Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou successfully refined two hundred middle-grade Qi and Blood Fortune Pills and began preparing several more batches from the emperor’s herbs. The new emperor left the Alchemy Chamber, and Zhufu Yan arrived as the work continued.

• Zhang Xuezhou refined a successful batch of two hundred middle-grade Qi and Blood Fortune Pills using Qin Furnace No. 8.
• Zhang Xuezhou began preparing seven more batches, while the new emperor worried about the risk of wasting the herbs and Demon Cores.
• Huo Qubing asked why the Office of the Inner Clerk’s Alchemists did not learn from Dongfang Shuo, and the new emperor called him one of a kind.
• The new emperor left the Alchemy Chamber and sent someone else to help, while Wei Qing promised to keep assisting Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhufu Yan slipped into the side of the Alchemy Chamber, bare-chested.

Zhufu Yan entered the Alchemy Chamber to help Zhang Xuezhou refine Fortune Pills after the new emperor selected him for the work. When the second batch yielded low-grade pills instead of the quality Zhang Xuezhou expected, he added Taisui and prayed to the Yin-Yang School’s founding master for better results.

• Zhufu Yan volunteered for hard work, washed himself, and entered the Alchemy Chamber at the new emperor’s direction.
• Wei Qing assigned Zhufu Yan tasks, and Zhufu Yan joined Zhang Xuezhou and Huo in preparing the second batch of pills.
• The second batch produced low-grade Qi and Blood Fortune Pills, disappointing Zhang Xuezhou, who suspected Zhufu Yan’s presence had lowered the Karmic Fortune factor.
• Zhang Xuezhou added Taisui to the ingredients and told Wei Qing and Zhufu Yan that he was using a Yin-Yang School secret method to pray for top-grade Fortune Pills.

Zhang Xuezhou refined several furnaces of Fortune Pills with Wei Qing, Huo Qubing, and Zhufu Yan assisting, while a Grain Avoidance Pill helped Zhufu Yan keep working. The latest furnace produced pills of all four grades, including high-grade and top-grade Fortune Pills, leaving Zhang Xuezhou surprised by the tai sui's effects.

• Zhang Xuezhou refined five furnaces of Fortune Pills before Zhufu Yan asked for food because he was hungry.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Zhufu Yan a Grain Avoidance Pill, which restored his strength and eased his fatigue.
• Wei Qing asked Zhang Xuezhou to stop after two more furnaces so the exhausted workers could rest, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed.
• Zhang Xuezhou invoked the Yin-Yang School's patriarchs and used his Law Power as Wei Qing drew pills from the furnace.
• Wei Qing saw that the furnace contained dull, pale-yellow, translucent, glazed-red, and blood-red pills, while Zhang Xuezhou realized it had produced all four grades, including top-grade Fortune Pills.

Zhang Xuezhou’s pill-making produced twelve supreme-grade Qi and Blood Fortune Pills, impressing Wei Qing and Zhufu Yan. The chapter ended with Wei Qing rejecting Zhufu Yan’s suggestion to hide pills from the new emperor and stressing the need to earn the emperor’s trust.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Wei Qing saw twelve supreme-grade Qi and Blood Fortune Pills emerge from the Alchemy Chamber’s batch.
• Wei Qing noted that the pills could greatly improve the new emperor’s chances of reaching the Sole Self Realm, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed they would benefit him most.
• Zhang Xuezhou ordered Wei Qing to gather and divide the pills, then prepared to finish the final batch before refining Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills.
• Zhufu Yan asked Wei Qing how to obtain top-tier pills, and Wei Qing said a person needed the new emperor’s trust and recognition to be considered worth nurturing.
• Zhufu Yan suggested secretly keeping some pills, but Wei Qing rejected the idea and reflected that Zhang Xuezhou and the others had earned the emperor’s trust through their conduct and abilities.

