Chapter Summaries

Zhang Xuezhou and the others discussed how to counter the giant moth while Tuer Lantu fought it, and they waited for reinforcements. The chapter ended when a strangely behaving Tuer Lantu appeared near them, his eyes glowing red and his movements uncoordinated.

• Zhang Xuezhou and the others weighed the giant moth’s abilities and considered how to injure or kill it.
• Tuer Kalanduo urged the Thousand Islands Alliance to respond and worried about Tuer Lantu, while Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran believed he could endure the fight.
• Wang Haoran considered using a special metal explosive against the moth, and Zhang Xuezhou sensed immense fire power within the metal.
• A paladin went to scout Tuer Lantu’s condition as the group rested and searched for useful tools.
• Tuer Lantu emerged from behind a slope with glowing red eyes, licking his lips and moving erratically, leaving Zhang Xuezhou chilled by his gaze.

Tuer Lantu advanced on the group in a bizarre state, enduring gunfire and Zhang Xuezhou’s Infinite Blade while attacking with his Demonic Watch. Zhang Xuezhou realized Tuer Lantu could evade opponents only after he had time to adapt, and Wang Haoran gave Zhang Manqian a piece of special metal to throw at him.

• Tuer Lantu ignored warnings and kept approaching while repeating that they should kill the Ferocious Beast together.
• Ren Anran shot Tuer Lantu, but he continued forward, and Zhang Xuezhou’s Infinite Blade injured his knee without stopping him.
• Tuer Yongduolu shot Tuer Lantu in the heart, but Tuer Lantu attacked with eight watches that pierced the grand elder and lifted him into the air.
• Wang Haoran blocked a watch for Tuer Kalanduo while Ren Anran and Zhang Xuezhou defended the group, and Zhang Xuezhou deduced that Tuer Lantu adapted to opponents after their first move.
• Wang Haoran handed Zhang Manqian the special metal and told her to throw it at Tuer Lantu without speaking or otherwise acting beforehand.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others killed Tuer Lantu by using explosive special metal, then discovered a white worm among his remains. They rescued the wounded Tuer Yongduolu, who recovered and prayed to the Tuer God.

• Zhang Manqian hurled a piece of explosive special metal at Tuer Lantu's Demonic Watch, setting his arm and much of his body ablaze.
• Tuer Lantu collapsed, and Wang Haoran struck his body with the metal again, burning it away and exposing half of a white worm.
• Zhang Xuezhou, Zhang Manqian, Wang Haoran, and Ren Anran suspected the worm and Tuer Lantu's strange vitality were connected to the giant moth.
• Tuer Kalanduo called for help as Tuer Yongduolu lay critically wounded with the round watch embedded in his skull.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Wang Haoran cut the watch free and treated Tuer Yongduolu, who recovered and prayed to the Tuer God.

Zhang Xuezhou and the others realized the giant moth’s influence had spread beyond Tuer Lantu, after calls to Tuer Nalan and a holy warrior went unanswered and a communicator began echoing Tuer Kalanduo’s words. As Tuer Kalanduo tried to mobilize the Thousand Islands Alliance, Zhang Xuezhou and Zhang Manqian considered the danger of other breeding supernatural creatures and whether they might have contributed to the Qinmeng Empire’s destruction.

• Tuer Kalanduo repeatedly called the missing holy warrior and Tuer Nalan, but neither answered at first.
• Tuer Nalan’s communicator connected and repeated Tuer Kalanduo’s questions in her own voice, then spoke unexpectedly about wounded people going mad.
• Zhang Xuezhou warned that more people might be controlled by insects and urged Tuer Kalanduo to seal off the area, deploy firepower, and evacuate nearby satellite cities.
• Tuer Kalanduo repeatedly contacted elders and Lineage heads and tried to begin parliamentary procedures while arguing over the response.
• Zhang Manqian asked whether the Scarlet Alliance State might harbor unknown Ferocious Beasts, and Zhang Xuezhou discussed possible causes of the Qinmeng Empire’s collapse.

Ren Anran and Zhang Xuezhou worried that Tuer Kalanduo would be blamed for the giant moth’s destruction and executed by the Tuer Religion. Zhang Xuezhou sought a way to help her leave without abandoning her people, and began by trying to obtain guidance from the god in the Soul Jade.

