path retreating and Gu Jinsheng dead, leaving the Seeking Dao Alliance and Qin Clan with devastating losses.
• Qin Lu found the Soul-Returning Gourd inside True Person Guiling’s remains, claimed it as his own, and discovered that it sustained the Eight Immortals Sea Grand Formation by draining its owner’s Spiritual Power.
• Qin Lu used Heaven Burial to consume the battlefield’s departed souls, advancing his three ghost kings to Dao Foundation Perfection and strengthening Heaven Burial and seven other ghosts.
• Qin Lu preserved the souls of his fallen descendants in a Nether Soul Dao Bead and said he would take them home.

After the Battle of Sea and Sky, Qin Lu suppressed his breakthrough and spent years digesting the souls he had consumed while the Qin Clan grew into the foremost power in the Eight Immortals Sea. When the Infant Embryo Fruit ripened, Qin Lu began his tribulation in the Boundless Mystic Realm, leaving the clan on high alert and Haiyue guarding Qin Emperor Island.

• Qin Lu reached Dao Foundation Perfection after consuming hundreds of thousands of souls, suppressed his tribulation, and returned to Qin Emperor Island to cultivate in seclusion.
• Qin Xiao, Haiyue, and the others managed the Qin Clan’s expansion as it gained islands, spirit veins, resources, inheritances, and new followers throughout the Eight Immortals Sea.
• Qin Wu and Qin Zhao advanced to the Dao Foundation Realm, while other Qin Clan members made progress in cultivation and new generations began to emerge.
• After nearly ten years, the Infant Embryo Fruit ripened and tribulation clouds gathered over the Boundless Mystic Realm as Qin Lu’s tribulation began.
• Qin Xiao sealed the Boundless Mystic Realm, and the Qin Clan activated its defenses and ordered Haiyue to guard Qin Emperor Island from outside.

Qin Lu faced the Four-Nine Core Formation Lightning Tribulation and easily survived its first three rounds with his body and Ghost Kings. The final round’s Four-Colored Divine Lightning nearly destroyed the Nether Thunder Ghost King, leaving Qin Lu to prepare to withstand the remaining eight bolts himself.

• Qin Lu shattered the first nine bolts of heavenly lightning and collected their Lightning Dao Principle remnants.
• Qin Lu summoned the Ghost Fire Ghost King, who neutralized nine Scarlet Yang Divine Lightning bolts and grew stronger.
• Qin Lu sent the Soul Frost Ghost King to absorb nine Gui Water Divine Lightning bolts.
• The Nether Thunder Ghost King took one bolt of Four-Colored Divine Lightning and nearly perished.
• Qin Lu summoned the Frost and Snow Robe and used the power of the ghosts in Heaven Burial to construct a barrier against the remaining eight bolts.

Qin Lu survived the Four-Colored Divine Lightning tribulation, used the Infant Embryo Fruit to recover from the final strike, and formed a Golden Core. He emerged from the secret realm transformed and declared that Great Qin would one day unite the world.

• Qin Lu used Heaven Burial, his Dao Principles, and his Nether Soul and Soul Wood powers to withstand the first eight bolts of Four-Colored Divine Lightning, losing the Frost and Snow Robe and suffering serious injuries.
• Qin Lu refined the Infant Embryo Fruit to heal himself before the final bolt struck, then survived the lightning tribulation despite his battered body and damaged Dao Principles.
• Qin Lu gathered the power of the Nether Soul and Soul Wood Dao Principles into a Golden Core, completing Core Formation.
• Qin Lu reflected on his true self and gained a clearer perception of the Great Dao, then demonstrated his increased power by summoning a giant Nether Soul palm that shook the Vast Dao Field and secret realm.
• Qin Lu retrieved the secret realm's core and stepped into the outside world, where he vowed that Great Qin would eventually unite the world.

