Recaps

Fang Shuwen accepted the Lu'an Escort Agency's dangerous mission to protect two clients on their way to Flying Snow City. As Lu Guiyan and her companions debated how to escape the Fierce Tiger Gang, Fang Shuwen asked where its headquarters was.

• Lu Guiyan explained that Wang Shouyan had hired the Lu'an Escort Agency to escort a master and servant carrying a Flying Snow City Lingxiao Token to Flying Snow City.
• Fang Shuwen accepted the mission despite Mo Beidou's warning and received a threefold boost to aptitude and comprehension for its duration.
• Lu Guiyan thanked Fang Shuwen and invited him, Mo Beidou, and Sun Qian to discuss how to proceed.
• Lu Guiyan and the others debated how to evade the powerful Fierce Tiger Gang, led by Qin Hu.
• Fang Shuwen asked Lu Guiyan whether she knew where the Fierce Tiger Gang's headquarters was.

Lu Guiyan and her companions planned to evade the Fierce Tiger Gang by sending decoys out of Guangning City while the real escort party escaped under cover of night. After slipping out and regrouping, they traveled onward until they encountered strange music and a distant firelight in the woods.

• Lu Guiyan, Fang Shuwen, Mo Beidou, and the others agreed to use decoys to distract the Fierce Tiger Gang while the escort party left Guangning City secretly.
• Mo Beidou warned Fang Shuwen not to risk his life, then teased him about matching with Lu Guiyan before Fang Shuwen declined.
• Mo Beidou returned after arranging the decoys, and the party altered their appearances and left the city in separate groups.
• Lu Guiyan's party regrouped five li outside the city, confirmed everyone was present, and continued through the dark night.
• Fang Shuwen noticed a faint firelight in the woods and heard intermittent cymbals, gongs, drums, and a distant song.

Lu Guiyan and her group encountered an old man performing a shadow puppet show in the woods, and Fang Shuwen insisted they stop to watch. As the show reached its climax, members of the Fierce Tiger Gang arrived, but Fang Shuwen told their leader to wait until the performance ended.

• Lu Guiyan led the group toward the strange music and discovered an outdoor shadow puppet show performed by an old man alone.
• Fang Shuwen slipped behind the screen, took a puppet from the old man, and persuaded Lu Guiyan and the others to watch the show.
• Fang Shuwen hinted that he had noticed something, leaving Lu Guiyan to suspect the Fierce Tiger Gang was waiting ahead.
• The old man performed The Rebellious Disciple Fang Huai for the group.
• Black-clad members of the Fierce Tiger Gang appeared, and Fang Shuwen told their leader to finish watching the show before acting.

Fang Shuwen and the Lu'an Escort Agency watched Ten Leisurely Elder perform a shadow play when Xu Yuqing attacked them and destroyed the stall. Ten Leisurely Elder fought off Xu Yuqing and Tong Tianba, while Fang Shuwen revealed he had anticipated the Fierce Tiger Gang's ambush.

• Xu Yuqing sliced apart Ten Leisurely Elder's shadow-play screen while threatening the Lu'an Escort Agency.
• Ten Leisurely Elder attacked Xu Yuqing with sound and flying cymbals, but Tong Tianba appeared and deflected the deadly strikes.
• Lu Guiyan recognized Ten Leisurely Elder as a renowned Eastern Region martial artist who had been absent from the jianghu for five years.
• Tong Tianba attacked Ten Leisurely Elder, who blocked his punch with iron rods before striking back among the Fierce Tiger Gang's disciples.
• Ten Leisurely Elder pierced a disciple with his rods and controlled him like a shadow puppet to attack Tong Tianba.
• Fang Shuwen told Lu Guiyan he had heard the ambush from afar and had waited for the Fierce Tiger Gang to come to them.

Fang Shuwen joined Ten Leisurely Elder against the Fierce Tiger Gang and swiftly overwhelmed its fighters. After killing Xu Yuqing, he faced Tong Tianba and launched a Demon-Subduing Dharma Seal at him.