• Ren Anran warned that Tuer Kalanduo could be sacrificed if the Divine Grace Lineages held her responsible for the disaster.
• Ren Anran and Zhang Xuezhou considered taking Tuer Kalanduo away before the giant moth reached a nearby satellite city.
• Ren Anran suggested forcibly knocking Tuer Kalanduo out and escaping with her, but Zhang Xuezhou worried it would cause an international dispute.
• Zhang Xuezhou went to Tuer Kalanduo at the night camp and asked whether her god had given her guidance.
• Tuer Kalanduo said the god in the Soul Jade had remained silent, so Zhang Xuezhou took Zhang Manqian’s Soul Jade and shook it to try to communicate.

Zhang Xuezhou and Huang agreed that the Tur People had few reliable ways to defeat the giant moth, and Huang warned that Tuer Kalanduo would remain in danger if she left without a convincing purpose. Zhang Xuezhou devised a plan for Kalanduo to travel to Qinmeng and invite Zhou Xin, whose abilities might let him ambush the beast.

• Huang told Zhang Xuezhou that neither a Sixth Sequence Holder nor concentrated gunfire offered a reliable way to stop the giant moth.
• Zhang Xuezhou proposed taking Tuer Kalanduo away, but Huang warned that an oracle could not justify her departure without a useful mission.
• Huang explained that Tuer Kalanduo remained at risk because some Divine Grace Lineages had tacitly supported Tuer Lantu.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized Kalanduo could travel to Qinmeng to invite Zhou Xin, whose resistance to poison, acid, and impacts could help him fight the giant moth.
• Zhang Xuezhou planned to ask Zhou Yueyan about the sailing schedule so Kalanduo could invite Zhou Xin and give the Tur People a defensible reason for her departure.

Zhang Xuezhou tried to use a divine oracle to send Tuer Kalanduo to Qinmeng, but Grand Elder Tuer Yongduolu misinterpreted it and chose Tuer Kelanduo instead. Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran realized the unexpected plan could still help Tuer Kelanduo and her daughter gain control of the Tuer Clan, though it left Tuer Kalanduo in danger.

• Grand Elder Tuer Yongduolu woke from a stupor and claimed God had ordered the youngest, bravest, and most renowned to seek hope in Qinmeng.
• Zhang Xuezhou tried to steer the oracle toward Tuer Kalanduo, but Tuer Yongduolu insisted it referred to three people and named former chieftain Tuer Kelanduo as the renowned one.
• Tuer Yongduolu contacted the clan elders and chiefs, and they settled on sending Tuer Kelanduo to Qinmeng while Tuer Kalanduo remained behind.
• Ren Anran told Zhang Xuezhou that Tuer Kelanduo would need his help to find Zhou Xin, whose location in Qinmeng was closely guarded.
• Ren Anran explained that the oracle might keep the Tuer Clan from fighting the Ferocious Beast recklessly and could give Tuer Kelanduo and her daughter a chance to take control of the clan.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Anran planned to help Tuer Kalanduo gain influence in the Tuer Clan while the group struggled to repair their vehicle. They boarded aircraft sent by Tuer Yongduolu, but Zhang Xuezhou spotted red lights approaching and realized the giant moth had been watching them.

• Ren Anran explained that helping Tuer Kalanduo seize the initiative against the giant moth could earn the group a powerful ally and strengthen her position in the Tuer Clan.
• Zhang Xuezhou joined Zhang Manqian and Tuer Kalanduo in trying to repair the mountain vehicle, but they could not get it working.
• Tuer Yongduolu arranged for aircraft to take the group back and asked Ren Anran for aid for the Tuer Clan.
• Two aircraft arrived, and the group climbed aboard using a rope ladder.
• Zhang Xuezhou saw red lights approaching in the night sky and urged everyone to hurry, warning that the giant moth had been watching them.

After escaping the Gebala Cave Corridor, Zhang Xuezhou urged Tuer Kalanduo to prepare for trouble and obtain Soul Jade, while she took charge in Tutram City. New reports of deaths and a resurrection outbreak in Laiyata City left Tuer Kalanduo fearing the giant moth’s invasion was already spreading.

