Chapter Summaries

Zhang Sheng expanded Blue Silver Village’s prosperity through Blue Silver Grass and a hidden salt supply, while his Martial Soul slowly spread the grass but could produce only a limited number of seeds. When Constable Yu warned that mountain bandits were coming for a supposed treasure and the county would provide no reinforcements, Zhang Sheng recognized a scheme by the county magistrate and prepared to defend the village.

• Blue Silver Grass spread throughout Blue Silver Village, and Zhang Sheng discovered that his Martial Soul could assimilate other grass seeds, though it could provide only a hundred seeds each day.
• Uncle Dashan asked about the village’s salt supply, and Lan Xin showed him the salt Zhang Sheng had secured for the villagers.
• Uncle Dashan returned to Blue Silver Village with rationed, inexpensive salt, increasing the villagers’ respect for Zhang Sheng.
• Constable Yu told Uncle Dashan that mountain bandits would attack by the following night and that the county yamen would send no reinforcements.
• Uncle Dashan warned Zhang Sheng about the bandits, and Zhang Sheng suspected the county magistrate had arranged the attack to seize his property.
• Zhang Sheng told Uncle Dashan to gather the village’s able-bodied men and vowed to deal with the bandits.

Zhang Sheng prepared the village’s trained youths and residents for an imminent mountain-bandit attack, revealing his plans to defend Blue Silver Village. After villagers chose whether to stay or leave, he sent the departing residents away and began arranging the defense for those who remained.

• Zhang Sheng visited the training ground, where Lan Yun and the youths had been practicing, and told them bandits would attack the following night.
• Zhang Sheng ordered the youths to ensure that none of the bandits escaped, and they confidently agreed.
• Zhang Sheng addressed the gathered villagers and let them choose whether to stay and defend Blue Silver Village or leave.
• Zhang Sheng stopped the villagers from arguing, ordered those leaving to depart and not return, and dismissed the crowd.

Zhang Sheng and the villagers of Blue Silver Village ambushed a bandit gang and defeated them with the help of his young guards and Lan Yun. After the victory, Zhang Sheng ordered the villagers to treat the wounded, secure captives, and clean up the battlefield.

• Zhang Sheng explained to Uncle Dashan that he had let the untrustworthy villagers leave to find out who truly trusted them.
• Zhang Sheng and the villagers prepared an ambush, and the bandits charged toward Blue Silver Village after deciding to raid it.
• The villagers' horse-tripping rope brought the bandits down, and Zhang Sheng's guards attacked and drove them back.
• Lan Yun cut through the bandits with her hammer, while Zhang Sheng stopped the chief's saber with his fingers, snapped it, and kicked him aside.
• The guards and villagers surrounded the bandits and captured or killed them all, leaving none to escape.
• Zhang Sheng ordered everyone to check for injuries, watch the captives for information about their hideout, and clean up the battlefield; Lan Yun asked for praise, and he complimented her.

After learning that Lord Jia had sent the bandits to search for treasure, Zhang Sheng spared their leader and confronted the magistrate in secret. Lord Jia survived the public humiliation but realized Zhang Sheng had exposed his deeds and chose not to retaliate.

• Zhang Sheng questioned the wounded bandit leader, who admitted Lord Jia had lured the bandits to the mountain with a false promise of treasure.
• Zhang Sheng healed the bandit leader and kept him alive so he could warn Lord Jia.
• Zhang Sheng rode to Heshui County, blocked the county yamen's main gate with a stone lion, and abducted the sleeping Lord Jia.
• Zhang Sheng hung Lord Jia at the city gate with a warning letter tucked into his robes, then returned to the inn.
• The county residents celebrated Lord Jia's humiliation, while Lord Jia recognized Zhang Sheng's involvement and dared not seek revenge.

After confronting Lord Jia, Zhang Sheng returned to Blue Silver Village and organized plans to build a defensive wall and train a village guard. As the village’s reputation spread among the greenwoods, he supplied Old Sun’s son with a five-hundred-year-old medicinal herb.

• Zhang Sheng waited to see whether Lord Jia would retaliate, then returned to Blue Silver Village after spending two days in the county town.
• Zhang Sheng announced plans for a village wall and a paid guard, and the villagers eagerly signed up for the hundred available places.
• Zhang Sheng assigned his own guards to train the recruits and planned to use prisoners to help build the wall.
• News that Blue Silver Village had defeated several hundred bandits spread through the greenwoods, bringing strangers to investigate as Zhang Sheng strengthened the defenses.
• Old Sun’s son asked Zhang Sheng for a medicinal herb at least five hundred years old, and Zhang Sheng agreed to provide the one plant he had.