After the Fortune Pills were refined, Zhang Xuezhou sent Zhufu Yan away to recover and prepared to refine large batches of Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills. He began assembling ingredients for two hundred pills per batch, hoping the abundant tai sui would produce several supreme-grade pills.

• Wei Qing completed the seventh furnace of medium-grade Fortune Pills, while Zhufu Yan complained that he had received only two hundred half-liang coins.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zhufu Yan to rest because his swollen abdomen showed that he had accumulated excess essence Qi.
• Zhufu Yan offered to help with the next batches in exchange for pills or leftover materials, and Zhang Xuezhou agreed to let him fetch water, carry boxes, and add ingredients.
• Zhang Xuezhou advised Wei Qing to practice the Vertical and Horizontal Sword techniques with Lei Bei, using Attendant Guo to arrange sparring.
• Wei Qing packed the Fortune Pills and carried the sleeping Huo Qubing away from the Alchemy Chamber.
• Zhang Xuezhou prepared ingredients for batches of two hundred Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills, increasing the tai sui in hopes of producing supreme-grade pills.

The new emperor visited Rong Tianding for a fortune reading because he was anxious about whether Zhang Xuezhou would successfully produce pills. Rong Tianding guessed that the emperor's gamble concerned medicine, but the chapter left the reading of his luck unresolved.

• The new emperor went in disguise to the Silan Quarter and joined the queue for Rong Tianding's fortune-telling.
• Rong Tianding refused to read the new emperor's fortune while his faceguard was on, but agreed after the emperor offered a large amount of gold.
• Rong Tianding wrote the character for “medicine,” prompting the new emperor to ask whether the medicine would succeed.
• Rong Tianding said the outcome depended on the reliability of the person entrusted with the task, and that the new emperor's gamble was more likely to lose than win.
• The new emperor offered twenty taels of gold for a reading of his gambling luck, while Rong Tianding deduced that the medicine involved pill refining and Zhang Xuezhou.

The new emperor visited Rong Tianding for a fortune reading, then returned to the Marquis of Pingyang's Household and reunited with Princess Pingyang. After hearing troubling news about the Marquis's health and discussing court affairs, he summoned Wei Qing to learn how many Qi and Blood Fortune Pills Zhang Xuezhou had refined.

• Rong Tianding gave the new emperor a sealed fortune reading and distracted him from worrying about the great medicines.
• The new emperor returned to the Marquis of Pingyang's Household and found Princess Pingyang waiting there after the empress dowager summoned her to keep the household stable.
• Princess Pingyang proposed a marriage between her son and the new emperor's eldest daughter, and the new emperor agreed.
• Princess Pingyang warned the new emperor not to act rashly against Liu An and grew angry when she learned he had eaten tofu made by Dongfang Shuo.
• The new emperor summoned Wei Qing, saw his delighted expression, and opened Rong Tianding's silk to read, “May all your wishes come true.”

Rong Tianding redeemed Wanqing from Yuexian's Silan Quarter and wondered what the new emperor and Zhang Xuezhou were planning. He decided to investigate at Shanglin Park by asking Li Shaojun to go in his place, while worrying that Zhang Xuezhou was becoming deeply involved in the emperor's scheme.

• Rong Tianding chose Wanqing from among the women at the Silan Quarter and paid to redeem her, discovering that she spoke haltingly and had been mistreated.
• Rong Tianding accepted the marriage contract and took Wanqing home, reassuring her that she would be treated well.
• Rong Tianding recalled that the new emperor had paid more than a hundred taels of gold for a fortune reading and suspected that the emperor and Zhang Xuezhou were undertaking a major plan.
• Rong Tianding decided to ask Li Shaojun to investigate at Shanglin Park because his own skills might not let him evade the Feathered Forest Guard.
• Rong Tianding worried that Zhang Xuezhou was becoming more deeply involved in the emperor's scheme, though he believed Zhang might secure what he wanted if he was leading it.

