Chapter Summaries

Zuo Quan entered Emperor Fu of Luo's Mausoleum alone, hoping to find the emperor's longevity treasures and imagining turning the tomb into a museum. After handling a jade rod, he was stabbed and succumbed to the purple sword orchid grass's illusion.

• Zuo Quan and Zuo Jin argued after both began feeling unwell, and Zuo Quan left their tent to explore the mausoleum.
• Zuo Quan entered Emperor Fu of Luo's Mausoleum alone, following the tracks through its nine-bend passage while planning how its chambers could become a museum.
• Zuo Quan reached Luo Yan's burial chamber and searched among its treasures for the Tongtian Jade Ruler and the other longevity objects.
• Zuo Quan rubbed a jade rod against his coat, causing it to turn bright red, and continued examining it.
• Someone stabbed Zuo Quan in the waist; purple light surged around him, and he fell under an illusion of his happy childhood as his strength and life faded.

After Zuo Quan apparently died in Luo Zhong's mausoleum, Zhang Xuezhou returned to investigate while the rescue team rushed ahead. In the darkness, he pieced together suspicions about Luo Zhong's death, the purple gladiolus grass, and Luo Tianming, but the truth remained uncertain.

• Zuo Jin reported that something had emerged in Luo Zhong's mausoleum and might have killed Zuo Quan, so Zhou Yueyan hurried the team to the site.
• The Sequence Committee members raced ahead, leaving Zhang Xuezhou behind as he ran through the tomb and emerged after dark.
• Unable to reach Zhou Yueyan because his communicator had no signal, Zhang Xuezhou climbed into Zuo Quan's excavator and sent his Yang Corporeal Soul back into the mausoleum.
• As he searched the ruined tomb, Zhang Xuezhou considered whether Luo Zhong had used his death to escape a calamity and whether Luo Tianming had betrayed his intentions.
• Zhang Xuezhou also wondered if a hidden chip or the purple gladiolus grass explained Luo Zhong's fate and the circumstances of the Luofu Empire's collapse.

Zhang Xuezhou reopened Luo Zhong’s tomb and found a lifeless shard, which led him to conclude that Luo Zhong had escaped Huang Daoxian’s influence before his death. He felt less urgent about the threat and reunited with the others, who had returned after discovering that Zuo Quan was merely dozing.

• Zhang Xuezhou broke the stone slab over Luo Zhong’s coffin and found his headless remains beneath a tattered imperial robe.
• Zhang Xuezhou took a shard from Luo Zhong’s rib cage and realized it differed from the shard in the Luo Ke Imperial Mausoleum because it reflected no people and caused no sense of displacement.
• Zhang Xuezhou concluded that Luo Zhong had broken Huang Daoxian’s technique and likely faked his death to escape, but he remained uncertain about Huang Daoxian’s motives.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided to ask Nagesi about Huang Daoxian and felt less anxious after forming a basic assessment of the danger.
• Zhou Yueyan and Zhou Rihui called for Zhang Xuezhou, then explained that Zuo Jin’s warning had led them to find Zuo Quan asleep beside jade artifacts.
• Zhou Yueyan, Qin Wuxuan, and Qin Wenhan judged Luo Zhong’s tomb to be poor in burial goods, while the others showed Zhang Xuezhou more approval for helping open the sarcophagus.

After the imperial mausoleums were inspected, the group returned to Western Capital City for decontamination and medical examinations. Zhang Xuezhou found nothing wrong with himself, while Zhou Yueyan noticed that Zuo Quan’s examination report showed serious health problems.

• The committee members finished inspecting the five mausoleums, stored the purple gladiolus grass, and arranged to keep monitoring Emperor Fu of Luo’s mausoleum.
• Zhou Yueyan directed the group through the research center’s showers and examinations after they returned to Western Capital City.
• Zhang Xuezhou secretly replaced the chip he had taken from Luo Zhong’s remains, then completed his examination without finding any problems.
• Zuo Quan entered the examination room and left less than seventy seconds later without checking his results.
• Zhou Yueyan reviewed Zuo Quan’s report and found an enlarged liver and a possible tumor, warning that his condition could be life-threatening within a few years.

