Recaps

Su Daji worried over Su Hu’s rebellion and flew toward Jizhou, while Ye Xuan prepared to capture the city with a disguised force. His plan faced a possible opening when Wushuang reported a grain convoy at Jizhou’s eastern gate.

• The people of Jizhou feared the coming war, and Su Daji suspected Bo Yikao had persuaded Su Hu to rebel.
• Su Daji recalled Ye Xuan’s achievements and flew from Chaoge toward Jizhou.
• Ye Xuan discussed how to take Jizhou with Huang Feihu and Zheng Lun, then proposed sending twenty thousand disguised soldiers into the city to open its gates.
• Wushuang told Ye Xuan that a general had appeared at Jizhou’s eastern gate with several thousand soldiers and over a thousand empty grain carts.

Ye Xuan planned to infiltrate Jizhou by ambushing its grain convoy, and Zheng Lun led the attack. The convoy’s commander, Su Quanzhong, recognized Zheng Lun as a traitor as the ambush began.

• Ye Xuan ordered Zheng Lun to ambush Jizhou’s grain escort and disguise his soldiers as its guards to enter the city.
• Zheng Lun led ten thousand soldiers to conceal themselves along a narrow pass while Ye Xuan watched from above.
• Su Quanzhong arrived leading the grain convoy, and Ye Xuan recognized him as Su Hu’s son and his brother-in-law.
• Zheng Lun’s troops sent boulders crashing down on the convoy, then charged from the woods as the escort fell into chaos.
• Su Quanzhong led a counterattack and, upon seeing Zheng Lun, cursed him for betraying Jizhou and ambushing him.

Zheng Lun used his divine ability to rout Jizhou’s soldiers and capture Su Quanzhong. Brought before Ye Xuan, Su Quanzhong realized the Human Emperor had anticipated Jizhou’s rebellion and was already reclaiming the old territories.

• Su Quanzhong fled, but Zheng Lun’s thunderous snort sent yellow Qi after him and knocked him down, while Chaoge’s troops recovered and attacked the Jizhou soldiers.
• The Jizhou soldiers surrendered after their commander fled, and Ye Xuan followed Zheng Lun’s army.
• Zheng Lun pursued Su Quanzhong, defended his service to the Human Emperor, and vowed to kill the Su clan for rebelling.
• Zheng Lun overwhelmed Su Quanzhong with his demon-subduing pestle, smashed his mount, and incapacitated him with a kick.
• Zheng Lun brought Su Quanzhong before Ye Xuan, and Su Quanzhong realized the Human Emperor had known of Jizhou’s rebellion and had come to reclaim its territory.

Ye Xuan’s forces began their assault on Jizhou after Su Daji offered to help him punish the Su Clan, while Empress Nuwa watched with interest. The disguised Chaoge troops breached the east gate and charged the city, leaving the battle underway.

• Su Quanzhong cursed Ye Xuan, and Wushuang silenced him with a water arrow.
• Su Daji arrived and knelt before Ye Xuan, saying she had come to clean house for him; Ye Xuan told her to rise.
• Empress Nuwa observed the events from Wa Huang Palace and wondered how Ye Xuan would restore order in Yin Shang.
• Huang Feihu and Zheng Lun prepared five thousand soldiers in Jizhou armor, hiding their weapons beneath grain wagons, while Zheng Lun used an illusion to look like Su Quanzhong.
• The disguised troops entered Jizhou through the east gate, then Zheng Lun ordered them to attack the guards.
• The soldiers charged through the city as the Jizhou guards realized they were under attack by what appeared to be their own troops.

Chaoge’s elite forces broke into Jizhou and overwhelmed its defenses, leaving Su Hu to realize that Bo Yikao and Xiqi had drawn him into a rebellion without offering support. As the fighting spread through the city, Su Hu despaired while his wife urged him to gather the remaining troops and resist.

• Chaoge’s war elephant cavalry, led by Huang Feihu, stormed through Jizhou City and headed for Su Hu’s residence while Zheng Lun and the horsemen attacked the provisions depot.
• Chaoge’s hundred thousand troops seized the streets, slaughtering the city’s defenders and breaking the Jizhou army’s resistance.
• Su Hu heard that Chaoge had entered the city and regretted rebelling, realizing his forces could no longer defend Jizhou effectively.
• Su Hu blamed Bo Yikao and Xiqi for luring him into rebellion and leaving Jizhou to face the consequences alone.
• Su Hu’s wife begged him to stop drinking and rally the remaining soldiers, but he remained overwhelmed by despair.