At Shanglin Park, Zhang Xuezhou struggled to refine Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills when Li Shaojun arrived and showed him a batch of Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pill powder. Zhang Xuezhou offered to refine Fortune Pills, and Li Shaojun weighed the risks of supplying the scarce ingredients and Demon Cores.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Li Shaojun why he had come to the heavily guarded Shanglin Park, and Li Shaojun questioned him about the security and his failed pill batches.
• Li Shaojun claimed he had successfully refined Eight-Step Immortal Ascension Pills and showed Zhang Xuezhou a bottle of red powder.
• Zhang Xuezhou tasted the powder and learned from Li Shaojun that a deeper red color indicated a higher-quality pill.
• Li Shaojun warned Zhang Xuezhou that wasting Fortune Pill ingredients could have serious consequences for the court and its Alchemists.
• Zhang Xuezhou offered to refine Fortune Pills if Li Shaojun supplied suitable medicinal ingredients and Demon Cores.

Zhang Xuezhou and Li Shaojun gathered scarce ingredients and Demon Cores to refine Law Power Fortune Pills in Qin Furnace No. 8. Zhang Xuezhou attempted to transform the entire large batch at once, leaving Li Shaojun fearing that one failure would destroy their investment.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Li Shaojun for graded poria, stiff silkworm, and licorice, and Li Shaojun reluctantly supplied herbs from his private stash.
• Li Shaojun agreed to split any Law Power Fortune Pills with Zhang Xuezhou and contributed the rest of his medicinal herbs.
• Zhang Xuezhou added his own Demon Cores to the ingredients, while Li Shaojun ground them into powder.
• Zhang Xuezhou loaded a batch intended to make two hundred pills into Qin Furnace No. 8, and Li Shaojun helped prepare the ingredients.
• Li Shaojun realized Zhang Xuezhou was transforming the whole batch at once instead of dividing it, then grew alarmed as Zhang Xuezhou struggled and cursed under his breath.

After Zhang Xuezhou failed to refine eight hundred pills, he borrowed the Yuzhou Cauldron to wash away his bad luck and asked Holy Mother Wudang about rumors of the Great Qin Dynasty’s return. Holy Mother Wudang dismissed the rumor but privately worried that others might know Emperor Qin’s plans.

• Zhang Xuezhou ruined Li Shaojun’s medicinal ingredients while failing to refine pills, prompting Li Shaojun to end their friendship and secretly take dried ginseng.
• Zhang Xuezhou went to Mount Li and borrowed Holy Mother Wudang’s Yuzhou Cauldron to wash away his bad luck.
• While beneath the cauldron, Zhang Xuezhou asked Holy Mother Wudang about the Great Qin Dynasty’s rumored return after a hundred years, but she called the rumor a clumsy lie.
• Holy Mother Wudang told Zhang Xuezhou to leave after the cauldron’s Qi stopped flowing and advised him to improve his pill-refining skills.
• After Zhang Xuezhou departed, Holy Mother Wudang wondered whether Emperor Qin could bridge the gap with Lao Jun, Yuanshi, and the Jade Emperor in a hundred years, and whether his plans had been exposed.

Zhang Xuezhou refined Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills while seeking supreme-grade pills for his cultivation, and the new emperor arrived with news of his own successful batch of supreme-grade Fortune Pills. They worked together on the final furnaces, and the chapter ended as Zhang Xuezhou saw the freshly made pills and reacted with surprise.

