Recaps

Yin Huan took the throne after his father’s death and imposed sweeping wartime requisitions across Great Yin, crushing resistance with brutal force. As resentment spread, Yin Ji urged him to seek help from the Ye Clan, but Yin Huan refused to yield to Great Yin’s enemies.

• After waiting half a month for Great Yin’s envoy, Ye Jinyu told his companions to keep preparing resources and said Yin Huan was too stubborn to ask for help.
• Yin Huan ended his vigil for his father, declared himself emperor without a formal ceremony, and ordered cultivators and powerful groups to surrender resources to the state.
• Yin Huan vowed that Great Yin would neither pay tribute nor make peace, while Yin Ji warned that his decrees would provoke rebellion and urged him to send an envoy to the Cangxuan Ye Clan.
• Yin Huan rejected Yin Ji’s advice and insisted he would defend Great Yin himself, even if he had to die doing so.
• Cai Yan opened the Spirit Kun Sect’s storehouse and surrendered its accumulated wealth to the court, while other sects and Rogue Cultivators also submitted to requisitions and registration.
• After thirty-seven sects and eighty-two clans defied the decree, Yin Huan sent imperial forces to destroy them and execute their leaders, leaving Great Yin trembling with anger and unrest.

Sima Ruiming, cut off from his father and other Cangxuan cultivators, ordered an all-out invasion of Great Yin to seize its fortune and strengthen his position. Meanwhile, Ye Jinxuan pressured Yin Ji to open Great Yin’s capital gates the following night, and Yin Ji agreed to help plan the entry.

• Sima Ruiming failed to contact his father through the Firmament Luo River Mirror and feared that he was being used as a pawn in a larger scheme.
• After hearing that Great Qi had taken a hundred cities, Sima Ruiming ordered an all-out attack to destroy Great Yin within three months and seize its fortune.
• Sima Ruiming resolved to watch the Southern Region closely and vowed to take revenge on Ye Jinyu after dealing with Great Yin.
• Ye Jinxuan confronted Yin Ji in his residence and urged him to help bring someone into Great Yin’s capital to confront the new emperor.
• Ye Jinxuan threatened Ye Clan retaliation if Yin Ji refused, and Yin Ji agreed to carefully plan how to open the capital gates and prepare the city’s protective formations.

Ye Jinyu’s forces used Yin Ji’s betrayal and a Formless Thousand Faces disguise to raid Great Yin’s capital, pretending to be Sima Ruiming. Yin Huan refused to flee and fought back, but the disguised attackers overwhelmed him and began crushing the eight hundred soldiers defending him.

• Ye Jinxuan learned that Yin Ji had agreed to help, while Ye Anlan prepared to loot the palace’s hidden stores when the attack began.
• Ye Jinming led more than a hundred water-attribute cultivators toward Great Yin with the Formless Thousand Faces, intending to impersonate Sima Ruiming.
• Yin Ji arranged for the south gate’s guards to leave and opened the city to the attackers, then sent Ye Anlan and another accomplice to search the palace’s hidden stores.
• The disguised Ye Jinming and his cultivators attacked the capital with Mystic Origin Heavy Water, destroyed buildings, and killed the imperial guards who answered the alarm.
• Yin Huan rejected Yin Ji’s offer to help him flee and fought the disguised Sima Ruiming, but the Marsh Dragon Treasure Pearl’s flood dragon and water arrows wounded him.
• The eight hundred armored soldiers joined their strength with Yin Huan’s Tai'e Sword, but the attackers combined their Mystic Origin Heavy Water to crush them as Yin Huan cried out for them to stop.

Yin Huan watched Sima Ruiming crush Great Yin’s defenders and was urged by Yin Ji to bow his head and seek the Ye Clan’s help. After Ye Jinxuan intervened and drove Sima Ruiming away, Yin Huan agreed to go to the Southern Region and beg the Ye Clan’s forgiveness, while suspecting that the Ye Clan had arranged the attack.