• Ten Leisurely Elder controlled a Fierce Tiger Gang disciple to fend off Tong Tianba, while Lu Guiyan asked Fang Shuwen to help.
• Fang Shuwen charged into the fight and knocked down the Fierce Tiger Gang members with ease.
• Xu Yuqing attacked Fang Shuwen from behind with Sword Qi, but Fang Shuwen countered with a force that sent Xu Yuqing flying.
• Fang Shuwen used Beiming Shengong to drain Xu Yuqing's internal force and crushed his head without turning around.
• Fang Shuwen confronted Tong Tianba and struck him with a Demon-Subduing Dharma Seal.

Fang Shuwen effortlessly defeated and captured Tong Tianba, leaving Lu Guiyan stunned by his strength. Lu Guiyan questioned Tong Tianba about why the Fierce Tiger Gang wanted to kill the two people, and Fang Shuwen stopped him from laughing and ordered him to answer.

• Tong Tianba charged Fang Shuwen with a powerful punch, but Fang Shuwen's palm strike shattered Tong Tianba's arm and broke his fighting spirit.
• Fang Shuwen used the [Plum Blossom Loose Hands] and [Beiming Shengong] to disarm Tong Tianba, drain his strength, and force him to his knees.
• Fang Shuwen seized Tong Tianba by the spine, lifted him, and tossed him before Lu Guiyan, calling him pretty strong.
• Lu Guiyan realized Fang Shuwen had defeated Tong Tianba without help and asked why the Fierce Tiger Gang wanted to kill the two people.
• Tong Tianba laughed instead of answering, so Fang Shuwen slapped him and ordered him to respond properly.

Fang Shuwen tortured Tong Tianba until he revealed that Fourth Master Qin had ordered the attack, while the escort party exposed Sun Qian as the traitor who sold their route for silver. The chapter ended with Sun Qian admitting his motive and Tong Tianba denying that he knew about the bribe.

• Fang Shuwen used his thread technique on Tong Tianba, forcing him to endure intense pain until he answered questions.
• Tong Tianba said Fourth Master Qin had ordered the attack on the master and servant, though he did not know why.
• Sun Qian tried to flee when Tong Tianba looked toward the escort party, but Mo Beidou caught and subdued him.
• Sun Qian admitted that an unknown person had paid him three thousand taels to sell the escort route to the Fierce Tiger Gang.
• Sun Qian explained that he had wanted to leave the dangerous escort business and live comfortably, and Mo Beidou struck him for endangering Lu Guiyan.
• Tong Tianba said Sun Qian had sent the gang a message that evening but had not told them where the group was in Guangning City.

After Fang Shuwen killed Tong Tianba and Sun Qian, he and Lu Guiyan discussed the danger surrounding the escort job and agreed to continue toward its destination. The chapter ended with the old shadow-play performer asking to share the escort fee after Fang Shuwen wondered why he was still there.

• Sun Qian revealed what little he knew about the masked man who hired him, then killed himself, and Lu Guiyan promised to support his family.
• Fang Shuwen drained Tong Tianba's internal force, killed him, and found a [Fierce Tiger Fist] manual and silver on the bodies.
• Fang Shuwen took Sun Qian's fifteen hundred taels and Xu Yuqing's sword, while Lu Guiyan declined to claim any of the money.
• Lu Guiyan wondered why Qin Hu had targeted the master and servant carrying the Lingxiao Token, and Fang Shuwen reassured her that he would fulfill his promise to protect her.
• Lu Guiyan offered Fang Shuwen the full escort fee, and the old shadow-play performer asked her to give him a share as well.

Ten Leisurely Elder revealed that Ghost Scholar had been his treacherous disciple, and Fang Shuwen told him he had already killed Ghost Scholar at the Pearl Pavilion. The relieved elder gave Fang Shuwen the [Azure Cloud Step] manual and left, after which Fang Shuwen quietly summoned Mo Beidou to follow him.

• Ten Leisurely Elder confirmed that his former disciple had poisoned him and become the notorious Ghost Scholar.
• Lu Guiyan recognized Ghost Scholar’s name, and Fang Shuwen said he had killed him with a palm strike at the Pearl Pavilion half a month earlier.
• Ten Leisurely Elder accepted Fang Shuwen’s account and thanked him for easing his guilt over Ghost Scholar’s crimes.
• Ten Leisurely Elder gave Fang Shuwen the [Azure Cloud Step] manual and a note with his current address, then departed.
• Fang Shuwen woke Mo Beidou and led him away, with Mo Beidou following quietly.

