Chapter Summaries

Luo Burang recruited Zhang Weimeng to help develop cultivation theories, finding a like-minded partner despite Zhang Weimeng’s past disinterest in cultivation. Luo Burang then persuaded Ren Wuyang to join their experiments by promising a strong chance of reaching the Sixth Sequence and a possibility of advancing to the Seventh.

• Luo Burang struggled with the difficulty of researching Law Power and Sequence Locks, and realized that advancing his cultivation would take considerable time.
• Zhang Xuezhou introduced Luo Burang to his father, Zhang Weimeng, whose low cultivation realm had not stopped him from developing theoretical frameworks.
• Zhang Weimeng complained that cultivation had not helped his writing and that he had been blacklisted from shooting stalls, but he warmed to Luo Burang when they discussed novels and research.
• Luo Burang invited Zhang Weimeng to work on theories, and Zhang Weimeng enthusiastically agreed to visit North Rehe for research and writing material.
• Luo Burang told Ren Wuyang that cooperating with their tests could give him a strong chance of entering the Sixth Sequence and a chance at the Seventh.
• Ren Wuyang abandoned his plan to return to the Jishi Medical Center and agreed to participate in the experiments.

After the battle with Huang Daoxian, Zhang Xuezhou focused on advancing his Sequence and discussed cultivation limits with Zhang Manqian. His crossing brought him to a riverbank in the other world, where he sat with a fishing rod instead of arriving in Chang'an City.

• Zhang Xuezhou ignored the aftermath of Huang Daoxian's defeat and concentrated on research and preparing his body with Falcon Sparrow blood serum and the R33 Catalyst.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered trading with Qimeng Haige for the R34 Catalyst and estimated that he could reach the Fourth Sequence within about a month.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhang Manqian that Sequence advancement depended on external factors, including Ferocious Beast extract for reaching the Seventh Sequence.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that his Realm Technique and Mental Strengthening had reached their limits, leaving him with few possible teachers for mental cultivation.
• Zhang Xuezhou crossed over and found himself sitting on a riverbank with a fishing rod rather than appearing in Chang'an City.

Zhang Xuezhou took over the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon's unfinished fishing wager and won by catching ten streaks of light, though he could not tell what each catch cost him. A golden light returned him to his bedside, where Li Shaojun was banging a gong, and Zhang Xuezhou spat out a shattered pellet.

• Zhang Xuezhou found himself holding a fishing rod in a wager against an unseen fisherman, who said he needed three more catches while Zhang needed six.
• Zhang Xuezhou stirred the river and caught several gemstones, which slipped away in the current, while sensing that each catch took something from him.
• Zhang Xuezhou caught enough streaks of light to overtake his opponent and win the ten-catch contest.
• The opponent conceded and gave Zhang Xuezhou a point of golden light, which rang like bells and returned him to his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou woke as Li Shaojun banged a gong beside his bed, then spat out a shattered pellet.

Zhang Xuezhou woke after a long transition between worlds and discovered that the Dragon Pearl had broken after nourishing his Demon Core slightly. Pulling at Zhuang Qingdi's Law Treasure Cloth swept Zhang Xuezhou, Li Shaojun, and Rong Tianding into a dangerous realm where azure Qi descended and turbid dust rose.

• Zhang Xuezhou spat out the Dragon Pearl, which grew to the size of a human head before breaking apart.
• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that he had awakened two days later than usual, while Zhang found he could use about a tenth of his Law Power and that his Primal Pill had become slightly smoother.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the Law Treasure Cloth might have been involved in his mysterious fishing contest and pulled at it.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Li Shaojun, and Rong Tianding were swept into a strange realm of rolling azure clouds and rising dust.
• The dust turned Li Shaojun's gong to dust, and he and Rong Tianding clung to Zhang Xuezhou as the shifting Qi began to affect their bodies.