• Sima Ruiming used the Mystic Origin Heavy Water to kill Great Yin’s eight hundred soldiers and break Yin Huan’s resolve.
• Yin Ji urged Yin Huan to bow his head and ask the Ye Clan for help, and Yin Huan formally begged the Ye Clan to save Great Yin.
• Ye Jinxuan attacked Sima Ruiming, shielded the ruined palace city, and declared Great Yin under the Ye Clan’s protection.
• Sima Ruiming withdrew his forces after learning that Ye Jinyu had named Yin Huan as someone to protect.
• Ye Jinxuan told Yin Huan to go to South-Pacifying City and beg forgiveness, and Yin Huan vowed to visit the Ye Clan with Yin Ji at his side.

Yin Huan submitted Great Yin to the Ye Clan and accepted Ye Jinyu’s orders to prepare for war against Sima Ruiming. At the Great Peace Temple, Zhang Chen revealed his plan to unify the swords and reshape imperial authority, then prepared to leave and pursue his vision despite Zhang Xuan’s concerns.

• Yin Huan waited three days before Ye Anlan brought him to meet Ye Jinyu.
• Ye Jinyu ordered Yin Huan to put Great Yin’s territory, military, fate, and sects at the Ye Clan’s disposal while remaining its ruler.
• Yin Huan pledged Great Yin’s obedience, received a Ye token, and agreed to muster troops for a war against Sima Ruiming within a month.
• Zhang Chen and Zhang Xuan examined the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm’s political struggles, and Zhang Chen explained his aim to unify Zhanlu and Tai'e and establish an emperor whose authority was granted by heaven.
• Zhang Chen declared he would leave the Great Peace Temple to pursue his plan, while Zhang Xuan worried about the risks to his junior brother and their lineage.

Zhang Xuan let Zhang Chen follow his own path, while they discussed the Wei Imperial House and the Sima Clan’s plans for Mingyang. As the war between Qi and Yin neared a decisive turning point, Wei Ming received a strange omen of Greater Yin and wondered what his Master meant.

• Zhang Xuan told Zhang Chen that he would not stop him, though he would always protect him as his senior brother.
• Zhang Chen and Zhang Xuan discussed Mingyang’s false tombs, the Ye Clan’s plans, and the Sima Clan’s desire to eliminate him.
• After two years of war, Li Tian and Yin Huan clashed as Sima Ruiming and Ye Jinyu watched the battle unfold.
• Sima Ruiming urged Ye Jinyu to reconcile for Cangxuan’s unity, and Ye Jinyu challenged him about Fairy Qingying.
• Wei Ming refined the battlefield’s Blood Qi and saw a vision of a blue-robed figure reciting a sorrowful poem.
• Wei Ming recognized the vision as an omen of Greater Yin and questioned why his Master had spoken of it instead of Mingyang’s favor.

Xie Qingying witnessed a blue-gray mist engulf the Central Region, then Chen Yi entered the Yuanming Sword-Playing Sect and met its last surviving disciple, Wei Ming. Wei Ming led him into the mist toward the thing Chen Yi had come to find.

• Xie Qingying discussed the warring clans, Chen Yi’s Yin-aligned Dao, and the possibility of a Greater Yin inheritance before mist rose from the Yuanming Sword-Playing Sect.
• The mist spread across the Central Region, swallowing its colors, sounds, and landmarks, and Xie Qingying and the Xie Clan elders escaped using movement talismans.
• Wei Ming grieved for the people of his sect, then noticed a guest below Sword Peak.
• Chen Yi arrived at the sect gate, pushed back the mist with yellow sand, and followed a ghostly lantern whose light revealed traces of the sect’s past.
• Chen Yi met Wei Ming, who said he was the last person in the Yuanming Sword-Playing Sect and that the others had been killed.
• Wei Ming led Chen Yi deeper into the mist and asked whether he had come looking for that thing.

Xie Qingying recognized the mist around the Mingyang Decoy Tomb as a Greater Yin formation tied to the legend of Divine Lord Mingyang and a goddess who had waited for him. As Chen Yi emerged from the mist and asked whether she believed in a next life, Xie Qingying saw a remnant of Mingyang’s spirit traveling endlessly through the void, revealing that he had not broken his promise.