• Zhang Xuezhou refined eleven furnaces of Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills, producing several successful batches but no supreme-grade pills.
• The new emperor arrived at Shanglin Park delighted that he had obtained eleven supreme-grade Qi and Blood Fortune Pills.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked the new emperor to help tend the fire and close the Alchemy Chamber while they refined four more furnaces.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills could keep wounded soldiers alive until a military physician arrived, and the new emperor praised their usefulness.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor worked together to draw the pills from the furnace, and Zhang Xuezhou's eyelids twitched at the sight of the white glimmer.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor refined Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills, producing eighteen supreme-grade pills before later batches yielded much poorer results. They stopped refining for the day, arranged for the remaining medicinal ingredients to be processed, and headed back toward Weiyang Palace as the new emperor considered how his stockpile of pills could strengthen his military.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor found eighteen supreme-grade Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills among the pills from the latest batch and divided them, with Zhang Xuezhou taking eight and the new emperor taking ten.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the pills could support Technique practice and help keep someone alive, though he could not say how much stronger they were than lesser grades.
• The next three batches produced mid-grade, low-grade, and worthless pills, so Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor decided not to rush through more ingredients.
• The new emperor summoned the Feathered Forest Guard and ordered the medicinal ingredients cut, dried, and steamed to preserve their potency.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor left for Weiyang Palace on the Heaven-Riding Shuttle, while the new emperor considered how his store of pills could strengthen officers from the Southern Army and Northern Army.

Zhang Xuezhou accompanied the new emperor back to the imperial palace aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle, after discussing the cost of a trip to the Northern Lands and Zhang’s need to recover his strength. The new emperor took him to meet his month-old daughter, and the chapter ended with the princess crying as her father tried to soothe her.

• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou about the cost of flying to the Northern Lands, and Zhang said he needed pills or time to recover his strength.
• Zhang Xuezhou joked that women were what he lacked, prompting the new emperor to lament his lack of freedom and recall the dangers Lady Wei had faced in the palace.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor flew to the imperial palace at night and landed in the imperial garden, where the new emperor told the approaching attendants that he was strolling with Dongfang Shuo.
• The new emperor led Zhang Xuezhou through guarded passages to Shu Chamber to visit his month-old daughter, and Zhang presented Purity Bamboo as a gift.
• The princess began crying, and the new emperor tried to soothe her before asking the wet nurse to take over.

Zhang Xuezhou recommended that Wei Zifu take a Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pill to recover from childbirth, and the new emperor reluctantly gave her one. After she coughed up sludge and rushed behind a screen, her strength returned and she emerged without a swollen belly.

• The new emperor visited Wei Zifu in the Shu Chamber and worried about her weak condition after giving birth.
• Zhang Xuezhou recommended a Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pill, and Wei Zifu agreed to take one despite the new emperor's doubts.
• Wei Zifu swallowed the pill, coughed repeatedly, and spat out greenish sludge, prompting the new emperor to investigate the Shenghua decoction she had been given.
• The new emperor saw Wei Zifu's complexion and strength recover, while Zhang Xuezhou said he had never heard of the tonic making anyone's belly swell.
• Wei Zifu hurried behind a screen to relieve herself and emerged looking healthy, with no postpartum fullness or swollen belly.

Zhang Xuezhou discovered that the Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pill had restored Wei Zifu’s health and offered a clue toward healing his own injuries. After leaving the palace, he returned to his residence, where Dou Shisan and Dou Shisi were surprised to see him.

• Wei Zifu took the Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pill, recovered from her postpartum weakness, and soothed her crying child.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered how the pill’s effects compared with the Life-Creating Fortune Pill and how it might help heal his Heaven and Earth Bridges.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Wei Zifu a Purity Bamboo, and the new emperor promised to visit when Zhang Xuezhou’s child was born.
• A hidden watcher followed Zhang Xuezhou as he left the palace, but the sensation faded after he chatted with his escort.
• Zhang Xuezhou reached his residence, where Dou Shisan and Dou Shisi welcomed him and recalled that he had yet to visit Grand Princess Dou.

Zhang Xuezhou returned home and told A Qiao that the new emperor had promised protection for their unborn child. After hearing that the King of Huainan had found Long Star, Zhang Xuezhou planned to investigate Dong Zhongshu and prepare for A Qiao’s childbirth, then turned to training the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique.