Fang Shuwen taught Mo Beidou the Fierce Tiger Fist as the escort party continued its journey toward a tea house for shelter from the autumn rain. Once inside, a middle-aged man in blue warned that their tests could not prove the tea was free of poison, leaving a group of young people alarmed.

• Fang Shuwen taught Mo Beidou the Fierce Tiger Fist after finding that Mo Beidou could not manage the Great Black Heaven Divine Palm.
• Mo Beidou practiced the new moves each night despite the strain of traveling by day, while Fang Shuwen patiently helped him review them.
• Lu Guiyan led the escort party through a peaceful stretch of road, and Fang Shuwen saw that her Nine-Breath Scarlet Phoenix Saber Technique was formidable.
• When autumn rain interrupted their journey, Lu Guiyan chose to shelter the party at a crowded tea house to protect a master and servant from the cold.
• The escort hands tested the tea with silver needles and a mouse before drinking, but the middle-aged man in blue scoffed that their precautions could not rule out poison.
• The young people at nearby tables turned pale and stared at their teacups after hearing the man's warning.

Fang Shuwen and Lu Guiyan watched as Qi Wuwang defeated a group of Cangwu Sword Sect disciples who had come to kill him. Qi Wuwang then revealed that he had been waiting for Lu Guiyan, connecting himself to the Lu'an Escort Agency's escort mission.

• A Cangwu Sword Sect disciple accused Qi Wuwang of poisoning them, but Qi Wuwang said he had not poisoned their tea and revealed that he had known they were following him.
• The Cangwu Sword Sect leader accused Qi Wuwang of murdering the Chen Family, killing sect disciples, and abducting Jade Clarity Pavilion disciples, then ordered his group to attack.
• The Cangwu Sword Sect disciples used the Eight Directions Wind and Rain Sword Formation to surround Qi Wuwang while Fang Shuwen and Lu Guiyan watched.
• Qi Wuwang broke the formation with a palm strike that sent the disciples tumbling into one another, leaving them unable to rise.
• Lu Guiyan reached for his goose-quill saber, and Qi Wuwang addressed him as the young chief escort of the Lu'an Escort Agency and said he had kept him waiting.

Fang Shuwen defeated Qi Wuwang with a single palm strike after Qi Wuwang threatened the Lu'an Escort Agency and tried to seize the two mysterious travelers. Qi Wuwang revealed that the Golden Bell Tower had arranged the job and that the travelers were to be taken to Autumn Moon Convent.

• Fang Shuwen and Lu Guiyan questioned Qi Wuwang about why he was targeting the Lu'an Escort Agency and the two travelers.
• Qi Wuwang said someone had hired him to take the travelers, then threatened Lu Guiyan when she refused to hand them over.
• Fang Shuwen used [Level Steps to Azure Cloud] and struck Qi Wuwang with [Vajra Tower-Throwing], shattering his meridians and burying him in the mud.
• Lu Guiyan questioned Qi Wuwang, who said the commission had come through the Golden Bell Tower.
• Fang Shuwen asked where Qi Wuwang had planned to take the travelers, and Qi Wuwang answered, "Autumn Moon Convent!"

Fang Shuwen killed Qi Wuwang and traveled north with Lu Guiyan while the Fierce Tiger Gang remained a threat. The group took shelter from the rain in a ruined kiln, where someone greeted Fang as an old acquaintance.

• Fang Shuwen drained Qi Wuwang's internal force and killed him after Qi asked who he was.
• A hidden waiter attacked Fang and his companions, but Chen Qi killed the assassin with a swift sword strike and introduced himself as the Heavenly Kirin Sword before leaving.
• Fang searched Qi Wuwang's body and found silver notes and a golden bell that Lu Guiyan identified as a possible Golden Bell Tower token.
• Fang and Lu Guiyan's group continued north, wary that the Fierce Tiger Gang might ambush them at Looking North Pass.
• During an autumn rain, the group found shelter in a ruined kiln in an abandoned village, where someone called out to Fang as Brother Fang.