Zhang Xuezhou, Li Shaojun, and Rong Tianding were trapped inside Zhuang Qingdi’s Law Treasure Cloth, where the shifting azure and turbid Qi threatened to destroy anyone who lost contact with Zhang Xuezhou. Zhang Xuezhou realized his victory in the fishing contest had spared him from a deadly trap and resolved to keep the dangerous treasure beyond the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon’s reach.

• Zhang Xuezhou observed himself, Li Shaojun, and Rong Tianding shrinking and swelling as the Law Treasure Cloth’s currents swept over them.
• Li Shaojun explained that Zhuang Zhou and Laozi shared a lineage through the Dao Scripture, then recited it to Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou tested the azure and turbid Qi and learned that objects and a Yin Soul were destroyed when separated from his body.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon could have used the Law Treasure Cloth to kill him if he had won the fishing contest.
• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that he had avoided a fatal calamity and decided the Law Treasure Cloth had to be kept somewhere the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon could never reach.

Zhang Xuezhou, Li Shaojun, and Rong Tianding explored the Law Treasure Cloth’s interplay of azure and turbid Qi, gaining different insights into its effects. They rose into the azure Qi and returned to a familiar room as the cloth fell from Zhang Xuezhou’s hands.

• Zhang Xuezhou carried Li Shaojun and Rong Tianding on his shoulders while they searched the Law Treasure Cloth for Sage Zhuang’s legacy.
• Rong Tianding sensed the small world’s space and contemplated how life began and ended through the mingling of yin and yang, while Zhang Xuezhou felt renewed vitality.
• Zhang Xuezhou descended into the turbid Qi, and Li Shaojun stopped panicking after realizing he could breathe there.
• Li Shaojun concluded that the cloth contained the dark and yellow Qi involved in heaven and earth’s early evolution, and said it could help them cultivate transformation techniques.
• Zhang Xuezhou rose with Li Shaojun and Rong Tianding through the turbid Qi into the azure Qi, and the three returned to a familiar room as the Law Treasure Cloth fell.

Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun gave up trying to enter the Law Treasure Cloth and decided to entrust it to Divine Lord Zhenyuan. After returning home, Zhang Xuezhou was summoned to the imperial palace when the grand empress dowager’s death was suddenly announced, leaving him to suspect the empress dowager had exposed the secret.

• Zhang Xuezhou stopped trying to enter the Law Treasure Cloth and planned to leave it with Divine Lord Zhenyuan.
• Li Shaojun asked Zhang Xuezhou about Cai Ma’s claims of his lifespan, but Zhang Xuezhou denied them.
• Rong Tianding and Zhang Xuezhou returned to their normal appearances, and Zhang Xuezhou reassured his worried parents about his health.
• A messenger told Zhang Xuezhou that the grand empress dowager had suddenly passed away and that the emperor had summoned officials to the palace.
• Zhang Xuezhou suspected that the empress dowager had revealed her death, since Grand Princess Dou and Zhuang Qingdi had continued to conceal it.

As the new emperor struggled to consolidate power after the Grand Empress Dowager’s death, Zhang Xuezhou considered the dangers ahead and examined a subtle change in his Realm Technique. At the palace for the funeral, he met Wei Qing, who had taken over his former post and sought his advice on avoiding trouble.

• Zhang Xuezhou worried that the new emperor would face resistance from powerful ministers, vassal kings, and neighboring states, and suspected Emperor Jing had left safeguards behind.
• During the carriage ride to the palace, Zhang Xuezhou sensed that Rong Tianding’s insights had slightly changed his Realm Technique, but he could not understand the change and decided to ask Rong Tianding later.
• Zhang Xuezhou arrived at the imperial palace and joined the officials preparing for the Grand Empress Dowager’s funeral.
• Zhang Xuezhou met Wei Qing, who had taken over his post as Grand Palace Counselor and was struggling with responsibility for the funeral rites.
• After Zhang Xuezhou advised him that doing more meant bearing more responsibility, Wei Qing handed off the mourning-clothes duty and followed him to learn how he avoided trouble.