• Xie Qingying retreated with the Xie Clan elder and identified the mist as a gateway to the Mingyang Decoy Tomb, possibly the real imperial mausoleum.
• Xie Qingying connected the mist, labyrinth, and other formations to the Greater Yin goddess’s lingering attachment to Divine Lord Mingyang.
• The Xie Clan elder urged Xie Qingying to focus on the inheritances and treasures, and she agreed that entering the tomb was their priority.
• A stone stele appeared in the mist, and the Xie Clan read its inscription about illusions, yellow sand, moonlight, and the true path.
• Chen Yi emerged through the mist on a path of yellow sand and asked Xie Qingying whether she believed in a next life.
• Xie Qingying saw a remnant of Mingyang’s spirit traveling through the void and realized he had not broken his promise to the goddess.

Chen Yi used his [Yellow Sand Cold Moon] foundation to break the Moonlight Labyrinthine Crossing and lead Xie Qingying’s group to the pavilion, where he revealed that five chosen cultivators were needed to pass Greater Yin’s illusions. Xie Qingying suspected Chen Yi’s motives as her clan suffered heavy losses, and the chapter ended with a mysterious woman urging Mingyang not to break his promise again.

• Xie Qingying deduced that the Greater Yin Divine Maiden had created the false paths to preserve Emperor Mingyang’s Dao resonance, and Chen Yi used his soul-projection technique and heavy ruler to reveal the true crossing.
• Chen Yi led the group across the path, where Xie Qingying saw the bones of cultivators who had died in the illusions; the phrase “sought but could not obtain” triggered a deadly sorrow that killed nine Xie Clan members.
• Xie Qingying became suspicious of Chen Yi and secretly prepared her surviving clansmen to attack or flee if necessary, while they followed him to the pavilion.
• Chen Yi explained that five special immortal foundations were required to break the five layers, identifying Ye Jinyu, Sima Ruiming, Xie Qingying, Wang Maohong, and himself as the destined participants.
• Chen Yi said they had to wait for the other three to arrive, while an illusory woman in the pavilion told Mingyang that the people he wanted were ready and asked him not to break his promise again.

Ye Jinyu secretly took the Heavenly Will Sword Soul Grass from the battlefield, then sent it to Yin Huan, who used it to defeat death, recover, and break through during his duel with Li Tian. That night, Ye Jinyu was summoned to an unfamiliar palace and came face to face with Divine Lord Mingyang.

• Ye Jinyu saw the Heavenly Will Sword Soul Grass grow amid the clash between Li Tian and Yin Huan, then secretly took it from the battlefield.
• Li Tian defeated Yin Huan, but just before Li Tian could kill him, a mysterious light delivered the grass to Yin Huan.
• Yin Huan ate the grass, comprehended the deeper meaning of the hegemonic sword, healed his wounds, and advanced to the threshold of the Purple Mansion.
• The armies withdrew, and Ye Jinyu suspected that Mingyang had arranged for the grass to appear and shape the two swords.
• Divine Lord Mingyang summoned Ye Jinyu to a palace, where Ye Jinyu bowed and introduced himself.

Divine Lord Mingyang showed Ye Jinyu how the Sima Clan had replaced the Wei Imperial House, then revealed that he had caught the clan’s fortune and summoned Sima Ruiming. As Sima Huanyu set out for Wind Abyss, Zhang Chen spoke with a mysterious Greater Yin figure who planned to bring a ten-thousand-year scheme to an end.

• Mingyang gave Ye Jinyu Jian'an wine, and the system detected Mingyang’s surviving true spirit and offered to subdue it.
• Mingyang showed Ye Jinyu a vision of Emperor Wen Huangchu confronting Sima Zhongda, who vowed to endure until the Sima Clan could take power.
• Mingyang froze Ye Jinyu and began reaching for him, while Ye Jinyu secretly agreed to the system’s offer and waited for it to prepare.
• Mingyang revealed that he had hooked the Sima Clan’s fortune and pulled Sima Ruiming from the river, identifying him as a descendant of Sima Zhongda.
• Sima Huanyu received a message from Ruiming and traveled to Wind Abyss, ordering the old ancestor in Luoyang to keep watch.
• Zhang Chen spoke with a Greater Yin figure, who said it was time to end a ten-thousand-year plan and that bringing Mingyang back was worth the cost.