Zhang Sheng’s training and village projects transformed Blue Silver Village into a fortified, prosperous town over two years. As Zhang Sheng and Lan Xin visited the crowded snack street, a well-dressed brother and sister arrived and were struck by the village’s unusual cleanliness and blue grass.

• Zhang Sheng continued cultivating and body-tempering while his guards trained the village defense team and villagers built a wall with help from captured bandits.
• Two years later, Blue Silver Village had a towering wall, orderly streets, and a bustling snack street that attracted visitors from near and far.
• Lan Yun invited Zhang Sheng to try a snack, then ran off embarrassed when he teased her about eating too much.
• Zhang Sheng and Lan Xin followed Lan Yun to the snack street, where they noticed a well-dressed young man and his younger sister entering the village.
• The young sister admired the clean streets and blue grass, but her brother was busy observing the village, so she complained that he was not listening.

Zhang Sheng met Zhangsun Wuji and his sister Zhangsun Wugou at Blue Silver Village’s snack street and grew close to them while hosting them. After the siblings departed, Zhang Sheng wondered whether his presence would alter the future of the Great Tang.

• Zhangsun Wugou eagerly explored the snack street with her brother, where Zhang Sheng introduced himself to Zhangsun Wuji.
• Zhang Sheng invited the siblings to a teahouse, learned their identities, and served them freshly roasted tea.
• The three talked and bonded over the tea, and Zhang Sheng invited Zhangsun Wuji and Zhangsun Wugou to his home for dinner.
• Zhang Sheng guided the siblings around Blue Silver Village over the following days, and Zhangsun Wuji invited him to visit his family in Luoyang.
• Zhang Sheng watched the siblings’ carriage leave and wondered whether meeting them would change history.

Zhangsun Wuji and Zhangsun Wugou returned to Luoyang and learned that their father had died in battle, while Zhang Sheng struggled with his feelings after the siblings left. The Zhangsun family faced new tension at home, and Zhang Sheng’s cultivation reached level 32.

• Zhangsun Wuji and Zhangsun Wugou praised Zhang Sheng as they traveled back toward Luoyang.
• In Luoyang, Zhangsun Wuji heard that General Zhangsun had died in battle and rushed home with Wugou, who fainted from the news.
• Zhangsun Wuji found the Zhangsun residence draped in mourning cloth, where Zhangsun Anye mocked him and claimed control of the family.
• Zhang Sheng admitted to Lan Xin that he missed Wugou, then cheered up after joking with her.
• Zhang Sheng broke through to Soul Elder and reached level 32 Soul Power.

Zhang Sheng arranged for Blue Silver Village’s residents to pay the court’s corvée exemption fee, warning them that canal labor could be deadly. A curious young scholar arrived at the village and began learning about its prosperity and Blue Silver Grass.

• A county magistrate’s assistant announced that the court was conscripting laborers for the Grand Canal and that residents could pay ten strings of cash to avoid corvée duty.
• Zhang Sheng told Uncle Dashan to advise villagers to pay the fee and offered to lend money to anyone who could not afford it.
• Blue Silver Village’s defense team escorted the villagers’ payments to the county office and delivered them to Lord Jia.
• A young scholar asked the escort team for directions to Blue Silver Village and then walked there.
• An old man welcomed the scholar and explained that the village was named for the Blue Silver Grass planted by Young Master Zhang.

A traveling scholar explored Blue Silver Village with Old Uncle Chen, enjoyed its comforts and hospitality, and decided to apply for a teaching position. Zhang Sheng learned that one applicant showed promise and asked Lan Xin to arrange a meeting.

• The scholar followed Old Uncle Chen around Blue Silver Village, then accepted his invitation to stay at his home.
• Old Uncle Chen told the scholar that the Zhang family’s young master had provided his fine house and gave him wine from the young master of the Zhang family.
• Old Uncle Chen took the scholar to breakfast, where he sampled the village’s food and became increasingly interested in life there.
• The scholar saw that Blue Silver Village was hiring teachers and considered applying so he would not have to keep relying on Old Uncle Chen.
• Lan Xin told Zhang Sheng that several people had applied and that one showed talent, so Zhang Sheng asked to meet him.

Fang Xuanling met Zhang Sheng and agreed to teach at the school in Blue Silver Village. Zhang Sheng put him in charge of school affairs, and Fang Xuanling became fascinated by the teaching books he received.