Zhang Xuezhou and Wei Qing joined the officials mourning outside the Palace of Peace and Happiness as the court prepared for the grand empress dowager’s funeral. Inside, the empress dowager confronted Grand Princess Dou over the late woman’s supposed final instructions and the Dou Household’s use of the treasury, leaving their power struggle unresolved.

• Zhang Xuezhou wet his sleeve in a palace water vat so he could convincingly join the officials’ funeral laments, and Wei Qing copied him.
• Wei Qing’s loud singing led nearby officials to repeat his mistaken words, but he intimidated them into singing louder and continued toward the high-ranking officials’ place.
• Zhang Xuezhou slipped into a group of minor palace officials while Wei Qing went to his designated place outside the hall.
• Inside the Palace of Peace and Happiness, the empress dowager and Grand Princess Dou stood armed on opposite sides of the grand empress dowager’s open coffin as the empress mourned.
• The empress dowager demanded the grand empress dowager’s edict and accused Grand Princess Dou of inventing oral instructions and diverting wealth to her household; Grand Princess Dou denied the accusations.

The new emperor struggled to choose between the Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Dou as they fought over the Grand Empress Dowager’s inheritance. After consulting his officials, he decided to avoid taking sides, but an eunuch reported that the dispute had escalated into a fight.

• The new emperor listened as the Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Dou argued over the inheritance, while he weighed his obligations to his mother and Emperor Jing’s final instructions.
• Zhuang Qingdi warned that the empress was unwell, and the new emperor discovered she had grown dazed and was bleeding at the mouth.
• The new emperor summoned Sima Xiangru, Wei Qing, Han Yan, Attendant Guo, Sang Hongyang, Mei Gao, Dongfang Shuo, and Zhang Xuezhou to advise him.
• His officials offered conflicting advice, and Zhang Xuezhou described how his own family avoided conflict by living apart.
• Inspired by Zhang Xuezhou’s example, the new emperor decided to stay out of the dispute by attending to the empress and the funeral procession.
• An old eunuch reported that the Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Dou had started fighting.

The new emperor struggled to manage the power struggle between the empress dowager and Grand Princess Dou while grieving the grand empress dowager’s death. After the empress dowager returned injured from the confrontation, she urged him to take control of the Great Han before it was too late.

• The empress dowager and Grand Princess Dou fought over authority in the inner palace soon after the new emperor left the great hall.
• The new emperor questioned Zhang Xuezhou about the dispute, then pretended to collapse so he could avoid intervening while the conflict unfolded.
• The new emperor ordered Zhang Xuezhou and Han Yan to stay, but an imperial physician treated him for grief and he rested in a side hall.
• The empress dowager arrived with scratches on her face, dismissed them as a cat’s work, and told the new emperor the Great Han could continue without any one person.
• The empress dowager pressed the new emperor to act quickly, fearing that someone else would soon replace her.

The new emperor listened as the empress dowager criticized the court and defended her loyalty, then privately asked Han Yan and Zhang Xuezhou to investigate her and Grand Princess Dou. Han Yan accepted the task concerning the empress dowager, while Zhang Xuezhou chose to look into Grand Princess Dou and asked for a nearby residence.

• The empress dowager criticized the grand empress dowager's past decisions and the court's entrenched officials while assuring the new emperor that she acted for Great Han.
• The new emperor told the empress dowager he trusted her, then privately admitted to Han Yan and Zhang Xuezhou that he wanted truthful information about her and Grand Princess Dou.
• The new emperor split a special key between Han Yan and Zhang Xuezhou, granting them broad palace access, imperial library visits, and the right to choose items from the Armory.
• Han Yan accepted the task of investigating the empress dowager, though he said he did not know where to begin in the inner palace.
• Zhang Xuezhou accepted the task concerning Grand Princess Dou and asked the new emperor to lend him a thousand gold to buy a nearby residence.