Zhang Xuezhou took gladiolus grass samples from Zhou Yueyan and discovered that the old man he had seen in a chip looked like Emperor Luo Ke. The mystery remained unresolved as Zhang planned to seek a tracking technique and consult Luo Tianming.

• Zhou Yueyan told Zhang Xuezhou that Zuo Quan’s examination images had been sent to Zuo Teng, then questioned him about the gladiolus grass and Huang Daoxian.
• Zhang Xuezhou decided he needed a tracking technique from Master Dong and sketched the white-haired man he had seen in the chip.
• Zhou Yueyan recognized the sketch as resembling Luo Ke and showed Zhang a portrait from the National Library’s top-secret files.
• Zhang confirmed the portrait closely matched the man in the chip and recalled that he seemed to mouth “How dare you” in the imperial mausoleum.
• Zhang took a piece of darkened gladiolus grass and its root for study, while Zhou Yueyan resolved to protect her side’s interests and use resources to support his research if it proved effective.

Zhang Xuezhou refined a hallucinogenic Spirit-Forging Pill and planned to consult Zou Bugui about his unusual method. At the B13 Research Institute, Zuo Teng asked what had happened at the imperial mausoleums after his father developed a tumor and changed, but Zhang Xuezhou focused on whether Zuo Teng could still make R32 Catalyst for him.

• Zhang Xuezhou tested his Spirit-Forging Pill paste, discovered it restored Law Power while causing severe vomiting and hallucinations, and decided to seek Zou Bugui's advice.
• Zhang Xuezhou reviewed his recent work and left the laboratory, where he found Zuo Teng staying at the institute after a fight with his father, Zuo Quan.
• Zuo Teng told Zhang Xuezhou that Zuo Quan had developed a tumor after visiting the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums and had become hostile and unusually weak.
• Zhang Xuezhou dismissed Zuo Teng's concerns until Zuo Teng mentioned Zuo Quan had threatened to sever their father-son relationship.
• Zhang Xuezhou worried that Zuo Teng might lose access to his laboratory and stop making R32 Catalyst, so Zuo Teng went to make it for him.

Zhang Xuezhou gave Zuo Teng little information about what happened to Zuo Quan, while agreeing to buy blood agents from the Zuo family. Afterward, he checked in with his family and discovered that Zhang Qiao'en was paying Song Fengying to explore the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums on a livestream.

• Zhang Xuezhou assured Zuo Teng that they could use Zhou Yueyan's advanced laboratory if the Zuo Household lost its R32 Catalyst capability, and urged him to stabilize his position.
• Zuo Teng offered Zhang Xuezhou a high-grade Crane Bird blood agent and described the Zuo family's supply, while Zhang Xuezhou said he might also buy other animal blood agents.
• Zuo Teng asked what had happened to Zuo Quan, and Zhang Xuezhou said Zuo Quan had entered Emperor Fu of Luo's Mausoleum, passed out while handling jade artifacts, and been taken away after Zuo Jin called for help.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Zuo Teng that his footage had been submitted to the High-Tech Agricultural Products Center, then watched him leave without learning the details he wanted.
• Zhang Xuezhou called Zhang Weimeng and messaged Zhang Manqian before finding Song Fengying livestreaming near the Eastern Mountain Imperial Mausoleums.
• Zhang Qiao'en tipped Song Fengying one million to explore the mausoleums, and Zhang Xuezhou identified him as a Sixth Sequence Holder avoiding the Twilight Years Mansion.

Zhang Xuezhou and Zhou Yueyan discussed the threat posed by Zhang Qiao'en and arranged for Zhang Xuezhou to use a laboratory to make weak-gene catalysts. After warning Song Fengying away from dangerous mausoleums, Zhang Xuezhou examined a ruined chip and continued puzzling over Huang Daoxian’s motives.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Zhou Yueyan about Zhang Qiao'en, and she explained that Western Capital City might need help from its elders if he arrived.
• Zhou Yueyan offered Zhang Xuezhou access to an advanced laboratory, and he proposed making weak-gene catalysts there.
• Zhou Yueyan ended the call to deal with Zuo Teng, who had sent her eighty-seven urgent meeting requests.
• Zhang Xuezhou tipped Song Fengying and privately warned her away from three imperial mausoleums while recommending Emperor Li of Luo's Mausoleum.
• Zhang Xuezhou examined the ruined chip from Luo Zhong's remains and wondered what Huang Daoxian sought by planting seeds in emperors.

Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu to teach him a tracking technique so he could search for Li Shaojun and Huang Daoxian. After learning that Dong’s star-based method did not suit him, Zhang decided to head north and seek help from Ning Cheng.

• Zhang Xuezhou asked Dong Zhongshu and Gongsun Hong for a tracking technique, explaining that he wanted to find his friend Li Shaojun.
• Dong Zhongshu said he could not track Li Shaojun without a suitable object and described rumors that the man had lived for more than a hundred years.
• Dong Zhongshu taught Zhang the Reversed Stars Tracking Technique, but Zhang found it unsuitable because it relied on the stars.
• Gongsun Hong told Zhang that Ning Cheng of the Tomb-Robbing Sect used a non-star-based tracking technique and was connected to the Northern Border Military Region.
• Zhang recalled that Ning Cheng had once tracked him relentlessly and decided to travel north to search for Li Shaojun, find Ning Cheng, and pursue other matters.

Dong Zhongshu failed to identify who had gathered Jiangdu’s Fortune, then accepted Ao Li’s offer of a residence and responsibility for teaching Ao Qing. Ao Li left Ao Qing in his care for ten years, and Dong Zhongshu realized that the boy’s dragon yao identity could bring serious danger.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong rode north together, while Dong Zhongshu watched them leave and continued investigating who had gathered Jiangdu’s Fortune.
• Dong Zhongshu’s inquiries failed to identify a suspect, and he worried that the unknown cultivator might start a Fortune War.
• Ao Li arrived with Ao Qing and offered Dong Zhongshu a residence in Guangling City in exchange for teaching the boy.
• Dong Zhongshu accepted the residence, and Ao Li placed Ao Qing in his care before leaving.
• Ao Qing told Dong Zhongshu that he was to stay with him for ten years, and Dong Zhongshu worried that the boy’s dragon yao identity could be exposed.

On the road to the Northern Border, Zhang Xuezhou discussed cultivation and the Great Han Dynasty’s military and political problems with Gongsun Hong. Gongsun Hong struggled to cultivate Vast Righteous Qi but offered a ruthless, practical plan for unifying the realm, leaving Zhang Xuezhou wary of how far their shared outlook might extend.

• Zhang Xuezhou traveled toward the Northern Border with Gongsun Hong and asked how his cultivation of Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity was progressing.
• Gongsun Hong said he had only drawn on Vast Righteous Qi once, then recited the Vast Righteous Qi Chapter throughout the day as he tried to succeed again.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that drawing on Vast Righteous Qi depended on having a sufficient foundation, and Gongsun Hong praised his perseverance and Confucian learning.
• Gongsun Hong told Zhang Xuezhou that the Great Han Dynasty’s legions struggled to cooperate against Xiong State’s coordinated forces.
• Gongsun Hong argued that unity required sharing the realm’s spoils, then proposed continually elevating new groups and eliminating old ones to keep the court in control.
• Zhang Xuezhou smiled awkwardly and resolved to be careful in his relationship and future dealings with Gongsun Hong.

Zhang Xuezhou learned from Gongsun Hong that Li Shaojun would return to the Grand Clarity Temple, giving him a place to wait and carry out the emperor’s assignment. After Gongsun Hong could offer no information about the strange purple herb, Zhang Xuezhou practiced Dong Zhongshu’s Reversed Stars Tracking Technique and began to understand how tracking could lead to Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven.

• Gongsun Hong told Zhang Xuezhou that Li Shaojun would return to the Grand Clarity Temple in Bohai Commandery, so Zhang decided to wait for him there.
• Zhang Xuezhou considered visiting Shanggu Commandery City and seeking Zou Bugui, but realized reaching the Xieluosi River Holy Land would be difficult.
• Zhang asked Gongsun Hong about a purple-glowing herb grown from an emperor’s body, but Gongsun had never heard of it and speculated that it involved a dangerous technique or plot.
• After Gongsun Hong went to rest, Zhang Xuezhou practiced Dong Zhongshu’s Reversed Stars Tracking Technique beneath the stars.
• Studying the stars led Zhang Xuezhou to glimpse why Dong Zhongshu could attain Unity of Celestial Person and Heaven through tracking techniques.