• Lan Xin brought Fang Xuanling from Old Uncle Chen to meet Zhang Sheng at the Zhang family estate.
• Zhang Sheng revealed that he was thirteen, and Fang Xuanling praised his achievements in developing Blue Silver Village.
• Fang Xuanling introduced himself, and Zhang Sheng recognized him as the future chancellor of Great Tang.
• Zhang Sheng explained that the school taught village children, provided free lunches, and was funded by him; Fang Xuanling then took up his teaching post.
• Zhang Sheng entrusted Fang Xuanling with managing the school's affairs and raised his salary to five strings of cash a month.
• Fang Xuanling examined the Hundred Family Surnames and Mathematics books and praised their contents before a logistics teacher showed him to his office.

Fang Xuanling settled into teaching and managing Zhang Sheng’s school in Blue Silver Village, where his conversations with Zhang Sheng changed how he thought about governing and the common people. At the autumn harvest, Fang Xuanling praised a poem Zhang Sheng recited, but Zhang Sheng claimed its author had already died.

• Fang Xuanling explored the school, learned from Teacher Li that Zhang Sheng had brought its books, and admired its broad range of practical subjects.
• Fang Xuanling began teaching the Hundred Family Surnames and took pleasure in teaching and managing the school.
• Fang Xuanling told Zhang Sheng that studying the school had made him question whether knowledge of ancient teachings alone could prepare someone to govern.
• Zhang Sheng argued that common people cared most about food and shelter, prompting Fang Xuanling to ask what the world might be like without an emperor.
• Zhang Sheng described social change through the transition from slavery to feudalism, and Fang Xuanling began visiting the Zhang family manor often to talk with him.
• At the autumn harvest, Fang Xuanling praised Zhang Sheng’s recitation of “Sympathy for the Farmers,” and Zhang Sheng claimed its author had passed away.

After Zhang Sheng explained why the high-yield grain could not safely be presented to the court, Fang Xuanling left Blue Silver Village to pursue his ambitions. Zhang Sheng stayed behind, while the Zhangsun siblings endured mistreatment and planned to leave their clan for Chang'an.

• Zhang Sheng showed Fang Xuanling a rice harvest exceeding fourteen hundred jin per mu, then warned that powerful clans would obstruct its distribution and that Yang Guang could not overcome them.
• Fang Xuanling devoted himself to teaching at Blue Silver Village, but after the school term ended, he told Zhang Sheng he would return home and see what he could do for the realm.
• Fang Xuanling departed, and Zhang Sheng resumed his quiet life at the estate.
• Zhang Sheng, Lan Yun, and Lan Xin began a snowball fight after Lan Yun hit Zhang Sheng with a snowball.
• A Zhangsun sibling told the other that Zhangsun Anye was making things difficult for them, and promised to contact their maternal uncles before taking them to Chang'an.

Zhangsun Wuji and his sister suffered another slight at the Zhangsun residence while Zhang Sheng and his companions enjoyed hotpot, unaware that the secret of Blue Silver Village’s refined salt had reached the authorities. A group claiming to represent the imperial court arrived at the village and questioned Uncle Dashan about salt sales and the defensive wall, revealing that they had come for the salt-making recipe.

• A maid told Zhangsun Wuji and his sister that the residence had no charcoal to spare, and Zhangsun Wuji angrily blamed Zhangsun Anye.
• Zhangsun Anye praised an accomplice for helping his scheme, and the accomplice promised to keep assisting him.
• Zhang Sheng, Lan Xin, and Lan Yun prepared mutton hotpot with fresh vegetables from the greenhouse.
• After hearing Wang Ergou’s report, a general sent a secret letter to Lord Yuwen rather than seize the benefits alone.
• More than half a month later, a group of armed riders reached Blue Silver Village and demanded to see its chief.
• Uncle Dashan denied selling salt to outsiders and explained that the village built its wall after a bandit attack, while the visitors sought the refined-salt recipe.

Zhang Sheng protected Blue Silver Village from a black-clad force seeking his salt-making recipe, wiping out its attackers with his Blue Silver Sword Qi and sending the surviving leader back to Chang'an. There, Yuwen Huaji and Yuwen Chengdu wondered who had defeated Zhao Da and warned each other to stay cautious.

• The leader in black threatened to seize Blue Silver Village’s people unless Zhang Sheng handed over his salt-making recipe, and Zhang Sheng refused.
• When the men in black charged, Zhang Sheng used his third Soul Skill, Blue Silver Sword Qi, killing the attackers and damaging the village wall.
• Zhang Sheng ordered the surviving leader to warn the person behind him, then left with Lan Xin and Lan Yun as Uncle Dashan told the villagers to keep quiet.
• Zhao Da returned to Chang'an alone and unconscious, prompting a report to Yuwen Huaji.
• Yuwen Chengdu asked whether someone else had defeated Zhao Da, and Yuwen Huaji warned his son not to become arrogant.