• Zhang Xuezhou warned Tuer Kalanduo that the giant moth might claim a hundred li as its territory and told her to blame it for disputed accounts, including the lost aircraft.
• Tuer Kalanduo returned to Tutram City, drove the Fourth Elder and his followers out of the shrine, and took three pieces of Soul Jade for Zhang Xuezhou.
• The Fourth Elder reported that half of Patriarch Tuer Lantu’s body had been found on Mount Aom, and Tuer Kalanduo blamed the Ferocious Beast.
• The Fourth Elder said Patriarch Tuer Nalan had gone mad, killed more than a thousand people in Laiyata City, and been killed by General Tuer Nuonuoqi with a rocket launcher.
• The Fourth Elder reported that the people killed in Laiyata City had risen again, and Tuer Kalanduo feared the giant moth’s eggs could turn the city into a disaster zone.

After twelve days unconscious in the Marquis of Pingyang’s residence, Zhang Xuezhou woke and learned that a pill had triggered a scandal involving the new emperor’s court. The medical examination cleared him, easing the Marquis’s troubles, while the emperor remained interested in finding a cure for Zhang Xuezhou’s head ailment.

• Zhang Xuezhou woke after twelve days and asked Rong Tianding whether they had accompanied the emperor to offer sacrifices to the ancestors.
• Rong Tianding told Zhang Xuezhou that medical officer Du Luo had blamed his collapse on something he ate and that Grand Astrologer Sima Tan had been knocked unconscious by the resulting stench.
• Zhang Xuezhou said he could not remember which pill he had taken, and Rong Tianding stopped pressing him when he realized the answer was meant for others to hear.
• Du Luo brought the Marquis of Pingyang, the new emperor, and Princess Yangxin to check on Zhang Xuezhou, and the Marquis apologized for the pill nearly harming him.
• The new emperor and Princess Yangxin agreed that the pill’s lack of effect was fortunate, and Du Luo’s examination found Zhang Xuezhou healthy enough to leave the residence’s care.
• The new emperor regretted Zhang Xuezhou’s short life expectancy but resolved to prioritize any effective treatment for his head ailment.

After recovering from the effects of the pill, Zhang Xuezhou suspected the gourd’s Spirit-Forging Pills had damaged his stomach and intestines, while the Life-Creating Fortune Pill had helped repair his Heaven and Earth Bridges. He decided he might need more of the rare pills and would eventually have to rely on Yao Yuanguang to reach the Eastern Heavenly Gate Secret Realm.

• The new emperor questioned Zhang Xuezhou about his health, accepted his explanation that the Grain Avoidance Technique helped him endure hunger, and agreed to a banquet celebrating his recovery.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined his body and concluded that the gourd’s Spirit-Forging Pills, rather than hunger, had likely caused his stomach and intestinal trouble.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered the dangers associated with the gourds and resolved to seek more Life-Creating Fortune Pills, possibly through Primordial Lord Golden Rosy Clouds.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized that reaching the Eastern Heavenly Gate Secret Realm might require Yao Yuanguang’s help, and planned to offer his martial uncle another gift when the time came.
• Rong Tianding invited Zhang Xuezhou to the banquet, and Zhang Xuezhou noticed that twelve days had passed and spring had arrived.

At the Marquis of Pingyang’s banquet, Sima Tan questioned Zhang Xuezhou about the poison pill and warned him that his credentials could cause trouble if he rose to high office. Sima Tan’s illness from the pill’s odor led Zhang Xuezhou to suspect that people who had taken pills refined in Yi Shuo’s gourd, including Chunyu Tiying, Zheng Wukong, and Wei Shao'er, might be in danger.

• Rong Tianding and Zhang Xuezhou attended the lavish banquet, where they mostly ate and drank while performances entertained the guests.
• Sima Tan introduced himself to Zhang Xuezhou and said that breathing in the odor around him had caused nausea, nightmares, and other symptoms.
• Sima Tan warned Zhang Xuezhou that his untraceable credentials might be challenged if he later held a position above Governor Wen Weng’s, and Zhang Xuezhou thanked him.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that he still suffered spells of unconsciousness after a curse and skull surgery, but felt better after waking from the episode following the poison pill.
• Sima Tan recalled that the odor reminded him of Imperial Medical Officer Yili, and Zhang Xuezhou connected the smell to pills made in Yi Shuo’s gourd.
• Zhang Xuezhou reasoned that Chunyu Tiying, Zheng Wukong, and Wei Shao'er might be at risk because they had taken pills refined in the gourd.