While studying the Reversed Stars Tracking Technique, Zhang Xuezhou connected astrology with deeper meanings of Heaven and showed Gongsun Hong how celestial positions could help repeat Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity. Gongsun Hong successfully triggered Vast Righteous Qi again, while Zhang Xuezhou began considering how to make such abilities available at any time.

• Zhang Xuezhou reflected on Heaven as both the starry sky and a deeper realm shaped by time and space, recalling Shi Wudao’s words about life and death.
• Gongsun Hong found Zhang Xuezhou studying the stars and asked about the Reversed Stars Tracking Technique.
• Zhang Xuezhou explained that recording celestial positions could help reproduce Resonance Between Heaven and Humanity and trigger Vast Righteous Qi under matching conditions.
• Gongsun Hong followed the celestial configuration, recited sixteen times, and successfully restored his Law Power by triggering Vast Righteous Qi again.
• Zhang Xuezhou observed Gongsun Hong’s result and realized that matching space to time might eventually let them use abilities normally available only at a particular hour.

Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong met Yao Yuanguang on the road to Suiyang, where Yao revealed that Pilan had told him of Zhang’s journey. Yao then gave Gongsun an improvised fortune reading that restored his hopes of entering the imperial court, while Zhang recognized Yao’s flattering words as a swindle.

• Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong encountered Yao Yuanguang, who said he had waited nine days for them near Suiyang.
• Yao Yuanguang explained that Pilan had learned Zhang was heading north by secretly checking his official documents.
• Gongsun Hong asked Yao Yuanguang to read his fortune and tell him whether he could return to power.
• Yao Yuanguang told Gongsun Hong that his official prospects would improve once a petty rival was no longer in his way.
• Zhang Xuezhou challenged Yao Yuanguang for making up the reading, but Yao said his kind words could restore Gongsun Hong’s confidence.

Zhang Xuezhou refused to help Yao Yuanguang find the Sacred Land’s master unless Yao agreed to go to Huainan, then left for Bohai Commandery with Gongsun Hong. After the pair entered Liang Garden using Zhang’s token, Zou Yang of the School of Diplomacy recognized Gongsun Hong.

• Zhang Xuezhou refused Yao Yuanguang’s request to recommend him to the King of Huainan and demanded that Yao first agree to go to Huainan.
• Yao Yuanguang let Zhang ride away, then decided he would still need to seek Zhang’s help and wondered whether his fellow disciple had established himself at Yedie River Holy Land.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong rode toward Bohai Commandery and stopped overnight at Suiyang City, where Gongsun Hong could not stay at the relay station without official papers.
• After nearby inns were full, Zhang used his Liang Garden Token to invite Gongsun Hong to stay with him at Liang Garden.
• Gongsun Hong admired Liang Garden’s extravagant grounds and lamented the labor and exploitation behind them.
• Zou Yang of the School of Diplomacy came out of a guest room and greeted Gongsun Hong.

Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong settled into Liang Garden, where Gongsun Hong was tempted by its lavish hospitality but planned to leave the next morning. Yao Yuanguang joined them and revealed that two regional kings had died and two others had killed their grand tutors, while he and Zhang Xuezhou argued over an exchange of information; Gongsun Hong then steered their talk toward the Dragon King.

• Zou Yang warmly welcomed Gongsun Hong to Liang Garden, but Gongsun Hong politely declined his invitation to stay and followed Zhang Xuezhou.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong enjoyed Liang Garden's lavish meal, and Gongsun Hong resolved to leave early the next morning despite being tempted by its comforts.
• Yao Yuanguang arrived with a Liang Garden Token, and Zhang Xuezhou teased him about using a false identity.
• Yao Yuanguang told Zhang Xuezhou that Liu Ding and Liu Bushi had died, while Liu Mai and Liu Ming had killed their royal courts' grand tutors.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Yao Yuanguang failed to agree on exchanging information, and Gongsun Hong redirected their conversation toward the Dragon King, disappointing Yao Yuanguang.