As Chaoge's army closed in on Jizhou, Su Hu regretted rebelling after being misled by Xiqi and Bo Yikao. Fearing his wife would be dishonored, he proposed killing her, but Su Wan insisted that a hero's sword should not be stained with a woman's blood and drew her own dagger.

• Su Hu's wife urged him to stop drinking and escape, but he lamented that rebellion had left him with nowhere to go.
• Su Hu accused Xiqi and Bo Yikao of inciting him to rebel, and he regretted not remaining loyal while his daughter Su Daji was in Chaoge.
• Su Hu, driven to despair by the approaching Chaoge army, drew his sword and offered to kill his wife to spare her from dishonor.
• Su Wan recalled her years with Su Hu, praised him as a hero, and said she would take her own life instead of letting his sword stain itself with her blood.
• Su Wan drew an exquisite dagger from her sleeve.

Su Wan tried to kill herself with the dagger Su Hu had named Sever Longing, but Su Hu stopped her as Huang Feihu arrived to confront his old friend over his rebellion. The Human Emperor then entered, and Su Hu and Su Wan knelt before him.

• Su Wan drew Sever Longing and stabbed at her chest, but Su Hu caught the dagger and was wounded.
• Huang Feihu arrived on his divine ox and asked Su Hu why he had rebelled.
• Su Hu said he had believed slander about the Human Emperor, and Huang Feihu angrily defended the emperor and his policies.
• Su Wan told Huang Feihu she had supported her husband even though it could lead her to the Yellow Springs.
• The Human Emperor entered with two women, and Su Hu and Su Wan knelt to greet him.

Ye Xuan ordered Jizhou massacred after Su Hu’s rebellion, rejecting Su Daji’s plea for mercy. He left Huang Feihu and Zheng Lun to prepare the slaughter, arguing that the brutal example would deter the other feudal lords from rebelling.

• Ye Xuan confronted the captured Su Hu, while Su Daji struggled with her feelings as her human consciousness took control.
• Su Daji knelt before Ye Xuan and pleaded for her father, but Ye Xuan questioned whether her actions could make him spare Su Hu.
• Zheng Lun reported that Chaoge’s army controlled Jizhou, had killed sixty thousand defenders, and captured one hundred and seventy thousand soldiers.
• Ye Xuan ordered a massacre of Jizhou, declaring that neither people nor animals should be spared.
• Ye Xuan instructed Huang Feihu and Zheng Lun to prepare the massacre, saying he would bear responsibility for the order.

Ye Xuan ordered Jizhou City’s three million residents killed but allowed one member of the Su Clan to live, leaving Su Daji to choose. Daji named her parents, Su Hu and Su Wan, and Su Hu killed himself; Su Wan prepared his body and accepted the Human Emperor as her son-in-law.

• Ye Xuan ordered Huang Feihu and Zheng Lun to carry out his decree against Jizhou, then told Su Daji that one person in the Su Clan could live.
• Su Daji asked her parents to go to their deaths, and Su Hu and Su Wan understood that she had chosen someone else in the family to survive.
• Su Hu thanked Ye Xuan, urged Daji to serve the Human Emperor, and killed himself with his sword.
• Su Wan covered Su Hu’s face with white silk and accepted Ye Xuan as her son-in-law, recognizing that he had spared one member of the Su Clan.

Su Wan and Su Hu died by their own hands after entrusting Daji to serve Ye Xuan, while Ye Xuan struggled under the weight of the slaughter at Jizhou. The Fox Lord of Green Mound resolved to finish the city’s destruction, and Chaoge learned that Jizhou had already fallen in a great victory.

• Su Wan thanked Daji for preserving the Su Clan’s line and urged her to serve Ye Xuan well.
• Su Wan joined Su Hu and killed herself with Lovesickness Severing, leaving Daji grief-stricken.
• Ye Xuan suffered from the karmic burden of the deaths of three million people, and Wushuang took him back to Chaoge.
• The Fox Lord of Green Mound took control of Daji and set out to help Ye Xuan complete the slaughter of Jizhou.
• A messenger reached Chaoge with news that Huang Feihu’s forces had captured Jizhou and defeated Su Hu.

