Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou mingled with scholars outside Dong Zhongshu’s residence, learned how recommendations and literary talent could lead to office, and decided to seek Dong Zhongshu’s support. When he returned to the guesthouse, he found Zhang Qian meeting the new emperor in their room.

• Zhang Xuezhou avoided the scholars’ requests to recite a fu by claiming he was grieving for the late emperor and praising Sima Xiangru instead.
• The scholars discussed court appointments, the Confucian School’s prospects, and Dong Zhongshu’s absence in Shu Commandery.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided that a recommendation from Dong Zhongshu would be more useful than trading the Full Moon Scimitar Secret Manual for an official post.
• Zhang Xuezhou returned to the guesthouse and found the new emperor there with Zhang Qian.
• The new emperor teased Zhang Qian about his frugal lodging, while Zhang Qian was overwhelmed that the emperor had personally come to see him.

Zhang Xuezhou presented the Full Moon Scimitar Secret Manual to the new emperor and explained that he had received it from a member of the Hunyu Tribe in exchange for teaching an incarnation method. The emperor offered rewards for further intelligence and secret manuals, and Zhang Xuezhou asked what he would receive for the one he had brought.

• The new emperor asked Zhang Xuezhou about the Full Moon Scimitar Secret Manual and revealed that Emperor Jing had once ordered him to monitor or eliminate people who had traveled to Lingnan.
• Zhang Xuezhou identified himself as Dongfang Shuo, and the new emperor accepted that he had changed his name rather than pressuring him about the first-grade Technique he had been promised.
• The new emperor asked how Zhang Xuezhou had obtained the Full Moon Scimitar, and Zhang Xuezhou said he had traded an incarnation method to Bo'erdunha of the Hunyu Tribe for it.
• The new emperor recognized the manual as a valuable mounted-combat art and offered a Mountain-Subduing Stone, an official post, or a large sum of money for further manuals and reliable intelligence about Xiong State.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked what reward he would receive for the secret manual he was presenting.

Zhang Xuezhou exchanged the Full Moon Scimitar Secret Manual for a Vajra Talisman after the new emperor explained why he could not privately grant him a Mountain-Subduing Stone. Zhang Qian planned to resign his military post and return to Chang'an City, while Zhang Xuezhou asked to borrow money so he could stay there.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked the new emperor for a reward, but learned that a Mountain-Subduing Stone and official post required formal procedures and were beyond the emperor's private authority.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he wanted a Mountain-Subduing Stone for its illusion-making power, and the new emperor warned that his cultivation was too low to refine one.
• Zhang Qian reminded Zhang Xuezhou that he had originally wanted a Vajra Talisman, and the new emperor gave him one in exchange for the manual.
• Zhang Qian said he would return to Yanmen Pass to resign his post before seeking an official position in Chang'an City.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Zhang Qian to lend him money so he could stay in Chang'an City and said he hoped to meet Academician Dong Zhongshu.
• The new emperor departed with the Full Moon Scimitar Secret Manual after telling Zhang Qian to make his trip quickly.

Zhang Qian told Zhang Xuezhou that the new emperor had ordered him to resign from the army and apply for a court post, prompting Zhang Xuezhou to consider his own prospects and seek Dong Zhongshu's help assessing his treasures. When Zhang Xuezhou went to visit Dong Zhongshu, he accidentally struck him with a stone, discovering that Dong Zhongshu had returned and Rong Tianding was with him.

• Zhang Qian told Zhang Xuezhou that the new emperor had instructed him to resign from the Western Border Military District and submit a brief application for an official position.
• Zhang Xuezhou asked Zhang Qian to recommend him someday, but soon lost interest in becoming an official and hoped instead that Zhang Qian would help him later.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided to wait for Dong Zhongshu to return and examine the Yellow Sand Technique and other treasures from the Xieluosi River Holy Land.
• At dawn, Zhang Xuezhou carved a short meeting request onto a stone and threw it into the Dong Residence, striking Dong Zhongshu on the head.
• Rong Tianding opened the gate and called Zhang Xuezhou inside, explaining that Dong Zhongshu had just returned and the courtyard was blocked by scholars' calling slips.