Yao Yuanguang revealed that the Immortal Court had sent him to search for King Yu’s Cauldron, which might alter the Third Prince’s fate, and to seek a way to regain control of the lower realm’s dynasty. After exchanging limited information with Zhang Xuezhou, he agreed to go to Huainan and help rescue the remaining people from Zhang Household Village.

• Yao Yuanguang questioned Zhang Xuezhou about the secret place near Chang'an City, and Zhang demanded to know his purpose before sharing details.
• Yao Yuanguang admitted that Primordial Lord Golden Rosy Clouds wanted King Yu’s Cauldron to wash away the ill fortune threatening the Third Prince, and that he had also carried a secret order to regain control of the lower realm’s dynasty.
• Zhang Xuezhou told Yao Yuanguang that a three-zhang-tall cauldron was sealed behind a massive bronze door in the secret place.
• Yao Yuanguang agreed to travel to Huainan and undertake Zhang Xuezhou’s request.
• Zhang Xuezhou entrusted Yao Yuanguang with the task of rescuing the remaining people from Zhang Household Village.

Zhang Xuezhou reflected on Emperor Jing and the King of Liang’s hidden alliance and concluded that the new emperor might inherit Emperor Jing’s ruthless habits. After Yao Yuanguang departed, Gongsun Hong shared his hopes for a future in court and invited Zhang Xuezhou to explore the Eastern Sea with him.

• Zhang Xuezhou pieced together how Emperor Jing and the King of Liang had deceived others, then destroyed each other, and used the history to judge the new emperor’s likely character.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Yao Yuanguang ended their exchange; Yao Yuanguang left with a donkey hoof and a plan to pursue the captive “human medicines” held by the King of Huainan’s Household.
• Gongsun Hong asked Zhang Xuezhou about Yao Yuanguang, then felt encouraged by the physiognomist’s predictions of his political future.
• Gongsun Hong promised to guide Zhang Xuezhou in Chang’an City and invited him to tour the Eastern Sea, seek agarwood, and look for the Mohists’ Mechanism City.

Zhang Xuezhou traveled with Gongsun Hong through the Qi Region and learned about the Mohists’ search for the Three Pot Islands, then encountered Li Shaojun at the Grand Clarity Temple. After arranging to meet Li Shaojun in Chang’an City, Zhang Xuezhou wondered whether Dong Zhongshu’s Fortune Technique was behind his unusually smooth journey.

• Gongsun Hong told Zhang Xuezhou that the Mohists were searching overseas for the unclaimed Three Pot Islands and their possible treasures.
• Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong traveled through the Zhao Lands and the Qi Region after spending a night in Liang Garden.
• Gongsun Hong escorted Zhang Xuezhou to Li Shaojun’s Grand Clarity Temple and described how successful the temple was.
• Zhang Xuezhou recognized Li Shaojun disguised as a worshipper and followed him into the temple, while Gongsun Hong declined to offer incense.
• Zhang Xuezhou planned to meet Li Shaojun in Chang’an City and wondered if Dong Zhongshu’s Fortune Technique had caused his run of good luck.

At the Grand Clarity Temple, Zhang Xuezhou persuaded Li Shaojun to join an effort to gain the young emperor’s favor by claiming to refine a Life-Creating Fortune Pill. Li Shaojun agreed to learn real pill-making, then began searching for a suitable Pill Furnace, while Zhang Xuezhou ruled out several schools’ furnaces.

• Li Shaojun posed as a grateful worshipper at the Grand Clarity Temple, and the priest granted him and Zhang Xuezhou protection of spiritual water.
• Zhang Xuezhou urged Li Shaojun to use the emperor’s limited experience to build a connection in Chang'an City, but Li Shaojun admitted he could only make mineral powders for temple performances.
• Li Shaojun decided to study pill refining so he could benefit from the imperial medicinal storehouse, and Zhang Xuezhou warned him that the Imperial Medical Hall would expose fake skills.
• Li Shaojun asked about obtaining a Pill Furnace, but Zhang Xuezhou explained that the Yin-Yang School’s Water-Fire Pill Furnace was in the Xieluosi River Holy Land and that nearby schools had no suitable alternatives.
• Li Shaojun began naming other schools to investigate, while Zhang Xuezhou’s knowledge of their pill furnaces left him with few options.