After Chaoge officials learned how Di Xin captured Jizhou through a swift deception, Wushuang revealed that he had ordered all three million inhabitants slaughtered and instructed them to publicize the massacre. As the news spread across the realm, a mysterious blessing strengthened Chaoge’s fortune, which began to take the shape of a black bird.

• Wushuang explained that Di Xin’s army had entered Jizhou disguised as soldiers escorting provisions, then opened the gates for the Chaoge cavalry.
• The officials praised Di Xin’s victory and decided to spread the news to the common people and the eight hundred vassal lords.
• Wushuang told the officials that Di Xin had ordered Jizhou’s three million inhabitants killed and wanted the massacre publicized throughout the realm.
• The officials carried out Di Xin’s orders, and news of the massacre spread from Chaoge.
• A mysterious force blessed Chaoge, whose fortune grew stronger and began to resemble a black bird; Wushuang looked up in alarm.

After the massacre of Jizhou, the Human Clan’s providence increased and the regional lords became more obedient. A month later, Ye Xuan inspected the rapidly multiplying crops Wushuang had cultivated and ordered their existence kept secret.

• Wushuang and Empress Nuwa saw that the Human Clan’s providence had grown after Ye Xuan ordered the slaughter of Jizhou’s three million people.
• News of the massacre frightened the regional lords, and the realm remained peaceful for a month while Ye Xuan cultivated with Su Daji and Wushuang nearby.
• Ye Xuan asked Wushuang about the crops he had entrusted to her, and she reported that they had ripened seven or eight times and increased more than tenfold.
• Ye Xuan summoned the civil and military officials and followed Wushuang to the guarded mountain north of Chaoge, where they saw the thriving crops.
• Wushuang showed Ye Xuan another planted area, and he praised her work and ordered everyone to keep the crops secret.

Ye Xuan showed the court officials the crops Shang Rong had brought back and explained that they would sustain Yin Shang in the future. After tasting peanuts and learning about sweet potatoes, the officials followed him through the fields to discover what the next crop would be.

• Shang Rong recognized the plants he had brought back, while Ye Xuan told the officials that the crops would secure Yin Shang’s future.
• Bi Gan asked what the plants were for, and Ye Xuan led the curious officials into the fields.
• Ye Xuan pulled up a peanut plant, explained how its kernels could be eaten and pressed for oil, and let the officials taste them.
• Ye Xuan dug up a sweet potato plant and described ways to cook its tubers and make wine from them.
• The muddy officials followed Ye Xuan toward the next patch, eager to see what other crops he would reveal.

Ye Xuan showed the civil and military officials several crops, explaining how corn, buckwheat, and potatoes could be eaten and processed. By evening, he had them prepare an outdoor feast and make their first buns from buckwheat flour.

• Ye Xuan showed the officials corn and explained its uses, including making durable pancakes for armies.
• Ye Xuan introduced high-yield buckwheat and described how it could be processed into flour and many foods.
• Ye Xuan pulled up potatoes and explained that they could be boiled, steamed, or cooked into dishes.
• Ye Xuan led the officials across several hills, teaching them about the crops and their edible parts.
• Ye Xuan ordered large pots for an outdoor cookout and directed the officials to prepare crops and make buckwheat flour.
• Ye Xuan helped the officials knead dough and steam their first batch of misshapen buns, then asked them a question.

Ye Xuan prepared corn, sweet potatoes, and steamed buns for the court officials, who overcame their doubts and devoured the food. Moved by Ye Xuan’s accomplishments and the kingdom’s prospects, Bi Gan and the ministers knelt before him, and Ye Xuan told them to stay overnight because he had more to show them the next day.

• Ye Xuan asked whether the officials had learned how to prepare the foods, then invited them to eat.
• Shang Rong tasted the corn and sweet potato, marveled at their flavor, and encouraged the hesitant officials to try them.
• The officials eagerly ate the food, while Ye Xuan tasted a steamed bun and reflected on his uncertain life in the Primordial World.
• Bi Gan wept over Yin Shang’s decline and praised Ye Xuan’s accomplishments, and the ministers joined him in kneeling before Ye Xuan.
• Ye Xuan told the officials to stay on the mountain overnight because he would show them more good things the next day.

Ye Xuan showed the officials several medicinal plants he had cultivated, explaining their uses and reminding them of Shennong’s discovery of herbs. He led them to another patch of mugwort and began describing its benefits.