At the Marquis of Pingyang’s banquet, the new emperor arranged for Dongfang Shuo and Sima Tan to travel together and planned a private performance by Wei Zifu. The banquet also served as a farewell before the emperor’s journey to pay homage to his ancestors, and Sima Tan left with a favorable impression of the Marquis.

• The new emperor asked Wei Qing to arrange for Dongfang Shuo and Sima Tan to share a carriage so they could grow closer.
• The new emperor summoned Wei Zifu, rewarded her with wine, and agreed to Princess Yangxin’s plan for a private performance after the banquet.
• The guests treated Zhang Xuezhou’s good health and attendance as proof that the Marquis of Pingyang had not poisoned a court minister.
• Princess Yangxin announced the emperor’s departure the next day to pay homage to his ancestors, revealing that the gathering was also a farewell banquet.
• Sima Tan judged that the Marquis of Pingyang had shown restraint and frugality, leaving him with a slightly favorable impression.

During the journey, Sima Tan drew closer to Zhang Xuezhou and learned that he carried a faint smell linked to a dangerous presence. Sima Tan suspected it came from the Marquis of Pingyang's pill and watched Zhang Xuezhou, unsure whether he or Zhang Xuezhou would die first.

• Sima Tan joined Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding's carriage and talked with them about women, marriage, and the prices of women in Chang'an City.
• Zhang Xuezhou probed Sima Tan's Yang Corporeal Soul abilities and learned how far Sima Tan could observe and travel.
• Sima Tan became part of Zhang Xuezhou's circle by the time the convoy made camp.
• Sima Tan examined Zhang Xuezhou and confirmed he carried a faint smell like the one associated with Yili and the Grand Empress Dowager.
• Sima Tan suspected the Marquis of Pingyang's pill caused the smell and kept watch on Zhang Xuezhou, while wondering whether he might die first.

The imperial convoy traveled toward Fengxi Marsh as Sima Tan told Zhang Xuezhou and Rong Tianding legends about Emperor Gaozu and his defeat-reversing sword. Zhang Xuezhou arrived in the Liang Lands near the site where Gaozu slew the white dragon and began building Great Han's Fortune.

• The convoy reached the former Beast Taming Sect territory and neared Fengxi Marsh, where the King of Liang's sons were waiting for the new emperor.
• Sima Tan explained that the founding history of Great Han was difficult to verify because Emperor Gaozu's victories and rise seemed impossible to reconcile with the records.
• Zhang Xuezhou compared his own seven years of travels and errands with Gaozu's founding of a dynasty in the same span.
• Sima Tan described a sword that supposedly helped Gaozu turn defeat into victory, while Zhang Xuezhou connected the story to the Snake-Slaying Sword.
• Rong Tianding questioned the sword's rumored power, and Sima Tan said it eventually became too comfortable and lost its strength.
• The convoy entered the Fengxi Marsh area, where Zhang Xuezhou saw the King of Liang's tomb and the place where Gaozu slew the white dragon.

The new emperor traveled to Fengxi Marsh with witnesses and the Red Empyrean Sword to perform a sacrifice at the place where Emperor Gaozu had slain the dragon, hoping to strengthen his legitimacy. After Zhao Zhou completed the preliminary rites, the new emperor was unexpectedly told to read the sacrificial text himself.

• The new emperor arrived at Fengxi Marsh, where the five sons of the King of Liang greeted him with their troops.
• The new emperor recalled Emperor Gaozu’s legend at the stele and ordered his attendants to search the area while Zhang Xuezhou accompanied him and Sima Tan.
• The new emperor gave Zhao Zhou the Red Empyrean Sword and asked him to include it in a sacrifice to Emperor Gaozu.
• Zhao Zhou organized the officials and the King of Liang’s sons to prepare the altar, offer incense and livestock blood, play ceremonial music, and recite the rites.
• Zhao Zhou told the new emperor to read the sacrificial text, and the new emperor reluctantly stepped forward to improvise.