Ye Jinyu negotiated a pact with Divine Lord Mingyang, gaining his imperial inheritance and power while securing terms as an equal. Mingyang’s true spirit vanished into Ye Jinyu, leaving him to return to the world as Sima Ruiming fled with a hidden mark.

• Divine Lord Mingyang offered Ye Jinyu a wisp of his true spirit, and Ye Jinyu waited for his system to become ready before accepting.
• Ye Jinyu refused to be Mingyang’s puppet and proposed a pact between equals, seeking Mingyang’s inheritance and a place in Cangxuan’s struggle.
• Divine Lord Mingyang summoned a Heavenly Dao Soul Pact, which Ye Jinyu and Mingyang concluded.
• Mingyang passed Ye Jinyu knowledge of his inheritance and fused golden imperial fire with Ye Jinyu’s Bifeng Yin Fire, forming an imperial pattern on his Dao foundation.
• Divine Lord Mingyang freed Sima Ruiming and secretly marked him as an anchor for a future manifestation, then said he would reside within Ye Jinyu until the imperial mausoleum opened.
• Divine Lord Mingyang’s true spirit dispersed into Ye Jinyu, who returned to the world.

Ye Jinyu helped bring the Mingyang Emperor Sword into being, and Wei Ming used it to wound Sima Huanyu. Divine Lord Mingyang’s true spirit then emerged and subdued Sima Huanyu, while other Golden Core forces began to respond; Ye Jinyu was left weakened after activating the spirit’s ultimate sublimation.

• Ye Jinyu directed Sima Ruiming to sacrifice Li Tian and Yin Huan, whose souls and Daos formed the Mingyang Emperor Sword and stopped the Greater Yin Killing Array.
• Wei Ming revealed that he was the hidden Bright Yang Zi and explained that his Autumn Sun Blood, Zhang Chen’s Dawn Light, and the Emperor Sword united the three Yangs.
• Wei Ming borrowed the Emperor Sword and struck Sima Huanyu, breaking his rain curtain and wounding him with Golden Core blood.
• Divine Lord Mingyang’s true spirit erupted from Sima Ruiming, immobilized Sima Huanyu, and demanded that he answer for his crimes.
• Sima Huanyu called for other Golden Cores to intervene, and Fusang Radiance answered as Ye Jinyu suffered the cost of activating Mingyang’s ultimate sublimation.

Divine Lord Mingyang entered the Luo River after Sima Huanyu devoured and refined his true spirit, while the Great Peace Temple and Greater Yin discussed how the resulting omens could signal the Sima Clan’s decline. As calamities spread across Huainan and the Northern Frontier, Sima Honglin maneuvered to replace Sima Huanyu and gave Sima Canglan authority over Huainan while granting the Ye Clan’s Fourth Master an official title there.

• Wei Ming burned away his life to manifest Divine Lord Mingyang, who branded Sima Huanyu’s Golden Core Dao Domain with the united Three Yangs lineage and was then swallowed by the Luo River.
• Sima Huanyu refined Mingyang’s true spirit and fell unconscious, while a faint golden wisp escaped toward the Luo River.
• Zhang Chen told Greater Yin that the Great Peace Temple intended to advance a change of rule, and he predicted that the Sima Clan’s mandate was waning and Jinling bore signs of a Son of Heaven.
• Sima Honglin and Sima Canglan agreed to conceal Sima Huanyu’s fall and arrange for Canglan to take control of Huainan.
• The Luo River nearly dried up as locusts, strange beasts, black fog, three suns, falling flesh, and ghostly cries afflicted the realm, prompting officials to report five calamities to the young sovereign.
• Sima Canglan accepted Sima Honglin’s appointment to oversee Huainan, and Sima Honglin granted the Ye Clan’s Fourth Master an additional official title there.

Sima Honglin sent Sima Canglan to take control of Huainan and lent him spring thunder so he could use Imperial Grace of Rain and Dew. Canglan restored the Luo River and reached the threshold of the Golden Core, then led his procession toward Huainan's Firmament Heaven, where Ye Zhanxin waited.