Qin Lu destroyed the Seven Emotions Cult and folded its territory and former vassals into the Qin Clan, establishing a stronger foundation for the clan’s kingdom. As Qin Xinyang mourned his fallen relatives and called for revenge against the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect, Qin Xinzhi urged him to endure and grow stronger.

• Qin Lu’s Core Formation made the Qin Clan a Golden Core Lineage, and the clan prepared to use the Seven Emotions Cult as the foundation of its kingdom.
• Qin Lu led Dao Foundation cultivators against the Seven Emotions Cult, resisted its Fourth-Tier talismans, and destroyed the sect.
• Qin Lu pardoned the Seven Emotions Cult’s former vassals, who took the Qin name, while he seized the sect’s territory, inheritances, and resources.
• Qin Xinyang slaughtered the cult’s remnants while grieving the Qin clansmen killed by the Supreme Mystery Immortal Sect.
• Qin Xinzhi told Qin Xinyang to live for the dead, put the Lineage first, and grow strong enough to pursue revenge later.
• Qin Xinyang swore to become powerful enough to kill his enemies and avenge the Qin Clan’s dead.

The Qin Clan expanded across four sea areas and accelerated its plans to found a nation. Qin Lu gave Haiyue the Seven Emotions Flower Basket, explained that two Golden Core remnant souls were still hiding, and declared that Great Qin would proceed with its founding regardless of opposition.

• The Qin Clan absorbed unaffiliated forces, integrated the Seeking Dao Alliance, took over the Seven Emotions Cult, and expanded its territory to four sea areas.
• Su Qin, Gan Long, Zhang Yi, and others pressed Qin Xiao to found a nation and draped an imperial robe over his shoulders.
• Qin Lu gave Haiyue the Seven Emotions Flower Basket, which she refined so she could travel freely through the Eight Immortals Sea.
• Qin Lu told Haiyue that Seven Emotions True Person had lost his body but escaped as a remnant soul, and that he and True Person Guiling were both still in hiding.
• Haiyue warned Qin Lu that founding a nation could provoke the other forces, but Qin Lu insisted Great Qin would soon found its nation and offered her a place within it.

Mr. Ghost Valley chose Rosy Spring Island as Great Qin’s capital site, and the Qin Clan transformed it into a vast fortified city with the Efang Immortal Palace at its center. Once Xianyang Immortal City was complete, the Qin Clan proclaimed the founding of Great Qin, setting the Eight Immortals Sea’s history on a new course.

• Mr. Ghost Valley selected Rosy Spring Island, where the three Rosy Spring Bird Demons surrendered to Demon King Cangyue and the Qin Clan.
• The Hundred Refinements Sect, the Formation Evolution Sect, cultivators, and laborers rebuilt the island, relocating Spirit Veins and creating eight distinct ecosystems.
• Huang Liang and the builders raised a floating island and constructed the Efang Immortal Palace, while a lake and city grew around it.
• Qin Lu named the enormous new capital Xianyang Immortal City, with Vast Sea Lake serving as Demon King Cangyue’s Daoist sanctuary.
• The Qin Clan celebrated the city’s completion and proclaimed the founding of Great Qin throughout the Eight Immortals Sea.

Three years after Great Qin was founded, Qin Xiao convened his officials to establish a system of governance and distribute fiefs. He approved Shang Yang’s plan to centralize power, regulate Immortal Clans, and absorb or transform sects, leaving the four great sects facing reform or dissolution.

• Qin Xiao reprimanded the assembled officials for failing to bring new talent into Great Qin, and Li Si urged him to preserve stability while the court settled.
• Qin Xiao decided to establish Great Qin’s governing framework and asked the ministers what system they should adopt.
• Shang Yang proposed six ministries, layered regional administrations, stricter limits on Aristocratic Clans, registration and taxation of grotto-heavens and blessed lands, Dao academies, and a ban on sects.
• Qin Xiao accepted Shang Yang’s plan despite dissent, then prepared to grant fiefs under the new system.
• Qin Xiao’s policies required the four great sects and other powers to become Dao academies or join the six-ministry system.