• Ye Xuan ate a ten-thousand-year-old spirit root and cultivated through the night while Wushuang and Su Daji stood guard and cultivated beside him.
• The next morning, Ye Xuan led the officials to a field of ephedra and explained its medicinal uses.
• Ye Xuan showed the officials mint and described how it could clear the head and eyes and soothe the throat.
• The officials compared Ye Xuan’s medicinal discoveries with Shennong’s tasting of the hundred herbs and praised the Human Emperor’s foresight.
• Ye Xuan led the officials to a patch of mugwort and explained its uses for calming the mind, treating rashes, and healing wounds.

Ye Xuan introduced the ministers to medicinal herbs and spiritual roots, earning their admiration for sharing knowledge that could benefit the Human Clan. After returning to Chaoge, he saw the sky darken with thunder and lightning, signaling a torrential downpour.

• Ye Xuan explained mugwort's uses for treating wounds and repelling insects and venomous snakes.
• Ye Xuan introduced bupleurum and described its ability to reduce fever and relieve summer heat.
• Shang Rong identified the sparse plants as rare ginseng and explained their value as powerful tonics.
• Ye Xuan showed the ministers twenty or thirty kinds of herbs and spiritual roots, and they returned to Chaoge deeply impressed by him.
• After Ye Xuan dismissed the ministers, darkness, thunder, lightning, and heavy clouds gathered over Chaoge, and he recognized signs of a torrential downpour.

Ye Xuan considered the Human Clan’s vulnerability and proposed inviting powerful outsiders to teach its people cultivation. Su Daji warned that the Taiqing Saint’s control over the Human Clan’s Dao lineage made that plan dangerous.

• Ye Xuan reflected on the strange storms and the need to stabilize Yin Shang while Wushuang brought him a cloak and Su Daji served him soup.
• Ye Xuan recalled how the Witch and Demon Clans had nearly exterminated the Human Clan and how its ancient heroes and the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors had helped it survive and prosper.
• Ye Xuan said the Human Clan remained too weak and asked whether powerful outsiders could teach its people magical arts.
• Su Daji explained that the Taiqing Saint had claimed the Human Clan’s Dao lineage through the Human Teaching, making other teachers reluctant to intervene.
• Ye Xuan’s hopes sank as he realized the Taiqing Saint might block his plan and even Empress Nuwa might be unable to help.

Ye Xuan condemned Taishang Laozi’s flawed Golden Elixir Dao and drove away the storm clouds, while Empress Nuwa wondered what path he planned for the Human Clan. News then arrived that the North Sea was in danger, and an injured general from Wen Zhong’s army was waiting outside the hall.

• Su Daji told Ye Xuan that most Human Clan Qi Refiners practiced Taishang Laozi’s Great Dao of the Golden Elixir, which she believed had serious flaws.
• Ye Xuan blamed Taishang Laozi for exploiting the Human Clan and resolved to abolish the Golden Elixir method so the clan could follow its own path.
• Ye Xuan dispersed the oppressive black clouds, then asked Daji and Wushuang to massage him as Empress Nuwa listened from Wa Huang Palace and wondered what he would do next.
• A tiny fox brought Su Daji news that the North Sea was in danger, prompting Ye Xuan to wonder whether Wen Zhong had encountered trouble suppressing Yuan Futong’s rebellion.
• Su Daji reported that Green Mound Shadow Guards had brought a gravely injured general from Wen Zhong’s army to Chaoge, where he was waiting outside the hall.

Jin Su returned to Chaoge with news that Wen Zhong’s army had been trapped on Beast God Mountain by the allied forces of the seventy-two lords of the North Sea. Ye Xuan summoned his ministers, and Yang Ren urged him to send General Huang with cavalry to relieve Wen Zhong while Bi Gan oversaw provisions.

• Jin Su staggered into the palace and told Ye Xuan that Wen Zhong’s army had suffered heavy losses and was trapped on Beast God Mountain.
• Jin Su died after delivering his report, and his true spirit was drawn away by the Investiture of the Gods.
• Ye Xuan ordered the gongs and drums sounded and summoned the officials to court.
• Ye Xuan told the ministers that Wen Zhong was surrounded by the seventy-two lords of the North Sea and asked for a plan.
• Yang Ren urged Ye Xuan to send General Huang with cavalry as the vanguard and appoint Bi Gan to manage provisions.