Fang Shuwen reunited with Zuo Qingshuang and Zhou Qingmei at a ruined kiln, where they explained that they were traveling to investigate the sinister events at Autumn Moon Convent. Their destination was also the place Qi Wuwang had planned to take his master and servant, though he had hidden its identity by calling it Concealing Moon Mountain.

• Fang Shuwen met Zuo Qingshuang and Zhou Qingmei again at a ruined kiln and introduced them to Lu Guiyan and Mo Beidou.
• Zuo Qingshuang told Fang Shuwen that she and Zhou Qingmei were heading to Autumn Moon Convent after Nianhua Zen Monastery called on the seven great sects to investigate it.
• Zuo Qingshuang explained that young people had vanished near the convent, a wandering swordsman had disappeared while investigating, and Master Liaowu had gone missing after Master Liaokong returned gravely wounded.
• Zuo Qingshuang said Li Nanchen had hidden Nianhua Zen Monastery's invitation, but she and Zhou Qingmei were still able to go before the appointed date.
• Fang Shuwen realized that Autumn Moon Convent lay at Looking North Pass, the place locals called Concealing Moon Mountain, and understood that Qi Wuwang had concealed the destination from them.

Fang Shuwen and Lu Guiyan agreed to travel with Zuo Qingshuang toward the Autumn Moon Convent, where the seven great sects were gathering, while seeking answers about the Fierce Tiger Gang’s attack. As the group prepared to continue their journey, Fang gave Zhou Qingmei the fine Wind-Shocking Sword he had taken from Xu Yuqing.

• Fang Shuwen and Lu Guiyan discussed how they could not avoid the Autumn Moon Convent, and Zuo Qingshuang suggested they join the gathering of the seven great sects.
• Zuo Qingshuang offered the Pearl Pavilion Token as a way to gain an audience with the Fierce Tiger Gang, and Fang Shuwen revealed that he had it.
• Zuo Qingshuang joined Fang Shuwen and Lu Guiyan’s group, and Lu Guiyan set a watch while the others prepared food in the ruined kiln.
• Zhou Qingmei told Fang Shuwen that her family was safe and that she had prepared the silver she owed him.
• Fang Shuwen showed Zhou Qingmei the Wind-Shocking Sword he had taken from Xu Yuqing, and gave it to her when he learned she had no sword to use.

The group reached Concealing Moon Mountain, where the seven great sects and nearly a hundred righteous-path masters prepared to confront the unknown forces inside the Autumn Moon Convent. Zuo Qingshuang proposed a night raid to test the enemy, but Fang Shuwen whispered something that sharply changed her expression.

• The Flying Star Hall disciple told the group that notorious Eastern Region fiends had gathered inside the Autumn Moon Convent under an unidentified leader.
• Fang Shuwen warned Zuo Qingshuang that the convent's silence and the large gathering of martial artists could conceal danger and ill intentions.
• Zuo Qingshuang rebuked a Questioning Heaven Manor man who demanded to know why she had brought Fang Shuwen and the others.
• Zuo Qingshuang proposed a night raid on the Autumn Moon Convent as a feint to test its strength, and the assembled masters agreed to discuss it.
• Fang Shuwen whispered to Zuo Qingshuang, whose calm expression changed drastically.

Fang Shuwen killed Shi Meng after Shi Meng attacked him, then argued that the killing was justified because he had acted in self-defense. Zuo Qingshuang and the Jade Clarity Pavilion’s representative supported his account, while the other sect members looked on uneasily.

• Shi Meng accused Fang Shuwen of having an improper relationship with Zuo Qingshuang, and Zuo Qingshuang drew her sword in anger.
• After the others urged Shi Meng to apologize, Shi Meng charged Fang Shuwen with his Purple-Gold Hammer.
• Fang Shuwen caught the hammer, crushed it in his hand, and lifted Shi Meng by the throat.
• Shi Meng threatened Fang Shuwen with Questioning Heaven Manor, and Fang Shuwen snapped his neck and threw his body outside the temple.
• Fang Shuwen told the gathered sect members that Shi Meng had attacked him without cause and asked them to bear witness.
• Zuo Qingshuang and a representative of the Jade Clarity Pavilion affirmed Fang Shuwen’s account.

