Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang helped seven people form Resistance Layers in half a month, then explained the next steps of advancement to Li Yingbo. Mengtesi Badun called to ask Zhang Xuezhou for help against the remaining Ferocious Beast spiders at Spider God Cave, where he feared they would soon hunt him.

• Zhang Xuezhou said mass-producing Seventh Sequence Holders would be difficult because the process depended on scarce materials, qualified subjects, and researchers who could not yet replicate his and Luo Burang's work.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Luo Burang helped Zhang Manqian, Ning Que, Luo Burang, Zhang Hao, and Zhang Huang form Resistance Layers, bringing the half-month total to seven people.
• Luo Burang told Li Yingbo that the team needed to wait half a month for more gene fluid, and Zhang Xuezhou advised Li Yingbo that the Seventh Sequence was only the beginning of a longer path.
• Mengtesi Badun called Li Yingbo and asked to enter North Rehe to meet Zhang Xuezhou and seek help with the six Ferocious Beast spiders at Spider God Cave.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Mengtesi Badun that pulling off a spider's blackened leg had stopped its regeneration, but Badun doubted he could repeat the feat as the spiders seemed likely to hunt him.

Zhang Xuezhou and Li Yingbo planned to gather the Zhou Household’s body cultivators to defeat the six unkillable spider Ferocious Beasts in the Spider God Cave, while Mengtesi Badun agreed to search for Zhou Xin. The group’s preparations were interrupted when a piercing sound forced Mengtesi Badun and Nagesi to flee their base in Qinmeng.

• Zhang Xuezhou explained the spider Ferocious Beasts’ threat, and Li Yingbo urged the Zhou Household to help release Zhou Rihui and bring him into the Seventh Sequence.
• Mengtesi Badun joined the planning and said he would search for Zhou Xin in Qinmeng, while asking whether Zhou Yueyan and Zhou Rihui could be relied on.
• Zhang Xuezhou demanded complete information about the Spider God Cave, but Mengtesi Badun insisted he could not guarantee what they would encounter, and the call ended.
• Mengtesi Badun and Nagesi discussed finding Zhou Xin and the Scarlet Alliance State’s plans to free Zhou Rihui, while Nagesi questioned Mengtesi Badun’s knowledge of the cave.
• A piercing sound alarmed Mengtesi Badun and the others, who abandoned their satellite equipment and escaped in an aircraft.

Zhang Xuezhou transported equipment to help Zhou Rihui prepare for the Seventh Sequence while discussing the nature of Domains with Zhang Huang and Ren Anran. They could not explain Zhang Xuezhou’s Domain, but Ren Anran suspected Donghua’s wooden staff might offer a way to guide Domain development.

• Zhang Xuezhou carried equipment between worlds and told Zhang Huang that he did not understand how his Domain had formed.
• Zhang Huang recalled Yu’s description of a Domain as a wish sounding from within like a bell and radiating outward like sunlight.
• Zhang Xuezhou weakened his Control after making repeated trips and stopped carrying heavy loads while Zhou Rihui welded the equipment.
• Ren Anran listed the many unusual factors behind Zhang Xuezhou’s Domain and said his path would be difficult for others to imitate.
• Zhang Xuezhou suggested Donghua’s wooden staff had guided his Domain, and Ren Anran considered questioning Donghua for guidance.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Chang'an and learned that the Empress Dowager’s research had produced results, prompting the new emperor to summon him. The emperor asked Zhang to consider scouting Xiong State after offering him a map Pilan had made, leaving Zhang interested in examining it for potential targets.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke in Chang'an and found that his Law Power was nearly sixty percent unsealed after Yi Shuo and Surpass Xi Shi treated him.
• Yi Shuo told Zhang that palace messengers had come repeatedly and that the Empress Dowager’s tests had yielded results.
• Zhang hesitated to help the new emperor, reasoning that his strength would have little effect on a large war and could expose him to danger.
• The new emperor arrived and asked Zhang to go to Xiong State to scout for targets.
• Zhang named the Xieluosi River and Yedie River Holy Lands as places he knew, but recalled being captured at both.
• The new emperor offered to show Zhang the map Pilan had made after flying around Xiong State for several years, and Zhang eagerly agreed to look at it.

Zhang Xuezhou brought Kong Ning Pilan’s bird’s-eye map of the empire, hoping she could translate it for the new emperor. Kong Ning admitted she could understand the map but not convert it for humans, then agreed to study human maps and geography for the promised dragon oil.

• The new emperor showed Zhang Xuezhou Pilan’s unusual map and explained that no one had been able to translate her bird’s-eye view into a human-readable map.
• Zhang Xuezhou took the map to Kong Ning and offered her a feast, including dragon oil from True Lord Erlang, if she could help decipher it.
• Kong Ning recognized that differences between yao and human ways of understanding made the map difficult to translate, and said she could not do it yet.
• Zhang Xuezhou started to leave, but Kong Ning changed her mind and promised to learn human maps and geography for the dragon oil.
• Kong Ning wondered how Zhang Xuezhou had become connected to Yang Jian and worried that she might have turned down a genuine opportunity.