During the Fengxi Marsh sacrifice, Zhang Xuezhou used the Feng Shui Site Surveying Technique and realized the altar faced the wrong direction. He persuaded Sima Tan to challenge the ceremony’s orientation, leaving the new emperor and Zhao Zhou to decide how to proceed.

• The new emperor recited a sacrificial prayer, and Zhang Xuezhou noticed that its wording resembled the Tomb Scripture and Letting Be.
• Zhang Xuezhou reasoned that Fengxi Marsh might respond to the rightful imperial bloodline and a Fortune Technique sacrifice, then used his Feng Shui Site Surveying Technique to locate the correct direction.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Sima Tan that countryside sacrifices should face south of east and urged him to raise the issue with the new emperor.
• Sima Tan questioned the altar’s orientation, and the new emperor asked Zhao Zhou whether the claim was true.
• Unable to verify the rule, Zhao Zhou insisted the ceremony should also worship the southeast and suggested they could repeat the rites in other directions if necessary.

During the ancestral ceremony, an earth-and-rain phenomenon showed the new emperor a vision of Emperor Gaozu fighting a giant yao with the Red Empyrean Sword. After the emperor realized he had swapped the real sword for Princess Yangxin’s imitation, he completed the rite with the fake sword and claimed it as a symbol of his imperial legitimacy.

• The five kings watched the new emperor’s ceremony from the outskirts while Zhang Xuezhou and Sima Tan quietly praised his conduct and drew closer to each other.
• A dragon-like cry, trembling earth, rainbow light, and fine rain interrupted the ceremony, and Zhao Zhou urged the new emperor to perform another rite for the supposed auspicious sign.
• The new emperor used the confusion to have Attendant Guo swap the Red Empyrean Sword for Princess Yangxin’s imitation.
• While reciting the prayer, the new emperor saw a vision of Emperor Gaozu battling a huge white yao with the Red Empyrean Sword and wondered how the sword had helped him grow stronger.
• The rainbow’s light descended toward the altar, but the new emperor realized the real sword was gone and feared it had missed a chance to awaken.
• The new emperor took up the imitation, declared he would carry on his ancestor’s will, and raised the sword toward the sky.

The new emperor used the Red Empyrean Sword to secure the assembled officials and kings’ support for his rule. Zhang Xuezhou realized the sword was a fake and that the ceremony concealed the truth about the King of Liang’s transformation, leaving him aware of a dangerous secret about the emperor.

• The new emperor revealed the upright Red Empyrean Sword, prompting the assembled kings to abandon their schemes and Sima Tan to proclaim that Heaven blessed Great Han.
• Zhao Zhou bowed to the new emperor and declared that Emperor Gaozu protected him and that he had received Heaven’s mandate.
• The new emperor claimed the mandate of heaven, cut through the sword’s sandalwood box, and vowed to carry on his ancestor’s will as officials, kings, and soldiers shouted their support.
• While using the Acupoint-Fixing Technique, Zhang Xuezhou triggered a geomagnetic response that recorded the King of Liang’s sacrificial transformation into a white dragon.
• Zhang Xuezhou realized the emperor’s sword was not the real Snake-Slaying Sword and understood that the ceremony had been staged to strengthen the emperor’s position.

The Grand Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Dou reflected on the King of Huainan’s departure and their difficulty keeping the Great Han Dynasty stable. A message from Zhao Zhou announced that Crimson Firmament had been reborn, convincing the Grand Empress Dowager that Emperor Gaozu had chosen Liu Che.

• The Grand Empress Dowager judged that the King of Huainan was unfit to rule, and Grand Princess Dou admitted she had feared he might rebel.
• The Grand Empress Dowager and Grand Princess Dou worried that they could not control the vassal kings, defend the borders, or secure the dynasty.
• Old Eunuch Zhou delivered Zhao Zhou’s thousand-li message, which read, “Under Gaozu’s protection, Crimson Firmament is reborn.”
• Grand Princess Dou and the Grand Empress Dowager realized the message meant the Red Empyrean Sword could be used again.
• The Grand Empress Dowager accepted Liu Che as Emperor Gaozu’s chosen successor and the legitimate master of Great Han.