After the empress dowager and Grand Princess Dou’s magical duel, Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingdi arranged a pared-down funeral for the Grand Empress Dowager. In the rear hall, Divine Lord Zhenyuan refused Dao Lord’s demand for the Nine Dragons Cauldron, while judging that Dao Lord’s strength seemed limited.

• Zhuang Qingdi proposed following the late emperor’s frugal burial edict, and Xu Chang and the other officials agreed.
• Xu Chang and Zhuang Qingdi announced the funeral rites, including fifteen days of mourning and simplified arrangements.
• Zhuang Qingdi went to consult Grand Astrologer Sima Tan, while Xu Chang headed to the Grand Ancestral Temple to await the burial divination.
• In the rear hall, Dao Lord demanded the Nine Dragons Cauldron, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan refused because he had promised it to Fellow Daoist Dou.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan noticed Dao Lord remained suspended above the ground and suspected that his strength was limited.

Divine Lord Zhenyuan defended the Nine Dragons Cauldron from the Dao Lord’s External Incarnation and learned that other powers might soon seek it. After the Dao Lord withdrew, Zhenyuan decided to summon Li Shaojun and place him in the open to help deflect the coming trouble.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan refused to let the Dao Lord take the Nine Dragons Cauldron and prepared to fight him.
• The Dao Lord attacked with a black python, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan swallowed it with his great sleeve and trapped the Dao Lord inside.
• The Dao Lord transformed into a blade and then poisonous bats, but Divine Lord Zhenyuan crushed most of them before the Dao Lord reappeared and yielded.
• The Dao Lord warned Divine Lord Zhenyuan that the Nine Dragons Cauldron might be connected to the Nine Cauldrons Emperor Qin sought and that the Immortal Court could send others after it.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan recognized the opponent as a formidable External Incarnation and decided to summon Li Shaojun to help handle future challengers.

After the Dao Lord warned Divine Lord Zhenyuan that the Immortal Court wanted the Nine Dragons Cauldron, Zhang Xuezhou learned that the Nine Spirits Primal Sage might come for it. The two planned to rely on Li Shaojun to hold the line while protecting the cauldron, which they needed to refine the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan found Zhang Xuezhou among the officials and invited him to meet Li Shaojun in the rear halls.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan told Zhang Xuezhou that the Dao Lord had come seeking the Nine Dragons Cauldron on behalf of the Immortal Court.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan said the Dao Lord had warned that the Nine Spirits Primal Sage would come to examine the cauldron.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed that Li Shaojun could help defend the cauldron while Divine Lord Zhenyuan supported him from among the other cultivators.
• Zhang Xuezhou worried that losing the cauldron would prevent them from refining the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill.

After the Grand Empress Dowager’s death disrupted the Palace of Peace and Happiness, Zhang Xuezhou and Zhuang Qingdi realized they had only fifteen days to approach the Nine Dragons Cauldron. Zhang arranged for Li Shaojun to work near it, and Li agreed to refine the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill despite the risks.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Zhuang Qingdi to arrange places for Li Shaojun near him, and Zhuang agreed to meet Li at midnight in the Palace of Peace and Happiness.
• Zhang Xuezhou worried that the Nine Dragons Cauldron might be tied to the Nine Cauldrons and feared the dangers of confronting them.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned home with a thousand taels of gold from Zhuang Qingdi and told Li Shaojun he could secure the property transfer deed.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that Grand Princess Dou had lost control of the Palace of Peace and Happiness, leaving only a brief chance to get close to the Nine Dragons Cauldron.
• Li Shaojun agreed to accompany Zhuang Qingdi and begin refining the Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill during the fifteen-day mourning period.

Zhang Xuezhou discussed Rong Tianding’s new life-and-death ability and offered to find him a useful flight technique. Rong Tianding explained how physiognomy and his ability had made him a wealthy, respected fortune-teller, while Zhang Xuezhou prepared to attend the grand empress dowager’s funeral and visit A Qiao.

• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that he could shift his body’s breath between life and death but did not know how to use the ability.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered to search the Heavenly Emolument Qilin Pavilion for a simple flight method Rong Tianding could cultivate.
• Rong Tianding said he had gained wealth and respect by reading faces and using his sense of life and death to identify clients at risk of sudden illness.
• Rong Tianding described working with Zheng Wukong and the others to treat clients whose fatal destinies he had detected.
• Zhang Xuezhou regretted how difficult he had made earning money after hearing how easily Rong Tianding had prospered.

After the mourning ceremony, Zhang Xuezhou told Han Yan that he planned to stay at the Qilin Pavilion rather than begin investigating Grand Princess Dou immediately. He entered the pavilion using the key the emperor had given him, while Sima Tan flew up to the observatory and Zhang saw the Palace of Peace and Happiness shrouded in gloom.

• Zhang Xuezhou and his colleagues returned to the Eunuch Office after attending the Grand Empress Dowager's sacrifice and discussed their uncertain prospects for official posts.
• Han Yan pointed the others toward a face reader in the Silan Quarter, then asked Zhang Xuezhou when he would investigate Grand Princess Dou.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he would stay at the Qilin Pavilion with the Grand Historian until the funeral rites required him to travel to Baling.
• Han Yan left to visit the inner palace, and Zhang Xuezhou later went to the Qilin Pavilion with the key that allowed him three visits.
• Sima Tan let Zhang Xuezhou into the pavilion and flew to its upper observatory, where Zhang saw the Palace of Peace and Happiness beneath a pall of gloom.

Zhang Xuezhou searched the Qilin Pavilion for flight techniques and discussed the Great Han Dynasty’s fragmented schools and future with Sima Tan. As night fell, Sima Tan spotted a strange celestial sign that vanished when he tried to examine it closely.

• Sima Tan explained that many Qilin Pavilion scrolls remained incomplete and directed Zhang Xuezhou to readable texts.
• Zhang Xuezhou read the Great Wind Scripture and judged its flight techniques flawed, though he noted that it could still help Rong Tianding if restored.
• Sima Tan said the Great Wind Scripture had been corrected repeatedly and that everyone was waiting for Tian Fen to revise it.
• Sima Tan argued that the Hundred Schools’ divisions weakened the Great Han Dynasty and hoped the empress dowager would bring the realm under firmer rule.
• Sima Tan read the stars and saw a charging lion that disappeared when he tried to look at it again.

At the Palace of Peace and Happiness, Li Shaojun began refining fresh Exploding Exploding Bursting Bursting Pills in the Nine Dragons Cauldron while Grand Princess Dou and Divine Lord Zhenyuan discussed the danger of Dao Lord and the imperial family’s struggle. As Li Shaojun worked, a heavy thud shook the rear hall, signaling that the Nine Spirits Primal Sage had likely arrived.

• Divine Lord Zhenyuan and Li Shaojun warned Grand Princess Dou that she could not safely control the Palace of Peace and Happiness, especially if Dao Lord returned to Chang'an City.
• Grand Princess Dou activated the Nine Dragons Cauldron, and Li Shaojun took cinnabar from an iron box bearing the imperial court’s seal to make fresh Exploding Exploding Bursting Bursting Pills.
• Li Shaojun infused the cauldron with Law Power and used its blue flames to mix the cinnabar and realgar, while Grand Princess Dou admitted she could not control the heat for pill refining.
• Divine Lord Zhenyuan waited in eunuch’s mourning clothes as Li Shaojun focused on refining the pills instead of making a public appearance with Zhuang Qingdi and the others.
• A heavy thud shook the rear hall, and Divine Lord Zhenyuan suspected the Nine Spirits Primal Sage had arrived to touch the Nine Dragons Cauldron.