Zhang Xuezhou visited Dong Zhongshu, bringing him a prized Yellow Sand Sect Technique and giving Rong Tianding a protective Vajra Talisman. The visit ended with Dong Zhongshu poisoned by the secret manual, leaving him to wonder whether Zhang Xuezhou's misfortune was affecting everyone around him.

• Dong Zhongshu treated the injury Zhang Xuezhou suffered after mistaking a falling stone for a calling card, then asked him to sort the courtyard's piled-up cards.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Dong Zhongshu the Yellow Sand Sect Secret Scroll: Yellow Sand Technique, and they began studying it together.
• Zhang Xuezhou gave Rong Tianding a Vajra Talisman and explained how to use it.
• Dong Zhongshu discovered that the secret manual was poisoned and used pills and a detoxification Technique to survive.
• Dong Zhongshu wondered whether Zhang Xuezhou's bad luck had begun affecting those around him.

Zhang Xuezhou worried that his fortune had turned bad and asked Dong Zhongshu how to improve it, while refusing to admit he was unlucky. Dong Zhongshu came to see Zhang Xuezhou as a benefactor and looked forward to examining his treasures after Zhang Xuezhou woke from his sleep.

• Dong Zhongshu recited the Tomb Scripture and made a wish while Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding joined in.
• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on his recent misfortunes and the benefactors who had helped him, then asked Dong Zhongshu how to improve his fortune.
• Zhang Xuezhou insisted that his treasures proved he was lucky and promised to show Dong Zhongshu another fine treasure in a few days.
• Dong Zhongshu agreed to wait until Zhang Xuezhou woke before discussing the poison-coated Yellow Sand Technique, and Zhang Xuezhou mentioned an External Incarnation Technique.
• Dong Zhongshu grew excited by Zhang Xuezhou's treasures and concluded that his own bad luck, not Zhang Xuezhou, was the problem.

During a storm, Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that she could see and hear an ancient emperor communicating with her across worlds. Zhang Xuezhou believed her and gave her words from the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique to recite, hoping the emperor would explain them.

• Rong Tianding struggled to shelter Zhang Xuezhou and Dong Zhongshu in the neglected Dong Residence as the storm broke over Chang'an.
• Zhang Xuezhou woke in Western Capital City and found Ren Anran transfixed by the rain, claiming someone in a pavilion was speaking to her.
• Ren Anran spoke in strange sounds and ancient languages, then showed Zhang Xuezhou drawings of an emperor who seemed to be addressing her and strengthening her mental power.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized the emperor and suspected an Incantation Technique coordinate linked their worlds.
• Zhang Xuezhou wrote out a phonetic version of the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique and asked Ren Anran to recite it to the emperor to test whether he could explain it.
• Ren Anran asked whether Zhang Xuezhou knew the figure, and Zhang Xuezhou said he was a jianghu emperor who had lived for over a thousand years.

The Emperor and Empress discussed Ren Anran’s world and arranged for Cai Ma to search for Zhang Xuezhou. The Emperor then used his divine soul to find Ren Anran again, where he saw her speaking but could not hear or understand her.

• The Emperor told the Empress that Ren Anran lived in a vast, unfamiliar world and showed her an abstract painting of the room he had seen through Ren Anran’s eyes.
• The Emperor urged the Empress to keep practicing Divine Soul Strengthening so she might one day see the upper realm with him.
• The Empress decided to send Cai Ma to find Zhang Xuezhou, and the Emperor agreed that Cai Ma should take protective treasures.
• After the Empress left to prepare Cai Ma’s journey, the Emperor meditated on the spirit incense and let his divine soul drift through the void.
• The Emperor followed his Law Power mark to Ren Anran and saw her speaking, but he could neither hear her voice nor understand her language.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran worked through the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique, and Ren Yisheng used it to regain a physical body. The transformation succeeded but left him a tiny, translucent figure, shocking Ren Anran and Zhang Xuezhou.