• Sima Honglin learned that the people were shaken by calamities and ordered Sima Canglan to hold Huainan, giving him a bolt of spring thunder for Imperial Grace of Rain and Dew.
• Sima Canglan spread his water-element domain over the Luo River, bringing golden rain that healed the riverbed, revived crops, and eased the people's despair.
• The rain and spring thunder loosened Sima Canglan's Golden Core threshold, and he gained greater control of his Divine Ability.
• Sima Canglan's rain spread across Huainan as his procession advanced, and he privately resolved to secure the region and eventually seek the thunder of the nine heavens.
• Ye Zhanxin waited in the rain outside Huainan's Firmament Heaven to receive Sima Canglan.

Sima Canglan arrived in Huainan, won Ye Zhanxin’s public allegiance, and entrusted him with the authority to govern while using rain to ease the region’s calamities. In the Northern Frontier, Sima Honglin dispersed sinister anomalies with spring rain and discussed his political calculations with the old temple keeper.

• Sima Canglan entered Huainan and invited Ye Zhanxin to ride with him in the same carriage.
• Sima Canglan asked whether the Ye Clan would support him, and Ye Zhanxin pledged its loyalty to the court and respect for the prince.
• Sima Canglan gave Ye Zhanxin the Guardian of Huainan seal and discretion over the region’s affairs.
• Sima Canglan said his rain would buy Huainan time to recover from calamities and warn their enemies against the Sima Clan.
• Sima Honglin used spring rain and the Hong Law to disperse black mist, drive away sinister anomalies, and return the dead to heaven and earth.
• The old temple keeper questioned Sima Honglin about his plans for the Sima Clan and the ancestor’s eventual return, and Sima Honglin remained silent.

Sima Canglan took control of Huainan, renamed Firmament Heaven Azure Waves Heaven, and filled the government with loyal appointees to secure his rule. He kept Sima Huanyu’s descendants under watch and ordered Chief Clerk Li to monitor Huainan’s remaining power holders, including Ye Zhanxin.

• Sima Canglan renamed Firmament Heaven Azure Waves Heaven and promised promotions, rewards, and new official posts to win over Huainan’s officials and clans.
• Sima Canglan confined Sima Huanyu’s sons to Azure Waves Heaven, doubled their stipends, and secretly planned to keep them powerless.
• Sima Canglan appointed hundreds of officials, including servants and descendants of the dead, while shortages of marten tails led officials to wear dyed dog tails.
• Sima Canglan explained to Chief Clerk Li that the mass appointments would build a loyal faction to counter Sima Huanyu’s established supporters.
• Sima Canglan ordered Chief Clerk Li to watch his nephews, buy off or expel stubborn retainers, and monitor Ye Zhanxin, whom he found unusually well-behaved.

Ye Jinyu, Zhang Chen, and Greater Yin concluded the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm’s affairs after Sima Huanyu’s defeat, while Ye Zhanxin kept the Cloud Mist Ye Clan formally neutral and watched for advantage. The chapter ended with Sima Huanyu sealed in Mingyang’s mausoleum for a hundred years and Greater Yin declaring the Greater Yin lineage’s debt settled.

• Ye Zhanxin told his attendant to keep the Cloud Mist Ye Clan outwardly uninvolved in Sima Canglan’s affairs while quietly pursuing its own interests.
• Ye Jinyu and Ye Jinming visited Wei Ming’s grave, where Ye Jinyu reflected on the deaths in the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm and the difficult choices ahead.
• Zhang Chen used Dawn Light to make peach blossoms bloom across ten million miles, took the Mingyang Emperor Sword, and declared the realm part of Cangxuan, allowing Purple Mansion cultivators to ascend or remain as guardians.
• Zhang Chen released nine former Purple Mansion True Persons, who pledged to follow him and help bring peace.
• Greater Yin imprisoned Sima Huanyu in the great cauldron and sealed him inside the mausoleum for a hundred years to make amends for his wrongdoing.
• Greater Yin told Zhang Chen that the Greater Yin lineage’s account was settled, then wept as she gazed at the imperial tomb.