Fang Shuwen let Shi Meng’s disciples return to the Questioning Heaven Manor with a challenge, then learned that someone had overheard the alliance’s plan and helped prepare a new strategy. After the Chivalrous Way Alliance departed for the Autumn Moon Convent, Fang Shuwen waited at the mountain god’s temple as Chen Qi and a group of suspicious strangers arrived.

• Fang Shuwen told Shi Meng’s disciple to take his master’s body to the Questioning Heaven Manor and deliver a message that he would demand an explanation from its sect leader.
• Fang Shuwen noticed Chen Qi watching the dispute, then returned to the mountain god’s temple as the factions resumed planning their operation.
• Zuo Qingshuang told the leaders of the seven sects that someone had been hiding on the temple roof and overheard their plan, prompting them to devise a new strategy.
• Fang Shuwen spoke briefly with Zuo Qingshuang, while Zhou Qingmei stayed beside him as night fell.
• The Chivalrous Way Alliance left for the Autumn Moon Convent, while Fang Shuwen, Lu Guiyan, and their companions remained at the temple.
• Chen Qi arrived at the temple and asked Fang Shuwen why he had stayed; then several strange-looking men and women appeared, asking where everyone was.

Fang Shuwen questioned the attackers about the Cao King and killed a lecherous monk when he refused to answer. As the others rushed toward the mountain god’s temple, Lu Guiyan left to fight while the defenders guarded the entrance.

• Fang Shuwen learned that the attackers had split their forces to raid the Autumn Moon Convent and asked Hua Meiniang who the Cao King was, but she refused to reveal his identity.
• The old woman ordered Hua Meiniang to capture Fang Shuwen, while the old man recognized Lu Guiyan and guessed that the person inside the temple was the Cao King’s target.
• Bai Liuxian, Hua Meiniang, and the monk charged toward the temple, but Chen Qi blocked Hua Meiniang and fought her.
• The monk attacked Fang Shuwen, who seized his wrist and demanded to know who the Cao King was and why he wanted the two people protected by the Lu'an Escort Agency.
• When the monk refused to answer, Fang Shuwen killed him and sent his corpse flying toward Bai Liuxian.
• Lu Guiyan told the others to guard the temple and left to kill.

Fang Shuwen defeated Bai Liuxian and the black-robed woman, then revealed that Flying Star Hall disciples were waiting in ambush. As he confronted the remaining elders, their Thousand Illusions attack seemed to feed its force into him.

• Bai Liuxian sent his venomous snake at Fang Shuwen, but Fang Shuwen seized him and made the snake bite him before crushing it.
• The black-robed woman attacked Fang Shuwen from behind, but his Protective True Qi repelled her, and he killed her with [Vajra Tower-Throwing].
• The old couple’s hidden followers rushed the mountain god temple, where Lu Guiyan and Zhou Qingmei fought them as Flying Star Darts struck from the darkness.
• Fang Shuwen revealed that Zuo Qingshuang had arranged for Flying Star Hall disciples to hide nearby and help him.
• Fang Shuwen struck at the old man, then the old couple attacked his back with their Thousand Illusions technique, only to feel their internal force flow into him.

Fang Shuwen defeated the attackers at the mountain god temple and questioned Bai Liuxian, learning that the two people under escort were physicians sent to save Wu Lingxiao. Bai Liuxian also revealed that the Cao King belonged to the Hundred Ghost Hall and had been injured by someone from the Startling Flower Pavilion, leaving Fang Shuwen to untangle the factions’ motives.

• Fang Shuwen absorbed the internal force of the Thousand Illusions couple and killed them, while Lu Guiyan, Zhou Qingmei, and the Flying Star Hall members finished off most of the other attackers.
• Fang Shuwen’s offer to help distracted Hua Meiniang, who looked around and realized her companions had been killed.
• Fang Shuwen questioned Bai Liuxian and learned that the Cao King was one of the Hundred Ghost Hall’s four ghost kings.
• Bai Liuxian revealed that the two people in the temple were physicians sent by the Startling Flower Pavilion to save Wu Lingxiao, lord of Flying Snow City.
• Bai Liuxian told Fang Shuwen that the Cao King had learned about the physicians through the Startling Flower Pavilion and had been injured by someone from the pavilion.
• Fang Shuwen suspected that the Fierce Tiger Gang had been used as a weapon by someone seeking Wu Lingxiao’s death and pondered the complicated ties among the factions.