• Ren Yisheng endured his despair while listening to Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran repeatedly discuss the technique.
• Ren Yisheng remembered that he had decided to attempt the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique rather than wait any longer.
• Ren Yisheng followed the written notes with his mental power, and a thin covering formed around him as the chill receded.
• Ren Yisheng manifested a human body around the Soul Jade, but he was only about three inches tall and remained blurry and translucent.
• Ren Yisheng coughed to attract attention, and Ren Anran and Zhang Xuezhou turned to see his unusual new form.

Ren Yisheng used Zhang Xuezhou’s incomplete Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique to emerge from the Soul Jade as a small, blurry incarnation, but he could not reconnect with his physical body. After discovering that his new form depended on the Soul Jade’s Spiritual Qi, he decided to seek more from the Tur Tribe in the Thousand Islands Alliance.

• Ren Yisheng quickly mastered the incomplete Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique and formed a small Yang Corporeal Soul Incarnation outside his body.
• Ren Anran asked whether Ren Yisheng could return to his physical body, and he tried the method Zhang Xuezhou had written down before reappearing from the Soul Jade.
• Ren Yisheng examined his frozen body and said it felt like armor rather than his true self, which he sensed was connected to the Soul Jade.
• Ren Yisheng tested his abilities, found he could not use the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique, and soon exhausted the Spiritual Qi in the Soul Jade.
• Ren Yisheng concluded that he needed more Soul Jade and decided to seek it from his old adversary in the Thousand Islands Alliance.

Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Tuer Kalanduo to take him to the Thousand Islands Alliance, while Ren Anran joined them and explained how a Sequence Grand Gathering could settle disputes among the Scarlet Alliance State's major Households. The chapter left the Zuo Household facing likely defeat if the gathering was held.

• Zhang Xuezhou met Tuer Kalanduo outside Jishi Medical Center and asked her to lead him to the Tuer Clan's territory to see its deity and Soul Jade.
• Tuer Kalanduo agreed to leave for the Thousand Islands Alliance with Zhang Xuezhou, and Ren Anran arrived with travel documents to accompany them as his doctor.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that disputes over broadcasting The Smiling, Proud Wanderer could deepen conflicts between Western Capital City and local Households and lead to a Sequence Grand Gathering.
• Ren Anran explained that Sequence Holders had to stake valuable interests to participate in the gathering, which redistributed power and privileges among Households.
• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that the Zuo Household would likely suffer at the gathering, and Ren Anran agreed that it faced withdrawal or certain defeat.

Zhang Xuezhou, Ren Anran, Ren Yisheng, and Tuer Kalanduo traveled to the Thousand Islands Alliance, where Tuer Kalanduo warned Zhang Xuezhou about the Tur Tribe’s customs and asked him to return her Soul Jade. Zhang Xuezhou passed the jade to Ren Anran instead, leaving her worried that it would cause trouble.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the others boarded an Airbus for the Thousand Islands Alliance, while Ren Anran worried about the Tur Tribe’s hostility toward Ren Yisheng and the danger of Zhang Xuezhou’s connection to Tuer Kalanduo.
• Ren Anran reassured herself that Zhang Xuezhou and Tuer Kalanduo had a relatively normal relationship, though she noticed Tuer Kalanduo watching him closely.
• After the Airbus crossed the Scarlet Alliance State’s border, Tuer Kalanduo reminded Zhang Xuezhou to follow local customs and asked for the Soul Jade back when they reached home.
• Zhang Xuezhou refused to return the Soul Jade, claiming he needed it and asking whether Ren Anran could keep it instead.
• Zhang Xuezhou placed the Soul Jade in Ren Anran’s hand, and she grew uneasy about the trouble it could bring.