After three months trapped in the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm, Chen Yi, Wang Maohong, and Xie Qingying prepared to leave with the unconscious Sima Ruiming. Ye Jinyu received Greater Yin’s formations from Ye Zhanqiu, and they departed for the Cangxuan Ancient Realm.

• Chen Yi, Xie Qingying, and Wang Maohong spent three months cultivating and surviving in the vanished decoy tomb’s strange realm.
• A wounded Sima Ruiming fell from the sky, and Chen Yi declared that the group could finally leave.
• Wang Maohong covered Sima Ruiming with a red garment and carried him away, while Xie Qingying left the Marsh Dragon Treasure Pearl beside him and sensed that her jade pendant was nearby.
• Three phantoms arrived to take the groups away; Chen Yi, Wang Maohong, and Xie Qingying departed separately, and Xie Qingying told the unseen Ye Jinyu to take care.
• Ye Jinyu appeared with Ye Zhanqiu, who gave him Greater Yin’s mark containing five formations and the Greater Yin Illusion Dao.
• Ye Jinyu and Ye Zhanqiu tore open the Great Void and left the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm for the Cangxuan Ancient Realm.

After three years of confinement, Sima Ruiming learned that Zhengxian had been stripped of his post and had lost his family, while Sima Canglan consolidated control over Huainan. Zhengxian entered the gladiatorial arena to survive and seek answers, and Sima Canglan turned his attention to the Ye Clan as famine and unrest spread across the north.

• Sima Ruiming spent three years confined in a damaged temporary palace after returning from the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm.
• Zhengxian told Sima Ruiming that Azure Waves Heaven had stripped him of his salary and post, sent him to fight Demon Beasts, and that his family had disappeared after being taken.
• Zhengxian entered the Tianlan Gladiatorial Arena, killed a Foundation Establishment Peak opponent with one arrow, and continued fighting in a series of matches.
• Sima Canglan learned that the Ye Clan had sent tribute and ordered Chief Clerk Li to monitor the clan closely.
• Chief Clerk Li reported famine, Dao Devouring, and widespread disorder in the north, while Sima Canglan ordered that Huainan remain free of outside interference.

The Foundation Establishment Profound Rankings were unveiled, placing Ye Jinyu seventh, Sima Linxun first, and Zhengxian seventeenth, while Ye Jinyu and Sima Linxun each took notice of the other. At court, Sima Honglin told the young emperor Sima Chengzhong that reports of victory concealed bad news and suggested that the realm’s affairs concerned only the two of them and Sima Linxun.

• Chen Jiuping unveiled the Foundation Establishment Profound Rankings, which placed Sima Linxun first, Xiao Xianyun second, and Sima Chengming third.
• The rankings placed Ye Jinyu seventh and Zhengxian seventeenth, prompting some onlookers to disparage Zhengxian’s humble origins.
• Ye Jinyu decided that Yangzhou would be his base and wondered what kind of person Sima Linxun was.
• Sima Linxun saw Ye Jinyu’s name on the rankings and said he would meet him one day.
• At court, Sima Chengzhong remembered a dying minister’s plea to aid the Northern Frontier and questioned whether the man had told the truth.
• Sima Honglin explained that victory reports contained only pleasing news, then told Sima Chengzhong that the realm’s affairs concerned him, Sima Honglin, and Sima Linxun.

Ye Jinyu hosted a banquet in Yangzhou to meet Jiangnan’s powerful figures, rebuffed Xie Qingying’s attempt to probe his past, and rejected Supreme Azure Waves’ warning and offer of favor. The chapter ended with Ye Zhanxin considering how to protect Ye Jinyu’s reputation as an impatient voice urged him to help find Sima Ruiming.