Zhang Xuezhou told the new emperor about Yang Jian, the southwest, and the Immortal Court’s rumored plan to join the High Heaven Secret Land with Kunlun. The emperor asked him to deliver pills on Mount Tai and search the Northern Border for Xiong State legions, hoping to secure a victory.

• Zhang Xuezhou told the new emperor that Yang Jian had stopped Tang Meng’s advance in the southwest, and the emperor concluded the region was stable for now.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained how he had met Heavenly King Li, Jinzha, and Muzha, and warned the emperor that the Immortal Court’s High Heaven Secret Land might be joined with Kunlun Sacred Land.
• The new emperor considered accompanying Zhang Xuezhou to the border but recognized that the Xiong State legions were scattered and difficult to locate.
• Zhang Xuezhou promised to deliver Grain Avoidance Pills to Heavenly King Li and agreed to search for Xiong State legions while traveling through the Northern Border.
• The new emperor admitted that he needed a victory to rally Great Han’s people.

The empress dowager discussed the new emperor’s precarious war against Xiong State with Zhang Xuezhou and considered how to develop the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique. Their conversation about pill-making and the northern campaign led the empress dowager to recall a possible treasure land.

• The empress dowager told Zhang Xuezhou that the new emperor had no choice but to press on after the battle of Mayi, while Dou Ying and Guan Fu’s Yang Corporeal Soul Bodies remained intact after their deaths.
• The empress dowager and Zhang Xuezhou discussed how to rapidly master the Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation Technique, but a trial would require many top-grade Fortune Pills.
• The empress dowager regretted that Shanglin Park’s medicinal treasures were gone and considered the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains as a source of heavenly materials and earthly treasures.
• After discussing cultivation and the new emperor’s campaign plans, the empress dowager remembered a possible treasure land as Zhang Xuezhou prepared to leave.

Zhang Xuezhou told the new emperor that Dragon City might conceal one of Xiong State’s secret lands, and they planned to search for it after visiting Mount Tai. During their flight, Zhang explained that his recovered Law Power had made piloting the Heaven-Riding Shuttle easier, while the new emperor described why Han Anguo had become an obstacle to his reforms.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor discussed the possibility that Dragon City concealed one of Xiong State’s secret lands and considered how to find it.
• The new emperor found an old record and map of Dragon City, then planned to visit Mount Tai before searching for the city with Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou agreed to the plan, and they flew from Weiyang Palace aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle.
• Zhang Xuezhou said Han Anguo had paid thirty-five qian for the White Deer Coin and that he had recovered more than a tenth of his Law Power.
• The new emperor explained that Han Anguo’s conservative views and political missteps had made him an obstacle to the court’s reforms.

Zhang Xuezhou arrived at Mount Tai, reassured Heavenly King Li that he would investigate Zhu Jiuyin on the Northern Kuru Continent, and set out with the new emperor. He left Mount Tai with a gift from Heavenly King Li and planned to change course after flying toward the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains.

• Zhang Xuezhou piloted the Heaven-Riding Shuttle to Jade Emperor Peak, where he met Heavenly King Li, Jinzha, Muzha, and Rong Tianding playing shefu.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he would investigate Zhu Jiuyin on the Northern Kuru Continent while Heavenly King Li and the others continued patrolling Mount Tai.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Heavenly King Li and the others Grain Avoidance Pills, and Heavenly King Li handed him the Three-Zhang Azure to help him escape Zhu Jiuyin.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor left Mount Tai, and the new emperor questioned Zhang Xuezhou about his friendly dealings with Heavenly King Li's group.
• Zhang Xuezhou told the new emperor that he would fly toward the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains before changing direction, despite Heavenly King Li being able to sense the Three-Zhang Azure.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor crossed the grasslands seeking Dragon City's ancestral grounds, but discovered the Xiong State forces had annihilated Li Guang's legion and captured him. Sensed by powerful pursuers, Zhang Xuezhou fled with the new emperor into the night.

• The new emperor discussed Great Han's need to change and avenge the attacks as he and Zhang Xuezhou traveled north.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor returned to their route toward Chang'an and chose to seek Dragon City's ancestral grounds instead of looking for Wei Qing and Gongsun He.
• The new emperor compared Great Han's logistical burdens with the Xiong State's advantages as they crossed the grasslands.
• Zhang Xuezhou listened to the Xiong State camp below and learned that Li Guang's legion had been destroyed and Li Guang captured.
• Zhang Xuezhou sensed powerful opponents watching them and fled with the new emperor aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle.

Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor escaped pursuit after learning that Li Guang had feigned his injuries and fled, but they were left reeling from the destruction of the Great Han cavalry regiment. They reached Dragon City, where Wei Qing’s forces were fighting, and the new emperor demanded that the defenders explain how to enter and leave the ancestral grounds.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor flew high aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle to evade their pursuers, then heard Nine Spirits Primal Sage and Zhu Jiuyin realize that Li Guang had faked his injuries and escaped.
• Zhang Xuezhou confirmed that they had shaken off the pursuers, while the new emperor grieved over the loss of the ten-thousand-strong cavalry regiment.
• At dawn, Zhang Xuezhou spotted fighting beneath them in Dragon City and saw a Great Han banner flying over the high ground.
• Wei Qing’s troops shot down a masked defender and demanded that the remaining enemies surrender their Law Artifacts.
• The new emperor demanded that the Dragon City defenders reveal how to enter and leave the ancestral grounds, and Wei Qing realized the fighting elsewhere had likely gone badly.

The Han forces captured the Shizhuguduhou at Dragon City and pressured him to reveal how to enter the Dragon City Ancestral Land. He agreed to guide them in exchange for protection in Chang'an City, explaining that a blood sacrifice to his golden statue could open the entrance.

• Wei Qing led the Han cavalry in burning and attacking Dragon City, killing its defenders and capturing the Shizhuguduhou.
• The new emperor ordered the Shizhuguduhou killed, but Wei Qing instead demanded that he reveal the ancestral land's location.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu examined the golden statue and discussed how it might unlock the secret land, making the Shizhuguduhou fear he would soon be useless and killed.
• The Shizhuguduhou surrendered after Wei Qing and the new emperor promised him safety and a residence in Chang'an City.
• The Shizhuguduhou said that fresh blood poured over the golden statue would let him activate Two Dragons Welcome at the Gate and open the Dragon City Ancestral Land.

Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu helped Shizhugudu Marquis Nidulu open Dragon City Ancestral Land, and Wei Qing and the new emperor led Han forces in a surprise attack. After capturing Yudan, the Xiong State crown prince, they demanded to know what the secret land was for.

• Shizhugudu Marquis Nidulu used sacrifices to activate the Heaven-Sacrificing Golden Man and open the ancestral land.
• Wei Qing attacked the Xiong State cultivators who had come to welcome the Great Chanyu, and Han forces killed or trapped their defenders.
• The new emperor and Wei Qing questioned Nidulu about the secret land, and Nidulu identified Yudan as the Left Tuqi King and the Great Chanyu's eldest son.
• Wei Qing defeated Yudan and demanded an explanation; Yudan pleaded that he was half a Great Han man and began explaining the ancestral land.

After defeating Yudan, Wei Qing and the new emperor’s forces seized the Dragon City Ancestral Land and its treasures, while Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu searched for the hidden cache. The new emperor suggested burning the palaces to expose whatever remained concealed.

• Wei Qing defeated Yudan, who explained that the Dragon City Ancestral Land held the Xiong State imperial family’s wealth and sages.
• Yudan said the Xiong State had fought because the Great Chanyu could not defy the Sacred Lands’ edict without risking the imperial family’s replacement.
• The new emperor ordered Yudan to lead them through the palaces, and Han forces began carrying away treasures and binding prisoners.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu questioned Yudan about the Two-Dragon Formation, then split up to search for hidden valuables.
• Wei Qing told the new emperor that Bing’er had marked Dragon City on Pilan’s map and that Dong Zhongshu’s guidance had helped the army reach the secret land.
• The new emperor proposed setting a fire to reveal the hidden treasury, and Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu considered the idea.

Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu entered a hidden secret land beneath the Dragon City Ancestral Land and worked together to stabilize its formation. They uncovered dragon bones and a Blood Dragon among the treasures, and the new emperor ordered the valuables taken away before a surge of Blood Qi struck him.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu used the palace fire to reveal two hidden passages and entered them together to break the formation safely.
• They found two sacrificial tripods, learned that dragon bones and offerings helped pull the secret land along, and searched for the formation implement.
• Zhang Xuezhou lifted dragon bones, destabilizing the underground space, while a Blood Dragon coiled around him.
• Dong Zhongshu and the new emperor attacked the snake in the tripod, and Zhang Xuezhou caught the Blood Dragon and explained the value of its blood.
• The new emperor summoned Wei Qing to carry away the underground treasures, but a wave of Blood Qi surged from a tripod and made his blood boil.

Zhang Xuezhou watched the Blood Qi from Dong Zhongshu’s cauldron give everyone a chance to refine their cultivation, while Dong Zhongshu used the surge to attempt a breakthrough. As Zhang Xuezhou examined a dragon bone, the departed soul of an An Yinglong transformed his Demon Primal Pill and unexpectedly helped him advance the Technique Within the Clouds.