Zhang Xuezhou, Ren Anran, and Tuer Kalanduo arrived in Tutram City, where Tuer Kelanduo declared Ren Anran an heir to the Tuer Clan. Ren Anran accepted the inheritance and a new name, while Zhang Xuezhou only regained his senses after she left to call an elders' meeting.

• Zhang Xuezhou, Ren Anran, and Tuer Kalanduo reached Tutram City after a long journey and saw the Tur people’s lively, modest way of life.
• Tuer Kalanduo brought her guests to her home, where they ate convenience food while waiting for her family.
• Tuer Kelanduo arrived and told Ren Anran that defeating Kalanduo and taking the Soul Jade made her the Tuer Clan’s sixty-eighth heir.
• Ren Anran objected to inheriting, but Tuer Kelanduo’s gaze left her muddled, and she agreed to the inheritance.
• Tuer Kelanduo renamed Ren Anran Tuer Anlanduo and left to call an elders’ meeting, while Zhang Xuezhou applauded and then regained his senses.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran encountered the Tuer Clan’s mind-influencing customs, and Ren Anran gradually resisted Tuer Kelanduo’s influence. Tuer Kelanduo led Ren Anran to a succession ceremony, while Zhang Xuezhou watched from a locked room as strange sounds and starlight appeared at the shrine.

• Tuer Kelanduo’s Divine Spirit Aura made Ren Anran begin obeying Tuer Clan customs, while Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng discussed how to resist it.
• Zhang Xuezhou noticed that Ren Anran was starting to break free, and Tuer Kalanduo questioned whether a god was inside the Soul Jade.
• Tuer Kelanduo returned with an item inlaid with Soul Jade and led Ren Anran away to convene the elders and begin succession verification.
• Tuer Kalanduo told Zhang Xuezhou that losing the Soul Jade could mean her death, then showed him Ren Anran standing before the Divine Spirit shrine.
• Zhang Xuezhou watched the elders circle Ren Anran as starlight shimmered above the shrine and an ancient-beast-like growl sounded.

Zhang Xuezhou watched Ren Anran’s recognition as the Tuer Clan’s new heir while questioning Tuer Kalanduo about the clan’s customs and power. When the Tuer God began reclaiming Kalanduo’s ability, Zhang Xuezhou broke the curse mark afflicting her and warned her to hide her power, leaving him uncertain whether the deity was a demon.

• Zhang Xuezhou learned from Tuer Kalanduo that the Tuer Clan’s chieftain held final authority and that Kalanduo had likely been stripped of her position as crown prince.
• Tuer Kalanduo sensed the Tuer God reclaiming her ability and warned Zhang Xuezhou to close the window and avoid looking toward the shrine.
• Tuer Kalanduo weakened rapidly as the loss of her Divine Spirit Aura threatened to kill her, and she called on Zhang Xuezhou for help.
• Zhang Xuezhou identified a faint curse mark on Tuer Kalanduo and used his Law Power to break it.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned Tuer Kalanduo to suppress her ability so the Tuer God would not discover it, then wondered whether the deity was a demon.

Zhang Xuezhou learned how the Tuer God had awakened Tuer Kalanduo’s Divine Spirit Aura and realized the Tuer Clan’s succession ritual had put her in danger. After the Tuer God roared from the shrine, Tuer Kalanduo heard her mother cry out and begged Zhang Xuezhou to save her, but the locked, fortified house kept him from leaving.

• Tuer Kalanduo told Zhang Xuezhou that the Tuer God was a stone tool wrapped in Soul Jade and that she had awakened her ability after hearing its voice.
• Zhang Xuezhou learned that Tuer Kalanduo’s mother had predicted the trip to Professor Ren’s funeral and suspected the chief had arranged for Ren Anran to take Kalanduo’s place.
• The Tuer God roared from the shrine, and Tuer Kalanduo screamed as her strength and spirits continued to fail.
• Tuer Kalanduo heard her mother cry out in terror and pleaded with Zhang Xuezhou to save her.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that the locked doors, reinforced structure, and blast-resistant glass prevented him from escaping to help, while the elders continued chanting prayers.