After learning that Zhang Sheng was far beyond his power, Yuwen Chengdu persuaded Yuwen Huaji to avoid further conflict and sent Wang Ergou to Blue Silver Village as an offering. Zhang Sheng spared Wang Ergou’s life but ordered him sent to dig the canal, while he continued searching for a way to awaken a Martial Soul for Lan Yun.

• Zhao Da reported his encounter with Zhang Sheng to Yuwen Huaji, and Yuwen Chengdu warned that Zhang Sheng could defeat him in a single move.
• Yuwen Chengdu advised Yuwen Huaji to avoid Zhang Sheng and suggested surrendering Wang Ergou to improve relations.
• Imperial soldiers arrested Wang Ergou and took him to Blue Silver Village, where Zhang Sheng ordered him sent back to dig the canal.
• Lan Yun complained that Zhang Sheng would not teach her a Soul Skill, while Lan Xin intervened and teased him afterward.
• Zhang Sheng reflected on his efforts to discover how to awaken a Martial Soul and his wish to keep his companions from outliving him.
• Wang Ergou begged Zhang Sheng for mercy, but Zhang Sheng ordered the soldiers to take him away and make sure he was treated well at the canal.

Zhang Sheng learned that the Grand Canal’s laborers were starving and fleeing corrupt officials, and he faced a dilemma over whether to shelter a group of escaped workers who had reached Blue Silver Village. Uncle Dashan arrived as Zhang Sheng considered how to help them.

• Lord Jia ordered his staff to leave Blue Silver Village alone after learning that nearly all the capital visitors sent there had disappeared.
• Zhang Sheng took Lan Xin and Lan Yun to the market as the weather warmed and the village grew lively.
• A group of escaped Grand Canal laborers arrived at Blue Silver Village, reporting that officials had withheld their food and pay and that many workers had died.
• Zhang Sheng recognized that the workers’ plight stemmed from the Grand Canal project and ordered the defense team to disperse the gawking crowd.
• Zhang Sheng questioned the laborers, then Uncle Dashan arrived and learned of their situation; both men struggled over how to handle them.

Zhang Sheng and Uncle Dashan sheltered a group of wanted laborers in Blue Silver Village, while imperial soldiers turned back after learning that even General Cheng feared offending the village. Zhang Sheng planned to let the refugees settle and grow the village’s population, then agreed to replenish the pharmacy’s medicinal herbs.

• Uncle Dashan arranged clean clothes, food, and lodging for the laborers Zhang Sheng had rescued.
• An imperial officer considered entering Blue Silver Village but retreated after a subordinate warned him that General Cheng had been wary of offending its people.
• The laborers offered to leave to protect the village, but Uncle Dashan assured them they could stay and that the village would handle the imperial court.
• Zhang Sheng asked Uncle Dashan to register any laborers who wanted to settle in Blue Silver Village, hoping to expand its population over time.
• Lan Xin told Zhang Sheng that the pharmacy needed medicinal herbs, and he agreed to accelerate another batch’s growth.

Cheng Jingmin steered Murong Yun toward Blue Silver Village to investigate its secret salt-making method, while Zhang Sheng and Lan Yun went out hunting. Their paths crossed when Murong Yun’s soldiers stopped Lan Yun, and Murong Yun took an immediate, unwanted interest in her.

• A scout reported that escaped laborers had likely entered Blue Silver Village, and Cheng Jingmin ordered that the village not be provoked.
• Cheng Jingmin told Murong Yun about Blue Silver Village and its refined-salt method, prompting Murong Yun to decide to investigate with five hundred soldiers.
• Cheng Jingmin watched Murong Yun leave, believing the deputy general’s greed would let him use Murong Yun to test the village.
• Lan Yun persuaded Zhang Sheng to go hunting, and Zhang Sheng set out with Lan Yun and Lan Xin.
• Murong Yun’s soldiers confronted Lan Yun on the road, and Murong Yun approached her with questions after taking a lustful interest in her.

Lan Yun killed four soldiers after Murong Yun and his men tried to seize her, prompting Zhang Sheng to defend her and face off against the general’s troops. As the two sides prepared to fight, Zhangsun Wuji arrived and offered to intercede for Zhang Sheng.

• Murong Yun ordered his soldiers to surround Lan Yun, but she killed four of them with her silver spear.
• Zhang Sheng and his companions arrived, and Lan Yun claimed Murong Yun’s men had bullied her and tried to make her a concubine.
• Zhang Sheng confronted Murong Yun and refused to stay out of the dispute, so Murong Yun ordered his soldiers to attack.
• Zhang Sheng warned his companions to stay close, especially Lan Xin, as the soldiers advanced.
• Zhangsun Wuji rode up with a carriage, recognized Zhang Sheng, and offered to intercede with the court.