• Blood Qi erupted from Dong Zhongshu’s cauldron, overwhelming those nearby as they refined it or pushed their cultivation forward.
• Dong Zhongshu asked Zhang Xuezhou for pills and used them to attempt a breakthrough to the True Self Realm.
• Zhang Xuezhou stayed beside the cauldron, restrained a blood snake, and examined a pale yellow dragon bone.
• A wounded golden dragon’s departed soul emerged from the bone and approached Zhang Xuezhou’s Demon Primal Pill.
• The dragon soul refined Zhang Xuezhou’s Demon Primal Pill, and he sensed that the Technique Within the Clouds could finally advance.

Zhang Xuezhou fused the Technique Within the Clouds with his body, tangling his Demon Power with his Law Power, while Dong Zhongshu, the new emperor, and Wei Qing each made different use of the Two-Dragon Formation’s power. The group’s discussion ended when soldiers reported that Yudan had killed Nidulu and fled over the mountain with feathered wings.

• Zhang Xuezhou’s Technique Within the Clouds fused with his body, causing his Demon Power and Law Power to intertwine.
• Dong Zhongshu used the Two-Dragon Formation to stabilize his powers and switch between Law Power and Qi and Blood, but failed to enter the True Self Realm.
• The new emperor failed to break through to the True Self Realm and turned to cultivating Qi and Blood martial arts.
• Wei Qing refined his swordsmanship until he could sustain its crisscrossing moves.
• Soldiers reported that Yudan, the Worthy King of the Left, had killed Nidulu, the Shizhugudu Marquis, and flown away behind the mountain with feathered wings.

Wei Qing’s forces emptied the Dragon City Ancestral Land as Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor carried dragon bones toward the exit. When the secret land began separating from Dragon City, the new emperor used Vertical Sword to escape and pulled Zhang Xuezhou through with Three-Zhang Azure.

• The new emperor said Yudan’s escape would let him carry news of the breached Dragon City Ancestral Land, while Wei Qing’s men gathered its valuables.
• Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor carried dragon bones out in step under Dong Zhongshu’s guidance, and Zhang proposed using the Heaven-Riding Shuttle to transport them.
• Su Jian left the secret land before Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor reached the entrance together.
• The secret land began to collapse and separate from Dragon City, leaving Zhang Xuezhou and the new emperor facing a vast gap filled with Geomagnetic Primal Light.
• The new emperor used Vertical Sword to cross the gap, while Zhang Xuezhou tied himself to him with Three-Zhang Azure and was pulled to safety.
• Wei Qing defended Zhang Xuezhou’s risky choice, and the new emperor reconsidered his complaints as they prepared to leave Dragon City.

Zhang Xuezhou returned to Yanmen Pass carrying dragon bones taken from Dragon City’s ancestral land. Cheng Bushi recognized the bones as proof of Wei Qing’s victory in Xiong State’s heartland and proclaimed that Great Han’s war with Xiong State had shifted from defense to offense.

• Zhang Xuezhou flew toward Yanmen Pass on the Heaven-Riding Shuttle, hauling the dragon bones and considering how useful the shuttle would be for transporting heavy treasures.
• Zhang Xuezhou spotted border trade caravans traveling along the road to Yanmen Pass.
• Yanmen Pass’s patrollers aimed their weapons at Zhang Xuezhou until Cheng Bushi recognized him and ordered them to lower their bows and crossbows.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Cheng Bushi that Wei Qing had led the army into Dragon City’s ancestral land and that they had helped carry away what they took.
• Cheng Bushi recognized the dragon bones as Yinglong’s remains and understood that Great Han’s army had won a major victory in Xiong State’s heartland.
• Cheng Bushi announced the victory to the soldiers at Yanmen Pass and declared that Great Han’s approach to war had changed from defense to offense.

Cheng Bushi arranged a diversion at Yanmen Pass and sent the skilled archer Li Ju with Zhang Xuezhou to help protect Wei Qing and the others from Xiong State's pursuit. As they traveled by Heaven-Riding Shuttle, Li Ju struggled with the height and speed but was caught by the Three-Zhang Azure when he tried to land.

• Cheng Bushi ordered cavalry from the Strong Army Camp and the Slender Willow Camp to ride out and distract the Xiong State Legion.
• Cheng Bushi recommended Li Ju, a skilled archer from the Slender Willow Camp, to accompany Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou inspected Li Ju's Cloud-Piercing Bow and Crossbow and invited him aboard the Heaven-Riding Shuttle.
• Li Ju grew sick and frightened during the flight, so Zhang Xuezhou secured him with a strap and reassured him.
• After seeing the cavalry below, Li Ju tried to roll out of the shuttle, but the Three-Zhang Azure caught him and a sturdy hand pulled him over.