Zhang Xuezhou and Tuer Kalanduo escaped through a secret passage into the divine shrine, where the elders were tormenting Tuer Kelanduo. They incapacitated the elders, and Tuer Kalanduo rushed to her mother while Zhang Xuezhou turned to face the Tuer Clan's deity.

• Tuer Kalanduo revealed a hidden passage in her home, and Zhang Xuezhou pushed her down into it before following.
• Tuer Kalanduo led Zhang Xuezhou through the passage to the divine shrine and explained that its elders had no sequence abilities.
• Tuer Kalanduo agreed to attack the elders to save her mother, and the pair approached the main hall.
• Tuer Kalanduo and Zhang Xuezhou shot the elders, stopping their chanting and incapacitating them.
• Tuer Kalanduo cried out to her mother, who was writhing on the floor, as Zhang Xuezhou looked toward the deity.

Zhang Xuezhou removed the Soul Jade from Tuer God’s stone axe and was struck by a curse that attacked his consciousness. He used the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique to absorb Spiritual Qi, and a red light appeared in the darkness of his mind as Tuer God challenged it.

• Zhang Xuezhou removed Soul Jade from Tuer God’s stone axe, causing its links to Tuer Kelanduo and Ren Anran to fade and a curse to drain his strength.
• Tuer Kalanduo broke off another piece of Soul Jade with her tranquilizer gun, then said she had run out of darts.
• Tuer God’s human-headed, deer-bodied apparition attacked Zhang Xuezhou’s consciousness, threatening the moon and the tree within his mental world.
• Zhang Xuezhou began using the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique to absorb the Spiritual Qi supplied by the Soul Jade.
• Tuer God shattered the reflected earth in Zhang Xuezhou’s mind, then stopped when a red light appeared and challenged it to a war of gods.

Ren Anran and Ren Yisheng tried to save Zhang Xuezhou after the Tuer God’s power struck him, and Ren Yisheng discovered that Soul Jade’s Spiritual Qi sustained his spirit form. As Tuer Kelanduo knocked the stone axe loose, Ren Yisheng saw Hongku emerging from Zhang Xuezhou’s forehead and witnessed a clash between Hongku and the Tuer God.

• Ren Anran regained awareness, saw Zhang Xuezhou in trouble, and urged the others to save him.
• Ren Yisheng formed a spirit body from the Soul Jade and found that its Spiritual Qi restored his strength, but he could not move the stone axe.
• Ren Yisheng called for help, and Tuer Kelanduo hurled her ceremonial staff at the stone axe, scattering the surrounding Soul Jade.
• Ren Yisheng saw blood coming from Zhang Xuezhou’s eyes and recognized the black core of Hongku pushing through his forehead.
• Ren Yisheng heard Hongku and the Tuer God challenge each other, then saw a great axe split the sky and reveal the shrine.

Zhang Xuezhou was caught between Tuer God's axe and the fleeing Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, while Ren Yisheng warned that his body was suffering a backlash. Facing death, Zhang Xuezhou used the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique to shape the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon into a body, and two enormous red eyes appeared in the darkness.

• Tuer God cleaved through Zhang Xuezhou's mental sky and struck the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, revealing the distant divine shrine beyond the blood-red darkness.
• Ren Yisheng warned that Zhang Xuezhou's head was splitting open as the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon tried to escape through his forehead.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Zhang Manqian's prediction of his bloodied head had come true, then used the Yang Corporeal Soul Transformation Technique to resist Tuer God and restrain the demon's escape.
• Zhang Xuezhou redirected the technique toward the Extraterrestrial Heavenly Demon, hoping to give it a body so it could fight Tuer God.
• The dark red mass took form, and two enormous red eyes gazed down at Zhang Xuezhou.