Fang Shuwen killed Hua Meiniang and Bai Liuxian after learning that the Cao King threatened the forces gathered at Autumn Moon Convent. He left Zhou Qingmei with Lu Guiyan and Chen Qi, then seized the two passengers and hurried ahead to the convent.

• Hua Meiniang used her bewitching martial arts to stagger Chen Qi, but Fang Shuwen caught her as she tried to flee, drained her internal cultivation, and killed her.
• Fang Shuwen questioned Bai Liuxian, who revealed that the Cao King's martial arts surpassed those of the fighters gathered at Autumn Moon Convent and that victory could bring heavy casualties.
• Fang Shuwen killed Bai Liuxian despite having said he might consider letting him go.
• Fang Shuwen told Zhou Qingmei to go with Lu Guiyan, Chen Qi, and the others while he took the two passengers ahead to Autumn Moon Convent.
• Fang Shuwen seized the two passengers and used Azure Cloud Step to hurry toward the mountain god temple, declaring that evil had to be rooted out completely.

The seven righteous sects fought their way into Autumn Moon Convent, where Flesh King Cao Jiuyin turned the battle against them. After Cao Jiuyin badly injured Zuo Qingshuang, Fang Shuwen protected her and fought him while treating her wounds.

• Zuo Qingshuang cut off one of Feng Lixiao's legs after the seven righteous sects' real attack caught the fiends off guard.
• Flesh King Cao Jiuyin appeared and joined the remaining fiends in fighting the experts of the seven sects.
• Zuo Qingshuang intercepted Cao Jiuyin's attack on the beautiful woman from the Jade Clarity Pavilion, but his palm strike sent her flying and badly injured her.
• Fang Shuwen caught Zuo Qingshuang, channeled the [Muscle Tendon Change] into her, and blocked Cao Jiuyin's attacks while supporting her.
• Two great monks from Nianhua Zen Monastery engaged Cao Jiuyin, giving Fang Shuwen time to treat Zuo Qingshuang as he warned the two people on the wall that they needed her alive.

Fang Shuwen watched Cao Jiuyin regenerate from the attacks of the Eastern Region sects and learned that he had eaten Liaokong. When Cao Jiuyin threatened to eat the wounded monk, Fang Shuwen stepped in and met his fist with a Demon-Subduing Dharma Seal.

• Two doctors treated Zuo Qingshuang after Fang Shuwen threatened them into helping.
• The Nianhua Zen Monastery monk and experts from Flying Star Hall, Supreme Void Dao, and Cangwu Sword Sect attacked Cao Jiuyin, but his flesh healed their wounds.
• Cao Jiuyin unleashed True Qi that blasted the attackers away and revealed he had eaten Liaokong.
• Cao Jiuyin advanced on the wounded monk, while Fang Shuwen told the beautiful woman from Jade Clarity Pavilion to protect Zuo Qingshuang.
• Fang Shuwen stepped in and struck Cao Jiuyin with a Demon-Subduing Dharma Seal as Cao Jiuyin swung at him.

Fang Shuwen defeated Cao Jiuyin and discovered that the man had cultivated the Flesh Nether Art by consuming people. He killed Cao Jiuyin with a devastating palm strike and caught his head as it fell.

• Fang Shuwen questioned Cao Jiuyin about his unusual flesh-based martial art while their attacks were locked in a stalemate.
• Fang Shuwen unleashed a powerful palm strike that sent Cao Jiuyin crashing through Autumn Moon Convent's temple.
• Fang Shuwen found the rear courtyard filled with bones and confronted Cao Jiuyin about the victims' missing flesh.
• Cao Jiuyin revealed that he cultivated the Flesh Nether Art by nourishing himself with flesh, and Fang Shuwen attacked him again.
• Fang Shuwen's final palm shattered Cao Jiuyin's flesh and bones, and he caught Cao Jiuyin's head as it fell.