Ye Xuan’s court planned a campaign to relieve Wen Zhong and suppress Yuan Futong’s coalition of seventy-two North Sea lords. After assigning the army and its supply duties, Ye Xuan declared that he would lead the expedition himself, leaving the ministers alarmed and pleading with him to reconsider.

• Huang Feihu volunteered to ride north and proposed trapping the seventy-two lords between Chaoge’s army and Wen Zhong’s forces.
• Bi Gan offered to manage provisions, while ministers proposed plans for the campaign.
• Ye Xuan appointed Huang Feihu vanguard general and ordered him to take Chaoge’s elite cavalry north immediately.
• Ye Xuan ordered Shang Rong to remain in Chaoge and proclaim the campaign, demanding provisions from all eight hundred lords.
• Ye Xuan placed Bi Gan in charge of army supplies and rear support.
• Ye Xuan announced that he would personally lead the campaign to the North Sea, shocking the ministers, who urged him not to go.

Ye Xuan insisted on personally leading a campaign to the North Sea to crush the rebellious vassal lords and relieve Wen Zhong. He agreed to take Su Daji with him, while Huang Feihu set out ahead with more than eighty thousand cavalry.

• Ye Xuan dismissed his ministers’ objections and ordered them to keep Chaoge running while he led the campaign north.
• Ye Xuan suspected Marquis Ji Chang of the West had incited the North Sea rebellion and vowed to deal with him after defeating the rebels.
• Su Daji asked to accompany Ye Xuan, citing her duties to protect him and establish the sisters’ presence in the North Sea, and Ye Xuan agreed.
• Wushuang reported that Huang Feihu had departed for the North Sea with more than eighty thousand cavalry.
• Ye Xuan approved Huang Feihu’s advance and prepared to assemble the main army, since the cavalry were only the vanguard.

Ye Xuan completed preparations for a northern campaign and led two hundred thousand elite troops out of Chaoge. The chapter ended with the army assembled beyond the city walls, ready to march.

• Wushuang told Ye Xuan that Shang Rong's edict calling on the regional lords to supply provisions and fodder had been distributed.
• Bi Gan, Shang Rong, and other ministers reported that supplies, military equipment, and two hundred thousand elite soldiers were ready.
• Ye Xuan chose generals including Zhang Kui, Gao Lanying, Fang Bi, and Fang Xiang to join the campaign.
• Daji brought out her three-tailed demon fox, and she and Wushuang accompanied Ye Xuan as he rode it through Chaoge.
• The people of Chaoge cheered Ye Xuan as he led the generals and ministers beyond the city to meet the assembled army.

Ye Xuan rallied two hundred thousand troops for his expedition against the seventy-two rebel forces of the North Sea, promising generous rewards and care for fallen soldiers’ families. The troops and people of Chaoge cheered him, while a young wife angrily berated her husband for not being selected.

• Ye Xuan addressed the assembled army and asked whether they would follow him to the North Sea; the soldiers knelt and pledged to join the expedition.
• Ye Xuan promised to reward outstanding service and provide for the parents and children of soldiers who died in battle.
• The soldiers cheered when Ye Xuan promised to celebrate their return by taking them to a pleasure house to listen to songs, and the people of Chaoge were moved by his pledge to support martyrs’ families.
• A young married couple watched from a street by Chaoge’s wall, and the wife scolded and struck her husband for failing to be selected for the expedition.

Ye Xuan led a 200,000-strong army north from Chaoge to rescue Grand Tutor Wen Zhong and suppress the seventy-two lords of the North Sea. Zhang Kui questioned why Ye Xuan had joined the campaign, and Ye Xuan explained that he would not underestimate the enemy or leave Wen Zhong trapped.

• A rejected recruit carried his angry wife away while people in Chaoge joked, regretted missing the expedition, and wished the army well.
• Ye Xuan gave a long speech and ordered the army to march, while Zhang Kui led the 200,000 soldiers out of Chaoge.
• Su Daji reflected on Ye Xuan's foresight about the kingdom's troubles and watched him with growing admiration.
• Zhang Kui reminded Ye Xuan that Wen Zhong had support from Huang Feihu and asked why he had personally joined the northern campaign.
• Ye Xuan warned that the North Sea forces were formidable and said he had to rescue Wen Zhong, who was trapped on Beast God Mountain.