• A Qiao cooked for Zhang Xuezhou and asked about his difficult work in the capital.
• Zhang Xuezhou told A Qiao that he had secured the new emperor’s blessing for their child, easing her concerns about the King of Huainan’s Household.
• A Qiao told Zhang Xuezhou that Princess Liu Ling had reported Long Star was found in Huainan and might contain an extraordinary treasure.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided to visit the old residence the next day to look for Dong Zhongshu and promised to bring physicians to care for A Qiao after childbirth.
• After A Qiao went to bed, Zhang Xuezhou took out three pills and prepared to master the seventh revolution of the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique.

Zhang Xuezhou quickly mastered the fifth revolution of the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique but worried that advancing further would require more pills than he had expected. He visited Old Tree Alley to ask Chunyu Tiying about the technique and arrived amid celebrations for Rong Tianding’s marriage.

• Zhang Xuezhou used thirty low-grade Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills to master the fourth revolution and ninety low-grade plus ten mid-grade pills to master the fifth, which improved his control over Qi and Blood.
• Zhang Xuezhou stopped cultivating because daylight had come and he needed time to recover from taking so many pills, then left for Old Tree Alley.
• Zhang Xuezhou found that Rong Tianding had married a top courtesan from the Delight Immortals Silan Quarter and congratulated him.
• Rong Tianding explained that Zhang Xuezhou had helped him find a wealthy mark and secure the money for his marriage, and promised to leave risky fortune-telling behind.
• Chunyu Tiying rejected Zhang Xuezhou’s claim that he had used 130 Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills until he showed her several pills, leaving her dismayed by the amount he had consumed.

Zhang Xuezhou learned that his unusually strong Fleshly Body made cultivating the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique far more costly, then revealed that his tai sui had given Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills effects resembling the Life-Creating Fortune Pill. Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying concluded that a special kind of tai sui was likely the secret behind the famed pill.

• Chunyu Tiying explained that a stronger Fleshly Body required more Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills to advance the Nine Revolutions Qi Uniting Technique, leaving Zhang Xuezhou worried about reaching its ninth revolution.
• Chunyu Tiying tested Zhang Xuezhou's unusually tough body, and Zhang explained that he still feared danger and wanted to cultivate the technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying that the Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pills' medicinal effects resembled those of the Life-Creating Fortune Pill.
• Zheng Wukong and Chunyu Tiying examined Zhang Xuezhou's supreme-grade pills and learned that he had used tai sui to refine them.
• Zheng Wukong proposed that tai sui served as a catalyst in the Life-Creating Fortune Pill, and Zhang Xuezhou showed him a huge, iron-hard piece of tai sui.

Zhang Xuezhou, Chunyu Tiying, and Zheng Wukong discussed the scarcity of medicinal ingredients and the possibility of making a Life-Creating Fortune Pill before answering Xu Yuan’s plea to help his dying grandfather, Xu Ji. Xu Ji died after warning Zhang Xuezhou that the court’s agricultural appointments had been captured by local gentry, though Zhang reassured him that the new emperor would not make those appointments easy to exploit.

• Chunyu Tiying rejected returning to the Imperial Medical Hall, and she and Zheng Wukong hoped Yi Shuo could obtain purple lingzhi to develop a Life-Creating Fortune Pill.
• Zhang Xuezhou revealed that he had used up nearly three hundred huge purple lingzhi and offered to bring Chunyu Tiying and Zheng Wukong some Solomon's seal.
• Xu Yuan asked the healers to help his grandfather, Xu Ji, and Chunyu Tiying said Xu Ji had reached the end of his allotted lifespan.
• Zhang Xuezhou brought a Tenfold Complete Great Tonic Pill to Xu Ji but did not force him to take it.
• Xu Ji warned Zhang Xuezhou that local gentry and wealthy landowners had seized the court’s agricultural appointments, undermining the Agricultural Sect’s ideals.
• Zhang Xuezhou assured Xu Ji that the new emperor would not let the appointments be so easy to exploit, and Xu Ji slowly lay back down.