• Ye Jinyu surveyed Qinhuai’s nightlife and agreed to enter the mortal world by attending Ye Zhanxin’s banquet.
• Ye Jinyu welcomed more than a hundred guests at his Zhong Mountain estate while Ye Jinming identified the prominent attendees and was told to have the Cloud Palace contact those who had not come.
• Xie Qingying questioned Ye Jinyu about the Wind Abyss Ruin Realm, and Ye Jinyu warned the guests against testing him by declaring that the victor had become king and the defeated an outlaw.
• Ye Zhanxin asked whether Ye Jinyu had been warning the other guests, and Ye Jinyu said he had made clear that he disliked being tested.
• Chief Clerk Li delivered Supreme Azure Waves’ offer of support and warning, but Ye Jinyu dismissed him after affirming the Ye Clan’s loyalty to the court.
• Ye Zhanxin reflected on keeping Ye Jinyu’s reputation unblemished before an impatient voice told him that Sima Ruiming’s location had been found and asked whether he would join the effort.

Ye Jinyu tested Yu Liang before appointing him as his secretary, while Sima Chengzhao defended Jidu from a barbarian invasion with his zither. The chapter left Sima Chengzhao accepting his father Sima Honglin’s plan to serve Great Jin and support Sima Linxun, while a mysterious figure sought to raise the price of his bargain with Sima Honglin.

• Ye Jinyu ordered Ye Anlan to remove Yu Liang, then stopped him and appointed Yu Liang as his secretary after hearing his pledge of loyalty.
• At Jidu, Sima Chengzhao learned that the allied barbarian tribes were using the Hu Jia Gu Sound to weaken the city’s defenders.
• Sima Chengzhao played Flowing Frost, using Calm and Clear the Spirit to steady the soldiers and Zither Sword Heart to rout the barbarian army.
• After the victory, Sima Chengzhao stood in the snow as a mysterious figure praised his music and demanded a higher price from Sima Honglin.
• Sima Honglin urged Sima Chengzhao to embrace his role as Flowing Frost and help Sima Linxun, and Sima Chengzhao agreed.

Sima Chengzhong approved a ceremony that let Sima Canglan claim part of Sima Chengzhao’s northern victory, then learned that Sima Honglin had engineered the conflict and the court’s response to balance the princes. Sima Honglin left the ancestral temple determined to make Chengzhao a future general for Sima Linxun, while the temple keeper agreed to keep watch on Canglan.

• A victory report announced that Sima Chengzhao had routed a million-strong Hu army with a zither tune, and the court praised him.
• Sima Canglan’s envoy demanded a ceremony presenting captives and proposed bringing Hu prisoners from Huainan, and Sima Chengzhong granted the request after Sima Honglin ordered him to agree.
• Sima Honglin explained that he had used the northern crisis to test the border generals and planned to grant Sima Chengzhao the title Illustrious Martial to counterbalance Sima Canglan and prepare a loyal general for Sima Linxun.
• Sima Honglin told Sima Chengzhong that he trusted no one and intended to control the princes by keeping their interests in balance.
• At the ancestral temple, Sima Honglin told the temple keeper that he had let Sima Canglan take credit to keep him content in Huainan and to make Sima Chengzhao understand that merit did not guarantee influence.
• Sima Honglin warned the temple keeper to stay out of trouble, but the old man said he would keep an eye on Sima Canglan.

Sima Canglan planned a staged ceremony to claim credit for the Northern Frontier victory and resolved to eliminate Sima Chengzhao, while Sima Linxun and Ye Jinyu considered how to respond to the shifting power struggle. As Chengzhao prepared to return to Luoyang, he sensed danger in the wind and snow and wondered whether his father had meant him to be a clear-sighted man or a tool.

• Sima Canglan ordered Chief Clerk Li to arrange a grand ceremony with genuine and lookalike captives so he could claim public credit and attain the Golden Core.
• Sima Canglan decided that Sima Chengzhao must eventually be killed because his trapped father remained alive and Chengzhao was a potential threat.
• Sima Linxun concluded that Illustrious Martial, Sima Chengzhao, was the only imperial clansman fit to guard the Northern Frontier and become a model for the realm.
• Ye Jinyu and Yu Liang agreed to stay out of the Sima Clan's internal conflict, build the Ye Clan's influence in Jiangnan, and recruit refugees and talent from the north.
• Sima Chengzhao received an imperial summons to return to Luoyang, sensed a watchful presence and danger in the Northern Frontier, and questioned whether his father had wanted him to be a man who saw clearly or a tool.